He brings himself back, after almost six years. The one time he looks Sheppard in the eye, John thinks the man might spit at him.
And he is a man, not a kid anymore. His face is scarred. He's been clean two years. He knew the location of Atlantis all that time – it's not as well-hidden as they think, he sneers – but it took this long to choose to come home.
He lets Beckett – the new Beckett – examine him. He tells Woolsey and Sheppard where he was, what he did, helping a few different worlds, finding homes in militias everywhere. Sheppard can't feel a thing – relief, guilt, confusion, nothing. He hasn't felt much in a while, going through years by going through the motions, but even with that, he's aware that this is extreme. Normally, he can at least feel anger. This man was his second-in-command, his enthusiastic right hand, his responsibility. He didn't come home, not even when he could. Not even, he learns, when Ford saw them on a planet, Sheppard and McKay joking around, Teyla and Ronon walking the perimeter.
Teyla presses her forehead to Ford's even while he glares at her.
"So why now?" John finally asks.
Ford hesitates, before saying, "I found something you might want."
He found Elizabeth.
Ford only lets Beckett see her, at first, and only on the planet where he's holed up in a Wraith-damaged village where everyone treats him like one of their own. Teyla pieces together the story. Ford found out about her. Bribed and threatened his way across the galaxy for information. Rescued her, with these natives and their antiquated weapons. Brought her here.
"He must not have known the danger she poses," McKay assumes aloud.
John shakes his head. Ford was at the SGC when the human-form replicators first appeared on the scene – different than the Asurans, but the same. Ford knew, and he did it anyway.
Ford won't let them in without handing over their weapons.
"We're not going to hurt her," John snaps, insulted at the implication, even though that's exactly why he wants to go in armed. She's dangerous. Beckett says she's unconscious – malnourished, possibly brain-damaged, close to organ failure, but the replicators inside her aren't actively replicating. Ford fed her the same Wraith toxin that nearly killed him, and her drug-bolstered immune system and the replicators fought each other to a temporary stalemate. She'll suffer chemical withdrawl, according to Beckett, though that is by far the least of her problems.
"She's my responsibility now," Ford insists. McKay obviously winces. John doesn't.
"You need our help to cure her," John points out. "Beckett's help." Beckett, who still isn't the same. Ford, whose motivations are foreign, and who wants them unarmed on his terms. Elizabeth, who might still die.
"But if you want to see her, no weapons."
Without waiting for John's okay, Teyla hands over her gun and says, soothingly, "You can trust us. And I trust you."
John grudgingly hands over his guns, and goes to follow Teyla into the hut when Ford's hand clamps around his arm.
"I left," he says, low and dangerous and full of old betrayal. "I get that. No matter what happened to me. But this was Doctor Weir. And you left her."
Right then, inconveniently, two steps from seeing her, John starts to feel again.
Brother - Atlantis
He brings himself back, after almost six years. The one time he looks Sheppard in the eye, John thinks the man might spit at him.
And he is a man, not a kid anymore. His face is scarred. He's been clean two years. He knew the location of Atlantis all that time – it's not as well-hidden as they think, he sneers – but it took this long to choose to come home.
He lets Beckett – the new Beckett – examine him. He tells Woolsey and Sheppard where he was, what he did, helping a few different worlds, finding homes in militias everywhere. Sheppard can't feel a thing – relief, guilt, confusion, nothing. He hasn't felt much in a while, going through years by going through the motions, but even with that, he's aware that this is extreme. Normally, he can at least feel anger. This man was his second-in-command, his enthusiastic right hand, his responsibility. He didn't come home, not even when he could. Not even, he learns, when Ford saw them on a planet, Sheppard and McKay joking around, Teyla and Ronon walking the perimeter.
Teyla presses her forehead to Ford's even while he glares at her.
"So why now?" John finally asks.
Ford hesitates, before saying, "I found something you might want."
He found Elizabeth.
Ford only lets Beckett see her, at first, and only on the planet where he's holed up in a Wraith-damaged village where everyone treats him like one of their own. Teyla pieces together the story. Ford found out about her. Bribed and threatened his way across the galaxy for information. Rescued her, with these natives and their antiquated weapons. Brought her here.
"He must not have known the danger she poses," McKay assumes aloud.
John shakes his head. Ford was at the SGC when the human-form replicators first appeared on the scene – different than the Asurans, but the same. Ford knew, and he did it anyway.
Ford won't let them in without handing over their weapons.
"We're not going to hurt her," John snaps, insulted at the implication, even though that's exactly why he wants to go in armed. She's dangerous. Beckett says she's unconscious – malnourished, possibly brain-damaged, close to organ failure, but the replicators inside her aren't actively replicating. Ford fed her the same Wraith toxin that nearly killed him, and her drug-bolstered immune system and the replicators fought each other to a temporary stalemate. She'll suffer chemical withdrawl, according to Beckett, though that is by far the least of her problems.
"She's my responsibility now," Ford insists. McKay obviously winces. John doesn't.
"You need our help to cure her," John points out. "Beckett's help." Beckett, who still isn't the same. Ford, whose motivations are foreign, and who wants them unarmed on his terms. Elizabeth, who might still die.
"But if you want to see her, no weapons."
Without waiting for John's okay, Teyla hands over her gun and says, soothingly, "You can trust us. And I trust you."
John grudgingly hands over his guns, and goes to follow Teyla into the hut when Ford's hand clamps around his arm.
"I left," he says, low and dangerous and full of old betrayal. "I get that. No matter what happened to me. But this was Doctor Weir. And you left her."
Right then, inconveniently, two steps from seeing her, John starts to feel again.