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The re-taking of Atlantis was both easier and unspeakably more difficult than Elizabeth had imagined it would be. Not that she’d spent days or weeks imagining it, because she hadn’t. Well, not with any seriousness. When they’d learned that not only had the replicators taken over their home, but the SGC was prepared to destroy it? Suddenly those wistful dreams became terrifyingly real.
She’d lived through a siege of the city; she’d lived through several, in point of fact. But she’d never been the one attempting to seize control, she’d always been a defender. The change in roles was disconcerting. She dealt with it by not dealing with it; she felt alive to have something to do again, and she buried herself in that as opposed to worry for their upcoming ‘mission.’ It was so wonderful to feel alive and whole again, even if she was walking right into certain death.
The moment they left the SGC in their stolen (Was it really stolen if it didn’t belong to the SGC in the first place? It was something to consider at a later time, if they lived long enough to worry about legal charges) Jumper, a line was crossed; it was something akin to a personal Rubicon, and the reference made her smile. They were hardly the triumphant heroes, and certainly did not hold enough sway to wave off charges of treason such as Julius Caesar had faced. John was the worst off, should they come out of this alive. She knew the military, knew the consequences that would be brought to bear if he returned to Earth - especially with a service record like his. It was the same for all of them, really. This wasn’t SG-1, and they weren’t saving Earth. If the IOA were so inclined, they could all be brought up on charges of planetary treason, conspiracy, theft... Should things go well - If O’Neill was still alive, and Woolsey, they might be hailed the liberating heroes, but there were no guarantees.
When they landed at the new Athosian settlement, she was surprised at how comforted she was to see Ronon and Teyla again. She’d always thought, if she ever returned to Earth, that she’d try to strengthen ties with her mother. After the siege their first year in Atlantis, she’d tried. Her mother had been out of town during the few days she’d had off, and after the disaster with Simon Elizabeth hadn’t been sure she could take more disappointment. When she’d lost her city, she’d returned to Earth and tried to re-connect. It hadn’t gone well; she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that she was back in a nanite-induced nightmare, that her mother wasn’t real. She had no such reservations about their native allies, and was pleasantly surprised when Teyla pulled her into a brief hug before they all settled down to the business of retaking their city before it was destroyed.
* * *
20-odd hours later, Atlantis was theirs in name. Another forty hours later they’d managed to clear most of the remaining replicators out from hiding and destroy them (Their initial success had been due to Rodney wiring an ARG into the shield system and sending out a burst of energy that had caused the majority of the replicators to fall to pieces on impact. Those that remained had been in shielded regions of the city). General O’Neill and Richard Woolsey were alive, because the universe was a place of small miracles, but unconscious - Carson theorized that they were suffering nanite infection, but would need more time to be sure. From a practical standpoint, even if the two recovered it wasn’t going to happen until well after the Daedalus arrived. Not a single Ancient had survived the initial attacks, but then she hadn’t really expected the replicators to leave their creators alive; the hatred of the replicators towards their former masters had burned too hot and far too long to be quenched in anything short of blood.
The initial strike team had been up for close to forty hours before they’d been secure enough to catch more than twenty minutes of sleep, and even then Elizabeth had been too anxious to do so. She lay awake, tossing and turning over the mess she knew was coming when the Daedalus arrived; all the things she hadn’t allowed herself to think about in the planning phases of this little operation were becoming impossible to ignore. After an hour of sleeplessness, she left her room and made her way to the balcony outside her office. She sat there, leaning against the warm wall with her jacket wrapped around her shoulders, and just stared out at the now-familiar stars.
She woke to find the sun riding high in the sky and an idea having finally coalesced in her conscious mind. She tapped her earpiece as she stood and entered the ‘Gate room. “Someone pull up the information on the Genii. I’ve got an idea...”
* * *
When the sensors in the ‘Gate room beeped, indicating that the Daedalus dropped out of hyperspace right on schedule (Two days after the replicators had been driven out), Elizabeth was ready. After two days of hurried planning and deal-making and a handful of promises she’d likely come to regret, she was as ready as she could be. She happened to be in the ‘Gate room at the time anyway, welcoming a new group of residents to the city, so it was the matter of a moment to reach the main display screen.
“Bring it up, Rodney.” The screen flickered for a moment, then resolved into the face of Colonel Caldwell.
“Daedalus, this is Dr. Elizabeth Weir requesting that you stand down.”
Caldwell gaped for a moment before pulling himself back together. “Doctor Weir? How did you, wait - How do we know that you are who you say you are?”
“Verification Alpha-Six-Charlie-Sierra-Nine. I assure you, colonel, I am Elizabeth Weir. And I am pleased to inform you that the replicators have been neutralized, the city is now under the control of the Alliance of Atlantis.”
There was a pause. “Doctor Weir, could you repeat your last communication? The city is under Earth control?”
She crossed her arms. “Not at all, Colonel. The city is under the control of the Alliance of Atlantis.”
Caldwell visibly shifted, and a vein was starting to become visible near his temple. “I was unaware of any such organization, Doctor. As I’m sure you are aware, my orders are to destroy the city and its Stargate so that it no longer poses a threat to Earth.”
“And as I will be happy to explain in detail, in person, the Alliance poses no threat to Earth.”
“Very well.” Caldwell contemplated a moment, then turned to talk with someone else on the bridge. A moment later she heard a muffled curse, and glanced over to find John and Rodney looking entirely too pleased with themselves. She raised an eyebrow, but didn’t have a chance to pursue the matter before Caldwell returned his attention to the conversation.
“That’s an interesting trick you’ve got there. Am I to assume that Doctor McKay is down there as well?”
“Good guess. Now, since I obviously won’t be beaming up, I would be happy to grant you permission to land. Of course, I would need assurances that there would be no attempts to re-take the city from Alliance control.”
Caldwell’s expression grew resigned. “You have my assurances, Doctor Weir.”
“When we say ‘no attempts’, what we really mean is that the replicators left... surprises lying around down here. Nano-viruses, disintegration beams, you know what I’m talking about. Now, it would be a shame if your crew were to run into any of those while poking about where they don’t belong.” She smiled good naturedly as she delivered the warning, and John moved to stand next to her, arms crossed. He’d apparently been taking intimidation lessons from Ronon in the last few days.
Caldwell sputtered and went from resigned to livid in a heartbeat. “Colonel Sheppard, I should have known you’d be involved in this. What I can’t believe is that you’d threaten the lives of men and women you’ve served with.”
John shrugged. “We know how to turn the nano-viruses off; I’m not the one putting your crew in danger.” His voice grew harder, quieter. “I’m also not the one who planned to nuke this city. Maybe that makes me the bad guy here, but I know where my priorities are.” He looked around at those scattered around the ‘Gate room watching the conversation with interest. “We all do.”
“We’ll land in 20 minutes on the South Pier.” Caldwell sighed, and shook his head ruefully before adding “I hope you know what you’re doing.” and disconnecting the transmission.
The discussion concluded, Elizabeth took a deep breath and uncrossed her arms. “Well, that was fun.” She ignored John’s sarcastic response, and turned to face those below her on the ‘Gate room floor, smiling as she recognized a few familiar faces in the crowd.
“I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all of you to Atlantis. I know we’ve had our differences in the past, so I thank you for taking the risk and joining this alliance. We will one day defeat the Wraith, and we will do it together. Until that day, we fight side by side. From this day forward, the City of the Ancestors will provide refuge to all those involved with the Alliance - The Genii, The Athosians, and those from Earth.”
There was a round of quiet applause, and Teyla took over, getting their attention from her position near the main doors and herding the latest batch to the wing where they’d set up temporary housing. After that, John disappeared to organize a welcoming group out of the Athosians and Genii who had combat training, and Elizabeth escaped to her office for a few minutes of peace. She sank down into the chair behind the desk in her office, and buried her head in her hands. A single thought kept looping through her mind, over and over. There is no going home from this. No going back.
Except that wasn’t quite right, because she was home.
~ Finis ~