Title: Being Part of the Party Headed for Atlantis
Fandoms: Stargate Atlantis/Harry Potter
Rating: PG
Pairing: John Sheppard/Harry Potter
Length: 1044 words
Author notes: This is a fill for the prompts Exploration and Doorway.
Summary: John is asked to become a part of the Atlantis expedition. There is, however, another person he has to consider.




“We could be on our way to discovering an entirely new Ancient civilisation. At the best case scenario, we meet actual Ancients who are willing to help us, but if we don't ...” Weir trailed off as she realised that O'Neill isn't paying attention to her, before continuing, “General, we need him.”

“Sorry, Doc,” O’Neill replied, “I need Daniel here.”

“I'm talking about Major Sheppard,” Weir said. She knew that in the past she had been on a one track record, trying to get the okay for Dr Jackson to accompany them, but it was no use.

“Oh,” O’Neill made. “Don't you have a dozen or so people already who can use the Ancient technology?”

“Yeah,” Weir admitted. “With concentration and training they can make it work, but John Sheppard, he does it naturally. There was only one scientist that was as good as he is and he doesn’t want to come.”

“You know,” O’Neil mused, “I checked into his record.”

“I know about the whole supposed black mark in Afghanistan,” Weir replied. “He was trying to save the lives of three servicemen.”

“Disobeying a direct order in the process,” O’Neill said with a hint of a smile in his voice. Yeah Sheppard was much like O’Neill himself.

“I have read your own file, General. Please.” There was no denying the smile in Weir’s voice either.

“Right,” O’Neill said. He glanced at her uncomfortably, before blowing out a breath. “OK. It's your expedition. You want him, you ask him.” He boarded the elevator to get back up to the surface.

“That's the thing,” Weir admitted. “I have.”

O'Neill turned and looked at her, frowning.

“Really?” he asked.

JSHP

A few minutes later, Jack is back at the helicopter, watching Sheppard going through his pre-flight checks.

“This isn't a long trip, so I'll be as succinct as possible,” O’Neill said after a few minutes of silence.

Meanwhile, Sheppard continued with his checks, then looked round at O'Neill as he said nothing further, just looked at him.

“Well, that's pretty succinct,” the younger man joked as his superior didn’t continue on.

“Thank you,” Jack said, sarcastically.

“I told Doctor Weir that ... I'd think about it,” John continued on.

“And?” Jack prompted. “So? Well? What?!”

“All due respect, sir, we were just attacked by an alien missile,” John said as the helicopter's engines start to fire up. “Then I found out I have some mutant gene. Then there's this Stargate thing and these expeditions to other galaxies.”

“You know, this isn't about you, Sheppard,” Jack said. “It's a lot bigger than that.”

“Right now, at this very second, whether I decide to go on this mission or not seems to be about me,” John replied as he put his helmet on. “Also, no decision I make is just about me. I have a partner I have to think about.”

“Let me ask you something,” Jack said, before realising that Sheppard can't hear him, so he took down a headset, put it on and spoke into the microphone. “Why d'you become a pilot?”

“I think people who don't want to fly are crazy,” John replied without missing a beat.

“And I think people who don't want to go through the Stargate are equally as whacked. Now if you can't give me a yes by the time we reach McMurdo, I don't even want you,” Jack said. The general did not expect John not to give him any answer at all by the time they landed, but this was exactly what happened.

JSHP

When John came home that evening, he was no closer to a decision than he had been when Weir had asked him. He knew that he wanted to go on this expedition, he really, really did, but there was also the part of him that said that he couldn’t do that, because there was no guarantee that he would come back and he couldn’t do that to his partner and soulmate Harry Potter.

It had been him as well as the two service men that he had flown into an active warzone for to retrieve. At the time, he had not known what it was that was drawing him there. Now he did and he never wanted to lose Harry again.

“Honey, I’m home,” he said as he closed the door.

“In the kitchen,” his lover replied and John made his way over.

“How was your day?” he asked as he got a bottle of beer out of the fridge and sat down at the table.

“I got some more translations done,” Harry said, mixing some more ingredients into whatever he was cooking. “But your day was much more interesting it seems.”

John looked up at his lover. It was amazing how Harry was always able to tell his mood.

“Yeah, it was. I got nearly shot down and a job offer,” John replied.

“And which one is it that makes you so sullen?” Harry asked.

“The job offer,” John admitted. “It’s a once in a lifetime chance.”

“If that’s the case, then why aren’t you taking it?” Harry wanted to know.

“Because it may be a one way trip,” John replied. “Which would mean, that I would have to leave you here and might not come back. I can’t risk that.”

Harry frowned at that. This sounded awfully familiar.

“Who exactly is it that asked you to come on this expedition?” he asked.

“Dr Elizabeth Weir,” John answered. “Why?”

“She asked you to come?” Harry asked, suddenly seeming like Christmas had come early. “What did you do?”

“You know her?” John demanded. “How?”

“The translations I’m doing are for her. She’s been on my case for months to join an expedition team headed by her. I always told her no since I couldn’t leave you here alone.”

“So we could go together?” John asked. “To Atlantis?”

“Seems like it,” Harry said, grinning from ear to ear. John grinned back.

They both knew that they would have to have another talk at later date about Harry keeping these job offers a secret, but right now they had more important things to do like packing for the exploration of another galaxy and preparing to go to through a doorway far beyond anything humans were capable of.