The Jumper set gently down in the Jumper Bay and Alisa smiled to herself, she was home. At her side in the back of the small ship sat Radek and several other scientists, a mixture of those who had been on Atlantis before and newbies.
As the hatch opened Alisa smiled to see John, Teyla and Ronon standing waiting and she moved instantly to greet them. Teyla hugged her first before, having heard what had happened, pushed her back to study her.
“I’m fine,” Alisa told the Athosian woman, “Honestly.”
“You were not hurt?” Teyla asked sternly.
Alisa shook her head, “Freaked out but not hurt.”
Ronon hugged her quickly before setting her down and letting John embrace the teenager.
“By the way,” Alisa said to them, “You’d be proud of me, I used a few moves to get away from the bad guy you taught me.”
With a grin she joined her father who was motioning the group he’d brought out of the bay.
Alisa finished unpacking and stood back to admire her new room. She’d asked to have her own place feeling she was ready for it properly now and her father had agreed, even if he didn’t look too happy about it.
Grabbing her jacket she headed out and started towards the lab, it was still getting sorted again after the clear out and the Ancients took over. Finding Radek in the middle of the chaos, Alisa wandered in.
“Can I help?” she asked.
Radek smiled, “Excellent, someone who knows what they are doing. Set up the station over there the way it used to be, I have only new team members and they are....” he trailed off, muttering in his native language as Alisa left him alone.
Quickly she started unpacking the box sitting on the table and organising them the way they had been before they’d left. They were home, now all they had to do was settle back into it.
*********************************************
“Lissa,” Rodney called, catching up with his daughter.
Alisa smiled at him, “Hey, Dad. I take it Elizabeth told you to get lost.”
He looked at her confused before frowning, “You know far too much about this place,” he grumbled, “Why didn’t you go with Zelenka?”
“Stuck on the mainland with him and Ronon,” she said with insincere musing tone, “No. Thanks but I’d rather not go insane.”
Rodney laughed, “I think I’ve found something, want to come and have a look?”
“Just a few minutes,” she smiled, “Then lunch.”
“Deal.”
Father and daughter stood on the balcony watching the large whale like creature as it emerged from the water.
“Fantastic,” Alisa mused, “I wonder if that’s the same one we saw when you were trapped in the Jumper.”
“I think it might be,” Rodney smiled; he leaned on the balcony beside her, “It’s your birthday in a few days. Do you know what you want?”
“D’you want me to write out a list?” Alisa grinned.
Rodney laughed, “It might help,” he watched her for a few minutes, “Are you missing Cadman?”
“A little,” Alisa shrugged and slid to sit against the wall, “But I always knew that she’d be transferred back to Earth one day. Besides she’s part of an SG team and she’s happy.”
Rodney sat beside his daughter and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “We’re allowed to miss her though.”
Alisa nodded before a thought struck her, “Did you just say we?”
“Well...” Rodney hesitated, “That is...” looking at his daughter’s amused smile he shrugged, “She gave you someone to talk to and I’ll miss her for that.”
Alisa laughed and hugged him, “The whales are kinda cool.”
“Wonder what Sheppard will say,” Rodney murmured thoughtfully.
“How’re you feeling?” Alisa asked as she moved to the bed where her father and John lay, both were trying to get their ears to pop after their encounter with the native Lantean fish.
“WHAT?” Rodney yelled, “Lissa, the whales mean we can’t hear properly.”
“WHAT?” John called making Alisa laugh.
“I brought you your computer, Dad,” Alisa offered him the tablet; “If I get yelled at by Carson then it’s your fault.”
“Huh?”
Rolling her eyes she leaned over and kissed her father’s cheek, “I’ll be back later,” she called in his ear.
“Good girl,” Rodney smiled as she disappeared before he started working.
Several hours later Alisa sat in her lab, pinching her nose against the headache that was beginning to overwhelm her. She knew that the whales were responsible for this but until her father worked out how to get rid of them then it would only get worse.
With a sigh she decided she was not going to get any work done and knew if she got a little sleep it might be better.
Standing up the world tilted to one side and Alisa reached out for the table but her fingers slid off it as she fell to the ground landing on the ground with a thud but she was unconscious before her head hit the ground.
“Carson!!” Rodney yelled for help as he carried his unconscious child into the infirmary, “Carson, get over here.”
The doctor looked up from injecting an IV with painkillers and saw his friend, rushing over he helped place the teenager on a bed.
“How long has she been unconscious?” Carson asked as he quickly checked Alisa.
“I don’t know,” Rodney breathed, panic and fear in his voice, “I went to the lab to make sure she was alright and she was lying on the floor. Tell me she’s alright?”
“Rodney,” Carson made the terrified man look at him, “You need to go back to work and find a way to stop this.”
“But...”
“You can only worry here,” Carson reminded him, “Alisa needs you to do your job.”
Rodney stared at his friend as Carson’s words sunk in, after a few seconds he moved to his daughter’s side and kissed her forehead.
“I’m going to make this better, Lissa,” he promised her, “You just rest for now.”
*********************************************
Rodney stared at the sun and wondered how they’d managed to survive a possible cataclysmic event with so few problems to the ship. He felt John rest a hand on his shoulder and turned to his friend.
“People are starting to wake up,” John told him, “Some still have headaches and a few can’t hear but we’ve had no more fatalities.”
“Lissa?”
John licked his lips, “She’s still unconscious but Carson said she’ll be fine. She hit her head when she fell.”
Rodney nodded.
“We’ll be back soon,” John assured him, “You can be there when she wakes up.”
Silently Rodney turned to stare out the window again.
Alisa groaned as sharp pain shot through her head, forcing her eyes open she wasn’t surprised to find her father sitting at her side. He was working and glanced up for a second; turning back to his work before the fact Alisa was awake hit him.
“Hey,” Rodney gently rested his hand on her forehead, “How’re you feeling?”
“I think my head’s going to explode,” she muttered, “Tell me there’s drugs.”
Rodney chuckled as he motioned Carson over, “Ask the dealer.”
Carson smiled down at Alisa when he came over to the bed, “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. I was wondering when you’d deign us with your presence.”
“You’re funny,” she muttered at him, “My head feel like it’s going to burst.”
Carson injected some painkillers into the IV, “You’re very lucky, Alisa. You hit your head off the lab floor when you fainted, this could have been a lot worse.”
“Doesn’t feel like it,” she sighed.
“These will knock you out again,” Carson told her as her eyes started to drift shut, “But I can promise you’ll feel better when you wake up again.”
As sleep pulled her back down Alisa felt her father gently stroke her hair and surrendered to the comfort.
*********************************************
“Good morning,” Rodney greeted his daughter as she arrived in the mess a few days later, “Happy Birthday.”
Alisa put her tray down before leaned in so he could hug her, dropping into a seat Alisa started to eat her breakfast smiling as the John joined them.
“Happy birthday,” John greeted her as he sat at her side, “What’s the plan for today?”
“I don’t have one,” Alisa shrugged, “I’m not working and since Laura isn’t here...”
Rodney and John swapped a look before Rodney turned back to his daughter, “Well I want to give you your present before I start work so as soon as you’re finished eating we’ll go.”
“Go?” suspicion filled Alisa’s eyes.
“Trust me,” Rodney told her with a smile.
Alisa rolled her eyes, “I guess I have to.”
Alisa walked along the corridors with John and her father on either side of her, wondering what was going on but knowing she wouldn’t get a straight answer out of either man so just walked with them.
To her surprise they entered the infirmary where Carson was standing holding a syringe.
“Hold on,” Alisa cried indignantly, “This isn’t a present, this is torture.”
“Think about it,” John told her.
The three men watched as realisation hit the young woman and she gave a small squeal before launching herself into her father’s arms.
“I’m getting the gene therapy?” she cried, excitement filling her.
“And she got it in one,” John laughed.
“It might not work,” Carson reminded her as she took a seat on the bed, “But considering it worked on your father then I’d say it has a pretty good chance.”
“And if it does work,” John continued, “We thought you might like to learn to fly.”
“You’re going to teach me to fly a Jumper?” Alisa breathed in amazement, “This is the best birthday ever.”
All three men grinned at the enthusiasm in the young woman and all three hoped the gene therapy would work otherwise her best birthday ever would become the worst.
“Okay,” John said his voice was calming, “Are you ready?”
“I think so,” Alisa took in a deep breath, “Yeah, I am.”
John smiled and he lifted the Jumper into the air, “We’ll go into orbit and them you can take over for a while. I’ll teach you how to take off and land in our next lesson but just now it’s learning to fly in a straight line, something I’m still trying to teach your father.”
Alisa chuckled and watched as the blue sky became the blackness of space, it always astonished her. Finally John put the Jumper on auto-pilot for the moment and motioned her to switch places with him.
Taking the pilot’s seat Alisa swallowed hard suddenly very nervous, John rested his hand on her shoulder as he stood behind her.
“Okay,” John said, “Just take a hold of the controls, very gently. Don’t hold on too tight but don’t let it slip out of your hands.”
Alisa nodded and did as he told her.
“Ready to fly without the autopilot?” John asked.
“Okay,” Alisa breathed, biting her lip slightly as John switched off the autopilot and giving her control of the small ship.
John watched her as she managed to fly the Jumper for fifteen minutes, remarkably well for a first go.
Pride filled him and he knew he may never have kids of his own, but teaching Alisa was as close as he’d probably get.
“Okay,” John took over again, “Let’s head back and next time we’ll try taking off.”
“What about landing?” she asked cheekily.
John rolled his eyes, “When I know you won’t wreck my ship.”
John found Rodney standing in the corner watching his daughter dance with Lorne at her birthday party; he was spinning her around and dipping her making the teenager laugh.
“She’s a natural,” John told Rodney before amending his comment, “Well more so than you were. A few more lessons and I’ll be confident in letting her fly to the mainland with minimal supervision.”
“Good,” Rodney smiled slightly. He tilted his head to one side, “You know this time eighteen years ago I was going crazy wondering how I was supposed to raise a child and look there she is, eighteen years old.”
“I remember the first time I found out who she was,” John mused, “And the first thing I thought was here is a smart-alec kid to drive everyone insane.”
“She does do that,” Rodney noted.
“True,” John laughed, “But she’s not the annoying brat I thought she was going to be.”
Rodney sighed, “I’ve worried so many times over the past few years that I was wrong to bring her here, then there are times when I see how she’s blossomed and I know I’ve done the right thing.”
John nodded and clapped his friend on the shoulder, “Let’s join the party. I heard a rumour Jeannie sent chocolate cake.”
Rodney watched John disappeared into the throng of people, he watched his daughter for a few more minutes before he went over to join in her party.
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