Fic: What Might Be Carson/Teyla FRT (1/1)

The first thing Teyla had done when they had returned to their Atlantis was to find her son. He had been left in the care of one of the nurses and she spent several minutes just holding him, taking in his scent. She thanked the woman and went back to her quarters. Torren went straight to sleep which allowed Teyla to clean up and to think.

Ronon had been correct. She could not worry about all the Torrens that might exist in other universes, but it did not stop her from thinking about them. Thinking about them led to thinking of other possibilities. She knew she needed sleep but the thoughts would not leave her mind. She needed to speak to someone.

Since Torren’s birth she’d had countless offers to babysit and she now readily to advantage of one of them, leaving him in Major Lorne’s capable hands. Teyla smiled to see how easily her son took to the other inhabitants of the city and went to find the answers to the questions that plagued her.

Rodney was in his lab. He would not rest easily either, he would want to try and recreate the drive that they had found on the alternate Daedalus. She did not think it wise to tempt the fates in such a way, but she also knew that Rodney would not be satisfied until he was sure he could find a way to make it stable and possibly viable for use in this universe. She knocked lightly on the wall so as not to surprise him.

“Oh, hey, um…where’s Torren?”

“He is with a babysitter. I was unsure if you would want him here.”

“No, it would have been okay, nothing dangerous or anything going on. So…what did you want?”

Teyla couldn’t help but smile at his bluntness. “I have been thinking about the places that we went to, the universes that are out there. Ronon said there may be millions of them.”

“Possibly billions,” Rodney said. “One of the theories of the multiverse says that a new universe is created with each decision you make. Turning left instead of right, choosing apple pie over ice cream and so on. Why do you ask?”

“When we were coming back, going in reverse, we heard John talking to his counterpart from that universe. Do you think we all have counterparts in all of the possible universes out there?”

Rodney paused as if deciding how to word his answer. “It’s possible. There could be universes where Sumner wasn’t killed, where the Wraith were never woken up, where any of us are dead….”

“A universe where some did not die,” she said softly.

“Yes, there are probably quite a few universes where people are….oh,” he said, realizing what she was really asking. “If it’s of any comfort, the chances of us finding one of those universes are very small. What happened on that ship, and with Rod, those were complete and utter flukes. It’s really better not to think about it too much, you could go crazy.”

He was trying, in his way, to comfort her, to make her feel better. “It is hard not to, now that I know it is possible.”

“I miss him too.”

Teyla let the tears come then. Rodney awkwardly patted her back and held her as she grieved for all the Carsons that she could not know, all the counterparts she had that might have what she dearly desired and could not have.