Chapter Text
John walked around the mountain, following the Lieutenant Colonel that had introduced herself as Samantha Carter. He passed the same boring walls, with occasional doors, that were common to most military bases he had been stationed at. John looked around and sighed, shaking his head. His brother had received a separate briefing and tour with another officer into a different area of the mountain.
Flashback
John entered the classroom at the military school he had chosen to go to and saw another boy, he was shaking as who appeared to be his father berated him for a bad grade. After the boy's father walked away, John came up to the boy and introduced himself.
“Hi! My name’s John and I just arrived. What’s your name?” He asked. The boy looked at him like he was an alien for a few seconds.
“Anthony DiNozzo, Jr. Call me Tony. You said you just got here?” Tony looked uncertain, not sure if he should really be talking to the newcomer.
John nodded and walked to an open desk.
“Sure did. My dad wanted to send me to private school, but I wanted to join the military so we compromised and here I am. Is it as tough as it seems?”
“Not really.” Tony then muttered under his breath, “bruises make it a lot harder, though.”
John looked at Tony from the corner of his eyes and sighed. He knew the signs, withdrawing into himself, talking quietly, not to mention the scene he had just walked in on. He nodded to himself.
“I’ll be right back.” John stepped out into the hallway and stopped one of the instructors. “Sir? May I use a school phone to make a call home in order to prepare for Christmas break?”
The instructor looked at John like he was crazy for planning that far ahead but nodded and led him to the office. “Thank you, sir.” John walked into the room and called his father.
“Dad, I need you to pull some strings. There’s a kid, I just met him. Pretty sure his dad is abusive. Can I bring him home over Christmas?”
“Of course, bring him home and we’ll take care of him. You’ve got two months to get him used to the idea, but don’t be too pushy. I’m proud of you for noticing and trying to help someone. Love you.” The line went silent for a moment. “John, I need to go. Seems like there’s an issue at the lab. Be safe, have fun, and do your best.” The line went dead and John laughed and sighed at the same time. His dad was busy but always made time for him and his brother so he wasn’t mad.
Over the next two months, John and Tony became closer and when it was time for the Christmas break, Tony walked out with John. John's father, Patrick Sheppard, was waiting for them with a smile on his face. Over the two-week break, Tony admitted what his father was like and Patrick immediately filed for emergency custody and adoption. It was final before the break was over, and Anthony DiNozzo, Jr. was no more. He was now Tony Sheppard.
End Flashback
“And this…is our pride and joy.” Colonel Carter said, bringing John out of the memory. He looked up at the large metal ring covered in glyphs and gawked for all of a minute before turning and staring at Carter.
“You have a Stargate? That’s…nobody told me that the ‘S’ in SGC stood for Stargate! I…who helped translate this?” John sputtered out in a tone of amazement. Carter stared before snapping her mouth shut.
“You can read that? And it was Dr. Daniel Jackson who did the translation. He’s in the mountain if you’d like to see him and speak with him.” John nodded and followed Carter to a conference room overlooking the gate. In the room were four men, two of which John recognized. He walked over and ruffled Tony’s hair before turning to a familiar man wearing glasses. Daniel Jackson smirked and waited for the chaos to start.
“Have you been running these people ragged, Danny?” (*) John asked in Klingon(*). Daniel laughed and nodded. Jack looked at the new major that had just walked in like he wasn’t sure if he was hearing things or not.
“They have no idea about all of your linguistic skills, do they?” (*) Daniel asked as John sat next to him. John just shook his head and looked towards General Hammond.
“Apologies, sir. I haven’t seen Danny in a few years. My dad has been trying to replace him since he left our company. Not an easy job.”
The general just shook his head. As always with Jack’s team, the coincidences tended to pile up. “No worries, son. Dr. Jackson tends to get around everywhere in the known universe, and especially on his home planet. So, let's get on with this briefing.”
“Of course, General. What will my duties be?” John asked, wanting to move things along.
“Your duties, if you choose to join with the SGC, will depend on your skill sets. There’s also the question of if you want to go to another galaxy, semi-permanently.”
“What’s your name, Major?” Jack O’Neill interrupted, tired of being out of the loop.
“John Horus Sheppard. You might know my father; I know Danny definitely does. Patrick Ra Sheppard. And you’ve met one of my brothers,” here John nodded at Tony. “Major Tony Amun Sheppard.” John chuckled at the look on the O’Neill’s face when he revealed that Tony was his brother.
“John! We promised not to reveal that until later!” Tony huffed and smiled. “Although the look on his face is priceless. So, where would we fall in the chain of command while in the mountain, General?”
Hammond gestured for Jack to take the lead. After all, the two men would fall more directly under O’Neill’s command and Hammond himself was only there in an advisory capacity. Jack took a few moments to compose himself before he sighed and responded.
“You will be third and fourth in command while in the mountain, just behind myself and Lt. Colonel Carter. Cameron Mitchell, another Lt. Colonel, refuses to be part of the chain due to his position on a gate team. There are various other officers that you’ll meet later.
So, the rest of the introductions. As you seem to know him, this is Dr. Daniel Jackson. He’s our leading linguist, anthropologist, and archaeologist. My name is General Jack O’Neill and I am the CO of the mountain. Then we have Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, my 2IC. My XO is currently off-world, and not officially part of the chain of command until you two leave. His name is Major Evan Lorne. We have Dr. Rodney McKay who refused to show up. He is the Chief Science officer of the mountain until he joins the expedition. Then, we have the leader of the expedition,” the door opened as Jack spoke.
A man walked in wearing plain black BDU’s with a gun strapped to his thigh. John’s throat went dry and he swallowed. Tony noticed and snickered into his hand.
“This is Ha-Joon Yoon. Former Navy Lt. Commander and Navy Seal turned diplomat for the SGC. He and whoever becomes the military leader of the expedition will co-lead. Ha-Joon, the floor is yours.” Jack leaned back and sipped his coffee as the new man sat down across from John and his mouth formed into a crooked smile.
“As Jack said, I’m Ha-Joon Yoon. I have a master’s degree in foreign affairs and a PhD in aerospace engineering. I will be the leader of the civilian aspects of our expedition. Dr. McKay will be the CSO but I will be his supervisor. Which one of you is Major Sheppard?” Both John and Tony raised their hands. Ha-Joon blinked and then turned to Jack. “Well, this could be an issue.” Jack nodded and sighed before turning to the brothers.
“Who has more time in rank?” he asked. John and Tony turned to each other before they started to whisper in a mix of Russian and Italian. Daniel was chuckling before losing it and laughing outright as the words flew fast between the two brothers. The other four occupants stared and blinked in morbid fascination at the mix of languages pouring from both officers in front of them. Daniel lost it and fell from his chair laughing when the brothers turned as if they were one person to look at the others in the room.
“So…we have a slight issue with that, Sir. John and I both went to a private military school. When we left that we joined ROTC and graduated college at the same time and have been promoted on the same days at the same bases…” Tony trailed off at the dumbfounded look on both generals faces and John picked up the tale.
“Based on what we remember…I think there might be thirty seconds between us when it comes to time in rank. With me just edging out ahead due to my first name starting with a J.”
“General O'Neill, maybe we should circle back to that?” Lt. Carter asked as she kept staring at the brothers. Jack nodded and then cleared his throat.
“What’s with the languages?” he asked instead.
“Rich kids education as it were. Does it bother you sir?”(A) John responded in a mix of English and Arabic(A) Jack sighed, defeated.
“In English, please, Major.”
“Does it bother you, sir?” John smirked as he asked his question again with a British accent. Jack growled in his throat as Dr. Jackson started to laugh again.
“American English, Major.”
“Oh, my apologies. Maybe you meant something like this?” John asked with a southern drawl, causing Ha-Joon to smirk, Tony to chuckle and Carter to cover her mouth, her shoulders shaking in silent laughter.
“Fucking…just…” Jack dropped his head in his hands and Daniel finally composed himself enough to look at John.
“How many languages do you know now?” (*) Daniel laughed, still chuckling.
“I know ten besides English. Latin, Arabic, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Italian, French, Egyptian and obviously, Klingon.” (*) Danny stared at John slack jawed and nodded decisively.
“I want you to help out my department while you’re here, when you have time. We have people from all around the world that sometimes forget not everybody in the world is a polyglot. You’d be an immense help.” (*) Daniel responded. John went to answer when the door burst open and another man looked around the room before settling on John and Daniel looking smug.
“Who the fuck is speaking Klingon in the mountain?!” The new arrival asked. Daniel and John raised their hands and Rodney stared at the marine major with a contemplative look in his eyes. “If you don’t help Daniel, I might have to kill you. If you know Klingon I’m assuming you have enough intelligence to know a few real world languages. Also, don’t fuck with the general,” he turned to Jack and smirked. “Its not good for his heart for pretty men to mess with him.” (*) Daniel and John both lost it as the man left.
“RODNEY! WHAT DID YOU SAY TO THEM?” Jack called after the retreating form of what was evidently Dr. Rodney McKay. John and Daniel started laughing harder and only settled when Jack turned a glare on them. “Majors Sheppard, one of you will be second in command of the military under Colonel Sumner. The other will be just another officer on the expedition. I would prefer whichever of you has the most flight time as second in command.” John nodded and Tony laughed at the pout on his face.
“Looks like you’re the 2IC John.” John glared at his brother and shrugged.
“We expected that.” The meeting continued for another hour before it broke up. It took a surprising amount of time to learn about the discovery of an alien city in another galaxy.
Ha-Joon stopped John and Tony before they walked out of the conference room.
“Would you both like to accompany me to dinner tonight? I would like to get to know two of the officers that will be joining me 3 million light years from home.”
Tony looked at John. He snickered into his hand, knowing John’s taste in men he could see how worked up his brother was and knew he wouldn’t be able to answer coherently.
“We’d be delighted. What time and where are we meeting?” Tony asked.
“Meet me here in thirty minutes?” Ha-Joon asked. Tony nodded and started to drag John away, laughing quietly.
“You’re so fucked Horus,” Tony snickered. John could only glare at his brother as they walked to their temporary quarters in the mountain.
“I have to work with him! I am beyond fucked,” John whined about the unfairness of life.
John and Tony took turns showering and then walked in companiable silence to the conference room where Ha-Joon was waiting.
“Hope you two don’t mind, but I figured I would drive. I probably know the area better,” Ha-Joon said. He scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish smile as John nodded and Tony smiled back.
“No problem. Lead the way, sir.”
TEC
The drive to dinner was filled with gentle questions about their time in the military and their home life. When they pulled up to the restaurant, John grinned.
“I love Korean!” John got out of the car and was acting like a kid in the candy store. “It's been so long since I’ve had authentic Korean dishes.” Ha-Joon smiled and nodded.
“Then you’ll definitely enjoy this place. It’s the most authentic Korean restaurant I’ve ever eaten at outside of Korea.” They walked in and were led to a table. They were given menus and informed their waiter would be there shortly. John looked over the menu and pointed out dishes to Tony that he might like.
When the waiter arrived to take their orders, John surprised Ha-Joon with what came from his mouth.
“Yes, my brother would like Bibimbap. And I would like Bulgogi. I do not know about our dining partner, however.” (K) John spoke in perfect Korean (K). Ha-joon gave his order for Korean fried chicken and looked at John.
“You speak Korean?” he asked. John nodded and pointed to Tony.
“He knows Russian and Italian as you saw earlier and also speaks Thai.”
“Why did I go with Thai? Korean or Mandarin would have been better.” Tony grumbled.
“You like Thai BL’s too much and don’t like subtitles.” John answered simply.
Ha-Joon thought he was surprised before, but now he was flabbergasted. “You…you both speak Asian languages?”
John nodded before responding as their food was delivered.
“I speak Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Spanish, Italian, French, Russian, Klingon, Egyptian, and Latin. Tony speaks Italian, Russian, Thai and Gaelic.” They started to eat and Ha-Joon continued to ask about their lives, focusing more on their academic achievements now knowing they both spoke multiple languages.
John answered first. “Well, outside of the languages I know, I have degrees in Applied Mathematics, Business, Atmospheric and Oceanic sciences, and Civil Engineering. My Applied Mathematics and Atmospheric and Oceanic sciences degrees are both PhD’s and my business and Civil engineering are masters. I also minored in Ancient Civilizations.”
“I have degrees in Film Studies, Physical Therapy and Kinesiology. Master of Arts in Film, PhD in Physical Therapy and Kinesiology. Like we said earlier, rich kids education. I actually just finished my Kinesiology degree.” Tony was happy to show off a little. He was quite proud of the Film degree.
The waiter returned to take their plates and ask if they wanted any dessert.
“May we have the Hotteok?” (K) John asked. The waiter nodded and returned with three servings. Once they finished, they paid for the meal and returned to the mountain.
“Thank you for dinner, Ha-Joon.” John said and walked away quickly. Tony offered an apologetic smile to the man as John hurried away.
“He’s a little embarrassed to talk about his degrees, thinks it sounds too much like bragging. He did all of his degrees at the same time, worked through summer so we could graduate together. But, seriously, like my brother said, thanks for dinner sir.” Tony followed his brother and left Ha-Joon staring at an empty hallway for a few minutes.
“Doesn’t sound like bragging to me. That’s a lot of hard work and dedication, exactly what this expedition needs,” he thought to himself before heading to his own quarters for the night.