CHapter 1

Dr Elizabeth Weir did a double take as the man walked past her

"Major Lorne?" she murmured as she turned to follow him. Elizabeth had been asked by an old friend of hers to give a lecture at the University of Seattle, so here she was, spending a week of her precious leave time on Earth in Seattle and who does she bump into, the Military second in command, there was just no getting away from Atlantis.

"Major!! Major Lorne" she jogged up behind him "Evan, wait" she said as she grabbed his arm, the man jerked his arm away and turned to face her

"Whoa, easy lady, watch the coffee" he said. Elizabeth's hand flew to her mouth to stifle a scream of embarrassment and she started to blush

"I...I am so, so sorry, I thought you were a friend of mine" she said, she looked more carefully at him, his hair was a little longer than Lorne's and he wasn't quite as well built but the resemblance was uncanny, spooky even

"Lucky friend" said the man with a grin. He had that same cocky grin as Lorne, the one that had the women of Atlantis falling at his feet; Elizabeth smiled her best diplomat's smile

"You look so much like my friend it...it's un-nerving, are you sure you don't have a cousin or something in the air force, name of Lorne?" she asked, the man shook his head

"No, no-one in my family joined the air force, my name's Garrity, Marc" he said

"Dr Elizabeth Weir" she said, she shook his hand as the university bell tolled "oh I must go, I've got a lecture to deliver in an hour, it was a pleasure to meet you Mr Garrity, I'm sorry for my mistake"

"A pleasure to meet you too Dr Weir" said Garrity. She turned and walked away

"That Lorne guy's a lucky son of a bitch" he murmured.

Diana Skouris was on her way home after a short holiday in Colorado with her daughter Maia, she had stopped at the gas station to fill up and stock up on drink and snacks before they hit the interstate. She was making her way back to the car when she caught sight of the guy at the gas pump in front of her,

"It can't be" she said to herself "Garrity?" she walked up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder "Garrity what are you doing here, what's going on?". The man almost dropped the gas pump in surprise.

"Jeez lady don't scare me like that" he said, Diana's mouth dropped open,

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I thought you were a guy I work with, I...I...can't believe...it's...you look so much like him" she stammered. Now she had a good look at him his hair was a little shorter than Garrity's and he was a bit more muscular, but apart from that, the similarity was astounding,

"You wanna stick with that?" the man said with a smile. He even had that same amused smirk Garrity had, the one that he used to get any amount of information he wanted out of any woman he met,

"I'm sorry, you must think I'm completely insane but it's uncanny, do you have a twin brother or something in Seattle, goes by the name of Garrity?" she asked.

"No, there's only one of me as far as I know my name's Lorne, Evan Lorne based at Cheyenne Mountain" he said as he stuck out his hand

"Diana Skouris" she said, shaking his hand

"Mom, come on lets go" said a girls voice, Diana looked towards the car and sighed.

"Ok honey, I'm coming" she replied

"Your daughter?" he asked

"Maia" Diana replied as she turned to go "it was nice to meet you Evan, I don't normally do this you know".

"Nice to meet you too Diana and I'm not complaining" Lorne said with a grin, thinking that when he stopped next he'd find a Seattle phone book, how many Diana Skouris' were there in Seattle. As Diana pulled away, Maia wound the window down and yelled out to Lorne

"Don't stop on the Interstate!!, hey Mister don't stop on the Interstate, please" she yelled.

Garrity was making his way back to his car after questioning witnesses in an arson attack on the house of a 4400, he hated this routine 'cop' stuff. He thought back to the woman who had stopped him in the street earlier and wondered if he could get away with a quick detour via the University before going back to NTAC headquarters. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he almost missed the sound of someone following him, he turned, fishing for his gun when a bolt of blue light struck him and he hit the deck. Three men moved over to him, pulled him up and dragged him towards a car where a man was waiting,

"Well done" Garrity was bundled into the car "it won't belong before we can implement our plans to destroy Atlantis" said the man as his eyes began to glow.

Lorne spotted the dark skinned woman waving her arms next to a car with the hood up. Briefly he thought of the words Diana Skouris' daughter yelled at him 'Don't stop on the Interstate' but this woman was by herself, he couldn't just leave her there, weird shit didn't happen on Earth, well not as much as in the Pegasus Galaxy. He pulled up and got out

"What's the problem?" he asked, the woman smiled

"I don't know, it just stopped" she replied

"You call Triple A?" he said

"My phone's dead" she said apologetically. Lorne bent over and looked over the engine

"Oh yeah, I can see the problem" he said, he began to straighten up when he saw two men move up behind him

"Hey, what the..." he began as the woman slammed the hood down on him. The men grabbed him and plunged a syringe into him, he went limp and they bundled him into the car, the woman got into the drivers seat and dialled her mobile

"Do you have good news Isabel?" said a voice at the other end

"Yes I have him with me, we should be with you in a few hours" said Isabel

"Good, I heard he met with Diana, I thought Maia may have seen something" said the voice

"No it went perfectly, I will see you soon" said Isabel as she hung up.

Chapter 2

Lorne woke up with a groan; the last thing he remembered was stopping to help that woman on the Interstate. He tried to stand, only to find he was handcuffed to the bed, great! He’d been kidnapped, was it too much to hope it was that woman and some of her friends? The door opened and a man and woman entered, he could see the woman was the same one from the Interstate

"What the hell do you want" he said, he winced at the pain in his head "if you wanted a lift you could have said", the woman didn't smile

"Still the sarcastic one Agent Garrity" said the man.

"Who? Look you got the wrong guy" said Lorne

"Don't play the fool with me Garrity, what has Jordan Collier done with my promicin" said the man

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about, my name isn't Garrity its Lorne, I'm a Major in the air force" replied Lorne.

"Stop wasting my time, you are close to Tom Baldwin, Tom's close to Shawn Farrell and Shawn is close to Jordan, you must know something so tell me and I won't let Isabel lose her temper" said the man.

"Look, I am Major Evan Lorne not Garrity but from what I understand he looks a lot like me, I have no idea who this Jordan Collier is let alone what Promicin is or what he's done with it. I don't know who Tom Baldwin is or Shawn Farrell now you tell me who you are and what this is all about," shouted Lorne. The man sighed

"Be like that" he turned to the woman "Your turn Isabel”, he said as he opened the door and left. Isabel stood in front of Lorne and stretched her hand out; he felt his throat beginning to close up

"What are you doing?" he gasped

"Tell me where Jordan Collier has hidden the Promicin" Isabel asked

"I don't know what you're talking about, honest, I've never heard of any Jordan Collier," wheezed Lorne. Isabel's grip tightened

"I don't know”, gasped Lorne.

Agent Marc Garrity woke up and blinked a couple of times, his head was pounding. The last thing he remembered was someone following him; he moved his arms and found he was handcuffed. The door opened and three men and a woman came in

"Awake at last Major Lorne" said one of the men; his voice had a strange ring to it

"You ought to take something for that cold of yours buddy" said Garrity

"Still as sarcastic as ever I see, Major Lorne" said the man. Garrity blinked again

"You got the wrong guy, my name's Garrity, I'm an NTAC Agent not a Major" he replied

"Please Major we know who you are and what you do, give us your security code to the Atlantis operating systems" said the woman,

"My what for the what?" said Garrity "I have no idea what you're talking about". Another man stood closer

"It won't do you any good Major, we know you are second in command of the military contingent on Atlantis, we also know you are head of security too so you have access to all the command protocols, we want them to destroy Atlantis, we cannot let the Wraith come this far and interfere with our plans" he said.

"Military contingent, Atlantis, Wraith, what the hell are you talking about, I work for NTAC, we keep an eye on the 4400" replied Garrity, the first man's eyes glowed and he picked up a gauntlet with a yellow jewel in the palm.

"I will ask you one more time Major Lorne, give me your command protocols" he said, Garrity sighed

"For the last time, I'm not Major Lorne, I'm Agent Marc Garrity but you're not the first person to mistake me for this Lorne guy, I don't know anything about security codes, command protocols, Atlantis or Wraith, I have no idea what you're talking about" said Garrity.

"That is such a shame," said the first man as he lifted his hand, the jewel in the gauntlet began to glow and Garrity thought his brain was melting.

Colonel John Sheppard barrelled through the door of the briefing room in Stargate Command and saw Elizabeth Weir, General Hank Landry and Dr Bill Lee standing waiting for him, he snapped off a salute to the General.

"What's so important that you dragged me off the beach?" he said to Elizabeth

"Major Lorne has disappeared," she said

"Disappeared, how?" John asked. General Landry took over

"His brother called late last night, said he hadn't arrived and asked if he'd been detained here, I said no as I'd seen him leave, Dr Lee was the last to see him" said Landry. They all looked at Lee

"I saw him at the Gas station, you know, the last one before you hit the Interstate, well he was filling his tank when this woman approached him" began Lee

"Not exactly unusual in Lorne's case" said Elizabeth, earning herself a glare from John

"I think this woman had mistaken him for someone else because she kinda backed away from him, all embarrassed like, they chatted for a couple of minutes then her kid called out to her, she went back to the car and she drove off" said Lee.

"Kid?" enquired John

"Yeah, little girl of about eight I should think" replied Lee

"That's not the best bit," said Landry, he nodded at Lee to continue

"When the woman drove away the kid yelled 'Don't stop on the interstate' at Lorne" said Lee. Right on cue, the phone rang and Landry answered it

"You get the license plate?" asked Sheppard, Lee shook his head "Get a good look at the woman?"

"Yeah I'd recognise her again," admitted Lee

"Can you do one of those Photo ID's that the police use?" asked John

"I think Colonel Carter can," said Lee as he made a move to the door. Landry put the phone down and turned to them

"They've found Lorne's car," he said

"Let me guess, on the Interstate, right?" said John

"Right" replied Landry.

Diana Skouris entered the nerve centre of NTAC Headquarters to find it a hive of activity.

"What's going on?" she asked her partner, Tom Baldwin

"Garrity hasn't turned up for work, didn't come in yesterday either" said Tom

"Anyone been to check his apartment?" Diana asked

"Yeah, they said it looked like he hadn't been there for a couple of days" he replied. Diana smiled

"Not exactly new is it?" she said

"We also found his car, parked in the lot on 15th right where he left when he was investigating that arson attack" he said.

"Who was the last person to see him?" she asked, a man to her left raised his hand slightly

"That would be me," said the computer geek, known as Marco Pacella

"Where was he?" said Tom

"Heading for the lot on 15th I guess, I was in my uncle's coffee shop, anyway this woman runs after him and grabs his arm," said Marco

"And that's newsworthy how?" said Diana with a smirk, Marco glared and carried on

"Well I think this woman thought Garrity was someone else because she looked incredibly embarrassed," said Marco

"And?" said Tom

"And they talked for a couple of minutes then went on their way" Marco replied

"What was this woman like?" Tom asked

"Tall, well dressed, elegant, not Garrity's type at all" said Marco

"Can you remember enough to make a e-fit picture of her, if she was the last one to have any contact with Garrity we need to find her" said Tom.

"Sure" said Marco as he turned to the computer.

"This is looking bad," muttered Tom to Diana, she frowned as she remembered Maia's words to Garrity's doppleganger in the gas station.

Chapter 3

Colonel John Sheppard and Dr Elizabeth Weir were pacing the briefing room waiting for answers into the disappearance of Major Evan Lorne; they were waiting for a photo-fit picture of the last person to see him, a woman who seemed to think he was someone else and her daughter at the gas station. Landry came back into the room with a piece of paper in his hand, on the paper was a computer image of a pretty, dark haired, green eyed woman, he passed it to Elizabeth who studied it and then passed it on to John.

"Ever seen her before?" he asked, John shook his head and so did Elizabeth, "ok, we'll get it out on the wire, all we can do now is wait". Colonel Sam Carter knocked on the doorframe "yes Colonel" said Landry

"I've just had this from Agent Barrett" she handed a piece of paper with a picture on it over to Landry

"Lorne" he said, Sam shook her head.

"No Sir, I thought that first of all but this guy's name is Garrity" Elizabeth took the paper out of Sam's hand and looked "this guy is a federal agent working for the National Threat Assessment Centre in Seattle and guess what?" she said.

"He's missing," replied John

"Yep, went missing on Friday," said Sam

"Same day as Lorne" said John.

"I've seen him" all eyes turned to Elizabeth "I was in Seattle delivering a lecture, I thought he was Lorne so I stopped to talk to him" said Elizabeth,

"Contact Agent Barrett and tell him what we've found out, ask him if he knows anything about our 'Ms X'" said Landry.

"Ok this is as near as I can make it" said Marco as he began to print the woman's image, Tom Baldwin picked up a copy and studied it before handing it to his partner, Diana Skouris

"Seen her before?" he asked the group to a universal shaking of heads. Nina Jarvis, the head of the department, swept in and went up to the group around Marco's computer

"This just came in on the wire," she said as she handed Tom a picture,

"Garrity?" asked Tom.

"No, an air force Major named Evan Lorne" Diana gasped and grabbed the paper out of Tom's hand "seems he disappeared on Friday, same day as Garrity, also this came through the wire too". She handed Diana a paper that had a computer image of her on it "the air force are looking for you Diana, it seems you were the last person to see this Major Lorne".

"I must have been, I saw him at a gas station in Colorado, I thought he was Garrity so I went over to talk to him, I was embarrassed when it turned out not to be him". Diana drew in an uneasy breath "as we drove out Maia called out to him, she said 'Don't stop on the Interstate,'" she said.

"Ok, I'll contact the air force and tell them what we know, get that picture out there and find that woman and Diana, have a word with Maia, she may be able to help in this," said Jarvis.

Lorne gingerly opened his eyes, his throat and his lungs hurt like hell, he wondered how that Isabel woman had done what she had to him, if he didn't know any better he'd swear she was a Goa'uld, but her eyes didn't glow and her voice was normal. He breathed carefully and wondered what this Garrity guy knew to warrant this type of torture, outside he could hear voices.

"Nothing, he told you nothing?" said Dennis Ryland

"I did everything I could short of killing him," replied Isabel "I think he is telling the truth, I don't think he is Agent Garrity"

"What do you mean he'd not Agent Garrity, I worked with him, I know what he looks like, this is him" said Ryland

"I don't know what else to do, he keeps insisting he is Major Lorne," replied Isabel. Ryland pulled out his mobile and dialled

"See if any of the test subjects have the ability to bend wills, if not find me Tess Doerner" Ryland barked and cut the connection "she's part of Jordan's circle, if Garrity won't talk maybe she will".

Garrity wondered if he would ever get rid of his headache, whatever weapon they had used on him made him think his brain was leaking out of his ears and what was with the voice and the eyes. His first thought had been that either Jordon Collier or the Nova group had kidnapped him, but whatever shit this Lorne guy was mixed up in; it was weirder that anything the 4400 could throw at him. He sat up gently as he heard voices outside the door

"I do not think he is Major Lorne," said the first man

"What do you mean? Our intelligence points to this man, you saw it yourself" said the woman

"No-one has withstood the hand device for so long without breaking," said the second man

"The Tau'ri have not perfected cloning, if this man is not Major Lorne maybe they are related in some way?" said the first man. Another woman came up and whispered into the first woman's ear,
"I think we may have the answers," she said to the men.

John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir were in the Mess Hall with Dr Daniel Jackson and Colonel Cameron Mitchell when Sam Carter came running in

"There you are, I've just had word back from Agent Barrett" she sat down and spread out four sheets of paper, all bearing pictures. She picked up the one with Elizabeth's picture on it "the National Threat Assessment Centre put this out on the wire, they want to speak to you as you were apparently the last one to see him" she pointed to Garrity's picture. Sam then picked up Diana Skouris' picture "she is also an NTAC Agent in Seattle" Sam said

"And she was the last one to see Lorne" said John, "this is getting beyond coincidence"

"Colonel Sheppard and Dr Weir to the briefing room" said a voice over the tannoy. John and Elizabeth ran through the door as General Landry got off the phone

"We've had word back from NTAC," said Landry

"And?" said John

"They want to meet, there's a ride waiting up top, you're to meet with Agent's Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris”, he said

"Got a name for the face," yelled Marco over the top of his computer, Tom and Diana hurried over to him and peered over his shoulder

"Well?" said Tom

"Dr Elizabeth Weir, former negotiator for the UN, broached a couple of high profile deals about five years ago, since then niente¹ but I did call in a few favours and boy do you guys owe me" he said.

"Get on with it Marco" snapped Tom

"She's involved with some top secret project for the air force and, get this, she is this Major Lorne's boss" said Marco with a smirk

"This is no coincidence," said Tom

"Bingo, got it in one," replied Marco smugly.

"The air force are sending a couple of their people over to talk to you," said Nina Jarvis to Tom and Diana "a Colonel John Sheppard and Dr Elizabeth Weir"

"At least we'll be able to get some answers," remarked Tom.

Chapter 4

Colonel John Sheppard and Dr Elizabeth Weir entered the building, they were told by the receptionist to wait. They were in Seattle to meet a couple of National Threat Assessment Agent's about the disappearance of their Major Lorne and NTAC's Agent Marc Garrity, who were the spitting image of each other. A man and a woman came over to them

"Colonel Sheppard and Dr Weir?" the man held out his hand "I'm Tom Baldwin, this is Diana Skouris, thank you for coming”, he said as they all shook hands.

"I understand you were the last person to see our Major Lorne," said Elizabeth to Diana

"So I understand," replied Diana as she explained to them how she had mistaken Lorne for Garrity. Elizabeth, in return, told them about her meeting with Agent Garrity, a thought struck John Sheppard

"If you mistook Lorne for Garrity do you think someone else could have?" he asked, Diana shrugged

"Maybe, what are you getting at?" she replied.

"Do you think it's possible someone kidnapped Lorne in mistake for Garrity and vice versa, our sources say your daughter warned Lorne not to stop on the Interstate, what did she mean? Did she know something was going to happen to Lorne?" said John, Diana sighed

"I don't know what Maia meant, after three years I only tend to pay attention to the important things," said Diana. John and Elizabeth exchanged looks that Diana noticed

"Oh, Maia's a 4400 she has precognitive abilities" she explained

"A what that has what?" asked John

"Maia's a 4400, she can see into the future, you must have heard of them," said Diana

"We've...ah...been away," said Elizabeth, vaguely

"Three years ago, the comet that bought four thousand four hundred people thought to have been kidnapped by aliens back, some with enhanced abilities, the whole world's heard of them" said Tom

"We really can't tell you" said Elizabeth “but is it possible to speak to your daughter". Diana nodded and led them out to the car park.

"We picked this up on the wires out of Seattle," said the younger woman handing over a bunch of papers to a woman known as Bellona, who looked over

"I owe you an apology Orcus" she said, "it seems he was telling the truth" she handed over the papers to the two men who studied them

"Whoever has Major Lorne obviously wants this Agent Garrity, make enquiries and let them know we have their man," said Orcus, the younger woman nodded and went to do their bidding.

Diana opened her front door and saw her daughter sitting at the table doing her homework

"Hi sweetie, this is John and Elizabeth, they want to ask you about what you said to the man at the gas station in Colorado, the one I thought was Agent Garrity" said Diana. Maia smiled

"Ok" she said, John pulled up a chair and sat next to her

"Now this guy your Mom thought was Garrity is a friend of mine and he's missing, do you know what's happened to him?" said John, Maia shook her head

"Sorry I don't" she replied.

"Why did you tell him not to stop on the Interstate?" asked Diana

"Because Isabel was waiting for him" said Maia

"Isabel!" said Tom and Diana

"Sweetie why didn't you say anything" said Diana as Tom pulled out his mobile and dialled

"Because she doesn't want him," said Maia.

"Who's Isabel?" asked Elizabeth

"A 4400 and bad news" said Diana. Maia smiled at John

"Don't worry, when they come you'll know what to do" she said, John looked puzzled

"They?" he asked

"The vampires" said Maia.

"Vampires" said John trying not to show how surprised he was,

"Yes, when the vampires come to the city the key will unlock itself" said Maia and went back to homework. John was dumbfounded, there was no doubt she was talking about Atlantis and the Wraith but how could she know, Maia looked at Elizabeth and smiled

"You're going to look so pretty on your wedding day," she said

"I'm not getting married," said Elizabeth in surprise

"Not yet but you will soon and you'll have pink flowers in your bouquet" said Maia. Elizabeth decided to humour her

"What kind are they? Roses?" she asked

"No, he calls them 'karafiat'" Maia said

"He? the man I'm going to marry?" asked Elizabeth, Maia nodded "I don't suppose you'll tell me who 'he' is?” Maia gave her a look that said 'Duh'

"You already know who he is”, she pointed to Elizabeth's heart with her pen "in there" she said with a smile and carried on with her homework. Elizabeth got up and went back to Diana and John

"At least she didn't tell you you were going to marry your sister's boyfriend," remarked Diana,

"How did she know about the Wraith and Atlantis, all that stuff about Vampires and the city, she had to be referring to us" whispered John, Elizabeth shrugged, her mind was still reeling after the revelations about her wedding day. Tom snapped his phone shut,

"I've got people out looking for Isabel, but if she kidnapped Lorne in mistake for Garrity then who wanted your man and got Garrity by mistake," he said

"The aliens kidnapped Agent Garrity," said Maia. All heads turned to look at her

"What do mean sweetie?" asked Diana

"Aliens have got Agent Garrity," she said again

"Do you know what these aliens look like?" asked John, Maia picked up a pencil and began to draw a picture. She turned it to show the adults, it was a picture of a snake-like reptile

"Goa'uld" said John and Elizabeth, John pulled out his mobile

"I'll call Landry and tell him the Trust are behind this," he said

"Aliens?" said Tom

"I can't explain but Garrity is in danger and we have the means to help him," said Elizabeth

"And if Isabel has Lorne and she finds out he's not Garrity things won't look good for him either" said Diana

"I think we should pay Shawn and Richard a visit, if anyone know what Isabel is up to it's them" said Tom.

Dennis Ryland and Isabel Tyler were in the office waiting for news when his secretary entered and handed over some papers,

"It looks like you're right Isabel, he is Major Lorne. Some agency in Washington called the Trust has kidnapped Garrity by mistake and is looking for Major Lorne, they are willing to trade Garrity for Lorne" said Ryland who nodded to his secretary "tell them we are willing to trade, at a neutral location" she nodded and left.

Chapter 5

Agent's Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris from NTAC and Dr Elizabeth Weir and Colonel John Sheppard from the SGC entered the front door of the 4400 centre

"I'm here to see Shawn Farrell," Tom flashed his ID to the receptionist "it's about his fiancée," he said. The receptionist picked up the phone, dialled and spoke,

"He'll be right down" the receptionist replied. The group waited and soon enough a young man descended the stairs

"Uncle Tommy" he hugged Tom and nodded a greeting to Diana "Diana, you said you wanted to talk about Isabel," he said.

"Yes, we need to talk to Richard as well" Tom turned to John and Elizabeth "this is my nephew Shawn Farrell, he runs this place, Shawn this is Colonel John Sheppard from the USAF and Dr Elizabeth Weir". They shook hands "they're here because we think there's been a case of mistaken identity involving our Agent Garrity and their Major Lorne" said Tom.

"And you think Isabel's involved?" enquired Shawn

"We think Isabel was waiting for Major Lorne on the interstate thinking he was Garrity," said Diana

"And someone who wanted Lorne got Garrity by mistake, we want to know if you know anything about this" said John

"We'd better talk in my office," said Shawn.

"I have had word from a company calling itself Haspelcorp, they have Major Lorne and they are the one's looking for this Agent Garrity, they wish to meet at a neutral location" said the Goa'uld known as Bellona

"We have no more options we will have to agree to their terms, we cannot wait much longer for implantation and to send him back to Atlantis," said Orcus

"Where do you suggest we meet?" asked a third man. Bellona consulted a map

"Iowa, it is midway between Seattle and DC " she tilted her head to one side "a town called Ottumwa, it is a place that came to my host's mind immediately, contact Haspelcorp and tell them of our decision," she said.

Dennis Ryland put down his phone and turned to Isabel

"My offer has been accepted we are meeting a group called The Trust in Ottumwa, Iowa, they have Agent Garrity and they want Major Lorne," said Ryland

"Can we trust them?" asked Isabel

"We don't have much choice the longer we leave the Promicin in Jordan's hands the less chance we have of getting it back and finding out what he's doing with it" he replied "Get Lorne, we have a long trip ahead of us".

Tom, Diana, John and Elizabeth made themselves comfortable in Shawn's office when a tall, good-looking black man entered

"This is our security head, Richard Tyler," said Shawn. Richard shook hands with John and Elizabeth, John frowned, trying to put some pieces of information together

"Richard Tyler, there was a Richard Tyler who was the first Black American pilot, he disappeared in Korea, was he a relative of yours" asked John. Richard smiled

"That was me, I was abducted like the other 4400's" he replied

"That was fifty years ago and you haven't aged a day, how is that possible, what the hell is going on with you 4400 people. A kid tells my second in command not to stop on the interstate then she tells me I'll know what to do when vampires invade the city, I want answers" said John, getting irate

"You don't know about the 4400's?" asked Shawn

"We've been away so humour me," snapped John.

"Three years ago a comet was heading for Earth, it changed course and headed for Seattle when it got here it left four thousand four hundred people, thought to have been abducted by aliens, on the shores of the lake, Richard, Maia and Shawn were among them" said Tom

"Pretty soon we realised that some of us had been changed, we had special powers, I can heal people, Maia can see into the future and Richard has telekinesis. We soon found out that we were kidnapped by the future and changed to prevent the destruction of the Earth, which, according to them, is this point in time" continued Shawn

"What has this got to do with Agent Garrity, Major Lorne and Isabel? Asked Elizabeth

"Isabel" said Richard

"Isabel is Richard's daughter," explained Diana

"We think that Isabel and Ryland have kidnapped an air force Major called Lorne in mistake for Agent Garrity, they are the spitting image of each other, Colonel Sheppard wants him back and they think they know who's got Garrity" said Tom

"I don't know what Isabel is up to," said Shawn. Richard shook his head

"I try to have as little to do with Isabel as possible," said Richard

"Why, she's your daughter," remarked Elizabeth

"She's the cause of the downfall of humanity," stated Richard. John and Elizabeth looked at each other and shrugged,

"We need to get our Major Lorne back and we need your help," said Elizabeth, Shawn looked at Richard who shrugged in a it's-your-funeral way

"If Ryland and Isabel have kidnapped this Major Lorne thinking he's Agent Garrity it's probably because they think he knows the where abouts of his promicin" said Shawn.

"Why" said Tom

"Jordan stole it, he wants to give the rest of the world a fighting chance against the future" said Shawn.

"What's promicin, a drug?" asked Elizabeth.

"Promicin is a hormone that gives a 4400 his powers, this research was carried out by a Dr Kevin Berkoff he's the only person we know who's an 'Artificial' 4400, he injected himself with Promicin and developed 4400 powers. The only source of pure promicin is Isabel because it can only be harvested from a baby and until a year ago Isabel was a baby, her growth was accelerated at the expense of her mother's life," said Shawn

"The only problem is that promicin is only successful half of the time, if it takes you get 4400 powers, if it doesn't you die" said Tom with a pointed glare at Shawn

"Why would anyone do that?" asked Sheppard

"It gives us a fifty percent better chance of survival," snapped Richard. Sheppard's phone started to ring and he got up and stood by the window to answer it

"And I thought we had problems" sighed Elizabeth, Sheppard snapped his phone shut

"That was Colonel Carter, Agent Barrett says The Trust are on the move so it's a good bet that your Isabel is too" said John.

"Where are they going?" asked Tom

"He thinks they're heading for Iowa and they've got the local force looking out for them," said John

"Shawn, are you going to help?" asked Tom, Shawn sighed

"I'll call Jordan," he said.

Lorne was bundled unceremoniously out of the trunk of a car and dragged towards the door to what looked like a cellar, his captors pushed him through it and he landed in a heap. He lay there dazed for a couple of minutes and then he saw a hand reach out to him, he grabbed it and hauled himself to his feet

"You ok?" said a voice

"Yeah I think so" he replied. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw the face of his fellow captive, a face that looked a lot like his, "you must be Garrity?" he said.

Chapter 6

"You must be Garrity?" said Major Evan Lorne. It was incredible, the man standing opposite him looked exactly the same as he did, no wonder Diana Skouris had been mistaken,

"And you've gotta be Lorne?" said Agent Marc Garrity. No wonder people had been mistaking them for each other; the Air Force Major had his face "this is weird" Lorne gave a laugh

"No kidding, people have been calling me Garrity all weekend and I thought maybe we looked vaguely similar but this...this is unreal" said Lorne

"Talking of unreal, what the hell are you mixed up in?" asked Garrity "what's the hell's Atlantis and why do those people with the weird voices want to destroy it".

"Weird voices?" asked Lorne

"Yeah, distorted somehow, they had this...device that made me feel like my brain was melting, they kept asking me for access codes to the Atlantis operating systems" Garrity replied. Lorne sighed, The Trust, how was he going to explain all this

"I can't tell you, I'm really sorry but I can't" said Lorne

"Look I've got some of the highest security clearance going, Red-9 if you must know, I know those people ain't from Earth, it doesn't take a genius to work that out" retorted Garrity, Lorne sighed.

"My clearance is Red-9 too but you've gotta keep this to yourself" Garrity nodded, one more secret wasn't going to hurt "The group that kidnapped you are called the Trust; they're controlled by a race of parasitic aliens called Goa'uld. They burrow into you and take over, the distorted voice is the alien speaking, the host is human but the Goa’uld suppresses them. Atlantis is an off world base in the Pegasus Galaxy, there is a race of life sucking aliens that want to use Earth as a new feeding ground..." said Lorne

"That would be the Wraith, right". Lorne looked surprised "those Goa'uld told me when they thought I was you" Garrity replied

"Right, the Trust have tried to destroy Atlantis once already, the Goa'uld were once master's of the universe until they got their asses kicked about 3 years ago now they're trying to rebuild their empires and don't want a load of new aliens pissing in their pool" continued Lorne

"And you live out there in Atlantis, in another galaxy?" asked Garrity incredulously. Lorne nodded and smiled

"It's a blast, apart from the Wraith, the Genii and the Asurans but it's an incredible experience, I don't regret a moment of it since I joined the expedition" he replied. Garrity didn't know whether to envy his doppelganger or not, knowing what he did about the end of the world

"You don't want to swap do you?" he joked. Lorne shook his head

"Not a chance, anyway what's the deal with that Isabel, what's promicin and who's Jordan Collier, she and some older guy kept asking me what this Jordan guy had done with their promicin, they drug runners or something?" asked Lorne. Garrity blew out a breath

"Isabel got you? Man you're lucky you're still alive, she's crazy" said Garrity

"Yeah I gathered that" replied Lorne as he remembered his time in Isabel's hands "So what's her game?”

"She's a 4400, of sorts" started Garrity

"A 4400?" asked Lorne

"I supposed you wouldn't know, being in a galaxy far, far away. About three years ago four thousand four hundred people, who the world thought had been kidnapped by aliens, were returned on the lake shores in Seattle none had aged a day. Some of them found they had some kind of special powers, anyway it turns out they were kidnapped by the future and changed to prevent the destruction of the world. Promicin is a drug or hormone that gives the 4400 their power and the only source is Isabel, she teamed up with Ryland, who used to be my boss, to produce as much of this stuff as they can" Garrity continued

"And Collier stole it, right" Garrity nods "Isabel told me as much" said Lorne

"Jordan Collier is the unofficial leader of the 4400, he used his money and influence to get them housing, jobs, an education and equal rights, I have no idea what he wants with it the only person who would know is his right-hand-man Shawn Farrell" finished Garrity.

"And they've obviously realised their mistakes and we're going to be swapped" said Lorne, Garrity nods

"Looks like it" he replied "the last thing I want is Isabel to get her hands on me"

"I'm not exactly thrilled at being handed over to the Trust" said Lorne. The two men fell into silence.

In an outbuilding on a farm, belonging to an old veteran buddy of Richard's, NTAC and the SGC were plotting how to rescue Lorne and Garrity.

"I've had a report that both parties and their captives are in position" said Agent Malcolm Barrett

"Ok, Sheppard you and Mr Tyler look for Lorne and Garrity, take a Life Signs Detector with you, SG-1 will take the front and NTAC will take the back" said Colonel Sam Carter

"Tess will go with you, let her do what she does well and no shots need be fired" said Jordan Collier, Sam looked at the frail looking girl standing just behind Jordan and frowned

"I don't think so, we can't allow Miss Doerner to join us she might get hurt" said Sam 'or get in the way' she thought to herself

"Tess will be an asset to the operation, won't you Tess" replied Collier. Tess nodded and stared at Sam who smiled and nodded²

"Yes she will, ok Tess you can join us and do what you do" said Sam.

"Ok, get into position" said Colonel Cameron Mitchell as the groups moved off.

Chapter 7

Richard Tyler and John Sheppard made their way across the field to an outbuilding where the Trust and Hasplecorps were exchanging captives. John had a Life Signs Detector with him and activated it as they got nearer to the building,

"How d'you do that?" asked Richard

"Something in the genes" replied Sheppard "It's tied to a specific gene"

"So only certain people can use it" said Richard.

"Yeah, gives us an advantage”, answered Sheppard

"Would you be willing to share?" asked Richard, Sheppard shrugged.

"No harm in asking I guess" he remarked. The LSD sprang into life and Sheppard tapped his earpiece

"Ok there are five in the front of the house and two beneath; I'm guessing they're our guy's" said John

"Thanks for the intel Sheppard" came the voice of Cameron Mitchell. John and Richard made their way to the cellar door and tapped gently

"Lorne, Lorne is that you in there?" he said.

Lorne's ears pricked up at the sound of someone outside the door

"What?" said Garrity

"Someone's out there" he whispered, Garrity made his way silently to the door while Lorne looked for something to use as a weapon,

"There's some guy out here calling your name," remarked Garrity, Lorne came to the door.

"Lorne, answer me" said John

"Sheppard?" asked Lorne, he heard a sigh

"Way to be alive buddy," John replied, "You got some guy called Garrity in there with you?"

"Yeah I'm here," said Garrity

"Great, NTAC and SG-1 should be going through the doors about now, stand back we're going to try and get the door open," said Sheppard. He started to look around for something to break the door down with but Richard stopped him

"Let me do it" he said, Richard knelt down and looking at the lock he reached out with his mind and began to move the tumblers. The door swung open and Sheppard shone a torch down into the faces of Lorne and Garrity

"Damn that's creepy," he said as he got a good look at the men below

"Tell us about it," said Garrity. Sheppard shook himself out of his daydream as he and Richard reached down to pull them out

"Great eleventh hour rescue as usual sir" quipped Lorne as Sheppard grinned

"Nothing wrong with you then" he replied.

Colonel Cameron Mitchell signalled the group to go in, doors and windows burst open, Tess Doerner stood behind them, and stared, the one human in the Trust and Dennis Ryland dropped their guns. Tom and Diana ran over to cuff them as Bellona and Orcus tried to activate their transporters, Sam fired at Bellona who managed to activate her personal shield and the bullet ricocheted off. Daniel fired a zat at Orcus a millisecond too late, he activated his communicator ,there was a flash of light and Bellona and Orcus disappeared. Sam activated her radio

"Odyssey this is Carter, the Trust have beamed away so keep an eye out for a cloaked ship," she said

"Understood, Odyssey out" came the commander's voice. Isabel spotted Jordan Collier by the door

"What have you done with my Promicin?" she yelled

"It will be used to destroy what you have started," said Jordan, Isabel raised her hand and Jordan started to choke

"Give me back the promicin," she said. A gunshot was heard and Isabel pitched forward with a bullet lodged between her shoulders, Sheppard stood at the door with his gun raised, he gasped as the flesh began to close over the wound and she got up off the floor, she was pissed

"You shouldn't have done that," she said in an even voice as she reached out and closed John's windpipe. Sheppard began to gasp for air

"Isabel stop" said Richard

"Stay out of this Daddy" she replied without looking at him, John continued to struggle for air

"Isabel don't make me stop you," said Shawn

"You can't stop me Shawn," Isabel said. Shawn made a grab for her arm but she knocked him away, Tom, Diana, and the rest of SG-1 raised their guns but Isabel swept her arm through the air and they were all flung to the ground. John collapsed to the ground struggling to breathe

"Isabel get out of here, I need you to complete what I started" said Ryland, Isabel looked at him "I'll need you to get me out of this", she nodded and ran towards another exit

"You will not stop me," she said as she headed away. As she left the remains of the NTAC/SG-1 group picked themselves up

"What the hell happened?" asked Mitchell

"Isabel happened," said Tom

"Sheppard's not breathing," yelled Sam, Mitchell tapped his earpiece

"Get a medic we have a man down," he barked

"I don't think it's going to be quick enough" Sam replied

"Shawn can you help" said Jordan. Shawn placed his hands on John's chest and concentrated

"Come on, come on, come on," he muttered.

John gave a gasp as he finally managed to get air back into his lungs, he opened his eyes to see many relieved faces looking down at him

"Ya had us worried there for a minute," said Mitchell

"Anyone get the number of that truck that hit me" John quipped

"He's ok," said Lorne with a laugh.

After a long debrief, Nina Jarvis, Jordan Collier and Jack O'Neill, agreed on a tentative alliance between Stargate Command, NTAC and the 4400's. O'Neill had said that as they were all basically in the same business, saving Earth, either from the Ori, the Goa'uld, the Wraith or the future they all needed to pool resources, everyone had agreed that working together would give them more of a weapon against their enemies.

In Tom Baldwin's garden, the group were relaxing, Tom and his partner Alana were busy making sure everyone had food and drink, Diana's boyfriend Ben was taking pictures while Diana was talking to Elizabeth, Shawn was pushing Maia on a swing and Richard was telling John about his time in the air force. Lorne and Garrity were sitting under a tree talking about life, the universe and everything. During the previous few days there had been calls to the Lorne and Garrity families asking about the possibility twins having been separated at birth but nothing had come of it, they were just one of those 'Quirks of fate' the universe threw up every so often.

"So when you back in a galaxy far, far away?" asked Marc Garrity

"The ship leaves in three weeks" replied Evan Lorne

"I'd say I wish I was going with you, but after what you told me I think I'd rather take my chances with Crazy Isabel" said Marc with a smirk

"You're seriously saying you'd give up the chance to explore planets in another galaxy," said Evan.

"No, but the soul sucking vampires and mad robots aside it sounds like it's something I'd like to try" Marc said

"I knew you couldn't resist, mind you keeping an eye on a bunch of 'X Men' and unravelling the future sounds like something I could get into," said Evan with a grin. A thought struck them both at the same time

"Do you think anyone would notice if we swapped places" said Marc.

FIN