Orpheus, by Domenika Marzione [team challenge]

[miss-porcupine.livejournal.com]

Orpheus
53000 words; genfic

Summary: In the annals of SGC history, it will forever be debated whether the decision to remove then-Major John Sheppard from the Atlantis expedition was an act of great folly or one of great fortune.

John knew that he didn't have time to be maudlin or nostalgic, but he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to be doing right now. He knew Atlantis and Atlantis knew him, but things had changed in the time he'd been away and he felt unhappy and lost with the strangeness of what had once been so intimate. He couldn't direct traffic or otherwise contribute to the Great Putting-Away because he wasn't sure where everything went anymore. He felt underfoot and useless, out of step with the pace of the city and its residents. He hadn't realized how much he'd put into this return, how much he'd anticipated it being only a good thing under terrible circumstances, and how badly he'd forgotten that you really can't go home again.

With thanks to ileliberte and vonknibble for their assistance and to the mods for holding the door open long enough for me to slip through.