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Title: The Past Always Finds You - Part Nine
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kellifer_fic
Characters: Team
Rating: PG13
Note: Prologue - the sga_flashfic entry Minor In Action
Spoilers: None.
*Thanks to my beta superfox*
Link to Part One
Summary: “Just like the good ol’ days, eh?” Rodney said, putting down the three cups of coffee he’d brought in a row before him.
Carson blinked. “Just what good ol’ days are you referring to?"
…Then…
He would never forget the screams.
Now he sat, watching over Lorne’s sleeping form and knowing that although he would risk anything to see his brother safe, he also felt like he was steadily losing parts of his soul.
“Was it bad?” Elsa sat down next to him on the makeshift chair, which was really just a log that had been rolled up to the fire. Sheppard tore his eyes away from Lorne for a moment to regard her, taking in her thinned out face and the hardness around her eyes.
“What do you think?”
“You going to tell him?”
Sheppard sighed deeply. “Of course not. He had enough…he’s blaming himself for enough already.”
They’d risked venturing into a village that looked over one of the rings of the Ancestors when the infection in Lorne’s back had only progressively gotten worse. Sheppard had gone back to try and get more of the pain medication they’d been handed upon leaving and also thank the old Healer that had helped them with a balm that she had made herself, which had halted the infection in its tracks and given Lorne a fighting chance.
The Wraith had come.
Sheppard had sat on a cliff overlooking the once idyllic valley and had watched as the Wraith had either taken or killed every inhabitant. His hands had gripped his sidearm fiercely when he had seen the Wraith put the Healer’s small cabin to the torch. He hadn’t seen the woman herself, but had assumed that she was probably already dead.
He knew he should have left then, but felt compelled to bear witness to the suffering, knowing these people deserved a lot more than just a single witness to their end, but not having anything else he could give them.
His name said raggedly yanked Sheppard out of his reverie and he rounded the fire to kneel by Lorne’s side, taking his hand and holding it to his chest. “Hey kiddo, nice of you to join us,” Sheppard said, rubbing a thumb across Lorne’s temple, who blinked blearily up at him.
“You should have left me,” Lorne said, his voice a broken whisper.
Sheppard felt ice touch his spine and he leant over and touched his lips to Lorne’s brow.
“Never,” he said.
…The not so distant Now…
Carson jerked awake when Rodney dropped into the chair next to him with a loud sigh. Radek was sprawled out in a chair behind them, snoring softly.
“Just like the good ol’ days, eh?” Rodney said, putting down the three cups of coffee he’d brought in a row before him.
Carson blinked. “Just what good ol’ days are you referring to? I have no recollection of them,” Carson said through a yawn and reached for one of the coffees. Rodney slapped his hand with a grunt.
“Get your own,” he snarled before proceeding to shotgun the first coffee and starting in on the second. Carson rolled his eyes.
“I remember a lot of days where we thought we were going to die, more than a few where you were insufferable not to mention the number of times I nearly got my ass shot off. The nostalgia is amusing but don’t kid yourself.”
Rodney thunked his head on the desk and then rolled it so he could eye Carson balefully. “It’s a sad state of affairs when I am the most positive one on the room.”
“We’ve been at this for three days and I don’t feel like we’re any closer. We’ve come far in our understanding of the Ancient technology we’re using but not nearly far enough to solve this, I’m afraid.”
“I ask you, where’s the man who braved an Iratus bug nest?” Rodney snapped, thumping his hands on the table and sitting up.
“Running and screaming like a lass,” Carson said morosely. “You’ll remember that first attempt was a big failure.”
“Ah!” Rodney held up one finger. “But the second time we got the eggs. We thought outside the box.”
“We drugged Colonel Sheppard up to the eyeballs and sent him running into the cave. I don’t think that approach is going to work here.”
“You’re being too literal! We need to try what we haven’t tried. I’m sure the answer is staring us in the face and we’re just not seeing it.” Rodney grumbled, his tone exasperated.
“Rodney, just because you want to fix this, doesn’t mean it will happen. I admire your passion but I think we’re getting to the point where we should start thinking about moving the boys to the Fioran base.”
“No,” Rodney snapped.
“Rodney-“
“I said no! I never forgave myself for giving up on them the last time and just sending them off. I’m not doing that again!” Rodney stood, his chair falling backwards. “It’s got to be here. The answer has got to be in the Ancient database!”
Radek came awake with a snort and rubbed his eyes blearily. “Is Rodney ranting again?” he asked.
“Aye,” Carson smiled.
Radek wheeled his chair over and squinted at the screen with scrolling lines of code flashing past. “What are we looking at now?”
“The medical databases from around the time of the… accident. We’re trying to see if there was anything anomalous leading up to it.”
“We know we can remove the nanites using the Asgard technology. How about if we wipe them?”
“Same problem,” Carson said, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “We’d end up with mentally five year old men.”
“But we could feasibly wipe them?” Rodney asked and Carson looked at him, his brow furrowing.
“Yes, but it would get us to the same place as removing them,” Carson argued, growing weary of the cyclical nature of Rodney’s thoughts. He was starting to worry that Rodney’s determination would turn to obsession and he wouldn’t be able to admit defeat, even when there were no other avenues to explore. Carson desperately wanted to be able to help both John and Lorne, but he’d grieved and moved past what had happened and he was now concentrating on moving two young and very nice men out of the path of danger.
He suspected Rodney was on another mission entirely, to get the old John and Lorne back which he felt pretty sure was outside their current realm of responsibility.
“Why so big?” Radek’s question broke both men out of their reveries and Rodney leaned over Radek’s shoulder to see what the other man was referring to.
“What? The medical files?” Carson asked, scooting closer as well.
“I’ve always wondered that. I mean… it’s like you have…” Rodney trailed off, his mouth hanging open and his eyes blank, the look he sometimes got when he had turned completely inward, everything within him chasing one elusive thought. As always, he snapped to life only a few short seconds later. “I need the SGC files!” he exclaimed, barrelling out of the room.
Radek and Carson turned to each other, mystified. “He hasn’t changed,” they said together.
***
“Are you going to tell us what this is about?”
Rodney had shoved technicians and scientists aside in his mad dash to send a request for information through to Earth. People on the other side had been thrown into a mad panic because the only time Atlantis called Earth was for their monthly check-ins and emergencies.
Since the monthly check-in had only been a week previous, everyone had assumed the worst. While Rodney was now hunched over his laptop, madly reading the file he’d been sent, Daniel was left to apologise and placate General Henderson who was disgruntled at his whole base being thrown into chaos for what seemed to be just a request for an old SG-1 mission report.
“In a minute.” Rodney flapped his hand dismissively at Daniel who scowled.
“I changed my mind, you can have him,” Daniel growled out of the side of his mouth at Elizabeth before turning back to the General who was positively beet-red and still yelling. He was very glad he was in another galaxy at that moment.
“What have you got?” Elizabeth asked, pulling the nearest chair over and sitting down next to Rodney. When he tried to wave her off, she just grabbed his hand and bit one of his fingers.
“Ow! How is that professional?” he snapped and Elizabeth grinned.
“Rodney, talk to us.”
“Alright. So, I did a little light reading before we came here.”
“Light as in…?”
“I read every mission report I could lay my hands on. Anyway, Doctor Jackson here,” Rodney said, jutting his chin in the direction of Daniel, “had a bunch of people shoved into his head from a downed ship. I remember this because I thought it was fascinating and a big lapse in judgment on the part of our government not to research the technology further.”
“Rodney,” Elizabeth warned, sensing he was veering off onto a tangent.
“Right, sorry. So, I’d always wondered why the medical files took up so much space on the Ancient database but I didn’t really look into very hard because you know, medical.” Rodney pulled a face and Elizabeth made a ‘get on with it’ gesture. Rodney smiled, turning fully to Elizabeth.
“It must be because every time we stick someone in that big scan-y thing that Carson loves, it records everything.”
“By everything you mean-?”
“Everything! It maps the whole mind as well as the entire body and then stores that information and only overlays it the next time that specific person is scanned. I’m sure there’s a way to delete the information once it’s no longer useful, say when someone dies or goes to another outpost and is scanned there, but we’ve never done that.”
Daniel had turned away from the yelling General to stare at Rodney in wonder. “You mean…”
“We have John Sheppard and Nic Lorne on file.”
Elizabeth was gaping openly. “I’m not sure how that helps us.”
Rodney smirked. “That’s why I’m a scientist and you’re not. They oh so helpfully have tiny little robots running around their brains that we can download to. Ever seen the Matrix?”
“They can learn Kung Fu?”
Rodney rolled his eyes at Daniel. “They can learn everything. They can learn themselves.”
Part Ten
Author:
kellifer_ficCharacters: Team
Rating: PG13
Note: Prologue - the sga_flashfic entry Minor In Action
Spoilers: None.
*Thanks to my beta superfox*
Link to Part One
Summary: “Just like the good ol’ days, eh?” Rodney said, putting down the three cups of coffee he’d brought in a row before him.
Carson blinked. “Just what good ol’ days are you referring to?"
He would never forget the screams.
Now he sat, watching over Lorne’s sleeping form and knowing that although he would risk anything to see his brother safe, he also felt like he was steadily losing parts of his soul.
“Was it bad?” Elsa sat down next to him on the makeshift chair, which was really just a log that had been rolled up to the fire. Sheppard tore his eyes away from Lorne for a moment to regard her, taking in her thinned out face and the hardness around her eyes.
“What do you think?”
“You going to tell him?”
Sheppard sighed deeply. “Of course not. He had enough…he’s blaming himself for enough already.”
They’d risked venturing into a village that looked over one of the rings of the Ancestors when the infection in Lorne’s back had only progressively gotten worse. Sheppard had gone back to try and get more of the pain medication they’d been handed upon leaving and also thank the old Healer that had helped them with a balm that she had made herself, which had halted the infection in its tracks and given Lorne a fighting chance.
The Wraith had come.
Sheppard had sat on a cliff overlooking the once idyllic valley and had watched as the Wraith had either taken or killed every inhabitant. His hands had gripped his sidearm fiercely when he had seen the Wraith put the Healer’s small cabin to the torch. He hadn’t seen the woman herself, but had assumed that she was probably already dead.
He knew he should have left then, but felt compelled to bear witness to the suffering, knowing these people deserved a lot more than just a single witness to their end, but not having anything else he could give them.
His name said raggedly yanked Sheppard out of his reverie and he rounded the fire to kneel by Lorne’s side, taking his hand and holding it to his chest. “Hey kiddo, nice of you to join us,” Sheppard said, rubbing a thumb across Lorne’s temple, who blinked blearily up at him.
“You should have left me,” Lorne said, his voice a broken whisper.
Sheppard felt ice touch his spine and he leant over and touched his lips to Lorne’s brow.
“Never,” he said.
Carson jerked awake when Rodney dropped into the chair next to him with a loud sigh. Radek was sprawled out in a chair behind them, snoring softly.
“Just like the good ol’ days, eh?” Rodney said, putting down the three cups of coffee he’d brought in a row before him.
Carson blinked. “Just what good ol’ days are you referring to? I have no recollection of them,” Carson said through a yawn and reached for one of the coffees. Rodney slapped his hand with a grunt.
“Get your own,” he snarled before proceeding to shotgun the first coffee and starting in on the second. Carson rolled his eyes.
“I remember a lot of days where we thought we were going to die, more than a few where you were insufferable not to mention the number of times I nearly got my ass shot off. The nostalgia is amusing but don’t kid yourself.”
Rodney thunked his head on the desk and then rolled it so he could eye Carson balefully. “It’s a sad state of affairs when I am the most positive one on the room.”
“We’ve been at this for three days and I don’t feel like we’re any closer. We’ve come far in our understanding of the Ancient technology we’re using but not nearly far enough to solve this, I’m afraid.”
“I ask you, where’s the man who braved an Iratus bug nest?” Rodney snapped, thumping his hands on the table and sitting up.
“Running and screaming like a lass,” Carson said morosely. “You’ll remember that first attempt was a big failure.”
“Ah!” Rodney held up one finger. “But the second time we got the eggs. We thought outside the box.”
“We drugged Colonel Sheppard up to the eyeballs and sent him running into the cave. I don’t think that approach is going to work here.”
“You’re being too literal! We need to try what we haven’t tried. I’m sure the answer is staring us in the face and we’re just not seeing it.” Rodney grumbled, his tone exasperated.
“Rodney, just because you want to fix this, doesn’t mean it will happen. I admire your passion but I think we’re getting to the point where we should start thinking about moving the boys to the Fioran base.”
“No,” Rodney snapped.
“Rodney-“
“I said no! I never forgave myself for giving up on them the last time and just sending them off. I’m not doing that again!” Rodney stood, his chair falling backwards. “It’s got to be here. The answer has got to be in the Ancient database!”
Radek came awake with a snort and rubbed his eyes blearily. “Is Rodney ranting again?” he asked.
“Aye,” Carson smiled.
Radek wheeled his chair over and squinted at the screen with scrolling lines of code flashing past. “What are we looking at now?”
“The medical databases from around the time of the… accident. We’re trying to see if there was anything anomalous leading up to it.”
“We know we can remove the nanites using the Asgard technology. How about if we wipe them?”
“Same problem,” Carson said, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “We’d end up with mentally five year old men.”
“But we could feasibly wipe them?” Rodney asked and Carson looked at him, his brow furrowing.
“Yes, but it would get us to the same place as removing them,” Carson argued, growing weary of the cyclical nature of Rodney’s thoughts. He was starting to worry that Rodney’s determination would turn to obsession and he wouldn’t be able to admit defeat, even when there were no other avenues to explore. Carson desperately wanted to be able to help both John and Lorne, but he’d grieved and moved past what had happened and he was now concentrating on moving two young and very nice men out of the path of danger.
He suspected Rodney was on another mission entirely, to get the old John and Lorne back which he felt pretty sure was outside their current realm of responsibility.
“Why so big?” Radek’s question broke both men out of their reveries and Rodney leaned over Radek’s shoulder to see what the other man was referring to.
“What? The medical files?” Carson asked, scooting closer as well.
“I’ve always wondered that. I mean… it’s like you have…” Rodney trailed off, his mouth hanging open and his eyes blank, the look he sometimes got when he had turned completely inward, everything within him chasing one elusive thought. As always, he snapped to life only a few short seconds later. “I need the SGC files!” he exclaimed, barrelling out of the room.
Radek and Carson turned to each other, mystified. “He hasn’t changed,” they said together.
“Are you going to tell us what this is about?”
Rodney had shoved technicians and scientists aside in his mad dash to send a request for information through to Earth. People on the other side had been thrown into a mad panic because the only time Atlantis called Earth was for their monthly check-ins and emergencies.
Since the monthly check-in had only been a week previous, everyone had assumed the worst. While Rodney was now hunched over his laptop, madly reading the file he’d been sent, Daniel was left to apologise and placate General Henderson who was disgruntled at his whole base being thrown into chaos for what seemed to be just a request for an old SG-1 mission report.
“In a minute.” Rodney flapped his hand dismissively at Daniel who scowled.
“I changed my mind, you can have him,” Daniel growled out of the side of his mouth at Elizabeth before turning back to the General who was positively beet-red and still yelling. He was very glad he was in another galaxy at that moment.
“What have you got?” Elizabeth asked, pulling the nearest chair over and sitting down next to Rodney. When he tried to wave her off, she just grabbed his hand and bit one of his fingers.
“Ow! How is that professional?” he snapped and Elizabeth grinned.
“Rodney, talk to us.”
“Alright. So, I did a little light reading before we came here.”
“Light as in…?”
“I read every mission report I could lay my hands on. Anyway, Doctor Jackson here,” Rodney said, jutting his chin in the direction of Daniel, “had a bunch of people shoved into his head from a downed ship. I remember this because I thought it was fascinating and a big lapse in judgment on the part of our government not to research the technology further.”
“Rodney,” Elizabeth warned, sensing he was veering off onto a tangent.
“Right, sorry. So, I’d always wondered why the medical files took up so much space on the Ancient database but I didn’t really look into very hard because you know, medical.” Rodney pulled a face and Elizabeth made a ‘get on with it’ gesture. Rodney smiled, turning fully to Elizabeth.
“It must be because every time we stick someone in that big scan-y thing that Carson loves, it records everything.”
“By everything you mean-?”
“Everything! It maps the whole mind as well as the entire body and then stores that information and only overlays it the next time that specific person is scanned. I’m sure there’s a way to delete the information once it’s no longer useful, say when someone dies or goes to another outpost and is scanned there, but we’ve never done that.”
Daniel had turned away from the yelling General to stare at Rodney in wonder. “You mean…”
“We have John Sheppard and Nic Lorne on file.”
Elizabeth was gaping openly. “I’m not sure how that helps us.”
Rodney smirked. “That’s why I’m a scientist and you’re not. They oh so helpfully have tiny little robots running around their brains that we can download to. Ever seen the Matrix?”
“They can learn Kung Fu?”
Rodney rolled his eyes at Daniel. “They can learn everything. They can learn themselves.”
Part Ten