![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: Red Sky At Dawn - Part Seven
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kellifer_fic
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis, that is,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
pegasus_b
Rating: Mild
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They come from the SciFi Original Series Stargate:Atlantis. Don't own, don't sue!
Summary - “We’re so small now, every loss is devastating,” Elizabeth murmured, low enough that Daniel suspected she’d only meant Jack to hear it.
Jack left the railing, stiff backed and seething. As he passed the control panel, he backhanded someone’s glass of water off the edge with a muttered “Dammit!”
Blood.
There was blood everywhere. It was on his shirt and coating his arms and he knew that she needed it. How much could she lose before it was too much?
John looked up and Ford was standing over him, an impatient frown on his face.
“You’d better do something about that Johnny,” Ford sighed, shaking his head.
“I can’t stop the bleeding!” he cried hoarsely.
Ford snorted. “That’s because you’re not even trying.”
A touch to his arm brought John awake with a start. He hadn’t even realized he’d dozed off and that was dangerous. He looked up into Teyla’s concerned gaze.
He’d hunkered down under a huge sprawling tree that reminded him of the ancient oaks on his Uncle’s farm. Rodney had still been futzing with the mysterious machine and Teresa, Chee and Frakes were all walking the perimeter. He’d taken up position in a shady spot that had a good view of the ‘gate and… jesus… he’d fallen asleep.
“Are you well?” Teyla asked, her tone kind.
John scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m okay, just should be court-martialed is all,” he sighed. Teyla’s brows drew down in confusion and John waved a dismissive hand. “Falling asleep on duty. Real classy.”
Teyla sunk down onto her knees next to him, swinging her P-90 to the side and reaching out for his hands. He let her take them, feeling like he needed to be grounded. “It has been two hours and there has been no activity. Plus, you have not been sleeping well.”
John canted his head, really looking at Teyla for the first time in days. She had dark circles under her eyes and there was strain in her features. John wasn’t aware that he had been having bad nights which meant he’d been deep in nightmares again, which alsomeant that Teyla probably wasn’t sleeping at all.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
Teyla shrugged, a gentle lift of one sun bronzed shoulder. “I did not want to worry you. You seemed to forget the dreams upon waking and I was hoping they would pass. They have not been this bad in a while.”
John released one of her hands to trace Teyla’s jaw with a thumb. “So you worried for the both of us? I don’t remember that being the deal,” he admonished gently.
“What deal?”
“Oh, I don’t know. We had this party and a ceremony, not sure you remember it,” Teyla grinned, nodding. “Yeah, well, I seem to remember some nice words about being equal in all things, including the bad stuff.” There was a look on Teyla’s face that John didn’t recognize and he thought he had had them all mapped out. It looked almost as if she were deciding whether to tell him something or not, a rare thing since he assumed that she told him everything… usually.
“John-“
“Major Sheppard!” Rodney’s shrill cry broke into their conversation. John was on his feet in seconds and running towards the madly gesticulating scientist, Teyla on his heels. John caught sight of Teresa out of the corner of his eye running towards them from the opposite direction but couldn’t see either Frakes or Chee.
“What is it McKay?” John exclaimed when he got close. He could see the screen that Rodney was now pointing at and it looked like lines of code or something else was streaming across it.
Something vaguely familiar.
“We’ve got-“
Rodney didn’t have to finish his sentence. The first chevron on the gate clunked into place, which meant someone was remote dialing. The high-pitched whine of a dart shattered the afternoon quiet.
“Chee, Frakes, fall back to the ‘gate. We’ve got Wraith incoming!” John called into his radio. He waited a few heartbeats and then thumbed the radio again. “Acknowledge goddamit!” he yelled as the background whine changed pitch, the pilot in John recognizing a ship changing course.
“I’m trying…I’m trying… I’m trying…” Rodney was breathing behind him, over and over again like a prayer. The Wraith dart cleared the treeline and John watched in horrified fascination as it bore down on their position.
“Make for cover!” John called, shoving Teyla in the opposite direction. He had run only a few metres before he noticed Rodney wasn’t behind him. John spun and saw that Rodney was still at his terminal, tapping away madly at keys.
“McKay, what the fuck are you doing?” he screamed as he raced back. He made a grab for Rodney but the scientist dodged him while still typing, displaying a heretofore-undiscovered agility.
“I’m saving us!” Rodney snapped back. At that moment Rodney smacked the keyboard and let out a triumphant “Ha!”
John heard it first. The dart’s pitch changed again, petering off to a low drone before dying entirely. He watched, fascinated, as the dart sailed silently over their heads, the ‘gate and crashed into the field beyond. The concussion of the impact rocked him on his heels.
“Yes!” Rodney was yelling in triumph and doing a weird little dance in front of the machine. Teyla was making her slow way back, flanked by Teresa, both looking mystified.
“What did you do?” John breathed.
He finally spotted Frakes, running towards them and waving his arms. John thought for a crazy second that Frakes was doing an imitation of Rodney’s dance until Frakes got closer and he could see how pale and terrified the man looked.
John looked back towards the column of black smoke beyond the ‘gate and then at Rodney.
Rodney looked back at the lone Frakes running towards them and all colour drained from his face.
“No, oh no,” he moaned.
~*~
“So, you’re not the Ancestors but you live in their city.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But some of you are descended from the Ancestors. Have a…?”
“Gene that allows us to use their technology, yes.”
“Weird.”
Daniel smirked, slouching further in the chair he was occupying. They were both now in Daniel’s room and as they chatted, Ronon prowled the space, taking a book off the shelf here, touching a knick-knack there. After so long by himself and on the run, the relative mundanity of Daniel’s belongings seemed endlessly fascinating.
“You must be wealthy,” Ronon remarked and Daniel blinked at him.
“Ah, not really, no. Why do you say that?”
Ronon paused on his fourth lap of the room and picked up one of the volumes from a pile on the floor about thirty books high. He stroked the spine almost reverentially before clasping it to his chest. “You have so many books. On Sateda they’re rare and valuable. Is that not the case on your world?”
Daniel tried not to betray the fact that he was elated that Ronon had just revealed something of himself. He steered away from the burning questions he was dying to ask and instead shrugged, dropping his feet onto the other chair in the room. “Some are. Those are just language books, not really worth much.”
Ronon looked down at the book in his arms and then placed it back on the pile carefully. He rolled his shoulders and then windmilled his arms. “I think I need to go for a run. Can you explain to my minders that I’m not actually running away from them?”
Daniel smirked. “Sure,”
Ronon nodded in thanks and ambled out of the room.
Daniel launched himself off the chair and headed for Elizabeth’s office and the ‘gate room, hoping to catch Teyla on her return and ask her if she had ever heard of Sateda.
~*~
Daniel slowed to a walk when he hit the control room, noting an unusually large number of people gathered. Elizabeth and Jack were standing at the balcony, overlooking the ‘gate, side by side.
The mood all around was somber. Daniel approached the railing and leant his forearms on the edge, leaning into Jack’s line of sight. The man’s face was drawn, almost closed down.
“What’s happened?” he asked in a low voice.
Jack’s eyes slid sideways, acknowledging Daniel’s presence before ticking back to the ‘gate. “We lost someone,” he said, his voice pitched to match Daniel’s. Elizabeth leaned behind Jack to offer Daniel a wan smile.
Daniel’s first thought was Rodney, quickly followed by John and as if sensing his distress, Jack’s hand came up and squeezed his elbow lightly. Daniel remembered his uncharitable thoughts of pitching Jack into the ocean and realized despite whatever else had happened, beside him stood a good man .
“We don’t know much, but it was Major Sheppard that radioed through,” Jack said just as the first chevron activated.
Teyla was first through the ‘gate, followed by Rodney and Daniel released the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. John was next with Teresa, lugging a large black box between them. Frakes passed through the event horizon and it winked out.
“Who-?” Daniel started.
“Lieutenant Chee.” Jack breathed, looking at Elizabeth.
Daniel felt something knot at the base of his stomach. Lanky, black haired and green eyed Chee who had always called him Doctor J and snuck him extra desserts. Daniel let his head drop to the railing on top of his hands, suddenly feeling very tired.
“We’re so small now, every loss is devastating,” Elizabeth murmured, low enough that Daniel suspected she’d only meant Jack to hear it.
Jack left the railing, stiff backed and seething. As he passed the control panel, he backhanded someone’s glass of water off the edge with a muttered “Dammit!”
~*~
When he’d calmed down, Jack returned to the rooms he shared with Rodney and found him there, face down on the bed with his fingers laced over his head. The man’s shoulders were shaking and Jack realized that he must have been crying. Jack hesitated in the doorway for a moment, torn.
He stepped into the room quietly, thinking the door shut when he’d cleared it and dropped down onto the bed next to Rodney’s legs, hand touching the back of Rodney’s knee gently.
“I was so sure,” Rodney said, his voice muffled by the pillow his face was buried in. Jack stood and scooped his hands under Rodney’s shoulders, manhandling him over onto his back. Rodney turned his face away but Jack reached out and framed his face with his palms.
“You can’t-“
“He was, what, all of twenty seven years old and I killed him!” Rodney’s face scrunched down and Jack sat back onto the bed again, pulling Rodney into his arms. Rodney struggled for a moment but then subsided, clinging to Jack’s shirt, balling the material in his fists. “How can I… how could I… god!” Rodney’s voice cracked on the last exhalation and Jack held him closer.
“You saved five people, including yourself. Lieutenant Chee was saved from a horrendous and torturous death at the hands of the Wraith.” Jack stroked Rodney’s back in what he hoped were soothing circles. “Don’t you dare quit on me now, McKay.” Jack swallowed roughly. “I need you, dammit.”
Rodney subsided, his hands finally relaxing. Ten minutes later, he had lapsed into a fitful sleep.
Jack still held on.
~*~
John stepped into his room, shrugging off his field vest. He had planned to take a quick shower before heading back to the briefing room to explain to Elizabeth just what had happened, even though he wasn’t completely sure yet. Rodney was to meet them later but he understood the man’s need for a little time.
He knew Rodney would be blaming himself for Chee’s death and hoped that someone was able to talk him out of it.
The sound of a safety being thumbed off had John rigid, hands out and eyes scanning the room for a weapon within reach. The sound had come from behind, just to the left of his door. John turned slowly, his body making the full revolution before his head and his eyes finally came to rest on a filthy and bedraggled figure.
A man he recognized and had fervently hoped he would never see again because he had wanted to kill him.
“Zorin, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” John demanded.
Zorin had been the less than agile Jumper pilot who had deserted their defensive line when they were last attacked by the Wraith. He had taken his ship to the main land and had hidden himself there. John supposed it was naive to think that the man would stay hidden forever.
“You need to get me through the ‘gate. Anywhere, I don’t care.” Zorin said. His movements were twitchy and the gun jittered alarmingly in his hand.
“The only place you’re going is the brig,” John snarled, knowing he was at a disadvantage but hoping to bravado his way through the situation. This hope was short-lived as Teyla stepped through the doorway behind Zorin, nearly walking straight into him.
John made a lunge for him but Zorin, pitched off balance, made a blind grab and ended up with a hand around Teyla’s neck, the gun knocking against her temple. “No, back off!” he yelled, baring his teeth.
“Now, you’re going to get me the hell off this planet.” Zorin repeated, tapping Teyla’s temple with the gun again for emphasis.
Part Eight
Author:
kellifer_ficFandom: Stargate: Atlantis, that is,
pegasus_bRating: Mild
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They come from the SciFi Original Series Stargate:Atlantis. Don't own, don't sue!
Summary - “We’re so small now, every loss is devastating,” Elizabeth murmured, low enough that Daniel suspected she’d only meant Jack to hear it.
Jack left the railing, stiff backed and seething. As he passed the control panel, he backhanded someone’s glass of water off the edge with a muttered “Dammit!”
Blood.
There was blood everywhere. It was on his shirt and coating his arms and he knew that she needed it. How much could she lose before it was too much?
John looked up and Ford was standing over him, an impatient frown on his face.
“You’d better do something about that Johnny,” Ford sighed, shaking his head.
“I can’t stop the bleeding!” he cried hoarsely.
Ford snorted. “That’s because you’re not even trying.”
A touch to his arm brought John awake with a start. He hadn’t even realized he’d dozed off and that was dangerous. He looked up into Teyla’s concerned gaze.
He’d hunkered down under a huge sprawling tree that reminded him of the ancient oaks on his Uncle’s farm. Rodney had still been futzing with the mysterious machine and Teresa, Chee and Frakes were all walking the perimeter. He’d taken up position in a shady spot that had a good view of the ‘gate and… jesus… he’d fallen asleep.
“Are you well?” Teyla asked, her tone kind.
John scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m okay, just should be court-martialed is all,” he sighed. Teyla’s brows drew down in confusion and John waved a dismissive hand. “Falling asleep on duty. Real classy.”
Teyla sunk down onto her knees next to him, swinging her P-90 to the side and reaching out for his hands. He let her take them, feeling like he needed to be grounded. “It has been two hours and there has been no activity. Plus, you have not been sleeping well.”
John canted his head, really looking at Teyla for the first time in days. She had dark circles under her eyes and there was strain in her features. John wasn’t aware that he had been having bad nights which meant he’d been deep in nightmares again, which alsomeant that Teyla probably wasn’t sleeping at all.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
Teyla shrugged, a gentle lift of one sun bronzed shoulder. “I did not want to worry you. You seemed to forget the dreams upon waking and I was hoping they would pass. They have not been this bad in a while.”
John released one of her hands to trace Teyla’s jaw with a thumb. “So you worried for the both of us? I don’t remember that being the deal,” he admonished gently.
“What deal?”
“Oh, I don’t know. We had this party and a ceremony, not sure you remember it,” Teyla grinned, nodding. “Yeah, well, I seem to remember some nice words about being equal in all things, including the bad stuff.” There was a look on Teyla’s face that John didn’t recognize and he thought he had had them all mapped out. It looked almost as if she were deciding whether to tell him something or not, a rare thing since he assumed that she told him everything… usually.
“John-“
“Major Sheppard!” Rodney’s shrill cry broke into their conversation. John was on his feet in seconds and running towards the madly gesticulating scientist, Teyla on his heels. John caught sight of Teresa out of the corner of his eye running towards them from the opposite direction but couldn’t see either Frakes or Chee.
“What is it McKay?” John exclaimed when he got close. He could see the screen that Rodney was now pointing at and it looked like lines of code or something else was streaming across it.
Something vaguely familiar.
“We’ve got-“
Rodney didn’t have to finish his sentence. The first chevron on the gate clunked into place, which meant someone was remote dialing. The high-pitched whine of a dart shattered the afternoon quiet.
“Chee, Frakes, fall back to the ‘gate. We’ve got Wraith incoming!” John called into his radio. He waited a few heartbeats and then thumbed the radio again. “Acknowledge goddamit!” he yelled as the background whine changed pitch, the pilot in John recognizing a ship changing course.
“I’m trying…I’m trying… I’m trying…” Rodney was breathing behind him, over and over again like a prayer. The Wraith dart cleared the treeline and John watched in horrified fascination as it bore down on their position.
“Make for cover!” John called, shoving Teyla in the opposite direction. He had run only a few metres before he noticed Rodney wasn’t behind him. John spun and saw that Rodney was still at his terminal, tapping away madly at keys.
“McKay, what the fuck are you doing?” he screamed as he raced back. He made a grab for Rodney but the scientist dodged him while still typing, displaying a heretofore-undiscovered agility.
“I’m saving us!” Rodney snapped back. At that moment Rodney smacked the keyboard and let out a triumphant “Ha!”
John heard it first. The dart’s pitch changed again, petering off to a low drone before dying entirely. He watched, fascinated, as the dart sailed silently over their heads, the ‘gate and crashed into the field beyond. The concussion of the impact rocked him on his heels.
“Yes!” Rodney was yelling in triumph and doing a weird little dance in front of the machine. Teyla was making her slow way back, flanked by Teresa, both looking mystified.
“What did you do?” John breathed.
He finally spotted Frakes, running towards them and waving his arms. John thought for a crazy second that Frakes was doing an imitation of Rodney’s dance until Frakes got closer and he could see how pale and terrified the man looked.
John looked back towards the column of black smoke beyond the ‘gate and then at Rodney.
Rodney looked back at the lone Frakes running towards them and all colour drained from his face.
“No, oh no,” he moaned.
~*~
“So, you’re not the Ancestors but you live in their city.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But some of you are descended from the Ancestors. Have a…?”
“Gene that allows us to use their technology, yes.”
“Weird.”
Daniel smirked, slouching further in the chair he was occupying. They were both now in Daniel’s room and as they chatted, Ronon prowled the space, taking a book off the shelf here, touching a knick-knack there. After so long by himself and on the run, the relative mundanity of Daniel’s belongings seemed endlessly fascinating.
“You must be wealthy,” Ronon remarked and Daniel blinked at him.
“Ah, not really, no. Why do you say that?”
Ronon paused on his fourth lap of the room and picked up one of the volumes from a pile on the floor about thirty books high. He stroked the spine almost reverentially before clasping it to his chest. “You have so many books. On Sateda they’re rare and valuable. Is that not the case on your world?”
Daniel tried not to betray the fact that he was elated that Ronon had just revealed something of himself. He steered away from the burning questions he was dying to ask and instead shrugged, dropping his feet onto the other chair in the room. “Some are. Those are just language books, not really worth much.”
Ronon looked down at the book in his arms and then placed it back on the pile carefully. He rolled his shoulders and then windmilled his arms. “I think I need to go for a run. Can you explain to my minders that I’m not actually running away from them?”
Daniel smirked. “Sure,”
Ronon nodded in thanks and ambled out of the room.
Daniel launched himself off the chair and headed for Elizabeth’s office and the ‘gate room, hoping to catch Teyla on her return and ask her if she had ever heard of Sateda.
~*~
Daniel slowed to a walk when he hit the control room, noting an unusually large number of people gathered. Elizabeth and Jack were standing at the balcony, overlooking the ‘gate, side by side.
The mood all around was somber. Daniel approached the railing and leant his forearms on the edge, leaning into Jack’s line of sight. The man’s face was drawn, almost closed down.
“What’s happened?” he asked in a low voice.
Jack’s eyes slid sideways, acknowledging Daniel’s presence before ticking back to the ‘gate. “We lost someone,” he said, his voice pitched to match Daniel’s. Elizabeth leaned behind Jack to offer Daniel a wan smile.
Daniel’s first thought was Rodney, quickly followed by John and as if sensing his distress, Jack’s hand came up and squeezed his elbow lightly. Daniel remembered his uncharitable thoughts of pitching Jack into the ocean and realized despite whatever else had happened, beside him stood a good man .
“We don’t know much, but it was Major Sheppard that radioed through,” Jack said just as the first chevron activated.
Teyla was first through the ‘gate, followed by Rodney and Daniel released the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. John was next with Teresa, lugging a large black box between them. Frakes passed through the event horizon and it winked out.
“Who-?” Daniel started.
“Lieutenant Chee.” Jack breathed, looking at Elizabeth.
Daniel felt something knot at the base of his stomach. Lanky, black haired and green eyed Chee who had always called him Doctor J and snuck him extra desserts. Daniel let his head drop to the railing on top of his hands, suddenly feeling very tired.
“We’re so small now, every loss is devastating,” Elizabeth murmured, low enough that Daniel suspected she’d only meant Jack to hear it.
Jack left the railing, stiff backed and seething. As he passed the control panel, he backhanded someone’s glass of water off the edge with a muttered “Dammit!”
~*~
When he’d calmed down, Jack returned to the rooms he shared with Rodney and found him there, face down on the bed with his fingers laced over his head. The man’s shoulders were shaking and Jack realized that he must have been crying. Jack hesitated in the doorway for a moment, torn.
He stepped into the room quietly, thinking the door shut when he’d cleared it and dropped down onto the bed next to Rodney’s legs, hand touching the back of Rodney’s knee gently.
“I was so sure,” Rodney said, his voice muffled by the pillow his face was buried in. Jack stood and scooped his hands under Rodney’s shoulders, manhandling him over onto his back. Rodney turned his face away but Jack reached out and framed his face with his palms.
“You can’t-“
“He was, what, all of twenty seven years old and I killed him!” Rodney’s face scrunched down and Jack sat back onto the bed again, pulling Rodney into his arms. Rodney struggled for a moment but then subsided, clinging to Jack’s shirt, balling the material in his fists. “How can I… how could I… god!” Rodney’s voice cracked on the last exhalation and Jack held him closer.
“You saved five people, including yourself. Lieutenant Chee was saved from a horrendous and torturous death at the hands of the Wraith.” Jack stroked Rodney’s back in what he hoped were soothing circles. “Don’t you dare quit on me now, McKay.” Jack swallowed roughly. “I need you, dammit.”
Rodney subsided, his hands finally relaxing. Ten minutes later, he had lapsed into a fitful sleep.
Jack still held on.
~*~
John stepped into his room, shrugging off his field vest. He had planned to take a quick shower before heading back to the briefing room to explain to Elizabeth just what had happened, even though he wasn’t completely sure yet. Rodney was to meet them later but he understood the man’s need for a little time.
He knew Rodney would be blaming himself for Chee’s death and hoped that someone was able to talk him out of it.
The sound of a safety being thumbed off had John rigid, hands out and eyes scanning the room for a weapon within reach. The sound had come from behind, just to the left of his door. John turned slowly, his body making the full revolution before his head and his eyes finally came to rest on a filthy and bedraggled figure.
A man he recognized and had fervently hoped he would never see again because he had wanted to kill him.
“Zorin, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” John demanded.
Zorin had been the less than agile Jumper pilot who had deserted their defensive line when they were last attacked by the Wraith. He had taken his ship to the main land and had hidden himself there. John supposed it was naive to think that the man would stay hidden forever.
“You need to get me through the ‘gate. Anywhere, I don’t care.” Zorin said. His movements were twitchy and the gun jittered alarmingly in his hand.
“The only place you’re going is the brig,” John snarled, knowing he was at a disadvantage but hoping to bravado his way through the situation. This hope was short-lived as Teyla stepped through the doorway behind Zorin, nearly walking straight into him.
John made a lunge for him but Zorin, pitched off balance, made a blind grab and ended up with a hand around Teyla’s neck, the gun knocking against her temple. “No, back off!” he yelled, baring his teeth.
“Now, you’re going to get me the hell off this planet.” Zorin repeated, tapping Teyla’s temple with the gun again for emphasis.
Part Eight
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