fic: the first twenty minutes
Title: the first twenty minutes
Prompt: first
Word Count: 1400
Rating: t
Original/Fandom: Stargate:Atlantis/X-Men(Wolverine:Origins)
Pairings (if any): ...
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/Underage): ...
Summary: Weapon X goes the distance.
Edited
Colonel William Stryker was a military-minded man all about gold, glory, and…well, not so much God. His sole task in life, it seemed, was to achieve his own agendas which seemed to have everyone within the sound of his voice acknowledge some inherent superiority and obey him. The man was always a condescending pratt, but since the U.S government had chosen him and his 'special' team - his Weapon X - for a high profile, very top secret expedition mission, his ego had doubled as the days went by.
His pride wasn't completely unwarranted. Colonel Stryker commanded a rather elite strike force of skilled and colorful soldiers. They stood out as an odd, ragtag group among Army camouflage, Air Force blue, and drab gray and tan of the scientists from twelve different countries. The only ones who actually looked as if they belonged to any military branch was an Asian man in a green jumpsuit and a baby-faced blond. The other four apparently adopted their own brand of uniform: casual warfare. One even wore a cowboy hat.
While the rest of the expedition rushed around them in a whirlwind of activity and preparation, they stood and watched. Loading cargo was not in their job description, and none of the other personnel seemed inclined to bother the newcomers, one of whom was twirling a foot-long knife like it was a baton.
"Am I the only excited here?" he asked his team in general, knife spinning faster around his hand.
"Don't start, Wilson," John Wraith, cowboy, warned.
"What? It's a legitimate question, and I was only wondering, who else is excited. I took this job so I could travel to new places and meet interesting people."
"I thought you joined to avoid a prison sentence," Chris Bradley, the baby face, interjected.
"Zero, I know you are," Wade Wilson said to the Asian, completely ignoring the youngest member of the six man team. "Whole new galaxy with new species of humanoid life forms to shoot. Must be a dream come true."
"Keep talking," he said, standing at attention and not sparing him a glance, "and you'll get to be the first to make my dream happen."
A mischievous gleam entered Wade's eyes. He threw the knife at Zero. The marksman caught the blade by the handle as its owner snickered. Taking the knife more firmly in hand, he was about to drive it into the other's man head when John grabbed his shoulder.
"Easy, boys. Ya gonna kill each other, wait 'til there's less witnesses."
Zero only had his murderous glare trained on Wilson and returned the knife in the same matter given. Wade plucked it out of the air easily and slid it into its sheath.
"Aim was a little wide there, Shooter. Guess guns are the only thing you're good at."
"Boy, I saved your life once today," John said, backing away from both of them, "I suggest you shut your mouth 'cause I got no intention of doin' it again."
The other two members who'd remained quiet all the while glanced at one another. The tallest at six foot six, Victor seemed resignedly amused by them. He had to be that or homicidally irritated. Logan, shorter by a foot, rolled his head, popping vertebra and inching closer to the former emotion. His half-brother watched him, waiting for him to make the first move before he followed cue. That way, when Stryker was whining about the blood and everything, he could blame it on 'instinctive reaction', a tried and true excuse.
"Can I have everyone's attention, please?" a woman shouted and came to stand on the platform leading up to the Stargate, saving an untold number of lives. A drone vehicle sat idle behind her.
She went on to give a rousing speech, crediting their various cultures and bravery. Within Weapon X, they expressed varying degrees of interest in the speech that reflected the general reaction of the rest of the crowd. Chris was appropriately attentive like a proper cadet while the two brothers did a good impression of listening. Zero glared at Wade, willing his hostility to become some kind of dark spectre and set the other man ablaze who paid the speech attention when he wasn't distracted by picking the dirt from under his nails and ignoring being glared. John was busy making sure none of them stabbed or shot anyone, each other included.
"…as all of you know, we may never be able to return home."
That got Wade's attention. He frowned and looked to his comrades.
"That was not in the briefing. I am not okay with this. If I knew this was gonna be permanent, I woulda gotten more Golden Girls material on my ipod."
He was summarily ignored.
"I'd like to offer you all one last chance to withdraw your participation."
His hand eased up. Colonel Stryker caught his eye and stared him down. He lowered his hand and pouted. No one backed down. The woman, Dr. Weir, looked over them all with a pleased smile.
"Begin the dialing sequence," she said and stepped down from the platform.
The room was once again a flurry of activity and excitement, and this time, they added a siren to the cacophony. Above it all, something drew Victor's attention, and he nudged Logan. Wade watched them watch - and presumably listen - to the colonel deliver some kind of warning - Wade was very experienced with that expression - to an Air Force officer with boy band hair. Whatever his reply was made Logan and Victor snicker. And if something made those two laugh, it was probably epic. (If something ever made Zero laugh, a lot of people had probably just died.) Wade had just found out that he might be cut off from the entirety of his Bea Arthur collection; he needed a laugh right now.
"What just happened? What'd he say?"
"Go ask," Logan answered, jerking his head directionally.
Wade assumed he meant ask the flyboy because asking the colonel would have resulted in a particular manner of undue punishment over a little bout of harmless curiosity. Before he could, the colonel signaled for them to come, and there was no way for him to ask without Stryker glaring at him. So he went, like a good soldier, with much grumbling under his breath and helped strap on the colonel's gear, somehow able to keep his mouth shut during that at least.
Circles spun within the bigger circle that was the Stargate. Lights glowed from it, and the buzzer kept blaring. After a few minutes, it geared up with a mechanical whine, and the circle changed from an arc through which the wall could be seen to a blue mass. A surge of cerulean energy surged out of it like a fist of water, only to be quickly sucked back in, and it stabilized into a window of liquid blue. The room erupted in cheers and applause while most of the Weapon X team remained impassive.
"Yeah," Wade muttered. "That's not weird and unnatural at all. No offense, guys."
Much of his excitement had been stifled by the news of their probably never returning. Nothing killed his mood more than Bea withdrawal. (Except for taco joints getting blown up and bad chimichangas.)
Chris, as the newbie, was suitably awed by the display.
The drone vehicle was sent through, and everyone waited anxiously for the word to proceed. It only took mintues before Colonel Stryker was barking orders, having been given the go by central command. Naturally, Weapon X was set to go through the gate first.
"Nervous?" Wade asked Chris, noticing his fleeting glances for the exit sign.
"We're about to jump through a portal that's supposed to send us to another planet in another galaxy that we probably won't be able to use to get back home. Why should I be nervous?"
"That's the spirit!"
Dr. Weir announced that they'd be going in together, and to his surprise, the colonel allowed it. Logan and Victor eyed her from behind appreciatively, and Chris nodded to her while John touched the brim of his hat. Wade and Zero paid her no mind, both focused on the feel and heft of their respective weapons in hand.
Dr. Weir stood at the gate and looked back with a final nod of farewell. None of the members Weapon X never even thought to. They stepped through.
Prompt: first
Word Count: 1400
Rating: t
Original/Fandom: Stargate:Atlantis/X-Men(Wolverine:Origins)
Pairings (if any): ...
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/Underage): ...
Summary: Weapon X goes the distance.
Edited
Colonel William Stryker was a military-minded man all about gold, glory, and…well, not so much God. His sole task in life, it seemed, was to achieve his own agendas which seemed to have everyone within the sound of his voice acknowledge some inherent superiority and obey him. The man was always a condescending pratt, but since the U.S government had chosen him and his 'special' team - his Weapon X - for a high profile, very top secret expedition mission, his ego had doubled as the days went by.
His pride wasn't completely unwarranted. Colonel Stryker commanded a rather elite strike force of skilled and colorful soldiers. They stood out as an odd, ragtag group among Army camouflage, Air Force blue, and drab gray and tan of the scientists from twelve different countries. The only ones who actually looked as if they belonged to any military branch was an Asian man in a green jumpsuit and a baby-faced blond. The other four apparently adopted their own brand of uniform: casual warfare. One even wore a cowboy hat.
While the rest of the expedition rushed around them in a whirlwind of activity and preparation, they stood and watched. Loading cargo was not in their job description, and none of the other personnel seemed inclined to bother the newcomers, one of whom was twirling a foot-long knife like it was a baton.
"Am I the only excited here?" he asked his team in general, knife spinning faster around his hand.
"Don't start, Wilson," John Wraith, cowboy, warned.
"What? It's a legitimate question, and I was only wondering, who else is excited. I took this job so I could travel to new places and meet interesting people."
"I thought you joined to avoid a prison sentence," Chris Bradley, the baby face, interjected.
"Zero, I know you are," Wade Wilson said to the Asian, completely ignoring the youngest member of the six man team. "Whole new galaxy with new species of humanoid life forms to shoot. Must be a dream come true."
"Keep talking," he said, standing at attention and not sparing him a glance, "and you'll get to be the first to make my dream happen."
A mischievous gleam entered Wade's eyes. He threw the knife at Zero. The marksman caught the blade by the handle as its owner snickered. Taking the knife more firmly in hand, he was about to drive it into the other's man head when John grabbed his shoulder.
"Easy, boys. Ya gonna kill each other, wait 'til there's less witnesses."
Zero only had his murderous glare trained on Wilson and returned the knife in the same matter given. Wade plucked it out of the air easily and slid it into its sheath.
"Aim was a little wide there, Shooter. Guess guns are the only thing you're good at."
"Boy, I saved your life once today," John said, backing away from both of them, "I suggest you shut your mouth 'cause I got no intention of doin' it again."
The other two members who'd remained quiet all the while glanced at one another. The tallest at six foot six, Victor seemed resignedly amused by them. He had to be that or homicidally irritated. Logan, shorter by a foot, rolled his head, popping vertebra and inching closer to the former emotion. His half-brother watched him, waiting for him to make the first move before he followed cue. That way, when Stryker was whining about the blood and everything, he could blame it on 'instinctive reaction', a tried and true excuse.
"Can I have everyone's attention, please?" a woman shouted and came to stand on the platform leading up to the Stargate, saving an untold number of lives. A drone vehicle sat idle behind her.
She went on to give a rousing speech, crediting their various cultures and bravery. Within Weapon X, they expressed varying degrees of interest in the speech that reflected the general reaction of the rest of the crowd. Chris was appropriately attentive like a proper cadet while the two brothers did a good impression of listening. Zero glared at Wade, willing his hostility to become some kind of dark spectre and set the other man ablaze who paid the speech attention when he wasn't distracted by picking the dirt from under his nails and ignoring being glared. John was busy making sure none of them stabbed or shot anyone, each other included.
"…as all of you know, we may never be able to return home."
That got Wade's attention. He frowned and looked to his comrades.
"That was not in the briefing. I am not okay with this. If I knew this was gonna be permanent, I woulda gotten more Golden Girls material on my ipod."
He was summarily ignored.
"I'd like to offer you all one last chance to withdraw your participation."
His hand eased up. Colonel Stryker caught his eye and stared him down. He lowered his hand and pouted. No one backed down. The woman, Dr. Weir, looked over them all with a pleased smile.
"Begin the dialing sequence," she said and stepped down from the platform.
The room was once again a flurry of activity and excitement, and this time, they added a siren to the cacophony. Above it all, something drew Victor's attention, and he nudged Logan. Wade watched them watch - and presumably listen - to the colonel deliver some kind of warning - Wade was very experienced with that expression - to an Air Force officer with boy band hair. Whatever his reply was made Logan and Victor snicker. And if something made those two laugh, it was probably epic. (If something ever made Zero laugh, a lot of people had probably just died.) Wade had just found out that he might be cut off from the entirety of his Bea Arthur collection; he needed a laugh right now.
"What just happened? What'd he say?"
"Go ask," Logan answered, jerking his head directionally.
Wade assumed he meant ask the flyboy because asking the colonel would have resulted in a particular manner of undue punishment over a little bout of harmless curiosity. Before he could, the colonel signaled for them to come, and there was no way for him to ask without Stryker glaring at him. So he went, like a good soldier, with much grumbling under his breath and helped strap on the colonel's gear, somehow able to keep his mouth shut during that at least.
Circles spun within the bigger circle that was the Stargate. Lights glowed from it, and the buzzer kept blaring. After a few minutes, it geared up with a mechanical whine, and the circle changed from an arc through which the wall could be seen to a blue mass. A surge of cerulean energy surged out of it like a fist of water, only to be quickly sucked back in, and it stabilized into a window of liquid blue. The room erupted in cheers and applause while most of the Weapon X team remained impassive.
"Yeah," Wade muttered. "That's not weird and unnatural at all. No offense, guys."
Much of his excitement had been stifled by the news of their probably never returning. Nothing killed his mood more than Bea withdrawal. (Except for taco joints getting blown up and bad chimichangas.)
Chris, as the newbie, was suitably awed by the display.
The drone vehicle was sent through, and everyone waited anxiously for the word to proceed. It only took mintues before Colonel Stryker was barking orders, having been given the go by central command. Naturally, Weapon X was set to go through the gate first.
"Nervous?" Wade asked Chris, noticing his fleeting glances for the exit sign.
"We're about to jump through a portal that's supposed to send us to another planet in another galaxy that we probably won't be able to use to get back home. Why should I be nervous?"
"That's the spirit!"
Dr. Weir announced that they'd be going in together, and to his surprise, the colonel allowed it. Logan and Victor eyed her from behind appreciatively, and Chris nodded to her while John touched the brim of his hat. Wade and Zero paid her no mind, both focused on the feel and heft of their respective weapons in hand.
Dr. Weir stood at the gate and looked back with a final nod of farewell. None of the members Weapon X never even thought to. They stepped through.