SGA: Lucky Ones (part 2)
Title: Lucky Ones
Genre: AU, McShep, genderswitch
Rating: R for violence, language, and implication of non-con.
Season/Spoilers: Ronon’s in it, but considering this is an AU, not much spoiler-wise.
Synopsis: They took Mer. Jill’s going to get her back.
Author’s Notes 1: Takes place in my Gate Ministry/Jill and Mer universe. If you’re not sure what that is, basically everyone from the Milky Way galaxy is genderswitched and everyone from the Pegasus galaxy is not. Meet Lieutenant Colonel Jillian Sheppard and Doctor Meredith McKay.
Author’s Notes 2: The title comes from the Bif Naked song “Lucky Ones”.
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Stargate universe or any of the concepts of characters from it. I’m just borrowing it to play and making no profit from this.
Part One
~~~~~~~~~~
On the morning of the eighth day, that time had come.
Jill had been in the cafeteria, choking down a small breakfast of toast and juice under the watchful eye of Caitlin, when her radio chimed to life. “Colonel Sheppard, please report to the Control Room.”
She knew better than to get her hopes up, but her heart was still pounding by the time she stepped out of the transporter. “What have you got?” she demanded, stepping up to meet the others.
Zelenka, Weir, and even Lorne were gathered around a screen, looking at some analysis and bickering over the results. It was Rala who first met her gaze and reported, “We think we found her.”
“Doctor Z and her team have an address that matches the control crystal and is only one off from what one of the villagers remembers as a potential Genii address,” Ellen reported.
“We’re not saying it’s definitively where she is being held,” Lionel warned.
“But it’s a start,” Rala chimed in.
“And a hell of a lot better than any of the leads we’ve had so far,” Lorne finished.
Jill nodded as she took in the information, seeing the look of hope in their eyes and knowing it matched her own. Swallowing heavily, she steadied herself and asked, “When do we head out?”
~~~
Just shy of an hour and a half later, two Jumpers loaded with Marines and tracking equipment shot through the wormhole, already cloaked by the time they hit the other side. They sent a ground team as distraction, lightly armed and looking like a standard trading mission. They planned to go to the nearby village and offer to trade as they sniffed out clues on their involvement. The plan was to return after the usual brief meet and greet and there was an exit strategy in place should things turn ugly. It never got that far.
The team opened the wormhole home, reporting to both Weir and the cloaked Jumpers that the place was deserted and looked like a bust, even though the life signs detectors were nearly screaming in protest. They obediently returned, vocally complaining to any and all sensors and hidden watchmen that it was yet another planet to scratch off their lists.
As expected, within fifteen minutes of the wormhole closing, several men in Genii uniforms appeared carrying bulky equipment that they used to scan the area. A rudimentary examination later, and the Jumpers could hear them key their own radio system and report, “All clear, sir. It doesn’t look like they left anything behind.”
A very familiar voice crackled across the airwaves, “Are you certain?”
Sheppard tightened her grip on the controls, hatred and loathing seething out of her as she grit out, “Koyla.” It was one thing to suspect, but knowing it was almost enough to push her over the edge. Only Teyla’s reassuring hand on her shoulder and Ronon’s bulk behind her stopped her from doing anything stupid.
The ground team was still reporting. “We are certain, sir. No traces of Lantean technology found anywhere the Earth team visited. The only energy traces detected are the residual readings from the Circle.”
Jill silently thanked Rala for her idea of having the Jumpers hover over the gate until certain the predicted scans were complete. She heard Koyla sign off even as she started up the Jumper systems that would hopefully help them narrow down McKay’s location on the planet. The place seemed infested with life signs, at least locally, but there was no telling how far away or deep underground they were keeping her. Long range sensors on full, she searched for anything more remote than the rest of the hidden settlement, any anomalous energy readings that might signal Genii tech, and even ran a scan for Mer’s subcutaneous transmitter, thought she doubted she would get any hits off the last one.
There was one densely packed location with the signs practically on top of each other. With a quick adjustment of the sensors, she was able to see the different layers underground, and approximately how many people were on each. It had to be it; no other area looked close to promising and no other area had the strange energy readings as if shielding was in place. Shielding that was not impervious to Ancient scans, true, but shielding nonetheless.
“Here,” she said, pointing it out to the team on her Jumper and relaying it to Lorne’s team as well. “We should be able to land here,” she suggested, highlighting a nearby area. Another look at where several signs seemed to be entering and leaving the complex and she added, “And this looks like the access point.”
It was a matter of moments before the Jumpers were landed and concealed and Jill was crouched behind some standard Pegasus galaxy foliage, watching the random Genii enter and leave the complex. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she willed it to settle, trying to convince herself this was a standard military exercise, a simple rescue and recovery, nothing more. But it was not. Even the fleeting image of Mer, of the terrified look on her face as she was pulled away, hands futilely pressed up against the force field that held her, sent her blood boiling once more. A quick look at the people surrounding her, feeling their anger, seeing their determination worn as a mask of honor, and she nodded. “Let’s do this.”
They stormed the complex, making short work of the security protocols at the door before raiding level by level, securing each one with gunfire and stunner blasts, until they reached the most promising one. She blocked out the shrieking alarms as she concentrated on the handheld device before her. There were the standard detachment of Genii, but not in the configuration that had been standard so far. The majority were concentrated around the area giving off the strange energy readings, though others were scattering to answer the wail and set up defenses.
Her Marines knew what to do, and set about securing the area. By the time she entered what could easily be called the central control room, the handful of enemy soldiers were on the ground, bleeding, bruised, or just plain unconscious. Half her people moved on to clear the hallways snaking out from the central room while the others made certain no one was coming at them from behind while they investigated.
She caught a hint of movement out of the corner of her eye, her blade pinning the man’s hand a hairsbreadth away from a large button that she was fairly certain was another alarm or lockdown device. “I don’t think so,” she warned, ignoring the sparks flying from her blade hitting the electronic equipment below. Ronon pulled the man to his feet as she removed the knife, tossing him up against a wall by his throat before she could even wipe the blood off on her leg. She approached, point first, demanding, “Where is she?”
He said nothing, only turning to spit in her general direction. Ronon’s fist connected with his jaw for his efforts. “She asked you a question,” the Satedan growled.
“I will tell you nothing,” the man insisted. His breath was coming in heavy gasps, but Jill attributed that to the fact Ronon was nearly holding him off the floor by his throat, not to mention that his hand was still dripping copious amounts of blood.
“Now, that’s not true,” she said with all the calmness she could force out of herself. “Teyla,” she directed.
The Athosian darted forward, gun still at the ready, and reached into the man’s uniform pocket. She glanced at the papers she removed, automatically translating what she saw. “His name is Nerod Ghim and he is in command of this level, the equivalent of a Colonel if Koyla was seen as a General,” she announced. He gaze narrowed and darkened. “It is an experimentation hub.”
Jill nodded in understanding, forcing herself to focus on the situation and not her personal feelings. “So, Colonel Neri, why don’t you tell me where you are keeping her? We’ll discuss what you’ve been doing in a moment.”
“I told you, I will tell you nothing,” the man repeated.
In a quick motion, Jill took the man’s bloodied hand and slammed it up against the wall, her thumb pressing into the sensitive flesh and feeling the bones grind beneath her grip. “And I told you, that’s not true,” she said quietly.
She opened her mouth to ask again, but was interrupted by one of Lorne’s men darting around the corner. “We think we found something, but the door’s locked,” Cadman reported.
“Try this,” Ronon directed, ripping a set of keys and access cards from Ghim’s belt with his free hand.
As Cadman trotted away, Sheppard returned her attention to the man before her. She noticed the panicked look in his eyes and knew they were close. “She’s in there, isn’t she?” she asked. When there was no answer, she ground her thumb in once more, shouting, “Isn’t she?”
“Yes,” Ghim finally answered. A nod from Sheppard and Ronon finally released him to speak freely, stepping back until needed. “The third access card will get you in, but you’ll still have to get past my men. She’s even alive and everything, Koyla’s orders.”
Jill released a breath she did not even know she was holding, watching as Teyla ran off to advise the others, already keying her radio. “And now I’m going to ask you what you’ve done to her.”
The man sneered, his bravado coming back with his ease of breathing now that Ronon was behind Sheppard. “We’ve simply been keeping her company,” he reported, and Jill caught his good hand drifting down near his belt as he added, “In fact, I think my men did so just this morning.”
He never reached whatever he had been grabbing for, though a small gun-like weapon clattered to the floor when he doubled over in pain, Jill’s blade embedded in his flesh once more. She pulled it out quickly, doing almost as much damage removing it as she had slashing it in, ignoring the way he grabbed at his groin and collapsed onto the floor, hands covered in blood. She stepped over him, hearing a satisfying thud as Ronon’s boot connected with him, and moved to join the others and hopefully free Mer from this hellhole.
She arrived at the door just as the Marines were opening it, Cadman making a face as he said, “He forgot to mention the code written on the access card that you need to enter for it to work.”
“It was written on it?” Ronon asked doubtingly.
“In what looked to be his own handwriting,” the Lieutenant confirmed, readying his weapon. “Dumbass,” he added, shaking his head.
They stormed the area, finding, as expected, another half-dozen Genii ready and waiting for them. More importantly though, was the large box-like cell from the Sororre planet with a very familiar form crouched into a small ball in the corner. “Mer,” Jill whispered, wincing as a bullet bounced off the shielding enclosing her.
That seemed to be the rallying call needed as her people finished off the last of the Genii soldiers in short order, leaving them breathing, but bloodied on the floor. She ignored them all, stepping over shattered equipment to press against the shield. “Mer,” she called, louder now, but receiving no response. “McKay,” she tried, still nothing. She turned to the man waiting at her side, ordering, “Get her out of there.”
Cadman nodded and got to work. Rala had found the schematics for something similar in the Ancient database and given him instructions on the most likely way to disable it. After five minutes of fruitless tinkering, he shrugged and ran another of Ghim’s cards through a reader rigged on the side, typing in the handwritten sequence as Teyla translated. An audible click sounded, followed by a flash of yellowish light as the shield collapsed and Jill’s hand passed harmlessly over the black line delineating the edge of the prison.
She wasted no time crossing to her lover’s side, crouching beside her and laying a gentle hand on her hunched shoulder. Her heart broke when the scientist flinched away, curling in on herself that much more. “Mer?” she tried. “Mer, honey, it’s me. We’re here. You’re safe. We’re going to bring you home.”
Something must have gotten through as the tangled mass of curls slowly rose to reveal a bruised and battered face. “Jill?” McKay asked, her voice harsh from either not enough usage or too much.
“I’m here,” she promised, stroking a warm hand down a shivering shoulder.
Anything else she was going to say was knocked out of her as Meredith latched on for dear life, nearly tumbling them both to the ground. “Not pretend?” she asked, the question muffled against her lover’s neck.
“Not pretend,” Jill swore, wrapping her arms around her that much tighter. She felt the noticeable loss of weight as her hands outlined Mer’s ribcage, the torn and filthy fabric of her shirt, and the warmth and solidness that was Mer. “We’re here to take you home,” she repeated.
McKay pulled back slightly, trusting Jill to not let her fall, and looked around at the gathered Marines. “Please say you kicked their asses,” she pleaded, earning a few grins.
“A lot,” Ronon assured her.
She still looked to Jill for confirmation, who nodded with a shaky smile. “A lot,” she agreed.
“Good,” Mer breathed, burying her head against her Colonel once more.
Jill’s radio chirped in her ear and she paid no attention to it, concentrating on the figure in her arms. She could not, however, ignore the hesitant touch to her arm followed by Cadman’s soft, “Ma’am, that was Major Lorne, she says reinforcements are headed this way and we need to bug out unless we want to take them on.”
“Bring ‘em,” Ronon growled, keying the setting on his pistol up one level.
As much as Jill wanted to agree with that assessment, she also felt the way Mer was shaking and trying really hard to hide it at simply the idea of more of the troops approaching. “We need to go,” she ordered, knowing he would understand. Lowering her head into the matted curls she repeated in a whisper, “We need to go, okay?”
McKay nodded and tried to push herself upright, using Sheppard as more of a crutch than either woman would ever admit. Standing, Jill took a step back, keeping a hold on Mer’s arm as she got her first good look at her. One blue eye was swollen and nearly purple around the edges, fading to blue only to turn back to almost black along her jaw line. Her bottom lip was split and stained with a mixture of fresh and old blood, as if she had given up trying to stop the bleeding. Her shirt was stained and torn, her exposed skin smeared with grime and bruises, though one arm had a sort of bandage around it, already stained a dark brown. Her pants were ripped and missing a button, held up by a makeshift belt made up of scraps of fabric from her own clothing and the sparse bedding they had allowed her. Her boots were gone, as were her socks, leaving her barefoot on the cold cement.
Jill bit her lip and forced herself to calm, feeling herself clutching Mer’s arm far more than had to be comfortable, though the other woman did not complain. “What did they do to you?” she asked, hating the way her voice cracked with the words.
“That’s not important right now,” Mer told her, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Jill silently noted the torn and ragged nails encrusted with filth. “We can have our breakdown later. Right now we need to get out of here.”
Sheppard nodded, shifting her grip a little. “Can you walk?” she asked.
“If it means getting the hell out of here? I can run,” Mer replied, taking a shuffling step. She looked up ruefully. “Just not that fast.”
Jill moved to wrap her arm around for support, but Mer stopped her, looking expectantly at her lover’s thigh. Jill got the message and handed the injured woman her nine mil, keeping the P90 for herself, and resumed her offer of support as they finally left the confines of the cell.
Teyla took point with Ronon following behind them and the Marines fanning out in all directions around the team. When they reached the central control area, Mer glanced down at the bloodied form of Ghim, still howling in pain on the floor. “Your work?” she guessed, giving Jill a quick squeeze at the simple shrug she got in return. As they started to pass him, she kicked out with her foot, adding insult to injury. “Trust me, he deserved it,” she explained, trying to hide the fact her actions had cost her as she tenderly put her foot down again.
Ronon appeared at her side, nearly lifting her off the ground as he escorted her the rest of the way across the room, leaving Sheppard behind at one of the control panels. “Knew there was a reason I put up with you,” he smirked before putting her back down. She offered a shaky smile back but immediately reached for Jill again as soon as the other woman reached the doorway.
“Did you kill him?” Mer demanded.
“Tempted, but no,” she promised.
“Can I?” McKay tried.
Jill scouted the area in front of her, listening to several metallic thunks as doors began to close. “I just sent the area into lockdown, it will be hours before anyone can get in once it’s finished. Which is more important to you right now: getting out of here, or killing him?”
Meredith did not even pretend to think about it. “Get me the fuck out of here.”
They reached the surface far faster than Sheppard thought McKay was capable of considering the shape she was in, but ended up nearly having to carry the woman across the field and into the woods where the Jumpers waited for them due to her shoeless state. Once inside the Jumper, Mer continued to follow Jill to the front, not yet releasing her death grip even when she tried to sit in the pilot’s seat.
“You have to let go if I’m going to fly us out of here,” Jill reminded her, already mentally starting the pre-flight sequences.
“Oh,” was all Mer said, looking down at her hand like it was a foreign object as she finally let go. She collapsed down into the copilot’s chair, only realizing the gun was still in her grip when Teyla gently took it from her, replacing it with a Power Bar.
Jill glanced over to see her cram as much as possible into her mouth. “Whoa, slowly,” she warned, not surprised to see her cough for her efforts. “When’s the last time you ate?”
Mer accepted the canteen from Ronon and took a deep drought. “Yesterday,” she replied, immediately tearing off another bite. “They fed me about once a day or whenever I started to pass out, as far as I could tell.”
Sheppard’s hands tightened around the controls, trying not to think about things like blood sugar or hypoglycemic shock on top of everything else as she resisted the urge to fire several drones on the base. “Just eat slowly,” she chided. “There’s plenty more where that came from.”
“More?” McKay questioned in awe.
Ronon shoved a handful of the bars forward, but Teyla took only one and pressed it into her hand. “You can rest now,” she told her. She took a space blanket that was offered by one of the Marines and wrapped it around the still shivering woman. “You are safe,” she promised.
“Safe?” Mer asked carefully, as if not quite sure of the meaning of the word, as her eyes began to droop.
“Safe,” Jill promised, hearing the word echoed by her teammates. She dialed the gate and eased the Jumper through, hoping things would be better on the other side.
Mer could barely keep her eyes open when the Jumper landed, barely making a fuss as the medics swarmed in to check her over and load her on to a waiting gurney. Jill stayed in the pilot’s chair, trying to stay both close and out of the way. She watched as they wheeled her lover away, making an abortive motion to follow as she realized she was still the military commander and had duties to attend to. The important thing right now was that Meredith was home safe in Caitlin’s hands, and not still locked in a cell on some Genii planet.
She looked up from her thoughts to find Teyla and Ronon waiting expectantly. “Should we get this over with?” she asked, knowing they understood the need for all the official procedures. They needed to drop off their gear and get the first run reports from all those involved in the mission so they could give Weir a brief run down. The official reports would come later, but they needed to basic facts while they were still fresh in everyone’s minds. Taking their nods as agreement, she pushed herself up from her chair, needing a moment to steady herself on legs surprisingly wobbly.
Teyla rested a reassuring hand on her arm, giving her a moment to steady herself. “We shall try to make this as expedient as possible,” she promised, earning a small smile of gratitude in return.
As they started to make their way out of the Jumper, Ronon stopped Sheppard with a hand on her shoulder. “She’s home,” was all he said.
The smile turned bright as Jill agreed, “Yeah, she is.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Part One .......... Part 3 (Final)