Fic: Something New Under the Sky, SGA/BtVS
First fic for my 100 Crossovers deal! Gen, ~2000 words. Betaed by the most excellent torakowalski
Summary: An unexpected encounter on Earth.
Teyla felt the back of her neck prickle with the sudden awareness that it was too still and a thread of unease seemed to work through the night around her
Something New Under the Sky
It was hard on Earth to get away from the lights at night and find the quiet and the darkness that Teyla was used to, to feel the nature of this planet around her. She knew Rodney preferred the bright and noisy veneer of what he called civilisation; he had obviously not understood her wish for something else, but John had nodded and promised to take her camping in the mountains when the briefings were done and they were released for what the Earth people called R and R.
But for now they were staying in the town in accommodation supplied by the SGC. Teyla thought Ronon would probably enjoy the camping too as he sometimes seemed trapped by the sheer number of people around and on other days they had searched for peace together. Tonight he had gone out with some of the men he had been sparring with and so Teyla was taking this walk alone.
Few people seemed to walk in this place but Teyla was regularly passed by vehicles as she wandered through the streets. Eventually she came to what appeared to be a park of some kind and went in through the gate. When Teyla saw the monuments inside, she realised that she was in a gravesite, but it seemed to offer the chance to get away from the traffic hum so she went further in, stopping to look at the occasional more elaborate stone. Finally she settled under one of the trees to meditate and watch the sun go down, enjoying the gentle rustle of the leaves overhead that was so different to the mechanical noises she had left behind.
The sky gradually shaded into darkness, with the tree branches and leaves black patches against it, and then the moon rose to put silver edges onto the stones in front of Teyla. It was beautiful and still but after a moment's enjoyment Teyla felt the back of her neck prickle with the sudden awareness that it was too still and a thread of unease seemed to work through the night around her.
She rose to her feet in readiness for whatever might come and looked around, trying to discover the source of the change in atmosphere. Hearing a noise, she walked around the tree and tracked it further away from the path and into the gravestones to where a man was just standing up in front of one. As she drew closer, Teyla could see that the earth was disturbed in front of it and that the man was remarkably dirty, but before she could consider that more closely the man stiffened and turned towards her. He had his head lowered slightly, apparently examining her, and Teyla stopped cautiously. "Are you well?" she asked.
The man snarled like an animal and charged forward instead of replying and Teyla ducked away from his grasp and kicked him solidly in the side, startled at the attack. John had said once or twice that there were a lot of crazies on Earth and she wondered if this was what he had meant.
The man recovered faster than she had expected but Teyla had too much experience not to be ready and she was able to block his blows and dodge away towards a small clump of trees without much difficulty. The SGC had made them leave their guns at the Base, but there were cut boughs lying in a pile on the ground and bantos sticks were her preferred weapons, still more familiar to her than the ordinance of Earth. A sweeping kick that knocked the man on his back gave her time to scoop up two sturdy branches.
"Fucking kill you, your blood is mine," the man snarled, and he growled again as she moved in to attack, her sticks catching his arms and ribs, driving him back away from her. He was stronger than he should be, the blows she took from him jarring her more than any human had managed, even Ronon, and he was fast too. But Teyla was also strong and fast and she had discipline and skill that he did not, and had fought Wraith and survived and this man was not Wraith.
She did not know what else he could be though. A strike towards his head turned his face into the moonlight and Teyla could see that he was not human, but she had never heard of a species on Earth that moved like a man but had a predator's teeth and distorted face.
She jumped sideways over a low gravestone as he tried to slam into her and caught a different movement out of the corner of her eye, what looked like two people on the path. She had time to hope that they were not creatures like the one she fought before all her concentration had to return to holding him off, but the others did not move to attack and when she managed to turn the fight she got a glimpse of a normal-looking young man and woman. Teyla slammed both her sticks into the creature's head, knocking him to the ground and called, "Go, it's not safe," while he sprang back to his feet.
The blow should have knocked him out, and Teyla wondered how she could end this fight as she danced away from a roundhouse kick and struck out in return. The creature had some similarities to the Wraith but now she remembered watching movies with her team and though John and Rodney had explained that the beings in those 'horror' movies were myths, they suggested a possible solution. And even if this creature was not the same as those, Teyla was fairly sure that a length of wood through the heart would kill most things and it seemed clear this was a fight to the death. It would not be hers.
She spun into her attack, the branches in her hands slicing through the air. Two quick blows blocked his punches and sent him off balance, arms wide, and Teyla stepped forward and drove one of the branches into the centre of his chest as hard as she could.
The creature howled in pain and seemed to explode in front of her and Teyla jumped back in surprise as a pile of ashes fell at her feet, all that was left of her attacker. Apparently those movies were not myths after all.
The sound of enthusiastic applause made her shake off the confusion and she turned to see the couple were still watching, the short, blond man clapping his hands and grinning.
The dark-haired woman gave him an exasperated look and then gave Teyla a professional approving nod. "Nice moves there," she said casually, walking forward and Teyla could tell from the way she moved that this woman was a skilled warrior.
"Thank you."
"I'd have helped out," the woman added, sticking her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket, "but it didn't seem like you needed it."
"So you have seen such fights before?" Teyla asked. Perhaps these people could tell her what the creature had been.
"You mean you haven't?" the man said, his voice squeaking excitedly as he trotted forward to join them. "Oh man, that's so cool, I love doing the whole explanation thing. Okay, so you're a Slayer," he said.
"No, my name is Teyla."
"I mean, that's what you do, slay."
"I suppose that is true," Teyla said slowly, "I most certainly slayed whatever that thing was," and the man shook his head impatiently, reminding her of nothing so much as one of Rodney's scientists when they got really excited.
"No, no, Slayer with a capital S, it's this hereditary destiny thing that means you were chosen by mystical powers to be able to kick ass."
"I do not think so," Teyla replied, shaking her head
"That's okay, I can convince you, I've done this whole thing before," he said.
"Sometimes with PowerPoint," the woman said, curling her lip and Teyla gave her an amused look. "Sorry," the woman said in response, "I could do this faster, but then he sulks for days and the others won't let me kill him."
"Thank you for that incredibly helpful comment, Faith," the man said pointedly, "but if I can be allowed to continue? So okay," he said to Teyla as Faith shook her head and sat down on a gravestone, "tell me… no, ooh, better idea, I'll tell you. Until about a year ago, you were totally normal and then one day you woke up and you were all of a sudden superstrong and superfast and with totally amazing ninja fighting skills that came out of nowhere, right?"
"I'm afraid you are wrong," Teyla replied smoothly and he gaped at her in surprise. "I am as I was born, and if I have skill in fighting it is because I have worked hard to attain and keep it."
"Huh. That was unexpected," Faith said, and Teyla saw she was studying her carefully.
"But I can't be wrong," the man spluttered. "We saw you, with the branches and the fighting and the reflexes, and you had to have got your Slayer powers then because before that there was only Buffy and Faith. So you have to be wrong, mistaken, or did you forget? I mean if you got amnesia or something…"
"No, I remember all my life," Teyla said, studying Faith in return. It sounded like she was a Slayer, whatever that was, and that certainly fit the way she carried herself. Teyla wondered what her destiny was.
"Then you must be lying, why would you do that?" the man said, and Teyla and Faith both frowned at him.
"I do not lie," Teyla said coldly.
"Andrew. Let it go," Faith said at the same time in a warning tone.
"But, Faith…" Andrew complained.
"Her life, seems like she'd know," Faith said.
"You mean you believe her? But it's impossible!"
"No. It's not. There's plenty freaky stuff in this world, we're not going to know about all of it," Faith said, shrugging.
"Fine. Fine," Andrew said, crossing his arms and looking unhappy.
"See?" Faith said to Teyla, jerking her thumb towards him. "Sulking."
"Yes, I see," Teyla said with a smile. "I have a colleague who often has that expression," and Faith grinned back.
"So," Faith said, standing up, "cool as always it is to meet another hot chick with superpowers, we've got to go. Evil to fight, you know the drill."
"Yes," Teyla agreed with a sigh and Faith chuckled as she stuck her hand in Andrew's coat pocket, ignoring his protest, and coming out with pen and paper.
"Thought you might," she said, scribbling something down. "Call me if you get a chance. We can swap war stories, and you can show me that two sticks thing," she went on, handing a piece of paper with a number on it to Teyla.
"I would like that very much," Teyla agreed, sticking the paper in her pocket. She wanted to learn more about these people and Slayers, and she had a feeling that Faith would be an interesting person to become friends with.
"Cool," Faith said with another grin. "Come on, geekboy, time to go," she said, grabbing Andrew by the arm and heading off into the graveyard.
Teyla watched them go and then walked back to the graveyard gate and back onto the town streets. It had not been as quiet an evening as she had anticipated, but it had been most interesting. She wondered if John or Rodney would believe her when she told them of her adventure, or if she would have to find another creature-person to convince them.
She felt the paper in her pocket again and smiled. It seemed there was more to this Earth than any of them realised, and she was looking forward to finding it out.
(Prompt 032: Sunset)
A sequel, Forms of Friendship, is here.
Summary: An unexpected encounter on Earth.
Teyla felt the back of her neck prickle with the sudden awareness that it was too still and a thread of unease seemed to work through the night around her
Something New Under the Sky
It was hard on Earth to get away from the lights at night and find the quiet and the darkness that Teyla was used to, to feel the nature of this planet around her. She knew Rodney preferred the bright and noisy veneer of what he called civilisation; he had obviously not understood her wish for something else, but John had nodded and promised to take her camping in the mountains when the briefings were done and they were released for what the Earth people called R and R.
But for now they were staying in the town in accommodation supplied by the SGC. Teyla thought Ronon would probably enjoy the camping too as he sometimes seemed trapped by the sheer number of people around and on other days they had searched for peace together. Tonight he had gone out with some of the men he had been sparring with and so Teyla was taking this walk alone.
Few people seemed to walk in this place but Teyla was regularly passed by vehicles as she wandered through the streets. Eventually she came to what appeared to be a park of some kind and went in through the gate. When Teyla saw the monuments inside, she realised that she was in a gravesite, but it seemed to offer the chance to get away from the traffic hum so she went further in, stopping to look at the occasional more elaborate stone. Finally she settled under one of the trees to meditate and watch the sun go down, enjoying the gentle rustle of the leaves overhead that was so different to the mechanical noises she had left behind.
The sky gradually shaded into darkness, with the tree branches and leaves black patches against it, and then the moon rose to put silver edges onto the stones in front of Teyla. It was beautiful and still but after a moment's enjoyment Teyla felt the back of her neck prickle with the sudden awareness that it was too still and a thread of unease seemed to work through the night around her.
She rose to her feet in readiness for whatever might come and looked around, trying to discover the source of the change in atmosphere. Hearing a noise, she walked around the tree and tracked it further away from the path and into the gravestones to where a man was just standing up in front of one. As she drew closer, Teyla could see that the earth was disturbed in front of it and that the man was remarkably dirty, but before she could consider that more closely the man stiffened and turned towards her. He had his head lowered slightly, apparently examining her, and Teyla stopped cautiously. "Are you well?" she asked.
The man snarled like an animal and charged forward instead of replying and Teyla ducked away from his grasp and kicked him solidly in the side, startled at the attack. John had said once or twice that there were a lot of crazies on Earth and she wondered if this was what he had meant.
The man recovered faster than she had expected but Teyla had too much experience not to be ready and she was able to block his blows and dodge away towards a small clump of trees without much difficulty. The SGC had made them leave their guns at the Base, but there were cut boughs lying in a pile on the ground and bantos sticks were her preferred weapons, still more familiar to her than the ordinance of Earth. A sweeping kick that knocked the man on his back gave her time to scoop up two sturdy branches.
"Fucking kill you, your blood is mine," the man snarled, and he growled again as she moved in to attack, her sticks catching his arms and ribs, driving him back away from her. He was stronger than he should be, the blows she took from him jarring her more than any human had managed, even Ronon, and he was fast too. But Teyla was also strong and fast and she had discipline and skill that he did not, and had fought Wraith and survived and this man was not Wraith.
She did not know what else he could be though. A strike towards his head turned his face into the moonlight and Teyla could see that he was not human, but she had never heard of a species on Earth that moved like a man but had a predator's teeth and distorted face.
She jumped sideways over a low gravestone as he tried to slam into her and caught a different movement out of the corner of her eye, what looked like two people on the path. She had time to hope that they were not creatures like the one she fought before all her concentration had to return to holding him off, but the others did not move to attack and when she managed to turn the fight she got a glimpse of a normal-looking young man and woman. Teyla slammed both her sticks into the creature's head, knocking him to the ground and called, "Go, it's not safe," while he sprang back to his feet.
The blow should have knocked him out, and Teyla wondered how she could end this fight as she danced away from a roundhouse kick and struck out in return. The creature had some similarities to the Wraith but now she remembered watching movies with her team and though John and Rodney had explained that the beings in those 'horror' movies were myths, they suggested a possible solution. And even if this creature was not the same as those, Teyla was fairly sure that a length of wood through the heart would kill most things and it seemed clear this was a fight to the death. It would not be hers.
She spun into her attack, the branches in her hands slicing through the air. Two quick blows blocked his punches and sent him off balance, arms wide, and Teyla stepped forward and drove one of the branches into the centre of his chest as hard as she could.
The creature howled in pain and seemed to explode in front of her and Teyla jumped back in surprise as a pile of ashes fell at her feet, all that was left of her attacker. Apparently those movies were not myths after all.
The sound of enthusiastic applause made her shake off the confusion and she turned to see the couple were still watching, the short, blond man clapping his hands and grinning.
The dark-haired woman gave him an exasperated look and then gave Teyla a professional approving nod. "Nice moves there," she said casually, walking forward and Teyla could tell from the way she moved that this woman was a skilled warrior.
"Thank you."
"I'd have helped out," the woman added, sticking her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket, "but it didn't seem like you needed it."
"So you have seen such fights before?" Teyla asked. Perhaps these people could tell her what the creature had been.
"You mean you haven't?" the man said, his voice squeaking excitedly as he trotted forward to join them. "Oh man, that's so cool, I love doing the whole explanation thing. Okay, so you're a Slayer," he said.
"No, my name is Teyla."
"I mean, that's what you do, slay."
"I suppose that is true," Teyla said slowly, "I most certainly slayed whatever that thing was," and the man shook his head impatiently, reminding her of nothing so much as one of Rodney's scientists when they got really excited.
"No, no, Slayer with a capital S, it's this hereditary destiny thing that means you were chosen by mystical powers to be able to kick ass."
"I do not think so," Teyla replied, shaking her head
"That's okay, I can convince you, I've done this whole thing before," he said.
"Sometimes with PowerPoint," the woman said, curling her lip and Teyla gave her an amused look. "Sorry," the woman said in response, "I could do this faster, but then he sulks for days and the others won't let me kill him."
"Thank you for that incredibly helpful comment, Faith," the man said pointedly, "but if I can be allowed to continue? So okay," he said to Teyla as Faith shook her head and sat down on a gravestone, "tell me… no, ooh, better idea, I'll tell you. Until about a year ago, you were totally normal and then one day you woke up and you were all of a sudden superstrong and superfast and with totally amazing ninja fighting skills that came out of nowhere, right?"
"I'm afraid you are wrong," Teyla replied smoothly and he gaped at her in surprise. "I am as I was born, and if I have skill in fighting it is because I have worked hard to attain and keep it."
"Huh. That was unexpected," Faith said, and Teyla saw she was studying her carefully.
"But I can't be wrong," the man spluttered. "We saw you, with the branches and the fighting and the reflexes, and you had to have got your Slayer powers then because before that there was only Buffy and Faith. So you have to be wrong, mistaken, or did you forget? I mean if you got amnesia or something…"
"No, I remember all my life," Teyla said, studying Faith in return. It sounded like she was a Slayer, whatever that was, and that certainly fit the way she carried herself. Teyla wondered what her destiny was.
"Then you must be lying, why would you do that?" the man said, and Teyla and Faith both frowned at him.
"I do not lie," Teyla said coldly.
"Andrew. Let it go," Faith said at the same time in a warning tone.
"But, Faith…" Andrew complained.
"Her life, seems like she'd know," Faith said.
"You mean you believe her? But it's impossible!"
"No. It's not. There's plenty freaky stuff in this world, we're not going to know about all of it," Faith said, shrugging.
"Fine. Fine," Andrew said, crossing his arms and looking unhappy.
"See?" Faith said to Teyla, jerking her thumb towards him. "Sulking."
"Yes, I see," Teyla said with a smile. "I have a colleague who often has that expression," and Faith grinned back.
"So," Faith said, standing up, "cool as always it is to meet another hot chick with superpowers, we've got to go. Evil to fight, you know the drill."
"Yes," Teyla agreed with a sigh and Faith chuckled as she stuck her hand in Andrew's coat pocket, ignoring his protest, and coming out with pen and paper.
"Thought you might," she said, scribbling something down. "Call me if you get a chance. We can swap war stories, and you can show me that two sticks thing," she went on, handing a piece of paper with a number on it to Teyla.
"I would like that very much," Teyla agreed, sticking the paper in her pocket. She wanted to learn more about these people and Slayers, and she had a feeling that Faith would be an interesting person to become friends with.
"Cool," Faith said with another grin. "Come on, geekboy, time to go," she said, grabbing Andrew by the arm and heading off into the graveyard.
Teyla watched them go and then walked back to the graveyard gate and back onto the town streets. It had not been as quiet an evening as she had anticipated, but it had been most interesting. She wondered if John or Rodney would believe her when she told them of her adventure, or if she would have to find another creature-person to convince them.
She felt the paper in her pocket again and smiled. It seemed there was more to this Earth than any of them realised, and she was looking forward to finding it out.
(Prompt 032: Sunset)
A sequel, Forms of Friendship, is here.