Fic: Anise Rides Again
Title: Anise Rides Again
Fandom: Stargate SG1/Supernatural
Rating: PG
Character: Anise/Freya, Dean Winchester, John Winchester
Disclaimer: Stargate, Supernatural and their characters are the property of their respective creators. I own nothing.
Summary: While delivering vital information to earth, Anise takes a new host.
The engines rattled ominously as they prepared to exit hyper-space. Anise hissed as the jolt sent pain lancing through the wound in Freya’s side. The alliance between the Tok’ra and the Tau’ri had soured as of late, but Earth was still the closest planet where they could expect to receive medical attention and contact the Tok’ra High Council. They had never seen it from space before and to Freya’s concussed and dazed mind the swirling masses of sea and clouds and land resembled the zatark detector output. Anise tried to push her host’s confused thoughts and her own worries aside as she aimed for the mountains where she knew the Stargate to be. The ship groaned and buckled under heat and pressure of re-entry and they braced for impact.
*****
The forest was eerily quiet as Anise dragged Freya’s battered body from the remains of their cargo ship. Their landing had left a swath of downed trees but they seemed to have avoided the danger of fire. They left the wreck behind and headed off at a shambling pace for the paved road they’d seen from above where it wound through the hills like a great black snake.
It seemed to take years to reach the road, years in which Freya’s breathing became increasingly erratic as her wound bled freely. Anise kept up a steady steam of endorphins and comforting words, but with each step Freya’s consciousness fluttered dangerously like an unshielded candle in a windstorm. They reached their goal but there was no triumph. Forgive me, friend, Freya gasped, falling to her knees on the black stone. I can go no further.
No, Anise cried as her host’s heart faltered, but there was no response. Her other half was gone and Anise was truly alone in a way she had not been since her earliest days. She could maintain the body for a only a short while without Freya but, had the mission been any less vital, she would have gladly died with her friend. As it was, she forced the dead woman’s blood to pump and her lungs to draw earth’s crisp air waiting, most likely in vain, for the of coming aid.
The animal noises that had been missing when they landed began to pick up again as Anise lay there concentrating on her breathing. They were high pitched and strangely melodic, but underneath them she detected a low and growing rumble too regular and steady to be natural. Anise turned her head just in time to see a large black land vehicle speed around the curve of the road and come to an abrupt halt before her. The vehicle’s wheels were strangely grooved and she could see a small reddish pebble embedded in the left one before her vison sputtered and stuttered like the vehicle’s engine.
“Hey, lady, are you all right?” Anise had missed the man’s approach, but he must have come from the vehicle which now sat quiet with it’s door hanging open. He was young, mid-twenties at most, with wide green eyes and a constellation of freckles laid out across flawless bone structure. He was the kind of male Freya would have found most attractive and Anise’s vision greyed as her heart broke at the idea.
“Hey, no. Stay with me.” His voice seemed to come from a long way away as his hands pushed rhythmically at her chest. Her ribs creaked in protest and the planet’s air sat heavy in her lungs like weapons-grade naqahdah. The man’s lips brushed hers. He was offering her salvation and she took it.
*****
The sun was lower over the treetops and the air cooler when she woke again. The strain of maintaining Freya’s body had taken more out of her than she would have expected. She turned her head to look at her fallen friend. Her face was coated with blood from the gash on her forehead and she looked so much smaller than Anise remembered feeling when they were together. The man’s body she now wore seemed awkward and his clothes too loose and heavy as she pulled them to their feet.
There was a shrill noise emanating from the pocket of their coat that her new host sluggishly identified as a phone. The man was still half asleep and dazed from their blending so it was up to Anise to answer the communication device. “Greetings.”
“Dean? Is that you?” It was a man’s voice, older with a rumble as deep as the land vehicle’s. “You sound a little...strange.”
Anise prepared to explain the situation when she recalled that the Stargate program and the Tok’ra were a secret on this planet. “Really?” she hedged, this time using her host’s vocal cords without any modification. “There must be something strange with your phone.”
“Yeah,” the man agreed with a sigh. “Now where the hell have you been?”
“I,” Anise stuttered, startled by the man’s sudden anger, “I fell asleep.”
Disapproval and disappointment seemed to radiate from the tiny communication device. “Damn it, Dean! You were supposed to be on the road by now. Get your head in the game and your ass in gear,” the man barked.
There was something in his tone that reminded Anise of Colonel O’Neill delivering an order and she responded as she had heard Major Carter do. The snappy “Yes, sir” seemed to have mollified the man somewhat and his final instructions regarding their rendezvous in a boulder were delivered in a much calmer manner. Anise completed the exchange feeling as rattled and abraded though she had walked naked through a sandstorm on Vorash, but her new host, Dean, seemed more alert for all the yelling.
I need to get to Cheyenne Mountain, Anise said.
Wha? Responded her host, clearly not as alert as she’d hoped. Dad said Boulder.
Anise sighed. She’d forgotten how confusing and difficult the initial moments after a blending could be for the host. Unfortunately she really didn’t have time to deal with it. It is imperative that I get to Cheyenne Mountain.
Dean knew the name; Anise could sense the glimmer of recognition it invoked. That’s in-No, wait. His adrenalin levels spiked as a sudden rush of fear, panic and anger swept through them like the shockwave of a blast. What the hell are you? Demon!
Their knees gave out and sent them crashing back to the blacktop beside Freya’s cooling body. Anise’s mind reeled with the implications while Dean frantically searched his memory for bits of helpful Latin. He hadn’t know about her kind, hadn’t know what he offered, hadn’t offered even and she was no better now than a Goa’uld. Peace, Anise gasped as Dean assailed her mind with a garbled exorcism ritual. Peace, she offered, tamping down the adrenalin and turning on the serotonin, oxytocin and vasopressin. I am sorry for what I have done, but I need to get to Cheyenne Mountain. The fate of the galaxy may be at stake. Look.
The words and hormones had the desired calming effect, slowing the host’s heart rate, making him more compliant. Anise returned to Dean control of their body, opening her mind wide to let her host see the truth. “Alright,” he said, laboriously climbing to his feet. “Alright,” he repeated, running his hand along the flank of his vehicle, seemingly drawing additional strength and resolve from the touch. Through Freya’s eyes the vehicle had been ungainly and primitive, but through Dean’s the Impala was as beautiful and fleet as a falling star. “I’ll take you there.”
Anise eagerly steered him towards the car. Wait, he demanded and Anise relinquished control in puzzlement. Hadn’t they had a deal?. “Look, I’ll get you there, but only I drive my girl.” She would prefer to be in control, Dean’s tentative cooperation might very well fade with the hormones after all, but for now he could be the one behind the wheel.
(1)>> 2
Fandom: Stargate SG1/Supernatural
Rating: PG
Character: Anise/Freya, Dean Winchester, John Winchester
Disclaimer: Stargate, Supernatural and their characters are the property of their respective creators. I own nothing.
Summary: While delivering vital information to earth, Anise takes a new host.
The engines rattled ominously as they prepared to exit hyper-space. Anise hissed as the jolt sent pain lancing through the wound in Freya’s side. The alliance between the Tok’ra and the Tau’ri had soured as of late, but Earth was still the closest planet where they could expect to receive medical attention and contact the Tok’ra High Council. They had never seen it from space before and to Freya’s concussed and dazed mind the swirling masses of sea and clouds and land resembled the zatark detector output. Anise tried to push her host’s confused thoughts and her own worries aside as she aimed for the mountains where she knew the Stargate to be. The ship groaned and buckled under heat and pressure of re-entry and they braced for impact.
*****
The forest was eerily quiet as Anise dragged Freya’s battered body from the remains of their cargo ship. Their landing had left a swath of downed trees but they seemed to have avoided the danger of fire. They left the wreck behind and headed off at a shambling pace for the paved road they’d seen from above where it wound through the hills like a great black snake.
It seemed to take years to reach the road, years in which Freya’s breathing became increasingly erratic as her wound bled freely. Anise kept up a steady steam of endorphins and comforting words, but with each step Freya’s consciousness fluttered dangerously like an unshielded candle in a windstorm. They reached their goal but there was no triumph. Forgive me, friend, Freya gasped, falling to her knees on the black stone. I can go no further.
No, Anise cried as her host’s heart faltered, but there was no response. Her other half was gone and Anise was truly alone in a way she had not been since her earliest days. She could maintain the body for a only a short while without Freya but, had the mission been any less vital, she would have gladly died with her friend. As it was, she forced the dead woman’s blood to pump and her lungs to draw earth’s crisp air waiting, most likely in vain, for the of coming aid.
The animal noises that had been missing when they landed began to pick up again as Anise lay there concentrating on her breathing. They were high pitched and strangely melodic, but underneath them she detected a low and growing rumble too regular and steady to be natural. Anise turned her head just in time to see a large black land vehicle speed around the curve of the road and come to an abrupt halt before her. The vehicle’s wheels were strangely grooved and she could see a small reddish pebble embedded in the left one before her vison sputtered and stuttered like the vehicle’s engine.
“Hey, lady, are you all right?” Anise had missed the man’s approach, but he must have come from the vehicle which now sat quiet with it’s door hanging open. He was young, mid-twenties at most, with wide green eyes and a constellation of freckles laid out across flawless bone structure. He was the kind of male Freya would have found most attractive and Anise’s vision greyed as her heart broke at the idea.
“Hey, no. Stay with me.” His voice seemed to come from a long way away as his hands pushed rhythmically at her chest. Her ribs creaked in protest and the planet’s air sat heavy in her lungs like weapons-grade naqahdah. The man’s lips brushed hers. He was offering her salvation and she took it.
*****
The sun was lower over the treetops and the air cooler when she woke again. The strain of maintaining Freya’s body had taken more out of her than she would have expected. She turned her head to look at her fallen friend. Her face was coated with blood from the gash on her forehead and she looked so much smaller than Anise remembered feeling when they were together. The man’s body she now wore seemed awkward and his clothes too loose and heavy as she pulled them to their feet.
There was a shrill noise emanating from the pocket of their coat that her new host sluggishly identified as a phone. The man was still half asleep and dazed from their blending so it was up to Anise to answer the communication device. “Greetings.”
“Dean? Is that you?” It was a man’s voice, older with a rumble as deep as the land vehicle’s. “You sound a little...strange.”
Anise prepared to explain the situation when she recalled that the Stargate program and the Tok’ra were a secret on this planet. “Really?” she hedged, this time using her host’s vocal cords without any modification. “There must be something strange with your phone.”
“Yeah,” the man agreed with a sigh. “Now where the hell have you been?”
“I,” Anise stuttered, startled by the man’s sudden anger, “I fell asleep.”
Disapproval and disappointment seemed to radiate from the tiny communication device. “Damn it, Dean! You were supposed to be on the road by now. Get your head in the game and your ass in gear,” the man barked.
There was something in his tone that reminded Anise of Colonel O’Neill delivering an order and she responded as she had heard Major Carter do. The snappy “Yes, sir” seemed to have mollified the man somewhat and his final instructions regarding their rendezvous in a boulder were delivered in a much calmer manner. Anise completed the exchange feeling as rattled and abraded though she had walked naked through a sandstorm on Vorash, but her new host, Dean, seemed more alert for all the yelling.
I need to get to Cheyenne Mountain, Anise said.
Wha? Responded her host, clearly not as alert as she’d hoped. Dad said Boulder.
Anise sighed. She’d forgotten how confusing and difficult the initial moments after a blending could be for the host. Unfortunately she really didn’t have time to deal with it. It is imperative that I get to Cheyenne Mountain.
Dean knew the name; Anise could sense the glimmer of recognition it invoked. That’s in-No, wait. His adrenalin levels spiked as a sudden rush of fear, panic and anger swept through them like the shockwave of a blast. What the hell are you? Demon!
Their knees gave out and sent them crashing back to the blacktop beside Freya’s cooling body. Anise’s mind reeled with the implications while Dean frantically searched his memory for bits of helpful Latin. He hadn’t know about her kind, hadn’t know what he offered, hadn’t offered even and she was no better now than a Goa’uld. Peace, Anise gasped as Dean assailed her mind with a garbled exorcism ritual. Peace, she offered, tamping down the adrenalin and turning on the serotonin, oxytocin and vasopressin. I am sorry for what I have done, but I need to get to Cheyenne Mountain. The fate of the galaxy may be at stake. Look.
The words and hormones had the desired calming effect, slowing the host’s heart rate, making him more compliant. Anise returned to Dean control of their body, opening her mind wide to let her host see the truth. “Alright,” he said, laboriously climbing to his feet. “Alright,” he repeated, running his hand along the flank of his vehicle, seemingly drawing additional strength and resolve from the touch. Through Freya’s eyes the vehicle had been ungainly and primitive, but through Dean’s the Impala was as beautiful and fleet as a falling star. “I’ll take you there.”
Anise eagerly steered him towards the car. Wait, he demanded and Anise relinquished control in puzzlement. Hadn’t they had a deal?. “Look, I’ll get you there, but only I drive my girl.” She would prefer to be in control, Dean’s tentative cooperation might very well fade with the hormones after all, but for now he could be the one behind the wheel.
(1)>> 2