It's Far From Over: chapter 7
Title: It’s Far From Over
Rating: M
Genre: crossover, sci-fi, fantasy, action, adventure, romance, mostly het
Fandoms: Animorphs, Army Wives, BTVS, Doctor Who, Eureka, Hawaii Five-0, Legend of the Seeker, NCIS LA, Primeval, SG-1, SGA, SGU, Supernatural, Torchwood, Veronica Mars & Warehouse 13 (set mainly in the Stargateverse)
Characters: Aiden Ford, Allison Blake, Amy Pond, Bobby Singer, Cameron Mitchell, Cara Mason, Castiel, Chase Moran, Chin Ho Kelly, Chloe Armstrong, Claudia Donovan, Claudia Joy Holden, Daniel Jackson, Danny Williams, Dean Winchester, Denise Sherwood, Douglas Fargo, Eli Wallace, Elizabeth Weir, Evan Lorne, Eric Beale, Everett Young, Faith Lehane, Frank Sherwood, G. Callen, Grace Monroe, AU!Gwen Cooper, Helena G. Wells, Henry Deacon, Hetty Lange, Hilary Becker, Holly Marten, Jack Carter, Jack Harkness, Jack O'Neill, clone!Jack O’Neill, Jennifer Keller, Jenny, Jo Lupo, Kensi Blye, AU!Jo Harvelle, John Sheppard, Kahlan Amnell, Kono Kalakaua, Laura Cadman, Lori Weston, Martha Jones, Marty Deeks, Matthew Scott, Mickey Smith, Myka Bering, Nell Jones, Rachel Berenson, Richard Cypher, Riley Finn, River Song, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Rory Pond, Rose Tyler, Roxy LeBlanc, Sally Sparrow, Sam Carter, Sam Hanna, Sam Winchester, Stephen Hart, Steve McGarrett, Tamara Johansen, Teal'c, Teyla Emmagan, the Doctor (10.5 & 11), Trevor LeBlanc, Vala Mal Doran, Veronica Mars, Willow Rosenberg, Zane Donovan, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander + some minor characters
Pairings: Faith/Riley, Elizabeth/John, Sam/Jack O., AU!Gwen/Jack H., TJ/Cam, Martha/Becker, Rachel/Stephen, Lori/Steve, Kahlan/Richard, Cara/Ronon, Vala/Daniel, Kensi/Deeks, Cadman/Danny, Claudia/Eli, Veronica/Dean, Teyla/Teal’c, River/11, Rose/10.5, Jennifer/Rodney, Nell/Eric, Kono/Callen, Roxy/Trevor, Allison/Jack, Jo/Zane, Claudia Joy/Michael, Pamela/Chase, Denise/Frank, Amy/Rory, Chloe/Matthew, AU!Jo/clone!Jack O., Jenny/Ford, Sally/Mickey, Malia/Chin, Grace/Henry, Willow/Sam, past Willow/Kennedy
Summary: After an attack on the SGC the Stargate Program finds out about the supernatural and a secret plan of an old enemy who is set on taking over the Earth. Greatly weakened in numbers the Stargate Program begins to recruit while starting to hunt down their enemy.
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or fandoms. I wish I did… *g* I don’t make any money with this! I’m just writing the story for fun and hope someone else will enjoy it, too.
Spoiler Warnings: all of Animorphs, season 1-5 of Army Wives, all BTVS & ATS seasons (no Comics), season 1-6 of New Who, all of Eureka, season 1+2 of Hawaii Five-0 (2010), all of Legend of the Seeker, season 1-3 of NCIS LA, season 1-5 of Primeval, all of Stargate, season 1-6 of Supernatural, season 1-3 of Torchwood, all of Veronica Mars, season 1-3 of Warehouse 13
Other Warnings: some characters deaths (but no one listed under characters)
I’m German and my English isn’t and probably never will be perfect. I hope I don’t make too many mistakes. Feel free to point out errors so I can learn and improve.
Thanks again to my awesome beta landiana24 for betaing this! :-)
Story Introduction with character info, etc *~*~* Story Master Post *~*~* Fanart (new and older ones that fit this story)
Fandoms & Characters in this chapter:
Animorphs: Rachel Berenson
Army Wives: Chase Moran, Frank Sherwood, Michael Holden, Trevor LeBlanc
BTVS: Faith Lehane, Riley Finn, Willow Rosenberg
Hawaii Five-0: Kono Kalakaua, Steve McGarrett
NCIS LA: Eric Beale, Hetty Lange, Nell Jones
Primeval: Becker, Stephen Hart
Stargateverse: Alison Porter, Amelia Banks, Chuck, Daniel Jackson, Evan Lorne, clone!Jack O'Neill, Laura Cadman, Radek Zelenka, Rodney McKay, Sam Carter
Whoverse: Martha Jones, Mickey Smith, Sally Sparrow
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chapter 7: Unexpected Events
Day 4 - Atlantis - Rodney’s lab - afternoon:
Rodney sat in front of his laptop, watching the new recruits. His lab had been turned into the headquarters for the observation of the new recruits’ simulations, much to his dismay. As if he didn’t have anything better to do. He had diagnostics to run, ancient devices to check out, safety measures to update… But General O’Neill had personally ordered him to watch these stupid military games. The man really didn’t like him and used every opportunity he got to make his life miserable. Why? Rodney had no idea.
Sighing Rodney made sure that all programs worked properly and the simulations would be measured accurately. Everything looked fine. All shots, hits and misses were counted, and the missions recorded. In addition the missions were observed by Cadman, Lorne and the new guy. Rodney had no idea what his name was, but he guessed he’d find out sooner or later.
Yawning slightly Rodney wondered if anyone would notice if he snuck out and went to the cafeteria. He was pretty hungry; boredom usually did that to him. Maybe Jennifer would come with him if she had time. He glanced around at Cadman and the others who were looking at their laptops intently and taking notes. They didn’t seem to need him. Making his decision he stood up to leave when the whole city suddenly started to shake and a noise that sounded suspiciously like an explosion could be heard in the distance. Then an alarm started. Oh crap…
“What the hell…” Lorne muttered holding on to the table in front of him.
“What just happened?” Cadman called.
“Give me a second,” Rodney called looming over his laptop and running a few diagnostics. “The explosion was in an abandoned part of the city,” he stated a few minutes later. “But some of the recruits…”
“Is that a Wraith?” Lorne called, interrupting Rodney.
“What? Where?” Rodney asked, startled.
“Near recruits team 3,” Lorne answered.
“Crap,” Rodney muttered looking at the video feed set up for the missions. It really did look like a Wraith, and not just one of them. “How the hell did Wraith get into Atlantis?” They hadn’t seen Wraith since leaving the Pegasus Galaxy and destroying the one Hive that had found Earth’s location. Their long range sensors hadn’t picked up any ships either.
“We have to go,” Lorne stated getting up and ignoring Rodney’s question. How they got in wasn’t what was most important right now. The recruits didn’t have real weapons, and most of them had no idea what Wraith where. The ones that did had never faced them either.
Riley was just about to follow Lorne when he noticed something on the video feed of team 1.
“Are that dinosaurs?” he called, bringing the others to a halt.
“What?” Cadman called looking back at her laptop.
“Team 1,” Riley said.
Cadman’s eyes widened. “What the hell is going on here?” she wanted to know.
“I have no idea,” Rodney muttered. “But I’m getting some strange energy readings from an abandoned part of the city near where the explosion was.”
“Okay…,” Lorne muttered. “MacKay, check out the energy readings and inform the control room about what’s going on. We’re going to help the recruit teams.”
Leaving the lab Lorne almost ran into Commander McGarrett and one of his team members.
“What’s going on?” Kono asked over the blaring alarm.
“I’m going to tell you on the way to the armory,” Lorne stated gesturing for them to follow.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Day 4 - Atlantis - afternoon:
After handing the now unconscious Goa’uld over to Major Teldy to be locked up until they had time to interrogate her, Sam Carter, Willow Rosenberg and Radek Zelenka went to the control room.
“How bad is it?” Sam called over the noise of the cities alarm.
“The explosion was in an abandoned part of the city,” Amelia Banks said.
Sam let out a sigh of relief. Maybe they finally had at least a tiny bit of luck…
“But one of the recruit teams was nearby,” Chuck stated.
So much for luck, Sam thought. “How close? And how bad is the damage?”
“Parts of the city have started to flood, which initiated safety protocols. The city has shut off the flooding parts,” Amelia summarized.
“Please tell me the recruits team isn’t inside the flooding part,” Sam muttered. The Hammond had already left and was in hyperspace by now, which meant that they had no beaming technology at the moment, as all other ships were still on missions, too. If the recruits were trapped they really did have a problem.
“We’re not really sure,” Chuck said. “We can’t seem to reach them and the life sign detectors aren’t working properly either.”
Sam sighed. Of course nothing was working properly. That would be too easy. Hopefully no contact didn’t mean that the recruits were dead. Walking over to a console Sam checked out the situation for herself. Maybe she could find a way to reach the recruits.
“We have another problem,” Amelia stated. “Rodney just told me that he noticed some strange energy readings in an abandoned part of the city. Could be an ancient lab.”
“Could be?” Willow asked.
“Well, we still haven’t managed to check out the entire city,” Zelenka answered while walking over to a console.
“I thought you found the city 8 years ago,” Willow said.
“It’s a big city,” Sam stated.
“And something always comes up,” Zelenka added. He could hardly remember a week with no emergencies. Even when nothing too awful happened they were still busy with one project or another. “But we have checked out about 80% of the city by now.”
“Just not that part,” Willow concluded.
“No, not that part,” Sam agreed before looking at a screen which now showed where the source of the energy irregularities was. It was near the explosion. Sam sighed. They had made sure the test missions would be in safe areas, but one team was close to an unchecked part of the city, in addition to being near the explosion. She had to shut down whatever gave off those energy readings, before it put that recruits team in even more danger… if it hadn’t already.
“I think whatever is giving off that energy is why we can’t reach the recruits. Their radios are dead, but ours are still working,” Zelenka said.
Definitely still working, Sam thought as she heard Cam and Teal’c over her radio.
“Hang on a sec, Cam, Teal’c,” she told them as General Holden and Hetty Lange came into the control room followed by some others. “We’ll get back to you ASAP.”
“What hap-?” Hetty asked, but was interrupted by Amelia who was still getting information from Rodney over her radio.
“We have Wraith in the city…”
“What?” Sam asked surprised.
“…and dinosaurs.”
“You’re kidding?!” Eric Beale exclaimed.
“Welcome to the Stargate Program,” Chuck muttered dryly. They might not have encountered dinosaurs so far, but he didn’t doubt Amelia’s words for a second. Nothing was impossible in their line of work.
Sam frowned before turning to Hetty and General Holden.
“They are going to bring you up to speed,” she said gesturing at Zelenka and the technicians. “I have to go.” She needed to have a look at whatever was giving off the energy readings. If it was an ancient device that had been activated in the explosion it might be damaged and extremely dangerous. One explosion was more than enough. Everything else could be dealt with by someone else. Hetty and General Holden were in the control room after all. They could organize everything. It might be their first day here, but they surely had experience with crisis situations.
“I’m coming with you,” Willow said following her.
Sam nodded while hurrying towards the closest transporter. She might need her help.
“Keep trying to contact the recruits, send out teams and keep me updated,” Sam called before they were out of earshot.
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Day 4 - Atlantis - afternoon - recruits team 1:
“What the hell?” Major Frank Sherwood muttered as the hologram of their enemy disappeared when being shot by Captain Berenson and Faith. Yes, the General had warned them to expect the unexpected, but that the enemy had greenish skin and disfigured features was a little out there, wasn’t it? LeBlanc and Moran looked just as irritated as he did. The two women on the other hand didn’t even blink.
“What was that supposed to be?” Trevor asked.
“Wraith, I think,” Faith muttered.
“Wraith?” Chase asked with a raised eyebrow.
Faith narrowed her eyes. Apparently the recruits hadn’t been told about Wraith yet. Did they even know about aliens and the supernatural? “I’m sure you’ll be told all about Wraith once you get into the Stargate Program,” Faith said, not wanting to tell them too much. She was pretty sure that they would get in, based on their performance so far, but nothing was certain in life. “So why don’t we get this game over with by finding the artifact?”
“I’m with her,” Rachel said. Now that she had seen the hologram of that Wraith she was sure that this really had something to do with aliens. She simply had to pass these tests and get in! For the first time since the Ellimist brought her to this reality she started to feel like she was exactly where she was supposed to be. She liked the feeling.
Frank simply nodded. He really did want to know what this was all about. Where these people playing a joke on them or was there something going on that was way beyond his wildest dreams? “Let’s get that artifact,” he stated, gave a few signals and moved forward, fake p-90 held high.
----- -----
About fifteen minutes later they had taken down at least eight enemies, which all looked odd to some degree, and rescued a hostage, Dr. Alison Porter. Then they spotted the artifact.
“Get it,” Frank told Trevor while he and the others took defensive positions in case of another attack.
Trevor stepped towards the artifact, then the whole city started to shake and an explosion could be heard in the distance.
“That did not sound and feel like a simulation,” Frank muttered while pushing himself up and holding a hand out to Berenson.
Taking the offered hand Rachel pulled herself up. “No, sir, it did not,” she agreed. The sound might be from a simulation, but the city shaking? She didn’t think the Stargate Program would go to that much trouble.
“I wasn’t told about any plans for fake explosions,” Alison said while getting up with Trevor’s help.
“Great,” Faith muttered before tapping her radio. They were only supposed to use their radios to talk to their team mates during the test, but Faith was fairly certain that the time for tests was over. “Willow, Sam, what’s going on?” She didn’t get an answer, just some static noise.
“We should go to the next transporter,” Alison suggested when it became apparent that none of their radios were working.
“Transporter?” Chase asked.
“The elevator thingy that got us to this part of the city,” Faith explained.
“I thought that was an elevator,” Trevor muttered while following Alison.
“It’s a bit more complicated than that…” Alison started.
“It doesn’t just take you to other floors, but other parts of the city, too,” Faith summed it up.
“You know a lot about all of this,” Frank observed glancing at Faith.
“I’ve been here for a few days,” she answered, then smiled as she spotted a transporter at the other end of the corridor.
They had almost made it to the transporter when a wave of greenish light suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blinding them momentarily.
“You know what that is, too?” Frank wanted to know.
“Not a clue,” Faith answered while shielding her eyes with her hand.
“Me neither,” Alison stated, wishing that she had her tablet with her and could take some readings.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
London - about 2 years ago:
Stephen Hart stood in a locked room full of deadly creatures, his eyes fixed on the door, through which he could see his best friend, Nick Cutter, looking in. He didn’t really want to look anywhere else. He saw movement out of the corner of his eyes and knew that it couldn’t be anything good, probably the Smilodon, a dinosaur, one of the future predators, or whatever else was ready to eat him.
So this was it, he thought. He had faced danger so many times and always gotten away, but not this time. He was going to die in a matter of minutes, probably even seconds. There simply was no way out of this. He knew it when he went into the room to lock the creatures in. He didn’t want to die, but he wanted to watch Cutter die even less. Someone had to lock the room and the only still functioning locking mechanism was inside. Helen would never have sacrificed herself, even though this was her mess. Stephen frowned. How could he have been stupid enough to trust her? She had lied to him the whole time and he hadn’t seen it. He guessed it served him right that he paid the price for his stupidity now.
Something came closer and jumped. Stephen instinctively moved out of the way. Death might be inevitable, but he couldn’t just give in, and even more importantly he couldn’t let himself get eaten while Cutter could still see him. However, it didn’t take long until one of the creatures caught him. Pain shot through Stephen as claws grazed his arm. He stumbled and fell to the ground. Something was looming over him, but before it could strike another even bigger prehistoric animal jumped on it and they started to fight. This had been the plan. Get all the creatures into one room and let them fight and eat each other. Too bad he was in the middle of it all.
Something roared, other animals moaned, and a lot of them were coming towards Stephen now. The smell of his blood announced him as easy prey. His heart pounded loudly as he got to his feet slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements. He had to get away, just a few more steps. He couldn’t risk that Cutter could still see him. Making a step backwards Stephen tried to ignore the knowledge that that could be just as deadly as stepping forward, towards the approaching Smilodon with its huge sabre-teeth.
While Stephen walked backwards a bright greenish light suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Stephen shielded his eyes reflexively, just as something hit him in the side and knocked him a few feet away. He groaned, holding his bleeding and aching arm. His head and chest hurt from the impact as well. For a moment he wondered if he should just stay on the ground, eyes closed. Maybe it would be better if he didn’t see it coming… whatever it was that would kill him. But then he remembered the light. Where did it come from? Could it be an anomaly? Could he be that lucky? No, the light had been green. Still, he had to check what it was. Opening his eyes Stephen noticed that the light was fading. Then he frowned. He was no longer in the same room. He was actually in a corridor. There were still dinosaurs and other creatures around, but far less than before. And there were people a few feet away. How the hell did that happen?
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Day 4 - Atlantis - afternoon - recruits team 2:
“Holy crap,” Frank exclaimed as the light faded. The corridor they were in was now filled with at least a dozen creatures that looked suspiciously like dinosaurs and a sabre-tooth tiger to him.
“Please tell me those are holograms,” Chase muttered before firing his fake p-90. Unfortunately the dinosaur he aimed at didn’t react, which meant that he hadn’t hit a hologram.
“I don’t believe so,” Alison answered swallowing hard.
“Does anyone have real weapons?” Faith asked and glanced at Alison. She had seen that most people in Atlantis carried weapons everywhere.
“I’m a scientist, I don’t usually carry weapons around,” Alison whispered. The others all shook their heads.
“Okay,” Faith muttered stepping in front of the others and pulling out a stake from her boot. She never went anywhere without one, but she didn’t really think that a stake would do her much good against freaking dinosaurs. Still, it was better than nothing.
“Everyone stay silent and get back slowly,” Frank instructed in a whisper. “No sudden movements.” So far the animals hadn’t paid them much attention, but who knew how long that would last?
They started to comply when Rachel suddenly stopped. “Wait. There’s someone…” she muttered and pointed to the left. A man just stood up and pressed himself against the wall, trying to stay out of the dinosaurs’ way. Dinosaurs… wow, Rachel hadn’t thought she’d ever see dinosaurs again in her life. Once was surreal enough, but twice? And especially in this reality, where nothing unusual had happened before today. She really wished she could still morph a dinosaur, but after they came back from the past none of the Animorphs had been able to morph anything they acquired in the past. Maybe she should morph into an elephant? That was the only thing she could morph that was big enough to allow her to defend the others. She really didn’t want to reveal her secret, especially not now that she finally felt like she could fit in somewhere, but she couldn’t risk the others lives, and her own, either. They were utterly defenceless right now.
“Crap,” Faith muttered, now seeing the man standing between the dinosaurs, too. They couldn’t just leave him behind.
“Please don’t freak out,” Rachel said glancing at her team members. “I’ll explain this later.” There really was no time right now. She started to concentrate and felt the changes begin. Her legs started to get bigger and stronger, her skin turned grey and thicker, her ears grew, followed by her nose and the rest of her head. Then her entire body felt like it was shooting up into the air as she grew bigger.
“I’m way beyond freaked out,” Trevor muttered. They were facing dinosaurs! What could possibly shock him now? That was before he saw what Berenson meant. She was… changing.
“Oh my god,” Frank exclaimed, not for the first time wondering if this was all just a bizarre dream.
“Somebody pinch me, please,” Chase muttered as the pretty blond marine turned into a huge elephant. This really could not be happening!
Faith whistled slightly when Rachel changed, then started to wonder if the blonde was in league with Ba’al. Robin stated in his files that at least some of Ba’al’s people were shapeshifters. Sam had told her that that probably wasn’t the case. Goa’uld could change hosts and look different because of that. Faith had thought that that was a good bet. Robin could have drawn the wrong conclusions, since he didn’t know about Goa’uld. Now however Faith wasn’t so sure about that anymore. Rachel obviously was a shapeshifter. She sighed. She really had liked the blonde.
“Get back,” she whispered to the others. Rachel might be just as dangerous as the rest of the animals.
As the changes came to an end and the elephant’s instincts set in Rachel started to feel much more confident. The elephant didn’t know fear or worry like a human did. It was used to being the biggest and one of the strongest creatures in its natural habitat. Rachel grinned, or would have grinned if she had been in human from. She had almost forgotten how great it felt to be in elephant morph.
‘Stay behind me,’ she told the others in thought-speak. ‘Or better… get back, find a room and lock yourself in. I’ll get the man,” she amended. The further away the others were the better.
“What?” Trevor muttered, his eyes widening. It sounded, or better felt like Captain Berenson’s voice was directly in his head. But that was ridiculous, wasn’t it? He snorted. Yeah, as ridiculous as living dinosaurs and shapeshifters!
‘Go!’ Rachel insisted in thought-speak before stepping forward.
Faith narrowed her eyes. Was Rachel trying to protect them? Maybe she wasn’t in league with Ba’al after all. Or was this all some kind of plot?
----- -----
Stephen pushed himself up and leaned against the wall, feeling a little dizzy. Taking a deep breath he glanced around. Most of the dinosaurs that came here with him - wherever here was - were herbivores. They were still dangerous though, because they were big and could easily trample him to death. Still he moved closer to one of them, deciding that it might be a good idea to get it between him and the approaching Smilodon with its already bloody sabre-teeth. In addition to that he was moving towards the other humans. Glancing at them briefly he froze. What the hell was that? Something oddly grotesque was changing and growing, until it looked like an elephant. Stephen had seen a lot in his life already, but this was beyond weird. He was still staring at the elephant when he felt something breathing down his neck. Trying not to move even a tiny bit he glimpsed the Smilodon out of the corner of his eye. Crap! Memories of how it killed Valerie came rushing back at him and he swallowed, then the elephant suddenly trumpeted and came rushing forward, pulling the Smilodon’s attention away from Stephen.
When Rachel, or better the elephant, rushed towards the sabre-tooth tiger Faith followed. Avoiding a big dinosaur and jumping over a smaller one she landed next to the man and quickly pushed him behind her while Rachel started to fight with the tiger. The elephant was bigger, but the tiger was vicious and blood soon trickled down the grey skin of the elephant. Frowning Faith tried to come up with a plan. She had to do something! It really didn’t look like Rachel was evil. If she were she surely wouldn’t risk her own life for a stranger. Without another thought she turned to the man: “Get out of here!” That said she rushed forward, jumped on the tiger’s back and drove her stake into its neck.
‘Are you crazy?’ Rachel called in thought-speak.
“Since I’m hearing voices in my head… yeah, probably,” Faith answered sarcastically just before the sabre-tooth shook itself violently, making her lose her hold and crash into the wall. Pushing herself up Faith saw the tiger move faster than she thought possible and suddenly found herself face to face with it. Her eyes widened, then the elephant crashed into the tiger, pushing it away. A second later shots erupted and all hell broke loose as roaring animals started to run.
“Not the elephant,” Faith called loudly, stepping in front of Rachel, her hands raised.
“Faith!” someone called, then she felt herself lifted into the air, the elephants trump curled around her. Looking down Faith saw the elephant’s skin turn red with blood just about where she had been standing a second earlier.
‘You really are crazy,’ Rachel decided in thought-speak.
Faith snorted before looking at the new arrivals. “Stop shooting at us!”
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Riley stepped out of the transporter after Major Lorne, p-90 at the ready. The next second he was pushed away by the man. Hitting the wall he saw a dinosaur thundering past them. That had been close, he thought before muttering a ‘thanks’ to Lorne and taking a proper look around. There were at least a dozen dinosaurs and other animals around. He saw some recruits behind them, at the end of the corridor. Great, so much for getting weapons from the armory for them… They had to reach them first! Then his gaze fell on Faith who was right in the middle of the animals, facing a sabre-tooth tiger. His eyes widened and his heart started to beat faster at the sight. Pulling his p-90 he started firing just as and elephant ran into the tiger, pushing it away from Faith. He let out a sigh of relief, but kept firing. Faith was still in danger after all. The sabre-tooth was already getting up again and the elephant was definitely way too close to her. Then Faith suddenly jumped in front of the elephant.
“Faith!” he screamed desperately while quickly stopping to shoot and hoping that he - and Lorne - had been fast enough. At the same time the elephant lifted Faith up with its trunk.
“Stop shooting at us!”
“Us?” Lorne asked.
“Shapeshifter over here,” Faith called pointing at the elephant.
“What?” Lorne demanded.
“That’s Captain Rachel Berenson, and she’s on our side,” Faith stated. Rachel had saved her life at least twice now. The men however didn’t seem convinced, even when Rachel put her down.
“Come over here,” Riley called. If Berenson really was a shapeshifter she might be in league with Ba’al. He wasn’t sure if Faith would be dumb enough not to consider that herself, but he wasn’t willing to take a risk with her life. That elephant could crush her, slayer or no slayer.
“Watch out!” someone suddenly yelled at the same time as other voices called: “Behind you!” and “The sabre-tooth tiger!”
Too focused on making sure that Riley and Lorne stopped shooting at Rachel Faith had almost missed the sabre-tooth’s attack. It had rushed off when the two men started shooting before, but had apparently doubled back. Moving as fast as she could Faith rushed towards Riley and Lorne who were turning around and started shooting. The sabre-tooth jumped, claws extended, coming towards the two men. It all seemed to happen like in slow motion. Faith’s heart pounded loudly in her chest as she tried not to imagine what that tiger could do to Riley. She couldn’t let that happen!
Just before the sabre-tooth landed Faith reached the men, gave Lorne a slight push to the right and grabbed Riley, throwing herself and him to the left. As they fell Faith felt something sharp graze her shoulder. Pain rushed through her, then they hit the ground. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder Faith quickly pushed off Riley and turned around. Rachel was fighting with the sabre-tooth again, her trunk all bloody.
‘Get out of here!’ Rachel yelled in open thought-speak. She was already feeling weak and the damn sabre-tooth was strong. She wasn’t sure if she could defeat it. Then shots erupted again, hitting the tiger. Out of the corner of her eye Rachel saw that her team mates and the stranger hadn’t run off like she had told them before. Instead they apparently had found weapons, probably dropped by the two new arrivals, and were shooting now. Bleeding heavily the sabre-tooth eventually sank to the floor, roaring one last time.
When the tiger finally didn’t move anymore Riley turned to Faith.
“Are you okay?” he asked, then winced when his gaze fell on her shoulder, which had bloody claw marks.
Faith looked at Riley surprised when she heard the concerned tone of his voice. He couldn’t actually be concerned about her, could he?
“It’s nothing…” she started.
“Doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Trevor muttered next to her.
“I’m a fast healer,” Faith added in explanation before looking back at Riley.
“Slayer, remember?” She grinned slightly and repressed a wince. She might heal fast, but her shoulder still hurt like hell right now.
“Let’s get you to the infirmary,” Lorne said. “Then we’re going after the dinosaurs.”
“I’m coming with you,” Faith objected while ripping off part of her shirt to bandage herself up for now.
Riley quickly helped Faith and started wrapping the cloth around Faith’s upper arm and shoulder.
“No, you’re not,” Lorne stated firmly.
“I’m a slayer,” Faith called. “It’s my…”
“You’re a member of the Stargate Program and…” Lorne interrupted, but Faith didn’t let him finish either.
“…duty to protect people. No, it’s actually my destiny. And I’m not a member of the Stargate Program yet, so I can do whatever I…” She broke off when a thudding noise distracted her. Turning slightly she saw that the elephant - Rachel - was laying on the ground now, bleeding from several wounds.
“Rachel!” she called and quickly went over to the elephant.
Seeing the elephant go down Stephen stepped towards it and placed a gentle hand on it. It was injured pretty badly. He didn’t think it was going to make it. He hated to see a magnificent animal like this die. But was it even really an elephant, he wondered, remembering how it had changed.
Hearing Faith Rachel stirred. That was her name! Her brain was fuzzy and she felt so tired, but deep down she knew that there was something she needed to do, something important. What was it?
“We need to help her,” Faith said.
“She needs a doctor,” Riley agreed. The elephant had fought the sabre-tooth tiger, which meant that this shifter probably wasn’t evil.
“Something is still interfering with the radios,” Lorne said after trying his. “And we can’t carry that.” He gestured at the elephant.
“She’s not a ‘that’,” Faith objected. “She’s a person! She probably saved us all.”
“I know,” Riley said grabbing Faith by her uninjured shoulder and making her look at him. “But Lorne’s right. We can’t get her to the infirmary. Maybe we can send someone once we get there…”
“I’m not leaving her alone,” Faith objected.
“What if she changes back?” Trevor asked. “She can change back, right?” She had been a woman after all. He didn’t know anything about shapeshifters, hadn’t believed they were real until today, but what could change once should be able to change again, right?
Faith stared at him. Of course! Why hadn’t she thought of that already?! They could carry a human Rachel.
“Rachel, can you hear me? You have to shift back!” Faith said.
Rachel heard the voices of people, but her fuzzy brain didn’t manage to comprehend it all. A few words made it through though. Change! Yes, that was it. She had to morph! Taking all her remaining willpower she concentrated and the changes began. The process was slower than before, but one by one her body parts changed from elephant to human and shrank. With the changes Rachel’s mind started to clear and her wounds disappeared.
Faith stared at Rachel as she shifted back. It looked weird and a little disgusting, but soon the blond soldier she had immediately started to get along with lay in front of her, and she didn’t see any wounds.
“Rachel, are you okay?” she asked.
Rachel turned to Faith and grinned. “Perfect,” she stated. Maybe a little tired from the morphing process, but that was nothing new. She had been through worse, and at least she was healed. Morphing really had a lot of advantages, like returning to the state she used to be in before becoming an animal. Wounds she obtained while in morph simply disappeared.
Faith smiled. Wow, that had turned out even better than she had hoped.
“Alright, let’s go to the infirmary,” Lorne said. Faith and one of the men were wounded, and he definitely wanted Berenson to be checked out, too. In addition to that he had a lot of questions for her and was sure his superiors did, too. Someone would have to keep an eye on her while he went after the dinosaurs with Major Finn and the uninjured recruits. As far as he was concerned they were part of the SGP now. They had proven that they could handle this job.
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Day 4 - Atlantis - afternoon - recruits team 2:
“So, how’d you become a Colonel at your age?” Mickey asked, not managing to keep his curiosity inside any longer. “I mean, how old are you? Like 20?” he added. Colonel O’Neill definitely looked younger than he did.
Jack narrowed his eyes and sighed. Of course the question had to come up sooner or later, now that he had his real rank back. When joining the Air Force - again - he had to start fresh, but now that he was part of the Stargate Program again they had given him back the rank of Colonel, which he deserved of course. His body might be that of a younger clone, but his mind and memories were those of Colonel Jack O’Neill, who had been 50 at the time. He had definitely earned that rank.
“25,” he corrected through gritted teeth. “And that’s classified.”
“Oh come on, we signed the non-disclosure agreement,” Mickey pressed.
“But you don’t know what all this is about, do you?” Jack remarked gesturing around. “And until you do I’m not telling you squad.”
“You know what the Stargate Program is about?” Becker asked.
“Sure,” Jack stated casually. He knew everything. That he even had to take this stupid test was ridiculous. He used to lead SG-1 for crying out loud! But he bet that General O’Neill wanted to annoy him a little. He probably had made sure to stick him with the most incapable recruits of all as well. Three of them weren’t even military and they didn’t look half as smart as Daniel.
“We do, too,” Mickey said gesturing at himself, Martha and Sally.
Martha rolled her eyes, she had the feeling that this was turning into a male pissing contest.
“How about we just find the artefact and get this over with?” Sally suggested.
“My thoughts exactly,” Martha agreed. She couldn’t wait for this to be over so she wouldn’t have to see Becker anymore. He looked way too hot and her treacherous mind was starting to remember just how amazing he looked without his clothes…
“Good idea,” Jack stated while looking around for the artifact Cam had shown them a picture of. He hoped it wasn’t a real artefact. Daniel would get a fit if anything happened to one of his precious artifacts.
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About twenty minutes later they had eliminated five enemies, some of whom looked like Goa’uld, others like Wraith. Jack noticed that most of his team members didn’t seem surprised about the alien looking holograms. Maybe they really did know about life on other planets and hadn’t just boasted around. He would have to find out more about them at some point.
After rescuing a hostage, Daniel Jackson - who kept grinning at him in an irritating way - they found the artifact. Jack held it in his hands. Mission accomplished: enemy dead, hostage saved, artifact retrieved, no dead civilians. He grinned happily. Then the whole city started to shake as something exploded way to close for Jack’s liking. The next second a blaring alarm started. As if it wasn’t obvious that something was wrong, Jack thought.
“Please tell me this is part of the simulation,” Jack yelled while trying to stay on his feet. His ears were ringing from the explosion.
“I’m afraid not,” Daniel answered while pushing himself up, then quickly tried to contact Sam over his radio. Unfortunately he didn’t get an answer. His radio seemed to be dead, or maybe the ringing in his ears combined with the cities alarm prevented him from hearing anything Sam said. He’d try again later.
“Come on, let’s find a transporter and get to the control room,” Jack called loudly while helping one of the women up. He had a really bad feeling about this. First the SGC was blown up and now something exploded in Atlantis. That couldn’t be a coincidence. He’d bet his left arm that Ba’al had something to do with this.
They had just started to walk when Daniel grabbed Jack’s arm and pointed to the ground. The floor was getting wet. Jack looked around. More and more water was flowing into the room.
“Run!” he yelled. The others complied without questions.
Closing the room’s door behind him Jack followed the others. They were running down a long corridor when more and more water appeared. Apparently closing one door hadn’t helped. Jack just made it through another door after Becker and stopped to close the door behind his team mates when the door closed on its own, in front of Daniel and the others. Jack quickly touched the doors opening panel, but nothing happened. The door stayed closed.
“No, no, no,” he muttered feeling frustrated and hit the panel, but that didn’t help either. Daniel and the two women were locked in.
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Book Cover fanart for this chapter:
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(chapter 8)
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