It's only just beginning: chapter 12
Title: It's only just beginning
Author: Betty (sarah_jones on lj)
Fandoms: Stargate, Stargate Atlantis, Primeval, JAG, Doctor Who/Torchwood, Animorphs & Angel
Rating: M
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.
Summary: The story starts after the Stargate Atlantis season finale. There will be new enemies and new adventures, as well as new characters from other fandoms. Old enemies and older characters will return as well.
chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7, chapter 8, chapter 9, chapter 10, chapter 11, timeline for all chapters
chapter 12:
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Day 8 - Torchwood London:
Ianto Jones ran through a corridor towards the weapons storage room. Something strange was going on and he needed to be properly armed. One gun just wasn’t enough if bad turned to worse.
Turning around a corner Ianto then stopped. A group of people was standing there. At least three of them were armed and guns were pointed in his direction.
“Mr. Jones,” Stanton called and looked rather relieved to see one of his people.
“Mr. Stanton, Lois,” Ianto greeted and then nodded at the others.
“Did you see what’s happening?” Lois wanted to know.
“No, I only heard screams and saw shadows. I’m on my way to get some more weapons.”
“That’s where we’re heading,” Cam said.
“And you are?” Ianto wanted to know.
Stanton introduced them as they started walking again.
“It’s that room,” Lois said after a few minutes.
Ianto stepped forward to open the door, but it was locked. He pulled his Torchwood-ID through the door opener, but nothing happened.
“It’s locked and won’t open,” he informed.
Stanton stepped forward and tried his own card. Nothing happened.
“It’s the angels. They locked us in the last time, too,” Sally said.
“Crap,” John muttered. Then he turned to Rodney. “Get that door open.”
Rodney frowned, but stepped towards the door. Unfortunately the cover of the door opener was bolted to the wall.
“Does anyone have a screwdriver?” he asked sounding annoyed.
“Use this,” John instructed and threw a pocket knife towards Rodney.
Time passed as Rodney worked on the door opener.
“Be careful or you’ll cause a short-circuit,” Stanton warned.
Rodney turned around and glared at the man.
“Get him out of my way, will you?” he muttered glancing at John and Cam.
“He knows what he’s doing,” John stated and pulled Stanton away from Rodney.
Then the lights started to flicker.
Sally looked up and gulped. “They are coming. They can turn the lights off so noone can see them.”
“Who exactly are they?” Ianto wanted to know.
“Aliens who can send you back in time by touching you. So, don’t let them touch you and don’t look away. They turn to stone when you look at them," Cam quickly told him while keeping an eye on their surroundings and turning the light of his p-90 on.
John briefly turned to Rodney. “What’s taking so long?” he asked.
“I’m not familiar with the system. But I’m doing my best.”
The lights flickered again.
“Open the damn door, Rodney!”
Rodney turned to glare at John just as the door opened.
“Alright, let’s move,” Cam called while entering the room first and checking that it was safe.
“Clear,” he called and everyone followed him quickly.
Once they were all inside John closed the door and stood guard.
“Where are the explosives?” Cam asked.
Ianto raised an eyebrow, but showed the man.
“We’re not going to blow up the building, right?” Stanton asked. “We just rebuilt.”
“You want those things to send you back in time, or stay here and risk the building?” John asked with a frown.
Cam stashed explosives into his vest, then handed some to John. After that he looked at the rest of the room. Noticing guns he grabbed three and handed them to Sally, Lois and Stanton.
“What good are they going to be against stone?” Sally asked.
“They aren’t always stone. Shoot if you have to blink,” Cam suggested.
Well, the idea wasn’t that bad, Sally thought and looked at the gun. She had had one shooting lesson so far, that was it. She mostly carried around files, sent e-mails and answered phones.
“That’s the safety,” Cam explained pointing at it. “Don’t shoot at eachother!”
Ianto came back and handed everyone a flashlight. “We might need those.”
Sally smiled at him. “Good thinking,” she said.
“Are we ready then?” Lois wanted to know. She wanted to get this over with as fast as possible. She was just a PA, not a Torchwood operative. She had never even held a gun before.
“Now we are,” Cam said showing up with a rocket launcher. “That should kill them,” he stated with a grin.
John smirked. He liked the way Mitchell was thinking.
Stanton quivered slightly, not wanting to imagine how the building would look once they were finished.
“Let’s go.”
Ten minutes later they were walking through the building slowly, trying to look in all directions.
“I think I heard something,” Stanton said.
Cam placed his finger in front of his lips. Then he moved forward, turning around a corner. He froze and quickly took a step back. A statue of an angel was standing in front of him, it’s face a grotesque mask. One arm was reaching towards him.
“Keep looking at it,” Sally said stepping next to him. “And don’t blink!”
Lois went to Cam’s other side. If they all looked at it, it couldn’t move, right? They wouldn’t all blink at the same time.
“Move back,” Cam whispered. Then he stepped back as well and fired the rocket launcher just before throwing himself around the corner.
John quickly pulled the women down and covered them with his body. Ianto pushed Stanton down before dropping to the ground as well. Rodney covered against the wall.
A few seconds later John looked up and let go of Sally and Lois. Turning around he saw Cam on the ground and hurried over to him.
Sally pushed herself up and looked around quickly. Lois followed her example. Ianto was by their side quickly.
“Is it dead?” Lois asked and stepped forward to peer around the corner.
“Be careful,” John warned and then turned Cam around. He was knocked out cold.
Ianto pushed Lois behind himself and stepped forward, gun raised. There was a lot of debris lying around, a wall was partly gone and pieces of stone were everywhere.
Sally was standing half behind Ianto, holding onto his arm. “It’s dead, right? Stone can be killed after all.” She turned around and then noticed that Colonel Mitchell was still on the ground.
“Is he going to be alright?” she asked kneeling down beside John.
Cam chose that moment to open his eyes and start coughing.
Sally smiled, taking that as a good sign.
“Did it work?” Cam then asked.
“Looks that way,” John answered while getting up and holding his hand out to Cam.
Once Cam was on his feet John picked up the rocket launcher. “I’ll take that now.”
“Fine by me,” Cam stated. One close call a day was more than enough. He had been standing way too close to the angel, but what was he supposed to do? Ask it to step back? Or step around it and risk that they all blinked at the same time and the damn alien got one of them? Not a chance!
“One down,” John stated as they made their way through the debris, careful not to step on the angel parts. Who knew what might happen then.
“There are three more,” Sally said.
“Great,” Rodney muttered. “I knew I should have stayed in Atlantis.”
“Atlantis?” Ianto asked.
Cam glared at Rodney and then turned to Ianto. “Classified,” he stated with an apologetic shrug.
“Right," Ianto said and frowned. Usually he would have tried to get some information from Jack, who seemed to know almost anything that was classified on earth. But things were different now. He had wanted a relationship. Jack seemed to be fine with a casual affair. When Torchwood 1 contacted him and offered him a job Ianto decided that it was time to get out. Maybe Jack would have wanted more some day, but Ianto thought that it was more likely that he got his heart broken. It had still been hard to leave though. He missed Jack. But he was working on moving on.
John tried to ignore Stanton’s mutterings about destroying the building. What was the guy’s problem? They had more important things to worry about.
The lights flickered again. Sally turned on her flashlight and shone it ahead, past Colonel Sheppard, who was walking in the front now, with the rocket launcher. The thing was huge and probably heavy. Sally was definitely glad she didn’t have to carry the thing.
“Oh no,” Rodney muttered, as the flashlights started to flicker just like the corridor lights.
“Crap,” Cam added as he tapped his p-90. That light was flickering, too.
“They must be close,” Sally said.
“Over here,” Cam called as he fired his machine gun. The lights were flickering and the damn angel came closer whenever the light was out for a second.
“Get down!” John bellowed as he swung around and aimed.
Ianto quickly knocked Stanton and Rodney down. Sally and Lois dropped to the ground next to them.
Cam threw himself out of the way while still firing the p-90. The rocket rushed by him and hit its target several feet away. There was another small explosion. Stone and debris shattered to the floor. A big hole could be seen in the left wall. Stanton stared at it looking rather pale.
Then he turned to John and Cam. “Could we not take down the whole building while we’re on the 8th floor?”
John looked at him and then glanced at Cam. “I think he’s right.” He really wasn’t in the mood to be in another collapsing building. It hadn't been fun the last time.
Half an hour later they had taken out another angel. But they didn’t find the last one. Torchwood had mobilized by then and a lot of teams were searching the building, but the angel was gone.
They were back in the conference room now.
Sally stood at the window and looked out. One angel got away. It was somewhere out there.
“We’ll find it,” Ianto said and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Sally turned to him and sighed slightly. Yeah, right. As if she would be allowed to help find it. She was an intern and just like in any other firm interns did the boring work.
Mr. Stanton confirmed her thoughts as he ordered her to get back to work and deal with the paperwork this mess had caused. Great! Sometimes she thought that it had been more fun to work in the DVD store with Larry.
Sally sighed and walked towards the door. Before she could leave Cam grabbed her arm and held her back.
“If you want a new job, call this number,” he said and gave her his card. The Stargate program needed new people. He was sure they’d find a place for someone like her. She seemed to be intelligent and kept cool in a crisis situation. What more could they want?
“Really?” Sally asked. Then she briefly glanced at Stanton, who was busy talking on his radio. He probably wouldn’t even notice if she quit. The only time he did seem to notice her was when she mentioned the Doctor. And it wasn’t like she really knew the Doctor.
“Really,” John said stepping next to Cam.
“And while we’re already at it,” Cam continued and handed Lois and Ianto cards as well. It might not be nice to try and ‘steal’ members of their new cooperation partner, but they were just offering alternatives, right?
Lois looked at the card and then smiled at them. She liked working for Torchwood, but this was an offer to work in Atlantis! She could really see the city for herself!
“I’ll think about it,” she said.
“What kind of job would that be?” Ianto asked silently. Stanton was still busy talking over the radio, but he preferred to keep this quiet anyway.
“We’re working for the Stargate program…”
“Oh,” Ianto muttered, not looking too happy. “Captain Jack Harkness works there now, doesn’t he?”
“Yes. You know him?” Cam asked.
Ianto just nodded. Then he pulled himself together. “I used to work for Torchwood 3 in Cardiff with Jack.”
“Interesting guy,” Cam said. He had met Jack in the cafeteria. Man, the guy knew stories. “Definitely knows how to entertain a crowd.”
“Too flirty for my liking,” John added with a slight grimace. He guessed he’d be flattered if he was a woman, but as it was, he really wasn’t into men.
Ianto chuckled slightly, but looked rather sad as well.
“I’m not really looking for a new job right now. But I might get back to you some day.”
“Sure, keep the card,” Cam told him.
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Day 8 - London:
“Mac,” a voice called as she walked into the living room. She turned around and saw Harm coming out of the kitchen.
A big grin appeared on Harms face as he saw her. She really was back. He had missed her a lot the past few days.
Mac returned his smile and then hurried over to hug her husband. It had been hard to be away from him. They hadn’t been separated for even a day since they got married.
Harm wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer.
“I missed you,” he admitted.
“I missed you, too,” Mac said snuggling closer.
They stood like that for a while. Then Mac glanced up at him.
“I got the job and I really want it. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and…”
“I know,” Harm said, interrupting her. “You want the job and you deserve it. I already typed my letter of resignation.”
“You did?”
Harm smirked slightly. He wasn’t too thrilled to quit his job, but he was looking forward to going back to the US and he definitely wanted Mac to be happy. She was the most important thing in his life and she had given up everything so he could pursue his career. Now he would do the same for her.
“Can’t wait to stand in court without a wig again.”
Mac had to laugh at that. Then she pulled him down to her and kissed him.
“Mhhm, I missed that, too,” Harm muttered between kisses.
“Me, too. Make sure you get to San Francisco soon,” Mac told him after pulling away slightly.
“Will do. But for now… How about we spend some time in our bedroom before it’s packed up.”
“I came here to help you pack,” Mac stated, but let herself get pulled towards the bedroom.
“That can wait. I can’t.”
Mac chuckled and followed Harm. She’d rather not pack right now either.
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Day 8 - Atlantis infirmary:
Sora paced around the room she had been given. She was feeling fine, so there was no need for her to stay in the infirmary any longer. But honestly, was it better to return to her cell? Well, as long as it was wraith-free… She really had thought the people from Atlantis wanted to kill her when the Wraith suddenly appeared in her cell. But they claimed that that wasn’t the case. A device from the ancestors supposedly malfunctioned and made her travel through time. She still wasn’t sure if she should believe that.
Teyla came to visit her a few minutes ago, but she sent her away. She might have realized that killing Teyla wouldn’t bring her father back, but she still wasn’t willing to just pick up their friendship again. Besides, why should she? She was still a prisoner. Guards were outside her door.
A few minutes later Major Teldy and Sergeant Mehra came to bring her back to a cell. Her supposed time travel hadn’t changed anything.
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Day 8 - Atlantis cafeteria:
“Here, try this,” Major Lorne said and placed a small bowl on Fred’s tray.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Leftovers from the Pegasus galaxy,” he answered with a grin. “The animals look a bit like chickens, but they taste completely different. I bet you’ve never tasted anything like it.” Of course he had no idea what people ate in her reality, but it couldn’t be that different from this one, could it?
Fred smiled at him. She really enjoyed his company and he made her feel safe. The whole ‘falling through another portal’ situation would probably freak her out if it wasn’t for Major Evan Lorne. He came to visit her whenever he found time. He told her as much as he was allowed to about this place and the events in this world. And he believed her that she came from another dimension or reality, which was most important to her. She had to go to a psych evaluation! People thought she was crazy because she claimed to have seen actual vampires and demons. She so wasn’t crazy!
Once their trays were full they went to a table on the balcony and sat down.
Fred glanced down at the city.
“It’s amazing,” she said.
“I know. I’ve been here for over four years now and I still catch myself stopping to stare at it.”
Fred turned to him and grinned. She liked his honesty, too.
“So, what’s it like out there?” she asked pointing at the sky before taking a bite of the meat balls he had placed on her tray.
Her eyes then widened. “Wow.”
“I told you, you never ate anything like it,” Lorne said chuckling slightly. “I’ll definitely miss those now that we’re back on earth.” Then he glanced up at the sky.
“It’s amazing and scary, sometimes terrifying and deadly, but mostly amazing.”
Fred grinned. She knew what he was talking about. The life she led back home was a bit like that, too. Knowing about the supernatural world could be scary, terrifying and deadly, but it was also wonderful and amazing.
“I wish I could see it,” she said.
Lorne looked at her. She really seemed serious, even after he told her it was dangerous.
“Maybe you can. We’re still looking for team members and as long as you’re stuck here you could try and join one.”
“Really? You think they’d let me?”
“I don’t know. I could talk to General O’Neill and Colonel Carter for you.”
Fred smiled widely at him and Lorne couldn’t help but return the smile.
“Your psych evaluation was good…”
“I’m glad you all no longer think I’m crazy,” Fred said with a sigh.
“I’m sorry, but people who believe in demons and vampires usually are crazy around here.”
Fred smirked slightly. “I guess they would have to be, if you really don’t have demons and vamps here.” She wasn’t entirely sure that that was the truth though. A lot of people back home didn’t believe in the supernatural either. Some of them even lived on top of a hellmouth! Just because the majority of a world didn’t believe in something didn’t make it non-existant. This world could be just like hers. It even could have been hers, if she hadn’t tried to call Angel, Wesley and Gunn and didn’t manage to reach any of them. Wolfram and Hart didn’t exist. She had searched the internet, but there was no trace of it. She didn’t find Angel investigations either. This really had to be an alternate reality.
“Anyway, you are a scientist, right?”
“Yes.”
“It’s always good to have a scientist on the team.”
Fred grinned. “I’m good with a crossbow, too.”
Lorne chuckled. “A crossbow?”
“Yes. Vampires need to be staked with wood. You can shoot wooden stakes from a distance with a crossbow. It’s safer than getting up close with them.”
Lorne stared at her. It was really strange to hear someone talk about vampires like that. But he guessed a lot of people on this planet would think the same if he talked about aliens and how to kill them safely.
“We don’t really use crossbows here. I could show you how to shoot a gun though.”
Fred smiled. She had shot a gun before. She wasn’t that good at it, but she could manage. But she wasn’t going to tell him that. She liked the thought of spending more time with him.
“Sounds good. I have nothing else planned all day or tomorrow, or the day after that.”
Lorne laughed and smiled. He definitely wouldn’t mind spending every day with her. There was just something about her.
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Day 8 - Atlantis, Rose’s room:
“Really, he did that?” Rose asked, torn between laughing and feeling disgusted. “Well, I’m not surprised. He liked licking stuff,” she added. “And by stuff I mean strange and disgusting things.”
Martha nodded. She had spent the morning with Rose and they had started to tell eachother about their adventures with the Doctor. She was really enjoying herself. If someone told her a year ago that she would enjoy spending time with Rose Tyler she would have thought the person was crazy. But now she was simply glad that they got along so well.
Rose got up from the bed on which she had been sitting and looked out of the window towards the sky.
“Do you really think he’s coming?” she asked. Martha said she called the Doctor. But so far he still hadn’t shown up. She enjoyed spending time with Martha, but the person she really wanted to be with right now was the Doctor.
“Of course he will.”
Rose stepped back to the bed and sat down.
“But what if he moved on and doesn’t want me to travel with him anymore?” she asked silently, voicing her biggest fears.
Martha stared at Rose surprised. Didn’t she know how much she meant to the Doctor? Obviously not. Rose really wasn’t like she always believed her to be. She was just another young woman, not so different from herself.
“You’re crazy if you actually think that. He'll definitely want you to join him again!”
A knock then came from the door. For a moment Rose hoped that it was the Doctor. But that was silly. She would have felt it if the TARDIS landed.
“Come in,” Martha called and Mickey strode into the room.
“I did it. I signed up to join an off-world team,” he announced proudly.
“What?” Rose asked surprised. “But the Doctor is coming. He’ll be here any minute,” Rose insisted almost desperately. They wouldn’t stay here. Yes, Atlantis was amazing and beautiful, but nothing compared to the TARDIS.
Mickey sat down next to Rose on the bed.
“Of course he will. And when he does you’ll be off with him again.”
“You’ll come, too.”
Mickey grimaced slightly. “Oh come on, Rose, we’ve tried that before. I’m not good at playing third wheel. You’ll go with the Doctor and I’m going to stay and join the Stargate program. I’ll do what I’m good at, help protect the earth. And I’ll actually get to see other planets, too.”
Rose sighed and looked down. Mickey seemed sure about staying.
“Be careful out there,” she said.
“Of course I will,” he said and put his arm around Rose, pulling her close. Then he glanced at Martha.
“Maybe we’ll be on the same team. Two former companions exploring the galaxy,” he said and grinned.
“Three,” Jack said entering the room. “I’ve just informed the General that I wouldn’t mind having you on my team.”
Mickey looked at Jack. “Oh no, really? I don’t think I can live with the constant sexual harassment,” he said jokingly.
Rose glared at him, grabbed a pillow and smacked him on the head.
“Ah, pillow fight,” Jack exclaimed. “Haven’t had one of those in over a century, I believe.” He hurried towards the bed, grabbed a pillow and started throwing it.
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poster / book cover for this chapter:
chapter 13