It's only just beginning: chapter 14
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.
Sorry, that it took me so long to update.I had several exams, then went on 2 short vacations and got sick after that. :-( Now I finally found time to write again. I hope you like this chapter.
I made a timeline post, where you can all check on what happened when. I thought it was useful. ;-) It's here: timeline for all chapters
chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7, chapter 8, chapter 9, chapter 10, chapter 11, chapter 12, chapter 13
chapter 14:
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Day 8 - Atlantis cafeteria:
„It’s definitely good to have you back,“ John said as he and Ford sat down at a table in the cafeteria.
“Feels like I never left,” Ford answered jokingly.
John glanced at his former team member. For him it actually was that way. He never left Atlantis. But for John it was a whole different story. He had lost Ford. He was one more person he hadn’t manged to save. Apart from that John really missed Ford. Of course he had moved on and found a new team member and friend in Ronon. But Ford was part of the original team and the first person he really connected with when he joined the Atlantis expedition. It had been really hard for him not to have Ford around anymore.
“I kind of missed you,” he admitted and then busied himself with eating his sandwich.
Ford looked at John and smiled slightly. It was nice to hear that. He then took a bite of his own sandwich, which John had placed on his tray.
“Still enjoying turkey sandwich, I see,” he stated.
John grinned. “Definitely. But I still haven’t managed to teach the jumpers to produce one.”
Ford chuckled, remembering their flight in the jumper.
“So, what did I miss?” Ford then asked. He had heard a few things already and had started to read mission reports to catch up, but he missed four years. A lot happened in four years.
John looked up from his plate. Where should he start? So much happened in the past years.
“Well, we definitely kicked some Wraith and Replicator ass,” he started and then told Ford a few stories.
“Wow, you just left the planet with the whole city,” Ford stated as John told him about the war with the replicators.
“Yep, had to leave Atlantica.”
Ford stared at John. “Atlantica?”
“Yeah, we named the planet after you were… you know, gone.”
“Really?” Ford asked grinning.
“No,” John stated and took a bite of his second sandwich. He almost choked on it when he saw Fords look. But it definitely was worth it. The guy looked like a kid whose toy had been stolen.
“I’d let you name this planet,” he said after swallowing. “But it already has a name.” He shrugged and tried to look apologetic.
“Very funny, Major,” Ford said out of habit. “Er, Lt. Colonel, I mean. Congrats on the promotion by the way.”
John grinned and then started to tell Ford how everyone used to tell him that he wouldn’t make it past Captain.
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Day 9 - Gate room:
Rachel checked her weapon and then walked to her team. She was assigned to Colonel Sheppard. Stephen and Jason were on her team as well. She definitely couldn’t complain. They were SG-3. SG-1 and 2 were waiting as well. They’d leave first, then her team and afterwards the rest of the teams would follow a bit later.
Looking at the huge Stargate Rachel grinned. This was it. She was leaving the planet again. She hadn’t been too fond of leaving earth the few times she did it before, but now she could hardly wait.
“Excited?” John asked his new temporary team members. He hadn’t been thrilled that he had to go off-world without all three of his usual team members, but on the other hand he would be able to look after these three. He kind of liked them and he’d make sure they survived their first mission.
Rachel looked at Colonel Sheppard and just grinned. She really was in a good mood today, which rarely was the case since she came to this reality. She enjoyed it.
The Stargate started to rotate and the chevrons locked into place. Then the wormhole established. Some of the new people took a step back. Rachel just grinned.
“Good luck SG-1,” General O’Neill called and the team left.
About 10 minutes later SG-2 was gone as well. Now it was their turn. The wormhole established a third time.
Before stepping through the gate John glanced back out of habit. There she stood, in her usual spot. Elizabeth Weir definitely was back. She nodded at him the same way she always did. He had long ago interpreted it as a ‘be safe’ nod. It felt good to see her do it again. But seeing her also reminded him of the past day and their kiss. He really didn’t want to think about that now. He had a job to do, which was to make sure his new team members got back alive and in one piece.
With a short wave in Elizabeth’s direction he then walked through the gate.
Rachel looked at the event horizon. Next to her Stephen briefly touched it. Then he stepped through. Rachel and Jason glanced at eachother, then followed.
Elizabeth Weir watched John’s team leave. Before he went John had waved at her. He had done so before, she remembered it. Her memories really did seem to be triggered by familiar things. Hopefully that meant she would soon get them all back. She needed to know what happened between her and John.
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Day 9 - SG-1’s mission:
Cam stepped away from the Stargate and looked down. The gate was on a cliff.
Vala, who was standing next to him, looked down. Then she glanced around. There were a lot of mountains, trees and birds. Nothing indicated any advanced civilisations. But who knew what was behind the trees or mountains?
She put down her backpack and pulled out a small detector, which would tell her if there were any energy readings. She wasn’t going to climb any mountains if there was nothing interesting there.
“Anything?” Daniel asked.
Vala looked at the small device and frowned. Of course it had to pick something up.
“It’s picking up some low energy readings. It’s probably nothing interesting though. It has nowhere near enough power to be a ZPM.”
“Since we’re already here, let’s check it out,” Cam said.
Vala sighed. Of course they would check it out. And the energy was coming from the direction of a huge mountain.
“We should have brought a jumper, now that we have someone on the team who can fly it,” she stated and glanced at Sheila.
“Walking won’t kill you,” Cam said and winked at her before starting to walk ahead. “Come on, kids.”
Sheila chuckled slightly at Cams words and followed him. She was glad that she had been put on Cam’s team. She really liked him.
About 40 minutes later they made a small break at a lake. Sheila sat down on a rock near the lake and looked at it. The planet definitely was beautiful.
Cam watched as Sheila sat down and soon pulled out her water bottle to drink from it. She looked peaceful. It really had been a good idea for her to join a team. As long as she stayed in Atlantis she’d do nothing but worry. Now she had something to distract her from her situation for a while. He was also glad that she was on his team. Of course he had been against splitting up SG-1 and still wasn’t happy about it. He missed Teal’c already and still missed Sam. But he understood why the teams had to be mixed up and he felt like he had been really lucky. He still had Daniel and Vala and would be able to keep an eye on Sheila. What more could he want? Besides, he’d have Teal’c back on his team soon enough.
“The energy readings have increased,” Vala said suddenly. “Maybe this hiking wasn’t all for nothing after all,” she added with a grin.
“Told you so,” Cam said. Then he drank something as well before getting ready to continue the search.
About an hour later they finally reached the top of a small mountain.
“We’re so taking a jumper next time,” Vala stated. Then she stopped, as she saw the village in the valley infront of them.
“It’s Goa’uld,” Daniel stated. They hadn’t come across any Goa’uld villages in a while.
“I thought you defeated the Goa’uld?” Sheila asked.
“We did,” Cam said.
“The System Lords are all dead by now. But there probably still are some minor Goa’uld around. This could be one of them.”
“Or the humans here just like to play with Goa’uld stuff,” Vala added. Through her binoculars she could see people carrying staff weapons, but she couldn’t tell if they were human or Jaffa.
“Let’s check it out,” Vala added. If there were any Goa’uld still alive they needed to be stopped. She knew what it was like to be a host to a Goa’uld and didn’t wish it on anyone.
“Maybe we should go back for reinforcements,” Sheila suggested. There were a lot of people in that village and they were only four.
“And have others laugh at us if these are only humans or free Jaffa?” Vala answered. “I think not. Besides, we’re SG-1. We can handle it. Right?” she added and glanced at Daniel and Cam with a grin.
Daniel rolled his eyes.
Cam looked a little sceptical, but then shrugged. “Right,” he answered. “Let’s get close enough so we can see if there are any Goa’uld involved.”
Vala grinned and went ahead. The others followed.
A few feet away from the village they hid behind trees. By now Vala was glad about all the trees. Peering out from behind one she held the binoculars to her eyes again.
“Definitely Jaffa,” she muttered.
“Who’s sign is that?” Cam asked and glanced at Daniel.
Daniel looked through his own binoculars trying to see the sign on the Jaffa’s head clearly. But he couldn’t really make it out. Most of the Jaffa just simply didn’t look his way.
He shrugged. “Can’t tell from here.”
“You could just ask them,” Sheila said while raising her arms.
Cam turned around and frowned. Six zat guns were pointed at them.
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Day 9 - SG-2’s mission:
Teyla looked at Sam and smirked. She liked Jonas enthusiasm.
“Is he always like this?” she asked.
“Most of the time,” Sam answered. It was definitely good to have Jonas back. After all the bad things that had happened it was nice to see that something good came out of it as well, even if it was a small good thing compared to all the losses.
Besides that it was good to have someone on her team who used to be part of SG-1. It wasn’t a totally new team that way. She knew Jonas and trusted him. It was also nice to have Teyla on her team. They had become close friends while she was Atlantis leader and Sam had missed her a lot when she came back to earth.
The fourth member of their team was one of the new recruits, a young marine. Sam didn’t really know him, but he seemed nice so far and hadn’t freaked out during the simulations like a lot of others had.
All things considered Sam was happy with her team. It wasn’t SG-1, but she had left SG-1 a while ago anyway. She wouldn’t even be part of a team if they didn’t need team leaders so badly right now. She would be commanding the Hammond. She had been looking forward to that. But now that she was leading a team again she was glad about it. She had missed going on missions like this.
“I missed this,” Jonas said with a grin. “Exploring alien planets, going on missions to help save the universe.”
Sam had to laugh at that. It really felt good to laugh again.
“So, you were part of the Atlantis expedition?” Jonas then asked as he fell into step beside Teyla.
“No, not really. I joined the expedition members in Atlantis, but I am not originally from earth,” Teyla answered.
Jonas looked at her curiously. “Then you are from the Pegasus Galaxy?”
“Yes, I am Athosian,” Teyla said and started to tell Jonas about her home planet and how she met John and the others.
Sam listened to Teyla and Jonas while taking in their surroundings. The planet was nice. The sun was up, but it wasn’t too warm. It felt like a spring day. There was a forest ahead of them, but the path lead away from it.
Sam fell back to walk next to Lieutenant Anders. It was time to get to know her final team member a bit better. She was about to ask him how he liked his new job when Teyla suddenly stopped and held her arm up.
“What is it?” Sam asked.
“We’re not alone,” Teyla stated just as several people rushed out of the forest, armed with knives, swords and axes.
“Fall back to the gate,” Sam called. They were greatly outnumbered and the locals didn’t look like they were in a friendly mood.
“Maybe we should…”
“No, Jonas, we’re not going to try and talk to them,” Sam stated just as an ax flew past them, missing Jonas by a few inch.
“Alright, no talking today,” Jonas agreed.
Firing warning shots into the direction of their pursuers they ran back towards the Stargate as quickly as possible.
“Jonas, dial the gate. And hurry! Anders, stay with him.”
Jonas didn’t need to be told twice. He wasn’t interested in getting to know these aliens better anymore.
Sam and Teyla stopped running to be able to aim better. The locals fell back a little, but Sam didn’t think they would be able to hold them back for long.
Once at the gate Jonas dialled earth and sent his identification code. Then he turned around, looking for Sam and Teyla. Anders was aiming his p-90 and started to shoot at the locals, keeping them away while Teyla and Sam caught up.
“Go, go, go,” Sam called and waited next to the gate while her team members went through. Then she followed after firing a few last shots.
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Day 9 - Atlantis:
“It’s SG-2,” Chuck informed the General.
Jack frowned. They weren’t even gone half an hour. He quickly gave orders to the military personnel on duty in the gate room to be ready and take cover. If SG-2 came back so soon they probably were coming in hot.
“Let them through.”
Chuck shut down the shield and SG-2 came in, as well as some axes and knives.
“Making friends?” Jack called as he hurried down the stairs as soon as the gate shut down.
Sam smirked slightly at his words. “You could have chosen a nicer planet to send us to,” she stated and then glanced at her team members to make sure everyone was fine.
“The locals were rather hostile. We should not go back there without a jumper,” Teyla suggested.
“She’s right. We picked up interesting energy readings that are worth checking out. But you should send a team in a cloaked jumper,” Sam added.
Jack nodded. They’d do that later. For now he was just glad that Sam was back unharmed.
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Day 9 - SG-3’s mission:
John waited next to the gate as his new team came through. They all had huge smiles on their faces. He grinned. It was nice to see that they enjoyed themselves.
“Cool,” Rachel stated. “We’re so doing that again!”
Jason laughed. He definitely liked to see Rachel that happy. She looked even more beautiful that way.
Stephen grinned. Going through the Stargate was definitely one hell of a ride.
“Alright, let’s check this planet out,” John said after a while. Then he glanced at Rachel. “Any energy readings?”
Rachel stopped looking around and pulled a small detector out of her backpack. Then she glanced at it and shrugged.
“I guess so,” she said and held the thing towards Sheppard. It was detecting something. She just didn’t really know what. Why had she been given the detector anyway? It wasn’t like she was good with technology. That had been Ax’s job. She sighed. She really missed her blue alien friend. Did he exist in this reality? Would they maybe one day meet Andalites on a mission?
John glanced at the detector. It definitely showed some kind of energy. But he had no idea what kind either. He missed Rodney already. Well, if they found something interesting they’d just dial back home and request a scientist. If Rodney was still on his mission maybe Zelenka could come.
“Which way?” Stephen asked.
John took the detector and moved around. “That way,” he said gesturing to their right. The energy was definitely coming from that direction. He handed the detector back to Berenson and started to walk.
About ten minutes later John glanced at his three team members. They were chatting and laughing. It looked like they were friends already.
The small path they were on turned right just at the edge of a forest. John stopped and waited for the others to catch up.
“A village,” Stephen said.
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Inside the village they were greeted friendly and invited to join the villagers at their Harvest Festival which had already started.
“Nice people,” Jason stated as he and the others sat at a table, with food and drinks placed infront of them by the villagers.
“They seem very eager to start trading with us,” John stated. “Which is a good thing, seeing as we’d like to have a look at their power source.”
“I just don’t get why they would have any kind of power source at all. They are farmers. There doesn’t seem to be any technology here,” Rachel said. She really wouldn’t want to live here. She liked civilisation. She knew how it was to live away from it. They had lived in the Hork-Bajir valley for a while. Compared to that, this village actually looked nice.
“There must be some technology on the planet,” John stated. They had picked up energy readings after all. “These folks might know where it is. And they might not need or want it, seeing as they are farmers…”
“You hope they will trade whatever it is with us,” Jason stated.
John smirked. He then saw an older man coming towards them.
“I am Terin, the leader of these people. Welcome to our village,” he said with a smile. “I was told you came to trade. We are always happy to trade.”
Rachel watched as the man sat down at their table and started to talk to Colonel Sheppard about what they were looking for. The man really seemed eager to start trading. Well, she couldn’t blame him. Anything they might give these people probably would be a huge improvement of their situation.
Glancing around Rachel then noticed that some of the locals were staring at her.
“I think you have some admirers,” Jason whispered and then smirked.
Rachel groaned. That was just what she needed; a fan club full of farmers.
“Not into farmers, are we?” Stephen asked teasingly.
Rachel frowned. Then two of the men came over to their table.
“Would you like us to show you the village?” one of them asked, looking at Rachel in a hopeful way.
Jason could barely keep from chuckling.
Rachel glared at him and then turned to the young man who spoke to her.
“Sure, why not”, she said. She wasn’t needed for the trading negotiations and she wasn’t in the mood to be teased by her new friends. Checking out the village seemed like a better idea. And it wasn’t like she would have to see these guys again. She might never come back to the planet anyway.
Getting up Rachel gave Jason and Stephen a smug smirk and then headed off with the villagers.
“That went well,” Stephen muttered as he glanced after Rachel. Somehow he didn’t really like to see her with other men. Turning back to Jason he noticed that the guy didn’t look that happy either.
“Alright, let’s go and check it out,” John said with a grin.
“Where is Berenson?” He glanced around, but couldn’t see her.
“Some villagers wanted to show her around,” Jason answered.
“Alright. Becker, go find her. Then ask someone to take both of you to the old city and meet me there,” he added. He was rather curious about the place the village leader hat told him about, and it apparently wasn’t far, so he’d go ahead.
“Stephen, you go back to the gate, dial earth and inform the General, that we need at least one scientist to join us. Zelenka would be good. Contact me once he’s here and we’ll pick you up at the gate.”
Stephen got up. Apparently the negotiations had gone well. He probably should have paid more attention to them. But Rachel just had a way of drawing attention to her.
“Understood, sir,” Jason said and glanced around. Rachel was nowhere to be seen. He went towards the dance floor first. Maybe she was among the large group of people there.
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A few minutes later Jason had found Rachel. She was surrounded by a group of men, who all seemed to be awed by her. He rolled his eyes, but had to admit to himself that he could understand their reaction. Rachel was beautiful.
“I hate to interrupt this little gathering, but we have to go, Rachel.”
Rachel turned around and smiled when she saw Jason. She was by his side in a matter of seconds.
“Sorry guys, duty calls,” she muttered and already started to walk away. It really had been a bad idea to go with the villagers. She just simply wasn’t good at socialization. It was actually weird, as she used to be really popular in school and got along with everyone. But it all changed when she became an animorph. Being popular and mingling with others just didn’t really seem important anymore.
Jason was just about to ask if one of the guys could take them to the old city when Rachel leaned in closer.
“That was just in time. I was starting to feel a little crowded.”
Jason laughed and grinned at her. But then he noticed the look on her face. She really didn’t look happy. Maybe he should ask someone else to show them the way, a woman preferably.
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Stephen was on his way to the gate when he suddenly heard a scream. It came from the forest and it was nearby. Without even thinking he rushed into the woods. It didn’t take long until he saw two people. A man was standing over a woman and pulling her blouse open while pressing her against a tree with his body and holding his other hand over her mouth.
“Let her go,” Stephen called while stepping closer.
The man turned around, his eyes wide with shock. Then he quickly pushed the woman away and rushed off.
Stephen was torn between rushing after the man and making sure the woman was okay. She was on the ground and didn’t move. Maybe she was hurt. Making his decision he went over to her and kneeled down next to her. She was unconscious, probably hit her head when she fell.
He was just checking for a pulse when he suddenly heard movement behind him. Turning around he saw several people approach.
“Take your hands off her,” an older man shouted angrily.
Stephen frowned. This so wasn’t good. “I didn’t touch her. I …”
“Shut up and get away from her,” someone else called and pulled out a knife.
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poster / book cover for this chapter:
chapter 15