Kav_100- On The Way Home (090: Home)
Title: On The Way Home
Author: scarlet_gryphon
Rating: PG-13
Words: ~1,917
Warnings: Spoilers/tag for Midway (SGA 4x17)
Timeline: Late Season 4
Notes: I'm actually posting a story? ZOMG!face!
Prompt: #090- Home
“You're not the only one who wants to go home.” -Doctor Kavanagh, “Midway”
~Atlantis, New Lantea, 03:00 hours post-Midway takeover~
She paced nervously across the floor of her lab- thirteen strides north, thirty east, fifteen and a half south (detour around the workbench), twenty-three west; repeat as needed- anxiously awaiting further news of the Midway station. The report of lost communications had come to her three hours ago, and she’d been pacing ever since. Her assistants watched her with worried looks on their faces. Brooks knew that any news would probably take at least a few hours (if all went well with the recon team, that was); so, realistically, she shouldn’t be wasting her energy in fruitless worrying. She couldn’t help it, though, and walked with her hands locked anxiously behind her back.
Eventually, one of her assistants, Eli, quietly summoned Doctor Keller to the lab, stepping briefly out of the room so as not to be overheard. Once the young CMO arrived, the Georgian electronics engineer quickly pulled her aside for a short chat.
‘She’s been like this ever since the announcement about Midway.’ He said, glancing furtively at Brooks. ‘Quite frankly, Moraine and I are starting to get worried. I mean, I want to know what happened as much as anybody else on Atlantis, but there’s no reason for her to be acting like this, right?’
Jennifer’s brow furrowed momentarily, and then realization dawned. Oh God, she thought, trying to keep her expression as neutral as possible. Her husband was supposed to be on Midway, wasn’t he?
‘Don’t worry about it,’ she told Eli. ‘I’ll talk to her. You two go ahead and take a break; it’s almost dinnertime, after all.’
Once Moraine and Eli had left, Jennifer shut the lab door behind her and carefully approached Brooks, not wanting to startle her any more than necessary.
‘Brooks? How are you doing?’ Jennifer asked cautiously, reaching out and putting a hand on Brooks’ shoulder to stop the other woman from pacing. Brooks halted in her steps, and Jennifer had only a moment’s warning before Brooks sank to the floor, her body trembling as she lost control and started crying. Jennifer knelt down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders in an effort to provide support.
God, I hope they get back soon. She thought as she tried to soothe the distraught woman next to her. For everyone’s sake.
~Puddle Jumper, Somewhere in the Galactic Void, 24:00 hours post-Midway destruction~
‘- so he blows it up, and then the movie just ends. Ends! Now tell me, is that a downer or what?’
Nate sighed as he was awoken from a fitful slumber in the small corner of the Jumper he had claimed as his own, wrapping an emergency blanket around him in an effort to stay asleep. Bill was going on about some movie Nate’d never heard of, and from the sound of it, neither had the Marine who was being talked at. After about five more minutes of Bill’s monologue, Nate gave up trying to stay asleep and sat up, automatically reaching for his glasses. From the looks of it, Sheppard had barricaded himself in the cockpit, leaving McKay, Bill, the two Marines, and Nate in the back of the jumper. That wasn’t exactly fair, but Nate didn’t want McKay to bitch too much, especially not right after he’d woken up.
After availing himself of the use of the chemical toilet that had been set up behind a makeshift curtain comprised of two emergency blankets and some duct tape that held it all together (and up), Nate settled back in his corner, making himself as comfortable as he could given the circumstances. Bill eventually wound down after a while, seeming to be exhausted on the topic of esoteric movies for the moment.
‘I’m hungry.’ Bill announced suddenly, breaking the short-lived silence.
‘Oh, God.’ McKay muttered, dragging a hand over his face. ‘Eat something, then.’
‘Like what? We’re saving the MREs for normal mealtimes, and the only flavors of power bar we’ve got are that funky-tasting banana and wild berry.’ Bill countered, raising an eyebrow.
McKay snorted exasperatedly. ‘Either eat it or wait, Lee. One of the two.’
‘But we don’t-’
Nate sighed and then got to his feet, moving to a storage compartment near the rear hatch. He dug around in the confined space before pulling out a storage case, ignoring McKay’s demands to know what he was doing.
‘Here,’ Nate said after opening the case and withdrawing a small oblong object wrapped tightly in plastic. He threw it to Bill, who examined it with interest.
‘“Caveman Bar”’ he read, scanning the label. ‘Pecan Oat Cinnamon flavor. Wow, thanks.’
‘No problem, Bill.’ Nate said, grabbing a bar of the Almond Coconut variety and sitting back down, setting the case near him. He paused before unwrapping his snack and then nudged the case towards the others with his foot. ‘You’re welcome to have one if you want. Just go easy on them; there’re only ten left.’
‘What are they?’ McKay asked suspiciously while the two Marines got up and investigated the contents of the case for themselves before choosing their own snacks.
‘It’s food.’
‘Well, obviously. What sort of food?’
‘It’s like a granola bar, except a whole hell of a lot healthier.’ Nate told him. ‘As I said, you can have one if you want. They don’t have citrus in them, if that’s what you’re worried about, McKay.’
‘No, just you poisoning me, Kavanagh.’ McKay snapped, but took one of the Sea Salt and Peanut variety and returned back to his seat. Nate watched him scrutinize the list of ingredients carefully, but since there were only three ingredients, and none of them had anything to do with citrus of any kind, McKay tore open the wrapper and took a bite of his food. As the others ate, Nate closed the case and put it under one of the seats nearest to him.
The Caveman Bars had been a treat his younger brother, Rob, had sent him the last time Nate had been on Earth. The snacks were made near his hometown, so there was an extra special aspect to them. Ben, his older brother, was usually the one to send them, but he’d been busy welcoming his second child into the world, so Rob had been the one to send them this time. Nate had put the Bars in the Jumper so that, in case of an emergency (and the Station blowing up definitely counted as one), he’d be able to have a little piece of home with him.
Nate unwrapped his snack and bit into it, relishing the flavor before leaning against the gently curving wall of the Jumper. Home. God, what was home these days? Deep in his heart he knew; hell, he’d known all along, but figured that, should he tell anyone, they’d think it sappy and overly mushy. If he was truthful, he would’ve said that home was wherever Brooks was. That was the plain and simple truth.
~Atlantis, New Lantea, 2 weeks, 4 days, and 13 hours since the Midway explosion~
Brooks had nearly fallen asleep on the spare cot she kept in her lab when the announcement rang out over the intercom that the Daedalus had called ahead to say that they had been successful in their mission to find out what had happened to the Midway Station. She sat up, albeit a bit too quickly. Once she waited for the room to stop spinning around her, she got to her feet, pausing only momentarily to let the world settle back into its proper foundations before hurrying out of the room, white lab coat flapping slightly as she skidded around a corner and to the nearest transporter. One mildly vertigo-inducing transporter ride later, Brooks found herself near the ‘Gate control room, where she dodged a few errant Marines and techs to finally come to rest near Chuck’s console.
‘Ah, Chuck. Has the Daedalus landed yet?’ she asked, forcing herself to keep her hands in her pockets and not to start wringing them in her anxiety.
‘Not yet, Ma’am.’ Chuck replied without looking up. ‘Colonel Caldwell said he’d be beaming down Colonel Sheppard and the others before the ship landed.’
‘How-’ Brooks paused, trying to get ahold of herself before she lost it in front of the entire ‘Gate room staff. ‘How long until the Daedalus gets in range?’
‘About ten minutes.’ Here Chuck looked up, a note of concern in his voice. ‘Are you feeling alright?’
Brooks gave him a terse smile. ‘Fantastic. Thank you.’ With that, she bustled off, taking up a post at one of the balconies near the closest staircase. She wanted to be ready when Nate beamed down. It never occurred to her that he wouldn’t.
--
‘We’re at Atlantis. Prepare to beam down.’ The Daedalus tech on duty said, adjusting a few settings here and there before beaming the five survivors of Midway and Ronon into the Atlantis ‘Gate Room. After the initial brilliant flash of white light, Nate found himself standing in the center of the ‘Gate Room, the familiar hum and chime of Ancient technology settling over him like a well-worn sweater.
‘Ronon, Colonel Sheppard, Doctor McKay. Welcome home.’ Came Colonel Carter’s voice from the ‘Gate ops center. Nate smiled wryly; of course only the Favorite Three would be welcomed. He sighed and bent down to pick up his duffel bag, but before he could do so, a cry made him stop short.
‘Nate!’
He looked up to see Brooks racing down the stairs, the lab coat that she was wearing streaming out behind her, along with her hair, which had come loose from its customary ponytail. Nate only had a few seconds to brace himself before Brooks ran full-tilt into him, her arms wrapping tightly around his torso. He steadied them both before returning her hug, eyes sliding shut as he reveled in the feeling of holding his wife close to him. Neither cared that they had an audience, nor that there were murmurs coming from those watching.
Up on the balcony, Chuck made a soft noise of surprise as he watched the scene unfolding below. ‘I didn’t know Doctor Kavanagh had a sister.’ He said, and Sam made a soft snorting noise.
‘He doesn’t,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘At least, not that I know of.’
‘Then who-?’ Chuck began, and then his eyes widened. ‘Pardon me for saying this, ma’am, but that’s impossible. Doctor Kavanagh can’t be married. I mean, we’d know about it, right?’
‘Not if they didn’t want you to, Sergeant.’ Radek said as he joined them, only briefly glancing down at Nate and Brooks, who were now making their way towards one of the nearest transporters, hands firmly held together.
‘How long have they been married, Colonel?’ Chuck asked, intrigued.
Sam frowned. ‘If I remember right, somewhere around nine years or so. They got married in the third year of the ‘Gate program.’
‘Hmm. It’s a wonder no-one’s said anything about it.’ Chuck mused as the remaining three returned Expedition members joined them.
‘As I said, not really. Not many people knew before now.’ Radek said before heading off to update Rodney on what had happened during the time he had been gone.
‘You should’ve learned by now that the ‘Gate program- and Atlantis- is full of surprises.’ Sam told Chuck, and then left the tech to his duties.
‘I’ll remember that, ma’am. I’ll remember that.’
A/N: Caveman Bars really do exist. Check out the website here. They're made in a city called Edmonds, Washington, which is about a fifteen-minute drive from my house.
Author: scarlet_gryphon
Rating: PG-13
Words: ~1,917
Warnings: Spoilers/tag for Midway (SGA 4x17)
Timeline: Late Season 4
Notes: I'm actually posting a story? ZOMG!face!
Prompt: #090- Home
“You're not the only one who wants to go home.” -Doctor Kavanagh, “Midway”
~Atlantis, New Lantea, 03:00 hours post-Midway takeover~
She paced nervously across the floor of her lab- thirteen strides north, thirty east, fifteen and a half south (detour around the workbench), twenty-three west; repeat as needed- anxiously awaiting further news of the Midway station. The report of lost communications had come to her three hours ago, and she’d been pacing ever since. Her assistants watched her with worried looks on their faces. Brooks knew that any news would probably take at least a few hours (if all went well with the recon team, that was); so, realistically, she shouldn’t be wasting her energy in fruitless worrying. She couldn’t help it, though, and walked with her hands locked anxiously behind her back.
Eventually, one of her assistants, Eli, quietly summoned Doctor Keller to the lab, stepping briefly out of the room so as not to be overheard. Once the young CMO arrived, the Georgian electronics engineer quickly pulled her aside for a short chat.
‘She’s been like this ever since the announcement about Midway.’ He said, glancing furtively at Brooks. ‘Quite frankly, Moraine and I are starting to get worried. I mean, I want to know what happened as much as anybody else on Atlantis, but there’s no reason for her to be acting like this, right?’
Jennifer’s brow furrowed momentarily, and then realization dawned. Oh God, she thought, trying to keep her expression as neutral as possible. Her husband was supposed to be on Midway, wasn’t he?
‘Don’t worry about it,’ she told Eli. ‘I’ll talk to her. You two go ahead and take a break; it’s almost dinnertime, after all.’
Once Moraine and Eli had left, Jennifer shut the lab door behind her and carefully approached Brooks, not wanting to startle her any more than necessary.
‘Brooks? How are you doing?’ Jennifer asked cautiously, reaching out and putting a hand on Brooks’ shoulder to stop the other woman from pacing. Brooks halted in her steps, and Jennifer had only a moment’s warning before Brooks sank to the floor, her body trembling as she lost control and started crying. Jennifer knelt down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders in an effort to provide support.
God, I hope they get back soon. She thought as she tried to soothe the distraught woman next to her. For everyone’s sake.
~Puddle Jumper, Somewhere in the Galactic Void, 24:00 hours post-Midway destruction~
‘- so he blows it up, and then the movie just ends. Ends! Now tell me, is that a downer or what?’
Nate sighed as he was awoken from a fitful slumber in the small corner of the Jumper he had claimed as his own, wrapping an emergency blanket around him in an effort to stay asleep. Bill was going on about some movie Nate’d never heard of, and from the sound of it, neither had the Marine who was being talked at. After about five more minutes of Bill’s monologue, Nate gave up trying to stay asleep and sat up, automatically reaching for his glasses. From the looks of it, Sheppard had barricaded himself in the cockpit, leaving McKay, Bill, the two Marines, and Nate in the back of the jumper. That wasn’t exactly fair, but Nate didn’t want McKay to bitch too much, especially not right after he’d woken up.
After availing himself of the use of the chemical toilet that had been set up behind a makeshift curtain comprised of two emergency blankets and some duct tape that held it all together (and up), Nate settled back in his corner, making himself as comfortable as he could given the circumstances. Bill eventually wound down after a while, seeming to be exhausted on the topic of esoteric movies for the moment.
‘I’m hungry.’ Bill announced suddenly, breaking the short-lived silence.
‘Oh, God.’ McKay muttered, dragging a hand over his face. ‘Eat something, then.’
‘Like what? We’re saving the MREs for normal mealtimes, and the only flavors of power bar we’ve got are that funky-tasting banana and wild berry.’ Bill countered, raising an eyebrow.
McKay snorted exasperatedly. ‘Either eat it or wait, Lee. One of the two.’
‘But we don’t-’
Nate sighed and then got to his feet, moving to a storage compartment near the rear hatch. He dug around in the confined space before pulling out a storage case, ignoring McKay’s demands to know what he was doing.
‘Here,’ Nate said after opening the case and withdrawing a small oblong object wrapped tightly in plastic. He threw it to Bill, who examined it with interest.
‘“Caveman Bar”’ he read, scanning the label. ‘Pecan Oat Cinnamon flavor. Wow, thanks.’
‘No problem, Bill.’ Nate said, grabbing a bar of the Almond Coconut variety and sitting back down, setting the case near him. He paused before unwrapping his snack and then nudged the case towards the others with his foot. ‘You’re welcome to have one if you want. Just go easy on them; there’re only ten left.’
‘What are they?’ McKay asked suspiciously while the two Marines got up and investigated the contents of the case for themselves before choosing their own snacks.
‘It’s food.’
‘Well, obviously. What sort of food?’
‘It’s like a granola bar, except a whole hell of a lot healthier.’ Nate told him. ‘As I said, you can have one if you want. They don’t have citrus in them, if that’s what you’re worried about, McKay.’
‘No, just you poisoning me, Kavanagh.’ McKay snapped, but took one of the Sea Salt and Peanut variety and returned back to his seat. Nate watched him scrutinize the list of ingredients carefully, but since there were only three ingredients, and none of them had anything to do with citrus of any kind, McKay tore open the wrapper and took a bite of his food. As the others ate, Nate closed the case and put it under one of the seats nearest to him.
The Caveman Bars had been a treat his younger brother, Rob, had sent him the last time Nate had been on Earth. The snacks were made near his hometown, so there was an extra special aspect to them. Ben, his older brother, was usually the one to send them, but he’d been busy welcoming his second child into the world, so Rob had been the one to send them this time. Nate had put the Bars in the Jumper so that, in case of an emergency (and the Station blowing up definitely counted as one), he’d be able to have a little piece of home with him.
Nate unwrapped his snack and bit into it, relishing the flavor before leaning against the gently curving wall of the Jumper. Home. God, what was home these days? Deep in his heart he knew; hell, he’d known all along, but figured that, should he tell anyone, they’d think it sappy and overly mushy. If he was truthful, he would’ve said that home was wherever Brooks was. That was the plain and simple truth.
~Atlantis, New Lantea, 2 weeks, 4 days, and 13 hours since the Midway explosion~
Brooks had nearly fallen asleep on the spare cot she kept in her lab when the announcement rang out over the intercom that the Daedalus had called ahead to say that they had been successful in their mission to find out what had happened to the Midway Station. She sat up, albeit a bit too quickly. Once she waited for the room to stop spinning around her, she got to her feet, pausing only momentarily to let the world settle back into its proper foundations before hurrying out of the room, white lab coat flapping slightly as she skidded around a corner and to the nearest transporter. One mildly vertigo-inducing transporter ride later, Brooks found herself near the ‘Gate control room, where she dodged a few errant Marines and techs to finally come to rest near Chuck’s console.
‘Ah, Chuck. Has the Daedalus landed yet?’ she asked, forcing herself to keep her hands in her pockets and not to start wringing them in her anxiety.
‘Not yet, Ma’am.’ Chuck replied without looking up. ‘Colonel Caldwell said he’d be beaming down Colonel Sheppard and the others before the ship landed.’
‘How-’ Brooks paused, trying to get ahold of herself before she lost it in front of the entire ‘Gate room staff. ‘How long until the Daedalus gets in range?’
‘About ten minutes.’ Here Chuck looked up, a note of concern in his voice. ‘Are you feeling alright?’
Brooks gave him a terse smile. ‘Fantastic. Thank you.’ With that, she bustled off, taking up a post at one of the balconies near the closest staircase. She wanted to be ready when Nate beamed down. It never occurred to her that he wouldn’t.
--
‘We’re at Atlantis. Prepare to beam down.’ The Daedalus tech on duty said, adjusting a few settings here and there before beaming the five survivors of Midway and Ronon into the Atlantis ‘Gate Room. After the initial brilliant flash of white light, Nate found himself standing in the center of the ‘Gate Room, the familiar hum and chime of Ancient technology settling over him like a well-worn sweater.
‘Ronon, Colonel Sheppard, Doctor McKay. Welcome home.’ Came Colonel Carter’s voice from the ‘Gate ops center. Nate smiled wryly; of course only the Favorite Three would be welcomed. He sighed and bent down to pick up his duffel bag, but before he could do so, a cry made him stop short.
‘Nate!’
He looked up to see Brooks racing down the stairs, the lab coat that she was wearing streaming out behind her, along with her hair, which had come loose from its customary ponytail. Nate only had a few seconds to brace himself before Brooks ran full-tilt into him, her arms wrapping tightly around his torso. He steadied them both before returning her hug, eyes sliding shut as he reveled in the feeling of holding his wife close to him. Neither cared that they had an audience, nor that there were murmurs coming from those watching.
Up on the balcony, Chuck made a soft noise of surprise as he watched the scene unfolding below. ‘I didn’t know Doctor Kavanagh had a sister.’ He said, and Sam made a soft snorting noise.
‘He doesn’t,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘At least, not that I know of.’
‘Then who-?’ Chuck began, and then his eyes widened. ‘Pardon me for saying this, ma’am, but that’s impossible. Doctor Kavanagh can’t be married. I mean, we’d know about it, right?’
‘Not if they didn’t want you to, Sergeant.’ Radek said as he joined them, only briefly glancing down at Nate and Brooks, who were now making their way towards one of the nearest transporters, hands firmly held together.
‘How long have they been married, Colonel?’ Chuck asked, intrigued.
Sam frowned. ‘If I remember right, somewhere around nine years or so. They got married in the third year of the ‘Gate program.’
‘Hmm. It’s a wonder no-one’s said anything about it.’ Chuck mused as the remaining three returned Expedition members joined them.
‘As I said, not really. Not many people knew before now.’ Radek said before heading off to update Rodney on what had happened during the time he had been gone.
‘You should’ve learned by now that the ‘Gate program- and Atlantis- is full of surprises.’ Sam told Chuck, and then left the tech to his duties.
‘I’ll remember that, ma’am. I’ll remember that.’
A/N: Caveman Bars really do exist. Check out the website here. They're made in a city called Edmonds, Washington, which is about a fifteen-minute drive from my house.