FIC: Separate Salt from Sand by Rachael Sabotini
Challenge: Debriefing Challenge
Title: Separate Salt from Sand
Author: Rachael Sabotini
Summary: Kate never liked this aspect of her job.
Heightmeyer, Cadman, mentions of Sheppard, McKay, Lorne, Ronon, Teyla, Beckett.
ETA: This story won best "Beckett/Other" story in the 2006 Isis Awards.
Many thanks to both sherrold and z_rayne for their beta work.
Separate Salt from Sand
Kate never liked this aspect of her job. She tugged at the collar of her shirt and smoothed her hand over her hair, nervous little mannerisms that she just couldn't stop no matter how many years she tried to quell them. She reminded herself to be supportive, yet maintain her professional distance. To keep her personal reactions under control. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the infirmary, digital recorder and actual printouts of the incident report carried in the crook of one arm.
Captain Cadman lay wrapped up in infirmary blankets, skin pale, hair lank and stringy. She stared listlessly up at the ceiling, not even acknowledging Kate's presence.
Oh, Kate thought. This was going to be bad.
She put her papers and the recorder on top of one of the trays, then pulled over a chair. Laura looked like hell. "Good morning, Captain."
Laura turned her head awkwardly. "Official visit, ma’am?"
"I'm afraid so."
Laura levered herself up on her right arm, and nearly over-balanced. Wrapped tightly in white gauze, the stump of the left one shot out, and Laura's face screwed up tightly against the pain; Kate ached with sympathy just looking at her, but she knew Laura would want to do this for herself. Laura managed to pull herself upright, and nodded at the paperwork as if nothing had happened. "What's that?"
"Oh, those are the official reports from Colonel Sheppard's team." Kate picked up the digital recorder and set it on the bed. "I'm afraid I need to interview you about it as well." Her hand hovered over the on/off switch as she looked at Laura, noticing the lines of pain around her eyes. The sooner they got through this, the better. Carson said she still tired easily, and wasn't ready to leave the infirmary yet. "Do you mind if I record this?"
"Nahh, it's fine. Then I won't have to type." Sighing, Laura glanced at her arm. "Maybe they can hook me up with a voice recognition unit or something."
Kate nodded. "I'm sure the VA back on Earth--"
"I don't want to go back to Earth." Laura's eyes grew wide with alarm. "They can't make me go back, can they?"
"We aren't -- we haven't...." Oh, this was lovely. If she couldn't talk about this, what chance did Laura have? "The appropriate facilities for your care don’t exist here in Atlantis."
If anything, Laura paled even more, and she played with the edge of the blanket staring at the fingers of her good hand. "I know," she said quietly. "I was just hoping...." Her voice drifted off, and there was a moment of tense silence between them as Kate fumbled around mentally for the right thing to say.
"You know, the Daedalus isn't due back for another six weeks, and no one is sending you to Earth before then."
Laura snorted, brightening up a bit. "Forgive my saying so, ma'am, but six weeks is a hell of a long time around here. I'm sure Rodney or Carson or Colonel Sheppard or even Dr. Weir will figure out some way around it."
Back on Earth, Kate might have classified her statement as denial or a type of magical thinking; here on Atlantis, she'd come to believe in the command team herself. "How about we get started on your report then?" Kate switched the recorder on. "Can you tell me what you remember?"
Laura shrugged. "Not much to tell. I was stationed on top of the warehouse across from the prison where Carson, Rodney, and Dr. Zelenka were being held. Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne's teams were to infiltrate the facility and rescue the prisoners, while I acted as lookout. I stacked up some of the bags of grain they had up there on the roof to make myself a fortified position, letting them know if any hostiles appeared." She sighed heavily, not looking at Kate. "I was just supposed to watch their six."
In his interview, Colonel Sheppard had said: " Off the record, she's one of the best marksmen in Atlantis, and that was why I brought her. Yeah, I know Carson's her husband, and yes, she was bugging me night and day to get on the team, but I needed her skills. I made the call and put her on my team. I'm the reason she was there." They had an appointment scheduled for next Tuesday to talk about it.
Kate nodded encouragingly at Laura. "I see."
"Yeah. Mortar fire was never in the plans." Laura rested her good hand across her belly. "Sheppard's team found everyone, but I guess they tripped some security alarms or somethin'. A hell of a lot of Pejuolds started firing on them, so I fired back."
Major Lorne had said: "She holds the long distance accuracy record in Atlantis. She was the best choice for the job."
Rubbing her hand across her chest, Laura said, "I'm not sure how many I killed before a couple of rockets ripped through my position. That's when I lost my hand." Swallowing, Laura looked up at the ceiling again. "It gets really fuzzy after that."
Lorne had tried to describe the rooftop scene to her: "Grain from busted storage sacks mixed with dust, sand, and fragments of brick, coating everything with this whitish-grey paste. Water had been storied in a bunch of rain barrels that had shattered, so part of the roof was covered in mud. That's where we found her, pinned down by the grain she'd been hiding behind. At first, I thought she was white from the dust, and the mud was just water. When I got close, I saw it was blood."
"Trauma can have that effect." Kate said gently. "Major Lorne said that the team fought their way up to get you."
"I could hear them on the stairs coming for me. I thought it was the Pejuolds, and I'd lost my P90 when I lost my arm. I was so scared, Kate. I thought I was going to die."
Screw it, Kate thought. She could only stand being professional for so long, when one of her friends was hurting like this. She laced her hand though Laura's and quickly squeezed. "It sounds terrifying, Laura." She left her hand on Laura's good arm.
"God, yeah. I was so fucking happy to see Atlanean grey on the roof, I yelled. Or tried to, anyway."
Ronon had said: "She was still bleeding when we found her. I shoved the sack off her and picked her up, ran her downstairs. Training in the gym, I didn't realize she was so small."
"Carson took one look at me and started barking out orders, trying to get the bleeding to stop. He wouldn't even look me in the eye, you know? He just kept staring at my arm. The whole time, staring at what was left of my fucking arm. Not a kiss, not a --" She shook her head, and Kate could see the effort she made to relax. "I guess he figured keeping me alive was more important than kissing me hello."
Teyla had said: "Dr. Beckett was quite upset when he saw that his wife was injured. Major Lorne's team took Dr. Zelenka with them to get the jumpers, but both Rodney and Dr. Beckett refused to leave the captain's side. Dr. Beckett can be quite...stubborn at times."
Major Lorne had said: "He used some words I'd never heard before, and I've been called a motherfucker in fourteen different languages, including Goa'uld."
Kate sat back in her chair. "So you are angry with him for not kissing you."
"I...guess. Sounds kinda stupid when you say it like that." Laura blinked a couple of times, and Kate could see some of her tension ease. "I know, feelings just are. I don't remember much of what happened around then. Things fade in and out." She took a deep breath and slowly let it out; Kate noticed her hand was shaking. "What I remember the most is Rodney staring at my bleeding arm, repeating over and over again, 'Left hand. Left hand. It's her left hand. Her fucking left hand.' I think he shouted that last one." She swallowed, and looked over at the glass on the tray with the paperwork. Talking about what happened was obviously draining her. "Would you mind...?"
"Not at all." Kate picked up the glass, noticed it was empty, and poured her some fresh water from the pitcher. Hopefully they were through the worst of it. It was clear that Laura was tiring out. "Here you go. And that was when Dr. McKay took off?"
"Yeah. I guess. I kinda remember Colonel Sheppard ordering him to come back, and then taking off after Rodney himself." She finished off the cup of water and handed it back to Kate. "I guess he must have gone back to the warehouse."
Kate nodded. Rodney had gone back, Colonel Sheppard right behind him. He'd climbed up to the roof, up to the bags of grain and sand that had been exploded, and searched through it all. According to the report, Sheppard had helped him, until they found what Rodney had been looking for, buried under the mud in the back.
"I do remember when he got back." Laura said, startling Kate. Her mind must have drifted during one of Laura's long pauses. "He grabbed my right hand and slipped my wedding ring on it. 'You'll want that,' he said. 'Weddings are hard to come by in the Pegasus Galaxy.' I think I passed out around then, 'cuz I don't remember anything until I woke up here." Her voice trembled, and she looked utterly exhausted. "I'm sorry I don't remember more."
"It's fine." Kate reached over and turned off the recorder, her own hand shaking slightly. God, this was a nightmare. "I think it's enough for now. I'll type up your statement and let you read it, in case you have anything you want to add."
"Thanks." Cadman looked down at the ring on her good hand, then back to Kate. "I know it's just a thing. Carson would have bought me a new ring. It can be replaced. But the fact that Rodney went back for it means the world to me." She leaned heavily against the pillow, lank hair spilling around her. "After what we've been through, I never thought he'd do something like that for me. That's all."
"Rodney can be quite surprising." Kate nodded, bundling her files and the recorder together as Laura struggled to lay back against the mattress, pillow tucked under her head. Her eyes looked larger and sadder than when Kate first walked in, the dark circles visible; even with medication, she wasn't getting enough sleep
"Mind pulling the curtain?" Laura flicked her hand at the opening onto the main infirmary. “I think I’m going to get some shut-eye.”
"I’ll check in later and see how you’re doing." Kate jerked the privacy curtain closed behind her, turned and stared at Carson’s office. With one hand, she pulled her shirt straight, and then smoothed down her hair. One more interview to go.
The End.
Title: Separate Salt from Sand
Author: Rachael Sabotini
Summary: Kate never liked this aspect of her job.
Heightmeyer, Cadman, mentions of Sheppard, McKay, Lorne, Ronon, Teyla, Beckett.
ETA: This story won best "Beckett/Other" story in the 2006 Isis Awards.
Many thanks to both sherrold and z_rayne for their beta work.
Separate Salt from Sand
Kate never liked this aspect of her job. She tugged at the collar of her shirt and smoothed her hand over her hair, nervous little mannerisms that she just couldn't stop no matter how many years she tried to quell them. She reminded herself to be supportive, yet maintain her professional distance. To keep her personal reactions under control. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the infirmary, digital recorder and actual printouts of the incident report carried in the crook of one arm.
Captain Cadman lay wrapped up in infirmary blankets, skin pale, hair lank and stringy. She stared listlessly up at the ceiling, not even acknowledging Kate's presence.
Oh, Kate thought. This was going to be bad.
She put her papers and the recorder on top of one of the trays, then pulled over a chair. Laura looked like hell. "Good morning, Captain."
Laura turned her head awkwardly. "Official visit, ma’am?"
"I'm afraid so."
Laura levered herself up on her right arm, and nearly over-balanced. Wrapped tightly in white gauze, the stump of the left one shot out, and Laura's face screwed up tightly against the pain; Kate ached with sympathy just looking at her, but she knew Laura would want to do this for herself. Laura managed to pull herself upright, and nodded at the paperwork as if nothing had happened. "What's that?"
"Oh, those are the official reports from Colonel Sheppard's team." Kate picked up the digital recorder and set it on the bed. "I'm afraid I need to interview you about it as well." Her hand hovered over the on/off switch as she looked at Laura, noticing the lines of pain around her eyes. The sooner they got through this, the better. Carson said she still tired easily, and wasn't ready to leave the infirmary yet. "Do you mind if I record this?"
"Nahh, it's fine. Then I won't have to type." Sighing, Laura glanced at her arm. "Maybe they can hook me up with a voice recognition unit or something."
Kate nodded. "I'm sure the VA back on Earth--"
"I don't want to go back to Earth." Laura's eyes grew wide with alarm. "They can't make me go back, can they?"
"We aren't -- we haven't...." Oh, this was lovely. If she couldn't talk about this, what chance did Laura have? "The appropriate facilities for your care don’t exist here in Atlantis."
If anything, Laura paled even more, and she played with the edge of the blanket staring at the fingers of her good hand. "I know," she said quietly. "I was just hoping...." Her voice drifted off, and there was a moment of tense silence between them as Kate fumbled around mentally for the right thing to say.
"You know, the Daedalus isn't due back for another six weeks, and no one is sending you to Earth before then."
Laura snorted, brightening up a bit. "Forgive my saying so, ma'am, but six weeks is a hell of a long time around here. I'm sure Rodney or Carson or Colonel Sheppard or even Dr. Weir will figure out some way around it."
Back on Earth, Kate might have classified her statement as denial or a type of magical thinking; here on Atlantis, she'd come to believe in the command team herself. "How about we get started on your report then?" Kate switched the recorder on. "Can you tell me what you remember?"
Laura shrugged. "Not much to tell. I was stationed on top of the warehouse across from the prison where Carson, Rodney, and Dr. Zelenka were being held. Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne's teams were to infiltrate the facility and rescue the prisoners, while I acted as lookout. I stacked up some of the bags of grain they had up there on the roof to make myself a fortified position, letting them know if any hostiles appeared." She sighed heavily, not looking at Kate. "I was just supposed to watch their six."
In his interview, Colonel Sheppard had said: " Off the record, she's one of the best marksmen in Atlantis, and that was why I brought her. Yeah, I know Carson's her husband, and yes, she was bugging me night and day to get on the team, but I needed her skills. I made the call and put her on my team. I'm the reason she was there." They had an appointment scheduled for next Tuesday to talk about it.
Kate nodded encouragingly at Laura. "I see."
"Yeah. Mortar fire was never in the plans." Laura rested her good hand across her belly. "Sheppard's team found everyone, but I guess they tripped some security alarms or somethin'. A hell of a lot of Pejuolds started firing on them, so I fired back."
Major Lorne had said: "She holds the long distance accuracy record in Atlantis. She was the best choice for the job."
Rubbing her hand across her chest, Laura said, "I'm not sure how many I killed before a couple of rockets ripped through my position. That's when I lost my hand." Swallowing, Laura looked up at the ceiling again. "It gets really fuzzy after that."
Lorne had tried to describe the rooftop scene to her: "Grain from busted storage sacks mixed with dust, sand, and fragments of brick, coating everything with this whitish-grey paste. Water had been storied in a bunch of rain barrels that had shattered, so part of the roof was covered in mud. That's where we found her, pinned down by the grain she'd been hiding behind. At first, I thought she was white from the dust, and the mud was just water. When I got close, I saw it was blood."
"Trauma can have that effect." Kate said gently. "Major Lorne said that the team fought their way up to get you."
"I could hear them on the stairs coming for me. I thought it was the Pejuolds, and I'd lost my P90 when I lost my arm. I was so scared, Kate. I thought I was going to die."
Screw it, Kate thought. She could only stand being professional for so long, when one of her friends was hurting like this. She laced her hand though Laura's and quickly squeezed. "It sounds terrifying, Laura." She left her hand on Laura's good arm.
"God, yeah. I was so fucking happy to see Atlanean grey on the roof, I yelled. Or tried to, anyway."
Ronon had said: "She was still bleeding when we found her. I shoved the sack off her and picked her up, ran her downstairs. Training in the gym, I didn't realize she was so small."
"Carson took one look at me and started barking out orders, trying to get the bleeding to stop. He wouldn't even look me in the eye, you know? He just kept staring at my arm. The whole time, staring at what was left of my fucking arm. Not a kiss, not a --" She shook her head, and Kate could see the effort she made to relax. "I guess he figured keeping me alive was more important than kissing me hello."
Teyla had said: "Dr. Beckett was quite upset when he saw that his wife was injured. Major Lorne's team took Dr. Zelenka with them to get the jumpers, but both Rodney and Dr. Beckett refused to leave the captain's side. Dr. Beckett can be quite...stubborn at times."
Major Lorne had said: "He used some words I'd never heard before, and I've been called a motherfucker in fourteen different languages, including Goa'uld."
Kate sat back in her chair. "So you are angry with him for not kissing you."
"I...guess. Sounds kinda stupid when you say it like that." Laura blinked a couple of times, and Kate could see some of her tension ease. "I know, feelings just are. I don't remember much of what happened around then. Things fade in and out." She took a deep breath and slowly let it out; Kate noticed her hand was shaking. "What I remember the most is Rodney staring at my bleeding arm, repeating over and over again, 'Left hand. Left hand. It's her left hand. Her fucking left hand.' I think he shouted that last one." She swallowed, and looked over at the glass on the tray with the paperwork. Talking about what happened was obviously draining her. "Would you mind...?"
"Not at all." Kate picked up the glass, noticed it was empty, and poured her some fresh water from the pitcher. Hopefully they were through the worst of it. It was clear that Laura was tiring out. "Here you go. And that was when Dr. McKay took off?"
"Yeah. I guess. I kinda remember Colonel Sheppard ordering him to come back, and then taking off after Rodney himself." She finished off the cup of water and handed it back to Kate. "I guess he must have gone back to the warehouse."
Kate nodded. Rodney had gone back, Colonel Sheppard right behind him. He'd climbed up to the roof, up to the bags of grain and sand that had been exploded, and searched through it all. According to the report, Sheppard had helped him, until they found what Rodney had been looking for, buried under the mud in the back.
"I do remember when he got back." Laura said, startling Kate. Her mind must have drifted during one of Laura's long pauses. "He grabbed my right hand and slipped my wedding ring on it. 'You'll want that,' he said. 'Weddings are hard to come by in the Pegasus Galaxy.' I think I passed out around then, 'cuz I don't remember anything until I woke up here." Her voice trembled, and she looked utterly exhausted. "I'm sorry I don't remember more."
"It's fine." Kate reached over and turned off the recorder, her own hand shaking slightly. God, this was a nightmare. "I think it's enough for now. I'll type up your statement and let you read it, in case you have anything you want to add."
"Thanks." Cadman looked down at the ring on her good hand, then back to Kate. "I know it's just a thing. Carson would have bought me a new ring. It can be replaced. But the fact that Rodney went back for it means the world to me." She leaned heavily against the pillow, lank hair spilling around her. "After what we've been through, I never thought he'd do something like that for me. That's all."
"Rodney can be quite surprising." Kate nodded, bundling her files and the recorder together as Laura struggled to lay back against the mattress, pillow tucked under her head. Her eyes looked larger and sadder than when Kate first walked in, the dark circles visible; even with medication, she wasn't getting enough sleep
"Mind pulling the curtain?" Laura flicked her hand at the opening onto the main infirmary. “I think I’m going to get some shut-eye.”
"I’ll check in later and see how you’re doing." Kate jerked the privacy curtain closed behind her, turned and stared at Carson’s office. With one hand, she pulled her shirt straight, and then smoothed down her hair. One more interview to go.
The End.