be not taken from me, by thedaytheystop (Amnesty 2007/Mission Report Challenge)
Title: be not taken from me
Rating: R
John-centric, with Lorne, S4 future
~900 words
Summary: "Can you tell me why you did it, John?" "It was necessary."
I have become Ra and am risen in the horizon against my enemy. I am set up in Horus, I am in my becoming in Ptah, I was valiant in Thoth, I was powerful in Atoum, I have walked with my legs and spoken with my mouth. It has been given to me and it will be not taken from me.
- The Book of the Dead, Chapter 11
--
In the report, John writes that the planet only has meager trading opportunities for not-wine and not-fava beans. They agree that it isn’t worth a second visit.
--
"Can you tell me why you did it, John?"
"It was necessary."
--
John casually suggests an off-world retreat for the senior officers. He knows that he can't take his team.
Alpha site, he says, leaning back in one of Carter’s chairs. Check up on the place, me and Lorne and the lieutenants-just overnight, and you can always dial us-I’ll leave Bates, I’m sure the two of you can manage. Everyone needs a break, these four months since we lost the ZPM and contact with Earth have been hard on us all.
He’s banking on the fact that she won’t feel excluded-she is, after all, the most senior officer on the expedition.
She doesn’t-whether due to John’s powers of persuasion or a lifetime spent as a woman in a boys’ club-and they gate out a week later, John and Lorne first, the lieutenants to follow with provisions for the night after the all-clear.
The all-clear doesn’t come.
When Chuck dials out to the alpha site, the gate fails to lock.
--
"This seems to be something of a pattern with you."
"Treasonous insubordination?"
--
"I’m sorry, Major," John says, raising his P-90.
"Whoa, there, Colonel--what--" Lorne steps back, eyes wide, arms raised. "I’m going to have to ask you to lower your weapon, sir."
"I’m not going to shoot you, Lorne," John says, tiredly. "Just drop your weapons, take off your tac vest, and back away from the DHD."
"Stand down, Colonel," Lorne says, shaking his head, voice striving to be calm. His boots rustle against the dried autumn leaves on the ground as he steps backward from the gate platform, down the small slope. "Don’t do something you’ll regret."
--
"I was going to say self-sacrifice, John. Do you think of it as an act of insubordination?"
"It doesn’t matter what I think."
--
What John has in height, Lorne makes up for in bulk. He has John pinned moments after following him through the gate, hands above his head.
"Calm down, sir," Lorne says, almost---patiently.
"Ca-Calming," John pants, forces himself to relax.
Lorne unclips John’s P-90, unholsters his 9mm, and climbs off of John’s chest.
"I think I’ll keep these for the moment, sir," Lorne says. John just nods.
"Wait, isn’t this---" Lorne looks around, referencing his view against MALP footage. "Isn’t this that wine planet that you visited six weeks ago? PX9-341?"
John nods again. Lorne sits down on a rock a few feet away and John pulls himself to a sitting position.
"I’m ready to listen whenever you’re ready to talk, sir," Lorne says, mildly, casually aiming the P-90 somewhere south of John’s left foot.
--
"You know I can’t clear you for off-world duty."
"Well, what exactly are you planning to write in the report?"
--
"I meant to come alone," John says, and it echoes in the clearing, until even the repercussions are gone and they sit, silently facing each other, the weight of it heavy on the air between them.
John’s had time to think this over---to think this situation a thousand times over, from hypothesis in the deserts and ice of Earth to reality in the sheer emptiness of space and vast depth of Lantea’s oceans. There is, John realizes, nothing in the universe that can make him change his mind.
--
"How did you feel about Major Lorne’s presence?"
"He’s the one making me be here, doc. Said it was the only way he’d cooperate, right before he told me to knock him out."
--
John returns with the sunrise, veins still humming from the tera’cal, pack heavy against his back.
Lorne is just waking, rubbing his head with the palm of his hand and struggling to stand from where he’s leaned against the rock. From where John had left him, unconscious.
"Good morning, Major," John says. He thinks, momentarily, about reaching a hand out to help Lorne up. He shoves his hands in his pockets instead.
"Is that-"
"Yes," John says, quickly. "Dial the alpha site."
"Are you all right, sir?"
John doesn’t laugh, even though they both know that he should. He just tightens his throat and forces the words out, not turning to look behind him, where his XO is dialing the DHD.
"Lorne, I-" John’s voice is raw, rougher than he expected, and he stops, swallowing, rediscovering himself.
"I won’t say anything," Lorne says, and if John turned around he’d see Lorne studiously looking at the gate symbols, at the ground, at anywhere that isn’t his CO and the pack slung over his shoulders.
--
"When did you begin to think of yourself as-"
"As what, doc? More valuable than the rest of the expedition? More valuable than their lives?"
--
The Al’Qetar tells John about the ZPMs on the first trip to PX9-341, breath hot and heavy against his ear.
Rating: R
John-centric, with Lorne, S4 future
~900 words
Summary: "Can you tell me why you did it, John?" "It was necessary."
I have become Ra and am risen in the horizon against my enemy. I am set up in Horus, I am in my becoming in Ptah, I was valiant in Thoth, I was powerful in Atoum, I have walked with my legs and spoken with my mouth. It has been given to me and it will be not taken from me.
- The Book of the Dead, Chapter 11
--
In the report, John writes that the planet only has meager trading opportunities for not-wine and not-fava beans. They agree that it isn’t worth a second visit.
--
"Can you tell me why you did it, John?"
"It was necessary."
--
John casually suggests an off-world retreat for the senior officers. He knows that he can't take his team.
Alpha site, he says, leaning back in one of Carter’s chairs. Check up on the place, me and Lorne and the lieutenants-just overnight, and you can always dial us-I’ll leave Bates, I’m sure the two of you can manage. Everyone needs a break, these four months since we lost the ZPM and contact with Earth have been hard on us all.
He’s banking on the fact that she won’t feel excluded-she is, after all, the most senior officer on the expedition.
She doesn’t-whether due to John’s powers of persuasion or a lifetime spent as a woman in a boys’ club-and they gate out a week later, John and Lorne first, the lieutenants to follow with provisions for the night after the all-clear.
The all-clear doesn’t come.
When Chuck dials out to the alpha site, the gate fails to lock.
--
"This seems to be something of a pattern with you."
"Treasonous insubordination?"
--
"I’m sorry, Major," John says, raising his P-90.
"Whoa, there, Colonel--what--" Lorne steps back, eyes wide, arms raised. "I’m going to have to ask you to lower your weapon, sir."
"I’m not going to shoot you, Lorne," John says, tiredly. "Just drop your weapons, take off your tac vest, and back away from the DHD."
"Stand down, Colonel," Lorne says, shaking his head, voice striving to be calm. His boots rustle against the dried autumn leaves on the ground as he steps backward from the gate platform, down the small slope. "Don’t do something you’ll regret."
--
"I was going to say self-sacrifice, John. Do you think of it as an act of insubordination?"
"It doesn’t matter what I think."
--
What John has in height, Lorne makes up for in bulk. He has John pinned moments after following him through the gate, hands above his head.
"Calm down, sir," Lorne says, almost---patiently.
"Ca-Calming," John pants, forces himself to relax.
Lorne unclips John’s P-90, unholsters his 9mm, and climbs off of John’s chest.
"I think I’ll keep these for the moment, sir," Lorne says. John just nods.
"Wait, isn’t this---" Lorne looks around, referencing his view against MALP footage. "Isn’t this that wine planet that you visited six weeks ago? PX9-341?"
John nods again. Lorne sits down on a rock a few feet away and John pulls himself to a sitting position.
"I’m ready to listen whenever you’re ready to talk, sir," Lorne says, mildly, casually aiming the P-90 somewhere south of John’s left foot.
--
"You know I can’t clear you for off-world duty."
"Well, what exactly are you planning to write in the report?"
--
"I meant to come alone," John says, and it echoes in the clearing, until even the repercussions are gone and they sit, silently facing each other, the weight of it heavy on the air between them.
John’s had time to think this over---to think this situation a thousand times over, from hypothesis in the deserts and ice of Earth to reality in the sheer emptiness of space and vast depth of Lantea’s oceans. There is, John realizes, nothing in the universe that can make him change his mind.
--
"How did you feel about Major Lorne’s presence?"
"He’s the one making me be here, doc. Said it was the only way he’d cooperate, right before he told me to knock him out."
--
John returns with the sunrise, veins still humming from the tera’cal, pack heavy against his back.
Lorne is just waking, rubbing his head with the palm of his hand and struggling to stand from where he’s leaned against the rock. From where John had left him, unconscious.
"Good morning, Major," John says. He thinks, momentarily, about reaching a hand out to help Lorne up. He shoves his hands in his pockets instead.
"Is that-"
"Yes," John says, quickly. "Dial the alpha site."
"Are you all right, sir?"
John doesn’t laugh, even though they both know that he should. He just tightens his throat and forces the words out, not turning to look behind him, where his XO is dialing the DHD.
"Lorne, I-" John’s voice is raw, rougher than he expected, and he stops, swallowing, rediscovering himself.
"I won’t say anything," Lorne says, and if John turned around he’d see Lorne studiously looking at the gate symbols, at the ground, at anywhere that isn’t his CO and the pack slung over his shoulders.
--
"When did you begin to think of yourself as-"
"As what, doc? More valuable than the rest of the expedition? More valuable than their lives?"
--
The Al’Qetar tells John about the ZPMs on the first trip to PX9-341, breath hot and heavy against his ear.