The Settlement

[fikgirl]

Who: Ami Jackson
Where: Tau Site, settlement
When: Thursday, May 16, late afternoon
Invited: All on Tau
Status: Incomplete

Comments

[Captain Jack Harkness, NPC]

[forevercptjack]

Jack had been grateful for the rain when it first came. It had made it difficult for anyone looking around the morning after to judge what had happened to him during the night. Jack was happy to pack up camp and move out as soon as the others were ready. He didn't want to linger close to the remains of the dinosaur the others had killed coming to his rescue. Once they moved out the rain ceased to be comforting, and became an enemy. It turned the ground to mud that sucked at their feet, made the air so thick the moisture settled in their lungs choking them. Jack grew to hate the rain as they marched

[James Wu]

[sinanju]

James scanned the village carefully--careful to avoid letting himself think too hard about the pain and suffering that had occurred here. There was no sign of survivors, no evidence of human footprints that weren't days old, no plumes of smoke to suggest cookfires. No sign, in short, that anyone was alive here except the Gamma teams

[Boone]

[tweets]

Ron watched with concerned eyes as Jackson emptied her stomach. It had been disturbing to see how much the little doll had affected her and the internal dialogue showed that Lan was equally worried for her.

But seeing that Jack had her in hand, Ron nodded a little.

"Teyla" he started, then paused as James called to his team.

As his 2IC approached "I want you to look after Ami, GT2 will sweep the area, just make sure she's OK and also that she's protected."

He now gestured to the rest of his team and raised his voice to answer James' commands "GT2 will take the south side, GT1, take the north."

With Ami being looked after by both Jack and Teyla, Ron was satisfied that the sweep wouldn't prove difficult.

[Ami]

[fikgirl]

Ami didn't look up immediately at the approach of Captain Harkness. She continued to kneel in the mud, breathing heavily with the acrid taste of bile lining her tongue. Recovering after one of these episodes was always the same and not so different from recovering an exceptionally lucid bad dream. Working her way slowly and methodically through a series of well-practiced breathing and meditative exercises, mostly centered around the slow unraveling of her present reality from whatever psychic imagery was impressed upon her, took most of her concentration for a good few minutes after the "episode" passed

[Bobby]

[starborn_scribe]

As soon as Ami started to wretch Bobby turned his back. He knew a panic attack when he saw one. He of all people should know. (Maybe I was wrong about her. Maybe she isn't ready to be out here.)

(Maybe you're not, either,) part of him nagged.

Bobby shoved the unwanted voice to a far corner of his mind. He busied himself by keeping watch while Teyla and Harkness tended to Ami.

After Ami had collected herself Bobby made his way toward her, still keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. The town seemed deserted, but you couldn't be sure. "Hey," he said with a grin, which she returned. Bobby patted his canteen. "Need some more water?"

"No, but thanks."

"Sure." Bobby lowered his voice a bit before continuing. "If you don't want to talk to one of the 'specialists,' I can help." Ami's pretty features furrowed with confusion. "With the panic attacks." He put on a rueful grin. "Been there, done that."

[Teyla]

[fikgirl]

Teyla thought that Ami handled herself remarkably well for someone unaccustomed to this sort of thing. Not a moment in Teyla's memory had her life been unaffected by the destructive waste of the Wraith, and though it made her stronger, what she might not have given to be horrified by the settlement in ruins around them and the startling horror of a single broken child's toy

[Captain Jack Harkness, NPC]

[beccadg]

Jack was careful, as he stayed close to Dr Jackson, to keep his shielding tight. While he wasn't certain she'd gotten some kind of impression from the doll, the fact she'd picked it up before she had her reaction made it a possibility. Jack was half tempted to pick the doll up himself. If Ami hadn't had a psychic reaction the doll could be a trap, and if it was it would be safer for everyone else on the Gamma teams if he investigated how it had affected Dr Jackson himself. Jack listened quietly to her explanation of psychic impressions before he nodded, "I understand. Torchwood has a device that allows whoever activates it to be in the middle of it all. I had one team member find herself sharing a scared little boy's getting lost in a train station in WWII. Since you didn't react until you picked the doll up I thought it might be a psychometric reaction

[Bobby]

[starborn_scribe]

Bobby stared at Ami in disbelief. "Psychic," he parroted

[Teyla]

[fikgirl]

Teyla shifted her stance, her head tilted curiously and patiently as Bobby Hobbes went into what might have been a low level rant. He was disturbed by Ami's revelations, by Captain Harkness's recuperative abilities, and Captain Boone's Tok'ra symbiote. Though all came as a surprise, Teyla knew better than most the myriad of reasons to not reveal such things: security and surprise. Tactically, the moves were sound, though she suspected that in the case of Ami and Captain Boone, it had more to do with a need to avoid the sort of reaction that Bobby Hobbes now had

[Ron]

[tweets]

Ron had left Darien to complete their leg of the sweep. Nothing other than broken houses and belongings.

So, as Teyla responded to Bobby's rant, Ron heard the end of the accusations and approached with a tight smile. "As Teyla said" he added to the explanation "Tok'ra aren't exactly well known, especially on Gamma. I.. my symbiote has a history with some of the inhabitants, and there will be difficult questions to answer, should it be revealed who we are."

He turned to watch one of GT1 walking through a building, then out again, before turning back to Bobby. "We never hid this from you all, out of spite, you realise?" Ron's eyes met Bobby's now "In fact, it was something the administration had wanted to retain as a training tool, so it would be best advised to keep quiet knowledge which later recruits don't need to know." A smile tugged at his lips.

[Bobby]

[starborn_scribe]

Bobby fought to keep his face neutral. Even in the midst of his accusations he knew he should have kept his mouth shut. If this were the Marines, he'd be face down in the mud by now. Marines don't question their officers. (I've been around Fawkes *way* too long.)

"Yes sir, not out of spite," Bobby repeated. He truly meant it, and included Harkness, Teyla, and Ami in his gaze. "I was out of line." Bobby faced his CO, half expecting a physical or verbal reprimand. "I'm glad you're okay, sir."

[Captain Jack Harkness, NPC]

[forevercptjack]

(( OOC: "The captain, who wore WWII-era garb, walked off wrestling with dinosaurs, and was apparently down with fellow officers whose eyes glowed when they used alien tech..." *Giggles.* It works as a description

[Bobby]

[starborn_scribe]

This was... awkward. His CO had more or less dismissed military discipline. Bobby chose to hang on to it simply to have a familiar course of action. "I'll adjust, sir, and keep confidences." He resisted glancing at Ami. Of all of them her secret was the most unsettling. Psychic? What did that mean exactly? Was she overhearing his thoughts right now?

"As for more..." Bobby glanced at Boone. "It's your decision, sirs. But I have one request." He turned back to Harkness. "I'd like to know how you survived that attack last night. Enough to choose the best course of action in the future."

[Ron]

[tweets]

That was easy... Ron pulled out the healing device "I am Tok'ra. Fortunately, with that, comes a few perks of the job... because of the symbiote within me, I'm able to do some minor healing. But this device can't tell the difference between healing a handful of capillaries, or an artery. So, in this instance, minor healing meant stopping the Captain's bleeding and speeding up the external healing. Doesn't mean his bruises are all gone, though..."

He turned to take in Jack "Does it, Captain?"

[Captain Jack Harkness, NPC]

[forevercptjack]

Jack resisted a frown when he could see Hobbes was unsettled by his placing discipline second to secrecy. He listened to Bobby's assurance he'd adjust before barking at him, "I do value discipline, Marine. But functionally Doctor Jackson isn't the only civilian on these teams. You and I haven't been active service in some time."

He paused for a moment, then asked, "Bobby, what was your second thought after you realized you were demanding answers from superiors? The one after what a marine response to that would be. You were a marine, but you've been other things since. I won't ask for more discipline than I'm capable of showing myself. I won't ask for as much secrecy as I practice. GT1 is my responsibility, and there are some secrets I'll keep

[Bobby]

[starborn_scribe]

"You'd have done the same of any of us, sir." Something about Harkness's explanation didn't sit right with Bobby. He was sure that his CO was withholding information. That was his prerogative, though. Bobby would trust him to reveal the whole truth when and if necessary.

Then there was Boone having a symbiote inside him. That was just plain... eew. Again, not his problem. Boone had proven himself a good leader so far. If the man wanted an alien snake inside him, then so be it. At the very least it enabled him to use the healing device. "Sir," Bobby said to Boone. "Does that device heal bone as well? If so, could you use it on my ribs?" His tone was appropriately neutral.