A Cry in the Dark (4/?)
I am so, so sorry that it has taken me this long to update!!
Title: A Cry in the Dark
Chapter: 4/?
Author: sparxxa
Rating: 12ish I guess
Set: Season 3, a few weeks after Phantoms.
Spoilers: 38 Minutes, Hot Zone and Brotherhood.
Author note: Again, really sorry about the delay....this chapter is a bit...well...anyway...
Previous Chapters:
http://sparxxa.livejournal.com/33243.html#cutid1 (Chapter One)
http://sparxxa.livejournal.com/33899.html#cutid1 (Chapter Two)
http://sparxxa.livejournal.com/35233.html#cutid1 (Chapter Three
Chapter Four
He was struggling. He’d been injured in the last attack, and it was making things ten times harder than they already were. The pain in his leg was so strong and running on it was becoming even less and less of a viable option; and he didn’t exactly have many options to begin with.
The blood loss was also something of a problem. Although the bleeding had seemed to have stopped he was feeling a little dizzy but he knew that if he stopped moving it would only get worse.
He stumbled, losing his footing in the thick vines that covered the ground. Pain shot up his leg so intensely that he had to focus hard to prevent himself from crying out and/or passing out. He was dizzy and tired but he had to keep going. There was a cave not too far away that he could rest in for a couple of hours but first he had to just get there.
He stumbled again, this time in surprise as a figure emerged from the undergrowth.
Tall and carrying a weapon that was currently pointed straight at him.
His heart sank. Was this it? Was this one of them?
The being advanced towards him and then stopped. There was a good distance between them but he knew that there was nothing that he could do to either escape or defend himself. He was out of options but that didn’t seem to really matter.
He was finally coming face to face with one of ‘them’, he was about to die, but he wasn’t afraid.
He smiled softly. “So this is how it ends.”
He didn’t want to die but it was starting to seem inevitable. At least he would die on his feet and facing his enemy.
His smile faltered though as a second figure appeared coming to stand near the first. The second figure was shorter than the first, he appeared to be human, and more confusingly he seemed to be wearing an Earth military uniform.
His first thought was that they were toying with him again, making him hallucinate but he didn’t recognise this man and his hallucinations, when they used them, were of people he knew from Atlantis coming to save him. He watched them warily; what the hell was going on here?
“So this is how it ends.” He repeated as calmly as he possibly could.
Maybe if he could provoke some kind of reaction or response he’d be able to work out what they were doing and what was real. He knew rationally that provoking the enemy was not the smartest plan ever but unfortunately it was the only plan he had.
Suddenly three more figures emerged from amongst the trees, walking over to join the other two; these three however were very familiar. Major Sheppard, Doctor Zelenka and…and Sergeant Adam Stackhouse.
That was it. He was hallucinating again; he had to be. Apparently it wasn’t enough to just kill him; they were going to make him hallucinate one last time, making it look like he was finally getting rescued. Well he wasn’t falling for it for one second.
He glared at the tall figure, convinced that it was one of them and the only real one there. “If you’re going to kill me just get on with it, you don’t need to play that mind-crap stuff on me again. I ain’t playing no more.”
^^^^^^^^^
Something very, very strange was going on.
For all his beliefs that this was all some elaborate hoax, it was getting very difficult for Adam to deny that this person looked one hell of a lot like Jamie Markham.
That was one of the strange things.
This Jamie looked practically identical to the Jamie that had grinned at Adam moments before getting into the jumper that only ten or so minutes later was shot down supposedly taking Jamie with it. Apart from the dirt coating his uniform, some cuts and what looked like drying blood on one of his trouser legs, he seemed exactly the same; as if it had been two hours rather than two years. Surely if Jamie had been trapped in this wilderness for two years he should at the very least be sporting a beard or longer hair, or something, not just looking slightly dishevelled.
Then of course was the way he was acting; giving them a barely disguised look of disgust before glaring at Ronon, who of-course Jamie had never met. The words Jamie had said echoed in his mind.
“If you’re going to kill me just get on with it, you don’t need to play that mind-crap stuff on me again. I ain’t playing no more.”
He really didn’t know what to make of that. Mind-crap? What did that mean? He didn’t want to dwell on it but the fact that Jamie was so calmly expecting death saddened him; he was practically demanding it! How could the brave, almost reckless, cheerful young man that he had known and cared about have been reduced to this?
Part of him strongly wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn’t find the words. He was relieved to say the least when Colonel Sheppard decided to take that burden; the burden of greeting the man that they had long believed dead.
“Sergeant Markham?”
Jamie glanced over to them, something like irritation flashing in his eyes, before turning his attention back to the Satedan who just stared back completely nonplussed by the situation.
Sheppard glanced between Lorne and Adam before starting again.
“Are you alright Sergeant?”
Jamie didn’t even look at them this time, keeping his focus centred entirely on Ronon. “I told you, you don’t need to go through this hallucination crap with me, they aren’t here and I’d prefer it if you’d just kill me now than keep trying to mess with me.”
Adam blinked. Hallucination? Weren’t they meant to be trying to work out if this guy was for real and not the other way around?
Sheppard frowned. “You’re not hallucinating Markham…Look, we received your distress call…”
“No.” responded Jamie, shaking his head. “That didn’t work, I sent it over a week ago, and there was no response. You’re not real.”
What? They couldn’t have received that transmission more than two hours, three at the most, earlier; how on earth could Jamie think it was a week ago?
“I can assure you Sergeant that I was definitely real when I got up this morning.”
“No. You’re not real. This is another mind-game. I’m not playing. You’re never real. It’s never real.”
There was a hint of despair and desperation in Jamie’s voice that shook him. The part of his mind that was continuing to tell him that it was a hoax and that it was Jamie that wasn’t real, not the other way around, was slowly being silenced by concern for the state of mind of the young man in front of him.
Ignoring the slightly dubious look that Sheppard was sending him he stepped forward.
“Jay, look at me.” He said, amazed at how neutral his voice was sounding.
“No. You aren’t real.”
How he’d missed that damn stubborn streak.
“Then listen.” He said before pausing, wracking his brain for some way of proving who he was without giving too much away. “During the self-regulated quarantine in Atlantis, we ended up stuck in a room with Kages, Robbi, Tone and Croz. After about two hours of listening to Kages and Tone argue about that dumb song writing project they were doing Robbi started singing. Remember?”
Jamie had shifted his attention to him, so at least he knew that his idea was sort of working. He started smiling to himself as the memories of that day came flooding back to him. Getting stuck in a room with Jamie, Sergeant Tim Kagan, Corporal Robbi Barton, Sergeant Tony McVeigh and Lieutenant Keith Crosby hadn’t been his idea of a great afternoon but it had definitely been memorable.
“She was scared. Thinking we were all going to die, you suggested that she actually teach us that song she was singing.” He continued.
“Everyone thought I was nuts.” Jamie said quietly, as if he was talking to himself.
He grinned. “You were. A bunch of marines sat around singing Welsh hymns, it was mad. Croz was the only one that picked up the lyrics easily, Tone kept arguing that being a Geordie almost qualified him as being Celtic but we all battled through… then Bates showed up. The quarantine had ended and he’d come to look for us since we were all meant to be on duty. The look on his face was priceless…remember what he said?”
“‘If you’re done with choir practice maybe you’d like to get some work done.’” Jamie paused. “Adam?”
There was the barest hint of hope in Jamie’s voice but Adam didn’t want to leave it at that. He had to prove it to Jamie so that there would be no doubt in the younger man’s mind that he wasn’t being tricked. “Chuck gave me that note by the way. Come on Jay was ‘Bye’ the best you could come up with?”
Jamie frowned. “He gave you that?”
Before Adam had an opportunity to come up with a way to respond to that, Colonel Sheppard stepped forward.
“Since you seem happier that we’re all real and who we say we are, how about you proving that you are who you say you are.”
Jamie frowned and Adam couldn't blame him for feeling confused, he had to admit that he was a little in the dark as to how Jamie would prove his identity. Jamie hadn't been on half as many missions with Colonel Sheppard that he had in the early months of the expedition and with the exception of that incident where the then Major nearly died and he and Jamie had almost ended up permanently dematerialized, there weren't exactly many anecdotes that Jamie could draw on as examples.
The answer came for both of them as Colonel Sheppard switched off the life-signs detector, handed it to Ronon then turned to Jamie with a slight smirk and said "Catch."
Despite the wary looks Jamie had been directing Ronon's way his instincts kicked in straight away when the Satedan threw the ancient device at him. The second Jamie caught the device it activated, powering up.
Sheppard nodded. "Works for me." Looking to Lorne he explained "Markham was one of the few original expedition members that had a natural ATA gene"
Realising that he'd passed that test Jamie gave a small half smile to Adam, which he returned with quite a bit of relief. He hadn't realised how much he'd started hoping that this really was his Jamie, especially after spending so much time trying his best not to build his hopes up too high.
"One more thing though." continued Sheppard "Can you tell me why some of the marines insist on using names of vegetables as compliments?"
The small smile on Jamie's face turned into a look of horror as Adam tried his best not to start smirking; this was going to be priceless. Those weren’t compliments after-all…
"Um…they uh...ap-apparantly 'Moron' is the-uh- Welsh word for carrot and...Uh...Radish is a...er...way of calling someone a dork or a-a idiot...in some places…Sir." stammered Jamie, blushing slightly.
Sheppard's jaw dropped ever so slightly and Lorne only just about managed to cover a chuckle with a cough.
"Damn it" cursed Sheppard before shaking his head and changing the subject in a kind-of obvious attempt to save his pride. Adam couldn’t help wondering who had called the Colonel one of those names…and what would happen to them once Sheppard caught up with them. “Well I don’t know about the rest of you but I for one am ready to head back to Atlantis…so shall we?”
“The gate doesn’t work Major.” Jamie spoke up “I’ve tried.”
“Zelenka fixed it.” Replied Sheppard. “And its Colonel now; got myself a promotion.”
Jamie shot a slightly bewildered look at Adam who silently shook his head and moved in to help support him, as they made their way back to the gate following the others.
For most of the journey Jamie was silent, which was strange but Adam wasn’t exactly being a great conversationalist either; he just didn’t know what to say to him.
This was all so weird and far, far too much to take in but there they were. Jamie was alive and relatively alright and Adam just couldn’t quite believe that after two years of believing him to be gone forever there he was…it was a miracle.
Maybe everything could turn out well after all…
“Adam?”
“Yeah?” he asked giving a sidelong glance to the man beside him.
“How…How long have I been missing?”
…And abruptly that happy ending withered away again.
He thanked his lucky stars as just up ahead of them Doctor Zelenka dialled the gate that would take them back to Atlantis, receiving confirmation from Chuck that the shield would be down so that they could safely return, effectively saving him from the awkward situation he’d found himself in.
Sidestepping the question he turned to Jamie with a slightly forced smile. “Ready to return home?”
Jamie nodded mutely as they resumed their course to join the other four members of the group ready to take the return trip through the Stargate.
The question would have to be answered eventually; Adam just didn’t know how Jamie would react when it was.
Somehow he knew though that things were going to get a whole lot more complicated before they could even contemplate normalcy again…
Title: A Cry in the Dark
Chapter: 4/?
Author: sparxxa
Rating: 12ish I guess
Set: Season 3, a few weeks after Phantoms.
Spoilers: 38 Minutes, Hot Zone and Brotherhood.
Author note: Again, really sorry about the delay....this chapter is a bit...well...anyway...
Previous Chapters:
http://sparxxa.livejournal.com/33243.html#cutid1 (Chapter One)
http://sparxxa.livejournal.com/33899.html#cutid1 (Chapter Two)
http://sparxxa.livejournal.com/35233.html#cutid1 (Chapter Three
Chapter Four
He was struggling. He’d been injured in the last attack, and it was making things ten times harder than they already were. The pain in his leg was so strong and running on it was becoming even less and less of a viable option; and he didn’t exactly have many options to begin with.
The blood loss was also something of a problem. Although the bleeding had seemed to have stopped he was feeling a little dizzy but he knew that if he stopped moving it would only get worse.
He stumbled, losing his footing in the thick vines that covered the ground. Pain shot up his leg so intensely that he had to focus hard to prevent himself from crying out and/or passing out. He was dizzy and tired but he had to keep going. There was a cave not too far away that he could rest in for a couple of hours but first he had to just get there.
He stumbled again, this time in surprise as a figure emerged from the undergrowth.
Tall and carrying a weapon that was currently pointed straight at him.
His heart sank. Was this it? Was this one of them?
The being advanced towards him and then stopped. There was a good distance between them but he knew that there was nothing that he could do to either escape or defend himself. He was out of options but that didn’t seem to really matter.
He was finally coming face to face with one of ‘them’, he was about to die, but he wasn’t afraid.
He smiled softly. “So this is how it ends.”
He didn’t want to die but it was starting to seem inevitable. At least he would die on his feet and facing his enemy.
His smile faltered though as a second figure appeared coming to stand near the first. The second figure was shorter than the first, he appeared to be human, and more confusingly he seemed to be wearing an Earth military uniform.
His first thought was that they were toying with him again, making him hallucinate but he didn’t recognise this man and his hallucinations, when they used them, were of people he knew from Atlantis coming to save him. He watched them warily; what the hell was going on here?
“So this is how it ends.” He repeated as calmly as he possibly could.
Maybe if he could provoke some kind of reaction or response he’d be able to work out what they were doing and what was real. He knew rationally that provoking the enemy was not the smartest plan ever but unfortunately it was the only plan he had.
Suddenly three more figures emerged from amongst the trees, walking over to join the other two; these three however were very familiar. Major Sheppard, Doctor Zelenka and…and Sergeant Adam Stackhouse.
That was it. He was hallucinating again; he had to be. Apparently it wasn’t enough to just kill him; they were going to make him hallucinate one last time, making it look like he was finally getting rescued. Well he wasn’t falling for it for one second.
He glared at the tall figure, convinced that it was one of them and the only real one there. “If you’re going to kill me just get on with it, you don’t need to play that mind-crap stuff on me again. I ain’t playing no more.”
^^^^^^^^^
Something very, very strange was going on.
For all his beliefs that this was all some elaborate hoax, it was getting very difficult for Adam to deny that this person looked one hell of a lot like Jamie Markham.
That was one of the strange things.
This Jamie looked practically identical to the Jamie that had grinned at Adam moments before getting into the jumper that only ten or so minutes later was shot down supposedly taking Jamie with it. Apart from the dirt coating his uniform, some cuts and what looked like drying blood on one of his trouser legs, he seemed exactly the same; as if it had been two hours rather than two years. Surely if Jamie had been trapped in this wilderness for two years he should at the very least be sporting a beard or longer hair, or something, not just looking slightly dishevelled.
Then of course was the way he was acting; giving them a barely disguised look of disgust before glaring at Ronon, who of-course Jamie had never met. The words Jamie had said echoed in his mind.
“If you’re going to kill me just get on with it, you don’t need to play that mind-crap stuff on me again. I ain’t playing no more.”
He really didn’t know what to make of that. Mind-crap? What did that mean? He didn’t want to dwell on it but the fact that Jamie was so calmly expecting death saddened him; he was practically demanding it! How could the brave, almost reckless, cheerful young man that he had known and cared about have been reduced to this?
Part of him strongly wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn’t find the words. He was relieved to say the least when Colonel Sheppard decided to take that burden; the burden of greeting the man that they had long believed dead.
“Sergeant Markham?”
Jamie glanced over to them, something like irritation flashing in his eyes, before turning his attention back to the Satedan who just stared back completely nonplussed by the situation.
Sheppard glanced between Lorne and Adam before starting again.
“Are you alright Sergeant?”
Jamie didn’t even look at them this time, keeping his focus centred entirely on Ronon. “I told you, you don’t need to go through this hallucination crap with me, they aren’t here and I’d prefer it if you’d just kill me now than keep trying to mess with me.”
Adam blinked. Hallucination? Weren’t they meant to be trying to work out if this guy was for real and not the other way around?
Sheppard frowned. “You’re not hallucinating Markham…Look, we received your distress call…”
“No.” responded Jamie, shaking his head. “That didn’t work, I sent it over a week ago, and there was no response. You’re not real.”
What? They couldn’t have received that transmission more than two hours, three at the most, earlier; how on earth could Jamie think it was a week ago?
“I can assure you Sergeant that I was definitely real when I got up this morning.”
“No. You’re not real. This is another mind-game. I’m not playing. You’re never real. It’s never real.”
There was a hint of despair and desperation in Jamie’s voice that shook him. The part of his mind that was continuing to tell him that it was a hoax and that it was Jamie that wasn’t real, not the other way around, was slowly being silenced by concern for the state of mind of the young man in front of him.
Ignoring the slightly dubious look that Sheppard was sending him he stepped forward.
“Jay, look at me.” He said, amazed at how neutral his voice was sounding.
“No. You aren’t real.”
How he’d missed that damn stubborn streak.
“Then listen.” He said before pausing, wracking his brain for some way of proving who he was without giving too much away. “During the self-regulated quarantine in Atlantis, we ended up stuck in a room with Kages, Robbi, Tone and Croz. After about two hours of listening to Kages and Tone argue about that dumb song writing project they were doing Robbi started singing. Remember?”
Jamie had shifted his attention to him, so at least he knew that his idea was sort of working. He started smiling to himself as the memories of that day came flooding back to him. Getting stuck in a room with Jamie, Sergeant Tim Kagan, Corporal Robbi Barton, Sergeant Tony McVeigh and Lieutenant Keith Crosby hadn’t been his idea of a great afternoon but it had definitely been memorable.
“She was scared. Thinking we were all going to die, you suggested that she actually teach us that song she was singing.” He continued.
“Everyone thought I was nuts.” Jamie said quietly, as if he was talking to himself.
He grinned. “You were. A bunch of marines sat around singing Welsh hymns, it was mad. Croz was the only one that picked up the lyrics easily, Tone kept arguing that being a Geordie almost qualified him as being Celtic but we all battled through… then Bates showed up. The quarantine had ended and he’d come to look for us since we were all meant to be on duty. The look on his face was priceless…remember what he said?”
“‘If you’re done with choir practice maybe you’d like to get some work done.’” Jamie paused. “Adam?”
There was the barest hint of hope in Jamie’s voice but Adam didn’t want to leave it at that. He had to prove it to Jamie so that there would be no doubt in the younger man’s mind that he wasn’t being tricked. “Chuck gave me that note by the way. Come on Jay was ‘Bye’ the best you could come up with?”
Jamie frowned. “He gave you that?”
Before Adam had an opportunity to come up with a way to respond to that, Colonel Sheppard stepped forward.
“Since you seem happier that we’re all real and who we say we are, how about you proving that you are who you say you are.”
Jamie frowned and Adam couldn't blame him for feeling confused, he had to admit that he was a little in the dark as to how Jamie would prove his identity. Jamie hadn't been on half as many missions with Colonel Sheppard that he had in the early months of the expedition and with the exception of that incident where the then Major nearly died and he and Jamie had almost ended up permanently dematerialized, there weren't exactly many anecdotes that Jamie could draw on as examples.
The answer came for both of them as Colonel Sheppard switched off the life-signs detector, handed it to Ronon then turned to Jamie with a slight smirk and said "Catch."
Despite the wary looks Jamie had been directing Ronon's way his instincts kicked in straight away when the Satedan threw the ancient device at him. The second Jamie caught the device it activated, powering up.
Sheppard nodded. "Works for me." Looking to Lorne he explained "Markham was one of the few original expedition members that had a natural ATA gene"
Realising that he'd passed that test Jamie gave a small half smile to Adam, which he returned with quite a bit of relief. He hadn't realised how much he'd started hoping that this really was his Jamie, especially after spending so much time trying his best not to build his hopes up too high.
"One more thing though." continued Sheppard "Can you tell me why some of the marines insist on using names of vegetables as compliments?"
The small smile on Jamie's face turned into a look of horror as Adam tried his best not to start smirking; this was going to be priceless. Those weren’t compliments after-all…
"Um…they uh...ap-apparantly 'Moron' is the-uh- Welsh word for carrot and...Uh...Radish is a...er...way of calling someone a dork or a-a idiot...in some places…Sir." stammered Jamie, blushing slightly.
Sheppard's jaw dropped ever so slightly and Lorne only just about managed to cover a chuckle with a cough.
"Damn it" cursed Sheppard before shaking his head and changing the subject in a kind-of obvious attempt to save his pride. Adam couldn’t help wondering who had called the Colonel one of those names…and what would happen to them once Sheppard caught up with them. “Well I don’t know about the rest of you but I for one am ready to head back to Atlantis…so shall we?”
“The gate doesn’t work Major.” Jamie spoke up “I’ve tried.”
“Zelenka fixed it.” Replied Sheppard. “And its Colonel now; got myself a promotion.”
Jamie shot a slightly bewildered look at Adam who silently shook his head and moved in to help support him, as they made their way back to the gate following the others.
For most of the journey Jamie was silent, which was strange but Adam wasn’t exactly being a great conversationalist either; he just didn’t know what to say to him.
This was all so weird and far, far too much to take in but there they were. Jamie was alive and relatively alright and Adam just couldn’t quite believe that after two years of believing him to be gone forever there he was…it was a miracle.
Maybe everything could turn out well after all…
“Adam?”
“Yeah?” he asked giving a sidelong glance to the man beside him.
“How…How long have I been missing?”
…And abruptly that happy ending withered away again.
He thanked his lucky stars as just up ahead of them Doctor Zelenka dialled the gate that would take them back to Atlantis, receiving confirmation from Chuck that the shield would be down so that they could safely return, effectively saving him from the awkward situation he’d found himself in.
Sidestepping the question he turned to Jamie with a slightly forced smile. “Ready to return home?”
Jamie nodded mutely as they resumed their course to join the other four members of the group ready to take the return trip through the Stargate.
The question would have to be answered eventually; Adam just didn’t know how Jamie would react when it was.
Somehow he knew though that things were going to get a whole lot more complicated before they could even contemplate normalcy again…