Fic: Protect and Survive I: Might Just Save Your Life (3/8)
Title: Protect and Survive I: Might Just Save Your Life (3/8)
Fandom: Stargate
Rating: K+
Genres: action/adventure, drama
Summary: Laura Cadman thought she came back to Atlantis for Carson Beckett... but things aren't really happening as planned, thanks to our favorite Major, Evan Lorne.
A/N: So, after an incredible amount of nagging some gentle convincing by mackenziesmomma I give you now... Chapter Three. Everyone be thankful to her because without that nagging convincing it probably would have taken me another small eternity to post this. Rejoice, rejoice ;)
( Might Just Save Your Life Prologue )
( Might Just Save Your Life 1/8 )
( Might Just Save Your Life 2/8 )
Three
It’s not the first time she ever ran for her life but it’s the first time she’s mortally afraid while doing it. Really, she’s had darts chasing her, Jaffa, Unas, rabid mobs… but never a mass of very silent beings whose eyes and teeth glitter in the moonlight and make them look like a mixture between a human and some deadly predator that usually can only be found in the deepest, darkest nooks and crannies of a science-fiction writer’s mind.
She can see them, shadows behind her team members, now and then popping up between trees. At the moment they’re still too far away to mean any harm to her team, but they’re approaching fast. They’d just needed five minutes or something for their briefing or whatever they were doing there on the market square and then suddenly they’d started off into the woods… right into their direction. God, she still hopes they acted on a lucky guess and without a lifesigns detector.
Running… she needs to keep on running, needs to keep up with Evan and the boys… she’s fit, yes, but the additional fear makes her feel like she’s going to faint any minute. Her lungs have never felt so much like bursting before, her legs have never felt this week before… “Argh.” At first she doesn’t notice it but then it clicks and she realizes that Jones has just grunted very faintly. She stops and looks back. Crap. They have a man down.
She returns to where Evan and Meyers are crouching. Jones obviously tripped over something on the ground and fell down. A little further away she can hear the soft rustling of leaves, just barely audible. She wants to believe that it’s really just the wind, but something inside her tells her that this is one of these days… one of these days where the rustling is caused by bloodthirsty insane villagers or wherever these beings come from rather than the wind.
Meyers, their combat medic, has just given Jones’ ankles a quick once-over and shakes his head with a worried glance, pointing to the right ankle. Aw, crap. Is there nothing going right today? In frustration, she looks down… and stops. This isn’t something you usually see on a forest floor… it’s flat and rusty… and looking very artificial. Her gaze travels a little further and finds the source of Jones’ fall: a door handle. He tripped over a trap door.
A quick glance at the forest tells her that the beings are coming nearer and that they need to do something, and do it fast. Losing no time, she gets Evan’s attention and signals him that they have to move Jones away and fucking open this trap door. Thankfully, he understands her without any further delay.
When they’ve finally managed to open the damn rusty thing, the beings are only about 30 feet away. As fast as possible, they hurry down the ladder they discovered beneath the door. When the guys are through, she gets in as well and as soon as she’s shut the door, she puts her knife through the handles to function as an improvisational anchor. Then, as an afterthought, she adds half a packet C4 and a remote detonator to the wall just under the door, hoping the room beneath the ladder is in fact a tunnel. Otherwise, an explosion at the trap door would probably grill everyone down there as well.
“Dammit, Lieutenant, what are you doing still up there?” suddenly Evan’s slightly annoyed voice drifts upward to her. She rolls her eyes.
“Covering our damn asses. Sir.” she shouts down to him while she climbs through the shaft. He’s got his arms crossed, resting on his P90, when she arrives the end of the ladder.
“Covering our damn asses?” He raises an eyebrow. What, did he think she was just dillydallying a little around and enjoying the scenery?
“Uh, yeah. Stuck the knife in as an anchor and put some C4 and a remote detonator on the door, in case they realize we’re down here. The blast should take at least five or six of them out, depending on how many are in close proximity to it. When they’re in the shaft, of course.” His face changes from annoyed to appreciative and he nods.
“Good thinking. Come on, I want to show you something.” With that he leads her a few feet down the tunnel - she can’t describe how relieved she is that this is a tunnel - to where Jones and Meyers are standing. “Meyers found this and I want you to have a look at it.” He gestures to the wall. She knits her brows together. In the sparse light from the P90s’ flash lights, she can see a few lines on the wall… and letters. In… something resembling Ancient. Huh.
Who would’ve thought he’d make a mental note of her mentioning in passing that some of Rodney’s knowledge of Ancient stuck with her after her time in his head? That had been one of the very rare occasion that they’d spoken about this particular event in her life and it hadn’t even been the major topic of their conversation back then.
“Well?” She looks at him. Another expectant look. Oh God, he doesn’t count on miracles from her, right? Because, really, it could be some form of Ancient, but she’s not even sure… ah hell. They need to use every possible chance to get away and here might be one. Squinting a little, she takes a moment to try and decipher the gibberish on the wall. Then… she has some kind of epiphany. Of course.
“It’s a map, sir.” She’s not sure, but didn’t she just hear Jones mutter ‘No, really?’? But she chooses to ignore it. They’re all on the edge so something likes that was bound to come up sooner or later. “And… as far as I see it… this was some kind of retreat, whenever there was a culling happening. Judging by this text,” she gestures to the upper right of the map, “and this sign… this is a tunnel system leading to a similar trap door near the ‘Gate. Voila, our way off this planet.”
She even allows herself a smug grin. Finally, having had to spend time in Rodney McKay’s head pays off. In a flash of gratefulness she promises herself she’ll be a little nicer to McKay… at least for the next three or four weeks. The fact that Carson would appreciate this as well hasn’t had any influence on this decision. Nope.
“You sure?” She can barely keep from rolling her eyes. Why couldn’t Evan do her the favor and trust her judgment? It’s not like she ever gave him reason not to. Besides, it was his idea in the first place.
“Yes, sir. I suggest we take a picture of this one, just in case there won’t be any more maps.”
“Right. Jones, take out the camera.” In that moment, they can hear a very loud bang. Their pursuers have finally found the trap door. “Hurry.” As fast as he can, Jones takes the picture and without further ado, they start running down the corridor.
After they’ve rounded the first corner, she bellows a loud “Fire in the hole!” and presses the remote’s button. The sound of an explosion rings through the tunnel and renders them nearly deaf for a few moments. All of them shake their heads to get rid of the ringing sound in their ears. Not waiting for it to happen, Evan signals them all to continue running.
She wishes, though, Jones would have found the trap door without hurting himself in the process because he’s seriously slowing them down. She can see it in his eyes, even in the sparse light of their flash lights, that he knows he’s become a liability. She hasn’t spent much time with the Sergeants of her Marine detachment but she knows that all of them are very dedicated and the best the Corps has to offer, so she understands that the pain in Jones’ eyes isn’t just caused by the sprained ankle.
But as it is now, they can’t do anything against the ankle and have to keep running as fast as they can. As they round corner after corner, her ears are finally starting to clear and now she can hear footsteps pursuing them. They’re coming closer and she keeps throwing looks over her shoulder. Suddenly, Jones stops, making Meyers swear at him and drag him forward, but Jones just shakes his head. “Sergeant, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Evan hisses.
“Saving my team, sir,” Jones grounds out and starts limping towards the advancing footsteps. Before anyone else can react, she’s already grabbed him by his shoulder. No way he’s gonna do this. No one will sacrifice himself for her or anyone else.
“Denied. Come on, Sergeant, it’s just a few more corners…” The steps are still coming nearer. Just one or two more corners and the team will be theirs for the taking. They don’t have time to play sitting ducks. But Jones obviously made up his mind, because he doesn’t listen to her. Instead, he pries her fingers lose and tugs at something around his neck. She shakes her head, disbelieving. He’s not preparing to give her his dog tags, right?
“Sergeant, the Lieutenant told you to…” But Evan could have spoken to a wall for all she knew because yes, there are Jones dog tags in her hand. And their pursuers around the corner. With a mental strength she didn’t know anyone could ever posses Jones pulls two grenades out of his vest and pulls the splints out while running and limping towards the snarling and hissing… beings.
She knows she should be running, shooting, doing something, but the sheer bloodlust in the beings’ eyes and the inability to accept Jones’ sacrifice have her rooted to the spot. And then Jones arrives at the mob and… immediately they start hacking at him with knifes, axes… everything a human can hack another one to pieces with.
Some of them even attack him with their bare teeth and claws. She wants to run, to hide, but doesn’t find the strength to look away… until Evan finally grabs her arm and pulls her away very forcefully, shouting “Lieutenant, we need some cover,” and firing a few salvos into the raging mob. Only then she realizes that Jones pulled the grenades’ splints and that they will detonate any moment now.
But she’s finally recovered her wits and when she sees a door after a few more steps, she doesn’t hesitate to open it and dive in, closely followed by the guys. She can shut the door just in the same moment Jones finally lets go of the grenades
~*~
TBC in Might Just Save Your Life 4/8.
Fandom: Stargate
Rating: K+
Genres: action/adventure, drama
Summary: Laura Cadman thought she came back to Atlantis for Carson Beckett... but things aren't really happening as planned, thanks to our favorite Major, Evan Lorne.
A/N: So, after an incredible amount of nagging some gentle convincing by mackenziesmomma I give you now... Chapter Three. Everyone be thankful to her because without that nagging convincing it probably would have taken me another small eternity to post this. Rejoice, rejoice ;)
( Might Just Save Your Life Prologue )
( Might Just Save Your Life 1/8 )
( Might Just Save Your Life 2/8 )
Three
It’s not the first time she ever ran for her life but it’s the first time she’s mortally afraid while doing it. Really, she’s had darts chasing her, Jaffa, Unas, rabid mobs… but never a mass of very silent beings whose eyes and teeth glitter in the moonlight and make them look like a mixture between a human and some deadly predator that usually can only be found in the deepest, darkest nooks and crannies of a science-fiction writer’s mind.
She can see them, shadows behind her team members, now and then popping up between trees. At the moment they’re still too far away to mean any harm to her team, but they’re approaching fast. They’d just needed five minutes or something for their briefing or whatever they were doing there on the market square and then suddenly they’d started off into the woods… right into their direction. God, she still hopes they acted on a lucky guess and without a lifesigns detector.
Running… she needs to keep on running, needs to keep up with Evan and the boys… she’s fit, yes, but the additional fear makes her feel like she’s going to faint any minute. Her lungs have never felt so much like bursting before, her legs have never felt this week before… “Argh.” At first she doesn’t notice it but then it clicks and she realizes that Jones has just grunted very faintly. She stops and looks back. Crap. They have a man down.
She returns to where Evan and Meyers are crouching. Jones obviously tripped over something on the ground and fell down. A little further away she can hear the soft rustling of leaves, just barely audible. She wants to believe that it’s really just the wind, but something inside her tells her that this is one of these days… one of these days where the rustling is caused by bloodthirsty insane villagers or wherever these beings come from rather than the wind.
Meyers, their combat medic, has just given Jones’ ankles a quick once-over and shakes his head with a worried glance, pointing to the right ankle. Aw, crap. Is there nothing going right today? In frustration, she looks down… and stops. This isn’t something you usually see on a forest floor… it’s flat and rusty… and looking very artificial. Her gaze travels a little further and finds the source of Jones’ fall: a door handle. He tripped over a trap door.
A quick glance at the forest tells her that the beings are coming nearer and that they need to do something, and do it fast. Losing no time, she gets Evan’s attention and signals him that they have to move Jones away and fucking open this trap door. Thankfully, he understands her without any further delay.
When they’ve finally managed to open the damn rusty thing, the beings are only about 30 feet away. As fast as possible, they hurry down the ladder they discovered beneath the door. When the guys are through, she gets in as well and as soon as she’s shut the door, she puts her knife through the handles to function as an improvisational anchor. Then, as an afterthought, she adds half a packet C4 and a remote detonator to the wall just under the door, hoping the room beneath the ladder is in fact a tunnel. Otherwise, an explosion at the trap door would probably grill everyone down there as well.
“Dammit, Lieutenant, what are you doing still up there?” suddenly Evan’s slightly annoyed voice drifts upward to her. She rolls her eyes.
“Covering our damn asses. Sir.” she shouts down to him while she climbs through the shaft. He’s got his arms crossed, resting on his P90, when she arrives the end of the ladder.
“Covering our damn asses?” He raises an eyebrow. What, did he think she was just dillydallying a little around and enjoying the scenery?
“Uh, yeah. Stuck the knife in as an anchor and put some C4 and a remote detonator on the door, in case they realize we’re down here. The blast should take at least five or six of them out, depending on how many are in close proximity to it. When they’re in the shaft, of course.” His face changes from annoyed to appreciative and he nods.
“Good thinking. Come on, I want to show you something.” With that he leads her a few feet down the tunnel - she can’t describe how relieved she is that this is a tunnel - to where Jones and Meyers are standing. “Meyers found this and I want you to have a look at it.” He gestures to the wall. She knits her brows together. In the sparse light from the P90s’ flash lights, she can see a few lines on the wall… and letters. In… something resembling Ancient. Huh.
Who would’ve thought he’d make a mental note of her mentioning in passing that some of Rodney’s knowledge of Ancient stuck with her after her time in his head? That had been one of the very rare occasion that they’d spoken about this particular event in her life and it hadn’t even been the major topic of their conversation back then.
“Well?” She looks at him. Another expectant look. Oh God, he doesn’t count on miracles from her, right? Because, really, it could be some form of Ancient, but she’s not even sure… ah hell. They need to use every possible chance to get away and here might be one. Squinting a little, she takes a moment to try and decipher the gibberish on the wall. Then… she has some kind of epiphany. Of course.
“It’s a map, sir.” She’s not sure, but didn’t she just hear Jones mutter ‘No, really?’? But she chooses to ignore it. They’re all on the edge so something likes that was bound to come up sooner or later. “And… as far as I see it… this was some kind of retreat, whenever there was a culling happening. Judging by this text,” she gestures to the upper right of the map, “and this sign… this is a tunnel system leading to a similar trap door near the ‘Gate. Voila, our way off this planet.”
She even allows herself a smug grin. Finally, having had to spend time in Rodney McKay’s head pays off. In a flash of gratefulness she promises herself she’ll be a little nicer to McKay… at least for the next three or four weeks. The fact that Carson would appreciate this as well hasn’t had any influence on this decision. Nope.
“You sure?” She can barely keep from rolling her eyes. Why couldn’t Evan do her the favor and trust her judgment? It’s not like she ever gave him reason not to. Besides, it was his idea in the first place.
“Yes, sir. I suggest we take a picture of this one, just in case there won’t be any more maps.”
“Right. Jones, take out the camera.” In that moment, they can hear a very loud bang. Their pursuers have finally found the trap door. “Hurry.” As fast as he can, Jones takes the picture and without further ado, they start running down the corridor.
After they’ve rounded the first corner, she bellows a loud “Fire in the hole!” and presses the remote’s button. The sound of an explosion rings through the tunnel and renders them nearly deaf for a few moments. All of them shake their heads to get rid of the ringing sound in their ears. Not waiting for it to happen, Evan signals them all to continue running.
She wishes, though, Jones would have found the trap door without hurting himself in the process because he’s seriously slowing them down. She can see it in his eyes, even in the sparse light of their flash lights, that he knows he’s become a liability. She hasn’t spent much time with the Sergeants of her Marine detachment but she knows that all of them are very dedicated and the best the Corps has to offer, so she understands that the pain in Jones’ eyes isn’t just caused by the sprained ankle.
But as it is now, they can’t do anything against the ankle and have to keep running as fast as they can. As they round corner after corner, her ears are finally starting to clear and now she can hear footsteps pursuing them. They’re coming closer and she keeps throwing looks over her shoulder. Suddenly, Jones stops, making Meyers swear at him and drag him forward, but Jones just shakes his head. “Sergeant, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Evan hisses.
“Saving my team, sir,” Jones grounds out and starts limping towards the advancing footsteps. Before anyone else can react, she’s already grabbed him by his shoulder. No way he’s gonna do this. No one will sacrifice himself for her or anyone else.
“Denied. Come on, Sergeant, it’s just a few more corners…” The steps are still coming nearer. Just one or two more corners and the team will be theirs for the taking. They don’t have time to play sitting ducks. But Jones obviously made up his mind, because he doesn’t listen to her. Instead, he pries her fingers lose and tugs at something around his neck. She shakes her head, disbelieving. He’s not preparing to give her his dog tags, right?
“Sergeant, the Lieutenant told you to…” But Evan could have spoken to a wall for all she knew because yes, there are Jones dog tags in her hand. And their pursuers around the corner. With a mental strength she didn’t know anyone could ever posses Jones pulls two grenades out of his vest and pulls the splints out while running and limping towards the snarling and hissing… beings.
She knows she should be running, shooting, doing something, but the sheer bloodlust in the beings’ eyes and the inability to accept Jones’ sacrifice have her rooted to the spot. And then Jones arrives at the mob and… immediately they start hacking at him with knifes, axes… everything a human can hack another one to pieces with.
Some of them even attack him with their bare teeth and claws. She wants to run, to hide, but doesn’t find the strength to look away… until Evan finally grabs her arm and pulls her away very forcefully, shouting “Lieutenant, we need some cover,” and firing a few salvos into the raging mob. Only then she realizes that Jones pulled the grenades’ splints and that they will detonate any moment now.
But she’s finally recovered her wits and when she sees a door after a few more steps, she doesn’t hesitate to open it and dive in, closely followed by the guys. She can shut the door just in the same moment Jones finally lets go of the grenades
~*~
TBC in Might Just Save Your Life 4/8.