Fic: Protect and Survive I: Might Just Save Your Life (4/8)
Title: Protect and Survive I: 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: Eh... it's been ages since I posted a chapter for MJSYL but I didn't forget this story, honestly, I swear. I hope you haven't, either so... let me know who of you is still following the story? I'm an idiot. I actually missed posting a chapter... so I edited it at this time it's the right chapter. I guess that will make for an interesting A/N for the next chapter...
( Might Just Save Your Life Prologue )
( Might Just Save Your Life 1/8 )
( Might Just Save Your Life 2/8 )
( Might Just Save Your Life 3/8 )
Four
It’s been about 20 minutes since the explosion and still nobody has said a word. As soon as it was over, they’d started to explore the room in silence, finding a rather big room, filled with old metal chairs, tables and two metal cots. They’d used all of them to bar the door, not trusting the deathly calm after the explosion. After the first feverish activity, the impact of what had just happened had made its way into their minds and by then an overwhelming exhaustion had set in. Meyers had been able to check them all for injuries but that had been it.
Ever since then they’ve been sitting on the far end of the room, the door in their view. So far no one has come by and tried to break in but none of them trusts the calm. All the time she’s had her hand tightly closed around Jones’ dog tags. Only now she can finally convince herself to open it. Still a little disbelieving, she stares at the dog tags, maybe for a full minute. She just realized that they are most probably the only things left of First Sergeant Matthew Jones, USMC.
And she would have stared at the dog tags for an infinite amount of time if it hadn’t been for the hand that gently takes the dog tags away in that moment. Still a little dazed, she looks up to see Evan carefully putting away the dog tags inside his jacket. He doesn’t say anything but somehow she knows he did that as much for her sake as for Jones’ sake. After that it’s silence again.
But a few minutes later, she’s finally woken up from her half-daze and something comes to her mind. “Evan?” She knows she shouldn’t be using his first name but she’s really way past caring about whether Meyers will hear it or not.
“Yeah?” He sounds tired, weary… every death under his command ways him down a little more, she realizes. She’s almost sorry for what she’s going to ask now but she just has to, anyway.
“We’ll be sending back another empty casket, won’t we?” He says nothing, just folds his hands in his neck and leans his head forward. For a moment it looks like he’s going to break, but then he leans his head back again, has obviously managed to pull himself together. She admires him for this incredible strength.
“Yes, we will. Laura?” So he has also given up on the ‘Major on duty, Evan off-duty’-routine.
“Yeah?” She hopes she sounds more awake and alert than she actually is. If he can hold it together just for a little while longer, then she can do it as well. She wouldn’t let herself be bested by a Zoomie, would she?
“I… promise there won’t be any more caskets on this mission. I’ll make sure of that.” She wonders if she’s ever told him that one of her biggest fears is that the only things that are left of her to be shipped back to her family on Earth are her dog tags, but then she remembers she never tells anyone what she’s afraid of. Rodney McKay is the only one who knows a bit about that, and she’s made absolutely sure he will never blab about any of it. So she doesn’t say anything, just leans back her head and closes her eyes. No more caskets. Yes, that would be a major improvement.
And then he surprises her by taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Instead of taking it away like she should have, though, she only moves her hand to squeeze back. It’s just a small gesture, but as she already knows, he’s not wholly insensitive. He’s obviously perfectly aware that this is maybe the closest he will ever come to see her admitting that she’s scared out of her wits of something.
She keeps her eyes closed, just for a few more moments, to revel in the feeling of someone’s… Evan’s hand in hers. It tells her that no matter what happens on this planet, he will take care of her, and it reminds her of the way Carson used to comfort her. Carson… it’s the first moment she has the leisure to think about him. Usually, she pushes all these thoughts away from her on missions, but usually, she doesn’t have moments like these, with such a treacherous calm. The impending doom not to forget but she won’t think of that, at least for a few minutes more.
She still wishes she could have gone with Carson on this fishing trip… and not mainly because then she wouldn’t be sitting in some dungeon waiting to be slaughtered by crazed villagers, but because she’d finally worked up the courage to do something about the whole situation between Carson and her after she’d said her good night to Evan.
God, it seems like a thousand years have gone by since then. As her mind wanders to the land of ‘Might have been’ it occurs to her that there is a very palpable chance she might never know if there could have been something new between Carson and her. In fact… there is a very good chance she might not know about a lot of things, if this mission goes any farther down the drain. It hits her unexpectedly and so hard that she can’t help squeezing Evan’s hand again, just to release the strain. He doesn’t say anything, only squeezes back, and for that she’s grateful.
But she lets go only a few seconds after that because there’s only so much sentimentalism a Marine - and most probably an Air Force officer as well - on a mission can stomach. Besides, they still need to get out of this hellhole. He seems to have had the same thoughts, because he finally says, Alright. I don’t think we should put off leaving any longer. Quite frankly, I don’t want to wait for any reinforcements from Atlantis, and I don’t think it’ll make any difference if we wait another hour or not. So… suggestions?”
She opens her eyes again and forces herself to come back to the present. Task at hand, Cadman, task at hand. Meyers is the first to speak up, though, “No way these loonies are gone. I say we just shoot our way out of here.” Evan merely raises and eyebrow and looks at her.
“Laura?” She takes a minute to check the ammunition left in her Beretta and in her P90, then answers.
“Affirmative on the first. But we won’t hold long against them. I’m positive there’s more than one group, and we still have the group at the ‘Gate waiting to worry about. We’ll need all our ammo for them. How much C4 do you have left?” Both of the guys check their vests. Eight packets for all of them, plus her seven and a half packets… She does a quick calculation, then nods. “Good. First thing: One grenade behind us, one man to secure the corridor forward. When everything’s clear, we exit the room. I’ll need you to cover my six while I mine the corridor. Every time it looks like they are behind us, I’ll detonate a charge. Everything that’s in front of us is in your responsibility. You okay with that?”
“Affirmative. Alright… everyone get up. Let’s get this stuff removed from the door.” So they finally get up again and quickly put away everything they’ve put in front of the door. Shortly, before they’re done and are about to open the and hurl the grenade outside, she feels like she just has to tell him that she’s sorry for what happened back on Atlantis now. In a bout of courage, she grabs his arm and says, “Evan…”
But he cuts her short, locking his eyes with her and saying very, very seriously, “No, save it for later. Whatever you want to say now, tell me when we’re back on Atlantis. It’ll feel like some ‘Just want to get this off my chest, because I might die.’-speech, and I don’t want to hear any of this now. Understood?”
It’s important to him, she can see that. The intensity of feelings in his eyes even scares her a bit, because she can’t remember ever having seen something like this before. There’s only one thing she can say now, “Yes, sir.”
He nods. “Good. Now let’s get this over with.” She’s surprised to see a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, and she realizes that he just used the phrase she’d said to him shortly before stepping through the ‘Gate. Something inside her tells her that he wants to let her know he’s already accepted any apology she’ll serve to him, no matter what, and for some reason that leads to a rather warm and fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Right.” She clears her throat. Focus, she tells herself, focus. “Meyers… get the P90 ready. We’ll do this on my mark and then immediately shut the door again.” The Sergeant just gives her quick salute and they set off for work.
~*~
TBC in Chapter Five.
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: Eh... it's been ages since I posted a chapter for MJSYL but I didn't forget this story, honestly, I swear. I hope you haven't, either so... let me know who of you is still following the story? I'm an idiot. I actually missed posting a chapter... so I edited it at this time it's the right chapter. I guess that will make for an interesting A/N for the next chapter...
( Might Just Save Your Life Prologue )
( Might Just Save Your Life 1/8 )
( Might Just Save Your Life 2/8 )
( Might Just Save Your Life 3/8 )
Four
It’s been about 20 minutes since the explosion and still nobody has said a word. As soon as it was over, they’d started to explore the room in silence, finding a rather big room, filled with old metal chairs, tables and two metal cots. They’d used all of them to bar the door, not trusting the deathly calm after the explosion. After the first feverish activity, the impact of what had just happened had made its way into their minds and by then an overwhelming exhaustion had set in. Meyers had been able to check them all for injuries but that had been it.
Ever since then they’ve been sitting on the far end of the room, the door in their view. So far no one has come by and tried to break in but none of them trusts the calm. All the time she’s had her hand tightly closed around Jones’ dog tags. Only now she can finally convince herself to open it. Still a little disbelieving, she stares at the dog tags, maybe for a full minute. She just realized that they are most probably the only things left of First Sergeant Matthew Jones, USMC.
And she would have stared at the dog tags for an infinite amount of time if it hadn’t been for the hand that gently takes the dog tags away in that moment. Still a little dazed, she looks up to see Evan carefully putting away the dog tags inside his jacket. He doesn’t say anything but somehow she knows he did that as much for her sake as for Jones’ sake. After that it’s silence again.
But a few minutes later, she’s finally woken up from her half-daze and something comes to her mind. “Evan?” She knows she shouldn’t be using his first name but she’s really way past caring about whether Meyers will hear it or not.
“Yeah?” He sounds tired, weary… every death under his command ways him down a little more, she realizes. She’s almost sorry for what she’s going to ask now but she just has to, anyway.
“We’ll be sending back another empty casket, won’t we?” He says nothing, just folds his hands in his neck and leans his head forward. For a moment it looks like he’s going to break, but then he leans his head back again, has obviously managed to pull himself together. She admires him for this incredible strength.
“Yes, we will. Laura?” So he has also given up on the ‘Major on duty, Evan off-duty’-routine.
“Yeah?” She hopes she sounds more awake and alert than she actually is. If he can hold it together just for a little while longer, then she can do it as well. She wouldn’t let herself be bested by a Zoomie, would she?
“I… promise there won’t be any more caskets on this mission. I’ll make sure of that.” She wonders if she’s ever told him that one of her biggest fears is that the only things that are left of her to be shipped back to her family on Earth are her dog tags, but then she remembers she never tells anyone what she’s afraid of. Rodney McKay is the only one who knows a bit about that, and she’s made absolutely sure he will never blab about any of it. So she doesn’t say anything, just leans back her head and closes her eyes. No more caskets. Yes, that would be a major improvement.
And then he surprises her by taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Instead of taking it away like she should have, though, she only moves her hand to squeeze back. It’s just a small gesture, but as she already knows, he’s not wholly insensitive. He’s obviously perfectly aware that this is maybe the closest he will ever come to see her admitting that she’s scared out of her wits of something.
She keeps her eyes closed, just for a few more moments, to revel in the feeling of someone’s… Evan’s hand in hers. It tells her that no matter what happens on this planet, he will take care of her, and it reminds her of the way Carson used to comfort her. Carson… it’s the first moment she has the leisure to think about him. Usually, she pushes all these thoughts away from her on missions, but usually, she doesn’t have moments like these, with such a treacherous calm. The impending doom not to forget but she won’t think of that, at least for a few minutes more.
She still wishes she could have gone with Carson on this fishing trip… and not mainly because then she wouldn’t be sitting in some dungeon waiting to be slaughtered by crazed villagers, but because she’d finally worked up the courage to do something about the whole situation between Carson and her after she’d said her good night to Evan.
God, it seems like a thousand years have gone by since then. As her mind wanders to the land of ‘Might have been’ it occurs to her that there is a very palpable chance she might never know if there could have been something new between Carson and her. In fact… there is a very good chance she might not know about a lot of things, if this mission goes any farther down the drain. It hits her unexpectedly and so hard that she can’t help squeezing Evan’s hand again, just to release the strain. He doesn’t say anything, only squeezes back, and for that she’s grateful.
But she lets go only a few seconds after that because there’s only so much sentimentalism a Marine - and most probably an Air Force officer as well - on a mission can stomach. Besides, they still need to get out of this hellhole. He seems to have had the same thoughts, because he finally says, Alright. I don’t think we should put off leaving any longer. Quite frankly, I don’t want to wait for any reinforcements from Atlantis, and I don’t think it’ll make any difference if we wait another hour or not. So… suggestions?”
She opens her eyes again and forces herself to come back to the present. Task at hand, Cadman, task at hand. Meyers is the first to speak up, though, “No way these loonies are gone. I say we just shoot our way out of here.” Evan merely raises and eyebrow and looks at her.
“Laura?” She takes a minute to check the ammunition left in her Beretta and in her P90, then answers.
“Affirmative on the first. But we won’t hold long against them. I’m positive there’s more than one group, and we still have the group at the ‘Gate waiting to worry about. We’ll need all our ammo for them. How much C4 do you have left?” Both of the guys check their vests. Eight packets for all of them, plus her seven and a half packets… She does a quick calculation, then nods. “Good. First thing: One grenade behind us, one man to secure the corridor forward. When everything’s clear, we exit the room. I’ll need you to cover my six while I mine the corridor. Every time it looks like they are behind us, I’ll detonate a charge. Everything that’s in front of us is in your responsibility. You okay with that?”
“Affirmative. Alright… everyone get up. Let’s get this stuff removed from the door.” So they finally get up again and quickly put away everything they’ve put in front of the door. Shortly, before they’re done and are about to open the and hurl the grenade outside, she feels like she just has to tell him that she’s sorry for what happened back on Atlantis now. In a bout of courage, she grabs his arm and says, “Evan…”
But he cuts her short, locking his eyes with her and saying very, very seriously, “No, save it for later. Whatever you want to say now, tell me when we’re back on Atlantis. It’ll feel like some ‘Just want to get this off my chest, because I might die.’-speech, and I don’t want to hear any of this now. Understood?”
It’s important to him, she can see that. The intensity of feelings in his eyes even scares her a bit, because she can’t remember ever having seen something like this before. There’s only one thing she can say now, “Yes, sir.”
He nods. “Good. Now let’s get this over with.” She’s surprised to see a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, and she realizes that he just used the phrase she’d said to him shortly before stepping through the ‘Gate. Something inside her tells her that he wants to let her know he’s already accepted any apology she’ll serve to him, no matter what, and for some reason that leads to a rather warm and fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Right.” She clears her throat. Focus, she tells herself, focus. “Meyers… get the P90 ready. We’ll do this on my mark and then immediately shut the door again.” The Sergeant just gives her quick salute and they set off for work.
~*~
TBC in Chapter Five.