Fic: Protect and Survive II: Raising the Stakes (2/11)
Title: Protect and Survive II: Raising the Stakes (2/11)
Fandom: Stargate
Rating: T
Genres: action/adventure, drama
Summary: Laura Cadman is caught between a rock and a hard place. Or maybe rather between her heart and her head? Anyway, it's never easy when a certain Doctor and Major are involved.
A/N: Okay, so... I think I'll maybe be alternating between posting Protect and Survive, Minor Characters and Jenna's War for a couple of weeks days because I realized I really do need to catch up with the all the stuff I have up on ff.net here on LJ. BTW, for those who know PAS from ff.net, I changed a time stamp in this chapter because a while ago, mackenziesmomma made me do a timeline of all my PAS and MC stuff (that is, also the unpublished stuff... yes, there's unpublished stuff, as well...) and I realized a couple of things couldn't be right when doing the timeline of DOOM. So yeah, changed time stamp. Ahem.
( Raising the Stakes: Prologue )
( Raising the Stakes 1/11 )
Two
And here they go again. Another planet, another extraterrestrial forest, another medieval society. Shaking off the post gating dizziness, she takes a look around. It’s a little cloudy and freezing cold, but overall a really nice winter day. The snow is lying thick on the trees around them, suddenly reminding her of the fact that back home spring is only a month or two away. For just a moment she feels a very strong bout of homesickness surge through her, but thankfully their welcoming party appears out of the woods and takes her mind off everything distracting.
Mostly, because it’s just one villager. She recalls reading mission reports about this planet, all stating that they were greeted by a group of at least five people, with some welcome gifts, nice warm words, the whole nine yards… and what do they get? A lone, haunted looking fellow who walks as though he was treating on very thin ice. The first thought surfacing in her mind actually is a very pronounced “Not again.”
She shoots Evan a short look, and this time he finally looks back. His expression isn’t easy to read - it seems as if he’s closed his face off nearly completely these days, even… especially to her - but she thinks she can detect the same sentiment she just had in him. She also registers the slight raising of the P90 and the tightening of his jaw. With Evan, she thinks, it’s always the small things that you should have an eye on. So she readies herself. Something is afoot here.
Finally, the villager has arrived at their position. He looks just like the mission reports have described the inhabitants of M8X-986. McKay would have said “Oh no, it’s one of these guys straight out of “Prince of Thieves” again.” But it’s not the clothes bothering her, it’s the strange haunted look in his eyes he tries to conceal so frantically.
“My name is Kilaren. I’m here to welcome you, travelers.” Well, alright, that sounds about normal, doesn’t it? Maybe she’s just imagining things, had a little too much of easy-mission-gone-wrong recently.
“Thank you, Kilaren. We are… most honored. I’m Major Lorne and these are Lieutenant Cadman and Sergeant Meyers. And of course Dr. Beckett, whom you already know.” Evan even sketches a little bow.
The next one to speak up is Carson. “Pleased to meet you again, Kilaren. Is something wrong that you are coming out here alone?” Kilaren, a sturdy man wrapped up in furs, looks like being about to blurt out something at Carson’s kind request, but obviously something is keeping him back the last moment.
So he just settles with a forced smile and a voice that, even though muffled, says pretty plainly that he’s lying through his teeth, “No, everything is alright. We are, in fact, all very healthy and busy. So busy that we… kindly ask you to come back another time, please.” Yep, something’s messed up here. Why the hell would he tell them now not to come to the caves, if he could have done this at least three days earlier? And, as she recalls it, societies like his use the winter to rest and take things a little lighter. Harvesting is their high season, not winter.
Obviously, Evan had the same thing on his mind. After sharing a look with Carson - both of them looking not convinced - he gives Kilaren an apologetic shrug and says, “We don’t want to disturb you, but… we have our orders. Dr. Beckett here really needs to do some check ups, doesn’t he?”
Carson thankfully gets his clue fast enough and eagerly nods. “Oh, aye. There have been bad things happening on other planets, and we need to make sure that it’s not happening here as well. We really won’t be bothering you long. It’s all for your own benefit, believe me.” Kilaren doesn’t look very convinced.
“We know, we know. We are very grateful for everything Atlantis does for us, but… we would really like you to come back in a few weeks.” He’s trying to tell them something… tell them to keep off this planet. And that means that whatever is happening here, it isn’t good. Which, in turn, means that they have every cause to stay.
She really wants to tell Evan to abort this mission and radio Atlantis for backup, but she also knows that it’s his call and that the worst thing she could do would be interfering with this now. So she takes a deep steadying breath and concentrates on their surroundings. The atmosphere seems strangely charged and Kilaren’s almost frantic pleads to leave the planet haven’t done anything to dispel the rising bad feeling in her guts.
Kilaren waits for their answer, and she waits as well. Her ears pricked for any unusual sounds, she still keeps her eyes on Evan, and for the first time he really looks at her. Not just a short glance, but a real look, as if he registered only now that she’s a part of this mission as well. He wants to look away again, but she manages to hold his gaze just for a moment longer. Yeah, that’s right, she thinks, I’m here, and I want you to know it.
When she finally allows him to break eye contact, he gives her a little nod, hopefully as a sign that he has finally agreed to stop ignoring her. He takes a deep breath, has obviously come to some conclusion. “Alright… tell you what: we’ll just dial up and I’ll ask Atlantis for further orders. Would that be okay?”
Yes, she wants to shout. Yes, yes, yes. She’s not a coward, but the memories of their pre-last mission together are still fresh in her mind - in fact, she’s woken up more than one night after a particularly nasty nightmare stemming from this mission. So, yes, just for once she wants to avoid walking into a trap.
Kilaren, though, shakes his head, now having shed all pretense about the population being “too busy and not needing any assistance”. “No I would advice you to go back immediately. You can send us your leaders’ answer from the other side of the Ring.” She can see that Evan gets a little impatient now. The long breath he takes is supposed to keep him calm.
Again, it’s the little things that make her aware of the fact that he’s probably felt the change of atmosphere - from awkward to charged up to latently threatening - as well. Like how he wouldn’t clip his P90 to his vest or how he keeps moving his eyes, trying to take in all his surroundings at once… and assuring himself that there is, at all times, one of them near enough Carson to keep him out of the line of fire, should something happen.
“Meyers, dial up the Atlantis.” Meyers, who’s closest to the ‘Gate of them walks over to the DHD, but before he reaches it, the underlying thread that has been in the air for the past few moments suddenly erupts into full blown danger as Wraith stunner shots are starting to ring through the air. Immediately, she moves to push Carson down and cover him, while Evan and Meyers fire into the woods from where the shots are coming.
Evan shouts at Meyers to get the DHD up and working, but Meyers is the first going down after being hit in the back by a stun bolt. In a corner of her mind that’s not occupied with moving Carson to safety behind the DHD while trying to avoid getting hit by the stun bolts, she curses unabashedly. While she’d been thinking they were doing something to keep away from walking into a trap again, they’d already had their feet deep in it. Well, would have been asked too much for this going smoothly, anyway.
She’s almost there now… almost at the DHD. After a shocked second Carson realized what he was supposed to do, and he’d worked with her to get to the DHD. Almost there… “Laura!” Ah, she thinks a little sourly, only took Evan being hammered by stun bolts to switch from “Lieutenant Cadman.” to “Laura” again. “Dial Atlantis. Don’t look back, just…” And with that, Evan is down as well. Now it’s just her and Carson, and she knows she should be dialing and dragging both of them back to Atlantis, but she’s been too long in Atlantis. Sheppard’s absolute “Leave no man behind.” attitude is already too ingrained into her as well.
“Laura! You heard the Major!” Carson’s shouting shakes her from furiously working up a plan to avoid leaving Evan and Meyers behind. She knows she needs to… and there’s Carson down. No way she’s going… She never gets to finish that thought because in the end, the stun bolts strike her as well, leaving her to a terrifying moment of helplessness and one last explicit thought of “Crap.”
~*~
TBC in Chapter Three.
Fandom: Stargate
Rating: T
Genres: action/adventure, drama
Summary: Laura Cadman is caught between a rock and a hard place. Or maybe rather between her heart and her head? Anyway, it's never easy when a certain Doctor and Major are involved.
A/N: Okay, so... I think I'll maybe be alternating between posting Protect and Survive, Minor Characters and Jenna's War for a couple of weeks days because I realized I really do need to catch up with the all the stuff I have up on ff.net here on LJ. BTW, for those who know PAS from ff.net, I changed a time stamp in this chapter because a while ago, mackenziesmomma made me do a timeline of all my PAS and MC stuff (that is, also the unpublished stuff... yes, there's unpublished stuff, as well...) and I realized a couple of things couldn't be right when doing the timeline of DOOM. So yeah, changed time stamp. Ahem.
( Raising the Stakes: Prologue )
( Raising the Stakes 1/11 )
Two
And here they go again. Another planet, another extraterrestrial forest, another medieval society. Shaking off the post gating dizziness, she takes a look around. It’s a little cloudy and freezing cold, but overall a really nice winter day. The snow is lying thick on the trees around them, suddenly reminding her of the fact that back home spring is only a month or two away. For just a moment she feels a very strong bout of homesickness surge through her, but thankfully their welcoming party appears out of the woods and takes her mind off everything distracting.
Mostly, because it’s just one villager. She recalls reading mission reports about this planet, all stating that they were greeted by a group of at least five people, with some welcome gifts, nice warm words, the whole nine yards… and what do they get? A lone, haunted looking fellow who walks as though he was treating on very thin ice. The first thought surfacing in her mind actually is a very pronounced “Not again.”
She shoots Evan a short look, and this time he finally looks back. His expression isn’t easy to read - it seems as if he’s closed his face off nearly completely these days, even… especially to her - but she thinks she can detect the same sentiment she just had in him. She also registers the slight raising of the P90 and the tightening of his jaw. With Evan, she thinks, it’s always the small things that you should have an eye on. So she readies herself. Something is afoot here.
Finally, the villager has arrived at their position. He looks just like the mission reports have described the inhabitants of M8X-986. McKay would have said “Oh no, it’s one of these guys straight out of “Prince of Thieves” again.” But it’s not the clothes bothering her, it’s the strange haunted look in his eyes he tries to conceal so frantically.
“My name is Kilaren. I’m here to welcome you, travelers.” Well, alright, that sounds about normal, doesn’t it? Maybe she’s just imagining things, had a little too much of easy-mission-gone-wrong recently.
“Thank you, Kilaren. We are… most honored. I’m Major Lorne and these are Lieutenant Cadman and Sergeant Meyers. And of course Dr. Beckett, whom you already know.” Evan even sketches a little bow.
The next one to speak up is Carson. “Pleased to meet you again, Kilaren. Is something wrong that you are coming out here alone?” Kilaren, a sturdy man wrapped up in furs, looks like being about to blurt out something at Carson’s kind request, but obviously something is keeping him back the last moment.
So he just settles with a forced smile and a voice that, even though muffled, says pretty plainly that he’s lying through his teeth, “No, everything is alright. We are, in fact, all very healthy and busy. So busy that we… kindly ask you to come back another time, please.” Yep, something’s messed up here. Why the hell would he tell them now not to come to the caves, if he could have done this at least three days earlier? And, as she recalls it, societies like his use the winter to rest and take things a little lighter. Harvesting is their high season, not winter.
Obviously, Evan had the same thing on his mind. After sharing a look with Carson - both of them looking not convinced - he gives Kilaren an apologetic shrug and says, “We don’t want to disturb you, but… we have our orders. Dr. Beckett here really needs to do some check ups, doesn’t he?”
Carson thankfully gets his clue fast enough and eagerly nods. “Oh, aye. There have been bad things happening on other planets, and we need to make sure that it’s not happening here as well. We really won’t be bothering you long. It’s all for your own benefit, believe me.” Kilaren doesn’t look very convinced.
“We know, we know. We are very grateful for everything Atlantis does for us, but… we would really like you to come back in a few weeks.” He’s trying to tell them something… tell them to keep off this planet. And that means that whatever is happening here, it isn’t good. Which, in turn, means that they have every cause to stay.
She really wants to tell Evan to abort this mission and radio Atlantis for backup, but she also knows that it’s his call and that the worst thing she could do would be interfering with this now. So she takes a deep steadying breath and concentrates on their surroundings. The atmosphere seems strangely charged and Kilaren’s almost frantic pleads to leave the planet haven’t done anything to dispel the rising bad feeling in her guts.
Kilaren waits for their answer, and she waits as well. Her ears pricked for any unusual sounds, she still keeps her eyes on Evan, and for the first time he really looks at her. Not just a short glance, but a real look, as if he registered only now that she’s a part of this mission as well. He wants to look away again, but she manages to hold his gaze just for a moment longer. Yeah, that’s right, she thinks, I’m here, and I want you to know it.
When she finally allows him to break eye contact, he gives her a little nod, hopefully as a sign that he has finally agreed to stop ignoring her. He takes a deep breath, has obviously come to some conclusion. “Alright… tell you what: we’ll just dial up and I’ll ask Atlantis for further orders. Would that be okay?”
Yes, she wants to shout. Yes, yes, yes. She’s not a coward, but the memories of their pre-last mission together are still fresh in her mind - in fact, she’s woken up more than one night after a particularly nasty nightmare stemming from this mission. So, yes, just for once she wants to avoid walking into a trap.
Kilaren, though, shakes his head, now having shed all pretense about the population being “too busy and not needing any assistance”. “No I would advice you to go back immediately. You can send us your leaders’ answer from the other side of the Ring.” She can see that Evan gets a little impatient now. The long breath he takes is supposed to keep him calm.
Again, it’s the little things that make her aware of the fact that he’s probably felt the change of atmosphere - from awkward to charged up to latently threatening - as well. Like how he wouldn’t clip his P90 to his vest or how he keeps moving his eyes, trying to take in all his surroundings at once… and assuring himself that there is, at all times, one of them near enough Carson to keep him out of the line of fire, should something happen.
“Meyers, dial up the Atlantis.” Meyers, who’s closest to the ‘Gate of them walks over to the DHD, but before he reaches it, the underlying thread that has been in the air for the past few moments suddenly erupts into full blown danger as Wraith stunner shots are starting to ring through the air. Immediately, she moves to push Carson down and cover him, while Evan and Meyers fire into the woods from where the shots are coming.
Evan shouts at Meyers to get the DHD up and working, but Meyers is the first going down after being hit in the back by a stun bolt. In a corner of her mind that’s not occupied with moving Carson to safety behind the DHD while trying to avoid getting hit by the stun bolts, she curses unabashedly. While she’d been thinking they were doing something to keep away from walking into a trap again, they’d already had their feet deep in it. Well, would have been asked too much for this going smoothly, anyway.
She’s almost there now… almost at the DHD. After a shocked second Carson realized what he was supposed to do, and he’d worked with her to get to the DHD. Almost there… “Laura!” Ah, she thinks a little sourly, only took Evan being hammered by stun bolts to switch from “Lieutenant Cadman.” to “Laura” again. “Dial Atlantis. Don’t look back, just…” And with that, Evan is down as well. Now it’s just her and Carson, and she knows she should be dialing and dragging both of them back to Atlantis, but she’s been too long in Atlantis. Sheppard’s absolute “Leave no man behind.” attitude is already too ingrained into her as well.
“Laura! You heard the Major!” Carson’s shouting shakes her from furiously working up a plan to avoid leaving Evan and Meyers behind. She knows she needs to… and there’s Carson down. No way she’s going… She never gets to finish that thought because in the end, the stun bolts strike her as well, leaving her to a terrifying moment of helplessness and one last explicit thought of “Crap.”
~*~
TBC in Chapter Three.