And From Life's Dissonance 2/4 (SGA/Highlander) [NC-17]
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four
Disclaimers can be found in part one.
***
Sunday
"I'll take it." Kate holds out her hands for the box.
"You can't," says Carson. His voice is firm, but she hears a quaver of fear underneath it all.
"I was a dancer in college," says Kate. "Theater minor. I'm more graceful than you, so there's less chance of jostling the box." She reaches out and takes the box, ignoring Carson's protests. "Open the OR level. Tell Elizabeth and John what I'm doing."
"You're certain?" asks Carson.
Kate smiles. She nods and turns to leave. Burning to death isn't a good way to go, so she's worried. Sweat beads on her forehead and rolls down her face. Her eyes are burning as her mascara gets in them.
There's a Marine standing next to the case. Corporal Washington. He's one of the new transfers. They smile nervously at each other as Kate slips the case into the trolley.
She turns to go. Two steps out, and she remembers to radio John and Elizabeth. "I've handed it off," she says, and as she hears John's sigh of relief, the case explodes.
The last thing Kate feels before she dies is her skin blistering away.
***
"Holy shit." John meets Elizabeth's horrified eyes. "Kate."
Elizabeth closes her eyes and looks down. "John, I'm sorry," she says. "I know you and Kate were close."
"We're lovers," he says. She's going to heal up from this. Probably. Dread wells up in his gut. He can't let her wake up in the morgue.
"John--"
He's off and running for the operating room before he can hear the rest of Elizabeth's sentence.
***
Atlantis listens to John before she listens to anyone else. He's sitting in the operating room. The lockdown is back on. He's in there alone, staring at Kate's body. Her skin is blackened and seared. It's almost skeletal in some places.
"You have to let us in," says Elizabeth. Her voice crackles faintly on the radio. She's calm when she's at her most persuasive. "Kate's dead. I'm sorry for your loss, John, but we need to get in there. Carson needs to bring his patients back in for medical care."
"She's not dead." It's been ten hours. Maybe twelve. Rodney's still trying to hack through the lockout, but John's very persuasive with Atlantis.
"I am--" Teyla's voice breaks. "I am greatly saddened. You know I considered Kate to be a sister, and yet, she is gone. We cannot grieve properly without her body."
"Sheppard." He hears Ronon's gruff voice. "I'm sorry, man. Come on out."
"Lad, you know there's no coming back from the dead," says Carson.
John laughs hollowly. "You don't know Kate very well. None of you do." In the background, John can hear Rodney hollering about how they need another therapist, or maybe just to have Ronon knock John over the head until he comes to his senses. He touches his radio. "Tell McKay to shut up."
Everything is silent for a while, until Kate wakes up screaming. John can hear startled exclamations from the other side of the door.
"Kate!" John's at her side instantly. Elizabeth's on the radio, demanding to know what's going on.
"Oh, God. John." She's hunched forward, staring at her hands as she flexes her fingers. Kate looks over at him. Her eyes are wide and terrified. "Carson? Corporal Washington?"
"Carson's just fine." John shook his head. "Corporal Washington didn't make it. I'm just glad you're okay."
"I could use some clothes." Kate looks down at her outfit, which is in shreds. "I guess it's a good thing you've seen it all before."
"John? Am I hearing Kate's voice?" Elizabeth's puzzled voice is in his ear.
"Later, Elizabeth." John tears his radio out of his ear and goes to get Kate a set of scrubs. The problem is that he doesn't know where Carson keeps them.
"The corner cabinet," says Kate. She sits up, and John notices she can't stop shaking.
"Thought you were a big, tough girl," he says, keeping his voice even.
"Tell me that after you die in a bomb explosion," murmurs Kate. She gives him a grateful look as he pulls clothing out for her.
"Let's hope I don't go that way," says John. He helps her stand and pull off the flaking remnants of her clothing. "Ick." He thinks it's not just clothing flaking off her skin, but he's not too sure he wants to examine it too closely.
Kate glances at the mess left on the operating room bed. "It's disturbing, isn't it?" she says. John hands her the scrubs, and she tugs the pants on as the door opens.
"Oh, God," says Rodney, looking away and clapping his hand over his eyes.
"Will you shut up, McKay?" snaps John.
"Kate?" Teyla walks closer. She's amazed. "How is this possible?"
"Could you put your shirt on before you answer us?" asks Rodney.
Kate finishes tying the laces on the pants. She takes the shirt from John with a rueful smile. "It's a very long story," she says.
"I am simply relieved that you are alive." An instant after Kate slips her shirt on, Teyla envelops her in a warm embrace. "The past twelve hours have not been easy on any of us."
"I don't get it," says Rodney, pulling his hand off his eyes. "How are you--"
"I need to do a medical exam," announces Carson. "Kate, if you don't mind?" He gestures at an examining table.
"I'll just get rid of this," says Ronon, nodding at the bed Kate's body had been on. "McKay, help me out here."
"What, me? But--" Rodney backs up. "There could be all kinds of infectious material there."
"I think the explosion sanitized it," says Carson. He looks tired, and irritated, and a little impatient that Kate's not over on an examining table. Instead, she's standing next to John, with Teyla's arm around her. They're leaning against each other and talking softly.
John's just not going to think about how inappropriately hot that is.
"After your exam, Kate, I think we all need to have a talk," says Elizabeth. Kate glances over, her eyes still wide with fear, and nods. Elizabeth's face softens. "I'm glad you're all right."
"Thanks," says Kate, mustering a smile.
***
They're all gathered in the conference room. Teyla has moved her chair next to Kate, and is gripping her hand tightly. Kate's back in normal clothing; Teyla had brought some from her quarters for Kate to change into. John's sitting on Kate's other side. He's not holding her hand, or acting like a sap. He's just scooted a little - a lot - closer to her than he normally would be in a staff meeting. Ronon and Rodney are on the other side of the table. Rodney's scrubbing his hands on his pants, almost obsessively, and Ronon's leaning back casually.
"She's perfectly healthy," says Carson, looking up from his tablet.
Elizabeth smiles from her usual place at the head of the table. "I think we're all relieved to hear that."
"No, you don't understand," says Carson. "I mean she's perfectly healthy. It's like Kate's never been sick or injured a day in her life. There's no indication that she's even been through an explosion, much less died from one."
"Kate?" asks Elizabeth.
Kate has been staring down at Teyla's hand, but she looks up now. "I suppose this is my cue," she says.
"What happened, Kate?" asks Elizabeth, leaning forward. "How did you revive yourself? Why did John know you would be able to, when none of the rest of us did?"
"I can't believe you have a girlfriend and you didn't tell the rest of us!" exclaims Rodney.
John gives him a scathing look. "Yell at me later, McKay."
"I couldn't explain the mechanics to you," says Kate. She straightens in the chair, gives Teyla's hand one last squeeze, and lets go. The mantle of staff psychiatrist settles around her, even though her hair is disheveled, and she looks strained around the eyes. "One day, I was in an accident. It was fatal, but I woke up from it. Ever since then, I haven't been able to die."
"Have you tried?" asked Rodney. "My God, Kate, think about what this means--"
"It means that I stay in perfect health, no matter what," says Kate. She glances at Carson. "It means that I can sometimes take a risk that my friends can't."
"Have you ever met anyone else like you?" asks Carson.
"I can't tell you that." Kate shakes her head. "If I had met anyone else like me, I would be endangering them by letting anyone even tangentially associated with the government know about them." John's going to have to have a talk with Kate about Adam and that MacLeod guy she hadn't wanted him to meet.
"From what I can tell, there's no sign of aging in your cellular structure," says Carson. "It reminds me of some of the proteins we've found in Ancient tissue, but you don't have the ATA gene."
"How old are you?" asks Elizabeth.
"I remember when democracy was first instituted," says Kate. It doesn't sound rehearsed, but something tells John she's been using that as a standard line for a while now. How long a while, he doesn't want to know.
"So, what, two hundred and thirty-five years?" Rodney's boggled. "Wait a minute. You're two hundred and thirty-five years old? Are you really a psychiatrist?"
John spots Elizabeth's eyes narrowing, but she doesn't say anything. He suspects she's going to be keeping a close eye on Kate for a while.
"I'm a psychiatrist," says Kate. "My post-high school education on my personnel file is all genuine, as are my credentials."
"Why didn't you tell us this?" asks Elizabeth.
"I've gotten used to keeping it secret," says Kate. "To be honest, while I trust everyone in this room with my life, it's not something I've wanted to share with the entire expedition."
"Think about what we could learn from you, though," says Carson. His eyes are bright. "If we could discover how to heal wounds more easily, or to--"
"No." Kate's voice is firm and uncompromising, but John hears a quaver in it. He wonders if she's really afraid. "That was my other consideration. I won't be a subject for medical experimentation."
"No one's going to experiment on you," says Elizabeth. "But I'm disappointed that you didn't trust us."
"Would you have done any different in my situation?" asks Kate.
"I don't know," says Elizabeth. "I can't say without being in your situation."
"What are you going to do?" asks Kate.
"Your secret isn't going to leave this room," says Elizabeth.
"Thank you." Kate looks at Elizabeth with gratitude. "I appreciate that, Elizabeth."
"If you've got any other secrets, I want to know about them," says Elizabeth. John knows that look. She's not kidding around.
"I understand," says Kate. She doesn't say anything else, and John wonders if she ever will.
***
The door to Kate's room closes behind her. John's waiting, and she smiles at him. "Two hundred and thirty five years old?" he asks.
"If you don't count the rest of it," says Kate. She goes to sit next to him on her bed. "How are you?"
"You had me scared." John snakes one arm around her waist, and she leans against his chest as he lays back against the headboard. "I had Elizabeth doing her best impersonation of a hostage negotiator for twelve hours. Does it normally take that long to come back from the dead?"
"Burning is a horrible way to die." She's always been wary of the more painful ways to die. Fire and falling are the worst. "It takes the longest to come back from."
"I suppose there's more damage to heal up that way." John starts stroking his hand through her hair, and she relaxes into the touch.
"Mm," says Kate, nodding. "Yes. Normally it's not more than a few minutes."
"You saved Beckett's life." John's voice is full of all the emotions he'll never talk about. Kate twists around in his arms and looks at his face. "Thanks."
"John--" She reaches up and touches his cheek. "Carson is a very dear friend. I couldn't bear for something to happen to him. Not if I could prevent it."
"Seems to me it'd be hard to remember to care about us mere mortals like that," says John. She doesn't know what's in his eyes right now.
"Sometimes it was," says Kate. She stays composed as she looks at him. "No one's insignificant, mortal or Immortal. It was a hard lesson to learn."
"I bet." John gives her a serious at her. "Glad to know you're good with that now."
***
Vengeance
The new transfers are being beamed one at a time from the Daedalus. Kate's watching them, standing next to Elizabeth and John on the balcony. Teyla, Ronon, and Rodney are with them. Carson's down on the floor in the control tower. He and the rest of the medical staff are giving everyone an initial examination here, since there are a lot of transfers.
There's a buzzing sensation, and a woman in the expedition's science division uniform is looking around. She's got copper hair, tanned skin, and a French manicure that Kate knows will be impossible to maintain while on Atlantis. It's Cassandra.
Kate won't be able to leave her sword in her quarters from now on. She excuses herself and turns to leave. She knows Cassandra's eyes are following her every move.
***
"What name do you go by these days?" Cassandra's in Kate's office, for an intake evaluation on Atlantis.
"The same name as on the e-mail you received." Kate smiles pleasantly. Cassandra has behaved so far, and Kate's willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. For now. "Dr. Kate Heightmeyer. I'm the expedition's staff psychologist."
"Atlantis," says Cassandra. She stands by Kate's window. "Tell me, Carys, did you ever think it was real?"
"I don't rule anything out," says Kate. "I think you and I have both seen too much to do that. Why have you come to Atlantis?"
"Where's Methos?" Cassandra's eyes are flint as she changes topics abruptly. So that's why she's here.
Kate stands, but stays behind her desk. She wants the few precious seconds that barrier will give her. "I can't tell you that, Cassandra."
"I don't have to be here for your head," she says. "Not if you tell me where I can find him."
"I won't lead you to Methos." Kate's voice is cool. "Which means you're on Atlantis for my head. It's too busy here; we'll get caught before we finish. Shall we say midnight? If you've been given the standard introductory tour, you know where the north pier is."
"North pier at midnight," says Cassandra. She nods curtly. "I'll see you then."
***
It's been a while since Kate's had a challenge. She eats a light dinner and brushes off Teyla's well-meaning questions. Cassandra's not at the mess for dinner. It doesn't matter. Kate knows where she'll be later.
She slips out of bed two hours before the challenge. John, for once, stays asleep as Kate dresses quietly. Her sword rasps slightly as she pulls it out of its hiding spot. At the door, she pauses and turns back to look at John.
The soft smile doesn't stay on her face as she makes her way down the corridors of Atlantis. Cassandra's older than Kate is, but she's spent a number of years manipulating gullible men into taking heads for her. It's a toss-up on who will win.
The pier is beautiful tonight. It's one of the dead areas of the city, so Kate's not worried about the life sign detectors picking up on two Immortals fighting for their lives. She sits for a while, listening to the waves, and wondering if she'll see the sun rise. Before too long, Kate can sense Cassandra's approach.
"Last chance, Carys," says Cassandra. "Tell me where I can find Methos."
Kate shakes her head. "You know I won't. But you're not here to find out where he is, are you? Just to kill me."
Rage blooms in Cassandra's eyes. "You helped him kill. You helped him in so many ways--"
"Take a piece of professional advice," says Kate coldly. "Get over it. If you haven't gotten counseling, find a good therapist. Though you might have a problem finding one that will listen. Your little Scottish pet keeps killing Immortal therapists."
"I don't need him to kill you." Cassandra strides onto the pier as Kate stands. "You've gotten pathetic over the years."
Kate brings her rapier up. She's ready, but as soon as Cassandra steps toward her, they feel the faint tickle of what will be John's Quickening. "Drop it, New Girl," he barks, gun aimed at Cassandra's back.
"John, you can't!" calls Kate. "You can't interfere in a challenge."
"He doesn't know?" asks Cassandra. "Oh, Carys, he's in for a surprise."
"You know, when we started dating," calls John, "I didn't expect one of the rules of the relationship to be 'don't interrupt while I cut someone's head off!'"
"Can we talk about our relationship later?" asks Kate.
Cassandra lunges forward and feints toward Kate's sword arm. As Kate ducks back, the point of Cassandra's blade stabs into Kate's thigh. She cries out. In her peripheral vision, she can see John keep his firearm aimed at Cassandra, who tries to keep her advantage with a lunge.
Long ago, Kate learned to fight through pain. She forces her injured leg to bear her weight as she blocks Cassandra's strike. She can't stay on the defensive for long, so Kate attacks. She pushes Cassandra back, looking for a weakness.
It's not hard to find one. Where Kate uses her emotions to fuel her battle, Cassandra lets her emotions run wild. Her parries are heavy-handed; her strikes are crushing blows that will exhaust her too quickly. Kate works with her emotions every day, and she's known Cassandra for centuries. The two of them will occasionally try to kill each other, but something tipped Cassandra over the edge. It's something to do with Methos.
"I know he raped you," says Kate. Cassandra's eyes widen. Kate's certain no one's ever brought this up to her. "I know he let the others rape you."
Cassandra snarls and begins to press an attack on Kate. "What do you know about it?"
The blood from Kate's thigh has trickled and slowed, but Kate steps in a patch of dark red. She slips and goes down to one knee, barely blocking an overhead strike by Cassandra.
"He told me." He told her as they'd sat by a campfire long ago. "Don't you think you're overreacting?" Kate rolls to the side, then gets back on her feet. She stays in a low crouch. "Killing everyone even tangentially associated with the object of your three or four thousand year old post-traumatic stress disorder is a little ridiculous."
"Methos told you?" Cassandra's appalled enough that she flinches, and that's when Kate strikes. She pulls a knife from its sheath on her back as she takes a step forward. The slice of the serrated blade across Cassandra's stomach leaves blood pouring down her abdomen.
When Cassandra screams and doubles over, Kate drops the knife. She brings up her sword, two-handed for strength, and then Kate beheads her.
She hears John cry out, but Kate stares down at Cassandra's head. She lets her sword clatter to the ground as she hears John's footsteps move closer. Fog rises from Cassandra's body and swirls around them. "Stay back," says Kate. She looks up and meets his eyes. "It's still dangerous."
"She's pretty damn dead, Kate," snaps John. "How much more dangerous can she get?"
Blue lightning arcs from Cassandra's body. It plays along Kate's skin, and she cries out from the pain of it. The power Cassandra held within her is Kate's now. The wind whips around them as John watches her.
Memories of Cassandra's past stream in front of Kate's eyes. She sees Methos, his face painted blue. Kronos, bastard that he was, with a knife plunged into his groin. The desert, the forests of Scotland. Cassandra's first teacher, her first Quickening.
Every bit of Cassandra's vitality pours into Kate and drives her to her knees. The ocean drenches her clothing, and washes the pier clean of blood before the wind subsides, and the crackling energy sinks inside her.
"What the hell was that?" asks John.
"Quickening." Kate's panting heavily as she struggles to her feet. This particular pair of khaki pants is a loss. She reaches down and picks up her sword and knife, then takes Cassandra's sword and hands it to John.
"Isn't this a bit gruesome?" he asks.
"Gruesome would be if I kept her head as a trophy," says Kate. "Either I hide her body, or I come clean to Elizabeth."
"Lightning show like that, you'd better decide soon," says John. "I recommend coming clean."
"I know." Kate sighs and lays her head on John's shoulder. "I need to talk to her."
"I'm glad you said that." Elizabeth is standing in the doorway. Teyla and Ronon are flanking her, with Rodney and Radek standing behind her. "It's the only thing keeping me from throwing you in a holding cell until I figure out what the hell is going on."
"Excuse me," Radek mutters, shoving in front of Elizabeth. He sees Cassandra's body and shakes his head. "Oh, this is not good. This is not good at all."
***
It all clicks with Kate when she's seated in Elizabeth's conference room. Why Radek always wears long-sleeved shirts. Why he shows up in her office for weekly appointments, but doesn't have much to say, and asks about how she's doing instead. Why he almost never goes off world, and why he spends time near her when there's a citywide crisis and he's not needed. Most especially, she understands why he didn't look in the least surprised to find Kate holding a sword and standing over a beheaded corpse.
Radek is sitting next to her right now. His hands are on his laptop as he explains to Elizabeth that he was down on the north pier checking power fluctuations.
"Radek." Kate interrupts with an apologetic glance to Elizabeth, who only looks more upset.
Radek turns to Kate. "Yes, Dr. Heightmeyer?"
"You're a Watcher, aren't you?" she asks. When she reaches for his wrist, turns it up, and pulls his sleeve back to show the blue sigil of the Watcher organization, he seems almost resigned.
"I thought you might know about us." Radek shrugs. "You make it difficult to keep tabs on you."
"Watchers?" asks Elizabeth.
Kate slants an irritated glance at Radek. "A secret society dedicated to keeping a historical record of Immortals' activities. I manage to lose them every once in a while."
"It would be nice if you cooperated," says Radek. He holds up his hand, thumb and forefinger measuring air. "Just a little bit."
"The last time I had a Watcher, she stole my laundry and sent it to your archivists." Kate's always been frustrated by the Watchers. "My laundry, Radek."
"To be fair, you had just beheaded Osaga," says Radek. Kate's certain she doesn't see a hint of apology from him. "That is a very historical moment."
"It was a blood-soaked shift!" exclaims Kate.
"Hey, hey, hey!" exclaims Rodney, his hand chopping in the air. "You mean Kate's beheaded more people than just our newest engineer?"
"You did not tell them about the Game, did you?" asks Radek.
"I'm out of the Game these days," says Kate. "Unless I'm forced back into it."
She knows Elizabeth has been watching them silently, absorbing everything she and Radek have been talking about. "A game?" she asks furiously. She stands, crossing her arms and looking down at them. "You call things like beheading innocent scientists a game?"
Kate's laughter is sharp and bitter. "Cassandra was anything but innocent," she says. "Do you want to know what she's been doing?"
Elizabeth leans forward, planting her hands on the table. "I would be very interested in hearing what drove my psychiatrist to commit cold-blooded murder."
"Cassandra was clinically insane. Due to unspecified trauma she suffered a number of years ago, she was systematically hunting down any Immortal associated with the object of her post-traumatic stress disorder." Kate glances over at Radek. His expression is thoughtful. "I became a target because she thinks I know where the focus of her disorder is."
"So if you did not take Cassandra's life, she would have taken yours?" asks Teyla. She is frowning, and Kate can see the hurt in her eyes.
"That's what a challenge is." Kate looks at Teyla and John, pleading silently at them to understand. "Two Immortals fight. One loses a head. I don't initiate challenges."
"Not any more," says Radek, in a quiet voice.
"Radek--" starts Kate.
"Oh, no, if there's someone who's an expert in the history of Kate, I wanna hear it," says John. His voice is amused, but she can hear the tension underneath. From the look on Elizabeth's face, she can hear it too.
"I haven't told the Watchers about the past three years," says Radek. "Atlantis is something special. Not to be shared with everyone. Besides, would you want the Watchers getting their hands on Ancient technology?"
Kate grimaces. "The thought of what they could do--"
"Exactly," pronounces Radek. "How do you know so much about the Watchers?"
"I went to grad school with Adam Pierson," says Kate. She smiles, letting herself look fond of the memory. "Before the Watchers found out what he is."
"You know, there was a vote about whether to kill Adam or not," says Radek. He shrugs. "I am glad that he did not die.
"Here it's the Watchers that call Immortals a bloodthirsty bunch," murmurs Kate.
"We have a problem, though," says Radek. He taps the Atlantis expedition logo on the back of his computer. "I did not reveal the existence of Atlantis or the Stargate program, but--"
"But if Cassandra had a Watcher--"
"We might not be so lucky," finishes Radek.
"So what you're telling me is that two secret organizations may now have Atlantis in their sights?" asks Elizabeth.
"Only one," says Kate. "Immortals aren't particularly organized; by our nature, we're often solitary."
"Yes, that is what happens when one tries to behead one another as a matter of course," mutters Radek.
"Do you know who the other Watcher is?" asks Elizabeth.
"Not as yet. It is probably an American or someone from Western Europe." says Radek. He pauses. "I should not be telling you anything about the Watchers."
"You both need to decide if your loyalty is to Watchers and Immortals, or to this expedition, and the people on it," says Elizabeth. She waits as Kate and Radek look uneasily at each other. "If you decide your first priority isn't this expedition, you're both going back to Earth on the Daedalus."
***
"Kate." When Elizabeth dismisses them all, Teyla waits to talk to her with uncertainty in her eyes. "Tell me about yourself. You are not the woman I thought I knew."
"Oh, Teyla." Kate stands and walks over to her. They grasp each other's shoulders and lean forward, their foreheads touching together. The Athosian gesture, though unfamiliar to anything Kate has known on Earth, is comforting. "I'm truly sorry."
"If Carson had not almost died, or Cassandra had not sought you out, would you ever have told us?" asks Teyla.
Kate shakes her head. "Probably not. We keep ourselves secret for very good reasons."
"Reasons which are immaterial when one considers the nature of friendship," says Teyla. She draws back and caresses her fingertips down Kate's cheek. "And when one considers all that we have been through together. Do you not feel that we are family?"
"We are," says Kate. "I've never lied about how I felt about you, Teyla, only about what I am."
"And anything that relates to your immortality," says Teyla. "I needed to know if your feelings were affected by that."
"No. No, definitely not." Kate presses her lips together. "I tried to keep things secret, for reasons that I hope are understandable, but I didn't mean for you to think that I meant to hurt you."
"Then I am pleased," says Teyla. "I would not want the secrets you have kept to affect our friendship."
"Never," said Kate. "Not unless you want it to."
"Of course not." Teyla smiles. She glances toward the door, where John and Elizabeth are talking in hushed tones. "You should go and talk with John. Rescue him from Elizabeth's ire."
"And face her ire myself?" asks Kate. Elizabeth is a very formidable woman, one whom Kate respects, and despite everything she's been through, she's hesitant to provoke a confrontation.
"Elizabeth is hurt that you betrayed her trust," says Teyla. She shakes her head as Kate opens her mouth to speak. "We will all get past this, but you must give it time, and you must be honest with us from now on."
"As honest as I can be," says Kate.
"I do not think that she will ask for you to be 'as honest as you can be,'" says Teyla. She takes Kate's hand and tugs her toward Elizabeth and John. "But we will see."
***
"Elizabeth really put the screws to you." John is walking Kate to her quarters. Thankfully, it's very early still. There's no one to see her carrying live steel covered with smears of blood around the city.
"I don't blame her," says Kate. "I understand that she didn't like what I had to do, but I hope she understands that it was necessary."
"You could've told me about Cassandra." John opens the door to her quarters and follows her in. "I'd have thrown her in a holding cell."
"And done what with her?" asks Kate. She puts the sword down and goes to rummage in a drawer for oil and a cleaning cloth. "Put her on trial? Put the person she was hunting on trial for crimes committed thousands of years ago? Reveal the existence of Immortals to the world at large? I'm having enough problems with Elizabeth and everyone here who knows."
"So you're having problems with me?" asks John. Kate turns around at the tone of his voice and sees that his arms are crossed. "Is that what you're saying? Because I think I've been pretty good about my girlfriend chopping off someone's head."
"I told you there were things you didn't know about me," says Kate. She sets the cleaning cloth and oil down next to her sword. "You figured out on your own that I used to be a very amoral person. Cassandra was, in some ways, a remnant of that time in my life."
"One you just killed." John's eyes are dark. He's angry at her again. "You can talk about it all you want, but she was trying to kill you. What I heard--"
"A very long time ago, Cassandra was taken as a slave," says Kate. "I knew the man who'd enslaved her."
"This Methos guy?" asks John. "Another Immortal."
"The oldest living Immortal, or so it's said." Kate wonders what John would do if he realizes he's already met Methos. "No one knows where he is, or if he's even still alive."
"But you know him," says John. "So you know where he is."
Kate can't control the small twitch of her lips that passes for a smile. "When I took Cassandra's head, I took all her power into myself. That includes the power she gained from heads that she'd taken in the past. It's the Quickening I told you about."
John's smarter than he acts. "So this Methos guy, chances are he'd have--"
"A very, very powerful Quickening," finishes Kate. "Immortals who kill just for a Quickening are called headhunters. There's no headhunter out there that doesn't dream of taking Methos' head. Those of us that are older tend to hide, or use a series of pseudonyms."
"Which is why Cassandra called you that funny name," says John. "What was it?"
"Carys." Kate shrugs. "Radek's probably got the Watcher's history of me password-protected somewhere on his hard drive. They know me as Carys of Gwynedd."
"That's your real name?" asks John. "Shit, Kate, I know fuck-all about you, and for some reason, I'm doing things like holing up in Carson's infirmary with your dead body and not letting anyone in, or pointing guns at strange women who're trying to kill you."
Kate goes quiet. "I appreciate everything you've done for me, John." She knows why she's been so open with John, and it's not just that some day, this is the life he's going to lead. "If you don't know why you've been doing that, I'm afraid I couldn't enlighten you. I'm an Immortal, not a mind-reader."
"I don't need you to be able to read my mind," snaps John. "Kate, I fucking fell in love with you. If this was just sex, I'd have ditched you back when I found out about all this."
Kate needs to sit down. She'll clean the sword later, after they've dealt with this. It's not stainless steel, so she's got to do it soon, but right now she needs to sit. Her thoughts are whirling, and she needs to process them. She can't seem to muster the will to move.
"Kate?" John's voice is softer now. "Are you okay?"
"You know, in three thousand years," she says, mustering the courage to meet his eyes. "I don't think I've ever met a mortal who's known me for who I am and loved me anyway."
"That's at least five hundred years older than I would've put you at." John tries to smile at her, and she tries to smile back. "You're not okay, are you?"
There's a pressure under her skin. She feels Cassandra's Quickening, and it won't quite settle. Not yet. Cassandra was an Immortal and a witch. Kate needs to ground herself somehow, so she walks up to John and takes his hand. "A lot of things have happened today," she says. John's thumb strokes over the skin of her hand, and his touch starts to overwhelm the ghosts Cassandra has left in her mind. "It's going to take some time for me to process all of it."
"You're not alone, Kate," says John. He leans over to kiss her, and when she's breathless and gasping for air, he pauses. "Stop acting like you are. We're your family, Kate."
That's the one thing she never had before her first death, and so it's the one thing she's always seeking. All she can do is nod. "I'm not used to having a family," murmurs Kate.
"Get over that," says John.
"I'll try," promises Kate. She pulls his shirt up and off, then throws it onto the floor. Her shoes are easily kicked off into a corner of her room.
"Don't you want to recover?" asks John. He's unbuttoning her pants and sliding the zipper down. "You've had one hell of a day."
Kate glances at her sword, then back at John as she scratches her nails lightly down his chest.
"My girlfriend gets off on killing people." John looks wryly amused by that as he works her pants down her hips. "That shouldn't be as hot as it is."
Cassandra's presence sends a spurt of rage through her, but Kate's spent centuries controlling her emotions, not suppressing them. She lets it fuel her as she slips her shirt off her head, and John shoves off his pants.
They move to the bed, and Kate pushes John gently onto his back. His hands fist in the sheets as she bends down to kiss him. "Don't hold back," she tells him.
"With you?" He twines his hands through her hair as she slides down onto his cock. "Never."
Never may be a lot longer than John thinks. They move together, and John holds true to his word. Each sharp bite of pain settles her in her own skin again. As she starts to bear down on his cock, her mouth wide open and gasping as she comes, she feels Cassandra's Quickening dissolve.
John shivers at the look in Kate's eyes. "Are you always so bloodthirsty?" he asks.
"Only sometimes," she breathes. Kate sits up and moves against him. John's thrusting again. He's so hard inside her, with his hands covering her breasts, that it only takes him a few minutes before he's calling her name.
"Sometimes I wonder about us," says John. "What the hell are we going to do?"
"What we always do." Kate slips off John and lays down next to him. She drapes her arm across his chest. "Our best."
"Oh, yeah, that," drawls John. "Lucky us."
Disclaimers can be found in part one.
***
Sunday
"I'll take it." Kate holds out her hands for the box.
"You can't," says Carson. His voice is firm, but she hears a quaver of fear underneath it all.
"I was a dancer in college," says Kate. "Theater minor. I'm more graceful than you, so there's less chance of jostling the box." She reaches out and takes the box, ignoring Carson's protests. "Open the OR level. Tell Elizabeth and John what I'm doing."
"You're certain?" asks Carson.
Kate smiles. She nods and turns to leave. Burning to death isn't a good way to go, so she's worried. Sweat beads on her forehead and rolls down her face. Her eyes are burning as her mascara gets in them.
There's a Marine standing next to the case. Corporal Washington. He's one of the new transfers. They smile nervously at each other as Kate slips the case into the trolley.
She turns to go. Two steps out, and she remembers to radio John and Elizabeth. "I've handed it off," she says, and as she hears John's sigh of relief, the case explodes.
The last thing Kate feels before she dies is her skin blistering away.
***
"Holy shit." John meets Elizabeth's horrified eyes. "Kate."
Elizabeth closes her eyes and looks down. "John, I'm sorry," she says. "I know you and Kate were close."
"We're lovers," he says. She's going to heal up from this. Probably. Dread wells up in his gut. He can't let her wake up in the morgue.
"John--"
He's off and running for the operating room before he can hear the rest of Elizabeth's sentence.
***
Atlantis listens to John before she listens to anyone else. He's sitting in the operating room. The lockdown is back on. He's in there alone, staring at Kate's body. Her skin is blackened and seared. It's almost skeletal in some places.
"You have to let us in," says Elizabeth. Her voice crackles faintly on the radio. She's calm when she's at her most persuasive. "Kate's dead. I'm sorry for your loss, John, but we need to get in there. Carson needs to bring his patients back in for medical care."
"She's not dead." It's been ten hours. Maybe twelve. Rodney's still trying to hack through the lockout, but John's very persuasive with Atlantis.
"I am--" Teyla's voice breaks. "I am greatly saddened. You know I considered Kate to be a sister, and yet, she is gone. We cannot grieve properly without her body."
"Sheppard." He hears Ronon's gruff voice. "I'm sorry, man. Come on out."
"Lad, you know there's no coming back from the dead," says Carson.
John laughs hollowly. "You don't know Kate very well. None of you do." In the background, John can hear Rodney hollering about how they need another therapist, or maybe just to have Ronon knock John over the head until he comes to his senses. He touches his radio. "Tell McKay to shut up."
Everything is silent for a while, until Kate wakes up screaming. John can hear startled exclamations from the other side of the door.
"Kate!" John's at her side instantly. Elizabeth's on the radio, demanding to know what's going on.
"Oh, God. John." She's hunched forward, staring at her hands as she flexes her fingers. Kate looks over at him. Her eyes are wide and terrified. "Carson? Corporal Washington?"
"Carson's just fine." John shook his head. "Corporal Washington didn't make it. I'm just glad you're okay."
"I could use some clothes." Kate looks down at her outfit, which is in shreds. "I guess it's a good thing you've seen it all before."
"John? Am I hearing Kate's voice?" Elizabeth's puzzled voice is in his ear.
"Later, Elizabeth." John tears his radio out of his ear and goes to get Kate a set of scrubs. The problem is that he doesn't know where Carson keeps them.
"The corner cabinet," says Kate. She sits up, and John notices she can't stop shaking.
"Thought you were a big, tough girl," he says, keeping his voice even.
"Tell me that after you die in a bomb explosion," murmurs Kate. She gives him a grateful look as he pulls clothing out for her.
"Let's hope I don't go that way," says John. He helps her stand and pull off the flaking remnants of her clothing. "Ick." He thinks it's not just clothing flaking off her skin, but he's not too sure he wants to examine it too closely.
Kate glances at the mess left on the operating room bed. "It's disturbing, isn't it?" she says. John hands her the scrubs, and she tugs the pants on as the door opens.
"Oh, God," says Rodney, looking away and clapping his hand over his eyes.
"Will you shut up, McKay?" snaps John.
"Kate?" Teyla walks closer. She's amazed. "How is this possible?"
"Could you put your shirt on before you answer us?" asks Rodney.
Kate finishes tying the laces on the pants. She takes the shirt from John with a rueful smile. "It's a very long story," she says.
"I am simply relieved that you are alive." An instant after Kate slips her shirt on, Teyla envelops her in a warm embrace. "The past twelve hours have not been easy on any of us."
"I don't get it," says Rodney, pulling his hand off his eyes. "How are you--"
"I need to do a medical exam," announces Carson. "Kate, if you don't mind?" He gestures at an examining table.
"I'll just get rid of this," says Ronon, nodding at the bed Kate's body had been on. "McKay, help me out here."
"What, me? But--" Rodney backs up. "There could be all kinds of infectious material there."
"I think the explosion sanitized it," says Carson. He looks tired, and irritated, and a little impatient that Kate's not over on an examining table. Instead, she's standing next to John, with Teyla's arm around her. They're leaning against each other and talking softly.
John's just not going to think about how inappropriately hot that is.
"After your exam, Kate, I think we all need to have a talk," says Elizabeth. Kate glances over, her eyes still wide with fear, and nods. Elizabeth's face softens. "I'm glad you're all right."
"Thanks," says Kate, mustering a smile.
***
They're all gathered in the conference room. Teyla has moved her chair next to Kate, and is gripping her hand tightly. Kate's back in normal clothing; Teyla had brought some from her quarters for Kate to change into. John's sitting on Kate's other side. He's not holding her hand, or acting like a sap. He's just scooted a little - a lot - closer to her than he normally would be in a staff meeting. Ronon and Rodney are on the other side of the table. Rodney's scrubbing his hands on his pants, almost obsessively, and Ronon's leaning back casually.
"She's perfectly healthy," says Carson, looking up from his tablet.
Elizabeth smiles from her usual place at the head of the table. "I think we're all relieved to hear that."
"No, you don't understand," says Carson. "I mean she's perfectly healthy. It's like Kate's never been sick or injured a day in her life. There's no indication that she's even been through an explosion, much less died from one."
"Kate?" asks Elizabeth.
Kate has been staring down at Teyla's hand, but she looks up now. "I suppose this is my cue," she says.
"What happened, Kate?" asks Elizabeth, leaning forward. "How did you revive yourself? Why did John know you would be able to, when none of the rest of us did?"
"I can't believe you have a girlfriend and you didn't tell the rest of us!" exclaims Rodney.
John gives him a scathing look. "Yell at me later, McKay."
"I couldn't explain the mechanics to you," says Kate. She straightens in the chair, gives Teyla's hand one last squeeze, and lets go. The mantle of staff psychiatrist settles around her, even though her hair is disheveled, and she looks strained around the eyes. "One day, I was in an accident. It was fatal, but I woke up from it. Ever since then, I haven't been able to die."
"Have you tried?" asked Rodney. "My God, Kate, think about what this means--"
"It means that I stay in perfect health, no matter what," says Kate. She glances at Carson. "It means that I can sometimes take a risk that my friends can't."
"Have you ever met anyone else like you?" asks Carson.
"I can't tell you that." Kate shakes her head. "If I had met anyone else like me, I would be endangering them by letting anyone even tangentially associated with the government know about them." John's going to have to have a talk with Kate about Adam and that MacLeod guy she hadn't wanted him to meet.
"From what I can tell, there's no sign of aging in your cellular structure," says Carson. "It reminds me of some of the proteins we've found in Ancient tissue, but you don't have the ATA gene."
"How old are you?" asks Elizabeth.
"I remember when democracy was first instituted," says Kate. It doesn't sound rehearsed, but something tells John she's been using that as a standard line for a while now. How long a while, he doesn't want to know.
"So, what, two hundred and thirty-five years?" Rodney's boggled. "Wait a minute. You're two hundred and thirty-five years old? Are you really a psychiatrist?"
John spots Elizabeth's eyes narrowing, but she doesn't say anything. He suspects she's going to be keeping a close eye on Kate for a while.
"I'm a psychiatrist," says Kate. "My post-high school education on my personnel file is all genuine, as are my credentials."
"Why didn't you tell us this?" asks Elizabeth.
"I've gotten used to keeping it secret," says Kate. "To be honest, while I trust everyone in this room with my life, it's not something I've wanted to share with the entire expedition."
"Think about what we could learn from you, though," says Carson. His eyes are bright. "If we could discover how to heal wounds more easily, or to--"
"No." Kate's voice is firm and uncompromising, but John hears a quaver in it. He wonders if she's really afraid. "That was my other consideration. I won't be a subject for medical experimentation."
"No one's going to experiment on you," says Elizabeth. "But I'm disappointed that you didn't trust us."
"Would you have done any different in my situation?" asks Kate.
"I don't know," says Elizabeth. "I can't say without being in your situation."
"What are you going to do?" asks Kate.
"Your secret isn't going to leave this room," says Elizabeth.
"Thank you." Kate looks at Elizabeth with gratitude. "I appreciate that, Elizabeth."
"If you've got any other secrets, I want to know about them," says Elizabeth. John knows that look. She's not kidding around.
"I understand," says Kate. She doesn't say anything else, and John wonders if she ever will.
***
The door to Kate's room closes behind her. John's waiting, and she smiles at him. "Two hundred and thirty five years old?" he asks.
"If you don't count the rest of it," says Kate. She goes to sit next to him on her bed. "How are you?"
"You had me scared." John snakes one arm around her waist, and she leans against his chest as he lays back against the headboard. "I had Elizabeth doing her best impersonation of a hostage negotiator for twelve hours. Does it normally take that long to come back from the dead?"
"Burning is a horrible way to die." She's always been wary of the more painful ways to die. Fire and falling are the worst. "It takes the longest to come back from."
"I suppose there's more damage to heal up that way." John starts stroking his hand through her hair, and she relaxes into the touch.
"Mm," says Kate, nodding. "Yes. Normally it's not more than a few minutes."
"You saved Beckett's life." John's voice is full of all the emotions he'll never talk about. Kate twists around in his arms and looks at his face. "Thanks."
"John--" She reaches up and touches his cheek. "Carson is a very dear friend. I couldn't bear for something to happen to him. Not if I could prevent it."
"Seems to me it'd be hard to remember to care about us mere mortals like that," says John. She doesn't know what's in his eyes right now.
"Sometimes it was," says Kate. She stays composed as she looks at him. "No one's insignificant, mortal or Immortal. It was a hard lesson to learn."
"I bet." John gives her a serious at her. "Glad to know you're good with that now."
***
Vengeance
The new transfers are being beamed one at a time from the Daedalus. Kate's watching them, standing next to Elizabeth and John on the balcony. Teyla, Ronon, and Rodney are with them. Carson's down on the floor in the control tower. He and the rest of the medical staff are giving everyone an initial examination here, since there are a lot of transfers.
There's a buzzing sensation, and a woman in the expedition's science division uniform is looking around. She's got copper hair, tanned skin, and a French manicure that Kate knows will be impossible to maintain while on Atlantis. It's Cassandra.
Kate won't be able to leave her sword in her quarters from now on. She excuses herself and turns to leave. She knows Cassandra's eyes are following her every move.
***
"What name do you go by these days?" Cassandra's in Kate's office, for an intake evaluation on Atlantis.
"The same name as on the e-mail you received." Kate smiles pleasantly. Cassandra has behaved so far, and Kate's willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. For now. "Dr. Kate Heightmeyer. I'm the expedition's staff psychologist."
"Atlantis," says Cassandra. She stands by Kate's window. "Tell me, Carys, did you ever think it was real?"
"I don't rule anything out," says Kate. "I think you and I have both seen too much to do that. Why have you come to Atlantis?"
"Where's Methos?" Cassandra's eyes are flint as she changes topics abruptly. So that's why she's here.
Kate stands, but stays behind her desk. She wants the few precious seconds that barrier will give her. "I can't tell you that, Cassandra."
"I don't have to be here for your head," she says. "Not if you tell me where I can find him."
"I won't lead you to Methos." Kate's voice is cool. "Which means you're on Atlantis for my head. It's too busy here; we'll get caught before we finish. Shall we say midnight? If you've been given the standard introductory tour, you know where the north pier is."
"North pier at midnight," says Cassandra. She nods curtly. "I'll see you then."
***
It's been a while since Kate's had a challenge. She eats a light dinner and brushes off Teyla's well-meaning questions. Cassandra's not at the mess for dinner. It doesn't matter. Kate knows where she'll be later.
She slips out of bed two hours before the challenge. John, for once, stays asleep as Kate dresses quietly. Her sword rasps slightly as she pulls it out of its hiding spot. At the door, she pauses and turns back to look at John.
The soft smile doesn't stay on her face as she makes her way down the corridors of Atlantis. Cassandra's older than Kate is, but she's spent a number of years manipulating gullible men into taking heads for her. It's a toss-up on who will win.
The pier is beautiful tonight. It's one of the dead areas of the city, so Kate's not worried about the life sign detectors picking up on two Immortals fighting for their lives. She sits for a while, listening to the waves, and wondering if she'll see the sun rise. Before too long, Kate can sense Cassandra's approach.
"Last chance, Carys," says Cassandra. "Tell me where I can find Methos."
Kate shakes her head. "You know I won't. But you're not here to find out where he is, are you? Just to kill me."
Rage blooms in Cassandra's eyes. "You helped him kill. You helped him in so many ways--"
"Take a piece of professional advice," says Kate coldly. "Get over it. If you haven't gotten counseling, find a good therapist. Though you might have a problem finding one that will listen. Your little Scottish pet keeps killing Immortal therapists."
"I don't need him to kill you." Cassandra strides onto the pier as Kate stands. "You've gotten pathetic over the years."
Kate brings her rapier up. She's ready, but as soon as Cassandra steps toward her, they feel the faint tickle of what will be John's Quickening. "Drop it, New Girl," he barks, gun aimed at Cassandra's back.
"John, you can't!" calls Kate. "You can't interfere in a challenge."
"He doesn't know?" asks Cassandra. "Oh, Carys, he's in for a surprise."
"You know, when we started dating," calls John, "I didn't expect one of the rules of the relationship to be 'don't interrupt while I cut someone's head off!'"
"Can we talk about our relationship later?" asks Kate.
Cassandra lunges forward and feints toward Kate's sword arm. As Kate ducks back, the point of Cassandra's blade stabs into Kate's thigh. She cries out. In her peripheral vision, she can see John keep his firearm aimed at Cassandra, who tries to keep her advantage with a lunge.
Long ago, Kate learned to fight through pain. She forces her injured leg to bear her weight as she blocks Cassandra's strike. She can't stay on the defensive for long, so Kate attacks. She pushes Cassandra back, looking for a weakness.
It's not hard to find one. Where Kate uses her emotions to fuel her battle, Cassandra lets her emotions run wild. Her parries are heavy-handed; her strikes are crushing blows that will exhaust her too quickly. Kate works with her emotions every day, and she's known Cassandra for centuries. The two of them will occasionally try to kill each other, but something tipped Cassandra over the edge. It's something to do with Methos.
"I know he raped you," says Kate. Cassandra's eyes widen. Kate's certain no one's ever brought this up to her. "I know he let the others rape you."
Cassandra snarls and begins to press an attack on Kate. "What do you know about it?"
The blood from Kate's thigh has trickled and slowed, but Kate steps in a patch of dark red. She slips and goes down to one knee, barely blocking an overhead strike by Cassandra.
"He told me." He told her as they'd sat by a campfire long ago. "Don't you think you're overreacting?" Kate rolls to the side, then gets back on her feet. She stays in a low crouch. "Killing everyone even tangentially associated with the object of your three or four thousand year old post-traumatic stress disorder is a little ridiculous."
"Methos told you?" Cassandra's appalled enough that she flinches, and that's when Kate strikes. She pulls a knife from its sheath on her back as she takes a step forward. The slice of the serrated blade across Cassandra's stomach leaves blood pouring down her abdomen.
When Cassandra screams and doubles over, Kate drops the knife. She brings up her sword, two-handed for strength, and then Kate beheads her.
She hears John cry out, but Kate stares down at Cassandra's head. She lets her sword clatter to the ground as she hears John's footsteps move closer. Fog rises from Cassandra's body and swirls around them. "Stay back," says Kate. She looks up and meets his eyes. "It's still dangerous."
"She's pretty damn dead, Kate," snaps John. "How much more dangerous can she get?"
Blue lightning arcs from Cassandra's body. It plays along Kate's skin, and she cries out from the pain of it. The power Cassandra held within her is Kate's now. The wind whips around them as John watches her.
Memories of Cassandra's past stream in front of Kate's eyes. She sees Methos, his face painted blue. Kronos, bastard that he was, with a knife plunged into his groin. The desert, the forests of Scotland. Cassandra's first teacher, her first Quickening.
Every bit of Cassandra's vitality pours into Kate and drives her to her knees. The ocean drenches her clothing, and washes the pier clean of blood before the wind subsides, and the crackling energy sinks inside her.
"What the hell was that?" asks John.
"Quickening." Kate's panting heavily as she struggles to her feet. This particular pair of khaki pants is a loss. She reaches down and picks up her sword and knife, then takes Cassandra's sword and hands it to John.
"Isn't this a bit gruesome?" he asks.
"Gruesome would be if I kept her head as a trophy," says Kate. "Either I hide her body, or I come clean to Elizabeth."
"Lightning show like that, you'd better decide soon," says John. "I recommend coming clean."
"I know." Kate sighs and lays her head on John's shoulder. "I need to talk to her."
"I'm glad you said that." Elizabeth is standing in the doorway. Teyla and Ronon are flanking her, with Rodney and Radek standing behind her. "It's the only thing keeping me from throwing you in a holding cell until I figure out what the hell is going on."
"Excuse me," Radek mutters, shoving in front of Elizabeth. He sees Cassandra's body and shakes his head. "Oh, this is not good. This is not good at all."
***
It all clicks with Kate when she's seated in Elizabeth's conference room. Why Radek always wears long-sleeved shirts. Why he shows up in her office for weekly appointments, but doesn't have much to say, and asks about how she's doing instead. Why he almost never goes off world, and why he spends time near her when there's a citywide crisis and he's not needed. Most especially, she understands why he didn't look in the least surprised to find Kate holding a sword and standing over a beheaded corpse.
Radek is sitting next to her right now. His hands are on his laptop as he explains to Elizabeth that he was down on the north pier checking power fluctuations.
"Radek." Kate interrupts with an apologetic glance to Elizabeth, who only looks more upset.
Radek turns to Kate. "Yes, Dr. Heightmeyer?"
"You're a Watcher, aren't you?" she asks. When she reaches for his wrist, turns it up, and pulls his sleeve back to show the blue sigil of the Watcher organization, he seems almost resigned.
"I thought you might know about us." Radek shrugs. "You make it difficult to keep tabs on you."
"Watchers?" asks Elizabeth.
Kate slants an irritated glance at Radek. "A secret society dedicated to keeping a historical record of Immortals' activities. I manage to lose them every once in a while."
"It would be nice if you cooperated," says Radek. He holds up his hand, thumb and forefinger measuring air. "Just a little bit."
"The last time I had a Watcher, she stole my laundry and sent it to your archivists." Kate's always been frustrated by the Watchers. "My laundry, Radek."
"To be fair, you had just beheaded Osaga," says Radek. Kate's certain she doesn't see a hint of apology from him. "That is a very historical moment."
"It was a blood-soaked shift!" exclaims Kate.
"Hey, hey, hey!" exclaims Rodney, his hand chopping in the air. "You mean Kate's beheaded more people than just our newest engineer?"
"You did not tell them about the Game, did you?" asks Radek.
"I'm out of the Game these days," says Kate. "Unless I'm forced back into it."
She knows Elizabeth has been watching them silently, absorbing everything she and Radek have been talking about. "A game?" she asks furiously. She stands, crossing her arms and looking down at them. "You call things like beheading innocent scientists a game?"
Kate's laughter is sharp and bitter. "Cassandra was anything but innocent," she says. "Do you want to know what she's been doing?"
Elizabeth leans forward, planting her hands on the table. "I would be very interested in hearing what drove my psychiatrist to commit cold-blooded murder."
"Cassandra was clinically insane. Due to unspecified trauma she suffered a number of years ago, she was systematically hunting down any Immortal associated with the object of her post-traumatic stress disorder." Kate glances over at Radek. His expression is thoughtful. "I became a target because she thinks I know where the focus of her disorder is."
"So if you did not take Cassandra's life, she would have taken yours?" asks Teyla. She is frowning, and Kate can see the hurt in her eyes.
"That's what a challenge is." Kate looks at Teyla and John, pleading silently at them to understand. "Two Immortals fight. One loses a head. I don't initiate challenges."
"Not any more," says Radek, in a quiet voice.
"Radek--" starts Kate.
"Oh, no, if there's someone who's an expert in the history of Kate, I wanna hear it," says John. His voice is amused, but she can hear the tension underneath. From the look on Elizabeth's face, she can hear it too.
"I haven't told the Watchers about the past three years," says Radek. "Atlantis is something special. Not to be shared with everyone. Besides, would you want the Watchers getting their hands on Ancient technology?"
Kate grimaces. "The thought of what they could do--"
"Exactly," pronounces Radek. "How do you know so much about the Watchers?"
"I went to grad school with Adam Pierson," says Kate. She smiles, letting herself look fond of the memory. "Before the Watchers found out what he is."
"You know, there was a vote about whether to kill Adam or not," says Radek. He shrugs. "I am glad that he did not die.
"Here it's the Watchers that call Immortals a bloodthirsty bunch," murmurs Kate.
"We have a problem, though," says Radek. He taps the Atlantis expedition logo on the back of his computer. "I did not reveal the existence of Atlantis or the Stargate program, but--"
"But if Cassandra had a Watcher--"
"We might not be so lucky," finishes Radek.
"So what you're telling me is that two secret organizations may now have Atlantis in their sights?" asks Elizabeth.
"Only one," says Kate. "Immortals aren't particularly organized; by our nature, we're often solitary."
"Yes, that is what happens when one tries to behead one another as a matter of course," mutters Radek.
"Do you know who the other Watcher is?" asks Elizabeth.
"Not as yet. It is probably an American or someone from Western Europe." says Radek. He pauses. "I should not be telling you anything about the Watchers."
"You both need to decide if your loyalty is to Watchers and Immortals, or to this expedition, and the people on it," says Elizabeth. She waits as Kate and Radek look uneasily at each other. "If you decide your first priority isn't this expedition, you're both going back to Earth on the Daedalus."
***
"Kate." When Elizabeth dismisses them all, Teyla waits to talk to her with uncertainty in her eyes. "Tell me about yourself. You are not the woman I thought I knew."
"Oh, Teyla." Kate stands and walks over to her. They grasp each other's shoulders and lean forward, their foreheads touching together. The Athosian gesture, though unfamiliar to anything Kate has known on Earth, is comforting. "I'm truly sorry."
"If Carson had not almost died, or Cassandra had not sought you out, would you ever have told us?" asks Teyla.
Kate shakes her head. "Probably not. We keep ourselves secret for very good reasons."
"Reasons which are immaterial when one considers the nature of friendship," says Teyla. She draws back and caresses her fingertips down Kate's cheek. "And when one considers all that we have been through together. Do you not feel that we are family?"
"We are," says Kate. "I've never lied about how I felt about you, Teyla, only about what I am."
"And anything that relates to your immortality," says Teyla. "I needed to know if your feelings were affected by that."
"No. No, definitely not." Kate presses her lips together. "I tried to keep things secret, for reasons that I hope are understandable, but I didn't mean for you to think that I meant to hurt you."
"Then I am pleased," says Teyla. "I would not want the secrets you have kept to affect our friendship."
"Never," said Kate. "Not unless you want it to."
"Of course not." Teyla smiles. She glances toward the door, where John and Elizabeth are talking in hushed tones. "You should go and talk with John. Rescue him from Elizabeth's ire."
"And face her ire myself?" asks Kate. Elizabeth is a very formidable woman, one whom Kate respects, and despite everything she's been through, she's hesitant to provoke a confrontation.
"Elizabeth is hurt that you betrayed her trust," says Teyla. She shakes her head as Kate opens her mouth to speak. "We will all get past this, but you must give it time, and you must be honest with us from now on."
"As honest as I can be," says Kate.
"I do not think that she will ask for you to be 'as honest as you can be,'" says Teyla. She takes Kate's hand and tugs her toward Elizabeth and John. "But we will see."
***
"Elizabeth really put the screws to you." John is walking Kate to her quarters. Thankfully, it's very early still. There's no one to see her carrying live steel covered with smears of blood around the city.
"I don't blame her," says Kate. "I understand that she didn't like what I had to do, but I hope she understands that it was necessary."
"You could've told me about Cassandra." John opens the door to her quarters and follows her in. "I'd have thrown her in a holding cell."
"And done what with her?" asks Kate. She puts the sword down and goes to rummage in a drawer for oil and a cleaning cloth. "Put her on trial? Put the person she was hunting on trial for crimes committed thousands of years ago? Reveal the existence of Immortals to the world at large? I'm having enough problems with Elizabeth and everyone here who knows."
"So you're having problems with me?" asks John. Kate turns around at the tone of his voice and sees that his arms are crossed. "Is that what you're saying? Because I think I've been pretty good about my girlfriend chopping off someone's head."
"I told you there were things you didn't know about me," says Kate. She sets the cleaning cloth and oil down next to her sword. "You figured out on your own that I used to be a very amoral person. Cassandra was, in some ways, a remnant of that time in my life."
"One you just killed." John's eyes are dark. He's angry at her again. "You can talk about it all you want, but she was trying to kill you. What I heard--"
"A very long time ago, Cassandra was taken as a slave," says Kate. "I knew the man who'd enslaved her."
"This Methos guy?" asks John. "Another Immortal."
"The oldest living Immortal, or so it's said." Kate wonders what John would do if he realizes he's already met Methos. "No one knows where he is, or if he's even still alive."
"But you know him," says John. "So you know where he is."
Kate can't control the small twitch of her lips that passes for a smile. "When I took Cassandra's head, I took all her power into myself. That includes the power she gained from heads that she'd taken in the past. It's the Quickening I told you about."
John's smarter than he acts. "So this Methos guy, chances are he'd have--"
"A very, very powerful Quickening," finishes Kate. "Immortals who kill just for a Quickening are called headhunters. There's no headhunter out there that doesn't dream of taking Methos' head. Those of us that are older tend to hide, or use a series of pseudonyms."
"Which is why Cassandra called you that funny name," says John. "What was it?"
"Carys." Kate shrugs. "Radek's probably got the Watcher's history of me password-protected somewhere on his hard drive. They know me as Carys of Gwynedd."
"That's your real name?" asks John. "Shit, Kate, I know fuck-all about you, and for some reason, I'm doing things like holing up in Carson's infirmary with your dead body and not letting anyone in, or pointing guns at strange women who're trying to kill you."
Kate goes quiet. "I appreciate everything you've done for me, John." She knows why she's been so open with John, and it's not just that some day, this is the life he's going to lead. "If you don't know why you've been doing that, I'm afraid I couldn't enlighten you. I'm an Immortal, not a mind-reader."
"I don't need you to be able to read my mind," snaps John. "Kate, I fucking fell in love with you. If this was just sex, I'd have ditched you back when I found out about all this."
Kate needs to sit down. She'll clean the sword later, after they've dealt with this. It's not stainless steel, so she's got to do it soon, but right now she needs to sit. Her thoughts are whirling, and she needs to process them. She can't seem to muster the will to move.
"Kate?" John's voice is softer now. "Are you okay?"
"You know, in three thousand years," she says, mustering the courage to meet his eyes. "I don't think I've ever met a mortal who's known me for who I am and loved me anyway."
"That's at least five hundred years older than I would've put you at." John tries to smile at her, and she tries to smile back. "You're not okay, are you?"
There's a pressure under her skin. She feels Cassandra's Quickening, and it won't quite settle. Not yet. Cassandra was an Immortal and a witch. Kate needs to ground herself somehow, so she walks up to John and takes his hand. "A lot of things have happened today," she says. John's thumb strokes over the skin of her hand, and his touch starts to overwhelm the ghosts Cassandra has left in her mind. "It's going to take some time for me to process all of it."
"You're not alone, Kate," says John. He leans over to kiss her, and when she's breathless and gasping for air, he pauses. "Stop acting like you are. We're your family, Kate."
That's the one thing she never had before her first death, and so it's the one thing she's always seeking. All she can do is nod. "I'm not used to having a family," murmurs Kate.
"Get over that," says John.
"I'll try," promises Kate. She pulls his shirt up and off, then throws it onto the floor. Her shoes are easily kicked off into a corner of her room.
"Don't you want to recover?" asks John. He's unbuttoning her pants and sliding the zipper down. "You've had one hell of a day."
Kate glances at her sword, then back at John as she scratches her nails lightly down his chest.
"My girlfriend gets off on killing people." John looks wryly amused by that as he works her pants down her hips. "That shouldn't be as hot as it is."
Cassandra's presence sends a spurt of rage through her, but Kate's spent centuries controlling her emotions, not suppressing them. She lets it fuel her as she slips her shirt off her head, and John shoves off his pants.
They move to the bed, and Kate pushes John gently onto his back. His hands fist in the sheets as she bends down to kiss him. "Don't hold back," she tells him.
"With you?" He twines his hands through her hair as she slides down onto his cock. "Never."
Never may be a lot longer than John thinks. They move together, and John holds true to his word. Each sharp bite of pain settles her in her own skin again. As she starts to bear down on his cock, her mouth wide open and gasping as she comes, she feels Cassandra's Quickening dissolve.
John shivers at the look in Kate's eyes. "Are you always so bloodthirsty?" he asks.
"Only sometimes," she breathes. Kate sits up and moves against him. John's thrusting again. He's so hard inside her, with his hands covering her breasts, that it only takes him a few minutes before he's calling her name.
"Sometimes I wonder about us," says John. "What the hell are we going to do?"
"What we always do." Kate slips off John and lays down next to him. She drapes her arm across his chest. "Our best."
"Oh, yeah, that," drawls John. "Lucky us."