It's only just beginning: chapter 5
Title: It's only just beginning
Author: Betty (sarah_jones on lj)
Fandoms: Stargate, Stargate Atlantis, Primeval, JAG, Doctor Who/Torchwood, Animorphs & Angel
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or fandoms. I wish I did… *g* I don’t make any money with this! I’m just writing the story for fun and hope someone else will enjoy it, too.
Summary: The story starts after the Stargate Atlantis season finale. There will be new enemies and new adventures, as well as new characters from other fandoms. Old enemies and older characters will return as well.
chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, timeline for all chapters
chapter 5:
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Day 6 - Cardiff (Wales - GB):
Captain Jack Harkness rushed through the HUB, carrying a big cable and plugging it into one of the systems. The rift alarm was blaring loudly and people were running around wildly. This was simply outrageous. How were they supposed to get this under control when none of the new people sent over by Torchwood 1 in London seemed to have any clue what they were doing? He hated it when Torchwood 1 sent them new people. He hated it even more when they replaced him as the team leader. But what he hated most was the incompetence of these people. He had tried to give them a chance, he really had, especially after Ianto left and went back to London. He and Gwen needed help. And now that she was pregnant they needed it more than ever. But did Torchwood 1 simply send them the people they didn’t want anymore or was everyone from over there like this?
Jack sighed and barked a few orders. Obviously their new boss didn’t seem to mind that he took control right now. The rift was acting up. Enormous amounts of power were strapped from it, but they didn’t know where they were going or how to stop it. This really wasn’t good. He missed Tosh more than ever right now. She would have figured this out, he was sure of it.
Another light wave erupted, blinding them all momentarily. Why was the rift doing this? Jack went closer to the machine connected to the rift and placed his hand on it while trying to figure this out. But he came up with nothing. He really could need some help right now. Where was the Doctor? Surely he would notice if the rift went crazy and started to destroy the planet. Well, they weren’t there yet, were they? There was still time to figure this out, right?
When another light wave started Jack shielded his eyes. Then he blinked. He was no longer in the HUB. He twirled around, taking in his surroundings. He was in a corridor and the building he was in looked really high tech. He must have fallen through the rift. But where did he end up? Probably not on Earth, he thought, cursing. He had often felt like just leaving Torchwood the past few days, since Torchwood 1’s people took over, but this really was the worst time to do that. The rift was active, which meant that things from all kinds of places in space and time could end up in Cardiff or get sucked away, like he obviously had been.
Well, he better tried to figure out where he was. Maybe he could find a way back home. This planet might have space ships and let him borrow one. But there still was the probability that he didn’t just end up in another place, but also in another time. Hopefully it was the past and not the future. If he was in the past he might have enough time to find a way back to the HUB, figure out what was causing all this and stop it before too much harm was done. If he was in the future however he really had a problem. He’d have to figure out how to fix his vortex manipulator or better find the Doctor to get him back to his time, or well, the 21st century. It wasn’t actually his time, since he was born in the 51st century. He however had spent more time in the 21st and especially 20th century, seeing as he lived through it all.
There was no time to dwell on these thoughts however. He had to figure out where he was. Walking through the corridor his long cloak flauntered behind him, as he came to a corner. Looking left Jack saw a huge dinosaur sauntering towards him.
“Woah,” he called and stepped back, drawing his pistol and pressing himself against the wall.
The dinosaur snorted heavily, breathing out foul smelling air, as it reached the end of it’s corridor. It glanced left and then right, into the corridor Jack was standing in, pressed against the wall, hoping not to be noticed.
Staring at the huge prehistoric animal Jack couldn’t help but admire it. Tons of muscles under a beautiful greenish skin that seemed to shimmer in several different colours when light fell on it in the right way.
“Do not move,” a voice said, in a firm but not very loud tone, obviously trying not to startle the dinosaur.
As if he was planning to, Jack thought. He might not be able to actually die, but it would still hurt a lot if that dinosaur decided to stomp on him or worse, eat him. Would his limbs grow back? He hadn’t tried out that one and really wasn’t eager to.
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Day 6 -Atlantis corridors:
Vala Mal Doran walked next to Teal’c, p-90 in hand. Since Cam was busy babysitting an ancient she and Teal’c were patrolling the corridors on their own.
“So, where are all those so-called dinosaurs?” she asked. They hadn’t seen anything or anyone since they started patrolling. The civilians probably were all hiding under tables or something, but there should be some animals from Earth's past running around.
“What do they look like anyway?” Sometimes being on an alien planet sucked. You just weren’t that familiar with its history.
“Did you not see Jurassic Park?” Teal’c replied.
“No. Is that a movie?” She really did like watching movies. They were so much more fun than reading books.
Teal’c didn’t answer, but instead held his hand up for silence. Then he silently walked to the edge of the corner a few feet away and peered around it. Vala was close behind him, glancing over his shoulder.
A man was pressed against the wall, a huge dinosaur next to him, sniffing and snorting.
“Do not move,” Teal’c advised and raised his p-90.
The man shook his head. “Don’t kill it,” he mouthed, trying not to make much sound.
Teal’c raised his eyebrow, but pulled out a Zat gun. He wasn’t sure why he shouldn’t kill the dinosaur, but there was no time to argue. Maybe he could stun it, but if that didn’t work he would kill it and dispose of the body by shooting it three times.
Jack was glad to see the man lowering his machine gun. It wasn’t the dinosaurs fault that he ended up here after all. But then the man pulled out another rather alien looking gun and shot the dinosaur. It hardly flinched. Instead it turned towards the shooter and started to move.
“That so isn’t good,” Vala muttered as Teal’c shot the dinosaur a second time and a third.
The dinosaur slowed down and then collapsed a few feet from Teal’c and Vala.
“Phew,” Vala gasped. “That was close. And just so you know it, one more step and I would have shot it!”
Jack holstered his gun and walked towards them. Next to the dinosaur he knelt down and placed a hand on it. It was out cold, but still breathing.
“It’s alive.”
Vala stared at the man. “It should have disintegrated already,” she muttered.
“These creatures seem to be affected differently by a Zat gun,” Teal’c stated calmly.
“I can see that,” Vala replied. “What do we do with it now?” She glanced from Teal’c to the stranger. Maybe he had an idea. He wanted the damn animal alive after all.
Jack shrugged. He’d send it home if he knew how, but he didn’t. And besides, it wasn’t really his problem. He had enough problems of his own, like getting home.
“I don’t know, keep it as a pet,” he suggested. It was kind of what he did with the last dinosaur he met. He let the pterodactyl fly around the HUB, hoping the rift would somehow take it back to where it came from.
Vala snorted. “Very funny.” She glared at him slightly and put her hands on her hips. “And who are you supposed to be?” Probably one of those tree-hugging, animal loving doctors that lived in Atlantis, though she had to admit that he was kind of hot.
“Captain Jack Harkness,” he introduced himself with a flirtatious smile. “And who…”
Jack didn’t get to finish his sentence as something moved very fast, jumped and pushed him to the ground while swinging sharp claws.
Shots erupted and whatever attacked him rushed off.
“What the hell was that?" Jack asked, pushing himself up and pressing against the wall while pulling out his gun.
“I do not know,” Teal’c replied.
“Another dinosaur?” Vala suggested.
“That was no dinosaur,” Jack protested while getting up with a wince. The creature’s claws had shredded his shirt and broken the skin of his chest. But luckily the wounds weren’t that deep.
They all looked around wearily, instinctively standing back to back.
“General O’Neill, Doctor Zelenka, this is Teal’c. We have encountered an unknown creature,” Teal’c reported, tapping his radio. “It moved very fast.”
“Are you near the living quarters, Teal’c?” Zelenka asked. “I have noticed something that moves very fast, but is too small to be a dinosaur, in that area. And I see three humans there.”
“Yep, that’s us,” Vala butted in.
“Are you alright?” General O’Neill wanted to know. “And who is with you?”
“We are all alive, O’Neill. Captain Harkness is with us. He has been injured. We will take him to the infirmary.”
“Ah, that’s nothing,” Jack muttered.
“Teal’c, there is something moving towards you again,” came Zelenka’s voice.
Teal’c and Vala fired their p-90’s as the predator rushed at them and jumped. Jack fired his revolver and the thing dropped to the ground in front of them. It was bleeding from several wounds and didn’t breathe anymore.
“Teal’c, Vala, is everything alright?”
Teal’c looked up from the creature when he heard the General's voice.
“We are fine. The creature is dead.”
“I have just been informed by Colonel Sheppard that there are more than just dinosaurs in the city. Two human-sized predators from the future have been sighted. They apparently evolved from bats and use echo-location to find their prey,” Dr. Zelenka informed them.
“It would have been nice to know that a little bit sooner,” Vala muttered.
“One of them is dead,” Teal’c simply stated.
“Good. Sheppard’s team killed the other one. Get the Captain to the infirmary. And be careful.”
“Aren’t we always,” Vala replied with a grin.
“There is an unconscious dinosaur in this corridor as well, O’Neill,” Teal’c reported.
“Yes, could you please send someone to take care of it? We really need to accompany the Captain,” Vala butted in and smiled cheekily.
Teal’c and Vala could hear the General’s groan over the radio.
“Thanks,” Vala said and tapped her radio. “One less thing to worry about,” she stated and pushed the two men away from the creatures. Teal’c didn’t even raise an eyebrow anymore. He knew Vala well enough by now.
Jack Harkness chuckled. He liked that woman already.
“So, where exactly are we?” he then asked, deciding that it was time to get some information.
“No clue. We just got here today and this city is like a maze,” Vala complained. “Let’s find a transporter.”
“No, I mean the city. What city is this? On what planet? And while we’re at it, could you also tell me the year?”
Teal’c and Vala both stopped and stared at him.
“You mean you don’t know that?” The p-90’s were raised and pointing at him. This so wasn’t going well.
“Woah, now, easy there. I thought we were buddies…,” Jack said, slightly raising his hands to show that he was not a threat.
“He’s not with the Stargate program,” Vala said.
“He must have gotten here the same way the animals did,” Teal’c stated looking at the man closely. He wasn’t wearing the typical Atlantis or military clothes, but he could have just come back from the mainland when the alarm went off. He was human and a Captain. It had been reasonable to believe he worked here.
“I kind of fell through a rift in time and space and ended up here. I’m not going to cause any trouble. I just want to go back home.”
Teal’c raised an eyebrow.
“A rift in time and space?” he inquired. “We should talk to Colonel Carter about that. After we went to the infirmary.”
Jack simply nodded. The black guy with the strange mark on his forehead lowered his gun slightly, which definitely was an improvement.
They started walking again. “So, which planet?”
“We are on a planet called Earth.”
Jack turned and stared at the man. “We’re on Earth?” Well, one less problem to worry about, but that meant that he was in the future. There were no cities like this on Earth in the 21st century.
Teal’c nodded.
“What year?”
“2009”
Jacks head snapped to the guy. “You’re kidding. Humanity doesn’t have cities like this in the 21st century!”
“And how would you know that?” Vala wanted to know as they reached a transporter and entered.
“Well, apparently I only fell a short distance through space. I was on Earth before, in Cardiff, Wales. I’m working for Torchwood.” Maybe they had heard of Torchwood. It didn’t sound like they were surprised about the prospect of life on other planets after all. Maybe they worked for UNIT?
“Torchwood? Isn’t that a TV show?” Vala wanted to know.
Teal’c frowned and turned to her. “I believe you mean Everwood.”
“Yes, right. Not the same then.”
“Definitely not,” Jack stated sounding slightly offended. Obviously they hadn’t heard of Torchwood, so they weren’t UNIT. Then who were these people? And where exactly where they?
The transporter stopped and they walked out, arriving next to the infirmary. Teal’c knocked and the door soon opened.
Dr. Lam came towards them. “He’s the injured?" she asked gesturing at Jack. She had been informed about the groups arrival by Dr. Zelenka.
“It’s just a scratch actually,” Jack answered.
“Jack?" a voice called from further away. He looked around and then started to grin widely.
“Martha Jones,” he exclaimed and rushed towards her.
Martha’s face lit up in a huge smile as she rushed forward as well.
Jack spread his arms wide and welcomed her into them, lifting her up slightly. They both laughed happily.
When he finally let go of her she still grinned.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were still in Cardiff.”
“And I thought you were working for UNIT. This isn’t UNIT, is it?” Maybe he had been wrong after all.
“No. I got a new job,” she said with a smile. The smile however vanished quickly. “You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Yeah, right…”
“I assume you know each other,” Dr. Lam asked, interrupting the happy reunion.
“Yes, we do. I’ll take care of this, if it’s alright?”
“Sure,” Dr. Lam answered and then left.
Jack smiled, then glanced around. Teal’c and Vala were busy talking to a man.
“Come on, Jack.” Martha took his hand and dragged him to a more private area.
“Sit,” she ordered.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jack answered chuckling slightly.
Martha smirked. It really was good to see Jack again and to share this all with him. It was her second day in Atlantis and this all still seemed so surreal. Okay, she had been working for UNIT before, which dealt with aliens as well, and she had been travelling with the Doctor. So she had seen a lot of stuff in her life already. But Atlantis! The city was the stuff of legends. Besides that the Stargate program would give her the chance to travel to other planets again and still help defending Earth in her own time. She was really glad that her CO at UNIT had suggested her for this job. After a huge explosion, that officially was said to be caused by a disgruntled former employee setting a bomb, the Stargate program needed new staff quickly. She was suggested, went for an interview and started work the next day.
“Take that off,” Martha said while getting some disinfectant ready.
Jack smirked at her in a flirty way. “Admit it, you’ve always wanted me to do that,” he said while taking off his coat, shirt and t-shirt.
Martha chuckled. “Of course, Jack. I haven’t been thinking about anything else since we met,” she answered sarcastically. Well, he wasn’t completely wrong. She had been thinking about a shirt-less Jack occasionally, especially since their very brief kiss the last time they met. Not that he really kissed her back. He probably - hopefully - was too surprised to react. It still had felt nice, though.
“I’ve actually been dreaming about getting you to strip for me just so I can patch you up,” she added.
He still smirked. “I knew it.”
Martha chuckled and shook her head. Jack would never change, and she was glad about it. After everything he had been through in his life it was almost a miracle that he was still the same happy and charming person.
Martha started to clean the claw wounds. Jack winced slightly.
“It’s not that bad,” she said when she was done and went to get some ointment and a bandage.
“That’s what I said,” he insisted. “And it’s not like it could kill me anyway,” he joked.
Martha smirked.
“So, no instant healing?”
“Not unless I die.”
Martha frowned. She didn’t like the thought. It meant that Jack felt all the usual pain when being hurt. It surely had been a very painful year for him when he was captured by the Master. She didn’t know exactly what the Master did to him. No one ever really spoke about ‘the year that never was’, but she was sure that it was bad. She sighed and tried to push away the memories.
Jack looked at Martha. Somehow her demeanour had changed. He wondered what she was thinking about, but decided against asking.
“So, what’s this place?” he asked instead, while Martha finished bandaging him.
“You mean you don’t know?”
“No. I fell through the rift and ended up here.”
Martha raised an eyebrow. “You fell through the rift and end up in Atlantis of all places?”
Jack stared at her. “Atlantis? Really?”
Martha grinned. “Yes, we’re in Atlantis. It really exists. It just wasn’t built by humans or sank on Earth. It was in another Galaxy. But now the city is back on Earth.”
“Wow.” Jack looked around even more appreciatively now. “Sounds like a great story. You’ll have to tell me everything about it.”
“You really want me to risk my job on my second day already? This is all classified. I already told you too much anyway.”
“Oh come on. Nothing is too classified for me. I’m probably the most classified person on the planet.”
Martha had to laugh at that. He had a point.
“There you go. All patched up.”
“Thanks. I feel so much better already,” Jack stated in his flirty tone.
Martha rolled her eyes.
“So, who’s in charge here? There are some things that need to be taken care of. The rift being one of them. If it hasn’t been closed yet we need to figure out how to do that.” And he really doubted the idiots from Torchwood 1 had figured out anything yet.
“The rift is active?” Martha asked.
He nodded. “Something weird happened to it. Light waves erupted. It was as if energy was pulled from the rift, but we couldn’t figure out how and by whom.”
Martha frowned. “We have a malfunctioning ancient device here. You end up here and dinosaurs as well, which means travel through time and space. I’d be really surprised if that ancient device and the rift weren’t somehow connected.”
Jack smiled at her. She really was clever. He had always admired that about her.
“Come on, let’s go,” he said while putting on his shirt, leaving the t-shirt and coat behind.
They stepped into the main room of the infirmary and Martha quickly went over to Colonel Mitchell who had been in charge of the infirmaries safety since he got there.
“Colonel Mitchell, we need to talk to General O’Neill. We might have some information concerning the current situation.”
Cam glanced at the young doctor who had approached him and Sheila before.
“What kind of information?”
“Shall we waste time explaining it all twice?” Jack asked. “Or hurry and save the planet?”
Cam stared at him with a frown. “The whole planet is in danger?”
“Possibly.”
“Alright.” He quickly contacted the control room and handed Jack his radio.
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poster / book cover for this chapter:
chapter 6