It's only just beginning: chapter 7
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, chapter 5, chapter 6, timeline for all chapters
chapter 7:
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Day 6 - Cardiff - alternate reality:
„It’s getting stronger,“ Mickey Smith reported. He was looking at some readings on one of Torchwood 3’s computer screens. Torchwood 3 had informed them that the rift was giving off some unusual energy bursts. Once he had run the information they sent through Torchwood 1’s database Mickey realized that these energy reading were similar to what they picked up the last time they travelled from one reality to another. He had immediately informed Pete and Rose Tyler. Of course Rose had insisted to go to Cardiff right away. Anything that might provide a way back home was checked out at once. She simply never gave up hope.
Rose smiled when she heard Mickey’s words. This was good, she just knew it. Over the past years she had hoped so often to find a way home, a way back to the Doctor. It had never worked out, but this time it would. She could feel it in every fibre of her being.
Putting on some 3-D glasses Rose grinned widely.
“Mickey, check this out,” she said and put the glasses on his nose.
Mickey smiled. It was good to see Rose so happy again. She had been so different since she came here. He missed the old Rose badly. It was nice to see part of that Rose again now. He however hoped that she wouldn’t be disappointed. Sure, there were void particles here, but that didn’t mean they found a way to go home. If there was a way to go to another reality - which he still wasn’t convinced of - they didn’t know where they’d end up. There were lots of realities. There really was no way to know which reality they’d end up in.
Rose stepped to another PC. “This is it. Mom, Dad, I’m going home,” Rose announced.
“Are you sure, Rose, honey?” her mother asked. She and Pete were on the screen, talking to them over a life feed from London.
“Do you even know how? Or where you will end up? The rift is dangerous. Pete, say something.”
“Mom, calm down. I know this is going to work. I can feel it.”
“You can feel it???” Jackie exclaimed. “You’re willing to mess around with the rift based on a feeling?”
Rose sighed. She shouldn’t have opened the link to her parents. Of course her mother would make a fit. But she wanted to say goodbye.
“Mom, you said yourself that I've changed. You were right, I have.” It actually scared her most of the time. She had changed after she became Bad Wolf and she had no idea what to do about it. She needed the Doctor.
“Just trust me when I tell you that this is going to work.”
Mickey stepped next to Rose and put an arm around her. “Of course it will,” he said, even though he was far from believing it. He just wanted to reassure Jackie. She was almost like a mother to him by now.
“And just incase something doesn’t go exactly as planned I’ll be there to take care of Rose,” he promised.
“Thanks Mickey,” Pete Tyler said. He was glad Mickey would go with Rose. He knew there was no way to make her stay here and he didn’t want her to go alone.
Jackie sighed. She knew as well, that it was pointless to try and make Rose change her mind. She had accepted a while ago that Rose would go back whenever she got the chance. She just wished they could be sure Rose would get to the Doctor safely.
Rose glanced at Mickey and smiled at him, glad that he would come with her. She really had missed him while they were stuck in different realities.
“We have to go now. It’s time,” she said. “I love you, Mom, Dad. Give Tony a kiss from me.”
“Bye you two. I love you and be safe!”
After a few more goodbyes Rose turned the pc off, then glanced to Mickey.
“Let’s open the rift. Tell the Torchwood 3 team to be ready to close it as soon as we’re gone. I’ll start to open it.”
Mickey nodded and left. Rose started the opening process and entered her code. Luckily her code could override almost anything Torchwood related. Otherwise they would have had to ask Torchwood 3 for help.
Mickey came back with several very alarmed looking people.
“You’re opening the rift. Why?” the leader asked.
“We’re going home,” Rose simply stated as the rift opened. Wind erupted and the Hub started to shake slightly.
Rose grinned widely and took Mickey’s hand.
Mickey gulped and held onto Rose. He really hoped they’d survive this. Turning to Rose he noticed that she started to glow slightly. His eyes widened. Then it felt like he was being sucked away, twirled around and shaken through. A few seconds later - or were it minutes, hours or even days? - he felt solid ground under his feet again. He groaned. A ride on a roller coaster was nothing against this!
He just began to feel glad to be standing again when the whole room started to shake.
“Oh no, it’s getting out of control,” Rose muttered next to him in a strange kind of voice and let go of his hand. He turned to look at her and she began to glow even brighter.
“Rose!” he called. She seemed to smile at him, but didn’t say anything. The smile calmed him down a little, but not enough. Then the trembling stopped. She was closing the rift. He didn’t know how, but he was sure of it. Then the glowing stopped and Rose collapsed. Mickey made a step forward and caught her before she hit the floor. They sank to the ground slowly and Mickey gently held her.
“Rose. Rose, can you hear me?” he asked. Then he looked around, to see where they were and if there was someone around who could help him.
They were still in the HUB, but other people were in it. He knew some of them. They were stationed in Torchwood London in the other reality.
“I need some help,” he called, ignoring the guns pointed at them.
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Day 6 - Atlantis - conference room:
Jack sighed. It was getting late already. The sun was down and normal people surely had long gone home from work. Not him. He was stuck in a conference room again. Well, they did have a lot to talk about.
“So, Carter… please tell me you can send all the people and animals back to their own times,” he stated.
There was some chatting and objecting.
Jack held his hand up and looked rather annoyed. “People, can we please all calm down,” he said with another sigh. He really was tired and wanted to finish this as quickly as possible.
“I’m not sure I can send them back. I think the ancient device that brought them here never worked properly in the first place,” Sam answered once everyone was quiet.
Jack wasn’t surprised at all. This wasn’t the first time a time-altering device didn’t do more than make a mess. He remembered well the time he and Teal’c were the only ones remembering that they were in a time-loop. Repeating one day over and over again had almost driven him crazy.
“Besides that, the damage has been done already. By pulling people out of their own time timelines have been altered.”
“Oh no, don’t tell me what that means…,” Jack muttered. Even he knew by now what the results of messing with time were.
“Several alternate realities have probably been created,” Rodney McKay stated.
Jack groaned.
“Since the damage has been done already…,” John Sheppard butted in. “We could just keep them here, right?”
All heads turned to him.
“I mean, sending Ford back for example would just be… wrong!” John had been shocked, but delighted to see his old team member again, especially since this was the normal Ford, not ‘enzyme-junkie-Ford’. Sending him back in time would mean he would end up the same way he did. They might as well shoot him. That would be nicer.
“I agree,” Teyla said. “It would be cruel to send him back, knowing what would await him.”
Jack glanced at the files of the people that had appeared in Atlantis. Lt. Aiden Ford’s was among them. Jack remembered now what he read about the man before coming to the conference room. He winced. Yeah, they couldn’t send him back. And like Sheppard said, the damage was done.
“Alright, he stays,” Jack stated. “But that doesn’t mean the rest will stay as well.”
The others nodded. Ford was one of them, the others weren’t. They didn’t know much about their situations yet.
“We’ll talk to the ‘arrivals’, find out where they are from, who they are and if we can send them home.” He pushed the files over to Sheppard, Mitchell, Lorne and Sam.
“Before that we need to talk to the new recruits. The ones that passed get the whole truth about our current situation. They get a room and we’ll talk about teams tomorrow.” Right now he was too tired and he still had to talk to Mac. He shoved some more files towards Sam, Daniel, Teyla, Sheppard, Lorne, Vala and McKay.
“How come I get the Russians and Chinese?” Rodney asked, not sounding happy at all.
Jack smirked slightly. “They aren’t on my list of favourites,” he stated.
Cam chuckled slightly. Obviously McKay wasn’t on the list of the General's favourites either.
He then glanced at his file. There were a few papers in there, but besides the word ‘ancients’ they were blank.
“Concentrate on the two ancients, Mitchell. If you get them to cooperate with us we might learn a lot from them.”
Cam nodded. “One of them was still in surgery when I left the infirmary. I’ll check on her and her sister right away.”
Daniel was a little disappointed that he wasn’t the one assigned to the ancients, but he guessed it was a good idea to send someone they already met. He surely would get a chance to talk to them sooner or later. Glancing at his files he saw that he would be able to give Cassie and Jack the good news. The rest would get bad news.
“I have Russians, too,” he then stated in an attempt to calm McKay down, who still looked rather sullen. “And by the looks of it I got the ones we’re kicking out.”
Jack nodded. “Since you speak russian I thought you might be able to tell them ‘get the hell out of here’ in their own language, so that there won’t be any misunderstandings.” He smirked.
Daniel rolled his eyes.
Vala chuckled and glanced at her own file. She would be talking to a Captain Rachel Berenson. That was it, just one person. Why didn't she get more than one? She was about to ask when the General spoke again.
“Sheppard, find out more about the organisation Becker and one of the arrivals worked for.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Carter, I want to know what exactly this Torchwood is and if that rift-thingy is going to cause us more trouble.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Alright, everything else can wait until the morning.” Jack got up, gathered his file of Mac and headed for the door.
Once Jack was outside Rodney groaned. “I don’t think he likes me.”
John clapped him on the back and smirked.
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Day 6 - Atlantis - Sheppard's office:
The new recruits were all waiting in one room. John stepped in and looked around.
“Becker, with me.”
Becker got up quickly. They had all been waiting for about an hour now and he was glad to finally hear if he made it. He thought he had done a pretty fine job considering all the strange events, but he still felt a little nervous.
They entered an office. Sheppard sat down behind his desk, Becker in front of it.
“Well… I’m going to make this short. Welcome to the Stargate program,” John said and smiled.
Becker couldn’t help but return the smile. He might not have cared much if he got the job in the first place, but since he learned more about all of this he really wanted to get in.
“I’m sure you already figured out that aliens are real by now, since we had some in the city today. It really wasn’t part of the simulations and it definitely wasn’t a hoax. There is life on other planets. Some races are nice and friendly, others aren’t.”
“Like the Wraith,” Becker stated.
“Exactly. You’ll soon get a full debrief on all alien races we have encountered so far.”
Wow, this really was big, Jason thought. Aliens were real, he had seen some today and would see a lot more. Luckily he always had had an open mind and loved adventures. This promised to be one big adventure. Surely a dangerous one, but that made it even more exciting.
“Do we actually have space ships?” he asked.
John grinned. “Yes, we do. You’ll get a debrief about those, too. And probably about a lot of other stuff.”
Becker really did seem to take the news very well, John thought. He was a good soldier and open-minded, which was what they needed.
“The Stargate program deals with alien matters. But we mostly don’t travel to other planets by ship. Some years ago we found a device called Stargate. It allows us to travel to other planets through wormholes.”
Becker probably would have been shocked to hear that you could actually travel through wormholes, if he hadn’t already travelled through anomalies. If it was possible to travel through time it surely was possible to travel through space using a wormhole.
“Will there be a debrief about that, too?”
John chuckled slightly. “You better hope not. McKay and Colonel Carter probably would love to tell you all about it, but we need you on missions, not stuck in a room listening to science babble for weeks.”
Becker smirked. He liked the Colonel already.
“Anyway, you will join one of our teams and go on missions to other planets.”
John could see the smile on Becker’s face. He seemed to like the idea of going to other planets. Well, it was exciting.
“Alright, I think you’ll get any information you need in your first debrief tomorrow morning at 0900. Now, about those creatures and our guest Stephen Hart. What can you tell me about them and the work you did before you came here?”
John opened Becker’s file, as well as another file containing anything on Stephen Hart they had been able to gather so far. Becker’s record was flawless. The past year however was sketchy. He had worked for the british government on a top secret project. John had a feeling that it involved prehistoric and futuristic creatures.
Becker looked at the Colonel. He knew those questions were coming. He didn’t like to give away even more classified information, but it wasn’t really like he had much of a choice. When Stephen and the creatures appeared here they had to help contain the situation in any way possible, and staying quiet now would be pointless.
“For the past year I’ve been working for an organisation called the Arc: Anomaly Research Centre. It deals with anomalies, which basically are holes in time. They appear out of nowhere and creatures come through. The Arc detects and contains them.”
John listened. It sounded weird and interesting at the same time. He was sure Rodney and Colonel Carter would love to take a look at one of those anomalies.
“Alright. I will talk to General O’Neill and Colonel Carter about this. If we get anomalies here we will need to be able to contain them as well. Maybe we can arrange a cooperation with the Arc.”
Becker nodded. “I would be glad to help in any way and talk to James Lester who is in charge of the Arc.”
“Good,” John answered. “Now, about Stephen Hart. We got some information about him from the british IOA member. His résumé is impressive for a civilian, but apparently he died last year.”
Becker didn’t have a clue what IOA meant, but he would have to figure that out another time. He then nodded. He had read Stephen’s file as well. He always thought he would have liked to meet him.
“Yes, he did. Or we believed he did. There was a traitor within the Arc who held creatures in cages in a big room. After some struggles the animals got loose. The mechanism to close the door from the outside was destroyed, so the creatures could only be locked in from the inside. Stephen went inside. Afterwards there was a huge mess and nothing more than traces of Stephen's DNA were found. Since the room was locked and no anomaly was detected everyone assumed Stephen died in there,” Becker said, summing the events up.
“But he didn’t,” John interrupted. “He was brought here by the ancient device.” Maybe there was no damage done in this case, no alternate timeline created. There had been no body. Maybe the guy was supposed to come here. Right. Well, it didn’t matter. There was no way they could send him back. He’d be eaten alive by those creatures. Stephen might not be one of them like Ford, but they would never send him somewhere knowing he’d get killed. Besides, judging by his record, John had a much better idea for the man. He’d offer him a job. The SG program was short on men and Stephen Hart seemed just the right kind of guy: good with weapons, able to defend himself, good at tracking, intelligent, loyal, able to keep secrets, and if necessary willing to sacrifice himself to save others. What more could they want?
“I’ll go talk to him next. Would you like to come along or shall I show you your room now?”
“I’ll come with you,” Becker said. He wanted to be there when Stephen found out that he was in the future and all of his friends believed him to be dead. He also wanted to be the one to tell him about Nick Cutters death.
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Day 6 - General Jack O’Neill’s office:
Jack had just informed Mac about the Stargate program, the events of the day, their location and the job she would be doing. She looked at him, trying to process everything. She had never believed in aliens, time travel, myths like Atlantis or anything similar. On the other hand she did believe in facts. She had seen the dinosaurs as well as Stephen Hart appearing out of nowhere. She had seen the Wraith that stunned her. She still felt a little groggy because of it. And she was in Atlantis.
“You just turned my world upside down,” she admitted.
Jack chuckled. “So, still interested in the job?” he asked. He really hoped she was. She had dealt with the strange occurrences of the day better than a lot of people. They needed her.
Mac thought for a moment. It definitely was a dangerous job. She’d mostly go on missions and do legal stuff on the side only, when they needed it. She’d probably be away from Harm a lot, which would be hard. But she wanted this job. How could she not help defend the whole planet now that she knew it was in danger?
“Yes, sir, I do,” she said and then smiled.
Jack returned the smile. It would be nice working with her.
“Sir, what happened to Lt. Cane? Did you find him?” Mac asked. She might not have liked the man, but he was part of her team and disappeared on her watch. She needed to know if he was okay.
Jack groaned slightly. “First, no ‘sir-ing’ me when we’re alone. I’ve known you since you drooled all over me and I even changed your diapers.” He wrinkled his nose as if to make a point.
Mac couldn’t help but chuckle, even though she did feel a little embarrassed. “Alright.”
“Second, don’t mention that name again - ever. They guy ran off and hid in a room under a table. And he wet his pants, for crying out loud! As far as I’m concerned he was never here.”
Mac had to actually laugh. Now, that was embarrassing!
“How did he even get here? Someone must have recommended him, right?” she asked.
“No and now I know why. The guy has the ATA gene, which is why we invited him.”
Mac looked at him a little confused. “ATA gene?”
“It’s a gene,” Jack started. He really hated explaining stuff like that. Sam and Daniel were much better at it. “It basically means you’re related to the ancients who built this city, the Stargates and lots of other cool stuff, thousands or even millions of years ago. Everyone who has the gene can operate stuff here easier. You really should let Carter or Daniel explain it to you. Or one of the doctors.”
Mac nodded. It sounded complicated. She’d talk to someone about it when she found the time.
“Anyway, we started to have soldiers tested for it if they were treated in one of the military hospitals one of our staff works in. Cane has the gene, so it would have been nice to have him here, but apparently he doesn’t have the nerves.”
“You could say that,” Mac agreed.
“Alright. It’s getting late,” Jack stated. Actually it was late a while ago already. “Let’s find you a room. You can stay here tonight and we’ll figure out everything else tomorrow. How does that sound?”
“Good,” she said.
“Come on then.”
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Day 6 - Atlantis cafeteria:
Sam headed towards the cafeteria. She wasn’t hungry, but could do with something to drink. Entering the cafeteria she noticed that a few people were sitting on the cafeteria's balcony. She smiled. It was just like it had been when she was still in charge of Atlantis. She had missed those evenings of sitting together. Grabbing a bottle of water she went outside. Some of the new people had gathered here as well.
“Sam,” Cassie called. “I made it!”
Sam stopped at Cassie’s table and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Of course you did. I never doubted that for a second.”
Cassie grinned. Sam was the closest thing to a family she had left. Sam had rescued her from the Goa’uld. She had brought her to earth and found her a place to stay. And when Janet, who had adopted her, died Sam was there for her again. They might not always have been able to spend much time together due to Sam’s job, but Cassie still loved her like a mother. And now they finally would be able to spend more time together.
“So, figured out more about Captain Jack Harkness and that rift in time and space?” Daniel asked. He was sitting next to Jack's clone at the same table as Cassie.
“A few things. I think we need to talk to the people from Torchwood and work out a cooperation.” It wasn’t good to have so many independent organisations dealing with alien matters. They needed to work together in the future. She had also found out that Jack Harkness apparently liked to flirt a lot, with everyone! She smirked. He really was a handful.
“He was nice. I liked him,” Vala stated out of the blue. She was sitting on Daniel's other side.
Daniel’s head snapped to Vala. Somehow he didn’t like to hear that. He frowned and quickly took a sip of his drink. It wasn’t his concern who Vala liked or didn’t like. They were just friends. It was the way he preferred it. Sure, she seemed very eager to change this fact, but he knew that that wouldn’t be a good idea. They were too different. She’d break his heart eventually.
“Come, sit down,” Jack told Sam, gesturing at an empty chair. It was really nice to finally see her again. She definitely was what he missed most from his former life, or better the real Jack O’Neill’s life.
“Later. I’m just going over there for a bit.” She gestured at the table Colonel Sheppard and a few others were occupying. “I’ll see you soon.”
That said she went to the nearby table. Everyone pushed their chairs together and John dragged a chair from another table next to his, offering it to her. Sam smiled and sat down. It kind of felt like coming home. It was strange, as she felt the same way after leaving Atlantis and going back to Earth. She was glad that she now could have both, Atlantis and SG-1.
“It is nice to have you back,” Teyla stated with a warm smile.
“It is good to be back in Atlantis,” Sam answered.
“So, how did your debriefs go?” she wanted to know before taking a sip of her water.
“Good,” Teyla said and smiled at Amelia, who she had been able to give the good news.
Sam glanced at Amelia. “You’re joining a team, right?”
“Yes and I’m really looking forward to it. Do you already know whose team I will be on?”
“No, we’ll decide about that tomorrow,” John said.
“My talk with one of our new arrivals was interesting. Her name is Fred Burkle and I’m not sure if she is… eccentric or from an alternate reality,” Lorne stated.
“An alternate reality?” Sam asked curiously while Rodney groaned at the thought of it.
“She thinks she fell through a magical portal and claims that they have demons and vampires where she comes from.”
Rodney snickered. “Yeah, right, magic, demons and vampires.”
Sam leaned back in her chair. “I will have to talk to her and she will have a psych evaluation, but we can’t rule out the possibility that she is telling the truth.”
“Oh come on,” Rodney said in an exasperated tone.
Sam turned to him, giving him a look she especially reserved for him. “Rodney, we don’t know what other realities are like. There could be any kind of creatures living in them.
“But vampires?”
“It could be an alien race living on blood. We simply might not have encountered them yet, or they don’t exist here. And honestly, can we rule anything out? You’ve met the Wraith. They suck the life out of people, so why not a species sucking blood?”
Rodney sighed.
“Well, let’s wait for that psych evaluation,” John suggested.
“She didn’t seem crazy to me,” Lorne stated. He actually kind of liked her. She was pretty, babbled a lot when you gave her the chance, blushed in a cute way and was quite intelligent from what he could tell so far. He was looking forward to getting to know her better.
Ronon and Teal’c chose that moment to step unto the balcony. Teal’c went over to Daniel while Ronon came over to them.
“So, the city’s clear again?” John asked looking up at his friend.
Ronon frowned slightly. He and Teal’c had been in charge of clearing the city of bodies and animals.
“All bodies have been disposed of. The live animals are in holding cells and have been fed,” Ronon reported while sitting down next to Amelia and stretching in his chair.
“What are we going to do with those dinosaurs anyway?”
“I don’t know,” John said glancing at Sam. “Keep them as pets until we figure out something else?”
“I’m not going to feed them,” Ronon quickly stated.
Teyla gave him a sharp look. “We will take care of them,” she promised. There probably were some scientists or doctors of some sort who would be thrilled to take care of these animals.
“Oh, almost forgot, Todd wants to talk to you,” Ronon said looking at John.
John groaned. “What does he want now?” He could understand that the Wraith wasn’t happy about living in a holding cell, but did he constantly have to ask to see him? Why not anyone else for a change?
“Don’t know.” And don’t care, Ronon added in thoughts. “A marine told me when I was leaving the holding cell area. Todd especially asked for you.”
John sighed. “Alright. Let’s see what he wants.” He got up and left with a quick wave.
Sam followed his example, excused herself and went over to the other table, sitting down between Jack and Teal’c.
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Day 6/7 - Atlantis - balcony near the infirmary:
Stephen looked out over the city. It was dark, but he could see enough with all the lights turned on throughout the main part of the city. Atlantis - he actually was in Atlantis! Well, why was he surprised? It wasn’t like he believed anything was impossible anymore. Working for the Arc had shown him that already. But now things were even stranger. He somehow travelled through time without using an anomaly. Everyone at the Arc thought he was dead. Lester hadn’t been the traitor after all. Nick was dead, shot by Helen! How could that be possible? He knew he had been wrong about her, but he didn’t know how wrong. She killed her own husband! And then she tried to change history by wiping out the Neanderthals and thus preventing humanity from ever evolving. She was completely insane and he hadn’t seen it! He sighed. This was all a bit much. No wonder he couldn’t sleep even though it was past midnight already.
There was so much going through Stephen's head. He had to deal with losing about a year, with the loss of his friend, the betrayal of the woman he once thought he loved and on top of that he had no idea what to do with his future. Sure he probably could go back to the Arc. They’d be happy to hear that he was alive and he surely would get his job back. But did he want to?
Things hadn’t been going well before he apparently ‘died’. Cutter sacked him. The reasons for that surely weren’t relevant for the Arc. They’d take him back. They even called him in again afterwards. But he still didn’t see eye to eye with the Arc’s policy and probably never would. Going back just didn’t seem like a good idea.
Then there was Colonel Sheppard’s job offer. The Stargate program sounded interesting, but it was a secret organisation as well. No one seemed to want to let the public know what was really happening in the world. On the other hand people probably would live in fear from now on if they knew about the alien threat they were facing. Aliens affected everyone. The anomalies wouldn’t necessarily affect everyone and might not cause mass hysteria. He believed it would be better to let the public know about the anomalies. On the alien subject he wasn’t entirely sure. He’d have to think about it more. Maybe he could do that while joining the Stargate program. It would be the best way to get a better insight on the actual situation. And besides, what else could he do? Now that he knew aliens were real and that some had just attacked Earth a few days ago he didn’t think he could just live a normal life and ignore the whole situation.
He’d sleep on it and make a final decision tomorrow. Well, if he could sleep. Maybe he should ask one of the nurses for some sleeping pills. He needed to rest, especially as his head was still aching and his arm throbbed. At least his chest didn’t hurt much anymore and he hadn’t cracked or broken any ribs.
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poster / book cover for this chapter:
chapter 8