Yawning Angel, by slybrarian (Backstory Challenge)
Title: Yawning Angel (Backstory Challenge)
Author: slybrarian
Rating: R
Pairing: Gen
Author's note: Thanks to archae_ology for proofreading.
John first started having the dreams after his stay in the sanctuary. He wasn't sure what had inspired them - maybe he had 'expanded his mind' or maybe they were just a reaction to the boredom. Either way, he didn't tell anyone, not even Rodney or Heightmeyer. The last thing he needed was for them to think he was delusional or that he had lost even more of his self-preservation instinct.
***
"Iohannes, you can't do this." John didn't listen as he headed for the jumper, his friend trailing behind him. "It's one of their hives. There's nothing you can possibly do."
"That's where you're wrong, Gaius," he said, opening the hatch.
"One gateship can't possibly do enough damage to - what is that?"
"Jury-rigged zero-point matrix. No good for power, but it'll make a pretty big bang." John pulled out his stunner and shot the other man. "Sorry."
***
If there was one thing John hated more than anything, it was dealing with the bureaucrats back on Earth. Landry was OK, even if he did seem to have a stick up his ass whenever John was around, but the ones from the Pentagon were even worse, and the less said about the IOA, the better. Landry and O'Neill understood what it was like out here, at least to a degree. He hadn't have been surprised when someone at the last meeting had brought up the possibility of negotiation. They just didn't understand that just because the Goa'uld could be bargained with, at least on occasion, the same didn't hold true for all aliens. They couldn't quite grasp that Wraith never saw humans as anything but food.
***
"Well, we fucked that one up, didn't we?" John gasped, laying on the floor of Praetor's ruined bridge. Beside him, his executive officer laughed.
"No, the Council did," she replied, before coughing heavily. "We just fought the most brilliant fighting retreat in Lantean history."
"Sure, but we lost twelve battleships and at least twenty cruisers." John shook his head. "Doesn't matter that we nailed three times as many of theirs. With these losses, we'll never be able to strike their construction sites, or defend beyond our own outposts."
"Won't be our problem," she replied. "I'd say we have six minutes before the air's too toxic to breath. John looked over at her and smiled, just a little.
"Take my hand."
***
"Ok. Now remember, the shields aren't quite working yet, so try to keep moving."
"Yes, sir."
"Oh, and don't forget they still haven't gotten the cannon fixed, so you'll have to stick with drones."
"I know, sir."
"Don't let Zelenka fool you, either. Don't let him push you around into trying anything fancy."
"Have it home by nine without a scratch. I get the idea, sir."
"Just checking."
"We do have to jump soon, sir, so you might want to get off the ship."
"Oh, right."
***
"Hippafaralcus, pull back to cover transport group four. Tria, target the second hive." Gladius shook as the two cruisers flanking it poured in more fire, but John made no move to order his helmsman to shift course.
"Admiral, you should withdraw your ship," said one of the other captains over the link.
"Not now, Helia. We're almost done." John smiled as the last group of transports started to jump. One..three...five...six away, and twelve thousand people with them. The entire ship lurched as something got through the shield, and he could tell through the captain's chair that it'd blown out the hyperdrive. "All units withdraw."
"Drones expended in twenty seconds, sir," the gunnery officer reported, and John nodded to her.
"All power to main battery. Overload charge."
He could feel the ship coming apart, but grinned savagely when gunnery reported ready. "Fire." A spear of green light lanced out and carved through one of the two remaining hives, and he didn't even notice when its own last shot vaporized the bridge.
***
Helia came to his quarters the morning they were scheduled to return to Earth. John looked up from packing the last of his things and silently waited for her to say something. Eventually she said, "You don't have to go with them, you know. This sort of obstinacy doesn't suit you."
That got his attention. "Really? Because I was under the impression that you didn't want any of us humans hanging around our city anymore."
"Well, obviously that doesn't apply to you, John," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why me? Afraid the city's going to get even more peeved than it already is?"
"Don't be absurd, John. Atlantis will do as it's told, regardless of its odd obsession with you," Helia replied with a roll of her eyes. He waited for an actual answer to his question, and after a moment she frowned. "You don't remember, do you?"
"Remember what?" he said. He had the feeling that he already knew the answer, but pushed the thought away. He was about to give in and ask again when she spoke again.
"Fascinating. I wonder why you don't-" John stood up suddenly, and she took a step back in surprise.
"I don't know, and I don't care," he growled. "All I need to know is that you're sending me and my friends, my family, away from my home. I'm not going to stay just so you can play with my head. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a wormhole to catch." He shoved past her and headed for the gateroom.
***
"Kneel," the queen said, and as much as he tried he ended up on his knees. She ran a finger along his jaw, and said, "You will tell me of this world's defenses. How many ships and platforms?"
"Not going to happen," he grunted, letting the hidden knife fall into his palm. The blade flashed up and found its target, and the last thing he heard as he slumped onto the deck was her angry screech.
***
He never understood it. Ever single time they found a hive queen, the damned things made him kneel. He was pretty sure they didn't make everyone else do it. He'd been told by a lot of people that he looked good on his knees, but honestly, it was just plain ridiculous.
***
"Iohannes." John opened his eyes and looked up from the chair to see Janus standing at the door. "You need to come see this."
"Bit busy here, Janus," he said, closing his eyes again and going back to shutting down the city's systems.
"No, really. This is vitally important, John."
John sighed, and sat up. He didn't want to be doing this, anyways. "Show me."
Janus led him through the city, taking a back route to the tower infirmary's morgue. Janus pulled one of the trays from the wall, and John looked down to see himself. He pursed his lips, and said in a low, angry voice, "Explain. Now.
"A gateship appeared over the city, and was shot down by the Wraith. We found him, and one survivor, a human woman named Weir. She claims to be from the future. They returned to the city, but the shield collapsed and their expedition drowned."
John shot him a look, suspecting he knew who had built whatever device had made it possible. "I'm the senior surviving officer. Why wasn't I told?"
"Myrddin ordered the information suppressed." Janus leaned against the wall. "I need your help. I've come up with a plan to save the city, but several security protocols have to be overridden. Only you and Myrddin have the authority to do it."
"Tell me what you want."
***
The force of the shots knocked John off his feet and his momentum sent him sprawling. It was odd, but the impact with the ground hurt even more than the holes in his gut. Ahead of him, he saw the other slow, and he screamed out, "Go!" Ronon still paused, but John knew there was no way he could carry both John and Rodney, who'd been knocked out, and while Teyla was strong, there was no way she could get back and drag him to the gate in time. "That's an order!"
He sighed with relief as they passed through the wormhole and it disengaged. He knew they'd already be calling for another team to come after him, not that it would do any good. With what strength he had left, he forced himself to roll over. He nearly passed out from the pain, but at least here he could see the sky. The troops that had been chasing them - they'd never even gotten their name - approached slowly, kicking his weapons away and standing above him, rifles pointed down.
"Hey, guys," John said with a grin. The pain was less now, although he knew that was just shock and blood loss setting in. That was fine. Quicker was better. "Wanna see a neat trick?"
He wasn't vindictive. He only melted their gate.
***
The diners looked up when he entered the door and collectively shook their heads. John passed through with a jaunty wave and hopped onto on the stools at the counter. "Hey, Oma, give me the usual!"
"Oma is not here," a young man with long hair said, coming from the back and setting a plate with a cheeseburger and fries in front of him, followed by a shake. "She is busy."
"Oh, that's too bad," John said after wolfing down several bites and taking a drink. He stuck his hand across the counter. "John Sheppard."
"Skaara," the man said, shaking it. "You seem rather familiar with this place."
"You have no idea. Well, maybe you do." John shrugged. "Enlightenment and all that. Never got the hang of it."
"You will not be staying, then?"
"Nope." John checked his watch, then stuffed the last of the fries in his mouth. "Sorry, gotta run," he mumbled before hopping off the stool and jogging to the door. "See you all...well, hopefully not for a long time, but you know how it goes."
***
"Ow," John said on the cold, hard floor of the gateroom. He'd never really gotten the hang of landings.
"John!" He looked up to see the entire control room staff staring down at him, while Elizabeth and his team ran down the stairs to him. He sat up and gave them a jaunty little wave. They stopped a few feet from him, eyes and mouths wide.
After a moment, Rodney started to stammer out, "Oh my god. You're, you're, you're-"
"Alive?" John said, raising an eyebrow.
"Naked!"
Crap. He'd never gotten the hang of retaining his clothes, either.
Author: slybrarian
Rating: R
Pairing: Gen
Author's note: Thanks to archae_ology for proofreading.
John first started having the dreams after his stay in the sanctuary. He wasn't sure what had inspired them - maybe he had 'expanded his mind' or maybe they were just a reaction to the boredom. Either way, he didn't tell anyone, not even Rodney or Heightmeyer. The last thing he needed was for them to think he was delusional or that he had lost even more of his self-preservation instinct.
***
"Iohannes, you can't do this." John didn't listen as he headed for the jumper, his friend trailing behind him. "It's one of their hives. There's nothing you can possibly do."
"That's where you're wrong, Gaius," he said, opening the hatch.
"One gateship can't possibly do enough damage to - what is that?"
"Jury-rigged zero-point matrix. No good for power, but it'll make a pretty big bang." John pulled out his stunner and shot the other man. "Sorry."
***
If there was one thing John hated more than anything, it was dealing with the bureaucrats back on Earth. Landry was OK, even if he did seem to have a stick up his ass whenever John was around, but the ones from the Pentagon were even worse, and the less said about the IOA, the better. Landry and O'Neill understood what it was like out here, at least to a degree. He hadn't have been surprised when someone at the last meeting had brought up the possibility of negotiation. They just didn't understand that just because the Goa'uld could be bargained with, at least on occasion, the same didn't hold true for all aliens. They couldn't quite grasp that Wraith never saw humans as anything but food.
***
"Well, we fucked that one up, didn't we?" John gasped, laying on the floor of Praetor's ruined bridge. Beside him, his executive officer laughed.
"No, the Council did," she replied, before coughing heavily. "We just fought the most brilliant fighting retreat in Lantean history."
"Sure, but we lost twelve battleships and at least twenty cruisers." John shook his head. "Doesn't matter that we nailed three times as many of theirs. With these losses, we'll never be able to strike their construction sites, or defend beyond our own outposts."
"Won't be our problem," she replied. "I'd say we have six minutes before the air's too toxic to breath. John looked over at her and smiled, just a little.
"Take my hand."
***
"Ok. Now remember, the shields aren't quite working yet, so try to keep moving."
"Yes, sir."
"Oh, and don't forget they still haven't gotten the cannon fixed, so you'll have to stick with drones."
"I know, sir."
"Don't let Zelenka fool you, either. Don't let him push you around into trying anything fancy."
"Have it home by nine without a scratch. I get the idea, sir."
"Just checking."
"We do have to jump soon, sir, so you might want to get off the ship."
"Oh, right."
***
"Hippafaralcus, pull back to cover transport group four. Tria, target the second hive." Gladius shook as the two cruisers flanking it poured in more fire, but John made no move to order his helmsman to shift course.
"Admiral, you should withdraw your ship," said one of the other captains over the link.
"Not now, Helia. We're almost done." John smiled as the last group of transports started to jump. One..three...five...six away, and twelve thousand people with them. The entire ship lurched as something got through the shield, and he could tell through the captain's chair that it'd blown out the hyperdrive. "All units withdraw."
"Drones expended in twenty seconds, sir," the gunnery officer reported, and John nodded to her.
"All power to main battery. Overload charge."
He could feel the ship coming apart, but grinned savagely when gunnery reported ready. "Fire." A spear of green light lanced out and carved through one of the two remaining hives, and he didn't even notice when its own last shot vaporized the bridge.
***
Helia came to his quarters the morning they were scheduled to return to Earth. John looked up from packing the last of his things and silently waited for her to say something. Eventually she said, "You don't have to go with them, you know. This sort of obstinacy doesn't suit you."
That got his attention. "Really? Because I was under the impression that you didn't want any of us humans hanging around our city anymore."
"Well, obviously that doesn't apply to you, John," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why me? Afraid the city's going to get even more peeved than it already is?"
"Don't be absurd, John. Atlantis will do as it's told, regardless of its odd obsession with you," Helia replied with a roll of her eyes. He waited for an actual answer to his question, and after a moment she frowned. "You don't remember, do you?"
"Remember what?" he said. He had the feeling that he already knew the answer, but pushed the thought away. He was about to give in and ask again when she spoke again.
"Fascinating. I wonder why you don't-" John stood up suddenly, and she took a step back in surprise.
"I don't know, and I don't care," he growled. "All I need to know is that you're sending me and my friends, my family, away from my home. I'm not going to stay just so you can play with my head. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a wormhole to catch." He shoved past her and headed for the gateroom.
***
"Kneel," the queen said, and as much as he tried he ended up on his knees. She ran a finger along his jaw, and said, "You will tell me of this world's defenses. How many ships and platforms?"
"Not going to happen," he grunted, letting the hidden knife fall into his palm. The blade flashed up and found its target, and the last thing he heard as he slumped onto the deck was her angry screech.
***
He never understood it. Ever single time they found a hive queen, the damned things made him kneel. He was pretty sure they didn't make everyone else do it. He'd been told by a lot of people that he looked good on his knees, but honestly, it was just plain ridiculous.
***
"Iohannes." John opened his eyes and looked up from the chair to see Janus standing at the door. "You need to come see this."
"Bit busy here, Janus," he said, closing his eyes again and going back to shutting down the city's systems.
"No, really. This is vitally important, John."
John sighed, and sat up. He didn't want to be doing this, anyways. "Show me."
Janus led him through the city, taking a back route to the tower infirmary's morgue. Janus pulled one of the trays from the wall, and John looked down to see himself. He pursed his lips, and said in a low, angry voice, "Explain. Now.
"A gateship appeared over the city, and was shot down by the Wraith. We found him, and one survivor, a human woman named Weir. She claims to be from the future. They returned to the city, but the shield collapsed and their expedition drowned."
John shot him a look, suspecting he knew who had built whatever device had made it possible. "I'm the senior surviving officer. Why wasn't I told?"
"Myrddin ordered the information suppressed." Janus leaned against the wall. "I need your help. I've come up with a plan to save the city, but several security protocols have to be overridden. Only you and Myrddin have the authority to do it."
"Tell me what you want."
***
The force of the shots knocked John off his feet and his momentum sent him sprawling. It was odd, but the impact with the ground hurt even more than the holes in his gut. Ahead of him, he saw the other slow, and he screamed out, "Go!" Ronon still paused, but John knew there was no way he could carry both John and Rodney, who'd been knocked out, and while Teyla was strong, there was no way she could get back and drag him to the gate in time. "That's an order!"
He sighed with relief as they passed through the wormhole and it disengaged. He knew they'd already be calling for another team to come after him, not that it would do any good. With what strength he had left, he forced himself to roll over. He nearly passed out from the pain, but at least here he could see the sky. The troops that had been chasing them - they'd never even gotten their name - approached slowly, kicking his weapons away and standing above him, rifles pointed down.
"Hey, guys," John said with a grin. The pain was less now, although he knew that was just shock and blood loss setting in. That was fine. Quicker was better. "Wanna see a neat trick?"
He wasn't vindictive. He only melted their gate.
***
The diners looked up when he entered the door and collectively shook their heads. John passed through with a jaunty wave and hopped onto on the stools at the counter. "Hey, Oma, give me the usual!"
"Oma is not here," a young man with long hair said, coming from the back and setting a plate with a cheeseburger and fries in front of him, followed by a shake. "She is busy."
"Oh, that's too bad," John said after wolfing down several bites and taking a drink. He stuck his hand across the counter. "John Sheppard."
"Skaara," the man said, shaking it. "You seem rather familiar with this place."
"You have no idea. Well, maybe you do." John shrugged. "Enlightenment and all that. Never got the hang of it."
"You will not be staying, then?"
"Nope." John checked his watch, then stuffed the last of the fries in his mouth. "Sorry, gotta run," he mumbled before hopping off the stool and jogging to the door. "See you all...well, hopefully not for a long time, but you know how it goes."
***
"Ow," John said on the cold, hard floor of the gateroom. He'd never really gotten the hang of landings.
"John!" He looked up to see the entire control room staff staring down at him, while Elizabeth and his team ran down the stairs to him. He sat up and gave them a jaunty little wave. They stopped a few feet from him, eyes and mouths wide.
After a moment, Rodney started to stammer out, "Oh my god. You're, you're, you're-"
"Alive?" John said, raising an eyebrow.
"Naked!"
Crap. He'd never gotten the hang of retaining his clothes, either.