Poker Talk - August 18th
Twisted Shorts August Fic-a-Day Challenge - Day 18
Title: Poker Talk
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/SG:A
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or Stargate people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: The team debates the odds in the search for Aiden.
Notes: Part 18 of Faith Sheppard - Links Page
Seasons: Post-series/Season 2
Word Count: 2505
Faith and Haly looked around the cafeteria on Atlantis.
“It’s gotten awfully crowded,” Faith muttered.
Haly nodded.
“Faith, over here,” someone called.
She turned to find Radek at a table with another guy. He was waving her over.
“Radek,” she greeted.
“Faith, Haly, this is Major Lorne,” he introduced the black haired man sitting next to him. “Major this is Faith and Haly.”
“Scientist?” Lorne asked.
“Medic.”
His eyes slid to Haly, though he seemed confused as to how to ask the question plaguing him.
“Haly is a Foundling,” Radek said, “She and Faith have chosen to remain on Atlantis together.”
“Mm, on Earth they even gave her my family name for the records,” Faith told him.
“Lehane?”
“No, Faith Lehane is officially dead and forgotten.”
“Just like that?”
Faith laughed. “No. There is so much more to it than that. But as far as the SGC is concerned, I’m just Sheppard.”
“Sheppard?” Lorne asked. “Like the Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard?”
“My half-brother.”
He frowned.
“There are a lot of things you’re going to find out about me that weren’t spelled out in the reports, Major,” Faith told him. “Just, try to keep an open mind.”
Lorne looked at her and then glanced at Radek.
“She’s right,” he assured.
“Aw, not enough people say that to me,” Faith teased.
88888888
“Poker?” Faith said in disbelief.
“Just ladies,” Cadman told her. “A place where we don’t have to pretend that we like hairy legs and tasteless beer.”
She chuckled. “As nice as that sounds-”
“Haly can come too, she should see that women aren’t all competition.”
Faith was tempted to argue but time spent with Teyla was generally while they sparred. “Fine.”
“Great,” Cadman said, “we’ll see you at nine.”
Faith looked at Haly. “I tried to say no.”
“Do or do not,” Haly replied.
“Okay, Yoda,” she said. “We were working on something.”
“My name.”
“Right.” Faith showed her on the little chalkboard how to write her name.
88888888
Faith smiled at Laura Cadman, Susan Heightmeyer, and Katie Brown. Haly was sleeping in the other room and the human women were all fairly drunk. Susan a little less than the others, but Laura was a tossing shots back like a champ - she wasn’t even slurring her words. Katie was just a lightweight.
“Really?” Laura asked, dealing the next round. “All the shit you’ve seen and you don’t drink?”
“Mom’s a drunk, both her parents are drunks.” Faith shrugged and held up two fingers, discarding two of her cards. “Besides, alcohol does absolutely nothing to me.”
“Built up a resistance?”
“No. One of my powers is metabolizing substances five to eight times faster than humans.”
“Powers?” Laura said, she looked at Susan in askance.
Susan nodded, requesting just one card. “She’s sane.”
Faith laughed. “That may be a little outside the truth.”
“Wait,” Laura waved a hand in front of her face. “We’ll come back to that. We had questions for you.”
“Me?”
“Susan is too professional to discuss.”
“Oh, God,” Susan muttered taking another pull of her beer. She checked her watch. “Only took an hour to fail the Bechdel test.”
“Okay,” Faith said slowly.
“They are so cute,” Katie said then let out a terrified giggle as she discarded three cards.
“Who?”
“Most of them,” Laura replied.
“Most of who?”
“The men,” Katie replied in a terrible stage whisper.
Faith’s mouth ticked up in a grin. “Ah, Susan can’t discuss, because of her ethics, but I can.”
“No discussing Sheppard,” Laura promised, “since you’re related and all.”
“You’re so much nicer than my friends on Earth. All Dawn wanted to discuss was how hot John is.”
“But the rest of your friends are free game?”
“I can live with that.”
Susan shook her head, her mouth pursed in disapproval, but her eyes lit with amusement. As much as she was ethically torn about the entire thing, she clearly enjoyed it. She upped the pot.
“Oh, oh,” Laura said. “Before we go down this particular road, you aren’t involved with anybody on Atlantis, are you?”
“No.”
“Formerly involved?”
“I’ve been a monk,” Faith said dryly.
“I almost get the feeling that as little sister and hottie, you don’t live on the edge as much as you appear to.”
“That is probably truer than I want to admit.” Faith folded and Katie won the hand - she was like a drunk card shark
Laura gathered the cards and started shuffling. “What about Doctor Beckett? You work with him.”
“I adore his accent,” Katie said. “I could listen to him talk all day.”
“Ask him about the ATA gene and you can,” Faith replied. “He’s very focused on the hundred and fifty things he’s got cooking in the lab or with the various injuries around Atlantis.” She tilted her head. “He talks fondly about his mother. He plays golf. And if you ask him to use any active Ancient technology that requires controlling his thoughts…he gets flustered and starts about finding ‘one of the bloody Sheppards.’”
The women all broke down in giggles at her imitation of Caron’s accent.
88888888
“Wraith in the lab,” Clare warned Faith as she was setting up for the day.
“What?”
“Deceased but Carson is doing the autopsy.”
No sooner had these words been delivered than Carson tore out of the lab, running out of the infirmary.
“I think our day just got more interesting,” Faith told Haly. “Start on your letters.”
Haly opened the bottom drawer of Carson’s desk and pulled out a couple sheets of paper and a pencil. She sat on her knees in Carson’s chair and started working on the alphabet.
“If you have to go,” Haly said softly. “Can I go with Katie?”
“I’ll check with her if we reach that point,” Faith promised.
88888888
John was gritting his teeth. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Faith rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to allow you to send Carson in when we don’t actually know what this guy is capable of.”
“Lass,” Carson tried to interject.
“Listen, I’m the smarter choice. I can do the initial assessment, I’ve assisted Carson in field surgery and know aseptic technique. Not to mention, if this guy has to be brought down, I’m more than qualified to do that.”
“I wouldn’t send either of you in if I thought this guy would hurt you,” John assured them. “That doesn’t mean he can’t.”
“You worry too much,” she told him with a cheeky grin. She took the various cases and bags from Carson. “Stay in my ear, Carson.”
He nodded, adjusting his earwig.
“I’m sending Faith in,” John called.
Faith slowly stepped through the outcropping. She could see Teyla and a large guy with dreadlocks and a gun pointed at her friend. “How we doing, Teyla?” she asked, keeping her hands in view as she carried everything down to them.
“We are good.”
“I thought your doctor was male,” the guy growled at Teyla.
“Faith is our medic. She assists Doctor Beckett all the time.”
“What’s in the case?” he demanded - but it was more bark than threat.
“Medical supplies.”
“Ronon, Faith. Faith, Ronon,” Teyla introduced.
Faith circled around and set everything down on a knee-high flat rock. “Wraith transmitter somewhere in your back?”
Ronon was still watching her, skeptical.
“Well, I can’t reach it from here.” She pointed at another flat rock. “Sit and let me see what we’re dealing with.”
“Where did Haly go?” Teyla asked.
“Katie Brown’s lab. Katie has young nieces, so she knows how to briefly entertain her.”
Ronon sat down. He was looking at Teyla. “Little help?” He still had a gun pointed at her.
Teyla and Faith worked to remove the armored shirt that was wrapped around him. There were a fair number of scars.
Faith grabbed a scanner and ran it over his neck and upper back. “Got it.”
“I see it,” Carson said.
“You’re going to need to lay down,” Faith said. “The device is in a spot that is meant to cripple you if tampered with.”
“Is that a device of the Ancestors?” he asked.
“Yes. Look, we can do this, but I can’t guarantee you’ll walk away from it.”
“You can’t do it,” Carson said. “It is nowhere near as simple an extraction as was suggested.”
“You have scars from having others try this,” Faith told Ronon. “Lay down and we’ll have it out shortly.”
“No,” Ronon said. He leaned his elbows on his knees. “Just like this.”
“Great,” Faith muttered, “just what we need another hardheaded male.” She descended into Russian, venting her frustration under her breath and in an uncomplimentary fashion.
She moved his dreads to the side and set about getting equipment set up. Her eyes strayed to the gun in his hand. It was unique. She couldn’t tell anything about the settings.
“I’m starting to lose light, I’m going to have to setup the lamps.”
As she setup the lamps, she spoke softly to Carson. “I think you’re going to have to come in.”
“I don’t know if he’ll like that,” John noted.
“Well, there is always my version of anesthesia,” she suggested.
“She cannot do this surgery,” Carson agreed. “It’s far too close to his thoracic vertebrae.”
“Get setup,” John said.
She nodded to herself and turned. Ronon had moved, his gun was now trained on her.
Faith raised an eyebrow. “Going to shoot me?”
“You’re going to remove this,” he said. “No one else is coming in.”
Faith saw John’s gun scope flash on the ridge behind him. “I can’t.” She waved John off with a gesture.
“You can’t do any worse than the other doctors who tried.”
Faith shrugged. “Your funeral.” She looked at him. “Sit down, tough guy.”
She waited until he was seated again and adjusted the lights to the right spot. “Talk me through the steps, Carson.”
Carson was very calm as he explained what he could. “The steps after that are going to depend on the device.”
Faith nodded. She scrubbed dirt and grim off Ronon’s back and tried to get everything as sterile as possible. She set a lidocaine sponge package, gauze and other things in a kidney basin and handed it to Teyla, who held it at Ronon’s shoulder.
She scrubbed and gloved. She took a deep breath and listened carefully as Carson walked her through the steps. Like it always did in moments of high adrenaline, Faith’s heart slowed and she felt the entire world calm.
The first part was easy. She had cut at the right spot to see the device without any digging. “Three prongs, two around his rib, one touching his spine. There is a center piece, it’s glowing. There looks to be a dial, I’m going to disable it.” She used the tweezers to adjust it. “The light is off.”
“Good, can you move the prong touching the spine?”
She tried. “Yes, but I’ve got some type of mass of tissue on it.”
“It should just be the body’s attack on the device. Pull it away, slowly.”
Faith did this with each prong. Then she grabbed the main body and pulled it out. “Got it.” It was small, the body no larger than a postage stamp, each prong only two inches long.
Ronon slumped forward and onto the ground.
“Couldn’t have done that an hour ago?” Faith muttered as she put the tracker device in a biohazard bag.
Carson and John ran down to them.
“You okay?” John asked looking at Teyla then Faith.
Teyla nodded as she took Ronon’s gun, putting it out of his reach.
“Yeah,” Faith said as she grabbed the kidney basin and kneeled over Ronon. “Stitch glue and clean gauze? Don’t know that he’ll be able to reach to take out stitches.”
Carson nodded. “Go ahead.”
She used her knee to move Ronon from his side to his stomach and placed a knee in his lower back. She worked quickly, not sure how long he would stay passed out.
“That’s good work,” Carson told her as she stripped off her gloves and cleaned her hands.
“I take instruction from the best.” Faith cleaned up and closed up the cases. Teyla had reclaimed her gear and vest. She was checking her gun.
“I’m going to look for McKay and Ford,” John told them.
“Teyla and Carson can split the gear and head for the Jumper,” Faith said. “I’ll stay with grumpy.”
“Lass, if he wakes up,” Carson said, “he’s probably not going to be very nice.”
“He’s not the only one.” She picked up a little baggie with the tracker in it. “But he should see that he is truly free. Besides, I can outrun him.”
“She’s right,” John said. “Get back to the Jumper.” He left the clearing.
Teyla and Carson dragged their feet but Faith shooed them. Then she moved Ronon’s gun to a safe distance and leaned against the wall to wait. It wasn’t a long wait.
He groaned and slowly shifted onto his side. His gaze went to her. He glared.
Faith tossed the tracker device so it landed right in front of him. “Deactivated, we think. At least it’s not in you.”
Ronon looked at the bag for a long time before he slowly moved upright.
Faith remained leaning against the wall. She watched as he got himself back into his shirt and re-applied his weapons. He had just finished and grabbed his gun when they heard the distinct sound of Wraith Darts.
She straightened as the radio reported three Darts.
Ronon started running into the cave. Faith followed him. They came out the back side of the caves. He laid on speed she hadn’t seen in another in years. She kept with him, impressed.
She heard Rodney’s panicked voice and Ford shouting. She headed right for it, Ronon matching her stride for stride.
Ronon didn’t stop, when they reached the clearing, barreling full-tilt into Aiden. Faith ran to Rodney, reaching him at the same time a gunshot went off from the two wrestling on the ground.
Faith stayed still, flicking a knife at the tree to release Rodney. He crashed to the ground.
“Really!?” he snapped at her.
She didn’t respond. She heard John yelling at Ford and then his voice chasing Ford away. Then the pain registered and she crumpled sideways.
“Faith!” Rodney said kneeling over her. “What happened?”
Ronon joined him a second later. He did not hesitate, turning Faith and feeling along her back. His hand came up with blood.
Rodney grabbed the radio off Faith’s hip. “Faith’s injured.”
“Can you get her to the Jumper?” Lorne said. “Doctor Beckett just arrived here.”
“I-I…I can’t lift her,” Rodney said.
Ronon picked her up. “Where?”
“The Jumper is next to the Stargate.”
He nodded and took off at a run.
Rodney stood as John crashed back into the clearing from the other side. He looked wildly around. “Where is she?”
“The big guy took her, he’s heading for the Jumper.”
John pivoted. “Let’s go, Rodney!”
Title: Poker Talk
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/SG:A
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or Stargate people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: The team debates the odds in the search for Aiden.
Notes: Part 18 of Faith Sheppard - Links Page
Seasons: Post-series/Season 2
Word Count: 2505
Faith and Haly looked around the cafeteria on Atlantis.
“It’s gotten awfully crowded,” Faith muttered.
Haly nodded.
“Faith, over here,” someone called.
She turned to find Radek at a table with another guy. He was waving her over.
“Radek,” she greeted.
“Faith, Haly, this is Major Lorne,” he introduced the black haired man sitting next to him. “Major this is Faith and Haly.”
“Scientist?” Lorne asked.
“Medic.”
His eyes slid to Haly, though he seemed confused as to how to ask the question plaguing him.
“Haly is a Foundling,” Radek said, “She and Faith have chosen to remain on Atlantis together.”
“Mm, on Earth they even gave her my family name for the records,” Faith told him.
“Lehane?”
“No, Faith Lehane is officially dead and forgotten.”
“Just like that?”
Faith laughed. “No. There is so much more to it than that. But as far as the SGC is concerned, I’m just Sheppard.”
“Sheppard?” Lorne asked. “Like the Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard?”
“My half-brother.”
He frowned.
“There are a lot of things you’re going to find out about me that weren’t spelled out in the reports, Major,” Faith told him. “Just, try to keep an open mind.”
Lorne looked at her and then glanced at Radek.
“She’s right,” he assured.
“Aw, not enough people say that to me,” Faith teased.
88888888
“Poker?” Faith said in disbelief.
“Just ladies,” Cadman told her. “A place where we don’t have to pretend that we like hairy legs and tasteless beer.”
She chuckled. “As nice as that sounds-”
“Haly can come too, she should see that women aren’t all competition.”
Faith was tempted to argue but time spent with Teyla was generally while they sparred. “Fine.”
“Great,” Cadman said, “we’ll see you at nine.”
Faith looked at Haly. “I tried to say no.”
“Do or do not,” Haly replied.
“Okay, Yoda,” she said. “We were working on something.”
“My name.”
“Right.” Faith showed her on the little chalkboard how to write her name.
88888888
Faith smiled at Laura Cadman, Susan Heightmeyer, and Katie Brown. Haly was sleeping in the other room and the human women were all fairly drunk. Susan a little less than the others, but Laura was a tossing shots back like a champ - she wasn’t even slurring her words. Katie was just a lightweight.
“Really?” Laura asked, dealing the next round. “All the shit you’ve seen and you don’t drink?”
“Mom’s a drunk, both her parents are drunks.” Faith shrugged and held up two fingers, discarding two of her cards. “Besides, alcohol does absolutely nothing to me.”
“Built up a resistance?”
“No. One of my powers is metabolizing substances five to eight times faster than humans.”
“Powers?” Laura said, she looked at Susan in askance.
Susan nodded, requesting just one card. “She’s sane.”
Faith laughed. “That may be a little outside the truth.”
“Wait,” Laura waved a hand in front of her face. “We’ll come back to that. We had questions for you.”
“Me?”
“Susan is too professional to discuss.”
“Oh, God,” Susan muttered taking another pull of her beer. She checked her watch. “Only took an hour to fail the Bechdel test.”
“Okay,” Faith said slowly.
“They are so cute,” Katie said then let out a terrified giggle as she discarded three cards.
“Who?”
“Most of them,” Laura replied.
“Most of who?”
“The men,” Katie replied in a terrible stage whisper.
Faith’s mouth ticked up in a grin. “Ah, Susan can’t discuss, because of her ethics, but I can.”
“No discussing Sheppard,” Laura promised, “since you’re related and all.”
“You’re so much nicer than my friends on Earth. All Dawn wanted to discuss was how hot John is.”
“But the rest of your friends are free game?”
“I can live with that.”
Susan shook her head, her mouth pursed in disapproval, but her eyes lit with amusement. As much as she was ethically torn about the entire thing, she clearly enjoyed it. She upped the pot.
“Oh, oh,” Laura said. “Before we go down this particular road, you aren’t involved with anybody on Atlantis, are you?”
“No.”
“Formerly involved?”
“I’ve been a monk,” Faith said dryly.
“I almost get the feeling that as little sister and hottie, you don’t live on the edge as much as you appear to.”
“That is probably truer than I want to admit.” Faith folded and Katie won the hand - she was like a drunk card shark
Laura gathered the cards and started shuffling. “What about Doctor Beckett? You work with him.”
“I adore his accent,” Katie said. “I could listen to him talk all day.”
“Ask him about the ATA gene and you can,” Faith replied. “He’s very focused on the hundred and fifty things he’s got cooking in the lab or with the various injuries around Atlantis.” She tilted her head. “He talks fondly about his mother. He plays golf. And if you ask him to use any active Ancient technology that requires controlling his thoughts…he gets flustered and starts about finding ‘one of the bloody Sheppards.’”
The women all broke down in giggles at her imitation of Caron’s accent.
88888888
“Wraith in the lab,” Clare warned Faith as she was setting up for the day.
“What?”
“Deceased but Carson is doing the autopsy.”
No sooner had these words been delivered than Carson tore out of the lab, running out of the infirmary.
“I think our day just got more interesting,” Faith told Haly. “Start on your letters.”
Haly opened the bottom drawer of Carson’s desk and pulled out a couple sheets of paper and a pencil. She sat on her knees in Carson’s chair and started working on the alphabet.
“If you have to go,” Haly said softly. “Can I go with Katie?”
“I’ll check with her if we reach that point,” Faith promised.
88888888
John was gritting his teeth. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Faith rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to allow you to send Carson in when we don’t actually know what this guy is capable of.”
“Lass,” Carson tried to interject.
“Listen, I’m the smarter choice. I can do the initial assessment, I’ve assisted Carson in field surgery and know aseptic technique. Not to mention, if this guy has to be brought down, I’m more than qualified to do that.”
“I wouldn’t send either of you in if I thought this guy would hurt you,” John assured them. “That doesn’t mean he can’t.”
“You worry too much,” she told him with a cheeky grin. She took the various cases and bags from Carson. “Stay in my ear, Carson.”
He nodded, adjusting his earwig.
“I’m sending Faith in,” John called.
Faith slowly stepped through the outcropping. She could see Teyla and a large guy with dreadlocks and a gun pointed at her friend. “How we doing, Teyla?” she asked, keeping her hands in view as she carried everything down to them.
“We are good.”
“I thought your doctor was male,” the guy growled at Teyla.
“Faith is our medic. She assists Doctor Beckett all the time.”
“What’s in the case?” he demanded - but it was more bark than threat.
“Medical supplies.”
“Ronon, Faith. Faith, Ronon,” Teyla introduced.
Faith circled around and set everything down on a knee-high flat rock. “Wraith transmitter somewhere in your back?”
Ronon was still watching her, skeptical.
“Well, I can’t reach it from here.” She pointed at another flat rock. “Sit and let me see what we’re dealing with.”
“Where did Haly go?” Teyla asked.
“Katie Brown’s lab. Katie has young nieces, so she knows how to briefly entertain her.”
Ronon sat down. He was looking at Teyla. “Little help?” He still had a gun pointed at her.
Teyla and Faith worked to remove the armored shirt that was wrapped around him. There were a fair number of scars.
Faith grabbed a scanner and ran it over his neck and upper back. “Got it.”
“I see it,” Carson said.
“You’re going to need to lay down,” Faith said. “The device is in a spot that is meant to cripple you if tampered with.”
“Is that a device of the Ancestors?” he asked.
“Yes. Look, we can do this, but I can’t guarantee you’ll walk away from it.”
“You can’t do it,” Carson said. “It is nowhere near as simple an extraction as was suggested.”
“You have scars from having others try this,” Faith told Ronon. “Lay down and we’ll have it out shortly.”
“No,” Ronon said. He leaned his elbows on his knees. “Just like this.”
“Great,” Faith muttered, “just what we need another hardheaded male.” She descended into Russian, venting her frustration under her breath and in an uncomplimentary fashion.
She moved his dreads to the side and set about getting equipment set up. Her eyes strayed to the gun in his hand. It was unique. She couldn’t tell anything about the settings.
“I’m starting to lose light, I’m going to have to setup the lamps.”
As she setup the lamps, she spoke softly to Carson. “I think you’re going to have to come in.”
“I don’t know if he’ll like that,” John noted.
“Well, there is always my version of anesthesia,” she suggested.
“She cannot do this surgery,” Carson agreed. “It’s far too close to his thoracic vertebrae.”
“Get setup,” John said.
She nodded to herself and turned. Ronon had moved, his gun was now trained on her.
Faith raised an eyebrow. “Going to shoot me?”
“You’re going to remove this,” he said. “No one else is coming in.”
Faith saw John’s gun scope flash on the ridge behind him. “I can’t.” She waved John off with a gesture.
“You can’t do any worse than the other doctors who tried.”
Faith shrugged. “Your funeral.” She looked at him. “Sit down, tough guy.”
She waited until he was seated again and adjusted the lights to the right spot. “Talk me through the steps, Carson.”
Carson was very calm as he explained what he could. “The steps after that are going to depend on the device.”
Faith nodded. She scrubbed dirt and grim off Ronon’s back and tried to get everything as sterile as possible. She set a lidocaine sponge package, gauze and other things in a kidney basin and handed it to Teyla, who held it at Ronon’s shoulder.
She scrubbed and gloved. She took a deep breath and listened carefully as Carson walked her through the steps. Like it always did in moments of high adrenaline, Faith’s heart slowed and she felt the entire world calm.
The first part was easy. She had cut at the right spot to see the device without any digging. “Three prongs, two around his rib, one touching his spine. There is a center piece, it’s glowing. There looks to be a dial, I’m going to disable it.” She used the tweezers to adjust it. “The light is off.”
“Good, can you move the prong touching the spine?”
She tried. “Yes, but I’ve got some type of mass of tissue on it.”
“It should just be the body’s attack on the device. Pull it away, slowly.”
Faith did this with each prong. Then she grabbed the main body and pulled it out. “Got it.” It was small, the body no larger than a postage stamp, each prong only two inches long.
Ronon slumped forward and onto the ground.
“Couldn’t have done that an hour ago?” Faith muttered as she put the tracker device in a biohazard bag.
Carson and John ran down to them.
“You okay?” John asked looking at Teyla then Faith.
Teyla nodded as she took Ronon’s gun, putting it out of his reach.
“Yeah,” Faith said as she grabbed the kidney basin and kneeled over Ronon. “Stitch glue and clean gauze? Don’t know that he’ll be able to reach to take out stitches.”
Carson nodded. “Go ahead.”
She used her knee to move Ronon from his side to his stomach and placed a knee in his lower back. She worked quickly, not sure how long he would stay passed out.
“That’s good work,” Carson told her as she stripped off her gloves and cleaned her hands.
“I take instruction from the best.” Faith cleaned up and closed up the cases. Teyla had reclaimed her gear and vest. She was checking her gun.
“I’m going to look for McKay and Ford,” John told them.
“Teyla and Carson can split the gear and head for the Jumper,” Faith said. “I’ll stay with grumpy.”
“Lass, if he wakes up,” Carson said, “he’s probably not going to be very nice.”
“He’s not the only one.” She picked up a little baggie with the tracker in it. “But he should see that he is truly free. Besides, I can outrun him.”
“She’s right,” John said. “Get back to the Jumper.” He left the clearing.
Teyla and Carson dragged their feet but Faith shooed them. Then she moved Ronon’s gun to a safe distance and leaned against the wall to wait. It wasn’t a long wait.
He groaned and slowly shifted onto his side. His gaze went to her. He glared.
Faith tossed the tracker device so it landed right in front of him. “Deactivated, we think. At least it’s not in you.”
Ronon looked at the bag for a long time before he slowly moved upright.
Faith remained leaning against the wall. She watched as he got himself back into his shirt and re-applied his weapons. He had just finished and grabbed his gun when they heard the distinct sound of Wraith Darts.
She straightened as the radio reported three Darts.
Ronon started running into the cave. Faith followed him. They came out the back side of the caves. He laid on speed she hadn’t seen in another in years. She kept with him, impressed.
She heard Rodney’s panicked voice and Ford shouting. She headed right for it, Ronon matching her stride for stride.
Ronon didn’t stop, when they reached the clearing, barreling full-tilt into Aiden. Faith ran to Rodney, reaching him at the same time a gunshot went off from the two wrestling on the ground.
Faith stayed still, flicking a knife at the tree to release Rodney. He crashed to the ground.
“Really!?” he snapped at her.
She didn’t respond. She heard John yelling at Ford and then his voice chasing Ford away. Then the pain registered and she crumpled sideways.
“Faith!” Rodney said kneeling over her. “What happened?”
Ronon joined him a second later. He did not hesitate, turning Faith and feeling along her back. His hand came up with blood.
Rodney grabbed the radio off Faith’s hip. “Faith’s injured.”
“Can you get her to the Jumper?” Lorne said. “Doctor Beckett just arrived here.”
“I-I…I can’t lift her,” Rodney said.
Ronon picked her up. “Where?”
“The Jumper is next to the Stargate.”
He nodded and took off at a run.
Rodney stood as John crashed back into the clearing from the other side. He looked wildly around. “Where is she?”
“The big guy took her, he’s heading for the Jumper.”
John pivoted. “Let’s go, Rodney!”