Stargate Atlantis: Angel in Disguise
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. I only own my original storyline, plot and any original characters.
o0o
The dark grey sky of P3M-754 was threatening rain; which was appropriate for the tragedy that had taken place there only a few hours ago. Another Wraith attack had left the village utterly decimated. There was not a single building still standing on a firm foundation.
Lt. Colonel John Sheppard stood in the middle of the destruction; a building that had once been the town hall. John looked around at the other members of the team as they stood in various parts of what had once been a village.
"There's nothing left here!" McKay said in utter disbelief. "Usually the Wraith leave the buildings and just take the people, but look at this place!" He touched the corner of the building only to have it crumble under his light touch.
Teyla stood from where she'd been hunting through the rubble. "The Wraith are definitely getting more aggressive since their awaking." She said.
Sheppard's lips tightened. Teyla noticed his pained expression and realized what she had said. "I am sorry, John. I didn't mean..." She apologized.
Sheppard waved a hand. "It's alright." He turned to survey the carnage before him. He saw Teyla hesitate and immediately regretted his flippancy. Teyla didn't need to be careful around him; she was right. If the blame fell on anyone, it was him. It was his fault; no one else's.
Sheppard stopped by Ronon, who had stopped searching the wreckage and was now intently watching the surrounding area.
"What is it?" Sheppard asked looking at the same spot Ronon was; the low clump of bushes a few meters to their right. His muscles tightened, sensing danger.
"There's something in those bushes." Ronon said in a low tone.
Sheppard looked towards the bushes. Nothing moved; not even a bird chirped. It was so quiet, that he practically jumped when Ronon spoke again.
"There! You see that?" The Sateden asked excitedly as he pointed towards the bushes; his other hand clasping the butt of his gun.
"What?" Sheppard asked, his finger reflexively tightening on his P90's trigger. He scanned the trees; nothing moved. He relaxed. "There's nothing there, Ronon. Stop jumping at shadows, big guy."
"I'm not jumping at shadows. There's something out there, Sheppard." With that prediction, Ronon turned away, leaving Sheppard to frown at his back.
Sheppard turned to follow, and then froze when the hair on the back of his neck stood up. They were being watched; he was sure of it now.
He turned to the rest of the team, casually as not to arouse suspicion. If they were being watched, he wanted to get the jump on this guy, or guys. "Let's pack it up." Sheppard said forcing his tone to stay normal. "There's nothing we can do here."
"I agree." McKay said. He looked around and shuddered. "This place gives me the creeps anyways."
"What place doesn't, Rodney?" Sheppard shot back, but his heart wasn't in it. Something very funny was going on here. The hair on the back of his neck refused to settle down. They were almost to the 'gate when McKay groaned.
"I have something in my boot." He said.
Sheppard stopped a few feet away as McKay bent down to untie his bootlaces. "Again?"
"Hey! It's not my fault if we keep walking on gravel." Rodney griped to the dirt as he undid his laces.
"Well it's not mine if you keep walking into piles of the stuff either." Sheppard muttered to Teyla. She hid a grin. Rodney did have a tendency to walk into mud and other substances that ended up in his boots.
Rodney glanced into the bushes on the side of the pathway and screamed. He stumbled away from the bushes as Sheppard and Ronon ran towards them, guns extended in front of them; ready to face the threat.
Sheppard was the first to see what had made McKay scream. He relaxed and lowering his gun, motioned Ronon to do the same. "For Pete's sake, McKay; it's only a kid."
A small girl sat in the bushes. Her brown hair was cut short and she looked up at Sheppard with bright, bold, blue eyes. He had never seen such blue eyes before. She couldn't have been more then six or seven. She started to edge away from them, obviously scared by McKay.
"Hey there." Sheppard said squatting so that he was on her level. "It's ok. We're not going to hurt you."
"She must have been from the village." Teyla said softly. "Her family must have been among those who were culled."
"So she's an orphan." Rodney said recovering from his shock rather well. "All alone; no family."
"We get the picture, McKay." Sheppard said glaring over his shoulder at Rodney. The sound of brush crackling drew his attention back to girl. She had moved further back into the bushes.
"Hey, come on out here." Sheppard motioned. "We're not going to hurt you."
Rodney stepped forward.
"Come on out." Sheppard coxed again.
The girl moved further back, looking at something beyond Sheppard. He turned to see Rodney behind him. "You're scaring her, Rodney." He said glaring up at the scientist. "Move back some."
"But…!" Rodney started to protest.
"Come on." Ronon grabbed McKay by his vest. "It was probably the sound of you screaming like a girl that scared her."
"I do not scream like a girl!" Rodney said indignantly as he was dragged away.
"Maybe you should do this." Sheppard said looking up at Teyla. "I'm not too good with kids."
She smiled. "Maybe you are better then you think." She tilted her head towards the girl.
Sheppard turned back. Since Rodney had left, she had scooted towards him. Not much, but enough to show she was starting to trust him.
Wordlessly, Sheppard held out his hand towards her. Trust me. He projected with his eyes.
The girl hesitated and then reached towards him. She stopped a few inches away from touching Sheppard, her little hand hovering in mid-air.
Sheppard looked encouragingly at her. Slowly, she reached towards him and grabbed his hand. Smiling with success, Sheppard helped her out of the bushes. Now he could see her more clearly. She wore a white, or what had been white, tunic and brown leggings. Small boots were wrapped around her feet.
She looked up at Teyla and inched closer to Sheppard, touching her shoulder to his thigh. He put a comforting hand on her small shoulder. Teyla smiled at the girl.
"What do you intend to do with her now that you have gotten her to trust you?" She asked looking back at Sheppard.
Sheppard looked down at the girl, nestled at his left side. She looked back up at him with those blue eyes.
"I'm going to take her back to Atlantis." Sheppard found himself saying.
o0o
Dr. Carson Beckett hurried towards the gate room. He had gotten a page from Dr. Weir asking him to the gate room. He was assuming that one of Sheppard's team was injured again; and since it hadn't been an urgent page, he had guessed that it was Rodney.
Maybe this time he'll have learned his lesson about staying away from mud puddles. Carson thought with a smile.
Only earlier that month, Rodney had been walking past what he thought was a shallow puddle. He hadn't known that the planet they had been visiting was famous for its deep mud pits. Rodney had tripped over the root, banging his head on the ground and getting covered with mud in the process.
Carson had treated him for a mild concussion and given him a friendly warning to stay away from strange mud puddles from now on. Rodney had answered him with a stiff glare.
But once Carson entered the gate room, he didn't hear Rodney moaning about some new aliment that had afflicted him, quite the opposite actually. In addition to the usual noise of the gate room, Carson heard the two raised voices of Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard.
He looked towards Weir's office and saw both of them engaged in a heated discussion. Looking back towards the gate room, he located Rodney and headed for him.
"Alright. What did you do now?" Carson asked once he was within speaking distance as he assessed the scientist in front of him. No blood and no obvious cuts. That was a good sign.
Rodney turned to look at him. "Why do you always think it's me?" He said.
"Because, Rodney; you are usually the one who gets injured." Carson shot back.
"Well this time it's not me." Rodney said. "Although, I do have a nasty blister on my foot and it's killing….."
"Rodney!" Carson interrupted. "If it's not you, then who is it? I know it's not Colonel Sheppard because Elizabeth would have sent him down to the Infirmary already; and I know it's definitely not Teyla or Ronon."
"You'd be right there." Rodney said rolling his eyes. Teyla and Ronon were famous for escaping with mere scratches while Rodney and Sheppard ended up in the Infirmary more then any other member currently assigned to the Atlantis base.
"Then who is it?" Carson asked sharply, starting to lose his patience with this guessing game. "I have real patients to get back too and if you can't….."
"Don't get in a state, Carson." Rodney interrupted. "She's over there." He turned towards the corner of the gate room. "Teyla's been trying to coax her out of the corner."
Carson looked towards Teyla and the young child huddled in the corner. He drew in a breath.
"We found her outside a village that had been culled. She's mess." Rodney continued. "Sheppard is the only one who's been able to convince her to do anything."
"Aye." Carson breathed looking the child over. He glared at Rodney. "I'd suppose you'd be in a state too if your parents had just been culled by the Wraith." With that parting remark, Carson left.
He walked towards Teyla.
"Please, come out." Teyla was saying to the child.
"Here, let me, love." Carson said placing a hand on Teyla's shoulder.
The Athosian turned to him in frustration. "She will not respond to me in any way." Teyla looked back at the child. "It is like she has folded in on herself; shutting out the entire world."
"It's called shock." Carson said. "She'll be alright with some food, water and love." He smiled at Teyla, who returned the gesture.
Carson bent down so that he was on the girl's level. "Hey there," He greeted her softly. "My name's Carson. What's yours?"
The girl didn't answer him; she just hugged her knees closer to her chest.
"That's ok." Carson said. "You don't have to tell me your name if you don't want too. You've picked a nice spot to sit. Do you mind if I join you?"
The girl didn't answer. Carson took that as a yes and lowered himself to the floor so that he was sitting beside the young child. He nodded up at Teyla. "It's alright, Teyla. You can leave us now."
Teyla hesitated and then nodded. "I will tell Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir where you are." She turned and left the two of them on the floor.
Carson sat in silence. The girl beside him stayed curled up, knees drawn to her chest. He ignored her. He wanted her to become comfortable with his presence, even if it took all day. He needed her to be comfortable when he examined her.
Minutes went by and slowly, she uncurled her legs. Carson continued to ignore her. Slowly, inch by inch, she crept closer to him until she was almost touching his jacket.
Cautiously, she reached out and touched his jacket sleeve. Carson looked down at the touch and into her blue eyes. He was shocked at how blue they were. Not even his mother's were that blue and she had the bluest eyes he had ever seen, until now.
Carson smiled gently. "I'm not that bad, am I?" He asked.
The child didn't speak; just looked back at him with those deep eyes. Then she scooted closer and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Carson didn't move, letting her rest. They stayed like that for a few minutes.
Carson looked up as the sound of boot come towards them. The child raised her head from his shoulder as Sheppard and Weir's feet come into view. She scrambled up at the sight of Weir and hid behind Sheppard, small hand clinging to his leg.
"Hey." Sheppard said. "You don't have to hide." The child peeked out at Dr. Weir and then ducked back behind Sheppard's leg.
Sheppard looked up at Weir and gave his lopsided grin. "I guess she's just a little shy right now."
"I can see that, Colonel." Weir said noticing the way she clung tightly to Sheppard's pant leg.
"Teyla told me what happened." Weir said turning to Carson who was just getting to his feet. "How is she, Carson?"
"I won't know until I thoroughly examined her." Carson said brushing off the back of his pants. "But she seems to be alright, aside from a little bit of shock and some trust issues."
"No kidding." Sheppard said wincing slightly as the child's grip on his leg tightened when a technician come towards them.
"Dr. Weir? You're wanted in the control tower." He said glancing down to the child behind Sheppard.
"I'll be right there." Weir said. The man nodded and moved away. Weir turned back to Beckett and Sheppard. "Carson, how soon can you check her out?"
"Right now." Beckett said. "I don't have anything scheduled for this afternoon. It shouldn't take long." He smiled down at the girl.
Weir turned to Sheppard. "Alright; as long as Carson gives her a clean bill of health, she can stay here until we find someone to take her in."
Sheppard smiled. "I knew you'd understand, Elizabeth."
"Uh, huh." Weir was not impressed. "Just remember, Colonel that she'll be your sole responsibility. I don't have time to look after a child."
"Dr. Weir?" The technician called from the balcony of the control tower.
"Coming!" Weir called back as she hurried towards the stairs.
Sheppard looked at Beckett and shrugged. "It's only for a few days; what could go wrong?" He said glancing down at the girl. She looked up at him trustingly with those deep, blue eyes.
o0o
After Carson looked their young guest over and declared her to be healthy, Sheppard took her to the mess for supper. He didn't know about the child, but his stomach was reminding him that he hadn't eaten in a while.
The child walked close beside him, shying away when anyone passed them in the hall. Sheppard sighed. And they weren't even quarter of the way there yet. They would have to do something about that.
"Colonel!"
Sheppard turned around to see Major Lorne walked quickly towards them. "Mind if I walk with you, sir?" His 2IC asked. Lorne was off-duty by the look of it. His grey sweatshirt and pants looked wrinkled and sweaty.
"Not at all, Major." Sheppard nodded to the basketball in Lorne's hands, pretty sure he knew what 2IC had been up too. "Playing a friendly game with our Marines?"
Lorne gave a grin. "We'll beat them yet, Colonel."
There was an ongoing challenge between the Marines and the Air-Force personal about who could win the most basketball games. Sheppard wasn't to sure who had started it, but from the remarks the Marines were making, it sounded like they had been the instigators. Sheppard had overheard a marine bragging to his team mates that fly boys belonged in the air, not on the ground.
Sheppard assumed that the remark had somehow made it back to the Air-Force boys and now they were determined to kick some Marine ass. Hence the games that went on almost every week.
"I heard about the girl." Lorne said changing the subject. "Is this her?" He asked looking down at the child beside Sheppard.
A small smile crossed Sheppard's lips. Either Lorne was taking his job seriously or he just didn't want Sheppard to ask how the game had gone.
"Yup." Sheppard said aloud. "This is her."
For once, the girl wasn't hiding behind Sheppard. She stood quietly beside him, looking up at Lorne with curiosity.
"Hey there." Lorne bent down, holding the ball against his hip. "I'm Evan. What's your name?"
"She doesn't talk, Lorne." Sheppard reminded his 2IC.
"I know." Lorne said as she touched his sweatshirt hesitantly, trying to figure out what it was. A frown appeared on her small face. "I thought it was worth a try." Lorne continued. "Do we know how she came to be an orphan?"
Sheppard shrugged. "Teyla thinks she might have escaped from the Wraith. We think the rest of her family was culled."
The child drew her hand back as Lorne stood.
"Care to join us for some supper?" Sheppard offered.
Lorne shook his head. "No thanks, Colonel. I think I'm going to hit the showers. Thanks for the offer."
"Anytime." Sheppard said resuming his walk with his young charge.
Lorne turned towards the living quarters. Man! How good a shower sounded right now! Then he was going to get something to eat. His stomach was starting to gnaw at his insides.
"Major!"
Lorne turned to see Lt. Fachetti run up to him. The solider stopped beside his CO. "How's the arm, sir?"
During their game, one of the Marine's had bashed Lorne's arm against the wall. He had said he was sorry, but didn't look too disappointed to see the bruise forming on Lorne's forearm.
"It's ok." Lorne said. "Itching like hell." He rolled up his shirt sleeve to check on the bruise. Dr. Beckett had said nothing when Lorne had shown him, but the sigh the doctor had let out had been enough. It was a pretty big bruise.
Lorne stared in confusion at his forearm. The bruise that had been there, right under his elbow, was now completely healed without a trace left behind.
"Wow." Fachetti said. "I guess Doctor Beckett really can do miracles." He slapped Lorne on the shoulder and then went off in search of the Marine who had bashed his C.O's arm.