Author's Note: Yay! Book 2... Thank you to all my readers and reviewers! So since life is busy as the norm… I won't be updating weekly but Fortnightly after my exams of course and if anyone wants to be my punctuation and grammar beta just drop me a line :-) ~ Enjoy!
Hannah held on to the console to balance herself as the puddle jumper took a steep nosedive toward the planet's surface."Don't you think we are coming in a little hot?" she asked Sheppard as the ground was getting closer.
"No, it'll be fine" he said in a casual tone as he tried to get the controls to respond, the puddle jumper levelled slightly but not enough to save them. "Ok, maybe I take it back.. brace for impact!" he shouted.
When Sheppard regained consciousness he coughed as the cockpit was starting to fill with smoke. He pushed off the controls and groaned as pain radiated through his chest, definitely broke something… he thought to himself otherwise he was still, he looked over to Hannah. She was slumped over the control panel unconscious. He moved from his chair and moved to Hannah's side, he brushed her hair out of her face as saw a small pool of blood on the console he cursed as he pulled Hannah off the console. She had a gash extending from the side of temple across her forehead. Her blood covered most of the damage and travelled down the side of her face. He felt for her pulse which was slow but steady, she gave a moan as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Oh" Hannah moaned as her brain slowly started up. She coughed as the air was thick with smoke. "Sheppard?" Hannah called before she could compute any response she felt two hands pick her up from behind. It took her brain a few moments to realise She was being pulled up to her feet. Sheppard was shouting something to her. She couldn't understand what he was saying.
"Ok come on" he said as Hannah dragged her feet as he pulled them out of the puddle jumper. Sheppard moved them to a safe distance before he sat Hannah on the ground and looked at her head injury. She looked around dazed and confused, Sheppard snapped his fingers to get her attention. It took a moment before she looked at him, not completely focus but enough to register.
"Ok you know the rules, What's your name?" he asked her, Hannah blinked slowly at him.
"Hannah… wait Lieutenant O'Neill" she answered, she looked up as if in thought and smiled "Lieutenant Hannah O'Neill" she told him. Sheppard would have smiled but was more concerned about her condition.
"Ok good, Where are you?" he asked her slowly, she pursed her lips and looked around.
"On the ground" she said dryly "What happened to the jumper?" she asked pointing to the jumper that was still smoking a few feet away.
"We crashed it" he told her. He pulled combat dressing from his vest and unwrapped the bandage and pressed the gauze gently against Hannah's wound.
"Damn, oh my head hurts" she groaned wincing in pain as he placed more pressure to wrap the bandage around her head.
"I know I told you to brace for impact it looks like you head butted the console instead" Sheppard told her, Hannah gave him a vague smile.
"Had to show it who's boss" she slurred slightly, Sheppard chuckled and was about to say something.
"Major Sheppard come in" Markham radioed.
"Sheppard here" Sheppard replied on his radio he looked at Hannah was blinking slowly as she looked around dazed and confused.
"You guys alright?"
"Yeah, we have minor injuries, the jumper is out of commission" Sheppard said looking at the puddle jumper that was still smoking half buried in the dirt.
"We'll come and pick you up eta 2minutes Sir"
"Ok Sheppard out" Sheppard said, he turned to Hannah who had a hand pressed against her forehead. She looked at Sheppard,
"You ok?" she asked him, Sheppard sat back on the dirt beside her and held his rib cage. He breathed in short breaths as pain radiated through his chest he was sure he had bruised a few ribs in the impact. Fingers crossed they weren't broken. Other than that he seemed to be in control of all his faculties and had minor bruises and cuts nothing a couple of Tylenol and hot shower couldn't fix unlike Hannah who needed stitches.
"Yeah, that was nothing" Sheppard said, Hannah laughed and winced.
"I hope I'm never in the cockpit for when it's something" Hannah told him. She seemed to regain most of her faculties except for her speech she was still slurring slightly.
"Hey you have to answer my other questions" Sheppard turned to her, "Tell what day is it?" he said, knowing Beckett was going to ask him later.
"Tuesday" Hannah told him her mind foggy which was clear to him by her facial expressions.
"Close…. It's Wednesday" he told her
"Oh" Hannah said as a second puddle jumper landed near by Sheppard helped Hannah up and they slowly made their way over. The aft door opened and Markham stepped out to help them. Once Hannah was settled on the Bench in the back of the jumper Sheppard and Markham moved to the cockpit.
"Get us back to Atlantis immediately Sergeant" Sheppard order the Sergeant, The puddle jumper took off and Sheppard moved into the back area to check on Hannah.
"Hey you still with me O'Neill?" he asked her, she nodded slowly and she leaned back and closed her eyes. "We'll be in Atlantis in no time" he told her.
"Awesome" Hannah said dryly.
"So don't worry, I'm going tear someone a new one… That's the second time that same puddle jumper has fallen out of the sky. I thought it was fixed" Sheppard said getting angry.
"It was cleared by the engineers, it shouldn't have nose dived like that" Hannah said.
"Well it did"
"Well I guess there were always going to be a few wrinkles in repairs until the engineers understand what they are fixing"
"I know, I'm just pissed. It completely shorted out even inertial dampeners" Sheppard said.
"I know but we walked away in one piece right? We'll worry about recovery of the jumper later" Hannah told him.
It took a few minutes for them to return the Atlantis when the aft door opened Sheppard helped Hannah up off the seat. She swayed on her feet as she walked toward Beckett who was already waiting with a gurney and a medical team.
"Awwh a medical team just for me? you shouldn't have" Hannah said sarcastically to Sheppard.
"Well I know how much you love the attention" he replied as he helpd her up onto the gurney. She wasn't going to argue for the moment as she laid down and Beckett turned to Sheppard. "How are you Major?"
"I'm good take care of O'Neill, I have an engineer to find" Sheppard said to Beckett, Beckett shot him a look. "I'll drop by later for a check up" he reassured Beckett. Beckett took his word and motioned for them to move Hannah out.
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A day later, Hannah sat in her office looking over the recent reports from off world mission, her head was pounding thanks to the 15 stitches and the nasty jolt Sheppard gave her by crashing the jumper. She had spent the last 24 hours under supervision which she had spent most of sleeping thanks to Beckett sedating her. When she woke up around lunchtime she indulged in a meal and decided it was time to check herself out. Beckett wasn't too happy about her leaving but none the less released her as long as she came back to the infirmary if she became ill.
She had given her word she would take it easy and she was, paper work was easy and a necessity even though it made her head hurt. She looked up just as Staff Sergeant Bates came into the office he clicked his tongue at her. "Shouldn't you be in the infirmary resting L.T.?" he asked her, she raised an eyebrow at him.
"There is work to be done" she said as she shuffled papers. It had been nearly 10 months since they had arrived in the Pegasus galaxy. Bates had taken the position of Head of Internal Security. He and Hannah had worked closely together to cover the XO position since they had been no takers to the role. Except for Ford, but Sheppard didn't want Ford in the role. Hannah knew why. It was Ford's nature he was unpredictable to following orders, naïve and still needed a lot of training and discipline. No one was averse to Hannah doing the role unofficially since she kept things running efficiently with Bates. She even had respect from the other officers who had previously shown their disapproval of her, she still took orders from them and respected rank, she tried not to ruffle any feathers she left that to Sheppard since he was the one who had the power to stomp his feet and have the final word.
She had managed to keep her status as a clone under the radar no one knew except Bates, Sheppard, Weir and Beckett. Luckily it never was a problem the scientists never really asked why she made things look easier than they were. They let her knowledge of Ancient technology slide for the most part because she used to be a part of SG1. They believed her knowledge was a combination of Daniel's knowledge of the language and Sam's experience of adapting to new technology.
"The work is never ending" Bates told her as he took the guest chair in her office. "I don't think the world would end if you took a day off" he added, he got up from his chair and walked to the door "Come on" he said to her,
"Why?" she asked not really wanting to get out of her seat. She ran her fingers across her forehead in an unconscious effort to wipe the pain away.
"If you can work you can play a game of Decider…If I win you have to take the next 48 hrs off" he told her.
"Fine" Hannah sighed and got up from her chair and followed him. 'Decider' was the game they played when they butted heads about certain things like rosters, or having a day off since they were both stubborn and hard workers. Mainly it was a good way to blow off steam. Bates had revealed his personal item was a Basketball. Hannah had tracked down an empty room on the west pier big enough to play the game and had set up hoops. It was good for team building and morale on the base.
Bates had taught Hannah the basics of basketball and then taught her 'Decider' a game he had made up for him and his younger brother, basically if an argument was being had between him and his brother they would settle by whoever shot 30 hoops first won. So if Bates wanted Hannah to take a day off he would challenge her, she wouldn't back down from it and three out ten times she would win. Bates had years of experience and practice, so he won most arguments settled this way but Hannah still tried. She also enjoyed the sportsmanship of the game and it seemed if they were playing 'decider' or it was a group of people playing a game. People were smiling and having a good time relaxing, Hannah always felt better after playing even when she lost. It gave her a good excuse to goof off and have fun. Rank was left at the door which made smack talk even more amusing when it was a team of mixed ranks.
They came into the court room, Bates picked up the basketball and threw it to Hannah which she caught. "Ladies first" he said, Hannah aimed and shot 6 in a row before missing and passed the ball to Bates, who was already smiling.
He got about 15 shots in easily before missing, which Hannah assumed was on purpose. She took the ball and they continued until they were nearly even Bates's score at 29 and Hannah's at 28, she raised the ball and swallowed her head was pounding from this small exertion. She aimed at the hoop and shot the ball it landed in the hoop. Bates caught the ball and bounced it as Hannah leaned over as she was hit by a wave of nausea.
"You ok L.T.?" Bates asked, Hannah nodded and straightened steeling herself she only had to make one more shot. He handed her the ball. She took a deep breath and aimed the ball at the hoop, she started to see stars cross her eyesight. She shot the ball and missed.
"Oh too bad" Bates said in mock sympathy he ran to get the ball and came back. Hannah leaned over again and took a deep inhale and exhaled, Bates neared her again.
"Please tell me you won't hurf here" he said to her, she knew even though he wasn't showing sympathy he was concerned.
"I might, just to spite you" Hannah said to him, he laughed at her.
"Watch this" he told her, Hannah watched as he made the last shot. "Looks like you have to have the next 48 hours off" he told her.
"I hate you sometimes" Hannah said as she swayed straightening up. He caught her elbow as she felt she lost another shade of colour.
"You're just jealous of my skills. Come on I'll walk you to your quarters" Bates told her,
"I think I can walk myself" she said to him petulantly.
"Oh don't be a sore loser I'm looking out for you, don't need you fainting in the hallways"
"I do not faint"
"So you don't faint, you swoon?" he asked, Hannah shot him a dark look to which he laughed.
As soon as Bates left her at her quarters she had a shower and laid down, she was going to write in her journal but with her nausea she laid on her bed instead. Within seconds of her head hitting the pillow she was out like a light.
She didn't know how long she'd been sleeping but it was interrupted too soon by her door chiming. She opened one bleary eye and picked up her watch it read 6am. She groaned and realised she had slept for nearly 15 hours. The door continued to chime.
Hannah groaned as she got out her bed, the door kept chiming. "I'm coming" she said loudly. Hoping it would stop the chiming as her head ached and her brain was foggy. She pulled on a pair of pants on and she waved a hand over the door sensor, the door opened and revealed Lieutenant Ford. He smiled at her, he was fully dressed with a TAC vest and P90. He had an extra TAC vest and P90 in his hands.
"Did I wake you nugget?" He asked, Hannah tried not to let the nickname get to her. He'd been calling her 'nugget' ever since they met. He knew it annoyed her and she found it disrespectful especially around the military personnel. It was the way he said it, the tone was clear he didn't think much of her and what he did think wasn't good even though he never openly said it. He was so easy to read, it seemed being mean wasn't his nature so when he tried it just didn't suit him.
"No sir I was just resting my eyes." Hannah said
"Right well you're late"
"Late for wait?" Hannah asked
"Late for what Sir" he corrected
"Late for what Sir?" Hannah repeated.
"Today we are exploring the lower levels with scientists" Ford told her, she looked at him and recalled the duty roster.
"I'm not rostered on that job" Hannah said to him, her head was pounding she felt horrible.
"You are now, lieutenant Isaacs called in sick, so come on" Ford told her, he held out a TAC vest and P90 he had brought for her.
"You know I'm on medical leave for two days" Hannah told him
"Oh it's easy task just walking around with scientists anyway you were in your office yesterday"
"What are you stalking me? because if you were you would have seen Sheppard chew my ass about taking it easy and following doctor's orders Sir" Hannah said to him.
"Well you look fine to me, gear up" Ford told her firmly. Hannah knew she wasn't going to win so she gave in. She reluctantly took the vest and gun from him.
"I'll need a couple of seconds to get my boots on" she said to him. Ford smiled happy he had won this round.
"I'll be waiting" he told her, she closed door on him and sat down on the bed she needed more sleep not walking around the base. After a few moments she stood up and changed into a fresh change of fatigues, she zipped the TAC vest it felt like it weighed 50 kilograms. Once she brushed her hair and teeth she looked at her head wound in the mirror. It was a pretty bad bump with stitches. She re dressed the wound since the swelling and the stitches made it still too gruesome to put on show. She took two Tylenol for her breakfast with water and headed to the door. Ford was waiting for her as she came out. She put in her ear piece in her ear as they walked to the nearest transporter.
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