"And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought."
-Alfred Tennyson
A/N: S P O I L E R W A R N I N G! This mentions events taking place during Season One, Episode three: "Hide and Seek" of Stargate: Atlantis. It may spoil that episode for you.
Chapter One: Conflict
Humankind has understood history as a series of battles because,
to this day, it regards conflict as the central facet of life.
-Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Year One
Soft white reflected off the screen of the laptop upon the desk, and the faint whirring of machines and footsteps echoed through the open door. A salty fresh scent lingered in the air, emanating from the ancient walls that had spent more than ten thousand years in the sea. An occasional thunk broke the lull of the room, merging with the endless sounds of keyboards and metal instruments. Several people were interspersed amongst the cluster of tables, occupied with their work. A loud crash suddenly resonated through the room, and everyone looked up at a short man standing sheepishly near the entrance. He bent down for the large metal box he'd dropped onto the floor and clumsily gathered a series of spilled items.
A bespectacled scientist glared at him, slamming down his mug of coffee. "Corrigan could you be anymore careless? Or loud? We're trying to concentrate."
His young partner elbowed him in the side, sympathy in her green-blue eyes. "Don't be so hard on him Ray, we're all still in shambles since the arrival. I couldn't even find my translations this morning. Besides, I could use a break."
She pushed down the screen of her laptop and straightened out her lab jacket, then re-clipped stray chestnut hairs that had fallen around her pale face. A skinny sandy haired woman across the room stretched her arms overhead and grimaced at her associate.
"I agree, Hemmings. You've got to lighten up. We've been at it all morning."
"Well, it's what we're here for, Dr. Simpson," he said, picking up a small item off the table. "However, I will continue."
Both made faces at him. The woman ambled over to their station, glancing down at the notebooks scattered on the table.
"You've been busy, Faith. How far did you get on the translation?"
"Pretty far. I'm afraid there's nothing exact about these pieces." She motioned to the series of foreign objects that Dr. Hemmings was studying. They'd been found earlier in one of the labs on Atlantis. "No 'this is an on-off switch,' or 'watch out, it explodes'. The Ancients just didn't leave instruction manuals lying around for us lesser folk. It was all stuck in their heads."
"I was afraid of that-"
Another crash echoed through the room, making all three jump and acknowledge the new person in the room. Haughtily the man side-stepped Corrigan whom he'd just knocked over smirking at them.
"Guess who was first to get the new gene therapy from Beckett?"
"Abrams?" Dr. Simpson said sarcastically.
"Welcome to the ATA club, Dr. McKay."
"Now you're not the only one in this room who can use specific Ancient technology, Dr. Stuart," he said, clasping his hands.
"Don't get too excited yet," she said, her countenance deadly serious. "We estimated only a fifty percent or so chance for uptake. And there's always the chance this retrovirus won't transfer on humans, but I have the utmost faith in Carson's abilities."
"No worries. It worked!" McKay said, raising a finger and smiling.
"What? How do you know?"
He stepped forward and pointed to his chest, where a strange green light was glowing from a small object clinging there. "This activated afterward. That's got to be what made it go on."
Her eyes opened wide and Dr. Hemmings dropped the magnifying glass in his hand.
"I was working on that earlier," Ray snapped. "It happened to disappear when I went down the hall."
"You have no idea what it is. You couldn't even get it on," he simpered.
"So you decided to steal it?" Faith said incredulously, stepping around the desk and helping her fellow scientist pick up his equipment. "Dr. McKay, You can't go playing with alien technology! God knows what it is!"
"Pssht, I read your translation. It's not like it's a bomb."
Faith stared at him. "You took my work? Do you know how long I had to sit here to make up for it?"
"You stole research and Ancient gadgetry?" Dr. Corrigan said, peering up from the floor. "Then stuck an unknown object on yourself? That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard."
"I was experimenting. At least I'm not an awkward klutz who goes around dropping expensive lab equipment," McKay said, tapping his foot. "And I was busy with real experimentation."
"We're busy with actual science here. And at least I'm not an arrogant loudmouth with my head too far stuck up my-"
"Real science? You're a bunch of voodoo doctors," he snorted. "Refresh me on your PhD thesis of human cannibalism in archaic societies?"
"We prefer doctors of anthropology," Faith said through clenched teeth. "Miles is very adept at such a multi-faceted subject."
Dr. Simpson stomped over and swept a hand towards the article on his chest. "Give me that and stop being a pri-" A second later she retracted it in alarm. "What the--?"
Faith stared at her and the object.
"Oh that's real mature-"
"Shut up, McKay," she said, somewhat distantly. "Sarah, do that again."
"Why don't you?" he snapped.
Reluctantly her counterpart repeated herself with the same result. Faith's face brightened, and she grasped one of Corrigan's instruments on the floor, heaving it at the annoying scientist. He shouted and ducked, but it hit him squarely alongside the head.
"Missed me," he said, turning on her. "You can't throw things at people. Are you insane?"
"Guys," she said, shocked.
"Yeah, we saw it," Sarah said in astonishment.
Ray circled Rodney, transfixed on him. The other backed away, glancing at them each nervously. "It deflected."
"Huh? I didn't feel anything."
"Exactly."
McKay smiled and peered down at the green device. "It protected me. It acted like a shield. Quick, try something else."
Automatically Dr. Hemmings raised his leg and struck at his knee; it had no effect.
"Try again!" Rodney said enthusiastically. A myriad of activity ensued.
Five minutes later, a tall form passed by the doorway, but suddenly stopped at catching sight of the outlandish scene. One scientist brought a chair down on Rodney McKay's back and another hit him (where the sun don't shine), but he didn't move a muscle.
"It's remarkable," a willowy blonde said. She was one of several newcomers attracted to the scene.
"See why I radioed you, Connie?" Faith said, playfully nudging her.
"Dr. Stuart, Dr. Elliot, you know as well as I do, scientific study is not a game," Dr. Wagner said, hiding a smile. "But who could resist a free punch at Dr. McKay?"
"What's going on here?" A man with dark messy hair stepped into the gathering, his hazel eyes full of concern.
"Ah, Sheppard," Rodney said nonchalantly. "We were just testing a piece of Ancient technology."
"Really? It looked more like a scientists' coup, or a really bad game of dare."
Faith lowered her notebook and folded her arms, smiling. "That's basically what's going on, Major."
He raised an eyebrow. "In that case, shoo fellas."
Disappointed, the others departed, but Faith stayed and caught Dr. Corrigan by the arm. "Hold on Miles." She confronted McKay. "I believe you owe him an apology."
"For what?"
"I don't know, being a rude jerk?"
"That was nothing-"
"C'mon McKay," Major Sheppard interjected. "Be a big boy and say you're sorry to the noble Dr.-?" he paused, and gazed at her searchingly.
"Faith," she said. "Faith Stuart."
"Glad to meet yet another person on base," he said, his eyes warm and appraising. The other scientist made a disgusted noise. "Rodney, say it. Atlantis will never get up and running if you don't stop fighting," he chided. "Or do I have to shoot you?"
"Hold on-" Faith hesitated, then beckoned Sheppard. "Forget it, Major." Corrigan coughed loudly, but she ignored him. "Why don't you try something on McKay?"
Sheppard's face became brighter. "Are you saying I should shoot him?"
"Yes."
"WHAT?" McKay shouted. "You're crazy! That won't work!"
"You know it will," she said, waving a hand at him. "Stop being a chicken. If scalpels, chairs and people didn't get through, then a bullet won't either."
"Bullet. See how casually she says that?"
"If Sheppard doesn't do it, McKay, I will!"
"Wouldn't you love to try," he replied, swaggering a bit. "Go ahead Major."
Sheppard lifted an eyebrow and quickly drew his sidearm. "If you say so." He aimed at Rodney's leg, then pulled the trigger.
The gunshot rang in the air, followed by the lightest tink of metal, as the bullet fell harmlessly to the floor. McKay lowered his arms and blinked erratically.
"Am I alive?"
"Unfortunately," Corrigan muttered.
"Now that was cool," Sheppard interjected.
"Do you know what this means?"
Faith rolled her eyes. "That nothing can stop the wearer-"
"This is huge," McKay said, throwing out his arms in example. "We got to try something bigger, better, more dangerous-"
"Well in that case, why don't you jump off a balcony?" Connie said sarcastically.
Sheppard and McKay glanced at each other greedily, then dashed out the door with Corrigan at their heels.
"Men," Faith sighed.
Faith and Connie followed them down the corridors, apprehensive about what juvenile thing they'd do next. The found the men on the balcony overlooking the gateroom.
"This should be high enough," McKay said. He stepped back nervously from the edge. "It is pretty high."
"Hurry up," Corrigan muttered.
"McKay," Faith said, coming around the corner. "You need to stop wasting everyone's time, including yours. We know the damn thing functions, so get it off and figure out how."
"No way."
"Alright fine," she said. Gritting her teeth, she pinched Corrigan.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"For encouraging him." She pointed at Rodney. "And a taste of what's coming later to you."
Miles perked up a little and allowed himself to be dragged off to the side.
Rodney backed over to the railing, then balked. "I can't do it," he moaned.
"Why not?" Sheppard asked impatiently.
"I can't willingly- it's too-" he paused and gazed at him. "You do it. Push me."
"Are you sure?" The scientist nodded. "Say when."
"Ok…ready."
Sheppard emphatically slammed him in the chest, knocking him backwards over the railing. The room came to a standstill, a series of gasps drowned out by a distinct thud.
"Oh my god." Dr. Weir, a short brown haired woman the leader of the expedition appeared across the upper balcony, accompanied by Dr. Peter Grodin.
The Major grinned at her and exclaimed, "Whoa! Did you see that?"
"Yes!" she cried, hurrying to the railing. "What were-"
A split second later, McKay popped up from the ground, smiling like an idiot.
"I'm fine," he shouted.
Everyone rushed down the main stairs and clustered near him, relieved and amazed.
"Beckett's gene therapy worked," he said.
"I'll say," Faith growled.
He rolled his eyes at her and pointed to his chest. "I was able to activate this afterward. It's a personal shield that protects against anything. It must have inertial dampening properties too, because I felt nothing. Watch." He turned to Grodin. "Hit me."
Immediately he swung at McKay, but his arm deflected harmlessly. He hollered in pain and glared at him. Chuckles broke out against the bystanders, but Dr. Elliot resisted, making hers into a fit of imitated coughing.
McKay peered at him knowingly. "You didn't have to swing so hard. Notice how he didn't even hesitate."
Weir stared at him wryly. "I'm trying to fathom how you thought it was a good idea to test this device by being thrown off a balcony."
"Believe me, it's not the only thing we tried," he said, lifting a finger expectantly.
Sheppard said proudly, "I shot him." Weir frowned, but he shrugged. "In the leg."
A few other scientists stepped up, jabbering eagerly.
"We tried more than that Mr. Scientific Procedure."
"Chairs."
"Box cutters."
"Scalpels."
"Metal rods."
"Jealous?" McKay blinked and said loudly, "I'm invulnerable."
"Yes green with envy,' Weir said sarcastically. She shook her head and swung for the stairs. "Alright, take it off. Let's have our meeting."
Crestfallen, he reached for the device, but his hand strained against the green shielding. He looked up worriedly. "This could be a problem. I can't get at it."
Sheppard eyed him suspiciously and tried grabbing it too, with the same result. "Just checking."
Dr. Corrigan shook a fist. "See, this is what happens when you steal advanced technology."
"You stole-" Weir gaped at Rodney, but threw her hands up. "I do not want to know."
"I didn't steal anything." McKay snapped at him.
"Oh yeah?"
Faith edged towards Dr. Weir as Corrigan began loudly making accusations at him. "Scientists plus incredibly advanced technology equals four year olds in a toy store."
"No kidding." The woman sighed and spoke up. "Okay enough-"
"Faith." A voice whispered, and someone tapped her shoulder. "Let's get out of here."
Weir pointedly instructed individuals and cleared the floor, scattering the large gathering. Connie skedaddled out of her path and tugged Faith into a side corridor.
"Whew, we narrowly missed being plowed over there," Faith commented.
Connie chuckled and glanced at her forearm. "Cool, it's almost lunchtime. Scientific discovery makes me hungry."
Faith felt an empty grumble in her belly, at the mention of food. "Ugh. Commotion makes me hungry. Let's go then."
They scooted past several people towards the dining area, and bounced the morning's events off each other.
.-.-.-.
A low panoply of voices rose once in awhile but were sparse in the high vaulting room. It was crowded with hungry scientists and soldiers clinking and talking over their lunches. Lengthy windows spilled golden sunlight across the floor, and looked out to the sparkling ocean and graceful spires of the city below. A chair clunked at one of the tables cradled in the corner, where a couple women sat.
"Hey Lanie," Faith said.
Connie waved her fork in greeting, next to her a scientist named Christina nodded.
She checked out their lunches and picked up hers resignedly, muttering indistinguishably in her British accent. Catching a few words, Christina put down her sandwich and both elbows on the table. She gazed at the others inquiringly.
"Aren't you guys tired of having the same thing every day?"
Faith glanced perturbedly at her food. "I enjoy a nice turkey sandwich on an occasional basis, not daily."
Connie sighed. "Yeah, but it's not like there's a Safeway or Papa's Diner available through the next Stargate."
Faith perked up a bit. "Well not exactly, but other civilizations contain their versions of restaurants and grocery stores. You just won't find any Big Macs or chocolate cake."
"Thank you Dr. Culture," Connie said, smacking her on the back. "I propose next time we find such a place, we feast on the lunch special."
The others mused in agreement, but Christina fell silent. She tightened her hands and gazed downward. "That would be nice. I just don't like going through the gate that much."
"Dr. Brown," Connie scolded. "You can't be serious. You're on a Stargate mission by just being here. Why not-"
"Oh quit it," Faith said, nudging her.
Leaning forward solicitously, Christina said in a low voice, "Do you know exactly what happens to your body mass and your atoms when you step through it? If you could comprehend five percent of the wormhole physics I do, you'd lock yourself in an airtight container."
"It's understandable," Faith said.
"But the fear versus the wealth of technology, experience and-" Lane glanced slyly over her shoulder towards a table full of men. "resources?"
"Well," Christina paused, perusing the selection. "You've got a point."
"See?" Lane patted her on the arm. "There's a lot to be discovered right in our own backyard."
"Like Harrington," Connie said, spotting a scientist putting away his tray. The three pivoted in the direction she was staring.
Christina tilted her head. "Eh. He's alright I guess."
"Captain Larson?" Lane suggested.
Faith elbowed her. "No way. Awkwardness factor. I'm on his team."
Christina drew aback. "Whoa. When did you get assigned to an offworld team?"
She shrugged and picked up her water. "Ernest brought me onboard again shortly after we got here. Andrew's kind of jealous since he's been trying to get his own team."
"Now Andrew," Lane pointed her fork at them. She exhaled appreciatively, and the other two women nodded eagerly in agreement.
Faith choked loudly. "Ew God, he's my brother!"
"C'mon Fae, you know what we're talking about."
She gave them the evil eye. "Uh no."
"Fine," Christina said, laughing. "How about you? Anyone in mind?"
"Hmm, not really," she said, digging distractedly into her food.
"C'mon," Connie said, pulling away her tray.
She looked at her pathetically, and sighed in exasperation. "Okay, some of the soldiers are agreeable."
"Like who?"
"Major Sheppard," Connie blurted out. "Lt. Pettinger, Gillins… "
"Constance!" Faith rebuked, kicking her reproachfully.
Her friend grinned knowingly. "Admit it. I can read you like a book."
"Men in uniform? I didn't peg you for the GI Joe type," Lane teased.
"You know I'm from a military family, Andrew, my Uncle, both grandparents-"
"She thinks soldiers are totally hot."
"Grab him then," Lane demanded.
"Hey," she said, lifting both hands in the air. "Think what you want, but I am not in the market for a guy at the moment. And why did this become Faith's dating clinic?"
"Easy there," Christina said, trailing off. She glanced beyond Faith's head, motioning stealthily. "Man advance, twelve o'clock."
Confused, Faith moved and found Dr. Grodin headed in their direction. He stopped next to her, appearing quite preoccupied. "Dr. Stuart, you were translating the compilation containing the shield's text?"
"Yes, why?" she said, somewhat startled. "What did McKay do now?"
"I need you to complete it with our team. His life may be in jeopardy."
.-.-.-.
" '…the atomic planate shielding adds defense against radioactive emissions and kinetic forces too.' " Faith leaned back from the laptop screen and twisted hopefully in her chair to the scientist sitting next to her.
He ran a hand through his blonde hair in frustration, lowering his head.
"Does it mean anything?" she asked helpfully.
He smiled soberly and glanced at the blocks of Ancient text. "Pretty much nothing we didn't know before or can use. Is that really all of it?"
She quickly ran over the screen once more and shook her head. "I've been through this several times. That's the extent of the material. Sorry Dr. - uhm?"
"Collins. Feel free to call me Scott," he said lightly. He stood up and thoughtfully examined translations scribbled neatly across her papers. "You were very helpful, but what we needed wasn't available."
"Thank you, Scott," she said.
From his position in a far corner, McKay decidedly scrutinized them, yelling, "You done?"
"Yeah," Collins said, slumping into his chair. "We've got nothing."
Rodney flung his scanner at Dr. Hemmings, and scurried over. He sidled Faith from the desk, and picked up her notes, reading them disappointedly.
"Are you sure this is correct? Couldn't you have substituted the wrong definition or something?
"No," Faith answered, gritting her teeth. "Everyone makes mistakes, but I didn't."
He busily cross-referenced between the computer screen and notebook, as if searching for a glaring omission.
Collins folded his arms. "Dr. you don't even know Ancient. Dr. Stuart is perfectly capable-"
"This here," McKay said. He wheeled on Faith and ran a finger along a particular sentence. "That sounds weird. You must've messed it up."
"It's fine. That is a direct translation." She glared and tried to take the notebook away, but he held on tight.
Collins peered over his shoulder at the text. "Sounds alright to me."
"Did I ask you?" he snapped, giving him a withering look. "Are we trying to seal my impending doom? Because it sure sounds like it!"
"Keep this up and I'll have a hand in it," she growled.
He backed away warily, and sized her up wonderingly. "Okay then."
A faint whooshing sounded as the door to the lab suddenly opened, admitting a worried Dr. Weir. She came over to the trio and gazed at them.
"Did you find anything?"
"I don't know. No?" Nervously he thrust the notepad at Dr. Weir, keeping a watchful eye on Faith. "You check."
Bewildered, Weir glanced at the paper, then at the scientists. "Dr. Stuart, I thought you were translating the object reference?"
"I did," she answered, glaring icily at Rodney. "Dr. McKay just doubts my work."
Weir briefly studied the notes and screen, then smiled. "Well I don't. It's why you're here."
McKay stepped away slightly, still nervous. "So you prefer hiring homicidal anthropologists?"
"Rodney," she said disdainfully. "There's nothing wrong with Dr. Stuart or her performance. Obviously the solution wasn't in here. Sorry."
"It's alright," Collins said. He brightened and looked at Faith. "I'm done for today. Would you like to grab a bite?"
"Sure," she said, smiling conspiratorially.
McKay frowned. "Oh ha ha, in front of the dying man."
Collins spun on his heel and walked out with Faith.
-.-.-.
"Hit me."
"Hit me."
"Hold."
"Flip 'em sucker," he said evilly. "You're going to bust."
"Well aren't you snarky?" Faith said, lifting an eyebrow. "I'll bet you busted!" She snatched at the facedown cards on the bed. "20 and…no way- 21? Crap!"
"I win!" Andrew guffawed loudly and scooped up the betted items lying in between them on the sheet. "You have learned an important lesson tonight: I am the Blackjack Master."
"Nuh uh, cheater." She uncrossed her legs and jumped at him, tearing the backward baseball cap off his head.
They wrestled for a moment, until she was unceremoniously dumped off the side of the bed. He fully stretched out his legs and leaned back against the pillow, laughing. He smoothed his messed up brown hair with his fingers and tore into a betted chocolate bar. Faith appeared over the edge, clutching the baseball hat.
"I win this one."
His eyes flashed open, and he grabbed at it, successfully latching on after a few tries. They struggled, but he gripped it tightly and reeled it next to him. He curled over it, and Faith let go to avoid being squashed.
"Ugh, give it back," she said, pounding him on the back.
"Nope," he mumbled underneath his arm.
As she tried to dig at him, a sound emanated from the door, signaling someone was there.
"Get it," she demanded.
"No you. I'm winning right now."
"Fine," she sighed, poking him. "What am I? Your doorman?"
"No, just my little sister," he said, laughing.
She straightened her hair and threw him a dirty look. "Little sister who can still kick your ass when she wants to."
She waved at the wall console, and the doors slid open. The light spilled into the dim hallway, revealing Sheppard there in full gear.
"Major," she said startledly. "This is a surprise."
His eyes narrowed in confusion and glanced around, to see if he had the right area.
"Hey Fai...Dr. Stuart, uh-"
"Not looking for me," she said immediately.
He shook his head. "Sergeant Stuart actually." He lifted a finger and shifted uneasily. "I didn't make that connection. Are you his wi-"
"Sister."
"Did I mix you up?"
"No, these are his quarters. Andrew's over there," she said. She jabbed a thumb at the lone form of the man on the bed.
Her brother perked up at hearing his name, but stayed still. "Faith, who is it?"
"Major Sheppard."
Andrew snapped to attention, hopping to his feet and rushing to their side.
"Yes sir?"
"Stu- Sergeant, you're on duty. A child named Jinto is missing. Floor to floor search, teams of two."
Her brother went to his stuff and hustled around, getting his equipment on.
"Is that one of the Athosians?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah. Have you seen him?"
Her stance slackened as she leaned against the door edge. "I'm not sure. Earlier I saw a few kids playing by the north research lab and living area, but they're usually over there every night."
"I'll check it, but they're likely gone by now," he said resignedly.
"If you need anything, I'd be glad to help."
He nodded and motioned to Andrew, who suddenly popped up behind them. Faith lightly put a hand on his shoulder as he passed, and grabbed the baseball hat off his head.
"I'll take that back," she whispered.
Andrew grunted and quickly tried to snatch it, but had to walk on with his superior officer. Major Sheppard glanced back at her, grinning in amusement.
.-.-.-.
Every fiber of her body stretched and moved in quick rhythm with each jaunting step, her feet echoing down the long hallway. Faith inhaled one last large gulp of sweet air and came to a halt. She bent over and braced against her knees a moment, while wiping the sweat from her forehead. A bit unsteady, she strode to her water bottle on a nearby ledge and through a set of tall open doors. Glinting stainless steel and faint humming met her as she entered the infirmary, weaving across the wide floor. She found Connie slouched at a table of microscopes, reading a book and tiredly munching a bagel. Her friend waved at her nonchalantly, and checked her watch.
"You're in earlier today," she said bemusedly.
"Mmph," she said, shrugging. "I went straight to sleep last night cause the power outages were driving me nuts."
Dr. Beckett ambled over from his computer in the corner, clutching a small scanner. "Aye, it's bloody annoying. It's hard to run a facility when you can't see anything. I don't know what's going on, but I hope they fix it."
"You're too good a doctor to rely solely on electronics, Carson," Faith said.
He smiled and patted her on the shoulder as always. "I can only hope."
She swigged the rest of her water and slipped next to Connie, stealing some of her bagel and examining the book.
"Is this what you were up to all night? 'Advanced Protein Sequencing'?"
Her friend slid the book away protectively. "I can't help it if there's not much to do on infirmary shift. We've only been here a few days, so no one's coming in here yet. Although-"
"What?" Faith perked up at seeing the furtive expression on Connie's face. "Something good?"
"There was an allergic reaction, and-" she leaned in closer. "McKay was in here last night. He fainted."
"Oh really?"
"He kind of freaked out in the control room after the malfunctions and the search effort," she said, trying hard not to grin.
"Huh." Faith bowed her head a moment and swallowed some air before looking at her friend again. "So, about these malfunctions…I've seen Grodin popping all over the city this morning. It's got to be serious if he's running about."
"I don't know," Connie said. "I didn't think Lantian technology could have problems."
"Try saying that to Andrew," she said, waving her hand. "He'll go on and on. Still, I think something goofy is afoot."
.-.-.-.
One foot tapped against the side of the chair, swinging in an off patterned beat. Occasionally a finger scraped across the pages, furthering the journey into the book. Preoccupiedly Faith absorbed the text, trying to pass the time and her boredom. Dr. Weir had recently put a restraint on personnel, restricting civilians to the living quarters section. Lieutenant Miller had mentioned a "security breach" or whatever when he'd herded her from the infirmary, but she was still annoyed.
"Hey."
Faith jumped in her seat, dropping her book in surprise. She found Corrigan standing behind her, appearing quite irritated.
"Hi?"
"We're needed."
She hesitated, not sure what he was talking about. "But there's a-"
"Not for us." He pulled her up, hurrying with her along the hall. "Just be on guard. There's a weird entity floating around our power generators."
"A wha?"
"And they found the Athosian kid in a lab. They think he might've caused it and the outage problems.'
"Oh boy," she said in a low voice.
He pushed her through a set of copper colored doors, into what appeared to be a closet. Instantly a console slid open on the wall, revealing a glowing map of the city. Miles touched a region of the northeast section and everything slid shut. A moment later, the doors slid open again, revealing a completely different room. They stepped out into an Ancient research lab, like many others they'd found on Atlantis. Mind boggled, Faith gaped at the room. Two Marines stood guard at the transport entrance; two other people were sitting at consoles with various complicated devices.
"How long have we known about this stuff?" she gasped.
"They found it early this morning."
McKay scurried over, pulling along a nervous young boy. He wore the traditional clothes of Teyla Emmagen's people and his hair fell in a mop around his ears. Faith bent over to greet him, offering her hand.
"You're Jinto?"
He took her hand awkwardly and smiled shyly. "Yes. Hello."
"I'm Faith. It's good to finally meet you."
McKay's mouth twitched and he motioned to him. "I wish I hadn't. You know how much he could've messed up in here by now?"'
A flash of anger split across the woman's face, and she frowned at him. "McKay! He's only a child."
Impatiently he tapped a stylus against the computer pad he was holding. "Dr. Stuart, we are in big trouble if we can't get in shape with that thing floating around. And from what I can tell so far," he pointed to Jinto. "He released it."
Faith glared at him and directed her attention to the child. "How are you doing? It must've been awful cooped up here."
The boy glanced at McKay and edged towards her. "Yup, but I'm alright."
She kneeled to his level and said encouragingly, "Why don't you show me some of the things you discovered in here?"
Jinto brightened a little, but McKay charged in between them. "Doctor, can you get to work? There's a ton of things to be translated over here. We need to hurry."
She tilted her head and said frostily, "Maybe you wouldn't have to if you hadn't shot down Dr. Weir's offer to teach other scientists Ancient. Then there'd be no need to shove linguistically skilled others to slave over your work."
She walked away, tagged along by the Athosian boy. He pointed towards a black cylindrical machine emanating an intense yellow light. "I started over there."
.-.-.-.
The pen paused as she scrutinized the translation and Ancient text carefully. Completely absorbed, Faith made side notes on a separate pile of paper, hardly believing what she was reading. She passed an earlier half off to McKay, who was busily studying diagrams on his laptop screen. They'd passed many hours like this, silent and intent on their business. Faint snatches of whispered conversation floated from a console nearby, where Miles was cooperating with a physicist named Dr. Hays.
After reading his pages, McKay peeked at the rest of Faith's progress, and froze.
"No way."
She lifted her head and edged back slightly, finding his face uncomfortably close to hers.
"This is-" He made a pleased noise and gazed at her studiously. "What do you think?"
Taken off-guard, she shifted the notebooks towards him and pointed at them sequentially. "According to the logs, the Ancients captured the Energy Being awhile before they left the city. They believed studying it could help them with their path to Ascension. It's composed entirely of energy, feeding off it, becoming bigger and-"
"More charged with each resource," he said helpfully.
"Exactly. And it's intelligent, so the more fuel it gets-"
"The worse it'll be," he said, his brow wrinkling in worry.
"We've got to get this thing," she said, sighing.
He nodded and ran a hand along the cylindrical machine beside him. "This containment vessel should do the trick. It emits an energy signature that attracts the creature, traps it and manages to hold it."
"I hope we can do that," she said, handing her handiwork off to him.
He strolled over to Corrigan and Hays, who were still pouring over their notes and devices. A few minutes later, McKay stood up attentively, a hand on his radio handset. A distant crackling and muttering could be heard, and he began talking fervently.
"We didn't touch anything. It could be the Entity causing random malfunctions. Proximity to that large of an energy disturbance could cause the Ancient technology to go haywire."
He walked around in a circle, blindly rambling into the microphone. Everyone was watching him now, realizing something was up. McKay dropped his papers suddenly, murmuring even more worriedly.
"Dr. Weir, what's their condition?"
Ten minutes passed before he returned to them, sitting down next to Faith.
"Ford and Damon were attacked by the Entity," he said disbelievingly.
"Oh my god. Are they-?"
A crackle emanated from McKay's earpiece, and he relaxed considerably. "Beckett's got them. Damon's fine and Ford's a bit scathed, but he'll make it."
She put a hand on his arm. "Do you want to leave?"
He swallowed hard, but shook his head. "No. We should keep doing this."
"Okay," she said understandingly. "If you need to though… I can finish."
"I know," he said, handing her back the notebooks.
"Thank you." She picked up her pen and immediately began transcribing. Quickly her words flowed in ink across the paper, as her eyes slid over the Ancient text.
He edged closer to observe, impatient but curious. "So- you are helpful after all I suppose," he murmured.
She hesitated a moment and looked at him. "You are too, when you're not on my nerves. Thanks."
"Ah. Well you haven't killed me yet." He laughed and lowered his eyes.
A pregnant pause permeated the space between them, and they focused on the laptop screen distractedly. A second later, the transporter doors slid open, admitting Dr. Weir and Major Sheppard into the lab. Urgently they hurried over to the pair, appearing very disturbed.
Sensing the tension, Sheppard said loudly, "Are we interrupting?"
Both snapped their necks upward, and rose to their feet.
"Not at all. We're practically finished," McKay said lightly.
Dr. Weir threw a hand towards the transporter. 'Apparently it's an elevator too. We can stop taking the stairs all the time."
"Huh." McKay shifted uncomfortably, remembering the small device still attached to his chest. "How nice for you all."
Sheppard shot him a wry look. "So what've you got?"
McKay tapped a few buttons on his computer and started talking about their findings, much to the amazement of the two. They appeared more bothered after he finished and swiveled back to Faith.
"Dr. Stuart was useful in figuring this out."
The Major shifted in surprise. 'Really? Never expected you to say something like that."
Faith stretched her limbs and met Sheppard's eyes, breathing a quiet laugh.
McKay studied her and caught the all expectant expression on his comrade's face. "What?" he asked, suddenly wheeling on the soldier.
"Nothing," Sheppard said innocently, a low tone in his voice.
"So, what next?" Dr. Weird said, interrupting the implied conversation.
McKay snapped out of his uneasiness, and placed a hand on the Ancient device. "We've got to figure out what we'll do with this baby."
"Did you just say 'baby'?" Sheppard said, revolted.
A loud yawn reached their ears, summoning Faith over to the desk behind them. Jinto blinked slowly and sleepily picked his head off the table, where he'd been napping. He peered at them confusedly, and rubbed his eyes.
Faith nudged his arm playfully. "Evening, sleepy head."
Dr. Weir smiled and said, "Okay, I think someone needs to return Jinto to the living quarters."
Faith nodded in agreement. "He's had a long day." She collected her belongings and helped the boy to his feet. "C'mon let's head out."
Softly she said goodnight to the men, and acknowledged Dr. Weir. With an encouraging hand she helped Jinto to the transporter, and allowed in one of the Marines nearby. As the doors slid shut, she felt a strong gaze on her back, but didn't turn around.
.-.-.-.
"This is quite inconvenient," Carson said randomly. He tapped his fingers on a counter, breaking the silence of the infirmary.
Faith looked away from the window, where she was watching the morning sky. "It's not so bad." She wheeled over in her desk chair, and hugged him sympathetically. "I know how much you worry about your patients."
He laid a hand thankfully on her shoulder, sighing a bit. "Aye. How long do they expect us to last without power? It kept stopping over and over until they completely shut it off."
"I'm sorry we weren't able to catch the entity last night. Perhaps if McKay and I had finished earlier, it would've been tricked into that trap."
"It's no one's fault, love," he said defeatedly. "We're in this because of that bloody thing." He gazed at her thoughtfully. "It was decent of you to take an extra shift last night. Who knows if we'd have another attack?"
She raised a finger. "My motives were purely selfish. After yesterday's, I wanted to be on watch."
"Corporal Damon is on your team isn't he?"
"Yes. I just didn't want someone else, like Cavanaugh or McKay being put on in his place."
Carson laughed. "No worries there. He's joined Major Sheppard's team."
"Ouch. I don't envy him."
"Me neither," he said resolutely. "I'm perfectly happy here in my own lab, not having to go through those wormhole thingies to visit aliens."
"Personally, I can't wait to start going offworld again," she said, teasing him.
He leaned close to her and whispered, "You m'dear are out of your mind, along with everyone else who's fascinated with the damn things."
She smirked at him and said devilishly, "Poor Carson. You keep forgetting…we're on an alien planet. The homeworld of the gatebuilders, the Ancestors-"
He coughed and awkwardly pushed a binder at her. "Okay, that's enough out of you."
They went on playfully for a few minutes, before a voice broke their match. Their earpieces went static then the voice repeated itself, saying, "Medical team to the gate room."
Beckett hurtled out of his chair and began to grab things and stutter a response. "Right away, Major."
He ordered over his shoulder for her to grab his medical kit, but found her already holding it and rushing out the door.
"Biro was supposed to relieve me in another hour," she mumbled as Carson joined stride with her.
They entered the gateroom and immediately descended on the group of people standing in front of the Stargate. McKay was lying weakly on the floor, ogling them.
"Thank you, take your time. Man down."
Faith helped him sit up and handed Carson various items while he started examining the scientist. Wonderingly, she peered up at Major Sheppard, Dr. Weir, Teyla, and Dr. Grodin.
"What happened?"
"We got rid of the Entity," Grodin said, appearing relieved.
"Yes I did," interjected McKay, huffing loudly.
Dr. Weir crossed her arms and nudged him with her shoe. "You mean in addition to Teyla's idea plus Peter and John's assistance in prepping?"
"Uh huh, with me jumping head first into an alien life form, ultimately risking my life," he said sourly.
He tried to jerk his arm away from Carson, but the doctor held on tightly.
"Am I dead yet?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Nope," said Beckett. He smacked him lightly on the back and dropped his stethoscope. "Not a scratch on you, far as I can tell right now."
"Then it seriously worked," said McKay.
"What worked exactly?" Faith said, pausing curiously.
She poured over him and spotted a small familiar object lying on the floor. She reached for the shield device and picked it up with caution.
"You can't use it," McKay said smugly.
She exhaled testily, feeling her patience wrinkle. "It only imprints on one person. I know. I translated the text."
He lifted it out of her hand and dropped it on himself. "I mean it won't function anymore. The creature drained it when I went to throw the Naquaada generator through the gate."
"Rodney, I'm impressed," Beckett said fleetingly.
"Me too," she admitted, feeling a small pain in her forehead.
"Really?" he said, wide eyed. He faced Faith eagerly. "Enough to lend me that Ancient Velonan volume of algorithmic theory?"
"Not a chance," she said, startled and somewhat irritated. "Especially as Hemmings is going to eat you alive."
"Thought so," he said, hanging his head dejectedly.
Beckett helped him to his feet, and thumped him encouragingly. "C'mon, we've got to check a few more things."
"Oh goody."
He and Faith dragged him down the hallway, closely followed by the others.
S/N (story notes): Hey, don't scream Mary-Sue or whatever yet. Everything isn't always what it seems! (May not be romance, may be humor... wait and see!)Bwahaha... I can be trixy indeed.
10/29/06: I switched Collins' first name from Chase to Scott. Don't ask, I just didn't like the sound it before. Sorry about any confusion...
A/N: This is officially the longest chapter I have ever written. 25 pages, I must be insane. It may seem like overkill, but it's the best way for me to connect and build my story. Some people need a longer first chapter in order get into it. This entire piece is more of a precursor for what I have planned later, but it's just as important. It's more a prequel, but I am writing everything on order. The quote at the top is a reference implied to the overall story.
This is my first Atlantis fic, so please let me know what you think. Merci :)
