Author's Note: Well, here we have it- a new series of one shots! YAY!
This is inspired by Debbie418uk2's work "Rodney's Really Bad Days" and Tenshi of Light21's work "John's Really Bad Days." If you love Stargate: Atlantis then I would urge you to read them, they are so good!
This is basically going to hopefully be a series of one-shots with Dark Ace having, funny enough, bad days….
Warning: Um, swearing, violence and sickness. Yup, the good ol' threesome.
When he sneezed, he felt his whole body move. When he coughed, he felt his whole body, plus the bed he was currently lying on, shudder violently. His head pounded with an intensity he had never experienced before and he had a murderously sore throat. Oh, and did he mention how feverish he felt? Well, he felt feverish. Very feverish.
Basically, he felt, looked and even sounded like death warmed up.
"I am going to kill whoever gave me this, that is if they're not dead already…" he coughed halfway through the sentence, his entire body convulsing before going limp. It was becoming a regular pattern, and it was annoying him like hell. He coughed violently again, and his head continued to pound away, a relentless drumming that was agony.
He tossed and turned from side to side in his bed, trying to find a spot that was cool, but not succeeding. He was still too warm, even though there were no blankets left on the bed and all that remained was a bare mattress.
The pain in his head grew with every movement and eventually became so bad that he was forced to stop moving and still motionless.
Yes, ask your question: Why was the Dark Ace like this, and what had made him so sick?
It had been a simple, routine mission given to him by Master Cyclonis. All that was required of him to do was to fly to Terra Saharr and travel to the middle of the Terra, where the biggest desert is. Then, he was to send a group of Talon workers in, make them dig and then… Voila! A new crystal mine.
The Master had told him that she had been researching the Terra's deserts extensively and was confidant that there would be a mine located in the biggest desert, somewhere beneath its shifting sands and dunes. All they had to do was look. Something she believed would not challenge them too much, she thought. Dark Ace had seen – no, felt – the barb in that sentence. Just because he had yet to put down the Storm Hawks for once and for all…
So, he had found the mine, and was heading back to the main part of the Terra. He saw several skimmers ahead of him and had told the closest Talons to him to go and check them out, while he reported to Master Cyclonis of their findings and about the mine itself.
The next thing that he knew, all the Talons had flown back to him at top speed, yelling and shouting incoherently. When he had asked just exactly why they were screaming fit to burst, they had simply pointed to the three skimmers that he had ordered them to go to and look at. They refused to say more, but continued to run around like a batch of headless chickens.
"This had really better be good," he had growled at them, before going over to the skimmers himself. He had then launched into a blistering session of swearing, in both Cyclonian and Admosian as he made his way over to the skimmers. He noticed that none of the Talons went with him.
But hey, that was nothing new.
When he had reached the skimmers, what he saw shocked even him.
There were five people, well, three living people and two who appeared to be dead, either sitting or lying on the skimmers.
"What the hell is going on here?" he had politely asked, glaring at them in frustration, "this is a restricted area. Civilians should not be here. So kindly state your reason for trespassing and perhaps I may let you live."
The three living people merely continued coughing and sneezing, and looked deathly pale. The two still ones, the ones he took for dead, looked… Well, deathly.
One of the three living looked at him and cleared his throat. He didn't appear to be fazed that he was addressing an irate Dark Ace.
"There was a sickness which killed many, and which came down on us so suddenly…" he began, but a bout of coughing interrupted him. He waited until it had past before speaking again. His voice was raspy and quiet.
"We fled, but it was too late for our parents," he gestured to the two still figures.
"So I can see," The Dark Ace said dryly, forcing himself to rein in his temper.
"They died on the journey we made from our home settlement. My brothers and I are sick; we guess that we will soon be dead. So if I were you, I would go now. We are contagious! It is not safe for you to be here with us, every second counts!" he pleaded, while his brothers coughed and nodded in agreement.
Dark Ace had stood there though, not moving an inch. He was not too sure of their story. Perhaps they were crystal thieves and had fabricated this entire story in order to clear the area, and allow them to rob it?
"When we told your Talons that, they ran! Why are you still here? This disease kills all that it infects! You must go… Now!" another one of the three piped up, looking shocked.
The Dark Ace refused to take notice. If they were indeed telling the truth, then he had to know all the details. After all, this could spread to Cyclonia.
"What Terra did you come from? Here? Or somewhere else?" he had quickly asked them.
"We are from a settlement to the west of here, so yes, we are from this terra. We were on our way to a relative who lives in the main city."
"What's become of your settlement?" Dark Ace continued with his questioning, fearing that he already knew what the answer would be.
And he was right.
"Everyone's dead. We burnt it down to try and stop the disease from spreading, but our parents still caught it somehow, and we in turn got it from them. We will stay here, to try and halt its spreading, but you must go now."
This time, Dark Ace took the advice and he took to his heels. His Talons were still shouting that they would die, and the noise of it made Dark Ace all the more pissed off.
"Shut up, you idiots! We have to get back to Cyclonia as quickly as possible to warn the people about this disease. Whoever is not in the air in the next minute will be left here alone." At his words, the Talons rushed about and were in the air in a few seconds.
The Dark Ace smiled to himself.
The journey to Cyclonia was long and hard. Out of twenty Talons that had gone with the Dark Ace to Terra Saharr, only ten remained. What had happened to the others? Well, some had become sick after leaving the terra and had died after a few hours, the rest however had been on their skimmers, had passed out and crashed.
Dark Ace would not admit it but he knew that he was sick too. He was coughing every few minutes, his vision was becoming blurry and he felt like this body was on fire. Cyclonia was thankfully just ahead of them, a minute or so away.
Flying down, he landed on the cleared airstrip and as he did so a Talon ran up to him.
"Commander Ace! Sir! You have to-" he broke off after Dark Ace grabbed him by the throat.
"Shut the hell up and listen. Tell the Master that we have a problem!"
The Talon may have replied, but the Dark Ace heard nothing. He had blacked out as soon as he had let go of the man's throat.
He stopped thinking about what had caused him to be sick. He had something bigger to think about.
He was getting worse.
His whole body was burning with fever, he couldn't drink or eat and he was sick every so often.
"And things can only get better…" he smiled sarcastically to himself. The Dark Ace allowed his weak and exhausted body to fall against the bare mattress. He knew his strength was waning.
As soon as he had collapsed, he had been carried to his room. While a doctor was seeing to him, the surviving Talons must have been summoned to the Master for her to find out what had happened because she had made her way to him. She had apparently wanted to speak with him but the doctor had forbidden it.
"Master, he is very sick; being delirious and not lucid enough to have a long conversation. Plus he is contagious! I would suggest, Master, that you round up any of the Talons that had been with him and-"
"They have all died," she had interrupted him in her cool, calm voice. "Now everyone who went to that Terra is dead, all apart from him. I want to see him."
"Master, I'm afraid that I cannot allow that." He was brave, this doctor. Not many can get away with standing up to Master Cyclonis.
She had narrowed her eyes and waited a moment. But eventually she had heeded his words and departed from the room.
That had taken place only a day ago, yet it felt like years to the Dark Ace.
The fever had slowly strengthened its grip on him, draining him of his energy. It caused him to have nightmares and hallucinations, such powerful and realistic things which had caused him to scream and cry out.
During one of his coughing spells, he had stopped only to find a smear of blood around his lips.
The Dark Ace chuckled grimly to himself. So this was it then. He was dying.
"Pity it hadn't had been in battle. A quick stab, some blood and a few famous last words…" he broke off with a wince as breathing suddenly became painful. The Dark Ace looked around the room which had been his for many years now, but as the fever had slowly taken over him he had began to imagine that he was somewhere else. His old room… On the Condor… Voices were calling to him, but he just... Couldn't… Answer…
He could no longer raise his head. No energy. He had last been able to move his arms and legs last night. He had lost that battle, and now he was losing the fight to keep his tired eyes open.
"So I die with no audience, then," he murmured with his dry sense of humour. He could never resist being overly-dramatic. Now it was to be the last thing he would do.
She didn't care what the doctor had to say. She only cared about seeing him.
She walked down to his apartments, and unlocked the doors. Just as she entered the room she watched his eyes close.
Master Cyclonis had heard the shouts and cries of pain that had come from this room last night. She had wanted to go down then but she knew that that doctor would have been snooping around, while she wanted to talk to Dark Ace alone. Now, even though it was night-time again, there was no one around and she could finally have her wish.
But she had not believed just how bad his condition was, not even after hearing him last night, until she saw him now, lying as still and as pale as a marble statue.
Was she too late?
The teen ruler of the Cyclonian Empire cursed herself for her weakness, which was at that moment fear, the fear of maybe being too late, and instead of worrying more she marched over to the bed. Determination showed with every stride she took.
He was so pale… She could see the blood around his mouth and on his chin. She placed a hand on his forehead and was shocked at the heat she felt radiating off it. Suddenly Dark Ace shuddered and opened his eyes. They were bright with fever and unseeing.
She didn't know what to do; but that had never stopped her before. She placed both of her hands on his face, holding him while he closed his eyes again and struggled against some unknown force.
Damn it, he was not going to die. Not if she had any say in it.
He had expected death, but was instead met with blackness.
Pain.
Fire.
Terrifying images of fire, smoke, blood, death and destruction where everywhere. Oh go away go away go away go away…
Then there was a cool hand at his face. He tried to open his eyes, but he could see nothing. He began to panic, to struggle, but that wonderfully cold hand was joined by another, soothing his burning face.
A voice spoke from somewhere.
"You swore me an oath, Dark Ace! Remember? I swear to obey…"
He couldn't hear anymore. The fire was back again. It was all over him, consuming him, burning him; while he could do nothing.
He sobbed, trying desperately to push it away; but it refused to go. He struggled…
But then the hands were back, stroking his hair and his forehead. They would keep back the fire; they would keep him safe.
He could faintly hear the crystal voice again over the furious roar in his mind.
"No matter what may happen, I will serve you. In sickness and in health, I will serve you. Do you hear that? I expect you to be better soon, do you understand? I need you to serve me…" The voice said, while the hands slowly stroked him.
His sobs of fear and pain had decreased, but he could hear a marching in his head. He cried out. They were after him…
But the hands would keep him safe…
Master Cyclonis could not; would not stand by hopelessly as her second-in-command fought desperately for his life.
She would remind him of his oath of allegiance to her. He was expected to serve her, regardless of anything else. It would make him get better; because hearing that he was needed would make him fight more.
She stroked his hair and forehead while he shivered and moaned, while he struggled and whimpered.
"You swore me an oath, Dark Ace! Remember? I swear to obey…" she started to say, but was interrupted when he suddenly sobbed and began to thrash around. Master Cyclonis fought to keep a hold on him. He felt much hotter than he had before; but maybe that was good. The fever needed to rise, before it would break.
She continued to keep her hands on his face whilst he sobbed and tossed around. She nearly lost her focused when she heard the man whimper – the Dark Ace, the scourge of Atmos, had never sounded so weak and vulnerable. It scared her then. But she wasn't the ruler of Cyclonia for nothing, and so forced herself to continue.
"No matter what may happen, I will serve you. In sickness and in health, I will serve you. Do you hear that? I expect you to be better soon, do you understand? I need you to serve me…"
Just when she thought she had him calmed down, he suddenly cried out. It was heartbreaking to hear and she was shocked that she actually felt moved by it.
It would be another long night, but she would be there for him, because he had always been there for her.
He struggled to open his eyes. It appeared to be morning, and Dark Ace was shocked to find that he was no longer on fire. Coughing slightly, he looked around. What he saw shocked him even more.
There was his Master, looking at him. Was he still dreaming, or was this for real?
"Knowing my luck, this is for real…" he muttered hoarsely to himself. He allowed his head to fall limply back against the mattress.
It had been one hell of a long night, but eventually she had won the battle.
His fever had finally broken, and after hours of crying and thrashing he had fallen asleep. She too had slept, but it had been only for an hour or so and had woken up swiftly afterwards.
She had been looking out of the window when she heard a weak cough. Master Cyclonis looked at Dark Ace, and to her relief, his eyes were open and they were clear… and this time they could see everything.
He looked up at her, shocked, and tried to sit up.
"No, sit down. That's an order." She said, seeing that he looked as if he was about to protest. He did as he was told.
"Is it really you, or is it a dream?" he whispered, his throat sounding hoarse.
She smirked at him. "I would like to think that this is all real, because if I were in a dream of yours, I'd hate to know what I would be doing."
He coughed, hiding a small smirk and rolled his eyes. " Have you been here long, Master?" The formal tone was back in his voice.
"I have been here all night." His eyes widened at that, and she permitted herself a small smile.
"It was you… You were there when - " he said as his dark red eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yes."
"I have to thank you Master. But you shouldn't have come near me; you could have fallen sick yourself, and then what would have happened? You could have died!" he started, but was soon cut off by a wave of a hand.
"I was fine. I was in no danger of dying; it was you. However, you eventually came to your senses and fought back. Now, you will have a day off but no more. Understood?" she said, looking at him with something like amusement in her violet eyes.
He grinned.
"In sickness and in health, I shall serve you. Well, I served you when I was sick, now I must get up and serve you when I'm healthy."
"Good. I expect to see you in my throne room in a hour." With that, the Master got up and walked out of the room.
Dark Ace smiled.
"Better get to it then…" he muttered, before getting up of the mattress.
It had been a hellish two days, three if you count the ride back to Cyclonia, but he was still here.
But he was only here because of his Master, and for some reason, the thought made him smile.
Hopefully, I will have the next one-shot up in a day or two, and "Beginning of the End" will be updated in a day.
Dark Ace's days are just getting off to a bad start, wait and see what happens next!