I open my eyes to darkness, I can smell earth in the air, a cold breeze brushes over my bare shoulder. I roll over, blinking in the dark trying to make out the stars. My head throbs, forcing my eyes closed. I bring my hand to my temple, as though touching it would dull the ache. My fingers feel moist, I pull them away barely making out a glistening on my finger tips. I touch my fingers to my lips instinctively, the liquid is familiarly metallic, a taste I know too well as my own blood. Groaning, I try to lift myself, the throbing grows worse but I push through it, lifting to a sitting position, my dressing gown falls from my shoulders to my elbows...
"Dressing gown" I breath the whispered concern as my eyes fall to the plush blue gown Mathew sent me for christmas.
I pull the gown around me tightly, blinking feverishly, trying to clear my vision in the dark. Around me I can make out a dull glow of light coming from my right where the breeze is coming from. I strain my eyes, pressing my hands to the floor beneath me. As my fingers touch the smooth cold surface I realise I've been laying on polished floor boards. Suddenly the glow seems familiar as my sleep fogged mind starts to clear. I press my hand to the wall beside me, fubling for the light switch I know to be close. As my fingers find the switch I sheild my eyes expecting the light to be harsh.
I open them tentively looking around at my kitchen.
As I had woken to darkness and the throbing I know too well to be a head injury, I'd assumed I was off world; but as I look around the familiar room, I'm not quite sure I know where I stand. The room is relatively tidy with the glaring exception of a small pool of blood where my head just lay and a coffee mug in the middle of the corridor, shattered on the floor, drying spilt coffee amongst the reminants. The front door at the end of the corridor is wide open, leting the winter chill in.
My military side kicks into gear and I push my concerns aside for a moment, stumbling forward grogily and rounding the kitchen island to pull a large knife from the top draw. Not the best weapon but will do until I get to my spare gun in the office at the end of the corridor. I round the other side of the island, my back against the fridge, stepping cautiously towards the corridor. I scan the lounge room through the archway across from me, the room is clear so I press on, switching on the hallway light as I do. I slow my pace as I reach the front door, the patio is clear as is the street, vacant at what must be a very early hour.
I pull the door shut locking the dead bolt and turn my attention to the office across from me, the door is closed, I pull the sliding door open very carefully, holding the blade in front of me as I check inside. The room is empty.
I let out a sigh of relief switching on the light. Quickly I dispose of the kitchen knife in one of the desk draws, replacing it with my spare hand gun. I draw the gun, flick off the safety and continue my search. With my gun at the ready, I check the basement, bedroom and ensuite; all clear. My fears are, for the moment, laid to rest.
Alone in my house, standing in front of the bathroom mirror with my gun at my side, I allow myself a moment to assess the situation. My eyes meet my reflection.
My pale cheeks are marred with bloodied fingerprints, a steady trickle of blood still flows saturating my blonde hair, tracing along my jaw, down my neck and ending somewhere beneath the dressing gown. I feel around the wound and find a shallow gash about an inch long, the flesh stings as my fingers make contact and my throbing migraine makes its presence known again. I close my eyes to the pain, trying to think back, trying to remember how the injury occured.
Flashes of the day before come to mind; I remember a debriefing, the uninteresting mission to an abandoned planet we had just come back from being finalised. I remember Daniel rambling about the civilisation dying out by their own hand. I remember finishing a report on insignificant mineral traces. I remember signing off base. I don't recall the drive home but I recall making a sandwich and running a bath.
That's all, the bath. I don't recall anything after climbing into the bath. I vaguely remember being tired as I climbed in but nothing more.
I place the gun on the bathroom counter, frustrated.
'Could I have slipped?' I wonder, an image coming to mind of me, climbing the stairs towards the bedroom with a late night coffee in hand, losing my footing and falling to the floor. It is plausable, the drop alone could account for the severity of the head wound, a fall would account for the mug being strewn across the floor and shattered. The door however, why would I leave the door open? I could have done it absentmindedly as I came home. I don't remember coming through it. I only remember leaving the base, and the sandwich. I remember making a sandwich.
I shake my head at my confusion, being again reminded of the severity of my little bump when my head throbs in agitation. I look up at my reflection again and decide on a shower, I would call Janet later, but first I needed to wash some of this blood off.
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As I sign my name on the dotted line of another chart, signing off on a doseage change; I look up at the injured airman before me, sleeping soundly with his plastered right leg strung high up above him. I sigh, tucking the mans chart into the slip at the foot of the bed, for the nurse to check when she comes back off break. I glance at my watch, grimacing at the early hour. The sun will be rising soon, and Cassie will be wondering why I've not come home.
I turn to head to my office, my thoughts on the time, wondering if it is too early to ring home; in the corner of my eye, I spot a dear friend leaning against the wall just outside of the infirmary entrance. She looks pale, her eyes are glazed over with thought and her eye lids are droopy with fatigue.
"Sam" I sigh, exasperated "You should have been in bed hours ago" a smile plays on my lips as I walk towards her but I pause as I note she hasn't responded. I stop in my tracks and take in her appearance. Her hair is damp, she isn't wearing any makeup and her clothes are newly unfolded, deep crease lines tracing her form.
"Are you okay?" I ask, careful not to sound too concerned. Her eyes flicker up to mine, coming back from some distant thought. She smiles, pushing off the wall gingerly and stepping towards me.
"Uh yeah" she mutters seeming distracted. I cross my arms across my chest, waiting for her to fill me in. She doesn't seem to catch on so I help her along.
"What can I do for you then?"
She looks at me, her smile dropping, her hand reaches up to her right temple as if to rub away a tension headache but she seems to change her mind about touching it. Her eyes drop away once more before she finally speaks, her eyes on the floor.
"I tripped" she laughs, embarissed, bringing her eyes back up to mine "bumped my head" gesturing to the temple "Can you have a look at it?" she asks her face brightening with the question. I smile, uncertain with her out of character behaviour, but nod and direct her to come sit on a cot. She does and I pull out a pen light, brushing her hair out of the way and shining the light on the freshly cleaned wound. It is worse than I expected from her meager description and I let out an involuntary hiss at the sight.
"Ouch" I joke, hoping to calm her obvious nerves "You tripped?" I question critically
"Down the stairs" she offers with another embarissed laugh, but I sense she isn't comfortable with the answer. I give her a stern look expecting a better explanation and wait. She bites her lip and rolls her eyes at my insistance.
"It bled alot" she moves on, choosing not to carry on, I am momentarily annoiyed but greatful for the information
"Head wounds usually bleed the most" I remark, checking the width of the split wondering if I should bother her with a plaster, the bleeding has obviously stopped "it is said to be a self defense mechanism... the bleeding, insights the flight response." I add, expecting her to question as to why but her focus is elsewhere, confusion set in her furrowed brow.
"Something the matter?" I ask pulling my hands away from the wound, she looks up, shaking off the thought and smiles.
"Its nothing" she assures me, her eyes falling nerviously to her hands "I'm just trying to think how I could have tripped"
"You don't know?" I question, crossing my arms across my chest
"I don't remember all the details" she finishes and I sigh deeply, chewing my lip in thought
"Well, memory loss is a hallmark of concusion." I offer as explanation "especially of events immediately before or after the injury."
"I don't feel concussed" she continues, pushing up off the cot. I exhale slowly and gesture back at the cot.
"It's not uncommon to only experience some symptoms associated with concusion, but I assure you, the blow that caused that split was enough to rattle the brain"
She draws in a deep breath and sits back down, she doesn't need stitches so I move on, my ever ready pen light hurts her eyes as I check her pupil dilation response, they're a little slower to respond than optimum, but only mildly. I let out that disaproving motherly grummble all good doctors make when they know their patients well, and care deeply for their wellbeing. I check her pulse and blood pressure, it's lower than usual but not conscerning. I check her temperature and by this point even she knows I'm buying time to make up my mind.
"You want me to rest here, don't you" she speaks as if reading my mind.
"To stay here, yes; but you do not have to sleep" she seems puzzled by this "I just want to keep an eye on you. You're welcome to work from the bed, or just relax, but I don't want you walking around until we know more about the severity of the concussion." I explain and for a moment she looks as though she's going to fight me on it, but seems to agree, nodding softly "I'll have an airman bring down your laptop." I finish and then leave her side to produce a fresh chart for the nurse due back any minute.
When I return with the chart in hand, busily filling in details, I look up and smile, she has fallen asleep already. I shake my head and leave a notation on the chart for the nurse to wake her every 2-3hrs.
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The night shift guy has burnt the coffee, the commisary stinks of the ruined beans as I wander in. I'm in here far earlier than I would like but an early morning call from an inaudable babbling Daniel and a serious lack of food in the fridge would drive a man to do extraordinary things.
Towards the back I notice Daniel, siting infront of a tablet PC and what is probably his sixth or seventh cup by now, despite the taste. Daniel would drink it cold if he had to, simply to sate the craving.
I pull up a chair in front of him, studying his features closely, taking in the tired circles around his eyes, he has no doubt been up all night, he is probably only here to clear his head before he gets back to the books.
"This better be good" I break his train of thought as abruptly as I can muster, yanking the gadgit from his fingertips and spinning it around to glance at it. He glares at me deeply but is greatful for my company as his face brightens at the chance to resume his excitement about something.
"There was a murder last night" he smiles as if this is something to get worked up about. I strain my eyes at the tiny writing on the screen, passing it back as if it were written in ancient.
"This is America, people get murdered everyday" I raise my eyebrow at him and his smile grows wider.
"Here in colorado springs, and it was no gang shooting or robbery tustle." His eyes look like they're going to pop out with excitement.
"Your point" I roll my hand for dramatic effect, but it seems lost on him as he returns his attention to the screen and does something to it. He looks back up at me and passes the tiny computer back, I yawn feigning disinterest but take it.
The picture before me is of pixelated security footage, the scene is obviously of someone lying dead in the middle of an intersection, rain thundering down around them, but closer to the camera, just visible is the killer himself, or itself to be more accurate. The tall thin creature standing with it's back to the camera, on two legs as a man would, seems blueish in colour with long dripping claws.
I bring my eyes back up to Daniel who is sitting back in his chair looking smug.
"Hammonds already ordered us to check it out" he says behind a sip of his coffee, "Teal'c is getting ready to go, we're just waiting for Sam"
At this I look to him with a very furrowed brow and Daniel leans forward studying my reaction in that annoiying way Daniel does when he's stuck his nose where he shouldn't.
"She's in the infirmary" Daniel clarifys, "Janet's keeping an eye on her while she sleeps off..." he pauses, seemingly to think of appropriate phrasing "...a minor household injury."
I draw in an involantary yawn and use it to mask my immediate concern for my second in command. I'm sure someone would have notified me if there was anything to be concerned with, but any bad news about Carter was always concerning. Never the less, I should see for myself. At this I push from my chair, intent on finding said Major.
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As I am shaken awake, I open my eyes begrudgingly, expecting to see the nervous girl in nurses clothing from last check in but instead I am met with the cheshire grin of the Colonel.
"Take a little tumble did we" he mocks my pain, steping back as I slowly sit up, my stubborn headache protesting along the way.
"Good morning Sir" I manage, blinking away my sleep addled confusion. The room spins with the new angle but I try my best not to show it, as much as I love Janets company, the infirmary cots have nothing in comfort on my own bed.
"You feel up to a mission, major?" he asks me the question but he's already looking through my chart for the answer.
"It's just a headache sir" I assure him "What's the Planet?"
"Earth" he quips before I've finished the question, I look to him questionly but he just smirks at me. "Daniel will explain on the way."
He watches me as I stand up, I'm gentle on my feet as I ease out of bed, I am reminded of the scratches on my hip I discovered in the shower, the area is tender and I'm not ready to speculate on how I came to recieve them. He seems to put it to the headache and shrugs it off, waiting for me to follow. I force myself to keep pace as we walk the base corridors but my mind is on this early mornings shower, the bruises and scratches I had discovered, evidence of something far worse than a fall.
I try not to think about it because my frightened mind can only come up with one logical explanation, and that thought is too horrifying to imagine. The door, the dressing gown, the scratches, the bruises... these signs all point to an intruder entering my home and taking me by surprise. I can't bring myself to stomach that explanation, so instead I choose to ignore it until I can remember more.
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We gain entry to the intersection crime scene easily. There is a small crime scene unit processing the area and the body is still at the scene when we arrive. The roads leading to the intersection are being diverted by local police and an agent with clearance greats us warmly as we are waved in.
He takes us to the body immediately, the rain having washed away any other evidence. I kneel down closer to the body as the body bag is unzipped. Jack makes some quip that I ignore, Sam swallows back what I assume is nausea and Teal'c says nothing, instead turning his attention to the neighbourhood, no doubt putting himself in the killers shoes, working out how the crime played out.
The man in the bag is young, clean shaven, wearing jeans, runners and a sweatshirt. The sweatshirt has been torn in several places across the torso and fore arms in long jaggared lines. The tearing extends through the white t-shirt underneath and well into the abdomin. To the untrained eye, it would look like the man had been mauled by a local animal.
"We need to cease the security footage" Jack speaks behind me "Run an animal attack cover to the press" the agent smiles.
"Already on it" he seems chuffed with himself and receives a sharp look in response.
"The wounds are too evenly spread for an animal" Sam speaks, kneeling at my side, pushing a rock aside as she does "the gashes are too thin" she whispers placing her hand beneath one of the sets of incisions to demonstrate.
"I was thinking the same thing" I speak "the footage showed a figure that resembled a man" she looks at me as though it is the first time she's heard this. I can only assume she wasn't paying attention when I filled her in on the drive here. I would have commented but am stopped as she picks up the victims hand, her eyes are fixed on the fingertips.
"Is that skin?" I ask, pulling her attention away from the victims hand. The Agent hands her a pair of tweezers and an evidence bag. She carefully pulls the skin out from under the mans left hand pointer nail.
"It looks human" she mutters and I tend to agree.
"Shouldn't it be blue?" Jack chimes in from behind drawing all our attention to this fact. Often I wonder if we are under rating Jacks intelligence because he's right more often than we give him credit for.
"Is it possible the creatures epidermis is comprised of many translucent layers, creating a hue consistant with the colour blue." Teal'c blows us out of the water seeming to have returned from surveiling the area. The Agent appears to jump, startled at his sudden presence.
"Its a possibilty" Sam smiles at him but my gut doesn't sit right with that theory. I shake it off, it is too early to speculate.
"We should see the footage" I announce.
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Daniel offers his chair when we get back to base, I have half a mind to fight him but my throbing head conceeds. I sit down gingerly, feeling their eyes burn into me. I slot the casette tape into Daniels VCR and wait for the security footage to roll.
A cross-way intersection appears on the screen, the streets leading up to the lights are empty. The nearest building is just out of the cameras veiw. I note the time code: 12:32am. Suddenly we see but do not hear the young man, he appears from the right of the screen, he's running very fast. We can't see his face as he runs towards the far left of the screen away from the camera. From the right of the screen, a figure chases, they are on foot, naked. It is the creature.
The creature is tall approximately 6 foot, thin roughly 110lbs and is blue head to toe bar the hair on its head which appears light in colour, though it is hard to tell as it is saturated and slick to the skull. The creature leaps forward pouncing on the man, tackling him to the ground. It is only now that the claws become apparent, the creature lifts its right hand high behind it, and for a moment I swear I see... no it couldn't be.
"Pause that." Daniel speaks and I do. "Rewind until just before the nails..." Daniel hesitates
"Grow" Colonel O'Neill finishes for him.
"Yeah" Daniel mutters and I rewind, pauseing again just before the moment the hand raises. I track forward and I see it again, it's hard to see as the footage is so pixelated but I swear the creature... has french tips.
"Does that look like a woman to anyone else?" Jack mouths what we're all thinking. I play the footage, the nails extend from the feminine hand into long sharp claws. In only a few seconds, the creatures claws decend on its victim, ripping into his flesh, spraying blood across the street. The man fights it, his hands flailing up defensively, punching and scratching, causing the creature to cut deep defensive wounds in his forearms.
I swallow back a wave of nausea at the horrific sight. Just as we think he is dead, I go to pause the footage but Teal'c grabs my arm.
"The boy still lives" Teal'c speaks and I realise the mans fingers are fumbling beside him, grasping at a rock, he grasps the rock in his hand and with miraculous force he throws himself forward, smacking the rock into the right side of the creatures head. The creature seems to let out a scream and stumbles back away from the man.
The man drops the rock and collapses onto his back. Our eyes however are not on the man, but on the creature as it stumbles backwards. The claws retract and it reaches up to its wound with both hands, blood spilling quickly, for a moment it appears human, its colour flickering to a pale creamy white but only for a moment before the creature runs towards the left of the screen.
"Argh!" Colonel O'Neill suddenly exclaims and we all turn towards him "It didn't show its face" he explains and I reach forward pausing the footage.
"All is not at a loss O'Neill" Teal'c speaks up. I only hear them distantly, my mind still on the footage, still on the man fighting that... thing.
"How so?" Jack spits out angrily
"We now know the creature is a female of its species" Teal'c clarifys. My mind is on the man clawing defensively against it, his fingers scratching into the creature. I touch my tender hip, suddenly very confused. It couldn't be possible.
"Further more" Daniel speaks up, joining their discussion. My thoughts are on the image of the rock smacking into the creatures head, on the right side. I touch my head gingerly. Its not possible! it can not be possible.
"We now know why the skin from under the victims nails wasn't blue" Daniel continues and Jack gives him a very quisical look. The room starts to spin again and I have to get some air.
"The creatures true form is human" Daniel finishes
"What!" Jack exclaims, "I don't know what you were all watching there Danny boy, but I sure didn't see anything human."
"Jack!" Daniel protests, I stand up using the chair to steady myself, I desperately need air.
"Are you okay Major Carter?" Teal'c stands taking my arm to help steady me. I look to him with as best a smile as I can muster, the boys go quiet.
"Yeah, I just need to get some air" I nod, touching his hand reassuringly
"The footage was not an easy sight to stomach" Teal'c nods letting my arm go and I would protest, defending myself against any judgement that I couldn't take anything the boys could, but I really need to get out of this room and clear my head.
"Go home Carter" Colonel O'Neill orders, "you need to rest"
I look at him, startled by his order, but I follow it; about this, I'm not going to argue.
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AN: I am out of practice, my new laptop does not have MS Word yet and as consequence I do not have spell check yet. I do not and never have had a Beta reader, though I should invest in one :D.
I apologise to anyone who is familiar with my writing and is waiting for an update on other stories... most likely Betrayal.
But please, take this as a sign, that my muse has once again returned.
However, do not be deluded into thinking that my updates will be prompt... they never have been... I am truely hopeless.
So please put this on your alert list... as you will probably forget the fic by the time I update it...
or I might update in a day or so... or even an hour... you never know.
Enjoy, either way.