CHAPTER 1: "DISCOVERIES AND ABANDONMENT"

Lily panted softly, still following close behind Dr. Rush as they both were walking down the corridor. Spencer's suicide footage was still heavy on her mind, and she was really worried about the hidden look Colonel Young had given Rush. It was almost as if Young had already decided that this tragic incident had something to do with Rush. But that was bogus; there was no way Rush had anything to do with Spencer committing suicide. Much less, what would be Rush's motive for planting the gun in Young's quarters? She had to admit silently to herself, even if Rush had planted the gun, there had to be very solid, definite good reason for Rush's actions. She knew Dr. Rush, not like the others did. Sure, a lot of his actions were very questionable most of the time. However, Rush never did anything without there being a plausible reason for it. She tried to ignore her own thoughts, or the fact that she had been secretly admiring him from behind (again) as he spoke to her.

"This may be the greatest discovery since landing on Destiny. We may actually be able to summon alien life, and possibly be able to communicate with them. Think of the discoveries to be had in that…"

"Maybe they may know something about Ascension too?"

She saw that comment had made him silently grin to himself, watching as he picked up his step. It was amazing to watch him, when he was so damned determined on the task at hand. He became so focused, so focused to soak in as much information he could about basically everything he could obtain in his grasp. This raw ambition often made others think of him as cold, sneaky, up to no good, and dry with no personality. She saw it from the other side of the spectrum. She thought it made him more personable, more reliable, and she could see the passion he had for research and solving equations and issues. She still couldn't understand, to this day, why everyone suspected him so much. He had, after all, saved their asses on more than one occasion since they arrived on Destiny. Okay, so he was to blame for them being stuck. But he had made a valid point; that explosion could have very well came through the wormhole, and they would have been destroyed, possibly along with Earth. Also, if she had to be stuck on a space ship with anyone, it had to be him.

Soon they made it into the gate room, thankful that it hadn't taken much effort on her part to convince him to let her go with him this time. Having been a student of his for almost six years, and working alongside him for two, she had adapted his passion for research. She scoffed a bit, her astrological sign was Scorpio, and that in itself meant she had a natural cosmic curious nature. She supposed she couldn't have him take all the credit for her being interested in research. She always naturally would log hours of computer usage researching the web for any and every thing she ever was remotely interested in. And it never took too long before she had a good knowledge and understanding of those things. However, when she met Rush, her interest of research focused primarily on him. And to this day, years later, she was still discovering new information on him, and thinking back to old information stored away in her memory. Like how damned fine he looked in army fatigues…

"Lily, not now. God, what would he think if he only knew…probably think I was crazy and send me on my way. FAR away from him…Is he speaking to me now?! What?"

"I said, get ready…"

Now she felt utterly stupid for just standing there, getting lost in her own thoughts, once again. Everyone else was getting prepared to go on the "mission," she even heard the gate being dialed. She smiled a bit to herself; she had grown rather fond of the heavy, almost scraping sound of the gate spinning and dialing its destinations. And what a ride the wormholes are, but also so mysteriously beautiful. She got into her fatigues with record timing, her hands reaching behind her head. She had shocked many people on the ship, especially Eli, when they all found out just how long her hair was. She hardly ever took it down from the high ponytail she often kept it in. Her hands worked to tie her hair even higher up, something they were highly trained in doing; it was a constant habit. She blushed to herself for a moment, remembering the few times Rush had either touched or ran his fingers through it. It had been a while.

"Let's make sure the radios work."

Nodding, she walked out of the gate room, stepping into an empty corridor. Smiling, as she heard the interruption sound coming from her walkie-talkie, before hearing his voice. Clicking a button, just to joke like she often did from time to time, she responds back.

"Roger that."

Of course, Rush didn't say anything. He wasn't a big joker, but he had made her laugh from time to time. At least she had gotten a chuckle from Eli. She walked over to where Eli was standing, a kino in his hands. It was suddenly placed in hers, and it took her a moment before she realized he wanted her to document the mission. Chuckles a bit, never have had the chance to work one yet, shaking her head.

"You sure you want me to do this? Wouldn't you rather, since you are the Kino Master?"

"It's easy. All you really need to know what to work is these buttons on the remote. I would go, but I had enough fun on desert island, thank you very much. I rather not go visit another hot and dry planet."

"Understandable. Plus, you got to make sure everyone stays in a positive mood, right?"

She heard him give her an unsure, almost mocking laugh, the two of them exchanging light punches to the shoulders. Eli was a great friend; he was almost like a brother she had always wished she had. Eli was always there whenever either her or Chloe needed someone to talk to. And watching the way he consoled Chloe when they all thought they were going to fly into the sun. It was beautiful. He was a lot stronger than he gave himself credit. She held the remote in her hands, pressing a few buttons and letting the kino go, watching it almost plummet to the ground. Eli jumped, flinching a bit at the thought that he just about lost a kino.

"You need to navigate it with the remote, remember?"

"Oops, my bad. I got it now…"

She made a face that read "sorry guys" before she followed behind Dr. Rush, the kino following in front of her. She kept her eyes on the remote's screen as they crossed through the gate. Soon they walked upon a bare and dry plain, her eyes scanning the area. Aside from the lack of sand, it did remind her of the desert planet. It was humid, but it was nowhere near the sheer asphyxiating heat they experienced that day. She continued to follow the team, still taking note of Young's almost standoffish approach to Rush. She almost contemplated pulling the Colonel aside and discussing the matter with him. Even though Rush had often expressed that Young was only interested in the well being of himself and his military personnel-and that's it. It wasn't until the crashed alien spaceship came into view, that her previous thought left her mind. Rush was already hurrying to the deserted ship, wanting to badly get the chance to explore it. She studied the ship from afar; it wasn't huge like Destiny was in size, but it looked to almost be made around the same time, and by the same individuals. Or so she thought.

"Well it's not Ancient. That much we figured out. The material and design is completely different."

"It's not radiating any radiation or EM fields, it's basically dead."

"Have you been inside?"

"We've located what looks like a hatch, but couldn't figure out how to get in. Looks like we may have to cut it open."

She watched Rush climb up the slight dirt hill, resisting the urge to tell him to be careful. Instead of worrying about him from afar, she closed the distance and climbed up the hill, standing beside him as she watched him study the hull of the ship. When he tried the hatch, she grabbed the free side, trying to help him budge it. She grunts though, as they had no luck in even moving it a centimeter; that hatch was really stuck!

"How much time will that take?"

"More than we have."

"We're pushing it as it is. Lieutenant, let's pack it up.

"Yes, Sir."

"No, just-just give me a couple of more minutes."

"A few minutes is going to make a difference?"

"Well, it might!"

She understood Rush's reason for wanting to stay a little longer. If they could just peek in for a minute or so, they could possibly find out something useful to their advantage. Maybe another address to a stargate that led to a planet more inhabitable. Or maybe a clue as to how they could dial back home. They had to at least try. She continued to try and open the hatch, as Rush went to go put away the scanner he had been using.

"Alright. Well I'm willing to push it if you are. Take your team and head back to the gate."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, we'll be right behind you."

She stood back and allowed Rush more room to try and open up the hatch. She had heard the hesitation in Volker's voice, and could read it on Caine's face. She turned back to face them, and gave them a look that asked and pleaded with them at the same time "trust him." She turned back and her hands were on the hatch again, trying to help Rush move it. She caught his silent look, that told her to "go with them." She gave him a look back, that told him "I'm staying here with you," and he didn't try to argue. Gritting her teeth, she grounded her feet harder into the ground as she really gave the hatch all the muscle she could give, the two of them struggling with the hatch.

"Whatever you say."

Eventually, they both stopped trying to open the damned thing. She stood back, watching as Rush started to examine the hatch from every angle he could possibly get. She looked off as the team slowly disappeared from view, making sure to have gotten a good shot of the team departing. She had been filming Rush, along with herself, trying to open the hatch. She smiled, turning the kino around to secretly tape Rush again, as he made a very valid comment regarding the discovered ship. He just sounded so excited, and she was delighted to hear that excitement, that happiness in his voice.

"You know, Volker was right. This is unlike any other kind of alien technology we've encountered before. If they're indigenous to this part of the universe, they might be willing to trade: knowledge, information. There has to be a way in.

Happy with what she had just recorded and what he had said, she was just about to reach down to grab the scanner again. Maybe she could go and scan a different portion of the ship. Maybe find another solution that could open the door, possibly a button they hadn't found. Along with Rush, she had a feeling there was some way inside. Otherwise, how was this ship ever flown? However, it was Young's next comment to Rush that made her freeze. He sounded so sure of himself, and she was slowly realizing that her suspicions might have been correct. She still didn't know what it was that Young had discussed with Rush earlier, but the way Rush had looked utterly pissed off; she had a feeling it wasn't a good chat between buddies. But the kino footage, they had all seen Spencer do himself in. She also was curious as to why Young was blaming Rush, when they all saw the kino footage had been corrupted as well. So, there was no real evidence as to anyone planting the gun on Young.

"I know it was you."

"I'm sorry?"

"The files…were not corrupted. The kino kept recording until you came into the room. So let's hear it. Let's here how you lie your way out of this one."

She wanted to lash out at Young, for accusing Rush like he was. But she watched Rush step away from the ship, giving her an intense look, before he went to face Young. She continued watching Rush approaching Young, Young taking a few steps back. She didn't know what to do, except let the two of them hear one another out.

"I heard the shot. I went to investigate. Then I found him."

She was shocked at what Rush had just revealed to Young. She was surprised that no one else on that ship heard the gunshot. She thought a huge ship like Destiny, the sound would have reverberated off the walls and bounce back every which way. Young's next comment made her heart rate slow; scared to have thought maybe Rush might have possibly tried to frame Young.

"And then you, uh, you decided to frame me for murder."

"That's a bit melodramatic. Nah. I knew there wouldn't be any real…evidence against you. The idea was to create just enough doubt to get you to step aside."

So that's why Rush had done it. A while back, he had mentioned he was going to devise a plan, to somehow make Young step down from command. So he could rally up as many civilians as possible to help him take control. Again, it was the issue Rush had with Young, regarding Young only caring for himself and his military crew. But she didn't understand why Rush suddenly felt that way. Sure, Young really hadn't stepped up to help them with the power situation, or the life support situation. He commanded the missions, but that was about it, she hated to admit. Young had gone on the Water mission, and had supplied them with more water. But this had also been the water that made them all deadly ill, and they had to experience that horrible kino footage of their past selves at the jungle planet. That gave her shivers all throughout her body, just thinking back to the jungle planet. Her thoughts went back to Young and Rush, still standing afar and watching. The two of them always had a power struggle before, but what was so different now?

"I see. That was the idea."

"Well, you're the wrong man for the job, Colonel. I'm sorry to have to be the one to say it, but I think you know it's true."

"Do I?"

She heard the challenging tone in Young's voice. The fact that Rush's comments were getting that much more sincere and venomous. She was starting to raise flags within her mind, that maybe she should try to intervene before they would do something they'd regret. She started to carefully climb down the hill, as the two continued on.

"You don't believe in the mission. You resigned your position as SG leader because you didn't want to make the hard decisions—the life and death decisions. Well, that makes you a liability. I'm not proud of what I did, but I did it for the benefit of everyone on board."

"The end justifies the means."

"Yeah, something like that."

Suddenly, it all had happened so fast, she wasn't even sure she truly believed what she was seeing. She heard the resounding punch Young had given Rush. And then he wouldn't stop hitting Rush. This made her heart skip a beat, and she immediately closed the distance between them. Both men were scrambling against the ground, both of them trying to dominate the other. Once they stood back up, each of her hands grabbed tightly against the fabric of their shirts, trying to pull the two men apart.

"Stop, both of you! Fighting is not going to get us anywhere. We have to get back through the gate before Destiny-"

She was cut off short as Young's free hand latched itself upon her shoulder and gave a rough shove. She hadn't been prepared for that, and she lost her footing with the momentum, and fell to her hands and knees. She watched Rush's fist quickly shoot into the air, in an attempt to show Young how displeased he was with his last action against her, but Young blocked it. Then she watched Young grab him by the collar of his shirt, the two men giving death stares to one another.

"Are we done?"

Blood. She watched as Rush spat a good bit out of his mouth, and noticed quite a bit dribbling from between his lips. That made her shiver. She wasn't afraid of the sight of blood by any means. But whenever she saw her own, or his, it made her skin crawl and her stomach churn in a way that she almost always got sick. Even now, she was having problems not dry heaving right then and there, as more was starting to drip down from his face. She watched as Rush sneered, and defiantly respond.

"We'll never be done!"

She gasped, getting up to her feet quickly as Young head-butted Rush, watching as he fell to the ground. She watched as he fought to stay conscious, but she had even heard how hard the blow had been to his head, and watched him finally pass out. She immediately went to his side, fingers smoothing the soft hair out of his face, frowning down at him. Why hadn't she done more, and just simply watched this take place? She should have been helping him more, protecting him more. So far, her promise to Gloria wasn't being kept very well, because Rush now lie unconscious beside her. When Young cleared his throat suddenly, she felt all the anger and spitefulness rise up from depths deep within her soul. She had never felt her blood boil so quickly like it was doing now. She dared a glance up in his direction, but never once left Rush's side. Her Gray eyes stared intensely into Young's very being, sending warning daggers his way; letting him know by look alone-she was not pleased with this AT ALL.

"We need to be heading back. Leave him there…"

"Leave him here? Just like that, it's so easy to come up with that idea, huh? Just how badly have you wanted to do this? How bad does it hurt you that you can't kill him that easily?"

"You are out of line, Ms. Dalhberg-"

"Am I? Because I think I have every goddamned right to stand up for him. You may not care for him very much, but I do!"

The sudden shock on Young's face was almost priceless. She chuckled to herself, shaking her head. She almost adapted Rush's dry nature, still glaring up with hate at Young.

"Oh don't look so surprised Colonel. That's right, someone does give a damn about him. Perhaps, maybe you're jealous, because of the fact that Rush did have his wife, and he's always had me from day one."

She had obviously struck a nerve. She had heard from Rush about how Young had developed a relationship with T.J., and that his wife had found out about it and he was now having marital problems with her. He decided not to press her further, and she decided she'd back down…for now.

"I'm only going to ask you once more. Let's get moving, now."

She didn't respond to him, looking down into Rush's face again. But she did lift her hand up, and all her fingers curled down except for one. Her middle finger stood up proud, silently telling him to fuck off. He gave a sarcastic type chuckle, before he turned around and started walking back towards the gate.

"Suit yourself."

She kept watching Young walk off, defiance heavy on her face. But it wasn't until she actually watched him disappear through the wormhole, that reality truly hit her. Young had just abandoned them on this planet. And it seemed Young had no intentions on their well being, or would even consider turning back around to rescue them. She tried not to panic, but she already had too many people in her life simply desert her. And she was starting to feel that unwelcoming feeling within her heart. And it hurt. She started to contemplate what was her problem, what it was about her that made everyone want to turn her away. She was thankful that she wasn't completely alone on this planet, but Rush being rendered unconscious wasn't helping. Her heart was beating so rapidly, and she realized she was starting to panic. Panting, she tried to sit back and focus on her breathing, swallowing the bile that threatened to evacuate her throat. Whimpering some to herself, she scooted closer to Rush's body, frowning down at him again.

"Nick, please wake up…"

Of course, she got no response. She looked up into the vacant sky, wondering how long it would be until the planet got dark. And prayed that this planet wouldn't throw any bad weather their way. She could try dragging Rush's body under the safety of the deserted alien ship. But she could risk injuring him even further, and she really didn't want to do that. She probably should have gone to look for something, anything, that might be valuable to their rescue. But again, she wasn't safe with leaving Rush just lying there, defenseless. Doing the only thing she thought to do, she gently laid herself across his body, in the only means to protect him for now. Her head laid against his chest that was thankfully, moving up and down with his gentle breaths. Her ear latched onto the sound of his beating heart, that alone helping calm her frazzled nerves. Her hand moved around, until it found his, fingers clasping around it gently.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way back, together."

It had seemed like days, when it was merely hours, before she awoke out of her thoughts with a start. She quickly heaved herself off of him, looking down as she studied him closer. There! He had moved, and she hadn't realized the breath she had been holding until then. She allowed him to slowly come to on his own, and saw the confusion on his face. She didn't even notice that tears were welling up in her eyes, the weight of their current situation suddenly heavy on her heart again.

"He left us, he left us!"

She watched as Rush got onto his feet, getting up to help steady him. After a silent moment, both of them looked up into the heavens above. Had she not been worried so much, she might have taken the time to appreciate the sheer beauty and mystery a nebula could hold. This planet was really lovely at night. But again, it was night, and they were stranded. With no one to help them, with no means of food or water, or a way to get back to Destiny, much less home. After a moment, Rush gave her a stern look. She wasn't sure if she had read his face right, but she took it as his silent promise that he'd find a way out, somehow. She looked over to their right again, taking notice of the alien ship. If they could find a way inside, at least they would have a different source of shelter, aside from being exposed to God knows what out here.

She gently pulled on his sleeve to get his attention, watching as he finally looked over at the ship as well. Without either of them speaking a word, they both walked the short distance, and both tried the hatch again. It had been a stupid move, but they had to try again. Blindly searching through the dark, the two of them split up exploring the outside of the ship. He took the right while she took the left, having to use their hands and fingers as guidance, since their eyes really couldn't get a good perception in the faint light of the moon above. After a good bit of time, she was about to report to him that she wasn't able to find anything, before his voice caught her off guard. It was a bit rougher sounding than usual, but she knew it was because of the abuse his body had taken thus far.

"Lily, over here!"

She hurried over to his side, straining her eyes to see what looked like a panel he had found. Inside the panel, she could see a good number of buttons. One looked almost like the button they had to use on Destiny to open doors. They both stepped back a good distance, watching Rush reach his arm out again, carefully trying the main button. She jumped a bit as she heard a hiss, but also the sound of metal scraping upon metal. Rush started to walk back over to the front of the ship, and she tried to follow, but his hand raised, silently commanding that she stay put for now. After a few moments, Rush's hand moved in a motion to tell her to come on, and she finally rounded the corner. She chuckled to herself, proud that Rush had finally figured out how to open the ship.

That didn't mean they were out of the dark yet, literally. Blindly searching the walls, she was hoping maybe they could find another button or switch for some kind of lighting. Frowning, she continued forward blindly, grunting some as she ran into something solid and hard. She heard Rush scramble to get to her, but she shook her head.

"No, I'm okay. Just…ran into something…"

After her hands searched a moment, she felt more buttons and flinched when she accidentally touched one. But when some kind of lighting turned on within the inside of the ship, she got an approving grin from Rush. Had her adrenaline not been rushing through her veins at that moment, she might have taken the time to blush. It was rare that she felt like she had been valuable to Rush. Blinking down at the offensive thing her body had rammed into, she noticed it was a control panel. This was Rush's department, and she kindly stepped to the side, allowing him access.

"Hopefully, I can find a way to dial a stargate, or possibly Destiny."

"Do we want to return, after what Young did?"

A long pause and stern stare exchanged between the both of them. She seriously wanted to wrap her arms around his waist, for him to tell her that this had never happened. Instead, she placed a hand on his shoulder, frowning and admitting openly.

"I…didn't want to believe you at first, about your suspicions of Young. I guess I was relying too much on the fact that he was a Colonel. That…he had everyone's best interest. He…did tell me to leave you behind. I couldn't. After seeing what he did to you…I'm expendable to him. At least with you, I know you won't just…"

She didn't have to say anymore. She watched Rush work, trying all kinds of different combinations on the console to get the results they were desperately seeking. Neither of them knew of what was to come, from simply activating the wrong button. She laughs out openly, relieved when Rush did finally bring up a screen. Her eyes light up as she notices some of the symbols…stargate addresses. They could make it, if they hurried to the stargate just outside of the ship. Rush was just about to start dialing, when they suddenly heard a rather loud crash.

"What was that?"

She asked, the two of them standing, simply trying to listen. Shadows suddenly danced across the wall behind them, as it seemed several figures entered the doorway. What they saw next, neither of them would ever forget. Tall, blue, bug looking aliens, and by their screeching chatter, they sounded pissed! Rush started to back up, which forced her to move backwards with him, as the aliens stepped closer. Now she wasn't concerned with how foolish or wrong she thought it was to hold onto Rush. Her hands clasped on his shoulders, eyes wide, trying not to panic.

"Lily, when I tell you to run, you run…"

She wanted to argue, demand he tell her what his plan of action was. And also ask if he was serious, and was fucking crazy asking her to just try and run. But all she could do was nod, her eyes never leaving the aliens, but also eyeing that open hatch door. She was just waiting for his signal, his command that she needed to strive for survival.

"NOW!"

At his loud command, the aliens charged forward. She took off sprinting as hard and fast as she could. She heard Rush grunting, hands clasped on the shoulders of an alien, its clawed hands clasped onto his. She heard an even louder grunt of pain, and heard his body falling hard against the console. She heard his glasses falling to the ground and scattering somewhere off in the distance. She had been running, but upon hearing Rush being knocked out again, she stopped to turn back around for him.

"Nick…"

Crying out in fear, she felt an alien grab her around the waist tightly, rendering her from moving. As it lifted her up like she weighed absolutely nothing, she continued to try and give up a fight. She flung her legs in every which way, actually kicking one in the head. Her arms flung in every direction, hoping she could lash at one with her nails. She tried to fling her body back, to push her weight back, hoping the momentum would make the alien release her. But that was wishful thinking. Soon, a good number of them was making sure she couldn't struggle at all; and she had successfully pissed them off even more. A rather tall one approached her, noticing this one was wearing a type of cape looking garment. She watched his hand suddenly come from behind his back, and she actually did feel her blood freeze, and her heart stop. Just seeing the huge syringe and even larger needle took her back to a very dark place. A place she had hoped to hide from, and forever lock away, to never hurt her again. She visually shook, and couldn't help the tears, or the pleading sound of her voice.

"Don't…please…"

She really started to panic, as it got closer, and prepared to inject her in the shoulder. They had no right! Just what exactly was in that syringe, what was that stuff going to do to her? What were they going to do with them? Her eyes widened as two of them had Rush secured by the arms, lifting his unconscious body up. One of them had what looked to be an alien gun of sorts, and watched it lift the gun up, aiming it at Rush…

"NO DON'T!!!! Please, do whatever you wish with me, just don't hurt Nick!"

She wasn't even sure they understood her. But her body language alone, had suddenly given them the proper signals they needed to proceed. She cried out in pain and horror, as she felt the long needle sting and pierce through her skin. She felt the incredibly long needle dig deeply, past skin, past tissue, finally finding its target; her brachial artery. She instantly tensed up, having never had a needle inject in an artery before. A cold sweat formed along her hairline; if she even flinched the tiniest bit, that needle could kill her. Feeling whatever liquid was in the syringe start to flow into the vessel of the artery, she felt as if she would get sick. Satisfied, the alien slowly removed the needle, disposing of it and the syringe.

She wasn't sure what it was that would happen next, but whatever they had drugged her with, wasn't taking long to affect her. Vertigo reared its ugly head first, then her mind started to become foggy, and she was having problems even focusing. Soon enough, her entire body started to feel heavy, and she suddenly relied on the support of the aliens just to keep her on her feet. Her brain quipped for just a quick second, what it was that they had done to her. Sedation. Her mind quietly told her, and it had been a pretty heavy sedative too. After another moment, her knees buckled and she did fall to them. Hadn't her arms been held by those aliens, she would have fallen completely on herself. Taking one final glance up, the last thing she saw was two aliens carrying Rush's body out of the ship. She felt her own body being lifted, before she allowed her eyes to slip close in a drugged induced haze, unable to escape for the time being.

Author's Notes: I did use the transcript to the episode "Justice" to use in the story, to kind of remind everyone what had taken place between Rush and Young. And the more positive reviews/comments I get, may persuade me to keep writing this story. I promise the next chapter, will be even more Sci-Fi themed. There is plenty in stored for Rush and Lily.