Notes: Sorry for the wait. It took me longer to finish this and the fic requires a third chapter, so this is chapter 2/3. Also, I forgot to add one thing: OUT OF CHARACTER! :D As always. Haha. Enjoy
"Mandy?"
When Nicholas asked her, she looked up and then down again, at her hands, and nodded several times. How could she explain this to Nick? She didn't even know what was happening here. She only knew that she was in a closed space and then she opened her eyes—a stranger's eyes—and she was able to look at Nick, to hear his voice. And she suddenly realized that she was inside the body of Colonel Everett Young.
When she had looked at Tamara, she instantly knew that she wasn't the only one. There was someone else inside the woman, and she knew who. They recognised each other but didn't talk at all. What was there to talk about? They couldn't figure this out. Not yet. And Nick had said it himself, they shouldn't use any other computer than the one he had appointed out, and to use it to investigate into this would reveal that something was amiss. Of course they had to wait. But she... she couldn't wait. At least, she couldn't help it. It had been too long since the last time she saw him. She had had time to think things over and-
Her train of thoughts got cut off when she felt something warm around her. Something that was trembling too. It took her a while to understand what was happening. Nick was hugging her.
"How, how can this be possible?"
She couldn't talk. She couldn't breathe. It was too much for her, so she just cried. She was able to touch him again. To feel his skin. "I'm sorry Nicholas. I'm sorry," she said, breathless.
"It's ok. It wasn't your fault. Don't worry, it's ok."
Oh, bliss. His hands on her hair. "I missed you."
"Me too."
0/0/0/0
"Soo... What's going on?"
TJ looked up from where she had been frowning, talking with herself in an internal monologue. "Eli?"
"Yes, well... I mean. I saw it too, you know? It's weird, so tell me. What's going on?"
"I don't..."
"Oh, c'mon! Don't give me that crap! I know something happened when you were into stasis."
TJ looked down again, breathing in and out, slowly. "Okay, we can tell you. I suppose this didn't have to be kept a secret for ever."
"We? What do you mean by that?"
"You know... Ginn... Ginn is inside me."
Eli let out a strangled sound. "You are lying."
"No, Eli, Tamara is right."
"Ginn?"
TJ smiled sweetly at him. No, not TJ, Ginn.
"How can that be?"
"We don't know. Amanda and I, I mean."
"What? Dr. Perry is here too? Inside TJ?"
Ginn shook her head. "No, not with TJ. She... she decided not to be present to the person whose body she is using. I, on the other hand, talked it over with TJ."
"What? TJ and you can talk? I mean, when you were within Chloe.."
"This is different. Apparently, we can show ourselves to the... host, and share all the information we gather or we can retreat and be invisible, thus the host wouldn't know what happens when we take over."
"Take over?"
"Yes. I don't know the extent to it, since I decided to show myself, but I think that the host will be put into a... kind of sleep while we are active. Regarding that, it would be like when we were inside Chloe."
Eli had been coming closer and closer and now was sitting beside TJ, leaning in, eyes big with curiosity and hope and a handful of other emotions that could be seen in them. "It is really you..." he said, approaching a hand to TJ's face but not touching. "It is you... Ginn..." his eyes filled with tears and an immense smile appeared on his lips.
"Yes, it is me!" Ginn smiled, and it wasn't like any of TJ's smiles at all. It was all Ginn.
"Okay, kids, time to rest for a while. I will start with the check up shortly, so, Eli, go to sleep," TJ intervened separating a bit from Eli with an awkward smile.
Eli moved back too, blushing. "Yeah, em... yes. You are right, TJ. Arr.. I'm going to... to take a nap." He walked towards the door and looked back before leaving. TJ was smiling at him, but it was not TJ, it was Ginn. She mouthed "I love you", or so he thought, before he left.
0/0/0/0
He felt like a child. They were walking hand in hand towards Young's quarters, giggling non-stop. He couldn't hide his smile. Though it was a bit awkward to have Colonel Young's hands in his, but only looking at her eyes, he forgot all unpleasant feelings.
"So, what did you do these past years?"
"Oh! Well, we did nothing, really. I was trapped in a... box or something. I couldn't hear anything that happened outside. I was with Ginn all the time," she said, giggling still. "And we fought," she laughed. "For her, Eli's maths was more efficient than yours and for me, you had more interesting theories. We never reached an agreement."
Rush couldn't help it and laughed too. "Well, I do admit that Mr. Wallace has a brilliant mind, though if I had to choose, yours is astonishing."
Mandy blushed slightly before continuing her story. "I don't really know how much time passed, but then, all the barriers were broken and Destiny herself materialized with Mr. Franklin, you know? And she told the three of us that she was going to try an experiment of some short. The next thing I remember is waking up in the colonel's body."
"What?" Rush stopped on his tracks.
"What's wrong?"
"Destiny did it consciously?"
"Yes? Nick, what's wrong?" Rush was looking down, his eyes going from one point on the floor to another. She knew what that meant, he was thinking about something. And very fast. "Nick?"
"Destiny is the one who downloaded your minds into the host bodies. That's why she awoke us up before reaching the start. Because it wouldn't be compatible with a frozen mind," Rush mumbled loud enough for Mandy to hear. Then, he looked up. "Mandy, where did Franklin go?"
"I... I don't know. It became blurry right after that. I didn't know that Ginn was here until I recognised her in Tamara's eyes. Maybe when we wake up the rest of the crew I will be able to tell... I'm not sure."
"It's ok. We will have to investigate this matter after Destiny has recharged. But I don't know when exactly. There's a lot to be done."
"Ginn and I can help. We know some of Destiny's algorithms by heart and we are familiar with her input and programs."
Rush nodded. "But be careful. We don't want Colonel Young noticing anything weird before we tell him."
Mandy nodded, too. After they stood hugging for what seemed to be an eternal moment, they discussed the basics of what had happened and they agreed on not telling Young until they could investigate more into the situation. They needed to know more, because they both knew Young would want answers to questions, and they still didn't have those. For example, why did Destiny choose Young and TJ as hosts for them? Where was Franklin? What else had the ship done while they had been sleeping?
Mandy checked the time on Young's watch. "It's almost time for the check up," she said, sighing slightly.
"Really?" Rush rubbed his face with his hands. "We should have taken a nap."
Mandy laughed and asked with incredulity, "Together?" Rush looked at her, and she smiled. "Seriously?"
"You know what I mean?"
"Yes, Nick. But... think about it. Waking up and instead of me, having Colonel Everett Young tangled with you under the covers of your bed."
Rush shivered. "Urg!"
"Ha, ha, ha. Exactly."
Rush laughed too. "Don't put strange images in my mind, Little Miss Brilliant." They looked at each other for a while, still smiling. "Let's get going."
"As you wish, Mr. Brilliant."
0/0/0/0
Camile arrived at the infirmary finding Rush and Young standing close to each other and Eli almost plastered to TJ. There was something different in the dynamic between them. Camile felt it was a good thing, so she ignored it and let TJ take her vitals and answered her questions. It wasn't until she was leaving when she noticed something different. She thought it was just a hallucination on her part, but she confirmed it with a quick glance. Rush and Young were holding hands. She almost laughed.
"Who would have thought..." she muttered to herself. "See you later, guys," she said and went back to her quarters. Before going to stasis there had been a load of paperwork she had to catch on, so now, on this week, she was going to finish it all, or at least, try.
She also had to think about what she was going to do regarding Earth. There was a lot of stuff in her head that she wanted to resolve before going back. When she reached her quarters she felt something weird going on inside her head. At first, she thought it would fade away, but when time passed by and she still had the same itching in her brain she decided to confirm it.
When she arrived at the Control Interface Room she found Eli working on the computer.
"Eli, TJ told me she needs you for something in the infirmary, can you go?" she lied. Eli looked up with a bright smile.
"Sure, thanks Camile."
As soon as he was gone she approached the screen and started pushing buttons. "Well Dr. Franklin, tell me what's this all about."
0/0/0/0
They were walking hand in hand towards the bridge when it happened for the first time. Mandy slowed down and called his name with a worried voice. Of course, this was something they both knew was bound to happen sooner or later. She was being pushed back to the corner of Colonel Young's mind. He looked at her with a reassuring smile. It probably didn't work, because she was giggling at his poor intent, though that was ok, she was smiling. Then, she frowned and closed her eyes. When the eyes opened again she was gone. The frown was still in place.
"Are you ok, Colonel?" Rush asked. He was curious to know what Young could remember or if he was feeling somewhat different. The man was still frowning at Rush, which made him worry a bit. A headache, he thought. "Colonel?"
Young yanked his hand away as he averted his eyes. Right. Rush had been so worried about Mandy and Young noticing something that he forgot he was still holding Young's hand in his, fingers entangled together. A modest blush installed on his cheeks as he cleared his throat. "Good, it seems you are back to normal, Colonel. Let's get going," he said as non-chalantly as he could. "As I was telling you, there will be a few changes after we have recharged..."
Young followed him, but Rush could see that he was frowning at his hand, maybe wondering why were they holding hands. "Rush."
He looked at the colonel, stopping. "Yes?"
"I can't remember anything that I've done since I went to sleep," Young said in a quiet voice.
Rush felt like teasing. He knew he shouldn't, but the urge was extremely strong. "Then.. You are saying that you don't... You don't remember what happened in my... quarters? What you did?" Yeah, Young's body had hugged him. He couldn't hold himself for much longer, he was about to explode with laughter, so he turned around, covering his mouth with a hand so Young couldn't see his smile, and ran away before the laughter escaped his throat.
But that wasn't what a bewildered Colonel Everett Young saw. What the poor colonel saw was a man running away at the edge of tears. After longs minutes had passed, he finally reacted. No. No, no, no... What Rush was suggesting that he did... What exactly did he do? "What the fuck!?"
0/0/0/0
SMACK!
TJ hit Rush lightly on the back of his head while Eli, Rush and her laughed uncontrollably. "You shouldn't have done that!"
"I know. But I couldn't help it! You should have seen his face," Rush was saying while still laughing. He had told them about his little mischief and now they all were laughing at poor Colonel Young. Rush wondered since when he had been so good friends with these two, but he cast that thought away. Did that really matter? "Well, Mr. Wallace, let's go. We have a lot to do. Tamara," he said. Eli followed him out of the infirmary.
Ginn and TJ started an internal debate on what they should do, to tell the colonel or to keep quiet about it until they found a solution. After a while, Ginn decided to retire and left TJ alone. She was using the flashlight to re-arrange some of the stuff on the shelves when she heard footsteps.
"TJ? Are you here?"
"Yes! On here," she answered. Young entered her field of vision holding his own flashlight, looking worried. "Are you okay?"
"Did I do something weird when I came to have my check up?" Both questions overlapped. Young had asked Camile if he had been in the infirmary for his check-up earlier, worried that he might have done something else he didn't remember.
"No. You acted pretty normal. Is something wrong?"
"I... can't remember what I did since I went to sleep earlier," he admitted. "Not a single thing. It seems... I... I... I might have done something to Rush."
"Sir..." TJ managed to hold a strangled laugh. She shouldn't be like this. She turned away so the colonel couldn't see her holding the laughter, though she felt her shoulders trembling. She busied herself rearranging some leaves to collect herself while she tried to reassure the despairing man at her back. "You don't need to concern yourself with that, Everett. It was nothing serious, and Dr. Rush was exaggerating. You can be sure he was just..." she cut herself. "Everett?" Young was gone. "Oh, God..."
0/0/0/0
Young felt like he was drowning. Even TJ acted strange. Did Rush confide her what happened? But, what exactly had happened? He saw her tremble, he heard her muffle a cry. What did he do? Was it that bad that TJ couldn't even look him into the eye? He was sure that she was just trying to comfort him and maybe she would try to silence the case for him. No. This wasn't right. He had to do something about this.
He went in search for Eli. Because Eli might know too. He looked at his hand. He had to have done something that had made Rush took his hand like that. But what? There was only one thing he could think of right now, and it was the least likely to have happened. Also, it seemed like TJ and Rush thought it was despicable he didn't remember it, and that it was a good thing what he had done and... Okay, he was completely lost about it.
He groaned. This wasn't funny. Not funny at all. He went to the Control Interface Room and found Eli there alone, which was perfect for him, anyway.
"Eli, can we talk?"
"Colonel! Yes, what's up?" he said looking up from the screen.
"Do you know what happened between Rush and I?" Young said, going directly to the matter.
Eli started laughing.
More Notes: This is why I need a beta:
"Yes! On here," she answered. Young entered her field of vision holding his own flashlight looking worried.
(BETA: The flashlight looks worried. Ah. A comma might help) (ME: HAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry. XDDDD Hahahahahahahhaahahahahahaha).
