Stargate Atlantis: 'Tales From the Highlands' by DD Agent
Chapter One
I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed or read the first piece of this story. I know it's a long time since I updated, and since my skills in that area are severely lacking, I've done this as a three parter. I hope this lives up to the promise of the first chapter, and I hope that you all enjoy reading this story.
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"C'mon Carson, start already!" Rodney groaned, waiting for his friend to get on with his tale. Although he would prefer it if Sheppard and his band of merry men rescued them sooner rather than later, the story of Carson's life was one that intrigued him. A quick look at Zelenka told him that he felt the same.
"Well, when I was little we lived in Aberdeen. Lovely, charming little place it was too. I had two older brothers, Bradley and Duncan. I also had two younger sisters, Jessica and Dawn. Plus me Mum and Dad, and we had seven round the dinner table. When I was young, things were hard. My Dad was having a rough time at work, and we struggled to make ends meet. Didn't help much that my brother was such a dozy bugger either."
XxX
Bradley Beckett was in trouble. Not only had he let his younger brother Carson out of his sight for two whole minutes, but also now everyone in the village was going to know about him and Mary- Ann Maise. Coming over the top of the croft, he saw the small house that he had spent the past eight years growing up in. Bradley was a normal boy, blessed at football and cricket. His brother Carson was six, and Bradley was tasked to keep an eye on him, even though he had a tendency to wander off. He often hated it that it was he who was made to take care of Carson, but at eight Bradley didn't see that Duncan was left looking after their little sisters.
As he ran past the post office and Mrs. Lagan to his house, he realised that if his father caught him without his brother, then he would be for it. A smack round the ear with a slipper was punishment for not eating his vegetables, but losing his baby brother? He had no idea.
Seeing the house in sight, Bradley sprinted down the last steps. Sitting playing with the milk bottles was Carson Beckett. He gave his brother a toothy grin and waved. His hair was sticking up at all random angles, and there was a smudge of soot on his nose.
"Hullo Bradley! Where did you get to?" Carson smiled, his voice ever cheery. The little scamp had no idea what hell he had put his brother through, and probably wouldn't ever know.
"Aye, it was you I was worried about Carson. Why did you run off?" Bradley asked, approaching the boy. He was dressed in one of Duncan's old jumpers and baggy jeans. Their family didn't have much money, so Carson got all of his older brothers cast offs. He didn't seem to mind, and always seemed to be very cheerful. Last Christmas when Bradley had complained about not getting the model car he wanted, Carson was fascinated by the small wooden motor his father had whittled for him.
"Wanted to play with the milk bottles," Carson replied, fiddling with the cuff of his jumper. The stitching was coming unravelled.
"Bradley Hector Beckett! I am disgusted with you boy! Why did you ever let your little brother wander off like that?" their father replied. Jonah Beckett was a tough man, keeping the family together with a firm hand. Their mother Sylvia rarely went against him, and that was mostly due to the knowledge that she would get hit if she challenged him. Jonah Beckett's word was law.
"It wasn't me fault Dad. Carson was the one who wandered off!" Bradley yelled back, knowing that this would cause a lot of pain later.
"Don't you dare blame your brother for this boy!" John Beckett growled back, and hoisted the eight year old off his feet.
Carson watched as his brother was taken kicking and screaming in side, and could hear the unmistakable smack of a slipper to skin. He winced as he realised that it was all his fault, and began to cry on their doorstep.
XxX
"God, your Dad sounds like a piece of work," Rodney muttered as Carson finished relaying the story.
All morning, hiding from the wraith, Carson had been telling the two physicists about how he grew up in Scotland and what it was like. This included school days, hanging out with his older brother's and cooking with his saint of a mother. However, some of the darker stuff his father did to the boys was not to be repeated.
Ever.
"In Prague, my father never hit us. Never. Mother would not let him," Radek replied back, sharing his own family information. Both of them turned to Rodney, as if he were going to share.
"I don't know what you're both looking at me for, I haven't got any story to tell," Rodney snapped back. He walked over to the other side of the cave and started to pace. Ripping open another chocolate bar, Rodney started to munch.
"We should conserve supplies."
"Those aren't healthy for ya lad."
"Yeah well, neither are fathers," was Rodney's nonchalant reply. Carson couldn't help remembering the only time in his childhood where he was smacked and not his brother.
XxX
"You're dead!" Carson replied, his father's white dinner shirt draping around his shoulders like a doctors coat. His patient was Emily Driver, the next-door neighbour who Carson liked to play with. They often played doctors and nurses together. Carson had gone through ideas of what he wanted to do when he was older (including rally driver and Prime Minister) and had decided on that being a doctor was a good job to have.
Bradley entered the room, and noticed that his ten year old brother was still playing make believe games. Duncan sat in the corner reading the paper and chuckling over his younger brother's escapades. Dawn, who was six, was snuggled up with him as he read her the cartoons.
"Get will ya! I want to have my friends over, and I can't do it with my wee weird brother around," Bradley made a pushing moment with his hands and accidentally knocked his brother over the coffee table, ripping their fathers shirt in the process. Duncan, seeing the commotion, rushed over and to reprimand Bradley for pushing Carson.
Duncan sent little Emily home and asked Dawn to go play with Jessica for a bit. Before he could go get a needle and thread, their father barrelled through the door. Seeing his white shirt on his youngest son with the huge rip through it caused him to growl. He pointed to the door, and muttered, "Get out."
Bradley didn't need telling twice, and the boy rushed up to the room he shared with his brothers. Duncan gave a cold look to his father and walked out slowly after Bradley. Jonah turned his harsh stare on his youngest and reached for the slipped on his foot. A squeal of fear escaped from Carson's lips, which only made his father hit him harder.
XxX
"What about your sisters?" asked Radek politely, sitting cross-legged opposite Carson. McKay was watching out of the edge of the cave, trying to see if the Wraith were about. His theory was that if he couldn't see them, then they could make a break for the gate. The problem was the dense vegetation that surrounded the cave, making it hard to see out of.
"Surely our disappearance hasn't gone unnoticed. Elizabeth would have sent Sheppard."
"Aye, I'm sure she has Rodney."
"Your sisters?" Radek wasn't concerned with getting out of the cave at the present. He wanted to be safe, and it would be more sensible to wait for Sheppard and the others to rescue them then to try and make it back to the gate on their own. That way madness lay, and Radek would have preferred to stay in the cave listening to Carson talk about his family.
"Aye, Dawn and Jess. They grew up well enough. When I turned twelve my Dad got a job working in an office in Edinburgh. We moved to the capital and we started to have some money around the place. Dawn started drawing, while Bradley just wasted his time playing football. Duncan finished his exams and went into mechanics. Jess…well Jess took a leaf out of Bradley's book and concentrated more socially than she did academically."
"Social life. I didn't have a social life in high school and look how I turned out." Both Radek and Carson gave him exasperated looks, as if to say that maybe going out once and a while would have done Rodney some good.
"My sister, Viola, she has a small child now. I have not seen my nephew in a long time. I miss her," Radek mused, and Carson gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. The doctor looked over to Rodney, who had come to join them on the cave floor instead of looking eagerly out of the mouth of the cave for any sign of rescue.
"I have a sister Jeannie. Haven't seen much of her in years, our father saw to any relationship between the two of us. She's got a kid. I think she has a girl. Could be a boy, but I'm thinking girl. So what happened to your sister Jess?" Rodney explained. After he had said his piece, he looked around to see if he could find a chocolate bar or a packet of biscuits. Radek and Carson had hid them under Carson's jacket while Rodney was looking out for the Wraith.
"When I was younger, Jess was the real sweet one. She liked dancing, and once my Dad got a new job he managed to pay for lessons. But going from the country to the city had changed all of us. Dawn became drawn into her own little world; Duncan began to come home less and less, instead concentrating more on work. Jess and Bradley started hanging around with some very unsavoury lads. One day I came home from school to find that she had left a letter with my Dad. She had run away."
XxX
"Maybe it isn't as bad as we think it is," Carson stated, but the look from his mother told him that he should keep his stupid ideas to himself. His fifteen year old sister had run away with a boy called Wilf, a boy that Bradley said had a notorious reputation. Bradley had already had a hiding from Dad for letting his little sister get involved with some of the notorious low lives that operated in the Edinburgh area.
"I can get some of the lads from the garage involved in a search if you want me to Dad," Duncan offered. His goatee was fully grown now, and his hair was in a long ponytail. His clothes were grungy from working with car parts all day, but due to the seriousness of the situation, their mother hadn't said anything as he walked through the door covered in oil.
"We can use this." Dawn presented a poster with Jess' picture on and some intricate letting in both English and Gaelic, depending on where they put the posters. Jonah smiled and hugged his little girl tightly.
"We'll put them up over the city darlin'. Now get your things kids, we're headin' out," Jonah ordered, and all of them snapped to attention. Just as they had got themselves together, a knock echoed through the house.
Carson opened the door and came face to face with a police officer. Dawn was still pulling on her coat when she stood at her brother's side. "Officer, how can we help you?" she said politely, gently taking her brother's hand. Although her tone was calm, Carson could hear the slight tremor in her voice and could feel her fingernails digging into the soft palm of his hand.
"Can I speak to your father please lass? It's urgent."
XxX
Radek and Rodney let Carson have his moment of silence before they let him carry on. Although it had been over twenty-five years since the incident, they could see that it was still raw emotion that the doctor had spoken through.
"What happened to her?" Rodney asked.
"She uh…she had been involved in a car accident with Wilf the drunk on a road just outside Edinburgh. He had been killed instantly when they collided head on, but she hadn't been. Jess was in a coma for six months before she woke up. Severe brain damage the doctors said. She had amnesia for a while, didn't remember anything. Lives with Mum and Dad now in Paisley where they retired to."
Both men patted Carson on the shoulder in comfort, and he gave a weak smile in response. Bradley had never forgiven himself for letting Jess wander off, Carson had once caught him murmuring something about it being 'the milk bottles all over again'. He had refused to come in the hospital with them to see Jess, before and after she woke up. One day he just left on the motorcycle that Duncan had been fixing up, never to be heard from again. He had sent Christmas cards to everyone but Jess for a few years till even that stopped.
"After Jess, I decided that medicine was really my calling. I had spent all my free time in there, spending it by her bedside. The doctor even offered me a small internship in the summer while she was doing her rehabilitation and physical therapy. I had the drive, I had the passion, but it was whether I had the right attitude they were looking for about whether I got into University to get the career in medicine I had always wanted."
A noise outside brought all three doctors onto high alert, but there didn't seem to be any Wraith lurking. After a high-strung game of rock, paper, scissors it was decided that Radek would go see what had made the noise. After lurking round the entrance for a few moments, he came back with some sort of dead creature.
"Looks like this planet does deliver take out," Rodney murmured, trying to find the matches in his supply pack. Carson laughed, preferring to eat something that looked like rabbit than any more chocolate or cardboard tasting cereal bars. Radek nodded, seeming to be on the same line of thought as Carson.
XxX
"This is an extraordinary letter Mr Beckett. Your qualifications are outstanding, your experience is impeccable. Everything says that you should be an good and successful student here," announced Mrs Johnson, the head of Sciences at Carson's chosen University. He had been to a ton of open days and had delivered a large amount of entry forms to the required people, but here was where he wanted to go. It was here that he wanted to study medicine, and it was here that he would finally achieve his dream of being a doctor.
"Then what's the problem?" Carson asked tentatively. He didn't understand why he hadn't been accepted here, but granted an interview with the department head. He had been accepted into Cambridge, for god's sake, he should have been able to come here.
"Medicine is a tiring field. The lessons are hard and the students are cut throat. Everyone on this course wants to be here to become doctors, and you have to be at the top of your field to get anywhere. In your application it says that you want to do a bit of surgery but you also have a passion for genetics. I know you've had a few problems with your sister that led to some deadlines being missed, but I don't know whether you will be able to handle the difficulty that is this course."
"Believe me Mrs Johnson, no one wants this more than me. My sister meant the world to me, and when she had her accident I was devastated that I couldn't help her. I want to help people, Mrs Johnson, and I truly believe that I can do this here. Please, give me a chance to prove it to you."
She didn't know whether it was the twinkle in his bright blue eyes, the dimples, or the honest Scottish brogue that made him seem reliable, but Mrs Johnson relented. She let Carson in. She had a good feeling about him.
XxX
Carson had tried getting to sleep. But between Rodney's loud snoring and the mutters coming from Radek (he didn't know whether the Czech was moaning about Rodney or whether he talked in his sleep), it was difficult to get a decent kip. He decided to wait by the edge of the cave to see if the Wraith were around. From what he could tell they weren't. To keep himself awake, Carson paced inside and out of the cave. Although reminiscing about his past had been hard, the mystery of why he and only he had passed through the mouth of the cave was the true reason of why he was awake.
That and her.
He had a girlfriend now, the lovely Laura Cadman. But you never forget your first love, especially as one so devastating as Kelsie. That was something that he wouldn't repeat in his tale of his, him and Kelsie's relationship. When Rodney had been zonked out on the Wraith serum, he had told Carson he had no idea how it felt to be that out of it. But he did have an idea, a much stronger one that Rodney did about how high you could fly and how falling hurt a lot more.
XxX
She had been the undoing of him. Kelsie Steele, beautiful, deadly and a danger to all those around her. They had met on the first day of University, her pleated skirt riding high on her thighs. She had seemed so sexual, and in their biology class he had discovered that she was fascinated with biology, especially the human body. The two of them had flirted and laughed through lessons until their first term of University was gone. He had gone home to see Jess and his family over Christmas break, and when he had returned he had found Kelsie in his bed only in her underwear.
French lace panties, black bra, and a silver cross hung around her neck. They had passionate sex that night, Carson's first time. They had craved each other like some people craved air. He needed her like nothing before. She needed him to survive. It was a symbiotic relationship, something that Carson had never felt before. Even his first kiss with Emily next door hadn't been anywhere near as exciting or as passion filled as this was.
Lessons were slow and boring, Carson began to only feel alive when he was with her. Her long brown hair tickling his skin; her red finger nails digging into his back so hard they drew blood. They slept in; missing their early classes and craved each others touch when their roommates and study partners dragged them to class or to do their homework. His grades fell devastatingly, and his mother had no idea why the department head had called her about his slipping marks. She didn't know of any girl that her son was with, he hadn't mentioned anyone.
After the phone call from her mother, Carson sat down on his bed in despair. Kelsie was watching some repeat of Star Trek naked, the sheets tangled between her legs. Looking over, she saw her boyfriend in distress. Moving over, she straddled him but he pushed her away.
"I'm not in the mood."
"What's wrong?"
"Mrs Johnson called my mother about my grades, and she's threatening to take me out of University unless I pass my exams this year. I haven't done the essay either, and that's due in two weeks," Carson moaned, but Kelsie hushed him, stroking the side of his face.
"Babe it will all work out in the end. You need to chill out, and I know just the thing."
She looked fantastic walking over to her bag, and Carson realised that he needed her more than ever. Pulling off his shirt, he waited in anticipation as she came over. Straddling him again, she kissed his neck and pulled something out of her bag.
"Want to play doctors and nurses?" Kelsie wondered, her seductive tone taking on a mind of its own as she pulled out a syringe and needle. The heroin was obvious, and Carson looked strangely at her before she pulled him down into a gasping kiss. They made love high out of their minds that night, and it wasn't soon before Carson was craving something else just as bad.
XxX
He pulled his sleeve upwards and looked at the small puncture marks on his right arm. No track marks were visible, he hadn't been doing the drug long enough to get any long standing mark on his arm. Sighing slowly, he noticed that both Radek and Rodney had fallen asleep. Moving away from the edge of the cave, Carson decided to get some shuteye of his own. However, a stone tripped him and he landed face first in a pile of dirt.
Muttering dark curses, he began to brush himself down. As he did so, Carson realised that his fall had disturbed some of the dirt on the cave floor. He moved some of it away to reveal that a box was buried in the ground. Using his fingers to dig some of the offending earth away from it, Carson hoisted the box out of the ground. The clasps around the wooden box immediately gave way in his hands and it sprung open.
Inside were papers and documents relating to an experiment of a shelter from the Wraith. It was designed so that Ancients could find a place to hide from the Wraith, a place that they wouldn't be able to enter nor see. Unfortunately the inventor had left a lot of his work unfinished, and the recall to Earth had happened before he could further his experiments.
Digging around in the box, he found more notes about the place. Only true holders of the gene could enter, the writer called them 'pure ancients'. He had wanted to carry on the Ancient bloodline, and had hid his eldest son and his wife in the cave to protect them, and to ensure that some Ancients would be able to survive the Wraith in the Pegasus galaxy. The inventor noted down that he hoped to return to his eldest son one day and to continue on his experiments. Looking back into the hole the box had come from; Carson saw some white particles mixed in with the dirt.
Bone.
The inventor never made it back for his son and his wife. They had died. Carson had some idea how that felt.
XxX
He had gone visiting his sister Dawn at Strathclyde University. He didn't regret going to see her, especially after what happened with Jess. As soon as Carson had come into the University, he had set about finding Kelsie. He wanted to see her, wanted to talk to her about meeting his parents. Sylvia and Jonah (newly sober, a proud Dawn had announced) were going on a small holiday to the south of France before moving to Paisley for an early retirement.
Carson had gone to her room, the library, everywhere he thought she might be. Eventually, he had decided that she might be waiting in his room. Going back there, he felt an immeasurable sense of dread build up in his stomach. Police officers lined the corridor talking to students, and only when a member of his class pointed him out did they notice him.
"Mr Beckett? Could you come with us please?"
It was like with Jess all over again.
Accidental overdose they said. No ones fault, just the stupidity of University students and a failure in drugs teaching from schools. It didn't help Carson at all when he saw his lover and his friend lying on a mortuary table with vicious track marks up and down her arms. Her skin was pale, and her lips were blue.
He refused to let himself cry. He had only been gone three days and she had done this. It was something that they did together, or not at all. That's what he thought, but it seems that he had that wrong.
"Carson," started Mrs Johnson, but he didn't feel like speaking with her.
"Don't worry, I'll have the essay due in on time. Don't want you to think that I can't handle anything."
Books became his life, friends became the background, and often food was forgotten. Carson was determined to pass his degree for both himself and for Kelsie. He passed with flying colours, as everyone knew he would. The summer after he graduated, Carson went home to his family. For the first time since she died, Carson fell apart on his bed. He felt the rush of tears, and stayed in his room for three days before Jess snuck in and gave him a hug.