Author: QuinnB
Story: Running for Freedom
Disclaimer: I own the idea only. No sueing please!
Summary: Where do you go when home isn't safe?
A/N 1: This is a Stargate: Atlantis/MMPR-Turbo crossover. It deals primarily with the MM through Turbo rangers when they're older but I think that still qualifies it as a MMPR-Turbo cross.
A/N 2: This is gonna be a re-write of Atlantis with two PR characters added who end up changing a bunch of things. That said, there will be a LOT of dialogue from Stargate Atlantis in here.
A/N 3: Once again, this is in an AU universe where all the rangers from Space onward never became rangers. The ending of Space was NOT a full out attack on Earth but a small city attack on Angel Grove. Zordon did die but everything past that, has not happened. However, this does not mean we won't be seeing the post space characters.
Chapter Four: 38 Minutes
"I feel like an idiot," Kimberly muttered as Justin helped her into her tac vest.
"Why?" Justin asked, trying to fix her straps.
"Well, for one, I feel clunky," she hissed. "And two, the vest does not fit."
Justin opened his mouth, thought better of it, and shut it. Kim and the rest of Sheppard's team would be going back to the planet the Wraith had taken the Athosians and their men the first day they'd arrived. Justin wasn't happy but knew he had to get used to Kimberly going off without him.
Nearby, the two marines going as well chattered silently as they checked their own tac vests and guns. "Tell me again why I agreed to be on his team?" Kim demanded, blowing a rogue hair from her face. Justin smiled.
"Because you think Sheppard has a cute butt," he replied with a straight face. Kim stared at him, shocked, as Markham and Stackhouse both choked on laughs.
"JUSTIN!"
"Kidding, kidding," he laughed, holding up his hands. "I think its cause you wanted to be helpful."
"Right," she agreed. "Didn't think I'd be so…clunky."
"I can go grab the spandex we have in the back," he teased, finally giving up on making the vest fit. She rolled her eyes.
"Very funny."
"I'm not kidding," he told her seriously. "There is black spandex back there."
"…Why?"
"How should I know; I'm just a scientist," he shrugged. She smirked.
"A bouncing scientist," she corrected. He grimaced.
"I'm never living that down, am I?" he asked, resigned, and she grinned.
"Nope!" she chirped. "It's gonna be the first thing I tell Tommy when we get back."
"Hey, you guys you ready to go?" Sheppard poked his head inside before Justin could say anything. The major was already dressed and suited up. Justin smirked as Kim shot the major a look of mock annoyance.
"Guys and girl," she corrected him. She made a face. "And for the record, the vest is too big."
"It's the smallest we have!" he exclaimed, coming inside the room. Justin moved off to the side as he looked it over critically. "Huh."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Justin agreed, to Kim's consternation. Sheppard shrugged.
"Well, it fits enough for you to function, right?"
"Yeah, barely," she agreed, moving slightly. He nodded.
"Alright, we'll find someone who can, uh, fix it for your…frame," he told her, stumbling slightly. Justin smirked as Kim rolled her eyes.
"You're so lucky I know you know better," she informed him and he sighed.
"Can we go?" McKay poked his head inside the room, fidgeting with his own vest that seemed slightly too small on his frame. Justin frowned at him as Kim waved them on.
"Yeah, be out in a minute," she agreed. "Go on ahead."
"You sure?" Sheppard asked, motioning for Ford, McKay, Teyla, Markham, and Stackhouse to head out.
"Yeah, just need to grab my weapons," she told him. "Go on, prep the jumper."
"See you in five," he ordered and she nodded, already testing the balance of the knives on display. Justin smirked as he realized Kim was following the major's backside as he walked from the room. Catching sight of Justin's expression, she grimaced and grabbed a pistol.
"Not a word."
~~**~~
Justin hurried into the control room. One of the technicians on duty had been kind and called to let him know Sheppard's team was coming in with a medical emergency. He hadn't said who was injured, leaving the former blue ranger to envision lots of horrible scenarios, each more dire than the next.
"Jumper One, this is Weir. What's your status?" Weir was asking as Justin skidded to a stop next to a consol.
"This is Ford. Good to hear your voice. The five of us are still here but Markham and Stackhouse are inside the event horizon.
Weir exchanged a look with Justin. "Say again?"
"Ma'am, Jumper One is lodged in the Stargate. Teyla, Doctor McKay and myself are in the rear compartment with the major and Kimberly. She was knocked unconscious by a wraith and he's in bad shape. Markham and Stackhouse are in the forward section."
The rest of the conversation faded. She was knocked unconscious by a wraith. Justin sat down abruptly. Kimberly had been attacked by a wraith. Sure, he knew that was a distinct possibility considering it was a reconnaissance mission but still. Suspecting it could happen and knowing it had happened were two very different things.
Kim was the only one in the city he really knew. Sure, he was getting to know the rest of the science department and a lot of the marines liked to spar with him but Kim was the only one who knew him. She was the only one who knew his history, his secrets. If she died, he honestly didn't know what he was going to do. And given his recent past, it was very likely he'd go insane.
Abruptly, Justin came back to the conversation at something McKay had just said.
"Hold on. Why thirty eight minutes?" Weir asked as Justin straightened.
"The window of open gate-time," he whispered as McKay explained it to Weir.
"I get it," she told him. "What do you need?"
"Help."
Justin rolled his eyes slightly at McKay. If the situation wasn't so serious, he would have made a remark about McKay of all people asking for help.
"Alright. Let me put Kavanagh, Grodin, Simpson, and Stewart in a room; see what they come up with," Weir said, nodding back at Justin. He nodded back and headed out of the room, shaking his head at McKay's inability to remember Dr. Zelenka's name.
It didn't take Justin long to get the labs. "Kavanagh, Simpson, Grodin, Weir wants you three upstairs in the conference room. Jumper One is half stuck in the event horizon of the space gate. She wants us up there now. Where's Dr. Zelenka?"
"Going to Jumper bay," the Czech answered, coming out of a room with a computer. He motioned for Justin to follow him as the other three scientists began gathering up computers. Kavanagh glared at Justin but the former blue ranger ignored him; the scientist was pissed because McKay and Zelenka had named Justin fourth in charge of the sciences over him; the older man was going to be trouble, the former blue ranger just knew it. Zelenka pulled on his sleeve. "I have simulation idea but need help. Come with me."
Justin nodded and grabbed his own computer before following the second in command of the sciences out of the labs.
~~**~~
It seemed like only a few minutes had passed since Zelenka and Justin had started working and Weir had shown up before the Czech found what he had been looking for. Once he had that, the two began working on something else, leaving Justin little time to wonder about Kimberly's health. So when a sudden beeping blared through his comm. ear, Justin jumped about a foot. Ignoring the Czech's amused and concerned look, Justin answered.
"Justin here."
"Justin, I just thought you might be interested to know they decided to send your sister through the event horizon. It'll act as a sort of deep freeze so if her injuries are in any way severe, they're being held off now," Setsuna, one of the Japanese technicians he'd become friendly with, told him. Justin breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you Setsuna," he murmured before ending the call. He looked up at Zelenka and relayed the news. The Czech nodded and they went back to work.
Justin was half listening to the chatter on the comm. when the jumper finally made it through the gate. He leapt to his feet but Zelenka snagged his shirt and shook his head.
"They come here, yes?" he reminded, pointing at the medical personnel who were waiting. Realizing he was right, Justin moved off to the side.
It didn't take long for the jumper to dock and touch down. Justin fidgeted, waiting as the medical personnel rushed the jumper. Kimberly and Ford were brought out first, each on stretchers. Absently hearing a murmured cheer, Justin jogged just behind his sister's stretcher. She was unconscious but he didn't see any blood and she hadn't aged so the Wraith must not have had a chance to feed. Relieved, Justin moved off to the side once they got to the infirmary and the docs began working on checking everything over. As long as a Wraith hadn't had a chance to feed, Kim would be fine. Getting knocked out wasn't unusual for rangers and they healed quicker from things like that.
"Dr. Beckett, where is Ms. Hart's medical file?" one of the doctors asked as the Scot arrived with a bad looking Sheppard. Justin straightened, slightly alarmed. Only Beckett was allowed to see Kim's medical file. Beckett gave two nurses and another doctor some quiet orders then moved over to check Kim.
"It's confidential, Anna, only I'm allowed to see it," he apologized. "Do a scan; make sure there isn't any internal damage. And pay special attention to her head; according to what I was told, she was knocked unconscious, not fed upon."
"Yes, doctor," the junior physician murmured and he and the rest of the nurses went to work on Kim. Justin sidled up to Ford, who was watching everything sharp-eyed over a breathing mask.
"Tell me she didn't trip," Justin half-joked. Ford coughed a laugh and shook his head.
"We were trying to get the damn bug off Sheppard," he told the younger man. "A wraith snuck up on us. He had McKay pinned and was about to feed when she pulled him off and kicked him away. He managed to get a few good hits in before Teyla shot his head full of bullets. She collapsed right after."
"She saved me," McKay said flatly as he and Weir came over. "And I am not HER scientist!"
"Excuse me?" Weir asked, eyebrow raised. McKay scowled.
"When she pulled him off, she yelled that the wraith was not allowed to feed on her scientist," he snapped. "I am not hers! I am my own person!"
"You're on her team," Justin informed him with a smirk. "She used to do the same thing when her friends in high school got attacked. She's very protective. Jason told me when she was a freshman she cursed out the most popular senior girl in the school for making fun of Billy, who was the, quote 'epitome of nerdom,' unquote."
McKay snorted and Weir gave a half-choked laugh. Ford snickered. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Anyone get the license plate number of that…hive?"
The group turned to where Kimberly, groaning muffled, struggled to sit up in the bed next to Ford's. Justin had a feeling she had been about to say something other than 'hive' and stopped herself just in time.
"Ah, ah, ah, lass, don't get up," Beckett called, hurrying over from Sheppard. He pulled off his gloves and gently examined her head and eyes as Justin straightened in between the beds.
"What happened?" she asked him as Beckett nodded to Weir, McKay, Ford, and Teyla to let them know she was alright.
"Short version or long?" he asked, pushing her legs over to sit on the bed.
"Short," she ordered, squinting. "Beckett, can I get some poppers?"
"You really need to stop calling them that, lass," he shook his head but moved over to grab some pain pills for the former gymnast.
"You got knocked unconscious, the jumper got stuck in the space-gate, Sheppard died then did a Buffy and came back, Ford nearly suffocated when he opened the rear hatch of the jumper while in space, and McKay is irritated at you for claiming him as yours," Justin rattled off. Kim stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Long version, tell me the long version," she ordered faintly. Justin laughed, a wide relieved smile covering his face as Ford began explaining in more detail.
Kim was going to be just fine
