A/N:
Okay, when I said there wouldn't be a chapter this month, I clearly lied. One wedding down, one more to go. On the plus side, I'm now only about one chapter behind schedule.
Sweet Slumber's Soft Embrace
Cam got off the elevator at level twenty-seven, taking the time to walk through the Control Room even though he was running late. "Any news?" He asked Walter as he jogged lightly down the stairs.
"No sign of her yesterday, sir." Walter told him, shaking his head.
Cam nodded. "The next update's still scheduled for tomorrow morning, yeah?"
Walter nodded. "Yes sir." He confirmed as Cam strode out of the Control Room and down to level twenty-eight.
The camera they'd left concealed in the Stargate clearing on Terluna was still filming. Every morning, StarGate Command dialled Terluna to upload the last twenty-four hours worth of footage and supply the camera with fresh batteries. General Landry had ordered that the watch be maintained until Faith was found or SG-13 arrived and decided otherwise. Walter and his team of technicians had volunteered to check the footage for any sign of Faith. So far, neither she nor the other girl, Mallie, had returned to Terluna.
Cam nodded at Vala as she passed him in the corridor, yelling back at Daniel to be careful. Jackson stood in the centre of the Gateroom blast doors, watching her walk away and Cam reminded him that it was time to go as he entered the Gateroom and accepted his P-90 from the waiting Airman. Looking back at the sputtering Jackson still standing in the doorway, Cam sighed impatiently and grabbed him, pulling the speechless archaeologist into the Gateroom so that the blast doors could close.
"You ready?" He asked as Jackson took a P-90 from the Airman. Jackson nodded and Cam turned to face the open Stargate. "Then let's go." He said, heading for the ramp.
l
Happily convinced that she had passed her psych evaluation, Vala went back to Daniel's office, remembering that she had been so caught up in studying for the test that she'd forgotten to have a snoop round Daniel's computer. Turning the machine on, Vala quickly typed in Daniel's password when it asked for it and opened his email account as soon as the desktop had loaded.
She tutted at the sight of his crowded inbox, stuffed with unread mail and gleefully began scrolling down the list, looking for something interesting. About halfway down the page, her eye was caught by an email entitled 'URGENT' from a Willow Rosenburg.
Just who was this Willow and what did she want with Daniel? Curious, she clicked on the email, quickly reading it. After she had finished she sat back in the chair, chewing her hair thoughtfully and read it through once more for good measure.
Vala only had the vaguest idea of what a prophecy was but apocalypse was a word she understood only too well. As a child, an apocalypse had been something that the Gods caused when they were angry. Then, when she'd grown up she'd become a host to one of those Gods and she had caused those apocalypses. Afterwards, she'd known that the devastation the Goa'uld wrought was nothing more than technology disguised as magic and she'd given no more thought to apocalypses. Until now.
Reaching for the notebook Daniel had given her to make notes in earlier, Vala grabbed a pen and copied down the prophecy. It certainly looked like Ancient to her, but there were many different dialects of Ancient and not even Daniel knew them all. Still, if it was Ancient then she was probably in the best place on the planet to be able to decipher it, Vala thought, eyeing Daniel's crammed shelves ruefully. From what she could gather this 'prophecy' foretold something to do with Faith and an apocalypse. Vala didn't think she wanted to experience something that the Tau'ri considered to be an apocalypse. She had a feeling it would be bad.
l
Eager to get back to the SGC, Cam headed back towards the house they'd temporarily set up base in earlier, shining his flashlight into every dark crevice on the way. The bright beam slid in through the window of the house and Cam thought he saw someone. Angling the light through the door as he came level with it, Cam saw Bernie sitting in a chair at the table, his arms folded.
"Ackerman, lets go." He told the man loudly and turned to go. A small part of his brain noticed that Ackerman still hadn't moved and he sighed impatiently, turning back and entering the house. "Yo Ackerman!" Cam shouted as he approached the man. He lightly slapped him on the shoulder twice. "C'mon, wake up."
He was already at the door when he heard Ackerman fall. Turning around, Cam shone the flashlight on Ackerman's pale body, as he lay sprawled on the floor. Dread settled like a mess of rattlers in his stomach. That couldn't be good.
l
"We're sending the medical supplies through now, Colonel." General Landry's voice crackled over the radio as Cam waited by the DHD.
"Roger that Sir." Cam acknowledged.
"Sure you don't want a little help? I can send another team in Hazmat." Landry offered.
"Until we know what we're dealing with, that would just be risking more lives." Cam told the General as the MALP rolled out of the Stargate. "We can handle it." He assured Landry.
"Understood." The General told him and Cam didn't hesitate before he brought up the topic on his mind.
"It looks like I'm going to miss the Terluna update, sir." He said and held his breath as he waited for General Landry's reply.
"We'll keep you posted." Landry promised. "Stargate Command out."
The Stargate shut down and Cam took control of the MALP, guiding it to the house they'd set up base in with practised ease. Grabbing one of the crates, Cam balanced it on his shoulder and opened the front door, striding into the front parlour.
"Compliments of Doctor Lam." He announced, setting the crate down on a table.
Cam read the contents out to everyone as he began to unpack it. Grimsby popped up beside him and snatched up the bottle of caffeine pills as soon as Cam had put it down, frantically shaking some into his palm and swallowing them dry. Watching him, Cam frowned.
"Go easy there, Grimsby!" He warned.
Grimsby glared at him. "How long you been awake for?" He asked.
"I dunno." Cam said, shrugging. He glanced at Sam. "What, twenty-four hours?" He asked and she nodded slightly, a glazed look in her eyes.
"Yeah, talk to me when you get to forty." Grimsby snapped and stalked off.
Cam and Teal'c watched him go as Sam frowned and leaned in closer.
"You've pulled all-nighters before, right?" She asked Cam quietly.
"Yeah, loads of them." He answered, wondering why she was asking.
"This feels worse, doesn't it?" Sam pressed.
"I too am more fatigued than I would have expected." Teal'c agreed.
"It has to be the infection." Sam said. "It doesn't just keep you from waking up, it makes you want to sleep in the first place."
Cam frowned and shook out some more caffeine pills. "Well, in that case..." He said and offered them to Teal'c.
Teal'c bowed his head. "I prefer to rely on my tretonin." He declined politely.
Sam accepted a couple of pills and Cam put the rest back. Teal'c raised an eyebrow and Sam held off from taking her pills uneasily. Sensing their gaze on him as he screwed the lid of the bottle back on, Cam looked up.
"What?" He asked.
"You're not taking any?" Sam questioned.
Cam shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. "Guess I got my second wind."
Sam frowned. "You're not tired?" She asked. "Reimer!"
The leader of SGC-Red looked wearily up from his laptop. Sam beckoned him over with a jerk of her head and he slowly got up and joined them, gratefully accepting the bottle of caffeine pills from Cam.
"Colonel Mitchell isn't tired." Sam told Reimer quietly.
Reimer looked sharply at Cam. "At all?" He queried.
Cam shrugged. "A little, I guess..." He said uncertainly, looking at his team for help. They stared worriedly back at him.
"And you didn't think to mention it sooner?" Reimer sighed impatiently. "Roll up your sleeve." He instructed, fetching a syringe.
l
Rattled by her encounter with General Landry, Vala headed back to Daniel's office to work on the prophecy. As she distractedly scribbled translations, she worried about what could have possibly gone so badly wrong in her interview to make Doctor Hutchinson want to meet with her again. She couldn't possibly have failed. Could she?
l
"Cam, Teal'c, I think I got something!"
Cam hurried over to Carter as she stood at the back of the cave, staring at her scanner as it slowly beeped. "Whatcha got?" He asked eagerly, shining his torch on her and illuminating the wall beside her.
"Well, it's a faint energy spike." Sam told him, stepping closer to the wall as her scanner beeped insistently. "I almost went past without noticing it." She ran her fingers over the wall and suddenly it gave way underneath her hand. The cave wall next to her hand shimmered and disappeared in a flash of blue light, revealing a small passageway, leading off from the entrance cavern.
"Shazam." Cam exclaimed, grinning as he stepped forward to investigate.
"I guess Daniel was right after all." He heard Sam say behind him as he shone his torch down a dusty passageway, littered with fallen rocks.
"Yes, he was." Cam agreed absently. "We should check this out."
"Would it not be prudent for one of us to return these samples to Dr Reimer as quickly as possible?" Teal'c suggested.
Frowning, Cam thought about it. "No, he's right." He decided. "We're on the clock and we have no idea how deep this hole is."
Struggling to think through the haze of exhaustion that surrounded her, Sam stared at Cam. "You're still not tired?" She asked.
"Nope." Cam admitted and Sam sighed.
"Alright, I'll go back." She said, passing him the lantern and picking up her pack. "Stay in radio contact... at least as long as you can." She told them as she turned to go.
Cam headed down the passageway, Teal'c following closely behind him. As Cam skirted round a huge boulder, Teal'c cleared his throat loudly.
"You truly are not tired?" The Jaffa asked.
Cam glanced back at the stoic man. "Not yet." He said. "How're you holding up?"
"I am most fatigued." Teal'c admitted, following Colonel Mitchell around a corner as the passageway headed down.
Colonel Mitchell looked back again. "Really?" He asked. "'Cause, you don't look it. Sam, she's got those bags under her eyes, Jackson's all rumpled and grumpy, Grimsby's... well, Grimsby!"
Teal'c frowned. "And you are not tired at all." He commented. "Most odd."
l
"So, you think it's the Mind-Melder causing it?" Cam asked Teal'c.
They'd been heading slowly downwards, following a circular path for hours. The passageway was big enough for the two of them to walk side by side now, except for when they had to skirt fallen debris. Cam was starting to wonder if it was a dead end.
"It could be." Teal'c rumbled, holding his lantern higher.
Cam glanced at him, annoyed. "Do you ever give a definite answer?" He asked.
"Yes."
In the silence that followed as he waited for Teal'c to elaborate, Cam heard a scuttling sound in the distance. He shone his torch in the direction he thought it had come from.
"Am I imagining things, or..." He said.
"I heard it as well." Teal'c confirmed.
They headed cautiously in the direction of the noise.
l
"Okay," Cam whispered. "I'll try and grab it, and get it pointing at you. That way, if he runs, you can try and catch him."
Teal'c nodded, sagging back against the rock wall. "Very well." He agreed.
Cam entered the small cave carefully, keeping his flashlight on the critter as it jumped from rock to rock. It noticed him coming and stopped to get a better look at him.
"Easy there... easy." Cam hushed it, easing closer. "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you." He promised as he suddenly lunged at the lizard, plucking it from the rock and hugging it tightly to his chest.
"I got it!" He yelled in jubilation. "Teal'c!"
Teal'c staggered into sight, his face haggard with exhaustion. "Well done, Colonel Mitchell." He congratulated, swaying as he stood.
"Thanks." Cam grinned, holding the reptile firmly as his long tail lashed against Cam's legs. "We'd better get Curly back to Reimer and Sam."
He started back the way they had come, Teal'c staggering behind him.
l
Jool suffered in silence throughout the whole meeting, fighting the urge to squirm every time Captain O'Neil spoke or she caught a glimpse of him. Somehow, she had managed to keep from blushing. She felt like a paedophile. He was six years younger than she was for God's sake! She had a sudden sickening thought as, just the other side of Oz; Captain O'Neil raised the matter of the fourth member of his team.
If Jon wasn't old enough to drink in America, then... how old did he have to be to do the kinds of things she could vaguely remember them having done the night before last? And just where had he picked up that trick with his teeth and her-
Jool blushed as Buffy told Giles to send Andrew, and scribbled herself a note to check America's age limits while Giles explained exactly why Andrew wasn't a suitable candidate. At length. Beside her, Oz shifted slightly in his seat.
"Why can't Willow come?" The pink-haired werewolf asked.
Willow blushed. "I thought about it, I really did." She assured him hurriedly. "But what if I'm off-world during an apocalypse? Besides, Kennedy really doesn't want to move to Colorado Springs. She says it's too cold-" Willow broke off mid-babble and glanced guiltily at Buffy.
"You told Kennedy?" Buff demanded to know.
"Not exactly." Willow bit her lip. "I just asked her what she thought about maybe moving to Colorado."
"Oh Willow!" Buffy exclaimed exasperatedly. "You know that the Slayers here are desperate to find out what's going on. What if Kennedy lets it slip?"
Jon watched them as Miss Rosenburg leapt to the defence of her lover. They were starting to let their cracks show, he thought. It was good. It meant that they were starting to trust him. Two chairs down from him Jool fidgeted in her seat again and Jon felt guilt settle in his belly. Would they still trust him if they knew what had happened in the early hours of yesterday morning?
He still couldn't believe what he'd done. With a member of his team. Within hours of meeting her. Couldn't even remember it, if he was being honest. His voice came out harsher than he'd expected as his frustration forced him to speech.
"Oh, for cryin' out loud!" Jool fought the urge to squirm as Captain O'Neil cleared his throat and continued. "This isn't getting us anywhere. I suggest we reconvene tomorrow morning when you four have decided who you want send to help look for Faith." The Captain paused. "Or, I could call General O'Neill now?" He suggested smoothly. "Get him to assign another soldier to the team."
After a conference of glances, Lord Giles nodded. "Shall we break for the day?" He suggested.
Relief filled Jool and she started to gathered her belongings together. At last, she could escape, if only until tomorrow. She didn't even want to think about how she was going to manage as a member of his team...
Jon shuffled the papers in front of him awkwardly, clearing his throat as the room got to its feet. "If Lady Wilson could just stay behind for a few minutes...?" He asked. "It's about the on-base accommodation." He proffered the carefully crafted excuse in an off-hand tone.
Everyone seemed to accept it at face value, more concerned with shuffling their way out of the room. In a surprisingly short amount of time, the room was empty apart from Jool and himself. Jon found himself rapidly clicking his pen, a habit he'd picked up in high school, and forced himself to stop.
"So..." He said, and then when nothing better came to him, continued with, "How ya doing?"
"Okay, thanks." Jool responded automatically. "You?"
"Peachy."
They sat in silence, the ticking of the clock of the mantel their only accompaniment. Jool focussed on the fine grain of the oak table, trying not to hear Jon's breathing, smell his aftershave.
"Lovely weather." She commented.
Jon looked out of the window as rain dribbled down the outside of the thick glass. Dark clouds hung heavily over London, completely enveloping the top of the London Eye as they divulged massive amounts of water over England's capital.
"Wha..." He managed.
Jool shrugged, glancing at the top button of his shirt. "For ducks, anyway."
It was actually quite funny. Jon could feel a smile starting to twitch up the sides of his mouth and forced it back down. "Look, I didn't ask you to stay behind to talk about your room."
Jool frowned at his throat. "Then why...?" She asked, blushing and dropping her gaze to the table.
This was hell. It had to be. "I can't remember..." Jon managed, irritated by the blush he knew was staining his cheeks. "I didn't find a condom." He admitted. "I need to know... are you on the pill?"
Horrified, Jool stared directly into his brown eyes for the first time since the early hours of Sunday morning. Oh, fuck!
l
About halfway back to the surface, Teal'c fell to his knees, his breathing hard and heavy as he stared at the ground with a bowed head.
"Perhaps we should take a break." Colonel Mitchell suggested.
"No!" Teal'c insisted, forcing himself to his feet. "We must return to the village."
Cam nodded and fell in beside him, making sure that he matched his pace to Teal'c'. "I'm starting to regret staying up late to watch Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalo last night." He admitted and then frowned. "Check that, I regretted it almost immediately." He corrected himself.
l
Teal'c stumbled through the doorway into the entrance cavern and tripped on a rock. Falling, the heavy Jaffa managed to twist so that he landed flat on his back with a grunt.
"Easy there, big guy." Colonel Mitchell was by his side in seconds, still clutching the creature. "Stay with me. You okay?"
Teal'c sighed and looked past the man. Daylight shone through the cave entrance just ahead and Teal'c rolled onto his front, pushing himself up into a kneeling position and then standing upright as he headed single-mindedly for the watery sunlight.
Behind him, Cam stood. "Guess so." He commented to himself following Teal'c outside in time to see the large Jaffa collapse.
Breaking into a sprint, he reached Teal'c just after the guys in the hazmat suits did. He handed Curly to one of them with instructions to see that he got to a lab and helped the rest to lift Teal'c into one of the isolation pods. As he straightened his back with a sigh and the medical team slid the cover over his teammate, Cam noticed the second isolation unit.
"No way." He said, backing away. "Just stick me in a spare hazmat."
One of the technicians shook his head. "We didn't bring any spares." He said, his voice distorted by the speaker in his suit. "You can walk to the 'gate if you want." He offered.
Cam shrugged and helped them to carry his pod back through the forest. It was probably the best offer he was going to get. Catching sight of his watch as they entered the village, he realised that he was almost twelve hours late for the update. As he trudged back to the Stargate, Cam wondered if anything had happened on Terluna while he was gone.
l
Jool tried not to hyperventilate as she hurried into the lavatories. Oh God, how had she been so stupid? She was a doctor! She turned the cold tap on at one of the marble sinks and splashed water over her face, sighing as she felt her hectic blush finally start to fade.
Behind her a toilet flushed and Jool looked up to meet her own wild eyes as a lock clicked back and Kennedy sauntered out, her glossy dark hair hanging loose down her back. Jool watched water drip from her own face as the other slayer stepped up to a sink and began to wash her hands.
Kennedy glanced at her in the mirror as she turned the taps off. "You and the Captain, huh?" The brunette asked.
And just like that, the blush was back. "I don't know what you're talking about." Jool managed to stammer, staring at her hands as she rubbed them together under the cold tap. When had they gone numb?
"Sure." Kennedy smirked as she wiped her hands on the thick towel hung over a rail. "Catch you later."
Shaking with rage as the door closed behind the bitch, Jool carefully turned off the tap and shook the excess water from her hands. She really needed to kill something tonight.
l
Vala's eyebrows rose when the elevator doors opened to reveal four men in hazmat suits holding a long white oblong. Shrugging she squeezed in next to them.
"Level twenty-two, please." She requested as the doors slid closed and glanced down to see Colonel Mitchell staring patiently up at her from inside the white bow. Vala blinked. "Colonel? What happened?" She asked.
He shrugged and mouthed something at her while gesturing to his ear.
"Where's Daniel?" Vala continued. Mitchell frowned and mouthed something. "Daniel!" Vala shouted.
"He can't hear you." The man next to her said with a wince as the doors opened.
"Level twenty-two." His teammate by the control panel informed her helpfully.
Vala glared at him. "Never mind." She said. "I'll follow you."
The second man shrugged and the doors slid closed as the elevator moved up a level. Following them through the hallways, Vala was stopped from entering the isolation room by one of the technicians. Already expecting it, she skipped through the next door over and up the stairs into the observation room. General Landry and Doctor Lam were waiting there for the medical team to finish running a series of tests on Colonel Mitchell and leave the room before they began questioning to question him. They accepted her presence with no more than a grunt from General Landry and a glance up from her laptop from the Doctor as she switched through screens. Vala eased herself onto a stool and resolved to keep her mouth shut.
"What happened?" The General asked as soon as the door had closed behind the last medic.
Cam shrugged. "I don't know." He said honestly. "Carter and Reimer were working on it while Teal'c and I captured Curly." He frowned. "Curly's safe, right?"
Frowning, General Landry looked at his daughter and she opened a new screen on her laptop.
"If you mean the lizard you captured in the cave system, Doctor Newman is currently running tests on her before settling her in to her new home." She informed Colonel Mitchell.
"Good." Cam hopped up onto the bed. "You got to reverse-engineer an antidote or something from her. She's the only thing still alive on that planet."
Landry was still frowning. "How is it that you're still awake?" He asked.
"Even Teal'c has succumbed." Doctor Lam added. "You've been awake for at least thirty-eight hours." A report pinged up on her laptop screen and she glanced at it. "Your melatonin levels are critically high."
Cam yawned and lay back on the bed, kicking off his boots. "Teal'c thinks it might be some kind of after-effect of the Mind-Melder." He told them. "Reimer was running extra tests."
"It was a dead end." Doctor Lam told him absently as she scrolled down the report.
"Where's Daniel?" Vala asked and she looked at her.
"He, Colonel Carter, Sergeant Grimsby and Teal'c are all asleep in different isolation rooms." She informed Vala. "I'm monitoring their conditions from here while my staff comb through their research." She tapped a few buttons and a picture of a large bug appeared on all of the screens in the observation room. "We're fairly certain that this parasite that they picked up in the cave is the culprit."
"I'm fairly sure I didn't see anything like that in there." Cam said, staring at the bug in horror, his southern accent unusually strong.
Doctor Lam smiled. "It starts off microscopically small, works its way into the bloodstream and lodges in the brain where it forces the overproduction of melatonin and..." She broke off as another report flashed up on her screen. "I have to go." She informed them, closing her laptop and standing.
"What happened?" Vala asked, jumping up and following her out. "Is it Daniel? Is he alright?"
General Landry chuckled wryly as the door closed behind them and turned back to his second-in-command. "She passed the psych evaluation." He told him.
"Really?" Cam asked and the General nodded. "What happened on Terluna?"
General Landry's smile disappeared "She came and left again." He said.
Cam frowned, sitting up. "What?"
"It happened an hour or so after the last update. Faith and that other girl came running into the clearing and dialled out." The General explained. "They must have got back there by ship."
Cam glanced at his watch. "Then why didn't they leave that way?" He wondered, frowning.
"Try and get some rest." Landry instructed him.
"No offence sir, but I'd rather not sleep until that bug is dead." Cam said, trying not to look at the screens still displaying the gruesome photograph of the creature.
"I understand." The General said sympathetically. "I'll expect a full report of your activities on Vagonbrei before you see the Terluna recording."
At least he turned the screens off before he left.
l
Somewhere, birds were singing. The sun shone through a window to lie, hot and heavy, across her hips and thighs. The air smelt like fresh bread, warm and yeasty, and the soft sheets slid smoothly over her skin.
She knew it was too good to be true... Faith cracked open an eye to peer beneath the sheets. She groaned at the sight of her naked body. This was getting to be a fucking habit! Okay, she told herself, lying back against the squishy pillow and staring up at the timbered ceiling, think. What's the last thing you can remember?
She yawned, unbearably tired, as they staggered into a bustling Jaffa town. Mallie peered at her, frowning in concern.
"Are you alright?" Mallie asked, guiding her to a convenient step and sitting her down.
She didn't appear to be a prisoner and her room was pleasantly, if plainly, furnished. The key was in the lock on the inside of the door. Other than the fact that she couldn't remember how she got there, there was nothing to suggest foul play. Except...
Where the hell was Mallie?
Getting up, Faith opened a drawer at random and grinned at the sight of the leather pants she had liberated from Vanna's storeroom. At least she had something to wear while she looked.
l
Two airmen wheeled in a large screen as Doctor Lam was telling him that the melly-whatsit critter was finally dead and completely distracted him while the Doc extracted some more blood from his arm and huffed off. Settling back into a more comfortable position, Cam yawned as he pressed play and a shot of the Stargate clearing filled the screen. Sure, now he felt tired!
l
She had had to use a strip of the despised Ori dress as a belt because she had lost so much weight. Not that she cared. Faith explored the large wood and plaster building she had woken in, sticking her head around door with no concern for what she might find in the rooms within. So far she'd discovered ten bedrooms, four with people in them, a linen cupboard, a broom cupboard and the kitchen. And that her new pants chafed. She had yet to find Mallie or the way out. Trying another door, she discovered a bar.
Now that was more like it.
Closing the door behind her, Faith approached the bar, ignoring the other customers. "Something to drink and two of the chef's special." She ordered as the barmaid drew near. She'd worry about how she was gonna pay for it later.
The older woman nodded, her short spiky hair staying fixed firmly in place despite the movement. "If you'd like to join your friend in the private bar?" She invited, jerking her head at a door on the other side of the room with a significant glance at the other inhabitants of the bar.
"Sure." Faith frowned and walked slowly to the other door, wondering if she was walking into a trap again.
Fuck it, she decided and reached out for the door handle. As long as she got fed, she didn't really care. She quietly pushed open the door and entered the room. The only other inhabitant of the room twisted in her chair in front of the fireplace to see who had come in as Faith closed the door behind her.
Mallie gasped. "Oh, Faith!" She cried and rushed over.
Faith threw up an arm to fend her off. "Stop!" She ordered and Mallie skidded to a halt, millimetres from Faith's outstretched hand. "We gotta talk about you not hugging me every time you see me." She said. "I get that you hug, I do. But I don't. You get me?"
"I believe so." Malina frowned as she puzzled out Faith's meaning. "You do not wish me to embrace you any more?"
Faith sighed in relief. "Damn straight." She said, flinging herself into a chair. "What happened?"
l
They were the first to arrive. After exhausting all of the usual pleasantries, Jon and Jool sat in an uncomfortable silence until the door opened and Oz entered. The short man blinked as they both tried to start up conversations with him at the same time and sat down in what was quickly becoming his usual seat between them.
"Where're the others?" He asked.
"Don't know." Jool said at the same time as Jon spoke.
"They're late." The young captain said, scowling at his watch.
Oz nodded. "Huh."
The clock on the mantel continued to tick away the minutes as they waited. Finally, just as Jon was about to suggest that they ditch the meeting, the oak door opened and the late arrivals finally appeared.
"Sorry we're late." Lord Giles apologised as they sat down. "The conversation overran somewhat." Buffy snorted and he glared at her. "On the other hand," he continued. "We've decided who to send."
"Great." Jon told him. "Before we get into that, I've got some news." Quickly, he told them about Faith's reappearance on Terluna, promising to provide them with a copy of the tape as soon as it arrived. "It does mean that the 'Gate addresses they pulled from the DHD the second time around almost a day out of date." He explained.
Next to him, Oz was taking notes. "Does it matter?" The usually taciturn man asked.
Jon scoffed. "No. It's unlikely they'll trace her through them anyway. They'll have pulled hundreds of addresses from the DHD and they could have just turned straight around and dialled again."
"So Faith's alive and kicking ass, but still lost?" Xander asked him from across the table.
"Yeah, sure you betcha." Jon assured him.
It was strange, but despite the younger man's off-hand tone Xander felt reassured. He sat back and waited for the fireworks when they revealed the fourth member of Jon's team as the younger man answered more questions.
Or was he? Several of Jon's mannerisms and quirks of speech marked him out as a much older man, despite his youthful appearance. What kind of teenager used aftershave every day, for example? Unlike his friends, Xander hadn't believed for one minute that General O'Neill would saddle them with a greenhorn. No, there was definitely more to Captain Jonathan O'Neil than he was letting on. But that was okay. As long as his secrets didn't come back to bite them in the ass, Jon could keep them as far as Xander was concerned. The one-eyed carpenter tuned back into the conversation as Jon was explaining his plan to take his team on patrol that night, so he could get an idea of how they reacted in a battle situation.
"That's actually a good idea." Buffy said.
"Gee, thanks." Jon said flatly.
"You told him we're sending Andrew then?" Xander asked.
Giles glared at him. "We hadn't got that far, no." He took his glasses off and polished them.
"Aww, crap." Jon whined. "Do you hafta?"
l
Malina had just finished telling Faith about how she had managed to secure them both rooms in the inn after Faith had mysteriously collapsed on its front step two days ago when there was a soft knock on the door and it opened.
"Sorry it took so long." Kay said, entering the room and setting the laden tray she carried on the low table before the fire. "Technically it's the cook's lunch break but I managed to convince her to make you something to eat." She explained, sitting in one of the comfortable chairs by the fire.
Faith frowned at the interloper as she picked up a tankard. "That's great, thanks." She told her. "Haven't you got somewhere else to be?"
As Kay burst into laughter at the thought, Malina rushed to explain. "Kay owns the inn. She is a slayer too."
Clearly not convinced, Faith eyed Kay sceptically. "Prove it." She challenged.
Malina glanced apologetically at Kay as the other woman casually reached over the fireplace and picked up the poker. Bending it into a knot, she tossed it onto the table in front of Faith.
The brunette slayer shrugged, unimpressed, sipping from her tankard. "Okay." She acknowledged the older woman. "You're a slayer. Welcome to the club."
Kay smiled at the woman. "And you're a Tau'ri," she said. "Although you don't look like any Tau'ri I've ever met. Apart from the trousers and they're not uncommon these days."
"You've met an SG team? Which one?"
Ah, now she'd managed to interest the enigmatic Faith. "SG-9." Kay told her, observing her closely.
"Major Grogan's team?" Faith asked and Kay relaxed. She'd met Grogan once. It had been some years ago and he had been a lieutenant then, but the name was enough to convince her that Faith was who she said she was. For now.
"He still owes me fifty bucks from poker night." Faith mused, pulling a plate of food towards her as she shifted awkwardly in her seat. Damn, these pants chafed!
l
The next morning they all seemed to gather naturally in Carter's lab. She had arrived first and put a pot of coffee on and they all helped themselves to a cup as they arrived, chatting companionably. Daniel suggested a movie night and Teal'c suggested Star Wars. Cam told them about Faith's second departure from Terluna and Sam promised to run some more tests on the Mind-Melder as the conversation began to turn to the recent events on Vagonbrei.
Eventually Jackson managed to coax Teal'c into telling him about his hallucination in the cave as Cam fetched himself another cup of coffee.
"I believed that I was the one to capture Curly." Teal'c told them in a monotone. "That Colonel Mitchell collapsed shortly afterwards and that I alone carried the creature to the surface. I continued to believe this until I awoke this morning and Doctor Lam assured me otherwise."
"What about you?" Daniel asked Sam. "Any hallucinations?"
Sam shivered. "Yeah, when they put me in the pod, I imagined I was being put in a coffin. I thought I was being buried alive."
All things considered, he was glad he hadn't had any of the symptoms that the others had, Cam decided as General Landry entered the room.
"Well, rise and shine. How're you feeling?" The General asked.
Cam got to his feet. "Rested and ready to go, sir." He reported.
"I assume Doctor Lam got you up to speed?" Landry asked.
Sam nodded. "Yes, sir. Between the sample Colonel Mitchell collected, and the research Dr. Reimer and I conducted, they were able to produce a serum that effectively isolated the parasite and starved it out."
"I just hate that the cave was a dead end." Cam said. "We went through all that for nothing."
Jackson smiled faintly. "I wouldn't say that, exactly. I did find one reference in that library that might prove to be useful... Atlantis."
Sam stared at him. "You think the location of Merlin's weapon is hidden in their database?" She asked.
"I think it's worth checking out." Daniel told her as the phone began to ring.
As it was her office, Sam picked it up. "Carter." She said. "I see. We'll be right there." Hanging up, she turned to General Landry. "There seems to be a problem in the Gateroom, sir." She informed him.
Concerned, they all filed out to discover what was going on. Cam found himself walking next to General Landry as the group headed for the elevators.
"The Odyssey leaves for Atlantis in two days." The General mentioned.
Cam frowned as they all crowded into an empty elevator. "SG-13 arrives in three." He reminded him.
"I know." The General said grimly.
l
The three slayers sat in silence in the private bar, the remains of a substantial breakfast on the table between them. Suddenly they all pricked their ears up, hearing the distant sound of screams and weapons-fire. Standing, they gathered at the window to peer at the great billows of smoke rising in the distance. At other end of the street, a platoon of Ori soldiers rounded the corner.
"Damn." Faith swore. "Where's the zat?"
l
They were debating the best place to go for lunch when Sam's hand shot out, pressing the button for level nineteen in time for the elevator to shudder to a halt.
"Got an idea." The blonde astrophysist said as the doors slid open. "I'll catch up." She promised as she rushed from the elevator.
Daniel's held the doors open as they started to close. "I , uh, just want to draft a quick email to Elizabeth Weir." He said, sidling out. "The Atlantis check-in is tomorrow."
Vala sighed mournfully as the doors closed and then looked brightly up at Colonel Mitchell. "I'll pay you back?" She promised hopefully.
l
"Get 'em, boys!" Kay yelled, throwing open the front door of the inn on her way past to the bar.
Faith watched in amazement as her customers snatched up their weapon of choice and ran out into the street, yelling war cries as they went.
"Way to motivate a crowd." She commented as Kay popped up from behind the bar, a large grin on her face and a Jaffa staff weapon in each hand.
Laying one of the staffs on the bar, Kay reached back underneath it. "I've got two more zat'nik'tels if you're more comfortable with using those." She offered.
Already stroking the staff weapon lovingly, Faith took one of the zats as well. Mallie had theirs in one hand and she hesitated as Kay placed the other on the bar.
"Take it." The short-haired Slayer urged, vaulting easily over the bar and striding over to peer out of the open door.
Kay jerked her head inside a split second before a bright blue bolt of light impacted with the doorframe where it had been and used the distraction to angle her staff weapon around the wall. She fired and someone screamed.
"Ready?" Kay asked with a glance back at the other two slayers.
Faith grinned, her dark eyes dancing. "Fuck, yeah!" She exclaimed and they charged into the battle raging outside.
l
Jon paused at the top of the staircase before they saw him and surveyed his new team. They stood in the middle of the foyer with Buffy, Xander and Miss Rosenburg as teams of slayers and watchers streamed out of the door for their first patrol of the evening. Andrew was talking animatedly to a stoic Oz as an amused Xander watched from a safe distance. Jool was chatting with Miss Rosenburg and Buffy. As Jon descended the stairs, she looked up at him and then quickly away.
The guilt settled like a stone in Jon's stomach and he resolutely pushed it away. As heavy as his conscience was, it had no place here. Not when he finally had a team to lead again. Even if he had yet to work out how he was going to turn them into a SG team. Especially since he only had two days left to do it.
Jon stopped thinking as he reached the foot of the staircase and joined the group. He groaned as he caught the tail end of Andrew's one-sided conversation with Oz.
"...Course it's just a cover-up." The young man said confidently. "Everyone knows that the Stargate's in Iraq. That's why America really invaded."
"You haven't told him yet?" Jon asked Xander quietly.
The other man shook his head slightly. "We were kinda hoping you would." He muttered. "Maybe when you get there?"
"Get where?" Andrew asked innocently.
A deathly hush fell over the group. Around them, girls rushed through the crowded foyer on their way to somewhere else. When it became obvious that everyone was waiting for him to speak, Jon sighed heavily.
"Where are we going tonight?" He asked.
l
Faith grinned grimly as she fired the staff weapon at a barrel near a grouping of Ori soldiers who were too busy firing at Malina to notice her. Whatever had been in the barrel was obviously flammable as it exploded with a rush of heat and a large fireball that set light to the thatch of the house next to them, giving her a great idea. Firing her zat rapidly, she swung the staff around her head to knock out a nearby soldier, looking around for Kay. The older slayer was in the centre of a ring of soldiers, grinning as she exchanged blows with them all and Faith quickly hurried over to cover her back.
Tomin glanced around the corner of the street in time to watch two women decimate the patrol he had just sent in to quell the situation. Throwing himself back to safety as a Jaffa fired at him, he lay sprawled at the feet of his men as he radioed the ship to send in reinforcements.
Malina dived behind a cart full of vegetables as a bolt of deadly energy shot into the ground two feet behind where she had stood. Taking aim through the cartwheels, the young slayer fired her twin zat'nik'tels repeatedly into a group of Ori. She could feel the weapons starting to overheat in her hands as she shoved herself back onto her feet, the soldiers all either dead or unconscious, but she did not allow herself to worry about it, concentrating on the task at hand instead. Rule number one, Faith had told her. Don't die.
Where was Faith? Looking around, Malina could not see her, or Kay. Dodging weapons-fire, she ran across the wide street, hoping to see them from there. Firing at anyone who looked like they might be about to fire at her, Malina kept her back to Kay's inn as she looked for either of the other two slayers.
"Fire in the hole!" Faith yelled on her way out of the door.
Firing the zat in her hand as she ran, she hurled the Molotov cocktail she held in her other hand at three Ori soldiers trying to creep up on Mallie and dodged back into the inn for a refill. Behind the bar, Kay was stuffing rags into bottles as quickly as she could. Leaving her zat on the bar this time next the her staff weapon, Faith lit two of the bottles and ran with them. She already had her targets picked out.
Grinning, Malina took full advantage of the distraction Faith offered as she dodged in and out of the inn, creating mayhem whenever she was on the street. Gradually her world reduced to the next soldier, the next explosion and the next blow as the blonde girl danced the millennia-old dance of the Slayer.
The explosives Faith had rigged seemed to be doing the trick. The numbers of Ori on the street were falling rapidly and no more seemed to be arriving to take up their battle. Grabbing the last bottle from the bar Kay followed Faith outside.
Her peaceful road had been devastated. Half of the houses were on fire and the street was paved with the dead and dying. Two more explosions as Faith threw her bottles set light to the drapers shop next door to her inn. Choking smoke lay thickly upon the ground, as it billowed and shifted in the breeze Kay thought she caught sight of a woman in front of her.
Turning to check that Malina and Faith were still behind her, Kay missed the tall woman who emerged from the smoke directly in front of her. Turning back, Kay caught a fleeting glimpse of brown eyes and black hair before the woman jerked her head, and Kay flew backwards into the wall of her inn, noticing that one of her precious flower baskets was on fire along the way.
As she slid painfully down the wall, towards the ground, Faith tackled Malina out of the way of a blue bolt of energy from a grim-looking dark-haired soldier, firing her zat at him. He fell to the ground, unconscious and within seconds, Faith was back on her feet and helping Malina to hers as the newcomer strode towards them.
"That," Faith said grimly to Mallie. "Is Adria."
Adria smiled. "Hello Faith." She greeted. "I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to talk when we last met."
That was when Kay threw the last bottle. As Adria's slender body was engulfed in flames, Faith grabbed Mallie's hand and pulled her over to Kay.
"Get to the 'Gate." Faith ordered. "We've got to get off this planet."
Kay frowned, resisting Faith's attempts to get her moving. "You're just going to run away from her?"
"From Adria?" Faith asked as behind her, the flames died down to reveal the untouched and furious figure of the Orici. "Hell, yeah!"
l
Sam opened her presentation file and stood up, as the schematics for the Ori Supergate appeared on the large screen behind her.
"It's only a matter of time until the Ori send reinforcements through the Supergate." She told the room, clicking the remote in her hand so that the screen zoomed in on a segment of the Supergate. "So far the Asgard been unable to use the dialling control crystal we inserted into the Supergate to dial out. We've tried to dial the Supergate from here but it seems to be designed to only accept connections from another galaxy." She paused, her eyes sparkling. "Say for example, Pegasus."
Across the table, Teal'c' eyebrow rose. Sam smiled at the encouraging sign and continued. "The problem with using a regular 'Gate to dial the Supergate from Pegasus is that a regular 'Gate wouldn't be able to contain the energy output from the Supergate. The forces involved would literally tear our 'Gate apart." Sam frowned. "I'm glad we weren't able to make a connection from here actually." She shook her head to dispel the thought of what might have happened and continued.
"But," she said. "If we were to connect to a Stargate near the Supergate from Pegasus then there is an extremely good chance that we could force the wormhole to jump to the Supergate."
"Jump?" Vala asked, frowning. "How?"
"You need a nuke." Cam said from across the table from Vala, his eyes fixed on Sam.
"Exactly!" Sam said, smiling at him. "By setting the explosive off at the event horizon," she clicked the remote so that they could see what she meant, "we should be able to create a large enough energy spike that the outgoing wormhole will jump to the Supergate. The problem then, will be maintaining the connection for more than a few minutes at best."
General Landry frowned. "How so?"
Sam clicked the remote so that he could see the projected amount of energy required to maintain a connection to the Supergate. "We just can't generate enough power." She told him. "Unless we can locate a black hole in the Pegasus galaxy and use that to power the connection we won't be able to tie up the Ori Supergate for more than... ten minutes."
"Let's just hope Atlantis can point you in the right direction." General Landry said. "What else do you need?"
"At least three Mark Four's and a dialling crystal capable of connecting between galaxies." Sam told him.
"They don't exactly grow on trees." Daniel pointed out.
Sam looked at him, a small smile on her face. "Actually, I think I know where we might find one."
l
"Got it!" Kay yelled from the dialling device as the Stargate engaged with a rushing plume of water and the Ori crashed through the undergrowth behind them.
Faith didn't even hesitate, diving straight in as soon as the rippling water had settled back down. There was the usual icy rushed sensation of moving very quickly while staying absolutely still and then the Stargate on the other end spat her out. Into salt water. Panicking for a second, Faith flailed helplessly before she managed to get herself under control and swim far enough away to get a good look at the problem.
The Stargate seemed to be wedged in a crevice in the seabed, she realised as a detached part of her mind noticed the vague outline of a mushroom device in the murky distance. Mallie and Kay exited the Stargate at almost the same time and both immediately panicked. Satisfied she'd done the right thing in sticking around, despite the fact that the lack of oxygen was now becoming an issue, Faith swam over to them, giving each a shove up towards the surface before she kicked off from the bottom of the ocean and followed them up.
A/N:
I don't want to turn into one of those awful authors who's constantly begging for reviews and I know that I've given this story a higher rating because of all the strong language etc etc. That said, my last chapter didn't get one review. Not one!
Am I really such a bad writer? Honestly, if you hate it, I'd far rather you tell me than I continue struggling on.
Please review :(
Update: As I was checking through this chapter prior to posting it, the previous one got a review!! So, Lisa... Thank you for your lovely review. I would hug you but stupid won't let me put the asterisks in! ;)