Procrastination is golden. That is all I have to say. Blame the world – I was waaaaay too busy trying to take over it. So... don't kill me for being lazy. I'm sorry for the short one, and I promise that the next one's gonna be SUPER DUPER EPIC. Heh, I had a conversation with my fanfic-deprived friend Ellie, and I was talking about some of my fave fics, and she mishears me in the worst way possible! I said 'TORTURE'... and she heard 'TORTOISE'. So now, she thinks that the people in my fanfics RAPE TORTOISES! :O I mean.... WTF
Anyway, I can hear you shouting 'GET ON WID DA GODDAMN STORY, BITCH!' So, here goes! Hehehe... AUTOMATIC DOORS MAKE ME FEEL LIKE A JEDI!!! :D
Chapter 9 – What we leave behind.
Sheppard stared in horror at the limp body before him.
It was a big, black silhouette on the light of the flickering lamps at the far end of the warehouse; a big, Rodney-shaped silhouette.
He looked around with the franticness of a paramedic trying not to get hit by a car as he crosses the road, and he jogged forward, his gun raised and his inner radar alert.
The journey to the warehouse had been quick – it had disappeared in a silent flash of green. Carter, Jackson and O'Neill had been silent, almost, muttering about the plan. Ronon and Teyla? The expectancy of battle had been running through them, too, alerting the senses they had developed living on different planets.
The warehouse had burst open without effort, and the lights had been easy to find and turn on. The grey panel was just laying open for them to find. It was too easy.
There was no one around according to the sensor, but Sheppard was on edge, even more so because of the body.
"Rodney? Rodney?" he asked loudly, shaking Rodney slightly on the arm. He didn't respond.
Sheppard checked his pulse and rolled him over, scanning him for injuries. Rodney was unblemished, his pale skin perfect, if a little grimy. Too perfect. He was wearing the same papery white clothes that you saw in the Atlantis infirmary, except they were a little more blue. Too blue. His feet were bare, but clean, and his hair was... a little darker? No. That was overreacting.
But no matter what he told himself – it's fine, he's here and he's unharmed, calm down – Sheppard couldn't stop the feeling that something was wrong. VERY WRONG.
Teyla came over, padding silently like a cat, and asked in her smooth voice;
"Is he alright?"
Sheppard nodded and looked up, beginning to bark orders.
"Ok, let's get him outta here peop-"
"I don't think so..." The voice was hard and cold. Sheppard spun around and stared at the gun pointed directly towards him. No, not him.
Rodney.
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"So... my name is Samuel. That's what you know so far. Anything else you want to know before I begin?" the Teen-Rodney said, leaning against the wall casually.
Rodney folded his arms and fixed the Teen-Rodney with his best scare-the-bejeebus-outta-those-slackers stare. His blue eyes were set sharply on his other self, taking in everything. The Teen-Rodney was shorter than Rodney himself, but only by a few inches. He had thick brown hair and a pair of bright, bright eyes the colour of...
Rodney paused in his comparison, spotting a problem with the teen rendition of himself. He grinned, knowing that he had caught the hallucination out.
"You have brown eyes, er, Samuel. I have blue. Explain that!"
Samuel smiled, a warm smile that – to Rodney – felt incredibly condescending.
"Because I'm the original consciousness, and my eye colour overrides yours."
Rodney wanted to yell at this boy. For one, he had the nerve to take on Rodney's teenage form, and now he was claiming to be the real Rodney! He was not about to let himself get bested by a stupid hallucination.
"Listen up, you little-"
Samuel silenced him with a soft look of the eyes. Rodney suddenly couldn't find the energy to speak.
"I created you on the day I left the Jasmines. I had to hide myself, so I buried my consciousness in my own head, creating you to rule the body for a while. I was about this age when I created you, about 19," he motioned to his own body, "and I have entrusted my body to you for over twenty years."
"But... I have memories..." Rodney sputtered, trying to counter-argue desperately.
"All fabricated by moi."
"But-"
"Just listen, Rodney. I know this isn't easy, but you have to listen." Samuel said, the sadness in his voice like a monotone blue in his tone. His sympathetic eyes were watching Rodney forlornly.
He started with the history of the Jasmine project – the bracelet and it's power, the gathering of all the children to the secret base. He told Rodney of his years protecting an infant Cammie from the harsh testing, and he spoke of the days when he just couldn't do it anymore. All of the things he had been forced to do – all of the people he had killed by accident and spent years crying about. Then, he started to talk about the breakout. The planning in dark rooms, the execution of the plan. Cammie's first wormhole and the anger he had felt when he saw the guards firing at her... the dark glee he felt when he killed them. All of this he told without censorship – he was completely honest with Rodney.
Following that, he talked about the aftermath, the hiding from the authorities and the frantic running. He told them of the freedom he had felt when he smelt fresh air and the joy in protecting Cammie.
Then, he told his darkest, darkest secret...
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Sheppard knew it had been too easy.
He protectively shifted his body so that he was in the firing line and Rodney wouldn't get shot. The gun was staring down at them, ugly hate on its barrel-face. The anger on the wielder's face was double that though, a thick, hideous gloop mixed in with the slightest drop of anticipation. He was holding the gun with a steady hand, though his eyes were burning with years and years worth of rage.
Teyla, Ronon, Jackson and Carter froze, guns pointed at the offender. They couldn't do anything, Sheppard knew it. The situation was, as Rodney frequently put it, 'utterly hopeless and we're all going to die'. Well, someone was.
O'Neill backed into the room, checking the outside for the Marines they had sent for, obviously. He was completely oblivious of the situation, saying;
"Ok, the Marines aren't here yet, but y'gotta hope they will be in a second, because if they're not... anyway, you found McKay y-" He turned and stopped, gaping at the gun-wielder.
"Chuckles?"
Chuckles, or James, sneered at him.
"My name is JAMES. But you can call me Jasmine 11."
Sheppard reeled back in shock. Chuckles was a Jasmine?! The shock that coursed through his body didn't last long as he remembered that he had to protect his best friend and spread his arms a little.
"Oh, oh, oh, this is going to be FUN! Why can't you people see how fun this is going to be? Hehhehehe.... just you wait 'till he wakes up! That'll be a real blast! Hehhehehe..."
This mad was insane. How could Sheppard have not seen it before? Those crazy eyes were filled with one purpose only – to kill.
Another man slid into the room. He was tall, with green eyes and blonde hair, and a lean body.
"James! What the hell are you doing? You were meant to capture them, not hold them at gunpoint!"
Sheppard watched with startled eyes as the man morphed into the form of Lt. Abbey in front of their eyes. It was like his eyes had been watering, but only over the man, and when the blur cleared, he was the young man that they had seen with Chuckles in the 'Gate room... God! Sheppard thought, realising something. Why didn't we see them collaborating?!
"James! Goddamnit, stop pointing the gun at them!"
James giggled.
"Look, he's waking up..."
And he was right.
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Rodney withdrew in horror at what Samuel had just said.
"What?!"
"I said..." Samuel muttered, his eyes on the floor in a shamed way. "I killed them..."
"But... my parents are alive!"
"No. No one else knows about this, not even Cammie, but... I killed them." Rodney pressed himself against the wall, trying to get as far away from Samuel as possible. Samuel tried to defend himself. "You have to understand, I hated them! They gave me over to the government for that testing! I loathed them so much that I couldn't... stand it..." He paused "There was nothing I could do to stop it. I just did..."
Rodney couldn't stand it. He screamed at Samuel, telling him that he was wrong, that he wasn't real, but Rodney knew that everything was true. He couldn't deny it, and no matter how he tried, the facts just felt right to his head, no matter how wrong they felt to his conscience.
After two minutes of insecure ranting, Rodney slumped down onto the floor and stared into space. Samuel sighed.
"Y'know... I'm almost as mad as that Tasha kid, or I must be to be dreaming up this situation..." Rodney mused, "Well, at least you're not a whale... or... are you?"
Samuel smiled.
"No, I'm not a whale."
Rodney continued. "You like that Cammie girl?"
"Yeah, you could say that."
"Hmm... she looks like a psychopath to me."
"So did Ronon when you first met him."
"True..."
Rodney started to laugh a little, giggling at first.
"My team... they're gonna be so pissed! I mean, I disappear for DAYS and I don't even bring them back a crappy present!"
Samuel joined in, his laughter more mature than Rodney's madness.
"I really should get a present for Tasha and Cammie..."
Rodney looked up at him. "You really like them, huh?"
Samuel looked into Rodney's blue eyes with his deep brown ones.
"Well... I am Tasha's father."
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OHMAIGAWD! Even I didn't see that coming! :O Ok, so please leave a review, and if you could offer a solution to the TORTOISE thing, feel free to post it. LUV YOU ALL AND SORRY FOR BEING A SLACKER! :D
