Ch. 10
Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…
What's that noise? My alarm clock? What time is it? Oh no, am I late for work? No, not my alarm…a heart monitor? Why would there by a heart monitor in my room? The beeping sound annoying, but Taryn could seems to make herself open her eyes to see where she was and what was going on. Maybe she could talk…
"Hello?" She tried to call out, but even to her own ears it sounded more like a weak groan. What happened to me? She thought, mentally checking for pain but not finding any.
"Taryn? Can you hear me? Hey, doc, it she moved and made a noise." A male voice first spoke to her and then called across the room. Who is that? I feel like I should recognize that voice. Then a voice she clearly recognized as Jennifer's spoke.
"Taryn, can you hear me?" She felt a finger life her eyelid and a bright light shone in her left eye. Then it repeated in her right. "Come on, girl, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can." Taryn concentrated everything she had on squeezing the hand that slipped into her left one.
"Good girl! Come on, now, open your eyes."
"I'll go let Dr. Weir and Sheppard know she's awake." The owner of the man's voice said. Wait, who are you? She wanted to ask, but couldn't. Come on, Taryn, just open your eyes. She concentrated on that usually mindless motion, and slowly started to see hazy light. The fuzzy light slowly started becoming sharper, and she could make out the image of someone, presumably Jennifer, standing by her bed in her line of vision.
"Thanks for joining us in the land of the conscious again, Taryn." Jennifer smiled as she checked numbers on the monitor next to the bed. Taryn blinked, trying to get her vision more in focus. Slowly, but surely, the outlines she could see were turning from shadows into images again. "How are you feeling? Can you talk?" Taryn opened her mouth to give it a shot, but was beyond frustrated when nothing came out. "It's ok, don't strain yourself. It will come in time. Are you in pain at all?" Taryn managed a small shake of her head, still beyond frustrated that she was unable to speak.
"Well, look who decided her long nap was over!' Sheppard said as he, Dr. Weir, and Ronon walked into the room. It wasn't Sheppard I heard before. She thought.
"How are you feeling?" Dr. Weir laid a hand on her shoulder as she asked the question.
"She hasn't been able to speak yet, but indicated she isn't in any pain. Vitals look good, steady and strong." Jennifer said. Taryn decided to give speaking another go, and this time managed to get a few words out.
"How long?" It was barely a whisper, but a vast improvement over what she had managed so far.
"How long have you been unconscious?" Jennifer clarified, and Taryn nodded.
"4 days." Ronon spoke this time. It was his voice I heard before…why was he sitting with me? Taryn realized with a start, her focus shifting to him. Then, what he has said sunk in. 4 days! What had happened? She wracked her memory, but was drawing a blank.
"What…?" The energy she had to put into speaking was tiring her out more than anything.
"Do you remember anything that happened? The prisoner escaping? The bomb in the gate room?" Sheppard asked. Taryn shook her head.
"We'll explain in due time. You have been unconscious for 4 days, and we had no way of knowing how long that would last or why it was even happening."
"Or how you were even alive after what happened." Ronon said, still standing the farthest away at the foot of the bed.
I should be dead? Taryn thought, fighting the feeling of being pulled back into the unconscious state of sleep that she had apparently been in for the last several days.
"Sleep Taryn, you obviously still need rest. You'll wake up when you're ready, I promise." Jennifer laid a cool hand on her forehead. Taryn gave in, her eyes sliding shut, the last image in her mind was Ronon standing at the foot of her bed. He looks worried…
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"NO!" Taryn struggled to push past the group of guards standing around the Stargate level of the control room. There was a man standing about 10 feet from the Stargate platform, holding a brick of C4 in each hand. It was the intruder, she realized, the man she had helped capture. And he was about to destroy the control room, killing dozens of people in the process. Col. Sheppard was walking towards him, unarmed, hands raised in front of him in a calming gesture. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but her best guess was that he was trying to talk the man off the ledge, figuratively speaking. And the intruder wasn't buying it. She saw his left hand close over the detonator and knew she had to do something. No one would be able to stop him. She couldn't stop him. But she could keep the others from dying.
Frantically, realizing there was no way she was getting past the wall of military shoulders in front of her, she orbed to the other side of the men. Before they could stop her, she ran as fast as she could towards the intruder. His left thumb settled on the switch and began to squeeze. She was seeing it as if in slow motion. Sheppard realized the intruder was going to set off the explosive, turned, and started to shout at the men to clear the room. They wouldn't get out in time. Then he seemed to notice her running towards the man and shouted at her to get out. She ducked by him, her focus on the man's thumb.
5….4…..3….2….She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his torso. He barely budged, but she didn't need to knock him over, she only needed contact. 1…She could only pray she the self-generated force field she generated would be strong enough to contain the blast.
Taryn jolted awake, gasping for breath. She could feel the heat of the blast on her face still. She lifted her hand to her face, but didn't feel any burns. In fact, she didn't feel any pain. But I can move again. The memories of her last, brief stint with consciousness came back: She hadn't been able to talk, barely able to move. This time she seemed to be able to move easily. How long was I out this time? She thought. Can I sit up? Well, never know till you try. Carefully, she tested it out and was able to sit up. She carefully swung her legs over the edge of the of the hospital bed and stood. She felt fine. Normal. Maybe it's the who-knows-how-long nap I've taken.
"Hey, what are you doing out of bed? And, wait, you're awake!" Jennifer pulled the curtain back from beside her bed, a scolding look on her face.
"Hello to you to. How long was I out this time?" Taryn sat back down on the bed.
"Only 2 days since your last awakening. How are you feeling? Stronger, I see." Jennifer was checking her vitals on the monitor Taryn was hooked up to.
"I'm feeling great. I just had the strangest dream though, something about a guy in the control room trying to blow it up. The intruder." Taryn studied Jennifer's reaction, but she only kept her face deliberately neutral.
"Oh really?" Jennifer said, in an unnaturally calm voice.
"It wasn't a dream, was it? Is that what happened?" Taryn asked.
"I think it's to soon for you to…"
"What, for me to know why I've been unconscious for 6 days? And with barely any memory of what happened? Just tell me." Taryn said.
"Look, I think it would be better for Col. Sheppard or Dr. Weir to give you the details. But, no, that wasn't just a dream. You saved a lot of lives that day, and we didn't know if you were going to make it, or how you survived. But you did, that's what matters." Jennifer said.
"So, since you've said I'm ok and feel fine, can I go back to my room and resume duties?" Taryn asked? "Or have a couple days off while actually awake?" She grinned at the last sentence, knowing how unlikely it was.
"There's no reason for you to stay here, all your vital signs are good, strong. Still though, I want you to let me know if anything seems wrong. And as for the days off, I'd rather you be here so I can keep an eye on you anyways." Jennifer grinned.
"Thank you!" Taryn wanted to hug her, but the pull of the IV still attached to her halted her action.
"Taryn, there's one more thing you should know." Jennifer sounded serious.
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Well, her 'secret' was out. Everyone that had been in the control room at the time of the explosion knew. And once that many people knew it was it silly to think it hadn't spread around the entire base. They might not know the extent of her abilities, but they knew enough. Jennifer warned her that people, at least the Atlantis grape vine, had talked of little else in the last week. And apparently, while she had been unconscious, Rodney had run tests on her brain activity and blood samples. 'Only to try to find something that could help' Jennifer had said. Taryn believed her, but that didn't mean she was happy about being tested while unaware. It felt like a personal violation.
"I'll inform Dr. Weir that you've been discharged and cleared for active duty." Jennifer had said as she was discharging her. "Rest for today, you can resume your regular schedule tomorrow." No doubt there would be a meeting with Dr. Weir in the near future. Fun. Until then, sleep. Strangely enough, even though she had been sleeping for the last 6 days, she was worn out.
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"So have you always had your abilities?" Ronon asked her during a rare 5 minute break in their training session. She still didn't understand why, but since movie night Ronon had acted…differently towards her. Almost civil, actually.
"Technically, yes, but I haven't always had the ability to control them. It would be totally random."
"Did anyone back on earth know about them?"
"No, I never told anyone. My parents and grandmother were the only ones. Who knows, there might be others like me on earth, but they are probably as secretive as I am about it so I'll probably never know." She took another swig of water and walked back to the mat." The way Ronon was watching her was unnerving her, but she was starting to get used to that feeling.
"We have something in common then." He said, moving to stand only a few feet in front of her.
"Oh really? What's that?" She assumed a defensive position. It was nearing the end of their training session and her fatigue was starting to set in. If she wasn't careful, she would end up on her back on the floor in seconds. Although, the thought of Ronon being the one over her wasn't necessarily unappealing.
"As far as we know, we're both the last of our kind." And with that he, training resumed.
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"Taryn, do you copy?" The voice coming through the intercom at her door jolted her out of her sleep just before dream Ronon landed his first offensive hit. She sat straight up with a gasp and soon realized how close to the edge of the bed she was when she slid off and landed on the floor with a thud. She scrambled to her feet and walked to open the door.
"Col. Sheppard." She was surprised to find him the one standing outside her door.
"Well, it's nice to see you out of bed for a change." He grinned.
"Next time I decide to take a 6 day nap, please feel free to wake me up." She laughed, stepping aside to let him enter her room.
"Last time you woke, Dr. Keller told us you indicated you couldn't remember what happened. Have you started remembering anything?" He stepped inside far enough to let the door shut.
"I think so, like, flashes here and there, in dreams. It's still fuzzy though. Something about the intruder trying to blow up the control room. Not much before that, though. The last thing I clearly remember is sparing with Ronon, the same day as the explosion but a couple hours before." She said.
"Well, I just want to make sure you know the facts of what happened and what people now know. You saved a lot of lives that day, and now a lot more people know you have abilities. Pretty much the entire base knows now, although they don't know the full extent. But, a fairly new, non-military member of the expedition doing something like that doesn't happen every day, so be prepared. And if you need anything, let me know." He said.
"So…Jennifer said Rodney was taking some readings while I was out. Do you know if he found anything? Any reason I'm still alive, or was out for so long?" Taryn asked.
"No, but I'll show you the way to his lab if you want. You can ask him yourself, I'm sure he'd be thrilled."
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She had opted not to venture to Rodney's office quite yet, but the hours, no, days of sleep were catching up with her. She was feeling restless. Even she knew that attempting physical exertion right away was probably not the best of ideas, but orbing to a fairly remote location of the city with her sketchbook sounded refreshing. She checked out the citywide map on the tablet, picked a powered section of the city that would likely have access to a balcony, and orbed.
Apparently, balconies were fairly sparse on the side of the city she had chosen, at least those that were within the used city limits. The décor looked about the same, as it did throughout Atlantis. Apparently her ancestors liked consistency. Or lacked decorating skills. Or both. She thought. Finally, there was a balcony that had a decent view. It wasn't very big, but it was large enough to sit out there and draw. She sat with her back against the wall, the large sketch pad propped up against her knees. She studied the view in front of her: a massive expanse of ocean, awe inspiring cloud formations, and far off mountains. Add the sound of the ocean waves and she was in heaven.
And actually, you quite possibly could be right now. How in the world did I survive that blast? And why is my memory so fragmented? She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. Maybe if I think realllllllly hard I'll remember something. I mean, that dream about sparing with Ronon, it almost seemed like we were having a normal conversation. Was that long before the blast? How far back is my memory affected? It was frustrating her to no end. The sound of the ocean was calming. She wasn't sleeping, but it was as if flashes of memory were coming to her.
"You know, people are going to find out some day." Ronon said, watching her as she waiting for him to make the first move on the mat.
"What do you mean?" She asked, wondering where this chatty side of Ronon had come from.
"Your abilities. All it would take is one person seeing who wasn't supposed to, and it would spread around pretty quickly." His left arm swung around towards her, easily blocked by her right arm sweeping it away from her body.
"True, but then, that's not up to me, now is it? Dr. Weir is the one that prefers it to be kept under wraps." Tired of waiting, moved in with a right side body shot. He dodged to the side, catching her arm and deftly twisting it behind her back. Her back was pressed against him, and she couldn't move hardly an inch without snapping her arm.
"But I think that's a wise plan. There are a lot of people in this galaxy that would try to use them, abuse them. Least of all the Wraith." He let her arm go and stepped back. Not missing a beat, she dropped down and swung her leg under his behind his knees. With him, surprise was her one advantage. He landed on his back with an OOOMPH! Before he could get up, she straddled his chest and held his arms down. She knew he could have gotten her off of him if he wanted to. But he didn't move. Interesting.
"I've heard about the Wraith. My parents and grandmother told me about them. They were like the monster in the movies to me, but I never imaged the race still existed."
"When I was growing up, the stories told of them were that they were the monster that you hoped never came, but always did." Ronon said quietly. Taryn let go of his arms and slid to the mat.
"I haven't heard much, but I've heard some of how the Wraith destroyed your home world. I am so sorry. I know what it is to lose everything, but I have no idea what you've gone through." She said quietly. Her water bottle was across the room, but she didn't feel like dragging her body across the room. She held her hand out, and heard Ronon chuckle as it floated across the room to her. She took a sip before looking at him again.
"I know my abilities could be used against me, that people could try to exploit them. I have no problem complying with Dr. Weir's wishes on that. I also know it could make people look at me and treat me differently. I don't want to be defined by them. I just want to use them to help."
Ronon was sitting up by this point. It looked like he was about to say something, but an alarm suddenly started to go off. They both jumped up off the mat and ran towards the door.
" What is that?" Taryn shouted to be heard.
"It sounds like the self destruct, but nothing has happened." He said. Then he tapped his ear piece. "Sheppard, come in. Sheppard, what's going on?" He shouted into the com. He paused for a minute, listening, then confirmed the information. Without saying anything, he started running to a transporter. Taryn followed.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"Problem in the control room. Hard to hear with the alarm, but something about someone trying to blow it up."
"I can get us there faster." She said. He stopped and turned.
"How?" He asked. She grinned and held out her hand.
"Just hold my hand." He looked weary, but grasped her hand.
"How are we…" His sentence was cut off as she orbed to the hallway right outside the control room.
"Here we are." She said, as he blinked in surprise, looking around.
"That's awesome." He said, then walked towards the door to the control room. She followed, being careful to stay behind him. Peering around his arm, she saw the guy that she had helped capture from the water standing at the bottom of the ramp in front of the gate. Holding bricks of C4. He was surrounded by military, but he was threatening to blow the place if they moved, so they weren't trying to subdue him.
"Look, just put down the C4 and we can talk." Sheppard was walking towards the man, hands out in a calming manner.
"No."
"I'm sure we can work something out. Just tell us what you want."
This time he gave no response.
"He's not going to stop." Taryn whispered, feeling the waves of rage rolling off the man. She moved to go around Ronon, but he grasped her arm and pulled her back.
"Stay back, if that goes off you need to be out of here." He said, pulling her behind him again.
"Col. Sheppard isn't going to be able to stop him. I need to do something." She said, jerking her arm from his grasp.
"Can't you freeze him or something?"
"I tried, it's only slowing him down, and I don't know why. But I can stop him." Ronon reached for her again, but she ducked around the person in front of them, avoiding Ronon trying to stop her, only to be blocked by the wall of soldiers that were surrounding the man.
NO!" Taryn struggled to push past the group of guards standing around the Stargate level of the control room. There was a man standing about 10 feet from the Stargate platform, holding a brick of C4 in each hand. It was the intruder, she realized, the man she had helped capture. And he was about to destroy the control room, killing dozens of people in the process. Col. Sheppard was walking towards him, unarmed, hands raised in front of him in a calming gesture. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but her best guess was that he was trying to talk the man off the ledge, figuratively speaking. And the intruder wasn't buying it. She saw his left hand close over the detonator and knew she had to do something. No one would be able to stop him. She couldn't stop him. But she could keep the others from dying.
Frantically, realizing there was no way she was getting past the wall of military shoulders in front of her, she orbed to the other side of the men. Before they could stop her, she ran as fast as she could towards the intruder. His left thumb settled on the switch and began to squeeze. She was seeing it as if in slow motion. Sheppard realized the intruder was going to set off the explosive, turned, and started to shout at the men to clear the room. They wouldn't get out in time. Then he seemed to notice her running towards the man and shouted at her to get out. She ducked by him, her focus on the man's thumb.
5….4…..3….2….She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his torso. He barely budged, but she didn't need to knock him over, she only needed contact. 1…She could only pray she the self-generated force field she generated would be strong enough to contain the blast. And then…nothing.