Chapter 10: The Big Question
"Wait a minute, before we start again I have a question for you guys. Does anyone have any ideas as to why I ended up here?"
As everyone turned with expectant looks towards Sam, she sighed in a resigned manner and rubbed her forehead with a weary hand. "I never expected to say this, but I completely agree with McKay about always having to provide the answers." Lowering her hand, she straightened up and carried on with her comment. "But as it turns out, I do have an idea about what happened. I'm just waiting to hear back from NORAD about some information before I can confirm it. In the meantime, I have a question of my own."
"Go ahead, Colonel Carter."
With a wicked smile Samantha Carter posed the question that one particular member of SG1 had been dreading. "What exactly is Mitchell's middle name?"
The man in question lunged forward with a frantic "No!" on his lips, but he was too late as the Memory Recall device flared to life. It showed an extremely annoyed Adria bursting out of her room and holding a bottle of what appeared to be shampoo. The reason behind her annoyance was clearly visible as her hair was no longer her usual brunette, but instead was a shocking shade of red. "CAMERON ALBERT GROVER MITCHELL!! When I get my hands on you there will be vengeance!! And there will be photographic proof of the vengeance!!"
Watching the image of the former Orici stalk down the corridor towards the Gateroom, the occupants of the interrogation room seemed to pause for a second before simultaneously looking towards the embarrassed Lt Colonel. "Albert Grover?"
"You're named after a furry blue coward from a children's programme?"
Vala, how do you know about Sesame Street?"
"Mitchell, I spent my first couple of months on this planet restricted to base and bored out of my skull. Of course I know about daytime television characters."
"For your information, I'm named after both my Grandfathers, and I really don't want to talk about it anymore."
"Okay then…Grover."
Ignoring the snickers of the other people in the room, Adria kept her face impassive as she raised her voice slightly. "So…any more questions? Anyone? Anyone at all?"
Watching the people in front of her wracking their brains in order to think of a question that might give them more helpful information, she was relieved when all of them seemed to come up blank.
All of them except for Teal'c.
"Why were you so surprised in the Gateroom when you saw Sgt Siler?"
Taking a moment to compose herself, Adria cleared her throat and started to speak. "I guess that I should start this story at the beginning. I had thought that the first time I met Sgt Adam Siler was two months after I arrived at the SGC when he and Walter Harriman sat down opposite me in the cafeteria. I was wrong."
Adria was bored. In the months that she had been at the SGC, she had learnt all that was permitted of Earth culture. She had studied the English language in order to be able to read the books in the base library. She had even started watching TV and was now unavoidably hooked on finding out what will happen next to Timmy on 'Passions'. And even though she had complained about being followed by security everywhere, once they were gone, she had lost her targets for mocking comments and awkward questions. She was now reduced to asking various people if they needed help with the menial tasks around the base and, sad to say, she was perfectly happy to be checking the radio earpieces to make sure that they were in working order.
Tuning in to the maintenance channel, she was able to check their status as well as eavesdrop on the technicians who were working on the various power stations around the base. As she heard her friend speaking in the tone of authority that came with his role at the SGC, she smiled at the difference between the serious and intent Sgt Siler, and the relaxed and casual Adam who always tried to steal her dessert.
"…Okay, we are set for go on the power test. I need all sections to report back in order on the status. Initialising power-up…now."
"White Knight, Section one is green."
"…Guys."
"White Knight, Section two is green."
"..Are you ever going…"
"White Knight, Section three is green."
"…to stop calling…"
"White Knight. Section four is green."
"…me that?"
"White Knight, Section five is green."
"I guess not."
"White Knight, confirmation that all sections are green and running fine. And no sir, we are never going to stop calling you that."
"Nice to know guys. I'm going to finish the rest of the test from the control room. Contact me through Walter if you need anything. Siler out."
"…Why is he called White Knight?"
"Is that you, Smith?"
"Yeah. I never heard the story behind it and was just wondering."
"Well, when our newest resident alien landed in the SGC, guess who was the one to call for help and to cover her up with his uniform jacket?"
"Sgt Siler?"
"Two points to the new guy. And when the video footage of her naked arrival started circulating around the grunts and goons of the base, guess who discovered it and threatened virtually everyone with court-martial unless every copy was deleted?"
"Siler again?"
"You got it. So since the sergeant is a regular White Knight riding in to save the damsel in distress, why not call him that!"
"That's really nice, sir."
"Jeez Smith, what are you, a teenage girl?"
As the heckling of the unfortunate new Gate Tech continued, Adria tuned out of the conversation with a soft smile on her face.
Later that evening, when Walter and Siler showed up for the 'Bad B Movie Marathon', starting with one called 'Invasion of the Martian Mice', one of the first things she did (after checking that they had brought the popcorn) was to hug Siler. "What was that for?"
"For being my White Knight."
"After that, friendship turned to affection, turned to feelings and finally turned to…love. He was one of the few that didn't judge me at all for my past, and he was the strongest man I could have ever met. There were some tough moments in my life, and every time he helped me pull through."
The scene was familiar, though one that every member of the SGC dreaded seeing. The stretcher borne between the commanding officer and the second in command of SG9 was covered with a sheet, indicating that one of their own had not made it home alive. Adria was the last one through the Gate, and as the blue puddle flashed out of existence, it seemed to signal for her to break down in tears. Sobbing desolately, she was soon gathered into the familiar embrace of her first friend, and as she cried into Siler's arms, it was all he could to hold them both upright. Guiding them towards the exit, he whispered quiet words of comfort into her ears, knowing that it would not help right now, but also knowing that she needed to hear them.
"We were together for two years, and after I got permission to exit the base, we decided to move in together. We were happy. And then one day, when he was picking up our takeaway food for dinner, a driver lost control on a patch of ice and Adam was…gone."
Everyone looked up in shock at the quiet statement. Realising that Adria was speaking with all truth and honesty, and that even though she was composed and calm on the outside, on the inside the pain was as fresh as the day that it happened, they remained quiet and let her continue.
"I didn't function very well for a long time after that. For a while, it was the hardest thing in the world, just to get up in the morning and get dressed. But I did. And then, after a while, it got a little easier to breathe. Soon after that, it didn't always hurt so badly. I managed to get back to a functioning level, mainly through the help of Walter and the other friends I had made, but I never forgot about him. Even now, I sometimes expect to turn a corridor at the SGC and see him trying to fix a pipe with that ridiculous wrench, and when I don't see him, it rips my heart out all over again. But I can also remember him smiling at me when I have a stupid question about Earth culture, or hear him singing off-key in the shower, and instead of crying, I smile and sing along."
Unable to wipe the tears off her cheeks, Adria had to settle for sniffing softly and sitting higher in her seat. "So Teal'c, hopefully that answers your question. When I saw him here, I just couldn't believe that it was really him. When it finally clicked that it wasn't just a hallucination, I couldn't cope, so I fainted. Not very dignified, I know, but other than Jackson here, I don't know very many people who come back from the dead."
Before anyone else could comment, a quiet knock interrupted the still of the room. As Dr Lee poked his head around the door and motioned for Colonel Carter to follow him out to the hallway, the rest of SG1 composed themselves and in a couple of cases wiped their eyes. General Landry approached the bound girl and with a quiet "May I?" and her grateful nod, proceeded to gently wipe the tear tracks from her cheeks. When Sam re-entered the room, it was to a quiet group that quickly noticed the frown that had developed on her forehead.
"What is it, Colonel Carter?"
"Well sir, as you know, I asked NORAD to check out something for me. In the past where a SGC team has encountered either a time-travel or an alternate dimension scenario, it is because something has interrupted the wormhole path between worlds, for example a solar flare, or in the case of that team that did it purposely, a set explosion. I asked NORAD to check the path that the wormhole would have travelled between Earth and the planet that Adria's team were on, and …well…they found something."
Moving over toward the data screen set up in the corner of the room, Sam flicked it on and inserted a data card into the slot. As the screen lit up with a star chart display, the people in the room could recognise Earth by the symbol beside it. Sam highlighted the planet that Adria had arrived from and drew in the pathway between. "Sir, it looks like in the short time between the rest of her team dialling out, and Adria dialling out herself, this star here went supernova. Normally the wormhole protocols contained within the DHD would prevent a lock because of this, but Dr Lee and the others believe that the explosion had not reached a level that would impact on the wormhole at the time of dialling, but escalated by the time Adria stepped through. The energy behind the explosion was enough to…twist…the wormhole and she ended up here."
"Great. So now we know how Alice ended up in Wonderland, any idea how she can get back home? Do I have to fight the Red Queen, or is it a case of clicking my heels together three times?"
"I'm sorry Adria, but it's not that simple. In the past we have managed to reverse the occurrence through either the solar flare for the time travel, or a strategic explosion for the dimension hopping. But the energy from the explosion that caused your trip…we have no way to re-create that. And even if we could, we couldn't safely contain it. It would probably destroy Earth if we tried. I'm sorry…there's nothing we can to do send you home."
As Adria slumped in her chair in utter defeat, the rest of the onlookers were ready to join her in her misery. For her to have gone through all that she had and to have used up so much energy and emotion in order to tell her story, and then for her to not have the chance to return to her home was heartbreaking.
But just as General Landry was about to call his people to leave the room to discuss the situation, something happened. Suddenly, a corner of the room lit up with a bright white light, and a voice calmly stated "You may not be able to send her home, but I believe I can."
As the gathered people stared at the shining figure in complete and utter disbelief, Cameron Mitchell seemed to sum up the general feeling in the room when he quietly uttered "You have got to be kidding me!"
TBC…
AN: ducks various objects being thrown at her for having killed off Siler
I'm sorry! I love him just as much as everyone else, but it was important to the story! Please don't hurt me! Whimpers Please?!
Anyway, just a little bit of housekeeping. I do not own Sesame Street or (as previously mentioned) Alice in Wonderland, and Timmy and 'Passions' belong to Joss Whedon (though Spike would probably claim ownership). Next chapter will be the final chapter, and I will be accepting guesses for exactly who the shining figure is. Cookie to you if you get it right!