Chapter Ten: Asunder
"Everyone sees they cannot well live asunder,
nor many together, without some rule to which all must submit".
-Algernon Sydney
"Andrew is not going to be happy with you," said Larson, nudging Faith with his elbow.
Both looked back at the market stall, where one of the merchants was greedily hovering over a pair of grey Nike gym shoes. Faith tightened her grip on the bag she was carrying, and laughed nervously.
"Are you kidding? He never wears those. Why he brought them to another galaxy is beyond me."
Damon chuckled at her. "You're becoming a regular con artist, Doc."
"Am not, it was a fair trade—"
"You know, I think that concussion caused more damage than Dr. Beckett believed," said the Captain.
"Too bad for you Scott isn't here," said Faith. "Now I can do this—"
She kicked the back of each soldiers' boots, causing them to stumble and trip.
"Thanks, ruin another pair of my boots," Larson said loudly.
"What's that supposed—oh no you don't."
"Oliver," he said furtively, patting his teammate on the back. "Faith was so drunk the night we met, she threw up on my military issued boots, which I had to pay for."
"Did not," she snapped, nearly dropping her bag. "You were drunker than I-"
A high pitched whine broke the stillness of the town center, and a gust of wind rustled the trees around them. The trio gazed up into the sky, pink from the fading dusk. A series of black triangular shapes appeared over them, a shrill sound emanating from their wings. Screams broke out from the houses and people behind them.
"Wraith!" shouted Larson.
A cold dread gripped Faith as she watched the darts begin to take up people in the distance. She had only read reports from other teams; she had never encountered the Wraith before.Larson grabbed her arm and they started to run, ducking under the cover of overhanging trees. Ten minutes later, they came across more villagers, their voices renting the darkness around them. The continual whine of Wraith ships hummed in the sky above them. The group was headed straight toward the town. Faith waved at them and shouted for them to stop, but they ignored her and continued running.
"There's more ships that way," she yelled. "Follow us!"
Larson yanked her arm and hissed, "What're you doing?"
"We can save them. They can come back with us."
"Obviously not. We have to save our own hides first."
She tried to free herself, but he tightened his grip on her wrist, forcing them onward. The darkness finally encompassed them, and they fled quietly, guns drawn.
"I knew we should've parked closer," wheezed Damon. "Screw—scaring the locals."
"We couldn't have known."
"Quiet!"
A second later, a beam of light whizzed by their heads, nearly missing Faith. A chorus of voices echoed amongst the trees ahead of them. They ducked and ran another way, breaking into a clearing. Suddenly a series of Wraith stunners flew in their direction. Amidst the faded light, they caught sight of the Wraith firing at them, and lifted their guns, returning the shots. The enemy retreated, but the trio followed. They found a dozen more amongst a pile of bodies, feeding on several humans. The soldiers opened fire on the feeding Wraith, allowing one of the people to break free. A young girl around twelve years old came rushing towards them, and was caught by Faith. She stared in horror at the dying humans, as they shriveled and died. One of the stun blasts unexpectedly hit the Corporal in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Larson dropped his gun and picked up his fallen comrade. "Faith," he called. "Lay down cover fire. We're not far from the jumper."
She froze a moment, but nodded and aimed at the Wraith, felling many as possible. They retreated backward into the forest, stumbling in the undergrowth. The cloaked puddlejumper was waiting for them near a small hill, studded with fallen trees and ancient ruins. The group collapsed inside the cargo bay, Larson dropping a still unconscious Damon onto one of the benches. The small girl fled into a corner when she was released, and buried her face in her knees. Faith dug through the overhead nets, and pulled out several ammo magazines, stuffing them into her pockets.
"What're you doing?"
"Going back out there."
"No you're not," replied Larson, snatching the P90 out of her hands.
"Ernest, give me that."
"No."
She reached for the gun, but he threw it on the bench behind them and seized her by the arms. She struggled against him, but he dragged her into the co-pilot's seat and sat on her.
"Let me go! Larson please, at least do something about those ships."
"I can't," he said gently. "We'll be targeted."
"Please." Her voice broke as she gazed at him pleadingly.
As he shook his head, she wrenched an arm free and punched him squarely in the face. He fell to the floor, letting her stand upright. She smacked the controls, bringing up the HUD. It showed several enemy ships flying directly overhead. Faith released several drones at once, which flew and destroyed three of the craft. Suddenly a large beam landed several feet from the jumper, blasting the ground and narrowly missing them. Larson surprised her from behind and tackled her to the floor, pinning her arms behind her back. He tied her hands with his belt and stood up, grabbing the jumper controls.
"Sorry Fae."
.-.-.-.
"I can't believe you tied me up."
"I can't believe you punched me and tried to commandeer the jumper."
"Hey, if you would stop being a self-centered jerk—"
"Calm down," said Dr. Weir. She stood up behind her desk, gazing at them sternly. "You two need to stop biting each other's heads off."
"That's a major request," mumbled Larson.
"Not really," said Dr. Weir. "You have effectively taken your team off active duty."
"What!"
"No way."
"Sounds right to me," quipped Faith.
Larson looked at her suspiciously. "What did you tell her."
"Nothing," interrupted Dr. Weir. "These red flags were already in your file. I shouldn't have overlooked them Captain."
"Like what?"
"Your previous engagement to Dr. Stuart, her current involvement with Dr. Collins, the deaths of two team members—"
"I don't know how you attained that information, but I assure you it has not affected us."
"I'm afraid neither of us can be sure of that. I'm making all of you talk to Dr. Heightmeyer. She will make a recommendation to Major Sheppard as to whether you can return to active duty, or remain together as a team."
"Crap."
.-.-.-.
"Fae. Fae! Slow down."
Faith picked up her pace to a brisk walk, ignoring Larson and forcing him to jog to catch up. He caught her by the arm, stopping her in the middle of the hallway.
"We're supposed to go together."
"I didn't feel like walking with you," she said tersely.
"Why-"
"Stop being so paranoid Larson."
"I thought it'd look better if we went with each other. I want to get back out there just as much as you."
"I know."
They walked silently onto Dr. Heightmeyer's office, and were greeted by a short blonde woman.
"Please come in."
They sat on opposite ends of a white couch, not looking at each other.
"Thank you for coming," said Dr. Heightmeyer. "I know the circumstances which brought you here were less than agreeable."
"Oh they were," said Larson. "In fact, there's no reason for us to be here."
"Really? Dr. Weir brought up her concerns with recent behavior by your team. Seems Captain, there's been tension between you and the others."
"It's more than tension. Faith physically assaulted me."
"Apparently Dr. Stuart was trying to help out the local inhabitants. Do you think that was reasonable?"
"No, why else would I have tied her up? There was a contingent of Wraith, who probably outnumbered us one hundred to one. I was protecting us-"
"You were protecting yourself," interrupted Faith. "And not just from getting eaten or blasted apart, but so you wouldn't have to deal with losing me. Why else would you be so clingy lately?"
"I was not."
"Good point," said Heightmeyer. "I've read your history, and think Captain; you've been trying to keep her under your thumb."
"Excuse me? She's the one who punched me. I think she's the one with issues."
"Dr. Stuart, you were overzealous in reacting to the situation. Your actions in trying to protect so many people were unrealistic."
"I realize that, but I had to do something Doctor," she said quietly. "I've seen people shot up, blow apart, and cut open, but never fed on, particularly children."
"Do you think that has any relation to the loss of your niece?"
"What? No. Maybe. It was a long time ago."
"It's the reason she didn't want kids," said Larson. "She was afraid of going through the same thing Andrew did."
"Shut up Erne. You were the one who said you didn't want any till you were out of the SGC."
"That's not true. I wanted to start trying and you said no."
"Stop acting like we're dating. We were over a year ago. Quit bitching."
"Enough," said Dr. Heightmeyer. "The first thing you two have to do is stop arguing. Express yourselves non-aggressively."
"Fine," they said simultaneously.
"Good. Now let's figure out where this animosity came from. When did you first start fighting like this?"
"It started right after Lee Gardner died on P84-Q51, disabling that Go'auld bomb…"
A series of soft white lights shone from the infirmary walls, keeping Faith awake. She sat up in bed, cringing as she felt throbbing pain at her waist. It was hard to move with the bandages tightly wrapped around her wound, which she'd received from a Jaffa staff blast. The faint sound of snoring emanated from a bed at the opposite end of the room, from behind a curtain. Faint clunks suddenly sounded from the doorway, and Larson entered, hobbling along on crutches. Faith smiled, relief flooding her chest. The last time she had seen him, was after surgery and they'd barely spoken.
"Hey Cap," she said softly.
"Hi," he mumbled, troubledly making his way to her bedside.
"Glad to see you're up and about," she said. "I'm stuck here for another week."
He gazed at her steadily, a hollowness in his eyes that she'd never seen before. She felt her heart drop into her stomach.
"What's wrong?"
"Lee is dead," he said inaudibly.
"I know. General Hammond told me. I can't believe Lee saved us all like that."
"I nearly lost you," said Larson, his voice lowering.
She bent over slowly, wincing as she felt the pain again. She kissed him gently, trying to reassure him that she was still there, and alive. He pulled back from her touch, not looking at her.
"Fae I—I almost got you killed too."
"But you didn't."
He took her hand, his fingers clenched tightly around hers. "You intoxicate me, confuse my judgment," he said sharply. "I couldn't live if my errors cost your life like it did Lee."
"Stop it. You didn't kill Lee, that bomb did."
"This could happen again, and I might not be able to stop-"
"What're you saying Erne? You're not Superman."
"No, but I can prevent it." He quickly slid a small gold ring off her left hand and dropped it in his pocket. "I love you, but I can't watch you die."
Faith stared at him blankly, the pain in her chest overwhelming the one in her stomach. "Just like that. You're saying it's over?"
"Yes. We can stay on the same team, but we can't be involved anymore."
"You're being stupid Ernest Larson."
"I didn't stay on the team much longer after that. It was too hard seeing him every day. Eventually we became friends again, but things never were the same…"
Dr. Heightmeyer was silent for moment before answering. "This explains a lot."
"I assure you there's plenty more," muttered Larson.
"Let's hear it."
.-.-.-.
"Now lower that lever—no—the other one."
The puddlejumper lurched suddenly, losing altitude in a deep dive. Both women hit their heads on the back of the seats, and stared at the bed of water rushing at them. Faith leapt for the controls and righted the jumper.
"Pay attention Lanie," she snapped.
"Hey, don't bite my head off. You need to be more specific."
"I'm sorry, I've just been on edge lately—"
"Try the past three weeks," scoffed Lanie.
"Okay yeah I have. I can't stand being stuck in the lab all the time."
"Girl, you have every right to join another team. It's not you who was off active duty."
"I realize that, but I can't help but feel it's half my fault. I really chewed Larson apart in front of the therapist."
"Well it's not your job to worry about him anymore. You're joining my team for a mission, and that's that."
.-.-.-.
"Ci?" asked Faith.
"It's a word. I win."
"Uh huh, cheater."
"You're a bad loser," said Collins, grinning widely. "I'll let you win next time."
Faith dumped the Scrabble board onto the table, and raised an eyebrow. "Just don't tell anyone I lost to a physicist."
"I'm going to tell everyone in the city."
"Thanks," she said, sighing.
He took the game board from her hands and gripped her palm assuringly. "Hey now, we're supposed to be cheering you up."
"We are?"
"Yes. You've been noticeably gloomy the past few weeks."
"You're right. First it was the no-gate thing, but now I can't help but feel guilty that I go off-world and the others don't."
"Hey I'm fine," said Collins.
"But you go out with Kaufman and Sheppard's team."
"Maybe that's who you should talk to."
"Who?"
"Major Sheppard. He's the one you should convince to let Larson back out. Then we can all be a team again."
"You seem all too agreeable with this," said Faith, looking at him suspiciously.
"Dr. Heightmeyer forced me to talk with Larson. We're fine now, long as he doesn't tie you up again. I swore I'd kick his ass if he did."
"Don't you know that's my job?" she said, laughing.
.-.-.-.
Across the table, Connie made a face and lowered her sandwich.
"Is it just me, or is this bread stale?"
"It's not exactly bread," said Faith. "It's a variation from some kind of grain we picked up off-world."
Christina dropped her sandwich onto her plate, staring at it. "Alien bread? Oh great, who knows what's in that."
"It's perfectly fine. The Athosians used to grow the same species," said Lanie, taking a bite.
"I don't know where that Sergeant Hanson has been taking you guys, but since when do you go grocery shopping?" asked Connie.
"The food supplies started running out two weeks ago," said Lanie. "Our team was sent out to trade for supplies, along with a load of others."
Christina pushed her plate away slowly. "So either starve or eat alien food. Oh great—"
Faith blanked out for the next few minutes, ignoring the rant that her friend was on. She didn't understand some of the expedition's reluctance to adapt to such foreign surroundings. A figure moving across the room suddenly caught Faith's attention, and she stood up from the table.
"Where're you going?"
"Put my tray away? Thanks."
"Erm—"
She hurried across the room and down the adjacent hallway, until she caught up with the person she was after. She touched his shoulder, causing him to turn around.
"Major Sheppard? I need to talk to you."
He nodded in greeting, but pointed down the hall. "Sorry, but I've got to be somewhere."
"This'll only take a minute, it's important."
"Sorry, but I'll have to talk to you later."
"Forgive me, but what's so important?"
He paused a moment, gazing at her intently. "We're about to evacuate the city."
A/N: Sorry, cliffhanger! : D