The Next Generation
Season: Future
Summary: For the future to be secured, he must go back in time so they can relive the present.
Future, Alternate Universe, Crossover with SG-1 and Atlantis, Angst, Action/Adventure
Pairings: Too many to mention
A/N: This is undoubtedly a crack!fic gone horribly, horribly awry. The amount of characters involved alone is enough to make one's head spin. Nevertheless, I haven't been able to get the storyline out of my head for over a year now, so here it is.
CHAPTER TEN
Alex Beckett – Atlantis
"You know, before we were born, there was a mission where our parents wore these armbands that made them feel really strong and really good," Jake told the group as we trekked down the dark hall.
"And really fast," Grace added.
It was a long corridor that stretched to an indeterminable length. It was the darkest, dankest place we had ever traversed. Our flashlights didn't even seem to penetrate the darkness, and we could vaguely hear the churning of some kind of machine. "Is that the air conditioner kicking in?" Shawn had joked when it began. As it was, we had no idea where the noise was coming from.
"However, they couldn't take the armbands off," Jake continued. "Nothing worked. It was just shoddy tech, you know? In fact, the armbands failed at the most inopportune time: While our parents were on a Goa'uld ship, filled to the brim with explosives that THEY had planted, in an effort to destroy the damn snakehead."
"What did they do?" Ash nearly whispered in rapt from behind.
"They ran for their lives," Jake answered. "AFTER the shields went down. With the armbands, they had been able to run so fast that the shields couldn't stop them."
"You see," Grace began, "back then shield generators didn't compensate for matter that was traveling at such high velocity."
"Right, right," Caleb pressed on, clearly intrigued. "Did they ever document just how fast they were going?"
"No, unfortunately they didn't," Grace said, looking as depressed as Caleb. "Nevertheless, they were able to - "
"Grace," Jake interrupted, "can we, uh, save those little details for another time?"
"When the armbands failed," Rachel continued, sharing a knowing look with Jake, "Aunt Sam was stuck behind the shields."
"Moments later, they were discovered by the Goa'uld's Jaffa," Shay added.
"Dad wouldn't leave her behind though," Grace said quietly, meeting the gaze of her brother. He seemed to understand what she WASN'T saying in that statement. I didn't know which details were omitted, however the SGC kids seemed to know the story well.
"Then, of course, there was the time when Aunt Vala had bracelets that she latched to herself and Uncle Daniel," Delia said. "Whenever they were away from each other for long periods of time, they'd get sick. If they had been away from each other for too long, they would have died."
"Damn, crazy Ancients," Shawn muttered.
"Agreed," Nik said.
"Not my mother's finest moment," Rachel admitted with a rueful grin.
"Or Dad's, for that matter," Jennie added.
"Well, this is great," Caleb said as he shined his flashlight on the wall nearby. "You've just brought up possibilities that will fill my darkest nightmares for days to come. Now, do you have any GOOD bracelet stories?"
"Uh… none come to mind, no," Rachel answered rather cheekily.
"Great. Just great," Caleb retorted. "Well, just do me a favor and warn me the next time you decide to take a trip down Memory Lane. I'll try to keep myself occupied until the horrors are over."
"You know, I'm beginning to understand why YOU don't have any siblings," Matthew called from behind. "One of you is bad enough. Anymore than one has gotta be torture."
Snickers and chuckles echoed off the walls. I smirked. He had no idea.
Caleb could only sneer in Matt's general direction.
We walked for ten more minutes in relative silence. There wasn't much more to do than trek on. The hall was cold, but there was something unnaturally stifling about it. Mold and other fungi clung from the ceiling to the walls. After a while, though, all we could do was ignore the stench and continue. To my left, I saw Matt examining the fixtures directly above our head. Each fixture had a kind of tiny, intricately detailed statue on it. With the flashlight, we could see that the statues were gold and silver and in the shape of a king. I had watched him for some time now, and he looked just a bit too interested in them.
Sure enough, when I looked at him again a few minutes later, he was stuffing something into his pocket.
"I see a light!" Jennie suddenly called from the front before I could say anything. I turned ahead.
"What is that?" Ada cried.
"Whatever it is, it's getting brighter," Brandon said, his voice barely hiding his apprehension.
There was a tense silence as we all stopped in our tracks.
"I think I have to agree with Ada on this one," I announced. "This is NOT a good idea."
Three seconds passed as the lights grew.
"Yep, still getting brighter," Grace said quietly.
Soon the light was blinding.
Oh crap.
"Go!" Brandon and Jake cried simultaneously as they turned around and charged.
"Run!"
It was chaos. We ran like our lives depended on it, but the hall was not nearly wide enough for all of us to run comfortably. We no longer needed our flashlights as the light at the end of the tunnel grew brighter and brighter, now accompanied by a high-pitched whining noise. It was all I could do to not put my hands over my ears. The light and the noise combined were just too much.
Looking around, I saw that the others were affected as well.
We're gonna die, I thought, and no one's gonna be able to find our bodies.
As my head began to pound and darkness crept in from the edges of my eyes, I fell to the ground in a heap. It vaguely registered in my mind that everyone else had collapsed as well.
My last thought was of how devastated our parents would be when they realized the truth of our disappearances.
