MGM owns all characters except OC's.
A/N: So sorry for the delay but my beta was on vacation and then visited me, so stories got neglected because I got to meet another member of my fan fiction family. I'm back now and hopefully not too rusty. Thanks, Betherdy, for the beta now that you are well rested!
"Jennifer." Peter Grodin's voice pulled her away from her analysis of Teyla's brain scans.
"Peter, you startled me," she said, jumping and turning quickly to see the engineer.
"Sorry," he replied as he walked over to her desk. "How are you? I heard you had another scare with Teyla."
"I'm fine. Gunny and Bates were there with stunners and I only have some bumps and bruises from before."
"That's not what I meant." His eyes roved over her face and petite frame searching for something to make the concern in his brown eyes go away. "That was… Listening to you… It had to be the worst experience of my life."
"Peter, I'm okay," Jennifer said, reaching out and squeezing his arm. "Thanks for checking on me." The Brit looked away shyly. "Now you be careful out there," she added, releasing his arm.
"I'll be fine since my bad luck charm won't be there." Peter suddenly smiled his brightest smile in a long time.
"Bad luck? Speak for yourself. You've gone off world twice and look what happened each time." Jennifer joined in the teasing.
"I will go through anything to spend some time alone with you." Peter winked. "Which reminds me, Carter won't ever have a peaceful night's sleep on Atlantis again."
"Your engineers better be nice to him. He saved my life," Jennifer replied.
"You know those soldiers aren't the only ones who are concerned about you." Peter looked sheepish.
"Hey," she started.
"Ah, ah, ah," Peter interrupted. "I'm off now. Can't keep your… I mean my boss waiting."
"My what?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
"Take care of yourself and stay safe," Peter said as he ignored her questioning look.
"You too," Jennifer replied seriously. "And, Peter?"
"Yes." He stopped and turned.
"Can you watch out for Rodney? He'll be complaining about motion sickness, I'm sure, and a slew of other ailments. I've put some medication for motion sickness in his gear. Make sure he uses it and gives some to you."
Grodin's smile faded after she mentioned Rodney. "I'll do my best but he's one stubborn man."
"I know," she laughed. "Promise me?"
"For you, anything." Peter turned and left.
"Doctor Keller?" Warrington asked, cautiously. The physician left the control room abruptly after Doctor McKay announced that Peter Grodin was killed. Her face was frozen with a look of shock, but her body was obviously taking her somewhere. The Marine immediately followed her down the steps followed by Radek Zelenka as Doctor Weir announced the evacuation and urged everyone to remain strong.
Sergeants Tommy Stackhouse and Koji Yamamoto were hurrying up the corridor toward them when Jennifer stopped, sagged against the wall and slid to the floor. Sobbing issued forth from the small woman and it tore at the hardened soldier's heart. This small-town girl saved his life by taking on several Wraith and now he had to watch helplessly as she lost her valiant struggle against the tide of emotions she'd kept at bay.
Robert shook his head as he watched Zelenka, who was battling his own tears, wrap his arms around the doctor and attempt to calm her down. The Marine was well aware that Jennifer would probably only respond to being in the arms of one man. And he's on the other side of the solar system.
"What happened to Jennifer?" Tommy yelled as he rushed to them and knelt beside the two geniuses.
"She's in shock. Peter Grodin was killed," Radek's broken voice filled them in.
"Oh God," Stackhouse gasped. "We should get her out of the corridor." The baby-faced pilot caught Robert's eye.
"In here." Warrington nodded to a door close by. Jennifer was inconsolable and Warrington and his fellow Marines didn't want anyone to hold this breakdown against her. I can just see some of those idiots refusing to respect her because she cares so much.
Tommy and Radek got her on her feet and maneuvered her into the lab. It didn't appear she was going to stop crying, so Robert radioed the only other person he could think of that would be able to help her.
Jennifer was incapable of moving on her own and clung to whatever was supporting her as she felt herself pulled up from where she was sitting. How did I end up sitting?
"Should we get Doctor Beckett?" Stackhouse asked.
"No," Radek replied close to her ear.
Radek? She remembered standing next to the Czech in the control room and then… Peter Grodin's smile and the sound of his laughter filled her mind. I'll never see him again. A new wave of tears fell as a flood of other faces came to mind. "W-we're all g-gonna die."
"No, we aren't all gonna die," Stackhouse replied from nearby. "You're having some sort of…"
"Jennifer!" a harsh, deep voice called, pulling her from her stupor and making her look up.
Everything was blurry until she saw movement, Radek pulled back and slid one arm around her back while the other person knelt before her.
"Jennifer," the voice softened as stormy grey eyes came into focus.
"G-gunny?" she asked as she swiped at her face. The rough jacket scraping across her skin helped to draw her back to the present.
"Jennifer, I need you," he said.
"What?" Her eyes widened because she never imagined the battle-tested soldier would utter those words to her.
"You're the other half of my team and I need you to get all these people to safety," he stated. "I have to stay behind and wait for the command team."
Jennifer knew the details of the evacuation like the back of her hand because she had thrown herself into them to hide her sadness at Rodney's departure. The evacuation would be in waves and Jennifer would go with the first one.
The new Alpha site was going to be a giant tent city in some ruins on a planet full of hundreds of waterfalls. Images of a favorite childhood book, Dinotopia, came to mind when she saw Stack's photos.
"I-I can't… breath," she gasped as a pressure descended on her chest. We'll never come back to Atlantis.
"Deep breaths." The Marine coaxed her through calming techniques she tried to use with Lieutenant Reed on her last mission.
"Peter. Oh God, how could it be Peter?" Jennifer cried, clutching Radek's jacket once again.
"According to Doctor McKay, Doctor Grodin stayed with the satellite and ensured the first shot took out the Wraith cruiser. They're now sitting around unsure of what to do. He bought us more time," Gunny explained.
Jennifer raised her head at Rodney's name. "You talked to Rodney?"
"No, but I heard his report to Doctor Weir. We've got extra time to ensure everyone gets safely evacuated because of his sacrifice. We'll mourn the heroes later. I promise."
Jennifer pulled her arms from Radek and pushed off the floor. Richards grabbed her arm and, along with Zelenka, helped her to her feet. She squeezed the arms under her hands: one was thin while the other was heavily muscled.
Blinking back tears, she looked between the brains and the brawn that would protect Atlantis. If any more of these people died she seriously didn't think she'd be able to carry on. "I… Please be careful. I c-can't bear to lose…" her voice broke as she pulled her arms back to wrap around her midsection. Tears coursed down her cheeks again as she looked from grey to blue to brown eyes surrounding her. These men had become the brothers she never had as a child. "I can't lose anymore of you."
"I'll get them all delivered to the Alpha site," Richards replied; the set of his eyes and jaw told her that he would personally shield all the others with his body if necessary.
"Without any scratches."
"Yes ma'am," he nodded.
Jennifer almost ran to Sergeant Yamamoto as he came through the gate with the last of the Athosians and control room staff, signifying that the critical staff would now arm the self-destruct, upload the virus and then dial the Alpha site to evacuate. It should take about eight minutes according to the tabletop drills she participated in.
Jimmy Tung turned to watch the gate shutdown and shook his head sadly when his eyes connected with hers. "I can't believe it's over."
"It's not over, Jimmy," she said. "We'll find another base of operations."
"Doctor Keller, Sergeant Collins' shuttle arrived just before I departed," Koji said quietly to her as he stopped in front of her. "All staff are accounted for, ma'am."
"Understood, Sergeant," she said, unable to keep a faint smile from touching her lips at the knowledge that Rodney would soon be coming through the gate. But the physicist didn't come in eight minutes… or ten.
The displaced Lanteans and Athosians gathered some distance from the gate while their leaders stayed near the DHD: Sergeant Stackhouse from the military, Captain Cole from medical, Doctor Pamela Simpson from science and engineering and Halling of the Athosians. There was a back-up plan in place that they were the creators of but Jennifer was loath to enact it. It was unknown to the command staff just in case.
"Something's wrong," Kavanagh stated as he moved toward the group. "We've gotta redial Atlantis. Find out what's going on."
"No," Jennifer said. She felt funny, as if she were weightless. It seemed as if her feet weren't in contact with the rocky soil and her senses had shut down. The constant roar of a massive waterfall close to their camp disappeared. Rodney. John. Carson. Gunny. They're not coming.
"Why not?" Kavanagh yelled back as he bullied his way forward. "They obviously had an issue with the self destruct or… something."
"Back off, Doctor," Sergeant Cassie Watts said, getting in the big scientist's face.
There were few female Marines on Atlantis. While the SGC traditionally didn't restrict women from any assignments as proven by Samantha Carter, Jennifer had come to learn that Colonel Sumner was somewhat of a chauvinist and never selected women for his teams. Sergeant Watts was one of three female Marines and a favorite sparing partner to Teyla. Or punching bag as she often lamented in the infirmary.
"It's okay, Sergeant," Jennifer said, feeling detached from all that was occurring. She saw the glare Kavanagh shot at the female Marine and the others, but felt no emotions because of it. "Doctor Kavanagh wasn't privy to the final plans."
Kavanagh crossed his arms and stood his ground. "Please enlighten us, oh fearless leader." Animosity dripped from each word.
"I'm gonna shut…" Stackhouse started, stepping forward.
"The last thing we need to do is fight amongst ourselves," Jennifer said, surprised at the even tone of her voice. "Those of us who are leading the Alpha site had to select another place to go in case this one was compromised. Since the command team has not dialed, we need to assume something… happened and dial the other site. They don't know what site we chose."
"Then we leave someone here. I mean they can't find where we went if we don't tell them," Kavanagh started. "Zelenka has the control crystal to dial Earth. We can't leave. We've gotta try to raise Atlantis and see what happened." He moved quickly, shoving the petite Marine out of the way. "Jimmy, dial Atlantis."
"No!" Jennifer shouted.
"I'm gonna make you sorry if you take one more step, Doctor," Yamamoto threatened as he and Sergeant Klein stepped up to the scientist.
"Dial the gate, Jimmy," Kavanagh said.
"I already said no, we go ahead with the plan. Everyone needs to prepare to move out. I'll need all jumper pilots prepped and, Captain Cole, please get Sergeant Bates stabilized," Jennifer ordered.
"Yes, Doctor Keller," Amanda replied.
"No. Stop! We don't have to follow her," he said, stepping closer to the Marines in front of Jennifer and Stackhouse.
Sergeant Watts, who was fuming that the big man got past her knocking her to the dirt, had taken up a position with her P90 raised between Kavanagh and the DHD.
"Pamela, please give Jimmy the coordinates," Jennifer ordered.
Doctor Simpson had her eyes on Kavanagh and only nodded in Jennifer's direction. She was obviously waiting for something and Peter Kavanagh didn't disappoint.
"Unbelievable. Stupid Weir puts you in charge." He shook his head and pointed at the physician. "You've been sleeping with half the military so of course they brainwashed you to think like them too."
Chaos erupted and somehow Kavanagh managed to get near Pamela, his acting department head. The tall woman stepped between him and the Marines ready to tear him limb from limb. "I'm an honorably discharged naval officer…" she began.
"Stop it!" Jennifer shouted, finally showing some emotion. "We've gotta stop fighting."
"I'll handle this," Pamela said to the Marines, ignoring Jennifer's outburst. "Back off."
"Yes, ma'am." The soldiers shot daggers at Kavanagh but backed off, leaving him to smirk from his hiding spot. The smirk didn't last long as Pamela Simpson, the ex-pilot and current fifth degree black belt, turned and took the big man down with two lightning fast punches.
"Pamela!" Jennifer screamed.
"Write me up," she replied. "I hate that bastard and won't let him insult you or the military any longer. Now, Jimmy, dial M7G677." The engineer stepped over the unconscious scientist to approach the DHD.
Many eyes rolled as the kid planet was named. Secure the civilians, injured and Athosian children and elderly under the newly enhanced shield and then look for a new place to go. And hope Rodney or Gunny guess where we went.
As Jimmy started to dial the Gate lit up.
"Secure the gate," Stackhouse called as he pulled Jennifer bodily behind him. "Incoming Wormhole." They had no way to secure the gate, but the soldiers and a couple jumpers moved into position to fire if necessary.
"Doctor Keller, this is Major Sheppard." Whoops greeted John's voice from some of the scientists and support staff. "All military personnel are recalled to Atlantis by order of our new commander, Colonel Dillon Everett. The SGC has sent reinforcements and we're going to defend the city. Any civilians who wish to return and have the proper training may do so. Doctor Keller, please update Major Hawley on the status of the site as she'll be assuming command. Major Sheppard out."
The screams, tears and high-fiving went on for several minutes as new soldiers came through the gate. Jennifer felt her knees give out and reached out to grab the shoulder of Sergeant Yamamoto.
"Doctor?" he asked, offering a steadying arm.
"I... We've all been so strung out. Fighting. Acting stupid and irrational," Jennifer explained. "I just want to lie down for a very long time."
"With a pizza," Koji added smiling. "Which might be a possibility now that we can connect to Earth."
A smile spread over Jennifer's face, one that actually made it to her eyes. "We'll be able to go home." Her father's face came to mind and this time she didn't push it aside.
A/N: I can't believe I made it to The Siege. The chapters are just going to be Siege X and there will be a lot more of them. For the fluff lovers, there will be quite a while w/o any of you'll just have to read my other stories until we get some fluff in here.
And I love Dinotopia by James Gurney. Might make my way over to that fan fiction some day.