Chapter 53
Spoilers for the Prodigal
The power goes off as she exits the transporter on her way back from the storage area. She's made her preparation for her French tea cookies a little earlier and let it rest while she was getting more ingredients for yet another recipe. She's gotten the temperature of the oven just right and that's the trickiest thing about that deceptively easy recipe. You need just the right temperature or they get either too crunchy or too moist.
She growls and taps her headset. "Rodney, this is Louise. What's going on?" She only gets static. She huffs. The luck she has! It's the only free night she has and that's when she can try out new recipes from her granny's cookbook. Sure she makes her own but it's been hitching at her for some time to try new ways of doing it. Of all the moments this could happen, this really is a bummer.
She tries calling Rodney again, then the Control Room, even John, though she doesn't like to ask for his help in case he'd think he has to come to her rescue – again. He needs to know she's strong and independent.
They're pretty civil to each other now and have never talked again about the whole jealousy thing but she's very cautious about not getting into a situation where he might want to get all protective with her. She huffs and pouts, sitting on the bench in the dark. There's nothing she can do but wait. The doors are sealed shut and the transporter won't work.
Her headset beeps as the lights in the kitchen flicker. The ovens and fridges come on as well. She sighs in relief. She taps her headset. "Anyone there?" she asks tentatively. They must be trying to get the systems back on line as the doors are still not opening when she passes her hand over the sensor and the rest of the City is still mainly in the dark.
"Yes, Ms Léger, there is indeed someone," she hears the unmistakable voice of their long-time enemy.
She gulps. "Michael?"
He chuckles. "That would be me, yes." She shudders. There's no two ways around it and she's not going to try and lie to herself. Michael has invaded the City and he's most likely not alone.
"What are you doing here?" she growls.
"Well, well," he banters, "aren't you still a bundle of nerves!"
She doesn't answer and looks around, her mind going two hundred miles an hour. They need to do something about it and the hell she won't try to help. John's probably onto it but she knows he was supposed to spend time with Rodney, racing cars on the other end of the City, and if the systems are down, she might be the closest. She keeps a gun in her quarters and rolls her eyes at her own stupidity for not having one down here.
The doors whoosh open and she turns round, grabbing the first thing she can find for defense, namely a rolling pin. Michael enters the room and looks her up and down very smugly then suddenly roars with laughter. "Oh, really, Louise, you'll never cease to amuse me!" he taunts her.
She's fuming with rage but doesn't let go of the rolling pin though she knows she's defenseless, with or without it. "What the hell are you doing in my kitchen, Michael?"
He lifts his hands in mock surrender. "Wow! Calm down. I'm not here to kill you. I came to talk to you." He motions for the guards he's brought with him to wait outside and closes the door. "Put that weapon down," he mocks her. "You know you're no match for me."
She huffs and does as told then folds her arms over her chest defensively. "What do you want, Michael?"
He pouts. "I thought after our last encounter, we could at least be civil to each other."
She rolls her eyes. "And why would that be?" she yells at him, her eyes boring into his. "You think you did me a favor?" He lifts his eyebrows and she lashes at him. "You jerk! Do you know what trouble your "gift" brought my way?" she goes on, eyes brimming with tears of frustration.
He remains silent, not having expected she'd reproach him with giving her her youth back.
"I thought... I thought..." he stammers.
She sneers. "Yeah, I know what you thought. Well, you thought wrong! I became a freak show for the whole base and believe me, I would gladly have dispensed myself with the consequences."
She falls silent and taps her foot impatiently, trying to calm down and failing poorly. "Let's not dally with it. I have no time for making small talk with you, Michael. I demand you tell me what you're doing here. Now!" she yells.
He regards her coolly and walks to her briskly, making her retreat hastily behind the table. He huffs. "Again. Not going to kill you. Especially if we find common ground."
She lifts her eyebrows. "And what would that be, Michael? Because I don't remember us having anything in common," she counters nastily.
He flinches at the rebuke. "That's rude, Louise, but I'll survive. I came to you to make you an offer you won't be able to refuse."
She rolls her eyes. "What can you possibly offer me I don't have?"
"Your health, for a start," he answers coolly, making her shudder. "I can ensure you will never be sick again. And the life of Teyla and her child," he adds, narrowing his eyes at her, waiting for her reaction.
She gasps. "Where are they?"
He lifts his hand reassuringly. "They're in the Control Room and they're fine. I do not intend to harm them in any way if you and Teyla do as I ask."
"And what do you ask of us, Michael?" She really doesn't care but she's trying to buy time for John's team to find a way to reach them. Keep him occupied, she tells herself. Whoever is with him is not as cunning as he is and they'll never see John coming.
"I want you three to come with me. I'm taking the child anyway. See, Louise, the City is now under my control, as is the stargate. The people who were there and those two levels up and down are going to have a headache when they wake up. The rest are stranded in the other parts of the City, including your precious Colonel," he adds nastily, knowing she must be thinking about him now. What he doesn't realize is that he's given her reason to hope. John and the others are fine and that's what counts at the moment.
The cogs are spinning in her head. "And why would you want to take me?" she prods. "Teyla, I get it, if you want to take her child. But me? I'm just a cook."
"You're not just a cook, Louise," he counters. "In Dr McKay's own words, you're a "damn good cook". His words, not mine. And you're the only human who's ever showed any empathy for me. I have come to regard you as a friend. I have to admit I'd very much like you to see me as such, but for the time being, I'll be content with taking you with us so you keep Teyla company."
She closes her eyes for a brief moment, trying to grasp the meaning of all this. He wants to take the child and she doesn't have to ask why because he'd already made it clear the baby was special. He wants someone to keep Teyla from going bonkers in the middle of his hybrid faction. That she can understand too. But that he would want them to be friends, that's beyond her understanding. She tells him. "Why do you even bother to tell me you want my friendship, Michael? You're a damn monster. How could you possibly think I'll ever consider being anything but your enemy?" He blanches under the insult. "If I could get my hand on a weapon, Michael, I would kill you. Make no mistake."
He nods, indicating he's understood what she's saying. "Think about it, Louise. I'm offering you the opportunity to help your friend and leave before I blow the whole place up. Whatever your decision, I'll respect it." He's going to kill everyone. Almost three hundered people are on base at the moment. And everyone she cares about in the whole world. She needs to think, find a way to buy them time.
She nods, jaw clenched. "I need to think about it, Michael," she says calmly.
He nods too. "Very well. That's understandable. I still have to tie a few loose ends but don't wait too long. And if you need incentive,"he adds, rounding the table. She steps back in fright. He huffs, looking sad. "I'm not going to hurt you. I was going to offer you a peace offering. Your health," he elaborates, reaching into the pocket of his coat and offering her a seringe, palm up. "This is the treatment I give to my followers. It will cure you of any disease, make you stronger. I assure you it's completely safe."
She shakes her head and takes another step back. "No priviledges, Michael, and no gifts. I won't become one of your worshippers. If I decide to go, it'll only be for Teyla's sake."
"Still the same stubborn lady," he replies, disappointment showing in his eyes. " It was a gesture of affection from one friend to another, Ms Léger. No trick there."
She stares him down disdainfully. "You can call me a friend, Michael, but I'll never call you mine. Don't bother anyway. Soon enough, John will figure a way to get to you and when he does, there will be nowhere for you to hide. He'll hunt you down and kill you."
She sees him flinch. He gets toe to toe with her, making her shudder with fear. "I'm afraid it's your precious John's life that'll come to an end today, my dear. Die with him or live with me, I don't care."
He wheels around and walks out.
She takes deep breaths, trying to regain her composure, then walks to the pantry to eat some sugar, feeling dizzy and weak. This can't be happening. Their lives can't possibly end today, at the hands of the enemy. She can't let him do this to them – to all of them. She starts pacing but it's not what she needs. She needs to get busy, so she gets her preparation from the walk-in cooler and checks her oven before setting to work. Cooking has always been able to help her cool down and think more clearly and she's about to make one of the most important decisions of her life.
She's getting her second batch of cookies from the ovens when a few lights in different areas of the City get back on line. She walks to her balcony and prays this means good news – that they're regained control of a part of the City at least and are making their way to the Control Room and Teyla, before it's too late.
She checks for the umpteenth time if she can open the doors or use the transporter to the storage room but she's still marooned, which means Michael still has control over the whole area around the mess hall. And then she hears the alarm that announces the self-destruction of the City. She paces, her hands folded on her chest but the wait is killing her and it's with a heavy heart that she finally decides to call Michael.
"Ah, Ms Léger. I'm glad you're finally calling me," he answers agreeably. "Have you made a decision?"
She breathes out. "Are you still going to kill everyone?" she barks.
"Yes, I am," he says matter of fact.
"Well, then, no." She clenches the little hummingbird charm John gave her for her birthday, saying he wanted her to have it as a reminder of how we should always think about enjoying the moment – celebrating life and joy over death and sorrow. Her mind reaches out to her friends – to John. "Is there anything I can say to make you change your mind, Michael?" she asks desperately.
She hears him breathe on the other end of the channel. "What are you offering?"
"Take me with you if you will but leave the City intact," she offers, knowing he'll probably laugh at her for being so naive.
"You're offering your freedom in exchange for the life of your friends?"
"Of everyone on base, Michael," she corrects him, not knowing he's ready to evacuate and can't find Teyla and Torren who have disappeared without a trace.
"Very well," he replies. The door whooshes open, to her utter amazement. "Join us to the Control Room. We're getting ready to leave," he informs.
She hesitates. "Do I have your word you won't destroy the base?" she insists.
"You do," he answers. "Now, make haste, Ms Léger. We don't have much time."
She starts walking in a daze through the mess and then corridors. "Why are you doing this, Michael?" she wonders.
He sneers. "Because I don't need to kill your friends to have my revenge. Killing Colonel Sheppard would be too easy. Taking what he most cherishes will do the trick just fine."
She chokes on her tears but advances bravely towards where she's supposed to join him.
She hears the alarm for the self-destruct shut off and mistakens it for Michael's decision to make good on his promise so she plods on. She soon hears gunshots and around the City, lights begin to come on everywhere. She taps her headset, one last desperate move to reach anyone else. "This is Ms Léger. Anyone on this channel?"
Radek answers her. "Ms Léger. This is Radek. Are you in the kitchen?"
"Oh, God, a friendly voice, finally! No, I'm not. I'm making my way to the Control Room," she sighs in relief.
"Please return there," he asks her. "Marines are trying to regain control of the place as we speak. It's not safe to be wandering around in the corridors."
"Where's John?" she asks, her voice strained. "Where's everyone?"
"We've got people stranded all over the City. Colonel Sheppard is currently trying to stop Michael. He's had to abandon the Control Room and has tried to make his way to the Jumper Bay but we've managed to regain control of the system and have closed the doors' iris. He's got nowhere to go. Everyone needs to stay put until they catch him," Radek explains to her patiently, knowing she must be sick with worry.
"Try to patch me up to Michael. I can try and put sense into him," she pleads.
Zelenka shakes his head in disbelief. "Ms Léger, you're a sucker for lost causes. He'll never listen to you."
She growls. "I need to try. I'm begging you, Mr Zelenka."
He huffs but complies. Michael hears her voice as he's being cornered on a narrow berth outside the central tower. "Michael, it's Louise. Listen to me. Surrender and I'll speak on your behalf. I'm making my way to you as we speak."
"It's too late for me, Louise, and you know your Colonel Sheppard will never let me live. Not after everything I've done, though I only did what I did to survive. I never stood a chance. From the very moment you humans decided you were allowed to gamble with my fate," he says and she hears the pain and disgust in his voice.
"I'm sorry, Michael," she whispers before ending the conversation and taking the stairs at a run, a sense of foreboding clenching at her heart. Radek has said John was onto it. He hasn't mentioned anyone else. What if Michael has the upper hand? She needs to get there before it's too late, but all she sees when she arrives is John and Teyla looking down at the base of the tower. She looks from one to the other.
Teyla's eyes are cold and fierce but she softens when she sees Louise. "You're safe," she says with a smile.
John walks to her and wraps his arms around her, groaning from his injuries.
"You're hurt," she whimpers, wrapping her arms around his middle cautiously, not wanting to hurt him further but not having the courage to let go of him already.
"I'm fine," he amends and walks them to the door, getting back inside, his arm on her shoulders, hers around his waist.
Teyla smiles at them both and taps her headset to inform Radek they're fine and heading back their way. She turns to John and Louise. "Can you take care of him?" she asks Louise hopefully.
Louise nods. "Is Torren alright?" she asks worriedly.
"Everyone is fine, Louise, and Torren is with Amelia. Do you mind..."
Louise chuckles. "Go. I'll take care of the other kiddo," she teases John.
Teyla leaves at a run. John tightens his grip around her and groans. "John, please, sit. I'll call the medics," she pleads but he shakes his head.
"I can walk. I'm not crippled, just whumped."
She chuckles. "When are you not?" she banters humorlessly. They make their way slowly down the stairs to return to the nearest transporter. "I thought I'd never see you again," she whispers, her gaze lost in the distance.
"I know. I thought so too. Michael called me when you agreed to join him – just to taunt me. Louise, why would you do such a thing? It would have been a life of misery..." he tells her.
"My life in exchange for everyone's safety, John. It was worth it," she shrugs it off, embarrassed.
"You're reckless and suicidal," he points out humorlessly but kisses her temple.
"Look who's talking," she counters, rolling her eyes.
He shakes his head in disbelief. "Will you ever shut up and admit when you're wrong?" he huffs. She shakes her head. "No way. And you would have done the same thing. So, you shut up."
They walk the rest of the way back in silence, each of them lost in their thoughts.
Before they reach the infirmary, she hesitates and stops, turning to him. "You know, there's one thing I must say about Michael. He might have been a monster and all, but he did one rare thing for me," she says, hoping John won't get mad at her. She's defended their nemesis before but that was when she didn't know who he was.
He sighs. "I agree. He could have let you die on that planet and he took the time to cure you. I'm grateful for that. He did have feelings after all. But that's not enough to redeem him, Louise," he points out.
"No, you don't get it. It's not what I meant. He did something today that not many people have done for me. He let me choose," she whispers, looking sad.
He looks at her, bemused. "Sorry, what?"
"He asked me to join him. He could have forced me to come with them but he offered. Sure, he bargained for it, tempting me with the lure of letting you guys live, but he did ask all the same," she replies in a small voice.
His eyes get dark. "You're defending him?" he accuses her.
She shakes her head. "That's not what I meant, John. Forget about it. It's not worth us fighting over it," she replies before pulling him gently inside the infirmary.
She's left him there and headed back to the kitchen to prepare a late night snack for the teams who are flocking back towards the mess hall.
Teyla comes to check on John as he leaves the infirmary. "How are you doing?" she asks him, seeing he's still sporting that dark gaze he had when she left them earlier. He shrugs. She smiles and walks to his side with Torren in her arms who has finally woken up. John caresses the kid's head absent-mindedly. "What is it, John?" she insists.
"It's Louise," he says and she smiles.
"I should have known," she smirks.
He huffs. "She has that way of rubbing salt in my wounds, ya' know... She said she was grateful to Michael for letting her choose to leave with him and have a life of misery or stay and die with us all. How can she still defend him after everything he did?" he asks, aggravated.
"She's not," Teyla says, looking wistful. "He did the same for me. Sure, it was never really a choice but I get her point. In his very twisted way, he offered her a kind of partnership. It's much more than most people have allowed her to have in her lifetime. Her parents decided of who they wanted her to be. Her husband decided of when he didn't want her anymore. Chris," she adds and plods on though she sees him flinch at the mention of Louise's failed attempt at a semblance of happiness, "twisted her arm so she'd agree to allow him into her life..."
"And I'm so worried about her well-being, I smother her, not letting her make her own decisions," he adds, wincing. "Is it where you're heading?"
She nods. "Michael could have made the decision for her but he did not. It was a welcomed change. Louise is independent and strong, in spite of her petite frame. I think Michael recognized that in her and respected her for it. It was as close to a frienship as he could get, I guess."
John nods silently, lost in his thoughts, so she pats his arm and leaves tactfully, knowing he'll need time to really see all Louise needs is to be accepted for who she is – not molded into a person she'll never be.
TBC
Extract from Louise's Cookbook
French Tea Cookies (Financiers)
2 tbsp unsalted butter melted and cooled to butter the molds
1 cup ground almonds
1 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar
½ cup flour
a pinch of salt
6 egg whites
¾ cup butter, melted and cooled
Butter the molds (use small ones, like cupcake ones though those cookies are usually rctangular) and put them in the freezer to solidify the butter.
Sift the almonds, sugar, flour and salt and combine them then add the egg whites and finish with the butter. Spoon in the molds.
Bake 7 minutes at 450°F then 7 minutes at 400°F then turn off the oven heat and let them rest in the oven for 7 more minutes.
Cool them for ten minutes then unmold them.
You can add raspberries or blueberries to the batter.
