Disclaimer: I don't own anything about Stargate except this particular plot and those characters that have not been introduced in the regular series.
The Testing of Wills.
Ch. 14
"...Rodney..."
The astrophysicist's eyes fluttered open and he looked at the bright lights, blinking repeatedly as his eyes adjusted.
"Nnngh..." he groaned. "My hand hurts." he murmured. A few of the people hovering over him fidgeted. Aidan shrugged.
"That's cause your pinky got cut off by the Stargate." he said, point blank. The others looked aghast that he could just come out and say that. He shrugged again. "He was gonna notice sooner or later." he defended. Weir shook her head and looked down at her friend.
"You're going to be fine, Rodney. You'll just have to type a little more carefully from now on." she said. He nodded, noticing that his movements were sluggish, and that his mouth tasted cottony.
"Wha..." he cleared his throat and tried to sit up but failed. "What am I...o-on?" he asked, lying back down again because of the pain in his hand and the vertigo he'd just underwent when he tried to sit up.
"Painkillers, m'friend." came the reply from the doctor. Only it was distorted, and he could barely make it out.
"So that's why it's so hard to think straight." he mumbled. "Goin' back asleep now."
And he did.
There was a silence for a moment and then Carson looked at the others.
"Did anabody happen t'catch the address tha' they gated to?" he asked. They all looked at each other and then looked at Rodney, who was drooling slightly on the hospital pillow.
"I saw where they went."
They all turned to see Jinto, who looked eager to help.
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"The atmosphere is breathable, Doctor Weir, but it looks as if there's been some kind of explosion. The ground is covered with ash, and the air's a bit thick, but it should be alright for a team to go there." said Chevron dude. Weir nodded.
"Alright, people, we have a go." she said. Sheppard, Ford, and Teyla nodded and stepped towards the gate, checking their vests and weapons.
"Wait!"
They all turned towards the door to see Carson.
In his suit.
The one that he was supposed to be saving for off-world medical emergencies. He was carrying a medical kit. Everybody stared at him.
"Dr. Beckett, what are you doing?" asked Weir. He looked at her.
"I'm goin' along in case she needs medical attention." he said, lamely. The team shared knowing looks and Weir hesitated before nodding.
"Alright."
Beckett nodded his thanks and then turned back to the wormhole, following Major Sheppard's team. He paused right at the event horizon before exhaling completely and stepping through.
On the other side, he immediately took a deep breath in and began coughing. The air was indeed thick with ash, and it agitated his throat as he tried to breath. The others were suffering the same fate.
"Well this looks like a disaster area." Major Sheppard choked out.
"Aye," Carson agreed. "Do ye see her?"
"No, not yet."
"Major! Over here!" called Ford, from where he and Teyla were standing. The major motioned for Beckett to stay put and walked off to see what the problem was. Beckett looked around and saw something move.
Curious, he looked over at Major Sheppard to call him, but he was too busy looking at something with Teyla and Ford. So, alone, he started walking towards this moving object.
When he walked a little closer, he saw that the something looked more and more like a body. Hopes high, he took off at a run through the five inch thick ash that covered the entire surrounding area. A few yards away, he stopped, suddenly afraid that it might be 13 instead of 26.
"Nngh..." moaned the body in question, and Becket sighed in relief, kneeling next to her.
"Major Sheppard!" he called. "Come quickly! I've found her!"
Then he turned back to her, brushing ash off of her face and arms as the others came running.
"She's okay?" asked Aidan.
"She's alive," answered Beckett. Teyla knelt down next to her and gently picked up one of 26's hands in her own.
"By the ancestors," she gasped, looking down in horror at the charred and melted remains of 26's palms. Sheppard picked up her other hand and saw it was much the same way.
"She must have been hooked into him, even as he was exploding." he mused.
"Then why is she still intact?" asked Ford. Beckett put his arms under her to get her up on her feet and his hand brushed something on her hip. Picking it up, he saw it was the shield device that Rodney wore to protect him from the cloud thing. They looked at each other and smiled in relief.
"She knew this was goin' t'happen." Beckett said
He sighed again and tucked the shield into his pocket, starting as both Teyla and Sheppard dropped 26's hands and cursed.
"Wha'?" he asked, as both warriors backed away, consequently covering themselves in ash. "Wha' happened?"
"Her hands are growing back." squeaked Sheppard. Carson lifted her hand, palm up, to see that the flesh and the interface nodes were in fact regenerating. He thought about it for a moment, and then watched as her hands healed up entirely, the nodes sinking back into her skin as he held it.
"If she was holdin' onto 13 when he exploded, it would make sense tha' some of his parts got fused t'hers. She said he could regenerate if there was some part of him left. Maybe tha' is now a part of her programmin'." he offered. Major Sheppard looked wary of this theory, but nodded and slowly approached the robot girl, who was filthy from head to toe.
And then her eyes opened. She looked at them, studying all of them for a long ten seconds with her red-orange eyes. Her light brown, almost hazel colored hair was tangled and snarled, but she seemed not to notice as she turned her head to see them all.
"Hello," she said, almost shyly. Carson looked confused, and then looked away, as if deeply saddened that she didn't, or perhaps couldn't remember him. "Who are you?"
There was silence for a moment, and then Teyla laid a hand on 26's shoulder.
"My name is Teyla. This is Lieutenant Aidan Ford and Major John Sheppard."
"Hi," said Aidan.
"Hey," greeted Sheppard.
"And I'm Carson Beckett. I'm a doctor." said the Scot. She nodded.
"Oh. Cool." she said. This utterly human phrase caused them to look at each other with a small sense of hope. Perhaps she was not all gone. "And, um...wha-what's my name?" she asked.
This time the pause was much longer, but Carson placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and smiled at her.
"It's alright. You took qui'e a blow t'the head. It'll probably take ye a few days t'get yer memories in order. Yeh're name is...Kedawen. Kedawen Sheppard. John's yer older brother." he said. John, who was totally unprepared for such an announcement, recovered quickly and nodded when she looked at him.
"I'm glad you're alright...sis."
"Oh...me too." she said, and then looked around. "How'd I get here?"
"No' all at once, m'dear." said the doctor, in a mildly chastising voice. She nodded. "Le's ge' ye back home, shall we?"
He helped her to her feet and she leaned on him, holding her head.
They dialed the gate and Sheppard sent the GDO back before Beckett led 26...Kedawen up to the event horizon.
"What's this?" she asked, looking at the rippling water effect with a sense of apprehension. He chuckled.
"It's called a Stargate. It's a portal between two worlds." he explained, gently.
"Oh...How's it work?"
"You step through and appear on the other side." he answered. "Simple as that."
"Okay." she nodded, still looking warily at the thing, and they stepped through together.
On the other side, she looked around in amazement, and he had to grab her quickly as she almost fell down, crying out in surprise. Doctor Weir and Jinto came running up to welcome her back, but before they could say anything, Dr. Beckett spoke up.
"Dr. Weir, li'l Jinto. I'm sure ye remember Kedawen Sheppard. Careful, she hit her head pretty hard, can' remember much," he said, nodding slightly. Weir hid her confusion and stopped Jinto from talking by putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Welcome back, Kedawen."
"Um...thank you?"
"C'mon, then, yeh've been through a lo'. Le's go have a lie-down in the infirmary." Carson suggested. Kedawen looked at him, biting her lip before nodding.
"You look...familiar." she said, uncertainly.
"Oh, good, some of yeh're memories are resurfacing." he said, as they walked. She held her head.
"It's such a mess." she sighed. He nodded. They walked in silence towards the infirmary, while Carson wondered what he would tell her when she started remembering and came to ask him the more difficult questions.
Like how Rodney lost his pinky.
A/N: TA DA!!!!!! there, now she has a name. I'm so cool. And modest. Anyway, so now you all have to remember, it's Kedawen Sheppard. Not 26 anymore, and she's forgotten mostly everything. She's still kind of aware of the fact that she's a machine, though.