Everyone stood transfixed as the small dog disappeared through the control room doors. "Pete!" yelled Jinto as he started to give chase. A young Marine quickly blocked his path away from the active gate. "I've got to get my dog!"
Elizabeth ran down the steps to the gate area, followed closely by Dr. Schwartz. "What happened?"
"I think the open gate scared him," Jinto said helplessly. "He doesn't like water very much."
"Yeah, I guess it does look kinda like a pool," said Schwartz thoughtfully.
"You can't go after him," Elizabeth told the boy. "It's too dangerous. The storm is almost here."
"But I have to find him. He might get hurt!"
"I'm sure he'll be fine, Jinto," Elizabeth said soothingly, her face betraying none of the dismay she felt. If the dog wasn't in a shielded area of the city when the lightning started, he wouldn't have any chance of surviving. "We'll keep an eye out for him as we finish securing the city."
"But..."
Schwartz glanced at Elizabeth and tilted his head slightly. She nodded, and the doctor put an arm around Jinto's shoulder, distracting him. "You're Jinto, right? My name's Steve." Schwartz led the Athosian boy toward the event horizon. As they stepped through, Elizabeth heard him ask, "So tell me how you and Pete came to see Dr. Beckett?" Then the gate shut down behind them.
Elizabeth shook her head and walked back up the stairs. John and Rodney were waiting for her at the top. "What was that all about?" asked John.
"We're having some issues with our... mascot."
"Are you kidding?" said Rodney. "If he's out in the corridors after the storm really starts, he's going to wind up as a pile of crisped dog hair."
"RODNEY!" yelled John and Elizabeth simultaneously, both with expressions of disgust. "That's just gross," continued John.
"Sorry to offend your delicate sensibilities, Major, but if we don't get to work we're going to join him in the happy hunting ground in the sky!"
John exhaled loudly. "All right," he said to Elizabeth. "Why don't you take Dr. Dolittle here and head to the lab. I'll join you there as soon as I give some last minute instructions to our security guys." As he walked away, John muttered under his breath, "You're all heart, Rodney."
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Pete hadn't gone far after running away from the gate. Instead, he hid behind a potted plant and listened to the two-legged creatures. Only the alpha female, the spiky-haired guy, and the intense guy were there. At one point the alpha female and spiky-hair yelled at the intense guy, who responded by waving his arms around and looking fierce. Then the trio separated. After a minute, Pete decided to follow the alpha female's group. Keeping to the shadows, he scooted down the hallway after them.
"You and Dr. Zelenka did a good job coming up with this plan," said Elizabeth, unaware of their small eavesdropper.
"Yes, well, let's not go celebrating just yet. If we can't disable the grounding stations, it's all over." A few minutes later, Rodney admitted grudgingly, "Zelenka's turning out better than I thought."
"So you do know his name!" Elizabeth teased.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I just like getting him all worked up. He says the most amazing things in Czech."
"You understand Czech?"
"No. But it sounds cool, like he's threatening dire retribution."
"He probably is."
Rodney paled. "He wouldn't dare... would he? Oh, God, he would. The man can be downright evil when plotting revenge. He had Kavenaugh on Heightmeyer's couch for weeks. And his hair is almost as scary as Sheppard's..."
Elizabeth interrupted his babbling. "Rodney. You're doing your best. That's all you can do." He just shook his head and ran a hand through his own hair.
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Eventually the three two-legged creatures met up with each other again. Pete listened as they discussed something called lightning rods. Intense guy explained to the others that these lightning rods were placed all over the city and fed power into other things called grounding stations. The conversation got very confusing after that, and Pete stopped listening until they appeared to be separating again. The spiky-haired guy was complaining about something. "Wait, wait, wait a second. Are these things even close to a transporter?"
"Uh, yes, Elizabeth's is."
"And mine?"
"It's a brisk walk away."
"And by 'brisk' you mean 'far'."
"By 'walk', I mean 'run'."
Spiky-hair gave intense guy a very dirty look. "Fine."
Pete decided to follow the intense guy. He was still intrigued by his scent. There was fear, but it was covered by a stronger odor of determination. Pete had never come across anything like it before.
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Rodney paced back and forth in front of the grounding station he'd just disabled. "Come on, come on," he chanted under his breath. Suddenly he heard a muffled crash that made him jump. "What the hell was that?" he yelped.
Rodney peered around all sides of the grounding station but found nothing. Then he caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. He silently crept toward it, hand on his pistol...
... and Pete jumped out at him, tail furiously wagging. "Jesus, don't do that to me!" Rodney screeched. He started to turn away, then remembered that Pete wasn't supposed to be there. Rodney reached over to pick up Pete, but the dog thought it was a game and jumped back, still wagging his tail.
"I don't have time for this!" grumbled Rodney. "Don't you understand how important it is for me to finish my work?"
Pete barked happily.
"You're just as annoying as those suicidal little kids back on M7G-677."
John's voice crackled over Rodney's headset. "McKay, who the hell are you talking to?"
"An invisible white rabbit," Rodney replied sarcastically. There was silence from the headset for a minute. "Actually, Major, I'm talking to a dog. One that Carson was supposed to have taken care of."
"Well, did you try to grab him?"
"Of course I did. But he dodged, and is now sitting there laughing at me." Rodney glared at Pete, who did look somewhat amused.
"All right, just ignore him and he'll follow you."
"Fabulous. Is that the way you deal with all your problems, Major?"
The door of the transporter next to the grounding station opened and Elizabeth walked out. "There you are," said Rodney.
"There I am," Elizabeth agreed. She looked around. "Where's Pete?"
Rodney pointed. "Right over... there." He swore under his breath when he saw the empty corridor. "Well he was, anyway."
"Glad everyone's having such a good time!" shouted John above the sound of the rising wind. "I'm at the grounding station. What do I do?"
"There's a keypad right on the console of the station," said Rodney, now all business.
"Got it."
"Punch in the Ancient equivalent of 0-3-1-5-4-7. That do it?"
"Yeah!"
"Good. They all seem to have the same separation code, so get to the next one and repeat the procedure. We'll meet you in the control room."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Pete was disappointed when he looked back to find that no one was following him. Didn't these two-legged creatures know how to play? He headed back in the direction of the room with the large circle. Maybe the water would be gone by now and people there would be more willing to play with him.
He stopped at the door to the big room, and the hair on his back began to bristle. Something wasn't right in there. Suddenly he heard loud, cracking sounds followed by two thuds. Then a whiny female voice said, "These men could have been overpowered. We need the Atlanteans to be cooperative."
The answering male voice was chilling in its barely restrained power and violence. "Secure the room," it said simply.
"Cover the entrances!" whiny-voice said. Pete retreated into the shadows when he heard the sound of booted footsteps approaching him. As he waited, however, the alpha female and intense guy arrived. To no avail, he tried to get their attention as they walked past him and into the large room.
"What the hell is going on?" demanded alpha-female. Pete risked poking his head around the corner and found his two friends surrounded by identically-dressed people who pointed stick-like objects at them.
"Dr. Elizabeth Weir," said the deep male voice, which belonged to an imposing two-legged creature with hooded eyes and grey fur on the top of his head.
"Yes."
"And you must be Dr. McKay." The deep male voice was conversational.
The whiny voice belonged to a female with curly reddish head-fur. "That is him."
"Where is Major Sheppard? I would like to know the whereabouts of Major Sheppard."
Pete was scared as he looked at the scene playing out before him. His alpha-female friend appeared calm, but smelled very nervous. "You seem to know a lot about us. Who are you?"
"There is only one thing you need to know, Dr. Weir." The deep male voice was suddenly menacing. "As of right now, we are in control of Atlantis."
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A/N: I didn't know this, but apparently Robert Davi started training as an opera singer, but had to stop because of a problem with his voice. I think that's kinda cool.
Purpleyin: Rodney may bristle, but he doesn't really bear any ill will toward anyone, except maybe Kavenaugh. Forgive the pun, but he's "all bark".
Belisse, Out of Phase: Kolya and Pete? There will definitely be some tension between them.
Orka: Sorry, I know this is probably not what you meant when you said update faster...
Emma: Ford as another pup has definite potential.
threegraces: Thanks! I'm really glad you're enjoying.
jen: How many people are writing a fic from a dog's POV? There can be only one! ;-)
TBC