Author's note: Took a break from writing my VS episode and came up with this. Still unbetaed, and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Reviews also feed the muses... hint hint hint... ;)
Jessica sat in her bed, poring over the schematics for the weapon's satellite that Rodney, Dr. Zelenka and Dr. Grodin had been researching… and frowned. She typed in a few commands with her right hand, and then absently scratched at the skin around the edge of the cast on her left forearm. It had been a few days since the wounds from the compound fracture had healed enough for the standard cast to be placed, and already she could feel her skin itching for fresh air. She wondered if she would be allowed a pencil or some other long skinny object to dig at the maddening irritations under the cast.
'Probably not.' One corner of her mouth quirked in wry humor. These people were still not completely certain that she was who she thought she was. If Carson hadn't shown her the scans he'd taken of her brain and upper back, she would've been right there with the Atlanteans in their wondering.
Getting familiarized with Ancient technology was getting easier and easier now that Carson had weaned her off of the most potent of the painkillers and sleep aids. Everything about this floating "city" absolutely fascinated her, and she was dying to get out of the only room in the city she'd seen so far so she could explore.
But then again, that would entail faith on their part… more than they were prepared to give at this point, considering Jessica had two beefy guards at her door at all times.
She snorted. If past experience and her memory were accurate, two men weren't enough to keep her contained if she really didn't want it. She'd learned much about herself in the years she was on the run from the Goa'uld, and of the time she spent under that bitch Anat's "care"…
Jessica shook her head in an attempt to dispel the gruesome nightmarish images brought up from her captivity with the sadistic Goa'uld queen.
The sudden motion disturbed the speaker buds she'd had in her ears, and Jessica suddenly became aware of a woman's shout.
"I am feeding! I am killing him!"
An icy frisson of fear crept into Jessica's belly as she listened to the woman's distraught cry.
Something beyond strange was happening in the main room of the infirmary. Jessica tentatively extended her awareness, and touched something… savage. Hungry. Her eyes widened, and she quickly slammed the walls down in her mind.
Nope, not gonna try that again anytime soon.
Later that day, Jessica was thinking about whether or not she should make a bid for getting out of her bed and hopping to the bathroom instead of paging for a nurse when she heard Dr. Weir practically shout, "Wake her up… NOW!"
The Cheyenne shook her head. Nope, not gonna check. Whatever it was that she'd touched earlier still had a part of her terrified, and she wondered if whatever was going on in the other room had anything to do with these Wraith. Jessica had a strong feeling that she didn't want to be around when the creatures invaded Atlantis. But then again, she didn't have much of a choice, and it wouldn't be fair to try to make a bid for freedom and leave her benefactors to the mercy of those… things.
"NO!"
Jessica's head whipped up from her pillow. Hmmm, she must've dozed off for a moment there.
"TEYLA!"
The young Cheyenne's eyes widened as she heard crashing noises from the main infirmary room. It sounded like someone was pitching furniture around in one hell of a hissy fit.
Or people, a small vicious voice in the back of her head pointed out.
Jessica carefully swiveled her legs off the side of the bed and gingerly lowered all of her weight on the good one.
The sound of electrical equipment being smashed drifted into the room, and Jessica felt an urgent sense of alarm grip her heart. Something was seriously FUBARed in the infirmary!
She managed to hobble to the door of her room, but was stopped by the outthrust arms of both of her guards.
Now Jessica could clearly hear someone being tossed across the main room. No one could mistake the sickening thud of flesh against an unyielding wall.
"What the hell?" Jessica blurted.
"Get back in your room, Dr.," the one guard growled. His face was pinched, betraying his desire to wade into the fray and help get whatever the situation was tamed.
"But…"
The other man turned and gripped the Cheyenne's uninjured arm tightly. "Here, let me help you, ma'am," he stated firmly, and he practically picked up the slight woman and carried her back to her bedside. "Nothing for you to worry about, Doc. We've got everything under control."
"No, you don't," Jessica bit out in frustration. Not even realizing what she was doing, she extended her mind once more, and touched the same feral entity she had earlier. Except this time, it was oh so much stronger.
And it was pissed.
She couldn't stop herself from shouting out in alarm, and felt the presence hesitate a moment.
Then came the sound of an energy weapon being discharged, and Jessica felt the alien soul suddenly shudder.
But it didn't go away entirely, and the energy weapon discharged again.
That did it!
But Jessica felt the backlash of the separation, and her head reeled in shock and disorientation. Her knee folded under her, and the guard caught her full weight in his arms again as she fell against him. The world swirled nauseatingly around her, and Jessica felt herself blacking out.
"Doc? Doc!" the soldier called to her, but Jessica couldn't answer except for a low groan. "Hey, we need someone in here!" he called over his shoulder, and the other man looked into the room before dashing down the short hallway to the main infirmary.
The inevitable happened, and Jessica was overwhelmed by the strain of what she'd done. She passed out.
"Care to explain yuirself, young lady?"
Jessica briefly looked into the weary and seriously expectant eyes of the Chief Medical Officer. "Not at the moment."
"Tough." He crossed his arms and continued to almost-glare in concern at her. "Well?"
Jessica sighed heavily, resigning herself to the sharing of information she'd rather have kept quiet. As in forever. "The scans you did of my brain," she offered quietly.
"Aye?"
"Showed a lot more activity than you consider 'normal'," she continued.
"Aye?"
Jessica looked anywhere at the doctor, feeling supremely uncomfortable. "I can… do things."
Carson scowled thoughtfully. "What kinds of things?"
Jessica hesitated, and his expression softened. "I'm not gonna judge ye, lass. There've been some strange things goin' on 'round here since we came to Atlantis."
She couldn't stop the wry snort from escaping. "No shit."
Carson grinned lopsidedly. "So… what kinds of things are ye talkin' about?"
Jessica's face tightened. "I've always been able to… 'read' people before… before…"
"Before ye and yuir team were attacked on that world," Carson offered.
Jessica nodded around the sudden lump in her throat. "P9X-642. Yes." She took a deep, steadying breath before she continued, her voice even quieter than before. "I guess you could call it a form of… empathy… and telepathy."
"All right," Carson gently prodded.
"It's like I catch flashes… images… sometimes with information, sometimes with feelings…"
"Aye."
"Last year… I was captured by a group of Jaffa…" she trailed off, her eyes wide and haunted, and her face pale.
Carson sat down with a brief wince on the chair beside the hospital bed and took the woman's hand gently. "Go on."
She visibly gulped. "They experimented on me. Wanted to know why the Goa'uld they'd implanted had died."
"It died?" Carson was struck mute.
All she could do was nod once. "They stuck it in me, it was in control for a few days, and then…" she pulled her hand from Carson's grasp and waved it limply. "It withered up and died." Her tortured gaze rose to meet Carson's briefly, before dropping once again and focusing on a spot on the far wall. "Hurt like hell, too."
"Oh lass…" Carson didn't know what to say. But it did explain how the poor woman had the scar and the strong traces of Naquadah in her system, but no symbiote.
"They wanted to know why that happened. Don't think they ever figured it out though," she whispered. "Then they wanted to see what they could tweak in me. Just for shits and giggles, I guess." Jessica shuddered violently, not realizing that she had grabbed and squeezed Carson's hand. "Please, could we not talk about this any more?"
"Aye, lass, I think that's fine for now. But I'd love to know what you did back there… when Teyla…"
Jessica shook her head sharply and refocused on the doctor. "Yes, what exactly did happen out there?" she asked. "It felt like there was a…" Words seemed to fail her, and she again waved her hand. "Monster here. It… hungered. And it was so… enraged."
Carson blinked. "Interesting way to put it," he replied blandly. "Aye, t'was a Wraith, but it was bein'… well, for lack of a better word… 'channeled' through Teyla."
"She's psychic?"
"No. Well, sort'a." Carson scratched his head. "It's a wee bit complicated."
The corner of Jessica's mouth quirked. "Sounds familiar." But all traces of humor disappeared quickly. "I think I've felt something like that… before."
"What?" Carson's expression grew wary.
"That… Wraith?" Jessica looked to the doctor for confirmation before she continued. "A week or so ago… I know I was still a little out of it, but I swear I felt something… tickle me."
"'Tickle' ye?"
The Cheyenne grimaced. "It's not the clearest way of defining it, but it was like I'd felt a presence, at the edge of… my consciousness." She waved one hand about as she tried to put her thoughts into words. "It's not like I've ever talked to anyone about what I can do. Well… not willingly."
"I'm sure it's not easy."
She snorted softly. "Just as easy as it is for your Teyla to be hearing voices in her head."
Carson didn't reply, but just watched the woman contemplatively. He was definitely going to have to say something to Dr. Weir about this conversation. If Dr. Monevata was right, then there was a Wraith on Atlantis. But the problem was… could she truly be trusted?
Rodney McKay was beyond tired… beyond even exhaustion. He didn't think he'd ever been this tired before, and absently wondered if this lack of sleep would adversely affect his hypoglycemia.
'Hmmm, when was the last time I ate something?' he wondered. He felt around in the pockets of his uniform and came up with an everpresent power bar. He ripped it open with his teeth as he pored over the final schematics for the Lagrangian Point defense satellite. Since they'd been able to tweak an extra 20 power outtake in the Naquadah generators, he figured this insane plan might actually work.
"Hunh, insane is what this whole place is about," he muttered to himself.
Dr. Zelenka's head popped out from behind an open access panel in the Jumper. "What was that, Rodney?"
The chief scientist merely waved his half-eaten power bar at the Czech. "Nothing, nothing. Just thinking out loud."
"Ale jdete," Radek grumbled. "You do that too much, má druh." He twisted around to grab a spare cable before sticking his head and arms back into the open panel above him.
"And you're reverting, my friend," Rodney almost snapped back. "English, Zelenka!"
"Tebe dovídat se mne ujde to."
"Close enough."
Radek coughed his surprise from behind the cover. "How long were you going to keep that from me?"
The corner of Rodney's mouth curled into his trademark smirk. "Until I heard all of the creative things you call me."
The Czech chuckled. "Oh, believe me, you haven't heard the worst of it."
"'Napolean's bastard seed'?"
Silence…
"'Genghis Khan on PCP'?"
"Ah, well, you see…"
"Wait, there's worse than that?" Rodney couldn't hide the full-scale grin now. "Really, Radek, surely you can come up with more inventive insults."
"Rodney, stop torturing the help," John Sheppard's amused voice drifted into the Jumper.
"What? We're just talking."
"Yes, we were discussing…"
"Our favorite astrophysicists' kinder and gentler side?" John leaned against the back wall and watched the two scientists continue their work.
"You could say that," Radek's voice echoed his grin as well.
"So how's it all coming?" John wished he could order both of the men to go get some much-needed sleep, as they looked even worse than he knew they felt, but there just wasn't enough time in the day, unfortunately. At least they took power naps…
And the Major also made sure that they both ate. He'd also had his men, the ones who weren't helping in the evacuation efforts, looking out for the other feverishly working scientists. He'd learned in his time as C.O. on Atlantis that the geeks and the grunts worked so much better together if they were all treated as equals. Or as equal as they could be in their relevant specialties. You give respect to your geek, then the geek respected your commands when you had to give them.
Rodney looked up from his laptop. "Is there something we can do for you, Major?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." And John held out a platter holding two steaming bowls and two mugs of…
"Is that coffee?" Radek's eyes gleamed in immediate lust over the brew.
John merely smiled as both men practically dropped what they were doing and rushed to snatch up the coffee cups. 'Like Pavlov's dog…'
"Where did you…"
"Privileges of rank, my caffeine-deprived friends." John neglected to say that he'd ferreted out the stash that Rodney had hidden in his quarters a few weeks back, and had appropriated a third for just such an emergency. He knew his friend wouldn't be able to stretch it out this long.
Radek also gathered one of the bowls and sniffed it. "Smells like stew," he approved with a weary smile, and moved to one of the open spaces in the back of the Jumper to consume his late meal.
"Stew?" Rodney wrinkled his nose at the thought. "I'll stick with the Power Bar, thanks."
"Urmph, it's actually… quite good," Radek commented in between mouthfuls.
"And somehow that reassures me even less. I've seen what your people eat on a daily basis," Rodney retorted with a pained grimace.
"It's Athosian," John explained. "With the last of the Earth veggies. Tastes like what mom used to make." He held out the tray to Rodney. "Doc's orders, McKay. Lay off the Power Bars and eat some real food for once."
Rodney rolled his eyes dramatically. "Fine, fine. I'm sure there was also the threat of an IV getting involved if I refused?"
"You know the doc well." John smiled sweetly.
Rodney snorted, scooped up the warm bowl and sat down on the floor in front of his beloved laptop. John noticed that the clutched mug of coffee was already half gone. "Guess he's suffering from withdrawal since I haven't graced his presence in the infirmary all that much lately." He eyed the stew disdainfully. "My mother never cooked anything like this," he complained.
"What, no stew over the cold winters?" John teased.
"As a matter of fact, no. Soup, yes, but then again, my father was more of a meat and potatoes kind of man." He grimaced again, but John couldn't tell if it was from a memory or from the Athosian gumbo.
"So, when do you guys think everything'll be ready for the trip to the satellite?" John asked.
"It's what… 1 am already?" Rodney glanced at his watch with a little surprise. "Give me another hour to double-check the plans Zelenka and Grodin came up with…"
Radek cleared his throat a little nervously, causing John to look over at the slighter man with a raised eyebrow.
"And we should be fine for leaving around… eight?" Rodney finished uninterrupted, having missed the other men's reactions.
"So, 0800 then?" John swung his attention back to his friend. At Rodney's curt nod, he continued. "Then I'll notify the others that the mission's a go. Rodney, you'll meet Grodin and Miller in the meeting room for a mission briefing at 0730, all right?"
"Fine, fine," Rodney waved his spoon in John's direction. He'd already shoveled his way through half of the bowl's contents. "You're right, Zelenka. This is actually… tasty. I might actually not suffer from food poisoning."
Radek merely smiled in long-suffering tolerance of his friend's constant complaints. In such a troubling and unsettled time, it was comforting to know that some things never changed. He exchanged a knowing look with John, who seemed to understand his thoughts.
Czech
má druh my friend
Ale jdete You don't say so
Tebe dovídat se mne ujde to. You understand me well enough.