Off The Chart
Author: CanadaB
Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one from this story.
Rating: M – for language and suggestive themes
Spoilers: Mid-way through Season 2 for Atlantis (current as of 9/23/05), and Season 2 (then AU future) for Farscape.
Summary: Farscape/Stargate: Atlantis crossover – John Crichton meets John Sheppard.
at his team. They all shrugged their shoulders then trudged off after Aeryn and John.
That's Why You Look Familiar
Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, and Ronan Dex silently followed Commander John Crichton and Officer Aeryn Sun through the town. Well, silent until Rodney couldn't take the silence anymore.
"Where exactly are we going?" He blurted.
"Rodney!" "Dr. McKay!" Sheppard and Teyla, respectively, hissed at him.
Aeryn turned and glanced over her shoulder at them. "Back to our ship so that John can rest. I'll explain everything there." She continued onward, supporting her lover as he tried to recover from the discussion of wormholes.
"Ship?" Sheppard and McKay silently mouthed to each other in confusion.
Within ten minutes the six of them were climbing in to a bronze-colored ship.
"Nice ship," Sheppard commented, looking around.
Aeryn looked at him like he had grown a second head before answering him in a tone that indicated that he should have known exactly what she was talking about.
"It's a shuttle. Our ship is in orbit."
"Oh." Sheppard stammered. "I knew that." Teyla was smiling softly at her commanding officer, while Ronan nearly grinned trying not to laugh.
The six passengers rode in silence as the shuttle made its way through the atmosphere and in to orbit.
"What is that?" Asked Teyla, regarding a large object floating in space.
"That," replied Aeryn, "is Moya." Seeing their blank looks she clarified, "Our ship."
"That's your ship?" John nearly squeaked. It was like no ship he had seen before, not even the Ancient's Aurora that he'd been on. He was unable to tear his eyes away from Moya as the shuttle flew closer.
"What kind of ship is she?" Rodney asked, his scientific mind already running through all possible solutions.
"She a Leviathan," came the raspy reply of a slightly roused John Crichton.
"What is a Leviathan?" Teyla queried for her team.
"She's a bio-mechanoid." Crichton let that sink in for a moment. He didn't have to wait long.
"Your ship is alive!" Rodney shouted. "But . . . but . . ."
"The ability to make Rodney speechless," Sheppard remarked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I like your ship already." He just grinned as Rodney glared at him. Teyla and Ronan simple smiled.
As the shuttle docked, Crichton climbed shakily to his feet. When Aeryn moved to help him he shook his head, she just rolled her eyes and headed down the steps of the shuttle in to the docking bay of Moya. Crichton followed unsteadily behind her, with Sheppard, McKay, Teyla, and then Ronan behind him.
"Let's head to the mess," John suggested. "I need a drink." Traversing from the hanger to the mess, the Atlantis crew was in awe of the ship, with Rodney bombarding Aeryn with questions about Moya and how she worked. They found themselves in the mess soon enough. Crichton sat down at the table and Aeryn poured him a drink, the rest also sat around the large table. After the others declined her offer she too sat at the table, next to her lover to be able to offer him her support.
"So," Crichton began. "You're all from Earth?" He asked looking around the table at the visitors.
"Um, not exactly," Sheppard began. "Rodney and I are, but Teyla and Ronan are from other planets in this galaxy." Crichton nodded in understanding. "How did you end up out here in the Pegasus Galaxy, John? Is it alright if I call you John?"
"John's fine," Crichton replied. "As to your first question, I think that Aeryn ought to answer it, other wise I'm going to end up in too much pain to tell you anything else." The others looked confused, but looked to Aeryn for explanations.
"Approximately five cycles ago," she began.
"Years," Crichton interpreted for their guests.
"Right," Aeryn corrected. "About five years ago, John was working on an experimental space program called Farscape. During his test flight, he tried a sling-shot maneuver off of Earth's atmosphere, but due to the unexpected solar flares he unknowingly created an unstable wormhole." She paused at Crichton's flinch, and placed her hand on his back. She held up her hand to forestall the questions that Rodney was opening his mouth to ask.
"John was shot through the wormhole and ended up in the middle of a battle at the edge of the Uncharted Territories. He and his pod were brought aboard Moya, and he's been here ever since. I, too, was brought aboard that day. When Moya Starburst, my prowler was close enough to her that I was pulled along: I was then taken prisoner.
"The Peacekeepers, my people, are not tolerant of other races, and I was deemed irrevocably contaminated and cast out. I've been on Moya and with her crew, including John, ever since.
"At first, we were being hunted by my former commanding officer, Crais – you see, when John first emerged out of the wormhole, his pod crashed into Crais' brother's prowler and killed him. Crais swore he would avenge his brother's death and he began to hunt John, and Moya, deeper in to the Uncharted Territories. After a few cycles, ah . . . years, Crais too was cast out of the Peacekeepers. But he had tortured John for information on wormholes, and Scorpius got ahold of the information. So, Crais no longer chased us, he even helped us a time or two, but now Scorpius was trying to capture John to force the wormhole knowledge out of him.
"Within a . . . year. . . , Scorpius planted a chip in John's brain to try to gather the information that he was seeking. A few years ago, we managed to get it removed, but the chip had a netting, for lack of a better word, that had wrapped around the section of John's brain that controlled speech. The doctor removed the chip, and that section, with every intention of replacing the damaged part of John's brain with compatible tissue. But Scorpius interrupted and killed the surgeon before he could repair the damage to John's brain.
"Ever since then, John has had to relearn how to speak, and to this day thinking about wormholes hurts his head. Actually saying the word . . . well, you saw what happened back on the planet."
Everyone was quite as the four guests tried to process what they'd just been told. As per usual, John Sheppard was the first of his team to speak.
"So," Sheppard tried to break the awkward silence that had descended. "you said you had a cousin in the Air Force?"
"Um, yeah," Crichton had been expecting all sorts of questions out of the four people across from him, but that question hadn't even made his list. "Last time I talked to him he was up for a promotion to Major, but I don't know if he ever got it."
"Really?" John perked up, finally starting to put the pieces of this puzzle together. "What's his name?"
"Cameron Mitchell."
"That's why you look so familiar." Sheppard nearly whooped with excitement.
"You know Cam?" Crichton asked excitedly. "Did he make Major?"
"I've met him a few times, but he's not a Major." Crichton's face fell, disappointed on behalf of his cousin. "He's a Lieutenant Colonel." Crichton looked up at Sheppard.
"Really? That's great."
"Wait." Rodney cut in. "Colonel Mitchell is John Crichton's cousin?" He asked Sheppard more than Crichton.
"Rodney," Sheppard said in an over-exaggeratedly calm voice. "Look at the man. He looks so much like Mitchell that they could pass for the same person."
"Huh," was Dr. McKay's elegant reply. "Well will you look at that."
