Disclaimers: I do not own these characters; this is written for fun, I make no money etc.
Spoilers: Brotherhood, The Siege (1), Intruder
A/N: This is my first Sergeant Canada/Console fic - LOL.
Yup, Chuck the Grodin Replacement Guy. Yup, the Console… and yup, if this is the first, who knows if there will be more… I hope this is just a start…
This ship was first declared as far as I know by Drwho'srose, and the name Leo is from PartyLikeIt's1984, both at GateWorld Forum. Cheers guys!
Beta par excellence from Purpleyin, thanks.
Summary: Leo gets more than he bargained for when he interacts with an old friend of Peter's… Sgt. Canada/Console.
Chapter One
Sergeant Leo Dalhousie clapped the American technician on the shoulder. "Hey, how's it looking this morning?"
The dark haired engineer turned around to greet his superior. After a tedious shift, the guy couldn't wait to leave. "Morning, Sergeant. It was a really quiet night. Not even a blip on the long-range sensors."
The Canadian sergeant eased himself into the chair in front of the main console. "Good. Let me take control and then you can go." Leo transferred functionality to his laptop, and worked the console crystals with ease. Within moments, he had citywide systems under his own control. "Thanks, Jeff. I've got it now. If you hurry the Mess might still have some of those red pear things."
Alone now in the Control Room, Leo checked the time. Oh-seven-hundred Atlantis time. He felt fresh from a good night's sleep. It was the best he'd had since they'd fought the Wraith right here in the city under siege. That had been three weeks ago, making it three weeks since Peter Grodin had died. He still heard the voice in his dreams, the voice of Dr McKay over the radio, the emotion tangible.
"Elizabeth…Peter Grodin was aboard the satellite."
And then the Wraith had arrived and he'd gone onto autopilot - he'd hardly left his post for the first week. With Peter gone, it had fallen to him to lead the Control Room Team. It was only logical. But despite everyone's confidence in his ability, he was terrified he'd let Peter down. He wanted to do his best in Peter's honour. The Brit had invested a lot of time and energy training him up, imparting his expertise to him. He'd asked Peter for it - he'd wanted to know everything - and Peter had gladly obliged. In a way, he supposed it was now for the best, because sadly it had made him ready to step into Peter's place. All those extra hours on both their parts had been worth it after all, but he would take it all back if it meant Peter could still be here.
The desperation had now diminished, but the tension still remained. With the Senior Staff back on earth, he felt a great deal of responsibility. Even Dr Weir had hinted at it in her parting comment.
"I know you'll do well, Sergeant."
They both knew what she was referring to. Doing Peter's job. Sure, he wasn't the academic that Peter had been, but he was still an engineer. He'd been second-in-command in the Control Room for several months now, and knew almost everything there was to know. Peter had only had a couple of Control functions left to show him, but he'd have to work them out on his own now.
He'd been running the city on manual for three weeks. That was the way Peter had taught him. It was easier to see what was going on that way, keep track of all the readouts. But Peter had always said that the automatic mode was more efficient. The system ran itself; slightly more complex to monitor, but much more energy efficient. Peter had only briefly shown him that mode a few times, but he was going to have to do it on his own eventually. Couldn't keep putting it off. If he left it any longer, he would have to explain to McKay why he'd needed more power.
Taking a deep breath, he typed the command into his laptop, and touched a console crystal.
The streams of data on the Ancient large display screensaver changed colour and direction, and Leo held his breath.
His laptop cursor was flashing below the word that appeared.
>Command>Uh oh, he didn't know he had to do this. Where were the city schematics?
He typed.
city schematicsNothing seemed to happen. Oh no, what if he broke it? Zelenka was going to kill him. Again. Then the response appeared.
>Identify user>Oh, great. It wanted some kind of logon? Password? He was doomed. Oh, well, here went nothing.
Sergeant Leo Dalhousie, P.EngHe smiled. Why not? But the recognition was taking forever, and he wondered what else he could try. And then it appeared.
>You are not Peter>
He gulped. What was this? He glanced around nervously. Was this some kind of sick joke? But he was alone, and no one else had the faintest idea what he was doing. After staring at the screen for what seemed an eternity, he decided to carry on trying. He shrugged. If Peter could do it, so could he.
No. I am not. Is that OK?Two could play at this game.
>I wish to be accessed by Peter>
Aw, great. What was he going to say? Sorry, he's dead?
Peter cannot access the system any more. Please show me the city schematics
There. That should do it… Was he 'talking' to his computer?
>Why not? What is his status?>Oh, for crying out loud.
He is dead. Sorry
He had to add that last bit. Not sure why. Just seemed right, somehow.
>What is dead?>OK, this was really weird now. He thought really hard.
He is no longer functioning. He can never be brought online again
Not bad, considering. Nothing was happening on screen, though, not for a long minute.
>That is hard for me to process>
He sighed. You and me both, he thought. Somehow, it really made him feel so sad. Discussing Peter's death with the system was not something he was prepared for. This was not meant to be happening.
I know. Can you show me city schematics?
Now what? Was it going to let him in? He was beginning to wonder if he would be able to figure out this command function at all.
>Will you adapt to me?>Was it just him, or did it sound plaintive? What was 'it' anyway?
Sure. What do I need to do?What else could he say, really?
>I will show you, Leo>There. Looked like he was getting somewhere. He smiled.
TBC
A/N: Hope that whetted your appetite a little. Couple more chapters to go.