Ch3:
Carson's Perspective
From the moment the wraith- Aimee, he had to keep reminding himself- woke, Carson's day had gotten worse. Much worse.
For one thing, Weir had not been happy when she had learned about the wraith's connection to Carson. He'd tried to explain that it had been McKay, but even then, things had not gone well. The wraith was now his responsibility, just until they broke the news to her that Carson wasn't really her father… and that really was the worst part of Carson's day; the knowledge that one day in the near future he'd have to tell her that he wasn't really her loving father… just the doctor that had created the retrovirus that had changed her from her own species and into another one entirely.
She'd probably think of him like… almost a murderer, taking away her identity, the very thing that made her who she was.
Carson sat in his office late that night, staring at the computer screen, unable to sleep, not that he slept a lot these days, anyway…
Morning of the next day…
"Dr. Beckett," A voice said from the door way, and Carson startled awake, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and moving the mouse on his computer so it looked as if he hadn't fallen asleep and had been working.
"Teyla, what can I do for you?"
Teyla stepped into the room, obviously coming from the gym and one of her sparring sessions with Ronan or Sheppard.
"I was wondering if you'd spoken with Aimee yet."
Carson sighed, knowing that he'd eventually have to talk with the wraith.
"No, I haven't. I've been… uh, busy." Carson mentally slapped himself. Teyla already knows you were sleeping! What's the point of trying to cover it up?
"Yes. I can see that… I will speak with her if you want; using the story you came up with earlier."
"Thank you. That would be great." Carson turned back to his computer as Teyla started to leave.
"And, Dr. Beckett? You know that you will have to speak with her soon yourself, don't you?"
Carson sighed again, rubbing his forehead and wondering if his coffee was still hot.
Aimee's Perspective
This place is…. Like no other place I've ever seen before, but strangely familiar, especially the weird circular gate like thing with the symbols on it. It seems to be a city, floating in the middle of a deep blue ocean.
Dad said that this place is called Atlantis; you know, like that lost sunken city or whatever. But apparently the stories are true….Except it's on another planet entirely which is completely beyond me. It's even crazier than elimination and substitution in math class.
Speaking of dad, he seems… different. He looks the same, talks the same, is the same, but… different. He's more real seeming somehow. Actually, everything around here seems more real, it's as if all my senses have been heightened, as if the mute has been taken off of my viola.
It's unnerving, extremely unnerving, even more so than that time I watched "Zombieland" all alone at home because it was rated R, and I wasn't allowed to watch rated R things.
I'm still afraid of zombies to this very day, and I'm pretty sure that nothing could be worse than zombies.
Unfortunately, all too soon, I'd be proved wrong. Very wrong.
The door to the room slid open with barely a whisper of sound as I stood staring out the window of my room across the rest of the city and to the ocean beyond.
"Hello. May I come in?" It's the woman from earlier, who was standing near the hospital bed when I woke up.
"Um… sure, I guess," I say. Something you need to know about me is that I have a problem with meeting new people. It's called being shy, just to clarify it with you folks.
"I'm Teyla Emmagan; I'm a friend of Dr. Beckett's… your father."
"Yeah, I remember you. You were there when I woke up. How did I get here anyway?"
Teyla motioned towards a chair.
"Let's sit down."
We both sat and she hesitated for a split second, a flash of nervousness crossing her face, and I wondered why she could possibly be nervous about speaking with me. Maybe she's shy, too.
"That's actually what I've come to talk with you about. What's the last thing that you remember?"
"Well…. I was walking through school, on my way to P.E when suddenly… I was here, waking up."
Teyla nodded, deep in thought.
"You were dreaming; having flashbacks of your life. You'd been injured very badly."
"How? I don't remember any of this; getting to Atlantis, getting hurt or whatever. All of this. All I remember is.. Well, my life. And that seemed real."
Teyla frowned. "We were worried that you would not remember anything at all. You came through the gate with your father, after your mother died in a car accident -"
"Wait. An…. Accident? That's… that's not possible!"
"I am sorry for your loss. It seems that you have forgotten some things that happened before your injury when the wraith attacked Atlantis."
Wraith.
When I heard that, I thought of my dreams; of the strange dark place I walked through, and of the feeling of power and energy suddenly rushing into me-
Teyla and I talked for another hour or so, getting me up to date on what everything was, how I'd gotten here; about the Stargate and the wraith, all of that. But throughout our conversation, there was only one thought in my mind pushing everything else aside.
I was hungry.
But not for food.
Carson's Perspective
Carson grabbed a Jell-O and sat at one of the tables near a window, hoping that no one would disturb him so he could just eat this one meal in peace.
Five minutes passed, and he relaxed, convinced that if he'd been left alone for this long then he'd be left alone for the rest of his time in the cafeteria.
Not so fast-
Walking across the floor towards him, escorted by two guards, was the wraith.
Correction; Aimee, his daughter.
Carson had never been very good in all of the drama and theatre classes he'd had to take in his school days; he had a problem staying in character, and that's what he worried about the most when he was around Aimee. Of course, he'd only been near her for an hour or so yesterday and he'd managed to retain the mask of being a doting father, but still.
"Hey, dad," She said, sitting down across from him.
"Hello," He replied, and it was like that for a few seconds; awkward silence. Nervously, Carson fiddled with his Jell-O.
Pull yourself together, man! She's supposed to be your daughter- Carson thought, But I've never had a daughter. What do I do?
"Are you okay? Are you being treated well?" Yeah, nice going Carson. Way to sound like a therapist.
"Um… yeah." Aimee glanced back at the guards, "I was just wondering… like, why you never told us that you… worked off world. This is big, you've been… putting your life in danger and you didn't tell mom and me? This is huge, dad! Why didn't you say something?"
Carson hadn't considered the possibility that he'd been married in the virtual reality. This situation was just getting more and more complicated.
He saw one of the guards smirk and made a mental note to remember him for revenge later.
"I… was sworn to secrecy. I signed a contract. I couldn't tell you. I'm sorry,"
"Couldn't or wouldn't?"
"Would you have believed me if I had told you?"
Carson forced himself to look into her eyes, trying to remember that she wasn't really his daughter, that he shouldn't be feeling any sort of guilt. She was just a wraith, and he had to lie to her to keep Atlantis and earth safe.
But she seemed so human, so real, and so hurt, as if he'd somehow betrayed her.
Carson shook his head to clear his thoughts and opened his mouth to say something, though he wasn't sure what, when his earpiece crackled and Sheppard's voice almost hollered into his ear,
"We need you in the gate room! And bring the wraith, too."
"Why? What's happened?"
"Wraith hive ships. Four of them. Just dropped out of hyper space."
Carson sighed.
Why, oh why, did he never get to eat his lunch in peace?