Heya again :) Here's the new chapter for 'Godsend' for those of you who have been reading this fic :)
Please review and tell me which episodes of Stargate you want Peter to be in! I already know a few, but I'd really love your opinions :)
Meetings and Suspicions:
A lone man sat on a plain bed in the middle of a lightly decorated room, staring at his hands in deep thought. It had been two whole months since Peter had decided to work with the Stargate Program and to put it lightly...
He hated every second of it.
Well, not entirely, but there were some points that really pissed him off!
For one, he hadn't even gone off-world yet! That was what he was most looking forward to, but no. It was, 'you need this' and 'you need that', before you were even considered to be put on a team, and that doesn't even guarantee you a spot on any of them! Peter was really thinking about suing them for misinformation!
Then it was the self-righteous pricks around the base. Sure, Peter knew he wasn't tall by any means, but that doesn't mean the other members of this damn program could ridicule him for it or rough him up! It didn't help matters that he was one of the only three male nurses currently being hired by the SGC, which made him an even bigger target.
The only thing that made his job even remotely bearable was the Stargate itself. He had only seen it once and that was completely by accident, only a glimpse, but when it had activated he had gotten a funny feeling in his chest and head that never really went away. Every time the gate went off, he knew. Every time something happened to the gate, he knew.
Peter hadn't told anyone this, it was his secret. He thought it had something to do with his abilities... ability.
He let his head fall into his hands before brushing his bangs back, turning his gaze to the ceiling. His ability... once upon a time he could do anything but now all Peter had was a cheap imitation. Instead of having an entire arsenal, he had a consolation prize. Only able to hold one ability at a time. The thought made him scream in frustration as he suddenly rushed up to the wall and punched it with all of his strength, not even wincing as blood streamed down his scratched knuckles. It only reminded him even more of what he had lost.
Cradling his hand to his chest, Peter gazed up a the ceiling, tears streaming down his face as he shut his eyes together tightly. A choked sob ripped from his throat as he searched his mind for anything, any way to gain back the powers his father, his own freaking father had taken from him. All he felt was a pang of loss, as if something or someone was mourning with him.
The necklace around his neck seemed to burn a hole in his chest and as Peter reached up to grasp it, a painful reminder of what he had left.
Briefly his mind turned to his family.
His mother, his niece, his brother. Each one in some way had betrayed him and he had kept going back for more, even after his abilities were stolen.
Peter shook his head, dispelling those thoughts. It was useless focusing on the past, shedding tears over faded memories. Unconsciously he started to float above the ground as his mind turned to Nathan, never having gotten rid of his brother's ability to fly.
He knew he was right in leaving New York behind, leaving Nathan, leaving his family... but even if he could fly away from anything, Peter had never felt as chained as he did now. And somewhere in the bunker with him, the Stargate seemed to vibrate in mourning with the human it had bonded with.
A loud knock on his door drew Peter's thoughts away from depression and he slowly floated to the ground. "Come in." He answered hesitantly, hiding his injured hand behind his back.
The door clicked open and a man Peter didn't recognize popped his head in, his glasses almost falling off his nose as he stared at him.
"Yeah...?" Peter inquired, slightly appalled by the man's blatant staring. "Oh-uh..." The man stuttered, pushing the door all the way open and stumbling in with an armful of books. "I-I thought I heard a scream come from this room earlier."
Peter's face heated up, "Uh, yeah... sorry about that. Family problems." Not the whole truth, but a little half-truth never hurt anyone did it? Plus, his family had major problems, both internally and externally. He was entirely convinced that his mother was trying to take over the world, and this had nothing to do with the fact that she was perfectly willing to let her youngest son blow up for the 'sake of the world'.
Psychotic was one word to describe her...
"Oh, well I don't really know what that's like." The man with the glasses confessed, "Want to talk about it?"
"What are you, the psychiatrist or something?" Peter retorted, his free hand resting on his hip as he cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh! Of course you don't know who I am." The man fumbled a little with the books before setting them down gently on the desk next to the door. "My name is Doctor Daniel Jackson, resident archeologist and team member of SG-1." He held out his hand, smiling an impish yet modest smile.
Peter's eyes widened almost comically and he accidentally let his injured hand fall into view, shocked that the person who had discovered how to use the gate was so... ordinary. "What happened?" Daniel asked, concerned as he noticed the other man's injured hand.
"Oh! That's nothing." Peter quickly lied, covering it up with his unmarked hand. Daniel's brow creased but he refrained from commenting, instead letting Peter grasp his own in a quick handshake before letting go, turning back to the door. As if contemplating something, Daniel stood there for a few seconds before turning around and facing Peter, asked, "Would you... like to have lunch with me? Right now?"
The other man's face dissolved into confusion before erupting in a huge grin, "I'd love too! I haven't eaten in forever!" Peter confessed.
Daniel's face lite up with a smile as Peter bound past him and he shook his head at the younger man's enthusiasm. Oh, to be young again...
With that in mind he followed the boy, yelling, "Wait for me!"
"Oh my god." Peter moaned, taking a bite out of the delicious blue jello that had been placed in front of him. "This is delicious, what's in it?"
"No one knows." Daniel responded while trying not to laugh, his face lighting up in childish way. "Though Jack has speculated there is some sort of extraterrestrial substance in it. Personally, I think it's just plain old Earth jello."
"Then your taste buds need a wake up call! Who's Jack?" The younger man asked, taking another bite out of the delicacy before him. However before Daniel could answer, a man with graying brown hair walked up behind him and playfully clapped a hand on the archeologists shoulder. A carefree grin was plastered on his face, but Peter knew he was carrying a great pain with him.
It was something in the man's eyes, a deep sorrow that seemed to be closed away, hidden from sight. Peter could see it though, because it was the same sadness that he knew was in his own eyes. They had both loved someone and lost them, tragically.
"Did someone say my name?" The man asked, sitting down on Daniel's left side, hunching over into the table while looking directly at Peter.
"Peter, this is Colonel Jack O'Neill of the U.S. Air Force. Jack, this is Peter Petrelli, paramedic." Daniel introduced, not noticing how the two of them seemed to be staring at each other.
"Do I... know you from somewhere?" Jack asked, forehead scrunched up in concentration.
Now, if Peter did learn anything from his dysfunctional family, it was to lie really well. A skill that had come in handy many times over his life. A skill he needed to use right now.
"Are you from around here? Been to the local hospital?" Peter asked, tilting his head and at Jack's nod, continued, "I worked as a paramedic at St. Francis Memorial Hospital, maybe you saw me when I was on duty."
Jack nodded but didn't look convinced at all, and Peter knew his story wouldn't last long, but hopefully the other man wouldn't ask to many questions.
"So, Peter..." Daniel began but was cut off by Jack who asked, "You have any family?"
Crap.
"Yeah, one brother and my mother. My father passed away last year from a heart attack." The younger man responded easily, a sad look on his face that didn't reach his eyes when he talked about his father. In truth, he had shot his father in the head, but he couldn't tell them that.
"You close to any of them? Your brother? Your mother?" The Colonel asked, ignoring the dirty look Daniel cast at him.
"Not really. My mother wasn't exactly the type that gave encouragement often. My brother and I... we once were but we just seemed to grow apart, you know?" Peter responded easily, looking down at the table and resembling a kicked puppy. Yeah, telling them that Nathan had him labeled as a terrorist, hunted, shot at, and almost killed would have been awkward to say the least.
"Jack, I think that's enough." Daniel hissed and reluctantly Jack backed off. He knew something wasn't right with this kid... all he had to do was find the right questions.
Peter let out a mental sigh of relief, while outwardly he was eating his blue jello calmly. He really didn't like thinking about his family.
"What about you? You have any family?" He asked, tilting his head a little, suddenly wishing he still had Matt Parkman's ability.
"I used too." Jack responded coldly which Peter took as a sign to wisely back off. Nervously he reached up and fiddled with his necklace, causing it to fall out of it's hiding place under his shirt.
"What does that mean?" Daniel asked, his eyes squinting a little in thought but he came up empty.
"Oh." Peter said sadly, looking down at the necklace, "It means 'Godsend'. A friend gave it to me before I moved." Technically the truth, just not the whole truth.
"It's pretty cool, do you know where to get them from?" Jack asked, eying it as if he had seen it before as well.
"I think it's one of a kind. I don't really know." Peter responded sharply, tucking it back under the confines of his shirt. Both men looked surprised by his sharp tone but Peter ignored it, looking down and playing with his jello.
Jack's eyes took on a contemplative look before he glanced at Daniel, saying, "Don't forget we have a debriefing in 20 minutes." With that said, he got up and walked away with one last glance at Peter.
"That was awkward." The younger man curtly said before eating the last spoonful of blue jello. He looked sorrowfully at it before pushing it away.
"You're telling me, I've never seen Jack like that." Daniel responded, a frown creasing his face as he looked back at Peter in contemplation. Why did Jack act like that? He was usually a lot nicer to people he had just met.
"Thanks for inviting me to lunch." The young man in question stated, grinning, oblivious to the thoughts in the archeologists head.
"No problem, we should do it again sometime." Daniel said, standing up. "I should be headed out anyway. I have to get ready for the briefing."
"I'll see you later right?" Peter asked, inwardly cringing at how girly he had just sounded. God, he was imitating Claire. But this was the first person to be genuinly nice to him since he had taken the job, so yeah, he was a bit clingy.
"This is Stargate Command, everyone runs into each other eventually." The older man said with a smile while Peter just stared at him. Someone had once said that about New York... No, he couldn't think that right now. He was spacing out and he knew it, and Daniel had noticed.
"There's just something about you Peter, I can't put my finger on it." Daniel stated, his eyes scanning over Peter as if he were different.
"Me, different?" Peter let out a laugh, "I'm just an ordinary person, nothing extraordinary. Must be my charming personality."
"Must be." The other man agreed before turning and walking away, waving a little.
"See you later!"
When Daniel was out of sight, Peter collapsed into the chair, letting out the breath he didn't even know he had been holding. That was close, too close. He had to be more careful. But on the plus side, he now knew two more people.
The day couldn't get any better.
Whistling a happy tune, Peter made his way back to his room. Not even suspecting what was to come during the next few weeks, or how his life would never be simple again because of that simple conversation.
In the Gate room, the Stargate hummed happily as it felt it's companions content, wishing that the human would feel it more often but knowing, in the coming days, there would be little but sorrow.
There it is folks :) Tell me what you think! :D