Chapter 3: Who helped you get onto this base?
John was right when he said driving couldn't be the only thing I missed about Earth. Over the next couple of days we went out for meals, saw a movie in a real cinema, and just generally existed in the midst of people who had no idea of the threats we'd faced on a daily basis. We were just another couple out on a date without fear that something or someone was going to come along and rip it all away from us.
Of course we couldn't get away from the things that did remind us of where we'd come from and where we'd be going back to. The first was when we went to visit Aiden's family. I accompanied John as far as Aiden's cousins' house but John insisted I wait in the car as he went in to tell them as much as he could of Aiden's fate. I've never had to share such bad news with anyone but I could fully appreciate how hard it was for John to do that by how subdued he was when he came back to the car. I knew John hadn't given up hope of finding Aiden and bringing him back to Atlantis but we both knew the chances of that happening were slim.
Three days into our visit we each got separate requests from General Landry for a 'chat' at the SCG. They'd been nice enough to slot us both in on the same day but it was pretty clear that even for me it was an order to appear, not a request. That certainly killed all the holiday spirit I'd managed to build up in three days. I was second so I spent a stressful hour sitting in the commissary waiting for John to get done before it was my turn.
"Hey," I looked up to see John approaching my table.
"Finished?" I asked nonchalantly while trying to detect any hints of his mood from the expression on his face. "How'd it go?"
"I'll tell you later," John promised. "He's waiting for you."
"Did I mention that I don't want to do this?" I asked, walking reluctantly by his side as he led me towards Landry's office.
"Only about fifty times since we got here," John acknowledged. "You'll be fine," he knocked on Landry's door, waiting for a response before opening it and urging me inside.
"Sir," John nodded respectfully.
"You can leave Ms Scott with me, Major," General Landry's tone was just slightly mocking. "I won't bite."
"Of course not Sir," John gave me a quick encouraging smile before turning and leaving the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
"Have a seat Ms Scott," General Landry invited.
"Sabina," I said, pulling out the chair across from him and sitting down nervously.
"Sabina," General Landry acknowledged my request he call me by my first name. "Doctor Weir has filled me in on your background as well as much of what you've been doing since you've been on Atlantis," he continued. "The first thing that needs to be cleared up is who helped you get onto this base in the first place!"
You know how if you swallow wrong you can end up choking yourself into a coughing fit? That's exactly what I did after that abrupt question ... the General said nothing as he waited for me to get myself back under control.
"You're not much for small talk General," I said lightly, trying to give myself time to decide what my best course of action would be.
"The Air Force tends to frown on trespassing," General Landry said dryly.
"Before I set foot on this base I had no experience of the military in any capacity," I began, hoping he'd be patient enough to hear me out before insisting again I give him a name. "I had no appreciation for the role of the military and no understanding of the importance of things like the chain of command in emergency scenarios. Then I spent a year on Atlantis, sometimes right in the midst of situations so stressful I still find myself wondering how we survived."
"I'm not sure what this has to do with my original question," General Landry broke in to remind me that I wasn't going to get around him that easily.
"I appreciate you wanting to know how I got on the base General," I said seriously, "because of the experience I've gained this past year. But I can't participate in potentially ruining someone's career because of my irresponsibility."
"I don't think you understand the severity of your actions," General Landry said forcefully, leaning forward intimidatingly. "Not telling me what I want to know is not an option ... at least not one that doesn't come with some pretty severe consequences."
"I'm sorry General," I swallowed nervously. "All I can tell you is that I believe the security of this base is not at risk and that the circumstances that led to my being on the base are extremely unlikely to ever occur again. If you feel that some action should be taken then that action will have to be taken against me and me alone." I looked down at my hands as I finished, wondering if I'd just signed my own "go to jail, go directly to jail" card.
"Major Sheppard said you wouldn't divulge your accomplice," General Landry smiled slightly as he sat back in his chair. "I'm pleased to see he was right."
"Huh?" I said, looking dumb founded as I sat there trying to understand what he was telling me.
"We already know that Private Evans signed you in that day Sabina," General Landry seemed amused that I would think otherwise. "He's already been disciplined. Major Sheppard informed me of the discipline he applied for your case on Atlantis and I'm satisfied that the matter has been resolved. Doctor Weir has been given clearance to formally register you as a member of the Atlantis expedition."
"Thank you General Landry," I said shakily, feeling a whole host of emotions rising up within me. I tried desperately to reign them all in but the news that I was now officially an Atlantis employee was more than I'd ever expected. I could feel my chin almost trembling with repressed tears and I had to turn my head away and take a few deep breaths before I felt able to continue with the conversation. "You won't regret this," I promised fervently.
"Doctor Weir and Major Sheppard both have a lot of faith in your abilities," General Landry gave no acknowledgement of my overly emotional state, for which I was very grateful. "I had some concerns that you deliberately disobeyed a direct order during a military situation but the Major explained the extenuating circumstances and convinced me that something similar wouldn't happen in the future." He gave me a stern look that clearly said I would seriously regret it if anything like that did happen in the future.
"No Sir," I promised, still hardly able to believe that I was finally off the hook and able to start back on Atlantis with a clean slate.
"Now, tell me more about the Wraith weapon," General Landry steered the conversation in a new direction. "I've read the mission reports and I've seen the weapon on Dakara but there seem to be some differences."
I answered the General's questions as best I could, acknowledging my mistake in using the weapon too soon and consequently burning it out. The General had already spoken with Doctor McKay and reiterated what John had told me – that it was a miracle I'd gotten the Atlantis weapon to work even once in its untested state. Overall I walked away from General Landry's office understanding the respect and admiration I'd sensed the General was held in by all the staff at the SGC.
"You okay?" John's question roused me from the daydream state I'd been sitting in as I'd again waited in the commissary for him to be finished for the day.
"Better than okay," I jumped up, unable to resist the urge to hug him. "Thank you," I said softly, pressing my face into his chest.
"You deserve it," John didn't try to pretend ignorance of what I was thanking him for. He hugged me tight before releasing me. "Ready to get out of here?" he asked.
"If you are," I replied. "You still haven't told me how your talk went."
"It was okay," John said. "General Landry reamed me out for undermining Doctor Weir's authority during the medical quarantine, told me he's court marshal if I ever did that again, and then told me they're promoting me and officially putting me in command of the military on Atlantis."
"What?" I stopped in the hallway to look at him incredulously. "They're promoting you and you didn't tell me straight away?" I whacked his upper arm in frustration.
"I'm not sure if you're allowed to assault a Lt Colonel," John protested, rubbing his arm even though I knew I hadn't hurt him.
"Wow ... Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard ... has a nice ring to it," I teased, feeling so proud of him.
"It'll take a little getting used to," John admitted. "See now I really am the man ... before I was just keeping the chair warm until they found somebody else to take command."
"You're a natural," I said. "Besides, Doctor Weir will be there to tell you when you screw up." I ducked out of his range as I said that last bit, laughing at the insulted expression on his face.
"Nice," John smiled to let me know he wasn't offended. "See if I let you in on all the big secret meetings after that comment!"
"Do you get a ceremony?" I asked as we continued walking down the corridor.
"Kind of," John said uncomfortably. "Tomorrow morning they're gonna do a quick ... thing ... in the Gateroom."
"Do I get to go?" I wasn't sure if non military personnel would be allowed.
"Hey, if I have to go then you have to go too," John replied. "Enough of that ... let's get something to eat."
It was a real buzz to watch John get promoted officially. I especially liked the words that were spoken before they pinned the new insignia on John's uniform.
"The President of the United States has placed special trust and confidence in the patriotism, integrity and abilities of Major John Sheppard. Major John Sheppard is promoted to the grade of Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air Force."
It was the first time I'd seen John in his dress blues too – I didn't think it was possible that he could appear any more attractive but the uniform leant John an air of something indefinable that was very appealing. I now appreciated the whole 'man in uniform' allure and wondered if I'd ever be able to get John to wear his uniform back on Atlantis.
"Don't even think about it," he almost growled when I tried to bring it up after his ceremony had finished. "I hate this thing – it's ... stifling and the tie is cutting into my neck."
"Too bad," I whispered into his ear. "Seeing you in that uniform is making me seriously ... hot."
John raised an eyebrow as he tried to pull his collar away from his neck. "Maybe we can ... negotiate," he said with a sly grin, pulling me into his side and nuzzling my neck.
John was pretty busy from then on, vetting new personnel to return with us to Atlantis. Turns out the expedition had been granted extra funding which meant extra staff as well as extra military to protect the larger contingent that would now be residing on Atlantis.
While John was doing all of that I found myself with nothing pressing to do – for the first time in almost a year. Everyone else from Atlantis was also busy selecting new staff so I didn't even have someone to hang with. I'd already resolved the very few loose ends I'd left behind the day I went to Atlantis – my car had been towed and sold when no one came to claim it and the hotel had donated my few personal possessions to charity. I don't know what it said about me that my previous life could have been resolved so easily without me even being there.
When I got a message that Doctor Beckett was looking for me I almost ran to the infirmary in the hopes he'd have something to keep me occupied.
"Sabina," Carson greeted me with a delighted smile. "You're looking well lass – are you enjoying your holiday?
"I was until John got promoted," I admitted. "The promotion bit was good but now he's busy choosing new staff for his teams."
"Aye," Carson agreed. "I've been doing some of that myself. Still, I did find time to delve into your blood results a bit further. Doctor Lam also referred your case to a geneticist she knows."
"Find out anything interesting?" I asked, trying to project the image of not really caring one way or the other.
"Nothing we didn't already know," Doctor Beckett admitted. "I can't tell you any more about your DNA, nor about the protein I mentioned except to say we're in agreement that there's nothing harmful there."
"Well that's something," I acknowledged.
"Doctor Lam ran a match against all the DNA records she had access to – as far as we can tell you're the only person on record possessing both the ATA and Wraith genes," Carson seemed almost intrigued by that. "Is it possible a family member could be tested for a comparative analysis?"
"That'd be a little hard," I admitted. "I have no idea who my family actually are ... one of the nurses at the hospital where I was ... abandoned ... named me. I checked a few years back but there's just no way to trace my parents."
"I'm sorry lass," Doctor Beckett looked at me sympathetically.
"I'm used to it," I denied the need for anyone to feel sorry for me. "I know it would have helped your research but there's no one I can ask to help you with it."
"There is something else you can do to help me," Doctor Beckett said somewhat reluctantly. "You could help me identify if any of the candidates for new Atlantis positions have the ATA gene."
"You want me to be a human ATA gene detector?" I looked at him in surprise. 'Won't that be a little hard to explain?"
"From my experience you're just as accurate as a DNA test," Doctor Beckett pointed out. "Plus you're quicker and nowhere near as expensive. I thought I could just introduce you to each person ... you shake hands and then after you tell me what you think. If it wouldn't make you uncomfortable?"
"Sure Doctor Beckett," I agreed readily. I spent the next three days being introduced to more than fifty people who were all scarily over qualified. I was able to identity only a couple of people who had the gene, neither of them very strongly. After we were done I informed Carson that I if I ever had to shake someone's hand again it would be too soon.
After that diversion I was happy to solve my imminent boredom the way I usually did – by searching out something to read. One of the marines directed me to a sort of library where I found some truly impressive books on Earth cultures and history. I briefly considered picking one of them but was drawn instead to a heavy tomb about the Ancient language. Taking it with me to the commissary I settled down to lose myself in the language and its similarities to our Latin.
"Learning Ancient?" I looked up to see a tall, fair haired man with glasses hiding bright blue eyes, and a friendly smile standing beside my table.
"Trying," I said modestly.
"Doctor Daniel Jackson," he introduced himself, holding out a hand.
"Sabina Scott," I replied, distractedly shaking his hand. This was Daniel Jackson? The guy who'd written the training program on the Ancient language I'd practically memorised over the past 9 months.
"Ah," Daniel said almost enviously. "You're part of the Atlantis expedition." He'd heard of me – this was the Daniel Jackson and he'd actually heard of me!
"Yes," I replied awkwardly. Great conservationist that I was, I couldn't think of anything else to say ... at all.
"Need any help?" Daniel gestured towards the book I'd been wading through.
"From you – absolutely!" I smiled excitedly. Thinking of all the questions I'd stored up that no one on Atlantis had known the answer to was enough to loosen my tongue and chase away my shy nervousness.
We had been talking and laughing together like old friends for some time when I felt an awareness shift through me. Glancing quickly at the doors to the commissary I spotted John standing stock still. He was looking across at me with a narrowed gaze and an expression on his face that said very clearly that he did not like what he was seeing.
"John," I smiled in welcome as he made his way over to our table. "This is Doctor Daniel Jackson. Daniel, this is Lt Colonel John Sheppard – the military commander of the Atlantis base."
Daniel got up from his chair to greet John and the two men shook hands.
"It was nice to meet you Sabina," Daniel said, turning to me to make his farewells. "Perhaps we'll get the chance to talk again before you return to Atlantis."
"Thanks for your help with Ancient," I replied. "It was great to meet you too."
John's whole demeanour was less than friendly as he seemed to suffer through our goodbye impatiently.
"Nice to meet you too Colonel," Daniel turned to John and said amiably. "Good luck with your command."
"Thanks," John said abruptly. Daniel frowned in confusion at his less than friendly reception but then shrugged, smiled at me again, and left the room.
As I watched Daniel walk away I couldn't help but see the differences between the two men. In appearance there were few similarities – John was taller and leaner than Daniel (since when did an archaeologist have to have that many muscles?!), as well as being much darker in colouring. John had that aura of command tempered by his humour and liking for being a bit of a smart arse – Daniel looked like the intellectual he was, despite the muscles, and gave me the impression that he wasn't the wisecracking sort. Not that John wasn't intellectual – he just didn't want anyone to look at him and see that he had quite a decent brain hidden under that sexy head of very messy hair! From my completely unbiased viewpoint John was easily the more attractive of the two so I was completely flabbergasted when I realised a short time later that John was actually jealous that I'd spent time with Daniel.
"You seemed to be ... enjoying yourself with Doctor Jackson," John commented somewhat sullenly, throwing himself into the chair across from me.
"Are you kidding?" I replied excitedly, missing the early evidence that John was not happy with me. "Daniel wrote the book on the Ancient language – I learnt more from talking to him for half an hour than I could plugging away for days by myself."
"You two got chummy pretty fast," John frowned in annoyance. "Calling him Daniel and all."
"He was very ... hang on a minute," I looked at John in astonishment as I finally got it. "Are you actually ... jealous?"
"No," John denied vehemently. "I just think you should be more ... cautious before you go making friends with everyone you meet here. Look what happened the last time you made a friend at the SCG!"
"Oh, you had to bring that up didn't you?" my voice shook with the sudden anger I was feeling. "I've been given a clean slate by General Landry Colonel Sheppard, and I don't need you reminding me of my mistakes every time I do something you don't like!"
"Sabina," John protested. "I didn't mean it like that!"
"I don't see how else you could have meant it," I didn't let him off the hook. "For the first time since we got here I was actually enjoying myself rather than worrying about fitting in with all the extremely overqualified people coming back with us to Atlantis. Thanks for ruining that!" Before he could say anything else I jumped up and strode rapidly from the room.
"What an insensitive jerk!" I thought as I angrily paced in my quarters a few minutes later. How could he remind me of the mistakes that had led me to Atlantis when he knew how hard I'd been trying to put all that behind me? When a knock sounded at the door I knew it was him – if I'd thought that John might actually go away I'd have ignored him, but I knew he'd just persist until I gave in.
"I'm still angry with you," I said by way of greeting as I let him in.
"I know," John said apologetically. "And I totally deserve it. I was a jerk." That was a nice strategy – it's a little hard to maintain your anger at someone who freely admits you have every right to be angry.
"Yes you were," I agreed readily. "A big jerk!"
"Hey, you didn't have to agree so easily," John protested half seriously. "Look ... ah ... you were right and I'm sorry I said what I said."
"How was I right?" my anger had already started to melt and him admitting I was right took the carpet right out from under me. Another good strategy – you can't argue if the other person agrees with everything you say. I was beginning to see how John being military was going to affect my relationship with him on a personal level.
"I was ... ah ... I didn't like seeing you so chummy with a strange guy and I ah ... was ... jealous," John admitted uneasily.
"I'm not flattered," I said pointedly. "Especially since I'd just finished thinking about how different the two of you were and how much more attractive you are!"
"Really?" John smiled at my compliment.
"Really," I confirmed. "If you agree to never bring up the whole accidental trip through the gate thing again then I'll forgive you ... this time."
"Sounds fair," John agreed, finally feeling safe enough to insinuate himself into my personal space. "Does this count as an actual argument?" he asked almost hopefully, sifting a few strands of my hair through his fingers.
"I suppose," I went along with him.
"So does that mean we get to make up now?" God, could the guy get any more charming?
"If we must," I replied like it would be a huge hardship on my part. We smiled at each other gleefully, before getting on with making up. And deep inside I breathed a sigh of relief ... I'd discovered that being at odds with John was not a nice feeling.
Authors Note:
I borrowed the words for Sheppards promotion ceremony from SG1 Season 8 opening - I don't know if those are the real words that get used but I really liked them so here they are. Next chapter should be up tomorrow.
I would have liked to have had Sabina meet other members of SG1 (thanks for the suggestion chevron7) but from what I can work out Daniel was the only one actually there when Sheppard and the others made their first trip back from Atlantis. I like to be accurate re timelines as much as possible and anyway, out of all of the current SG1 Daniel's the one I'd most like to meet (obviously Jack O'Neill would be my first choice ... I do really like Cam as well though ... )