CHAPTER 4
"It's really something isn't it?" Isabel smiled. "The first time I went through the gate I was running for my life. It wasn't pleasant."
Simmons listened to the girl's story. Jemma loved how she was British, it was nice to hear someone speaking to her in the accent. It felt like a little slice of home. "Why were you running?"
"The Goa'uld wanted to take me as a host. The plan was that we jump planets for a few days so it made it harder to find me before leaving for the Pegasus Galaxy. But you need to be careful of the wraith, I was taken captive by them and they tried to plant a copy of me on Atlantis, the expedition we're going to. It got better after that. I spent a year with the Nox developing my abilities, I can do pretty much anything with my mind."
"Do you miss anyone?" Jemma asked. "In the Pegasus galaxy I mean."
"I can't wait to see Carson again. He's the CMO, Scottish as well. He reminded me of home." Isabel's sombre look faded into a smile at her memories of Dr Beckett.
"Fitz does the same for me." Jemma smiled, speaking quietly so that Fitz wouldn't hear. "I've always loved that about him, I do love that about him." Jemma glanced at Leo to see him deep in conversation with the archaeologist... What was his name?
"Daniel, Daniel Jackson." Isabel supplied. "He's not just an archaeologist but a very skilled linguist. If they don't speak English, nine times out of ten Daniel will be able to understand them."
"What about the rest of your team?" Jemma was curious now, they all seemed so different but it was obvious that they worked well together. "How long have you been a team?"
"The big guy's Teal'c. He's Jaffa, the Goa'uld enslaved them and made them carry their larvae until they are fully grown. It prolongs a Jaffa's life and heals them but some of the Jaffa don't want that. There's a resistance of free Jaffa who use a substance called tritonin in place of the symbiote. Because the Jaffa have relied on symbiotes for thousands of years, they have no immune system. The tritonin helps with that.
"The woman's Samantha Carter, she's our commanding officer and the only member of the air force on our team. She's been through hell and back again more than her fair share of times, sometimes in place of one of us. She has a degree in theoretical astrophysics, you won't find anyone smarter than her employed at the SGC. I'd go into more detail but it would take too long." Isabel continued, there was so much to tell. "SG1 has been together for 8 years now, I've only been a part of the team for 2 though. General O'Neill used to command SG1. He misses it, I can tell. But he's seen too much pain, more than Sam has and that's saying something. Imagine losing the person you hold most dear, take that pain and multiply it by 200. That's how much he's gone through and he'll just say he was just doing his duty. But he'd go back through it all if it meant keeping his team safe."
"Wow, you've all seen a lot haven't you?"
"There are hundreds of amazing and beautiful planets, but for every 'easy' mission we get there are 10 dangerous ones. It's a normal thing round here to hear the alarms go off and see someone being dragged to the infirmary but nobody in their right mind would give up gate travel because of that. After a week or two in the infirmary with Dr Frasier and you'll be as good as new." Isabel touched her arm lightly, tracing the long scar that was left there. The only mark she had to remind herself that she'd been human once. She healed too quickly now for anything to scar.
"Can I see that?" Jemma indicated the scar. Isabel gave Simmons her arm like it was no big deal. That was exactly the opposite to Simmons. The scar was 5 inches long and went from her wrist almost to her elbow. It ran parallel to the main artery in the arm. "How did this happen?"
"I was tortured, but that was two years ago. It wouldn't heal over like all of my other scars have. It was opened and reopened several times. I like it though; it reminds me that I was human once. I'll never age or die of natural causes. Not even a well-aimed bullet can take me down. Probably a beheading." Isabel shrugged at the memory of the scar. Just like she said, she liked the scar. It reminded her of what she used to be. She knew that she couldn't have her old life back but she liked to think back to her friends and family, the problems that seemed so small now that she knew what was really going on in the universe.
"I'm sorry, it must be hard for you to have lost everything." Jemma looked like she was about to cry, like she'd felt the same pain before.
"It's okay. I was only ever content with my old life, I'm actually happy for one. It was strange, when I was content I thought I was happy but this is something more. I get to do what I love with the people I love and then pop down to the lab when I'm not on a mission." Isabel was grinning from ear to ear.
Before Jemma could continue the conversation the gate roared into life, the inner ring spinning as the chevrons locked. "Chevron 7 locked." Walter announced before a jet of what seemed to be water was thrown from the gate, it stopped it's trajectory in time to not hit anyone before slipping back to form a pool inside the Stargate.
"It's really something isn't it?" Isabel smiled.
"We've successfully made contact with Dr Weir, move out." The General's voice rang over the speakers.
They all moved up the ramp and toward the gate. SG3 went through first followed by Teal'c and Sam. When it came to the Agent's turn all of them were hesitant. Even the three bad asses named May, Ward and Coulson were hesitating.
"It doesn't hurt." Daniel reassured them. "If it did, we wouldn't be so ready to go through. You might feel cold and slightly nauseous when you get to the other side but it'll pass."
"Here goes nothing." Ward inhaled before stepping through the gate. The rest of the team followed in suit, flanked by Daniel.
"Don't have too much fun without us General." Isabel quipped loudly before stepping backwards through the event horizon.
Coulson had never experienced anything like that before. He was frozen to the core. 'It'll pass.' he kept reminding himself. 'The cold and the nausea would pass.' He instead distracted himself with the scene that was before him. Obviously the decorators were a fan of red because most of the walls and floor were covered in it. There were several sets of stairs going in several different directions. Descending the stairs directly opposite the gate were two women, one blonde and the other brunette, and a man, who also had brunette hair.
"Welcome to Atlantis." The brunette woman smiled. "I'm Dr Weir, the head of this expedition. This is Colonel Sheppard, the ranking military officer and Dr Jennifer Keller or CMO."
Dr Weir watched as Isabel's face creased in worry. 'You'd better tell me later.' Isabel spoke in Dr Weir's mind. 'Of course I will, you were good friends.'
Dr Keller took over the introductions. "You'll all need to come down to the infirmary so I can check if travelling through the gate has had any adverse effects." She motioned for them to follow her.
"I'll need to talk to Agents Ward and Coulson first along with Isabel, I'll send them down to you later." Dr Weir interjected. "If the three of you would come with me."
The others followed Dr Keller while Isabel, Coulson and Ward followed Dr Weir to the briefing room.
"There's something you should know about Skye." Sheppard started.
"She's like Isabel only, she didn't work as well as the Asgard, Loki, had hoped. Isabel cannot age, heals quickly and can manipulate anything with her mind among other traits of the 'four races'. Skye was the first test, but once she was born Loki realised that her powers were out of control and that she would age like any normal human." Elizabeth explained. "Hoping that she would live a normal life, Loki took her to a small village in Mexico and told them to protect her because she was a special child."
"We think that the Wraith might do something to unlock those powers." Sheppard explained. "Isabel will be able to find her and the other people they took. We don't think that the Wraith know about her like they did with Isabel. It'll be a small extraction so we'll need as few people as possible moving around."
"You want us to go in?" Ward asked.
"Just Coulson and May, we need you for a different reason Agent Ward." Dr Weir saw the man's face draw into puzzlement. "You have something called the Ancient Gene. It will allow you to do something that very few members of the expedition can."
"I, Colonel Sheppard and several other people on the base have this gene. It allows us to use the ancient technology to its full extent. Some things require the gene while others don't." Isabel explained. "General O'Neill has the gene."
"We'll need to give you some lessons but you'll be piloting our distraction. Once they get out with our people you'll need to attack the base and distract them enough to think that they are with you." Colonel Sheppard explained.
"In reality they'll be heading to the gate by foot." Dr Weir explained.
"Isn't that dangerous if they see us?" Coulson chimed in. It was strange for him to be on the receiving end of a mission brief.
"I can hide us." Isabel spoke. She waved her hand and then... She wasn't there. "I think we'll be fine." A voice spoke from behind Coulson but when he turned there was no one there. He turned and stood in front of him was Isabel.
"I think this might work." Ward smiled. He had hope, they could get her back.