SGI

Chapter 1

Aches and pains from laying on a rough and uneven surface were the first things she felt after regaining consciousness. Taking a deep breath of the damp and mossy air around her, she shivered as a cool gust of wind swirled around her face and through the gaps in her medical gown. The lack of basic comforts was an unwelcome reminder of past experiences, but Mia knew that her current situation was something new.

The cold ground unyielding under her spine was even more uncomfortable than she remembered the caves being and the absence of human made sounds; save for the scurrying of critters in the dark made her skin crawl as she opened her eyes to survey her surroundings, trying her best to squander the panic gripping her chest in a vice.

Puzzlement was her second reaction to panic as she took in her surroundings with all her senses and those borrowed from The Wolverine. He had touched her while she'd been healing Jubilee and it seemed that wherever she was, it must have been within a day of healing Jubilee since she seemed to still have Wolverine's powers of enhanced senses. Her mind adapted to the enhanced senses quickly as was the case with all borrowed mutant powers and she used them to their fullest to get an idea of what was around her.

She heard running water in the distance, the smell of rain, greenery and rotting wood was heavy. She kept sniffing the air and realized different plants had different smells. Some were mustier, some were sweeter and some smell outright rank. She made a face when she realized that she could also smell animals, wet fur, droppings and other things too and briefly wondered if this is how it was for Logan every day. No wonder he was often grumpy and unhappy. Some things just smelled awful!

The cave was mostly dark, but even without her glasses, which were probably back at the mansion in Westchester she could clearly see around her. Even the colors around her were visible thanks to the enhanced eye sight.

There was a small and well stoked fire a few feet in front of where she'd woken. Some cut wood was piled not far from it, opposite her on the other side of the fire. Although the dancing flames and burning embers were hot, they couldn't chase away the cool damp air of the cave and Mia rubbed her bare arms in an effort to warm them.

There was no sign of the person who had built the fire or kept it going while she slept. Her wounds had been healed much sooner thanks to the power boost she had from Logan and she stood easily with no pain or discomfort. She grimaced at her attire which consisted of a hospital gown, socks and underwear. She took in her immediate surroundings and then extended her senses further out and didn't know if she was relieved or distressed when she couldn't make out the sound of another person or vehicle in the vicinity.

With no fortified doors or guards in the immediate area she looked around her some more and saw a small pile of clothes which upon closer inspection seemed to be her own, somehow acquired from her closet and brought to this cave. The clothes weren't suited for the wilderness or caves but they'd be warmer than the flimsy gown she was currently donning and so she quickly pulled on the jeans, sneakers, shirt and sweater. There was no jacket in sight but her hand closed around the extra glasses she'd stowed in the pocket of her sweater.

Her eyes were enhanced now, thanks to The Wolverine but it wouldn't last and when the power would finally leave her, she'd need the glasses to see. She hoped they wouldn't become crushed in her pocket, but there weren't a lot of options at the moment regarding proper storage of eye wear.

Better clothed and a bit warmer she walked around the small cavern feeling a less like the captive she'd once been after seeing no signs of surveillance or entrapment. Braving the cool of the cave away from the fire she spanned out and quickly discovered the mouth of the cave a few feet left of a passage from where she started. Stepping cautiously outside she breathed in the cool night air and looked up to the sky hoping to judge the time by the moon's position. Her eyes grew wide and a new panic sprung in her chest when she not only found the moon but another behind it, surrounded by stars that were wholly unfamiliar to her. How she wished now that she'd studied on the topic of how to navigate by the stars when Logan had offered to teach her.

Disheartened and unsure about how to proceed she returned to the fire, pondering her situation and how she might have come to be where she was, trying to ignore the sounds of scurrying around her.

She'd healed Jubilee, that much she recalled. Wolverine had touched her and leant her his strength and power, she was able to continue until the end because of the foolish man. She was glad that he seemed none worse for wear at the time and kept recalling the events of that evening.

She'd felt tired and was severely injured by the end of it all and Dr. McCoy had insisted she stay in the med bay until her condition had improved. Too tired to argue, Mia had agreed and then her memory stopped. There was nothing regarding her current situation. She must have passed out from exhaustion or the injuries she'd taken on. Combined with the excitement and activity earlier in the day and all she'd done on the astral plane her body and mind must have needed rest and shut down.

She kept trying to recall if there was an attack or if for any reason they'd had to relocate but if that was the case, why was she alone? Where was the person who'd brought her clothes and set up the fire? Why were there two moons in the sky?

The hours passed and she kept coming up with more questions than answers. Frustrated she tried to reach out to her surrounds as she would have done with telepathic abilities and surprisingly, a vision came to the forefront of her mind. A voice, no; an impression of a voice had said "help her".

She perked up at the revelation and with it came an image in her mind of a woman with copper hair, cut short in military fatigues being shot by some sort of fireball.

Her mind went blank after that no matter how hard she tried. She had no idea how she came to be where she was now or who had set up the fire and been considerate enough to bring her clothes.

Hours had passed and she was rooted to the spot, afraid of where she was and afraid to move, but knowing she couldn't stay where she was. Her body had needs and with no food in sight, the fire dying out and no facilities to use, she'd eventually need to venture outside the cave.

Watching the dying fire go out as she'd tossed the last piece of cut wood onto it a while ago. She crept closer to the dying embers and warmed her hands against the chill of the cave. With her enhanced senses now starting to fade she almost missed the sounds of the planet outside the cave waking from the cool night.

*0*0*0*

Stargate Command was bustling with activity as many tried to avoid journalist Emmett Bregman while he interviewed random officers about what it was like to work at the top-secret base. Rumor had it that the Stargate program was going to be made public someday soon and the journalist had been authorized to create a video about what it was like inside the program.

Janet Fraser, the base CMO had been at lunch with the journalist and found herself enjoying his company even though she'd accepted his invitation to the meal with reluctance.

She found herself surprisingly disappointed when she was called to the embarkation room to help with an overflow of injuries out on the field.

Looking back at the journalist, she smiled at him in farewell, hoping to ease the worried look on his face.

An hour later, geared up with her pack on her shoulder, she walked into the blue portal and stepped out onto P3X-666. SG-1, SG-5, and SG-7 flanked out as they step onto the new planet. The mission is to find and rescue SG-13.

Staff blasts immediately peppered the surroundings and all ran for cover. Doctor Jackson ran into the bush with the doctor Fraser to find their missing team members while the other teams stay behind with the remainder of SG-1 to lay down cover fire and defend their position at the gate.

It wasn't long before the sounds of battle intensified and a call for help was heard.

"Over here! Over here!" An airman was crouched over another as Dr. Fraser and Daniel ran toward the pair, the rest of SG-1 keeping an eye out for trouble.

"There's a lot of blood underneath him…." The airman was fatigued but held strong at his colleague's side where he lay on the ground. Janet and Daniel went to the fallen airman as the other left to defend the position with the rest of SG-1.

"I'm Dr. Janet Fraser, can you hear me?" She shook his shoulders to get his attention. It looked like a staff blast had gotten him in the back. She could see his spine had actually disintegrated and the blast had managed to rupture many of the organs in his body.

"I hear you, I hear you but I can't move. I can't feel my legs." The airman's voice was panicked and trembling as the pain of his injuries took a toll on him.

"We've got to roll him over, stop the bleeding." Doctor Janet Fraser told Daniel as she packed the hole in the man's back with gauze.

Daniel winced and helped with turning the airman over who groaned with the jostling of his injuries.

"Hey, hey you're going to be alright. Why don't you tell me about home? What's happening there?" Daniel tried to keep the airman's focus off of what doctor was doing.

The airman told him about his pregnant wife, his first child on the way. Daniel, as always had a camcorder on his person but this time, instead of filming ruins he offered to record the airman's last words to put him at ease. The airman was certain he wasn't going to make it home to see his pregnant wife and the thought of leaving his child without a father was causing him no small amount of distress. Daniel knew the situation looed grim. Staff blasts could be hear in the distance, getting closer by the minute and the airman on the ground wasn't looking well. Janet shook her head to Daviel and he turned the camcorder on to record the man's words to the family being left behind.

The radio on Daniel's shoulder was full of chatter. The teams left to defend the gate were losing ground and they had to move. He looked over at Doctor Fraser who shook her head in the negative. "If we move him now, he'll bleed out in minutes. I need more time"

"I'm going to die here. Leave, just go." The airman worried for others even as he lay on the ground in pain.

"Listen! You are not going to die. I didn't come all this way for nothing, we will go back together." The doctor was adamant. Suddenly, a dark blur tackled the doctor away from the airman and to the ground. There was a flash of light and the acrid smell of scorched flesh a moment later as she hissed in pain.

There was a moment of confusion as the doctor tried to get herself back up to her patient but found herself weighted down. Daniel stayed low to the ground avoiding the blasts hitting the ground around them and made his way over to help her up. Their confusion was doubled when they discovered a young woman in civilian dress wincing in pain from a staff blast which had grazed her side when the apparently saved the doctor's life.

"Oooh, that hurt." She sat up and looked at the two people staring at her stunned.

"Umm…hi! This probably isn't the best time for explanations, so how about we talk when fireballs aren't flying all around trying to kill us? American right?" She pointed at the American flag emblem on the sleeve of Janet's BDUs and all they could do was nod silently.

"Great. Do you know how to get back? To America, Earth?"

"Of course we do but how did you get here? Who are you?" Daniel was looking dazed at the woman's sudden appearance as Dr. Fraser continued working on the Airman.

"I'm confused as you are, maybe more so but how about we get out of here first?" Mia was trembling and her eyes were wide with fright as she hoped another fireball wouldn't come their way.

"Airman, open your eyes, that's an order!" Dr. Fraser was losing her patient fast and it was obvious to Mia that neither the doctor or the man were planning to leave their colleague to die.

"Darn it, I really just wanted to get out of here." She said the words to herself but Daniel and the doctor easily heard the words.

"You guys aren't leaving until you do what you can are you. Even if it costs you your own lives." Mia didn't need to ask, it was rhetorical. She could see the determination in their faces and in their actions.

"This is going to sound weird but I can help him if you'll let me. You have to promise you'll take me back to Earth with you if I do."

The doctor looked up at the strange woman, questions in her eyes. "Are you a doctor? Do you have a healing device? Who are you?" She didn't stop working and looked up only for a moment to look Mia in the eyes as she started speaking.

Another staff blast obliterated a tree nearby and they all ducked back down. "This isn't the time to be arguing here. If his bleeding stops, can you take him back? Will he make it?" Mia was really worried now and was proud of herself for not running away.

The airman was still aware and the doctor winced as she spoke. "He's lost a lot of blood and he's losing more. I don't know but he'll have a chance and that's all we can hope for right now."

Daniel still had the camcorder going as the airman let out a scream of pain. "Turn it off, turn it off! I don't want her to see me die!"

Mia sighed and went to his side, squeezing herself in between Dr. Fraser and the airman, no longer asking permission from her, she spoke directly to the airman. "Listen, I can help you if you want but I won't touch you if you say no. I know you don't know me and have no reason to trust me but I really want to get out of here and if you getting better will expedite it I'm all for it. Can I help you?"

The airman didn't know what to think but it was obvious he had only minutes left. "Yes, please, yes. Whatever, please I just want to see my wife and be there for my baby. Sorry maam but I want to try and I don't think you can stuff any more gauze into my gut." He looked at the doctor apologetically and her eyes widened in surprise before she sighed.

"Alright, there's nothing more we can do. If you think you can help…" Her sentence unfinished the threat of harm was implied should Mia do something unsavory to the airman.

"Fine, here I go. Keep back and don't touch us." She had barely laid a hand on the airman when she gasped and pulled away pale. A glance back and the doctor and the man with glasses showed a mix of emotions but Mia had to get home, she wasn't going to give up.

"Airman…I can fix you up some but I'll need your help. I need you to hold my hands. Can you do that? Hold my hands and don't let go, even if I pull away, hold tight until I say stop or otherwise. Can you do that? Do it for your wife, your baby." She placed her hands into his and marvelled just for a moment at the strength and warmth she could feel even though he was close to death.

She looked into his eyes and saw the hope he was holding onto. Hope she'd given him that he might live to see his baby born. His hope renewed and reaffirmed her belief in herself and she gave his hands a squeeze as she closed her eyes.

Her time at The School for Gifted Children had taught her how to shield herself for the onslaught of pain she felt around other people. Touch could still get through and she'd known instantly when she'd touched the airman to help that his injuries were much worse than she'd thought. She'd kept her shield up and the pain was present but muffled still, even though they were holding hands. She'd need to open herself fully to his pain in order to heal him and it scared her. It was only going to get worse as she healed him and she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep going so she'd told him to hold on for her.

The blast he'd taken had gone from the back and right through him, disintegrating his spine, spleen, a kidney and part of his digestive system. She was amazed that he was still alive at all and she steeled herself for what she knew was coming.

She started with the stomach and bowels. The waste in the body had to be contained. She cried out briefly with the shock of pain but kept her hold on his hands. He was still below her, holding her hands tightly but already she could hear a gasp of surprise from him as she pushed herself further.

She could feel the stomach acid eating away her insides and pushed herself harder to finish faster, she had to finish before she passed out from the pain. It was taking a lot out of her to regenerate his body instead of just healing it and she wanted to stop. She tried to pull away but his firm was strong and kept her going. She was stubborn and refused to ask him to let go of her hands.

On the other side of the airman crouched Daniel with his camcorder still going. Janet was down beside him, both unsure of what was happening. It was Daniel who first noticed the sweat on Mia's brow as she strained to finish. The doctor in Janet noticed that Airman Wells no longer seemed to be in so much pain and wanted to check on him immediately but was held back by Daniel who remembered the mysterious woman's request not to be touched.

The sounds of battle were still going strong around them and news from the radio told them the gate had been dialed home. They had to get going. They looked back at the airman and the woman whose hands he held and it was with a sickening crunch that her body folded back in a way it never should and she fell back unconscious.

Janet rushed to Airman Wells while Daniel went to the woman. "Airman, status?"

"I….I…" His words were halted as he moved his hands up and down his body still on the ground.

"She really did it!" Doc what just happened?" A mix of emotions ran through the airman as he tried to get up. He was severely weakened but managed with the doctor's help. A look to his back and Janet could see a huge hole in his fatigues with perfectly smooth skin underneath. No sign that he'd ever been injured.

"Airman, I don't know what's going on here but we need to move now!" The doctor hoisted the man to his feet unsteadily. He seemed to regain his balance and slowly got his feet moving. He was still suffering from blood loss it seemed, but he was otherwise healed so to speak and no one present had the words to explain what happened or question it in that moment.

"How's the woman Doctor Jackson?" The airman turned to where Daniel was crouched over the woman bleeding out on the ground. She'd lost consciousness after her back had folded back in a sound so sickening Daniel still felt green.

Janet was completely at a loss at what happened and tried to hide behind her professionalism as she addressed her friend and the woman unconscious in from of him.

"Umm…She's breathing but Janet…there's a lot of blood here and I think she was hurt when she pushed you earlier.

"Alright, Daniel. Can you get her to the gate? Airman Wells, can we do this?"

"Yes ma'am, we can." With that the trio stood in a low crouch and made their way back to the stargate as quickly as they could while carrying the mysterious woman.