Author's Chapter Notes: Ok, sorry this chapter took so long to post. I managed to lose the second half of it, but decided to post the beginning anyway, so it might be a bit short.
The other characters come into this chapter, but there are still some of sparky bits!
The other characters come into this chapter, but there are still some of sparky bits!
Chapter Five:
“What happened?” Sam asked, looking at the three marines. They were all in her office looking nervous, “well?” She said.
“We didn’t mean to Ma’am, we didn’t know what was happening!” one of them blurted out.
She took a deep breath. “What did happen?”
They glanced at each other, “uh, well…”
“Oh for crying out loud!” Jack snapped, striding forward. He’d been standing discreetly in the corner but Sam hadn’t expected him to keep quiet for long. “She isn’t angry, she isn’t court marshalling you. She just wants to know what happened to her Second in Command! Do you at least have the brains the tell us that?”
“Sorry Sir.” The Lieutenant said apologetically, he looked over at Sam, she nodded and he took a deep breath. “We were just checking out the area, heading towards the settlement, when we heard a noise. None of us knew what it was and the Colonel said we should head back. We were doing just that when a ship appeared, it chased us and we only just made it back to the gate. The Colonel told us to go through and that he’d be right behind us, we were under heavy fire and did as he ordered. But he didn’t appear on the other side…we don’t know why.”
“It’s alright Lieutenant, you did the right thing.” Sam assured him. “Thank you.” The three of them left and she sat down at her desk with a sigh.
“You alright?” Jack asked.
She smiled wearily and massaged her temples. “Yeah, I’ll be fine, but why is it always Colonel Sheppard who gets into trouble offworld? Whether he’s with his team or not, he’s always the one injured or almost killed or stranded…Teyla told me it used to drive Elizabeth crazy, she’d always be worrying about what would happen to him next.”
Jack grimaced sympathetically, “what you going to do?”
She stood up, “Send through a team, probably by Puddle Jumper. See if we can work out what happened to him.”
Jack looked at her, “Puddle Jumper? That’s what Sheppard called those cool little ships right?”
“Yeah.” She nodded.
“Uh, do you mind if I tag along? You might need a pilot.”
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Ten minutes later Rodney, Ronon, Sam, Jack, Daniel and Teal’c sat in Jumper four, ready to take off.
Rodney looked round at them all, “We all here?” he asked. They all nodded. “Alright then, lets go, hopefully we’ll be back in time for supper.”
“If we find him.” Sam said, frowning nervously.
“We will!” Rodney snapped. He hesitated, “or at least I hope so.”
Ronon frowned grimly. “ We will and whoever was shooting at him before is going to have me to deal with now.” He said, fingering his handgun menacingly.
“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Sam said anxiously.
“Don’t worry,” Jack reassured her. “McKay’s, right, we’ll find him and Teyla and Mitchell can manage the city while we’re away. Lets go.” He dialled the gate and the six of them shot through in the blink of an eye.”
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John followed Elizabeth down the deserted corridor silently. They hadn’t said a word since they’d left the cell. Another female realhuman-replicator had entered it and Elizabeth had had to shove her hand into his forehead so fast he’d almost collapsed from the impact. She had removed it a second later and John - lying on the ground - had only been vaguely aware of the exchange as Elizabeth commanded her pilot to direct the ship round to the other side of the planet, as she said she hadn’t retrieved enough information yet. After she’d gone, Elizabeth had exited the cell without a word and John had gone after her, uncertain whether it was safe to speak or not.
Eventually she turned to him, “You alright?” She asked, biting her lip.
He nodded, ignoring the terrible throbbing inside his skull and leaned against the wall, feeling light-headed and dizzy. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he told her, waving his hand.
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him and he suppressed a groan, she’d always been able to tell whether he was faking it or not.
“So, what’s the plan?” He said. “Blow the ship and get out of here?”
She shook her head, “not as simple as that I’m afraid, even if we blow up the ship, the replicators onboard will still have time to contact the others and alert them to the danger. The other replicators will come hear pick up the remains and recreate all the ones destroyed. Remember that’s how they rebuilt after the battle? So, although the ship would be destroyed the replicators will know who betrayed them and try to track us down and with me around that would be incredibly easy.”
“Then what are we going to do?” John said. Elizabeth turned away without saying anything. John’s stomach tightened and he suddenly had a terrible feeling of foreboding. “Elizabeth!” He called, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Elizabeth, don’t think for a single second that I’m going to let you help me escape and abandon you here. How can you think of doing that?”
Elizabeth looked him straight in the eye. “Because it’s the only way,” she said softly, “John, you’ve got to realise that. Even if I escaped they would always be able to find me. Why do you think I’ve never left before? They’d only capture me again and finish breaking down my mind, properly this time. It’s hopeless and I refuse to let you put yourself in a situation like that because of me.”
John shook his head vehemently. “No. No, I’m not leaving you this time. I did it once, because the whole of Atlantis was depending on it, never again.”
“John, listen – ” Elizabeth began.
“No you listen!” John cried fiercely and Elizabeth heard echoes from the past, from their first argument, back on Atlantis. “Either both of us leaves or neither. How could think I’d leave you to them? To be tortured? To be interrogated? To be destroyed?” He took a deep breath and went on furiously, “how could you think I’d do that? Tell me. I don’t care if it kills me; you are going to get away from this place and go home, free and yourself. Because we need you Elizabeth, Atlantis needs you and so do I.”
Elizabeth stared at him as he finished, his fists were clenched and his eyes were passionate and as she gazed into them she saw what she’d seen so many times before; pure, steel determination to do anything to protect the ones he cared about, even if it meant sacrificing himself in the process.
Suddenly she couldn’t speak, because she knew no matter what she said, John would never waver. She took a deep, shaking gulp of air and tried to reply but she choked on the words and her eyes filled with tears, “okay.” She whispered, trying to blink them away.
John’s eyes widened in surprise, “that’s it?” he said, “I’m not going to have to thrash it out with you, stand here and have thirty rounds? Do paper, scissors, rock? What happened to our stubborn, argumentative Elizabeth?”
“She finally met her match.” Elizabeth admitted, laughing shakily. John could always make her smile. “But you do realise, now that you’ve ruined my plan, you have to come up with a new one?”
He grinned, “I’m already on it.”
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Jack flew the Jumper smoothly over the grassy fields and despite her anxiety Sam couldn’t help but smile, Jack was definitely one of the best pilots she’d flown with, second only to Colonel Sheppard. Both of them had a naturally strong ATA gene and as Rodney had commented condescendingly both “thought they could fly anything.”
She scanned the planets surface for any life signs. “Can you see anything?” She asked the others nervously.
Jack shook his head, “My sensors aren’t picking up any readings,” he replied soberly.
“If he was injured he could have returned to the settlement for help.” Daniel suggested.
“It’s worth a try.” Rodney said sounding oddly subdued.
They headed in the direction of the settlement, but the atmosphere became tenser every minute. Sam knew that if he was that badly injured there was no way he’d have had time to have already made it back to the settlement. Ronon shifted in his seat and started to spin his gun.
“Can you just stop that?” Rodney snapped irritably, looking up from his tablet.
“Why? Is it bothering you?” Ronon asked sarcastically.
“Yes! It is. And at the moment I am actually trying to do something important here, something that could help us find Sheppard, unlike you who – ”
“Okay, can you just shut up.” Jack ordered in annoyance, “I have to keep my eyes on the road here. We’ll find him. Eventually.”
Rodney scowled defiantly. “Well I don’t see what the rest of you are doing to – ” He broke off. “No, no, no, no, no. This just isn’t possible.” He exclaimed, rereading the stuff on his tablet.
“What?” Sam said immediately,
“There can’t be. This must be wrong, there’s no way these reading can be correct.” Rodney muttered furiously, tapping the screen.
“WHAT?” Jack yelled. This scientist really got on his nerves. How do these guys deal with it? He wondered.
Rodney looked at him, worry and fear etched on every line in his face. “These readings indicate that the ship the marines saw is a replicator battle ship.” He whispered, “which is above us, right now.”
“What happened?” Sam asked, looking at the three marines. They were all in her office looking nervous, “well?” She said.
“We didn’t mean to Ma’am, we didn’t know what was happening!” one of them blurted out.
She took a deep breath. “What did happen?”
They glanced at each other, “uh, well…”
“Oh for crying out loud!” Jack snapped, striding forward. He’d been standing discreetly in the corner but Sam hadn’t expected him to keep quiet for long. “She isn’t angry, she isn’t court marshalling you. She just wants to know what happened to her Second in Command! Do you at least have the brains the tell us that?”
“Sorry Sir.” The Lieutenant said apologetically, he looked over at Sam, she nodded and he took a deep breath. “We were just checking out the area, heading towards the settlement, when we heard a noise. None of us knew what it was and the Colonel said we should head back. We were doing just that when a ship appeared, it chased us and we only just made it back to the gate. The Colonel told us to go through and that he’d be right behind us, we were under heavy fire and did as he ordered. But he didn’t appear on the other side…we don’t know why.”
“It’s alright Lieutenant, you did the right thing.” Sam assured him. “Thank you.” The three of them left and she sat down at her desk with a sigh.
“You alright?” Jack asked.
She smiled wearily and massaged her temples. “Yeah, I’ll be fine, but why is it always Colonel Sheppard who gets into trouble offworld? Whether he’s with his team or not, he’s always the one injured or almost killed or stranded…Teyla told me it used to drive Elizabeth crazy, she’d always be worrying about what would happen to him next.”
Jack grimaced sympathetically, “what you going to do?”
She stood up, “Send through a team, probably by Puddle Jumper. See if we can work out what happened to him.”
Jack looked at her, “Puddle Jumper? That’s what Sheppard called those cool little ships right?”
“Yeah.” She nodded.
“Uh, do you mind if I tag along? You might need a pilot.”
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Ten minutes later Rodney, Ronon, Sam, Jack, Daniel and Teal’c sat in Jumper four, ready to take off.
Rodney looked round at them all, “We all here?” he asked. They all nodded. “Alright then, lets go, hopefully we’ll be back in time for supper.”
“If we find him.” Sam said, frowning nervously.
“We will!” Rodney snapped. He hesitated, “or at least I hope so.”
Ronon frowned grimly. “ We will and whoever was shooting at him before is going to have me to deal with now.” He said, fingering his handgun menacingly.
“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Sam said anxiously.
“Don’t worry,” Jack reassured her. “McKay’s, right, we’ll find him and Teyla and Mitchell can manage the city while we’re away. Lets go.” He dialled the gate and the six of them shot through in the blink of an eye.”
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John followed Elizabeth down the deserted corridor silently. They hadn’t said a word since they’d left the cell. Another female realhuman-replicator had entered it and Elizabeth had had to shove her hand into his forehead so fast he’d almost collapsed from the impact. She had removed it a second later and John - lying on the ground - had only been vaguely aware of the exchange as Elizabeth commanded her pilot to direct the ship round to the other side of the planet, as she said she hadn’t retrieved enough information yet. After she’d gone, Elizabeth had exited the cell without a word and John had gone after her, uncertain whether it was safe to speak or not.
Eventually she turned to him, “You alright?” She asked, biting her lip.
He nodded, ignoring the terrible throbbing inside his skull and leaned against the wall, feeling light-headed and dizzy. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he told her, waving his hand.
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him and he suppressed a groan, she’d always been able to tell whether he was faking it or not.
“So, what’s the plan?” He said. “Blow the ship and get out of here?”
She shook her head, “not as simple as that I’m afraid, even if we blow up the ship, the replicators onboard will still have time to contact the others and alert them to the danger. The other replicators will come hear pick up the remains and recreate all the ones destroyed. Remember that’s how they rebuilt after the battle? So, although the ship would be destroyed the replicators will know who betrayed them and try to track us down and with me around that would be incredibly easy.”
“Then what are we going to do?” John said. Elizabeth turned away without saying anything. John’s stomach tightened and he suddenly had a terrible feeling of foreboding. “Elizabeth!” He called, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Elizabeth, don’t think for a single second that I’m going to let you help me escape and abandon you here. How can you think of doing that?”
Elizabeth looked him straight in the eye. “Because it’s the only way,” she said softly, “John, you’ve got to realise that. Even if I escaped they would always be able to find me. Why do you think I’ve never left before? They’d only capture me again and finish breaking down my mind, properly this time. It’s hopeless and I refuse to let you put yourself in a situation like that because of me.”
John shook his head vehemently. “No. No, I’m not leaving you this time. I did it once, because the whole of Atlantis was depending on it, never again.”
“John, listen – ” Elizabeth began.
“No you listen!” John cried fiercely and Elizabeth heard echoes from the past, from their first argument, back on Atlantis. “Either both of us leaves or neither. How could think I’d leave you to them? To be tortured? To be interrogated? To be destroyed?” He took a deep breath and went on furiously, “how could you think I’d do that? Tell me. I don’t care if it kills me; you are going to get away from this place and go home, free and yourself. Because we need you Elizabeth, Atlantis needs you and so do I.”
Elizabeth stared at him as he finished, his fists were clenched and his eyes were passionate and as she gazed into them she saw what she’d seen so many times before; pure, steel determination to do anything to protect the ones he cared about, even if it meant sacrificing himself in the process.
Suddenly she couldn’t speak, because she knew no matter what she said, John would never waver. She took a deep, shaking gulp of air and tried to reply but she choked on the words and her eyes filled with tears, “okay.” She whispered, trying to blink them away.
John’s eyes widened in surprise, “that’s it?” he said, “I’m not going to have to thrash it out with you, stand here and have thirty rounds? Do paper, scissors, rock? What happened to our stubborn, argumentative Elizabeth?”
“She finally met her match.” Elizabeth admitted, laughing shakily. John could always make her smile. “But you do realise, now that you’ve ruined my plan, you have to come up with a new one?”
He grinned, “I’m already on it.”
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Jack flew the Jumper smoothly over the grassy fields and despite her anxiety Sam couldn’t help but smile, Jack was definitely one of the best pilots she’d flown with, second only to Colonel Sheppard. Both of them had a naturally strong ATA gene and as Rodney had commented condescendingly both “thought they could fly anything.”
She scanned the planets surface for any life signs. “Can you see anything?” She asked the others nervously.
Jack shook his head, “My sensors aren’t picking up any readings,” he replied soberly.
“If he was injured he could have returned to the settlement for help.” Daniel suggested.
“It’s worth a try.” Rodney said sounding oddly subdued.
They headed in the direction of the settlement, but the atmosphere became tenser every minute. Sam knew that if he was that badly injured there was no way he’d have had time to have already made it back to the settlement. Ronon shifted in his seat and started to spin his gun.
“Can you just stop that?” Rodney snapped irritably, looking up from his tablet.
“Why? Is it bothering you?” Ronon asked sarcastically.
“Yes! It is. And at the moment I am actually trying to do something important here, something that could help us find Sheppard, unlike you who – ”
“Okay, can you just shut up.” Jack ordered in annoyance, “I have to keep my eyes on the road here. We’ll find him. Eventually.”
Rodney scowled defiantly. “Well I don’t see what the rest of you are doing to – ” He broke off. “No, no, no, no, no. This just isn’t possible.” He exclaimed, rereading the stuff on his tablet.
“What?” Sam said immediately,
“There can’t be. This must be wrong, there’s no way these reading can be correct.” Rodney muttered furiously, tapping the screen.
“WHAT?” Jack yelled. This scientist really got on his nerves. How do these guys deal with it? He wondered.
Rodney looked at him, worry and fear etched on every line in his face. “These readings indicate that the ship the marines saw is a replicator battle ship.” He whispered, “which is above us, right now.”
Chapter End Notes: Ok I know that was probably really boring but please if you read it can you review cause that's the only way I'll get better!