When we had SG-1 Gen Fic Day a few weeks ago, I also created an entry where crossover flashfics could be submitted as commentfic. Here's the round-up of all the crossover ficlets, arranged in alphabetical order by fandom and posted as is. Some are a few hundred words; two of them are quite long. All gen, all rated G/PG (I think). If the author has posted the fic on her own journal, I've included a link there, too.
Thanks to those who participated!
The A-Team
by![[info]](https://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=1)
una_spectre
The rain battered down as the two coffins were slowly lowered into the ground. The small boy standing at the side of the grave gripped the hand of the old man beside him as he stared blankly at the coffins.
His heart ached to see the boy so grief stricken and he wanted to go over but it was too dangerous.
"Captain," the soft voice forced him to look round, "We have to get going."
Murdock sighed, "I want to be able to help him, Colonel. Daniel is a good kid."
"Daniel also doesn't need us in his life," Hannibal reminded him, "His grandfather will look after him."
Sadly Murdock whispered goodbye to his nephew before following his commander back to the van that was sitting several streets away from the graveyard. As they entered the van Murdock was surprised to find the other two members of his team sitting in silence, he was handed a towel to dry off from the pouring rain. BA started the engine and pulled out back onto the road leaving the funeral behind.
Due South
byuna_spectre
Chicago Flashback
Daniel was tired.
He'd come to Chicago for a funeral and ended up in what seemed to be the flashback from hell. The murder of the curator had thrown it even further into the nightmare not helped by Steven who decided to try to persuade the police that Daniel had something to do with it.
Daniel looked around the small room he was sitting in, it was an interview room in the police station and Daniel was kinda amazed to be here again, especially on this side of the glass. He still had to get his phone call and he wanted to call Jack but Jack was fishing and it was more than likely he'd thrown away the phone Teal'c had smuggled with him.
At least he'd been given some coffee while he waited for whoever was going to come and talk about the murder with him. Daniel leaned back in his chair staring at his reflection in the mirror facing him.
"I need an actual vacation," he sighed to the empty room.
"Sir."
Lieutenant Welsh turned at the voice of the man he'd been waiting for, "Vecchio, you're finally here."
"Sorry, sir," Ray replied, "We were heading for a basketball game when you called not to mention you told me you didn't want to see me till Monday morning."
Welsh looked just behind his detective to see the Mountie and wolf standing there and sighed, he should have known.
"I know I said that," Welsh replied, "But about an hour ago the Museum Curator at the University was murdered."
"I haven't been there in years," Ray murmured turning to his friend, "Yes I have stepped foot in an institute of higher learning."
"I didn't say a word, Ray," Fraser noted.
Ray scowled at him, "You had a look," he turned back to his boss who was waiting with the look of a man who'd become far too used to insanity, "Give me the details and I'll..."
"You're not getting this case," Welsh cut him off.
"I'm not getting the case?" Ray frowned, "Then why am I here?"
Welsh motioned him to follow; Ray looked back at his friend before following on with Fraser and Diefenbaker just behind. Ray knew his boss well enough to know that something was definitely going on but at this precise moment in time Ray was clueless as to what it could be.
"The murder was called in by two men who found the body," Welsh explained when they reached an observation room; "One was Dr Steven Raynor."
"No," Welsh replied, "I called you here because of the second man."
Ray stepped inside the room and stared through the window at the man sitting staring into a coffee cup.
"Daniel?"
Fraser joined Ray who was staring through the window at the man in the other room.
"I take it you know this man," he probed.
"Yeah, Benny I do," Ray shook his head, "And I thought he was dead."
"Oh," was all Fraser could think of as Diefenbaker whined and rested his head against Ray's leg.
Ray absently stroked the wolf's head, "I met him just after I'd become a detective," he explained, "He helped me with a big case and we became friends. Guy had no family so at Christmas I took him home; my mother loved him. He was like you, polite."
Ray sighed again, "Real smart guy killed his career with some theories that were outrageous then disappeared. A few months later I got a package from him. The letter told me it was sent because he died. It contained some junk I'd admired from his apartment and you know the locket Ma wears."
"I do not believe I've ever seen her without it," Fraser noted.
"It belonged to his mother," Ray shrugged before anger set in, "I'm going to kill him."
"Ray," Fraser called but his friend was already out the door.
Ray was raging, five years since Daniel had disappeared and he turns up again at a murder scene. He remembered the grief he'd felt when he'd read that letter, the way his mother had cried at the news and how the whole family were quiet for weeks around him.
He heard Fraser call him back but ignored him throwing open the door to the interrogation room.
"I was wondering when you'd get here," Daniel sighed before looking up at him, "Hi Ray."
All his anger slipped away as Ray stared at the younger man. He looked so different. Other than the exhaustion in his eyes there was something else. Daniel had always had an enthusiasm about him; there used to be life in there but not anymore.
"Where the hell have you been?" Ray demanded softly walking over to him.
Daniel stood to face him, "It's a long story."
Ray sighed and hugged his friend, "At least you're alive. Ma is going to be ecstatic to see you."
A small smile touched Daniel's lips, "So how long am I going to be here for?"
"No idea," Ray replied, "This isn't my case. Welsh just called me here ‘cause you reappeared."
"Can I at least make a call?" Daniel asked, "I'm sure I'm owed one."
Ray nodded, "Come on. You can use the phone at my desk."
"Well, Dr Jackson," Welsh noted, "You have some powerful friends."
Daniel looked embarrassed, "Who called?"
"The Police Commissioner who apparently got his orders directly from our congressman who got it from the President," Welsh replied, "Care to share?"
Daniel looked even more self-conscious, "I can't really say. But I honestly had nothing to do with the death of that woman."
"I know that," Welsh rolled his eyes; "I remember the help you gave us when you were here. Can you tell me anything though?"
Daniel shook his head sadly, "I wish I knew."
Welsh smiled at him offering Daniel his hand, "It was good to see you again, Dr Jackson."
Daniel smiled back shaking the offered hand, "You too."
"So," Ray said as Daniel walked past him making Daniel turn back to where Ray was leaning against the wall outside Welsh's office, "Where you going?"
"I have things I have to do," Daniel told him.
"Really," Ray checked his watch; "You know it's almost midnight on a Friday night, what can you do just now?"
Daniel sighed checking his own watch, "Get some sleep."
"Come on," Ray slapped his shoulder, "I'll treat you to some pizza."
Daniel waved his hand, "Why not."
Ray grinned, "I know the perfect place."
"Remind me to introduce you to Jack," Daniel murmured as he followed Ray out of the station.
Ray filled Daniel in on what had happened to him over the past few years noting that Daniel hadn't given any information on himself.
"So your partner is a Mountie?" Daniel asked as he grabbed another slice of pizza, "And he has an actual wolf?"
"I'll introduce you two," Ray grinned, "You can be as nice and polite to each other for hours on end."
Daniel laughed, "I'll have to introduce you to a friend of mine. He's also from Chicago."
Ray jumped on the opportunity, "Your friends? From work?"
"Ah," Daniel dropped his head, "I can't tell you, Ray."
"Why not?" his instincts coming into play.
"Classified," Daniel said before frowning, he'd done that involuntarily.
Ray stared at him, "Are you working for the Government?"
"Air Force," Daniel replied, "It's a long story and one I can't really tell."
"Daniel..."
"Ray," Daniel cut him off, "You have to trust me I'm fine. I like what I'm doing and I have good friends."
Ray nodded, "Anyone I should know about? Ma will want to know. Or did you get back with the Ice Queen?"
"Sarah and I are history," Daniel replied wrinkling his nose a little, "I wouldn't go down that road again," he hesitated for a minute before looking at his friend, "Actually, I got married?"
"Really?"
Daniel pulled out his wallet and showed Ray the picture of Sha're.
Ray whistled, "Wow, very nice. Where is she?"
"She died last year."
"Danny, I'm sorry," Ray whispered, "If I..."
"You couldn't have known," Daniel replied sadly, "I have to head back to Colorado tomorrow morning."
"After whatever you're doing is over," Ray told him, "Come back for a few days. Ma and everyone would love to see ya."
"I think I'll take you up on that offer," Daniel replied grabbing another slice of pizza.
link to author's LJ
Farscape flashfic
by![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lokei
If there was one thing Cameron Mitchell never expected to see on the bridge of an Asgard ship, it was his own face staring back at him with a nearly identical look of disbelief and some kind of fake NASA vest on.
"Mitchell, who the hell is that?" Jackson, eloquent and pissy as he always was when torn from his beloved translations, sans-coffee and sans-warning, moved up to stand beside Mitchell in a kind of solidarity that Cam really appreciated even though he wasn't sure he'd earned it yet.
"John Crichton, astronaut," the stranger answered.
"Not a Mitchell, then?" Sam looked between Cam and his doppelganger and looked far too amused. "You didn't by any chance touch any mirrors lately?"
"And what would a piece of reflective glass have to do with anything?" A haughty voice floated from the doorway and Cam blinked.
"Vala!?"
"Not Vala," Jackson murmured beside him as the black-clad woman moved to stand at Crichton's elbow mirroring Jackson's stance.
"This would be Aeryn Sun," Crichton crossed his arms.
Cam looked at his team, hoping someone would help him out here.
"Fascinating," Teal'c's lips were twitching, and his amusement was only moderately better hidden than Sam's and Jackson's.
"This is just going to be a beaut of a day," Cam sighed.
House, MD flashfic
byrbmi_fan
When he comes in his parents are beside themselves, and he's barely conscious. House had looked at the symptoms, ordered the tests and retreated to his office. Wilson had picked out this one. Cameron's the one who talks to the parents. They don't know much.
"We're foster parents. He just got here two weeks ago. This..." The mother, Mrs. Lowell stopped. Her arms go up; start to wrap around her chest, but stop and scrub her face instead. "Will he be all right?"
His name is Daniel Jackson. They give her his file. Medical history. The book he'd been reading.
"Isn't this a bit old for him?" Lowell just shakes her head a bit ruefully.
"He won't read anything simpler."
There's nothing to say to that, so Cameron nods and stands up. "I'll let you know when you can see him."
* * *
She's checking his IV when he wakes up. He looks around, and then at her, eyes wide behind the oxygen mask. She puts on her most reassuring smile.
"Hey, Daniel. That mask is helping you breathe right. You can take it off to talk. How are you feeling?"
She helps him lift it off his face long enough to ask, face solemn. "Am I dying?"
Cameron's smile almost slips. "No," she tells him firmly. "We're going to do everything we can to make you better." And she prays to anyone who might be listening that she isn't lying.
But Daniel shakes his head, and turns away. Cameron gets the distinct impression that he doesn't believe her.
* * *
"I don't want to see them." He's sitting up in bed with an IV in one arm, holding an an oxygen mask away from his face, and he's looking pretty pale. He should be lying down.
"Your parents-"
"Foster parents." He's got that stubborn set to his mouth that Cameron has learned means he's intent on being difficult. Cameron makes a placating gesture.
"Your foster parents are worried about you."
He glances at them through the window. "They're trying. I still don't want to see them."
* * *
House catches her as she's opening the door. "Go help Chase. I let you spend any more time with him you'll be filing for adoption."
She stares. "You're offering to interact with a patient?"
"Maybe I want him to give me a crash course on pharaohs." He leans in conspiratorially. "It's always been a secret passion of mine."
Cameron just sighs and leaves to find Chase. She hopes he doesn't traumatize the kid too much. She doesn't think even House is that cruel.
* * *
"You want to adopt me?" He's amused. He's also looking much better. Cameron winces, and reminds herself why she works for this guy.
"I see you've spoken with House." She keeps her tone neutral. "Don't take anything he says personally. He likes to get a reaction out of people."
"I noticed." He pauses, and his eyes slide to one side. "There are worse ways to live."
She's surprised. Most people don't take House that well. She says as much, and he shrugs.
"He's honest. I like that." And that's all he'll say on the subject. He's released later that day to his harried-looking new parents. She never saw him again.
Primeval flashfic
bysallymn
Sparkly
In front of the Stargate, the air was all... sparkly. Like shards of light.
But that wasn't the main problem at the minute.
The odd young teenager who had barreled out of the sparkles yelling "don'tshootdon'tshootdon'tshoot!!!" and who was now babbling in an English-accented stream of facts, figures and fretting at top speed... no, he wasn't the problem. Yet.
The ghastly little flying... things, like mini-pterodactyls with the faces of livid bats, swooping around in the gateroom and the sealed-off corridors of Level 28 were definitely a problem - they bit. But they weren't the problem. Yet.
No, it was the 7-foot tall dinosaur blundering and bellowing and crashing into the Gate that was definitely... well, part of the problem. And the two that had gotten out of the gateroom and were now blundering and bellowing around the same corridors was definitely the other part.
And just about everyone staring down from the control room with wide eyes and dropping jaws really had only one thought, which the Colonel, being the Colonel, was the one to voice.
"I thought T Rex was much bigger than that."
Carter turned her chair and opened her lips to speak, but the stranger jumped in first. "It is it is, but this isn't a T Rex you know, at least you probably don't know, but we worked out that it's - well we think it's - no the Professor was pretty sure it's a Carcharodontosaurus, although we didn't have a lot of time to -"
"A - what?"
"- Look it up, but if you look at the shape of the skull and the teeth... sorry, did you say something?" he stopped for a moment, rubbed a hand over his face, then started again before anyone could speak, "Sorry. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a Carcharodontosaurus, though maybe one of the other carnosaurs of the time, we didn't get a lot of time, too busy running like the clappers, and what we know about them is all much of a -"
"Hey!" O'Neill held up his usual 'Daniel Shushing' hand. "Who are you and what -"
"Oh sorry, sorry, Connor Temple, ARC. I'm a... I don't think I'm supposed to tell you, not till I've talked to... anyway, they followed us and -"
"A Carcharodontosaurus? They're about 23 feet tall and even bigger than as -" Carter saw the et tu? look her long-suffering superior gave her and shrugged. "Dino-geek as a child, sir."
"It looks very young," Daniel murmured, "for a carnosaur." He also shrugged. "Geek for absolutely anything old, Jack."
"They're juveniles, actually," Temple nodded furiously, "between two and four years old we think. Left alone while Mum and Dad went hunting, but when they saw us - like even for a baby we're, you know, breakfast - and the anomaly -"
"That -" Carter pointed down at the sparkles, "is this 'anomaly', I take it?"
"Yeah, that's - oh wow." The boy seemed to notice what was behind the sparkles. "What is that???"
"Classified," O'Neill snapped.
"Some sort of anomaly machine? That would be so cool, we still do know how they're made or how to -"
"Hey!" The 'Daniel Shushing' hand obviously worked as well on this Temple guy as it did on, well, Daniel. "What part of classified don't you understand?"
"Hey I understand, ours is classified too, only it's a little hard when it - and they - are right there in front of - oh hell, where did the pteradons go?"
"Those would be the flying... things,"
"Think piranhas," Temple said helpfully. "With wings. We've gotta get them and the Carcharodontosaurus back through the anomaly. You don't wanna kill them, trust me -"
"I don't trust you and we do want to kill them." He managed not to flinch as three sets of geeky eyes gazed at him in absolute horror.
"You can't, they're only babies and anyway, we can't mess with the past like -"
"The past?" Daniel's head whipped around.
"The past?" Carter bounced up.
"The past?" O'Neill took a look at the little... no, it still looked like a little T Rex to him. "How much past, and how are they now in the present, and how the hell did you get that thing into a top-secret military installation?"
Temple looked at them all, then down at the sparkles, and the gate, and the still bellowing primeval baby, and then grinned sheepishly. "Uhh, would you believe... that's classified too?"
link to author's LJ
Red Dwarf
byacarlgeek
G is for Goa'uld Lamé
Major Sam Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson both snapped their heads upward and stepped away from their respective sections of the fascinating ruins on P3W-273 when they heard the multiple sonic booms of spacecraft braking in atmosphere. The overlapping loud reports didn't sound like the clean single booms of a group of death gliders, nor the multifocal boom of an alkesh, but even intra-atmospheric supersonic aircraft would not be operated by anyone the SGC knew about on this planet. Carter and Jackson had already stowed their most important gear by the time Colonel Jack O'Neill stepped through the tumbled wall that had been their entrance into the structure, "Hurry up! Teal'c doesn't recognize the sound of whatever just arrived, either. Let's get to cover and closer to the 'Gate until we're certain they've landed somewhere far away from here."
As the trio grabbed the last of their gear and headed out of the ruined building, all three could hear the scream of a single, evidently large, vessel tearing through protesting air, apparently approaching their location. Daniel voiced his astonished discontent, "There's a whole planet to land on, why is a ship headed HERE?"
"They could have detected the operation of the Stargate or our exploration of the area near the 'Gate." Sam surmised.
"Maybe they're just going to fly overhead and land somewhere else." O'Neill suggested without much conviction as he dodged under some tree branches which could hide his team from immediate visual surveillance. Carter and Daniel followed him alongside the overgrown stone wall which had delayed the forest's encroachment upon this section of the city, through one of the wall's open gates, and onto the uneven paved path on the other side, where Teal'c stood staring intently over the wall in the direction of the approaching vessel.
Teal'c spoke without shifting his stance or gaze one iota, "O'Neill, the spacecraft is now within visual range and has not altered its original glide path. At its present rate and angle of descent, it will impact the ground before it has slowed enough for what I consider a safe landing. Instead of following this side of the wall back toward the Stargate, I would advise proceeding in the opposite direction to increase the distance between ourselves and the temple."
Teal'c's matter-of-fact suggestion of additional retreat caused his teammates to shift their gaze from the now plainly-visible space craft to Teal'c's resolutely serious face, then back to the bulbous-nosed ship. The foursome started to run along the half-protection of the wall, angling away from both the building they'd been studying and the Stargate, as the doomed ship loomed nearer.
The thundering rush of the ship was joined by the rumble of tumbling earth as one of the ship's insectlike legs ripped into a ridge in the ruins. SG-1 glanced over their shoulders. The concussive wave accompanying the impact of the ship's round nose with the temple bowled over the three humans, while Teal'c remained standing to watch the ship come to a halt in the crushed remains of the building which Carter and Jackson had found so fascinating a few moments before.
Daniel Jackson was the first human back to his feet. He stared in dismay at the ruined ruins, "What are the odds of a ship randomly crashing into the most interesting and intact building within twenty klicks of the Stargate?"
O'Neill grimly concurred, "They must have been desperate to protect something still in there. That ship looks a little big to have been a remote drone. It didn't appear to have any weaponry, either, so I'd guess they decided to go kamikaze."
Carter was using her field glasses to examine the ship itself. The interconnected globes and blocks looked like a rather primitive design, resembling giant beads on a string, with the protruding legs making the whole thing look like an oversized green insect larva. Amazingly, the ship showed no cracks or other structural damage beyond scorching on the hull. Carter was astonished when a rectangular section of the hull shifted and opened as an obvious door, "Sir! There are survivors emerging!"
O'Neill snapped his own field glasses in front of his eyes and watched in amazement as four diverse figures stepped out of the ship and surveyed their surroundings. They didn't look particularly threatening. There was certainly no military precision to their attire, their loud conversation, or the haphazard way they roamed around their landing site. Maybe they had just made a crash landing.
Miraculously, none of them appeared to be injured, although one was misshapen by human standards, with angled edges on his face and shiny black clothing. His body motion was restricted and somewhat mechanical, suggesting that his suit was perhaps some sort of advanced prosthesis. Another survivor had dreadlocks and wore a food-stained T-shirt under a well-worn leather jacket. He walked with a casual slouch that matched his comfortable clothing. The third figure was wearing what was definitely a uniform: a beige button-down shirt with matching slacks. In the company of the others, he looked like an overgrown Boy Scout. A Boy Scout with a sparkling 'H' where a Jaffa would bear his master's tattoo.
At first glance, O'Neill thought the fourth member of the quartet might actually be a System Lord, or more likely a System Lord wannabe, but although his conceited mien and self-centered body language matched the Goa'uld personality profile, his overdressed attire actually looked impeccably tasteful and ... good. Carter's incredulous murmur mirrored his own assessment, "Is that a gold lamé spacesuit?"
"Yeah, Sam, I think it ..." Daniel's soft response was cut off by a wave of Jack's hand as Wannabe cocked his head so that an ear was oriented in their direction. SG-1 fell silent and hunkered down until only their eyes and caps were visible above the wall. Wannabe looked around warily for a moment, then shrugged and noticed a small smear of dirt on his otherwise impeccable gold sleeve. He stared at the offending smudge in horror, then raised his arm to lick the dirt off his forearm with the prissy precision of a tabby cat.
Definitely NOT a Goa'uld.
"Eeewww!" mouthed O'Neill as he silently waved his team back in the direction of the Stargate. Both Carter and Jackson had expressions of similar repulsion as they nodded and started quietly back down the uneven path. Teal'c didn't even raise an eyebrow as he fell in at the rear of the group.
As SG-1 approached the opening in the wall, they could finally hear the conversation of the four newcomers clearly. Their accents sounded somewhat British, but they interjected so many unfamiliar idioms and apparent colloquialisms that their conversation was difficult to follow. Even Daniel looked intent but still confused as he listened when SG-1 stopped just short of the gap that would make them plainly visible to the four newcomers.
Dreadlocks was speaking when the words finally resolved into sensible speech for O'Neill, "...but that's the point, Rimmer. Since we're definitely not even anywhere near Earth, we don't know whether we're anywhere close in time, either. Maybe it only brought us back a million and a half years, maybe we came back four million. Until we find some kind of reference, we don't smegging know."
The square-headed fellow in the prosthetic suit piped up apologetically, "It's all my fault, Mr. Lister, sir. We didn't compensate for the magnetic effect the hyperwave's suspension field could have while interacting with Starbug's hull in the proximity of those neutron pulsars. We should have included factors for that in our calculations."
Dreadlocks' tone immediately switched from aggravated to soothing, "Don't overheat your guilt chip, Kryten. There weren't any pulsars of any sort within range of our sensors when the hyperwave was activated. How were you to know we'd pass some along the way?"
Boy Scout promptly interrupted, "Sure, Lister, worry about soothing the artificial emotions of a mechanoid when we should be concentrating on where and when we are. My hard light emitter won't last forever on Starbug's back-up power. We've GOT to find some sign of current technology before I get shut down." He turned back to the temporarily mollified Kryten, "Have you relocated those intermittent energy readings we detected from orbit?"
Kryten practically melted with apologetic guilt as he whimpered in response, "No, Mr. Rimmer, the big energy spike has completely dissipated and the intermittent faint energy readings have ceased. We may have crushed the source when we landed. There's nothing and nobody down here!" His whimper had morphed into a wail by the end of his statement.
Wannabe chose to chime in at this point, "The energy readings may have stopped, but my tingly sense tells me we're being watched, so there's somebody around here." The other three went rigid and scanned their surroundings with nervous eyes.
Rimmer sidled into the center of the group, "I don't suppose your tingly sense gave any specifics, like are these observers hungry and looking for a meal, upset because we smashed their building, or maybe preparing an ambush on general principle?" Rimmer may have looked like a Boy Scout, but he certainly didn't have any of the extolled bravery of a Boy Scout.
Both Lister and Wannabe gave Rimmer a glare before Wannabe answered, "No, Goalpost Head, my tingly sense isn't telling me anything more than what I just told you. But I want to go back to what we were talking about before. Were you saying we can't actually control the magic tunnel, or that it's broken now and we can't use it at all?" Teal'c's alert expression became slightly confused at the mention of magic.
Lister answered patiently, "The magic tunnel is more like the magic doors we used before than we thought, and it turns out we didn't calculate when or where it would take us correctly. It's not broken, but we can't control where we go until we know where we ARE."
Carter's appalled reaction to the references to magic tunnels and doors was just enough of a distraction that O'Neill missed Daniel's conclusive nod and muttered, "They're idiots."
"Daniel!" O'Neill's attempt to grab Daniel's arm and prevent him from stepping into the open was a fraction of a second too late.
The quartet milling around their space craft whirled to face Daniel. Wannabe raised his hands with his fingers arched before him and hissed, "I TOLD you my tingly sense detected someone!"
Daniel used his most placating tone, "Hi! Don't be afraid! I'm Daniel Jackson and believe it or not, we're from Earth! Well, three of the four of us are from Earth. I don't know how you're used to counting time, but the most common current reckoning would say we're in 2001 A.D. or right at the beginning of the 21st century. Does this give you a reference point? My friend Sam can also give you a positional fix for this planet."
There was more than a moment of confused gibbering from the foursome before a somewhat coherent response came from Lister/Dreadlocks, "Oh, uh, hi, then! Ummm, why should we believe you just happen to be from Earth? Cat told us you were listening, so you could just be saying that so we'll trust you."
O'Neill had belatedly come to the same conclusion as Daniel: these people were idiots. He signaled Carter and Teal'c and the three of them lowered their weapons and also stepped through the gateway into the open. O'Neill brandished his weapon, safely pointed above his head, "Because we could blow you away any minute and haven't. We don't have any reason to lie. Personally, I think it's a mighty coincidence that you just happened to crash land here and are trying to get to our planet. Why should we trust you?"
Daniel closed his eyes in frustration, "Jack, don't get them started." But it was too late. The group from the future, or wherever, was again talking over each other and wildly speculating about what horrible motives could really be behind SG-1's offer to help.
Ten minutes later, as the foursome was still arguing loudly, jumping to ever more fantastical conclusions, and alternately believing SG-1 or suspecting their motives, Jack regretted his provocation as much as Daniel. O'Neill signaled his team, "This is hopeless." He quietly issued a command to Carter, "Try one more time to give the robot guy or Lister today's date and the positional information about this planet. Then let's see if we can just slip back to the Stargate while they're still arguing."
It actually worked. Carter finally borrowed a piece of paper from Daniel's notebook and left it lying in plain sight on an overturned paving block. O'Neill gave a small wave as SG-1 slipped back through the opening in the wall and walked nonchalantly, and quietly, back toward the Stargate. If the four misfits ever noticed SG-1 had disappeared, it was long after SG-1 was safely out of earshot.
Jack couldn't believe that four such idiots apparently travelled successfully through space. As Daniel entered Earth's address into the DHD, Teal'c supplied the only verbal comment about the encounter, "It is unfortunate we could not communicate with them successfully. I had not known until today that Goa'uld lamé fabric could be used in a tasteful manner."
link to author's LJ
Sanctuary flashfic
bymidvacent
"Magnus," says Will, his voice low and urgent. "She has your face."
Kate holds a cold pack to her newly bruised cheek. She's slouching on the nearest bed, her pride a little rattled, for she snorts in a slightly bitter kind of way and says,
"No shit, Sherlock."
Helen says nothing; she merely continues to check the IV. Samantha Carter is burnt and unconscious and cuffed with one hand to the rail. She fought hard against the anthropod, she fought harder when she woke up in the back of Helens van, swaddled in bandages and drugged for the pain. In Helens eyes, she'd conducted herself like someone who had year's long practice in escaping. Except, when she'd stood with Kate's gun to Wills head and glared Helen down, she hadn't been prepared for Henry's wide range stunner. None of them had. The aching behind Helen's eyes, and behind Will and Kate's, is testimony.
"If you could check that the creature is secure?" She says, turning to Will. She doesn't doubt Henry's skill, but words must be said, and they are the kind said better without an audience. He gets her meaning immediately, and she smiles when he says,
"Sure," and gestures Kate to follow.
Kate rolls her eyes. "I gotta date with the Big Guy anyway," She says. She grins crookedly at Helen and trails out the door after Will.
Helen does a once over on her patient, and then sits down on the nearest chair and waits. It doesn't take Nikola long to appear, wine glass in hand. No doubt he got the story from Henry within their first half hour home and was up until now working out his plan.
"Well, well, what have we here?" He says, his usual superior attitude draped about him like a cloak.
"You don't recognise her?" She says, eyebrow arching.
He laughs, and then stops when he sees she is not. He knows for all his schemes, he can't play this game with her, not today. Instead he says,
"She's not nearly as pretty as I expected."
Helen snorts and then sighs. "She's going to want answers."
"I would too If I were a clone." He shrugs.
Watership Down
bysg_fignewton
Bigwig peered dubiously upwards at the huge circle. "Why would Frith want a ring that reaches the clouds?" he asked dismissively. He snuffled at the stone, which seemed oddly cold in the warmth of the afternoon.
"It's not just a ring," insisted Chickweed. "I saw it become a great tunnel of water, just like the story of when you brought the does out of Efrara!"
Bigwig sat back on his haunches and regarded the young Owsla officer with weary tolerance. "Listening to your mother's tales are a fine thing," he said kindly, "but I was there when we really did go through the tunnel of water, and it wasn't anything like this. Now, let's head back to --"
He stopped and pricked his ears at the sudden thrumming, too low for human ears to hear. Neither rabbit needed the sudden thunks or the mysterious lights along the ring's edges to tell them to bolt for safety before the ring erupted in a wash of water and sound.
They paused long enough under the cover of a bush to stare at the tunnel of blue that formed within the ring. But when the ripples were suddenly broken by the emergence of a strange and monstrous hrududu, Bigwig and Chickweed didn't wait around any longer to see what would happen next.
Thanks to those who participated!
The A-Team
by
una_spectre The rain battered down as the two coffins were slowly lowered into the ground. The small boy standing at the side of the grave gripped the hand of the old man beside him as he stared blankly at the coffins.
His heart ached to see the boy so grief stricken and he wanted to go over but it was too dangerous.
"Captain," the soft voice forced him to look round, "We have to get going."
Murdock sighed, "I want to be able to help him, Colonel. Daniel is a good kid."
"Daniel also doesn't need us in his life," Hannibal reminded him, "His grandfather will look after him."
Sadly Murdock whispered goodbye to his nephew before following his commander back to the van that was sitting several streets away from the graveyard. As they entered the van Murdock was surprised to find the other two members of his team sitting in silence, he was handed a towel to dry off from the pouring rain. BA started the engine and pulled out back onto the road leaving the funeral behind.
Due South
by
una_spectre Chicago Flashback
Daniel was tired.
He'd come to Chicago for a funeral and ended up in what seemed to be the flashback from hell. The murder of the curator had thrown it even further into the nightmare not helped by Steven who decided to try to persuade the police that Daniel had something to do with it.
Daniel looked around the small room he was sitting in, it was an interview room in the police station and Daniel was kinda amazed to be here again, especially on this side of the glass. He still had to get his phone call and he wanted to call Jack but Jack was fishing and it was more than likely he'd thrown away the phone Teal'c had smuggled with him.
At least he'd been given some coffee while he waited for whoever was going to come and talk about the murder with him. Daniel leaned back in his chair staring at his reflection in the mirror facing him.
"I need an actual vacation," he sighed to the empty room.
"Sir."
Lieutenant Welsh turned at the voice of the man he'd been waiting for, "Vecchio, you're finally here."
"Sorry, sir," Ray replied, "We were heading for a basketball game when you called not to mention you told me you didn't want to see me till Monday morning."
Welsh looked just behind his detective to see the Mountie and wolf standing there and sighed, he should have known.
"I know I said that," Welsh replied, "But about an hour ago the Museum Curator at the University was murdered."
"I haven't been there in years," Ray murmured turning to his friend, "Yes I have stepped foot in an institute of higher learning."
"I didn't say a word, Ray," Fraser noted.
Ray scowled at him, "You had a look," he turned back to his boss who was waiting with the look of a man who'd become far too used to insanity, "Give me the details and I'll..."
"You're not getting this case," Welsh cut him off.
"I'm not getting the case?" Ray frowned, "Then why am I here?"
Welsh motioned him to follow; Ray looked back at his friend before following on with Fraser and Diefenbaker just behind. Ray knew his boss well enough to know that something was definitely going on but at this precise moment in time Ray was clueless as to what it could be.
"The murder was called in by two men who found the body," Welsh explained when they reached an observation room; "One was Dr Steven Raynor."
"No," Welsh replied, "I called you here because of the second man."
Ray stepped inside the room and stared through the window at the man sitting staring into a coffee cup.
"Daniel?"
Fraser joined Ray who was staring through the window at the man in the other room.
"I take it you know this man," he probed.
"Yeah, Benny I do," Ray shook his head, "And I thought he was dead."
"Oh," was all Fraser could think of as Diefenbaker whined and rested his head against Ray's leg.
Ray absently stroked the wolf's head, "I met him just after I'd become a detective," he explained, "He helped me with a big case and we became friends. Guy had no family so at Christmas I took him home; my mother loved him. He was like you, polite."
Ray sighed again, "Real smart guy killed his career with some theories that were outrageous then disappeared. A few months later I got a package from him. The letter told me it was sent because he died. It contained some junk I'd admired from his apartment and you know the locket Ma wears."
"I do not believe I've ever seen her without it," Fraser noted.
"It belonged to his mother," Ray shrugged before anger set in, "I'm going to kill him."
"Ray," Fraser called but his friend was already out the door.
Ray was raging, five years since Daniel had disappeared and he turns up again at a murder scene. He remembered the grief he'd felt when he'd read that letter, the way his mother had cried at the news and how the whole family were quiet for weeks around him.
He heard Fraser call him back but ignored him throwing open the door to the interrogation room.
"I was wondering when you'd get here," Daniel sighed before looking up at him, "Hi Ray."
All his anger slipped away as Ray stared at the younger man. He looked so different. Other than the exhaustion in his eyes there was something else. Daniel had always had an enthusiasm about him; there used to be life in there but not anymore.
"Where the hell have you been?" Ray demanded softly walking over to him.
Daniel stood to face him, "It's a long story."
Ray sighed and hugged his friend, "At least you're alive. Ma is going to be ecstatic to see you."
A small smile touched Daniel's lips, "So how long am I going to be here for?"
"No idea," Ray replied, "This isn't my case. Welsh just called me here ‘cause you reappeared."
"Can I at least make a call?" Daniel asked, "I'm sure I'm owed one."
Ray nodded, "Come on. You can use the phone at my desk."
"Well, Dr Jackson," Welsh noted, "You have some powerful friends."
Daniel looked embarrassed, "Who called?"
"The Police Commissioner who apparently got his orders directly from our congressman who got it from the President," Welsh replied, "Care to share?"
Daniel looked even more self-conscious, "I can't really say. But I honestly had nothing to do with the death of that woman."
"I know that," Welsh rolled his eyes; "I remember the help you gave us when you were here. Can you tell me anything though?"
Daniel shook his head sadly, "I wish I knew."
Welsh smiled at him offering Daniel his hand, "It was good to see you again, Dr Jackson."
Daniel smiled back shaking the offered hand, "You too."
"So," Ray said as Daniel walked past him making Daniel turn back to where Ray was leaning against the wall outside Welsh's office, "Where you going?"
"I have things I have to do," Daniel told him.
"Really," Ray checked his watch; "You know it's almost midnight on a Friday night, what can you do just now?"
Daniel sighed checking his own watch, "Get some sleep."
"Come on," Ray slapped his shoulder, "I'll treat you to some pizza."
Daniel waved his hand, "Why not."
Ray grinned, "I know the perfect place."
"Remind me to introduce you to Jack," Daniel murmured as he followed Ray out of the station.
Ray filled Daniel in on what had happened to him over the past few years noting that Daniel hadn't given any information on himself.
"So your partner is a Mountie?" Daniel asked as he grabbed another slice of pizza, "And he has an actual wolf?"
"I'll introduce you two," Ray grinned, "You can be as nice and polite to each other for hours on end."
Daniel laughed, "I'll have to introduce you to a friend of mine. He's also from Chicago."
Ray jumped on the opportunity, "Your friends? From work?"
"Ah," Daniel dropped his head, "I can't tell you, Ray."
"Why not?" his instincts coming into play.
"Classified," Daniel said before frowning, he'd done that involuntarily.
Ray stared at him, "Are you working for the Government?"
"Air Force," Daniel replied, "It's a long story and one I can't really tell."
"Daniel..."
"Ray," Daniel cut him off, "You have to trust me I'm fine. I like what I'm doing and I have good friends."
Ray nodded, "Anyone I should know about? Ma will want to know. Or did you get back with the Ice Queen?"
"Sarah and I are history," Daniel replied wrinkling his nose a little, "I wouldn't go down that road again," he hesitated for a minute before looking at his friend, "Actually, I got married?"
"Really?"
Daniel pulled out his wallet and showed Ray the picture of Sha're.
Ray whistled, "Wow, very nice. Where is she?"
"She died last year."
"Danny, I'm sorry," Ray whispered, "If I..."
"You couldn't have known," Daniel replied sadly, "I have to head back to Colorado tomorrow morning."
"After whatever you're doing is over," Ray told him, "Come back for a few days. Ma and everyone would love to see ya."
"I think I'll take you up on that offer," Daniel replied grabbing another slice of pizza.
link to author's LJ
Farscape flashfic
by
lokeiIf there was one thing Cameron Mitchell never expected to see on the bridge of an Asgard ship, it was his own face staring back at him with a nearly identical look of disbelief and some kind of fake NASA vest on.
"Mitchell, who the hell is that?" Jackson, eloquent and pissy as he always was when torn from his beloved translations, sans-coffee and sans-warning, moved up to stand beside Mitchell in a kind of solidarity that Cam really appreciated even though he wasn't sure he'd earned it yet.
"John Crichton, astronaut," the stranger answered.
"Not a Mitchell, then?" Sam looked between Cam and his doppelganger and looked far too amused. "You didn't by any chance touch any mirrors lately?"
"And what would a piece of reflective glass have to do with anything?" A haughty voice floated from the doorway and Cam blinked.
"Vala!?"
"Not Vala," Jackson murmured beside him as the black-clad woman moved to stand at Crichton's elbow mirroring Jackson's stance.
"This would be Aeryn Sun," Crichton crossed his arms.
Cam looked at his team, hoping someone would help him out here.
"Fascinating," Teal'c's lips were twitching, and his amusement was only moderately better hidden than Sam's and Jackson's.
"This is just going to be a beaut of a day," Cam sighed.
House, MD flashfic
by
rbmi_fan When he comes in his parents are beside themselves, and he's barely conscious. House had looked at the symptoms, ordered the tests and retreated to his office. Wilson had picked out this one. Cameron's the one who talks to the parents. They don't know much.
"We're foster parents. He just got here two weeks ago. This..." The mother, Mrs. Lowell stopped. Her arms go up; start to wrap around her chest, but stop and scrub her face instead. "Will he be all right?"
His name is Daniel Jackson. They give her his file. Medical history. The book he'd been reading.
"Isn't this a bit old for him?" Lowell just shakes her head a bit ruefully.
"He won't read anything simpler."
There's nothing to say to that, so Cameron nods and stands up. "I'll let you know when you can see him."
* * *
She's checking his IV when he wakes up. He looks around, and then at her, eyes wide behind the oxygen mask. She puts on her most reassuring smile.
"Hey, Daniel. That mask is helping you breathe right. You can take it off to talk. How are you feeling?"
She helps him lift it off his face long enough to ask, face solemn. "Am I dying?"
Cameron's smile almost slips. "No," she tells him firmly. "We're going to do everything we can to make you better." And she prays to anyone who might be listening that she isn't lying.
But Daniel shakes his head, and turns away. Cameron gets the distinct impression that he doesn't believe her.
* * *
"I don't want to see them." He's sitting up in bed with an IV in one arm, holding an an oxygen mask away from his face, and he's looking pretty pale. He should be lying down.
"Your parents-"
"Foster parents." He's got that stubborn set to his mouth that Cameron has learned means he's intent on being difficult. Cameron makes a placating gesture.
"Your foster parents are worried about you."
He glances at them through the window. "They're trying. I still don't want to see them."
* * *
House catches her as she's opening the door. "Go help Chase. I let you spend any more time with him you'll be filing for adoption."
She stares. "You're offering to interact with a patient?"
"Maybe I want him to give me a crash course on pharaohs." He leans in conspiratorially. "It's always been a secret passion of mine."
Cameron just sighs and leaves to find Chase. She hopes he doesn't traumatize the kid too much. She doesn't think even House is that cruel.
* * *
"You want to adopt me?" He's amused. He's also looking much better. Cameron winces, and reminds herself why she works for this guy.
"I see you've spoken with House." She keeps her tone neutral. "Don't take anything he says personally. He likes to get a reaction out of people."
"I noticed." He pauses, and his eyes slide to one side. "There are worse ways to live."
She's surprised. Most people don't take House that well. She says as much, and he shrugs.
"He's honest. I like that." And that's all he'll say on the subject. He's released later that day to his harried-looking new parents. She never saw him again.
Primeval flashfic
by
sallymnSparkly
In front of the Stargate, the air was all... sparkly. Like shards of light.
But that wasn't the main problem at the minute.
The odd young teenager who had barreled out of the sparkles yelling "don'tshootdon'tshootdon'tshoot!!!" and who was now babbling in an English-accented stream of facts, figures and fretting at top speed... no, he wasn't the problem. Yet.
The ghastly little flying... things, like mini-pterodactyls with the faces of livid bats, swooping around in the gateroom and the sealed-off corridors of Level 28 were definitely a problem - they bit. But they weren't the problem. Yet.
No, it was the 7-foot tall dinosaur blundering and bellowing and crashing into the Gate that was definitely... well, part of the problem. And the two that had gotten out of the gateroom and were now blundering and bellowing around the same corridors was definitely the other part.
And just about everyone staring down from the control room with wide eyes and dropping jaws really had only one thought, which the Colonel, being the Colonel, was the one to voice.
"I thought T Rex was much bigger than that."
Carter turned her chair and opened her lips to speak, but the stranger jumped in first. "It is it is, but this isn't a T Rex you know, at least you probably don't know, but we worked out that it's - well we think it's - no the Professor was pretty sure it's a Carcharodontosaurus, although we didn't have a lot of time to -"
"A - what?"
"- Look it up, but if you look at the shape of the skull and the teeth... sorry, did you say something?" he stopped for a moment, rubbed a hand over his face, then started again before anyone could speak, "Sorry. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a Carcharodontosaurus, though maybe one of the other carnosaurs of the time, we didn't get a lot of time, too busy running like the clappers, and what we know about them is all much of a -"
"Hey!" O'Neill held up his usual 'Daniel Shushing' hand. "Who are you and what -"
"Oh sorry, sorry, Connor Temple, ARC. I'm a... I don't think I'm supposed to tell you, not till I've talked to... anyway, they followed us and -"
"A Carcharodontosaurus? They're about 23 feet tall and even bigger than as -" Carter saw the et tu? look her long-suffering superior gave her and shrugged. "Dino-geek as a child, sir."
"It looks very young," Daniel murmured, "for a carnosaur." He also shrugged. "Geek for absolutely anything old, Jack."
"They're juveniles, actually," Temple nodded furiously, "between two and four years old we think. Left alone while Mum and Dad went hunting, but when they saw us - like even for a baby we're, you know, breakfast - and the anomaly -"
"That -" Carter pointed down at the sparkles, "is this 'anomaly', I take it?"
"Yeah, that's - oh wow." The boy seemed to notice what was behind the sparkles. "What is that???"
"Classified," O'Neill snapped.
"Some sort of anomaly machine? That would be so cool, we still do know how they're made or how to -"
"Hey!" The 'Daniel Shushing' hand obviously worked as well on this Temple guy as it did on, well, Daniel. "What part of classified don't you understand?"
"Hey I understand, ours is classified too, only it's a little hard when it - and they - are right there in front of - oh hell, where did the pteradons go?"
"Those would be the flying... things,"
"Think piranhas," Temple said helpfully. "With wings. We've gotta get them and the Carcharodontosaurus back through the anomaly. You don't wanna kill them, trust me -"
"I don't trust you and we do want to kill them." He managed not to flinch as three sets of geeky eyes gazed at him in absolute horror.
"You can't, they're only babies and anyway, we can't mess with the past like -"
"The past?" Daniel's head whipped around.
"The past?" Carter bounced up.
"The past?" O'Neill took a look at the little... no, it still looked like a little T Rex to him. "How much past, and how are they now in the present, and how the hell did you get that thing into a top-secret military installation?"
Temple looked at them all, then down at the sparkles, and the gate, and the still bellowing primeval baby, and then grinned sheepishly. "Uhh, would you believe... that's classified too?"
link to author's LJ
Red Dwarf
by
acarlgeek G is for Goa'uld Lamé
Major Sam Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson both snapped their heads upward and stepped away from their respective sections of the fascinating ruins on P3W-273 when they heard the multiple sonic booms of spacecraft braking in atmosphere. The overlapping loud reports didn't sound like the clean single booms of a group of death gliders, nor the multifocal boom of an alkesh, but even intra-atmospheric supersonic aircraft would not be operated by anyone the SGC knew about on this planet. Carter and Jackson had already stowed their most important gear by the time Colonel Jack O'Neill stepped through the tumbled wall that had been their entrance into the structure, "Hurry up! Teal'c doesn't recognize the sound of whatever just arrived, either. Let's get to cover and closer to the 'Gate until we're certain they've landed somewhere far away from here."
As the trio grabbed the last of their gear and headed out of the ruined building, all three could hear the scream of a single, evidently large, vessel tearing through protesting air, apparently approaching their location. Daniel voiced his astonished discontent, "There's a whole planet to land on, why is a ship headed HERE?"
"They could have detected the operation of the Stargate or our exploration of the area near the 'Gate." Sam surmised.
"Maybe they're just going to fly overhead and land somewhere else." O'Neill suggested without much conviction as he dodged under some tree branches which could hide his team from immediate visual surveillance. Carter and Daniel followed him alongside the overgrown stone wall which had delayed the forest's encroachment upon this section of the city, through one of the wall's open gates, and onto the uneven paved path on the other side, where Teal'c stood staring intently over the wall in the direction of the approaching vessel.
Teal'c spoke without shifting his stance or gaze one iota, "O'Neill, the spacecraft is now within visual range and has not altered its original glide path. At its present rate and angle of descent, it will impact the ground before it has slowed enough for what I consider a safe landing. Instead of following this side of the wall back toward the Stargate, I would advise proceeding in the opposite direction to increase the distance between ourselves and the temple."
Teal'c's matter-of-fact suggestion of additional retreat caused his teammates to shift their gaze from the now plainly-visible space craft to Teal'c's resolutely serious face, then back to the bulbous-nosed ship. The foursome started to run along the half-protection of the wall, angling away from both the building they'd been studying and the Stargate, as the doomed ship loomed nearer.
The thundering rush of the ship was joined by the rumble of tumbling earth as one of the ship's insectlike legs ripped into a ridge in the ruins. SG-1 glanced over their shoulders. The concussive wave accompanying the impact of the ship's round nose with the temple bowled over the three humans, while Teal'c remained standing to watch the ship come to a halt in the crushed remains of the building which Carter and Jackson had found so fascinating a few moments before.
Daniel Jackson was the first human back to his feet. He stared in dismay at the ruined ruins, "What are the odds of a ship randomly crashing into the most interesting and intact building within twenty klicks of the Stargate?"
O'Neill grimly concurred, "They must have been desperate to protect something still in there. That ship looks a little big to have been a remote drone. It didn't appear to have any weaponry, either, so I'd guess they decided to go kamikaze."
Carter was using her field glasses to examine the ship itself. The interconnected globes and blocks looked like a rather primitive design, resembling giant beads on a string, with the protruding legs making the whole thing look like an oversized green insect larva. Amazingly, the ship showed no cracks or other structural damage beyond scorching on the hull. Carter was astonished when a rectangular section of the hull shifted and opened as an obvious door, "Sir! There are survivors emerging!"
O'Neill snapped his own field glasses in front of his eyes and watched in amazement as four diverse figures stepped out of the ship and surveyed their surroundings. They didn't look particularly threatening. There was certainly no military precision to their attire, their loud conversation, or the haphazard way they roamed around their landing site. Maybe they had just made a crash landing.
Miraculously, none of them appeared to be injured, although one was misshapen by human standards, with angled edges on his face and shiny black clothing. His body motion was restricted and somewhat mechanical, suggesting that his suit was perhaps some sort of advanced prosthesis. Another survivor had dreadlocks and wore a food-stained T-shirt under a well-worn leather jacket. He walked with a casual slouch that matched his comfortable clothing. The third figure was wearing what was definitely a uniform: a beige button-down shirt with matching slacks. In the company of the others, he looked like an overgrown Boy Scout. A Boy Scout with a sparkling 'H' where a Jaffa would bear his master's tattoo.
At first glance, O'Neill thought the fourth member of the quartet might actually be a System Lord, or more likely a System Lord wannabe, but although his conceited mien and self-centered body language matched the Goa'uld personality profile, his overdressed attire actually looked impeccably tasteful and ... good. Carter's incredulous murmur mirrored his own assessment, "Is that a gold lamé spacesuit?"
"Yeah, Sam, I think it ..." Daniel's soft response was cut off by a wave of Jack's hand as Wannabe cocked his head so that an ear was oriented in their direction. SG-1 fell silent and hunkered down until only their eyes and caps were visible above the wall. Wannabe looked around warily for a moment, then shrugged and noticed a small smear of dirt on his otherwise impeccable gold sleeve. He stared at the offending smudge in horror, then raised his arm to lick the dirt off his forearm with the prissy precision of a tabby cat.
Definitely NOT a Goa'uld.
"Eeewww!" mouthed O'Neill as he silently waved his team back in the direction of the Stargate. Both Carter and Jackson had expressions of similar repulsion as they nodded and started quietly back down the uneven path. Teal'c didn't even raise an eyebrow as he fell in at the rear of the group.
As SG-1 approached the opening in the wall, they could finally hear the conversation of the four newcomers clearly. Their accents sounded somewhat British, but they interjected so many unfamiliar idioms and apparent colloquialisms that their conversation was difficult to follow. Even Daniel looked intent but still confused as he listened when SG-1 stopped just short of the gap that would make them plainly visible to the four newcomers.
Dreadlocks was speaking when the words finally resolved into sensible speech for O'Neill, "...but that's the point, Rimmer. Since we're definitely not even anywhere near Earth, we don't know whether we're anywhere close in time, either. Maybe it only brought us back a million and a half years, maybe we came back four million. Until we find some kind of reference, we don't smegging know."
The square-headed fellow in the prosthetic suit piped up apologetically, "It's all my fault, Mr. Lister, sir. We didn't compensate for the magnetic effect the hyperwave's suspension field could have while interacting with Starbug's hull in the proximity of those neutron pulsars. We should have included factors for that in our calculations."
Dreadlocks' tone immediately switched from aggravated to soothing, "Don't overheat your guilt chip, Kryten. There weren't any pulsars of any sort within range of our sensors when the hyperwave was activated. How were you to know we'd pass some along the way?"
Boy Scout promptly interrupted, "Sure, Lister, worry about soothing the artificial emotions of a mechanoid when we should be concentrating on where and when we are. My hard light emitter won't last forever on Starbug's back-up power. We've GOT to find some sign of current technology before I get shut down." He turned back to the temporarily mollified Kryten, "Have you relocated those intermittent energy readings we detected from orbit?"
Kryten practically melted with apologetic guilt as he whimpered in response, "No, Mr. Rimmer, the big energy spike has completely dissipated and the intermittent faint energy readings have ceased. We may have crushed the source when we landed. There's nothing and nobody down here!" His whimper had morphed into a wail by the end of his statement.
Wannabe chose to chime in at this point, "The energy readings may have stopped, but my tingly sense tells me we're being watched, so there's somebody around here." The other three went rigid and scanned their surroundings with nervous eyes.
Rimmer sidled into the center of the group, "I don't suppose your tingly sense gave any specifics, like are these observers hungry and looking for a meal, upset because we smashed their building, or maybe preparing an ambush on general principle?" Rimmer may have looked like a Boy Scout, but he certainly didn't have any of the extolled bravery of a Boy Scout.
Both Lister and Wannabe gave Rimmer a glare before Wannabe answered, "No, Goalpost Head, my tingly sense isn't telling me anything more than what I just told you. But I want to go back to what we were talking about before. Were you saying we can't actually control the magic tunnel, or that it's broken now and we can't use it at all?" Teal'c's alert expression became slightly confused at the mention of magic.
Lister answered patiently, "The magic tunnel is more like the magic doors we used before than we thought, and it turns out we didn't calculate when or where it would take us correctly. It's not broken, but we can't control where we go until we know where we ARE."
Carter's appalled reaction to the references to magic tunnels and doors was just enough of a distraction that O'Neill missed Daniel's conclusive nod and muttered, "They're idiots."
"Daniel!" O'Neill's attempt to grab Daniel's arm and prevent him from stepping into the open was a fraction of a second too late.
The quartet milling around their space craft whirled to face Daniel. Wannabe raised his hands with his fingers arched before him and hissed, "I TOLD you my tingly sense detected someone!"
Daniel used his most placating tone, "Hi! Don't be afraid! I'm Daniel Jackson and believe it or not, we're from Earth! Well, three of the four of us are from Earth. I don't know how you're used to counting time, but the most common current reckoning would say we're in 2001 A.D. or right at the beginning of the 21st century. Does this give you a reference point? My friend Sam can also give you a positional fix for this planet."
There was more than a moment of confused gibbering from the foursome before a somewhat coherent response came from Lister/Dreadlocks, "Oh, uh, hi, then! Ummm, why should we believe you just happen to be from Earth? Cat told us you were listening, so you could just be saying that so we'll trust you."
O'Neill had belatedly come to the same conclusion as Daniel: these people were idiots. He signaled Carter and Teal'c and the three of them lowered their weapons and also stepped through the gateway into the open. O'Neill brandished his weapon, safely pointed above his head, "Because we could blow you away any minute and haven't. We don't have any reason to lie. Personally, I think it's a mighty coincidence that you just happened to crash land here and are trying to get to our planet. Why should we trust you?"
Daniel closed his eyes in frustration, "Jack, don't get them started." But it was too late. The group from the future, or wherever, was again talking over each other and wildly speculating about what horrible motives could really be behind SG-1's offer to help.
Ten minutes later, as the foursome was still arguing loudly, jumping to ever more fantastical conclusions, and alternately believing SG-1 or suspecting their motives, Jack regretted his provocation as much as Daniel. O'Neill signaled his team, "This is hopeless." He quietly issued a command to Carter, "Try one more time to give the robot guy or Lister today's date and the positional information about this planet. Then let's see if we can just slip back to the Stargate while they're still arguing."
It actually worked. Carter finally borrowed a piece of paper from Daniel's notebook and left it lying in plain sight on an overturned paving block. O'Neill gave a small wave as SG-1 slipped back through the opening in the wall and walked nonchalantly, and quietly, back toward the Stargate. If the four misfits ever noticed SG-1 had disappeared, it was long after SG-1 was safely out of earshot.
Jack couldn't believe that four such idiots apparently travelled successfully through space. As Daniel entered Earth's address into the DHD, Teal'c supplied the only verbal comment about the encounter, "It is unfortunate we could not communicate with them successfully. I had not known until today that Goa'uld lamé fabric could be used in a tasteful manner."
link to author's LJ
Sanctuary flashfic
by
midvacent "Magnus," says Will, his voice low and urgent. "She has your face."
Kate holds a cold pack to her newly bruised cheek. She's slouching on the nearest bed, her pride a little rattled, for she snorts in a slightly bitter kind of way and says,
"No shit, Sherlock."
Helen says nothing; she merely continues to check the IV. Samantha Carter is burnt and unconscious and cuffed with one hand to the rail. She fought hard against the anthropod, she fought harder when she woke up in the back of Helens van, swaddled in bandages and drugged for the pain. In Helens eyes, she'd conducted herself like someone who had year's long practice in escaping. Except, when she'd stood with Kate's gun to Wills head and glared Helen down, she hadn't been prepared for Henry's wide range stunner. None of them had. The aching behind Helen's eyes, and behind Will and Kate's, is testimony.
"If you could check that the creature is secure?" She says, turning to Will. She doesn't doubt Henry's skill, but words must be said, and they are the kind said better without an audience. He gets her meaning immediately, and she smiles when he says,
"Sure," and gestures Kate to follow.
Kate rolls her eyes. "I gotta date with the Big Guy anyway," She says. She grins crookedly at Helen and trails out the door after Will.
Helen does a once over on her patient, and then sits down on the nearest chair and waits. It doesn't take Nikola long to appear, wine glass in hand. No doubt he got the story from Henry within their first half hour home and was up until now working out his plan.
"Well, well, what have we here?" He says, his usual superior attitude draped about him like a cloak.
"You don't recognise her?" She says, eyebrow arching.
He laughs, and then stops when he sees she is not. He knows for all his schemes, he can't play this game with her, not today. Instead he says,
"She's not nearly as pretty as I expected."
Helen snorts and then sighs. "She's going to want answers."
"I would too If I were a clone." He shrugs.
Watership Down
by
sg_fignewtonBigwig peered dubiously upwards at the huge circle. "Why would Frith want a ring that reaches the clouds?" he asked dismissively. He snuffled at the stone, which seemed oddly cold in the warmth of the afternoon.
"It's not just a ring," insisted Chickweed. "I saw it become a great tunnel of water, just like the story of when you brought the does out of Efrara!"
Bigwig sat back on his haunches and regarded the young Owsla officer with weary tolerance. "Listening to your mother's tales are a fine thing," he said kindly, "but I was there when we really did go through the tunnel of water, and it wasn't anything like this. Now, let's head back to --"
He stopped and pricked his ears at the sudden thrumming, too low for human ears to hear. Neither rabbit needed the sudden thunks or the mysterious lights along the ring's edges to tell them to bolt for safety before the ring erupted in a wash of water and sound.
They paused long enough under the cover of a bush to stare at the tunnel of blue that formed within the ring. But when the ripples were suddenly broken by the emergence of a strange and monstrous hrududu, Bigwig and Chickweed didn't wait around any longer to see what would happen next.
Tags: