“Just lay out as many ‘beds’ as you can,” Jeannie told the Athosian kids who were helping set up the shelter, “Everyone will just have to put up with sleeping in one big dormitory.”
With that done she headed to where Charin was organising food for everyone, Jeannie checked her watch and sighed.
“How’re we doing?” Jeannie asked the elder woman.
Charin looked up from her work, “There shall be enough for all for the one night. You need to get back to your own work, Jeannie and leave us to deal with this.”
Duly chastised Jeannie smiled; the old woman had decided to mother the younger which was something Jeannie wasn’t complaining about. She missed her own mother, even just for the encouraging smile she would get when Jeannie had a problem she couldn’t solve.
“Jeannie,” Siler’s voice broke her from her thoughts, “The first group is here.”
“Okay, send them down;” Jeannie told him, “Halling will get them settled in. I’ll be in my lab trying to get things sorted before the storm hits.”
“Make sure you get to the shelter in time,” Siler told her.
“Don’t worry about me,” Jeannie told him, “Just keep everyone together, start a sing song.”
She heard Siler chuckle as she headed into her lab.
John settled the Jumper down on the mainland and opened the back of the ship to let his passengers out.
“Okay, folks,” he called as he saw Siler standing waiting, “Follow the nice man to the shelters and I’ll see you soon.”
He heard a few chuckles from the people getting out; the moment the Jumper was empty John closed the hatch and headed back to Atlantis for the next load. They had very little time to do this so he and the few other pilots they had were doing as many runs as possible. John settled the ship in the Jumper Bay and picked up his next lot knowing he had no time to stop and relax before he started back to the mainland.
“John,” Sha’re’s voice came over the radio, “This is your last group. We’ll see you in the morning.”
“Cool,” John replied, “Can I get my stuff before I leave again.”
“Here,” Ronon dropped into the seat beside John holding two bags, “Sha’re sent me with this.”
“See you tomorrow, John,” the woman’s voice came smugly making him laugh.
John rolled his eyes, “Okay, people buckle up back there. It’s getting choppy outside.”
*********************************************
Sha’re smiled as Daniel and Jack dragged the mattress into her office for them tonight. They’d already put one in the ZPM chamber where Laura and Rodney would be spending the night while Jack and Janet would just use a spare bed in the infirmary when they needed to sleep.
Outside the city was already dark and stormy, the wind was whipping wildly outside the windows and Sha’re could see the waves surge against the city. She was fascinated by it, having never seen anything quite like it before.
When Daniel’s arms wrapped around her waist she leaned back into the warmth, “Has the city been evacuated?”
“Last Jumper’s just gone,” Daniel replied, kissing along her jaw.
“It is incredible,” Sha’re noted, cuddling deeper into his embrace, “When I was a child I never would have dreamed that anything like this was possible.”
“Tell me about it,” Daniel replied, smiling at her surprised look, “I grew up in Egypt, remember. Very similar to Abydos. It wasn’t until I moved back to America I realised that not everywhere was a desert.”
Sha’re chuckled softly making him frown.
“What’s so funny?” he demanded.
Sha’re turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, “I am just thinking about what a sweet child you must have been. It would have been interesting if we met as children.”
Daniel laughed, “If we’d met as children, I wouldn’t have had a chance.”
Sha’re kissed him, “And you do now?”
“Good point,” he grinned, frowning slightly as she detangled herself from his arms, “What?”
Sha’re slid into her seat, “As much as I would like to continue, it is still early and I have work to do. As do you, my husband.”
Daniel sighed, “Fine.”
Sha’re chuckled, “Once we work for a while we can have dinner.”
“And after dinner?” Daniel asked with a smile.
Sha’re shook her head motioning him to his own corner of the office, “We shall see.”
Jack sat in the main office listening to Janet as she moved around the infirmary checking on the few patients she wouldn’t allow to be moved. He’d decided since there was no one to annoy him he’d actually get some work done. The recruits they’d been training had to be split into some teams for exploring, the two teams weren’t really enough to travel through the Gate to find more ZPM’s. The past few hours since the city had emptied, he’d left Daniel and Sha’re in her office then ploughed through the pile of paperwork Sha’re lumped on him. Jack wondered where she got this tendency for forms and reports.
“Hey,” Janet poked her head into the office, “Ready for some food?”
Jack looked up and nodded, “You’re my saviour, Janet. This is driving me crazy.”
Janet laughed, “I can tell. You’ve got the ‘I need cake’ look.”
With a slight smile Jack followed her through to her office where she’d set up dinner, Jack loved the fact that Janet was now the woman he remembered from the SGC. She smiled, she sang to herself and the look of despair in her eyes that she carried for the years after Carter had taken Cassie away from them was gone. Jack saw the sparkle reappear the moment Cassie had appeared in front of her mother in the conference room.
“Okay,” Janet grabbed a sat beside him, “Not exactly restaurant quality but...”
Jack chuckled as she trailed off, “Well it is better than you actually cooking, Janet.”
“I’d be insulted,” she told him with a laugh, “If I hadn’t been the one to give you food poisoning.”
***********************************************
Radek sat going over reports from his team as he sat in the corner of the large room they were using to wait out the storm. He glanced up as three children stood near him, shaking his head he returned to his work feeling small eyes on him.
“What do you want?” he demanded of the kids; he didn’t like children, never had and these ones watching him irritated him.
“Are you making things work in the city?” the eldest boy asked.
Radek couldn’t stop his smile at the look on the young faces, “I am reading reports of others who are trying to make things work.”
“Ahh!!” the three children gasped more impressed than Radek thought his work deserved.
“Atti, Lille, Hendi,” a woman called making all three look guilty, “I told you not to disturb anyone.”
“Sorry,” the three chorused before disappearing leaving Radek with the woman.
“They were not bothering me,” he said as he saw them watching from across the room.
The woman smiled and Radek studied her, she had warm brown eyes and light brown hair, she had a kind face and Radek would describe her as handsome as she didn’t seem to fit the moniker pretty.
“I’m Radek Zelenka,” he introduced himself wanting to keep talking to her, to at least find out her name so he could find her again after they were able to leave the bunker.
A smile covered the woman’s face, “Tali,” she introduced herself, “It is nice to meet you.”
“So,” Radek motioned her to join him, “Are they all yours?”
Tali laughed, “Only Lille, the little girl in the middle.”
Radek nodded, now he was looking he could see the resemblance, “She is very like you.”
Tali smiled before looking slightly wistful, “I am pleased about that though sometimes there are times I wish she looked like her father. He died in a Wraith attack before she was born.”
“I’m sorry,” Radek told her gently.
Tali looked embarrassed, “I am so sorry, I do not know why I am telling you this.”
Radek shrugged, “Sometimes it is good to talk with people you don’t know that well.”
“Thank you,” Tali smiled at him again, “It was nice to talk to you, Radek. I will let you get back to your work now while I try to keep my daughter and her friends in check.”
Radek smiled watching her leave suddenly aware of a shadow covering him, looking up he saw Siler with a wry amused grin.
“Not a word,” Radek warned.
“Wouldn’t dare,” Siler smiled before he became serious, “Have you seen Jeannie?”
Radek frowned, “Not since she met me when I got off the Jumper.”
Siler grimaced, “I haven’t seen her in hours. I bet she’s in the lab.”
John saw Siler coming back and saw instantly that he’d had no luck finding their wayward scientist. The sound of the wind outside was making him nervous especially since he wanted to talk to her and she was nowhere to be found.
“He hasn’t seen her,” John stated as Siler arrived back from talking to Radek, “We should have tied her to chair.”
Siler smiled slightly, “Doubt that would have worked, Jeannie does what she wants no matter what anyone says.”
The wind whistled outside letting them know the storm was getting closer and closer to them, John grimaced, “I’m going to go get her. This lab isn’t that far from here, right?”
Siler laughed at the slight whine in John’s voice, “Just across from the building above us. It’s in the red building. You better hurry though.”
John started up to the surface and sighed, “I’m gonna kill her.”
Jeannie winced as she heard the wind outside, she’d come to her lab to make sure everything was shut down and was beginning to think she wasn’t getting to the shelter before outside became too dangerous.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” John demanded as he came bursting through the door soaked, his usually spiky hair flattened to his head.
Jeannie shook her head, “Trying to make sure we don’t lose any equipment. I thought I’d be finished faster than this.”
“Come on,” he snapped, “It’s getting bad out there and you’re not staying here any longer.”
“I’m almost finished,” Jeannie replied sharply, “I’ll be a few more minutes.”
“Jeannie!!”
Jeannie rolled her eyes without turning to look at him, “Doesn’t work on me, John. I’ll be finished in a few minutes. You can either stand and disapprove or you can help so we can get to the shelter faster.”
John frowned but moved to help her, after ten minutes she nodded they were finished.
“Let’s go,” he ordered, taking her arm so she couldn’t do anything other than follow him but as he opened the door the wind ripped it off the hinges.
“John,” Jeannie yelled over the wind as they crouched on the floor in the hopes of not being sucked out the room.
“What?” he snapped, “I’m trying to think of something.”
Jeannie shook her head annoyed, “While you do that I’ll get to the door to the basement.”
She could sense John’s annoyance as she crawled across the floor, it was getting harder to move but Jeannie grabbed a hold of the console and slid her hand up feeling across the panel for the right button. The usual hum wasn’t heard over the screaming wind but Jeannie knew it was open so she reached out for John’s hand and guided him along the floor until she practically fell down the stairs. Jeannie jumped off the stairs and moved to shut the door, she turned back to find John sitting on the steps looking windswept, drenched and angry.
“We should be okay in here till the storm blows over,” she noted, rolling her eyes as he didn’t say anything. As he continued to glare at her Jeannie lost her temper, “What?”
“You should have told someone where you were,” he snapped at her, “What the hell would have happened if I hadn’t come looking for you?”
Jeannie folded her arms across her chest, “I would have come down here myself.”
“This was totally stupid,” John continued ignoring her, “You could been killed.”
“For crying out loud, John,” Jeannie moved till they were face to face, “I am not...”
She never got to finish her sentence as John grabbed her; pushing her against the wall he pressed his lips to hers in a searing kiss.
*********************************************
Laura chuckled as Rodney continued to tell her the story of a Christmas from his youth. They were setting up the ZPM control room for the night and were just talking generally, something they rarely did – especially in the newness of their relationship. Despite the amount of time they’d spent together before they became a couple, Rodney wouldn’t talk about himself but now he was happy to open up to her and she was enjoying listening to them.
“So,” Laura leaned over his shoulder as he studied the ZPM controls, “Are we staying in here all night?”
“Why?”
At the suspicion in his voice, Laura laughed, “I want to see the storm.”
Rodney rolled his eyes at her, “Why do you want to watch it rain?”
“I like the rain,” she shrugged, “Come on, a watched ZPM never boils.”
Rodney laughed, “Give me ten minutes to make sure everything’s fine and then we’ll go watch the storm.”
Laura kissed his cheek, “Good.”
Rodney finished his work and turned to where Laura was sitting working on her newest project for Sha’re. She’d spoken to Ronon briefly before the evacuation and was now working out a program for those who took up the opportunity to learn to defend themselves. Rodney was pleased to see her throwing her energy into her new project, although she had joined the reformed SG1 for missions, they were few and far between at the moment as they tried to get themselves sorted in this new situation meaning she generally ended up with guard duty of some kind and he knew his Laura could give more than that. At that thought he smiled, his Laura.
“Hey,” she interrupted his thoughts, “Are you finished?”
“For now,” Rodney told her, he reached out and took her hand moving her to his side, “Let’s go so you can see the rain.”
“I’m not insane,” she chuckled as they walked through the dimly lit corridors. With the city mostly empty Rodney had it on emergency power only in the areas no one was using to conserve power as best they could.
They reached the nearest balcony and stepped outside under the protection of the shield to watch the huge waves from the sea as the rain battered down on the energy bubble keeping the city protected.
“I wonder how they’re doing on the mainland,” Rodney mused as he held Laura close to him.
Jeannie wanted to bounce something off John’s head as he stood in one corner steadfastly ignoring her. He’d broken the kiss suddenly and she could see a look of horror in his eyes before he pulled away leaving her breathless against the wall. Jeannie watched him try to dry his hair off as she sat on the small bed in the corner, trying to catch his eye but John was steadfastly ignoring her.
Several things came to mind to get his attention; including throwing the books sitting at her side at his head but finally she decided to go with her own thoughts at that moment.
“When Caleb died,” Jeannie said, her voice soft but strong enough so he’d hear her, “I thought the world had ended. I loved him so much. In fact we would have been married by now if he hadn’t been killed.”
She paused; waiting for a reaction but all he did was stop drying his hair so she licked her lips and continued.
“I am attracted to you, John,” she told him, “But I know, especially now that I am not over Caleb. I still expect to see him every morning, I still go to tell him things and when he isn’t there it feels like a knife in my heart. I’m not over him and you’re definitely not over Meg,” he turned to her and she saw the pain in his eyes, “John, we’re friends. Please don’t let what happened ruin that because I need your friendship.”
John moved and sat across from her, “I don’t want to ruin our friendship either. I’m sorry.”
Jeannie squeezed his hand, “Good. That’s settled then.”
John smiled at her before he looked around their lodgings for the night, “So, anything in this place to actually do?”
Jeannie laughed, “I think I have some cards somewhere,” she started looking around the room smiling as something occurred to her.”
“What?” John demanded.
Jeannie smirked at him, “I’m just thinking how I must be the envy of a lot of woman on Atlantis.”
Completely confused John frowned.
“Your fan club will hate me,” she explained, “Since I’ve kissed and now I’m spending the night with you,” Jeannie tilted her head before she tossed her hair theatrically chuckling, “I must be the most hated woman in Atlantis.”
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
Cuckoo In The Nest
by LE McMurrayKapitel Bemerkung:
Thanks to Stonedtoad for betaing.I’m working on the next chapter.
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