Whispers in the Dark
Chapter One
Just a Little Clumsy
Doctor Mercedes Steel walked down the narrow hallway to her quarters with her head buried in the computer in front of her. She sipped her mug of sweet tea, a taste she had acquired from the Athosians, and paused to juggle the mug and tap the screen. A new screen of information popped up, and she sighed in frustration. Another tap spilled a few drops on the screen and she gasped, trying to wipe it off with her sleeve and spilling more on the floor. She juggled the computer, trying not to drop it, and only succeeded in losing her grip on the mug.
It took forever for the cup to drop, a moment in which she struggled not to slip on the small puddle and still maintain her death grip on the computer. She heard the ceramic mug shatter and felt herself slipping. She gave up on the computer- it could survive another fall- and began to flail her arms, reaching for anything to stabilize herself.
A man’s strong arm reached out and grabbed her wrist. She still twisted and fell on her knees, causing shooting pains to fly up her back, but she didn’t fall completely. She let out a little whimper of pain and the hand released her.
“Are you okay?” The voice was vaguely familiar, but she was trying to stop tears. Merry began to pick up her shattered mug. It had been one of her favorites.
The voice seemed to come slightly closer. “Leave it. Are you okay?” It had become more insistent. Merry nodded, wiping her eyes on the back of her arm.
“Yeah. ‘M Fine. Just a bit clumsy.”
“At least let me help you up.” He held out a hand. She looked up into the face of Atlantis’ military commander, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard. She blinked, then laughed.
“Of course, on the worst day of my life, it would be you.” She took his hand and stumbled to her feet, shaking slightly as she slid, yet again, on the spilled tea.
He looked at her, confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She ran her hands down her front, wiping any of the tea off of her pant legs. “Nothing. Just…I’m just having a bad day.”
He reached down and picked up her computer. “I’m Colonel Sheppard. You can call me John.” He held out the computer, which she took, gingerly tapping on the screen to make sure it was still intact.
She stared at the computer, distracted. “Yes, I know. I’m Doctor Steel, from the astronomy department.”
He smirked, though she only caught it out of the corner of her eye. “So, that’s what your friends call you? Doctor Steel?”
She gave him a distracted smile. “I don’t have many friends. But they mostly call me Merry.”
He raised a brow. “That short for anything?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Mercedes.”
He grinned. “Damn.”
She frowned. “Why?”
He shrugged. “I just know a…a person…on the base named Meredith.”
She just nodded and gave him a vague smile. “That’s nice.” She looked back down at her screen. “Thank you, John.” She began to walk away.
He fell into step beside her. Both of them ignored the mess on the floor. She glanced up at him through her eyelashes; she only just made it to his shoulders, and that was with her hair in a high ponytail.
“Was there something you wanted?”
He grinned. “Yeah. I heard that you were coming with us on our next mission. I make it my job to get to know all the people that are coming off-world with me.”
She gave him a tiny smile. “That’s…interesting. The mission is tomorrow. Obviously, you’re a last-minute kind of person.”
He grinned disarmingly. “Obviously.”
She looked back at her screen and frowned. “Well, I’m a tad bit busy. Can’t you go bother one of the other scientists for an hour or so until I finish my report? It’s due later today and I’m desperately behind. Aren’t there others going to P4R-318? I can’t be the only one.”
He put a hand on her computer, blocking her view. “Certainly the prettiest. But I can see that you’re busy. How ‘bout lunch, later. Mess hall?”
She looked into his earnest eyes. Today, they were hazel. She had heard from one of the nurses yesterday that they were green, and one of the Athosian women had sworn they were blue. But she hadn’t asked about him, of course; people talked. She sighed. “Fine. Yes. But I won’t be pleasant company.”
He grinned again, waving his hand. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep!”
He started back down the way they had come. She turned the corner to the narrow hallway that had the door to her quarters when she heard the squeal of boots on stone and a skid followed by a thud. Over it all was John’s voice. “Geez, McKay. You’ve got to be one of the clumsiest people I’ve ever met. Or were you just happy to see me?”
She smiled and stepped into her room. In the swish of the door opening, she missed what was probably a classic acidic McKay reply.
*
She was just biting into her bacon sandwich when another tray shoved its way onto the narrow table and nearly knocked her lunch into her lap. She smiled sweetly and shoved her tray back into its place. John looked surprised for a moment before he too began to push back. They stayed like that for a while before a group of her colleagues, Doctors Tanner, Bridgestone, Gregor, and Amiko waved at her. She managed to wave her sandwich in their direction, but in the process lost what she was already calling the tray war.
John raised his arms victoriously. “I thought we were going to have lunch, Doctor Steel.” She could hear the playfulness in his tone, and thought momentarily of flipping his tray into his lap.
“You never said we were going to have it together, Colonel Sheppard.”
He raised his finger and his brow, a lecturing look on his face, before he paused. “That’s entirely true, Doctor Steel. May I assume, then, that you don’t look for any of the more subtle… overtures?”
Merry held back the urge to blush. “You may, John. In fact, I was nearly finished, so if you don’t mind…”
She stood and picked up her tray. He grabbed her wrist, the same one he had grabbed before.
“I do, in fact. I just wanted to talk to you.”
She heaved a heavy sigh and looked around. Though not usually crowded at this time of day, the mess was still busy, and quite a few people there were staring at them, a few with wide eyes and busy mouths. It wasn’t everyday that the military commander of Atlantis had lunch with a woman other than Teyla- at least, not a woman from Atlantis.
She flopped back into her seat, the half-eaten bacon sandwich ignored for the moment and the blue Jell-O wriggling forlornly in its glass. “What do you want to know? You could have looked up anything you wanted in my personnel file.”
He shrugged. “Coulda, shoulda. I wouldn’t have gotten to know your sparkling personality if I had merely read a piece of paper, now would I?”
She gave him a look, and he sighed. “Okay, so Ronon and Teyla are sparring and Rodney’s locked himself in his lab with some Ancient device and Zelenka. I don’t even want to think about what they’re doing.”
Merry giggled, and his eyes lit up. “See, your file doesn’t say that you have a sense of humor. That’s something I would have missed.”
She shrugged. “Just cause I look at stars all the time doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the odd bit of earthy humor.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I believe you just called me unsophisticated.” He picked up a carrot and pointed to her. “This means war.”
She grabbed another carrot off of his plate. At his incredulous grunt, she grinned. “No honor among thieves!”
They sat at the table for another hour before he chanced a look at his watch and realized that he was late for a meeting with Major Lorne. He had waved cheerily to her, and it wasn’t until after he had left that she realized that his tray was still on the table, and that they’d left a bit of a mess with the carrots.
*
Merry woke a bit late; her alarm, though set correctly, had fallen on the floor, and was hidden under the pile of dirty laundry from yesterday. She dug it out and checked the time, then swore loudly. She had just over an hour to get showered and dressed, pack her gear, and get to the gateroom. So, predictably- at least for her- she panicked.
*
John Sheppard stood in the gateroom with the rest of his team, as well as three other scientists- Doctors Ang, Reed, and Grayling- tapping his foot and looking up at Colonel Carter with an unreadable expression. They were all in full snow gear; the Stargate they were going to was on a moon in the middle of an ice age. Rodney hadn’t shut up about it since they had found out.
Ronon looked around the gateroom impatiently. “Where are they?”
John shrugged. “Late, I guess.” He looked up at the Colonel. “You want me to radio them, Colonel?”
She shook her head. “No. Doctor Keller just radioed from the infirmary. Ames has food poisoning, so he’s out for a couple of days. Doctor Steel is on her way.”
Rodney snorted. “Merry Steel? She’s the other person?”
Teyla raised her eyebrow. “Do you have a problem with Doctor Steel?”
John looked at him, a little half-smile on his face. “Yeah, Rodney, do you have a problem?”
McKay frowned. “She’s a bit…how does one put this delicately? She’s clumsy.”
John smirked. “Really?”
Ronon gave him a feral grin. “That’s almost a compliment from you, McKay.”
Rodney rolled his eyes. “And how long did it take you to come up with that, Conan?”
John grinned. “Best behavior, boys.”
Rodney opened his mouth for what was probably a scathing retort just as Merry came barreling into the gateroom, dragging her pack behind her. She was out of breath and panting, and her short auburn curls, the ones not shoved into a ponytail, clung damply to her forehead.
She skidded to a stop next to the team and dropped her pack. She took and deep breath, sighed, then turned to John. “Sorry, Colonel, my alarm didn’t wake me.” She took a quick look around. “At least I’m not last.”
She noticed the tight look on his face and turned to Teyla. “I’m not last, am I? I thought Doctor Ames was coming with.”
Teyla nodded and opened her mouth, but Rodney beat her to it. “Yes, well, things change, don’t they? For example, I wanted to go to a tropical beach planet, but someone said no.”
His remaining tirade was interrupted as the gate engaged.
John gladly took the opportunity and hefted his pack. “Everyone ready? Let’s move out.”
In the rustle of leaving, they didn’t hear Colonel Carter’s parting words.
Whispers in the Dark von Emagen Laile
Story Bemerkung:
Set early in Season Four.
Kapitel Abschlussbemerkung: Expect me to post subsequent chapters every other day or so. This is my first Stargate: Atlantis fic so please let me know what you think!
Featured Stories
Fortune\'s Favor by Offworlder FAM
Winner of the Atlantis challenge for the December 2007 fic challenge contest.
Winner of the Atlantis challenge for the December 2007 fic challenge contest.
Most Recent
Alisa - The College Years by LE McMurray 13+
Having left Atlantis to go to college in no way meant Alisa McKay's life would...
Having left Atlantis to go to college in no way meant Alisa McKay's life would...
Random Story
The Bet is on! by Belisse 13+
A small fic about what is going on inside Sheppard, Weir and McKay's head when...
A small fic about what is going on inside Sheppard, Weir and McKay's head when...