He felt the will of the creature fight against him as he melded with it but it was easily subdued and silenced. Power filled him but he needed time to rest, needed time to gain his hold on his new body.
However even resting his mind was free and there was a great deal to explore in this city. A city with many minds he could easily manipulate and one in particular he was determined to work. Soon but not yet, he needed to regain his strength so that he could finally destroy the Doctor.
But first...rest.
*********************************************
Jeannie could feel John watching her throughout the meal, his dark eyes boring into her; she ignored him as much as possible instead concentrating on Aris' story and her brother's intense questioning of the scientists.
"I'm going for a walk," John stood up the moment he'd finished eating, "I'll be back."
She watched him as he marched away.
"Hey," Rodney grabbed his sister's attention, "Are you going to let him out of the doghouse anytime soon. Because he's getting really annoying."
"Alright I will go and talk to him," Jeannie told her brother before turning to the other men at the table, "I'll be back soon."
With a sigh she headed after John to sort this out. It took her a few minutes to catch up with him finding him standing staring out across the water.
"Are you sulking?" she stood beside him.
"Jeannie..."
"You're actually sulking," she laughed.
"I'm not in the mood," John snapped turning to face her annoyed, "You have done nothing but treat me like I'm dirt."
"Because of the way you treated me," she replied evenly, crossing her arms.
"I know you're mad about what happened in the cave..."
"Oh dear God," Jeannie rolled her eyes, "You should deflate that ego a bit John."
"What?" he stared at her confused.
"I'm not mad at what didn't happen in the cave," Jeannie told him, "In fact I'm glad you value my brother's friendship more than what would have been one night."
"Then why?"
"John," Jeannie sighed, "The reason I'm annoyed at you is because of your hero complex."
"My what?" John stared at her confused.
"The whole taking me back to Atlantis before you went after the Master," she reminded him.
"I was only trying to protect you," John replied.
"You don't have the right to protect me," Jeannie snapped, "Rodney does, the Doctor does but you...you don't," she raked her hands through her hair, "You had no right to try John. We're not lovers, we're not involved, hell we're barely friends. I don't need your protection John; I'm not a damsel in distress."
John stared as she marched away even more annoyed at him than she had been to begin with.
"Nicely done," he muttered to himself.
-
"You okay?" Rodney asked as his sister marched back looking angrier than she had been before she left the table.
"I'm going for a walk," Jeannie replied curtly.
"Do you wish some company?" Aris asked her.
"No," she gave him a tight smile, "I'd rather be alone," Jeannie nodded to the others at the table before walking the opposite way from where John was.
After two minutes Rodney stood and turned to the Doctor, "Okay, I'm going after Jeannie."
"She wishes to be alone," Aris reminded him.
Rodney looked down at the other man and snorted, "Yeah," before walking away.
He smiled as he looked around Atlantis, his city was so different here and now but it was a difference he liked, though he couldn't help waiting for Carson or Zelenka or Elizabeth to appear from around the corner.
After a few minutes he saw Jeannie standing leaning against a wall, as he moved closer she turned to him.
"Hey."
"Your friend reminded me that you wanted to be alone," Rodney told her as they started to walk.
Jeannie shrugged giving a slight laugh, "Not everyone can read my mind Rodney."
"So, you and this guy Aris were close?" Rodney started his interrogation almost instantly.
"Wow," Jeannie laughed, "That took you a whole ten seconds to ask me that."
"I am the model of restraint," Rodney replied wryly, "So details sis."
"Aris worked on a satellite in some system millions of light-years from here and in the distant future," Jeannie explained hooking her arm through her brothers', "We became friends quickly and it was possibly moving towards something else but several of the scientists accidentally created a wormhole within the star they were orbiting which as I'm sure you know is very bad. We managed to evacuate most of the people then the Doctor shut down the generator but it didn't close the anomaly completely. Aris took it upon himself to carry out the Doctor's suggestion of setting off an explosion within the wormhole."
"And it looked like he'd been killed," Rodney sympathised.
"Yeah," Jeannie breathed resting her head against her brother's arm, "I'm amazed he's here, it's...great."
"Are you in love with this guy?" Rodney asked intently.
Jeannie groaned, "Oh come on Rodney, you of all people do not ask me things like that."
Rodney laughed, "If I'm going to get a brother-in-law..."
"Stop it," she poked him in the ribs.
"I'm just saying..."
"Knock it off," she cried.
"Jeannie," Rodney grabbed her wrists stopping her hitting him playfully, "I want you to be happy but you do know you're not supposed to actually be happy with a guy in any way."
His sister twisted round freeing herself from his grip with a mischievous grin, "You do know that the same goes for you, I'm meant to be the only woman in your life."
Rodney rolled his eyes resting his arm over her shoulders switching the subject back, "Aris..."
"Is a really nice guy," Jeannie smiled softly, "And he likes me. Just now it's nice to have someone who is actually acting like they do care for me."
Rodney frowned at her last statement, "Is there something you're not telling me?"
"A lot of things," Jeannie replied before sighing; "Can we just drop the subject now."
Rodney shrugged. They walked on in silence for a while both lost in thought.
"Jeannie," Rodney broke the silence first, "I want you to do something for me."
"Like what?" his sister asked.
"I need you to teach me how to do whatever the hell you're able to do now," Rodney told her.
Jeannie stopped walking looking at him thoughtfully, "I can't teach that. Because I'm not sure how I learned how to do it," at his annoyed grimace she smiled, "But I'll try."
*********************************************
The Doctor decided to head back to the TARDIS to check up on the power uptake, he was getting bored by Jeannie and John at the moment. He was interested in allowing Rodney to spend a little more time poking around certain parts of the TARDIS considering Jeannie's boasting of how brilliant he was. He knew Jeannie's view of her brother was a little biased but when he'd ordered Rodney to reroute the power he'd been impressed that the man had managed to do it without even flinching. He was quite glad he'd helped them keep in touch.
-
"Hey," he smiled as Jeannie re-entered the TARDIS, "I thought you'd be away longer."
Jeannie laughed, "I'm just getting changed. Rodney and I are having dinner so I thought I'd change into something less abductee-chic."
The Doctor smiled slightly. He waited until she arrived back in the console room before asking, "Are you ready to leave tomorrow?"
Jeannie licked her lips nervously.
"Here," he handed her a cell phone.
Jeannie looked at him confused, "What is it?"
"It's for Rodney," he told her with a shrug.
Jeannie stared at him for a second before it sunk in and she wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him tightly, "Thank you," she whispered.
"Better than having you mope around," he told her brusquely trying to squirm out of her embrace.
"You're not fooling anyone," Jeannie told him as she let go of him.
"Don't know what you mean," he called after her.
-
"Are we almost ready?"
The Doctor turned to find John standing outside the TARDIS waiting for him.
"Just a couple of hours," the Doctor replied, "Why are you out here?"
John shrugged, "I couldn't be bothered hanging around. I can't even go see who's in my room since we're on the completely opposite side of the city."
"And since Jeannie's mad at you," the Doctor grinned, "So you can't hang around with your friend."
John gave him a withering glance which completely rolled off the Doctor, "I'd rather stay near the TARDIS so when we can go, we can go."
"And you're part of an exploration team?" the Doctor laughed before leaving heading back to Tollias' lab.
John sighed and jogged after the Timelord not wanting to be stuck alone outside the TARDIS.
"I take it you didn't want to be alone?" the Doctor laughed when John caught up with him.
John didn't reply and just continued to walk.
"Let me ask you something," the Doctor interrupted John's musings.
"What?"
"You know Rodney," the Doctor stated, "And you've spent a good bit of time with Jeannie."
"So?"
"Within sets of twins there is usually a more dominant twin," the Doctor explained, "Which one is the dominant one?"
"Jeannie," John answered instantly.
The Doctor laughed, "Think about it a little more."
*********************************************
It would take time he knew, time before he could control someone with such a strong mind but it would happen once he had his strength back.
However there were others, others who wouldn't be able to resist. Others he would be easy to control.
Reaching out he found one, sensing the siblings nearby a smile touched his lips and he knew what to do.
It was time to remove one nuisance.
-
"Close your eyes," Jeannie ordered.
Rodney sighed derisively but did as he was told.
"You asked me to show you how to do this," Jeannie reminded him, "So enough."
"Sorry," he smiled cracking one eye open before shutting it straight away again.
"The first thing," Jeannie started, "Is learn what is normal for you."
"Normal?" Rodney laughed.
Jeannie sighed, "I don't know how to explain this. Maybe we should try and talk to the Doctor about it. He taught me, kind of."
Rodney leaned back against the wall, "Maybe I shouldn't bother."
"You can do anything Rodney," Jeannie told him, "Remember?"
"Who told you that?" he grimaced.
"Someone told me it was your mantra," she told him, "Rodney, this isn't science. It's harder to define."
"I suppose I could try some more," he rolled his eyes.
Jeannie grinned, "Good idea. And one day you'll just be able to close your eyes," which she did, "and..." she stopped.
"What?"
"Something," she whispered, "It's hard to describe."
"Try."
Jeannie grabbed his hand, "Do it yourself."
Rodney gasped as the strange tingle slid along his spine; he gripped Jeannie's hand tighter before he pulled away.
"It's coming from over there," Rodney mused.
"Come on," Jeannie grabbed his hand, "Let's find out."
-
"Explain this to me," John demanded, "Why is Rodney the more `dominant' twin?"
The Doctor sighed wishing he'd never bothered asking the question, "Alright. When you ask Rodney a question like...how old are you, or where did you grow up. He'll answer `I'. I grew up right?"
"Yeah," John replied, "So what's wrong with that?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Jeannie will answer `we'. We grew up, we not I. She always links herself to her brother something Rodney doesn't do."
"And that makes him the dominant twin?" John asked confused, "Because from what I've seen Rodney listens to her more than she listens to him."
"Maybe," the Doctor told him, "But Jeannie treats herself as one of a pair rather than an individual. Every time Rodney called her, she had the phone out ready to answer. Think about that."
John frowned but didn't get a chance to say anything as they reached the lab.
-
Rodney walked with Jeannie deeper into the city wondering if this was a smart idea. He was all for exploring but usually with John and his team with him all armed just in case.
"This wasn't the greatest idea in the world," he told his sister.
Jeannie shrugged, "You guys live here in ten thousand years from now. I doubt that in the time of the real inhabitants it is any more dangerous."
Rodney frowned, "Time travel plays hell with the tenses."
"It plays hell with a lot of things," Jeannie laughed elbowing him.
Rodney rolled his eyes at her before stopping in front of a room, "Is this it?"
Jeannie shrugged, "It seems to be. Want to check it out?"
He could hear John's speech on not going into situations without back-up, Elizabeth practically repeating the lecture just using bigger words but with Jeannie tugging his hand Rodney ignored them.
"Let's go," he told her.
Jeannie grinned at him before frowning as he just looked at her waiting.
"Open it," she ordered.
"Oh," he looked a little sheepish that he hadn't thought of it, "I forgot."
"Genius," Jeannie muttered, "Yeah right."
"Bite me," he shot back without thinking before he opened the door in front of them.
-
Jeannie walked in and looked around disappointed.
"Well it's empty," Rodney stated as he looked around, "That was a waste of time."
Jeannie rolled her eyes at him as she continued to look around the large empty room, several handles stuck out of the walls at seemingly random intervals.
"I don't like this place," she murmured, "It feels...wrong."
Rodney shrugged as he looked around seeing if he could find anything hiding in the room that could be of any interest while Jeannie stood trying to see the handles properly.
Suddenly both spun as they heard the door shut.
"Rodney?" Jeannie asked as he tried to open the door.
"It's locked," he replied pulling the panel off the wall, "And encrypted."
Jeannie frowned, that sort of thing was deliberate and very worrying, "Can you decrypt it?"
Rodney smiled at her, "I can do anything I set my mind to, remember?"
"Show off," she muttered with a grin moving away to let him work in peace, a little time in here wouldn't kill them.
Jeannie leaned back against the wall and noticed a darker patch of wall across from her. Crouching down to look closer she reached out and felt the water on her fingertips. Almost at the same instant a rushing noise filled the entire room.
"Do you hear that?" Rodney turned from what he was doing.
Jeannie nodded her eyes wide with worry.
"What the hell is that?" he looked around the room only for the answer to hit him in the head as a jet of water spurted from behind him.
"Oh my God," Jeannie cried as water started pouring in from all around the room, "Rodney!!"
Rodney saw the horror and fear in his sister's eyes before he spun and furiously started working on the controls.
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