Alisa McKay had always had distinct ideas about what her life would be like.
Originally she had decided she would grow up to be like her mother, a woman she’d never known but had always admired. Anyone who asked about her mother was told by the girl that she was an angel watching over them. One extremely uptight substitute teacher told Alisa that there were no such things as angels, she was then put in her place by a six year old, who even at that age had her father’s razor sharp tongue.
When she was sixteen things changed, Alisa decided she was going to follow in her father’s footsteps instead and become a brilliant scientist. Alisa knew she was smarter than most people in school, actually she was smarter than everyone she went to school with, which was one of the reasons she agreed when her father had asked if she wanted to go with him to a top-secret project because she wanted a change from the boring work, the irritating ‘popular’ kids and a change was what she got.
Three years later, older, wiser and sadder Alisa McKay returned to Earth to continue on her path to being that brilliant scientist.
Alisa cuddled into her pillow as she slept peacefully in her room, her best friend since kindergarten and college room-mate Kirsty slept across the way murmuring slightly in her sleep. Neither was aware of the dark figure creeping through the room towards Alisa’s bed. As he reached the teenager she turned and opened her eyes for a second, she shut them before they snapped open again.
He slammed his hand across her mouth as she looked up at him pressing a finger to his lips before slowly releasing her.
“JD?” Alisa mouthed.
JD Tyler, Alisa’s full-time guardian and part-time irritation, motioned her to follow him so Kirsty wouldn’t be woken by them.
“What’s going on?” Alisa asked, shivering as she stood in the hallway wearing only the daft bunny pyjamas she’d bought because she thought they were cute wishing she’d thrown a robe around her.
“Get dressed and get your emergency kit,” JD told her, “You’re going into protective custody.”
“What?” Alisa snapped, her blue eyes narrowing, “Why? What’s happened?”
“Alisa,” JD stopped her, “Get dressed and get your things. You have ten minutes.”
Confused and extremely worried Alisa slipped back into her room.
Yanking on her jeans and a sweatshirt Alisa pulled the emergency kit that she and JD had put together the day they’d arrived out from under her bed, she knew it was here for times like this but she’d never had to use it until now.
“Hey,” Kirsty murmured opening her eyes, “What’re you doing?”
“Family emergency,” Alisa told her not sure yet if it was a lie, “Go back to sleep and I’ll call you tomorrow at a reasonable time.”
Kirsty sighed and closed her eyes again falling asleep again instantly. Alisa picked up her bag before she grabbed her cell phone and left the safety of the room. As soon as she entered the corridor JD took her arm and led her out of the building to a car waiting with two Air Force officers sitting in it.
“I take it that’s our ride,” Alisa murmured as she was propelled towards the vehicle.
The moment they were seated the car started and JD turned to her, “I need you to stay as calm as possible, okay?”
“That’s not going to make me calm, JD,” she retorted, “What’s going on?”
JD dropped his head for a second before looking back up at her, his brown eyes filled with concern, “Earlier tonight your aunt Jeannie was abducted from her home.”
“What?” panic filled Alisa, “Caleb, Madison, are they alright? Do you have any leads? Does my dad know?”
“Alisa,” JD rested his hand on her arm, “Listen to me. Your father was contacted just after I was. Your uncle and cousin are completely safe, the SGC have people crawling all over the house looking for anything they can on what’s happened.”
“So where are we going?” Alisa demanded.
“We’re meeting your dad at your aunt’s then we’ll head to the SGC,” JD told her, “You can’t do anything, Alisa. Your job is to stay safe.”
Alisa nodded before she shivered. JD wrapped his arm around her shoulders comfortingly.
“It’ll be okay,” he murmured to her, “It’ll be okay.”
Alisa hated seeing all the people swarming over Jeannie’s house but they were there to help. As she stepped inside she saw Caleb pacing the kitchen looking over to where Madison was drawing quietly every so often.
Slowly she walked over to her uncle; Caleb gave her a quick sad smile but nothing else beyond that. They weren’t exactly close as they’d known each other only briefly but she reached out and squeezed his hand in comfort.
“They’ll find her,” Alisa whispered.
Caleb shrugged, he caught sight of JD who was standing stoically behind Alisa and raised a questioning eyebrow at her.
“This is my bodyguard, JD,” she introduced before she slipped over to the little girl, “Hi Maddie.”
“Hi Alisa,” Madison responded dully, she moved closer allowing the older girl to hug her before she returned to her drawing.
Alisa noted Caleb wandering over to sit on the couch looking defeated, Alisa headed back to the kitchen to find JD.
“He’s handling this pretty well,” JD noted as he looked out into the back garden, “How’re you doing?”
“I’m hoping my dad will get here soon,” she shrugged, “No offence but I’ll feel better once I know he’s here too.”
JD patted her on the shoulder before he left her to check with a few of the men wandering around the house. About half an hour later Alisa heard the voice she had been waiting for and turned as her father entered the kitchen with his brother-in-law.
“Dad,” Alisa smiled relieved to see him, smiling as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.
“Lissa,” Rodney kissed the top of his daughter’s head, “I’m glad you’re here but I need to talk to Caleb. John and Ronon are here, I’ll be there in a minute.”
Alisa moved to John the moment she saw him and hugged him tightly.
“Hey, kiddo,” John murmured to her, “You okay?”
Alisa nodded against his shoulder before she looked up at him, she squeaked as Ronon pulled her into a tight hug.
“So, what now?” Alisa asked once Ronon had put her back down before anyone could say anything Alisa’s cell rang, “Excuse me.”
Alisa moved to the other side of the room and sighed, “Hi. Toby, I’m kind of busy at the moment.” She grimaced as she listened to the guy on the other end, “Sorry,” sarcasm flowed through her words, “I didn’t realise your breakfast plans trumped my family emergency.”
Ronon leaned over to JD, “Who’s that?”
“Toby Englewood,” JD explained, “The boyfriend.”
John spun at this, “Alisa has a boyfriend,” he asked an amused eyebrow raised, “Have you checked him out?”
JD nodded, “He’s dumb as a post and I have no idea why she’s seeing him but he checks out fine.”
“I’ll see you when I get back,” Alisa snapped and hung up her phone, she took a deep breath before turning back to them, “So, what now?”
*********************************************
Alisa sat with JD in a VIP room in the SGC going over her lecture notes – getting the ones she was missing from the website. She had a test in a few days and hoped she’d be there to ace it. As the figure at her side shifted in his seat again she rolled her eyes.
“I’m having enough trouble trying to study with my father and aunt missing,” she told him, “You’re not helping. Go away.”
“Sure?” JD asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m in the SGC,” she reminded him, “The only people who can get near to me are people you know and trust. So please – get lost.”
JD nodded, “I’ll be a call away if you need me.”
“JD, I’m a big girl,” Alisa frowned at him, “Go away.”
Finally he left her and Alisa sighed, she pushed her notes to one side and leaned against the wall. She was trying so hard right now to stay calm and not let out the scream of frustration she was desperately holding in at that precise moment in time. Alisa was so relieved that she managed to get rid of JD before he drove her crazy with his hovering.
From the day she’d arrived back on earth JD was constantly in the background, silently watching and waiting in case he needed to step in to protect her. Alisa did care about him and on so many occasions looked for him to talk to when the pressure of trying to be normal got too much.
There were also the times she wanted to jump up and throttle him for turning up when she didn’t want him there.
Her first date with Toby being one of those moments, when he somehow managed to bring his date to not only the same movie but then to the restaurant that Toby insisted hardly anyone knew about – and the pain in the ass actually had a table reserved.
Although she knew his presence in her life was extremely necessary, trying to explain it to others took some imagination.
“What?” Alisa snapped as someone knocked on the door just as she sat down to start working again.
“There’s no need to bite my head off,” Laura said as she opened the door, smiling as Alisa threw her arms around her.
“Oh Laura,” Alisa whispered, “I’m so pleased to see you.”
Laura smiled and squeezed her friend before letting her go, “When I heard your dad had got himself into trouble I thought you’d want some company. Though since I see you chased JD away I’m not so sure now.”
Alisa chuckled, “I see him constantly, please sit and talk to me.”
Laura dragged a chair across to the teenager and sat down, “So, how’re things going with Toby?”
Alisa laughed, although she didn’t see Laura very often they corresponded by email and talked on the phone when Laura was on earth. Laura smiled as she talked with her friend/surrogate daughter keeping her mind as far from her missing family members as she could. She knew she wasn’t completely succeeding as every so often the younger woman’s eyes would drift to the door or she would check her watch.
Finally Laura decided that distracting Alisa wasn’t the best idea, she couldn’t deny that people Alisa loved were missing.
“He’ll be fine,” Laura told the girl, “You know your dad. He’ll be okay.”
Alisa dropped her eyes, “Laura, I lived in Atlantis for three years. You don’t have to be upbeat for me, I know there’s a possibility I might never see him again.”
“Hey,” Laura whispered, “Don’t say that.”
“You can’t deny it,” Alisa snapped.
“Yes, I can,” Laura retorted, “I’m not ready to give up on Rodney McKay so don’t you dare.”
Alisa nodded, her blue eyes still filled with fear so Laura moved and wrapped the girl in her arms.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen here,” Alisa cried, “This isn’t supposed to happen on Earth.”
Laura said nothing, just holding Alisa in silence as they waited.
*********************************************
“You stupid son of a bitch.”
Rodney turned surprised as Laura Cadman marched into the room. He was taking some time to rest now that Jeannie was safe and it was over.
“What?” was the only thing that came to mind as he faced the fuming Marine.
“You offered...” Laura started angrily, her hands shaking with rage before she smacked his arm a few times, “You offered to let a Wraith feed on you?”
Rodney blanched, “How do you...”
“I have my sources,” she snapped at him, “So are you going to tell me why you would do something so...so...so brain-dead?”
“I was trying to save my sister,” Rodney snapped back.
“And what about your daughter?” Laura retorted.
Rodney frowned and dropped his eyes, “I couldn’t let Jeannie die.”
Laura sighed and rubbed her hand across her face, “You’re an idiot.”
Rodney stayed silent, he slowly sat down defeated. Laura moved to sit beside him and started to gently rub his shoulder in comfort.
“Does she know?” Rodney asked after several minutes.
“No,” Laura replied, “And neither she nor Jeannie are ever going to find out.”
Rodney shook his head, “When I saw the Wraith drop because he needed to feed I was so afraid. How could I face Caleb and Madison? How could I face Alisa if I let Jeannie die?”
“Rodney...”
“I couldn’t work it out without him,” Rodney ignored her, anguish filling his voice, “I wasn’t smart enough, Cadman and because of that my little sister was going to die.”
Laura slipped her arm around his shoulders, resting her forehead against his temple gently rocking him. They sat together for a while in silence, Rodney’s hand holding her arm as he rested in the comfort she was giving. Finally he pulled away.
“I’m staying on Earth for a while,” he said as he stood, “Since Alisa needs to go back to college soon I should spend some time with her.”
“Hey,” Laura called as he headed for the door, “If you need to talk, Lissa has my number.”
Rodney gave her a quick smile before leaving her alone.
*********************************************
“How’re you feeling?”
Jeannie smiled at her niece, “I’m fine, Lissa. You don’t have to sit and watch over me all day.”
Alisa shrugged, “I’m here till I get a lift back to college which from what I can tell won’t be for another few hours. So, what else am I going to do while I’m here?”
“You could spend some time with Laura,” Jeannie suggested.
Alisa rolled her eyes, “She’s in the middle of something, she didn’t say what. John and Ronon are reporting to Landry. Dad’s finishing up something and JD is spending some time with Daniel and Teal’c.”
“Who’s JD?” Jeannie frowned confused.
“My bodyguard,” Alisa shrugged, “He’s a clone of General O’Neill.”
Jeannie stared at her niece in astonishment, “He’s a what?”
Alisa chuckled at the look on her aunt’s face, “He’s a clone. He was created by the Asgard several years ago but instead of being grown to the age he should have been something meant he was sixteen. When I came home General O’Neill assigned him to protect me because he looks like he’s just another college guy.”
“But he’s definitely not,” Jeannie nodded with approval.
“Years of military and Black-Ops training,” Alisa smirked, “Though he can be a pain in the ass when I’m trying to have a life.”
“Speaking of,” Jeannie leaned forward, “I heard a rumour that you have a boyfriend.”
Alisa rolled her eyes, “So, who told?”
“John.”
“The biggest gossip of them all,” Alisa shook her head, “We’ve only started dating and I’ve never really dated so I wanted to see how it went before I subjected myself to... everyone’s opinions.”
Jeannie squeezed her hand, “So, since you’re not going anywhere just now, tell me about him.”
Rodney stood in the doorway watching his daughter and his sister talking and giggling as though they hadn’t almost just lost Jeannie. He still felt slightly numb, he’d been willing to give his life to save Jeannie and he was still having trouble with the fact he was still alive and she was safe.
He was grateful that Laura had come to yell at him. He found he missed the tap-dancing explosive experts who loved to annoy him. Rodney had been surprised how much he’d come to rely on her for advice and help with his daughter. Rodney found he missed the back and forth he’d shared with the Marine.
“Dad?” Alisa called throwing him out of his thoughts.
Rodney smiled and walked over to them; taking a seat beside Alisa he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and joined in the conversation. Rodney silently thanked John that he hadn’t lost his sister and he hadn’t had to orphan his daughter to save Jeannie.
Alisa - The College Years von LE McMurray
Kapitel Bemerkung: Thanks to Stonedtoad for betaing.
Two Chapters in two days, next update won't be as fast.
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Winner of the Atlantis challenge for the December 2007 fic challenge contest.
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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...