Short Fic: I Will Not Leave.
Dec. 7th, 2010 01:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cedar_groveHere's the second one. This idea was with me for a /long/ time and was one I used to practise my... um... not being longwinded skills on.
I Will Not Leave
"Keep moving," Teyla called urgently. If they could reach the Stargate she could take them all to safety. "It is not much further."
"Teyla!" She turned to face the piercing yellow stare of Jumper One's forward running lights and frowned as, framed by the light, Sheppard beckoned to her.
She cast another glance at the line of refugees, and instructed, "Follow your companions. Keep moving toward the Ring of the Ancestors." Only then did she approach him.
"We're out of time," Sheppard said. "We gotta go. Now."
She shook her head. "I will not leave these people. They need our help. We owe them that much."
"You stay here, you'll die with them," then softer, added, "This is not our fault."
"I will not leave them, John," she repeated. "If we had not battled the Wraith in their skies; had not damaged the Hive so that it crashed upon their mountain—"
"No, Teyla," Sheppard said, "this was always going to happen. The volcano was always there. Sooner or later it was—"
"Our actions have made it sooner, and as a consequence these people are unprepared," she hissed. "We cannot abandon them. Not when they are so close to the promise of—"
"McKay can't fix the 'Gate."
"Then we will use the device on the Jumper."
"We already tried. It's the control crystal – not even the Jumper can dial out. I don't like it any more than you do, but we have no choice. We have to go."
"There are twenty people here who will die without our help," she persisted, refusing to be beaten. "It may seem a small number to you, but in this galaxy it maintains the promise of life. I will. Not. Leave them!"
**
Sheppard glanced into the rear compartment as he struggled to keep the Jumper in the air. The engines were already straining and with the added weight it was going to take some fancy flying to keep them airborne. He wasn't sure if he was mad with Teyla for the stupidity of insisting on helping the natives and endangering themselves, or with himself for capitulating.
He didn't have time for further debate, for as the Stargate came into view the Jumper dropped like a hot brick from tender hands. It hit the ground, and his head hit the console.
He came round to the sound of high pitched alarms mingled with moans, and sounds of weeping and, unbuckling his own lap belt, he slid gracelessly to the side of the Jumper that now served as the floor.
"Sheppard?" Ronon's voice came as a near growl from beside him.
"We are so screwed."
The answer came from his lips before he could stop it. The HUD showed the advancing wave front. They had minutes… three, maybe five at most before the searing heat caught up to them, carrying with it the recreation of the Pompeii disaster.
He jumped when the frantic hammering came from rear hatch then winced as the whine of the hydraulics that lowered the ramp showed how much the crippled jumper was straining. The ramp scraped against the ground as he triggered it to open.
"Rodney," Teyla's said, her voice coloured with pain, "Help me get these people out."
"No time," McKay's said, then called, "Sheppard, pull the front panel… hand me the biggest crystal you can find."
"What?" Sheppard asked, not sure he'd heard McKay properly.
"Crystal, the—" McKay broke off, and started struggling to climb over the fallen refugees, even as Teyla, and shortly afterwards, Ronon, began to help them to stumble out to the Stargate clearing. "If I can find a replacement to bridge the fault in the control crystal, we might just get it working again… but we have to be quick we—"
Sheppard glanced at his face, and then back at the HUD, before tearing off the lower mid panel of the Jumper's cockpit console.
"This one?" he asked, pulling the crystal from the middle of the Jumper's dialling controls. There was no answer. "McKay!"
Blinking, McKay snatched at the crystal. "Yeah… yeah this… this should—"
And then was gone, pushing his way through the milling natives, as Sheppard struggled equally as hard to get to his feet.
He came to Teyla's side, she was leaning down, one arm braced against her thigh, the other pressed to her side. Ribs he thought, and seeing how pale she looked, he hooked his hand under her bent elbow to give her as much support as he could. He was relieved when the sound of McKay frantically pushing the buttons on the top of the DHD, and the glorious sound of the chevrons starting to lock reached him.
"As soon as the 'Gate locks," he began, meaning to tell Teyla to go and get the medical assistance she needed. She didn't let him get that far.
"I will not leave these people, John, I have told you."
As the event horizon formed, cutting off the argument poised on his lips, she hit the button on his wrist-mounted comm. to send his IDC, moving urgently.
"All of you, hurry! Step into the Circle. Trust me… it will take you to safety," she called out, her eyes still fixed on the trees barely five hundred metres to their rear. Her urgency and the suddenly intense scent of burning evergreen resins fanned the flames of his own exigency.
"Move it, people, let's go!" he yelled, and scooping up children as he went, he began to run toward the Stargate, pushing the natives through in pairs and threes; anything to stay ahead of the visible wave of superheated air which drew the dust and ash in its wake like some demonic tail.
Grabbing the last of them as McKay hurried past, Sheppard realised it was Teyla only when she gave a cry of pain as he pulled her through the wormhole.
He'd apologise later, once he had her safely home and healed.
"Keep moving," Teyla called urgently. If they could reach the Stargate she could take them all to safety. "It is not much further."
"Teyla!" She turned to face the piercing yellow stare of Jumper One's forward running lights and frowned as, framed by the light, Sheppard beckoned to her.
She cast another glance at the line of refugees, and instructed, "Follow your companions. Keep moving toward the Ring of the Ancestors." Only then did she approach him.
"We're out of time," Sheppard said. "We gotta go. Now."
She shook her head. "I will not leave these people. They need our help. We owe them that much."
"You stay here, you'll die with them," then softer, added, "This is not our fault."
"I will not leave them, John," she repeated. "If we had not battled the Wraith in their skies; had not damaged the Hive so that it crashed upon their mountain—"
"No, Teyla," Sheppard said, "this was always going to happen. The volcano was always there. Sooner or later it was—"
"Our actions have made it sooner, and as a consequence these people are unprepared," she hissed. "We cannot abandon them. Not when they are so close to the promise of—"
"McKay can't fix the 'Gate."
"Then we will use the device on the Jumper."
"We already tried. It's the control crystal – not even the Jumper can dial out. I don't like it any more than you do, but we have no choice. We have to go."
"There are twenty people here who will die without our help," she persisted, refusing to be beaten. "It may seem a small number to you, but in this galaxy it maintains the promise of life. I will. Not. Leave them!"
Sheppard glanced into the rear compartment as he struggled to keep the Jumper in the air. The engines were already straining and with the added weight it was going to take some fancy flying to keep them airborne. He wasn't sure if he was mad with Teyla for the stupidity of insisting on helping the natives and endangering themselves, or with himself for capitulating.
He didn't have time for further debate, for as the Stargate came into view the Jumper dropped like a hot brick from tender hands. It hit the ground, and his head hit the console.
He came round to the sound of high pitched alarms mingled with moans, and sounds of weeping and, unbuckling his own lap belt, he slid gracelessly to the side of the Jumper that now served as the floor.
"Sheppard?" Ronon's voice came as a near growl from beside him.
"We are so screwed."
The answer came from his lips before he could stop it. The HUD showed the advancing wave front. They had minutes… three, maybe five at most before the searing heat caught up to them, carrying with it the recreation of the Pompeii disaster.
He jumped when the frantic hammering came from rear hatch then winced as the whine of the hydraulics that lowered the ramp showed how much the crippled jumper was straining. The ramp scraped against the ground as he triggered it to open.
"Rodney," Teyla's said, her voice coloured with pain, "Help me get these people out."
"No time," McKay's said, then called, "Sheppard, pull the front panel… hand me the biggest crystal you can find."
"What?" Sheppard asked, not sure he'd heard McKay properly.
"Crystal, the—" McKay broke off, and started struggling to climb over the fallen refugees, even as Teyla, and shortly afterwards, Ronon, began to help them to stumble out to the Stargate clearing. "If I can find a replacement to bridge the fault in the control crystal, we might just get it working again… but we have to be quick we—"
Sheppard glanced at his face, and then back at the HUD, before tearing off the lower mid panel of the Jumper's cockpit console.
"This one?" he asked, pulling the crystal from the middle of the Jumper's dialling controls. There was no answer. "McKay!"
Blinking, McKay snatched at the crystal. "Yeah… yeah this… this should—"
And then was gone, pushing his way through the milling natives, as Sheppard struggled equally as hard to get to his feet.
He came to Teyla's side, she was leaning down, one arm braced against her thigh, the other pressed to her side. Ribs he thought, and seeing how pale she looked, he hooked his hand under her bent elbow to give her as much support as he could. He was relieved when the sound of McKay frantically pushing the buttons on the top of the DHD, and the glorious sound of the chevrons starting to lock reached him.
"As soon as the 'Gate locks," he began, meaning to tell Teyla to go and get the medical assistance she needed. She didn't let him get that far.
"I will not leave these people, John, I have told you."
As the event horizon formed, cutting off the argument poised on his lips, she hit the button on his wrist-mounted comm. to send his IDC, moving urgently.
"All of you, hurry! Step into the Circle. Trust me… it will take you to safety," she called out, her eyes still fixed on the trees barely five hundred metres to their rear. Her urgency and the suddenly intense scent of burning evergreen resins fanned the flames of his own exigency.
"Move it, people, let's go!" he yelled, and scooping up children as he went, he began to run toward the Stargate, pushing the natives through in pairs and threes; anything to stay ahead of the visible wave of superheated air which drew the dust and ash in its wake like some demonic tail.
Grabbing the last of them as McKay hurried past, Sheppard realised it was Teyla only when she gave a cry of pain as he pulled her through the wormhole.
He'd apologise later, once he had her safely home and healed.
