Let It Snow
Who: Sheppard, Ronon, Andra, and OPEN!
What: Snow Day
Where: Outside on the east pier.
When: March 8, 2008 — 0900 Atlantis Standard Time
Rating: TBA
Status: Incomplete
(OOC: Just because it’s snowing a bit here. =D)
John just narrowly ducked in time to avoid being hit in the head by a frozen projectile. He felt the cold wind on the side of his face as it whizzed by, missing it’s intended target but evidentally finding another, judging from the shriek of surprise.But he didn’t have time to find out who got hit as a battle cry split the frigid air. His feet unsure beneath him, John nearly stumbled, putting a hand out on the slickened ice covered surface to keep from falling and quickly reversed direction to get out of the path of the snarling behemoth charging at him.
Not being as sure footed under these conditions as say someone who’s national past time consisted of hockey, John’s booted feet skidded across the slickened surface as he realized he was getting dangerously close to the edge of the dropoff. Carried by the force of his own momentum, he wasn’t able to stop. All John could do was to grab the railing, slamming against it in his feeble attempt to hang on and flipped over, landing on his back on the lower level of the pier.
Fortunately for him, it wasn’t a long fall. About six steps down from he’d been previously and you were at the bottom. But it was still enough to knock the wind from him and he groaned in protest.
“You okay?” Ronon asked in looking down at him from over the railing.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Good. Then I won’t feel bad about doing this,” Ronon said in lifting up a snowball the size of a large water mellon.
“Crap,” John uttered as Ronon released the snow boulder and let gravity do it’s work.
Tales from the Lost City Found 
Rodney’s eyes grew as big as saucers as he noted the massive snowball poised to be dropped on Sheppard. He’d already seen the man fall. “What the hell are you doing??” he called out to Ronon ans he rushed over, using the ice and his momentum to his edvantage to bring him quickly to Sheppard’s aid. “He just fell and probably boke his neck, now you want to crush his skull?? Snow is heavy, you know!”
Rodney realised too late that he had overestimated the necessary momenum, and was about to plow right into the Satedan …
Tobias had been watching this section of the city for days now. He’d flown over the entire city and hadn’t seen anyone except in this one section so that is where he spent most of his time. It was comforting to be around humans in a way, even if he wasn’t a part of them entirely anymore. It was obvious that a few people here were aliens, but that didn’t bother him as he had been to an alien planet before (other than where ever here was) and his father was an alien in human form when he had been born. It made family trees and christmases unique to say the least, not that he bothered with things like that.
He had been watching the people playing in the snow with interest from high above when the bigger man seemed about to hurt the smaller one. At least, that is what it looked like with the melon-sized snowball. He hadn’t heard anything from down below, but they hadn’t seem like they were fighting until the smaller man slipped and fell. Screeching, Tobias dove down realizing mid-flight that he couldn’t so much as a hawk no matter how fast he flew. Stealing himself he began to shift in mid-air to his human form, it was the one he was most familiar with and most comfortable in other than his regular hawk body of all his morphs. Colliding with the snowball and rolling painfully, he landed partially on the smaller man. “Oof!” he cried, the wind knocked out of him. That had hurt. Laying in the snow, Tobias didn’t register the cold at first too focused on breathing.
“He said he was fine,” Ronon shrugged in not seeing the big deal. As usual, McKay was blowing things way out of proportion.
Ronon was just as equally non-plused at McKay’s current predicament. Just as the scientist lost his footing and nearly plowed into his teammate, Ronon easily grabbed hold of the back of McKay’s jacket with his large paw, hauling him up.
As the snow boulder dropped, John rolled to his right. But instead of being hit by the large mound of powdered precipitation, he was showered in a portion of it and subsequently hit by something — or rather someone — else.
Still holding McKay in one hand, Ronon instantly pulled his blaster, the energy cylinder humming to life as he pointed it directly at the intruder.
“Who the hell are you?” he demanded in setting McKay on his feet and made his way down the steps where he grabbed Sheppard with one hand by the collar of his jacket — gun still trained on the stranger — and pulled the Colonel out from underneath him.
Slightly dazed, John managed to get to his feet under his own power — even if Ronon did assist a little. “I’d answer the man if I were you,” he said in holding his left arm.
Sitting up, Tobias stared at the gun and the huge dreadlocked man holding it, eyes wide. Moving his jaw experimentally he tried to voice an answer. “Tobias,” he finally managed, his voice raspy and throat dry but at least he didn’t squeak in fear. Guns were not something he was used to. “Who’re you?” When in doubt, bravado. It had worked in the past, it could work now as long as he didn’t start shaking from the cold. His underwear was not adequate coverage for this weather, but at least it proved he was unarmed. He’d lost his clothing a few planets back, but it hadn’t mattered when he was a hawk.
At first Julie had simply and quietly been watching the snowball fight. While Ronan had size and strength over Sheppard, John had been holding out with greater… creativity. She straightened with concern when Sheppard lost his footing and fell. Julie wondered if she should go and get a doctor. Some how she’d gone from having to rely on one to having access to three. Before Julie could offer to go and get someone McKay was racing into the fray, set to defend John from Ronan. It was a good effort. She’d nearly begun to relax when someone came out of the sky. Julie moved towards him without thinking. He didn’t look over eighteen.
“Are you all right?” she asked, her words didn’t make it clear whether she spoke to McKay, Sheppard, or the boy, but her attention was on Tobias.
“I’m Julie Abbott, one of the local physicists,” Julie answered the boy quickly.
Rodney was grateful that he hadn’t actually hit the Satedan, or landed on his ass, but really, this grabbing people by the collar thing had to stop! And he would have said something about not being a lion cub that needed to be carried by the scruff of the neck — no matter how much Ronon my resemble a lion — if not for the sudden dustracted of a mostly-naked guy landing on top of Sheppard.
“Yes, yes, I:m fine,” Rodney waved Julie off absently, of course assuming that she was talking to him, despite being afraid Sheppard was dead or about to be killed just a moment ago. Rodney stared at the newcomer. “Where the hell did you come from??” he demanded, scanning the sky for some sign of a tear in the fabric of the universe.
Tobias shrugged and didn’t answer, the truth was he didn’t know. The ship he was on crashed on a planet that he didn’t know the name of, then a few weeks later the skinnier guy had come through the big circle thing and Tobias had followed. He didn’t know where he was now for that matter, he’d just made his way outside and had been living there ever since. Here was better than there, but neither were Earth. “Dunno. Earth originally. Where’s here?” at least the woman introduced herself, that was polite. Already he was liking her and not the others, but then he was a predator and so was the man with the gun and two predators did not get along well together usually.
Julie couldn’t help a small smile at how quickly and casually McKay assumed her question had been for him. She hadn’t imagined Ronon had done Rodney much harm, but if it made him feel better to assume she’d been concerned it was fine by her. She listened as the young man offered his answer to where he was from. Julie immediately gave him a sympathetic look. She was painfully familiar with not being sure of where you’d come from. Julie offered apologetically, “We’re a long way from Earth. This isn’t even the same galaxy.”
She considered for a moment, then asked him, “Would you mind taking my coat? You look awfully cold, and I wouldn’t mind letting you warm up in it.”
John shot Rodney a look when the scientist immediately announced he was fine in response to Julie’s question. But really, he shouldn’t have expected anything different out of McKay.
Ronon for his part, didn’t even bat an eyelash in the Canadian’s direction. All his attention was focused on the new comer.
“What about you?” he did manage to ask Sheppard who was still holding his left arm.
“I’m good. Must have hit my elbow on something,” John replied in looking at his arm and rubbing it. “Don’t know why it’s called the funny bone as there’s nothing funny about it,” he commentted dryly.
John looked back towards the guy who’d landed on him when Rodney asked where he came from. “Better question is, how did you get here?” he asked in resting his right hand on his sidearm as Julie took off her coat to hand it to the guy.
The Colonel wasn’t too concerned about in regards to the woman’s safety since Ronon was there. But he reached for he put his hand on the butt of his gun out of habit and just in case.
“You do have that thing on stun?” he asked Ronon.
“Yeah,” was Ronon’s reply who now had both hands on his weapon and licked his lips, indicating to Sheppard that he was twitchy.
“Easy Chewie,” John cautioned.
Andra had been busily making a snowman when all the commotion occured. Having finally put the finishing touches on it, she slid over to the railing and looked down.
“Whoa! He’s nekked!” she exclaimed then looked over at McKay. “See, Rodders, not everyone’s as self conscious about how they look as you are,” she said in referrence to the lockdown incident in which Rodney complained about his gym clothing being uncomfortable, and she simply suggested he just take it off if it bothered him to which he freaked out over.
Tobias followed the exchange warily, trying to peice everyone together. So far all he’d come up with was that the big guy had the gun and the other guy had one too. The rest he wasn’t concerned about. Fight or flight, that was it.
He didn’t realize exactly how cold he was until the woman offered him her jacket. Reaching for it, Tobias was surprised to discover his stopwatch was still around his neck. Had he not morphed in so long he had forgotton? Ignoring the coat for a minute he began pushing the buttons to set the time to 1hr 45 minutes. That should cover the time he had already spent in morph and give him enough leeway just in case he needed it. This was a much better way than trying to remember how long he had in his mind.
“Where’s here?” Tobias countered, slipping on the jacket and crossing his arms. The jacket was too small, obviously sized for a woman, so he put his arms down and settled for glaring instead, “And who are you?” he’d answered two of their questions but no one had answered his. Well, no more answers until he got some of his own.
Watching the fun and games had been entertaining, not as much fun as joining in might have been, but Captain Jack Harkness wasn’t really there for the fun and games. He was there to keep an eye on Julie. With the work McKay had done on the nanogenes, and the time Israel Santino had put into teaching her better control of her mutant ability Weir and Sheppard had been convinced it was safe to let her out of quarantine.
Julie had already given McKay a return on his investment, proving a valuable asset in the lab. Jack, however, was still watching for any sign of a breakdown of the work on the nanogenes, or of her control over them. He appreciated the help given to his team member, but ultimately Julie was his responsibility. Jack kept quiet as she began to talk to the nude young man who managed to fall out of the sky onto Sheppard.
Some people had all the luck. He stepped forward as she started to hand her coat over to the kid. Jack couldn’t say why he did. Ronon and Sheppard already had the situation covered. Some of the tension making his shoulders tight eased with Andra’s excited declaration of the obvious. Jack responded to her words with a forlorn complaint, “I know, and of all the people here for him to land on he had to go and land on Sheppard.”
He resisted a smile at the fit of Julie’s coat on the boy. While she wore a long coat, the kid had a good five inches on her. Jack had to hand it to Tobias, he didn’t lack nerve, maintaining a glare when he couldn’t keep his arms crossed and demanding answers. He offered the kid a few, “This is Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy, currently manned by members of the SGC, Torchwood, and locals. I’m Torchwood Liaison Captain Jack Harkness, and the lady who’s coat you’re wearing is Torchwood Officer Julie Abbott.”
Julie did her best to ignore the men bristling at Tobias. If the boy was some kind of threat she’d been taking care of herself before she’d finally found her way to Jack. Julie had a hard time seeing Tobias as a threat. He’d fallen out of the sky onto Sheppard, not come at him firing or swinging, and he seemed completely naked except for the stop watch around his neck. That puzzled Julie, but she wasn’t sure how to ask him about it.
Julie gave Tobias a friendly smile as he slipped into her coat. She had to resist a frown at how poorly it fit him. Clearly he wasn’t just taller than her, the boy’s shoulders were too broad for him to where the coat and cross his arms. Julie opened her mouth to give Tobias answers to his questions, but before she could Jack was providing them. She blushed faintly, backing up a little to bump straight into the Captain.
The answers, while not exactly enlightening, were reassuring. Tobias wasn’t familiar with the SGC or Torchwood, much less Atlantis or the Pegasus Galaxy, though he knew enough to realize that Earth was in the Milky Way galaxy far, far from here. Answers were a start.
“I flew here. Through the big circle, made a whoosh?” now he just sounded like an idiot, but he made a big circle and then gestured towards Sheppard, “He was there with a few others and they poked around the crashed ship. When they left, I went with them. Seemed like a good idea at the time,” he pointedly turned his glare on the men with the guns who had not been introduced. His attempts at explaining weren’t very good as he didn’t know where he had been other than a planet without other people or anything else sentient that he could find. “But if you mean ‘where was I five minutes ago’ the answer is ‘up there,'” he pointed to a high turret not too far away.
“That’s on a need to know basis and right now, you don’t need to know,” John replied when the kid started asking questions.
But then Harkness had to go shooting off his mouth, offering up information and breeching security protocols in the process.
“Captain!” John said tersely in warning as he turned on Harkness. Sometimes the man was as bad as McKay at saying things when he shouldn’t.
He took a step forward so he could speak to Jack a little more privately. “As long as you’re a part of this city’s military,” he began in a low hard voice, “You will follow my direction and the protocols I’ve instituted or you’ll find yourself on the fast track back to Earth. Do I make myself clear?”
John didn’t necessarly like dressing anyone down, but for all they knew, even if the kid appeared harmless, he could be a Wraith worshipper sent to Atlantis to gather intel. And until it was proven other wise, he was to be treated as a pontential threat to Atlantis and the expedition.
Andra grinned at Jack was about to make a comment when Sheppard snapped at him. She then pouted, sticking out her bottom lip in sympathy. But that didn’t last long as her attention was drawn back the half naked guy in front of her.
“It’s more like a KAWOOSH!” she offered in making the sound effects of the gate being activated.
“The hell you did,” John said as he turned to face the intruder. “Unless you’re in possession of a personal cloaking device, there’s no way you could have followed my team — or anyone else’s — back through the gate without being noticed.”
But just because John was suspicious of the guy didn’t mean he wasn’t without sympathy. It was much too cold to be standing around outside in nothing but a pair of skivvies, freezing your gnads off. Reaching up he tapped the comm unit on his left ear.
“Beckett, this is Sheppard. Have a medical team meet me in isolation. I’m bringing you a patient,” he informed the Doc then addressed Tobias. “Let’s finish this conversation indoors where it’s warmer.”
Instantly on the defensive, Tobias shrugged off the coat and almost threw it at the woman who’d given it to him, he’d rather freeze, “Oh hell no! I’m not going anywhere!” Not with the guns, not as a patient and certainly not inside. He’d had enough problems figuring out how to get outside when he’d been in there, he wasn’t going inside just because they said so! “Not with you and not in there! I’m not your lab rat to poke and prod! I answered your questions, I haven’t attacked anyone, and I’m not going to inside!”
Already he was crouching down preparing to morph, just in case. This was why he hadn’t revealed himself intially, he wanted to be certain this wouldn’t happen if he did, and granted the way he had revealed himself wasn’t quite how he had planned, but he had only been trying to help. “Thanks for smashing into the giant snowball so I wouldn’t get hit by the way, Tobias!” he said mockingly, pointing out the abusrdity of all this, “I’ll show my appreciation by anally probing you, Tobias!”
“Fine. Suit yourself,” John shrugged nonchalantly. “Stay out here and freeze for all I care.”
“No one’s going to poke and prod you,” Andra offered in trying to be friendly. “That is unless you want someone to poke and prod you. Then I’d be happy to do it,” she winked.
John shot Andra a look.
“Hey, for all we know. He might be into that sort of thing,” she was saying when Tobias crouched.
Andra’s immediate reaction was to pull one of her blasters free from it’s holster. But Ronon had already beat her to the punch. A red partical beam errupted from his weapon’s muzzle, striking Tobias.
“Please tell me that was set to stun,” John said as Tobias crumbled to the snow covered deck of the pier.
“It was.”
“Good,” John pressed his mouth together before contacting Beckett again. “Carson, change of plans. Have a medical team report to the east pier.”
((*Winces.* I knew I wouldn’t get into Jack smoothly. I’ve written him before, but not played him in a game before. One thing though, I thought as a Liaison to Atlantis he’d been shoved down Weir’s and Sheppard’s throats rather than his answering to them?))
((But getting into trouble is half the fun. ;p
He may have been shoved down their throats, but as expedition leader (Weir) and head of Atlantis’ military (Sheppard), Jack still has to answer to them. And especially to Sheppard if Jack is going to continue holding a special ops position to the military contingent.))
Rodney gave Andra a tired glare over her “nekkid” comment. “Just because he’s not self-conscious doesn’t mean he *shouldn’t* be!” Never mind that, aside from being too skinny, the kid had nothing to be ashamed of. Although why the guy would want to run around in the cold without clothes was beyond him.
“Well, I think the cat’s kind of out of the bag already on the whole secret expedition front, Sheppard,” Rodney pointed out after the man ripped the captain a new one. “Er, not that you’re not right about being in charge and security and all that,” he added quickly, “But the guy’s already here; I don’t think knowing that this is Atlantis as opposed to some nameless city is going to make much of a difference for *us* at this point.”
“We’ll be waitng,” Carson told Sheppard when the man radioed that they’d be bringing a patient in to isolation, curious as to what was going on.
Rodney scowled at Ronon. “You just had to shoot him, didn’t you, Quickdraw?” Rodney then blinked as he realised something. He looked at the turret the kid had pointed out. “What did he mean, he flew? Think he’s s mutant?” he asked as Sheppard radioed Carson the second time.
“What exactly is the nature of the emergency, Colonel?” Carson asked. “You said you wanted the patient in Isolation before — should we be wearing hazmats?”
“Hey, why not just bring him to the infirnmary?” Rodney asked Sheppard. “It’s not like he’s awake enough to protest now …”
“No, Rodney, it really doesn’t matter now,” John said in flashing Jack a look of annoyance. “This could have been any similar looking Asuran city. But just because he knows it’s Atlantis now, doesn’t mean we should be volunteering any more information.”
Ronon looked at McKay and sniffed. “Okay,” he stated with a shrugg. “Next time I’ll wait for you to be attacked before shooting.”
Andra put away her blaster and covered a giggle with hand. “It okay, Rodders. I’ll protect you.”
“How the hell am I supposed to know?” John answered Rodney’s question with a question before responding to Carson. “That’s probably not a bad idea, Doc. We’ve got a guy here of unknown origin, and other than being treated for being stunned, he’s been exposed to the cold — and who knows what else. It might not be a bad idea for you to check the rest of us out too since we’ve had contact with him,” he said followed by a groan of protest from Andra.
“You want to carry him?” John countered in once again answering Rodney’s question with a question.
“I’ll carry him,” Ronon said in returning his blaster to it’s holster and picking Tobias up in a fireman’s carry.
“Happy now?” John asked Rodney and headed up the steps, pausing at the top when it appeared no one was following. “Kids? Are we ready?”
“Yah,” Andra said grumpily in hanging her head and started following Sheppard towards the door, with Ronon behind her.
Once he got to the entrance to the city, John did a double take at ths snowman Andra had made, stopping to look at it as Ronon walked past him and carrying Tobias indoors. Not that seeing a snowman was an unusual thing, it was just the interesting placement of the carrot.
“What the hell have you been teaching her?” he asked Rodney in pointing at the snowman.
“You like?” Andra beamed, quite proud of her work.
“Ummmm… that’s not really where the carrot’s supposed to go.”
“Jack said it was a good spot.”
John looked back at Harkness. “Of course he did.”
Yep, he should have known. Jack and Andra were going to be the death of him, he just knew it.
With a sigh, John continued inside and to the infirmary where Ronon had already deposited Tobias in the isolation room.
((Oh, it isn’t the getting in trouble exactly that’s bothering me. I’m pretty sure Jack would’ve done that even if I/he had chosen his words more carefully. It’s that having said more than he would’ve he’s stuck in “people in glass houses” territory now rather than having ground to complain about what was bothering him from.))
Rodney had to admit that Ronon had a point (well, internally, anyway). Just because the kid was nekkid didn’t mean he didn’t have some dangerous ability. Just like how Andra putting her blaster away didn’t make her any less a threat — although in Rodney’s case, it was for an entirely different reason. “Don’t call me Rodders,” he said more out of habit than anything else.
“Jeez, bite my head off, why don’t you!’ Rodney muttered to himself at John’s snipy response, while the man talked to Carson. “Can’t a man think aloud and make conjecture? It’s mot like I was expecting you to be the Oracle at Delphi!” He snapped to attention when he heard Sheppard mention them all getting checked out. “Dammit, This was supposed to be a care-free afternoon, and now we’re dealing with invaders and getting poked and prodded. What’s next, anal probes? Don’t answer that!” he warned Andra.
“Yes, very happy, save for the whole getting a check-up ourselves bit,” Rodney told Sheppard, nodding in approval at Ronon. The man made a very effective pack mule. And since the kid claimed to have been intending to save Sheppard from Ronon’s snowball, it only seemed fair that the man should have to carry him. Not that Rodney would ever say that out loud either.
“What? Why are you looking at me?? I have a hard enough time with her innuendos; what kind of glutton for punishment do you think I am??” He was never going to be able to witness Andra eating a carrot again without his thoughts straying into uncomfortable territory …. “I should have guessed,” he muttered when Andra named Jack as the culprit. He had a flashback to their conversation on the shooting range, and momentarily considered stuffing some snow down his own pants. He even picked some up, but decided there was a better use: he pelted Andra with it, and grinned as he dashed indoors.
“Och, and where did yeh find this lad?” Carson asked Ronon as he looked the unconscious young man over. “His core body temperature is normal, so he cannae have been walking about for long without his clothes on. And he’s not that wet, so I doubt yeh fished him out of the ocean. With this stopwatch around his neck, I would have thought he was one of ours, our for a run ….”
“On top of Sheppard,” Ronon stated simply as he dropped the unconscious guy on the bed like a sack of grain. He wasn’t exactly rough in doing it, but he wasn’t very gentil about it either.
“Running?” he asked like Carson was insane as he stepped back to give the doc room to work. “In his underwear?”
Not many people were crazy enough to go out for a run in their tighty-whities when it was cold and snowing outside.
When Rodney began to protest and complain, mentioning something about anal probes, Andra got a decidedly wicked look on her face along with a cat that ate the canary grin as she looked at Jack. And despite Rodney’s panicked pleas for Andra not to answer his question, she just naturally had to.
“Oh, sweetie, I’m sure Jack here’s much better with the anal probes than I am. He’s much better equipped,” she said in giving Jack a wink then squeaked as the side of her face got pelted with snow.
“Hey!” she shouted as Rodney took the coward’s way out and ran.
She broke off an icecicle that had formed above the entry way. An evil glint in her eye as she weilded it and started down the hall after Rodney.
“Hey, Rodders! I’ve got your poke right here!” she yelled after him.
“On top of Shep–? Never mind, I’m sure I don’t want ta know.”
Carson chuckled at Ronon’s reaction to the idea of running in one’s underwear. “Och, lad, when I was in Antartica, people went skinny-dipping in sub-zero temperatures. Of course, I never did that m’self — I thought they were a few sheep shy of a herd, if yeh know what I mean.”
Rodney grew a shade of crimson that would likely have melted a snowbank at Andra’s comment. It did not help his attempt not to remember that conversation he was trying so hard not to think about.
He did feel a surge of satisfaction when the snow hit Andra solidly in the face, though. Target practice was paying off, it seemed. (Not that that incident at the target range had ultimately done anything for his sex life, but that was his own fault ….)
He stopped when Andra shouted after him, morbidly curius at what she meant about having his anal probe, half expecting her to be wielding the carrot. When he saw the icicle, he sqealed like a little girl and hightailed it, hoping the thing would be melted by the time she caught up — it was nice and toasty in the city. And he probably should do comething about that — someone was wasting power putting the heat on, obviously someone who hadn’t had a prolonged stay in Russia or Antartica. Couldn’t be Zelenka, though, the Czech was probably used to cold. He bet it was Miko — the woman was cold at 72 …. He almost forgot he was supposed to go to the infirmary to be checked out — then seriously considered pretending he hadn’t remembered, and going to check out the heating issue ….
“Why?” Ronon asked in not understanding the attraction.
He might have inquired, and perhaps better understood, if it where some type of military training for endurance. But from the way Beckett was talking about it, that evidentally wasn’t the case.
“People on your planet are weird,” he proclaimed just as Sheppard showed with two Marines in tow, equipped with stunners.
Ronon looked back over his shoulder to see the Colonel position the men just outside the isolation room’s door and talking to them, obviously issuing orders.
“Did they get frost bite on… well, you know?” Ronon asked in turning his attention back to the doctor and the odd Earth practice of skinny-dipping in sub-zero temperatures.
“You can run, but you can’t hide!” Andra shouted as she continued to give chase.
She was like a pittbull with a bone when she set her mind to something. (Must be some sort of Satedan trait as Ronon could be just as bad.) She knew that she’d eventually get McKay. He wasn’t exactly a physical type of person, so he’d wear out eventually — more likely sooner, rather than later. Sure he could run now, but she get him in the end — literally.
Inside the isolation room, Tobias groaned as he came to, his mind simultaneously realizing that he was inside, it was warmer and he was still human. Clutching at the stop watch he checked his time, instantly relaxing some. He hadn’t gone over. Yet. As his eyes adjusted to the light he realized he was on a bed and in some sort of medical facility. Just what he hadn’t wanted. Beautiful.
“Let me out of here,” he demanded, sitting up despite his head hurting. “Now!”
Rodney toyed with the idea of eluding her via the transporters — she’d never know where he went, and, knowing her, it wouldn’t take long for some bright, shiny object to distract her and make her forget she wanted revenge. Not to mention that the quarantine hand’t kicked in, so the odds that they now carried some contagion was small. Still, protocols were protocols, and Carson was a man with a long memory and starpy objects than icicles. Best not to incure the Scot’s wrath. Besides, Beckett would never tolerate such shenanigans in the infirmary, so Rodney just had to stay in there until the icicle melted. And pray she didn’t get some other, worse idea …
He hurried into a transporter just as Andra came into view, squealed like a girl again, and hit the button, dematerialising.
“Eh, they do it for the high, I suppose — they get an adrenaline rush from the shock of the cold, which actually keeps them from getting hypothermia, so long as they made it back indoors quickly. And obviously the water’s not frozen, so it’s at least as warm as just above freezing while they’re in it — usually warmer.”
Carson chuckled at Ronon’s other question. “Not that I’ve ever encountered, no, but its always possible. Bloody daft buggers ….”
“Relax, laddie, we’re nae goin’ ta hurt yeh! But we have protocols here — everyone who visits our fair city must be checked for contagions. Now, the good news is that you don’t seem to have suffered any ill effects from being mostly-naked outside in the cold, but that does nae mean I’m willing to let yeh back outside without proper gear. For now, you can put these on,” he added, handing the kid some scrubs.
((OOC: Please continue posting in the new thread. 🙂
http://asylums.insanejournal.com/lostcity/1594.html?thread=26426#t26426 ))
Ronon raised his eyebrows as he listened to Beckett’s explanation. It still didn’t make any sense to him. There were better ways to get an adrenaline rush, such as by killing Wraith in hand-to-hand combat. Plus it sharped and honed your fighting skills. This whole concept of swimming in water just above the freezing mark had no merrits to it at all.
“Your planet is weird,” he stated again just as Tobias started to regain consciousness.
Ronon quickly went for his blaster, pointing it at the skinny kid in case he decided to try and attack Beckett.
When Tobias raised his voice in making his demands, John quickly the room with the security detail standing just outside.
“Take it easy,” he said showing Tobias his empty hands. “Listen to Dr. Beckett. We’re not going to harm you,” he glanced at Ronon. “Unless you give us reason to. We just want to check you out and make sure you’re okay, and don’t need any kind of medical attention.”
“You pointed a gun at me, you shot me now you’ve locked me up, oh yeah, I’m going to trust you,” Sarcasm, thy name is Tobias. Crossing his arms he resolutely ignored the scubs, he didn’t care if he was in his birthday suit right now, “You want me trust you? Let me out.”
If they didn’t let him out soon he’d be forced to morph, something he didn’t want to do in front of them. It was disturbing to see the first time but more than that, he didn’t want to give away his secrets. When you had nothing but a stopwatch and underwear, protecting your secrets was even more important. At least he hadn’t attacked them. Yet. If he morphed, he would fight his way out.
Rodney ran from the transporter to the infirmary. Spotting the marines at the door, he cried out a warning so they wouldn’t shoot him. “Emergency, guys, comin’ through!” They moved enough to let him pass; he didn’t slow as he barged in to the infirmary, stopping short at the tense scene. “Whoa! What did he do? He’s still half-naked!” How much of a threat could a skinny naked kid be?
Jack was mostly silent after Sheppard’s sharp words. While he remained quiet, Julie could feel his tension in the hand that rested on her shoulder after she stumbled back into him. Jack was angry equally at himself for stepping too hard on Sheppard’s toes, and at the man for responding to the behavior of what appeared to be a teenage boy by trying to out “sulky teenager” the kid. They were never going to get any answers about Tobias from him by trying to out pout him. Jack did make an approving comment at Andra’s snowman as he passed, but that was quiet enough to go unheard by anyone besides Julie. She blushed, allowing the Captain’s hand on her shoulder to steer her along in front of him towards the infirmary.
“Captain Jack Harkness and Officer Julie Abbott, reporting to be checked out after exposure to an unknown individual appearing to be a mostly naked teenage boy,” he told the marines at the infirmary door.
“Well, considering you’ve been less than cooperative, appeared out of thin air and attacked me, you’ll have to forgive us for being a bit — cautious,” John explained. “You’re not going any where until Beckett clears you. Then we can see about getting you out of here and a hot meal,” he was saying as Rodney barrelled into the room followed shortly there after by Andra.
Andra had to put on the breaks to keep from running over Rodney, not expecting him to have stopped so suddenly.
John turned slightly at the commotion going on behind him, giving both Rodney and Andra a hard look; however, Ronon nevered wavered. His full concentration was on the stranger before him.
“That’s very perceptive of you, Rodney,” John remarked regarding McKay’s observation that the kid was still half naked before turning back to face the subject.
As soon as Sheppard’s back was turned, Andra immediately shoved her hand down the back of Rodney’s pants, despoiting her half melted icecicle in his shorts. Pulling her hand out, she made sure to give Rodney a good swat on the rear, pressing said icecicle against his bear cheek and holding it there for a moment, leaving a wet hand imprint on his butt.
When Jack arrived with Julie, the Marines parted to allow them entrance into the isolation room, then returned to their positions in guarding Tobias’ only exit.
Tobias rolled his eyes and didn’t back down, “I’ve been plenty cooperative! I answered all your questions to the best I know! I didn’t attack you, I hit the snowball. And I only fell from the sky for like, a couple seconds, not that long. Hitting you was an accident. What the hell crawled up your butt and died?” Tobias had such a way with words, but he was running out of time before he had to change. Of course, he was probably being video taped right now anyways.
The stopwatch around his neck beeped, and Tobias automatically checked it and turned the timer off. 1 hour 45 minutes in morph. He had less than 10 minutes to change. “Want to know how I did it? How I fell out of the sky?” he asked finally, weighing his options. Without waiting for an answer he sat down on the bed and began to change back to his hawk form. *I didn’t fall, I flew,* he said using thought-speak once he was in morph, screaming a warning. He had good control of the hawk instincts, but they did not like to be caged, even one like this. Flapping his wings, he tried to get out.
“Yes, but only just so,” Rodney replied dryly to Sheppard telling him that he was very erceptive, “As in I can’t tell why a naked kid has your and Ronon’s knicker sin a twi– EEEK!” he yelped like a girl as Andra shoved the icicle down his pants. He squirmed futiley as she held it in place a moment. Well, at least she wasnt’t trying to shove it …. no, no, he was not going to go there. As it was, he was seriously thinking of holding the thing in plaxce in the front side of his pants, where he apparently really needed it ….
He looked back in Tobias’ direction just in time to see the boy morph. “Holy–!” After the initial shock, he sighed heavily. “A shapeshifter. Wonderful. Well, that explains how he dropped out of the sky out of nowhere — and why he didn’t have any clothes. Guess you had reason to be wary after all, Sheppard ….”
“Amazing!” Carson breathed. Not that he hadn’t enocuntered shapshifters before, and telepaths too, but that didn’t mean it was any less impressive anytime he witnessed such things. “Whoa, waitaminute!” he said to Rodney’s remark, as well as Ronon’s trigger-happy pose. “He’s just a boy — if he meant us any harm, seems ta me he would have hurt us already! I think he’s more scared of us than we are of him! Easy, lad!” he called to Tobias. “We’re no’ here ta hurt yeh! This is probably all just a misunderstanding!”
Julie swallowed nervously as Jack announced them, and the Marines parted to allow them entrance into the isolation room. She stepped through the marines, bobbing her head at each one as she passed them. Julie glanced over her shoulder at Jack to see if her nervous movements had drawn a smile, but she could see his mouth was still set in a hard line. Before Julie could open her mouth to offer him some sympathy Tobias’ angry question, “What the hell crawled up your butt and died,” drew her attention back to the boy.
*I didn’t fall, I flew,* rang in her head as Tobias transformed into a red-trailed hawk. Julie wasn’t certain if he was only capable of projecting in his new form or if he might be able to hear as well. She knew as a technopath she couldn’t project to human or animal, only technology, but if the boy could listen he would hear her regardless. Julie tried to think clearly for him, *I apologize for them. They’re scared you might be someone dangerous pretending to be friendly.*
She bit her lip as she tried to think of how to show Tobias she still wanted to help him — be friendly to him. Julie wrapped her jacket around an arm, she was only holding it after he’d tossed it back to her, and she held the jacket wrapped arm out, *I trust you. Will you come to me?*
She prayed softly that Tobias was listening, and Jack would understand.
*Let me out!* he screamed in their minds, flying around the room trying to get out. *Let me go!* he tried again, screaming in protest. Every instinct the hawk had demanded to be released either through force or willingly and Tobias agreed with them entirely. At least now he didn’t have to worry about his time in morph in addition to being held prisoner.
Well, the woman, Julie, had a brain anyways, he wouldn’t’ve considered landing on her arm if she hadn’t had the coat, and even then she’d probably feel his talons no matter how careful he was, but that was part of being a hawk. Slowing his flight around the room Tobias landed neatly on her arm, *You can just speak and I’ll hear you,* he told her adjusting himself, even though he had understood her thoughtspeak as well. He didn’t weigh much as a hawk, but it was a lot on someones arm for too long. *I want to go outside. I don’t like it here. I don’t care about your whatever it is you do!* Panic was beginning to creep into his voice.
He looked back in Tobias’ direction just in time to see the boy morph. “Holy–!” After the initial shock, he sighed heavily. “A shapeshifter. Wonderful. Well, that explains how he dropped out of the sky out of nowhere — and why he didn’t have any clothes. Guess you had reason to be wary after all, Sheppard ….”
“Gee, Rodney. I’m so glad you finally see my reasoning,” John sniped as Tobias morphed and began flying around the room like a lunatic.
And while the sudden shift in form did take Sheppard back a bit, Ronon never flinched and easily tracked his quarry with his blaster.
“Doc,” John began as he ducked to keep out of reach of the Tobias’ talons as he flew overhead. “Just because he seems mostly harmless doesn’t mean he is. We don’t know what else he can do. He may be the latest in Michael’s experiments or what about that Goa’uld I read about in SG-1’s mission reports — Nerdy or something? What if he’s one of her creations that held SG-1 captive? I’ve got the lives of everyone in this city to think about,” he stated as he ducked again.
“Want me to shoot it?” Ronon asked.
“No. No one’s shooting anyone and chicken’s not on tonight’s menu,” John said in watching the hawk. “He’s right you know,” he referred to Carson in speaking to the bird. “We don’t want to hurt anyone unless we have reason to. Just let the Doc, check you out and then we can talk and clear this all up.”
“Whoa! That’s really cool!” Andra exclaimed as she watched the hawk-boy flying around the room with a child like wonder. “Hey, can you teach me how to do that?!” she asked.
John winced as Tobias screeched in his mind. It was unsettling, not to mention loud.
“Now see, I’d really like to do that,” he said in regards to letting the hawk out. “But I can’t do that until Dr. Beckett has finished his examination and we get to know each other a little bit. Just calm down and things will go more smoothly. I’ll even have Ronon lower his gun in good faith,” he said in glancing at the Satedan.
Ronon grunted his disapproval, but followed orders and reholstered his blaster.
“There, see? We’re getting along better already,” John said in looking at the hawk now perched on Julie’s arm. “Your turn.”
Hopping off Julie’s arm he landed back on the bed and morphed human again, still glaring at everyone, especially Ronon. Crossing his arms over his chest, Tobias jerked his chin at Ronon. “Get him out,” he demanded. The gun, even lowered, was not reassuring. Turning to the doctor he added, “I am not your lab rat. Got it? So unless you’re a veterinarian, don’t bother. And I’m hungry.”
Feigning indifference, he reset the stopwatch again for not quite two hours, not letting anyone know how much energy it took to morph as often as he had right now. He could morph back to his natural body, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to manage something else after that without resting a little first, “I wanna go home,” he muttered under his breath his youth obvious. He’d been so eager to get away, feeling left behind by his friends as they went to the Air Force Academy, but now he was wishing for his field again. Something. Someone. He didn’t want to be alone anymore.
“I’m not a Goa’uld,” he finally said. There was nothing left to lose at this point really. “My name’s Tobias. I think I’m 20. Earth years I mean…I don’t know what date it is there. I’m from Earth originally. My natural body is a hawk. This,” he gestured to his mostly naked human body, “is a morph. And no, I can’t teach you how to do it. Happy? Can I go now?”
Actually, I’m well-versed in the anatomy of a number of species, lad — I;m not just a medical doctor, I’m a geneticist. But right now, all I want to do is take a blood sample and run a few scans, to determine whether or not you’re carrying anything that may be considered a threat to the health of the people — and not all of them are human, I might — of this city, or even this galaxy. Then, once we’re certain you’re not carrying any sort of contagion, I’m sure Colonel Sheppard will discuss with you whether you can stay in the city or if we’ll need escort you to a planet of your choosing. If you wish to return o earth, it’s possible you might go home aboard the Daedalus/I> I’m sure you must understand that, for security’s sake, it won’t do to have you flying about the city. As he said, there’s only your word to go by as to your intent here, and there’s always the risk that you’re an experiment of Nirrti’s. We’re not out to hurt or entrap you, but we have the safety of everyone, including yourself, to consider,” Carson finished in his no-nonsense tone, the tine that even Ronon didn’t argue with.
John frowned in response to the kid making demands. From his stand point, Tobias really wasn’t in a position to be doing so, but John conceeded none the less. At this point, it was all give and take.
He cut his eyes towards Ronon and indicated the doorway with a subtle move of his head. He knew Ronon wouldn’t like it, but the Satedan left anyway. However, he didn’t go far, standing just outside the doorway with the Marines, ready to rush back in if needed.
Andra pouted when Tobais told her he couln’t teach her how to morph.
“It’s a start,” John said to the information that Tobias offered up. “Alternate timeline? Parallel universe? Mutant?” he asked Rodney while Carson talked to the boy. John hadn’t encountered a shape-shifter before.
“Uh, yeah. What he said,” he then pointed to Carson’s bedside mannerly way of explaining things. “I’m Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, by the way. And this is Dr. Carson Beckett, Dr. Rodney McKay, Andra Kes,” Andra waved, “Captain Jack Harkness, Julie Abbott,” John said in turing to each person in turn. “And the big guy out there is Ronon Dex,” he finished the introductions in an effort to alliviate some of the tension and put them all on more friendly terms.
“How did you get all the out here from Earth?” he inquired.
“I’m not a mutant,” Tobias replied quickly, “Or some experiment. Yours or anyone elses. Don’t touch me,” he warned the doctor, his voice harsh, “You can just as easily put something in as take it out. I’m not sick. Or carrying anything.”
With a sigh, he pondered how much to tell them. They were from his Earth, he knew that, but obviously had vastly different experiences than him to assume alternate realities or the like so quickly. “You’re US military, right? Look up ‘animorph’ in your database, that should explain most of it. All the others are either dead or joined the Air Force once they discovered us. Except me,” he tried not to let the bitterness show, but it crept into his voice anyways. He could only join the air force like the others if he gave up his morphing abilities and became human, which he wouldn’t do. And he’d have to go back to school for a GED, which wouldn’t get him into the Air Force Academy, like his friends. So he was stuck. “No birds allowed in the air force, which is completely absurd since it is the AIR FORCE. I mean, I probably know more about flying than anyone there!”
As he spoke, he relaxed some. The introductions helped, although Tobias did not expect to remember all these names, “My dad’s not human. I went to his homeworld to see it and on the way back the ship was attacked. I crash landed on some planet. I dunno. There was the big round donut that went kawoosh? You came through it,” he pointed at Sheppard, “and were human. So I followed you back. That planet sucked. Then I ended up here. Should’ve stayed there if this was your hospitality. Do you have any hamburgers here? Or pizza?”
“Relax, he’s not going to put anything in you. This is just merely a precaution that all teams returning from offworld and all vistors to this city has to submit to. It’s purely routine,” John assured Tobias. “Even if you’re not carrying anything, there may something like — a spore,” he used as an example, “that may be on you and you’re not even aware of that could cause the city to lockdown. You said you don’t like being locked up, well you’d like a quarantine even less.”
“I don’t know. They can be kinda fun. Eh, Rod?” Andra said with a smile in nudging McKay, remembering their little game of Truth or Dare during the last city wide lockdown.
“Did the US flag on my shoulder give it away?” John asked in reply to Tobias asking him if he was military. “Yeah, I am — Air Force as a matter of fact,” he clarified in response to the kid bitching about his branch of service. “And it’s not really as aburded as you might think. A real bird can’t fly an F-302 and what do you think would happen if you morphed in the cockpit during a dog fight with a Dart? It wouldn’t be pretty. I can assure you that,” he pointed out.
“It’s called the Ring of the Ancestors,” Andra butted in trying to be helpful when Tobias told his story. “The big round thing.”
“Followed me back?” John cocked his head to the side as he regarded the boy. “You sure about that? Cause anything coming through the gate to this city would be noticed and I don’t recall anyone mentioning anything about something other than us coming through it. Unless McKay was trying to covertly bring pets home again,” he said in looking at the man in question. “Didn’t you learn your lesson with the chicken-lizards?”
John wasn’t really blaming Rodney for anything. Well, maybe not entirely. He just saw a good opportunity to rib the scientist a little bit.
“Ooooh! Yes, they have those things. They’ve also got chocolate! It’s very good. You should ask for some,” Andra said in once again trying to be helpful.
“We’ll,” John began in waving Andra off to get things back on track, “get you something to eat once Beckett’s cleared you. So, do you know the name of your dad’s planet or where it’s located?” he asked in trying to get some more information from Tobias.
Tobias rolled his eyes, this guy was nuts. Brainwashed. Something. “Even I’m not so clueless as to think that flying a plane is the only job in the air force. Why would I want to fly a plane when I have wings of my own anyways?” Really, he was just bitter about the whole school thing and being left behind. That’s what essentially happened, his friends grew up and moved on and he was still a bird. And alone. He’d been alone for so much of his life, he didn’t want to go back to that. Not after experiencing the alternative.
Glancing over at McKay, he had the decency to blush crimson, “I uh, yeah. Hitched a ride. I’m not a 2 trick pony here. I’ve other morphs. I could bust of here right now, but I’m TRYING to behave here!” he ended that sentence yelling, he was still angry. “Then I found my own way outside. And no, I won’t tell you what I was. Just trust me me, it was small and unnoticeable.”
Glaring at the doctor now, Tobias stuck out his arm, “There’s nothing to see here,” he insisted. “I’ll read as baseline human. Normal. Except I’m hungry!” really, really hungry actually. “I don’t want chocolate. Do you have cinnabuns?” he asked. Those had been Ax’s favourite Earth food. They were really good. “My dad was an Andalite war prince, but he’s dead. He died on Earth about 7 years ago. His original homeworld was destroyed by the Goa’uld, they only have other planets now. Astronomy isn’t my strong point,” Ax had showed him a map, but he didn’t remember where the planet was anymore. If was even still around. When he had gone to the Andalite world they had crowned him a War Prince along with the other Animorphs even though they weren’t present…but he didn’t feel like one. He felt like a scared little kid. War Princes weren’t supposed to feel like that.
“Don’t remind me,” Rodney told Andra with a shudder. “Fine for you, maybe. Although how rolling an earring around a toilet seat with your tongue qualifies as fun is a mystery to me.”
Rodney didn’t even dignify Sheppard’s ribbing witha response, other than to give a loud sniff of disdain.
Rodney grew alarmed when Tobias said he’d come there in another form, his eyes growing buig as saucers. He started to itch all over, and fought the urge to scratch. “Great, now potential enemies could be travelling on us as itty-bitty bugs! That’s just what I wanted to hear!”
Carson approached Tobias catiously. “Look, I undertsand that it’s not yer fault that yer here; I’m truly sorry for all that’s happened to yeh. But surely in dealing with the Goa’uld, yeh’ve learned that yeh cannae take anything at face value? If you let me run mah tests wi’out a fuss, then it’ll prove to everyone that much faster that yer no’ a threat. And if yeh can do that, then yeh’d albe able to stay here for as long as yeh need or want — no more running. I’m not looking to experiment on yeh, son; I’m just looking out for the safety of my people. And I’d like to help you, if yeh’ll let me — a place to stay, food ta eat …. Ronon came to us in much the same way, and we’re the best o’ friends now, all of us. So will yeh let me do this? I promise to make it as quick and painless as possible — one vial of blood, like I have on file for everyone, we all get them taken — an’ the scans won’t hurt a bit. And if yeh tell us who yeh are, we can send a message ta Earth and verify that yeh are who yeh say yeh are. That’d go a long way towards clearin’ yeh.”
“People like you experiment on people like me,” Tobias answered, but he didn’t move his arm away from the doctor so he could take the vial of blood. He was running out of steam and he wanted to trust them. He could tell they were trying, even if it was a clumsy attempt. He’d been watching them for a few weeks before he’d revealed himself, although that hadn’t gone as he had wanted either. They seemed like good people.
“You won’t find much on me on Earth. I’ve been missing for seven years. My mom doesn’t know who she is most of the time, much less that she has a son. I don’t have any siblings either,” he said when the doctor brought up checking him on Earth files. He really didn’t want to admit the next bit of information, but it would come up regardless, “I um…dropped out of school when I was 13. 8th grade,” it had been out of necessity given his avian lifestyle, but he had always liked school. It had been his refuge for the most part. He refused to meet anyones eyes.
John had never heard of the Andalites nor did he recall ever reading about them in the SG mission reports. But something about Tobias’ story just wasn’t making sense.
“Wait, the Goa’uld destroyed your father’s homeworld? That would make the planet’s location some where in the Milkway galaxy. So, how did you get to the Pegasus galaxy?” he asked, wondering how in the hell the kid ended up so far off course.
Then John got a totally digusted look on his face at Rodney’s mention of earrings and toilet seats. He really hadn’t been paying much attention to Rodney’s and Andra’s conversation, but he did hear that much and decided that he was better off not knowing what any of it was about.
However, John did throw McKay a glance as he apparently started to freak out when Tobias revealed he’d hitched a ride on the scientist. “Rodney, calm down,” he told him though it was now evident they were going to have to devise a new system for examining offworld teams to look for hitch hikers. Maybe even looking through their clothing and equipment now.
As Tobias continued to tell his story, John couldn’t help but feel sorry for the kid. His father was dead, his mother didn’t even know he existed, no apparent relatives, and he seemed to have lost all his friends. Couldn’t have been an easy life for him.
“What was the name of school you went to?” he asked while Carson took his blood his samples. “Even if you dropped out, they’ll still have a record on you we can check.”
“What?” Tobias asked, completely confused about the different Galaxies. “I don’t know…I mean, the homeworld was destroyed years ago. They had other settlements…maybe one was near here?” Near and far seemed very relative right now. He was getting angry though, “I don’t know! Can I please go now? Just let me outside with guards or something…I don’t like it in here,” he was begging and he hated it, but he didn’t know what else to do other than risk getting shot again and this time possibly being stuck in morph again. He was not having that happen.
He did have the gall to be embarrassed at upsetting the crazy doctor though, he hadn’t meant to. It had seemed like a perfect idea at the time, in fact all of this had. It seemed it wasn’t so perfect an idea now though. It was unfortunante that hindsight was 20/20. Rubbing his eyes in frustration, he continued trying to answer the questions.
“Sutter Middle School in Sacramento, California,” he finally replied, making a face as Carson drew blood. “Can I eat now?”
Julie held still as Tobias left her arm, and returned to the bed. She kept quiet until he insisted to Carson that people like him did experiments on people that were different from him. Julie spoke then, “I am a mutant, Tobias. When I first arrived here I had to be kept in quarantine because something I have inside me was dangerous then. The doctors here, Carson, McKay, they helped me be safe, and I was let out of quarantine once I was. They aren’t just concerned about whether or not you’re a threat. If you’re in some kind of trouble they’ll help if you let them.”
She wanted to make the young man feel better. Julie and Dylan had been content to sit in quarantine while they’d had to because they’d heard Jack was in Atlantis. They’d had incentive to be cooperative. So far Tobias was being asked to be content without being given much of a reason to. When he repeated a request to eat she offered to the room, “I’ll go and get something for Tobias to eat if it’s all right for him to have something here. Using my ability takes energy. I bet shape-shifting does too.”
Jack’s hand stayed on Julie’s shoulder as she held the hawk on her arm. Her thought had clearly been a good one. Tobias had landed on her arm when she offered it, and when he moved off it was to settle back onto the bed. Jack recognized Andalite when Tobias mentioned what his father had been and from where. It wasn’t something he recognized from Torchwood however. Jack recognized it from his time with the Time Agency. Since Tobias had brought it up, simply acknowledging that he knew the name wouldn’t be corrupting the time line, but did he ask the young man about the Yeerks?
“I’ve heard of the Andalite. You were raised on Earth, but you’ve traveled to your father’s home-world. Did they crown you a war-prince while you there?” Jack asked the boy rather than mentioning Yeerks.
Rodney crossed his arms, rolling his eyes when the kid revealed he had dropped out of school in eigth grade; then he caught himself doing it and forced his arms back down to his sides. He was working on being more copmpassionate, and told himseld that, considering the other things the kid was telling them, there was probably a very good reason he’d dropped out of school when he was young. And it didn’t necessarily mean that the kid wasn’t smart; Teyla hadn’t exactly had what one would call a formal education, and she was still intelligent, where as Kavanaugh had gone to graduate school and was still a grade-a moron. So he needed to give the kid the benefit of the doubt, he decided. Although he couldn’t quite quell the irritation he felt towards the kid for using him as a taxi cab without his knowlegde or consent.
“I don’t quite think bringing him some food is going to cut it,” McKay remarked. Even he could tell the kid was close to losing it with an acute case of claustrophobia, despite the size of the room. “Carson, are you done?”
“Aye, this is the last of it,” Carson said, he said, finishing a scan.
“Well, we can clear the way to the atrium and take him there, can’t we?” Rodney suggested to Sheppard. “I mean, does it matter where we keep him? We’ve already established that he could go all teeny-tiny on us, so all we can really do is trust him anyway, and so long as we make sure he avoids contact with other people until he’s cleared, what’s the harm? We already took him through the city to get here. And I think someplace more outdoors-y would put him more at ease — with his abilities, I’m thinking that having him be at ease is a good thing for all parties ….”
Whoa, lots of questions. Pulling his legs up and wrapping his arms around them protectively and resting his head on his knees, Tobias tried to keep everyone straight with the questions. “Food. Yes. Good. Please,” the girl seemed pretty nice compared to everyone else and rational. Tobias liked her, but he looked up intrigued when she said she was a mutant, “Mutant? Howso?”
Turning to the other man who had mostly been quiet he tried to decide how to answer. “I’m Elfangor’s son,” he finally said simply, “I am a war-prince,” they had crowned all of the Animorphs war-princes, though Tobias had been the only one who had been there. Rachel and Ax were dead and the others were still on Earth in the military.
There was an atrium? That sounded better than here or the brig or whatever they called it. “Can I fly?” he asked, automatically checking the stopwatch. He still had plenty of time, good. “I mean…um. In the atrium. Not here,” he was trying to behave for them. It wasn’t easy, but he was trying. Getting food and out of the medlab would help.
“Anda-what?” John asked in looking at Harkness. Evidentally the Torchwood liason knew more than he did and he wanted to be brought up to speed — quick. “Care to fill me in?”
John didn’t like the idea of letting Tobias out of isolation, not to mention the rest of them hadn’t been checked out yet.
“There could be a lot of harm, Rodney,” John said in a low, cautionary tone telling the man to knock it off. Sometimes McKay just didn’t know when to be quiet. But John considered the idea.
“Doc?” he asked in looking towards Carson. “Is he clean?”
As far as John was concerned, Beckett was the final authority as to whether or not Tobias would be allowed out of isolation.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” he replied to Tobias’ request to fly. Right now, all John was concerned about was what Carson’s preliminary results were.
“Well, the prelimnary scans are clean,” Carson began. “I’ll still need to check his blood samples — I’ll go do that right now, but it will take a while. In the meantime, I think it’s safe ta say he’s not carrying any easily-transferred pathogens — hence the lack of a city lockdown — nor any nanites. In order to get anyone sick, he’d have to actually exchange bodily fluid. So yes, he’s cleared ta go to the mess. Just no sharing any food — or kissing,” he told the boy with a wink.
“Or biting,” Rodney muttered, still feeling itchy at the thought of fleas. The word “nanites” fluttered in his head, brushing against his brain repeatedly until he got an idea. Which, with his level of genuis, just took a split-second. “Nanites!” he said, snapping his fingers.
Nodding shortly, Tobias began to uncurl on the exam table. Food was going to happen! It was really about time. His stomach gurgled audible in anticipation. “I won’t,” he promised, sliding off the table. Who would he kiss? His girlfriend had died and he was a bird most of the time, not exactly a turn on. Plus, it seemed that everyone here was mostly old.
“So what do you do here anyways in outer space?” he asked. “And why aren’t you on a space station? That would be so cool,” Marco was more the sci-fi nerd of the group, but he had his moments. “Do you have a space ship?” he paused as he caught Rodney’s words, “Nanites? What are you talking about?”
John thought for a moment about letting the kid go to the atrium to eat. He wasn’t overly thrilled about the idea as he’d much rather keep him contained for the time being, but Carson did say it was safe.
“Okay,” he finally said. “But Ronon goes with you. That’s the deal and there’s no negotiating on that. It’s either take it or leave it,” he stated firmly.
“Yeah, we’ve got spaceships,” John replied to Tobias as Rodney started snapping his fingers.
He turned to look at the man, stating the same question as Tobias. “Nanites? Uh, what he said,” he pointed towards the kid and was a bit wary of the term. They hadn’t had the best of luck where nanites were concerned and just the mention of them gave John pause.
((OOC: Oy, I completely forgot about having stuff left to do on this thread! Sorry! XD))
“Yeah!” Rodney said to Sheppard, excited. He turned to Tobias. “Oh, uh, nothing to do with you! Sorry, I was thinking of something else. Your talk of becoming a bug just reminded me of it.” He decided it was better to explain what he was thinking to Sheppard and Beckett without Tobias in earshot.
“Okay, can we not mention bugs?” John said with a slight wince in waving his hand to get Rodney off the subject. That was some place he didn’t want to go — again…