[fic] No Sound of Water [R]
Title: No Sound of Water
Author: havocthecat
Groupings: Katie Brown/Laura Cadman, Kate Heightmeyer/John Sheppard/Elizabeth Weir
Warnings: Character Death
Rating: R
Summary: Lieutenant Cadman was such a nice woman, and very skilled with explosive materials. She showed promise.
Author's Notes: Set in the Mirror!SGA universe, which is based on the premise that the SGA characters are fundamentally broken as regards their their moral codes. (Why, yes, the creators of this AU are Trek fen, and we did come up with this in the midst of myriad discussions involving the Trekverse. And Vulcans. Gotta love the Vulcans.) Title is from one of the lyrics in T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land.
Also, thanks to medie and angelqueen04 for betareading!
The stories in this AU, in chronological order, are:
Through the Looking Glass - just post Rising I & II
Fatal Pride - early third season
***
Elizabeth leaned back in her chair, watching the video feed on her monitor. The Botany lab had been quiet all day. Dr. Parrish was off-world with Major Lorne, and most of the new scientists were still getting up to speed on all of Atlantis' systems. They were all too shell-shocked by Atlantis 101 as taught by Doctors McKay and Zelenka to come back to the labs after that.
Lieutenant Cadman was going to do a little favor for her this afternoon. It was a test, though Elizabeth hadn't bothered mentioning that to Laura. The lieutenant was such a nice woman, and very skilled with explosive materials. She showed promise.
The smile playing around Elizabeth's lips was subtle. Anyone looking through the glass would likely presume that she was satisfied by a particularly well-done report.
***
Katie Brown had been by herself most of the morning. Right now, she was humming softly and watering plants, but Laura was waiting just inside the doorway. When Katie turned and noticed her, she gasped and jumped.
"Hey, Katie." Laura chuckled. "Long time, no see."
"Laura?" Katie set her watering pot down and looked at Laura, confused. "Laura, what's going on?"
"You don't think I'd just stop by to say hi to a friend?" Laura waved her hand over the control panel, and the door closed behind her. "We never got close, Katie. Kind of a shame we won't get that chance now. You're cute, except for that goody two-shoes streak."
"What do you mean?" Katie backed up until she bumped against one of the tables. It wasn't that Katie was stupid, per se, just naive. Then again, she'd been perceptive enough to keep her head down her mouth shut the whole first year she'd been here.
Laura smiled as she walked forward. "I know I'm new, but you didn't think I was going to ruin the sweet deal we have going out here, did you?"
"The sweet..." Katie's voice trailed off, then she shook her head, her eyes widening in fear. "Oh, God. You told her."
"Your little plans to get a message through to the folks on Earth?" asked Laura. She shrugged. "Yep. Dr. Weir isn't too happy with you."
"Something's wrong, Laura," said Katie. "Dr. Weir's the start of it, and it's gotten even worse since she and Dr. Heightmeyer have been making psych sessions mandatory for everyone."
"Hey, don't knock Kate." Laura moved forward until she had Katie pinned back against the table. "I had a 'welcome to Atlantis' psych review a couple days ago. We get along."
"You didn't seem this scary at poker night." Katie's voice was breathless.
"Yeah, 'bout that?" Laura reached around Katie, who flinched, and grabbed a set of pruning shears. She smirked. "I'm really good at pretending to be normal."
Katie tried to duck and get past Laura, but she was ready before Katie even moved. Laura's hand slammed into Katie's chest, and she pushed her back down on the table, then slid the pruning shears through the soft, smooth skin of Katie's abdomen.
When Katie's eyes went wide and her pupils expanded in shock, Laura laughed. "Carson tells me that gut wounds are a bitch to heal from."
A soft gasp of air was the only response Katie could give.
"He started describing the whole thing to me, y'know?" Laura's tone was conversational. "I like Carson, when he can get over that belief he's gotta be a nice guy. Nice is boring."
She let go, and Katie slid to the ground with a dull thud.
"Of course, you're not going to visit the infirmary," added Laura. She glanced around. "The Botany labs need an overhaul anyway. Someone's been storing their fertilizer improperly."
Blood trailed down Katie's mouth as she tried to press her hand down on the wound.
"Can't leave these in, though, can we?" asked Laura. She walked over to Katie and laughed at the shriek of pain Katie made as Laura pulled the scissors out and wiped them clean. "Don't worry. You won't die from a gut wound. The explosion's going to take care of that."
It was only the work of a few minutes to mix the fertilizer wrong and mess the labs up enough to give the cursory appearance that things hadn't been stored right. Sure, Dr. Weir said she'd get Biro to cover things up with the autopsy, but a girl couldn't get sloppy now, could she?
Laura paused as she unlocked the door, then turned. "It's a shame you couldn't remember how to keep your mouth shut, Katie. Guess you're going to miss out on that dinner date with McKay in a few days."
***
Half an hour later, Elizabeth saw smoke fill the Botany labs, and ten minutes after that, the explosion rocked the city. Elizabeth shuddered and closed her eyes in the aftermath of the blast.
When the tremors died away, she let go of her tight grip on her desk and touched her earpiece. "Kate?" She smoothed one hand down her shirt as she waited for Kate to answer.
"Yes, Elizabeth?" Kate's voice came over the radio, breathless with surprise. "I heard an--"
"An explosion, yes," she said. She nodded to Chuck, who was dispatching a group of Marines to the labs. "From the direction of the Botany labs. I'm sending a team to investigate now. Hopefully, it was unoccupied."
Best to leave a clean record on the radio logs as well, just in case the IOA came calling unexpectedly.
"If it wasn't, I'd like to institute group sessions," said Kate. "For grief counseling."
"Of course." Elizabeth rose smoothly. "I'll come and discuss that with you now. If you're not occupied?"
Kate's voice carried a trace of complacent arrogance. "I'm sure Colonel Sheppard and I will be finished with our session shortly," she said.
Elizabeth's mouth tightened as she moved toward her door. "Tell the Colonel to wait there. I may as well discuss everything with both of you at once. Are you in your office?"
"We're in the Colonel's quarters, Elizabeth," said Kate.
Elizabeth frowned at the self-satisfied note in Kate's tone. She paused. "And why is that?" Her voice contained an edge to it.
Most of Atlantis flinched when her voice hardened. Kate and John never did.
"I thought that therapy might yield more results in a familiar environment." Elizabeth didn't miss Kate's breathy sigh.
"Stop everything you're doing," said Elizabeth firmly. "I'm on my way."
"Of course," said Kate. Her laugh was throaty, and Elizabeth heard John groaning in the background. "Whatever you say, Dr. Weir."
The doors closed behind Elizabeth as she stalked toward John's quarters. Her eyes narrowed. They were going to suffer for this.
--end--
Author: havocthecat
Groupings: Katie Brown/Laura Cadman, Kate Heightmeyer/John Sheppard/Elizabeth Weir
Warnings: Character Death
Rating: R
Summary: Lieutenant Cadman was such a nice woman, and very skilled with explosive materials. She showed promise.
Author's Notes: Set in the Mirror!SGA universe, which is based on the premise that the SGA characters are fundamentally broken as regards their their moral codes. (Why, yes, the creators of this AU are Trek fen, and we did come up with this in the midst of myriad discussions involving the Trekverse. And Vulcans. Gotta love the Vulcans.) Title is from one of the lyrics in T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land.
Also, thanks to medie and angelqueen04 for betareading!
The stories in this AU, in chronological order, are:
Through the Looking Glass - just post Rising I & II
Fatal Pride - early third season
***
Elizabeth leaned back in her chair, watching the video feed on her monitor. The Botany lab had been quiet all day. Dr. Parrish was off-world with Major Lorne, and most of the new scientists were still getting up to speed on all of Atlantis' systems. They were all too shell-shocked by Atlantis 101 as taught by Doctors McKay and Zelenka to come back to the labs after that.
Lieutenant Cadman was going to do a little favor for her this afternoon. It was a test, though Elizabeth hadn't bothered mentioning that to Laura. The lieutenant was such a nice woman, and very skilled with explosive materials. She showed promise.
The smile playing around Elizabeth's lips was subtle. Anyone looking through the glass would likely presume that she was satisfied by a particularly well-done report.
***
Katie Brown had been by herself most of the morning. Right now, she was humming softly and watering plants, but Laura was waiting just inside the doorway. When Katie turned and noticed her, she gasped and jumped.
"Hey, Katie." Laura chuckled. "Long time, no see."
"Laura?" Katie set her watering pot down and looked at Laura, confused. "Laura, what's going on?"
"You don't think I'd just stop by to say hi to a friend?" Laura waved her hand over the control panel, and the door closed behind her. "We never got close, Katie. Kind of a shame we won't get that chance now. You're cute, except for that goody two-shoes streak."
"What do you mean?" Katie backed up until she bumped against one of the tables. It wasn't that Katie was stupid, per se, just naive. Then again, she'd been perceptive enough to keep her head down her mouth shut the whole first year she'd been here.
Laura smiled as she walked forward. "I know I'm new, but you didn't think I was going to ruin the sweet deal we have going out here, did you?"
"The sweet..." Katie's voice trailed off, then she shook her head, her eyes widening in fear. "Oh, God. You told her."
"Your little plans to get a message through to the folks on Earth?" asked Laura. She shrugged. "Yep. Dr. Weir isn't too happy with you."
"Something's wrong, Laura," said Katie. "Dr. Weir's the start of it, and it's gotten even worse since she and Dr. Heightmeyer have been making psych sessions mandatory for everyone."
"Hey, don't knock Kate." Laura moved forward until she had Katie pinned back against the table. "I had a 'welcome to Atlantis' psych review a couple days ago. We get along."
"You didn't seem this scary at poker night." Katie's voice was breathless.
"Yeah, 'bout that?" Laura reached around Katie, who flinched, and grabbed a set of pruning shears. She smirked. "I'm really good at pretending to be normal."
Katie tried to duck and get past Laura, but she was ready before Katie even moved. Laura's hand slammed into Katie's chest, and she pushed her back down on the table, then slid the pruning shears through the soft, smooth skin of Katie's abdomen.
When Katie's eyes went wide and her pupils expanded in shock, Laura laughed. "Carson tells me that gut wounds are a bitch to heal from."
A soft gasp of air was the only response Katie could give.
"He started describing the whole thing to me, y'know?" Laura's tone was conversational. "I like Carson, when he can get over that belief he's gotta be a nice guy. Nice is boring."
She let go, and Katie slid to the ground with a dull thud.
"Of course, you're not going to visit the infirmary," added Laura. She glanced around. "The Botany labs need an overhaul anyway. Someone's been storing their fertilizer improperly."
Blood trailed down Katie's mouth as she tried to press her hand down on the wound.
"Can't leave these in, though, can we?" asked Laura. She walked over to Katie and laughed at the shriek of pain Katie made as Laura pulled the scissors out and wiped them clean. "Don't worry. You won't die from a gut wound. The explosion's going to take care of that."
It was only the work of a few minutes to mix the fertilizer wrong and mess the labs up enough to give the cursory appearance that things hadn't been stored right. Sure, Dr. Weir said she'd get Biro to cover things up with the autopsy, but a girl couldn't get sloppy now, could she?
Laura paused as she unlocked the door, then turned. "It's a shame you couldn't remember how to keep your mouth shut, Katie. Guess you're going to miss out on that dinner date with McKay in a few days."
***
Half an hour later, Elizabeth saw smoke fill the Botany labs, and ten minutes after that, the explosion rocked the city. Elizabeth shuddered and closed her eyes in the aftermath of the blast.
When the tremors died away, she let go of her tight grip on her desk and touched her earpiece. "Kate?" She smoothed one hand down her shirt as she waited for Kate to answer.
"Yes, Elizabeth?" Kate's voice came over the radio, breathless with surprise. "I heard an--"
"An explosion, yes," she said. She nodded to Chuck, who was dispatching a group of Marines to the labs. "From the direction of the Botany labs. I'm sending a team to investigate now. Hopefully, it was unoccupied."
Best to leave a clean record on the radio logs as well, just in case the IOA came calling unexpectedly.
"If it wasn't, I'd like to institute group sessions," said Kate. "For grief counseling."
"Of course." Elizabeth rose smoothly. "I'll come and discuss that with you now. If you're not occupied?"
Kate's voice carried a trace of complacent arrogance. "I'm sure Colonel Sheppard and I will be finished with our session shortly," she said.
Elizabeth's mouth tightened as she moved toward her door. "Tell the Colonel to wait there. I may as well discuss everything with both of you at once. Are you in your office?"
"We're in the Colonel's quarters, Elizabeth," said Kate.
Elizabeth frowned at the self-satisfied note in Kate's tone. She paused. "And why is that?" Her voice contained an edge to it.
Most of Atlantis flinched when her voice hardened. Kate and John never did.
"I thought that therapy might yield more results in a familiar environment." Elizabeth didn't miss Kate's breathy sigh.
"Stop everything you're doing," said Elizabeth firmly. "I'm on my way."
"Of course," said Kate. Her laugh was throaty, and Elizabeth heard John groaning in the background. "Whatever you say, Dr. Weir."
The doors closed behind Elizabeth as she stalked toward John's quarters. Her eyes narrowed. They were going to suffer for this.
--end--