Fic: Newcomers: Situation Normal (SGA, OCs, R)
Title: Newcomers: Situation Normal
Rating: R, for violence and language.
Character: OCs
Disclaimer: The context isn't mine (the main characters are), no harm meant.
Summary: The beginnings of a gate team are not always auspicious.
A/N: Ninth in the Newcomers series, after The Dark-Eyed Girl.
Situation Normal
She's first through the door, first to see that they're not alone, first to raise her weapon. They look as surprised as she, but they outnumber her little team, and she's got three guns pointed at her head before Collins follows her inside.
She hesitates.
Collins doesn't. He barrels into the soldier closest to him, the butt of his P90 crunching into the man's nose. His momentum pushes both of them into the second soldier, and Anna has the sense to point her weapon at the third.
The rest are still stumbling to their feet. If she wasn't so scared, she'd be laughing. They're obviously hungover, and stare at Anna and her team - no. Stare at Collins, who hasn't stopped at disarming the first soldier. He pummels the guy, who's trying to surrender, for fuck's sake.
"Collins!" she snaps. She doesn't want to start shooting, but even hungover, these - what the hell are they? Mercenaries, most like, uniformed but not. God only knows what they're doing here - but they're not going to just keep watching. One of them steps forward, and he looks sharper than the others. Genii (but not). She switches her aim to him. "Back off, buddy."
"Jesus." Dr Gibson is frozen in the entrance.
"Collins!" yells Anna again. "Fuck's sake. Collins!" She'd fire a warning shot, but there's no point. "Wright. Get him out of here."
Wright lifts Collins bodily off the man, wrapping those linebacker arms around Collins to pull him away, and still Collins manages to get away from him. Collins rounds on Wright, a knife suddenly in his hand. His eyes are wild, unfocussed.
Wright doesn't look worried, but he keeps his distance.
"Collins! Snap the fuck out of it," she yells again. With Wright facing Collins, hers is the only weapon on the mercenaries. She doesn't want to give them time to realise that Gibson is worse than useless. At least his gun's pointed at them, even if the safety's on and he's staring at Collins.
Something shifts in Collins' expression, and he lowers the knife. She keeps her weapon on the leader of the mercenaries. "We're just going to walk out of here nice and easy." Nobody moves. "Collins. Out."
For a moment he doesn't move, then he smirks at her and sidles out of the door. "Wright." He nods, and follows Collins. "Gibson."
Gibson's staring after Collins, slack-jawed. "Doc," she says, and he starts. "Any time now." He chases after Wright, and she has to force herself not to flee after him.
She holds eye contact with the leader as she backs out the door.
~
Her de-brief is short and terse. They arrived, they weren't alone, nobody died, and no, she doesn't know who they were but there were a few Genii uniforms - which is when Sheppard goes "Aw, crap, again?" and tells her just to write it all up and pass it to Major Lorne. She nods, and he dismisses her, but as she turns to leave, he calls her back.
"You did good, Captain. Everybody home safe? That's a good day." She nods again, and salutes because what else is she going to do? He waves her away.
She waits for Lorne in his office, hands him the report and stands at what the Marines call SGC attention. Their drill instructors would yell at them til their ears bled. Lorne knows why she doesn't leave. There's always something that doesn't go in the report. Sometimes you tell Sheppard, sometimes you tell Lorne. Sometimes you go to Teldy, who goes to Teyla, and you find yourself on milk runs to the newest Athosian settlement. "Sit down, Captain."
Anna sits, and realises she still doesn't know how to tell Lorne his recommendation sucks. "It's about Collins, sir."
"He didn't tell that joke about the nun and the -" His gaze sharpens when she shakes her head. "What happened?"
"He was a little volatile, sir." Lorne doesn't say anything, but he winces ever so slightly. "Scared the hell out of the enemy, sir, but -"
"You want to send him for a psych evaluation?"
So long as he doesn't come back, she thinks. But Collins is the sort to charm the doctors. "I thought I'd let you know, sir. I know you're - I know you've worked with him before. You might have a better sense of -" Whether this was a one time thing, or if he really is bat-shit insane.
He nods. "I'll talk to him. In the meantime, I'll sub in Sergeant Shaughnessy for your next mission."
She knows Shaughnessy from working with Major Hughes' team, and he's a good, steady presence to have on a gate team. "Gibson again?" She's not too worried about the scientist, but she'll teach him how to use his weapon before she goes offworld with him again.
"No, Travers and -" He leafs through the papers in front of him. "Laukkinen, from anthropology. Don't worry, they've visited this planet before, got a good rapport with the locals. Shouldn't be any trouble."
Shit, she thinks, and straightens up. "Not worried, sir. Just want to know what I'm dealing with. Sir."
He acknowledges her point with a rueful twist of his mouth. "Of course. If that's all?"
She nods, and stands, and salutes. Lorne acknowledges this with less discomfort than Sheppard.
~
"The first time I met Colonel Sheppard, my home was destroyed and I was captured by the Wraith." Anna doesn't know what to say to that. But there's warmth in Teyla's voice, and her eyes are clear. And then she nearly shatters Anna's kneecap with a blow from a bantos rod Anna could have sworn was heading in a different direction.
"I'm not sure that's reassuring," Anna says, to give herself a chance to recover.
"I only mean that you should not expect your team to - gel? - to work well together from the start. The beginnings do not need to be auspicious." Teyla's done waiting, and steps in with a move that Anna will, one of these days, remember how to block in time.
She likes training with Teyla, because she doesn't get her ass so thoroughly kicked as when she trains with Ronon Dex. She likes training with Dex - very, very infrequently - because he doesn't hold back just because she's a woman.
Ronon trains every day, but apart from his runs with Sheppard, he doesn't exercise. He spars with Teyla and Sheppard, or he trains the Marines in Satedan fighting styles, and apart from the occasional impromtu football/rugby game that might as well be a barroom brawl, he's always fighting. That's why he kicks the Marines' asses: he never stops fighting.
The Marines don't always take it like men. "I've never been in so much pain," hisses Shaughnessy.
"Give us a break, will you, Dex?" says Wright.
"Yeah, what did we do to deserve this?"
Dex grins. "It's not punishment." Shaughnessy laughs bitterly. "It's not a beating. You make the blood run, you make the blows count. You don't stop, because the Wraith never stop."
"What's that, a Satedan lullaby?"
Dex doesn't reply, just grins wider. "You ready, Rodriguez?" Anna nods, steps up to Dex, and doesn't break anything when she lands halfway across the room. Well, she thinks fuzzily, at least it gets the others fighting. No Marine wants to be outdone by a goddamn Air Force pilot.
~
She hasn't made her team choices official. She's still getting to know them, and they her: Shaughnessy still beams like a proud father when she makes good tactical decisions. Wright still isn't comfortable enough in Pegasus to relax, even in Atlantis - she has to remember that he's as new to the SGC as to Atlantis, that he was pulled out of his first tour in Afghanistan because of the gene.
But Lorne stops swapping in other Marines, and she finds their missions increasingly split between babysitting Travers and Laukkinen, staring at rocks with Matoub, and going on wild ZPM chases with Gibson. If she chooses one of them to join the team permanently, she'll go for Gibson, because while Dr Matoub is a big guy and can handle himself in a fight, he studies rocks.
They're mostly on abandoned planets, either culled or too barren to be viable, or visiting communities the expedition has long had ties with. They have one unexpected 'first contact', but she pulls the 'peaceful explorers' line and they turn out to be old trading partners of the Athosians, newly nomadic. They cross paths with the Wraith often enough, but never more than a handful at a time.
This is a bigger mission than she's handled before, and she's more than aware that she wouldn't be the first choice, but Sheppard will be offworld twice during the mission, which means Lorne has to stay in Atlantis (to rescue AR-1, nobody says). Teldy is on leave, Hughes is in the infirmary. There's a dozen other Captains (all Marines, all men, all with seniority, not that she's saying anything), and she has to stop herself from flinging her hand up like a schoolgirl when Sheppard asks if anyone wants to volunteer. He sees her bouncing in her seat, though, and nods.
It doesn't sound like much: extensive Ancient ruins around a long-abandoned stargate. The archaeologists are sending a team of four, and McKay wants a 'real' scientist along as well, just in case there's something interesting. Two weeks for the initial dig, longer if the archaeologists want it, which they will. She'll take Shaughnessy and Wright, and Dr Gibson, who's volunteered anyway. Lorne assigns four more Marines.
She's responsible for 11 people, which wouldn't rate more than a lieutenant on Earth, but they're in another galaxy. Everything's different. She's so buzzed she doesn't even query it when Lorne tells her he's sending Collins with her.
Hell, she doesn't even mind that they're not leaving a jumper with them. The ruins are barely two miles from the gate, and the hike back and forth to report to Woolsey will keep her Marines occupied.
~
Collins doesn't make trouble. There's still a challenge in his eyes, but it's not vicious. He does tell the joke about the nun. Gibson and the three male archaeologists give short, shocked laughs, while Dr Hayashi's eyes go wide. Wright and the other Marines try to hide their amusement, but Shaughnessy roars with laughter, and then slaps Collins on the back of the head. They all turn to see her reaction.
She keeps her face blank, and holds Collins' gaze. Then she tells the filthiest joke she knows.
They stare at her. Then Ayako giggles, and Anna lets herself smile. The men laugh, and Collins raises his hands in mock defeat.
~
On the fourth day, she spends the morning watching Gibson walk slowly across a forest clearing that Cronje swears is a plaza, and Lewis is equally vehement is a forest clearing. Every now and then, Gibson's scanner beeps, and he frowns at it, backs up a few paces, and starts over. The scanner never seems to beep in the same location.
Flores and Drake are humping dirt for the archaeologists at the main site. She sent Wright and Shaughnessy to the gate to send the daily report - they should be on their way back. Veidt and Collins are patrolling their perimeter. Christ, she's bored.
Gibson finally stops walking in circles, says "Bugger!" and stares at the sky with a wounded expression.
"Doc?"
He smiles at her ruefully. "I know I shouldn't complain, because I volunteered, but..."
"You don't have to stay. If you're not finding anything, there's not much point."
He shrugs, overly casual. "They might uncover something yet."
She raises an eyebrow at that, and he sniggers.
"It's - it's not that it isn't fascinating. I mean, the Ancients were weird, really, but it's all so -"
"Covered in dirt?"
"Abstract. And covered in dirt, yes." He sighs. "No ZedPM, at any -"
Her radio clicks, and then goes silent. She holds up a hand to stop Gibson, and waits. The radio stays silent. She's about to speak when she hears gunfire.
~
She forces herself to look at the others - Flores and Wright look back at her expectantly, not accusingly. God, she should have been there. Gibson looks like she's about to accuse him of taking her away from the main site, and she almost laughs. Collins doesn't look at her.
Lewis and Morton are in the other jumper, along with the medic trying to keep Hayashi and Veidt alive. Shaughnessy and Drake and Cronje are all here. Collins stares at one of the body bags - Cronje, she thinks absently, thinner than the Marines - and he flinches when one of the rescue party eases past him.
Major Lorne has slowed the jumper down, letting the other jumper pass through the gate ahead of them.
"They came out of nowhere," says Flores, his voice thick with disbelief. "Didn't see them until they - they just - I turned round and they'd just cut her in two." His hands tighten on his weapon. "Cronje was already dead."
"They were so fucking quiet," says Wright, shaking his head. She nods. Even after they attacked, they'd barely made a sound.
She'd ordered everyone back to the camp, once she'd realised what was happening (she still doesn't know what happened). All except Wright, who she'd sent back to the gate. He'd dialed Atlantis for reinforcements, and must have doubletimed it back to the camp, because he was there in time to see Shaughnessy die.
She'd run, run, run, barely able to tell Gibson to stay with her as she made for the camp. Heard Flores say, calmly, "Drake's gone", as he fired on their attackers. Heard Lewis panicking, Morton telling him to shut up and run. They were at the camp by the time she and Gibson reached it, Shaughnessy not far behind them. She remembers calling for Veidt, Collins, Hayashi, Cronje.
Veidt reached them just as the enemy reached the camp. She thinks she shot the man who cut him down, but couldn't swear to it. Maybe Shaughnessy did. Unless the second wave had reached the back of the camp, because Shaughnessy was standing beside her, and he fell forward (he fell, and didn't even cry out, and she hated them, their silence robbing him of that).
She shakes her head to clear it. Wright had seen that, come up behind and ambushed the ambush, P90 making short work of spears and axes, and it was all too late. Then the jumpers came down, and she didn't wait for Major Lorne's order before she stepped out to drive them back, drive them away from Veidt, from Drake's body, from Cronje, Hayashi, Collins -
"You were to the south? Veidt headed to the camp, and you went back to the dig?" She remembers seeing Collins crouched over Hayashi, firing and firing even though their attackers were long gone, and oblivious to their rescuers' approach. He'd disobeyed her, but Hayashi might survive. They're attacked by people with spears, and the only reason anyone survives is because Collins is too much of an crazy bastard to follow orders.
"We split up." Collins finally looks up, looking at her, only not quite. "I was on the other side. North." He's waiting for something.
"So - they must have come from further west?" She thought they'd fled north, but it had happened so fast -
Collins shakes his head. "No. They walked right by me." And then he laughs.
He's still laughing as Flores swears when he realises what Collins said. Still laughing as Flores lashes out and the marines from the rescue party pull him back. By the time Sergeant Johnson has pulled Flores into the jumper's cockpit and sat him down, Collins has an arm pressed over his mouth and he's staring at the body bags again.
She's numb. She doesn't know when she stood up, but suddenly her knees are weak. She grabs hold of the netting to keep herself upright, and closes her eyes until she feels the jumper land in Atlantis.
The sickening atmosphere in the jumper eases as the rear hatch opens and the Marines leave silently. There's a flurry of activity outside, but it's far away.
Someone - she thinks it's Gibson - says "Captain?", and she hears Major Lorne say, softly, "Go on, Doc."
The jumper bay is quiet again. She opens her eyes. Lorne is watching her. She lets go of the netting, and nearly falls, but Lorne steadies her, a hand on her shoulder. He waits until she pulls away, and lets his hand drop. It's covered in blood, but she doesn't think it's hers.
"I'm sorry, Captain. This should never have happened. I thought -" He breaks off, and shakes his head. "He'll be on the next run out of Atlantis."
"Sir, I -"
"None of this is your fault, Rodriguez"
"It was my command, sir -"
"You already told me there was a problem with Collins. I thought I'd gotten through to him, but - Dammit!" She's never seen Lorne even close to angry before. He looks her straight in the eyes. "I apologise. I thought he was a better soldier."
"I -"
"I'm going to ask Sheppard to have him locked in the brig."
"Sir, that's -"
"If we don't -" Lorne stops. "You should go to the infirmary, Captain."
~
She only realises how badly she's fucked up when Collins doesn't even see the punch McKay throws. He's slammed against the infirmary wall, and doesn't open his eyes as McKay starts in with: "You have one job. Just one job, and that's to keep my people safe. If you can't do that, you're worse than useless to us."
Sheppard pulls McKay away. "Not the time, Rodney," he says, even though he looks like he wants to do the same thing. "I'll deal with him later, okay?"
Anna hisses as the nurse starts to clean the cut on her arm. Rizk mutters a soft apology, and Anna closes her eyes against it.
When she opens her eyes again, Sheppard is standing in front of her. He reaches out as if to touch her shoulder, but drops his hand. His expression is bleak. "I spoke to Lorne."
"Sir -"
"We'll debrief tomorrow. Get some sleep." He executes a complicated shrug towards Nurse Rizk, who nods and slips two small pills into Anna's hand.
When she turns to look at Collins, he's gone.
~
She sees Collins firing and firing, crouched over Ayako. Sees him strike down the mercenary aiming at her head.
There's a knock at her door, soft and hesitant. "Enter"
It's Dr Gibson. He looks grey and shaken, and he's leaning on a crutch, his leg bound. "Captain..."
She doesn't have the energy. If she doesn't speak to him, chances are he'll never join her team again, which isn't fair, because it's not his fault, but she doesn't care.
He's holding something out, not catching her eye. "I know you don't want to hear this," he says, "but I - no-one's supposed to know anyway. But it's - "
"What is it?"
He pushes the thing into her hand. It's a USB stick. "I looked up his file, after M5F-472. I shouldn't have kept it." He looks up, suddenly defiant. "It's not as if you'll get in trouble. They're already blaming him, so. Oh, no, I didn't mean - " Gibson grabs her shoulder (what is it about her shoulder?).
He must feel the room spinning too.
"It's not your fault. Christ, it's not anybody's fault. But that's the point. They're blaming him, and it isn't fair. He's a good man, but he keeps getting blamed. And I know, I know, he was supposed to be on lookout, and he screwed up, but you saw what they did, do you really think it would have made a difference? Are you going to blame Sheppard or McKay because they didn't realise the planet was inhabited? I know you want to blame someone, everybody does. I do. But it isn't fair -"
"Doc, slow down."
"They think he's unlucky," Gibson says with a scowl, and Anna almost laughs, because it's a McKay scowl. "Which is absurd. He keeps volunteering for the shittiest missions, and people die, but what do they expect? Nobody calls Sheppard unlucky."
They do. They used to. They called him worse, back in Afghanistan, and she'd kept her mouth shut.
~
She's expecting him to be drunk. She'd be drunk. (She kind of wishes she was.) But the unlabelled bottle he's holding is nearly full.
He's still blankfaced. Thousand yard stare doesn't even cover it.
"Collins..." She steps into the room, and Gibson slips in behind her, hugging the wall.
"I was bored," Collins says, and grins. It's more of a grimace. "I was bored, so I switched off, and I just didn't see them. Can you fucking believe that?"
She can, but shakes her head, not that he notices. "Veidt's dead."
He nods, tapping his radio. "I heard -" He stops.
You can hear the ocean, even up here.
"You should go," says Collins.
"Can't sleep."
"You should go."
When they come, the Marines - there's a dozen of them - it's not the troublemakers. Sergeant Johnson, who's been with the expedition from the start, leads them, and she sees a couple of Lorne's guys, and Wright at the back, his expression - careful.
"Let us deal with this, ma'am."
She stays where she is. "My team, my problem."
"He's not your problem, ma'am. He's not anybody's team." Johnson doesn't even sound angry.
"Team you choose," says another. "Team you can trust," says a third. They sound angry.
"He was on my team for this mission, so he was my responsibility. I will -"
"No offense, ma'am, but -"
"No, she's right." Wright pushed to the front. "We'll deal with him."
Johnson looks at the two of them. She tries to keep her gaze as cold as she's seen Sheppard and Lorne. After a moment, he nods, stands to attention. "Ma'am."
"Sarge -" starts one of the others.
"They got the right," says Johnson.
She doesn't let herself breathe until the door closes behind them. Wright's careful expression has collapsed, replaced by something she'd call fear if she was being ungenerous.
She turns to find Collins standing, glaring at her. "You think you're doing me a favour?" he says,
"You want a dozen Marines beating up on you?"
He doesn't answer.
"McKay's going to make life a misery -" Collins snorts at that, but she continues. "- for you, even if it is only two weeks 'til Sheppard can kick you onto the Daedalus. Lorne isn't going to do you any more favors. You should take the ones you can get."
"Don't want your fucking pity," he mutters, and she ignores what he calls her under his breath. Thankfully, Wright is still taking his cue from her, but he tenses in protest.
"Mark," says Gibson. It's the first time he's spoken, his tone sharper than she'd expect.
Collins turns away from them, leaning on the balcony rail. He leans forward, and she's suddenly scared that he'll throw himself over. Wright moves faster than her, pulling Collins away from the rail. She expects Collins to struggle and pull away, but he doesn't resist.
"You wanted -" she starts.
"'S no more than I'd've done."
"And we know how good your judgment is," she snaps. She feels Gibson flinch beside her. Collins doesn't react.
"They'll chuck me out of the SGC," he says, instead, and doesn't meet her eyes. "They won't court-martial me, because my bosses won't want one of their own kicked out in disgrace, even if no-one outside the SGC knows about it. I'll get discharged on medical grounds, and they'll give me a crappy pension and a therapist."
"So, what, you want a beating now, because it's the last chance you'll get?"
"What do you want me to say, ma'am?"
"That it was a mistake! That it won't happen again. That you're sorry. That you - That I -" That I should have been there. If anyone could see that, Collins could. "You don't deserve that."
"I earned the right."
"That's not what I -"
"I was a soldier once. I had a job to do." His voice is dead. "I'm finished, but you can't just sweep me into a little box. I earned the right."
She stares at him, and Wright swears under his breath. Gibson looks from her to Collins and back, his expression torn.
And then she says: "Fine."
~
She finds Ronon and Teyla sparring in the gym. Teyla notices her first, and steps out of the fight. Ronon protests, and then sees Anna. Sees Wright and Gibson. Sees Collins.
"Captain Rodriguez, I understood you were - resting?" says Teyla. Ronon doesn't say anything, but it's him she speaks to.
"You -" This is such a fucked up idea. Collins needs therapy, counselling, medication. And yet: "You said - 'You make the blood flow, you make each blow count'." She doesn't know if she's remembering it correctly, but Ronon's expression shifts into interest. "It's a lesson, right? And if you forgot, there was always someone to remind you?" She's guessing, now, but there was something about the way he'd said it.
Ronon nods. "You make the blood run, you make the blows count. You don't stop, because the Wraith never stop."
"And if a soldier - a good soldier - needs to be reminded? It's not punishment -" She stops, because Teyla looks horrified, but Ronon nods again.
"Okay," he says.
Wright pushes Collins into the center of the room.
"Ronon." There's a note of caution in Teyla's voice.
"He earned it -" Anna coughs, because the words are heavy in her mouth. "He earned the right." Teyla's expression hardens, but she steps aside.
"It's not a beating," says Dex, pacing around Collins. "It's not punishment." The blows hit arms, legs, shoulder, stomach.
The third pass, and she sees the way Collins tenses up after the blow. Dex sees it too, and his next blow hits harder. Collins still doesn't react, but his stance changes. The next blow sends him to his knees, but he's back on his feet in seconds. He blocks the next, and the next, his arms dropping back to his sides each time.
"You still bored?" asks Dex. Collins blocks that blow, twisting the rod from Dex's grasp and bringing it down on his thigh.
Dex grins, and swipes the second stick straight into Collins's face. Collins goes down, but his left leg goes up, catching Dex below the knee. Dex tumbles away from Collins, and then they're both back on their feet.
It's a dirty fight. Collins is quick to abandon his appropriated bantos rod, and Dex follows suit. He abandons the easy grace he shows when he spars with Teyla or Sheppard, and she's pretty sure he doesn't teach the Marines some of those moves. Collins fights fast and vicious, none of the careful solidity of the US Marines.
Collins is already bleeding from that blow to the face, and she notices he's favoring his right leg just as Dex takes advantage of this.
The noise Collins makes as he drops gives even Dex pause, but he rallies quickly, just as Collins lunges at him, barely upright. They crash into the wall together, and it takes a moment for Dex to catch his breath before he spins Collins back into the middle of the room. Collins lunges again, but he's slower, and Dex catches him in a choke hold.
Collins struggles, but his movements are sluggish, and his feet can't find purchase on the floor.
It's Wright who steps up to restrain Dex, a careful hand on his shoulder. Dex turns to face him, his grip on Collins loosening, and Wright punches him with such a classic haymaker that Anna laughs.
Dex drops Collins and stumbles backwards. She sees Teyla, who's been watching all this with a look that borders on distaste, nod sharply.
Collins tries to pull himself up, but falls again, listing even as he kneels. Anna steps up to him, puts her hand on his shoulder to stop him trying to stand, and watches as Wright and Dex start to fight.
Wright hasn't been here long enough to have learnt how to defend himself against Satedan tactics, but after Dex floors him in payback for the haymaker, he switches his methods to match Wright's skills. They circle each other almost formally - circle Collins, who watches them with an unreadable expression, his breath ragged.
She finds Teyla standing at her side, holding out a set of bantos rods. After a moment she accepts them, and mirrors Teyla's bow before moving out to face her, opposite Wright and Dex.
Teyla is as graceful as ever, and as they fight, Anna feels her pulse slowing. Part of her mind is absorbed in watching how Teyla and Ronon fight together so fluidly. It earns her a sharp crack to the side of her head. They move in perfect synchronicity, swapping out at the perfect moment to catch Wright or herself unawares.
She lands a blow on Ronon's wrist hard enough to make him hiss with pain, but Wright is still too much the Iowa farm boy to strike at Teyla without her express permission. The third time Teyla puts Wright on the floor, she steps back and says Ronon's name. He stops, and goes to her side.
They bow, and Anna returns the bow, already shaking with misplaced adrenalin.
As she pulls Wright to his feet, she realises they have an audience. The marines she'd stopped earlier, none of whom look her in the eye. Major Lorne, who looks weary, but still nods to her. Sheppard, his face unreadable, and McKay, wearing his sourest expression.
"Is this some grunt thing I'm not going to understand?" he says.
"Everybody screws up," says Ronon, and McKay's mouth snaps shut. Sheppard and Ronon exchange looks, the gist of which escapes Anna, but it ends with Ronon looking smug and Sheppard frowning.
"In ever more diverse ways," agrees Sheppard, finally. "I guess you have your team." Anna stares at him, and he nods towards the far wall. She turns to see Gibson sitting beside Collins, his injured leg at an uncomfortable angle. He's binding Collins' bleeding knuckles, ignoring the soft sounds of pain that Collins tries to hide. Wright stands beside them, eyes turned to the other Marines, defiant.
"My -" She turns back to Sheppard. "Yessir." She's surprised to see his expression soften.
"You're sure?"
"Sir, yessir."
He nods once, and turns sharply, pushing McKay outside.
"I'm pretty sure you have places to be," says Lorne, and the Marines shuffle in discomfort. Then Johnson salutes, and the others echo him. Lorne raises an eyebrow at them, then turns to her. Her stomach dropping, she returns the salute.
As the Marines leave, Lorne gives her a half smile. "Captain."
"Sir."
Teyla steps up to her, sweeping her into the traditional Athosian greeting. Before Teyla follows Sheppard and McKay out of the sparring room, Anna blurts out: "I know you don't -"
"You know your team, I do not. It was a good choice, Captain Rodriguez."
Ronon grins darkly at Anna, and holds up his already bruising wrist. "Next time, huh?" She nods. Ronon turns to Collins. "Training, next week." Collins raises a bandaged hand in reply. "You too, Wheel."
"Wheel?" Anna asks, and Ronon mimics the blow that had caught him unawares.
"On Sateda, that's called the Wheel, because if you land it right, your opponent spins like a wheel." His grin widens. "There are ways to counter it." Wright looks - she's willing to be generous here - apprehensive.
"Next time," Ronon repeats, and follows his teammates outside.
She hears McKay from the corridor. "So, what, we're putting crazy people on gate teams now?"
"That's not news, Rodney," says Ronon, and McKay snorts.
The door closes behind them.
Anna walks slowly towards her team. Wright's already on the floor beside Gibson.
"What happened to that bottle?" she asks.
"Lost it somewhere," says Collins, his voice hoarse. "Marines'll have it by now."
"Damn."
"I have some beer -" starts Gibson.
"Beer beer?" asks Collins.
"Budvar."
Collins sighs, his head tipped back against the wall. "Zelenka's a god."
Wright frowns. "What's wrong with real Bud?" he asks, and Gibson stares at him in horror.
"Budvar is real Bud." he says.
"We'll have to -" Collins stops, his breath catching. He pulls his knees tighter to his chest, dropping his head.
"Yeah," says Anna.
"Plenty of time to teach you about beer," says Gibson to Wright. "And ale. Oh, God, if Pegasus had decent ale."
Anna sets her hand on Collins' neck, and watches Gibson as he explains the brewing process to an increasingly bemused Wright.
"So, Budvar, huh?" says Wright eventually.
"Yes! Say, you should ask Radek about Budweiser some time. That's pretty funny."
Concluded in AR-27
Which tho' untitled, is the final section of this story, except that I realise that all this is Lorne's fault (how the hell did that happen?), so he has some explaining to do. And I have any number of smaller stories for my newcomers, now that they're a team. (Less angst, more blowing shit up)
I notice that my spelling is veering ever more wildly between US and British - I intended to write Collins & Gibson in British English, the others in American, but I'm physically incapable of writing 'ise' with a zed. Let me know if it's too annoying, and I'll fix it one way or the other.
I don't actually know anything about beer, I just know better than to mention Budweiser in front of people who do, because I really don't need that explained to me again ;)
Rating: R, for violence and language.
Character: OCs
Disclaimer: The context isn't mine (the main characters are), no harm meant.
Summary: The beginnings of a gate team are not always auspicious.
A/N: Ninth in the Newcomers series, after The Dark-Eyed Girl.
Situation Normal
She's first through the door, first to see that they're not alone, first to raise her weapon. They look as surprised as she, but they outnumber her little team, and she's got three guns pointed at her head before Collins follows her inside.
She hesitates.
Collins doesn't. He barrels into the soldier closest to him, the butt of his P90 crunching into the man's nose. His momentum pushes both of them into the second soldier, and Anna has the sense to point her weapon at the third.
The rest are still stumbling to their feet. If she wasn't so scared, she'd be laughing. They're obviously hungover, and stare at Anna and her team - no. Stare at Collins, who hasn't stopped at disarming the first soldier. He pummels the guy, who's trying to surrender, for fuck's sake.
"Collins!" she snaps. She doesn't want to start shooting, but even hungover, these - what the hell are they? Mercenaries, most like, uniformed but not. God only knows what they're doing here - but they're not going to just keep watching. One of them steps forward, and he looks sharper than the others. Genii (but not). She switches her aim to him. "Back off, buddy."
"Jesus." Dr Gibson is frozen in the entrance.
"Collins!" yells Anna again. "Fuck's sake. Collins!" She'd fire a warning shot, but there's no point. "Wright. Get him out of here."
Wright lifts Collins bodily off the man, wrapping those linebacker arms around Collins to pull him away, and still Collins manages to get away from him. Collins rounds on Wright, a knife suddenly in his hand. His eyes are wild, unfocussed.
Wright doesn't look worried, but he keeps his distance.
"Collins! Snap the fuck out of it," she yells again. With Wright facing Collins, hers is the only weapon on the mercenaries. She doesn't want to give them time to realise that Gibson is worse than useless. At least his gun's pointed at them, even if the safety's on and he's staring at Collins.
Something shifts in Collins' expression, and he lowers the knife. She keeps her weapon on the leader of the mercenaries. "We're just going to walk out of here nice and easy." Nobody moves. "Collins. Out."
For a moment he doesn't move, then he smirks at her and sidles out of the door. "Wright." He nods, and follows Collins. "Gibson."
Gibson's staring after Collins, slack-jawed. "Doc," she says, and he starts. "Any time now." He chases after Wright, and she has to force herself not to flee after him.
She holds eye contact with the leader as she backs out the door.
~
Her de-brief is short and terse. They arrived, they weren't alone, nobody died, and no, she doesn't know who they were but there were a few Genii uniforms - which is when Sheppard goes "Aw, crap, again?" and tells her just to write it all up and pass it to Major Lorne. She nods, and he dismisses her, but as she turns to leave, he calls her back.
"You did good, Captain. Everybody home safe? That's a good day." She nods again, and salutes because what else is she going to do? He waves her away.
She waits for Lorne in his office, hands him the report and stands at what the Marines call SGC attention. Their drill instructors would yell at them til their ears bled. Lorne knows why she doesn't leave. There's always something that doesn't go in the report. Sometimes you tell Sheppard, sometimes you tell Lorne. Sometimes you go to Teldy, who goes to Teyla, and you find yourself on milk runs to the newest Athosian settlement. "Sit down, Captain."
Anna sits, and realises she still doesn't know how to tell Lorne his recommendation sucks. "It's about Collins, sir."
"He didn't tell that joke about the nun and the -" His gaze sharpens when she shakes her head. "What happened?"
"He was a little volatile, sir." Lorne doesn't say anything, but he winces ever so slightly. "Scared the hell out of the enemy, sir, but -"
"You want to send him for a psych evaluation?"
So long as he doesn't come back, she thinks. But Collins is the sort to charm the doctors. "I thought I'd let you know, sir. I know you're - I know you've worked with him before. You might have a better sense of -" Whether this was a one time thing, or if he really is bat-shit insane.
He nods. "I'll talk to him. In the meantime, I'll sub in Sergeant Shaughnessy for your next mission."
She knows Shaughnessy from working with Major Hughes' team, and he's a good, steady presence to have on a gate team. "Gibson again?" She's not too worried about the scientist, but she'll teach him how to use his weapon before she goes offworld with him again.
"No, Travers and -" He leafs through the papers in front of him. "Laukkinen, from anthropology. Don't worry, they've visited this planet before, got a good rapport with the locals. Shouldn't be any trouble."
Shit, she thinks, and straightens up. "Not worried, sir. Just want to know what I'm dealing with. Sir."
He acknowledges her point with a rueful twist of his mouth. "Of course. If that's all?"
She nods, and stands, and salutes. Lorne acknowledges this with less discomfort than Sheppard.
~
"The first time I met Colonel Sheppard, my home was destroyed and I was captured by the Wraith." Anna doesn't know what to say to that. But there's warmth in Teyla's voice, and her eyes are clear. And then she nearly shatters Anna's kneecap with a blow from a bantos rod Anna could have sworn was heading in a different direction.
"I'm not sure that's reassuring," Anna says, to give herself a chance to recover.
"I only mean that you should not expect your team to - gel? - to work well together from the start. The beginnings do not need to be auspicious." Teyla's done waiting, and steps in with a move that Anna will, one of these days, remember how to block in time.
She likes training with Teyla, because she doesn't get her ass so thoroughly kicked as when she trains with Ronon Dex. She likes training with Dex - very, very infrequently - because he doesn't hold back just because she's a woman.
Ronon trains every day, but apart from his runs with Sheppard, he doesn't exercise. He spars with Teyla and Sheppard, or he trains the Marines in Satedan fighting styles, and apart from the occasional impromtu football/rugby game that might as well be a barroom brawl, he's always fighting. That's why he kicks the Marines' asses: he never stops fighting.
The Marines don't always take it like men. "I've never been in so much pain," hisses Shaughnessy.
"Give us a break, will you, Dex?" says Wright.
"Yeah, what did we do to deserve this?"
Dex grins. "It's not punishment." Shaughnessy laughs bitterly. "It's not a beating. You make the blood run, you make the blows count. You don't stop, because the Wraith never stop."
"What's that, a Satedan lullaby?"
Dex doesn't reply, just grins wider. "You ready, Rodriguez?" Anna nods, steps up to Dex, and doesn't break anything when she lands halfway across the room. Well, she thinks fuzzily, at least it gets the others fighting. No Marine wants to be outdone by a goddamn Air Force pilot.
~
She hasn't made her team choices official. She's still getting to know them, and they her: Shaughnessy still beams like a proud father when she makes good tactical decisions. Wright still isn't comfortable enough in Pegasus to relax, even in Atlantis - she has to remember that he's as new to the SGC as to Atlantis, that he was pulled out of his first tour in Afghanistan because of the gene.
But Lorne stops swapping in other Marines, and she finds their missions increasingly split between babysitting Travers and Laukkinen, staring at rocks with Matoub, and going on wild ZPM chases with Gibson. If she chooses one of them to join the team permanently, she'll go for Gibson, because while Dr Matoub is a big guy and can handle himself in a fight, he studies rocks.
They're mostly on abandoned planets, either culled or too barren to be viable, or visiting communities the expedition has long had ties with. They have one unexpected 'first contact', but she pulls the 'peaceful explorers' line and they turn out to be old trading partners of the Athosians, newly nomadic. They cross paths with the Wraith often enough, but never more than a handful at a time.
This is a bigger mission than she's handled before, and she's more than aware that she wouldn't be the first choice, but Sheppard will be offworld twice during the mission, which means Lorne has to stay in Atlantis (to rescue AR-1, nobody says). Teldy is on leave, Hughes is in the infirmary. There's a dozen other Captains (all Marines, all men, all with seniority, not that she's saying anything), and she has to stop herself from flinging her hand up like a schoolgirl when Sheppard asks if anyone wants to volunteer. He sees her bouncing in her seat, though, and nods.
It doesn't sound like much: extensive Ancient ruins around a long-abandoned stargate. The archaeologists are sending a team of four, and McKay wants a 'real' scientist along as well, just in case there's something interesting. Two weeks for the initial dig, longer if the archaeologists want it, which they will. She'll take Shaughnessy and Wright, and Dr Gibson, who's volunteered anyway. Lorne assigns four more Marines.
She's responsible for 11 people, which wouldn't rate more than a lieutenant on Earth, but they're in another galaxy. Everything's different. She's so buzzed she doesn't even query it when Lorne tells her he's sending Collins with her.
Hell, she doesn't even mind that they're not leaving a jumper with them. The ruins are barely two miles from the gate, and the hike back and forth to report to Woolsey will keep her Marines occupied.
~
Collins doesn't make trouble. There's still a challenge in his eyes, but it's not vicious. He does tell the joke about the nun. Gibson and the three male archaeologists give short, shocked laughs, while Dr Hayashi's eyes go wide. Wright and the other Marines try to hide their amusement, but Shaughnessy roars with laughter, and then slaps Collins on the back of the head. They all turn to see her reaction.
She keeps her face blank, and holds Collins' gaze. Then she tells the filthiest joke she knows.
They stare at her. Then Ayako giggles, and Anna lets herself smile. The men laugh, and Collins raises his hands in mock defeat.
~
On the fourth day, she spends the morning watching Gibson walk slowly across a forest clearing that Cronje swears is a plaza, and Lewis is equally vehement is a forest clearing. Every now and then, Gibson's scanner beeps, and he frowns at it, backs up a few paces, and starts over. The scanner never seems to beep in the same location.
Flores and Drake are humping dirt for the archaeologists at the main site. She sent Wright and Shaughnessy to the gate to send the daily report - they should be on their way back. Veidt and Collins are patrolling their perimeter. Christ, she's bored.
Gibson finally stops walking in circles, says "Bugger!" and stares at the sky with a wounded expression.
"Doc?"
He smiles at her ruefully. "I know I shouldn't complain, because I volunteered, but..."
"You don't have to stay. If you're not finding anything, there's not much point."
He shrugs, overly casual. "They might uncover something yet."
She raises an eyebrow at that, and he sniggers.
"It's - it's not that it isn't fascinating. I mean, the Ancients were weird, really, but it's all so -"
"Covered in dirt?"
"Abstract. And covered in dirt, yes." He sighs. "No ZedPM, at any -"
Her radio clicks, and then goes silent. She holds up a hand to stop Gibson, and waits. The radio stays silent. She's about to speak when she hears gunfire.
~
She forces herself to look at the others - Flores and Wright look back at her expectantly, not accusingly. God, she should have been there. Gibson looks like she's about to accuse him of taking her away from the main site, and she almost laughs. Collins doesn't look at her.
Lewis and Morton are in the other jumper, along with the medic trying to keep Hayashi and Veidt alive. Shaughnessy and Drake and Cronje are all here. Collins stares at one of the body bags - Cronje, she thinks absently, thinner than the Marines - and he flinches when one of the rescue party eases past him.
Major Lorne has slowed the jumper down, letting the other jumper pass through the gate ahead of them.
"They came out of nowhere," says Flores, his voice thick with disbelief. "Didn't see them until they - they just - I turned round and they'd just cut her in two." His hands tighten on his weapon. "Cronje was already dead."
"They were so fucking quiet," says Wright, shaking his head. She nods. Even after they attacked, they'd barely made a sound.
She'd ordered everyone back to the camp, once she'd realised what was happening (she still doesn't know what happened). All except Wright, who she'd sent back to the gate. He'd dialed Atlantis for reinforcements, and must have doubletimed it back to the camp, because he was there in time to see Shaughnessy die.
She'd run, run, run, barely able to tell Gibson to stay with her as she made for the camp. Heard Flores say, calmly, "Drake's gone", as he fired on their attackers. Heard Lewis panicking, Morton telling him to shut up and run. They were at the camp by the time she and Gibson reached it, Shaughnessy not far behind them. She remembers calling for Veidt, Collins, Hayashi, Cronje.
Veidt reached them just as the enemy reached the camp. She thinks she shot the man who cut him down, but couldn't swear to it. Maybe Shaughnessy did. Unless the second wave had reached the back of the camp, because Shaughnessy was standing beside her, and he fell forward (he fell, and didn't even cry out, and she hated them, their silence robbing him of that).
She shakes her head to clear it. Wright had seen that, come up behind and ambushed the ambush, P90 making short work of spears and axes, and it was all too late. Then the jumpers came down, and she didn't wait for Major Lorne's order before she stepped out to drive them back, drive them away from Veidt, from Drake's body, from Cronje, Hayashi, Collins -
"You were to the south? Veidt headed to the camp, and you went back to the dig?" She remembers seeing Collins crouched over Hayashi, firing and firing even though their attackers were long gone, and oblivious to their rescuers' approach. He'd disobeyed her, but Hayashi might survive. They're attacked by people with spears, and the only reason anyone survives is because Collins is too much of an crazy bastard to follow orders.
"We split up." Collins finally looks up, looking at her, only not quite. "I was on the other side. North." He's waiting for something.
"So - they must have come from further west?" She thought they'd fled north, but it had happened so fast -
Collins shakes his head. "No. They walked right by me." And then he laughs.
He's still laughing as Flores swears when he realises what Collins said. Still laughing as Flores lashes out and the marines from the rescue party pull him back. By the time Sergeant Johnson has pulled Flores into the jumper's cockpit and sat him down, Collins has an arm pressed over his mouth and he's staring at the body bags again.
She's numb. She doesn't know when she stood up, but suddenly her knees are weak. She grabs hold of the netting to keep herself upright, and closes her eyes until she feels the jumper land in Atlantis.
The sickening atmosphere in the jumper eases as the rear hatch opens and the Marines leave silently. There's a flurry of activity outside, but it's far away.
Someone - she thinks it's Gibson - says "Captain?", and she hears Major Lorne say, softly, "Go on, Doc."
The jumper bay is quiet again. She opens her eyes. Lorne is watching her. She lets go of the netting, and nearly falls, but Lorne steadies her, a hand on her shoulder. He waits until she pulls away, and lets his hand drop. It's covered in blood, but she doesn't think it's hers.
"I'm sorry, Captain. This should never have happened. I thought -" He breaks off, and shakes his head. "He'll be on the next run out of Atlantis."
"Sir, I -"
"None of this is your fault, Rodriguez"
"It was my command, sir -"
"You already told me there was a problem with Collins. I thought I'd gotten through to him, but - Dammit!" She's never seen Lorne even close to angry before. He looks her straight in the eyes. "I apologise. I thought he was a better soldier."
"I -"
"I'm going to ask Sheppard to have him locked in the brig."
"Sir, that's -"
"If we don't -" Lorne stops. "You should go to the infirmary, Captain."
~
She only realises how badly she's fucked up when Collins doesn't even see the punch McKay throws. He's slammed against the infirmary wall, and doesn't open his eyes as McKay starts in with: "You have one job. Just one job, and that's to keep my people safe. If you can't do that, you're worse than useless to us."
Sheppard pulls McKay away. "Not the time, Rodney," he says, even though he looks like he wants to do the same thing. "I'll deal with him later, okay?"
Anna hisses as the nurse starts to clean the cut on her arm. Rizk mutters a soft apology, and Anna closes her eyes against it.
When she opens her eyes again, Sheppard is standing in front of her. He reaches out as if to touch her shoulder, but drops his hand. His expression is bleak. "I spoke to Lorne."
"Sir -"
"We'll debrief tomorrow. Get some sleep." He executes a complicated shrug towards Nurse Rizk, who nods and slips two small pills into Anna's hand.
When she turns to look at Collins, he's gone.
~
She sees Collins firing and firing, crouched over Ayako. Sees him strike down the mercenary aiming at her head.
There's a knock at her door, soft and hesitant. "Enter"
It's Dr Gibson. He looks grey and shaken, and he's leaning on a crutch, his leg bound. "Captain..."
She doesn't have the energy. If she doesn't speak to him, chances are he'll never join her team again, which isn't fair, because it's not his fault, but she doesn't care.
He's holding something out, not catching her eye. "I know you don't want to hear this," he says, "but I - no-one's supposed to know anyway. But it's - "
"What is it?"
He pushes the thing into her hand. It's a USB stick. "I looked up his file, after M5F-472. I shouldn't have kept it." He looks up, suddenly defiant. "It's not as if you'll get in trouble. They're already blaming him, so. Oh, no, I didn't mean - " Gibson grabs her shoulder (what is it about her shoulder?).
He must feel the room spinning too.
"It's not your fault. Christ, it's not anybody's fault. But that's the point. They're blaming him, and it isn't fair. He's a good man, but he keeps getting blamed. And I know, I know, he was supposed to be on lookout, and he screwed up, but you saw what they did, do you really think it would have made a difference? Are you going to blame Sheppard or McKay because they didn't realise the planet was inhabited? I know you want to blame someone, everybody does. I do. But it isn't fair -"
"Doc, slow down."
"They think he's unlucky," Gibson says with a scowl, and Anna almost laughs, because it's a McKay scowl. "Which is absurd. He keeps volunteering for the shittiest missions, and people die, but what do they expect? Nobody calls Sheppard unlucky."
They do. They used to. They called him worse, back in Afghanistan, and she'd kept her mouth shut.
~
She's expecting him to be drunk. She'd be drunk. (She kind of wishes she was.) But the unlabelled bottle he's holding is nearly full.
He's still blankfaced. Thousand yard stare doesn't even cover it.
"Collins..." She steps into the room, and Gibson slips in behind her, hugging the wall.
"I was bored," Collins says, and grins. It's more of a grimace. "I was bored, so I switched off, and I just didn't see them. Can you fucking believe that?"
She can, but shakes her head, not that he notices. "Veidt's dead."
He nods, tapping his radio. "I heard -" He stops.
You can hear the ocean, even up here.
"You should go," says Collins.
"Can't sleep."
"You should go."
When they come, the Marines - there's a dozen of them - it's not the troublemakers. Sergeant Johnson, who's been with the expedition from the start, leads them, and she sees a couple of Lorne's guys, and Wright at the back, his expression - careful.
"Let us deal with this, ma'am."
She stays where she is. "My team, my problem."
"He's not your problem, ma'am. He's not anybody's team." Johnson doesn't even sound angry.
"Team you choose," says another. "Team you can trust," says a third. They sound angry.
"He was on my team for this mission, so he was my responsibility. I will -"
"No offense, ma'am, but -"
"No, she's right." Wright pushed to the front. "We'll deal with him."
Johnson looks at the two of them. She tries to keep her gaze as cold as she's seen Sheppard and Lorne. After a moment, he nods, stands to attention. "Ma'am."
"Sarge -" starts one of the others.
"They got the right," says Johnson.
She doesn't let herself breathe until the door closes behind them. Wright's careful expression has collapsed, replaced by something she'd call fear if she was being ungenerous.
She turns to find Collins standing, glaring at her. "You think you're doing me a favour?" he says,
"You want a dozen Marines beating up on you?"
He doesn't answer.
"McKay's going to make life a misery -" Collins snorts at that, but she continues. "- for you, even if it is only two weeks 'til Sheppard can kick you onto the Daedalus. Lorne isn't going to do you any more favors. You should take the ones you can get."
"Don't want your fucking pity," he mutters, and she ignores what he calls her under his breath. Thankfully, Wright is still taking his cue from her, but he tenses in protest.
"Mark," says Gibson. It's the first time he's spoken, his tone sharper than she'd expect.
Collins turns away from them, leaning on the balcony rail. He leans forward, and she's suddenly scared that he'll throw himself over. Wright moves faster than her, pulling Collins away from the rail. She expects Collins to struggle and pull away, but he doesn't resist.
"You wanted -" she starts.
"'S no more than I'd've done."
"And we know how good your judgment is," she snaps. She feels Gibson flinch beside her. Collins doesn't react.
"They'll chuck me out of the SGC," he says, instead, and doesn't meet her eyes. "They won't court-martial me, because my bosses won't want one of their own kicked out in disgrace, even if no-one outside the SGC knows about it. I'll get discharged on medical grounds, and they'll give me a crappy pension and a therapist."
"So, what, you want a beating now, because it's the last chance you'll get?"
"What do you want me to say, ma'am?"
"That it was a mistake! That it won't happen again. That you're sorry. That you - That I -" That I should have been there. If anyone could see that, Collins could. "You don't deserve that."
"I earned the right."
"That's not what I -"
"I was a soldier once. I had a job to do." His voice is dead. "I'm finished, but you can't just sweep me into a little box. I earned the right."
She stares at him, and Wright swears under his breath. Gibson looks from her to Collins and back, his expression torn.
And then she says: "Fine."
~
She finds Ronon and Teyla sparring in the gym. Teyla notices her first, and steps out of the fight. Ronon protests, and then sees Anna. Sees Wright and Gibson. Sees Collins.
"Captain Rodriguez, I understood you were - resting?" says Teyla. Ronon doesn't say anything, but it's him she speaks to.
"You -" This is such a fucked up idea. Collins needs therapy, counselling, medication. And yet: "You said - 'You make the blood flow, you make each blow count'." She doesn't know if she's remembering it correctly, but Ronon's expression shifts into interest. "It's a lesson, right? And if you forgot, there was always someone to remind you?" She's guessing, now, but there was something about the way he'd said it.
Ronon nods. "You make the blood run, you make the blows count. You don't stop, because the Wraith never stop."
"And if a soldier - a good soldier - needs to be reminded? It's not punishment -" She stops, because Teyla looks horrified, but Ronon nods again.
"Okay," he says.
Wright pushes Collins into the center of the room.
"Ronon." There's a note of caution in Teyla's voice.
"He earned it -" Anna coughs, because the words are heavy in her mouth. "He earned the right." Teyla's expression hardens, but she steps aside.
"It's not a beating," says Dex, pacing around Collins. "It's not punishment." The blows hit arms, legs, shoulder, stomach.
The third pass, and she sees the way Collins tenses up after the blow. Dex sees it too, and his next blow hits harder. Collins still doesn't react, but his stance changes. The next blow sends him to his knees, but he's back on his feet in seconds. He blocks the next, and the next, his arms dropping back to his sides each time.
"You still bored?" asks Dex. Collins blocks that blow, twisting the rod from Dex's grasp and bringing it down on his thigh.
Dex grins, and swipes the second stick straight into Collins's face. Collins goes down, but his left leg goes up, catching Dex below the knee. Dex tumbles away from Collins, and then they're both back on their feet.
It's a dirty fight. Collins is quick to abandon his appropriated bantos rod, and Dex follows suit. He abandons the easy grace he shows when he spars with Teyla or Sheppard, and she's pretty sure he doesn't teach the Marines some of those moves. Collins fights fast and vicious, none of the careful solidity of the US Marines.
Collins is already bleeding from that blow to the face, and she notices he's favoring his right leg just as Dex takes advantage of this.
The noise Collins makes as he drops gives even Dex pause, but he rallies quickly, just as Collins lunges at him, barely upright. They crash into the wall together, and it takes a moment for Dex to catch his breath before he spins Collins back into the middle of the room. Collins lunges again, but he's slower, and Dex catches him in a choke hold.
Collins struggles, but his movements are sluggish, and his feet can't find purchase on the floor.
It's Wright who steps up to restrain Dex, a careful hand on his shoulder. Dex turns to face him, his grip on Collins loosening, and Wright punches him with such a classic haymaker that Anna laughs.
Dex drops Collins and stumbles backwards. She sees Teyla, who's been watching all this with a look that borders on distaste, nod sharply.
Collins tries to pull himself up, but falls again, listing even as he kneels. Anna steps up to him, puts her hand on his shoulder to stop him trying to stand, and watches as Wright and Dex start to fight.
Wright hasn't been here long enough to have learnt how to defend himself against Satedan tactics, but after Dex floors him in payback for the haymaker, he switches his methods to match Wright's skills. They circle each other almost formally - circle Collins, who watches them with an unreadable expression, his breath ragged.
She finds Teyla standing at her side, holding out a set of bantos rods. After a moment she accepts them, and mirrors Teyla's bow before moving out to face her, opposite Wright and Dex.
Teyla is as graceful as ever, and as they fight, Anna feels her pulse slowing. Part of her mind is absorbed in watching how Teyla and Ronon fight together so fluidly. It earns her a sharp crack to the side of her head. They move in perfect synchronicity, swapping out at the perfect moment to catch Wright or herself unawares.
She lands a blow on Ronon's wrist hard enough to make him hiss with pain, but Wright is still too much the Iowa farm boy to strike at Teyla without her express permission. The third time Teyla puts Wright on the floor, she steps back and says Ronon's name. He stops, and goes to her side.
They bow, and Anna returns the bow, already shaking with misplaced adrenalin.
As she pulls Wright to his feet, she realises they have an audience. The marines she'd stopped earlier, none of whom look her in the eye. Major Lorne, who looks weary, but still nods to her. Sheppard, his face unreadable, and McKay, wearing his sourest expression.
"Is this some grunt thing I'm not going to understand?" he says.
"Everybody screws up," says Ronon, and McKay's mouth snaps shut. Sheppard and Ronon exchange looks, the gist of which escapes Anna, but it ends with Ronon looking smug and Sheppard frowning.
"In ever more diverse ways," agrees Sheppard, finally. "I guess you have your team." Anna stares at him, and he nods towards the far wall. She turns to see Gibson sitting beside Collins, his injured leg at an uncomfortable angle. He's binding Collins' bleeding knuckles, ignoring the soft sounds of pain that Collins tries to hide. Wright stands beside them, eyes turned to the other Marines, defiant.
"My -" She turns back to Sheppard. "Yessir." She's surprised to see his expression soften.
"You're sure?"
"Sir, yessir."
He nods once, and turns sharply, pushing McKay outside.
"I'm pretty sure you have places to be," says Lorne, and the Marines shuffle in discomfort. Then Johnson salutes, and the others echo him. Lorne raises an eyebrow at them, then turns to her. Her stomach dropping, she returns the salute.
As the Marines leave, Lorne gives her a half smile. "Captain."
"Sir."
Teyla steps up to her, sweeping her into the traditional Athosian greeting. Before Teyla follows Sheppard and McKay out of the sparring room, Anna blurts out: "I know you don't -"
"You know your team, I do not. It was a good choice, Captain Rodriguez."
Ronon grins darkly at Anna, and holds up his already bruising wrist. "Next time, huh?" She nods. Ronon turns to Collins. "Training, next week." Collins raises a bandaged hand in reply. "You too, Wheel."
"Wheel?" Anna asks, and Ronon mimics the blow that had caught him unawares.
"On Sateda, that's called the Wheel, because if you land it right, your opponent spins like a wheel." His grin widens. "There are ways to counter it." Wright looks - she's willing to be generous here - apprehensive.
"Next time," Ronon repeats, and follows his teammates outside.
She hears McKay from the corridor. "So, what, we're putting crazy people on gate teams now?"
"That's not news, Rodney," says Ronon, and McKay snorts.
The door closes behind them.
Anna walks slowly towards her team. Wright's already on the floor beside Gibson.
"What happened to that bottle?" she asks.
"Lost it somewhere," says Collins, his voice hoarse. "Marines'll have it by now."
"Damn."
"I have some beer -" starts Gibson.
"Beer beer?" asks Collins.
"Budvar."
Collins sighs, his head tipped back against the wall. "Zelenka's a god."
Wright frowns. "What's wrong with real Bud?" he asks, and Gibson stares at him in horror.
"Budvar is real Bud." he says.
"We'll have to -" Collins stops, his breath catching. He pulls his knees tighter to his chest, dropping his head.
"Yeah," says Anna.
"Plenty of time to teach you about beer," says Gibson to Wright. "And ale. Oh, God, if Pegasus had decent ale."
Anna sets her hand on Collins' neck, and watches Gibson as he explains the brewing process to an increasingly bemused Wright.
"So, Budvar, huh?" says Wright eventually.
"Yes! Say, you should ask Radek about Budweiser some time. That's pretty funny."
Concluded in AR-27
Which tho' untitled, is the final section of this story, except that I realise that all this is Lorne's fault (how the hell did that happen?), so he has some explaining to do. And I have any number of smaller stories for my newcomers, now that they're a team. (Less angst, more blowing shit up)
I notice that my spelling is veering ever more wildly between US and British - I intended to write Collins & Gibson in British English, the others in American, but I'm physically incapable of writing 'ise' with a zed. Let me know if it's too annoying, and I'll fix it one way or the other.
I don't actually know anything about beer, I just know better than to mention Budweiser in front of people who do, because I really don't need that explained to me again ;)