FIC - Promises to Keep - Chapter 2
Title: Promises to Keep - Chapter 2
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None
Word count: 1300
Summary: John and Elizabeth are living on Earth when someone makes an attempt on Elizabeth's life.
Author's notes: This is still looking epic...
Two days after the explosion the Police and Fire units had finished pulling bodies from the lecture hall and began looking into the causes behind the explosion. From the magnitude of the explosion and the way the building has collapsed in onto itself they discerned that it was an explosive charge, if not several strategically planted within the lecture hall that caused such devastation. The body count had risen alarmingly to 109, with only a handful of victims surviving the carnage, all with severe injuries.
“ Don’t look like anyone was supposed to survive that mess” The Fire Chief commented to the Police Sergeant involved with the investigation. They’d begun the slow process of deconstructing the crime scene, looking for explosive charge remnants, or anything else that could indicate where the bombs had been placed, and more importantly, who by.
“ Sure don’t. As you were” The Police Chief dismissed the fireman and headed back to his laptop, adding a few locations where bomb shrapnel had been found to the blueprint of the lecture hall. The more he looked at it, the more it seemed the lecturer herself had been the target, with the rest of the students being collateral damage. Whoever did this know what they were doing, and knew their target. It was pure unadulterated luck that anyone survived at all.
Meanwhile back at the Stargate Command infirmary Dr Elizabeth Weir lay heavily sedated, her mangled arm now set, pinned and plastered into place, likewise with the pins holding her fractured ankle together. The swelling in her brain had finally started to abate, negating the need for any kind of further surgery, but it would be a miracle if she left the base any time soon. John Sheppard hadn’t left her side since the explosion, even sleeping in an uncomfortable hospital chair by her bedside, his hand resting over hers lest she show any signs of waking up. General Jack O’Neill popped by every day, forcing John to shower and eat whilst he took over from watching Elizabeth.
The nurses checked on her every four hours, recording her vital signs and checking her bandages and plasters for anything that might go amiss. They smiled reassuringly at John as they did so, knowing what agony it must be for him to be relegated to the bedside vigil. Dr Lam had organized for Elizabeth to be transferred from the local hospital to the base’s infirmary within short order of her being pulled from the carnage, preferring to look after the former Atlantis leader herself to ensure the best possible care. Not that she didn’t trust the local medics, it was just the myriad of medical devices SG1 had picked up over the years generally worked a hell of a lot better than the good ole technology of today.
John lay dozing next to Elizabeth’s bed, this time his head resting on the edge of the raised gurney, his hand still wrapped around hers. His head jerked up as he felt a movement. It wasn’t much, but he swore he felt her fingers move.
“ Elizabeth?” He called softly, giving her hand a squeeze to encourage her. Dr Lam heard the voice and wandered over, stethoscope hooked around her neck should she need it.
“ Elizabeth, wake up and join the land of the living again” John prodded, giving her hand another squeeze. There was an almost imperceptible squeeze back, coupled with a small movement of her head. Her eyelids screwed together as she seemed to become aware of what was around her, finally cracking open to reveal the confused hazel eyes behind.
“ John?” She croaked, her voice hoarse from disuse.
“ I’m here, you’re in the SGC’s infirmary” John explained, following Elizabeth’s eyes and she took in her surroundings.
“ You gave everyone quite a scare” Dr Lam added, taking Elizabeth’s chin gently and turning it toward her, shining a pen light into her pupils to gauge her level of reaction. “ How do you feel?” She asked, giving Elizabeth a quick once over before leaning back against the IV stand and dialing back one of the bags.
“ Like I’ve been hit by a puddlejumper” Elizabeth groaning, closing her eyes against the harsh lighting and leaving them closed for a few moments before opening them again.
“ Can you remember what happened?” Lam continued, gently prodding to see how much Dr Weir recalled of what happened to her.
Elizabeth paused for a moment, as though trying to recall where the normality had stopped and the nightmare began. Her brow furrowed in thought before she spoke.
“ I was teaching my Poli-Sci class…then… Oh God the students!” Her unplastered hand covered her face, as though she could hide from the terrifying memories coming back to her again. “ Please tell me the students made it” She whispered, already knowing it was an empty plea.
“ Only 4 survived, apart from yourself. I’m sorry” Lam apologized “ They’re being treated at the local hospital. I’m told they should make it”
“ Oh God…” Elizabeth repeated, a tremble starting to shake her frame. John reached forward and parked his backside on the bed, minding her plastered ankle and pulled her into an embrace, stroking her back and hair until she had finishing crying out her grief and pain.
“ It’s ok… we just need to catch the bastards that did this” John soothed, hoping the prompt as to who might be responsible would get a reaction from Elizabeth. She remained silent, tremors still shaking her body occasionally as her mind dealt with the reactions of the last few days.
Elizabeth’s mind whirled as she considered who might have tried to kill her… or her students. Whilst if she were back in the Pegasus Galaxy there would be a sizeable list of people she knew had a price on her head, but here on Earth? Ever since she’d finally spat the dummy at the IOA’s constant interfering and second guessing her decisions and resigned from the Atlantis Expedition, taking up her old teaching position at the Georgetown University. John had returned to Earth with her, and they had married within a year of them both leaving Pegasus. Since then it had been smooth sailing. John remained a SG team leader at Stargate Command, whilst Elizabeth turned her hand back to teaching, still consulting with the SGC as required. She’d been working on some Ancient translations for Daniel, giving him a hand with the numerous artifacts coming through the Stargate for study from the Atlantis Expedition. She’d taken a number of items home with her over the last few weeks, spending a few hours as she could grab them pouring over the artifacts, wracking her brains and the textbooks to translate the various Ancient dialects. The one she’d been working on over the past week however had been of great interest. Shaped somewhat like the Goa'uld healing device that SG1 had brought back several years ago but on a much larger scale, the inscriptions covering the rear of the device told of powerful alterations to the human genome. The makings of a super-soldier perhaps, she had mused initially, before getting sidetracked marking her students assignments. She’d emailed Daniel with her initial findings and had put the object aside, storing it securely in the safe that herself and John kept their ‘work’ valuables in. Her gut instinct told her John hadn’t been home in days, but their home was in a safe area of town, and the safe was impenetrable, or at least that’s what they’d been told. Her gut twisted again and she grimaced.
“ She needs to rest, why don’t you go get something to eat?” Dr Lam encouraged, mistaking Elizabeth’s silence as tiredness. Elizabeth was grateful for the reprieve, not wanting to consider that the device she’d been translating could be what got her into this mess. John left reluctantly and she shifted in the pillows to get comfortable again, letting her mind wander before drifting off to sleep again. She would tell John about the device tomorrow, and the history behind it, and hopefully this mess would be over with once and for all. If only it would be that simple.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None
Word count: 1300
Summary: John and Elizabeth are living on Earth when someone makes an attempt on Elizabeth's life.
Author's notes: This is still looking epic...
Two days after the explosion the Police and Fire units had finished pulling bodies from the lecture hall and began looking into the causes behind the explosion. From the magnitude of the explosion and the way the building has collapsed in onto itself they discerned that it was an explosive charge, if not several strategically planted within the lecture hall that caused such devastation. The body count had risen alarmingly to 109, with only a handful of victims surviving the carnage, all with severe injuries.
“ Don’t look like anyone was supposed to survive that mess” The Fire Chief commented to the Police Sergeant involved with the investigation. They’d begun the slow process of deconstructing the crime scene, looking for explosive charge remnants, or anything else that could indicate where the bombs had been placed, and more importantly, who by.
“ Sure don’t. As you were” The Police Chief dismissed the fireman and headed back to his laptop, adding a few locations where bomb shrapnel had been found to the blueprint of the lecture hall. The more he looked at it, the more it seemed the lecturer herself had been the target, with the rest of the students being collateral damage. Whoever did this know what they were doing, and knew their target. It was pure unadulterated luck that anyone survived at all.
Meanwhile back at the Stargate Command infirmary Dr Elizabeth Weir lay heavily sedated, her mangled arm now set, pinned and plastered into place, likewise with the pins holding her fractured ankle together. The swelling in her brain had finally started to abate, negating the need for any kind of further surgery, but it would be a miracle if she left the base any time soon. John Sheppard hadn’t left her side since the explosion, even sleeping in an uncomfortable hospital chair by her bedside, his hand resting over hers lest she show any signs of waking up. General Jack O’Neill popped by every day, forcing John to shower and eat whilst he took over from watching Elizabeth.
The nurses checked on her every four hours, recording her vital signs and checking her bandages and plasters for anything that might go amiss. They smiled reassuringly at John as they did so, knowing what agony it must be for him to be relegated to the bedside vigil. Dr Lam had organized for Elizabeth to be transferred from the local hospital to the base’s infirmary within short order of her being pulled from the carnage, preferring to look after the former Atlantis leader herself to ensure the best possible care. Not that she didn’t trust the local medics, it was just the myriad of medical devices SG1 had picked up over the years generally worked a hell of a lot better than the good ole technology of today.
John lay dozing next to Elizabeth’s bed, this time his head resting on the edge of the raised gurney, his hand still wrapped around hers. His head jerked up as he felt a movement. It wasn’t much, but he swore he felt her fingers move.
“ Elizabeth?” He called softly, giving her hand a squeeze to encourage her. Dr Lam heard the voice and wandered over, stethoscope hooked around her neck should she need it.
“ Elizabeth, wake up and join the land of the living again” John prodded, giving her hand another squeeze. There was an almost imperceptible squeeze back, coupled with a small movement of her head. Her eyelids screwed together as she seemed to become aware of what was around her, finally cracking open to reveal the confused hazel eyes behind.
“ John?” She croaked, her voice hoarse from disuse.
“ I’m here, you’re in the SGC’s infirmary” John explained, following Elizabeth’s eyes and she took in her surroundings.
“ You gave everyone quite a scare” Dr Lam added, taking Elizabeth’s chin gently and turning it toward her, shining a pen light into her pupils to gauge her level of reaction. “ How do you feel?” She asked, giving Elizabeth a quick once over before leaning back against the IV stand and dialing back one of the bags.
“ Like I’ve been hit by a puddlejumper” Elizabeth groaning, closing her eyes against the harsh lighting and leaving them closed for a few moments before opening them again.
“ Can you remember what happened?” Lam continued, gently prodding to see how much Dr Weir recalled of what happened to her.
Elizabeth paused for a moment, as though trying to recall where the normality had stopped and the nightmare began. Her brow furrowed in thought before she spoke.
“ I was teaching my Poli-Sci class…then… Oh God the students!” Her unplastered hand covered her face, as though she could hide from the terrifying memories coming back to her again. “ Please tell me the students made it” She whispered, already knowing it was an empty plea.
“ Only 4 survived, apart from yourself. I’m sorry” Lam apologized “ They’re being treated at the local hospital. I’m told they should make it”
“ Oh God…” Elizabeth repeated, a tremble starting to shake her frame. John reached forward and parked his backside on the bed, minding her plastered ankle and pulled her into an embrace, stroking her back and hair until she had finishing crying out her grief and pain.
“ It’s ok… we just need to catch the bastards that did this” John soothed, hoping the prompt as to who might be responsible would get a reaction from Elizabeth. She remained silent, tremors still shaking her body occasionally as her mind dealt with the reactions of the last few days.
Elizabeth’s mind whirled as she considered who might have tried to kill her… or her students. Whilst if she were back in the Pegasus Galaxy there would be a sizeable list of people she knew had a price on her head, but here on Earth? Ever since she’d finally spat the dummy at the IOA’s constant interfering and second guessing her decisions and resigned from the Atlantis Expedition, taking up her old teaching position at the Georgetown University. John had returned to Earth with her, and they had married within a year of them both leaving Pegasus. Since then it had been smooth sailing. John remained a SG team leader at Stargate Command, whilst Elizabeth turned her hand back to teaching, still consulting with the SGC as required. She’d been working on some Ancient translations for Daniel, giving him a hand with the numerous artifacts coming through the Stargate for study from the Atlantis Expedition. She’d taken a number of items home with her over the last few weeks, spending a few hours as she could grab them pouring over the artifacts, wracking her brains and the textbooks to translate the various Ancient dialects. The one she’d been working on over the past week however had been of great interest. Shaped somewhat like the Goa'uld healing device that SG1 had brought back several years ago but on a much larger scale, the inscriptions covering the rear of the device told of powerful alterations to the human genome. The makings of a super-soldier perhaps, she had mused initially, before getting sidetracked marking her students assignments. She’d emailed Daniel with her initial findings and had put the object aside, storing it securely in the safe that herself and John kept their ‘work’ valuables in. Her gut instinct told her John hadn’t been home in days, but their home was in a safe area of town, and the safe was impenetrable, or at least that’s what they’d been told. Her gut twisted again and she grimaced.
“ She needs to rest, why don’t you go get something to eat?” Dr Lam encouraged, mistaking Elizabeth’s silence as tiredness. Elizabeth was grateful for the reprieve, not wanting to consider that the device she’d been translating could be what got her into this mess. John left reluctantly and she shifted in the pillows to get comfortable again, letting her mind wander before drifting off to sleep again. She would tell John about the device tomorrow, and the history behind it, and hopefully this mess would be over with once and for all. If only it would be that simple.