Note: This was the last arc we were in before Real Life took us captive 8 months ago. It is now here... and it is now complete.
~~~Kassandra and Fraggle stood in the hanger as they watched their new ship come to a gentle landing. They surveyed the barnacle-covered hull with soft sighs.
"Well, at least it's in one piece all we have to do is fix it up and it'll be good to go," Kass spoke cheerily, glancing sideways at Fraggle who was wondering where Colin had disappeared to. They hadn't seen him since they'd all arrived back on the mainland a few hours before.
~~~
Two hours earlier...
It had been nearly a week since Quenderra had departed Atlantis and the SSD and the remaining members of the team were still quite down-trodden at her departure... for the second time. The team had been cleared by Carson, with strict instructions not to overdo the work. Kass looked at Fraggle and Colin before glancing around once more. Opening a TDP to headquarters, the three agents stepped into it. They came to a stop in the main room and were greeted by Ziggy's half-hearted beeps and blinking. He still missed Quenderra.
Kass grinned at Ziggy as she spoke, "You know, Zig, I'm going to need some help getting the ship into tip top-shape--I'm sure Fraggs has some stuff you can help her with, too." As she spoke the last part, she elbowed Fraggle in the ribs.
"Ouch! Yeah, of course I got something," Fraggle said, muttering under her breath something that sounded like 'that the no good for nothing, my ego's bigger than my hard drive can do.'
Kass glared at her. "Why don't you, uh, go show Colin around and get him settled in. I'm going to go clean the hangar bay for our new arrival." With that, she grabbed her gear and stalked off in the direction of the hangar.
Colin looked at Fraggle inquisitively. "Is she always this grumpy after a mission?" Fraggle shook her head.
"Naw, she's just a wee bit shaken up still. She'll come around--you'll see," she assured. "And now, for the grand tour!"
~~~
Fraggle surveyed the craft. It was smaller than the junker had been, but that was not a problem. This ship would be much better once it was modified, she hoped. "Looks like you have your work cut out for ye, lass!" Fraggle said with a laugh.
Kass pulled the KoT out of her coveralls and entered a command, opening the hatch on the back of the craft, her jaw slack as it did so. "Wow! It's a gamma class transport ship! They didn't tell us that when they said we could have it!"
"You mean you didn't notice when you were on board, before?" the Scot asked.
"Well... I was a bit distracted," Kass grimaced. She took a few steps towards the ship, pinching her nose as she got close. "Smells like it could use a good cleaning, though. I'm certain I can fix whatever problems it has!" she declared with an enthusiasm rarely seen from the agent. Fraggle shook her head as she turned and walked away, leaving Kass and Ziggy to the task at hand.
~~~
Kass had set to the task before her with great zeal, removing all of the paneling from the interior of the ship to clean it. With Ziggy's help, she installed all the interior cameras and internal sensors. The cleaning and smaller modifications done, she was ready to set the KoT to repairing the hull of the ship that had been damaged in the explosion that caused the ship to crash into the ocean. The brunette plopped down with a sigh, her back against the wall as she connected the KoT to the ship and started entering commands, her fingers working lightening fast across the keys. As the commands streamed from the KoT she felt more than saw the repair work being done to the ship's damaged portions.
~~~
Fraggle paused outside the door to the hangar. "This is the hangar where we keep whatever ship we happen to have at the moment. Used to be the Junker but we had one fall apart and the second one had to be self destructed to kill off some of the hybrids, I've been told." At that moment a loud BOOM shook the door. Colin looked at it with concern.
"Do you think it was wise to store the explosives in the room where you keep your transportation?" he asked. Fraggle shoved through the door, surveying the room, a feeling of dread in her stomach as she peered through the smoke that hung heavily in the room.
"Kassandra? Are you okay? Kassandra?!" Fraggle breathed a sigh of relief as Kassandra strode out of the back of the ship through the quickly dissipating smoke covered in soot and grime.
"Sorry about that! I was repairing the ship and I kind of overloaded the KoT and it crashed!" Kassandra paused and gestured at the ship which was now restored to one piece, practically gleaming under the lights of the hangar bay. "I'm almost done with it--just a few more modifications and it'll be ready to fly!" There was a sparkle in her eye that conveyed her excitement about the whole thing. It was good to see her smile again--really smile.
~~~
Christmas had passed and a new year was just around the corner. The headquarters were decorated with tinsel and baubles, a Christmas tree was in the corner with three presents under it, unopened. Quenderra had not returned or been in contact in the four months since she left, but everyone bought her a gift, just in case. Fraggle had insisted upon it.
Kassandra had worked wonders on their new transport. The ancient ship had yet to be named, the team having decided on naming it after its first test run. Its first flight in centuries was due that night--just as the clocks turned to a new year. Well... somewhere in the universe, anyhow.
Kass was busy with final adjustments, her precious ship now meaning as much to her as the Junker had to Fraggle. She had spent weeks making everything just right. Updating the interior and cleaning the exterior. She had interfaced Ziggy with the ship's computer, to which the AI had taken quite a liking to.
Fraggle was playing her XBOX, trying out a new game she had got from Kass for Christmas.
Colin was sitting watching the clock, his first flight in a space ship not coming quick enough.
"Stop fidgeting, it will be time soon enough," Fraggle said as she put down the controller and went to fetch a beer.
"It's alright for you, you have been out there before!" Colin said, sweeping his hand skywards as if space was above him instead of the ceiling.
"Yeah, I know. And you are so going to LOVE it!" she teased. Beer in hand, she slumped back down into her games chair and restarted the game.
Colin had got up, and walked over to the tree. He lifted one of the presents from under it and passed it between his hands.
"Put it down," came Fraggle's voice.
"Do you think she will come back?" he asked.
"I don't know. She made it quite clear that she didn't intend to," Fraggle said, an edge to her voice that he hated to hear. A bitterness that he had not heard there before entered her voice whenever Quen's name was mentioned.
"Fraggle. I have known you a long time..."
"Oh, here we go!" she exclaimed, pausing the game and staring at Colin who did not flinch under her stony gaze.
Colin looked at his friend with the defiance in her face, the defensive pose of her body. But her eyes betrayed the hurt she felt.
"You know I am here if you want to talk," he said softly. He knew her too well to think he would get through to her in her current state of mind. As if to reinforce her attitude, she turned from him and switched the game back on.
Colin made his way to the hanger to see how Kass was coming on with the ship. He rounded the doorway to find her covered head to toe in black fluid. She was grinning and trying to wipe herself down as she saw him enter the bay.
"Stupid of me to attempt change the oil on a ship this size by myself!" she laughed.
"What happened?!" he asked, grabbing an old towel and throwing it at her.
"I tripped on a cable and fell in the oil basin!" she explained, pointing to a container that was as big as a bath.
"So, how is it? On schedule for launch?" For his part, he tried not to look too eager.
"Should be ready in about, ooh, I would say--5 minutes!!" she declared excitedly. "Launch in approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes!" As she dried the black substance from her face, she looked at Colin as he stared at the ship in awe. She grinned knowingly. "You looking forward to this?"
"Oh, hell yeah!" he breathed.
~~~
The ship was gleaming white with a pearlescent shine of turquoise and pink. Its mighty engines were encased in huge structures at either side of the craft, streamlined against the body.
It stood there huge and beautiful in the hanger, facing the doors as if waiting for its launch.
"It's magnificent," Colin breathed.
"Yeah," Kassandra said, looking at the ship and seeing its great potential.
Later, Fraggle joined them, running a hand over the smooth hull, amazed at the work that Kass had done almost single-handed.
"Well, she will never be the Junker, but I bet she flies like a bird!" she said, clapping her hands in glee.
"Oh, you and your Junker! Nothing will measure to that piece of--"
"Now, now! NEVER a bad word shall be spoken of my lovely bucket of bolts!" Fraggle interjected, holding a hand up in front of Kass's smiling face.
"So, are we ready?"
"Oh, Colin! Yeah--we're ready!"
~~~
The three SSD agents made their way into the ship, the roomy interior both welcoming and comfortable. Ziggy squealed in the console, just as excited as the others to finally be taking flight.
The hanger bay doors opened as Kass started the engines. A low hum invaded the air, a deep rumble within the ship vibrating under their feet. The noise grew as the engines came to life.
Fraggle's eyes gleamed at the sound. "Oh MAN! They sound so GOOD!" Kass rolled her eyes at Fraggle's continuing love of powerful engines, then turned to see Colin staring ecstatically out of the main window. The ship pulled forward and slid past the hanger doors into the dark starlit night. Fraggle increased the power and the engines roared with power as it took effortlessly to the sky. Cries of excitement and celebration filled the ship's bridge as she tore through the sky into the upper atmosphere and on into space.
"She needs a name!" shouted Fraggle.
"Oh, but what, though? Kass replied.
Colin stared out of the window, noticing how the ship's pearlescent body seemed to glow with an inner fire in the light from the protective force field. "What about the Phoenix?" he suggested, turning to the others.
"Yeah!! The Phoenix!"
The Phoenix made her way through space, dancing through the blackness, like gleaming shooting star.
"Happy New Year!!!"
~~~
Ziggy let out a cheerful chirp as the SSD Phoenix ascended from the atmosphere, leaving the world of Lantea below. <Environmentals are stable,> he reported from his communication screen. <All systems are operating at optimum capacity.>
"Well done, Kass!" Fraggle congratulated her fellow SSD agent.
"Well, it was nothing, really," Kass said, indulging in a bit of false modesty as Z let out a beep. "I mean, I did have to have to clean it out and patch together most of the hull..."
"Um... girls?" Colin said, looking at the communications panel.
"Patch it together?" Fraggle snorted. "You practically had to replace the whole thing!"
"Well, yeah," the brunette admitted with a smile.
"Ladies, I believe we have a problem," their male companion interrupted, raising his voice. Z gave a long, shrill tone to emphasis the Brit's point.
"What?" the two woman snapped, mostly irritated by the pitch Ziggy had chosen to use.
<There seems to be...> the computer's screen began before there was a sudden crack followed by a low hissing sound.
"A hull breech!" Colin finished as they all turned to face the foreboding sound.
"Ziggs, how fast are we losing atmosphere?" Kassandra demanded.
<Too fast!> he declared with a low breedle. <You must descend back into the planet's atmosphere *immediately*!>
"Really? What gave it away?!!" Fraggle retorted. "Looks like 'the Phoenix' should've been named 'the SSD Leaker'!"
"That's not funny!" Kass declared.
"Wasn't meant to be!"
"I don't think we're descending fast enough," Colin pointed out.
"Colin..." Fraggle started before she was interrupted by several sharp chirps from the communications panel.
<Hold on... tight!> Z warned.
"What..?" Kassandra began, but was cut off as the ship suddenly lurched downwards, throwing them all off their feet.
"Ow, ouch!" Fraggle yelped, landing wrong on her wrist. "Ziggy, if you kill us, I'm gonna come back and rip your bloody hard drive out!" The SSD computer chirruped an apology as it focused on pulling the leaking ship from the vacuum of space.
"Is it.. just me, or... i-is it getting hard.. to ..breath?" Colin panted as the oxygen fled the cabin. There was no response, but the man didn't ask again as he'd lost consciousness but a moment later...
~~~
"Ow. Ow... Ouch--Kass!" the Scot tossed aside the oxygen mask and jerked her hand away from the younger woman's attending touch. Kassandra scowled at her, removing her own oxygen mask and putting the tank away.
"Well, it's not broken, but you should probably still have a doctor look at it," Kass responded a bit tartly. Fraggle was not the easiest patient to deal with.
"I'll be fine," Fraggle growled, taking a swig from her beer bottle. "If Ziggy would've given us a better warning before yanking the damned floor from beneath our feet..."
"We'd probably all be dead," Colin cut her off. "He thought quickly and, by doing so, saved all our lives. That has to be worth a sprained wrist."
The random bursts of images that flickered over Z's smaller monitor slowed momentarily. <...Thank you, Colin.>
"You're welcome," the man smiled.
"Oh, don't do that!" Fraggle moaned. "You're feeding his bloody ego!" Colin opened his mouth to respond when Ziggy's monitors flashed red and an alarm filled the headquarters. The three agents cringed at the shrillness of the noise.
"Now what?" Kass demanded.
<Unauthorized life form in the hangar bay! There's.. there's... There's somebody in the Phoenix!> Ziggy declared. They grabbed their weapons, two stunners and a zat gun from the SGC, and hurried quietly to the hangar, approaching the ship's hatch from three different directions. Kass drew in a sharp breath when it suddenly opened.
"Alright!" Fraggle commanded, leaping in front of the open hatch and pointing her zat into the small cargo bay of the Phoenix. "Hold it, right there or I'll... Oh, my god."
"What?" Kass demanded, joining her friend. "What is i--?"
The figure within the ship gazed back, shifting with the uneasiness of one who trusted nobody. Long hair reached to the person's hip, the ends a reddish color fading up to a more natural brownish blond at the roots. She pointed her own weapon back at them, though none of them recognized what it was. Neither Colin or Kass managed to keep their weapons trained on her.
"Quenderra?" Colin murmured in surprise. The intruder jumped, her cold blue-gray eyes narrowing and her grip tightening on her unfamiliar gun.
"Stay off my ship!" she snarled. "Who are you and how the HELL do you know my name?!"
"Quenderra, it's us," Fraggle began, lowering her weapon as she stepped forward. Quenderra fired her weapon at the Scot's feet, where the pale bolt of energy ricocheted, leaving a burnt hole in the woman's pant leg without actually hitting her.
"The next shot will not be a warning." The blonde's voice trembled ever so slightly, but her face was set with fatal determination. "Stay. Off. My ship."
"The Phoenix isn't yours, Quen--it belongs to the SSD!" Kass objected. The weapon was redirected towards her.
"The what?"
"The SSD? You used to be a part of it?"
"I've never heard of such an organization, let alone participate in one."
"Perhaps this simply didn't occur to you," Colin said, "but... you do know you're outnumbered, right? We have three weapons to your one." Quenderra let out a derisive snort.
"I have a resistance to your stunners and by the time you could shoot me twice with your zat'ni'katel, you'd be dead," she told him, then smirked. "In fact, lower your weapons or..." Her gaze flitted about for inspiration, before she aimed her gun at Kassandra's forehead. "I'll shoot the sweet-looking one."
~~~
The three looked at Quenderra with shock, her bedraggled appearance and her longer hair making her seem so different--almost alien. Fraggle had began to lower her weapon when she suddenly stopped, raising it as she threw her head back and laughed loudly. Colin and Kass looked at her with puzzled stares as she turned abruptly towards Quen.
"I am so sick of your crap, Quen," she declared. "Put the damn weapon down. Who the hell do you think you are anyway? The only one who ever gets hurt in the team? God damn it, Quen! You always have to take the dark and brooding attitude! I am so SICK of it!!"
Quenderra's aim wavered, confusion flashing on her face. "You--you don't know me!" was all she could say as she tried to understand what the other was saying, puzzled as to why some stranger should know her traits.
"I don't know you? I don't know YOU?" Fraggle sniggered and turned momentarily away from her, and made a questioning look at Kass and Colin. "Quen, love, I know you too well, lassie. Something happens and you are the one who thinks it all happened because of you. You leave in a hissy fit and return in a blaze of glory. In the meantime, you pound my brain with your bloody whining and self sacrifice that, to be quite bloody honest is wearing thin!"
"Fraggle," Colin said in a stern voice.
"No, no, Colin. This is Quenderra--the one and only Quenderra. The only member of the team who hurts. The only member of the team who sacrifices. The only member of the team to WALK AWAY FROM THE TEAM!" Fraggle's eyes were brimming with tears, anger flushed her cheeks as she continued to point the zat at Quenderra. Colin moved beside her, lowering the raised arm slowly.
"I think she got your message," he said quietly.
Quenderra had lowered her weapon and was looking at the floor. How did this... this ferocious person know what she was like? How could this person look at her and know what shame she felt? How did this person know her very soul?
"I--I don't know you. You..." she regained her composure and raised her weapon. "Who the hell are you to talk to me?! You don't even know me! GET OFF MY SHIP!" There was a loud hiss as the air crackled with energy. Fraggle's eyes opened wide as the blast caught her. She tumbled off-balance and fell onto her sprained wrist. Colin and Kass ran over, holding her and supporting her as she tried to get back to her feet, failing and falling back onto the floor.
"She shot me!" she said in hurt and confusion. "Quen shot me! Crap!"
"Damn it Quen!" Kassandra shouted as she and Colin tended to a groggy and hurt Fraggle. Quenderra stood there, wondering what the hell was going on, and trying to figure out who these people were and how they seemed to know her.
"I warned you," Quenderra finally spoke, her tone unnervingly chill. "I told you to stay off my ship. You're the ones who wouldn't listen."
"How could you shoot Fraggle?!" Kass demanded, tears stinging her eyes and straining her voice.
"I don't know Fraggle. I gave her a warning shot. That's more than I usually give. You, uh, might wanna take her to a doct... What in blazes?" Quen emerged from the ship in a hurry, looking about the hangar in shock. "What are you? How the heck did you get my ship in here? Where are we?"
"Press on the wound, I'll get the first aid kit and call for assistance," Colin told Kass. "Fraggle, hold still." He rose to his feet and glanced back at Quenderra with a scowl before heading into the main room.
"I only meant to graze her," Quen murmured, coming up behind Kassandra and peering down at the damage she'd caused.
"Only meant to graze me!" Fraggle cried out in rage. "You still shot me!"
"You moved at the last moment," the blonde ground out between clenched teeth. "Move aside." She waved Kass away, despite the brunette's protests. Quenderra pulled a cloth-wrapped object from a pocket in the side of her pants before crouching down beside the angry Scot.
"Don't touch me!" she snapped.
Quenderra took her roughly by the chin. "With this much blood," she said, emphasizing each and every word, "I may have hit your subclavian artery and there's a good chance I also punctured your lung. Now, I don't know you, and so far, I don't like you, but I am not a killer, I'm not gonna risk letting you die because of an error in my judgment."
"You mean now you realize you shouldn't have shot me?" Fraggle snapped, wincing in pain.
"No, actually, I should've just blasted off your kneecap, but I was trying not to cripple you. Now, shut up and let me help you." Quenderra exposed the wound just below Fraggle's left clavicle before unwrapping the object from her pocket.
"What are you doing?" Colin demanded, running forward.
"Colin, wait," Kass told him. Quenderra slid the device onto her hand and held it over the wound. She put her head back and closed her eyes and the device began to glow. The blonde's body began to tremble, but she managed to hold the object steady enough to complete her task. She drew in a slow breath, slouching back on her heels.
"I owe you nothing, now," Quenderra spoke softly as Fraggle rose to a sitting position, "Just let me take my ship and leave. Please."
"Is... is that what I think it is?" Kass stammered, overcoming her shock.
"It is," Fraggle replied, staring at Quenderra in a mixture of confusion and surprise.
"What is it?" Colin asked, not entirely sure what was happening. Kassandra met his gaze.
"It's a goa'uld healing device."
~~~
As Kass and Fraggle continued to stare at Quenderra, Colin rushed over and put his hand on Fraggle's shoulder.
"Are...are you OK?" he asked as he looked at the blood covering her clothes, wondering why she suddenly didn't seem to be in any pain.
"I'm fine," she shrugged off his hand and got to her feet, angrily walking out of the hanger back into the headquarters. Kass called after her and was about to follow until Colin held her back.
"Oh no. You don't want to go in there, now--not when she is in that mood. Believe me! Leave her be."
Quenderra was looking around the hanger bay, ignoring the others when Kassandra abruptly turned on her.
"Who the hell are you?" she demanded, training her stunner on the stranger.
"Kass?" Colin said worriedly, unsure of what to do.
"I'm Quenderra," the newcomer responded with a roll of her eyes, "which you already seem to know. What is this place and why did you bring my ship here? HOW?" she continued, ignoring the weapon aimed at her head.
"This ship, is our ship," Kass said through angry, gritted teeth. "And you are not Quenderra. You may look like her, but you are not her."
"How do you know that?" Colin said quietly as he stood by Kassandra.
"She would never have shot Fraggle. Hit her maybe, but not shoot her."
Quenderra simply shrugged and walked over to the ship. She looked confused for a moment then turned back to them. "Why did you refit the engines?! And what's with the paint job? I'm not sure I--where the hell are my cargo doors?! What the hell have you done to my ship?! When did you have the time?"
"I told you! This is not YOUR ship! And if you think after all the work I did to that leaker that you are going to take it from us, think again, missy!"
Quenderra sighed and straightened, putting her weapon in its holster and walking towards them. "I think I may have made a terrible mistake," she said, extending her hand. "Hello. My name is Quenderra Grodin. This is my ship. And you are?"
Kassandra stared at her. "Quenderra Grodin? Doctor Peter Grodin's wife?" she spoke softly, lowering her weapon.
"You knew Peter?" Quenderra asked, her voice tightening with emotion. "He-he's gone now. I lost him on our last trip to Traders' Quarry... damn those bloody goa'uld." She rubbed the tears from her eyes before they could fall. "How did you know Peter?"
Kassandra did not know anything about Traders Quarry, but she knew of the Goa'uld, and she remembered Peter very well. "We had a Peter Grodin here. He... had an accident and died a couple of years ago. I am sorry for your loss..." she murmured, not really sure why those words came from her mouth.
"I lose, either way," Quen said bitterly, then snapped out of her reverie. "Okay. So let me guess--you took the ship out and played around with the matter flow in the engines or something equally as stupid, and tore me off MY ship, in MY reality, onto yours?"
"What? Matter flow? Reality? This IS reality!" Colin scratched his head.
"Um, remember what we said about there being numerous alternate realities?" Kass said. "Meet an Alternate."
Fraggle sniggered from the doorway, making them all turn. "I really should have known," she shook her head as she walked over to them, her clothes changed and no longer covered in blood. "Quen would know better than to shoot me." She walked up to Quenderra Grodin and put out her hand.
Quenderra scowled at her at first, but shook her hand, anyway. Seeing the warmth in Fraggle's eyes, she soon found herself smiling back.
~~~
There was a click of a large bolt followed by the sound of a door being thrown open about then, accompanied by hurried feet. Quenderra Grodin whirled about to face the newcomers, her weapon drawn and aimed with startling quickness.
"What happened? Where's my patient?" Dr. Beckett demanded as he and members of his medical team entered the hangar bay from the long corridor leading out the back. They were accompanied by Major Lorne and his team. Ziggy had taken their access code and allowed them entry into the HQ.
"Hold your fire!" the three SSD agents cried out in unison as Evan and Quenderra aimed at each other.
"What the bloody hell?!" the physician exclaimed, still not certain what was happening.
"Quen, lower your weapon, those people are our friends," Fraggle told her, putting herself between Quen and the major.
"Don't shoot--I don't think she wants to hurt us," Colin said to Lorne.
"Quenderra," Fraggle said again. The blonde bit her lip, doubt showing in her eyes.
"You know them?" she asked.
"Yes."
"You can trust them?"
"With my life." Slowly, Quenderra lowered her weapon, and across the room, Evan did the same.
"What is going on here?" Carson wanted to know. "We got word that Fraggle was wounded, so we got out here as fast as we... Quenderra?!"
"No. Well, not our Quenderra," Kass explained. "And Fraggle was wounded--Quen shot her. Then she healed her..."
"Healed her?"
"With a goa'uld healing device..."
"A Goa'uld device?" Beckett repeated dumbly. "Not our Quenderra?" All the eyes in the room stared at Quenderra, who began to feel like she was in a cage on display. Sensing that the new Quenderra was growing anxious, Fraggle ushered everyone back into the headquarters. Lorne and Beckett stayed behind as the other Lanteans returned to the city. Lorne had his gun in his hand, guardedly watching Quenderra.
After discussing the occurrence on the Phoenix's first flight, they turned to figuring out what had happened. "Tell me, did you do any modifications to the engines?" Quenderra Grodin asked.
"Well, yeah. Our whole existence in this dimension is caused by the TDP. So I modified the engines to generate TDP vortexes when we would require them."
"Ah," Quenderra smiled, a knowing look on her face.
"What are you thinking, Derra?" Fraggle said, noting the smirk on her face disappeared as soon as she had called her that. "What? Whats wrong?"
"No one has called me 'Derra' since... Peter," she sighed, standing up and walking to the window. A wave of sadness hit Fraggle so hard she almost could not breathe. What the hell? Her mind confused and her feelings mixed up, she gasped as flashing images fleeted through her mind.
"Fraggle?" Carson asked as he approached where she was sitting and hunkered down next to her. Derra turned to look at the person she had shot and healed, wondering if she had in fact, not healed her. Fraggle raised her head, her breathing coming under control.
Fraggle looked at her--really looked at her--and saw the differences between this Quenderra and hers.
There were lines on this face that were not on Quen's face. Lines and scars that were from worry and battles fought. There was a haunted look of someone lost, and someone who had lost. She was not their Quen no matter how she looked. And she realised that the feelings that took her breath away had come from this stranger.
Derra saw the look on Fraggle's face and had seen that look before. She had seen it on Peter's face weeks before she had lost him. The look of someone who knew her pain.
Derra did not know how this stranger knew, but she knew that she did.
"I--I need to get back to my place. I need to be returned to my reality," she said as she walked back out to the hanger, Lorne in tow behind her, gun not raised, but ready.
Fraggle breathed deeply, nodding her head to reassure Beckett who was beginning to look quite concerned. "I'm okay. Really, it was nothing." She got up and got a beer from the ever-stocked fridge in the corner.
"So, what do we do?" Kass asked. Fraggle swallowed the cold liquid, Carson shaking his head with a look of surprise on his face as she finished the beer in one drink.
"Well, she has to go back home," she said, throwing the bottle into the bin with a crash. "She cannot stay here."
"Well, yes. I know. But how are we to get her home, we don't even know what happened to bring her here!"
"Nope. But she does," Fraggle answered, reaching for another beer.
"Eh, Fraggle? I don't think--"
"Colin, back off," she said as she flicked the lid off the bottle.
"Don't come to me when your head is sore," he held his hands up in submission, shaking his head.
Fraggle knew that he only worried about her. But he did not understand. This Quenderra had to get home. She had seen something in her. Something bad would happen if she stayed.
Quenderra Grodin had not been dragged here by accident.
Derra Grodin was here on purpose.
~~~
"Remember when we first met?"
Quenderra looked up into the man's eyes. "How could I forget? We were both at the Underground Gate Facility in Colorado, Earth. Travelers getting away from the center of conflict. Sort of..."
"Yes, I was heading off to my new assignment at the Earth Beta Site," Peter murmured, smoothing back her shoulder-length red hair. "You were different, though. All the others there were weighed-down with fear, but you still had spirit." His wife smiled.
"Little did you know that the moment you spoke to me, you had no chance of ever getting rid of me."
"I wouldn't want to," the man told her, kissing her softly. "You're a good person and somehow you're going to help end this madness."
"Am I, Peter? I'm not so sure," Derra shook her head. "I'm who I am because of you, my love. I hate the Wraith and the Goa'uld are little better. We do what we must, but... Peter, if I ever lost you, I would break, I would..."
"Shh. No more," he hushed, putting a finger against her lips. His gentle eyes gazed into hers. He understood her more than anyone had. He knew her pain and the things that haunted her, just as she knew him.
"To Traders' Quarry," she sighed. "To meet with our master's servant in order to obtain our new assignment." Peter planted a kiss on the top of her head.
"To Traders' Quarry," he agreed, "in order to stay alive."
~~~
Derra stood before a mirror in the infirmary, a pair of scissors in hand. A pile of red and gold waves of hair surrounded her feet. Several marines stood guard nearby. It was only about 6:30 in the morning, but Dr. Beckett had had her brought to the infirmary to run tests on her soon after they had encountered her in the SSD headquarters. He had found the discovery that she could use Goa'uld technology disquieting and wanted to make certain she was no threat. The Scot cleared his throat as he approached. The SSD were with him.
"Dr. Becker," she acknowledged him without looking away from the mirror.
"Well, I've come back with your test results," he said, frowning at the incorrect name and the mess she was making. "You're not exactly forth-coming, y'know."
"Should I be?" she asked, putting down the scissors and turning slowly. Her hair was very short now, the dyed portion entirely cut off, and she had swept it back from her face with the exception of some side-bangs that lay obediently across her forehead.
"You could have mentioned you were once host to a Goa'uld symbiote, for starters," Carson pointed out. "Naturally, you have an entry scar and naquada in your bloodstream..."
"A Goa'uld?" Derra interrupted. "How can you be so sure it wasn't a Tok'ra?"
"Tok'ra don't like to enter their hosts through the back of the neck," Kass responded. The woman before them gave an unreadable smile.
"You assume that they aren't as bad as the Goa'uld in my reality," she spoke in an almost teasing tone. "I'll give you this one, though. It was a Goa'uld. And that is the reason I am able to use Goa'uld technology. Will that be a problem?"
"Why would I not be surprised if you told me that you also knew you had the ATA gene?" the doctor asked.
"The what?" Derra's eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement.
"The gene that allows its owner to use Ancient technology," Colin offered.
"Ancient technology?"
"Ancients," Kass said, "the builders of the Stargate."
"Oh!" a light came on. "Well, yes. My mother was Alteran."
"Your mother was an ascended being?" Carson demanded.
"No," Derra laughed, obviously finding his question absurd. "My mother is of the race that built the Stargate, mastered ascension, and are mostly underground right now if they aren't already themselves ascended. Besides, she was only part Alteran--I can barely use a life-signs device."
"Why don't you just tell us what we should know about you?" Fraggle wanted to know.
"Because you didn't ask," came the reply. "Now you have. Where I come from, the Goa'uld have ruled the entirety of the Milky Way for ages. Earth has been under their domination since before I was born. More recently, the Wraith of the Pegasus Galaxy went to war against the Goa'uld. They attacked Earth. It wasn't so bad there before the Wraith came. The Goa'uld had given us a fair amount of freedom in exchange for our loyalty. Earth's population went from 3 billion to nearly half that in a matter of months. It was all but decimated. The Goa'uld declared war.
"The Underground Gate Facility in Colorado helped many escape the horrors there," she continued. "That's where I met... that's where I met Peter. Um... We traveled from planet to planet, doing what we had to to stay alive. We were free for awhile, and then we came under the service of Baal."
"You serve Baal?" Kass and Fraggle demanded in unison. Carson was just stunned.
"It was do or die. In my reality, it's serve the Goa'uld or the Wraith. Which do you think is the lesser of two evils?" Derra retorted, her tone demanding how they dared to judge her without knowing her story. "Besides, we never met with him face to face. We received his orders through his First Prime, Teal'c, of Chulak."
"Teal'c?" Kassandra gasped in surprise. "But--he was first prime to Apophis!"
"Not in my reality. Chulak is Baal's domain. Apophis hasn't even been a system lord for two centuries. Osiris defeated him at that time." She gave them a look that clearly questioned how ignorant they could possibly be. "A year ago, Peter was taken by Master Teal'c to Baal's mothership. He was to be kept safe there while I completed the mission. I was promised," her voice began to tighten with emotion, "PROMISED, supposedly by Baal himself, that Peter would be safe...." Quenderra looked away, tears streaking her face. She had left out the part where she'd been a host, but no one had the heart to ask her about it.
Carson did have one more question for her, however.
"Derra, love, according to our scans, there seems to be a device of Goa'uld origin in your thoracic cavity. Do you mind if I ask what it is?" The woman used both hands to try to wipe the tears from her cheeks.
"It's to protect me from Wraith stunners--it neutralizes their effect. It also gives me a heightened resistance to zat'nikitels," she answered. The room fell silent as Quenderra Grodin took deep breaths to calm herself, sinking down onto a bed.
"Are you alright?" Kass asked softly, sitting on the mattress beside the woman who looked so much like her estranged friend.
"I will be. Today's just hard," she responded softly. "It's the day... the day I lost the only good thing left in my life. It's hard. I hope you never experience such pain." The brunette did not respond to this. Words seemed too cheap to lend as a salve for Derra's seeping wounds. So, they waited around in silence while Carson reported to Dr. Weir.
~~~
"Wh-what?" Quenderra's voice faltered helplessly as she stared at the large, dark man before her.
"Your husband is dead," Teal'c intoned again.
"NO!" the woman shrieked, throwing herself at him. "You promised me! You said that Lord Baal promised me! Murderer! MURDERER!" She pounded her fists ineffectually against his chest.
"Your husband died in service to his god," the Jaffa growled, grabbing her wrists in an almost crushing grip. "Your tears are wasted."
"You promised me. I did what I was told and you PROMISED me," Derra cried. "You BASTARD!" She spat at him. His scowl deepened.
"If Lord Baal did not wish that you remained alive, you would join your husband." He shoved her away and turned to go. "If I were you, I would not assault me again." The man activated the ring transporter and vanished. Quenderra fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands.
"Oh, god!" she sobbed. "Oh, god, no! Not my Peter. Please, not Peter!!" But she knew her prayers were in vain...
Her only love was dead.
~~~
Derra Grodin studied the steady flow of information scrolling along the screen of the Remote Device. The piece of technology had once been constantly in the possession of Quenderra James, the SSD agent who had left after being possessed by the Ancient-Wraith hybrid Karron. Kassandra sighed. She missed Quen.
"You people are reckless," Derra sighed at length.
"Huh?" Kass murmured, coming out of her reverie. The alternate was gazing straight into her face, but there was no warmth there, no sense of familiarity from years of interaction. The agent found herself wondering how someone who at first looked so identical to her friend had so quickly grown to look so different. This Quenderra's face bore a harshness, a sorrow, even a lack of innocence that had never touched her Quen's features.
"You're fooling around with that of which you know precious little. I admit that the way you have refitted the engines to run off of what you call the TDP is ingenious, but..." Derra set down the RD and straightened her body. "This 'Time Delay Phenomenon' is merely a physical manifestation of the 'Mind Realm' which enables one to travel across universes and realities at will. The fact that you can use it intuitively without actually knowing how it works is rather disturbing, actually. By all rights, you should have been torn limb from limb a long time ago--it's not a toy. But I'm getting off topic...
"By using the TDP as a power source, you're risking the possibility of destroying an entire reality," she continued. "See, you could say that realities exist in layers, like a cake, if you will, with a thin layer dividing one from the other. The mind realm is basically reality as it exists beyond that which is usually perceived. When you use the TDP as a power source for your ship, it's like using a fork to poke holes into one of the tiers of a cake--you poke it enough, and that layer's gonna become nothing but crumbs. Granted, the possibility that there's actually any life in a reality from which you draw power is infinitesimal, but that's not the only concern. Draw power from a reverse reality, and your engines will implode with a force great enough to suck in this galaxy and most of the next. I recommend that you find another power source." Kass looked at her in shock.
"How do you know all this?" she demanded.
Derra smiled. "Lots of studying. That, and more people are conscious of mind talents in my world."
"Mind talents?"
"Well, yes. Abilities within the mind realm--it's genetic, actually."
"Genetic?" Kassandra was trying to process the new load of information that seemed to flow from Derra's mouth.
"You really don't know much about yourself, do you?" Derra was surprised. "I'll explain it to you as I understand it. The ability to access the mind realm is facilitated by a mutated gene, which is what all of you in the SSD have in common..."
"But Fraggle's the only one who can access the mind realm!" Kass exclaimed.
"No, she isn't," the blonde shook her head. "Fraggle has the Sight of the mind realm, meaning she can SEE it, but that's not the only mind talent. There's also the emotional and physical aspects of the mind realm. Your Quenderra and I are able to sense emotional flow of space-time--it's hard to explain... it's that prickling sensation racing across your flesh, the tingling at the back of your mind when you know someone is spying on you, a gut feeling that something is about to happen... sometimes, it washes over you so strongly, you can't breath. Like, you're at the bottom of the ocean, the whole world pressing down on you. And it's not just some people. It's everyone, everything, everyplace... and at first it drives you mad and it seems it'd be easier just to lose your mind." Derra squeezed her eyes shut, as though remembering something unpleasant.
"And... the physical aspect of the mind realm?" Kass prodded gently, her curiosity nibbling at her mind.
"The mind realm's physicality... it's the one I know least about. It's what you have. That ability to manipulate that which is beyond the scope of the physical realm and affect reality--it's the most dangerous mind talent, especially when one has it as strongly as you do. I've never seen the likes of you, Kassandra Todd," Derra become grim. "It's a good thing that you are meek and humble, because with your abilities, you could so easily lord yourself over all those around you."
"No..." the SSD agent shifted uncomfortably, "that can't be true..."
"It is. The Keyboard of Truth is just a tool to help you channel your abilities. Treu, you can't use it for ill, but you could learn to do everything that you do without it. But whatever you do, should you choose to further strengthen your skill, keep your head, Kassandra. People like you are rare." Kassandra gasped. Derra's expression had become so earnest, so open. There was nothing hidden in her words. They had been genuine.
"..'kay..." the brunette whispered. The blue-gray eyes were redirected and the mood shifted ever so slightly.
"You were in love with him, weren't you?" Derra asked.
"Who?"
"Peter."
"H-how did you know?"
"Because I'd look at you the same way were our positions reversed," Derra said. "You don't want to like me, but you can't bring yourself to hate me..."
"It's not like that--" Kass protested.
"I'm not offended," the alternate interjected. "Just... we hold this in common. It makes me feel a little less alone."
"Derra..."
"Tell me about him," Derra requested suddenly, her wistful gaze meeting Kass's own. "Please... will you tell me about your Peter?" A small smile touched Kassandra lips and she nodded.
~~~
Fraggle was starting to feel uneasy.
Over the last couple of days, Quenderra Grodin and Kass had grown surprisingly close. Derra doted on the younger woman like an elder sister and was easily able to bring her out of her shell. That, in and of itself, didn't bother her. What did was that sometimes, the Scot thought she saw malice flicker in the alternate's eyes. Not directed at anyone... just there. She didn't like it.
"Have you considered the possibility that maybe you're a bit jealous?" Colin had asked when she had confided her misgivings to the man. "I mean, the way I understand it, you and Quenderra were the closer ones before. Now, this alternate, Derra, comes in, looking for all the world like Quen, and develops a close bond with Kassandra. Fraggle--perhaps maybe you feel like you're losing them both..."
"This has nothing to do with Quen!" Fraggle had snapped, irritated that he was right at least in that the thoughts had crossed her mind. "I'm telling you, Colin--Quenderra Grodin is up tae no good. There's too much we don't know about her."
"Then, do you think we should tell Kass to stay away from her?" he had queried.
"Och, I dunno!" the Scot exclaimed. She hadn't seen the brunette laugh so genuinely since Quen had abandoned the team. But now, this Derra Grodin--naquadah-in-the-blood, possessor-of-the-ATA-gene, endless-supplier-of-information-regarding-mind-talents-etc--now, she could coax it from her with seeming ease. Fraggle didn't want to take that from Kass, she just wasn't so sure that the girl's new friend could be trusted.
"Rodney!" Fraggle presently exclaimed, passing the man in the corridor. "Have yeh seen Kass?"
"Kass?" the man blinked.
"Brunette, rather tall--"
"I know that!" the scientist snapped. "She was with Derra Grodin in the mess about twenty minutes ago. Why, is something wrong?"
"No," Fraggle faked a smile. It was probably nothing. "I just haven't seen her, is all. Thanks, Rodney."
"No problem," McKay murmured, watching the Scot hurry away down the hall. He couldn't help but think that the SSD just kept getting stranger and stranger.
~~~
Now Fraggle was really growing concerned. An unexplainable sense of panic had welled up within her and she could no longer hold it back. She hopped up onto a table.
"Has anyone seen Kass?!??" she shouted, raising her voice above the mealtime racket.
"Fraggle, love, whit's the matter?" Carson demanded, stopping next to the table and looking up at her. "Come down before yeh fall and bloody hurt yerself."
"Carson, have yeh seen Kass?" Fraggle asked as she returned to the floor, unable to shake the sense that something was amiss.
"I'm afraid I haven't--not since this morning," the doctor responded.
"Fraggle, are you alright?" She turned to see Colin looking at her strangely.
"Kass was here with Derra earlier, right?" she demanded.
"Yes," her friend answered. "They left to go on a walk..."
"Which direction?"
"How should--"
"Which way did they bloody go, Colin??"
"They exited that way," Colin pointed to one of the exits.
"Towards the chair room, then?" Fraggle exclaimed.
"Among other things," Carson contributed. "What difference does it make?"
"Derra Grodin has the ATA gene."
"But she said--"
"She didn't come here on accident! The hues are all off--I saw it. We have to find both her and Kass, now!"
~~~
Derra Grodin let out a soft chuckle. "It's been so long since I've felt like I could connect with someone. Really connect," she said. "You have helped me to find some comfort, Kassandra Todd. Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me," Kass told her. "I'm just glad I can be there for you." Derra turned to face her, her eyes a storm of emotion.
"I'm sorry it has to be this way." The brunette took a step back as the blue-gray eyes suddenly hardened, resolute and tortured. "I hope someday you can forgive me, Kass--I really do." Kass's mind screamed at her to run, but her body responded too slowly and soon her arm was twisted painfully behind her back, her weapon on the floor.
"Derra, please--whatever you're gonna do, don't do it," Kass pleaded, grimacing in pain.
"There is no other way. I'm taking this city."
~~~
She had planned it. Derra Grodin had planned to use her as a hostage. She had used a thin rope to tie Kass's hands behind her back before shoving her roughly along ahead of her, almost too fast for the tall brunette to keep her feet.
"Derra, you're hurting me," Kass whimpered. There was no reply. Kassandra felt ashamed--how could she be so foolish? She should have known better than to trust this stranger...
With the threat of hurting her hostage, Derra was able to get to the chair room with relative ease, using a stunner to take out any guards along the way. As they approached the ancient control chair, it lit up instantly, responding in a way that the SSD agent had only seen with Col. Sheppard.
"You lied to us," Kass didn't try to hide the hurt in her voice.
"Ironically, I was more honest with you than I have been with anyone in over a year," Derra said sadly. "Now, Kass--sweet, gentle Kass--I need your help. I need you to help me transport your city to my reality. You can even use the KoT." She tucked a stray strand of hair behind the brunette's ear.
"It can only be used for good."
Derra opened her mouth to respond.
"Hold it, right there!" a voice rang out. Fraggle and Colin had rushed into the room, accompanied by Col. Sheppard's and Major Lorne's teams.
"Sorry," Derra whispered to Kass as she retook a painful grip on the girl's arm. Kass couldn't hold back a pain-filled cry. "This doesn't have to get violent! Just let me take the city and no one has to get hurt."
"Too late!" Fraggle growled savagely. "Let her go and maybe we'll spare yeh!"
"You don't understand!" the alternate declared, also becoming angry. "You all have it SO EASY here--and you don't even realize it. The wraith and the goa'uld are at war in my reality. Whole worlds are dying, everyday. Atlantis is the key to bringing down the wraith--ours was destroyed. What do you even use your city for? For shelter? A place to live? We need it to fight! We need it to end the wraith! Once the wraith are destroyed, the goa'uld will fight amongst themselves again, then they can be taken out, too!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks now. "It's the only way! Do you know how many realities I've searched? If I retrieve this city, Lord Baal will trust me, and that will be his undoing!"
"This isn't about saving lives," Sheppard spoke up. "This is about getting revenge. If this is your way of doing things, you're no better than the wraith or goa'uld."
"That's a lie!" Quenderra screamed from behind Kass. "They killed my Peter--I am nothing like them!"
"They're right, Quenderra. This is madness--it needs to end." Everyone in the room turned to look in surprise at the newcomer. He strode forward, his stride confident, yet somehow casual. And entirely wrong for the Kavanaugh they knew.
Derra fixed him with a glare. "What are you doing here, Kav?" she demanded.
"Sir?" Lorne questioned.
"Hold your fire," John answered.
"Thank you," the alternate Kavanaugh said to them with a slight nod before continuing forward. "My god, Derra--look at you. You're so overcome by your hate... This isn't what Peter would have wanted for you." Her hold on Kass loosened.
"I don't have to listen to you..."
"What are you doing? You think if you get close enough to Baal, you can double-cross him?" the man continued, stepping ever closer, his tone a strange blend of snide and concerned. "You think he can't see the hate in your eyes? Everyone can."
"Says you!" Derra shouted. She let go of Kass and stalked towards him. The brunette rushed to her friends who released her from her painful bonds. "Just because... just because you were Peter's friend doesn't mean you know me!" She glared up at him, hostile and tearful.
"You can't do this, Derra," he spoke softly, firmly grabbing her by the upper arms. "Atlantis is too large even for you to transport between realities. Even with help, the city will be torn apart--you know that."
"It's only a possibility, Kav," she ground out stubbornly, trying to shrug off his hold. "It's the only way to reclaim our reality from monsters!"
Kavanaugh sighed impatiently. "You're smarter than that--it's suicide. We'll find another way."
"Why do you even care? WHY do you care?"
"Because I promised my best friend that if anything happened to him that I would take care of his most prized possession."
Quenderra Grodin reduced to tears, her body wracked with sobs. "Why, Kav, why? Why Peter? Why me..?" The man rested a hand on her shoulder as she vented her heartache and frustrations. Sheppard hesitantly lowered his weapon, nodding for the rest to do so as well.
Fraggle wrapped Kassandra in a tight embrace. "Thank god you're safe!" she murmured.
~~~
Sometime later...
"Are yeh sure you're alright?" Fraggle asked for what seemed like the billionth time.
"Yes, Fraggle, I'm fine," Kass responded, though her tone held a mild bite to it.
"Look here, lass, Derra used your kind, trusting nature against you--you can't blame yourself for that."
"And I'll never forgive myself for it, either," the blonde in question approached where the SSD sat in the mess, Kavanaugh at her side. Derra looked miserable. "I am so sorry! I have wronged you so badly... Kass, I know I can't even hope for your forgiveness, but I really did like you--"
"Funny way yeh have of showing it," Fraggle snapped.
"Don't let this damage you, Kass--if I'd been thinking clearly, I never would have... think of it as being bitten by a stray dog. Don't let this damage you." The blue-gray eyes were pleading desparately, a new guilt added to their haunted depths. "I really am sor--"
"I forgive you," Kass said suddenly. "I forgive you, Derra."
Tears welled in the alternate's eyes and she reached out her hand as though to stroke the brunette's cheek before withdrawing it again. "Be well, Kassandra Todd."
"We're heading back, now," Kavanaugh informed them. "We won't return." They turned from the table, seemingly unaware of the three marines standing by keeping a watch on them. A TDP activated and they stepped inside, vanishing through the portal.
"That was interesting," Colin stated.
Fraggle turned to Kassandra. "Why'd you do it, lass? Why'd you forgive that--"
"Because she's just like our Quen," Kass answered promptly, wistfully. "She'll never forgive herself for hurting the people she cares about. Besides... holding grudges just brings a person down, don't you think?" Kass met Fraggle's gaze and the Scot realized she was right.
Sometimes the hardest part of working through something is learning how to let go.
~
End.
~~~
Attempted editing for optimal readibility by Quenderra.
