jadelyntate: (maythepowerprotectyou)
[personal profile] jadelyntate
Author: Jaded
Story: Second Verse, Same As The First
Disclaimer: I own the idea only. Joss owns Buffy, SyFy owns Stargate. No suing please!
Summary: When one life ends, another begins...
Warning: Contains slash pairings. Nothing adult, just know there will be homosexual relationships.
Previous: Prequel - One - Two - Three



We're not done yet
Not going quietly into the night, not me and my friends
We're not done yet, don't take us too seriously
It's just life we'll win in the end
And we walk on and on and on and we walk on and on

~ Superchick, “Not Done Yet”


Chapter Four
The next day began with a brawl started by Angel and William. One of them, John didn't know who, accidentally kicked the other as they woke up. Graham tried breaking it up only to get to pulled in, which brought Riley and Alexander in to defend him. A grin on her face, Faith went to join but was pulled back by Vala.

“Oh no you don't,” she scolded as Jackson, Carter, Lorne, O'Neill, and Mitchell wadded in to pull the five boys apart. “I like a good fight as much as the next person but you are much too young yet.”

“But Ma!”

“You can fight when you can actually not got squished,” Vala told her firmly before a wicked smile graced her face. “I'll even teach you how.”

“I already know how!” she declared and moved forward to try and do a roundhouse kick. Try being the operative word because she lost her balance in the middle of it and fell on her bottom. John, fully expecting her to start crying like Cordelia had, was surprised when all she did was look up and pout.

“I wanna be big again.”

“Excuse me?” Vala asked sharply and Faith blinked at her. “Big again? What do you mean?”

“I...I don't...” the two year old swallowed, looking bewildered. Finally, in a small voice, she said “I don't know.”

“She's two,” Mitchell murmured suddenly next to him. “How come she's talking like that?”

“I've learned never to underestimate the power of stupid Ancients or Ascended,” John replied. At Mitchell's confused look, he smirked. “I'm blaming Skaara and Shifu.”

Rodney snorted. “Which translates roughly into he has no idea why they're talking like they're older than they are. But I agree, its very weird. Its almost like they're, you know, adults in kids bodies which wouldn't be surprising given everything we know but then that leads to wondering why Skaara and Shifu sent them here as kids and not as adults not to mention who they were before and why they were given to us and...”

Rodney trailed off when he realized every single kid was staring at him. “What?” he asked sharply.

“How did you breathe?” Kendra demanded, her accent an odd mix of English and Jamaican. John thought there was sometthing funny about that but was distracted by the kids to really think on it.

“Wow,” Alexander said, fascinated. “You babble just like Willow!”

“Willow goes faster,” Oz said.

“Yeah,” Angel agreed. “But he's got the whole not breathing thing down.” For some reason, that made several of the kids snort and look at Angel funny. He made a face back at them.

“You babble?” Rodney asked, thoroughly distracted from his train of thought (John mentally noted this in his head—he could use that in the future). Willow smiled shyly.

“Sometimes.”

“Try all the time,” Cordelia scoffed as half the room shot Willow looks. “She's a squirrel, I told you this.”

“I am a NOT a squirrel!”

“Yes, you are!” Cordelia insisted.

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Not!”

“Too!”

“Being a squirrel's not a bad thing,” John said, trying to break up the argument. Everyone save the Pegasus natives looked at him like he was, well, nuts. He faltered. “They're cute...and...cuddly?”

“You've obviously never seen a rabid squirrel,” Anya and Rodney said at the same time and John knew then and there, his boyfriend and daughter would have no problems getting along.

“And on that horrifying thought.” O'Neill clapped his hands together. “Breakfast time!”

There was a great, happy shout and the kids were practically out the door before the adults realized it.

“Hey, get back here!”

“Slow down!”

~~~*~~~

“Where are the kids?”

“Cadman got a bunch of the women to help her watch them.” Rodney was the one who answered Caldwell's question. “I wish them luck.”

“Are they not behaving themselves?” Caldwell asked, eyes narrowing.

“No, they're behaving themselves.” O'Neill ran a hand through his hair. “Its just...they're little kids, Stephen. And someone, we're not sure who but I'm suspecting Keller, gave them lollipops.”

The captain of the Daedalus winced. As a father of two, he knew how dangerous it could be to give young children sugar so early in the morning. And there were a lot of them.

“So, what do we know people?”

“Besides the fact they are all way too advanced for their ages?” Rodney spoke up immediately, not that John was terribly surprised. The kids too adult way of speaking and (sometimes) acting had been a source of confusion for all of them and they'd only had them for twenty-four hours.

“Well, I can tell you they're biologically yours but don't ask me who the other parents are,” Keller broke in smoothly.

“I believe I can answer most of your questions,” a voice said and everyone looked at where the little boy from before was standing next to Jackson. “Hello, father.”

“Shifu, the Others...”

“Uncle Skaara is distracting them,” he answered as Caldwell and Ronon put down their guns. Shifu smiled slightly. “He is good at that.”

O'Neill muttered something John couldn't make out. Jackson obviously understood it though because he shot him a dirty look before focusing back on his step-son. “Shifu, who are they?”

“They are your children.”

“I think we got that part,” Jackson drawled and it was Carter's turn to mutter under her breath only this time John caught something about O'Neill and bad influences. “Who were they before they became our...children?”

“Champions,” he answered and John didn't think he liked the somber and sad look on the boys face. “Another plane of existence was wiped out. We brought them here.”

“Why?” O'Neill asked quietly. Shifu looked at him and John's stomach clenched.

“A second chance at life,” he said, looking around the room. “These Champions, and those that shall eventually follow...they were...robbed of their innocence at a young age. They protected their world as best they could with the gifts they possessed but it was not enough. We brought them here because we know you will love them unconditionally.”

“Wait, those that will follow?”

“We could only send the largest group to you.” Shifu looked slightly irritated at this. “In the end...each of them chose who they would go to. It was their last active choice before...”

“Before?” Mitchell asked but John had a feeling everyone knew. They'd just been talking about it in a roundabout way.

“Before we wiped their slate clean,” Shifu whispered and John nodded; this was why the children acted too old. “They will remember none of the true pain and sorrow they all went through. They will remember none of their sins. They will remember only enough not to lose who they are inside.”

“That's why they're advanced,” Lorne murmured. “They're adults in the bodies of children. How could you do that to them?”

“They do not remember being adults,” Shifu answered. “They remember certain personality traits, certain...hobbies. Their minds have gone back to a time when they were truly happy leaving only impressions of their other years. If you knew what they had gone through...you would understand this for the gift it is. They can begin anew.”

“I can't see that, Shifu, I'm sorry,” Jackson said. “When I lost my memories...I hated it. I was so confused...I can't agree with what you've done.”

“Perhaps....” Shifu bit his lip. Finally, he nodded to himself and then held up a hand to Jackson. “Take my hand, father.”

Jackson hesitated briefly before placing his hand in his. Like a bolt of lightning, John's mind was overwhelmed with a dozen or so images and scenes, going too quickly but all with the two little girls who kept calling him Daddy. When he came out of it, he saw that everyone was shaken, even O'Neill. Vala let out a little sob, but it had nothing on Jackson, Carter, and Rodney, all of whom looked like they were about to throw up. John looked across the table and saw Teyla leaning worriedly into Ronon, who was just as shaken as the other parents.

“Through Father, I have shown you all only a fraction of what each of your children underwent in their former life,” Shifu said solemnly. “They had light...but it was encased in darkness.”

“That was...” O'Neill swallowed harshly. “A fraction?”

Shifu nodded solemnly. “Two weeks,” he answered. “Two weeks in too many years.”

O'Neill was horrified, but then, so was John. He'd seen an older Cordelia crumbling in pain more often than not and injured a little bit too much for his tastes. He'd seen Anya, in her early twenties if he had to guess, covered in blood and sweat and fighting off a bunch of guys in robes. John looked up just as Rodney hurried to a waste bucket. Everyone but John respectfully turned away when he walked back to the table. He caught Rodney's eye and was startled at the utter horror and pain he could see in the man's expression. Whatever had happened to Willow and Vivian in their previous life had obviously shook him hard.

“They approved of having their memories wiped,” Vala spoke up, voice hoarse. “Didn't they?”

“They specifically requested that their worst memories and...actions be erased but with so much darkness, very few memories will remain with them,” Shifu nodded. “And as I said, they chose you based on what they still remembered and what they knew was going to happen. Some were not...fully...agreeable but accepted it in the end as a necessary evil. They could not truly start anew remembering what they did. And, as I can tell you from experience, there are some things a child is not meant to know or remember.”

“They chose us?” Rodney asked, looking shocked. Shifu nodded, eyes crinkling slightly.

“There was a fight over you, Dr. McKay,” he told him. “Do not be surprised if the other children attach themselves to you. The impressions left of their old life will make them like you.”

Rodney groaned, lightening the atmosphere somewhat. “Biologically, are they just one persons or...” Mitchell asked, eying the ascended boy.

“Genetically, they are half Alteran,” Shifu whispered and there was a very noticeable wince. “Their other parent has been long ascended or...dead. We used only the samples already in the device.”

“Wait, what?!” John almost shouted. He was finally panicking. “Our kids, our four and three and two and year old kids are half ANCIENT?!”

“And you sent them to live here?!” O'Neill, at least, seemed to understand why John was freaking out. By the way they'd paled, so did Rodney and Jackson.

The lights suddenly flickered and everyone looked up. “Uh oh.”

“I must go,” Shifu said quickly, looking around. “Uncle Skaara cannot distract the Others for much longer, especially with the children...playing.”

The boy disappeared as Rodney and Carter raced out of the room. John looked at Jackson, who's eyes were wide and staring at where the boy had been.

“Jackson, next time your step-son comes to Atlantis, remind me to give him a swift kick.”

(no subject)

Date: 2010-03-09 01:41 pm (UTC)
tptigger: (Default)
From: [personal profile] tptigger
*falls over laughing* Riley & (I assume) Spike vs Graham and Angel? Awesome. :)

I thought Jackson's first name was Daniel?

(What on Earth did he show McKay that made him throw up?)

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