Switch, 5/?
Dec. 30th, 2007 06:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fiercelydreamed*
It's like her acknowledgment of the situation is all they've been waiting for. "God," Rodney mutters, pushing up out of his chair, "finally," and then all five of them -- him and Carter, Keller, Ronon and Teyla -- dive straight into a rapid-fire discussion of what to do next.
Jo looks at the photograph for a moment more, then flips the folder shut and sets it on the counter. None of them seem to notice the motion. They're too caught up devising a strategy to fix whatever's happened -- to get John back. She settles the heels of her hands on the edge of the counter and feels the air move in and out of her lungs while they throw the name around, John and also Sheppard and he and him, like Jo herself isn't relevant anymore. Like she isn't really in the room at all.
Her mind keeps looping back to that picture.
The conversation goes on around her for maybe five or ten minutes before she's abruptly at threshhold. "Sounds great," she interrupts, not knowing or caring what she just agreed to, and pushes herself to standing as they all turn to look at her. She snags her jacket off the chair where someone had draped it. "You guys keep working on that, I think I'm going to head back to my quarters and get some rest." Keller's mouth is halfway open, and Jo shoots her a closed-mouth smile that isn't at all friendly. "Don't worry, Doc. I promise I'll call if I switch bodies while reading War and Peace."
She heads for the door, but Carter intercepts her before she's made it more than a few steps. Jo forces herself to come to a stop and doesn't raise her eyebrows, just waits for it. Carter's mouth tucks in at the corners, and she laced her hands together in front of her waist, the way she does when she's about to make a command decision she's not looking forward to. "I don't know if that's the best idea right now."
Eying her narrowly, Jo nods once and presses her lips into a thin line. "You're still not sure, are you."
Carter sighs. "If all that mattered was my gut feeling, I'd have no problem with you walking out that door," she says with apparent honesty. "But unfortunately there's--"
"Protocol, yeah," Jo finishes for her. She crosses her arms and tips her chin toward the hall, where she's pretty sure there are at least a pair of Marines. "Fine. Have them take me to the brig."
"What?" Rodney squawks, and Teyla takes a step forward. In her periphery, Jo can see Ronon's grin taking on a slightly appreciative character.
"I really don't think that's necessary," Carter says, holding both hands out in a placating gesture. "There's no reason why we can't put you in a set of guest quarters overnight--"
"Sure there is." Jo puts the fake smile back on. "I know at least four ways someone with the gene and my knowledge of the city could get out of the residential rooms, and that's even if you put guards on the door and pull my security clearance. So until you know for sure that I'm--" me, she starts to say, and then swallows before replacing it with "--who I say I am, you either have to keep me here, in an observation chamber, or in the brig. Given those options, I'll go ahead and take the brig."
Carter closes her eyes and rubs at the notch between her eyebrows. "You aren't wrong, but I really don't want to lock you up, Colonel. We need another option."
Some knot unwinds about a quarter-turn in Jo's shoulders, and it takes her a moment to connect that small decrease in tension to its cause. Carter is, in her own way, as deliberate about phrasing as Elizabeth was. She doesn't talk in chess games, but she always means what she says, and if she's using we then there's at least one person in this room who recognizes that Jo isn't the problem here -- that whatever the fuck has happened, it's Jo's problem to solve, too.
She nods and then raises a hand to her mouth, catching the knuckle of her thumb between her teeth. "You've got access to my full record, right?"
Carter nods. "Everything should be on file."
When Jo snaps her fingers, Rodney twitches oddly and shoves his hands into his pockets. Jo ignores him. "Test me," she tells Carter.
Carter tilts her head a little, eyes sharp on Jo's face. "What are you thinking, Colonel?"
"Call Dr. Kim," Jo says, nodding to the radio. "Have her give me a full psych eval. They did one last year when we got recalled to earth. If I'm really the person I'm supposed to be, the results'll match and you can let me go back to my own quarters while we figure this out. If I'm not, well." She shrugs. "That's what protocol's for."
"I can live with that," Carter answers. Her mouth quirks up a little. "I have to say, I'm surprised you're volunteering for it."
Jo winces, trying not to think about it too hard. "Don't remind me. At least this way I'll get it over with."
Carter's smile is the first genuine one Jo's seen since she woke up. "That's service in the SGC -- practicing chaos on a daily basis," she says dryly as she turns to tap her radio.
When Jo snorts at the quote, Rodney makes a choked-off sound of surprise behind her. She turns to find him watching her with a stricken expression, and the sight of it makes every muscle in her back tense up again, though she doesn't let her posture change.
"Don't worry, McKay," she says smoothly, and she knows from the way that Ronon and Teyla's eyes flip from him back to her that the edge in her voice sounds as dangerous as it feels. "Psych stuff defaults to an alpha level of 0.05, right? So at best I'll have a 6.25x10^(-6) shot at nailing the profile without tripping the lie scales."
Rodney's gaze stutters rapidly over her face, the unconscious searching motion that hijacks him every time he's running numbers in his head, and then his mouth twitches open, moves for a second, and then closes again. In the background, Carter says, "Dr. Kim? It's Carter -- there's a situation Colonel Sheppard and I could use your help with. Is your schedule -- great, thanks, I'll explain on the way--"
She heads for the infirmary doors, motioning for Jo to follow. Still looking at Rodney, Jo spreads her hands in a what are you going to do gesture and takes a few backward steps before turning away. "But the Rorschach?" she calls over her shoulder as she strides after Carter. "You just can't make that shit up."
*
[All installments archived here.]
It's like her acknowledgment of the situation is all they've been waiting for. "God," Rodney mutters, pushing up out of his chair, "finally," and then all five of them -- him and Carter, Keller, Ronon and Teyla -- dive straight into a rapid-fire discussion of what to do next.
Jo looks at the photograph for a moment more, then flips the folder shut and sets it on the counter. None of them seem to notice the motion. They're too caught up devising a strategy to fix whatever's happened -- to get John back. She settles the heels of her hands on the edge of the counter and feels the air move in and out of her lungs while they throw the name around, John and also Sheppard and he and him, like Jo herself isn't relevant anymore. Like she isn't really in the room at all.
Her mind keeps looping back to that picture.
The conversation goes on around her for maybe five or ten minutes before she's abruptly at threshhold. "Sounds great," she interrupts, not knowing or caring what she just agreed to, and pushes herself to standing as they all turn to look at her. She snags her jacket off the chair where someone had draped it. "You guys keep working on that, I think I'm going to head back to my quarters and get some rest." Keller's mouth is halfway open, and Jo shoots her a closed-mouth smile that isn't at all friendly. "Don't worry, Doc. I promise I'll call if I switch bodies while reading War and Peace."
She heads for the door, but Carter intercepts her before she's made it more than a few steps. Jo forces herself to come to a stop and doesn't raise her eyebrows, just waits for it. Carter's mouth tucks in at the corners, and she laced her hands together in front of her waist, the way she does when she's about to make a command decision she's not looking forward to. "I don't know if that's the best idea right now."
Eying her narrowly, Jo nods once and presses her lips into a thin line. "You're still not sure, are you."
Carter sighs. "If all that mattered was my gut feeling, I'd have no problem with you walking out that door," she says with apparent honesty. "But unfortunately there's--"
"Protocol, yeah," Jo finishes for her. She crosses her arms and tips her chin toward the hall, where she's pretty sure there are at least a pair of Marines. "Fine. Have them take me to the brig."
"What?" Rodney squawks, and Teyla takes a step forward. In her periphery, Jo can see Ronon's grin taking on a slightly appreciative character.
"I really don't think that's necessary," Carter says, holding both hands out in a placating gesture. "There's no reason why we can't put you in a set of guest quarters overnight--"
"Sure there is." Jo puts the fake smile back on. "I know at least four ways someone with the gene and my knowledge of the city could get out of the residential rooms, and that's even if you put guards on the door and pull my security clearance. So until you know for sure that I'm--" me, she starts to say, and then swallows before replacing it with "--who I say I am, you either have to keep me here, in an observation chamber, or in the brig. Given those options, I'll go ahead and take the brig."
Carter closes her eyes and rubs at the notch between her eyebrows. "You aren't wrong, but I really don't want to lock you up, Colonel. We need another option."
Some knot unwinds about a quarter-turn in Jo's shoulders, and it takes her a moment to connect that small decrease in tension to its cause. Carter is, in her own way, as deliberate about phrasing as Elizabeth was. She doesn't talk in chess games, but she always means what she says, and if she's using we then there's at least one person in this room who recognizes that Jo isn't the problem here -- that whatever the fuck has happened, it's Jo's problem to solve, too.
She nods and then raises a hand to her mouth, catching the knuckle of her thumb between her teeth. "You've got access to my full record, right?"
Carter nods. "Everything should be on file."
When Jo snaps her fingers, Rodney twitches oddly and shoves his hands into his pockets. Jo ignores him. "Test me," she tells Carter.
Carter tilts her head a little, eyes sharp on Jo's face. "What are you thinking, Colonel?"
"Call Dr. Kim," Jo says, nodding to the radio. "Have her give me a full psych eval. They did one last year when we got recalled to earth. If I'm really the person I'm supposed to be, the results'll match and you can let me go back to my own quarters while we figure this out. If I'm not, well." She shrugs. "That's what protocol's for."
"I can live with that," Carter answers. Her mouth quirks up a little. "I have to say, I'm surprised you're volunteering for it."
Jo winces, trying not to think about it too hard. "Don't remind me. At least this way I'll get it over with."
Carter's smile is the first genuine one Jo's seen since she woke up. "That's service in the SGC -- practicing chaos on a daily basis," she says dryly as she turns to tap her radio.
When Jo snorts at the quote, Rodney makes a choked-off sound of surprise behind her. She turns to find him watching her with a stricken expression, and the sight of it makes every muscle in her back tense up again, though she doesn't let her posture change.
"Don't worry, McKay," she says smoothly, and she knows from the way that Ronon and Teyla's eyes flip from him back to her that the edge in her voice sounds as dangerous as it feels. "Psych stuff defaults to an alpha level of 0.05, right? So at best I'll have a 6.25x10^(-6) shot at nailing the profile without tripping the lie scales."
Rodney's gaze stutters rapidly over her face, the unconscious searching motion that hijacks him every time he's running numbers in his head, and then his mouth twitches open, moves for a second, and then closes again. In the background, Carter says, "Dr. Kim? It's Carter -- there's a situation Colonel Sheppard and I could use your help with. Is your schedule -- great, thanks, I'll explain on the way--"
She heads for the infirmary doors, motioning for Jo to follow. Still looking at Rodney, Jo spreads her hands in a what are you going to do gesture and takes a few backward steps before turning away. "But the Rorschach?" she calls over her shoulder as she strides after Carter. "You just can't make that shit up."
*
[All installments archived here.]