Chapter Text
“Surrender or die, rebel scum!” EJ yelled around the corner.
A half dozen shots impacted the wall near her head when she leaned out to catch a glimpse of the targets through the half open doorway.
“We will never surrender to the likes of you!” The response was loud and clear through the mostly empty hallway.
The Sergeant next to her returned fire, a scary smile on his face as he shot off several rounds towards their enemy.
Evan rolled his eyes as he motioned the young Lieutenant behind him into position. All four team members of AR- 2 were dressed in the standard black BDUs and tactical vests, each of them carrying a fully loaded MP5 and the standard issue nine millimeter handgun.
EJ tilted her head to one side, flipping her blonde braid back over her shoulder, and signaled for silence.
After a moment, EJ whispered to the three men standing around her, “Four people in the room. One of them should be Dr. McKay. He was in his office when the rebel scum invaded. He’s the one who managed to sound the alert. Your orders, Major?”
“We split up,” Evan commanded quietly, “Take both entrances at once. Sgt. Young, you’re with Agent Baran at this door. Keep them busy while Lt. Jones and I make our way to the other entrance. We’ll use flash-bangs as a distraction. Enter on my signal, not before. The hostage’s safety is priority, so switch to your sidearms. Try to leave one assailant alive for questioning. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” rang all three voices in unison.
“And Agent Baran? They are not ‘rebel scum’. It is an unknown hostile alien force. Try to take this seriously,” Evan's mouth twitched in an effort not to smile. He made a quick motion to the lieutenant and they began making their way silently to the other entrance.
As they turned the second corner, Evan heard another spatter of gunfire and EJ yelled again, “Surrender or die, unknown hostile alien force!”
Evan and Jones got into position close the second door. Evan clicked his radio three times to signal he was in position. He got another three clicks in answer. He released his MP5 to hang loosely from his vest and pulled his sidearm out. He turned to see Lt. Jones doing the same thing. Jones also pulled a flash grenade from his vest, holding his gun in one hand as he pulled the pin, and nodded his readiness to Lorne.
Evan raised his gun and spoke very softly into his radio, “3…2…1…go.”
Jones lobbed the grenade through the open doorway and there was a bright wash of light. The two pairs burst through both doors at the same time, easily avoiding the stray shots from the people inside.
Then several things happened at once.
Sgt. Young fired two shots into the chest of the short woman advancing rapidly towards him. The woman collapsed to the ground and EJ rushed forward to kick the gun out of her hand, making it clatter across the ground until it hit the wall.
At the other entrance, a large man charged towards Evan, aimed low to tackle him. Lt. Jones fired two rapid shots into the man’s thigh, causing him to fall to his knees. The large man raised his arm to aim his forgotten gun, but Lorne swiftly knocked it out of his hand, sending it scattering across the room. Lt. Jones stepped forward quickly to yank the man’s arms behind his back, pulling a set flex cuffs tight around his wrists, before he pulled his gun again, aiming this time at the man’s head.
“Back away now, or this man dies.”
The third person was half hidden behind Rodney, a gun pressed against the doctor’s temple. Evan nodded to EJ and Young who both took a step back, without lowering the weapons they had trained on the man with the gun. Rodney, for once, was keeping his mouth shut.
“Let the hostage go and we’ll see that you are treated fairly,” Evan spoke evenly, keeping his own gun trained steadily at the man.
“No. I want guaranteed safe passage through your City to the Ancestral Ring. After I am safely on a planet of my choosing, I will release him and he can return to you through the Ring.”
“I’m afraid we can’t let you leave with Dr. McKay,” Evan's voice was still calm, “Release him and we’ll talk.”
“Let me go or he dies.”
“Agent,” Evan spoke just loud enough that EJ could hear him, “Avez-vous une image claire?” [French: Do you have a clear shot?]
“Tu veux que je le tue ou blesse lui?” EJ responded just as quietly. [French: Do you want me to kill him or wound him?]
“Il a un otage. Tuez coup.” [French: He has a hostage. Kill shot.]
“Si Rodney même remue, je pouvais le frapper. Pouvez-vous lui faire tomber en panne?” [French: If Rodney even twitches, I could hit him. Can you get him to drop down?]
“Oui, mais il ne sera pas comme cela.” [French: Yes, but he won’t like it.]
“Last chance,” Evan addressed the man behind Rodney again, “Let Dr. McKay go.”
“No. Safe passage first.”
“Sorry, Dr. McKay,” Evan said softly.
Evan lowered his gun slightly and shot McKay in the right thigh. Rodney exclaimed indignantly and crumpled heavily to the ground. As soon as the man lost his grip on Rodney, EJ fired two shots directly at his heart. He fell to the ground behind Rodney.
Evan stepped forward to check on Rodney as EJ kicked the gun out of the fallen man’s hand.
“Report,” Evan ordered.
“Clear,” responded Young, standing next to the body of the short woman.
“Clear,” said EJ from above the man next to Rodney.
“Prisoner secure, sir,” Jones stated, his gun still trained on the large man in cuffs in front of him.
“AR-2 is all-clear. Hostage secure, two hostiles eliminated, one in custody,” Evan smiled widely as he spoke into the room, “Time?”
“Total time is 23 minutes, 19 seconds. Chuck informs me that the time is a new record,” came Woolsey’s amused voice over the PA in the room.
All four members of Evan's team cheered as Woolsey continued, “The hostage was injured by friendly fire, so we may have to come up with a penalty for that next time. Combined with their scores from the other drills, AR-2 has passed certification for SRE operations.”
“Yeah, next time, can we NOT shoot me? Whose idea was it to shoot the hostage?” Rodney complained loudly as Evan helped him stand, “You guys have been spending too much time with Special Agent Baran. You’re all turning violent.”
“Tis but a scratch,” EJ grinned at him.
Rodney rolled his eyes, “First Star Wars, now Monty Python? I think you enjoy these exercises a little too much, EJ. And since when do you speak French, Lorne?”
“Took it all four years of high school,” Evan announced proudly, “Never thought it would be so useful.”
EJ toed the man on the floor in front of her carefully, “You going to get up, Colonel? Or are you taking a nap down there?”
John opened his eyes to glare at EJ. Exasperated hazel-green met amused violet.
“You take two In’tar rounds to the chest and tell me how spry you feel, Agent,” John said dryly.
Young bent down to help Teyla off the floor as Jones pulled his knife out to cut Ronon’s arms free.
“I was also hit twice in the chest, John,” Teyla said coolly, brushing her clothing off as Young handed her the gun from across the room.
John turned his head to glare at Teyla instead as he leaned up on his elbows, “Two different spots in the chest, yes. Two shots directly over the heart, no.”
John turned back to EJ, who held out a hand to pull him to his feet.
“Couldn’t you have aimed the second shot somewhere else, Emmaline? Was it really necessary to hit the exact same spot twice?”
“Sorry, John. I was trained very well,” EJ smiled sweetly at him, “Evan ordered a kill shot. Double tap straight to the heart ensures the muscle is irreparably damaged and the target bleeds out within a couple minutes. If you’d like, I can shoot you in the head next time.”
John gave Evan a dirty look, “How about next time we do certification drills, AR-2 can be the bad guys instead? Let you guys get shot at, cuffed, and generally thrown around for two days.”
“Nah, none of us make convincing hostages. We all have short attention spans. We’d end up shooting each other out of boredom,” EJ turned to Evan, “I think he’s just upset we beat his team's time, Evan. What do you think?”
“I think that we should reset the scenario and let the next team start,” Evan answered diplomatically.
“Froussard,” EJ huffed under her breath. [French: coward]
“Qu'il n'est pas lâcheté, c'est l'intelligence,” Evan waved the two other members of his team out of the room, “Vous pourrez peut-être me botter le cul, mais il est mon commandant. Je ne reçois pas dans le milieu.” [French: It is not cowardice, it is intelligence.] [French: You may be able to kick my ass, but he is my commanding officer. I'm not getting in the middle.]
EJ laughed and turned back to John. She rubbed one hand gently over the spot where she had shot him.
“Feeling better now, carissime?” she spoke quietly. [Latin: my dear]
“I’m fine, Em,” John placed a hand over hers on his chest, “We’ve still got eight more teams scheduled today, so I’ll be here pretty late.”
“I’ll probably be in my lab until 2300. If you finish before then, come find me,” EJ smiled warmly at him, “If not, I’ll see you and Ronon at 0600 for our run.”
“You don’t want me to stop by your room when I finish here?” John pouted as he dropped his hand from hers.
EJ laughed as she leaned closer to answer, “We both know if you come over neither of us will get any sleep. There’s a staff meeting at 0800 tomorrow. We were both late last week because of you. Richard will get cranky if we’re late for two in a row.”
“It was worth it though, right?” John smirked at her.
“Definitely worth it,” EJ agreed easily.
EJ turned to Evan, who had been chatting quietly with Teyla and Ronon.
“All set, Evan?”
“All set, EJ,” Evan motioned to the closest door and followed her out.
“Try not to get shot any more, Colonel,” Evan joked over his shoulder.
“Definitely playing the bad guys next time,” John mumbled to himself. He raised his voice so Evan could hear him as walked down the hallway, “Try not to shoot any other innocent people today, Major!”
John heard the laughter from the hallway as Woolsey’s voice came over the PA again, “The next team is ready, in positions please.”
The four members of AR-1 took their places as Sheppard tapped his radio, “We’re ready.”