SUMMARY: Autumn continues to give her Lantean oppressors a hard time but warms up quickly to the resident therapist.
Autumn was dragged kicking and screaming all the way back to the infirmary while Dr. Beckett followed behind hoping that she would not have to be strapped down – an unpleasant endeavor which seemed a little excessive – just to administer a sedative.
“Let go of me, asshole!” she shouted at Hoder who was still holding her arms behind her back so she couldn't grab anything that could be used as a weapon. “And stop pointing that thing at me!” she screeched at Lt. Ford who still had his gun pointed at her.
“Believe me, I'd rather not have to do this,” Ford stated. “I'm just following orders. It's nothing personal.”
“Of course it's not,” she snarled acerbically. “What am I anyway? Just a dangerous 'Wraith sympathizer.' Oooh!!!! Everyone get out of the way! Here comes the freaky Half-Breed!”
“Half-Breed? What's that?” asked Ford.
“Oh didn't they tell you? My father is a Wraith!” Ford looked astonished. “So I am judged guilty without a trial just for existing!”
Ford noted the caustic tone of her voice and found it mildly entertaining.
“Look, no one wants to hurt you,” he countered. “We never even knew the Wraith existed until the other day when they attacked the Athosian planet. Now that we've seen them in action, our leaders' fears are justified and so far you haven't made a very strong case for why they shouldn't keep you under surveillance 24-hours a day.”
“So I AM a prisoner then! I knew it!”
Hoder ushered her into the room and over to the bed.
“I'm going to release you now Ma'am, but do not try to escape or attack us,” Hoder exhorted. “Lt. Ford WILL shoot you if he has to. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I promise I'll be good,” she ceded, rolling her eyes. He let her go and she started rubbing her arms. “Thanks, now my arms are sore. What a WONDERFUL welcome this has been to your world.”
She sat on the bed and looked over to see what Beckett was doing. As soon as she saw the syringe she flipped out again.
“Oh, no way!!! You are NOT sticking me with that again!” she barked. She started to get up off the bed but Hoder was on her immediately, holding her down and attempting to strap her in from his side of the bed.
“Ford, get the other side!” he pleaded.
Lt. Ford immediately ran to the other side to help Hoder strap her into the bed by her arms and legs.
“You know if you would stop acting like a prisoner, maybe we wouldn't have to treat you like one,” professed Beckett as he approached her with the needle. “Please love, don't make this harder on yourself. Just work with me here, alright?”
“Fine!” she capitulated. “It's not like I have a choice anyway, Dr. Frankenstein!” She stopped struggling and Beckett injected her with the sedative. Within minutes, she was out.
Ford started laughing.
“What's so funny, Lieutenant?” Beckett queried in his pronounced Scottish accent.
“Dr. Frankenstein!” Ford cackled. Beckett did not look amused. “Oh come on, that was funny!”
“Well then let's see how funny it is when she calls you some clever name,” Beckett retorted. “She seems to have a nickname for everyone. I bet she'll start calling you Lt. BORED!”
Beckett started laughing at his own joke. Ford did not look amused.
“Touché, Doc!” Ford chuckled. “Let's call this a stalemate.”
Beckett ran his fingers through his hair and looked a little frazzled.
“Let's call this a DAY,” he propounded to his cohorts. “I was talking to that cute psychologist when Dr. Weir wanted my help. I'd like to return to the party and finish that conversation.”
“Ooh, check out Dr. Love! He's bringing his A-Game!” teased Ford as they started to leave the room. Hoder went back to standing guard outside the door. “You gonna be OK alone here, dude? Our new friend is a lot to handle!”
“Go play with your toys, Lt. BORED,” Hoder replied in jest. “I can handle myself just fine.”
“OK well you just give me a holler if you need some help,” Ford proffered, motioning to his headset. All the people with the important jobs in Atlantis wore two-way headsets with narrow mini-microphones to communicate with each other more effectively.
Hoder just shrugged and leaned against the wall next to the door, rifle at the ready for any sign of trouble. But Autumn slept peacefully the whole time so it turned out to be a quiet and uneventful night for the Sergeant, which suited him just fine.
The next morning, following orders given to her the previous night by Elizabeth Weir, the psychologist, Dr. Kate Heightmeyer, arrived to introduce herself to Autumn. Autumn was awake just looking up at the ceiling, frowning and Beckett was in his lab next door doing doctor stuff. But he could still keep an eye on his new patient through the large plate glass wall that separated the rooms. There was a privacy curtain on his side of the wall but he had it open so he could see into the other room. Kate was horrified at what she saw. She slowly approached the bed.
“Hello there. My name is Kate Heightmeyer. You must be Autumn,” she surmised. Autumn looked at her suspiciously but didn't say anything. Based on what she could see in front of her, Kate was not surprised. “Who did this to you?” she inquired, gesturing at the straps. “That looks really uncomfortable. I bet you'd like to get out of there and have something to eat and drink.” Autumn nodded but was giving her the silent treatment. Kate noticed Beckett in the other room. “I will be right back, Autumn. I'm going to see what I can do to get you out of here. This is not a place for a young, healthy girl like you to be in.”
Autumn watched her walk across the room and into the lab. Kate closed the door so she couldn't hear what they were saying, but she didn't need to. She could hear what was going through Kate's mind and was relieved that someone was finally sticking up for her and expressing legitimate concerns for her well-being.
“Carson, what is this?!!” Kate implored, pointing to Autumn in the next room. “Why have you restrained that young woman? She is not a prisoner here, she is supposed to be our guest...your PATIENT!”
“I couldn't agree with you more, Doctor,” he replied. “We tried to reason with her but she kept attacking everyone who tried to help her. I feel terrible about it but I had no other choice.”
“Well please get her out of those restraints immediately. It's no wonder she keeps giving you a difficult time. She is probably just scared. She's alone here in a strange new city and Elizabeth feels the same way, so she's asked me to spend some time with Autumn and get to know her."
“Hey, you don't have to explain yourself to me, love,” he concurred. “I feel sorry for what she's gone through. Let me get the guard in here and we can....”
“NO! No guard!” Kate implored. “Not right now. I need her to trust me and she's not going to do that if she continues to feel threatened. I need to do this alone.”
“OK but Dr. Weir's not gonna like it,” he responded. “Let me help you though. Just in case she gets jumpy again.”
“Very well,” she conceded.
Together, they went back into the other room. Beckett stood on one side of the bed and Kate stood on the other side.
“Oh look who's back, it's Dr. Frankenstein,” Autumn descried with a sardonic look on her face. You could cut the sarcasm with a knife.
Beckett looked rankled and Kate just laughed.
“It's OK Autumn, Dr. FRANKENSTEIN is just helping me get you out of these uncomfortable straps,” Kate explained, trying hard to keep a straight face at Autumn's comment. Autumn could sense that Kate really was just trying to help and was sympathetic to her predicament so she let her guard down a little.
“Thanks, I would like that. I promise I won't try to escape,” Autumn asserted. Beckett gave her a dismissive look. “No I swear, this time I will be good! I just want to get out of these restraints and have some food.” He still looked skeptical. “Please? I am begging you! Please let me get up. I am so sore all over and would like to walk it off. I won't try to escape again. There's nowhere for me to go anyway.”
“I relinquish any responsibility from this moment on, Doc,” Beckett announced, a bit of trepidation resounding in his voice. “If anything happens, it's on YOU!”
“Just help me get these off, Carson.”
Autumn kept her word and did not try to attack either of them once they released her from her bedside bindings. Kate took her by the arm and helped her to her feet and started walking with her around the room.
“That's good, just take little steps,” she cautioned. “Do you feel any better now?”
“I'm still a little sore but otherwise I feel OK. Mostly I am just hungry.”
“OK then let's go to the mess hall and get you something to eat,” Kate suggested as she directed Autumn towards the door. “Thank you Carson, I owe you!”
“And I will collect on that favor, Doc!” he grinned while thinking about where he would take her when he asked her for the date he'd been fantasizing about.
There was a new guard outside the door and he stopped Kate and Autumn just as they crossed over the threshold.
“Sorry, Ma'am, I can't allow you to take the patient out of the infirmary,” he stated.
“But Dr. Weir said it was OK,” Kate attested.
“Then let me verify that with her,” he sternly replied before speaking into the microphone on his headset. “Dr. Weir? Did you grant permission to Dr. Heightmeyer to take the patient from the clinic? Very well, Ma'am. Thank you.” He turned to face Kate again. “Your story checks out but I have orders to escort you. She is still a security risk.”
“Fine,” Kate acceded with an exasperated sigh. “But could you just follow at a close distance and not on top of us?”
“As you wish, Ma'am.”
“I'm sorry Autumn. It's probably just a temporary measure,” she explained. “Everyone is on edge because of the attack on Athos and we are fairly new to this city ourselves. Once people get to know you then you will not have to be followed by a guard everywhere.”
“I understand,” she replied as they headed toward the mess hall. Along the way they made small talk. “You're not like the others though. You are much nicer. And you're not afraid of me.”
“No, I want to be your friend. And friends shouldn't be afraid of each other so I hope you are not afraid of me.”
“No, I don't feel threatened by you at all. You actually remind me of my mother. She was smart and pretty like you.”
“Oh thank you! I did go to college and get a degree so I would hope I sound at least halfway intelligent! What's your mother like?”
“She's clever...and funny...beautiful long dark hair...she was....I mean IS a doctor too – a holistic health practitioner. She taught me how to make medicines and tinctures with natural plants and flowers that we would pick in the meadow. I am telepathic, like her.”
“She sounds lovely, though I am not that kind of doctor. I mostly just try to help people when they are going through a crisis. But you can read my thoughts, huh? I guess I better not think any naughty ones then! You might think less of me!”
To Kate's great relief, Autumn started laughing. It was the first time she even saw her smile. Dr. Heightmeyer's gentle nature and touch was working like a charm and she could sense that Autumn was starting to open up to her. Having a willing client was going to make her job a whole lot easier. Dr. Weir was going be thrilled at the progress she was already making with Autumn.
“It's OK! I think plenty of naughty thoughts too!” Autumn giggled. “But don't worry, I won't intrude on your thoughts. Sometimes the thoughts of everyone around me start to get loud, jumbled and indecipherable so I have to just shut them ALL out because it gives me a headache. My Commander taught me how to do it.”
Autumn suddenly got a sad look on her face and Kate knew why. Weir had briefed her on what they'd learned about her thus far and she knew this Commander played a big part in her life. She would have to be very careful now lest she lose Autumn's trust and get shut out like the others.
“He sounds like he was important to you,” Kate observed. “You miss him, huh?”
Autumn nodded and tried to hold back her tears before taking a deep breath.
“Yes, very much but I don't feel like talking about that right now. It's nothing personal....how do you like to be addressed? Can I just call you Kate?”
“Sure, as long as I can call you Autumn.”
“Then you have a deal.”
For the first time since her arrival in Atlantis, Autumn finally felt like she mattered. And judging by all the strange and disapproving looks she was getting from some of the people in the cafeteria, she quickly deduced that news of her arrival had spread quickly throughout the city. What a relief it was then - that she had this woman who offered her a kind word and a gentle heart – to act as a buffer between her and all those cold, uncaring eyes here in...Atlant-hiss.
Disclaimer:
The Wraith, Dr. Carson Beckett, Dr. Elizabeth Weir, Teyla Emmagen,
Major John Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay, Lt. Aiden Ford, Dr. Kate
Heightmeyer & Stargate Atlantis are owned by MGM. Autumn Noxx,
Sergeant Hoder and Sergeant Dunn are original characters that belong
to me.
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