Ubiquity Flash

Ubiquity Flash

by brooksburg





Disclaimer: Gargoyles is owned by Disney. Stargate: Atlantis is owned the Sci-Fi Channel and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.





Summary: Brooklyn, in his latest Timedancing adventure, gets bruised, beaten, stunned, and...oh yeah, meets John Sheppard's team.





Note: I'm aware the title may not make much sense, but if you have any suggestions to change it, let me know! Thanks!





Chapter One: Stellar Landing





         It wasn't like I didn't enjoy the experience of time travel. Occasionally, though, it became a tremendous pain, much like a gunshot wound, or the impact of bricks falling on your head. What bothered me now wasn't so much where I landed, but what I landed on.

         It looked akin to some kind of circus freak. Green skin, tattoos, string cheese hair, eyes like a cat's, plus a great imitation of a pseudo-Dracula wannabe. Oh yeah, did I mention the teeth? Good god! Whatever the hell this creature was, I'm betting it could give the shark from Jaws a run for its money. That is, if the length of the teeth were any indication. Black gums included.

         Of course, that was all I could discern before it came to, snarled at me and kicked its feet up, hitting me in the stomach and making me flail backwards. As I fell, I took a quick note of my surroundings. I was in a forest, at night. This definitely was not Manhattan, or even one of the forests in one of the outlying islands. The trees looked like weird hybrids of pine, ash, and the redwoods I'd seen outside of San Francisco. A painful jab in my right shoulder served as a hasty reminder of vigilance. The vampire clown had gotten up, and wore the most obscene smile I ever witnessed on anyone's face.

         Without looking away from the freak of nature, I discovered I was lying on a gun of some sort. Guns were never my favorite weapon, but at that point I had few other options. As it finished its saunter towards me, I immediately tripped it up with my tail, brought the gun around with my left hand and shot it. It plummeted to the ground, but immediately snarled again and jumped five feet into the air. I wasn't sure whether to be horrified or amused as I shot it again. Jeez, this thing really was a vampire! Dracula costume notwithstanding. It shuddered in midair and went the five feet back down. I walked over, gun (or stunner, I should say) still in hand. It was breathing, leaving me to believe I made the vampire assumption too quickly. Whatever the hell it was wasn't human, though, and I shot it once more for good measure before abandoning it to study my surroundings closely.

         There seemed to be enough light around the forest for me to see every possible hiding place it held. A little strange, yes, if you include the hybrid nature of the trees, but it wasn't until I looked up that I got the biggest shock of all.

         There were three moons in the sky.

         Three!

         Oh man, I just landed in a Star Trek episode. And I had no doubt the green man-sized leech was some sort of freaky alien.

         Damn it. I suddenly wished I had paid more attention when Lex used to try and corral me and Broadway into watching it. I was stuck on an alien planet thanks to the Phoenix Gate and with absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do here. Perhaps I would have a better idea if it was somewhere on earth, but I remained at a loss...

         A familiar growl behind me made my body stiffen. The creature was awake. And, based on what I could glean from its tone, it was hungry, and looking to have me as its next meal.

         I turned around slowly, coming to the conclusion that the gun in my possession was made by the alien's race and therefore useless against them. Back to square one, I guess. I threw the weapon aside. The alien's eyes followed, and it faced me with that same obscene smile on its features. Then it spoke for the first time, its voice as harsh as its appearance, "You are not human, but you will make an excellent feast nonetheless."

         That's it, I decided. All these cheesy "I am much more powerful than you" lines had to come from somewhere. Disney? Warner Brothers maybe? Whatever the case, this...thing still had a lot to learn about gargoyles. We never went down easily.

         I let my eyes glow, and the creature made a quick hesitation before renewing his sneer. It lunged. Spinning around, I let my tail whip it across its face, and it let out a bark of pain. It lunged again, its hand briefly brushing my chest and making it ache. I understood what it was trying to do, and punched it in the cheek. Its head swung back, and it staggered as it spit out blood as black as oil. I think I'd managed to break its nose, because when it spoke again it said, "You'll bay por dat, you insignificant..."

         I couldn't help myself; despite the dire situation I was in I started laughing. The moment I heard its new voice, I drew an immediate comparison to Donald Duck in the hyperbaric tone I could scarcely understand. It also made me wish I had some helium-filled balloons. Oh well. Can't have everything. Especially when you're in hostile territory.

         I managed to shut up as it attacked once more. This one came with a surprise: a red beam shot out from the trees to my left, hitting the creature. It stiffened, was hit again by the beam, and it toppled. I had a very good feeling it wasn't going to get up again. I let out a sigh of relief and went to meet the person who killed the pseudo-vamp. I barely caught a glimpse of what looked like a deranged version of Bob Marley before he fired his weapon at me and the world disappeared in a haze of red.





===





Chapter Two: Instant Karma!





Story takes place sometime after the events of Grace Under Pressure in Stargate: Atlantis. Enjoy!





         "I still think we should kill it," a raspy voice said as I regained consciousness. Wonderful, I found I've been captured before I could even appreciate the fact I was still alive. I lost count just how many times I've been in this situation. Although, it's rather unique because...oh, yeah! I'M ON AN ALIEN PLANET!

         "Wouldn't hurt to gather a little intel on whatever this thing is, you know. Have either of you ever heard of something like this?"

         "No," Raspy Voice said.

         "I have not, Colonel."

         Colonel? A military rank, here?

         I open my eyes painfully. What the hell was I hit with? A second later, it didn't matter as things came into a glaring focus. Oh, goody, I was in a cage. A caucasian man stood in front of it with bedhead hair and a serious expression. A tanned woman who wistfully reminded me of Elisa was to his right, while my good friend Bob Marley leaned against the wall, staring at me in silent suspicion.

         Of course it was stupid of me, but I didn't think. I just attacked. He saves my life from a hostile alien, and then he shoots me? There's no way I was going to be in his debt. I rebounded off the cell, hitting some kind of forcefield and landed on the floor, rather winded. I hate forcefields. "Ouch."

         "Ouch? That's all you have to say? Do you do that every time you attack a forcefield, or is that your way of getting a rush?" This came from a squirrelly guy who just entered the room.

         I was prepared to throw a diatribe at the Rastafarian, but this new guy stole my attention, and I said without thinking, "Lay off the caffeine, Curly, you look ready for a seizure."

         The man's eyes bugged out and he sputtered as he noticed the other three give away amused chuckles and smirks. "Oh, laugh it up, Colonel Cosmetics! While you were taking insults, I recognized the device he had on him. It's Ancient design. Could've even been made by Janus."

         They stopped laughing instantly, as did I. "I need that back."

         Curly smiled smugly. "Sorry, I don't think so. What you had was a specialized piece of equipment, and I highly doubt you're the original owner. How did you get it?"

         "It was given to me," I said, working to reign in my temper. I didn't even think Xanatos could be this pompous.

         "By Janus?"

         "I don't know anyone named Janus," I growled.

         "Which only proves my point." Talking to the others, he said, "He's a thief, and it appears he's well-suited for the role."

         I snarled, but only got as close as the cage would allow without electrocuting me. "Give. It. Back. You don't know what the Gate is capable of."

         "It's a time travel device with the ability of sending a person either backward or forward in time by a simple thought, much like our jumpers, though it requires an immense amount of concentration," the man said sneeringly. "I found the details in one of our computers. Does that explanation satisfy you?"

         "McKay..." Bedhead Colonel began.

         "Don't start on me, Sheppard. This isn't like Doranda. This device may be relatively unknown, but at the very least it's predictable. I can assure you that this 'Phoenix Gate' device is safe to everybody on Atlantis."

         The gears in my head seemed to come to a grinding halt just as I was about to throw a retort. Did he just say Atlantis? As in Atlantis, the lost island? Fortunately, their argument distracted themselves from my shock.

         "MCKAY!" 'Sheppard' shouted.

         "You idiot, you just gave the city away," the Rastafarian said in the same raspy tone.

         "Rodney, what you just did was quite unwise," the woman said in agreement.

         The man sputtered again, conveying the impression he did it quite often. "It was a slip of the tongue! Besides, it's not like he actually knows where we are in space!"

         I found my voice again. "No, but I do know that the Gate is far from predictable, as you assume. I've been traveling with it for over seven years, and if I knew how to control it, I'd have been back in my own home a long time ago."

         A long stretch of silence followed my words. My gaze met McKay's solidly, while he looked perturbed. Sheppard looked darkly suspicious, not of me, I was surprised to notice, but of McKay. Perhaps regarding this 'Doranda' incident I knew better than to ask about. The other two looked calm enough, but their reposed stance was wrought with underlying tension. Just as I opened my mouth to talk again, a shudder went through the room and everyone collapsed to the floor.

         "What the hell was that?" Sheppard asked the room in general, getting up.

         McKay answered anyway, "You expect me to know? Could be the Wraith, could be one of those stupid sea monsters outside the city..."

         "Aw, Rodney, I thought you liked those sea monsters," Sheppard said with a smirk, one that didn't match the rest of his face. "One of them saved your life, you know. You could be a little more grateful."

         Rodney's lips had pressed to a thin white line, and he ground out "Fine," before turning to stalk away. Before he could, though, a smaller man with glasses jogged in the room, looking ready to hyperventilate.

         "Radek?" Sheppard and McKay said in unison, and McKay continued, biting out, "What is it?"

         Radek rested his hands on his knees, before saying with an Eastern European accent, "We caught an energy spike on the city's internal sensors, coming from your lab, Rodney."

         Oh, no. I was beginning to see where this might be headed.

         "The device you took off his person somehow activated, and, well..." Radek trailed off.

         "Spit it out, Radek," Sheppard snapped, renewing his glare on McKay.

         "We are no longer on Lantea," Radek continued miserably. "The device sent out visible energy wave, like fire, shielding the city and it sent us somewhere. The big problem, we don't know where we are. Elizabeth is furious."

         'And she's not the only one,' I thought. My glare on one Rodney McKay didn't stand alone. The colonel, the woman, and the wild man gazed at him with undeniable wrath before pounding outside to discuss the development with Elizabeth.

         I maintained my stare on McKay as he helplessly glanced between Radek and I. Three minutes passed by before he sheepishly spouted out an "Oops." I groaned. That was supposed to be an apology? I slipped down against a cell beam and covered my eyes, thinking I had never met a bigger idiot in my life.





===





Chapter Three: Fashionably Lost





         The expression 'time has no meaning' truly meant something here. I lay on my back in the cell with my eyes shut, trying to sleep in human fashion without waiting for reprieve. My natural stone sleeping ability was useless. I was still laying down when two pairs of footsteps approached. I prayed neither of them were McKay. His rapid-fire ability to get under people's skin, no matter their species, must be legendary.

         "So..." Ah. Sheppard. Not one of my favorite people at this point, but better than McKay. "We hear you've been to Earth recently. How'd you get there?"

         Maintaining my position, I let out an exasperated breath and a smirk. "Well, I could tell you that. Or I could say nothing at all and watch in glee as you both grow mad with frustration just waiting for me to talk."

         Silence hung in the air for a while. I could sense their hushed communication concerning me, but as long as I was a prisoner I would not give them satisfaction until they either, a). released me with the gate, or b.) took me out of the cell and allowed me to help them with whatever's going on. The latter option was more plausible given that, however indirectly, I held a responsibility to get these people back where they needed to be after the mess I brought in. I swallowed my pride, got up, and said, "Here's the deal. I'll tell you what you want to know provided you can answer some of my questions." Another silent shared glance. "Are we agreed?"

         The tall brunette woman, I assumed this to be Elizabeth, nodded. "Yes."

         "Are you from Earth?" Both nod. "Are you from the United States?" Another nod, wary and reluctant. I grinned. "Cool."

         'Elizabeth' stepped forward. "My turn. Who are you? What are you? And what do you know about the device you brought on your person?"

         Very direct, not really discreet. I guess I can let that go. She's responsible for an ancient city in someplace I don't know where. A person's reticence can only go so far. I raised my arms and shrugged my shoulders. I started, "Okay, my name's Brooklyn..."





*****





         By the time I finished, I felt like keeling over. God only knew how long I had gone without sleep and the feeling was starting to drag on me like a hook reeling in a fish. I know, the analogy is terrible, but at that moment I was dizzy and damn near brain dead with exhaustion.

         "...And the next thing I knew, well, your Jamaican friend shot at me and I woke up here," I finished, ending with a clich I hated clich just as much as forcefields, they tend to grow like weeds but, like I said, I was exhausted to the point of falling asleep standing up. What was wrong with me? Glad you asked. I'll begin with a not so simple answer. Sunlight, while it doesn't allow us gargoyles to stay awake past its appearance, revitalizes us, giving us the energy we need to function. Well, that and a hefty amount of meats and breads. Vegetables, occasionally, but we do need the protein to stay strong. Twice of that in Broadway's case.

         To get on with the story, however, it had already been about eighteen hours since I got thrown in here. No food, very little water, and sarcasm my one true friend seeing as how I was graced only with the presence of hapless marines.

         Elizabeth and John were speaking in low tones. Granted, my hearing is above par than that of a human's but, I say again, I was tired. I caught them muttering things like "security risk" and "temporal distortion", with John gesturing emphatically at me and Elizabeth crossing her arms and frowning a lot in his face.

         I became pretty much delirious by that point. Surprised? Not as much as I was, believe me, because all of a sudden I started giggling with my eyes half-closed, my pointer finger/claw to my lips and said, "Shh. Be vewy, vewy quiet." Elizabeth and John stopped talking and looked at me, her with concern, him with confused wariness. Or at least, that's what I believed later on. "Mommy and Daddy might heaa you." My lack of using the letter 'R' fully escaped my notice, seeing as I was too busy blacking out again.





*****





         Hudson?

         I've always been...well, mostly coherent when coming to, but the whole experience here seems determined to throw me with a number of random firsts. Only now, as I opened my eyes and ears, I could smell the antiseptic coating my chest, the IV fluid coming out of my arm, and could hear the sound of the type of medical machines I recognized from watching "ER", and noticed the feel of the straps holding down my wrists. Accompanying all of those was an achingly familiar Scottish brogue. Wait. Scottish, yes. Hudson, no. At precisely that moment, the brogue was busy reaming out my captors.

         "I cannae believe any of you. Even you, Elizabeth. You hold this man damn near a day without ANY food or water! I'd fire all of you at once if you were actual doctors!"

         "I'll tell you who's the real doctor here, you sheep-shearing..."

         Oh, great. McKay was here.

         "Will you shut up, Rodney? In case you hadn't noticed, Doc, what we have there isn't exactly a man!" Sheppard retorted.

         "I'M BLOODY AWARE OF THAT FACT, COLONEL!"

         Wow, this guy could probably match Goliath in lung-power.

         "Who is Goliath?"

         I was shocked to see the Elisa duplicate standing to my right. How could anyone be that quiet? I started to reply, but was cut off when the argument proceeded.

         "Calm down, Carson."

         "Calm DOWN? Why should I? None of ya were even willin' to treat th' Wraith with this sort of indignity!"?          I heard John say, grudgingly, "He has a point."

         "Too bloody right I do. Now, if you dinnae mind, I'd like to get back to my patient." Footsteps came toward me, while dark mutters followed them. The doctor came into view shortly. He was kind of stocky, but his face was genial. Save for the metaphorical storm clouds. "'Ello, son. I'm Dr. Carson Beckett, chief of this infirmary." He shook my left hand, even though I couldn't reciprocate.

         "You don't seem surprised to see me. Aren't you going to ask what I am?" I asked.

         "Nae. I shouldna have to. Elizabeth filled me in. Plus, I heard many of the tales when I was a lad. Even went to that fortress before Xanatos shipped it to his skyscraper," the good doctor responded.

         My mouth almost went dry. "You've been to..."

         "Castle Wyvern? Aye." He grinned. "Dinnae worry. I'm nae one to spread rumors." The grin faded. "There is another reason ye were brought here from yer cell. Elizabeth asked me to show ye outside." He turned to the woman on my other side. "Teyla?"

         "Yes, Carson?"

         "Help me move his gurney." He grabbed a hold of the IV as he assisted her moving me. "Towards the balcony, dear."

         "Of course."

         As they did, my view of the outside world did little for my piece of mind. Upon hitting the guardrail, I started to shake.

         "Are you all right, son?" Beckett whispered. "You recognize it, don't ye?"

         Oh, yes. I may be struck dumb, but my eyes worked just fine.

         High above us, Castle Wyvern graced the Scottish sky with its silhouette.