Ranma walked down the hallway with Teal’c, trying to stay strong and not show fear in the battle he was about to face.
Of all the damned people they could have sent to help me get home, they send HER! What; was that box a way to toss trash out of Nerima now?
Needless to say, he wasn’t feeling very hopeful at the moment. After all, he had expected a botched rescue or a flood of fiancées and rivals to spill out of the Stargate within days of his arrival. Six months later, the hope was dead, buried, and becoming a fossil.
And then Nabiki showed up … and broke a good bit of her body when she was spat out with as much force as Ranma was. The difference being of course that his body had handled the impact.
Hers had left her in a medically induced coma for the last month.
He had been left feeling torn. On one hand, someone from Nerima had finally arrived, someone who could give him answers.
On the other hand, this was Nabiki! An extra month away from her mercenary habits was always a good thing. And while it wasn’t likely she’d be able to con him out of his paycheck—the SGC did pay quite well for a ‘special tactical specialist’, not that he could ever figure out what the hell that meant—he didn’t want to take any chances that he’d never be able to save up enough for perhaps a nice cabin near Jack’s. Maybe build a nice Dojo, nice little dock to go swimming off of…
Assuming he was stuck here. If they sent Nabiki, odds are he was stuck here … with Nabiki … until the day she died. What? You expected him to die first? Ranma Saotome didn’t lose! And he was most certainly not going to be the first one to die.
“I guess I should stop hoping the Nox will show up and say I need another lesson,” sighed Ranma.
“Indeed,” said Teal’c. “Should you not face your tormentor, Ranma Saotome?”
“You ain’t ever been to Nerima,” snorted Ranma.
The former First Prime could only arch his eyebrow at that. The way Ranma told it, one of his fiancées was easily as dangerous as a System Lord. And that certainly couldn’t be true … right?
“So she’s waking up,” said Jack with a smile, as Dr. Frasier continued to monitor the foreign teen.
“In theory,” said Janet. “I said she might wake up soon. You really can’t pinpoint when someone will come out of a coma.”
“Really,” he replied, noticing a few signs showing that the girl was indeed awake and faking it. It seemed she might be somewhat as devious as Ranma claimed she was. Smiling, he made his way over to the Crash Cart, before flipping a switch. “I have just what we need to bring her around,” he said with a smile, calming Janet when he held up two small plastic boxes about the same size as the paddles.
“Clear!” he called out, placing the paddles on the bedded girl’s body.
Nabiki’s eyes shot open wide, shocked that someone would try something so barbaric to wake someone up.
Jack merely held up the plastic boxes, smiling. “Got you.”
Nabiki just glared at the man. At least he didn’t guess she could speak and understand English. But it could still work in her favor.
“Damn,” she heard muttered in English, her eyes darting quickly to the doorway, making her wince in pain from the sudden movement. “She’s awake.”
Nabiki forced her usual smirk back on her face. “Well Saotome, you won’t believe how much you owe me for this,” she spoke in Japanese.
Ranma just glared at her. “What makes you think I owe you anything?” he asked in Japanese. “I got smarter here, Nabiki. I know you ain’t been treating me right.”
“Ranma?” asked Jack. “Care to provide subtitles here?”
“She says I owe her money for this,” growled Ranma. “She ain’t getting the fact I ain’t her cash crow anymore.”
“Cow,” said Janet. “The phrase is ‘cash cow’, not cash crow.”
“Right,” said Ranma.
“Relax Ranma,” said Jack. “It ain’t like she can summon anything from your home to reek havoc upon you.”
Ranma’s face blanked for a moment, before a smile returned. “Yeah, that’s right,” he said, chuckling darkly. “She don’t know we ain’t in our own universe anymore. She can’t tell the Tomboy on me, sell me out, or nothing.”
“WHAT?” yelled Nabiki, slipping into perfect English at the surprise. “What do you mean we’re in another universe, Saotome?” she demanded.
“Unless you have one, there is also currently no known way for you to return home,” offered Teal’c.
Nabiki just blinked. “So your damned box wasn’t a quick easy way to America from Japan?” she asked.
Ranma shook his head, smiling. “Nope, whole new universe; ain’t even a Ranma Saotome or a Nabiki Tendo anywhere on this world. And I ain’t even found a box yet like the one that started all this.” He left unsaid that the Nox had informed him they would be researching that very problem. After all, Nabiki hadn’t asked, and he was becoming very good at not volunteering information unless directly asked.
“Congratulations,” said Jack with the same smile. “Whole new world, no past, no prior contacts; why, this is a fresh start for you, isn’t it?”
“At least you speak English,” offered Daniel.
Nabiki just continued to stare, eyes wide, focus shifting between everyone there, before settling on Ranma. “This is your fault, Saotome.”
Ranma just snorted. “Right; I used my many abilities to have you go for the box after I got sucked in. My awesomeness knows no bounds,” he said sarcastically.
“So what now?” Nabiki grumbled out.
“You heal,” said Ranma with a smile. “After that, it’s up to you and the government.” Stretching, he turned around. “See ya!”
“Where do you think you’re going, Saotome?” she yelled.
“I was meditating when I was told you were waking up, so I’m going back,” he said.
“Man, how could you treat future family so coldly, Ranma?” she asked, trying to cry. “I feel so hurt. How could you abandon my sister after a month? Does her heart mean so little to you?”
He paused a foot from the exit.
“A month?” said Daniel.
Nabiki nodded, using the bed sheets to dab at her ‘tears’. “I heard you say I’ve been here for a month. And I got trapped by that poor box Ranma left open when he got sucked in within a few minutes of him being taken in.”
Ranma’s hand lashed out, landing on the wall, bracing himself.
“Ranma Saotome, are you well?” asked Teal’c, looking at the now pale teen.
Ranma felt his chest tighten, his breath quicken as his mind was assaulted by the fact that he hadn’t been gone from his Nerima for seven months. According to Nabiki, she was pulled in soon after him. If what she said was true—and every fiber of his being was screaming it had to be a lie since Nabiki was famous for half-truths and misdirection—then he had only been gone from Nerima a matter of minutes compared to his months here.
No wonder a rescue operation never came! There hadn’t even been time to move to start one. And depending on how long it took them to get their act together … by the time they came looking for him, he could be a very, very old man. It truly was up to him to find a way back to his own universe.
“Well, I guess I can stay with my future brother-in-law,” said Nabiki, sniffling.
Yes, this truly was Hell.
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(Posted Sat, 04 Oct 2008 05:18)
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