[SGA/Glee] Mike Chang In Space
Jul. 11th, 2013 05:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dontwantmebackTitle: Mike Chang In Space
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis/Glee
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Length: 2041 words
Apparently, Mike Chang's mother led a double life. All those times she'd gone out of town for work, it turned out those meetings she'd been going to were for a top secret organization, where she used her Chinese name, the one she'd had before his parents were married, before they moved to the States, long before he was born, and acting as some sort of diplomat for the Chinese government. She apparently oversaw a space travel program of sorts, not NASA but something secret and founded because of aliens or something. And Mike would have never found out if his mother hadn't been offered a chance at a position in another galaxy. Another galaxy. He probably still wouldn't have known if she hadn't been sent on a trip to the other galaxy, and if she hadn't insisted she be allowed to take her son with her.
Being some important international oversight something or other seemed to have its benefits, because no one seemed to blink an eye when he followed his mother down into some secret underground military facility, flashing a visitor's badge and marvelling at how she moved like she owned the place.
And maybe she did. People sure treated her like she was their boss.
They were transported, like something out of Star Trek, to a space ship in orbit around the planet. Mike couldn't even guess how that was even possible. That kind of technology had to be way off, not to mention when they went to what people called 'hyper space' and the only thing to be seen out the ship's windows were streams of light. That had to be impossible. He wasn't a scientist or anything, nowhere near as smart as the people who ran the ship, but faster than light travel between galaxies? There was no way that was possible even with the help of aliens. And that was suspending disbelief and accepting that aliens actually existed.
Eighteen days later, it seemed a little less likely that he was just hallucinating the whole thing, a lot less impossible after travelling across two galaxies and coming to a stop above a planet that was nothing like Earth, nothing like Mike ever could have imagined. He would have taken pictures to show his friends back home, if he hadn't signed a novel of a non-disclosure agreement just to be handed the little bit of plastic with his face on it, a pass to the strangest thing ever.
Well, strangest thing ever until he was transported down to the planet, to a crazy looking city in the middle of an alien ocean. Sharp lines everywhere, blue and orange and glowing panels. People walking around in uniforms, tablet computers and talking into little ear pieces, guns clipped to bulletproof vests and strapped to their legs. It was the single most intimidating thing Mike had, and he was sure he ever would encounter, and he stood there in the middle of the room, right there in front of a wide staircase, staring like a complete idiot at everything around him.
"Come along, Michael," his mother said to him, breezing down the stairs with that same air of owning the place. She'd beamed down ahead of the rest, citing the need to speak to the man in charge, the man whose job she would be taking if she found him any less than perfectly capable.
Mike just nodded once, wide eyed and still in shock, following obediently, not even able to find the words to ask a question should he be able to think of one. They were led to rooms by a pair of armed guards, flags on their arms that Mike didn't recognize and stern faces that made it too intimidating to ask. They passed a few dozen people, most in pairs and arguing over a tablet between them, tossing around words like 'wormhole' and 'energy flow' and 'wraith' and 'nanite' like they were every day conversations. The same way he'd talk to his friends about something mundane like homework or a dance move. And those were just the ones who weren't shouting in some foreign language.
He guessed here, all languages were technically foreign.
His mother stayed around just long enough to settle her things into a space-y looking dresser or something, and show him how things like lights worked in their room. It seemed impossibly weird to have to learn how to turn on lights. She stayed around just long enough for Mike to stare down at her and say: "Why didn't we know you did this, Mom?"
"I haven't got the time to explain now," she answered, and Mike didn't know anymore which accent she was faking, they both seemed to come so easily. "We'll talk about it this evening."
And she left. He wanted to stop her, shake her, demand to know how the little lies he'd told in his life could ever compare to keeping something like this from not only him, but his father. Why it was okay to uproot him and take him on a trip across the universe without him ever knowing it was possible, but just as okay to leave his father completely in the dark. But he didn't. He blinked after her in surprise, and after a while decided there was no reason for him to stay cooped up. He was in an alien city on an alien planet, and there was no reason for him not to explore.
Explore with a military escort, it seemed. Because when he stepped out of the room, one of the armed guards was still standing there, less stern than bored, and when he asked if it was okay to walk around, he got a nod and a 'go ahead' kind of gesture. The man, large enough that he could probably make two of Mike, followed when he did.
He pretended like it didn't bother him, didn't make it that much scarier to just walk around. Like either they didn't trust him or he was actually in some sort of danger, and eventually he came to the conclusion it had to be the latter; there didn't seem to be anywhere he wasn't allowed, nowhere he was stopped from entering. Mike found his way into what looked like science labs, with computers everywhere and math equations he couldn't even begin to wrap his head around scrawled on whiteboards, some weird flow of light on screens on the walls, to what had to be an armoury or something with racks of guns and crates marked C4. He explored what he was told was the gate room, and watched people walk through what looked like a glowing puddle, only to have it explained it was a wormhole connected to another planet.
Seeing that put a topper on Mike's tolerance for overwhelming for one day, and he had himself escorted back to his room where he sat with his back against the window, iPod blasting music into his ears and eyes closed against all the crazy.
When his mother returned that evening, they didn't talk about it. Mike didn't want to talk about it anymore. He wanted to get through this adventure without losing his mind, and talking about it didn't seem like a good way to get toward that goal. So they had dinner in silence, in a glorified cafeteria with soldiers and scientists laughing and still bickering. Didn't these people ever stop that?
They were leaving again first thing in the morning, his mother told him when they returned to their rooms. He could spend a few more hours exploring if he liked, or stay, it didn't matter to her but she had some work to get done, a report to write to her superiors and she looked annoyed. Too annoyed to stick around, so with no other options, Mike went out into the city again. A different guard this time, a woman not too much older than him, strawberry blonde hair and a friendly smile. Lieutenant Cadman, she said her name was.
"But you can just call me Laura."
She showed him some things he'd never think to find on his own, little hidey-holes of breathtaking views and apparently a driving range, complete with golf balls, and a huge room that seemed to go on forever filled with vaguely tube-looking things she said were space ships.
"We call them puddle jumpers. Most of us don't really know why."
And if Mike hadn't spent eighteen days on a much bigger space ship, he never would have believed it. But he had, and he did, and was actually kind of fascinated to see a space ship up close like that. Sure, he'd been on board the Daedalus, but he hadn't been allowed to really explore it much, and so even peering in through the window at the pilot controls was interesting. Cadman helpfully continued to talk about it, explaining how it flew and what it was capable of, answering the questions Mike didn't even know he had. Right up until another voice piped up, making Mike jump and barely restrain a flail.
"Whose your friend, Lieutenant?"
A tall man with a serious look, dressed all in black and hair that defied gravity in a way that put even Mike's pointiest hair-days to shame. And there was an air of something important about him that made Mike nervous, instinctually stepping away from the ship, a step toward Cadman who looked completely unperturbed. She was still smiling, though maybe standing a little taller than she had been.
"Colonel. This is Mike Chang."
"Hi," Mike offered nervously, pretty proud that his voice didn't squeak.
The colonel pretty much just ignored him, aside from a cursory nod in his direction. "Lieutenant, who is this and why is he in my jumper bay?"
"Mrs. Shen's son, sir. He wanted to see the city before they returned to Earth."
"Mrs.... The IOA?"
"That's right."
"Right. Well. Don't let him touch anything."
"Yes, sir."
Mike was given another look over, almost suspicious but bordering on confused, before leaving again, apparently not having come in for any reason at all. Which, Mike was starting to figure out, was something that seemed to happen almost as much as the bickering. People seemed to pop into places just to have a word with whoever happened to be there, or maybe they were just all easily distracted and forgot what they'd come for when they saw him. He waited for the colonel to vanish completely before turning to Cadman curiously.
"Who was that?"
"Hm? Colonel Sheppard. He's military commander here."
"Oh. Okay." That explained the air of importance and intimidating. Cadman just laughed.
"He's actually a nice guy. We had a bit of a situation today and he had it a bit rough."
"I'll take your word on that." And he went back to peering at the puddle jumpers and Cadman went back to explaining things like the Ancient gene that let some of their people work technology with their minds, which was interesting, and the explosive power of the missile-like drones the puddle jumpers carried, less interesting than terrifying.
She showed him around a bit longer, more views and neat tricks the city did, and walked him back to his room. His mom was already asleep, so Mike just did the same and hoped she'd found the guy in charge capable enough.
They went home in the morning as planned, stepping through the Stargate instead of spending the weeks flying home. It was cold, and dizzying, and the second they came through back on Earth, him stumbling but her as steady as ever, Mike turned to his mother, tried to look hopeful like when he'd begged for a new bike when he was twelve.
"We're not going back there, are we?"
"No, Michael. We're not."
She may not have sounded happy, but Mike sure was. He wanted nothing more than to go back to Ohio, to see his friends and pretend like he wasn't scarred for life. He wanted to forget about the top secret military facility and the intergalactic space ship and floating city and aliens. He just wanted to get his life back to normal and pretend the whole thing had never happened.
"Good."
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis/Glee
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Length: 2041 words
Apparently, Mike Chang's mother led a double life. All those times she'd gone out of town for work, it turned out those meetings she'd been going to were for a top secret organization, where she used her Chinese name, the one she'd had before his parents were married, before they moved to the States, long before he was born, and acting as some sort of diplomat for the Chinese government. She apparently oversaw a space travel program of sorts, not NASA but something secret and founded because of aliens or something. And Mike would have never found out if his mother hadn't been offered a chance at a position in another galaxy. Another galaxy. He probably still wouldn't have known if she hadn't been sent on a trip to the other galaxy, and if she hadn't insisted she be allowed to take her son with her.
Being some important international oversight something or other seemed to have its benefits, because no one seemed to blink an eye when he followed his mother down into some secret underground military facility, flashing a visitor's badge and marvelling at how she moved like she owned the place.
And maybe she did. People sure treated her like she was their boss.
They were transported, like something out of Star Trek, to a space ship in orbit around the planet. Mike couldn't even guess how that was even possible. That kind of technology had to be way off, not to mention when they went to what people called 'hyper space' and the only thing to be seen out the ship's windows were streams of light. That had to be impossible. He wasn't a scientist or anything, nowhere near as smart as the people who ran the ship, but faster than light travel between galaxies? There was no way that was possible even with the help of aliens. And that was suspending disbelief and accepting that aliens actually existed.
Eighteen days later, it seemed a little less likely that he was just hallucinating the whole thing, a lot less impossible after travelling across two galaxies and coming to a stop above a planet that was nothing like Earth, nothing like Mike ever could have imagined. He would have taken pictures to show his friends back home, if he hadn't signed a novel of a non-disclosure agreement just to be handed the little bit of plastic with his face on it, a pass to the strangest thing ever.
Well, strangest thing ever until he was transported down to the planet, to a crazy looking city in the middle of an alien ocean. Sharp lines everywhere, blue and orange and glowing panels. People walking around in uniforms, tablet computers and talking into little ear pieces, guns clipped to bulletproof vests and strapped to their legs. It was the single most intimidating thing Mike had, and he was sure he ever would encounter, and he stood there in the middle of the room, right there in front of a wide staircase, staring like a complete idiot at everything around him.
"Come along, Michael," his mother said to him, breezing down the stairs with that same air of owning the place. She'd beamed down ahead of the rest, citing the need to speak to the man in charge, the man whose job she would be taking if she found him any less than perfectly capable.
Mike just nodded once, wide eyed and still in shock, following obediently, not even able to find the words to ask a question should he be able to think of one. They were led to rooms by a pair of armed guards, flags on their arms that Mike didn't recognize and stern faces that made it too intimidating to ask. They passed a few dozen people, most in pairs and arguing over a tablet between them, tossing around words like 'wormhole' and 'energy flow' and 'wraith' and 'nanite' like they were every day conversations. The same way he'd talk to his friends about something mundane like homework or a dance move. And those were just the ones who weren't shouting in some foreign language.
He guessed here, all languages were technically foreign.
His mother stayed around just long enough to settle her things into a space-y looking dresser or something, and show him how things like lights worked in their room. It seemed impossibly weird to have to learn how to turn on lights. She stayed around just long enough for Mike to stare down at her and say: "Why didn't we know you did this, Mom?"
"I haven't got the time to explain now," she answered, and Mike didn't know anymore which accent she was faking, they both seemed to come so easily. "We'll talk about it this evening."
And she left. He wanted to stop her, shake her, demand to know how the little lies he'd told in his life could ever compare to keeping something like this from not only him, but his father. Why it was okay to uproot him and take him on a trip across the universe without him ever knowing it was possible, but just as okay to leave his father completely in the dark. But he didn't. He blinked after her in surprise, and after a while decided there was no reason for him to stay cooped up. He was in an alien city on an alien planet, and there was no reason for him not to explore.
Explore with a military escort, it seemed. Because when he stepped out of the room, one of the armed guards was still standing there, less stern than bored, and when he asked if it was okay to walk around, he got a nod and a 'go ahead' kind of gesture. The man, large enough that he could probably make two of Mike, followed when he did.
He pretended like it didn't bother him, didn't make it that much scarier to just walk around. Like either they didn't trust him or he was actually in some sort of danger, and eventually he came to the conclusion it had to be the latter; there didn't seem to be anywhere he wasn't allowed, nowhere he was stopped from entering. Mike found his way into what looked like science labs, with computers everywhere and math equations he couldn't even begin to wrap his head around scrawled on whiteboards, some weird flow of light on screens on the walls, to what had to be an armoury or something with racks of guns and crates marked C4. He explored what he was told was the gate room, and watched people walk through what looked like a glowing puddle, only to have it explained it was a wormhole connected to another planet.
Seeing that put a topper on Mike's tolerance for overwhelming for one day, and he had himself escorted back to his room where he sat with his back against the window, iPod blasting music into his ears and eyes closed against all the crazy.
When his mother returned that evening, they didn't talk about it. Mike didn't want to talk about it anymore. He wanted to get through this adventure without losing his mind, and talking about it didn't seem like a good way to get toward that goal. So they had dinner in silence, in a glorified cafeteria with soldiers and scientists laughing and still bickering. Didn't these people ever stop that?
They were leaving again first thing in the morning, his mother told him when they returned to their rooms. He could spend a few more hours exploring if he liked, or stay, it didn't matter to her but she had some work to get done, a report to write to her superiors and she looked annoyed. Too annoyed to stick around, so with no other options, Mike went out into the city again. A different guard this time, a woman not too much older than him, strawberry blonde hair and a friendly smile. Lieutenant Cadman, she said her name was.
"But you can just call me Laura."
She showed him some things he'd never think to find on his own, little hidey-holes of breathtaking views and apparently a driving range, complete with golf balls, and a huge room that seemed to go on forever filled with vaguely tube-looking things she said were space ships.
"We call them puddle jumpers. Most of us don't really know why."
And if Mike hadn't spent eighteen days on a much bigger space ship, he never would have believed it. But he had, and he did, and was actually kind of fascinated to see a space ship up close like that. Sure, he'd been on board the Daedalus, but he hadn't been allowed to really explore it much, and so even peering in through the window at the pilot controls was interesting. Cadman helpfully continued to talk about it, explaining how it flew and what it was capable of, answering the questions Mike didn't even know he had. Right up until another voice piped up, making Mike jump and barely restrain a flail.
"Whose your friend, Lieutenant?"
A tall man with a serious look, dressed all in black and hair that defied gravity in a way that put even Mike's pointiest hair-days to shame. And there was an air of something important about him that made Mike nervous, instinctually stepping away from the ship, a step toward Cadman who looked completely unperturbed. She was still smiling, though maybe standing a little taller than she had been.
"Colonel. This is Mike Chang."
"Hi," Mike offered nervously, pretty proud that his voice didn't squeak.
The colonel pretty much just ignored him, aside from a cursory nod in his direction. "Lieutenant, who is this and why is he in my jumper bay?"
"Mrs. Shen's son, sir. He wanted to see the city before they returned to Earth."
"Mrs.... The IOA?"
"That's right."
"Right. Well. Don't let him touch anything."
"Yes, sir."
Mike was given another look over, almost suspicious but bordering on confused, before leaving again, apparently not having come in for any reason at all. Which, Mike was starting to figure out, was something that seemed to happen almost as much as the bickering. People seemed to pop into places just to have a word with whoever happened to be there, or maybe they were just all easily distracted and forgot what they'd come for when they saw him. He waited for the colonel to vanish completely before turning to Cadman curiously.
"Who was that?"
"Hm? Colonel Sheppard. He's military commander here."
"Oh. Okay." That explained the air of importance and intimidating. Cadman just laughed.
"He's actually a nice guy. We had a bit of a situation today and he had it a bit rough."
"I'll take your word on that." And he went back to peering at the puddle jumpers and Cadman went back to explaining things like the Ancient gene that let some of their people work technology with their minds, which was interesting, and the explosive power of the missile-like drones the puddle jumpers carried, less interesting than terrifying.
She showed him around a bit longer, more views and neat tricks the city did, and walked him back to his room. His mom was already asleep, so Mike just did the same and hoped she'd found the guy in charge capable enough.
They went home in the morning as planned, stepping through the Stargate instead of spending the weeks flying home. It was cold, and dizzying, and the second they came through back on Earth, him stumbling but her as steady as ever, Mike turned to his mother, tried to look hopeful like when he'd begged for a new bike when he was twelve.
"We're not going back there, are we?"
"No, Michael. We're not."
She may not have sounded happy, but Mike sure was. He wanted nothing more than to go back to Ohio, to see his friends and pretend like he wasn't scarred for life. He wanted to forget about the top secret military facility and the intergalactic space ship and floating city and aliens. He just wanted to get his life back to normal and pretend the whole thing had never happened.
"Good."