sga_flashfic | Fic: The List by seekergeek

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Title: The List
Author: seekergeek
Rating: G
Characters: Chuck the nameless gate tech POV
Disclaimer: Owned by someone who isn't me
Unbeta'd - inform me of any errors
Summary: They have a list, and it's Chuck's job to maintain it.

Chuck sat down at his station and went over the list of missing people from various gate teams. Lt. Flora Hernandez. Dr. Sven Bjorkson. Sgt. David Thorkle. Sgt. William Colquitt. Dr. Rodney McKay. Chuck sighed. It had been an extremely bad week for many of the gate teams. Colonel Sheppard was practically beside himself with anger and was riding the search and rescue teams as mercilessly as he could from a bed in the infirmary. Dr. Weir had given up sleeping in favor haunting the gateroom late into the night in hopes of good word from the rescue teams. The last time they'd had this many people unaccounted for had been during the siege. Chuck shuddered in memory.

The evening went by quietly, disturbed only by the regular check-ins from various rescue teams. The message was always the same. Nothing yet. At around 2 am there a brief surge of hope went through the gateroom when one of the rescue teams called before check-in. Chuck listened closely to their report and his chest tightened. They'd found Sgt. Thorkle and Dr. Bjorkson. Both been killed in a fall trying to escape the Wraith. The bodies were being bagged and they expected to be back in Atlantis in an hour or so. Chuck watched Dr. Weir turn white and nod stiffly before thanking the team and signing off the radio. Chuck checked the names off the list with dry eyes as being accounted for. Three more left to be found. There was nothing else of note for the rest of the night.

Chuck slid into his chair for the next evening shift and saw that the list still stubbornly contained the same three names. He knew that if anybody else had been found he'd have heard via the grapevine long before he got here for his shift, but he'd still hoped. He ran through his routine checks and settled in for another long night. The night was thinning into daylight when the next unscheduled activation occurred. One of the rescue teams, coming in hot. Chuck lowered the shield on Dr. Weir's orders and immediately had to duck as a stray beam shot just past his ear. The team leader screamed at him to raise the shield as more beams slammed into walls and Chuck quickly popped back up to slap the right key. His heart still thudding quickly in his chest, Chuck called the med team in as two of the marines gently lowered Lt. Hernandez to the floor. She was a bloody mess and motionless and the med team went into a frenzy over her as soon as they hit the room. Chuck checked her name off the list with a shaky hand. Two more left to be found.

The next evening brought news that Lt. Hernandez would live although her career as a soldier was over and there was a slight, uneasy air of relief in the gate room as Chuck settled in for his shift. The night passed with its usual check-ins from the remaining rescue teams. Still nothing. Chuck noted Dr. Weir's shoulders drooping more as each hour passed with no good news as she sat in her office. At around 3am he got up from his station and drapped his jacket over her shoulders as she slept. At 6:30 she returned it to him wordlessly. He handed the list over unchanged to the next shift's gate tech. Chuck asked Dr. Weir to join him for breakfast and they both stared wordlessly into their coffee mugs til their coffee went cold.

Chuck spend the next three evenings uneventfully, the list keeping him cold company through the night. Dr. Beckett had started coming to the gateroom at midnight and coralling Dr. Weir off to her quarters. Dr. Weir always came back by 5 am. The rescue teams continued to make their check ins. Nothing yet.

There was a small bit of lightness in the air that evening and Chuck smiled briefly as he sat in his chair and looked over the list. Sgt. Colquitt had been found and brought in during the day shift. He'd be in the infirmary for quite a while, but was expected to recover fully. He'd heard about it earlier, but seeing the name struck off the list as accounted made it official to Chuck now. Only one left yet to be accounted for. Chuck nodded to Dr. Beckett as he walked past him to Dr. Weir's office. He looked tired to the bone. Check-ins came in on time all night. Nothing found yet.

Chuck sits down in his chair for the evening and looks at the list. Still one name left. His stomach churns and he eats a mint to try and calm it down. Chuck settles into the monontony of the evening and tries not to think too hard about Dr. Zelenka's expression at dinner as he sat working on something alone. Check-ins come through at the appropriate times. Still looking. Still hoping. At midnight Dr. Beckett comes in and collects Dr. Weir for the evening. A half an hour later, Colonel Sheppard comes hobbling in and plunks down into the chair next to Chuck. They pass glances, then Chuck goes back to staring at his computer and Sheppard stares at the gate. The night passes in silence between them.

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..... *tear*

Sequel? Maybe?

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