trans_9 | Meanwhile, back at the ranch [Closed to Iniss/Tom]

Iniss glanced up from the hand held computer, watching the yeerk pace back and forth across the area. "Some, yes. I've been in contact with my contact, and we're changing information. Your host's name is Sam, correct? Trust me, you'll get used to it. Humans are far more varied than Hork Bajir or anything else you've likely ever encountered."

He sighed faintly, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I would prefer being armed, it's just as likely we'll be attacked by the crew as it is we'll be attacked by our great and egotistical lord Shiva. How good are you with a gun?"

< Oh, he absolutely will NOT get used to it! >

Schmuz winced, rubbing his ear with a bemused expression. Iniss could probably guess about what had happened. "Yeah, his name's Sam." Mention of guns, though, made him go pale. "Umm."

< You don't know how to use a gun? > Sam sounded surprised, then, < Okay, that's actually dumb of me to wonder. Not even everybody back home knows how to use a gun. >

"My host is quite skilled with various forms of weaponry," he hedged instead.

Iniss arched an eyebrow, inputting something else into the small computer. "He's vocal, that's good. The last thing we need is a sniveling wreck of nothing to make our case to the rest of the crew."

< Does that mean he isn't? >

< It means he's never seen the outside of a lab and wouldn't know which end to point at the other guy without his host's insight. >

< That's bad for us, isn't it? >

< Not if I can use the host. >

"Then it's your host I need to get out of this alive, no you, isn't it?"

< If he thinks I'm making any case to the crew... >

< We'll need you. You know very well that neither you or I had any say in what happened here. And Iniss is at least trying to get us out of this alive. > Schmuz grimaced and nodded. "Vocal is a...good word for it."

He chewed on the inside of his bottom lip for a moment, considering before he sighed and nodded. "Give me the weapons system and I'll find a way to hack it and turn it to our advantage. But hand held devices? You'll need him."

And, frankly, Schmuz was all about getting out alive.

"Ask Sam this for me," He knew the human could hear him, but it was polite. "If you let him have control, will he agree to work with me and help save the ship?"

It was an important question, if Sam was going to cause more trouble than he fixed... Then he'd rather take the other yeerk into the bridge and let him hack and kill Shiva from far away, and he'd deal with the consequences of taking his own intuition on the situation.

He hadn't exactly had a say in what was done either, or he would have been more cautious in choosing a host for the yeerk. "I would like to make it out of this as much as you and Sam." His com pinged, and the glanced down, lips twitching. "My host has a little brother who would be quite annoyed with me if I got his brother killed."

Schmuz glanced down, thoughts turning inward. < Well, would you? >

Anger again, but not for the reasons he'd expected. < Schmuz, if you really have to ask that, you don't know anything about me. >

He sighed and rubbed his nose. "He's willing. To save the ship and the crew." And his brother, but...well, that went without saying. At least, according to Sam, it did. "Though I think he'd be more annoyed at getting killed himself, too."

His lips quirked. "Then I'm going to need you to yield control to your host so we can arm ourselves and deal with the current problems. Ask him if it is likely for any of the crew mates, discovering the situation as it stands, would attempt to come after him. I have a low tolerance for being shot or tied up." He sighed faintly, flipping the device closed and tipping his head thoughtfully.

Not for the first time, he silently cursed Marco for taking his weapon.

It left him open and vulnerable.

"How powerful is the device you gave Shiva?"

"Not as powerful as he thinks it is." Schmuz managed a small smile at that. "If you want a technician to do the work right for you, you probably shouldn't be bullying them into working."

Or, at least, if you did, you'd better know what they were doing so you could double check it.

"I have no problem with giving up control. Not if it keeps us safe." A pause, then, "He has an older brother. Dean. Who, apparently, is quite protective of him. Others that might will be occupied in other ways, most likely."

Iniss smirked, good, the yeerk was smart enough not to give Shiva a perfect tool. "Good, how long before it breaks?"

He squinted at the mention of the older brother, glancing at the yeerk.

"Humans and their siblings...." He sighed faintly, rolling his eyes. "I don't understand that loyalty. But let's try to avoid that, I'd much rather not deal with angry yelling at the moment."

Schmuz was a lot smarter than most gave him credit for. It worked to his advantage, most of the time. "A few hours, give or take. It's not an exact science and it will depend on how much he's actually using it. Will be much faster if the crew try to take it out themselves." There were weaknesses in the shield and the power dampener. Ones he fully expected to be taken advantage of.

He shrugged. "I don't understand them either. But, then, we aren't dependent on those which spawned us to the extent many other species are, either."

< Spawned. That's not exactly a nice way of putting it. >

< Biologically true, in our case. >

< Hmm. >

Schmuz rolled his eyes as well, then shook his head. "We can try. But I think it best that, if the brother should show up, leave him to Sam. I think he should be able to handle him."

< I'm not going to let Dean kill Iniss or his host, if that's what you mean. > After a moment, he added, < Or you. I can't say I'm too fond of you guys, but this isn't your fault. And you're doing your best to keep the crew safe. Even if it isn't exactly for the most altruistic means. >

< Given what I know of what you and your brother have done for each other, I'm not sure you're one to speak of 'altruistic'. >

Schmuz sighed, walking over to one of the chairs and sitting. "He's too tall," he explained to Iniss. "I'd rather not cause an injury if he doesn't handle the transition well." It wasn't common for a transition to go badly, but he'd seen way too much in Sam's head to discount it entirely. He cocked his head, then, "He'll communicate for me, if needs be."

"Good. And the bombs, did you build in any flaws to them? Or will they go off as planed?"

He nodded faintly at the observation. "Humans have that strange family structure and their parents do not die in the act of their creation. Of course it seems Alien to us."

< Isn't that what you do when Jake is involved? > Tom sounded almost amused inside the cage of his own head.

< Shh. Jake isn't involved right now. >

"Acceptable, hopefully he can quiet the beast if the issue does arise.

Considering how long Iniss had been inside his host and how unused to having control Tom was at this point, the observation didn't seem that far off base. And the first time a new host was freed was often messy. "It sounds like a good arrangement, my orders are to keep you both alive."

Schmuz wrinkled his nose. "There are weaknesses there as well, but they will go off. The damage won't be as bad as Shiva wanted, but I could only do so much. There are more than enough people on the crew with the experience to disarm them. It'll have to be enough."

"Good. I think Sam will do his best to do the same." That he didn't even have to ask the host about. Sam was all about protecting people, after all. It led to some awful mistakes, but generally his heart was in the right place.

Thankfully, it wasn't the first time that Sam had been possessed. And while Schmuz had done things that Sam wasn't happy with, the Yeerk had negated it as much as he could.

So when the Yeerk let go of control, Sam allowed himself a few breaths to get used to having his body again before he opened his eyes. "Right," he said after a few moments. "I suppose weapons are the first port of call, yeah?"

"Well at least you tried." He sighed, raking his hand through his hair, and wondered briefly if he was violating the agreement between Jake and Dani, this had caused him to avoid the humans as best he could. The last thing he wanted was Tom mentioning anything and blowing his cover.

His lips quirked into a half smile. Hero types. They were the same the universe over.

< You should introduce yourself. > Tom suggested after a beat of silence.

< That seems like a poor choice, I don't think he likes me much. >

"I agree, suggestions for locations?" Oh good, he wouldn't have to put up with any whining.

"The Impala has..." Sam pushed himself to his feet, swaying only a little as he got his balance again. Then paused and shook his head. "No, wait. The Impala's a bad idea. It's in the Hanger."

< And that would be where the burning bomb is, yes. >

"And that's where one of the bombs is. Besides, Dean would think of going there first." And his brother wouldn't give a damn about the evacuation order. "We're better off heading to Weapons and Possessions." A wry twist of his lips at that last word. "We won't be able to get to anything big, but there will be weapons that don't require special codes to access."

"And at the moment we're avoiding your brother at all cost. Will he believe you if you say you're in control of yourself? Or will we have to deal with weapons being drawn on us?"

He'd rather avoid the bomb as well, in all honesty.

It seemed like more trouble than it was worth and more peril than he was quite willing to face.

"It sounds like a plan to me, lead the way, I still get lost trying to find the cafeteria. At this point I would be more than happy to accept even one of your human firearms, so big is not a problem. Being defenseless with an egotistical moron you just betrayed running around is."

Sam paused, then shook his head. "We'll talk while we move," he said, moving toward door. "And you're right. We need something to be able to defend ourselves. Luckily, I do know how to find W&P." Even if Leon didn't particularly like him being down there. Given what he knew of the previous Sam Winchester, he tried not to feel slighted about it.

"It's...hard to tell," he replied, finally, as they started toward the right deck. "I can hope for no guns, but this is Dean. It's entirely likely. Given the last time I was possessed, back on my world, the one possessing me basically tortured him? Yeah, he's not going to accept it straight away. If we're lucky, though, I'll be able to get through to him that it really doesn't matter, as long as the ship is in danger."

It was a pretty big if, truth to tell.

Iniss almost smiled, liking the directness already, and followed. He shifted the strap of his backpack on his shoulder, listening to whatever the other could offer.

"Good. It seems like a useful location in general."

He kept an eye open for any other crew mates, but so far it seemed fairly empty. "So it's likely we will be assaulted by your brother if he manages to find us. Cheerful. And I must say that you are the only human I have ever met that can use "the last time I was possessed" as a qualifier for a statement. Is there anything we could do to encourage this acceptance, short of having the yeerk remove himself? I'm afraid we still need him."

"I can deal with him." It's confident because he is very, very used to Dean after all these years. "It might involve a few bruises to myself and him. You'd be wise to stand back and just let us handle it." With luck, it wouldn't take long.

"It was...a different kind of possession." Why not talk about it? They had time to fill. Sam waved Iniss toward the wall as they reached a junction, taking a moment to check down each hallway and even above them before moving forward again. "We don't have your kind in my world. What we do have are demons. People who have traded their souls for Earthly power, fame, things of that nature. And when they die, they actually go to Hell where...they're warped. Made into every dark and dirty thought they've ever had, twisted until that's all they are anymore. They can't do much on Earth, though, unless they take over someone's body. Generally very unwillingly."

"I'll do so then." He smoothly followed orders, allowing the human soldier to direct him.

He was no fool, he was not built for combat either, he was built for recon and undercover work.

Sam on the other hand, appeared to have experience with dangerous situations and dealing with it.

He would allow him to lead.

"Demons? I thought they were myths only." He'd glanced at the wide rage of religion humans followed, and had first had experience with the religion of Tom and his family followed, but for the most part he had dismissed it as fairy tales and the need of a people who didn't understand the universe to explain it. If demons were real, well...he should definitely have paid more attention. "When we take hosts, it's actually fairly mixed. Some are willing and want to yield control of their lives to us. What do these demons do with their unwilling hosts?"

A few years ago, being called a 'soldier' would have gotten a bitchface out of Sam. These days, there really wasn't much else he could call himself.

"I think that in most worlds, they are. Just from what I've found in my research." And that might be the reason he and Schmuz have managed to get along...decently, all said. Sam angry, yes, but they are kindred souls in a way. "It's just that they're very real in my world. And that's actually what I spend my life doing. Saving people, hunting things. The family business."

The family business for a lot longer than he'd once thought, that was certain.

Iniss couldn't think of anything else to call him, some people were meant for battle, and Sam had obviously learned the art of combat.

All the training in the world could not equal the obvious first hand experience Sam possessed.

"Hmmm, after this is over perhaps we could discuss it further. I didn't pay a great deal of attention to any of those myths, but if it is something we might encounter..." Even in the face of danger, the fact that he could gather information, well...

He was a born researcher.

"Spent your life? Just how young were you and your brother when you started?"

They weren't very far from Weapons and Possessions. If Shiva was going to lay traps they didn't know about, it would be around here. Then again, Shiva was convinced of his invincibility and probably wouldn't even think about it.

Startling lack of foresight for a 'god'.

"Our dad started hunting demons and boogiemen after Mom died. I was six months old. Dean was four."

"That's a little young to use a human firearm, when do you yourself start?"

< Hol-y Crap. > Tom gave the impression of whistling. < Guess you know where he got his skills. >

< I doubt very much HE started at 6 months, but it's an interesting history. >

He flicked his eyes to the ceiling, unconsciously echoing Sam's thoughts. Shiva might not know they were turncoats yet, but that didn't mean he wouldn't take steps to keep people from getting armed.

"...he really is a moron, isn't he?"

"Dean was six when Dad taught him how to shoot." Taught nothing. Dean had been a natural at it. "Dad kept me in the dark, generally, about what was going on, so I didn't really start learning until I was eight."

Sam snorted and dropped to one knee, getting a better look at the floor before moving forward again. "Yes, he's a moron. He honestly believes that nobody can stand against him, so why bother?"

< See, I was right, eight is much more reasonable. >

< Sometimes I forget you're from another planet. >

< What, your motor control is sufficient at eight to use a firearm. >

< Being able to doesn't mean you should, 8 is still a little kid. >

"So you really have been doing this sort of thing your entire life."

He sighed. "Really, the quality of megalomaniac we're dealing with leaves much to be desired on the challenge level. On a ship full of heroes? REALLY? No one is going to say 'no' to being your lackey? He deserves what he gets for being an idiot. Lucky for the ship that he's not more competent."

Meanwhile, back at the ranch [Closed to Iniss/Tom]

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