Bargain Shopping
"Look, the price we're offering you is more than fair."
He sits at a table, listening to Jackson try to sweet talk the kidnappers into giving them a deal. On off-world trips they only bring so much currency, which the SGC and IOA, ideally, want them to return with.
"And what we're thinking—" The first guy, a big, sweaty, burly guy with lots of facial hair, is picking his teeth with a knife, which wouldn't have even impressed him twenty years ago. "—is that if you can afford that amount, then it shouldn't be a problem for you to afford more."
"We're not ATMs." He finishes his drink, some bullshit watered-down off-world version of cheap, warm beer, and tries to wipe the sour look off his face when he manages a glance in the direction of the room they're holding her in.
"Meaning?" The first guy turns to his associate, a very gangly, pale guy who looks like he lost a lot of blood and never recovered.
"Meaning, their funds are not limitless."
"Then we'll just have to find a buyer more in our range."
Before they fully push away from the table, Jackson halts them by raising his hand, and the two idiots share a smirk. "You're ware dealers aren't you?" They glance at each other and don't offer him an answer. He sighs, leaning across the table. "Like, you sell weapons and not-so-legal things."
"That's right," the second nods.
Jackson sees where he's headed with the questioning, and chimes in. "I'm sorry—but I'm failing to see how kidnapping a member of the SGC falls into your code of conduct."
"Because—" the first guy leans in, he smells awful and is at least ten times sweatier than when they first met him. "She's a fine specimen and if you don't want to buy her back, there's plenty of men who'll—"
He retrieves the currency from his side pocket, a wad that could choke a donkey, and slaps it on the table before the guy can go any further. "That's all we have. Double what you're asking. This deal is done."
The guys share another smirk before the pale one counts the cash and the gross one goes to get her, and he's sure he's gonna get a mouthful from her about just how unhygienic these two bozos are.
"Did you really just give them all our money?" Jackson harshly whispers at him but only sounds a bit upset.
"Yeah." He trains his eyes on the door, waiting to see her condition, waiting for her to kick the ass of the gross one so he can slam the accountant headfirst into the table.
"Why?"
Hears the struggle, the sound of her boots impacting rolls of fat and probably her knee connecting against the guy's jaw. With a swoop, he reaches forward, and yanks the gangly one by his shirt collar before slamming him into the table and kicking him in the gut.
While picking up the scattered cash, he glances back to Jackson who's sort of stuck blinking as she rounds the corner, dusting off her BDU pants.
"To get her back."