The Hunting of the Jack

begun 18-02-06 | completed: n/a

SUMMARY: When SG-1 encounters something that only Major General O'Neill can help with, they quickly discover that Jack is not only missing from Washington, but that he is not who they thought he was...

WARNINGS: Angst, AU (deviates after Prototype), Crossover, Drama, Romance

FEATURED PAIRINGS: Jarod/Miss Parker

SEASON: Season Nine

SPOILERS: Stargate SG-1 — Anything up to 909 Prototype is fair game, especially 106 Cold Lazarus, 215 The Fifth Race, 306 Point of View, 403 Upgrades, 405 Divide and Conquer, 410 Beneath The Surface, 606 Abyss, 713 Grace, 806 Affinity, 817 Threads, and 901 Avalon; MacGyver — the complete series and telemovies are fair game; The Pretender — the complete series and telemovies are fair game

DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime, Sci/Fi Channel, MGM Television, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. MacGyver and its characters are the property of Paramount, and ABC. The Pretender and its characters are the property of NBC, MTM, and TNT. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author.

THANKS: A big thank you to Karen Joy who worked hard as my Beta on this chapter.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not American, so I spell some things differently and occasionally I may use a turn of phrase that is unfamiliar (to "hang fire" means to hold off on doing something for the present moment).

xxx

Theme Song: "Rock House Jail"

— Nick Glennie-Smith, Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams [The Rock (Soundtrack), track 2]

xxx

"I was never their age."

— Jack, "Proving Ground"

"Me, I'm on my last tour. Time to start getting my thoughts together, maybe write a book. You ever think of writing a book about your exploits in the line of duty?"

— Hammond

"Ah, I've thought about it. But then I'd have to shoot anyone that actually read it." /No laughter./ "That's a joke, Sir. Most of my work the past ten years was classified."

— Jack, "Children of the Gods"

xxx

There are PRETENDERS among us.

Geniuses with the ability to become anyone they want to be.

In 1957 a corporation known as the Centre isolated a young Pretender named Angus and exploited his genius for their research.

Then, one day, their Pretender ran away...

ONE: Past Sins

P6X-992

December 19th, 2005

1456 hrs

Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell paused in his check of the camp perimeter to look at what his foot had struck. Half buried in the soft earth was a rounded object. Crouching down Mitchell brushed away the dirt from the protruding part of the object to reveal that it was made of some sort of metal. Looking up from where he squatted next to the object Mitchell spotted Jackson several metres away, making careful notes of something on a wall of the complex that had be spotted by the UAV the day before.

Calling the archaeologist over, the pair set about working the soil carefully away from the object. Eventually enough was uncovered to allow Daniel Jackson to free it from the soil and heft it in one hand. It was about the size and shape of a melon, although made from an unidentified metal. Daniel speculated that it might be naquadah, but said that would have to be determined back at the SGC. There was a series of raised marking scattered about the surface of the object, markings that were the same as those marked on the walls of the complex.

Daniel was excited by the find, which left a silly grin on Mitchell's face. He'd only been with SG-1 for about half a year now and sometimes still felt like he had yet to earn his place on the team. Following the standard set by Major General Jack O'Neill was always going to be difficult, no matter who had been chosen for the team. Lt. Colonel Carter and Teal'c broke from their tramping of the complex perimeter and joined the two men in looking over the object.

"I think you're right, Daniel, it is made of naquadah." Carter was gently rubbing her fingers over the object as if understanding could be drawn from it by touching.

"And that is important?" asked Cameron of Carter.

"Is it not the same material the stargate is made from, ColonelCarter?" Teal'c interjected.

"It is, Teal'c, which suggests that this might be some sort of device created by the Ancients who built the stargate system. Do you recognise the markings, Daniel?"

"Some," grinned Daniel. "At a guess I'd have to agree and say this is almost definitely of Ancient origin, which would make this complex a possible outpost or the start of a potential colony. If we keep looking we may find others like this scattered about the area."

"What are the chances you could accidentally set it off?" asked Mitchell.

"Not likely," replied Sam. "You need to have the ATA gene to be able to use the technology. Even of those with it, not many can actually harness the gene for use."

"So is there anyone back at the SGC who could activate it?"

The other three members of SG-1 all gave Mitchell a hard look. Teal'c responded to the question first. "All personnel at the SGC are tested for the ATA gene upon joining the establishment. Those already identified with the gene were dispatched to Atlantis."

"So that's a no then?"

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. "Not necessarily. The person who'd have the best chance at activating the device is in Washington."

At Cameron's blank look Carter added, "He's talking about Major General O'Neill."

Cameron touched the object. "He's got this ATA gene?"

"Indeed."

"So then all we need to do is request he come join us here on '992 and do his thing?"

"I guess," offered Daniel, somewhat uneasy at meeting a man who had called him friend, yet who he had ignored for the last five months.

"Okay then," said Mitchell enthusiastically as he failed to notice the mood of his three teammates, "You guys keep looking for more 'stuff' and I'll romp on back to the gate and ask then to send the old General through."

Then he was gone, marching through the deep scrub towards the stargate.

xxx

The three remaining members of SG-1 had rather awkwardly gone back to searching the ruins for more potential devices. None of them had been in contact with Jack since his transfer to the Pentagon to take over George Hammond's position as Head of Homeworld Security.

What made the whole situation so much more of a bitter pill to swallow was that the lack of communication was not the fault of Jack. In fact, the former CO of SG-1 had tried numerous times in the first two months after his transfer to make contact with the three of them.

There had been messages left on their answering machines, messages sent via the new CO of the SGC General Landry, and e-mails, the last proving that you could teach an old dog new tricks. Daniel chuckled to himself at the description of Jack as an 'old dog'. The older man probably would have put up a token protest about his age, but would have grinned all the same.

Saving the world on a regular basis meant that the three had never been at home or on base whenever he'd called, hence the messages on the answer phones. They generally found they were too tired or strung out to bother attempting to phone back, lest Jack be in a 'bouncy' mood and wanting to spar verbally with them. E-mails got lost amongst the spam and by the time they got round to checking their mail the message had usually been sitting idle for several days.

The longer they went without responding to his contacts the harder it became to try for fear of having to explain why they had essentially been ignoring him. Then three months ago, it had become obvious that Jack had 'taken the hint', even thought it was the wrong 'hint' to take. The phone calls, e-mails, and messages via Landry had ceased. Major General Jack O'Neill had given up trying to remain in contact when he had failed to get a single reply.

Daniel had wondered if perhaps they were subconsciously punishing the man for obeying orders. For leaving them at the SGC and moving away to Washington even though the man had had no choice in the matter having, according to Landry, his letter of retirement refused because it wasn't in the 'best interests of global security'. And the archaeologist wondered just what effect this estrangement was having on Sam. Before Jack's transfer, she had finally shed herself of the deadweight that was the Denver cop Pete Shanahan. Leading Daniel to believe she was finally going to conquer her fears and embark on a relationship with Jack.

Instead they'd said some stiff good-byes, Jack trying once again to reach out to her only to slam into her wall of fears. If she hadn't spoken or written to him since then, then Daniel felt that perhaps the potential relationship had died stillborn. Samantha Carter had put a good front, but when she thought nobody was looking Daniel had noticed that the loss of Jack from her life was tearing her apart. She knew what had to be done to fix the problem - talk to Jack, but her fears continued to hold her back as time marched on and she withdrew ever further into her shell.

The sudden loss of contact from Jack had been a blow to them all, and had at first proved to be something of a mobilising agent as all three of them were once again talking about the elephant in the corner of the room - their friendship with Jack O'Neill. All too soon they had been back off world and the elephant was once again ignored, lest it be disturbed and prove angry.

Now suddenly, Mitchell was putting into action a series of events that would thrust Jack back into their lives for the first time in five months and Daniel wondered if SG-1 could survive that encounter.

On the other side of the ruins, Teal'c stalked through the area, eyes like a hawk for signs of another Ancient device. He had already pushed the idea that O'Neill was returning to the back of his mind, unwilling for now to dwell on his own betrayal of his warrior brother by abandoning him on the unfamiliar, for O'Neill at least, battlefield of politics and diplomacy in Washington. Instead, the Jaf'fa was now focussed on events away from the Tau'ri that gave him concern.

There was something out there in the galaxy that hadn't been there a few short months ago. A threat that was potentially more dangerous than the Wraith, the Ori, and the Goa'uld put together if the reactions of the later two races were anything to go by. Representatives of the Free Jaf'fa that had visited Teal'c over the past months had brought report after report of a new power that had the Ori rethinking their strategies and many of the remaining System Lords on the run.

The one thing that had been consistent in the reports was that many of the worlds touched by this new force had once been home to the Ancients and perhaps whatever it was that was now on the prowl was gathering up the technology of the Ancients for its own use. Whatever it was that was out there, it had yet to turn its eyes to Earth, but Teal'c knew in his heart that is was only a matter of time before the Tau'ri homeworld fell under the gaze of this new power, due in part to the reputation the planet had acquired over the years thanks to the SGC. If the reports were true then it might just come to obtain the Ancient chair device at the outpost in Antarctica.

Thinking about the Ancients just drew the Jaf'fa's thoughts back to O'Neill and he didn't want to dwell on that for now. Thus, Teal'c shook the train of thought loose, and went to check another area.

Carter collapsed onto a rough, large stone that would serve as a seat for now. She just couldn't focus on the task at hand, not with the thought of seeing Jack again after five months of silence. Once she had seen clearly just what sort of self told lie she was buying into when she had accepted an engagement to Pete Shanahan, Sam had found it ridiculously easy to finally admit to herself that she was so deeply in love with commanding officer that there was no way she could share he life with another man.

Although Pete had loved her and had made an attempt to accommodate her needs in their shared life, she had eventually ended the relationship before her chances of backing out had ceased to exist. That her father had died at the same time had left her feeling very emotionally raw and vulnerable. Despite a few close moments with Jack while up at his cabin with the rest of SG-1, Sam had felt her walls beginning to go up again, just as strong as ever.

It was too soon she had told herself, too soon to visibly transfer her affection from her ex-fiancé to her commanding officer. She was too emotionally weak to sensibly weigh the various options to avoiding any stumbling blocks that stopped her and Jack from pursuing a relationship other than the Air Force one. He had reached out to her again and she had let her fear dictate her actions once again. Just as she had after the visit from the alternative Doctor Carter and Charlie Kawalsky, the incident with the armbands, the Zar'tac testing, and Jonah and Thera.

Each time she had retreated, as she was unable to deal with her emotions and afraid to risk what little she had in exchange for a nebulous possibility. So she'd kept him at arms length, pushing Jack even further away when she had dated and become engaged to Pete. Her hallucination of him on the Prometheus two years earlier had him saying he was a 'safe bet'. Jack had been, waiting patiently in the wings as she tried to understand what she wanted from her life.

By the time she left Pete she had worked out what she wanted. She had wanted him. Jack O'Neill. In her weakness, instead of reaching out and grabbing it with both hands Sam had said nothing and had let it slip through her fingers. Jack had been transferred away to the Pentagon and she hadn't lifted a finger to tell him what he meant to her. She was a coward, and the last five months had demonstrated that perfectly. Despite his attempts to bridge the physical distance and emotional walls between the two of them she had been unable to work up the nerve to contact him. Then he'd fallen silent three months ago. In her worst nightmares, ones that had her waking violently covered in sweat, that silence had meant only one thing. Her 'safe bet' had found someone else. She had waited too long and lost Jack.

Now her Jack was going to be coming back to the SGC. He was going to be off world with her once more. In her heart she knew this would probably be her last chance to explain to him just how she felt, that she was finally ready to sacrifice whatever other parts of her life she needed to in order to have him in her life.

xxx

The White House

December 19th, 2005

1545 hrs

President Hayes sat staring at the man in the chair opposite him.

"That is quite some story you have just spun me, Jarod. How much of it is true?"

"All of it, Mr President. The Centre had been at this research and exploitation since shortly after World War Two. They've managed to produce at least a dozen Pretenders in the years since, although not all of their attempts have been as successful as me."

"In what way?" the President questioned. Henry Hayes was intrigued at what he'd learnt, although another part of him was just as sickened by the treatment of the children and their families involved.

"Only a dozen over the last five decades have ever managed to escape the Centre complex to try and build normal lives. Those that didn't escape have not survived more than three decades inside, with the exception of the empath Angelo, as they didn't consider him a potential threat. Of those that did manage to escape, only myself and one other have managed to stay ahead of the Centre's sweeper teams."

"And now you are here."

Jarod nodded. "I was able to obtain enough information," Jarod held up a set of CDs, "that would enable the Centre to be closed down and those involved made accountable for what they have done."

"This is about revenge for what they did to you and your family then?"

A scowl marred Jarod's otherwise handsome face. "No, Sir. This is about being responsible for their actions. It is about my family being left in peace. It is about me being able to finally stop running and build a life of my own."

Hayes shuffled in his seat. "So if I give the go ahead to pull the Centre apart that means you and this other... 'Pretender' can stop running?"

Jarod nodded with a small smile. Perhaps things were going to go his way.

"I will allow this happen, Jarod, as long as I can suggest something to you."

"What suggestion?" The younger man was weary now. What sort of demand were they going to make in return for him being able to have a life.

"We have an organisation, a division of the Air Force actually, based in Colorado that could do to benefit from your abilities. I'd like for you to consider taking on a position with them in return for the closing down of the Centre."

"The Centre had me planning a lot of things I am no longer comfortable with, espionage, assassination, and the like. You aren't asking me to become a part of that world again are you?"

Hayes shook his head. "The Colorado base is nothing like that. It is a joint military and civilian organisation with a focus on medical and scientific exploration. You won't be asked to be involved in any kind of Black Ops routine, I can assure you."

"Then I'll be happy to accept your offer, Mr. President."

"Excellent son, now have you ever 'pretended' to be Air Force before?"

Jarod nodded. "That will make things easier for you then, Jarod, as we can slot you into the existing Air Force structure in Colorado. How do you feel about being an Air Force Major?"

"I think I like that just fine, Sir." The two men shared a grin.

"Good. You can stay here tonight while we get your new life all sorted and I have my people set about cutting the Centre's support from beneath it. Is there anything else that I can arrange for you?"

Jarod scuffed a booted shoe on the carpet. "Well, there is one other thing, Sir."

"Go on son, I'm listening."

"I'm in a relationship with Miss Parker, the daughter of one of the Centre's more prominent leaders. I guess I'm asking for some sort of immunity for her."

Hayes reached out and put a comforting hand on Jarod's shoulder. "How about you invite her here and we'll have you two married under your new identities? That way she can simply join you in Colorado as your wife?"

"It might work, but I'm afraid she might go insane trying to play the housewife, Sir."

"Does she have any skills?"

"She was part of a Centre sweeper team, so she knows a lot about security, surveillance, and tracking people. She also has some unusual abilities thanks to the genetic intervention of the Centre."

Henry considered things for a moment. Perhaps his somewhat rash offer to Jarod to have the couple both in Colorado was going to pay off better than he thought. "Maybe I could look into her serving with the same Colorado organisation as you, but on the civilian side as a sort of security consultant. Do you think she would accept that?"

Jarod agreed that in principle that the plan Hayes had sketched out had the potential to work. They both stood and shook hands, Hayes sending an aide to organise a room for Jarod and Miss Parker to bunk until they could both be posted to Colorado.

When the aide was gone the President turned to Jarod once more. "You said that there was one other 'Pretender' out there?"

"Yes, Sir. He escaped from the Centre quite young."

"What is he like?"

"I have no idea, Sir. I only knew of his existence because of the records I found." Jarod tapped the CDs sitting on the desk. "He was the Centre's first Pretender, taken from his parents in 1957. His name was Angus and he managed to escape the Centre around 1967."

"Then there is a good chance that if he created a life for himself that he might have been drafted into the Vietnam War. I'll have my people see if they can dig up any anomalous records."

"Why do you want him, Sir? He's been under the radar for about forty-five years now."

Hayes sighed. "Jarod, if he's even half as good as you are then I don't care how old he is or what he has been doing since he escaped the Centre. We need people like you at the Colorado base."

"What they do there must be very important, Sir," responded Jarod.

"Very much so, is that all you have on this 'Angus'?"

Jarod opened a folder and passed a photo to the President. "Not everything. I managed to get this picture of him at the age of sixteen, just before he fled the Centre."

Hayes felt a knot in his stomach. In his trembling hands he held a photo of what looked like a very young Major General Jack O'Neill.

xxx

Jarod had retired from the office to make contact with Miss Parker and make her aware of the proposed arrangements. He was then going to slip away in order to meet up with her and bring her back to the White House where they would spend the day sorting out their new identities.

However it was the identity of the only other Pretender to remain free and out of the hands of the Centre that had Hayes worried. Straight after Jarod left, the President had called the Pentagon, leaving a message that he wanted to see Major General Jack O'Neill straight away.

He was tapping his fountain pen against the pad of paper on his desk when the phone finally rang.

"So you got hold of him?" he asked the man at the other end of the phone, SGC-Pentagon liaison Major Paul Davis.

"No, Sir."

"No? Where the blazes is the man then, at the SGC?"

"No, Sir. In fact no one has any idea where General O'Neill is."

"No idea. He's head of Homeworld Security. A man in that position can't just go missing!" Hayes was livid now. Had O'Neill thought his identity had been compromised and had slipped away like a phantom at the break of day?

He could hear Davis sigh at the other end of the line. "Sir, obviously you were unaware of the shuffle that took place three and a half months ago here at the Pentagon."

"Shuffle?"

"More like musical chairs, Sir. There are twelve positions and they had thirteen Generals on staff. During the 'shuffle' O'Neill was moved from the Homeworld Security portfolio."

"And, where does the man work now?"

"That is just it, Sir. As I said, there were only twelve positions and thirteen Generals. When the music stopped, take a guess as to who was left without a chair?"

Hayes slumped in his seat. "O'Neill," he said sadly.

"Yes, Sir. As near as I can tell he was told to hang fire for a couple of weeks while his new placement was decided."

"Why didn't I know about all this? After all I approved Hammond's plan to put Jack as Head of Homeworld Security in the first place."

"If I was paranoid enough, Sir," began Davis, "And I think I meet that requirement, I would have to say that you were never meant to find out; at least not this soon anyway."

"You're not making sense, Davis. Get to the point," the President insisted.

"I think the shuffle and the extra General was done on purpose to remove O'Neill from the Pentagon loop. After all if you were going to get rid of him his work colleagues would miss him when he failed to show at work..."

"But if he didn't have a position at the time and no staff under him then no one would notice if he was missing?"

There was a pause. "Yes, Sir. I already took the liberty of sending a team over to O'Neill's Washington apartment. The rent has been paid up to the end of the year, but it is obvious that no one has been there in three months. There are signs of a break in and a scuffle. I think we have a missing General on our hands, Sir."

"Shit," muttered the President. "Fine, start digging, I want you to find out what you can about what happened to him, work out who went after him and why, and have it to me ASAP."

"Sir."

The line went dead. Before he had time to process the second bombshell of the day President Hayes noticed that he had an incoming call from the SGC. What else could go wrong? He pressed the button and took the call.

"This is the President."

"Sir, this is General Landry at the SGC."

"What can I do for you, General?"

The General cleared his throat. "We've been trying for the last couple of hours to get a hold of General O'Neill. We've come across something that we need his expertise with Ancient technology for, Sir. I got General Foggerty at Homeworld Security and was hoping you'd know where O'Neill had been reassigned."

"I've bad news for you Landry. As near as we can tell O'Neill has been missing for the last three months and it looks like foul play."

"Shit. Sorry, Sir," Landry apologised for his outburst.

"No problem, General. That was my reaction too. We've got men on the problem, but you're going to have to deal with your scientific conundrum some other way till we find out what happened to O'Neill."

"Sir."

"Is that all General?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Then one last thing before you sign off. O'Neill's disappearance isn't common knowledge. I'd like it if you kept mum about this till I give you orders other wise."

"Understood, Sir. Good bye."

xxx

P6X-992

December 19th, 2005

1748 hrs

Mitchell had returned to the ruins as the rest of SG-1 had taken a break to establish camp. He held up his hands and shook his head as he got closer and was able to take in their somewhat pensive facial expressions.

"No go I'm afraid," he explained as he got within speaking distance. "According to Landry, General O'Neill is currently unavailable according to the Pentagon."

"Oh." For someone who could run on and on, talking without stopping for a breath, it was almost amusing to see Carter reduced to a monosyllable response.

"What do you mean not available, he's stuck behind a desk now isn't he?" Daniel was a little lost at how Jack could be unavailable when spending his days pushing paper. Could it be that Jack didn't want anything to with them, even if it meant sacrificing the opportunity to go off world?

"I'm just repeating what the General told me," replied Cameron. He fixed his three teammates with a piercing look. "Why are you guys upset anyway? None of you looked happy at the prospect of having General O'Neill paying us a visit."

None of them would meet his gaze.

"So, what did O'Neill do that pissed you off? From the stories I heard I always figured you four were a tight group."

"Jack didn't do anything," ventured Daniel. "Just pleased let it go for now Cameron."

The Lt. Colonel and still relatively new member of SG-1 gave his teammates another quick look, deciding that he'd been right in his first assessment. Something about having O'Neill visit had distressed them. He would have to make a few inquiries when they returned to the SGC.

"So what are we to do with the Ancient device?" asked Teal'c.

"Send it back to the SGC," said Carter, glad that the topic of conversation had changed to something other than their treatment of Jack. "The lab techs can have a poke at it and if they haven't made any progress Daniel and I can take a look when we return to Earth."

"And if you can't puzzle it out?" Cameron probed.

Carter drew her lips into a thin tight line and avoided the renewed mention of O'Neill by leaving the campground. Daniel rounded on the younger man and glared at him. "I told you to let it go, Mitchell."

Cameron stared back at Daniel levelly, unflinching in his gaze. "Even just a veiled mention of the General gets your backs up. I want to know what happened between you four 'cause I certainly don't want to be stepping on a live mine when they retrieve O'Neill from wherever he currently is and send him to the SGC to sort out this alien object."

The Jaf'fa in their midst flexed his shoulders and let out a tiny sigh. "I understand your point, ColonelMitchell. However we are not angry with O'Neill."

That took Cameron by surprise, as he'd been damn sure that his teammates were angry, and had been ever since O'Neill had first been mentioned in connection with the Ancient device. "If you're not angry then what is the problem?"

"I did not say that we were not angry. It is ourselves that we are angry with," explained Teal'c.

Mitchell threw a look at the archaeologist he was standing next to. "Could you translate that for me, as I fail to see how being angry at yourselves would mean you were reluctant to see the General?"

"Jack was transferred to the Pentagon five months ago," began Daniel, hoping that by explaining it to someone on the outside of their quartet it would help resolve things in his own mind and give him the courage to not avoid O'Neill when it finally came time to meet with him once more.

"Yeah, that's common knowledge. You're not upset at his leaving are you?"

"I considered that," admitted Daniel, prompting a raised eyebrow from his Jaf'fa friend. "But the reality of situation is we're angry with ourselves for ruining a beautiful friendship through neglect."

"Neglect?"

Daniel dropped down next to the pit prepared for that evening's campfire and played with a piece of long grass. Cameron crouched down next to him, waiting for the man to explain, while Teal'c remained standing, one eye keeping watch on the direction Colonel Carter had departed in.

"I don't know how to explain it. Ever since Jack was promoted to CO of the SGC there'd been some sort of barrier there. We didn't socialise with him as much as we used to, although that was our fault as we'd 'forget' to invite him." Daniel wiggled his fingers in the air, grass stalk bouncing, as he made the sign for quotes. "Sam got engaged to Pete and it has all seemed downhill from there, hardly talking except during briefings. Then Sam's dad died, she dumped Pete and for a moment it was like that past year and a bit had never happened. We were all friends again."

"And then O'Neill was transferred?"

Daniel nodded. "And despite him phoning, e-mailing or trying other avenues, the three of us just neglected to write or call him back. And the longer it dragged on the easier it was to *not* reply instead of acknowledging just how bad we were treating him."

"And now?" asked Cameron, beginning to understand why his teammates had been so uncomfortable. The guilt they were carrying must have reached an almost crushing point.

"Now, Jack hasn't bothered to try and contact us for the last three months. Teal'c and I are worried that Jack no longer considers us friends."

"Colonel Carter?"

"Is worried that O'Neill has found a different mate," supplied Teal'c, shocking both Cameron and Daniel for different reasons.

"I don't think that was something you should have shared with Mitchell."

"Why not, DanielJackson? It is the reality of the situation. ColonelCarter has been unable to overcome her fears and now worries that she has lost her chance."

"Colonel Carter and General O'Neill?" Cameron was stunned.

Daniel slapped the ground in front of the Lt. Colonel. "They've not broken any regs, Mitchell; they've never done anything other than some slight flirting. They've not even told each other how they feel."

The archaeologist could feel the Jaf'fa behind him shuffle his feet. "Care to share, Teal'c?"

The larger man cleared his throat. "O'Neill and ColonelCarter were forced to reveal their feelings to prove that they were not Zar'tacs."

Daniel was on his feet, almost bowling Cameron over in the process. "You're only telling me this now? That was over four years ago! You mean they both knew how the other felt and they did nothing?"

"O'Neill attempted to discuss a possible relationship with her in the immediate aftermath of that particular revelation. I believe he attempted the same after Doctor Carter's visit and living as Jonah and Thera."

Mitchell struggled to follow what the Jaf'fa was saying and realised he really needed to go over SG-1's old mission reports more thoroughly.

"And?" asked Daniel of his long time alien friend.

"In each case I understand ColonelCarter let her fears get the better of her. She shut him out and refused any attempt to discuss the subject."

Yanking his glasses from his face Daniel cast his eyes to the ground as if in pain. "Sam, Sam, Sam," he muttered in disappointment.

Daniel figured that if all this had been going on in the background, it was no wonder Jack had taken the engagement to Pete Shanahan in his stride. He had obviously believed for some time that he had no chance with Sam if she had shot down the possibility of them being together at least three times. Was this why Sam was so upset? That she had finally summoned the courage to say 'yes' to such a conversation with Jack, only to find him no longer asking?

"I'm going to find Sam and talk to her. This has to be eating her alive."

Teal'c nodded in acceptance. "ColonelMitchell and I will finish the establishment of the camp."

"Thanks, Teal'c. See you soon. You too, Cameron, thanks for caring enough to get us to talk about this."

"Sure," responded Mitchell, now aware of the can of worms he'd forced open.

Daniel slipped his glasses back onto his nose and moved away into the long grass in the direction that Sam had left the camp. Behind him stood two men, both gazing into the distance as they engaged in conversations with themselves. Meanwhile he stomped his way across the wild terrain, taking note of anything that indicated that Sam had walked this way. Despite training as an archaeologist, Daniel had, after eight years as part of the SGC, picked up quite of a lot of 'on the job' training in the ways of the Air Force. That Jack had had training in other disciplines meant that the sum total of knowledge about how to conduct yourself on foreign soil that Daniel had learnt over that time was considerable and varied. As such he found it quite easy to track Sam's departure through the scrub, although to be fair to his tracking skills it wasn't like Sam had made any attempt to disguise her trail.

He found her perched on a large rock that jutted out of the ground at a forty-five degree angle, a rock which he idly speculated, as he came closer, to be something thrown up there during an earthquake. Although Sam had given no verbal sign that she knew he was there, Daniel hadn't missed the tensing of her body even as he had pondered the rock upon which she sat. He walked closer, no attempting to disguise his approach. If she really didn't want to talk to him then he was going to give her every opportunity to tell him to get lost.

With nothing to dissuade him, Daniel pulled himself up onto the shelf of stone and sat down beside, dangling his legs over the edge as she had done. He threw his gaze up to the sun, which was now much closer to the horizon, casting everything with a sort of yellowy-orange glow. Wanting her to be the first to speak, Daniel searched his BDUs in an elaborate pocket-slapping exercise for a candy bar. Coming up trumps with his thigh zip pocket he casually unwrapped the chocolate covered excuse for food and began eating, tearing off a big chunk to begin with. He poked the torn end in front of Sam's face and waited for her to bite.

The blonde's hand whipped out and snagged the bar from Daniel's outstretched hand, the unwrapped part of the candy snack disappearing into her mouth. Sam giggled sadly and said, "You don't fight fair, Daniel."

"Never said I did," he breezed. "I would never win in a straight fight with most people at the SGC, so it is up to me to win by using my old grey matter."

For a while both just stared out at the scenery, not making an attempt to talk about the issue that had upset SG-1.

"Do you think I still have a chance, Daniel?" Sam's small and cracked voice broke the silence that had settled upon the two.

Daniel looked at Sam and gave a small smile. "Sam, Jack has waited for you all these years, despite your shutting him out time and again."

The woman winced and couldn't meet Daniel's eyes. "Teal'c filled you in on the Zar'tac moment huh? Not one of my finest moments. Even now I wish I could go back in time and slap myself silly for not talking to him about it."

"Yeah," sighed Daniel. "Teal'c explained about that, and don't think I'm not a little hurt to only find out about that now some five years down the track. He also mentioned Doctor Carter and Jonah."

"So many chances."

The young man nodded. "Nothing has really changed, Sam. Jack kept giving you chances. Even after everything that happened with Pete, one of the first things he did when that was all over was to ask you to go fishing." Sam's eyes grew wide. Pressing on Daniel added, "And if Jack was willing to wait through all that and still give you another chance, do you really think that a little distance and five months is going to stop Jack from giving you another chance?" Carter's hand rubbed over the rough texture of the rock that they sat on. "Just, Sam, don't let your own fears shut him out when he asks again. Jack's just an ordinary person, like you and I, and us humans have fragile egos. I don't know how many times you can keep rejecting him and expect him to bounce back."

"Never," growled Sam.

"Sam?"

Sam held Daniel's gaze with her own, pinning the archaeologist with a look like that of a hawk spotting its prey. "He's never going to have to bounce back ever again, Daniel. When I finally get to talk to him again I am going to let him know in no uncertain terms that I want to be an important part of his life."

Daniel broke out into a huge grin. "Good for you, Sam. Just don't forget these good intentions when you do end up face to face with him. Teal'c, Cameron, and myself can back you up only so far. The words and the feelings behind them all have to be your own."

Sam giggled. "Yeah, the image of you pledging your undying love to Jack is somewhat disturbing!"

"Arggh!" mock growled Daniel, which got another giggle from Carter. "As if all the stupid rumours that used to float around the SGC were bad enough!"

"Oh," began Carter playfully. "What rumours would these be Doctor Daniel 'Beefcake' Jackson?"

xxx

The White House

December 20th, 2005

0957 hrs

Henry Hayes had a quiet breakfast with the newly married couple of Jarod and Elizabeth Stewart, during which the pair had regaled the President with tales of hunter and the hunted. They had been married prior to the morning meal, so the bowls of cereal and fresh fruit passed for the wedding breakfast. Neither were upset or offended by the lack of celebration, instead they were happy to reassure the older man that being both married and able to start new lives away from the interference of the Centre was more than enough to be starting with.

The night before their respective identities had been arranged then slipped into the various electronic databases spread across the country they would eventually have to deal with. USAF Major Jarod Stewart and his wife, civilian security consultant Elizabeth Stewart were expected at the SGC in Colorado Springs by 2100 this evening for their debriefing about the Stargate programme. They would be staying overnight on the base, but tomorrow would spend the day fitting out their new home, which had already been selected and paid for by the government.

They would have time to settle in as Jarod would not be expected to travel off world until early January and Elizabeth was not due to begin her work till late January. President Hayes had plans for the couple that would keep them busy until they were ready to undertake their new SGC duties. He needed for them to uncover what they could about what the Centre knew about the original 'Pretender' Angus and his movements since escaping the Centre in 1967. Henry Hayes' gut feeling was that the Centre's missing 'Pretender' Angus was in fact his missing Air Force General O'Neill. If that was true, he needed to know everything he could about Angus.

The fact that Jack had seemingly been forcibly removed from his Washington apartment could mean one of two things. Either the Centre had finally caught up with Angus, or that one of Jack O'Neill's numerous enemies, both human and alien, had taken him. If he could get Jarod and Elizabeth to eliminate the Centre scenario it would help simplify where to look for the investigative team that Major Paul Davis was currently assembling to begin working on O'Neill's abduction and on getting him back if at all possible. While they had a few with the ATA gene, none were as powerful as Jack and Earth needed him just in case they needed to use the Ancient chair in Antarctica again for the defence of the planet.

"So you need us to learn what the Centre knows about Angus, this original 'Pretender'-boy?" asked Elizabeth in summary.

Hayes nodded in the affirmative.

"Why?"

Jarod had an amused grin on his face at the way his new wife was dealing with the President if the United States. He had to admit that he too was caught by the sudden interest the man had in Angus. Although they had both been prisoners of the Centre at the same time for a few years, Jarod and Angus had never had the opportunity to meet as he had with some of the other 'Pretenders'.

Sighing, Hayes reached for the folder he had sitting on the edge of the breakfast table and passed it to the couple. Elizabeth got to the file first and opened it with her manicured fingernails, Jarod opting to look at it from over her right shoulder. He threw a look at Hayes upon seeing the colour photograph paper-clipped to the first page.

"That's Angus! Where did you get the photo from?"

"It is not Angus," explained Hayes. "His name is Jon O'Neill and he is an eighteen year old boy living in Colorado Springs. I thought it better that you know of his existence now before you stumble across him while there and mistake him for Angus."

"But how?" probed Elizabeth.

"Another clone," suggested Jarod, looking hard at the President. He hadn't liked being cloned himself, managing to help his clone begin a new life away from the Centre.

The President nodded, remembering Jarod mentioning the creation of his clone. "Jon is a clone."

"Created by the Centre?"

"No, Jarod," answered Henry. "I can't explain how Jon was created until after your debriefing at the SGC. Until then you will just have to accept my word that the Centre had no hand in the creation of Jon O'Neill. What I can tell you is that Jon is a clone of one of my people who worked at the SGC."

"You think that your man at the SGC might be Angus?" Elizabeth's interest was piqued. The original 'Pretender' had fooled a secret project like the SGC for obviously quite some time.

"Yes, I do. Although we had no idea that he was not who he appeared to be until Jarod showed me the photo he had in his file of Angus. The resemblance to Jon O'Neill was just too much of a coincidence."

"So, we'll get to meet Angus at the SGC," pressed Jarod, a little excited at the prospect of meeting the original 'Pretender', one who had avoided the Centre for over four decades.

"Actually, he was transferred to work here in Washington at the Pentagon some five months ago."

"I sense a 'but' there," noted Elizabeth.

The President slumped back in his chair at the breakfast table. "After talking to you yesterday and spotting the similarity between Jon and Angus, I tried to organise a meeting with our possible 'Pretender'. Only to discover that he's been missing for the last three months and that it appears that he was forcibly taken from his apartment.

That's why I'm asking to try and find out how much the Centre really knew about Angus and his movements. I need to eliminate the Centre as one of the possible perpetrators of the abduction."

"Sounds like Angus had a lot of enemies," drawled Elizabeth with a lazy kind of smile.

"He did. Does. But when we find him don't call him Angus as I'd rather not have everybody know he was a Pretender just yet."

"Really?" smirked the woman.

"This is Major General Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neill," announced Hayes dropping a photo of the man in dress blues onto the table.

The Stewarts could immediately see the resemblance to both the clone Jon and the photo of the young Angus.

"Fine," stated Jarod, who was backed up by a nod from his wife. "Once we're established in Colorado Springs and up to speed with things there, we'll start working on the Centre angle."

xxx

George Hammond's house, Colorado Springs

1013 hrs

The retired Air Force General was distracted from his pottering about in the garden by the call of his daughter-in-law Allison, who was standing on the back porch with the cordless phone in one hand.

"Who is it, Allison?" he called to her, reluctant to be called away from his fine garden without good reason.

The younger woman looked somewhat embarrassed at this and cupping a hand over the mouthpiece cried back, "It's the President." Once she had said the caller's name she seemed to go a little white as if only just realising who was on the other end of the line.

Well, mused Hammond sadly, there's the good reason to be called away from my garden. Picking himself up off the mat he was using to keep his knees clear of dirt, he straightened up and felt his back protest at the action. With a shrug of his shoulders he wandered towards the porch as Allison moved down the steps to meet him, passing him the phone as she did so.

"Mr President," acknowledged Hammond while his son's wife hovered discreetly in the background, still reeling somewhat at the nature of the caller. "How can I help you?"

"We've a problem with Jack." Hammond could almost hear the tired resignation in the Commander and Chief's voice. George had to wonder what was wrong given that President Hayes was actually one of those who generally backed Jack O'Neill in his position as Head of Homeworld Security. Had Jack finally done something silly to piss of the head of state?

"Problem, Sir?" Might as well get to the root cause of the problem right away Hammond sighed.

"As near as we can tell Major General Jonathan O'Neill went missing from his apartment here in Washington some time around September fifteenth. There were signs of a forced entry and a struggle George."

Hammond almost dropped the phone at the news he'd been given. "If he's been missing for three months why are you only calling me now?"

"Well, here's the kicker, George," began Hayes. "We only worked out he was missing yesterday."

The retired General had to reign in his sudden feeling of anger, knowing that yelling at the President and calling him an idiot wasn't going to achieve anything. It might make him feel better, but then Hayes wouldn't be likely to include him in the manhunt. With more restraint than he really felt, George asked, "How did he come to be noticed as missing?"

President Hayes then began to fill Hammond in on the various goings on of the past day and a bit, detailing exactly what was known and what was being done in attempt to recover the missing General. When the call was over all George could manage to do was find one of the cane chairs on the porch and fall into it. Missing for three months and no one had noticed. That Jack had been purposefully shuffled out of his position as Head of Homeworld Security was ringing the same alarm bells for George as it was for the President. Someone out there with a lot of political clout was moving people like chess pieces, positioning them for some as yet undetected scheme.

So now George found himself called back to duty once more despite having thought himself finally retired. He wasn't actually going to be taking over any particular job, given that Foggerty was now Director of Homeworld Security and Hayes wasn't going to replace the man as that would only serve to rock the boat and tip off the enemy in the shadows that their plan had been rumbled. Instead the President had seen fit to make Hammond part of the team that Major Davis was putting together on the quiet to investigate Jack's kidnapping.

George sighed deeply, knowing that in a moment or two he was going to have to enter the house and explain that he'd been summoned to Washington for an emergency. This wasn't going to be fun since he'd already booked the time ahead as a baby-sitter for his two granddaughters.

"George, what's wrong? Why was the President calling you on the phone?"

Hammond threw a look at his daughter-in-law Allison who had been watching him all this time since he'd taken the call from Washington. "I've be called to Washington for an emergency, Allison. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take a rain check on baby-sitting Tessa and Kayla."

"Oh no, George, why? The girls are going to be crushed, not to mention that John and I were looking forward to spending some time by ourselves."

George Hammond sighed in frustration at the situation he was being placed in, but knew that this was something that he had to be involved in. He owed Jack that much. "I'm sorry, Allison, if the President had been asking about anything else I would have said no. But for this I have to go."

That shocked Allison, her shoulders slumping to make her seem a little smaller than she had been moments before. "What's wrong?"

"A man who was once under my command has gone missing in suspicious circumstances. I've been asked to help those charged with locating and retrieving him." This whole thing was completely FUBAR and Hammond had the sinking feeling that it was only going to get worse from here on in. That alone would have been enough for him to say no to Henry Hayes had it been something else gone wrong, but with Jack's life possibly on the line Hammond knew in his heart that he had to be involved. If he didn't and Jack turned up dead, he knew he'd spend the rest of his life blaming himself for not helping.

"When do you have to go?" asked Allison quietly, giving in as she recognised the determination in her father-in-law's eyes.

"Today, as soon as possible. Whoever did this to Jack already has a big head start on us."

Allison nodded, stating, "I'll look after booking the ticket, you go and pack."

Hammond displayed the traits of a good soldier and did as ordered.

xxx

SGC

December 20th, 2005

1345 hrs

Daniel looked at the object on the desk before him, his mind focusing out the clutter of books and paper that swallowed the rest of the table. It had taken a little slight of hand and a rather lame distraction for him to spirit it away from Sam's lab under her nose. He'd had the Ancient device in his possession for some fifteen minutes and was expecting a very irate Lt. Colonel to come bursting through his office door, demanding the gadget back again.

He had taken the alien 'thing' for two reasons. First, it was such an interesting little doohickey that he just had to take a better look at it and Sam had been hogging it all to herself in her lab since SG-1 had returned from P6X-992 the previous evening. Secondly, Daniel figured that Sam was using the device as a distraction from thinking about Jack and his possible return to the SGC to see if the device would react to the ATA gene he possessed. Since that meant she'd clearly been up almost the entire night studying the mechanism, Daniel felt that by removing said device from her she would be forced to take some time for herself and spend it catching up on sleep and food.

Daniel knew himself well enough now, thanks to eight years of pithy observations from Jack in the peanut gallery, that his actions in obtaining the object weren't as entirely altruistic as he so often liked to trick himself into believing in the past, and was happy that he was now able to acknowledge the fact. But the idea that he had taken the device as much to help Sam as to assuage his own curiosity did help to take the bite out of Jack's assertion that, with a new 'rock' to play with Daniel tended to put his own needs first and above other considerations.

The archaeologists straightened up, his back protesting slightly at his sitting for so long hunched up over the device. If he could identify what it was then he was sure he could deflect Carter's anger of his taking the object in the first place and instead engage her curiosity. He was sure he could identify it, the shape and design of the Ancient device tickling a memory in his mind. That usually meant that he'd either seen one on the other side of the stargate at some point, he'd come across it on a dig, or in some dusty tome about ancient civilisations.

In a blinding flash Daniel suddenly realised that he had seen a similar object before and that he knew where he could locate the information concerning it, when a flushed Samantha Carter came storming into his office with Teal'c at her heels. She rounded on him, index finger already up in the air and ready to waggle as she launched into some sermon about filching things from her lab without permission, her eyes ablaze with righteous fury. Daniel was just glad at that moment that he had established what the object was as he was sure he didn't want to experience whatever punishment Sam was sure to hand out after her impassioned lecture on stealing.

"Daniel," she began in an almost growl, obviously starting as she meant to continue.

Daniel decided to save her the effort, and his own hide, by holding up a hand to forestall any further talking. He could almost hear Jack lazily and rather sarcastically commenting 'There's altruism for you.'

"Sam, I know what it is."

That simple statement had clearly shorted the astrophysicist's mind as her mouth just hung open after the utterance of 'Daniel' and her eyes widened. Teal'c could see that unless he began asking questions there was a good chance that the three of them would be here all night until ColonelCarter started processing reality once more.

"You have identified the device, DanielJackson?"

"I have Teal'c," replied Daniel with a big grin. It wasn't everyday that you could silence the Lt. Colonel and he was thankful that he'd been able to do so when she'd been planning to do him some damage.

"What is it?" finally managed Sam, shaking her head as if to loosen any cobwebs that had potentially formed in her mind during her brief downtime.

Climbing from his stool and running his hands across the multitude of books on display on his many bookshelves, Daniel's fingers sought out the volume he wanted. He identified the light blue hardback toward the end of one set of shelving, the removal of the book almost setting off an avalanche of heavy books onto the three of them. The young man opened the book and then closed it again quickly with a thump, which caused a cloud of dust to be expelled from the pages and into the air. This might have rendered the volume a little less dusty, however also had the effect of setting Daniel off on a set of sneezes.

Getting the sneezes under control with a bright red and black handkerchief Daniel returned to his desk and set the book down on the table, hand running across the hard cover as if smoothing it down.

"You might like this volume, Sam."

"Why?" enquired the blonde woman.

"This one is by a Doctor A. MacGyver."

For the second time in the conversation Daniel watched as the woman's eyes widened in surprise. Twice in one day, he mused. Things had to be looking up for him.

"Is that not the scientist that you have often spoken of with almost reverent terms, ColonelCarter?" asked the Jaf'fa, wanting to make sense of the situation.

Sam could only nod her head in response, before asking a question of her own as Daniel searched through the pages of Relics of the Desert, "I didn't know he was an archaeologist too?"

"He's not," answered Daniel. "It seems that archaeology was a hobby for the good Doctor, although admittedly a hobby he was very good at. This is the only book he published on the subject, but he did also write over a dozen papers on a variety of topics. Combined with what you've told me about his scientific qualifications and problem solving ability, it seems like he is something of a Jack of all trades."

"What does he have to do with O'Neill?"

Daniel glanced up from the pages of the book at Teal'c. "Nothing, it's just another one of those strange Tau'ri sayings."

"And you think you've found our Ancient device in his book?" asked Sam, prodding the conversation back onto its original topic.

The younger man nodded, feeling extremely pleased with himself for cracking part of their problem already. "Doctor MacGyver went on a dig in Egypt with a small team to a previously undiscovered archaeological site where they uncovered this."

With a flourish Daniel stopped turning the pages of the volume and turned it so that the other two could see the pages. There in a glossy black and white photograph that took up half the page was an object that was a dead ringer for the once that Mitchell had stumbled across on P6X-992. Sam ran her fingers over the photo and cast her gaze to the identical device sitting innocently on Daniel's desk. From what she could tell from the photograph, the two items were a definite pair.

"They are indeed the same. What is our course of action now?"

The two humans looked at each other, realising that Teal'c had once again cut to the core of the situation. However they both then came to understand that they hadn't actually thought beyond identifying the object.

"Well, the best thing to do would be to see if we can get a look at the one Doctor MacGyver dug up back in 1986. Failing that, we could track down the good Doctor and see if he can help us."

Sam nodded, agreeing with that plan of action. "So, where is the item in question?"

"Unfortunately I have no idea. This book doesn't have any information on how the items from the dig were dealt with. I imagine that it is on display somewhere or in storage. I'm going to get in contact with those archaeologist friends of mine who I didn't manage to scare off with my 'aliens made the pyramids' papers and see what they can tell me."

"Can we help?" asked the Jaf'fa, and the three of them began making plans.