Just a little fun AU written for the Mad March challenge several months ago.

Versus

by Bekah See

Dr. Helen Magnus moved silently through the deserted streets of the Old City, timing her muffled footsteps with the dripping of rain from the gutters above. Her "quarry" was close; she could sense the presence of life very near her, though she could not tell exactly where. Like a shadow the doctor flitted from building to building, weapon at the ready, senses alert to any movement in the darkness.

To her left, she glimpsed another phantom using the cover of night to navigate the streets, and without thinking, she turned and fired. The corner of a building exploded in a shower of concrete, but the figure was gone. Magnus hurried to the spot and, pressing her back flat against the building she had just wounded, she peered carefully around the corner. Nothing moved. Weak light from the street lamps filtered down through the damp air, lending a watery sort of illumination to the scene. She sighed. This game had gone on for close to two hours, and she was becoming tired of it. For the thousandth time she silently berated her daughter for "volunteering" her to go up against an officer of the air force in a simulated combat situation complete with the crawling mists that never seemed to leave the city, and the lovely scent of rot and decay that accompanied the pervading damp.

Magnus eased around the building, alert for any nearby presence. She supposed her ability to sense life around her gave her a certain advantage, but Samantha Carter was proving to be quite skilled at evading capture.

She ran quietly across an empty street and followed her instincts into a dark alley that opened on the other side. A shape, blacker than its surroundings, disappeared over the wall at the end of the alley, and the doctor moved in that direction, keeping low and against the side of the building to her right. Upon reaching the barrier, she climbed carefully up onto a box, keeping her head well below the height of the wall. She counted to ten, then used a tiny periscope to look over the top. A single gunshot rang through the area, and the sight end of the instrument exploded, sending a small shower of glass and metal raining over her, and giving her valuable feedback about the sharp shooting skills of her opponent.

Samantha Carter lowered her modified P-90 and turned into the shadows once again, ignoring the chill in the air. She was getting tired of this cat and mouse, and couldn't for the life of her figure out why she'd agreed to it in the first place. Of course, pleading from a certain colonel with a certain set of chocolate brown eyes probably had something to do with it. Now she was tired and frustrated and just wanted it to end, preferably by winning. But she just couldn't seem to get ahead of the doctor. Sure she had been able to avoid being captured so far, but it was only a matter of time before Magnus got in front of her and pinned her down. She suspected she could hold her own in close quarters, but, safety fields or not, she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

Silently, she ran down another alley, and was about to turn a corner when she hit something invisible and very solid. She bounced back, unhurt but confused. She extended her arm and swiped it back and forth, searching for the whatever she'd hit. A second later, she encountered an immovable forcefield that stretched between the buildings, preventing her from moving forward. Why was this place blocked? This was the second or third time she'd come this way, always with Magnus on her tail, and she'd never been blocked before. Then it hit her. O'Neill and Ashley were getting antsy too, and had decided to make the playing field a little smaller, hoping to force a confrontation, and hopefully, a clear winner.

Okay, she could go with that. She was ready for this to be done too. But on her terms, not theirs. Looking around her, she spotted a ladder that climbed to the second level of a nearby building. They weren't allowed to go inside, but nothing said she couldn't go up. Quickly, she scaled the ladder and stepped carefully onto the adjacent fire escape, knowing how quickly noise could travel in this place. Then, holding the window sill above her, she stepped out onto the concrete mouldings that circled the building, and began to move sideways, hoping to see her opponent somewhere below her before her strength gave out.

Magnus looked carefully around yet another corner, mindful of the now much smaller size of the simulation, and sensed Carter was very close. Probably hiding, waiting to draw her out and end this. Helen could sympathize, but was not about to allow herself to be caught. So she slipped around the building, weapon at the ready, her body tensed for movement in any direction. She looked up just in time to see Carter leap from the second story of a nearby structure directly at her. She raised her weapon, but it was too late. Carter slammed into her, sending them both crashing to the ground, trusting the safety fields to prevent injury. The pistol was knocked from Magnus' hand and went skittering away out of reach. Carter tried to scramble to her feet, grasping for her weapon, but Helen kicked out, sweeping Sam's legs out from under her and sending her P-90 flying out into the darkness. Magnus lunged for the officer, intending to flip her over and pin her arms behind her back, but Sam's legs came up and caught Helen in the chest, sending her flying over her head to crash to the ground.

Carter rolled and stood, watching as the doctor did the same. At first she'd felt it unnecessary and juvenile to end this with a close quarters fight, but now she was mad, and, with the safety fields in place, well, no one would get hurt right? So she raised her fists, watching as Magnus' mind came to the same conclusions hers had, and lunged, swinging hard in a combination taught to her by a certain martial arts loving Jaffa.

Magnus ducked and dodged, avoiding Sam's blows, but was sent sprawling backwards with a well placed kick to her stomach, that, had the fields not been activated, probably would have ruptured something. Carter watched warily as the doctor stood and brushed herself off, nodding at the younger woman's ability.

"Well done."

Then Sam was on the defensive, dodging and blocking instinctively as Magnus came at her in a whirl of fists and boots. Nothing landed, but it was close, and Sam could feel the ferocity of the attack in the strength of the blows on her arms as she knocked the strikes aside. Finally she jumped back, giving herself a bit of room, then moved in low, trying to kick the doctor's feet out from under her. Magnus had expected this and leapt high, snapping her leg out in a kick aimed for Carter's head. Sam grabbed the approaching foot and twisted hard, using Magnus' kinetic motion against her. Once again the doctor crashed hard to the ground, and this time, fields or not, took a little longer to rise.

Helen watched Carter as she stood, sending a silent query to the officer, who nodded back. They were done. Both women stood as one, looking toward the gallery. "This exercise is over." Magnus said firmly. "End the simulation, Ashley."

After a couple of sulky moments, the streets vanished, revealing a plain gray room with tiny nodes lining the ceiling and floor. A screen appeared in front of them, black against the gray, green characters lining its surface.

Tracking: Magnus 19/20 Carter 17/20

Hand to hand: Magnus 17/20 Carter 19/20

The women looked at each other and grinned identical grins, acknowledging the tie and knowing it would have happened no matter how long they had gone on fighting. They also knew what was coming from their respective "coaches", both of whom were glowering at each other at the end of the hall.

Ashley looked away from Jack as her mother approached. "You tied," she said, her tone almost accusatory.

"You sound disappointed," Magnus took a towel from a hook on the wall and handed it to Sam before taking another and pressing it gratefully against her face and neck.

"Of course I am. You didn't win." The young woman looked accusingly at Sam, as if trying to figure out how the officer could have cheated her out of a sure victory. Carter stared back, not blinking, until Ashley looked away.

Magnus rolled her eyes. "Darling, sometimes a contest is not so much about winning as it is about learning. Major Carter is a very capable fighter." Here she nodded respectfully at the other woman, who returned it as Ashley and Jack rolled their eyes, "I learned a lot from her that may help us in our cause."

"Yeah, but see, here's the problem," Jack said, interjecting with a jerk of his hand, "I stood to win a lot of money on this, and now, I got nothin'!"
Twin glares pierced the non-combatants.

"You bet on us?" Sam hissed at her CO. "What were you thinking? Sir," she added belatedly.

"I was thinking that you were going to win," Jack glared right back for a second, then dropped his eyes. "And, well, she made me an offer I couldn't refuse!" He spun and pointed at Ashley. "It was her idea!"

The young woman flushed red. "It was not! You were the one who wanted a friendly wager..." The argument continued as Magnus looked at Carter, her eyebrows raised.

"Would you care for some refreshment, Major?"

"I'd love some. Thank you." Throwing one last glare over their shoulders, the two women walked away down the hall, their associates still bickering behind.

THE END