Title: Revelations
Author: Maria Lucas
Email: ria_lucas@yahoo.com
Category: Mystery/Adventure
Disclaimer: Stargate: SG1 and all characters associated with the television show belong
to MGM, World Gekko Corp, Double Secret, and USA/Sci-Fi Network. There is no way
in the world I'd be able to make money off this and if you think I am you need to get
your head examined. *Smooches* Peace Love and Happiness. ;P
The low down: Okay, all, this is a sequel to my first SG-1 story Displaced where the last time you read about our friends they had made a new friend Jenna Reeyu, a woman who traversed a wormhole from an alternate reality to find herself in control of Sam's body. What? Sam get possessed? What are the chances of that happening? According to the Stargate universe: pretty good. Anyway, this takes place not long after these events. And although I've tried to make it so that you wouldn't have to read the first story, it may help a teensy bit.
Author's note: This is a work in progress, so please, please forgive me if it takes a minute to right as I still only have an idea of where I want to go with this. Feel free to critic at your leisure.
Jenna Reeyu had spent two months in rehab and was totally and utterly sick of it. She'd done her best to reestablish strength in her new body so that she could take full advantage of the second chance at life she'd been given. So far, though, she'd been allowed the luxury of the gray walls around her and two trips outside to no more than a hundred yards from a Cheyenne Mountain entrance. There was the occasional trip through the Stargate, but those were advisory only. She'd give her take on an artifact that needed identifying and back through the wormhole she went, getting rehabilitated and oriented to Terran culture. The only thing that even came close to relieving the daily tedium had been when she'd finally nagged Dr. Janet Frasier into allowing her to spar with a partner a few times a week. She thought something was better than nothing and it gave her a better opportunity to try and get to know the members of SG-1.
She supposed it really wasn't as bad as she'd thought. She'd initially been reticent about making friends with SG-1 but after a time, and some encouragement from Jonas Quinn, she came to see them as friends. The first true ones she'd ever had. Jenna finally discovered one of the perks to having some good friends. Colonel Jack O'Neill for instance.
Sparring with Colonel O'Neill had been more entertaining than anything else. It wasn't that he'd been a bad fighter, but just the opposite. At first he'd held back on her in difference to her recovery but after she'd dropped him a few times he'd thought better of it. He even started getting creative and often used his own kind of witty banter to try and distract her. He was very good at it, Jenna learned, and she took it upon herself to learn another discipline: expecting the unexpected and learning that the Colonel talked the most when he had the upper hand, and so she began compensating for it. She noticed, not surprisingly, O'Neill had learned not to talk so much, he dropped her more often that way.
"Alright, Colonel, bring it on," Jenna said smiling through the protective padding of her headgear. She brought up her fists, encased in padded gloves, and assumed a fighting stance, left foot a few inches back from the right. Five foot seven and ready to rumble.
"You asked for it, Dorothy," O'Neill replied. Six foot one and quite a few years of active service under his belt, the Colonel was no one to mess with. He quickly advanced from the same stance Jenna had taken and preformed a right-left jab before hopping back.
Jenna managed to block O'Neill's punches and came forward with a couple of her own. She was glad that the Colonel had decided to get down to the more aggressive fighting as opposed to working up to it like they usually did. They had always started with instruction before, now the Colonel wanted to really see what she could do. Jenna advanced trying to get on the inside of O'Neill's defenses. He blocked each punch she made effortlessly and was able to get a glancing blow to her left side just as she spun to her right coming back to try and hit him in the jaw with the back of her right fist. He backed up barely missing the blow having gotten distracted by the long black braid of her hair as it swung out to follow her movement. He'd wondered why she hadn't tucked it up this time. It can be very distracting.
"Come on, Jenna, you're making this too easy. Put some muscle into it."
Jenna advanced on O'Neill, again aiming high then quickly dropping in order to sweep his feet from under him. O'Neill, anticipating her moves, blocked her punch then hopped over her leg and came back and punched her on the side of the head as she'd come up from her sweep. She rolled with the punch and came up again on guard.
"Is that all you got, girl. You can do better than that."
Jenna smiled at O'Neill's cockiness and advanced again, but instead of the expected punches he'd been ready to block, she grabbed his arm, turned as she stepped into him and had him flying over her shoulder. O'Neill hit the mat on his back with a loud humph as the wind was knocked out of him.
"You were saying, old man."
O'Neill lay there for a moment to catch his breath. He glanced up to see Jenna bending over him hands on her knees and smiling. He was going to have to do something about that. He brought his leg around and surprised Jenna by sweeping her off her feet this time causing her to hit the mat next to him hard.
"It ain't over 'til it's over, kid. Never let your guard down."
Both Jenna and O'Neill were back on their feet and in a fighting stance. O'Neill saw a glint in Jenna's eye and knew she was up to something.
"Be careful, Jack, you're getting cocky," Jenna smiled just before spinning to her right again. This time she put a little extra swing in her head and the end of her braid hit O'Neill square in the jaw causing him to stumble back a couple steps. Jenna took advantage of the situation and advanced, landing three blows before O'Neill was able to come under, grab her arms and push her back.
"What the hell do you have in your hair?" he asked when he recovered. He rubbed his chin and Jenna could see a hint of admiration peek through at being totally surprised.
"Why don't you come over and find out," Jenna replied and waved him on with her hand.
The next few minutes all either could hear were each other's grunts as they punched, swung, and kicked their way towards exhaustion. Jenna tried using her hair two more times before giving it up. O'Neill was expecting it now and it was no longer an advantage. It finally ended when Jenna managed to grab O'Neill's right fist with her left hand as it came at her, then pulling it forward she placed her right hand on his shoulder and brought him back down to the mat. She quickly dropped on top of him pinning his shoulders down under her knees.
"You…had enough, Colonel?" Jenna asked breathless.
"Nope," just as breathless but not entirely down for the count, O'Neill brought both his legs up and grabbed Jenna around the torso with them, bringing her down to the side. "Ya give?"
Trapped with her arms pinned securely to her side, Jenna's only response was to use what little movement she had left in her arm to pat the mat signaling defeat. O'Neill released his hold and Jenna rolled onto her back. They both stayed on the mat for a few moments catching their breath before O'Neill sat up leaning back on his hands. Jenna sat up and followed suit.
"Nice going there, Dorothy," O'Neill said, the corner of his mouth turned up in a lopsided grin. "Why are you still undergoing therapy? And where did you get the idea for that nifty trick with the hair?"
"Thanks, Jack," Jenna replied returning the grin with one of her own. "Dr. Fraiser, technically took me off physical therapy a couple weeks ago with the understanding that I maintain a strict workout schedule."
"I'm pretty sure this wasn't what she meant," O'Neill said standing and giving Jenna a hand up before heading over to a bench where he'd laid a towel. He took off his head gear and tossed it on the bench then he reached for the towel and started drying his face with it as he sat down.
"As for the hair," Jenna took a hold of the end of her braid and Jack saw what he'd missed before. At the end she'd attached what looked like a black miniature poi ball. Poi balls were Polynesian in origin. They were about the size of a tennis ball and were attached to the end of a long cord. Often seen twirled around in choreographed circles in Polynesian dancing they could also be used as weapons.
"What's in it?"
"Just rice," Jenna replied. "I thought I might throw in something different and gain an advantage." Jenna smiled as the Colonel cocked his head and raised his eyebrows at her.
"You could have picked a different way of going about it."
"I know," Jenna said as she joined him on the bench and picked up her own towel, "but I enjoy surprising you and didn't you just say one should never let one's guard down. Besides, I'm still waiting for General Hammond to give me permission to join one of the SG teams. I'll need to be ready when he does and what better way than to start thinking of innovative ways to get something accomplished and beating you at the same time."
"May I remind you that you didn't beat me," O'Neill said, still smiling, "and how do you know he's going to give you permission?" he asked. He watched as she removed her own head gear and started toweling off. He liked the self-assurance she seemed to have in herself. She had no doubt she'd get her way and it reminded him of how he had been when he'd been her age. Hell, he was still that way.
"Of course he'll give me permission," Jenna said smiling, a glint in her eye. "He has no reason not to, especially when you tell him I'm ready for active duty."
"You do have a high opinion of yourself now don't you?"
Jenna merely continued to smile at O'Neill, he had already decided to talk to Hammond about her future but had no desire to inflate her ego any further by telling her so, so instead he changed the subject.
"Where did you learn to fight, again?"he asked Jenna.
"Here and there," Jenna replied accepting the sudden change in subjects. "My mother decided I needed to learn discipline and how to channel my excessive amounts of energy at an early age. She was from Malaysia so it was mostly cultural. Anyways, she said I was a fighter like my father. He was military and heavily involved in wormhole travel in its early days, which was why I wanted to join the Interplanetary Transit Police Commission. It was slated to eventually take over the interplanetary responsibilities of the military."
"Really? That's interesting, but didn't you tell me once that your father was a salesman?" O'Neill asked. He was sure that's what she'd said the last time they'd talked about her family considering how little she would say about them. He was also quite interested in this new insight into what made Jenna tick and hoped that this time she'd be comfortable enough to tell him more.
"That was my father by law and marriage, but he wasn't my biological father." Jenna took a moment as memories of the man who'd raised her flooded her with love tinged with resentment. He'd been wonderfully attentive when her mother had lived but had shutdown when she'd needed him most after her mother had died. "My biological father," she continued, dismissing her resentment and at the same time surprised that she'd even said as much as she had about herself, "he was a career military man. He and my mother never got married and they broke up some time before I was born."
"Why in the world would you try to emulate a man who would leave your mother with a baby on the way?" O'Neill asked. He was a bit annoyed at the way Jenna seemed to be modeling herself after a man who would shirk his responsibilities so easily.
"Oh, it's not what you think, Jack," Jenna replied, flattered by the indignation that O'Neill appeared to feel on her behalf. "My mother never told him about me. Like I said, he was career military, special forces to be exact, and she told me that she had no desire to spend the rest of her life as a military wife hopping from one place to another and wondering if the next mission would be my father's last. It was why they broke up."
"Did you ever try to find him?"
"I did actually. I started looking for him a few years ago. I got the run around for awhile because the work he did for the military was still classified. When I finally got someone to talk to me, I was told just that he died on assignment nothing more.
"Sorry to hear that."
"Don't be. It was the life he choose, Jack. He understood the risks involved in his work just as you understand the risks every time you go through the gate. My mother understood them to. The only thing that I miss is the chance to have gotten to know him before he died.
"It doesn't matter now though," Jenna continued, wishing to change the subject. "I'm living in a new world with literally a second chance at life," Jenna smiles, "and nothing to do but look forward to whatever possibilities happen my way."
O'Neill returned Jenna's smile and thought to himself how amazing it was that Jenna was taking such a positive outlook. She'd gone through so much in the pass few months. Hell, based on what she'd said she'd had a rough life. To be so positive, so focused on her future with the SGC, that he wondered how long it would last. How long would it be before everything she'd gone through would catch up with her and she'd come crashing down. He was confident now that when it did she'd get through it. She wasn't alone anymore.
"Well, listen," O'Neill said, hating to bring the conversation to an end, "I'm sorry I have to cut this short but I have to get ready for another wonderfully technical mission briefing. So I'll see ya when I see ya." O'Neill got up, patted Jenna on the shoulder, and moved towards the locker room.
"Jack, one thing before you go." Jenna was quite surprised at how freely she'd spoken to O'Neill and really didn't want the conversation to end.
"Yeah," O'Neill stopped at the door and turned towards Jenna.
"I've been wondering…You've been calling me 'Dorothy' for months. Who is she and why do you keep calling me by her name?"
"You know 'Dorothy', from 'The Wizard of Oz'. Two pony tails, carried a little dog named Toto in a basket." He noted the blank stare on Jenna's face and sighed. "You're telling me that you've never heard of 'The Wizard of Oz'?"
"No, Sir. Is that some sort of television show that you have in this reality?"
"What exactly have you been doing with your time?"
"I exercise and build up my strength and I've been studying Air Force guidelines and rules of conduct, when I'm not doing that, I've been reviewing all the information available on the Stargate and every culture that was encountered through it and providing a comparative analysis for the base personnel to review and study. But mostly I just watch the Discovery Channel."
"Did they not have fun in your reality?"O'Neill asked raising his eyebrows to express what he thought about her pastime activities. "I mean I'm not knocking your desire to familiarize yourself and do what you can for the Stargate Project. More power to ya, but there's more to life than that. You gotta live a little. I mean come on you're watching the Discovery Channel for crying out loud."
"To be honest, sir, there's really not much else to do when you're stuck on a military base," Jenna said, smiling and acknowledging what O'Neill thought about how she spent her time. Although, she didn't really see what was wrong with the Discovery Channel. She really got a kick out of Shark Week.
"We'll have to do something about that. I'll talk to General Hammond. After all, if you're going to be a part of this world we'll have to make sure you're exposed to some good old American culture and the best ways in which you could possibly pass your time besides doing more work. Fishing for one."
*********
Jack walked down the corridor with a little extra pep to his step. He was on his way to Jenna's quarters to inform her of some good news. After the mission briefing he had talked to General Hammond about her placement on an SG team and the General had concurred with his assessment that Jenna was ready to start going on regular missions with SG-8. One of their members, Lt. James Madison, had recently found out that his fiancee was pregnant and decided that, having grown up with an absentee father, it was in the best interest of his future child and wife that he be there for them. He'd decided that, for now, he would be better suited staying Earth bound in whatever capacity the General needed him and the General had agreed. In so doing, Hammond had a vacancy to fill and Jenna was qualified to fill it.
"Knock, knock." Jack said as he reached the open doorway to Jenna's room. Inside he found Jenna sitting on one of two metal framed beds wrapping picture frames and knick knacks in newspaper.
The room had the standard set up of most of the quarters located within the mountain. Each bed was placed at opposite ends of the room with two desks against the back wall separating them. At the end of each bed were your basic military green trunks and on either side of the door were two storage lockers for personal affects. The bed she sat upon was to the right and belonged to her, the other one was to the left and upon it rested an open duffel waiting to be filled.
"Going somewhere?" Jack asked, knowing she wasn't. Jenna hadn't had a chance to really acquire much in the way of personal items except for the few that he and the rest of SG-1 had given her in an effort to make her feel at home. So when he glanced at the amount of items she was wrapping he knew they had to belong to her roommate.
Jenna put what was in her hand in a cardboard box by her feet and glanced up at the Colonel. She hadn't expected to see him until dinner and wondered at what could possibly bring him by before lunch. "Hey, Jack. I'm just helping Lt. Rearden pack up her stuff. She's getting transferred tomorrow. She didn't get much notice so I offered to help so that she could take care of some paper work and brief her replacement. What brings you to my humble abode?"
"I've got some news for ya,"O'Neill said as he leaned against the door jam, hands in his pockets. He seldom, if ever, stopped by her quarters, but looking at it now he realized what hadn't really sunk in that morning. Jenna really hadn't been allowed to develop a life outside what was available to her here at Stargate Command. It was even sad that she referred to as home simply because in fact it was. And although she got along well with the members of SG-1 and Janet, she didn't really socialized with anyone else other than her roommate. Looking at how sparse her side of the room was really emphasized the point in how isolated she was within the SGC. He hoped that his news was the beginning of the end of her isolation and mentally kicked himself for not realizing how isolated she was sooner.
"So, what's the news?" she asked, pulling O'Neill back from his thoughts.
"Well, I talked to General Hammond about you and told him I thought you were ready to take a more active role on one of the SG teams," Jack paused to gauge her reaction.
Jenna hopped off the bed in nervous anticipation of what Jack would say next. "And what did he say?" Jenna asked. Jack watch with humor as Jenna tried and failed to contain herself. He debated stretching it out longer because he was getting a kick out of watching her fidget like a kid on Christmas day, but she looked like she was about pop out of her skin any minute and he was eager to tell her anyway.
"Ya know, Lt. Madison?" What the hell, Jack thought, maybe I'll stretch it out a little bit longer.
"What about him?" Jenna asked as she fidgeted with her hands and leaned forward a little as if afraid she was going to miss something very important.
"Did you know that he and his fiancee are expecting a baby?" O'Neill asked, successfully managing to maintain a straight face.
"No. What does that have to do with your talk with Gen. Hammond?" Jenna furrowed her forehead in thought as she tried to figure out where this conversation was going. Although, she had a good idea.
"Did you do something with your hair?" Jack asked, gesturing towards it. "It looks more black than it usually does."
"Jack," Jenna drew out his name as she realized that O'Neill was trying to have some fun with her.
"It looks almost blue black if you look at it a certain way..."O'Neill said tilting his head to the side and squinting.
"Jack! I know what you're doing and so help me if you continue to play with me one of us will be paying an unexpected visit to see Dr. Frasier and it won't be me."
"Alright, alright," O'Neill smiled and put his hands up in mock defense. "Well, Lt. Madison will be stepping away from the front line and General Hammond has graciously approved your appointment as the Lt.'s replacement on the team."
"Jack," Jenna said as she came up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "You are the best!!" Jenna squealed her delight and gave O'Neill a huge hug that almost toppled him. He was grinning from ear to ear by the time she let go. "Does Jonas know yet?"
"Nope, I came straight to see you after I talked to Hammond."
"I can't wait to tell him," Jenna moved past O'Neill and out the door at a happy trot.
"He should be in his office," O'Neill called after her. Jenna turned in mid trot with a smile acknowledging that she heard him and, still trotting along, continued on to Jonas's office.
*********
Jenna stepped up to the open door of the office and peered inside. Jonas was at his desk working on what looked like a translation. He was surrounded by various texts opened to one page or another and had an old scroll opened before him next to a note book that was quickly getting filled. Instead of interrupting him, Jenna took a moment to watch him work. She liked watching him work sometimes when he didn't know she was watching. She found it oddly soothing, the same way watching fish was supposed to sooth the mind. It hadn't always been this way though.
In fact, if it hadn't been for Jonas, she probably would have wished to have remained in a non-corporeal existence.
In the beginning, back when she first awoke to find herself in her own body, he had been the only one who had understood and tolerated her moodiness but then having been the recipient of all her memories hadn't hurt either. Jenna had just wished that she'd had the same advantage.
At first, when she'd discovered that he'd partially blended with her and had gained all her memories, she had been extremely uncomfortable around him. She didn't like the fact that here was someone that knew her inside and out. It put her at such a disadvantage because she hadn't had the same luxury from their experience. Jonas had tried to reassure her once that the memories had begun to fade but she'd learned that he had something akin to a photographic memory and was hard pressed to believe him. As time went by though, she'd come to trust and value his friendship and was eventually able to feel the same for the rest of the SG-1 team.
Jenna walked up behind him. Jonas still didn't appear to notice her so she leaned over and was about to say 'boo' when he suddenly decided to speak up.
"I was wondering how long you were going to stand there," Jonas said, a slight smile playing across his lips as he finished what he was writing..
"What gave me away?" Jenna asked, returning the smile as she pulled up a chair.
"Are you kidding?" Jonas asked as he put down his pen and brought his eyes up to meet hers. "How many other people do you know would come hopping up to my door?" Jonas noticed a slight blush grace her cheeks and his smile widened. "So, what's put the pep in your step?"
"General Hammond is finally assigning me to an SG team," Jenna replied proudly.
"Congratulations," Jonas said taking her hands and giving them a squeeze. "You'd been hoping this would happen for a while now. How's it feel?"
"Incredible. You know it's what I've always wanted even before I came to this reality." Jonas listened to Jenna go on about how wonderful it was to officially become apart of an SG team and how she felt she could finally do something that could help her benefactors in the fight against the Goa'uld. Jonas found that he felt apprehensive. He'd been fully supportive of Jenna's desire to become more active in the SGC because when he'd first arrived on Earth he'd felt the same. Now that she had that chance, he wished it hadn't happened. Even with all the precautions that were taken, there was so much that could happen on a mission.
Jonas knew he was being unreasonable. Jenna had already been through the Stargate several times without incident and had even lived on another world in her own reality, so he was aware that she knew some of the risks. It was just that in her reality there had been no Goa'uld to contend with. It was more dangerous for her here than it had been there. Admittedly, she came to be in this reality because of an evil that existed in her own, but Jonas considered that point moot. It had come from a single source whereas now the danger could come from any direction.
Jenna felt the change in Jonas and stopped talking. He'd still been holding her hands so she was able pick up on what he was thinking. Past experience had caused her to be wary of her mental abilities so she'd avoided using and developing them but every once in a while she'd get feed back from Jonas whenever they were in close physical proximity.
"Don't worry, Jonas. I'll be alright."
Jonas smiled at Jenna's uncanny ability to read him when they were near each other. He hoped she was right.
"So which team will have the pleasure of your company?" he asked trying to push his concerns aside.
"You know, I forgot to ask the Colonel when he told me. Which team is Lt. Madison on?"
"Jenna, he's on SG-8," Jonas said. He had a new reason to be concerned again. "Will that be a problem? Maybe we should tell the General that it'll be..."
"No, Jonas. We've talked about this before and I'm okay with it. I can handle this," she said reassuringly. "I really will be okay."
Jonas wasn't quite sure of that but he hoped she was right.