Disclaimers: They aren't mine. If they were then you would be watching this on television rather than reading it here. Oh…and I am not receiving any money for this so don't bother to sue me. I have four kids and all my money goes to take care of them. However, if you truly want to sue then you are welcome to the $1.98 in my savings account. If this is the case then I figure you must need it more than I do.
Rating: PG-13 (due to a few swear words)
Spoilers: Small Victories, Upgrades, Divide and Conquer, Tangent, The Curse
Summary: Sam and Jack struggle to regain common ground after the events of Divide and Conquer while gating to a new planet to discover the secrets of an ancient civilization and unveil the threat of a new Goa'uld dominance.
Please R&R as this is my first fanfic and I would appreciate the feedback 8-)
The Face of the Enemy
Chapter One
"None of this has to leave this room," she had said knowing they couldn't act upon the feelings each had declared just moments before.
"And…. we're okay with that?" he had questioned knowing he would never truly be okay with such a concept. Granted, this had not been the way he had envisioned telling her of his ever-growing feelings but they were out in the open now. At least amongst themselves and a few others that had been in the room during the testing procedure. How could one just take back those moments and bottle them up as if they had never occurred?
"Oh for crying out loud!" Jack exclaimed slamming the papers down on his desk for the umpteenth time. Pushing himself away from the desk he walked out of his office and headed toward the mess hall. Perhaps a cup of coffee would help shake the thoughts that had kept him preoccupied for the better half of the morning.
It had been weeks since the Zatarc incident 'At least if you don't count the whole time loop thing' Jack thought to himself with a small smile. Yes, there had been far too many weeks of awkward silences and strained conversations between him and his 2IC. 'The whole Jonah and Therra thing hasn't helped matters either' an inner voice whispered. Somehow they were going to have to talk about the situation before things became irreversible. 'But how?'
Just as he reached the mess hall, klaxons sounded and the all too familiar words "unscheduled gate activation!" reverberated throughout the base intercoms. 'Now what?' Jack thought to himself as he headed for the gate room. The only team currently off world was SG-13 and they weren't due back for another eighteen hours.
The scene he arrived to was one of mass chaos. Staff weapon blasts hurled through the open wormhole, members of SG-13 were running and half dragging one of their injured teammates down the debarkation ramp, and Carter was frantically yelling at the young sergeant to 'close the iris.' Once the iris was closed, medical teams rushed in and herded the injured soldiers to the infirmary.
General Hammond took a deep sigh and, not for the first time, briefly remembered how this was supposed to be a quiet run of the mill last-stop assignment before (what he considered to be) a well-deserved retirement. Interstellar travel, body snatching power hungry aliens and constantly sending those under his command into unknown and often life threatening situations had never figured into his plans. However, fate always seemed to have a way of stepping in and throwing a curve ball whether you wanted it to or not and Hammond was no exception.
"Colonel Mailon what happened?" asked General Hammond as he surveyed the situation.
It was Jaffa, sir. They came out of nowhere and started firing. We headed back through the forest towards the gate but Major Janeson took a hit. We managed to dial home and well… you saw the rest sir."
"But I thought the MALP didn't detect any signs of civilization in the ruins" Hammond declared.
"Sir, they didn't come from the ruins. As a matter of fact, they came from the opposite direction and they were headed toward the gate" Mailon said with a haunted look in his eyes as he relived the events on P3X 861 in his mind. "Sir, permission to check on the condition of my team?"
"Go ahead son" replied Hammond "report to the infirmary. Debriefing will be at 1500 hours."
"Yes, sir" Mailon replied as he headed toward the infirmary to check on his teammates and complete his post mission physical.
It was a quiet SG-1 that occupied the briefing room two hours later. Each person lost in his or her own thoughts. As the General entered the room and took his seat, each member redirected their attention to the matter at hand.
"SG-1, I have asked you all here to discuss the recent events which SG-13 encountered on P3X 861. As you already know, the team encountered Jaffa and took enemy fire. Lieutenant Michaels suffered minor burns and lacerations while Major Janeson's injuries are more severe. However, Dr. Frasier seems to believe they will recover. Now, according to the data we collected from the MALP prior to the mission, this was supposed to be an uninhabited planet that showed evidence of Naquada deposits. So our next question would be, where did the Jaffa come from, who do they serve and what were they doing on P3X 861?"
"Ah, I believe that would be 'questions' sir and all good ones I might add," answered O'Neill as he looked around the room at his teammates. "I take it General, that you want us to return to the planet and find the answers?"
"Yes Colonel that is exactly what I want you to do. However, I am not authorizing any heroics. I want you all back unharmed. We need to know if there is something more important happening on this planet than Naquada deposits."
"Perhaps there is something within the ruins the MALP detected that might help to give us a clue as to what the Goa'uld might be interested in on the planet" said Dr. Daniel Jackson, the civilian archeologist assigned to the team. "Teal'c, do you know of any reason the Goa'uld would be interested in this particular planet?"
"I do not," answered the stoic Jaffa warrior. "This is not a planet in which Apophis ever showed an interest in."
"Perhaps there is some naturally occurring power source or mineral other than the Naquada deposits we detected" theorized Major Samantha Carter, astrophysicist and second in command of the team.
"Whatever the reason, I want you all to find it and report back. Any questions?" asked the General as he surveyed the room.
Upon hearing a resounding "no" from each member of the team he stood up and declared "SG-1 you are to exercise extreme caution. You leave in one hour. Dismissed."
"Colonel O'Neill, may I speak with you for a minute?" the General asked after everyone had left the room.
"Yes sir?" O'Neill answered.
"Colonel, things seem to be a bit strained on your team. Is there anything going on that I should know about?" he asked.
"No sir, not that I'm aware of" answered O'Neill with the most innocent expression he could muster.
"Very well son. Prep for your mission" the general replied as he gathered his reports and started to exit the briefing room.
'Whew, that was close' Jack thought as he made his way toward the door.
"Oh, and Colonel" the general's voice stopped him just as he was about to leave. "Whatever the problem is, hurry up and resolve it. SG-1 is my best team. I would hate to see things change."
"Yes sir!" Jack said as he hurriedly made his way out of the room and down the hall. 'Oh yeah' he thought to himself as he began gathering the necessary supplies for the upcoming mission. 'Carter and I are definitely going to have to talk.'