The Mission by Mandarax

Rated K+

Summary – Jack and Sam are on a mission. They get captured. Sort of.

Disclaimer – yeahsureyoubetcha.

***

Jack slipped into the small bathroom and quietly closed the door behind him. He twisted the lock, waiting to hear the snap as the mechanism shifted in the door before relaxing. He listened for a moment for any indication that he'd been followed but there was none. Still not wanting to arouse suspicion, he slid into the shower and closed the plastic door. He flattened his back against the wall and listened again. When all he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat he slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a radio. In a gesture he was familiar with enough to not even notice he brought the device to his mouth and clicked the button.

"Carter?"

He waited for a moment for her to respond; glad he was smart enough to slide the radio into her hand right before they were separated the day before by their captors.

"Carter?" he whispered into the radio again, his whole body tensing when she didn't answer.

"Yes sir, I'm here," she whispered back.

He relaxed into the wall again. "You okay?"

"Yes, sir." He could hear the resignation in her voice. "Any chance we're getting out of here any time soon?"

"Daniel's working on it, Carter. How you holding up?"

"I'm…" he could imagine the thoughtful look on her face, "Holding up. They have me under constant surveillance; they won't leave me alone for a moment. I have to hide in the bathroom to be alone and they always come looking for me if I'm gone too long. There is a window but it's locked from the outside, no way to get to the door, and it's locked too. It's irritating." She sounded upset. She was never one to let anyone keep her locked up for any length of time.

He appreciated the report even though his situation wasn't much better. "Gotta keep it together, Carter. It'll be over by tomorrow," he assured her though he wasn't quite sure of himself.

"Sir?" she whispered.

"Yeah Carter?"

"Are you okay?"

He had to half smile at the concern in her voice. "You know me, Carter. I hate being cooped up like this."

"Yeah," there was a smile in her voice now too. "Hey, at least we're not under constant threat of death with these guys."

"Good for you, Carter. Keep that up; don't give them a reason to do anything. I've been threatened with a beating and a knife wound so far."

"Ouch," she chuckled quietly into the radio. "I gotta go, sir, they're coming to look for me."

"Two hour check-in, Carter," he ordered.

"Yes, sir."

He hid the radio in his pocket again and flattened his back against the shower wall once more. Crap. He hated being a prisoner and he hated not being able to do anything about it. He hated having to depend on others to get him out, even if those others were Daniel and Teal'c.

There were footsteps coming closer, and then a knock on the door. He pushed himself away from the shower wall, stepped out, unlocked the bathroom door and pushed his hands forward to let them tie his hands again.

He was surprised when all he got was the evil eye.

Two hours later he snuck back into the bathroom and locked the door again. He leaned back against the bathroom counter and ran a hand over his face. He pulled the radio out of his jacket pocket. "Carter?"

"Yes sir," this time her response was quick, though she sounded out of breath.

"Everything okay?"

"Peachy," she growled. "Sorry, General."

He grinned and pushed away from the counter, settling instead on the floor of the shower, "that's okay, Colonel. What's new?"

She sighed. "They're having me wear this strange outfit, like a dress."

"Will it look as good as that blue one from a few years back?" He knew this wasn't time to joke around but he had to break the tension somehow.

"It's not very comfortable," she ignored him. "Not sure I'll have anywhere to hide the radio."

Well, that wasn't good he told himself. He had an idea where she could hide the device but he wasn't about to say so. And anyway, they might be able to see it from… there. It's right up front after all. And he didn't like anyone going anywhere near there. So maybe it wasn't a great idea after all. "Try to find a place, Carter."

"Yes, sir," she answered. "Sir, I overheard them talking earlier, they're planning on moving me to another building pretty soon."

"Yeah," he didn't want to say so before, didn't want to alarm her, "I think they're going to move me too." He looked down at himself, eyeing the jacket they had him wearing, and the shoes. They were not uncomfortable, not just not his boots. "Maybe it's the same place."

"That'll make getting away easier," she reasoned. "Any word from Daniel or Teal'c?"

"No, Daniel came by to say we're leaving soon but nothing specific. Haven't seen Teal'c. Have you seen Mitchell or Vala?"

"Haven't seen Cam but Vala was here about an hour ago. She seemed to be enjoying this, really." Her voice sounded wondrous. "You have to admin though; this is not the usual type of prison we're thrown in."

"A cage, big and comfortable as it may seem, is still a cage, Carter. We need to find a way out."

"I know, Sir. I wasn't saying otherwise."

He knew she knew. There was no fooling Samantha Carter into a false sense of security.

"I've got to go, sir," she whispered again.

"Two hours or until we meet," he instructed though he knew he didn't need to.

"Yes sir."

He stood up and found himself staring into a mirror. They'd given him a suit to wear. They kept coming at him with smiles and treating him like a king, offering him food and drink but they grew quite angry when he tried to leave, threatening him with death. He asked about the rest of the team, but their answers were evasive, especially when he tried to ask about the female third of the team.

There was a knock on the door. Someone who sounded a lot like Daniel said it was time to leave. He straightened his back and with another breath he opened the door and stepped out.

Nearly three hours later had passed and they finally left him alone in the new cage. He paced the large room, unable to rid himself of the uneasy feeling that was nagging at him. He hadn't seen Carter though he kept his eyes open, and she wasn't answering her radio. He was about to try it again when the radio crackled into life.

"General O'Neill, come in."

He let out a sigh of relief. "Carter, you okay?"

"I'm fine. They found the radio and took it away two hours ago but I managed to steal it back. They'll be checking for it now so I only have a few minutes."

He kicked a chair but kept quiet so she can keep reporting.

"I briefly saw Teal'c but as soon as he came in Vala and I were pushed into another room. Something about separation of the species. Not really sure yet. Daniel was here and I talked to him for a minute, he said they're ready to get started, but then he left. I'm at a loss."

"Damn," he muttered, more to himself than into the radio. "Sam –" but then there was noise on the other side of the radio and Carter swore softly.

"Jack O'Neill!" a new voice boomed into the radio. "This is going to be the end of you!"

And the radio went silent.

Not a minute passed before the door of his room swung open and in marched his two captors, led by a young woman.

"Do you want to ruin this perfect day?" the young woman said, standing in his personal space, staring up at him through narrowed eyes.

He kept quiet.

She pulled the radio out of his hand and slid it behind her back. One of her goons took it from her and slipped it into his jacket.

"Jack," her voice grew quieter, more dangerous. "Do you really want this to end badly?"

"Of course not."

"You know, because I told you at least 500 times, that it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, and you go and pull this kind of thing off?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Cass, I didn't see her, I merely talked to her on the radio!"

"Yeah, well, that's bad luck too." She turned around. "Keep an eye on him, will ya?"

Daniel moved closer, smirking at his friend. "When did you ever manage to give Sam a radio?" he asked when Cassandra moved out of the room.

Jack sighed and fell unceremoniously into a chair. "Yesterday just before you whisked us away to that fancy shmancy hotel."

"Good thing it's your wedding. I don't think General Landry or General Hammond would be too happy to know you stole two radios."

The second goon tapped the radio in his jacket pocket, "Sir, I think that was a brilliant move."

"Thanks, Mitchell. At least someone appreciates my situation here."

"And going up against Cassandra was just as brilliant," Daniel rolled his eyes. She put the fear of god in all of them since becoming the wedding planner. Even in Sam. "She's as bad as her mother was."

The door swung open again and in came the third goon. "O'Neill, it is time. Colonel Carter is ready to begin the ceremony."

"Thanks, T," Jack jumped up to his feet. He straightened his jacket in the mirror while Daniel fixed his tie.

"I do have one question though, Jack," Daniel said as they walked down the aisle that was formed by the chairs placed around his back yard.

"Yeah?" Jack asked while smiling at the guests.

"What's with the sir and general and Carter thing while you were talking to each other?"

Jack grinned at his friend as they reached General Hammond at the altar and Daniel moved to take his place as the best man. "A mission, pleasant as it may be, is still a mission."

Author's Note - So I've been working on my sister's wedding movie and this kind of snuck in. Had to wait until after I finished the movie to post it… Hope you enjoy.