Chapter Two: Good Guys, Bad Guys.
The present…
McKay was still out of it when Sheppard arrived at Carter's place with Mitchell.
"Ah, damn it, McKay," he sighed, taking a good look at his friend.
"Shouldn't he have woken up?" Mitchell asked.
"Yes, he should have," Sam replied worriedly.
"You say he probably got the video message yesterday evening?"
"Yes," Mitchell said.
"Then he probably hasn't slept since the night before."
"That's probably it," Carter said, shaking her head. "I can't believe he thought that doing this on his own was a good idea. Figured he was smarter than that."
"Oh, he is, when he's on the ball," Sheppard said. "But what with nearly losing Ronon not long ago, not to mention myself recently, thanks to Kolya, and now someone has targeted Sandburg too? He's not thinking straight, if at all. After all, with myself or Ronon, or anyone on Atlantis, he knows how high the risk of losing a friend or friends is. Has lost some, in fact. But Sandburg? He's not involved in any of this, and so should be safe, right? Only he's not. And it's not even Sandburg's work that has gotten him into trouble. He's probably blaming himself for all of this as well. One of the things McKay does well is guilt," Sheppard looked at the man sleeping on the couch. "Just gotta get him using that big ole brain of his again, that's all."
"You think he'll go for the plan?" Mitchell asked.
"He doesn't have any other options, really," Sheppard replied. "So yes, he'll go with it. He'll do what he needs to get Sandburg and Ellison out of this. He may be a pain in the ass, but he's loyal to his friends. Probably because he hasn't had many in his life."
"Not surprising," Mitchell muttered.
"Look," Sheppard turned to him. "I know McKay can be…a bit hard to take," he snorted. "Crap, couldn't stand the guy myself when we first met. But he's got hidden qualities. You just have to get past the arrogant, annoying and downright frustrating surface to see them. The 'Great McKay Defence System', designed to keep the universe at bay. If you can't be bothered to look beneath, that's your problem."
"I guess I got the wrong idea when we visited Atlantis. You even said we could keep him," Mitchell defended himself. "Not to mention the whole thing with the lemon."
"Winding McKay up is a hobby of mine," Sheppard said, grinning. "And he knows that. In fact, it's part of the team dynamic, winding up McKay. Well, except for Teyla, she doesn't tend to do much of that. And talking of teams, I haven't seen the delightful Vala around. You keeping her on base so that she doesn't terrorise the local populous?"
Mitchell returned his grin.
"She's got the flu and is busy driving Dr Lam crazy, what with telling everyone that she's dying."
There was a mumble from the couch, followed by a groan. Sheppard shoved Rodney's legs over slightly and sat down next to him, prodding him in the shoulder.
"Hey, buddy, time to wake up," Sheppard gave him another prod for good measure.
"Stop poking me," an annoyed voice muttered. "Got enough problems with this damn drummer in my head."
Sheppard prodded him again, provoking an angry glare, that soon changed, passing through several emotions; horror, fear, guilt, before settling on shame.
"Easy, McKay. When did you last eat?"
"What?" Rodney asked in confusion, obviously not expecting that question.
"I said, when did you last eat, or sleep for that matter, because, honestly, you look like shit."
McKay pushed himself up slowly, avoiding looking anyone in the eyes.
"Well?" Sheppard pushed.
"Sleep? Well, unless you count being stunned, not since…the night before last."
"And food?"
"Not since lunch," Rodney answered reluctantly.
"Which consisted of?" Sheppard continued to push him.
"A PowerBar. Satisfied now?" Rodney all but snarled.
"Oh yeah, you so have that low blood sugar thing going on right now. Carson would be pissed."
"Carson can go…"
"Ah, ah, ah, be nice," Sheppard looked towards Sam. "Got any food round here? Something more substantial than a PowerBar," he turned to glare at McKay.
Sam sighed, and headed towards the kitchen, returning quickly with a sandwich wrapped in cellophane, and a plate. She shrugged at Sheppard's look.
"I don't always have time to cook, so I tend to keep a supply of sandwiches in the fridge."
"Thanks."
McKay eyed the sandwich with suspicion. But Sheppard just unwrapped it and placed it on the plate.
"Eat this, and if you're a good boy, you can have a chocolate bar after," Sheppard smirked at Rodney's reply, which insulted his parentage, amongst other things. But Rodney ate the sandwich.
"So that whole hypoglycaemic thing isn't just hypochondria, then?" Sam asked.
"Nope," Sheppard replied. "Though it's hard to tell the real from the imaginary with Rodney."
"Humph. I am not a hypochondriac," Rodney muttered, finishing the sandwich. "You mention chocolate?"
"Here," Sheppard passed him a bar from his jacket pocket. As McKay demolished it quickly, Sheppard quipped. "You gotta watch your fingers when feeding The McKay chocolate." McKay just huffed in annoyance, but remained quiet until the chocolate was gone.
"So now you've pointed out the height of my wuss-ness, what next?"
"Now, we figure out how to help your friends," Jackson said.
"I take it there's a plan?"
"Yes," Carter said. "Not sure if you'll like it. I don't like it," she mock glared at Cam.
"But it's quite simple. Carter and yourself go to the rendezvous and get kidnapped, and we follow you and come to the rescue," Mitchell said.
"We'll both have subcutaneous transmitters," Carter added. "So tracking us won't be a problem. Of course, there are risks involved."
"Like we can't be certain they'll take us to where Jim and Blair are. And you don't know what sort of security there will be. Oh, and what if they are able to scan for the transmitters?"
"Didn't say it wasn't risky, just that it was simple," Mitchell pointed out.
"There isn't any other way, McKay," Sam said. "If you don't meet up with them, and bring me to them, Sandburg will get hurt. We know that."
"And if it goes wrong?"
"I've altered the transmitters so that if we push on them three times, they will shut off for five seconds. When we know that Sandburg and Ellison are there, we'll use the brief shut off as a signal. Until we send that signal, the guys will hang back."
"I suppose that evens out the odds a bit more," Rodney said. "And it's not like there are any other choices," he closed his eyes briefly, and then looked up at Sam. "You sure you want to do this? It's my mess…"
"I'm not going to let innocent civilians get hurt," Sam stated. "Nor you, either, no matter how tempting that might be."
Rodney seemed surprised by the latter part of her statement.
"Oh, okay," he was quiet for a moment and then, "What about the surveillance they said they have me under?"
"Appears to have been an idle threat," Mitchell said. "You were put under surveillance as soon as we knew you'd hacked the computers. There's been no sign of any other surveillance. It could be they don't want to risk any of their people being captured if you didn't cooperate."
"Or they don't have the man power or resources," Daniel added.
"And you, being paranoid…" Sheppard started.
"I am not paranoid," Rodney stated emphatically, scowling. "Just cautious."
"Yeah, you keep thinking that," Sheppard grinned.
Carter had picked something up from a side table as they were talking, and now approached McKay with a needle.
"Uh, what's that?" Rodney asked, nervously.
"The transmitter."
"Oh. Okay," he said, as she held one of his arms, ready to inject the transmitter under his skin.
"Hey, just like a cat," Sheppard said with a grin. "Now you know how it feels to be micro-chipped. I wonder if I could get Zelenka to rig the internal sensors back home so I can always find you!"
McKay glared at him, but Sam spoke before he could make a scathing reply.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt," she smiled, and added, "Much," just as she injected him.
"Ow," he said, and then scowled at her. "You enjoyed that far too much."
"Yep," she said, looking smug.
"Let's get this show on the road," Mitchell said.
Afternoon, earlier that day…
It was late afternoon when Blair and Jim finally reached the rocky outcrop at the top of the big hill. Keeping his senses alert, Jim had been pleased when all sound of the search party had disappeared. Night would soon descend, so the chances of them being found would lessen considerably.
Gratefully, Blair sat down heavily on a rock. But Jim could still hear him muttering about sentinels with legs of steel and too much of a fondness for the gym.
Smiling to himself, Jim searched the surrounding countryside, looking for some sign of civilization, or even better, a phone.
Very faintly on the breeze he could smell burning wood. Focusing in on that direction he was able to make the outline of a roof and behind the building was a slow spiral of smoke from a bonfire.
In the valley below him was a track with trails leading off it, presumably to hunting lodges. He considered briefly about finding one to stay in, but finding a phone was more urgent. If they followed the track it would be easier going, and they would still be able to take cover in the trees. The building he could see in the distance was either near the track, or the track led to a highway and the house was on that. It looked more substantial than a hunting lodge from what he had glimpsed, and was therefore more likely to have the phone that they so urgently required.
Knowing that they were in an exposed position, but that they would make better time if he allowed Blair a brief rest, he search the tree line below him and spotted a tree that had fallen over, its roots leaving a hole in the ground.
"C'mon Chief, time to move."
Blair groaned.
"We'll move down to that tree and shelter in the hollow for a while. It'll give us some cover."
As they moved towards it, Blair slipped, but Jim grabbed him before he could do himself an injury.
Once there, Jim told him about the house he had seen down the valley. Blair seemed glad that they were heading towards a place hopefully with a phone, but also seemed a little distracted.
"Okay, Sandburg. What is it?"
"What's what?" Blair asked, puzzled.
"What's going through that brain of yours?"
"I keep thinking about what we overheard, you know, the alien tech and that McKay has been working on it for years. It sounds like science fiction. Did they mean what they said, or do you think they were just kidding around?" Blair asked.
"I hate to say this, Sandburg, but I think it may be for real."
"Why do you say that?"
"You remember the first video McKay sent you after visiting that time?" Jim said, looking self-conscious. When Blair nodded, Jim told him that he had overheard in the background something about the Daedalus having arrived from Earth with supplies.
"And you're only just telling me now?" Blair exclaimed.
"I didn't think what I had heard could be right, that it had to mean something other than what it seemed like," Jim defended himself.
"Okay, so what they said about alien enemies, wormholes and stargates is true?"
"I think so, I don't believe those guards were lying, and with the conversation I overheard on the tape…even I have to admit it sounds true."
"And McKay's been involved in this for years?" Blair said, finding it hard to believe of his friend. "Why the hell didn't he tell me? How could he keep this secret? I mean, aliens…!"
"He must have had to sign some sort of non-disclosure or confidentiality papers. You know what the military is like. They've obviously decided to keep this from the general public, and I think I can see why, especially if the aliens are as unfriendly as they sound. Could you imagine the panic and chaos that would cause?"
Blair looked thoughtful, though clearly didn't agree fully with what Jim had said.
"If we want to warn McKay and this Colonel Carter, then we need to get to that phone," Jim pointed out, knowing that Blair was deeply worried for his friend.
Blair nodded in agreement as he stood up, and together they began to descend the hill.
The present…
Night had fallen as Sam and Rodney drove towards the rendezvous with the kidnappers.
"You know, I'm not good at this whole…subterfuge thing," McKay said, his nerves showing clearly. "I mean, I'm getting better at it, but…"
"You'll be fine, McKay," Sam reassured him. "Besides, my shock and anger at your betrayal should convince them."
"Um, yeah," he gave a short laugh. "I guess you get the chance to say all those nasty things you've always wanted to say about me."
"Don't tempt me," she said, before adding, "Actually, I have a feeling a lot of what I'm going to say won't be true, so try not to take it to heart. Of course, some of it…"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it."
"McKay," Sam started.
"Sorry, just…"
"Feeling a little insecure?"
"Hmm. Look, you know I really, really didn't want to do this. Betray you that is. It's just…" he shrugged.
"You wanted to protect your friend, and you weren't thinking straight. I know. It's okay, really."
"Really? You're not even a little bit mad at me?"
It was Sam's turn to shrug.
"No."
"Oh…good, good."
She felt him relax somewhat, and shook her head. She couldn't believe she was trying to reassure McKay, of all people. But then, it would seem his bluster and irritating personality traits hid a whole boatload of insecurities. She grinned.
"Of course, if I hear about any more fantasies…" she warned.
"I know, I know. Death by lemon. Or worse."
"Well, maybe not that extreme."
"You stood by and let Mitchell threaten me on the Odyssey not too long ago," he pointed out.
"He wouldn't have hurt you," Sam said in surprise. "I thought you would know that."
"Did I look like I knew that?" Rodney asked angrily. "And how the hell was I supposed to know what he would or would not do? I don't know the guy"
"McKay, I…just assumed you had realised you'd pushed too far, and so got on with the job. I didn't realise…damn it, I wouldn't have let him hurt you," she was quiet a moment. "You don't trust me either?"
"I…I don't…" he glanced at her briefly, before returning his eyes to the road. "It's hard for me to trust, okay? And I'm not much good at reading between the lines, not when it comes to people. You probably saw it as a big joke, I know that's how Sheppard saw it. He apologised later, you know, when he heard what had happened. Hadn't expected Mitchell to actually use the lemon to threaten me."
"Okay, maybe I saw it as a joke, of sorts, and I'm sorry about that. But you can be so…downright annoying at times, getting one up on you is very tempting. Too tempting."
"I never know where I stand with you," he complained. "You hate me, then you don't hate me, then… damn it, you seem to enjoy messing with my mind! So I never know quite what to expect. I wish we could be friends, but I'd settle for just being tolerated. Even that would be an improvement over the majority of people I've ever met."
"I do tolerate you," Sam shook her head. "Believe me, if I didn't, you'd know."
"Well, that's something at least."
"You really don't get people, do you, McKay?"
"Sometimes I do," he said defensively, before admitting reluctantly. "A lot of the time, no. Science, Ancient technology, I can figure that stuff out like that," he snapped his fingers. "But people and friendship? Figuring that out isn't my greatest asset. I am learning, though. Being part of a team does that."
"You trust your team?"
"Most of the time. Certainly when we're on missions, I trust them with my life. Trust them not to leave me behind or anything. But I'm still…unsure of where I stand with them outside of missions," he shook his head. "Damn it, I'm pretty messed up right now. Must be, to be telling you this stuff. I don't…" he trailed off.
"You don't let people in?"
"No. Of course, some people refuse to be left outside and barge through the barriers as if they weren't there."
"Sheppard?" she asked, with a grin.
"And Elizabeth, and Carson, and Teyla…even Ronon seems to be getting in on it as well," Rodney huffed in annoyance.
"Or maybe you're learning to let people in more? Learning to be human."
"Learning not to leave someone trapped in a stargate, despite the risks involved in getting said person out?" he suggested sourly.
"You were a real jerk that time, you know."
"I didn't understand. Too much Star Trek, and the 'needs of the many outweighing the needs on the one' crap. Friendship makes you weak. Makes you put one person's life before the lives of many," he sighed heavily. "But I also know that you were right. It also makes you stronger. It's just hard to see that right now, in this situation," he gave a dry laugh. "I've become the person I despised all that time ago. The one who takes crazy risks for a friend."
"You've changed," Sam agreed. "But personally, I think it's for the better."
"Even though I tried to lead you into a trap?"
"Maybe because of that."
"I don't get it…" he said, genuinely confused.
"You will," Sam interrupted with a smile. "Eventually."
Silence settled in the car until they reached the turn off McKay had been instructed to take.
"Okay," Sam said. "Here we go."
And she started to act confused, and angry, not knowing what type of surveillance might be used, or how far down the road they would be intercepted. McKay did his best to respond to her comments and threats in an appropriate manner.
McKay brought the car to a stop when a van pulled out to block the road. Four people approached with guns, and motioned them to get out. Rodney didn't need any further encouragement, but Carter made no move to do so. One of the men pointed the gun into the car.
"I suggest you get out," the man said. "It would be a shame to have to kill you, but we will if you don't cooperate."
Sam scowled, but complied.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"Your new employers," the man replied, taking her by the arm and guiding her towards the van.
She turned her gaze to Rodney, looking angry. "What are you up to, McKay? Why are you doing this?"
"Let's just say that Dr McKay came to an agreement with us," the man answered before Rodney could.
"An agreement? Are they paying you to betray me? I thought we were friends! Guess I was wrong. But then, I should have known better than to try and be a friend to someone as pathetic as you."
"It's not like that," Rodney said, playing along as best as he could, and reminding himself that this was just an act, and not how she really felt.
They were pushed into the van.
"Quiet," the man who appeared to be in charge ordered. "I will gag you if I have to."
They fell silent.
Still present…
It was dark when Jim and Blair finally reached the house, which turned out to be on a main road. Fortunately the home owner, an friendly old man, was willing to let them make a collect call. He even left them to make the call in private, which they were grateful for.
Jim was passed from person to person until eventually General Landry, recognising Jim's name from the video clip McKay had received, agreed to speak to him, by which time Jim was starting to get annoyed.
After they had related all that had happened to them, General Landry realised that they knew more than they should about the Stargate Programme, and told them to stay put whilst he arranged transportation to Cheyenne Mountain for them.
Sam may have chosen to keep quiet rather than risk being gagged, but it didn't stop her from glaring at him. Rodney hoped she was just keeping in character and not that she was really upset at him. She had said that they were okay, but she was being very convincing.
The rear windows of the van were opaque, so he had no idea where they were going. He had looked at his watch once, but a growl from Thug 1 was enough to persuade him not to do it again.
Thug 1 and Thug 2, as he thought of them privately in his head, looked as though they should be on the front cover of 'Mercenary Today'. Conversation was not their forte; looking menacing obviously was.
With nothing to distract him, not even Sam, he was left to his own thoughts and wondered what life had against him. It had to be something really bad to deserve everything he'd been through in the last couple of years or so. Of course, he didn't really believe in karma, or that life had it in for him, but he was starting to see why people might believe that sort of thing.
This sucked. This really sucked, big time. Not just for himself, but also for Jim and Blair, and Sam. He hoped that Jim and Blair were okay and weren't lying in a ditch dead somewhere, or even worse. And just when had he realised that there were worse things in life than death? Oh yeah, shortly after arriving in the Pegasus galaxy.
Not that he regretted leaving Earth. Well, sometimes, but not really. It might be dangerous, but it was home; with certain people there like family to him. Okay, a dysfunctional family, but that was okay. It wasn't like he knew any different anyway.
Eventually the van came to a stop and the back doors were flung open, and Thug 1 used his gun to indicate that they should get out. Sam refused Rodney's help as she jumped out the back.
They were led to what could have been a barn, but it was so dark he couldn't be entirely sure. There wasn't a street light in sight, or anything to show in which direction civilisation lay.
A door was opened and a bare bulb cast it's light out into the darkness. He felt his last chance of freedom ebbing away. He thought briefly of running into the darkness, away from this; the baddies and whatever awaited him, but the thought of Blair suffering further because of him stopped him dead. He looked at Sam, wondering if the same thought was running through her head, or if she would take this opportunity to escape. Part of him wanted her to escape, to get away, and part of him, to his shame, didn't want to be left here alone.
Entering the barn, he was expecting an open space. Instead, one end of the barn had been partitioned into two rooms and the remaining space contained workbenches and engineering tools, together with a couple of state of the art computers.
He felt the gun in his back and let himself be guided into one of the rooms, quickly followed by Sam. He knew he must look as nervous as he felt, whilst Sam looked in control of herself, letting their captors know that they were not intimidating her. Hoping that she knew what she was doing, he looked across the desk to the man who was leaning against the wall. He had the same air about him that Cowan had, one of being in control; that he only had to give an order for it to be carried out immediately.
"Who are you and what do you want?" demanded Sam.
"Your new boss," he replied smoothly. "And I what I want is for you to work on the alien technology we recently acquired, as well as help build F302s for our use."
"Where's Blair and Jim?" Rodney blurted out, unable to contain himself any longer.
"Somewhere safe, enjoying our hospitality."
"I want to speak to them, know that they're okay."
"All in good time, Doctor. Persist with your demands to see them and you won't like the consequences."
"What's in it for me?" asked Sam, looking defiant. "After all, McKay's friends are nothing to me."
Rodney looked appalled, though he was sure Sam didn't mean it.
"It's obvious that you need us, so I hardly think you're going to kill us," she continued.
"But I know how to get to your friends; maybe Jackson would be a good target. What do you think?"
"Just leave him out of this and I'll do what you want," she agreed with a scowl.
She couldn't help thinking that a bad situation was getting worse, but although it was tempting to send the recall signal they couldn't pull out until they found Ellison and Sandburg first.
Sheppard looked through his night vision binoculars at the barn. The place looked quiet, but as he knew all too well, looks could be deceptive.
He hated the not knowing; was Rodney okay, were they torturing him, killing him, was he dead already? He knew he should have asked if the transmitter stopped working if Rodney died.
"C'mon, Rodney," he thought silently to himself. "Send the signal, so we can come in and get you out of there."
But he had his orders: Wait. He hated waiting, hated the inaction; that was when the worse case scenarios would start to play through his mind. He looked at Mitchell, who was by his side, similar thoughts no doubt going through his head.
They had followed the signal and parked half a mile down the road when it stopped moving, going the rest of the way on foot so as to not attract attention. Since then they had been playing the waiting game.
Sheppard noticed Cameron make a sudden movement and reached for his cell phone, which had been set to vibrate. Mitchell eased himself further away, so that any conversation wouldn't attract unwanted attention.
When he returned he face looked grim.
"Change of plans," Mitchell said. "We're going in now. Ellison and Sandburg escaped on their own apparently and have only just managed to get through to Landry. Pretty impressive for a cop and a civilian."
"Actually, Ellison was in black ops, and from what I've heard Sandburg is very resourceful in a bad situation," Sheppard said with a wry grin, thinking of some of the stories he'd heard from Rodney about Jim and Blair's exploits. "Rodney must have given Sandburg the phone number for Cheyenne and Landry's name in case of emergencies."
Mitchell nodded and then indicated to Teal'c, Jackson and the rest of the unit that they were moving in.
Keeping as much to the shadows as possible, Mitchell reached the building. He indicated for them to spilt into two groups. Half, led by Sheppard, would enter by the door they had located on the other side, and the remainder would enter by the nearest door.
As quietly as they could they picked the locks, and at the pre-arranged time, carefully opened the door.
That was when the fireworks started.
Through the office door, the leader could see his men going down one by one during the gunfight that had broken out. Realising that Sam would be his biggest problem, he quickly raised his gun and shot her.
Before Rodney could react, he felt himself grabbed and used as a human shield. Shocked by the man's shooting of Carter, he didn't fight back. He'd never felt comfortable having a gun pointed at him; after all this time he reckoned he should be used to it, but imminent death could never be good.
Looking up, he met Sheppard's eyes. He'd obviously been drawn to them by the gunshot. It felt like Sheppard was trying to tell him something, exactly like the time Kolya had held Elizabeth hostage in the gateroom. Now it was his turn to trust Sheppard's aim. He really, really hoped that the first time hadn't been a fluke; that Sheppard hadn't been aiming somewhere else and missed.
Things seemed to go into slow motion. He could almost see the bullet leave the gun. He could feel the vibration as it hit his captor and jerked him backwards, away from Rodney himself. The sudden release sent him sprawling forward and he heard another shot; ensuring that his captor wouldn't be able to shoot anyone else, or escape.
Unsteadily, and with help from Sheppard, he got to his feet. Looking to where he'd seen Sam fall, he was surprised to see that she was sitting up, leaning against a table and holding a handkerchief to her bullet-grazed shoulder.
"You're alive," he exclaimed, as Mitchell started tending to her injury.
"Obviously."
"You'd think with all that flaunted intelligence of yours, you'd have given up stating the obvious, McKay," Sheppard drawled.
"Oh, ha, ha. And why the hell have you rescued us? We haven't found out where they're keeping Blair and Ellison yet," he demanded sharply.
"Settle down, they're fine," Sheppard started before Rodney interrupted him.
"You've seen them?"
"No, but Landry contacted us. Ellison and Sandburg escaped earlier today but had trouble finding a phone."
"Oh. Wait, you mean we didn't need to do this?"
"McKay, yes, we did need to do this, to find the people behind it and stop them from trying something again. Or do you want someone to kidnap your friends or yourself every time you come to Earth? Just be glad Ellison and Sandburg got away and were able to make contact with Landry. I take it you gave them his name?"
"Yes, yes, I thought, you know, if they got into trouble due to Ellison's senses and rogue CIA or NID agents or whatever, that Landry would be the best person for them to contact for help."
"And I'm glad that you did. C'mon, let's get you out of here."
And together they left the building, leaving the clean up to Mitchell and his people. Luckily, the vehicles had been moved nearer so McKay didn't have far to walk.
Sheppard couldn't help noticing how tired McKay suddenly looked. Now that the fight was over and he knew that his friends were free, all the adrenaline had deserted him, leaving him looking drained. Sheppard doubted that McKay had had any real sleep since this began, when he had first received the video clip of Blair.
He was glad this was over, for all of them; but especially for McKay.
"I thought debriefing with Elizabeth was bad, but Landry is far worse. He just loves those details, details, details," John griped as they left the General's office and headed towards the elevator.
Whilst they had been in the debriefing a phone call had come through to say that Jim and Blair had finally arrived and were being taken to a conference room in the NORAD levels of the mountain.
McKay was impatient to see Blair, needing to see for himself that Blair was really was okay, and the elevator ride was agony. As soon as they arrived at the correct room, he rudely pushed past Sheppard, who shot him an annoyed glare that lacked strength, knowing just how anxious McKay had been.
They had time for "Are you okay?" "I'm okay", before General Landry strode into the room and asked them to take seats at the table.
"Before we start, some of what we will be discussing involves National Security. Therefore I must request that you sign these non-disclosure forms."
"I will not be gagged and have my right to freedom of speech curtailed," said Blair, getting up from the table.
"If you refuse to sign I would have no choice but to take you out of circulation, as you have certain knowledge that the President doesn't want to be heard in the public domain," General Landry said.
"Blair, listen to me, keeping this secret is important. I don't like it myself, hell, if it wasn't classified I'd have more than one Nobel by now, but the public can't handle this. Could you imagine the widespread panic? And if you think that a common alien enemy would unite the warring factions of this world, then you're more of an idealist than I realised," Rodney stated emphatically, adding, "Besides, who's going to believe you anyway, without proof?"
Defeated, Blair sat back down again.
The non-disclosure forms were passed to them, and a sullen silence ensued as they were perused and duly signed.
"You should know that several people here have seen the video clip that was sent to Dr McKay and are aware of your enhanced senses," General Landry said, looking pointedly at Jim.
"Yeah, I somehow figured you'd have seen that," Jim said, not at all surprised although clearly uncomfortable with it.
"Having spoken to Dr McKay and read about the dissertation that Mr Sandburg here claimed to have faked to protect your secret, we feel that you would both be an asset to us at the SGC."
Jim and Blair exchanged glances; Blair shrugged.
"So what exactly is the SGC?" Jim asked.
General Landry, with some interruptions from Rodney, some interjections from Sheppard and a barrage of questions from Blair, explained about the Goa'uld, Ori, wormholes and stargates, with a brief detour into Replicators whilst they were at it. Jim looked on in amusement, whilst absorbing the information overload as best he could.
"So, if we were to join the SGC, would we be able to work alongside Rodney and Colonel Sheppard in one of these SG Teams?" Blair asked.
"Ah, no, we're not based here," Rodney said awkwardly.
"Where exactly are you based?" Jim asked, knowing that it had to be off world somewhere.
"Oh, um, well…" Rodney paused, aware that Landry didn't want Atlantis to be mentioned at this stage, but deciding Blair deserved the truth. "We're based in another galaxy, on Atlantis."
"Atlantis!" Blair leapt on the word. "You mean like Plato wrote about? The mythical city lost beneath the waves? That Atlantis?"
"Yes…" Rodney started, before Landry interrupted him.
"That can wait," he threw a look at McKay that, miracles of miracles, shut him up for once. "You would be based here, in Cheyenne Mountain."
"And we could protect you from idiots that might want to kidnap you," Rodney added, hoping that they would agree.
"I think we need some time to talk about this. It's a lot to take in, not to mention being a total life change," Jim said, and Blair nodded. "I've worked for the military once and I don't want to go rushing back to that life until I have thought through all of the implications. In the meantime, we'd like to go home."
"Very well, I'll give you the time you require. As far as I am concerned, the door will remain open," the General informed them. "I'll leave you gentlemen to say your farewells, as Colonel Sheppard and Dr McKay will be shipping out tomorrow. I'll arrange for transport back to Cascade for you." With that he left the room, shutting the door behind him and ensuring that they had some privacy.
"Atlantis then?" Blair asked, grinning.
"Yes. It's not the only myth that's based on truth," John answered.
"Was it submerged, like in the story?"
"Oh yeah, but not anymore."
"Cool," Blair said, awed. "Wish I could see it. What is it like?"
"It is cool, but it's also dangerous. Each day is different but not always in a good way," Rodney cautioned.
John and Rodney went on to tell them something about the Wraith, the Asurans and life on Atlantis.
A short while later, the conversation was cut short as the transport Landry had arranged arrived and Jim and Blair headed home.
As they left the mountain complex, a sudden thought hit Blair.
"So, how are we going to explain all of this to Simon?"
The End