Stargate/Sentinel crossover
Title: Past, Present, Prologue
Author's Note: Since I'm a long-time fan of the works of Cindy Combs, I obtained permission to use her idea of MacGyver as Blair's father for my stories. Since MacGyver and Jack O'Neill were both played by Richard Dean Anderson, there will obviously be a physical resemblance between the characters that I have included in the story. I assume a familiarity with the Stargate premise and characters.
Timeline: This story takes place a couple of years after the last episode of the Sentinel, with Blair working as a detective in the Major Crimes unit as Jim's partner. In the Stargate universe, it takes place in the fourth season. The year is 2001.
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Chapter Two
Their progress was slow as they left the cell behind since the former captive was unable to move more quickly than a shuffle through the doors and out into the corridor. She was leaning heavily on Daniel, and he felt her hands tighten on his arm a moment before Teal'c walked around the corner to them.
Megan shuffled back from Teal'c, tugging on Daniel's arm to pull him away. Hearing her breathing quicken, and what sounded suspiciously like a growl, Daniel put his hand over one of hers, holding his ground. "It's all right. He's a friend. Megan, this is Teal'c. He's on our team." For a long moment, she stared at Teal'c, her gaze never wavering. Daniel watched her expression morph from panic to confusion as her breathing slowly resumed a more normal pattern.
"Wrong," she whispered, glancing from Teal'c to Daniel and back.
Not sure what she meant, Daniel tried to reassure her again. "Don't worry, he's no danger to you." Daniel glanced up at the Jaffa. "Teal'c, this is Megan. Megan, this is Teal'c."
Teal'c inclined his head toward her. She nodded back, which was all she was capable of, or so Daniel thought.
"So, what's up, T?" Jack asked, as Teal'c turned to face him. "How's Carter doing?"
Megan's body jerked slightly as Jack asked about Sam, and Daniel turned to watch her expression more closely. She had seemed surprised by Jack's question, though he wasn't sure why.
"Major Carter is still occupied with the computer systems," Teal'c responded. "She is assisting the other scientists in packing the systems up for transport back to the SGC."
Jack nodded. "I wouldn't expect anything different. Have all the prisoners been sent back to base?"
"All but one, O'Neill," Teal'c answered. "Major Simmons has asked that the scientist in charge of the facility be held back. He thinks that Dr. Barras may be of assistance."
"Why would he think that anyone involved in this mess would be willing to help us?" Jack asked, though he clearly did not expect an answer. With a sigh, Jack rubbed his hand back over his hair and strode down the hallway, calling back over his shoulder as he walked. "We'll meet you in the entryway, Daniel. I have to go take care of something. Teal'c, with me."
As they left, Daniel could feel the tension radiating from the woman at his side. He thought he knew what had prompted the reaction. "Don't worry, Megan. No one is going to hurt you again. I promise you're safe. It's not too much further to the exit, then we'll be able to get you to the base and get you some medical attention." Her head turned to him, and even through the sunglasses, he could feel the heat of her gaze. "Proper medical care," he re-iterated. "Nothing more, you have my word."
She lowered her head and nodded abruptly, loosening her grip on his arm, though not letting go. One hand remained where it had been from the start, firmly over the pulse point in his wrist. A tug on his arm indicated she was ready to move on, and Daniel led her down the hallway to the entryway where several marines milled about, standing guard over the lone prisoner and packing up boxes of equipment to take back to the SGC.
As they entered the room, Daniel couldn't help but stare at the prisoner standing to one side of the room, guarded by two of the marines. He looked like any number of scientists Daniel had met over the years, not like the type of person who would hold innocent women captive. But he had apparently noticed them as well. As the captive turned his attention toward them, Daniel felt Megan's grip tighten on his arm, and her breathing become uneven and raspy. But unlike her reaction to Teal'c in the hallway, she didn't try to pull Daniel away. Her hands were trembling, and he didn't think it was due to fear this time. Glancing aside, he could see the rage suffusing her face.
A look of disgust crossed Dr. Barras' face, and before Daniel knew what was happening, Megan had launched herself away from him and toward their captive. As she reached him, she drew back her arm and delivered a right hook to Dr. Barras' face, followed by a palm thrust into his chest with a leg sweep, dropping him heavily to the ground. Though her movements were less than graceful in her current condition, Daniel could tell that she was well trained in the martial arts. Her unexpected moves had caught everyone off-guard, but as she started to drop down on the doctor's chest, her hands extended toward his throat, Jack quickly stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides and hauling her bodily away from the man on the floor.
Megan gave a sharp cry of pain, and nearly shrieked the words, "Let me go, let me go, letmego." Her words ran into each other, barely audible as separate words. Stunned at the reaction, Jack dropped her to the ground, where she curled up into a ball on her elbows and knees, her forehead resting on the ground. The only sounds in the room for a shocked moment were the sounds of her harsh breathing as she tried to get herself under control.
"What the hell was that about?" Jack asked, staring down at the woman at his feet.
"That would be the result of a failed experiment," the doctor answered, sitting up and holding a hand to his nose, which was bleeding from the hit he'd taken. "She is completely unable to bear anyone touching her." He glared at Megan. "You could never be a front-line soldier. Your genetic abnormalities are more a liability than an advantage. All that research, wasted."
The rhythm of Megan's breathing changed, and Daniel realized with shock that she was chuckling. She slowly pushed herself to a sitting position and gazed at the doctor, her face tear-streaked, a bitter smirk on her face. "Could… have told you that. All… had to do… was ask. It could have saved you a lot of work and me a lot of pain." Her words became clearer as she spoke and her breathing evened out.
"Ah, so you're coherent again, are you?" he asked. "How did you do that? You're so out of control that you'd be huddled back in that room without the sunglasses and earplugs. I haven't heard a complete sentence from you in days. And now you can speak? How?" He seemed intrigued by her, still regarding her as a subject to be studied.
"How I work or don't work has never been any concern of yours," Megan said, glaring at him. "And just to let you know, I'm still barely hanging onto control, even with the earplugs and glasses. But I'm thrilled that you consider me unsuitable to be a soldier. The last thing I would want to do is help the type of people who make it a practice to kidnap and torture innocent civilians."
"I would hardly call it torture," Dr. Barras protested.
"Then what would you call it?" Megan tossed back at him, "electro-shock therapy?" Her eyebrows were raised above the edges of the sunglasses in disbelief.
"Science," the doctor retorted.
Megan shook her head sadly. "Science with no ethical guidance isn't progress. This is hardly the mark of a civilized society." She held up her arm to indicate the restraint marks.
He narrowed his eyes and glared at her. "So you keep saying. Ah, I've missed our debates on science and philosophy. I did think it was a pity when you were unable to carry on a conversation any longer."
"And where does the blame lie for that?" she asked.
Daniel noticed that her voice was starting to shake and a sheen of sweat covered her face. He looked to Jack and nodded toward Megan. Jack nodded back that he understood and moved in between Megan and her former captor. "That's enough. Simmons, get him out of here. I want him back to the base ASAP. When you get there, get Frasier on the horn. I need to talk to her."
"Yes, sir," Simmons replied, saluting Jack, then reaching down and placing a hand under the doctor's arm, pulling him to his feet. "Come on, doctor. Time to go." Without a backward glance, he escorted the doctor out the door.
Daniel crouched down in front of Megan. "You could barely string two words together five minutes ago. What happened?"
Megan took a deep breath, working on controlling her breathing. "It's just temporary," she said. "If I focus on the pain, I can use it to cut through the fog." She gestured toward her head. "But when the adrenaline fades…" Her breathing grew rougher and she lowered her head back to gaze at the floor. "I'm losing it," she whispered. "Can't keep hold." Raising her head to meet Daniel's eyes, she pled, "Just take me home. Please."
"We're going to do that," Daniel assured her. "We only have to go about half a mile to get you back to base. I don't think you're going to be able to walk that far, are you?"
"She won't need to walk, Daniel," Jack said. "She can ride on one of the cargo transports." His radio burst into static before a voice sounded. "Colonel O'Neill, this is Dr. Frasier. You wanted to speak to me?"
"Yeah, hold on a minute Doc," Jack answered, keying the radio. He nodded at Daniel and Megan before walking away to talk in a more private setting. Daniel couldn't make out the words, but assumed that Jack was telling her about the patient they were bringing her.
Daniel stood and gestured for Megan to stay. "I'll go check if there's a transport ready. Will you be all right here?"
"Go," she said, waving a hand toward him, making no attempt to try to move.
"I'll be right back," Daniel said, heading to the doorway to see what transport carts were available. There was a mechanized cart loaded with computer equipment, but there was enough room for someone to sit toward the back. "Hey, you can stop loading this one," he told the marines carrying over more equipment. "We'll take this back to the gate with us."
"You got it, Dr. Jackson."
Daniel went back inside and approached Jack, who was just wrapping up his conversation with Frasier. He saw Daniel and held up a finger asking him to wait. "Yeah, Doc. We're on our way. See you in a few." The radio cut out and Jack turned his attention to Daniel. "Frasier will be waiting in the gate room for us. Is she ready to go?" He tilted his head toward Megan.
"Should be," Daniel said. "There's room on the transport outside, so we just need to get her there." Turning back, he saw that Megan was curled back up on the floor in a fetal position. "That's not a good sign," he murmured, crossing back over to crouch down beside her again.
"Megan? Are you still with us?"
She stirred weakly and turned her head to look up at him. "For now." Her eyes drifted closed, and she forced them back open, her head drooping.
"We have a transport just outside the door. Can you make it that far?" He thought about offering to carry her out there, but after having seen her reaction to being grabbed by Jack, he had a feeling he knew what her answer would be to that.
Her movements were sluggish as she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. "Help," she asked softly, holding her hands out toward him. Daniel took her hands and pulled her up to her feet, and supported her as best he could to the transport, where he helped her take a seat among the boxes. He looked up as Jack approached.
"I think we're ready to go, Jack."
Jack looked up to the doorway where Teal'c stood watching them. "T, I want you to keep things moving along. Keep an eye on things here, all right? I'll be back shortly."
"It will be done as you wish," Teal'c said, inclining his head and turning to go back inside the temple.
Jack picked up the controller for the cart and started it moving toward the gate. Daniel walked along beside the cart, keeping an eye on Megan. She was leaning up against one of the boxes, barely moving. Her face was turned up to the sky, and Daniel wasn't sure if her eyes were open underneath the sunglasses until she murmured the word, "Zeus."
"Excuse me?" Daniel asked, confused. "Did you just say Zeus?"
A slight grin curved her lips as she twitched a finger to point toward the sky. "Not Jupiter." Daniel looked upward and saw the gas giant planet filling the sky above them. P4X-585 was a moon orbiting a large planet that did resemble Jupiter.
"So if it's not Jupiter, it must be Zeus?" Daniel asked with a return grin. He liked the way she thought.
"Daniel, what are you two talking about?" Jack asked, not following their conversation. Daniel couldn't blame him, really. Megan's part of this was more like a half-conversation.
"That planet up there looks like Jupiter, right?" Daniel asked. Jack gave it a brief look.
"Yeah, so what?"
"So, Megan just pointed out that it wasn't Jupiter, so she named it Zeus. It's the Greek name for the king of the gods while Jupiter is the Roman name."
"Oooh, kayyy," Jack drawled, dragging out the sound. "All that tells me is that the two of you find humor in the oddest things." Jack turned back to the trail, shaking his head.
Daniel grinned down at Megan. The grin slipped away as he saw a shudder go through her. "Are you all right?"
"Cold," she whispered, pulling her arms in closer to her body, curling up as best she could in the confined space.
"It's not much further," Daniel assured her as they rounded a bend in the path and the Stargate came into view, standing at the end of a tree-lined boulevard.
Megan straightened up a little as she caught sight of the gate. "Wow," she whispered.
"Wait till you see what comes next," Daniel said, stepping up to the DHD and dialing home. Megan jumped in surprise as the gate burst into life and the wormhole surged outward, then settled back into a rippling pond.
Megan stared at the gate, her mouth open in shock, and when Daniel came back and offered her his hand, she allowed him to take her hand and tug her back to her feet without taking her eyes off of the sight before her. "Home is right through there," Daniel said, pulling her up the steps to the platform holding the gate. Megan shook her head, a tremor of fear running through her body.
"It will be fine. I promise. We've done this more times than I can count," Daniel reassured her. When they stood in front of the gate, Daniel reached out a hand and trailed his fingers through the event horizon of the wormhole. "See? Are you ready?"
Megan took a deep breath and nodded, and Daniel tugged her slowly forward and into the gate. After a moment that seemed both infinite and infinitesimal, they emerged from the wormhole into the gate room of the SGC. As soon as they did, Daniel felt Megan stiffen. He turned just in time to see her start to fall forward. Not knowing what else to do, he caught her and lowered her to the ramp. "Medical emergency," he called. He was barely aware of Jack stepping through the gate nearly on top of them as Dr. Frasier raced to the top of the ramp to check her new patient.
Daniel stepped back as Dr. Frasier and the other medics swarmed around Megan, checking vitals, and looking for any reason for her collapse. He watched as Janet removed the sunglasses from Megan's face and shone a flashlight into her eyes to check pupil response. Remembering her earlier reaction, he winced, nearly expecting her to lash out. There was no response from Megan though, and that just worried Daniel all the more.
"Pupil response normal," Janet announced as Megan's pupils contracted in response to the light. "A little sluggish, though."
"Green," Daniel murmured.
"What was that?" Jack asked, watching the activity from beside him.
"Her eyes. They're green," Daniel answered. "I couldn't tell before."
"Um, hmm." Jack didn't seem to be listening, but Daniel was used to that from him.
The medics lifted her and placed her on a gurney, carrying it down the ramp, then lowering the wheels and pushing it toward the infirmary. Dr. Frasier looked back at Jack and Daniel. "I need to know everything you know about her. Walk with me."
Daniel and Jack didn't hesitate to do as told. As they hurried down the hallways, Daniel told her everything he had observed about Megan, and every word she had said. They had reached the infirmary by the time he finished, and Frasier helped the medics settle her in a bed and hook up an IV. "I can't give her anything until I know what drugs are already in her system," Frasier said. "Do either of you know what she was given?"
With a helpless shrug, Daniel shook his head. "Sorry. I don't have any idea."
"Colonel?" she asked, turning to Jack.
He reached into a pocket and withdrew a thumb drive. "Carter downloaded her file before we opened the door. This is everything we could find."
"That will most certainly help," she said, taking the drive and passing it off to a nurse. "Open that file and tell me what I need to know." She turned her attention back to Daniel and Jack. "And now I have a patient to tend. If you'll excuse me."
After a moment of watching the activity, Jack tugged on Daniel's jacket. "Come on, let's give them room to work."
Giving the room a last backward glance, Daniel followed Jack out of the infirmary. As they were approaching the gate room, General Hammond caught up with them. "How is our visitor, gentlemen?"
"Janet's taking care of her," Daniel said. "But she seemed to be in pretty bad shape."
"I want a full debrief. I want to know what was going on in that lab!" General Hammond seemed quite perturbed about this mission. Daniel was about to answer, but Jack beat him to it.
"If you'll allow it, I'd like to return to the moon and finish up the mission, sir." Jack looked back toward the gate room. "We don't really have that many answers yet. It will take time for Frasier and Carter to go through all the computer records. All we really know is that they thought the woman back there could help them create a super-soldier, but then changed their minds."
Hammond took a moment to mull it over, then nodded. "Very well, Colonel. But I'll want a debrief once you're all back here. We'll go over what you do know, even if it isn't much."
"Of course, sir," Jack said. "It shouldn't take much longer to close the place down and haul all the equipment back here. Daniel, you coming?"
Daniel glanced back toward the infirmary. He felt responsible for Megan, and should stay here, but she was certainly in capable hands with Frasier. There wasn't much more he could do for her, if he were to stay anyway. And he hadn't really gotten to explore the secrets of that temple, either. All he had on video were the few hallways and rooms near where Megan was being held. An hour certainly wasn't a lot of time to explore such an intriguing site. He weighed the ideas in his head long enough for Jack to start looking irritated, and made up his mind. "Yeah. I do want to get another look at that temple. And it's not like there's much I can do here, anyway."
With a nod to the General, they turned and headed back to the gate room to finish their mission.