The Men From the Gate

Disclaimer: They're not mine though the plot (and there's acutally one in this one) is as well as the victims, I came up with them all by myself.

A/N: As you requested the bodies are found, SG1 finally makes an appearence, Vala has a scene with Jack and I'm actually advancing the plot, yeh! Also this was supposed to be out earlier today as you all so nicely asked for a fast update and I actually promised I'd post it today, but I had to take my grandma to the doctor (sometimes life gets in the way, I sincerely apologize for that but what can one do?) and couldn't post it before but did make it :) I hope the description of the scene where the bodies are found is ok, setting up scenes is not my forte but just imagine a huge bomb going off. Finally, I want to thank each and everyone that has taken the time to review, I know everyone says it but it does mean a lot; I've tried to reply to everyone and I apologize if I overlooked someone. I'm very glad that you're liking this story so much, it's been in my head for a while and I almost didn't write it but I'm so glad I did - I think this is my second most reviewed story; I had no idea so many people liked both Bones and SG1. Well, without further ado, the story...

Chapter 4

In the seconds that followed the explosion, Brennan had a first row seat to see why the men and women in the room were some of the best and brightest of the country. As one, the military personnel in the room adopted defensive stances before the civilians closest to them, the officers closest to the door on the side from where the sound came went out to investigate and the Secret Service personnel that had been unobtrusively standing on the edges, rushed to their high profile charges and hurried them to the other exit.

As Brennan swept her gaze through the room, she noticed that a surprising number of officers had guns in their hands, including Booth, General O'Neill and Sam – where she'd kept a gun wearing that dress was anyone's guess. And as Booth turned to leave, she asked what was probably the most ill-timed question of her life, "Booth, how come she gets a gun?"

Booth turned to look at her with a face that screamed 'you're asking that now!' He, nevertheless, answered her, "Because, Bones, she's a Lt Colonel in the Air Force! Now, stay here. I'm going to go see what's going."

She wanted to protest and ask to go along but knew it was futile so she settled for nodding and saying, "Be careful." He nodded back and as he steeped away, she called as she thought of something, "Hey, Booth. Should I call the police?"

Booth barely took the time to turn around as he shrugged and said, "Go ahead but this is a federal building and under FBI jurisdiction."

She nodded again and as she turned back to Sam and Gen. O'Neill, she heard Sam say, "Jack, be careful." Jack nodded and after giving her a brief kiss, told her, "Always." With that, he turned away and hurried after Booth. Apparently, he'd won the argument he'd been having with his Secret Service escort; but as two agents followed him, he'd lost the part about all of the agents staying behind with Sam.

As both women watched the men ran out of the room, Sam asked, "Is not easy, is it?"

"Um?" Brennan asked as she once again turned toward the other woman.

"Seeing them go off to confront who knows what and not being able to go with them to watch their backs." Sam explained as she brought her gaze to Brennan's after Jack walked out the doors.

"No, it's not," Brennan nodded. "How come you're not going?" She asked because not only did Sam have a gun and was obviously trained for these type of situations but also because she didn't look like the type of woman who'd stay behind while her husband went out to fight.

Sam grimaced and motioned to the way she was dressed. "This dress and heels are not conductive to running around. I'll do it if I have to but if I don't . . ." She trailed off with a shrug of her shoulders to show her resignation to the situation.

Brennan nodded as that was one of the reasons why she hadn't argued to go with Booth. But then she thought of something else: she didn't know much about the military, but she was sure that a general was more apt to send people out to fight than to go and do the fighting himself. And since Sam had sounded like she'd had lots of experience seeing her husband go off to fight, she wondered how long Sam and the general had been married. Brennan, being Brennan, went ahead and asked, "How long have you been married?"

Sam looked surprised at the question but answered easily enough, "Six months. Why?"

Brennan shrugged her shoulders and said, "You just seemed to have a lot of experience seeing him go and staying behind."

Sam took a sip of her drink with a thoughtful look on her face and then said, "Jack was my unit CO and I was his 2nd for seven years, then he was the base CO and finally he was promoted to department head. I have been right there with him whenever he's faced any danger for most of the time we've known each other and after his promotion it was him that had to watch me go off without him. But," she took another quick sip, "yes, lately I've gained some experience in staying behind while he goes off." Her gaze turned inward and she looked to be reliving some not too pleasant memories.

"But he's a general," Brennan couldn't stop the observation. "Don't they usually stay behind doing paperwork?"

"Yes, usually," Sam answered with a nod. "But Jack is not your usual general. His experience, willingness and superb physical condition mean that he can have his pick of missions if he wants. And he usually wants," she concluded with a resigned shrug; she may not like it but like Vala told her, she dealt with it because that was who Jack was.

Sam then shook her head as if to rid herself of bad memories and asked Brennan, "How about you? You must also be used to seeing Booth go off into dangerous situation while you stay behind."

"Actually, no," Brennan answered. "In all the time we've been partners, I've only stayed behind a handful of times."

"Really?" Sam asked, interested, thinking that there was much more to the pretty doctor than met the eye. "How do you manage that without being FBI?"

"It was part of our deal," Brennan answered simply. "50/50, equal partnership. I didn't want to do lab work only but also be allowed in the field."

"And the FBI just acceded to your . . . request?" Sam chose to be diplomatic and use 'request', though she had a feeling it had more likely been a demand.

Brennan shrugged and answered matter-of fact, "I'm very good at what I do." And then she grinned mischievously as she brought her glass toward her mouth, "Of course, it also helped that the next forensic anthropologist lives in Montreal."

Sam laughed and raised her own glass in a silent toast. The light moment was interrupted when one of the agents that had followed Jack came back and told Sam, "Ma'am, the general asks that you and the Doctor," and he mentioned to Brennan, "come out to the scene."

Sam nodded, knowing full well that Jack hadn't so much asked as ordered that they go. She looked at Brennan and after waving her forward, they both walked out following the agent.

A few moments later, they entered the men's rest room and Brennan was reminded of the two men she had seen earlier but as she saw the damage the vague memory slipped away. To say that it was a mess would be a vast understatement; the floor was completely flooded from the sink and urinals that had been blown off in the explosion as well as the sprinkles that had thankfully been turned off. The stall doors had likewise been blown off and they like the walls and the ceiling were charred. There were also two bodies against two walls directly across from each other where the explosion had apparently thrown them. The remains like the walls and ceiling were charred beyond recognition and it was obvious Brennan's services would be needed.

Both Sam and Brennan had sighed and picked up their dresses when they saw the water. Before venturing into the restroom, Brennan shook her head and thought 'there goes the new shoes' and she was careful to keep her dress beyond the reach of the water because as hard a time as she gave Angela before buying it, she really did love the dress and the look Booth had given her when he saw her in it. . .

She walked carefully towards the closest body as Booth asked her, "What can you tell me, Bones?"

She observed the body carefully and told Booth, "Male, Caucasian, in his early 30's. Cause of death could be the explosion, the fire or the impact with the wall – impossible to say before we analyze it in the lab." She tilted her head to get a different angle and added, "I think he may have been wearing a uniform," she shook her head and continued. "But again, without further analyzes it is impossible to tell."

Booth steeped closer and leaned over the body, without regard to the damage that it caused to his uniform and Brennan thought that he paid more attention to his suits. "I don't see dog tags."

"What does that mean?" Brennan asked him. "He's not military?"

Booth sighed as he stood up, "At least not active," he responded and waved at the other body, "What about him?"

Brennan hiked up her dress a bit more and carefully made her way to the other body. She tilted her head and said, "Male, mixed race. Impossible to determine cause of death." And then she trailed off.

A few seconds later, Booth looked up from where he'd been jotting down the information Brennan had been giving him in a little notebook that he produced from nowhere and asked, "Age?"

Brennan turned back to Booth and in a perplexed voice told him, "I'm not sure."

Booth let his hand fall down as he asked, "You're not sure? But age is one of the first things you're able to determine when you have visual access to the whole body – and you do." He added with a wave of his hand.

"I know," Brennan nodded as she turned back to study the body again. "But all the bone markers indicate that he was over a hundred years old."

"Over a hundred?!" asked Booth in surprised.

"Well over," Brennan emphasized.

"But, but he doesn't look . . ." Booth protested.

"I know," Brennan nodded again. "His overall bone structure and appearance indicate that he was in his thirties. It may be that he suffered from some genetic disorder. I won't know more until I get him to the lab." She concluded.

Jack and Sam, who had been standing by the door observing the doctor work, snapped to attention when they heard Brennan say one of the victims could be over a hundred years old. They shared an alarmed look and Jack started forward to study the body closer and see if he could prove or disprove their disturbing theory.

The partners were so involved in their discussion that they didn't pay attention to the moving general. However, when they saw the older man nudged the body with his foot and then hunched down and picked up something from beneath the body with a handkerchief, Brennan started forward saying, "Don't touch . . ."

Booth stopped her by placing a hand on her arm a squeezing a warning. Brennan turned to him with eyes blazing and hissed, "Booth, he's touching my bones."

"I know, Bones. But let me, ok?" He squeezed her arm again and with a final warning in his eyes, he stepped towards the bent general and said, "Sir, with respect, this is a crime scene and you shouldn't be picking up evidence."

Jack sighed and as he stood up, he turned his head and met Sam's eyes, whose own eyes widened when she saw what Jack held. He closed his fist and the handkerchief completely hid the object from sight. With another sigh, he then turned to look at Booth. He didn't like what he was going to have to do, but he had no choice. "Major," he began.

But Booth interrupted him, "Special Agent." He corrected him.

The interruption made Jack paused for a minute. He was not used to being interrupted; with the exception of the original SG1, no one dared anymore. "Special Agent," Jack amended, looking closer into the younger man's eyes and confirming his earlier opinion – this was not a man to take lightly. "I'm sorry to tell you, but this has now become an Air Force matter."

"With all due respect," Booth said again and Brennan rolled her eyes at Booth's continue courtesy; the man was messing with their crime scene, if it was up to her, she would have already taken away whatever it was he'd picked up. "This is a civilian manner and a federal building – that means this is an FBI manner." Booth argued.

But Jack was shaking his head before Booth had finished talking. "I'm sorry, Ma . . . Special Agent. I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist."

"Sir," Booth continued and by his tone, Brennan could tell his patience and courtesy were beginning to be strained – 'about time,' she thought. "I understand that . . ."

"No, I very much doubt you do," Jack interrupted him.

Booth sighed and bluntly said, "I can call the director." Though he knew that wasn't much of a threat, the other man was a two star general after all.

"Yes, you could do that," Jack agreed. "But it wouldn't get you anywhere."

Booth knew that but he wasn't ready to give up, "Sir,"

"Major," Jack snapped using his general voice; he didn't want to do it but he didn't have time to stand around discussing jurisdiction. The soldier in Booth couldn't help but respond to the command in Jack's voice and he promptly shut up and snapped to attention. "This is now a matter of national security, which makes it my jurisdiction. Any information from this point on is on a need to know basis and since you don't need to know," Jack trailed off but Booth got the point. He was being asked to clear the scene.

"Yes, sir," Booth grudgingly acknowledge. With a curt nod, he clicked his heels and turned about. He walked towards Brennan, who had been watching the exchange silently but who looked more than ready to make a comment, took her arm and before she could said whatever was on her mind, told her, "Come on, Bones. Let's go."

"But, Booth, my bones," she started to protest but Booth wouldn't let her talk and using his hold on her arm, propelled her towards the door. As they were leaving, Booth heard the general ordered his wife, "Carter, call the SGC and tell them we're going to need medical transport and someone to process the scene."

Sam nodded and asked as she took her cell phone out, "Jack, is that . . .?"

"Yeah," Jack answered with a tire sigh.

"What is that doing here?" she wanted to know as she waited to be connected.

"I don't know, Sam. That's what we have to find out." Jack answered. He started to say something else but Booth and Brennan were already outside and Booth couldn't make out what it was.

A few feet from the rest room, Brennan finally freed herself and letting her dress fall down, she turned to Booth and with her hands on her hips, demanded, "What the hell are you doing? Why did you leave them alone with the bones? They could seriously compromise our crime scene, Booth!! We need to go back in there and . . ."

"Bones," Booth interrupted her before she could get into the rant. "Didn't you hear the general? That is no longer our crime scene." He sounded tired and resigned but also pissed off.

"Yes, I heard him," Brennan answered him. "But what I don't understand is why you're letting him ordered you about. You're no longer in the military, Booth," she informed him.

"I know that, Bones," he told her exasperatedly.

"Well, then. This is a civilian manner and you're the civilian policy – he has no authority to order either you or me. I don't understand why you just meekly left him there with my bones . . ."

"I didn't meekly left," Booth protested through his teeth as he raked his fingers through his hair. He was already beyond frustrated and Brennan's attitude wasn't helping.

"Yes, you did." Brennan argued, nodding her head for emphasis. "And anyway, he's Air Force, isn't he? You were Army; I don't see why you have to listen to him."

"When a two star general tells you something," Booth explained in an overly patient tone. "It doesn't really matter whether he's from your branch of the service or not. You just do what he tells you."

"I don't see why," She insisted. "And why can't you call Cullen and tell him to talk to someone and get them to give us back the case?" She wanted to know.

Booth sighed again and said, "It wouldn't matter, Bones."

"Why not?" she wanted to know.

"Because it wouldn't." He answered but seeing her face, he decided to elaborate. "Look, say I call Cullen and Cullen calls his supervisor and that supervisor talks to the Attorney General and say the Attorney General decides to go to bat for us, which by the way is a huge if, he would go to the Joint Chiefs (of which I'm pretty sure General O'Neill is one of) and the Chiefs would tell him it's a matter of national security. They might even get the President's backing and we would be right where we are right now: nowhere."

He paused and took several deep breaths to calm down and then said, "Bones, when a two star general who happens to be one of the Joint Chiefs tells you that a crime is a matter of national security and that it no longer falls under your jurisdiction but rather his, you listen to him. We wouldn't gain anything trying to fight this because at the end of the day, he's the one that would make any type of final decision on this case, anyway. We just have to let it go."

"But, Booth, those bones . . . I . . ." she trailed off, frustrated. She turned to look back at the rest room door and with a sigh that ruffled her hair, told Booth, "I don't like this." She then turned back to him and repeated just in case he hadn't gotten it the first time. "I really don't like this, Booth."

"I know, Bones, neither do I." He agreed as he threw an arm over her shoulders and gave her a half hug. "But there's really nothing we can do. What do you say we skipped the rest of this party,"

She snorted and said, "I don't think that many people stayed, Booth."

"You're probably right." He agreed as he started guiding her back to the dinning room to retrieve her purse and wrap. "I don't know about you but I'm still hungry. Why don't we pick up something and go to your place to eat?"

Brennan gave a last look at the rest room and then forced herself to let it go. She turned to look at him and with a grin asked, "Thai?"

-----------------------------

Sunday morning dawned beautiful in Colorado Springs. It was crisp, bright, the birds were signing; unfortunately Jack O'Neill (with two l's) could not enjoyed it as he was stuck in the bowels of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex instead of spending it with his wife, so he'd rather think that it was storming outside. No, on the second thought he rather not think that either as that made think about a lazy weekend spent in bed with his wife. Jack scrubbed his hands through his hair as he fought to bring his thoughts back to his job and out of the gutter.

Then he heard steps coming up the metal stairs towards the conference room and he turned his gaze that way, hoping for a distraction. He grinned when he saw Vala strutted into the room.

"General Jack!" she called with her arms open as she walked toward the conference table. "Good morning," she told him as she took a seat to Jack's left, knowing Sam would sit at his right.

"Morning, Vala. How're you doing? Jack asked with a grin.

"I'm fine," Vala answered as she leaned back in the chair and crossed her hands across her stomach. "So, I heard that you had a very boring time last night. Absolutely tame." She said ironically and added a nod for emphasis.

Jack gave a sardonic smile. "Yes, an incredible tedious time. It was all I could to stay awake." He gave a small nod and a sad sigh at the end.

"That wouldn't have happened if you had invited me. I would have made sure you were entertained." She assured him in her most earnest voice.

"Oh, I know, believe me." Jack agreed. "And I was going to invite you guys to come along."

"Why didn't you?" Vala asked as she leaned forward and put her elbows on the table. She had started it as a joke but the truth was that she would have liked to go; even though she now lived outside the base with Daniel, she still didn't get many chances to go out, especially to a gala because even though Daniel was the love of her life there was no denying that the life of the party he wasn't.

Jack shrugged and said, "Sam said that I just wanted everyone to be miserable because I was going to be."

"Hum," Vala said with a small pout. "Well, I wouldn't have been miserable."

Jack laughed, "I don't doubt it. I'll make sure to ask you next time. You know, spread the good fortune."

"Good," she nodded again and leaned back into the chair.

"SG1 should be here in a minute," General Landry informed them as he entered the room. He had seen Vala come into the conference room from his office and had hurried out because experience had taught him that it was not a good idea to leave those two alone for any length of time. They were too much alike in their delight of pranks and general mischievousness for anyone to feel comfortable leaving them unsupervised.

"Vala," Landry said as he took his seat next to Jack. "I'm surprised to see you here so early. I thought you'd come in later."

Vala shrugged and answered, "I came in last night with Daniel; didn't really want to stay home alone and thought maybe I could help."

"And were you able to help?" Landry asked.

"Not really," she answered with a sigh. "There wasn't much I could do; it was all Earth science not much to do with Goa'uld technology."

Jack and Landry nodded their understanding as Teal'c and Cameron walked in. "Generals," Cameron nodded his greetings. "Vala," Cameron added as sat down tow chairs down from her, leaving the one next to her for Daniel.

"O'Neill," Teal'c tilted his head in Jack's direction and then repeated the action towards the other general, "GeneralLandry." He walked to Jack's right and sat down across from the empty side on his left as he nodded his head towards Vala. "Vala MalDoran."

The generals and Vala returned the greetings as Sam and Daniel came into the room. "Good, everyone's here," Daniel said as he nodded his greetings and sat down between Vala and Cameron.

Sam greeted everyone and sat down on Jack's right and beside Teal'c.

"So," Jack said after they had all settled down. "What have you found out?"

"Not much," Daniel answered as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "In fact, we haven't been able to do more than to confirm that the vial did indeed carry tretonin, which would support the thesis that at least one of the bodies was a Jaffa."

"That's it?" Jack asked incredulous. "We don't know anything else? No identification?"

Sam nodded and then shrugged. "I'm sorry, sir. Janet and her team have been working all night and are in fact running more tests right now. But the fact of the matter is that the bodies were pretty badly burned; whatever it was that blew up must have had some sort of strong accelerant for the bodies to have burned so much so fast. In fact, most of what's left are bones, there's not much meat left – certainly not enough for us to recover any fingerprints."

"What about dental records?" Landry asked, frowning while Jack started tapping his fingers on the table showing his displeasure with the lack of progress.

"Sorry, sir." Sam said again, shaking his head. "No matches, which again support the theory that they might not been from Earth – or at least they're not on the system."

"So, what do we know?" Jack asked curtly.

"Pretty much what we knew last night," Daniel answered. "That both victims were male, one Caucasian and in his thirties and the other was mixed race but we couldn't tell his age. Which probably means first victim was human and not Jaffa, though whether he was from Earth . . ." he trailed off with a shrug indicating there was no way to know.

"So, what you guys are telling me is that two men, one who was a Jaffa, blew up in a bathroom a few yards away from a room that contained most of this country's military brass and we know nothing about it? That all that we basically know is what that Dr. told us yesterday?" Jack asked once again showing his annoyance.

"Dr. Brennan," Daniel corrected him but Jack waved it away; he didn't have anything against the good doctor, he in fact had found her nice enough but he was so annoyed he couldn't be bothered to think of her name.

"Sorry, sir," Sam said. "But we haven't had much time. It's possible the tests Janet is running could tell us something new," she didn't sound too hopeful, though, and Daniel was looking pretty skeptical.

Before Jack commented, Cameron raised an issue he thought needed to be addressed even if it was far-fetched. "And we're sure it wasn't terrorism? As General O'Neill said some of the highest ranking military officers were present last night if the bomb had gone off inside the dinning room, our military would have been dealt a crushing blow."

Landry looked thoughtful at the suggestion as did Vala but Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c all shook their head. "It wouldn't really make sense," Sam answered. "I mean we can't be completely sure right now, but why would a Jaffa be working with terrorists. I guess it's possible but not really probable. Most terrorists don't know about the existence of aliens and I don't really see a Jaffa involving himself with those tactics. They're much more likely to work within the government to destabilize it and then rise to power – pretty much what they learn from the Goa'uld."

Teal'c nodded his agreement with her reasoning while Jack returned to the topic, "But the only way we're going to know for certain is to find out who those men were. How are we going to do that?"

"Well," Daniel spoke up. "I've been thinking."

"Big surprise there, Danny-boy," Jack said sarcastically.

Daniel grimaced at the nickname but chose to pick his battles and ignored him. "I think we should invite Dr. Brennan and her team to help us with the investigation."

A/N: Next chapter will be a little longer in coming out because there I have a few stories in the Stargate fandom I want to work on. Please review and let me know if you liked this chapter as much as the other ones.