A/N: Again, thanks to Sealurk for the beta. He was quite entertained by this chapter which I think means you will be too :D Definitely a change of pace from before! Early update to make up for the late one last time :D

To DP: Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

To Amen: All very true :) .338 Lapua is borderline Anti-Material round so it's definitely a step above a 7.62, either 39mm or 51mm. And yes, 500 feet is not that long a distance for anyone trained to shoot… ;)

Watching Peters for a reaction, Jack was careful not to divulge who'd been shot, or their condition.

The less they knew he knew, the more they might think he knew and the less they'd suspect that Jack knew much more than he was supposed to know, even though he didn't actually know nearly enough to say that he knew what was happening or… something. Jack's line of reasoning sometimes could be rather confusing even to him. That's one of the many reasons he liked being succinct.

Peters narrowed his eyes suddenly, and he looked at both Jack and Sam. Despite trying to hide it, both officers saw the hint of recognition in his eyes as he looked at Sam for the first time. "… A rifle from our company?"

Jack saw that things were about to take a rather unexpected turn, and he made a small motion to Sam. The Lieutenant Colonel began to tap her foot loudly which was the signal to both Daniel and Vala that things were about to hit the fan. She also subtly tapped her pocket where a small transceiver activated silently. One tap meant backup, two meant all hell breaks loose.

Jack looked back at Peters this time with a little more anger. "That's right. Can you answer that or should I put my official hat on?"

Peters turned his head to the men beside him and spoke somewhat tersely. "General, I have nothing but the highest respect for you. But coming down here and accusing us of…"

The doors behind Jack opened, and as he lost focus on Peters he realized that another three security guards had flanked them. Anger had just led him to a rather precarious position… that is if he didn't have backup all over the place.

Teal'c, demonstrating his usual perfect timing, entered with a strong posture. The security guards instantly bristled upon seeing someone even bigger than they were.

He wasted no time and instantly questioned the nearest security guard. "I am looking for Lance Ridge. I have many questions for him."

The security guard did a slight double take at Teal'c manner of dress, and groaned softly. "Yeah yeah so does my mother." The guard attempted to grab a hold of Teal'c jacket as he moved forward

Grabbing the security guard's hand without any show of effort, Teal'c narrowed his eyes. "Then I and your mother have the same goal. I have asked politely. I do not wish to ask again.

Peters groaned at the chaos taking place, he looked around and saw several of the guards distracted by Vala as she spoke to them all, keeping their attention quite focused. "Alright that's it." He turned to his personal guard and motioned to him. "Get these people out of here now." Peters then turned to Jack with half a scowl. "I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and let you state your case. If you'll follow me."

Jack looked over to Sam, who in turn waited until the security guards moved ahead to look back to Teal'c and give a short almost imperceptible nod.

Peters led them back towards the office areas, and within moments they'd been seated in a rather open area with several people watching. Jack and Sam shared looks and with slight facial tics and motions, communicated that the plan was going ahead.

Outside, Teal'c continued to stare at the largest security guard who faced him. "I have no quarrel with you or your friends, I simply wish to speak to Mr. Ridge regarding some irregularities at my place of work."

With a scowl, the guard said. "Oh really? And that would be?"

Unblinking, Teal'c replied. "I am not at liberty to say."

"Oh really? You some kinda national security? Where's your badge?"

Still holding back, Teal'c stared. "You do not have authorization to view my credentials."

Daniel had now noticed that Teal'c was pretty outnumbered, Vala was distracting about four guards now, but the seven in the room would be difficult to take on should things get… aw crap. "Hey! Ich bin eine get the fuck out!"

Daniel pretended he hadn't understood the guard. "Entschuldigen sie mich?"

The guard leaned in closely and hooked his thumb to the door with a menacing face. "Get. The. Fuck. Out! Go on! Snell! Snell!"

Feeling offended that his fake mother tongue was being massacred, Daniel was about to start arguing when he saw a body fly past him onto the wooden table nearby.

As the table collapsed under the weight of the security guard, all hell broke loose with it. Daniel spun around and tackled the guard escorting him out, hoping that the surprise attack would give him a chance to go and help….

"Yahhh!!!"

To Daniel's surprise, a pair of the guards who'd been distracted by Vala suddenly dropped, one clutching his groin with a face of pure agony, the other holding his neck as he keeled over onto the ground.

The two remaining guards turned and were greeted by Vala's rather astonishing flailing attack of fury.

Daniel ran over as fast as he could, having to dodge yet another body flying through the air as the guards tried and failed to envelope Teal'c.

Striking from behind, the element of surprise worked well as Daniel tackled the larger of the two guards now threatening Vala.

The smaller guard had just pulled out his tazer when he felt his torso in a vice. With Vala's hair in his face, he had no chance of defending himself.

Vala had leapt up and caught the man using her thighs and was quickly laying a multi-directional smackdown all while squeezing the air out of him, Daniel finished the stunned larger guard by cracking a nearby vase over his head.

Daniel cried out to Teal'c whom he saw now walking forward to grab a hold of the larger security guard who had attempted to assault him. "Teal'c! What happened!?"

Picking up the man by the collar, Teal'c turned to Daniel. "General O'Neill and Colonel Carter are in danger. We must assist!"

"He knows."

Sam nodded softly as she sat and waited. "He recognized me."

Jack cautiously took out his cell phone. "Only two bars." Jack spun the wheel on his Blackberry and clenched his teeth. "This place is shielded, we won't be able to call for help down there."

Sam clicked her tongue, and motioned down to her leg where she held the transceiver in one hidden pocket.

Jack narrowed his eyes in a "wait" gesture and looked up at Peters who had moved off to talk on his phone. "He tries to corner us… hit it."

Sam nodded again and kept an eye on her surroundings. The area was relatively Spartan, yet what was there was very high class. Sam noted that the chair she was sitting on was rather comfortable and the frame of solid wood. It had been ages since she sat on a real wooden chair on Earth..

Glass panels surrounded each cubicle inside, and inside each cubicle was either a table or a computer. Overall it looked very much like an interview area. Sam didn't realize RedScope had gotten so large. "Must be pretty profitable, lots of nice stuff."

Jack summed it up in a single phrase. "War is money."

Turning to Jack with a suddenly awed expression, she could see that it was something the man had thought about for a very long time. She wanted to say something, anything to agree or even add to the sentiment. But Jack had summed it up in the lowest possible denominator and there was nothing further that needed to be added.

Finally after what seemed like a long time, Peters approached them. "General, if you could follow me please?" Both Jack and Sam got up, but Peters held one hand up. "Just the General please."

Jack leaned forward just slightly in order to look imposing. "Where I go, she goes."

Sam resisting smiling, but seeing Peters shake his head she now worried. Splitting them up meant they didn't know for a fact what was happening to the other. Sam realized it was a good move if you were looking to get someone out of the picture.

Looking to Jack for guidance, the anger in his eyes said it all. She tapped the transceiver again and took a deep breath, Teal'c would get the signal and all hell would soon break loose.

Peters didn't know any of this as he replied back to Jack. "We only deal with command level staff General. Since this is a delicate issue, Mr. Ridge would prefer to only speak to you." The look Peters gave Sam passed for a well hidden scowl. "You can remain up here while the General speaks with Mr. Ridge. I can even have one of my associates take you on a tour of the facility."

Jack growled softly, but before he could say anything a loud scream was heard from outside in the lobby. Peters spun around with two guards getting to their feet.

It was obvious the team had gotten the message and was coming for them, Jack turned to Sam and gave a simple nod.

Peters was exposed, and Jack didn't hesitate. His right hand came up and then down in a hard chopping motion to Peters' back knocking him to the ground unconscious.

Sam reacted instinctively with a forward kick using her thankfully relatively flat shoes. She was surprised by Jack's hostility, but feeling the guard in front of her's stomach against her ankle told her this fight was going to be over fast. Sam would never stoop so low as to aim for a groin shot when she knew she could win fairly, It just wasn't soldierly.

The second guard moved forward towards Jack and lunged with his hands, Jack ducked and managed to land a single punch against his ribcage before having to fall back. The Guard was only minorly affected and grunted as he chased after the General.

Sam quickly finished the guard she'd kicked by using the briefcase as an uppercut device snapping his head back and knocking him over a potted plant bringing it down with him. He landed with his arms around the plant and his tongue sticking out of his mouth,

To both Sam and Jack's dismay though, another trio of guards rushed down the hallway as the office workers ran for the emergency exits. They were armed with stun guns and there wasn't time to pull out the Zats or Intars.

Just as Sam had decided to pull out her P229 from it's hidden holster, Jack screamed into his radio implanted into his ear canal. "Teal'c! Where are…?!"

To both of their surprise, the glass doors separating them from the lobby shattered and the largest security guard from outside flew into the room as if catapulted.

Taking cover, Sam took the confusing moment to open the briefcase containing their weapons. Teal'c stepped through the door calmly despite the intensity of the fight around him. The glass of the broken door crunched beneath his feet. Jack had to admit, the Jaffa could make one hell of an entrance. "Teal'c!"

The three guards rushing forward had been stonewalled by the shocking arrival of reinforcements, it was long enough for Sam to toss Teal'c a Zat and pull a pair of Intars shaped like Berettas out for her and Jack.

It was a quick fight with each soldier taking either an Intar bolt of Zat blast. The office workers had all fled the scene and it was relatively quiet now.

Jack couldn't help but muse. "Well... easier than usual."

He heard a soft growl from Sam next to him, and turned to the glass door separating the initial office which according to the map on the desk led down to a deeper office and elevator. Daniel and Vala walked up, both now armed with policed weapons from the guards they had knocked out. "Daniel, call Woolsey, get his team here now!"

Daniel gave Jack an incredulous look. "I don't have his number. I don't suppose he's in the yellow pages?"

Jack groaned as he pulled his phone from his belt and tossed it to Daniel. "Speed Dial number 2, he's got a Marine riot squad on standby down the block. You and Vala hold the fort here, No one in or out that's not with us."

Daniel wasn't technically a soldier, but he knew a good order when he heard it. "Got it." He quickly turned and dialed from the address book, Vala covering him with the tazer she held in her hand.

Sam furrowed her brow as she covered the interior of the building with her Intar shaped like a standard USAF issue Beretta 92FS handgun. "You have Woolsey on speed dial, sir?"

Jack nodded and looked back into the lobby at the level of destruction left from the earlier attack. "Along with the SGC, the President, and my baker."

Sam winced in mirth for a moment, but then Teal'c stepped through and looked around at his handiwork of RedScope Industries' lobby. "Colonel Mitchell?"

Jack shook his head. "Dunno." He tapped his ear where the temporary radio had been fitted inside his ear. "Mitchell! Where the hell are you?"

Cameron held his hands up in both a form of defense, and surrender. He had the irresistible urge to scream "Red Light!" given his current situation. When Vala had joked around about it, he never expected it to ACTUALLY happen. "Uhh listen little lady… I…"

The receptionist took her glasses off and set them down on the little shelf in the closet they were in. "You want to get in. You do this for me. I've had the worst day ever and I can make sure you get a good position!"

Cam didn't exactly like the way she enunciated 'good position' and realized what a mess he'd gotten himself into… again. "I'm flattered… but aren't you worried about your job? If someone catches…"

Before he could finish, the rather attractive receptionist planted her lips on his and wrapped her arms around his torso. Cam didn't really have it in him to shove her away, but he didn't make any forward movements of his own.

She began to slide her hands up and down his sides eliciting a shiver, and through some magic act of sleight of hand, Cam felt his jeans suddenly drop to the ground exposing his smiley face boxers.

She pushed him back deeper into the room, Cam's feet stumbling out of his pants. She bent down to pick up his now free jeans. She murmured in a singsongy tone. "You won't be needing these. Hunter."

Cam watched in horror as she tossed his pants over her shoulder. They landed half on a vent system and half in the room.

This was just way too unexpected and Cam didn't know what to do, well he did, but at the moment he was cornered in a closet with a potentially insane receptionist. Dropping the drawl, Cam quickly said. "Listen, I really need to get back out there! I'll be glad to take you to dinner or wherever after you're done work, but I kinda have stuff to do now!"

Not missing a beat, the receptionist flicked off the first button on her blouse. "Oh you do have stuff to do."

Cam's hormones screamed at him. But the soldier inside won out and Cam finally managed to push past her. "Listen… woo boy… I'd love to get together after… but I've seriously got to get back out there.. so uhh…" As Cam reached for his pants, the vent suddenly turned on and sucked in the air it demanded… and his pants. "Aw dammit!"

The receptionist giggled and went to hug Cam again. "Aww poor baby. It's only a few feet. You could probably reach it to grab them…"

Cam squirmed out of her reach and lifted up the cover of the vent. It was on a spring and it'd be difficult for him to hold it and reach down. "Uhh… Little help?"

The receptionist giggled and held up the door. "Sure thing…" Cam leaned into the vent, and saw the slight shine of the emergency flashlight he carried reflect in the weak light. He eased himself into the vent to reach, almost.. "Yah!"

Feeling the receptionist whose name he didn't even know's hand slid up his thigh, Cam shuddered at these ridiculous situations he kept finding himself in since joining the SGC. Cam began to wish he was dealing with the Lucian Alliance or even the Ori instead of this ridiculous situation. "Do you mind?!"

Her fingers danced, her smile was insane. "No, not at all."

Cam was just about to begin cursing a blue streak when he heard a loud smash from outside that sounded distinctively like glass breaking… a lot of glass. "What…"

Just as shocked as Cam was, the receptionist pulled back and covered her mouth with her hands… unfortunately letting the spring loaded door down right on Cam's posterior.

It was the spank from hell and Cam couldn't fight gravity. He yelped loudly as tumbled forward into the large vent face first down several feet towards his pants.

The fall wasn't that bad, but from his suddenly dark position, Cam rolled into the vent and fell through the winding tunnel. His pants were shoved deeply into his face and he now had absolutely no clue where he was.

Just as he'd composed himself and began cursing, General O'Neill's irate voice came through on his ear piece radio. "Mitchell! Where the hell are you?"

Cam looked around, and spotted a sliver of light up ahead. He knew he was going to get in shit six ways from Sunday, and the worst part was in this position in the cramped vent, there was no hope of getting his pants back on.

He tapped his earpiece and groaned. "Not sure, sir. I'm sorta stuck in the vent system … long story. What's happening, sir?"

"Vent system?" Jack's voice was incredulous. "This isn't Alien, Mitchell, get outta there! The shit's hit the fan and the marines are coming in."

Groaning dejectedly, Cam began to crawl his way forward towards the light ahead. "Copy, sir! I think I'm on the first sub-level. I'll try and… Whoa!!!!"

In the dark recess of the vents of RedScope industries, Cam had neglected to notice the large T section of venting right in front of him and went face first even deeper into the gusty labyrinth.

"Forget it. Let's go."

Jack pulled his hand away from his forehead. The headache building from hearing Cam shuffle about in the vents would have to wait.. "Teal'c, lead the way."

Teal'c nodded and double checked the Zat Sam had handed him. "Would there be more security inside the complex?"

Sam nodded as she grunted softly, then ripped the dress she was wearing to allow more leg swing room. "Probably, they might be armed with more than just tazers so we'll have to be careful. How long until backup arrives, sir?"

Jack had opened his eyes wide as he got an eyeful of Carter's toned right thigh through her ripped skirt. For the first time in years he hesitated with his answer. "Uhh…"

Sam gave him an innocent look, then a soft knowing smirk as she realized what she'd just done to him. "We should move out anyway. If they do too much damage to their servers we won't be able to recover any useful data."

Teal'c nodded and pulled his hat off. "Indeed." He moved forward and set the hat down on the lampshade of the receptionist's desk as he moved forward. Jack simply remained quiet as he hopped ahead of Carter so he wasn't distracted by her.

Sam for that matter was struggling not to blush. Dammit, she'd torn the skirt so she could move effectively! Perhaps she should have waited a second, but the look on Jack's face was priceless. She only hoped that the cameras in the lobby had picked it up.

Teal'c pushed open the glass doors of the first floor and looked back. Daniel and Vala waved their acknowledgements and stood guard. Jack and Sam moved ahead, Zats and Intars in hand and primed.

The floor was relatively easy to map out from this position. A longish hallway with glass offices and a security station at the end next to the elevator. 2 guards with batons rushed forward upon seeing the trio.

Jack scoffed softly at the useless gesture and fired a pair of shots quickly stunning both men. The electrical energy wrapped around both men before dissipating into the ground.

Office workers screamed at the sudden commotion, and the sound of gunfire drove the three SGC members to take cover. The glass of one of the offices shattered raining little knives over the office workers as they scurried past the trio, intent on getting outside.

Jack could only hope that Daniel and Vala could somehow hold them all back, but he knew that the people would just be caught by Woolsey's squad outside, further delaying their backup. "Carter! How long do we have?"

Sam rolled underneath a desk and fired a pair of shots suppressing the guard who used his handgun to hold them back. "Not long, sir! Depending on what they do we may or may not be able to recover much useful data!"

Right above Sam, the wooden desk began to splinter from a hail of shots. Jack took the moment to lean out and get off a well aimed shot that short circuited the light in the security office where the shots were coming from. Sparks rained down and the guard was momentarily stunned.

The trio moved ahead quickly, ducking through offices and cubicles to take cover. Finally, Teal'c managed to squeeze off a shot that knocked the security guard back and over his chair, unconscious.

Finally quiet(ish) Sam got up from her defensive position and inched forward, gun at the ready. "Clear!"

Jack and Teal'c moved ahead covering each other as they cleared office after office. The people had left and now nobody was at risk… at least on this floor.

Sam rushed into the security office and began to work on the computer system after tossing away a bag of chips that had been sitting next to the keyboard.

Jack stood above her and nodded to Teal'c. The Jaffa searched for a button on the elevator but found none. "There does not appear to be a call button."

Sam shook her head and put on the same headset that the security guard had had. "No… it's a secure elevator. Their system is on lockdown but I just might be able to…" She began to type code onto the computer screen, every time she hit the "shift" key, the sound of crunching came back, it slowly expanded out to the "A" and "S" key as well as "Z" and "X"

Jack found it maddeningly annoying as not only were Sam's fingers flying across the keyboard making noise, but the constant crunching sounded like she was chewing on celery or something. "What IS that?"

Sam didn't even slow down as she replied. "Chips, sir."

Jack furrowed his brow as he looked at the screen. "Computer?"

Sam snorted and shook her head, the screen turned blue as Sam examined it. "Potato, I think." She motioned her head back to the guard. "Total slob. You'd be surprised how much you can learn from a person from examining what's under their keyboards, sir."

Slightly disturbed by the odd phrase, Jack simply shuddered. He noticed Sam wincing a little as if in pain but held back from saying anything. She knew what she was doing and he was no longer her direct commander.

It was improper for Jack to even be here, but he'd insisted on making a show to this PMC and whoever was hunting them that they weren't scared. If both he and Sam, high level targets Jack assumed, were ballsy enough to walk in and demand to know who was shooting at them. Well… the element of surprise was a hell of a thing. "What are you doing? Elevator?"

Sam nodded as the blue screen switched around, she was quickly inputting commands and running a finger along the screen. "I'm putting the system into a diagnostic safe mode so I can bypass their first level security. A few changes in the BIOS should do the trick…"

Jack simply blinked at the odd computer language Sam used. "Elevator?"

Sam realized her error, and winced as she put it in layman's. "In a word, yes."

Nodding absentmindedly, Jack peeked out and saw Teal'c policing the weapons off the security guards. Down the hall, the yelling and the barking of orders was heard. "Looks like our backup is…"

As Jack spoke, the elevator dinged behind him. Teal'c instantly moved to the other side of the doors as Jack did the same to his side, and they waited a second before acting.

Two armed men stepped out, and both Jack and Teal'c clothes lined them with swift forearm strikes to the neck. Teal'c's man went down instantly from the blow, but Jack's was able to shirk down and lunge towards Teal'c.

The Jaffa grunted as the stun gun got him in the gut, but instead of downing him as the guard thought, Teal'c simply growled and used a stronger backhand punch to send the man flying back into Jack.

The General stepped out of the way and held his foot up tripping the man. He fell over in front of Sam in the security office. Sam finished the man off by closing the door into his head knocking him fully out.

Jack examined the two men, they were armed with Berettas and stun guns, as well as simple Kevlar vests. "Rent-a-cops… if this is the worst they've got we should have no problem."

On cue, Sam's voice called out. "Problem!"

Jack groaned and looked through the window. "No, really?"

Sam ignored the quip and reported. "I've gotten limited access to their servers, but personnel files are only accessible from the main server downstairs. I've managed to disable their main power grid by sending the control system into a defragmentation cycle. It'll keep their built in system from hard deleting their servers and even organize it all for us later."

Jack blinked once, then cocked his head and muttered. "Magnets?"

Sam snorted softly and tapped a few more keys on the keyboard. "Actually yes, but that's not the biggest problem." She motioned to the screen and scowled as Jack leaned over the window to look at the screen.

Jack clenched his jaw and summed it up in one word. "Crap."

A/N: OMG. What did Jack see on the screen that has him worried? Will Cameron ever find his way out of the vents? And what will the team discover in the dark recesses of RedScope Industries?

All this and more in the next installment of…

Occupational Hazard

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