Disclaimer: All recognizable Harry Potter characters, places, etc. belong to JK Rowling. The recognizable Stargate characters, place, etc. belong to MGM, Scifi and the creators Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright.
A/N: This is the last chapter for this story. The next story for this series I will begin posting next week.
Kurtis was having a difficult time keeping himself focused on his surroundings as the security guard once again hit him in the head. Despite all of that, he still managed to identify the voice which rang out of the shadows. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I believe we have some business to attend to." Stepping into the light provided by the copter was Dr. Hermione Granger looking like she had been put though the ringer.
Stern, the sadistic son-of-a-bitch, managed to put on a polite frown before speaking. "I'm sorry, Miss Granger, is it?"
"Doctor Granger," she corrected.
"Well then, doctor, I believe that you have me at a disadvantage. I was unaware that we had any business to conduct."
As Kurtis watched, a small predatory smile appeared on Hermione's face. "I believe there are quite a few things you are unaware of, Mr. Stern."
Clearly rising to her challenge, he stepped forward circling her still figure like a shark that smelled blood. "Why don't you enlighten me, my dear?"
Not showing any hint of intimidation she spoke. "As I'm sure you have noticed there is currently a rather large team headed this way prepared to arrest you and your people." He remained silent, but she didn't wait for a confirmation and continued, "Your about to flee in a helicopter, no doubt you have a secure area to meet up with someone who is paid off and will let you quietly escape. Really it's all too predictable. You messed up and are running, hoping that you can save yourself. Do you really think they are going to let you go, especially when you lost something of theirs?"
A look of rage raced across Mr. Stern's face at her condescending tone. Kurtis almost felt sorry for the man; whatever Granger was playing at she was being downright terrifying.
"Do you have a point to all this? If not I have a flight waiting for me."
"Yes I do. I would like to propose a mutually beneficial deal. You need to please your bosses and be able to escape without being caught, I can help you."
Not showing any surprise at her offer, Stern remained silent pondering the proposal. "And how may one ask are you going to do that?"
"Details, details." She sent him a confident smirk while remaining evasive. "I have my ways." Holding up the case she had brought she continued. "I also have something of yours."
Stern stepped even closer to Granger and Kurtis found that he could barely catch what the man was saying. "What is in it for the lady? I assume you would like your teammate back before he is permanently scarred."
Tensing in the grip the guards held him under, he protested, "Granger, don't give him anything! Get out of-" A blow across his face cut off the rest of his objection. Stunned, it took Kurtis a moment to recover before he could focus back on the conversation, only to be shocked by the sight of Hermione laughing. Kurtis felt a sense of foreboding as Granger recovered from her moment of mirth.
What the hell was going on?
Leveling Stern with a piercing gaze she continued. "Actually there is something else that I would prefer. You see, I have come to the realization that the only reason that I escaped both of your attempts to capture me is that my official file didn't prepare you for the possibility that I was a threat." Stepping even closer to the man she was addressing, Granger let her gaze move past Stern to stare at the guards flanking him before catching Kurtis's eye. Sending her a glare he remained silent, wanting to hear her explanation.
"If you had only treated me like a worthy adversary, I have no doubt that anyone on your team could have taken me out. I haven't been working at the SGC long, but I was under the impression that I had earned their respect, that I was trusted to take care of myself. Instead, I get a team that constantly treats me like I am going to trip and kill myself, and my official file basically states the same. That wasn't what I signed up for."
The mocking in his voice was obvious. "And I'm suppost to believe you are willing to betray your team all because they don't like you."
"You can take it anyway you like," replied Granger.
Stern searched her face for a moment before he spoke. "You realize I could just take that right now. Why should I believe anything you have to say?"
Once again confidence imbued her tone. "Because now you're intrigued."
A full bodied laugh flooded Stern's form. "What do you want, Dr. Granger?"
The smirk on her face grew and Kurtis could do nothing but watch horrified as his newest teammate sold them out.
Why? Yeah, they had gotten off to rough start, but nothing to warrant this. It made no sense. Something else must be going on, they couldn't have misjudged someone that badly. Could they?
For a moment Granger was silent, perhaps savoring the power trip she must be on. Before she could begin to list her demands the sound of gunfire in the distance caught everyone's attention. In a move which was surprisingly fast for someone of Stern's age, he had a gun pressed into Granger's side. "Oh, I see how it is, you're the distraction. Such a pity I was looking forward to us working together." Stepping away from Hermione now in possession of the case and ignoring her protests, Stern pushed her toward the guards who had been interrogating Kurtis.
"Make sure they're dealt with."
As Kurtis watched, Stern signaled to the pilot and soon the chopper's blades began to cut through the air. Kurtis was pissed. What had she been thinking? What the hell kind of escape plan had that been? Sending her what he hoped was a withering look for her stupid plan, all he received was a silently mouthed sorry from his teammate as the guards grabbed her.
The cold metal of a muzzle touched the back of his head. He waited for the accompanying blast, when suddenly he felt the pressure of the guards' hands release their hold as they were tackled from behind. Rolling out of the way he recognized the rest of his teammates as they grappled with their opponents. They both had things under control, so he grabbed one of the dropped guns and spirited toward the chopper. Aiming at the pilot, he fired off two rounds which punched through the glass catching the man in the shoulder and the control equipment. Kurtis made sure the propeller had begun to slow before turning his focus to Stern, who had already jumped out of the cockpit and was trying to retreat.
The blast of a Zat caught the escaping figure from out of nowhere. Kurtis quickly whipped around to face the new threat and was met by the sight of Teal'c stepping out of the bushes followed by Major Carter, Colonel O'Neill and Major William. Heaving a sigh of relief, Kurtis spoke, "It's good to see you guys."
"Having a nice night, Captain?" questioned the Colonel in a joking manor.
"It's been a blast, sir." Kurtis bantered back.
Remembering his teammates, he jogged back over to see how they were doing just in time to see Kyle land one final blow to the guard's face, knocking him out. Hermione was already being helped up by Scott, who had succeeded in taking care of his guard. A frown crossed his face as he remembered that he had quite a few things to say to her involving idiotic schemes. Seeing him approach, she walked forward with a look of one preparing to do battle ignoring the others for the moment.
Meeting in the middle he could only stare at her for a moment before speaking. "I gotta say that I didn't know you had such a talent for acting." His voice held just enough censor that she knew that all was not being forgotten, but that he was willing to put it aside for the moment.
Dryly, she replied. "It comes from all those years of lying to teachers."
Not buying it he snorted, "Oh, come on. What did you have to lie about? You were probably a teacher's pet. A goody-two-shoes." She wasn't getting off that easily, there was no way that his strait-laced brainy teammate was a trouble-maker back in the day.
"Please, I went to a boarding school for years."
He smirked as his imagination went wild at that comment, picturing school uniforms and nuns with rulers. Seeing the line his thoughts were taking, Granger elaborated on her statement with an eye roll. "Get your head out of the gutter, Blake. I just meant we were adept at sneaking in and out of the dorm down to the kitchens." At his chuckle she smacked him in the shoulder. "You obviously don't know anything about prefects or school codes of conduct, so I won't even bother trying to explain."
Controlling his laughter, Kurtis let his usual flirting tone back into his voice. "No, I want to know all about your wild side Granger. Where you a bad girl?"
Throwing her hands into the air Hermione gave a huff of annoyance. "Men. It was nothing like that. We were kids for goodness-sake, we snuck out to the local village for candy or things from the joke shop. We played pranks on classmates or teachers, stuff like that."
He could only grin at her frustration. "Alright, alright I believe you."
"Good." She turned back to rejoin the rest of the group, but at the last moment she swung back around to face him with a mischievous look. "Although I did forgot to mention that the place was co-ed." Spinning around, she sauntered back to the group leaving him grinning. He had to admit she was always full of surprises.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Daniel sometimes really hated his job.
Yes, it was exciting traveling to distant worlds, finding out more about alien cultures, and discovering more about Earth's true history. Then there were the times he and his team found themselves being tossed into cells, running for their lives or in a desperate gambit to try and save the world. He would much rather be facing one such situation at the moment than the crowd in front of him.
After Jack had taken off with Sam, Teal'c and William, it seemed the entire hotel had decided to come down to the lobby and find out what was going on. At the moment he was trying his best at coming up with a cover story on the spot while pacifying the pajama-clad crowd. It also didn't help that more gunshots could all of a sudden be heard in the distance, causing the crowd to become even more panicky.
Once more Daniel began to speak. "Please could I have everyone calm down? This is a classified military operation. If I could just have your cooperation, this situation will soon be resolved. Everyone move back and let our personal complete their tasks." As several people in the audience complied he sighed, "thank you." Before he could turn his focus back to the rest of the SG personal around, he found himself being confronted by a woman. "I'm sorry ma'am, but you need to go back with the others."
Standing her ground. "I'm not going anywhere until I find out were my fiancée is. Lt. Kyle Lewis, where is he!?" she demanded.
Caught off guard Daniel could only blink at the woman before his brain began to work again. He had momentarily forgotten that the whole reason they were there in the first place was because Lt. Lewis and his team had been vacationing in Denver for the wedding ceremony. Racking his brain for the woman's name he gently lead her off to the side. "Uh, the last report I had said Lt. Lewis was fine. We are still trying to get things settled at the moment so if you could stay out of the way I might be able to find out more, Miss Holm."
Giving him a rather intense look she finally relented. "Okay. Fine and it's Mary by the way."
"Mary it is. Uh, I'm going to go check in on the progress of things," Daniel said with a reassuring smile as he walked away.
Radioing the teams provided him with no new information for the moment, so Daniel concentrated on managing the crowd some more, hoping that the local support Lt. Cross called in would be arriving soon. He really hated dealing with all the paperwork something like this called for, all so the program could be kept under wraps.
When he first started working for the military, all those years ago, he had found the idea of letting the government control something as groundbreaking as the Stargate quite difficult to swallow. Time had taught him differently as he had grow close to the military personal on the base and seen firsthand the kind of destruction a civilian organization like the NID could accomplish. The idea that the program could one day be made public was very frightening; Earth just wasn't ready for that. The knowledge that other civilizations were out there, that mankind was not alone, would likely be horrifying to most. Despite their efforts he knew one day that it would happen and Daniel really hoped that they wouldn't screw it up.
The sound of sirens pulling up to the front of the hotel drew his attention back to the situation at hand and Daniel sighed as he walked over to once again prevent everything from spiraling out of control. Someone must have called the police when the gunshots were first heard and the cops were there to save the day. Thankfully a vehicle from the local base also arrived at the same time to smooth over any misunderstandings and provide the official paperwork for the operation.
As things began to settle down he got a call from Jack saying that everything out on the golf course was secure and that the missing personal were accounted for. Smiling he told Mary. "Lt. Lewis is fine he will be here in just a moment."
"Thank goodness," breathed out the relieved woman who proceed to hug him.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
A few hours later
The sun had barely begun to make an appearance in the east when Janet arrived at the hotel. Her original plan to wake up early and drive into Denver had been shattered by a phone call from General Hammond a few hours previous. Apparently the NID had some type of operation going on and SG-11, along with the other military personal there, had been taken. According to the General, Hermione had managed to elude capture, and several teams including SG-1 had been sent to help in the rescue. The operation was successful with no major injuries, but, since she had already been planning to come, Hammond had arranged some air transport so that she would be able to provide an extra hand in the wrap up.
After organizing both her personal and medical supplies which she had to stop by the base to retrieve, she had hopped onto a transport. Walking through the front of the hotel she was met by the sight of a large group of people standing around in their pajamas. Once the initial moment of confusion pasted, Janet was able to quickly locate Daniel off to the side talking with a group of hotel staff. As she got closer she caught the tail end of what he was saying.
"...I'm sure that everything will be finished up shortly and then everyone can go back to their own duties."
With a sigh he turned away from the group and spotted her, "Janet!"
Smiling, "Hey, Daniel. Can you tell me where I need to go?"
"Just follow me back into the conference room area. We are using it as a base of operations." Following him through the hallway Janet was directed into the large room. At one end she could see Jack talking to Sam as they examined a case, others were organizing the non-disclosure forms for the hotel occupants, while a few were receiving first aid from a member of SG-5. It seemed that the prisoners had already been transported out to the local base. Making her way toward the slightly battered group she took charge from Lt. Wells.
He quickly ran through the list of injuries everyone had sustained while she took the time to preform her own exam. The worst it seemed was Hermione whose neck was rather badly bruised, but Janet didn't think any permanent damage had been done. As a result of his golf cart crash, Kurtis had some bruised ribs, a black eye and a split lip, but was otherwise fine. Kyle had a slight concussion and she made sure to list off the instructions he should follow for the next 24 hours.
"So does that mean that the wedding can still go on?" asked Kyle once she had finished the exam.
Surprised, Janet inquired. "You still want to go forward with the wedding?"
"Hell yeah, both Mary and I talked and we don't want to postpone again." Shifting in his seat he sent a look at the doorway. "Do you think I can go now? I want to make sure Eloise is okay with everything. She has had a long night."
"Al-alright, just take it easy." Confused she turned her attention back to the smiling group.
Hermione taking pity on her explained. "Eloise, Mary's mom, kind of went along on an adventure with me last night and has been quite helpful in calming Mary. She has helped to smooth things over and has already called the caterers to change the arrangements for the day."
"Eloise, huh?"
Hermione blushed at the observation. "It's a long story."
"I'm sure it is." Before Janet could interrogate her further, Sam grabbed her attention wanting her opinion on the vials they had recovered from the NID. All Jack and Sam could figure out was that they had been taken from Area-51, but they didn't know to what purpose.
Looking through the notes they had collected from Mr. Stern's notes, Janet hazarded a guess. "Based on the chemical analysis I would have to say it is similar to the compound Hathor used when she took over the base. They are inert by themselves, but combined they would be a very powerful drug of compulsion."
Jack grimaced at her description. "I thought we finally got rid of the bitch and now the NID wants to try and duplicate her tricks? Why the hell were the guys out in Area-51 messing with this stuff anyway?"
Ignoring his disgust over the mention of the former Goa'uld, Janet tried to suppress the memories over that particular incidence. "They must have been working on stimulating certain parts of the brain for different purposes using samples of the original compound and modifying it."
"Basically brainwashing," retorted Jack.
"Not necessarily," replied Janet trying not to encourage Jack.
Shaking his head. "Tamato, tomato. Look I don't want to nitpick this to death. Let's just fix this mess and leave everything else 'til the debriefing later. Okay?" they nodded their heads in agreement. "So how are the band of misfits over there, Doc?" he asked gesturing to the recovered personal.
"No lasting damage. Lewis has a mild concussion, but mostly it is just bruises and scrapes. Even Captain Blake only has a couple bruised ribs, a black-eye and split lip. The worst seems to be Hermione, she has several cuts on her hands and her throat is rather badly bruised. She can still speak which is a good sign and the bruising will probably take a couple weeks to heal, but she's fine."
"Fine. If they are cleared, then get them out of here. It will probably help to pacify the crowd out there," ordered Jack. And in a grumble she was, in all likelihood, not suppose to hear, he added "Just what I need, another civilian who likes harebrained rescue schemes."
Janet wondered what Jack was complaining about now and raised an eyebrow at Sam in question as he walked off. Most of the events were still sketchy, but Sam was able to give her a more detailed account of the night's adventure, including Hermione's role, but there were still holes in the story. Taking note of the time, she left Sam to double check her patients before they drifted off to their various wedding activities for the day. Catching Hermione on the way out the door she invited herself along to the breakfast buffet to get her friend's version of the night's events.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Hermione ducked out of sight of Colonel O'Neill once again, really not wanting to have a dressing down right now. She had been sitting at a table for the reception talking to Daniel to pass the time when she had spotted him approaching. The ceremony had gone off without a hitch, despite the earlier upheaval, and Eloise had done a fantastic job rearranging the seating arrangements to allow all the SGC personal a chance to attend. The Colonel had been trying to corner her for a talk since they had arrived back at the hotel and it had become much harder to avoid him with their tables being so close.
Breaking off their talk about the discrepancies in the Goa'uld translations from P5-198, Hermione slipped out of the main room to find a most unusual sight. Eloise was directing Teal'c, who somehow had actually acquired a suit, to help bring in another case of wine bottles. The sight of the older woman ordering around the huge Jaffa was ridiculous and Hermione stifled a laugh.
Not quite succeeding in her goal, Eloise turned around and caught sight of her before narrowing her eyes. "I don't know what you're laughing about. I have twenty more guests then I was expecting and someone has to make sure they are fed as well. This fine young man here has been helping me to bring in some more supplies while everyone else has been enjoying themselves." Biting her cheek, Hermione managed to control her laughter for the moment, but was almost undone by the 'young man' comment. Teal'c was older than both of them combined. Judging by the lift of his eyebrow, the Jaffa agreed with her.
"I'm sorry. Do you need any more help?" offered Hermione. She really didn't want to get on the woman's bad side again, just when they had come to a silent understanding of sorts.
Waving her back into the reception room, Eloise said. "No, no, we're fine, this is the last of it. Just put in down here." She directed Teal'c pointing toward one of the tables.
Once again spotting Colonel O'Neill, who was now blocking the exit, Hermione knew that her chance of escape was gone. Thinking on her toes, she grabbed Teal'c's hand. "Great! Then Te-" at the slight shake of his head she switched to his common alias, "Murray and I can hit the dance floor."
She then proceeded to practically drag him to the dance floor, guiding Teal'c through the movements until he caught on. Having made sure that he wasn't going to maim her feet, Hermione lifted her gaze to meet that of a clearly mystified Jaffa. Embarrassed, she started to stutter out an explanation.
"I-I'm so so-sorry. It's just that C-Colonel O'Neill was coming and I-I ju-just..." Breaking off she took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing, all while Teal'c gave her a curious look. "Sorry. Colonel O'Neill has been trying to speak with me about my actions last night and I would like to put off the disciplinary talk until tomorrow. Today is Kyle's wedding and I wouldn't want to see it spoiled because he felt it was his place to step in and defend my stupidity. I know the others would and I don't deserve it. My actions were reckless. I could have gotten everyone killed."
She felt close to tears, she didn't want to have a breakdown in front of Teal'c when he broke through herself pity and spoke. "I do not believe Colonel O'Neill would discipline you for last night's events. You reacted to your teammate's disappearance with a swift and decisive action to obtain their location. Colonel O'Neill would do much the same."
Feeling a bit better at the reassurance she smiled. "Thank you, Teal'c."
He inclined his head at her in acceptance of her words before bring up a new subject. "It would however be advisable to continue your training further. There are many techniques with which to defeat a stronger opponent without letting them get hold of you. We should begin sparing with a weapon for your next session."
She could feel his eyes on her bruised neck and she fought hard not to show anymore embarrassment. "I would very much like to learn."
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Sinking into the chair next to Daniel, Jack let out a huff of frustration. He had been trying to corner Dr. Granger all day for a talk and yet every time he managed to track her down she slipped away.
Hearing the noise, Daniel turned away from his conversation with Sam and asked, "What's the matter, Jack?"
Sending a glare at the cheerful scientist he answered, "I've been trying to have a word with Granger all day, but I can't seem to be able to catch her."
Not fazed at all by his bad mood Daniel provided an explanation, "She's been avoiding you." At his raised eyes, Daniel elaborated. "She doesn't want to get into an argument with the wedding going on today and would rather wait for you to chew her out some other time."
"What?!" Jack was confused. "Where did she get the idea that I wanted to yell at her from?"
Sam spoke up from the other side of Daniel. "I believe Janet informed her of your earlier displeasure regarding her actions."
He ran a hand across his face. "The Doc needs to stop her gossiping. I don't want to yell at her."
Daniel did a remarkable impersonation of Teal'c with the raised eyebrow. "You don't?"
"No, I don't." Both gave him a look of disbelief. "I don't. Look, I know I was mad earlier, but I got to thinking and Carter's right. When have I or anyone on the team for that matter let orders stand in the way of rescuing someone? Granger was just acting like any other SG member is supposed to."
Daniel sent him a surprised look. "Well that's certainly different. Are you feeling alright, Jack."
"Oh, don't give me that," he said with a scowl aimed at the scientist. "I know I was acting a bit irrationally earlier, I guess I'm just not use to having another crazy civilian running around trying to save the day."
The pointed look was once again ignored by Daniel who smiled. "Hermione is remarkably good at adapting to the unexpected."
Not knowing how to reply, Jack let his gaze wander around the room until he spotted Dr. Granger carefully guiding Teal'c to the music in a series of perfectly preformed steps. He had to agree with Daniel, Hermione Granger certainly was perfectly at home with the insanity that was working at the SGC. Not only that, but she seemed perfectly at home amongst the unusual. Her friendship with Teal'c was a prime example, most of the staff still finding him quite intimidating.
He watched as the Jaffa spun the woman around with a stoic face. "Very unexpected."
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
A car pulled up to the street corner he had been waiting on and the door was pushed open. Detaching himself from the shadows, Mr. Reeves stepped into the vehicle. As it re-entered traffic, he let himself relax in the soft leather seat.
The other occupant spoke. "It looks like Stern has proved himself to be quite unable to handle the responsibilities he was given."
Reeves didn't answer; there was nothing to say.
"It seems that we now have need of a new intermediary, Mr. Reeves. Try not to screw it up this time," ordered Kinsey.
The car came to a stop and Reeves stepped out onto the random street, slamming the door as he exited. It was good to know that everything had worked out exactly to his plans. Stern and Kinsey had both taken the bait, reacting predictably to the presence of the SGC personal who had so conveniently been at the hotel.
A smile crept across his face as he let himself get lost in the crowd.