Author's Notes: So, finally, an update. I was writing another part of the story for what was to be slated as THIS episode - Episode 9, but I realized there was some 'splainin' to do as to how the events of that episode were to take place, so this filled it in to my liking. That halted episode is the next one.
Thanks to all my reviewers. Ya give me something to write for, no matter how cheesy it may be. :P
CapriceAnn: You're close. wink :-D
Final Destination
Episode#9: "Things Happen"
By Osiris-Ra
The noise remains quieted. Shushed by the newcomers. The black smoke is ignored, shrugged off by, "hey, it's a weird island. Things happen." But do things really just happen?
Some take it as a sign of things to come. Some don't care anymore.
Wary minds and wandering eyes wonder, how long can suspicion remain quieted? What's really going on? On the beach and in the hatch. Rumor has it the woman from the new group's down in there, talking to herself. Is that the way the rest of us are gonna go?
The message is still waiting, when will someone crack? It's just a matter of time now. The Colonel can't keep everything a secret. Right now, it's between the two of them. But every day she's getting tired of it, and every day he's seeing she's starting to lose patience. Someone's going to tell someone, then everything will be out there, but who knows what will happen before it's all too late.
"We're stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, what am I gonna do, invite CNN over for a press conference?"
Ana Lucia had cornered him in the jungle while he was on his own, thinking about Carter, the SGC. Home.
O'Neill spoke crisply. "What part of 'classified' don't you understand?"
So going about it the sarcastic, casual way wasn't going to work. She tried a softer approach.
"Look, I'm not trying to break your secret government code or whatever, ok? I know about secrecy, I used to work in law enforcement. You gotta keep some pretty crappy secrets there too."
"Oh you did, huh? What were you? No – let me guess. A cop, right? Stuffy attitude caused by wearing pants two sizes too small?"
Ana stared.
"They fit fine."
O'Neill breathed a laugh. Great, no wonder.
"So we're in the same boat." She went on. "We report to people. Hey, news flash, nobody to report to now, so why don't you just spill?"
O'Neill exhaled. He faced the facts. She already knew. She was getting pushy about telling too. The absolute truth was, they all just wanted to get home. And if the only way home was the classified way, well, that'd just have to do it.
"The Stargate…it's really more of a story you tell with pictures than words, mind you. To make it brief, It's big. Round. Has a dialer thing. You punch in symbols like a phone, the gate spins, there's a blue wave that kind flushes sideways, then you go through, and bada bang, you're somewhere a million miles across the galaxy."
He waited for a comment. Ana stared for a moment, then crossed her arms and replied coolly:
"I don't like being mocked, Colonel."
O'Niell shrugged. Ana rolled her eyes and forced herself to go with his odd flow.
"So let me get this straight - you and Carter -"
"SG-1. We're a team of four, the other two didn't make it."
"You and SG-1... go through a round gate thing...which sends you...where exactly?"
O'Neill extended his index finger and slowly raised it towards the sky in a simple gesture of: "Out There". Ana's mouth curled into a skeptical grin.
"Ok." She breathed a laugh. "Why?"
O'Neill crossed his arms and inhaled. "We're bored. We get paid. Its fun. Usually."
"Does the president know about this?"
"Know? Hon, he's the go-to-guy."
"Ahh, of course. And you guys came through that thing on mission and ended up...here?"
O'Neill grinned triumphantly and clapped his hands together. "Hallelujah, she's got it."
"You're right." Ana replied after awhile. "You need pictures for that story."
"Hey, look, you wanted an answer? There. You have it. Take it as what it is or not. Now you know what the Stargate is. It's just what it sounds like. And if you can't handle that – "
"I got it, ok, Mulder?" She crossed her arms.
"You can't tell anyone this. It's a secret. Very hush-hush. If we were back on earth, I'd have to kill you. I may still have to if we ever get out of here."
Ana smirked. "So, what now?" Skepticism was a large, bitter pill to swallow, but she'd decided to see if the Colonel could pull his story through.
"Well, I don't have to kill you yet. Unless it's too much info for you to handle."
"About the gate, O'Neill."
"Oh yeah. Well, now...we need Carter. We're stuck here 'cause the gate's not working."
"Why?"
"Search me. Carter's a gate whiz, she can fix it – hopefully. Assuming you guys have electronic crap in that hatch, she can make up a – "
"She already did that. As far as I know, it's broke."
"Broke?"
"It dropped."
"Aw, for cryin' out loud." O'Neill reeled and paced.
"So, lemme get this straight again," Ana started, "we - as in all of us non military types - can go through this gate thing...and get home?"
"That's interstellar travel for you, kiddo. Beats coach, doesn't it?"
"How does that work?"
"I'd go into it, but I get migranes easially. Carter knows all that stuff."He sighed. "As for the Gate...She can still probably come up with something." He rubbed the back of his head.
"Come up with what?"
Jack came through the trees. He stared at the duo expectantly. They seemed to have been caught in the middle of a suspiciously private rendezvous.
"We were just talking about the generator thingy his buddy had us lugging around." Ana Lucia replied. She glanced at O'Niell for a split second. She read his eyes clearly. Not One Word.
"Oh." Jack studied O'Neill's face.
"Yeah...speaking of her, O'Neill? I think you oughtta come take a look at her."
O'Neill didn't hesitate.
Sam was sitting on a chair, rubbing her hands together, waiting for the door to open. Behind her, Carlisle sat upright in the bed.
"How are you going to tell him?"
"One way or the other."
"He'll resist, you know. And you can't tell the others, they won't believe you. They'll think you're what they thought you were in the first place. Then you might not get out of here with your life."
The door finally opened. O'Neill and Jack stepped in. Jack closed the door.
"Jack."
"Yes?" The men replied in unison.
"Sorry." Jack grinned. He knew it was O'Neill she meant.
"Sir, I...I need to talk to you. Alone."
O'Neill looked at Jack. Jack understood. He left.
"What is it?"
"Sir...I think I've pinpointed what all this is."
"Do tell, I'm fascinated."
"I think that...some way or another, Carlisle... the whole of SG2 that came, for that matter, is some kind of manifestation of my subconscious mind."
"A hallucination?"
"No, it's more than that. He doesn't behave like a normal hallucination would."
"Aren't normal and hallucination a bit of an oxymoron there, Carter?"
"Bear with me, Colonel. Carlisle explained this to me, and scarily...it's all beginning to make sense. Maybe...maybe we were put on this island for a reason, Sir."
"What kind of reason?"
"I don't know. But I have this feeling that there's something thatI need to do here. I need to help someone."
O'Neill cocked his head.
"I can't really explain it right now, listen. I need you to do something for me. I need you to get me out of here."
O'Neill sat back. Sam saw the reluctance in his face.
"Jack, I know it's probably hard for you to believe a word I'm saying, but I need you to try. No matter how crazy I sound, I believe I'm doing the right thing."
"You do realize that's what all crazy people think."
Sam grinned and shrugged.
"What are you gonna do?" He asked.
"I'm going to look for something."
"What?"
"I don't know."
"Then how are you going to find it?"
"Carlisle will help me."
"Carter, I don't have time for whatever plan you and your invisible friend are cooking up, seriously, I'm tired of this. I'm tired! I'm tired!" He paused. "I told Ana Lucia about the Stargate."
Sam widened her eyes. "What?"
"She already had an idea. She heard us yakking about it when we saw that – that thing in the jungle. Sam, is there anyway you can fix it?"
Sam was already shaking her head.
"Jack, it's not the way."
"What are you talking about, of course it's the way. It got us here, didn't it? The damn thing – "
"No Jack. It's not like that. I don't – I don't think we came here by Stargate."
Jack found Ana nearby her tent, fixing up a leaning tent pole. He stepped in to assist her.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
A breif silence heralded a sharpplunge intoa sensative topic of discussion.
"So what were you and O'Niell really talking about?"
Ana stared.
"What, no small talk? Hey, hello, how's it going?"
"Hey, hello, how's it going? What were you and O'Niell talking about?"
Ana laughed. "Just...circumstances."
"What kind of circumstances?"
Ana shrugged. "stuff."
"There's a lot of "stuff" going on. Any particular sort of "stuff" you'd like to share with me?"
Ana focused on her tent renovation. She knew had to tell him something sooner or later. He would get suspicious. He knew something was going on under his radar.
"Were you a cop, Jack?"
Jack grinned. "No."
"You'd have made a good one, I bet."
"You don't know me very well."
"Hm. There's nothing going on, if that's what you're worried about. O'Neill's going through a bad time with his teammate. Frankly, I'm still not sure about those two. I'd suggest you watch them. They're up to something."
"So you're doing a little undercover work, is that it officer?"
Ana grinned. "Just for the record Jack. Watch 'em."
Carter had deigned to explain her reasoning to O'Neill. He was pretty put off by her tight lipped-ness as she saw from his frequent eye-rolls, exasperated sighs and absent-minded trumming of his fingers. O'Neill was starting to wonder if Sam had really lost it. She certainly didn't look like a person who was one fry short of a happy meal. In fact she was very together and sure of herself. So it seemed on the outside anyway. At the moment, Sam scribbled down something on a slip of paper which she then handed to O'Neill.
"Sayid Jarrah. Michael Dawson. Jack Sheppard. Libby – who's Libby?"
"I don't know, find out."
"Boone Carlyle. John Locke. Ana-Lucia Cortez. Ok, so I know like 3 of these people. Why are they important?"
"I don't know."
"How come you don't know who they are, you just give me a list – "
"Carlisle told me the names."
O'Niell reacted. "Carlisle. I knew he had something to do with this sudden rash of cryptic remarks. Have you told him how much I hate crypticism? How much Idespise, loath - "
"We already know Jack, we know Sayid. We know Ana. Ask around, if the rest are legit, maybe then you'll believe more in my 'invisible friend."
O'Niell blinked slowly. "So what am I supposed to do with this list?"
"Take it with you. If things go well on my end, then we'll see how these people come into play. And don't tell them. Not even Ana, I don't care how much she already knows. It'll wind up blowing up in our faces, trust me."
"Sam...You know, how do you know you're not the one being played here? You say you feel you're meant to do something here. Maybe they want you to think that."
Sam frowned slightly. She knew he could be, in every possibility, very correct. But something inside wouldn't let her kneel out in lieu of that possibility. She was back to square one. Could she trust herself?
To Be Continued...
