Chapter Ten: Que sera, sera

Two weeks later Charlie's mind was still spinning from her afternoon with Jazzie. The little girl loved her without judgement. Was that truly what it was like with children? Would her own children be the same way?

In the past she had always avoided children, thinking they would be as judgemental as adults and herself but it seemed she had been mistaken. What would it feel like to hold her own child, to be loved so unconditionally? She had always thought that raising children would be as painful as her other human interactions.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump and she was surprised how lost in thought she was. "Miss, the plane is emptying, you need to gather your luggage and exit the plane please."

Charlie looked around amazed that she had been woolgathering for the whole flight. Getting to her feet, Charlie grabbed her carry on from under her seat and left the plane.

The sun was bright even dampened by the plexiglas tunnel and Charlie enjoyed the rays. The weather in Colorado had been dreary the last few weeks and she planned to enjoy the sun while she could.

As she stepped into the terminal she allowed the crowd to carry her toward baggage claim even though she didn't have any checked luggage. It would just be easier to break away once the crowd thinned out there.

Moving along she studied the people around her and that was then she saw him: Ashgar.

He was moving very purposely through the crowd. He stopped suddenly and looked around but Charlie turned her head quickly hoping he wouldn't recognize her especially since she wasn't in uniform. His gaze brushed right over her and then he kept walking.

She made a split second decision, dropping her bag, Charlie followed him. Slipping into stealth mode, she navigated through the crowd just keeping him in sight.

Her hand reached for her cell phone wondering if she should contact Jack and let him know the siting but she decided to follow Ashgar first and gather more intell. It would give her a chance to observe him in his new environment.

Before putting the phone away, she made a call to Nate. It rang three times before going to voicemail. "Nate, this is Charlie I was able to get an earlier flight. I planned to surprise you but something has come up. Ashgar is here in Cambridge and that can't be good. I'm moving to pursue. I'll meet you later tonight at your dorm as we planned."

Finished with her message, she hung up the phone and checked to make sure she was still a good distance behind Ashgar.

When she caught him this time, she'd bury him, he was too dangerous to be allowed to be free.

Ashgar didn't seem to know Charlie was there and she hoped that meant that he hadn't recognized her earlier.

He paused only once to look over his shoulder as he swiped a keycard to open a door before disappearing into a restricted area. He held the door open for a moment as he waited to see if someone would give themselves away, but Charlie was better than that. She stayed where she was even after Ashgar disappeared through the door.

She waited until the door was almost closed before racing forward and sticking her hand in to stop it from closing.

She stepped through, Charlie realized this was a trap as she felt the sting of a dart entering her neck. Fighting to stay conscious Charlie pulled it out while trying to find the exit back into the main part of the airport but the door wouldn't open.

Then Ashgar was there pressing another dart into her neck. "Ah Charlie my girl, you are good, but I'm much better now. I have learned more than you ever will. Now let's see what happens when this hits your system. From what I read it made Nate a freak, will it do the same to you?" Then he laughed. "Ah but you already were, weren't you."

Charlie had something very biting to reply but her tongue wouldn't work and the blackness won the fight.


Sam was still reeling from the visions Davos had shown her. She had seen so much but she understood very little of it. Sitting down at her desk, she began to write. She had to record it all so that maybe should could make sense of it all.

Cassie, she'd seen Cassie lost and alone, not knowing where to turn. Charlie and Nate had been captured alone in a cell. Then she'd seen Jazzie all grown up and beautiful, living her life, but there was something else. A thick darkness edging what she saw and that was the part she didn't understand.

Then it had all become clear, the moment she'd dreaded since she met Jack. She'd seen the time and place where she would have to say goodbye, but this piece of the vision she didn't write down or try to keep a hold of. She didn't want to know how much time they had, she would just take the moments they were given and make the best of it.

Davos had told her that there was nothing she could do to change this future but she could try to make the best of her life until the moment arrived, it was all she could do, and that was love Jack.

Nate stood up and stretched, glad this lecture was over. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the class but sitting still for an hour and half was a little too much especially when it was still so warm for December. He had a few things to do before Charlie arrived later that evening and he wanted to get started but first he had to talk to Professor McGee. He descended the steps but waited for the crowd to thin before he approached his supervisor.

He was just about to speak when a blond man entered the class. "Uncle George are you ready to go? Aunt Jeannie sent me to pick you up, she says you get distracted."

Professor McGee nodded. "I just need to speak to Nate and then we can go Timothy."

Tim stepped back. "Sure, I'll just check my messages and make sure they don't need me to do anything back in DC."

Nate asked his professor a few questions and then turned to leave. He pulled out his own phone and checked his messages to see if Charlie had called while he was in class. There was indeed two messages from her. One saying she was taking an earlier flight and the next was to tell him she landed and was following Ashgar. His blood ran cold, if she landed an hour ago why isn't she here yet? Had Ashgar caught her?

He reached out to her with his mind to see if he could sense her, but there was nothing.

He quickly dialed Jack's cell phone. It was answered immediately. "What's up Nate? I thought you were heading to South Carolina and the beach? What are you doing calling me I'm in DC and have no power over-"

"Jack, we have a problem. I think Ashgar grabbed Charlie at the airport but I have no idea how to find her, any ideas? I can't wait twenty four hours or explain what's going on to the police. Jack this is a big mess, can you get someone out here to help me?"

"Can I help you?" Tim spoke and stepped closer showing Nate a badge. "I'm Special Agent Timothy McGee, NCIS."

Nate froze unsure what to do. Would Jack want someone from the outside to know anything about this? After all if Ashgar was still tied up with the Goa'uld, things could get very messy. He held up his hand and then spoke into the phone. "Jack?"

"Did that guy say McGee from NCIS? If it's the guy I know he'd be tall and dark blonde, left-handed, probably a computer geek, just like you?"

Nate nodded before he remembered Jack couldn't see him. "Uh, yes how did you know?"

"That is classified, my boy. Give him the phone."

With a shrug of his shoulders Nate held out the phone to Tim. "General Jack O'Neill wants to talk to you."

Tim took the phone muttering about how small the world is. "Agent McGee, what can I do for you General?"

Nate watched as they spoke for a few minutes before Tim handed the phone back.

"What was that about?" Nate asked as he put the phone to his ear again.

"He knows, Nate about everything. You can trust him plus he's a great resource. Just let him do what he does, he does this kind of thing everyday."

Nate looked over at McGee. "Okay Jack, once I know something I'll call you. Can you let mom know. Charlie and I were supposed to meet up with her in three days and I don't want her to worry."

"Will do you just find our girl. This might have the same motive as your disappearance. Someone hacked into the SGC files a week ago. They went straight to the file on all the cadets with the Ancient gene. I'm going to put eyes on everyone on that list."

Hanging up the phone Nate shoved it in his pocket. "Jack says you can help. So what do you want me to do?"

"Tell me everything you know and then we'll figure out what to do." Then Tim turned to his uncle. "It looks like I'm needed here and no I can't talk about it. I'll try to make it to the house before my vacation time is up."

Professor McGee tapped his nose with one finger. "I understand. Just help Nate find his girl. I know how much she means to Nate." He turned to Nate and squeezed his shoulder. "Listen to Tim, he's the best at what he does. You'll probably learn more from him than you will from me." Then he was gone.

Tim turned to Nate. "Come on let's find somewhere to set up, my hotel room will be best. Then we'll get to work finding your girl."

Thirty minutes later they were watching Charlie's progress through the airport and then Ashgar's after he dumped Charlie into laundry cart until he got into a van.

Nate sat back rubbing the back of his neck. "Well that isn't very helpful. All we know is that Ashgar has her and we knew that before." Nate clenched his fists and he really wanted to punch something. This was supposed to be a wonderful holiday and it was shaping up to be a nightmare.

"Nate, this isn't a dead end. I'll run the plate and see what that gets us." McGee told him as he patted his back.

"Ashgar is smart, probably too smart. There's no way we can trace the vehicle back to him, not easily."

McGee tapped a few keys and sighed. "Looks like you're right, it's a bust. The van is registered to company who deals with long term leases, but I'll call them anyway."

Nate sat back in his chair wondering what the next move would be. He took a deep breath and decided to change the topic. "So how do you know Jack O'Neill?"

"Last year I was part of an investigation that began with a body left on Jack O'Neill's doorstep. Let's just say I learned more than I wanted to know about what's really going on."

Leaning forward he smiled. "So you know then about all of it? The SGC and the gate?"

"Are you testing me because I take my oaths very seriously. I have not spoken with anyone about-" Tim stopped because Nate was laughing. "What?"

"Oh you do, Thom E. Gemcity?" Nate responded with his brow raised.

Tim blushed slightly. "Well not too seriously besides I had to do something in my downtime or I would have started building a boat in the storage room of the apartment building where I live."

Nate sobered. "Back to Charlie, where do we go from here?"

"Well we could search the traffic cam or we can hack into the rental information at Cars'R'us and see what we can learn from there. General O'Neill said he'd get us total autonomy if we got into trouble and so we might as well make use of it."