O'Neill Residence
Colorado Springs, CO
September 24, 1999

Jack lifted a bottle to take a swig, only to realize he'd drank all the beer. He rolled his eyes and dropped the bottle to the floor, where it joined its cousins. Time to get a new one. Grimacing, he got up from the sofa and stretched his legs. Damn, but he'd been sitting there for a while. It was already dark outside, he noticed. As he made his way to the kitchen, he turned on a few lights and eyed some leftover pizza in the fridge. Shrugging, he grabbed a slice and munched on it. Still good. He took the box out with one hand and a cold beer with the other.

He was finishing off the last slice and making his way back to the sofa when someone knocked on his door. Frowning, he paused. Who'd be stopping by at this hour? He had half a mind of ignoring it, but after the visitor knocked again he reluctantly made his way to the front door and opened it.

To his surprise, it was Daniel.

"Hi."

Jack scowled at him. "What do you want?"

"I'm not , ah… I'm not sure to tell you the truth. I'm here to talk, I guess."

"So, talk." He knew there was a good chance his place was bugged by Maybourne and his cronies and he didn't want to let Daniel in, to talk or whatever. God, he really didn't want to talk. Why was Daniel the one who had to drop by? The guy could be like a dog with a bone when he really wanted something and Jack didn't want to be the asshole he needed to be to make Daniel give up.

Daniel looked at him as he took another swig of beer. "You got another one of those?"

"Yeah."

"Feel like sharing?"

Oh, great. There it was. "Beer?" Jack asked, raising a brow. "Sure."

Daniel had made himself at home in the living room by the time he got back with a fresh beer. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said, casting a look around the room and taking in the muted television and old newspapers on the coffee table.

"I was just brooding." Jack leaned forward and tried to casually set his beer on the table, placing the bottle exactly atop Jacob Carter's obituary in the old newspaper. He wasn't lying; he'd been staring at that damn death notification, berating himself for not keeping up his end of the deal – bringing Sam home in time to see Jacob again – and cursing Maybourne and his goons for making it impossible for him to pay his respects at the funeral.

"So, how are you feeling about all of this?"

"Yes to the beer, no to the feelings."

"That's, um, too bad, because I don't really like beer."

Like he didn't know! Jack sighed, "Stop your worrying. I'm fine."

"Really," Daniel said skeptically. "That's, um, funny because I didn't figure for the early retirement type anymore."

"Why not? I did what I set out to do and now my job is done."

"What do you mean?"

He shrugged and took another swig of beer. "Skaara, Sha're… I promised you I'd get them back and I did. They're both safe on Abydos, dealing with what happened."

"And what about Captain Carter?"

"What about her?"

Daniel fidgeted with his beer and shrugged. "Well, I thought you wanted to help her-"

Jack quickly interrupted him, before the archaeologist said too much, "I did. She's gallivanting the galaxy with Bra'tac, working on that Jaffa Rebellion thing."

"But what about Colonel Grieves?"

"What about him?"

"I thought you wanted to make sure he paid for what he did to her, Jack."

He held up his hands in supplication, "Hey, I tried. There's no solid proof and if she doesn't want to come back to Earth…"

"Then… what?"

"Well, I can't exactly testify in her stead, now can I? Besides, even if she came to Earth then it would be her word against his, assuming we could actually locate Grieves and put him on trial. But that's not gonna happen because she won't change her mind. I mean, what does she have to come back to? Hammond told me her dad died and according to Catherine she barely had any friends, never mind a social life."

Daniel huffed and got to his feet, pacing in front of the fireplace. "So, you're just going to drop it?"

Jack was certainly hoping Daniel would drop it, before he let something slip that wasn't meant for Maybourne's ears. Hell, Jack would have preferred to keep Sam out of it completely, because there was a good chance no one outside of SG-1 and Hammond knew she was even alive. "I already did."

"I can't accept that."

"Oh please, before today you barely mentioned her, this supposed good friend of yours whom you didn't even recognize on Hathor's planet. But now that you don't like my replacement, you're trying to guilt me into coming back and are using the Captain's story because she was left behind by our own."

"That's not true." Daniel said, but he frowned, as if he was unsure. "So, you're just going to let it go. What about those people in Utah, the ones we saw with Grieves when we retrieved the Touchstone?"

"Well, since no one saw the address they'd dialed, we have no idea where they went to, now do we? I'd say let's hope they accidentally ended up in a black hole, but come to think of it, they might just be our only shot at actually getting some advanced technology to protect ourselves with!"

Daniel was appalled and actually took a step back, "You don't mean that!"

Shrugging, Jack sipped his beer. "Sure I do. They seem to be the only ones who are thinking ahead and doing whatever's necessary to make sure we can defend ourselves when more Goa'uld come knocking."

A silence descended on the living room as Daniel continued his pacing, clearly trying to come up with other arguments but Jack was inwardly pleased with how he'd managed to turn the awful conversation into cheering on the bad guys he was after. Hopefully, it would convince Maybourne and his superiors that he was the right man for the job once he used the contact information that slimy bastard had left behind on his previous visit…

"There's another reason you're angry, isn't there?' Daniel suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, here we go," Jack complained, "pop psyche 101, right?"

"No. During your, er, altercation with General Hammond you said something about the Pentagon not giving us the backup we requested. What, er, what were you talking about?"

He sighed and tried to look as upset with the lie as he was supposed to be. It would fit nicely with the rest of his story. "Hammond and I were planning a secondary SGC base offworld. It was going to serve as a backup in case ours was attacked. I was going to command."

"And the Pentagon pulled the plug. So you're acting out because you're hurt, because you didn't get a command."

"Gimme a break Daniel. Their denial of the program was just another indication that they're not serious about attaining our goals."

"Which you think is obtaining new weapons and technology."

He made a vague hand gesture, "Protecting ourselves."

Feeling like he was getting somewhere, Daniel sat back down again, "But isn't our mission also about establishing and maintaining diplomatic relations with other cultures?"

"What's the point if we don't gain anything to help our other interests?"

"Well there's a lot we could learn from people like the Tollan that has nothing to do with technology and weapons."

Jack gave him a long-suffering look. "Stuff that interests people like you, Daniel. Not people like me. I want to see tangible gains from our efforts, and if people like the Tollan don't want to share, we should just take."

"You really believe that?"

"Being sweet and nice isn't going to stop three or four Goa'uld motherships if they decide to come back again. I'd rather be a thief and alive than honest and dead. It's a cliché, but there it is."

Daniel sat back, a confused look on his face. "If you really believe that, I guess, ah, I guess I never really knew you at all."

"Come on. You're a bright guy. You had to sense some of this." When Daniel didn't respond but just looked hurt, Jack decided to take it a step further. "Then no, I guess you couldn't relate to me any more than I could to you."

"So this whole, ah, this whole friendship thing we've been working on in the last few years is…"

"Apparently not much of a foundation there, huh?"

Daniel shook his head, clearly upset. "I don't believe that. You wouldn't have done everything you have the past couple of years if that was true."

"I was just doing my job. In case you've forgotten, I was actually enjoying my retirement before ole' Pops came through the gate and Hammond roped me back in."

"Oh, come on, Jack-"

He got up and collected his empty beer bottles, trying to make it clear their conversation was coming to an end. "Look, I get that you were playing happy families with Sha're and everyone on Abydos, but I was doing just fine here on Earth. I didn't need you, the SGC or a new mission in life. I had a life here, but then I got yanked back into the fray of things. Trust me, I was looking forward to spending time fishing at my cabin, not getting shot at or tortured by aliens five days a week."

Daniel, however, didn't seem convinced. "If that was true, then why stick around for so long?"

"Hey, I wasn't given a choice."

"But why promise to save Skaara and Sha're?"

"Just because I enjoyed my retirement doesn't mean I'm a heartless old bastard; I liked those two kids and I felt responsible for what happened on Abydos. We shouldn't have left them to explore that damn pyramid of yours."

Daniel winced at the accusation, but didn't relent. "But if that was the only reason, then why bother with that new off-world base, or steal the Tollan technology?"

"I wasn't gonna neglect my duty but, hey, if no one wants my advice or help, then why should I go risk life and limb on a daily basis for nothing? Because that's what we've got after all these years: nothing, nada, zip… Hammond relieved me of my duty, so now I can just let it all go and finally enjoy my retirement."

"You really think you can enjoy your retirement knowing what's out there? We need you to keep Earth safe, Jack. To make allies and-"

He let out a sigh of exasperation and decided it was time to end it. "Look, Daniel, I'm flattered but we both know that isn't true. Hammond probably already replaced me before I'd even reached the surface and that's fine, that's how the military works. But you never seem to accept that and you're not happy with the way things turned out…

"Fortunately, I don't have to give a crap about what you do or think anymore. Personally, I like things the way they are. No more saving the world, just a nice pond with no pesky fish in it, and the single most pressing issue in my life is whether or not to get a dog… There're a lot of pros and cons to consider."

"So, that's it?" Daniel asked, eyes wide. "You're just giving up and you don't care about the Goa'uld anymore?"

Jack shrugged and headed towards the steps. "Doesn't matter if I'm here or in Minnesota when they start blasting Earth from orbit. I'll be dead either way."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"And I can't believe you're still here, trying to convince me to come back to lead SG-1, even though that's not an option anymore. Look, I'm sorry you don't like my replacement or my new attitude, but I don't know why you're still here: what, are you suddenly bored with Sha're, after we spent years trying to find and save her?"

Daniel jumped up from his seat, angry and hurt. "Damn it, Jack, I can't believe you. I guess you really are a heartless old bastard. You're right; what the hell was I thinking coming to check on my friend. Never mind, just forget I ever stopped by."

Jack managed to keep himself from wincing as Daniel stormed out and slammed the door. God, Maybourne's assignment better lead him to all the stolen technology…


NID Aircraft
October 7, 1999

Jack glanced around the plane he was sitting in and waited until Maybourne finally joined him. They'd taken off a few minutes ago, but the guy hadn't told him anything since they left Jack's place. "So, where are we going?"

"Nowhere in particular. I find being thirty thousand feet up greatly reduces the chances of any effective surveillance."

"You know, if you have this plane at your disposal it really shouldn't have taken you so long to show up after I contacted you."

Maybourne rolled his eyes. "Contrary to what you think, I actually have other things beside the SGC to keep myself occupied with, O'Neill."

"Like this not classified but secret and dangerous operation you keep referring to, but can't bother to tell me anything of substance about?"

"I want you to understand that once you see what I'm about to show you, there is no turning back. You'll have the choice to go along with it or disappear."

Jack waved his hand dismissively, "Yeah, yeah, you already told me. I have some questions, though."

"I'm just giving you a last chance to back out."

"I thought you already did at my place. You know, before I agreed to go along with your paranoia and came aboard the plane. Now it's your turn to show me a little faith."

Maybourne looked at him for a long time, not saying anything at all, but Jack knew he had him when the NID operative shifted to reach for an alien device. A gray globe rose up from it when he touched it. "Do you know what this is?"

"I assume it's one of those Goa'uld communication… balls. Just slightly smaller than the one ole' Pops had."

"We didn't have to negotiate for it either," he said, smirking.

Jack raised his brows, but kept his eagerness at learning more about the operation from showing on his face. "Who's we?"

"My organization."

"NID?"

Maybourne seemed pleased with his interest and a little smug. "More of an offshoot."

"Ah, that sort of says it all, doesn't it?"

"I want you to command a unit."

"There are units?"

"Oh, yes." Maybourne smirked again, clearly proud of his little operation. "Would you like to meet the temporary commander of the unit I want you to run?"

Jack had known his skills would be seen as a great addition to the Rogue NID operation, but he was surprised to learn he'd get command of his own unit. Of course, he had the experience, both in black ops and off-world missions, but he hadn't expected Maybourne to trust him so soon. Ah well, that would only make his mission easier. Aiming for casual indifference, he shrugged, "I guess."

"Took us a while to figure out how to use this thing without a Goa'uld at the controls, but good old human ingenuity eventually won out," he said after fiddling with the device.

"Colonel Maybourne." The man who appeared on the orb thingy said, looking from one to the other.

"Newman," Maybourne said, "I'd like you to meet Colonel Jack O'Neill, retired."

"Colonel O'Neill, it is a pleasure, Sir. I've read just about all the SG-1 mission briefings and, uh, well let's just say your file is very impressive. It'll be an honor to serve under your command, Colonel."

Jack nodded in acknowledgment, although he silently wondered how the guy – one from Utah – had gotten his hands on the SG-1 briefings. Mission reports probably wouldn't be too difficult to obtain via Maybourne, or perhaps another accomplice at the Pentagon's Stargate Mission Analysis department, but the briefings were all kept in-house. They mostly contained initial MALP data and were used as an indicator to decide whether a planet would be put on the mission roster… Just more evidence of a mole at the SGC. "Hello Newman. You look familiar."

"Uh, yes, Sir. We have met briefly. In a hangar at a Utah landing strip."

"You're one of those kids we chased through the other stargate," he said, trying to keep the accusation from his voice.

Newman actually looked embarrassed or perhaps ashamed. Either at getting caught or the fact that they'd gotten into a firefight and he'd tried to shoot a superior officer. One he just sort of admitted to being impressed by. "Ah, that would be me. I apologize about having to return fire, sir."

"Where are you?"

"He's on another planet," Maybourne said, as expected.

"Your mission, Newman?"

"Use whatever means necessary to acquire goods and technology that could help Earth in the battle against the Goa'uld, Sir. Or other, unforeseen aggressors."

Jack figured that was the case, but it was still eerie to learn he'd been right all along. There was a whole different base with military folks whose sole purpose it was to steal advanced tech from other races and, considering what happened to Sam, they'd been there since the first year. "Well you've seen my file, Newman, it's only fair I know a little more about you."

"Need to know, Colonel," Maybourne reminded him.

"Well, I need to know if I'm going to command this unit," Jack hit back.

"You agree to go there and take command, I'll give you detailed files on every one of your people. Now how about it, Colonel? You ready for a command where you can finally achieve what you and I both agree needs to be achieved to defend this planet?"

Sighing, he nodded. "I never thought I'd agree with you about anything, Maybourne. But yeah. I'm ready."

Maybourne smirked and turned off the orb. "Good. Now, we'll have to find a way to get you off-world. Any ideas?"

"I thought you were supposed to be the mastermind behind all of this, Harry?"

"Yes, well, it would have been easier if you hadn't had your little tirade so publicly. Then I might have been able to figure out a way to get you back into the SGC…"

Jack smiled and made himself comfortable in his seat. "Well, that won't be an issue. I know this will come as a shock to you, because you probably don't have any friends, but Hammond has a soft spot for me."

"You really think Hammond will just let you saunter back in there and go off-world?"

He shrugged at Maybourne's skeptical expression. "Sure. He gave me the choice to retire when he could have brought me up for charges. Probably thinks I've finally lost my marbles after everything and pities me. If I ask him for one last favor… say, going off-world to retire on Argos, he'll let me go. Because that's what friends do, Harry, they do each other favors. And I did save the planet a few times, so he can't really refuse me this one last thing."

"Just like that?"

"Well, I probably shouldn't make my request in the middle of the gate room, but if I ask him in the privacy of his office… yeah, just like that. Hell, the airmen present will most likely send me off with a salute to thank me for my service."

Maybourne chuckled, "A bit arrogant… I didn't think you had it in you, Jack."

"That's the reason I'm damn good at what I do."


Rogue NID Base
Milky Way Galaxy
October 17, 1999

It had been over a week since Jack had arrived on the off-world base from where Maybourne ran his operation and he'd already learned a lot about how they operated. There were quite a few surprises – the whole thing was bigger than he or Hammond suspected, better organized, too. The biggest surprise was the number of units. They'd assumed there was just one team, the one SG-1 had run into in Utah, led by Colonel Grieves. Instead there was a handful of units and the people he'd met so far, were all military or former military.

The people were dedicated, eager and doing it for the right reasons, but they all knew what they were doing were illegal and in many cases threatened the lives of the people they stole the tech from. He didn't feel bad about his plan, because it wasn't as if Maybourne had lied or sugarcoated their mission.

Another surprise was the base itself. Located on a barren, rocky planet, the facility was surprisingly modern and hardly lacked any of the comforts of home. That was a good thing considering the only way these people were going back to Earth was handcuffed and marched through the wormhole by Jack himself.

"Lieutenant," Jack greeted as he knocked on the door of one of the labs.

Tobias looked up from a thingamabob she was working on and smiled. "Is there something I can do for you, Sir?"

"Just browsing," he said, entering her workspace and checking out all the alien tech laid out on workbenches, desks and shelves. There were a whole bunch of machines from Earth too, some he recognized and others that he didn't. They looked like the sort of stuff Catherine and the rest of the science department at the SGC had in their labs.

"Looking for anything in particular?"

Jack shrugged, aiming for casual indifference. No need to alarm the bad guys, after all. "Nah. Just trying to get a sense of what you've brought back already."

She was clearly pleased with someone showing an interest in her work – even if he did cut her off the other day when she started rambling about the science between her anti-gravitation device. "Well, like I told you, Sir, I only keep the larger items we acquire. I can examine them in here or the lab next door and see if we backward engineer them and send the plans back to Colonel Maybourne. The smaller items are transported back to Earth, too."

"You figure out that Vanisher yet?"

"Vanisher?"

He quirked an eyebrow, "That thingy from the Tirnoks. It allows them to vanish. Vanisher. No?"

Tobias chuckled and failed to suppress a smile. "It's just called the device from PX3-595, Sir."

"That's a long name."

"I suppose it is."

"So, you got around to figuring it out yet, Lieutenant?"

She shook her head. "I'm afraid I haven't had much time between the anti-gravitational device and our mission to PX3-595, Sir."

Jack nodded slowly, eyeing the small doohickey. Time to gather some more information… "You gonna send it back to Earth? I mean, it's pretty small, right?"

"After an initial exam, yes, Major Newman will probably insist on sending it to Earth."

"Newman?"

"Well, I suppose he'd defer to you now, Sir. You're the highest-ranking officer around."

"Retired, Lieutenant."

She snorted, "Didn't seem to make a difference in the field, Sir."

"So…" Jack started, trying to find a way to ask for the intel he really wanted without making her suspicious. She seemed enthusiastic and had been doing her best to impress him ever since he arrived, so he figured he'd have a better shot with her than Newman. "Where's Grieves?"

"Sir?"

He rolled his eyes at her innocent act and made a vague gesture with his hands. "Come on, Lieutenant. We both know Lieutenant Colonel Grieves was part of this organization. He used to be stationed at the SGC and got mysteriously transferred to Utah, where I ran into him just before he jumped through the second stargate."

She grimaced and avoided his gaze when she replied, "Yeah, about a year ago, right? I heard about that."

"Newman was on that mission, too. Grieves was in charge back then, but Maybourne told me Newman had temporary command of your unit when he brought me aboard."

"I had only recently joined," Tobias said. "By the time my field training here was finished, Major Newman was given his own unit, with me on it."

Interesting, Jack thought. "You ever thought about joining the SGC, Tobias?"

"Sir?"

He gestured at all the tech lying around, "Well, you're clearly doing a good job and considering your rank, I'm assuming Maybourne saw potential in you or he wouldn't have approached you."

"I applied for a transfer to the SGC," she admitted, "but Captain Carter was chosen instead."

"Lucky for you, I suppose."

She shrugged and fiddled with the device in front of her. "I guess, so."

Jack couldn't help but wonder if Maybourne had planned for Grieves to take out Sam all along and perhaps replace her with Tobias… "Dodged a bullet there, Lieutenant. Literally."

"I'm glad I ended up here, Sir. We do what the rest of them isn't willing to do to defend ourselves against alien attacks."

"And we're very good at what we do," Newman said from the door opening.

Turning back to look at the Major, he raised his brows. "And you measure how good you are by the fact that you've never been caught?"

Jack's new 2IC walked into the lab and indicated the tech surrounding Tobias. "I measure it by the technology we acquire. SG-9 was unable to negotiate for the device from PX3-595 for example, yet here it is."

"Yeah, Tobias was just telling me that we'll be sending it to Earth. Guess it's time for us to have a little talk about that now that I've taken over command, Major."

If Newman was surprised or insulted, he didn't show it. Instead, he simply acknowledged Jack's words with a nod. "Yes, Sir. Could you have an initial report on the device ready by tomorrow, Lieutenant? If you agree with that, Colonel."

Jack narrowed his eyes at the guy for a moment, before turning back to the engineer. "Sure. Have it on my desk first thing in the morning, Tobias. The anti-gravitational device will remain here anyway, so you can play with it later."

"Yes, Sirs."

With that, Jack turned on his heels and indicated for Newman to follow him as he made his way back to the commander's office – the one he'd claimed for himself. "Tell me, Newman, how do we get those devices back to Earth?"

"We've got a man on the inside, on one of the SG teams. Colonel Maybourne tells us where the mole's team is about to go, we get there first, make the drop and come back here. The mole comes in later, retrieves the item and packs it back in his gear."

"Sounds good," Jack said. That had been pretty much his and Hammond's theory and it was good to hear they were correct. Of course, the question about the mole's identity remained. But he had a plan to find out who was betraying them… "I'll wait for Maybourne to contact us and then I'll make the drop myself."

Newman looked genuinely surprised, although not at all suspicious. "Really?"

"Yeah. Best way to understand a command is to do every job yourself at least once."

"It's your prerogative, Colonel."

He nodded and took a seat behind his desk. "That it is, Major."

"Was there anything else, Sir?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Grieves," Jack said.

The Major frowned in confusion. "What about him, Sir?"

"He was your CO on that mission in Utah. You're here, with temporary command of a new unit and he's… where, exactly?"

"Like you said, Sir, my command was temporary. It's your unit now."

Jack leaned back in his chair and waited patiently for his 2IC to continue but when nothing else was forthcoming, he sighed. "And Grieves? Did Maybourne make him 'disappear' or… what?"

"Colonel Grieves is on a long-term mission with his unit… they've been overdue for a little over two weeks now."

"And that's normal?"

"I wouldn't go that far, Sir, but if you're asking if we're supposed to be mounting an S&R mission then the answer is no. We all knew what we signed up for and if Grieves' unit can't make it, then they're on their own."

A little over two weeks, which meant just before Jack had joined. No wonder Maybourne had been anxious to get him aboard, when his highest-ranking officer was MIA and the one left in command was a major with only a couple of years of field work under his belt at the most. "Does this happen often?"

"Not really, Sir. But it has happened before and sometimes the units do make it back eventually. It all depends on what kind of circumstances they find themselves in."

"Yeah, I can imagine that if Grieves 'acquired' another one of those 'protect-the-whole-planet-from-an-apocalypse devices' like from P3X-425 a few years ago, then he might have found himself in an apocalypse or some other kind of danger," Jack said, referring to Sam's first mission. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see if he and his unit make it back alive."