Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?
Chapter 13A/N: Hey, I actually kept my promise. Bet you guys are shocked. So thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. It's always nice to know people still like this story. :) Here's chapter 13. We're in Season 8 now (yay) and this chapter actually follows the episode a little more closely than my previous chapters – mainly because I can actually watch the episode while writing. Some of the dialogue is taken directly from the episode New Order: Part 1. Which means that this chapter contains spoilers for that episode.
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Let me know by leaving me some love (Or a review. Whatever works for you. ;))
Also, I'm working on the next chapter and should have it up sometime next week. Emphasis on should.
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Erika stood in the briefing room in front of the window over looking the dormant Stargate, her hands stuffed deep into her pant pockets as her gaze traveled up and down the circle. She let her mind wander, trying to focus on one thought at a time. It was difficult with all that had happened in the last week and her mind jumped from point to point, making it difficult for her to grasp one thought at a time.
Colonel O'Neill was in stasis. Dr. Weir was in charge of the SGC. Anubis, an uncontrollable shudder raced down her spine at the though of the black oil-like face leaning over her, was hopefully dead. Although she could never be sure and knew she would always be haunted by the half Gou'ald, half Ascended being. Thoughts of Anubis made her mind leap to the time, however brief, that she was a host. Erika quickly squashed those thoughts aside.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs, but Erika ignored them as she continued to stare at the 'Gate and think. The SGC was effectively being closed down for the three-month review now that several other governments knew of the program. She wondered if she would even have a job in three months. Was sure Daniel would fight for her, but…She sighed and pushed that thought aside as well. It did no good to dwell on "what ifs" and she had other things to worry about. Such as helping Daniel to find a way to get Colonel O'Neill out of the stasis chamber.
"Thought I'd find you up here."
"Speak of the devil," Erika muttered under her breath.
"What?"
"Nothing. What can I do for you?" Erika turned from her view to face Daniel's profile. The archeologist continued to stare out of the window.
"Elizabeth says talks are stalled again," he said quietly. Erika nodded and turned back toward the Stargate.
"I heard," she replied. His words finally registered and she turned to him, eyebrows raised. "Elizabeth?"
"Yeah, we're on a first name basis now," Daniel replied as he stuffed his hands into his pockets in an odd mirror of Erika's own posture. "These people just don't get it. We were just attacked by an armada of space ships. Instead of coming together and figuring out how to protect this planet in case it happens again, they're haggling over rights. We should be down there figuring out a way to get Jack out of there instead of sitting here doing nothing." He paused as his rant died down. "You heard? Because I just found out and was coming to tell you."
"Yeah. I was up here when Dr. Weir got the call. She recognized me as your assistant and mentioned it on her way to speak to you."
"She 'mentioned it'?"
"Are you a parrot or something now. Yes, she mentioned it. Actually, the conversation went more like: "You work for Dr. Jackson, right? I have to tell him the talks stalled. Is he in his office?' I just nodded and she left to find you."
They stood in silence for a while, each staring out at the Stargate.
"I wouldn't worry too much about Colonel O'Neill. Teal'c and Major Carter will find the Asguard. They'll help just like last time."
"I hope you're right."
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Erika sat at the worktable, going over Daniel's notes on the artifact in front of her, trying to make any more sense out of the writings. She consulted one of the open books near her, pinched the bridge of her nose and was about ready to call it quits when the alarm rang for an unscheduled 'Gate activation. Erika glanced at the red light and shrugged when it went out. Those types of emergencies rarely had anything to do with her. She marked her page, closed the book and was straightening her notes, looking forward to a mid-morning snack, when the phone in the corner rang.
"Sheppard," she answered as she shuffled her notes into Daniel's notebook.
"I'm sending down a Gou'ald text. I need you to translate it right now and bring it up to the briefing room when you're done," Daniel quickly explained.
"I was just about to-" The line went dead before Erika could finish her excuse. She held the phone out in front of her and sighed. "Translate your Gou'ald message and bring it up to you," she finished as she dropped the phone back into the cradle a little harder than necessary.
Her computer beeped and Erika sat in the chair, swiveling toward the keyboard. She opened her intranet mailbox and printed out the message for Daniel. After a quick scan of the message, she grabbed her pen and wrote down the English translation, her stomach dropping with each word she wrote.
Ten minutes later, she was taking the stairs to the briefing room two at a time, stopping three steps down where Daniel waited for her.
"Daniel," she started.
"Yeah, I know," he replied as he gave her translation a cursory glance. "Start gathering everything you can on the System Lords, especially on Camulus. I have a feeling we're going to need it."
"She's not going to-"
"Oh, I think she will," he said as he looked up at Erika. "Thanks." With that, he took the last two stairs up to the briefing room and set the report in front of Dr. Weir. Erika hovered just long enough to hear Weir's question about the accuracy of the translation and let a small smile form on her lips when Daniel defended it. Realizing she was only wasting time when she had a lot of work to do and a short amount of time to do it in, she hurried back down the stairs and down the corridors to Daniel's office.
The phone was ringing when she got there.
"Sheppard," she answered, twirling the cord around her body as she moved the artifact she had been working on off of the table.
"I need that gray folder that's on the desk."
"I don't think 'errand bitch' is in my job description," Erika replied as she filed the remaining papers away. "Besides, you just asked me to gather info on the System Lords. Which is it, the folder or the info?"
"The folder and then the info. And yes it is. It's right next to 'coffee maker' and-"
"Alright, I'm bring up the damn folder," Erika replied as she snatched the top folder from his desk.
"And don't forget a pe-" Erika hung up before he could say anything else.
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"We're sending a message," Daniel declared as he stormed into his office. Erika looked up from her work and frowned.
"We're negotiating with them. Daniel-"
"I know, I know. But I don't see what other option we have. I need your help on this one. We need to gather everything we know about the current System Lords and then we'll need more in depth information on the delegates once we know who they are," he started as he went to one of the bookshelves. He thumbed over the titles before pulling a smaller volume out and added it to the pile Erika already stacked on the worktable.
"I'm all ready on it," the Captain replied as she pushed the chair back and rolled to her desk. She picked up her hand-written list and handed it to Daniel, who scanned it.
"There's only six names on this list."
"Yeah. We just defeated Anubis. These are the only ones we can confirm are left from the original High Council before Anubis took over. I'm working on some more names, but-"
"This is fine for now," Daniel replied. He walked out of the office, taking the list with him as he went. Erika sighed, but rolled her chair back to the worktable and opened the new book Daniel selected for her.
"Erika." Erika turned her head to the door. "Good job." She did not get a chance to reply before he was out the door again. She continued working, losing all sense of time as she compiled the list for Daniel and Dr. Weir. She jumped when Daniel came back into the office and dropped a piece of paper on to the page she was reading.
"They agreed to all the terms," he stated, sounding more than a little surprised. "We have the delegates. I need you to stop what you're doing and help me with this."
"Yeah, fine," Erika replied as she closed the book and rearranged her notes. "Who're our lucky guests?"
"Camulus," he started, "which we figured because he sent the message. Amaterasu-"
"Japanese Sun Goddess," Erika supplied. The raise of Daniel's eyebrow made her believe he was both already aware of her place in mythology and a little surprised that Erika knew that fact as well.
"Yes. And Lord Yu." He paused for three seconds as he eyeballed Erika.
She shrugged. "I've heard all the jokes. They're not funny."
"All right, then. Get started on these. And I'll need you to be in the negotiations once they start."
"Nope," Erika replied as she reached across the table, choosing one of the books that was scattered across the metal top. "Not happening."
"Erika-"
"I'm not sitting in a room with them, Daniel. I refuse to. I will get everything ready for you. I'll translate anything you'd like. You're lucky I'm willing to be in the same building as them. I'm not going to be in the same room." She turned to him, honey-brown meeting blue as she stared at him, begging him to understand. It had been months since her incident as a host, and while she knew none of the Gou'ald delegates had anything to do with her kidnapping and the subsequent death of her team, she was not sure if she could keep her cool in their company.
He regarded her from across the room, his arms folded over his chest. "Fair enough," he replied after a moment's hesitation. He selected a second volume from the mess and dropped into his chair behind a desk. His pen tapped against the metal as he looked over the documents. Erika continued to stare, a bit stunned that he did not argue with her. He looked up, did a double take at her still staring at him and shook his head.
"We need to get this done now, so, know you, stop standing around and do it," he commented, his voice leaving little doubt that he was, in fact, dead serious. Erika suppressed her grin with a fake cough. She flipped the book open to a marked page, flicked the cap of her off and began scribbling notes on to a blank page of her notebook.
They worked through lunch, but Erika barely noticed. It was not until later, after she had been through almost every bit of material they had on the three delegates, that she realized just how hungry she was. And just how much her eyes hurt. She rubbed them with the palms of her hands as she rolled away from the worktable. She dropped her pile next to Daniel's before she stood and stretched her arms above her head. She watched him for a moment as he fingers crawled over the keyboard in a modified "hunt-and-peck" method that, while effective, was still slower than Erika's method of typing.
"Want me to type those?" she asked as she sank back into her chair. Daniel barely turned from the computer.
"I do know how to type," was his clipped response.
"Could have fooled me," Erika murmured just loud enough for him to hear. All she received for her effort was a sidewise glare. Instead of further provoking him, she picked her notes back up and rolled to the second computer. He hit the print button almost two full seconds before she did even though he started typing a few minutes before she did. She smirked at him over her shoulder as he waited by the printer.
"I'm starved. Want me to bring you back something?" she asked as she headed for the open door. Daniel nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks," he replied as he took his seat again and looked over their typed notes. Erika nodded in return, not bothering to ask what he wanted from the mess. She turned left out of the door and saw Dr. Weir coming down the hall.
"Dr. Weir," she said as she passed the other woman. Weir stopped.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember-"
"Captain Sheppard, Ma'am," Erika supplied as she stopped and turned to face the brunette. "Daniel's assistant."
"Of course," Weir replied as she clasped her hands behind her back. "Is he-?" she nodded toward the office.
"Yes, Ma'am," Erika replied, easily falling back into her military protocol. Dr. Weir smiled and turned to head into the office. She paused for a moment and turned back to Erika.
"Thank you, Captain."
Erika returned her smile before she continued on her way to the mess. She picked out two sandwiches, two bags of chips, an apple for herself, and a couple of cookies. Daniel was still seated at his desk, typing at his computer when she returned to his office. She set their lunch on the worktable and pulled up the chair across from him. She turned to look over her shoulder at him.
"Lunch is here."
"Yeah. Just finishing this up," he replied without looking at her. Erika sighed and dug in, enjoying her sandwich more than she thought a single person could enjoy two slices of bread with some meat in between. She vaguely realized it was her first meal since breakfast at 0600 that morning.
She gulped down her food as she idly flipped through one of the many books still strewn across the worktable as Daniel continued to type. As she nibbled on the edges of a cookie, Erika happened to glance up at the wall clock.
"Are you supposed to meet Dr. Weir in the 'gate room when the Goa'uld arrive?" She saw Daniel glance at the clock in the corner of the computer monitor from the corner of her eye.
"Shit." His chair shot back and he bolted from the room. Erika sighed, stood, grabbed his sandwich and his watch, which he removed while typing, and casually walked to the door of the office, holding both out. Daniel doubled back a few seconds later, grabbed both items with a mumbled "Thanks" and took off down the hall again. Erika grinned at his retreating back. When she was sure he would not return, she took his seat in front of the computer and opened "Mine Swept". It was time she took a little break from all the research.
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Erika's finger glided down the page over the words and symbols. It stopped at one particular symbol and tapped up and down on the worn page as her eyes scanned over the artifact at a similar marking. She looked back and forth between the drawing on the paper and the one carved in stone, triple checking that they were the same symbol with the same meaning. She twisted her lips into an uncertain frown as she continued to study the two markings.
"She's either completely crazy or a genius," Daniel declared as he huffed into the office, plopped down in the desk chair in front of the computer and plugged a thumb drive into the USB port. He grabbed the first notepad he could find as he opened the file on the drive, Erika curiously watching from her position in front of the artifact.
"And for those of us that have no idea what the hell you're talking about?" she finally asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm, when it became clear that he wasn't going to extrapolate. He looked up from the computer screen.
"Oh. Elizabeth. She wants to take over Baal's territory," he added as if it explained everything.
"Okay, because that explained everything. I'm still not following you," Erika replied. She capped her pen and stared at his back.
"Baal. Goa'uld System Lord-"
"Yes, I got that part. What about the territory thing?"
"Oh, that." Erika rolled her eyes and gestured with her hands for him to get on with it. He took a deep breath as he scrolled through the file. "The System Lords know we have a big weapon that we used to take out Anubis' fleet. They want us to use that same weapon to destroy Baal before he takes over the Galaxy. And Elizabeth," he snorted, "had the brilliant idea to tell them that we'll do it, only if we can keep everything that Baal has. Actually, I'm not sure how brilliant it is." He started tapping his pen against the desk as he gaze traveled from the computer monitor to the wall behind it. "It could backfire horribly, and since we can't actually use the weapon…" His voice trailed off as he continued to stare at the wall.
Erika watched him, her lips pulled down in a tiny frown. She was about to get up and wave her hand in front of his face in order to snap him out of his trance when he shook his head and returned his gaze to the words on the screen.
It appeared that he was not going to say anything else. Satisfied with the information she had all ready gathered on the situation, Erika turned back to her project. She re-located the symbol she had been scrutinizing before Daniel's appearance when said SG-1 member thumped his pen loudly against his notebook.
"They think we're bluffing," he exclaimed.
"We are bluffing," Erika retorted without looking up from her book.
"Yes, but they have no way to prove it." His voice was drawn out, a little distance, and he offered no further insight into the message. The only sound in the room was the scribbling and occasional tapping of his pen and the tapping of Erika's boot against the floor as she worked on translating the artifact.
"Progress," Dr. Weir said as she strolled into the office, meeting Daniel at his computer not ten minutes later. Erika looked up, curious as to what else Daniel found, but reluctant to ask any more questions. Not because Daniel would be upset at the interruption, but more because she was not sure she wanted to hear his long-winded answers.
"Yeah," Daniel sighed in return. "It's basically a confirmation of what we suspected. They think we're bluffing but have no way of confirming their suspicions, so they're not sure what to do."
"They could still try to draw Baal here, let him figure it out for them," Dr. Weir reasoned.
"Yeah, that's dangerous for them because if we can't power the weapon-"
"Which we can't," Weir finished for Daniel, mirroring Erika's thoughts as she listened. Daniel nodded his head, conceding the point.
"Baal would end up with both Earth and the Ancient Outpost in his possession," he finished. Dr. Weir looked as if she wanted to say more, but their conversation was interrupted by the alarm.
"Unscheduled off world activation," a voice declared over the base PA system. Erika's eyes traveled to the red alarm lights as Dr. Weir stepped over to the phone in the corner. Both Daniel and Erika turned to watch as she answered the phone.
"This is Weir. What's happening?" A pause while she listened to the answer. She glanced at Daniel before saying, "Okay, we'll be right down." She hung up the phone as she turned.
"Our guests just got a response."
Daniel nodded, dropped his pen and followed Dr. Weir out of the door, leaving Erika alone once more. The young woman looked after Daniel before allowing her gaze to travel back to her research materials. She glanced back at the door. With only a slight hesitation, Erika stood and followed Daniel out of the office and down to the control room. She arrived just in time to watch as Daniel's hand slammed down on the "shut down" button before he raced out of the room.
"What's going on?" she asked as she moved to stand next to Walter. The Sergeant shrugged and merely gestured toward the computer. Erika glanced at the message and did a double take as she read over the worlds.
"Son-of-a-bitch," she whispered. She looked up at the three Goa'uld standing in the 'Gate room. "Those fucking, back-stabbing, sneaky bastards."