Rising from the Ashes of Ascension

Chapter 27

Disclaimer: As much as I might wish, I do not own Stargate: SG1, Highlander: the Series, or any recognizable characters from either show. If I did, I wouldn't be working in the public schools system. However, any characters that are not from either show are mine and I will use and abuse them as I see fit. Everyone else will be returned eventually, for I am only borrowing for awhile, but they might end up a bit scuffed.

Warnings: Potty language, violence, and occasional sexual references


Daniel made the trip out to Kansas City and visited the museum that housed a potential Goa'uld device disguised as a work of art. While there he managed to take a few discrete pictures of the statue from multiple angles, ignoring the signs that asked people not to take pictures, and made detailed notes of the dimensions of the statue. He also, with the help of one of Sam's gadgets that she had slipped him, took several readings, determining that the statue held a Goa'uld in stasis.

Once back in Colorado Springs, he met up with Jack, off-base at a road-side diner where they would not be under constant observation.

"So, should we risk it and try and get the statue?" Jack asked munching on a plate of fries covered in ketchup.

"There is a Goa'uld in it. I can't help but think about what happened to Sarah. Some researcher could release the snake and potentially become something worse than Anubis," Daniel said, picking at his turkey burger with cheese. It had seemed like a good idea when he ordered it, but now that it was on his plate, he realized that it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. It tasted funny.

"So what do you want to do about it?" Jack asked.

Daniel waited until the waitress had moved on after topping off his cup of coffee. "As much as I hate to say it, our best option is to go along with what Adam suggested and steal it."

"Do we need to involve your old friend or can we do it on our own?"

Daniel shook his head. "I got a pretty good idea of the security system looking around the place and this would require a professional's touch and really the only one I would trust to help us is Amanda."

"So what now?" Jack asked, around a mouthful of French fries.

"You're disgusting," Daniel commented, wrinkling his nose in revulsion. "I'm going to get in touch with an old friend who specializes in making copies of works of art. She normally does paintings, but she can do sculptures too. She's really good at being dishonest."

"Do you know anyone that isn't a thief or a serial killer?" Jack asked in exasperation. "Why couldn't you have been friends with the Dalai Lama or an Apostle?"

"Who says I wasn't and which Dalai Lama are we talking about? There's been fourteen so far and which Apostle? There was the original twelve, plus Judas' replacement and then there was Paul," Daniel said smartly.

"You're impossible," Jack said, shaking his head.

"This is a new revelation? I thought you were declaring me impossible years ago?" Daniel joked.

"You are beyond impossible really. Anyway, what now? Once you get hold of your art buddy, what then? What about your friend Amanda?"

Daniel smiled. "Adam and I are going to Paris in a couple of weeks to get her to help."

"What if she won't help, then what?" Jack asked.

The Immortal gave his best friend an enigmatic grin. "She will. Amanda can't resist a good challenge."

SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1

True to his word, a few weeks later found Methos and Daniel, along with Teal'c on a flight bound for Paris. Teal'c was joining them because, according to him, he wanted to see the Eiffel Tower and view the final resting place of Napoleon.

Daniel was convinced that Jack had put the big guy up to it to keep an eye on him, not trusting him to take care of himself for an entire week all by his big-boy self. At one point he even asked Jack if he wanted to pack his suitcase for him, making sure he had enough socks and underwear with him.

Jack had replied with a comment about his ability to always land in the thick of things, that trouble had a way of finding him in the least likely of places; that he needed someone to make sure he ate and looked both ways before crossing the street.

Daniel then replied that maybe Jack would want to supervise him wiping his ass when he took a crap too; loudly.

This resulted in a yelling match that started in the cafeteria and continued as the pair stomped through the halls of the SGC on their way to a briefing with Hammond. Their arguing continued even as Hammond walked into the conference room. Finally, the General tired of listening to the grown men bicker like two-year-olds, yelled at the both of them, cutting their arguments off abruptly, much to the relief of Carter and Teal'c. Harriman, who had brought in a stack of files for the general, had to rush off to avoid bursting out into uncontrollable laughter. The Colonel and Dr. Jackson when they argued, while exasperating to their teammates, provided everyone else much amusement.

Daniel, Adam, and Teal'c had been given four days, including travel time, to go to Paris. They had told Hammond that they wanted to meet a freshly frocked doctorial student that Adam had known, while he was at the Sorbonne getting his doctorate, who might be a benefit to the SGC's Archeology and Linguistics department.

It wasn't a complete lie. There was a post-doctorial candidate, Henry Bilson, an American that had finished his thesis in Ancient History. He was known to be brilliant, but had a habit of looking at issues oddly, much to the frustration, and even contempt, of his peers and professors. Methos wanted Daniel to take a look at him and see if this guy was something that could benefit the SGC. Whether or not Hammond actually believed their story was another subject all together, however he did not say anything directly to them. He did give them a long and pointed look that suggested that he knew that they were up to something.

They flew first class; Teal'c insisted that there would be an air rage incident if he had to fly fifteen hours from Colorado Springs to Paris, France in coach. Daniel heartily agreed, not wanting to spend hours cramped next to someone that was incubating the Bird Flu. While he might be Immortal, he really did not want to be exposed to some guy snotting all over himself, his seat, and his in-flight blanket.

As a result, they were sitting in first class, courtesy of one of Danil's bank accounts. Daniel figured that since he did have more money than he could spend in several lifetimes, thanks to long-term investments and the liberal banking laws of several countries, he might as well spend it on the people he cared about.

Methos was with them, sitting across the aisle in seat 3C, sipping on a nice Chardonnay, watching the in-flight movie: My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Later, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Chicago were to be shown. Dinner was promised shortly. The Old Man was also happy to be sitting in first class, happy to shed the image of being a poor grad student/Watcher. Now that he was out of the Watchers, he could spend his money more freely and live in a greater level of comfort than he had when he had been with the organization.

After a hateful three hour layover at Newark and thirteen hours of flying time, the three men arrived at Charles De Gaul Airport. They collected their suitcases (and in Daniel and Methos' cases, their swords which were stored in special cases) and quickly cleared customs. When asked their purpose of visiting France, all three men said that they were there on pleasure, wanting to take in the sites of Paris.

They took the train into Paris and transferred to the Metro which then took them to the Renaissance Vendome Paris, located on the Right Bank near the Orsay Museum and the Tuileries. Daniel and Methos had seen the sites several times at various time periods in the development of the city therefore they weren't all that impressed. Teal'c however was fairly gaping at his surroundings. However, his gaping looked to an outsider as someone passively looking around, not taking much interest in the sites of the city. To Daniel and Methos, they could tell that the stoic Jaffa was fairly bursting at the seams, itching to go and explore the mythical city of Paris.

Once they had checked in, showered, and has a decent meal (the crap served on the flight in no way could be considered decent by anyone's standards), they set off for the club Amanda ran and co-owned. Joe had told his old pal, Adam, that Amanda lived above the bar and could usually be found there most nights.

They walked into the bar known as Sanctuary and immediately felt the presence of two different Immortals wash over them. Daniel and Methos paused in the doorway, their eyes searching for the location of the others, wary even though they both knew that they were on Holy Ground; the bar has been a church at one point and somehow the grounds remained consecrated.

Finally, the crowd parted and dramatically revealed Amanda in all her glory.

Five foot ten, perfect figure, legs to die for, and short bobbed platinum blonde hair, she was a vision that belonged on the cover of Vogue magazine.

"Daniele! Adam! How lovely to see the both of you," she exclaimed, crossing the room to them, kissing them on either cheek. "Joe called and told me you'd be coming by." At this point, she realized that the large black man, wearing the Kangol Tweed Peebles Cap that he had been given for his birthday by O'Neill with his hands clasped loosely behind him was with her two old friends.

"And hello to you," she said and offered her hand to the man. "And who might you be?" she asked, giving Teal'c her most charming smile.

"I am Murray," Teal'c said with a crisp half-bow, ignoring her hand.

Amanda frowned, slightly put off that this handsome man was not falling immediately under her spell.

"Lay off Amanda," Daniel said good-naturedly, knowing that the female Immortal was trying to charm the pants off his teammate. "And before you ask, yes he knows. Also, it is just Daniel Jackson these days."

"He knows?" she asked. "Since when have you gotten into the practice of letting mortals, outside of the ones you've been married to, know about you?"

"Murray here is one of the few exceptions to my rules," he explained. "We work together and it kind of came out accidentally."

"Interesting," she said a thoughtful look passing across her face. She wondered what her old friend was up to these days. They hadn't seen each other since the 1950s. Daniele looked happier than she had seen him in a long time, more relaxed and at ease with himself and the world. Amanda wondered what had happened that caused her old friend to finally chill out.

And then there was Methos. He still looked the same, Immortality aside. He still had that half-amused, half-smug look about him. She also wondered what he was up to. The last she had heard, he had abruptly left Seacouver, much to the annoyance of Duncan, about two years ago to take a teaching position at some college in the Rockies somewhere. After that, she had lost track of her old friend, preoccupied by Nick and other events in her life.

She shook herself out of her revere. "Let me introduce you to Nick," Amanda said, turning on her heel, forcing the others to follow her to the back of the club or remain there standing in the doorway.

There in the rear of the club, at a back table they found the other Immortal who eyed the both of them warily even as Amanda sat down next to him. She waved to the bartender who came over and took their orders; Daniel and Methos ordered beer while Teal'c opted for juice.

"I'm Adam," Methos introduced himself to the youngster, "and this is Daniel and our friend Murray. And before you ask, yes he knows about us."

"Okay," Nick said hesitantly, still unsure about the presence of clearly older Immortals. "I'm Nick Wolfe."

"Nice to meet you," Daniel said affably. "Not to be rude Nick, but we need to talk to Amanda. We aren't here to cause trouble. It's just what we need to talk to Amanda about can only be discussed with her."

Nick's eyebrows went up slightly but shrugged indifferently. It wasn't like this was the first time Amanda's past excluded him from the conversation. He knew that despite what the others would say, if it were important Amada would tell him what was going on. "No problem. I have to be going anyways. My boss is having me guard some worthless whore of an heiress who is claiming her life is in danger due to a crazed stalker. I'm sure that it's nothing more than the celebutard's attempt to keep her name in the limelight," he said as he rose to leave the table.

"Be careful," Amanda said tenderly, smiling up at the younger Immortal.

"Always," he replied, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek.

Amanda snorted at that, knowing that Nick seemed to always find himself in the thick of things without even trying.

"You behave and try to stay out of trouble," Nick told her.

"Don't I always?" she deadpanned.

At that, Nick, Daniel, and Methos (beer actually came out of his nose) all snorted. Amanda looked mildly outraged at their inability to accept that she could stay out of trouble. She could, she supposed, if she really wanted to.

With that, Nick quickly departed, leaving the others behind.

Once he was gone, Amanda turned to her two old friends and their mostly silent friend. "What is going on with the both of you? What's with all of the secrecy? You two work for the CIA now?"

Daniel, Methos, and Teal'c exchanged wry looks.

"We do not work for the Central Intelligence Agency," Teal'c said gravely.

"We need someone with your skills and abilities," Daniel hedged.

Amanda looked at Daniel with some amount of amusement. "You want me to steal something. Why the secrecy? It's not like Nick doesn't know about my hobbies."

Daniel sighed as he sat down, the others joining him. "Amanda, as much as it kills me to say this, I need you to help me steal a statue of out a museum," he told her.

With this, the Immortal thief began to laugh, her voice trilling in amusement. "Why in the name of God do you need me to steal some statue for you? Was it yours at some point and now you want it back?"

"No," Daniel said.

"Then why do you want it?" she asked, her arms folded across her chest.

"It's for a project that we are working on and none of us can obtain the statue through legitimate avenues. Our only recourse it seems is to steal it and you are the best at taking things that don't belong to you."

"Well, of course I'm the best," she preened. "What are you working on?"

"Why all of the questions? Once upon a time you would have jumped at the chance to steal something," Methos observed.

"I want to know why I should agree to this. Also, how do I know that you two, with the help of your friend here, aren't setting me up?"

"Would we actually set you up?" Methos asked, trying to pull an innocent look.

Amanda wasn't buying it. "Yes. I seem to recollect a few times the both of you swore to exact vengeance because some plans went south."

"This has nothing to do with the time you almost got me killed stealing the jewels belonging to Princess Palatine," Daniel said. "I think maybe you're just rusty and too scared to take on a simple B and E and barely able to pick someone's pocket. I am sure there are children with more skill than you."

That riled up her blood quickly.

"I am not rusty!" she said hotly. "I am a world-class thief and you had better not forget it! And besides, you got better."

"I got tossed into the Seine," Daniel said snidely.

"You dried out eventually and I am sure the dysentery wasn't as bad as you said it was," she retorted. "So why do you need my skills?"

Daniel shrugged. "I need someone that is experienced in high-end B and E. If you aren't up to it, I am sure I can always find someone else."

"Fine, I'm in," she said, not one to let someone think that she had become a has-been, barely registering the fact that Daniel had blatantly manipulated her, goading her into accepting a job she knew nothing about. "What is it I will be stealing and where is it? Will it just be the four of us? This had better be important."

Daniel and Methos exchanged satisfied smiles.

"This is important. I swear it, Amanda," Daniel said sincerely. "I can't tell you why exactly, not without my boss' permission, but it is for a good cause. Just trust me that it is important. The statue is back in the States at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City. It will be us, plus two more people we work with."

"Here is a picture of the statue and here are the specs for the security system that they use," Methos said, pulling several folded pieces of paper out of his back pocket, handing them to his friend.

Amanda took the papers, examining them closely. "Ah," she breathed. "A Systems Galaxy 4500, very high tech indeed. That is quite impressive for something in the middle of the States. It's nice to see how a stop on a long-ago cattle drive can grow up over time. When do you want this done?"

"Not for another month or so. I am getting a copy made of the statue. We are going to take the original and put the fake in its place," Daniel explained.

"Why not just take it free and clear? Why go through the effort of making a copy?" she shrewdly asked.

"We don't want people to ask questions we can't readily answer. Even if the statue is discovered some day to be a fake, we'll be long gone," Daniel explained.

"Fine, but just so you know, this will cost you," Amanda said, leaning back in her chair, a self-satisfied smile across her face.

Daniel nodded. "I wouldn't have it any other way."


A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know what you think. Feed the plot bunny. Don't let it starve!

Okay, this is massively late. Work and exhaustion got in the way of a lot of things, plus I don't seem to have as much free time as I have had in the past. Also, when I do have free time I am too tired to actually do something productive. That said, I will continue to update the story, just not as frequently as I would like to until I get things a bit more under control. Please do not give up on me!

Finally, thank you to everyone who has dropped me a review, added the story or me to a list, or who just took the time to read the darn thing. I do appreciate it all. Also, thank you once again to Lorilei! Without her, I would never get anything done and I am eternally grateful to her for catching my mistakes and being a constant source of support, humor, and ideas. Thank you!