The Immortal Spacemonkey
Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate or Highlander. If I did, I wouldn't work in the public school system. Any characters from either show what you many recognize belong to their respective owners. Any characters that you don't recognize belong to me. I promise to return the borrowed character once I am done with them, though they will be a bit scuffed.
Warning: potty language and violence (but I actually think I refrained from using either in this chapter - weird)
Chapter 29
The next day, Jack made a phone call to General Hammond, telling him about the sudden theft of the artifact and their suspicion that the NID was somehow involved. Needless to say, the General was pissed and swore that he would try to find out what he could from his sources in Washington and at the Pentagon. He also told Jack that SG-1 would not have to return to the mountain and could continue with their vacation. In fact, he heartily recommended it, hoping that on the off chance, the NID would show their hand, leading to the return of the artifact and the downfall of the rogue government agency.
Jack snapped Daniel's phone shut and tossed it back at the archeologist. He related what Hammond had told them. While nobody looked disappointed at the idea of their vacation being allowed to continue, they all shared a look that said that they needed to be on a higher level of alert, weary of any further attempts to disrupt their plans, via kidnapping, torture, or general mayhem.
When they finally were able to rise, shower, and have some breakfast, it was close to ten o'clock. As they sat down to eat they discussed what they wanted to do for the day. After much debating and arguing, they finally agreed to drive over to Deadwood and check out what was going on over there.
They drove through the Black Hills, marveling at how beautiful the country-side was. They were also surprised to note that several areas looked as if they had been torched. The tall trees that covered the hills were blackened and charred. When Daniel commented on it, Sam said that fires had swept through the area back when he had been on Abydos.
They drove into the town, noting several signs proclaiming Deadwood as the final resting place of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, along with several notable casinos and museums.
After a moment of debate, they decided to first go up to Mount Moriah cemetery to see the graves of some of Deadwood's more notorious citizens.
This did not take long for the group, especially Jack, found it to be depressing. After they had viewed the graves of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill, Jack had passed a grave that held a young child that would have been about Charlie's age when he died. Jack stopped became very silent and had a blank look on his face that to outsiders, it would have seemed as if nothing was wrong. However, his team knew that the colonel was about to blow his top. In order to avoid such an occurrence, they hastily retreated from the cemetery.
Once back in the car, Daniel checked to see how Jack was doing. Jack glared at the Immortal, daring him to say anything. Daniel, understanding that Jack was not in the mood to discuss his feelings, turned the topic to what they wanted to see next.
They then decided to visit Old Style Saloon #10, the site where Wild Bill Hickok died, while playing poker, holding in his hand aces and eights. They took in the short, but cheesy show depicting Hickok's last minutes, then moved on to the casino that was attached to the salon.
None of them were seriously into gambling, but they all pulled up to a five dollar limit blackjack table. They spent the next half hour sitting at the table, watching the cards and money come and go with rapid ease. After their allotted thirty minutes that they had agreed to, they called it quits. Much to their surprise all of SG-1 came away with more than they started out with. Granted it was not a fortune, only a hundred to two hundred dollars each (Teal'c winning the most with his champion poker face), but it was more than they started out with. They thanked the dealer and soon left the casino.
They then went to the restaurant: The Deadwood Social Club. They each tried something different and opted to try a bite from each other's plates. The highlight of the meal was Teal'c asking if the Roasted Hippie Chicken was indeed made from real hippies, clearly remembering the duo they encountered when they went back to 1969. The waitress did not find it as funny as the human members of SG-1 did for some reason.
After lunch they agreed to go over to the Adams Museum, despite Jack's loud objections to being stuck in another museum.
"Danny! Come on! Do you not remember what happened the last time we went to a museum?" Jack complained loudly as they entered the smallish building that had once been a home of some affluent member of Deadwood society.
The museum was actually interesting. It gave a glimpse into the lives of the settlers and miners that came to the region to make a fortune or escape their old lives back in the east.
Jack and Teal'c enjoyed the second floor display of weapons used in the Old West. Teal'c was amazed that the Tau'ri was able to survive, despite the primitiveness of the weapons available.
Sam enjoyed the sections that were devoted to the women that lived in the area in the 1800's. She was especially surprised to learn that Calamity Jane was not the pure soul of the west that many had thought she was. Calamity Jane was a hard-drinking, brawling, woman and a sometime prostitute, among her many other occupations.
Daniel enjoyed looking at the photographs of past and present Deadwood. He examined the pictures and stories of the fires that ran through the area when he was on Abydos. It was odd to think that while he was off living his life on another planet, enjoying his life with Shar'ae, life was still going on as normal for everyone else on Earth.
However, there was one picture that caught his attention. It was tucked in with a collection of photographs of miners that had descended upon the Black Hills, looking for gold. Despite the graininess of the photograph and its obvious poor condition, there was no mistaking who the person was in the picture: Duncan Macleod of the clan Macleod.
"Did you find something else of galactic importance Danny-boy?" Jack asked, with Sam and Teal'c in tow.
"Nope," Daniel replied cheerfully. "Just a really interesting picture," he said and tapped on the glass, indicating which photo he was referring to.
Jack leaned in for a closer look and only saw an image of three dirty, hardened men staring back out at him. He did not get it. "What's your point?"
"I know the middle guy," Daniel said.
"Is this person someone from your past DanielJackson?" Teal'c inquired, his voice lowered so as to not let others overhear their conversation.
"An old friend perhaps," Jack pressed, having a curious look on his face.
Daniel sighed and considered his options. He then jerked his head in the direction of the front door. He did not want any curious eavesdroppers to listen in on to his conversation.
Since they had already seen everything on all three levels, the foursome left the museum with little protest. They went across the street to the small park that had picnic tables.
Sitting down at one of the tables, Daniel began his tale of how he had met the (younger) Highlander.
A/N: Well? What do you think? Be a pal and hit the shiny review button and let me know. It's short, I know.
Also, thank you for reading my stuff it. Also, thank you to those of you that have put me on your alert and favorites lists. That is incredibly kind of you to do so and is very much appreciated
