Chapter Eighteen
Sitting against the wall, Taryn watched the door carefully while he ran his fingers through his hair, waiting for anything to happen. For anyone to walk through that door so he could focus on something that wasn't the pain his sister was in.
"You called?" Kennedy asked.
"Well that's not exactly what I wanted." Taryn frowned, standing up in his spot carefully and watching as Kennedy picked up the diamond ring off of the floor. "Ya, pretty sure ass hole NID Robot is going to want that back."
"Do you need anything?" Kennedy huffed.
"Well if you're asking, I'd love some clothing." He huffed. "But since I know you're being a sarcastic fuck wad, I'd much prefer if you left me and my sister the hell alone. I'd also love it if Harry came instead of you. At least he's not 1000% ass hole"
"Colonel Mayborn is on special assignment." Kennedy said.
"Special Assignment?" Taryn laughed "You found him a special assignment in two hours?"
"He needed some time away." Kennedy said.
"Of course, he did." He huffed in annoyance.
"It was quite a shock to his system to see you like this." Kennedy said.
"To be fair, I wasn't ever planning on telling him or anyone here." He said sternly. "This..." He waved towards himself. "This is nothing. This is a personal thing and I wouldn't even have changed if... Some ass hole in my head hadn't decided to do it for me."
"Speaking of that 'asshole', can I speak to her yet?" Kennedy asked.
"She's still not talking to you." He huffed. "You're going to have to have the creep next door stab me a few hundred more times."
"He's busy with your sister right now." Kennedy said.
"Leave her the hell alone!" He screamed, pushing himself away from the wall.
"I'm surprised at her resistance." Kennedy said. "Most people would break under the pain we are putting her under."
"She's an O'Neill/" Taryn growled. "We don't break."
"I'm starting to understand that." Kennedy said as he raised his hand up.
Seeing two Soldiers coming into the room, Taryn took a step back against the wall. "Are we really going to try this again?"
"This time, I will have the upper hand." Kennedy said.
Standing his ground, Taryn watched as the soldiers walked over to him and each one grabbed hold of an arm and pulled it behind his back so that they could cuff his hands together. "What, afraid of me having free range to punch?" He frowned, watching as Kennedy walked over to him.
"I don't know what you are capable of in this form." Kennedy said.
Feeling Kennedy's knee colliding with his stomach, Taryn curled up into himself in a poor attempt to protect himself, only to have the soldiers beside him pull him back to his feet so Kennedy could land a punch on his face.
"So, is this change merely cosmetic or do you really think you are a man?" Kennedy asked.
"You are such an ass." Taryn growled angrily.
"Excuse me?" Kennedy asked.
"It's called Gender Fluid jack ass." He growled, wincing when Kennedy grabbed hold of his chin. "Both forms are equally me.
"People like you make me sick." Kennedy growled.
"Normal people who have a sense of who they are?" Taryn asked smugly, grunting when Kennedy gave him a nice right hook in the jaw.
"You are what you were born as!" Kennedy yelled.
"Funny thing..." Taryn laughed. "I was literally born as both. You know, that's kind of the point of the whole gender changing thing. That's who I am."
"What were you born as?" Kennedy asked.
"Fuck if I know whether I came out a boy or a girl." He laughed. "I was left on a door step with my sister."
"Very convenient." Kennedy said.
"Sorry, no way for you to dictate my gender for me." Taryn smirked, grunting when Kennedy punched him again.
Sitting outside the pentagon, Jack watched the street for any sign of General Hammonds vehicle while Sam went to get coffee. This had been the longest three days of his life.
"Hello, Jack." Harry said as he walked up out of uniform.
Feeling his muscles tensing up, Jack clenched his jaw. "I would suggest that if you don't want me to break you in half, you go away." He growled under his breath.
"I want to help Taryn." Harry said.
"Is that what you call it?" He huffed "Asking me Taryn's favorite meal and then letting your bosses take her fuck knows where? That sure sounds like you give a damn."
"You mean 'it' don't you?" Harry asked.
"Excuse me?" He frowned, turning to look at Harry.
"One minute I was looking at my soon to be fiancée and the next there is a man standing in her place." Harry said. "I don't know what the NID will do to it now that they have revealed that power."
"And you just left them there?" Jack demanded angrily.
"I need your help breaking your children out of NID custody." Harry said.
Jack huffed at the sound of that. "And why should I believe you want to get them out?" He asked. "You're the reason Taryn is there."
"Don't call it that, please." Harry said.
"Taryn is a unisex name." He said sternly. "It's why they like that name. It's why they don't go by their first name."
"I made a mistake in turning them in." Harry said.
Clenching his Jaw, Jack thought about what Harry was saying. "And when we get them out?" He asked calmly.
"You let me worry about that." Harry said. "The president likes me better than he does you."
"You and Taryn, what happens there?" He demanded. "Or are you just doing this to clear you conscience? Now that you've seen their male form do you not give a shit about them anymore?"
"I'm sorry, Jack." Harry said. "I'm not like that. I am straight as an arrow."
"What you are is a coward." Jack corrected, pushing himself to his feet easily.
"I am no such thing." Harry said.
"You made a mistake." He said calmly. "Actually, no. They made a mistake. They made the mistake of letting a jack ass like you convince them that you're worth giving their heart to."
"I care about them, the female them." Harry said.
"They would gladly keep female form if it meant keeping you." He huffed in annoyance. "They would gladly give up a part of who they are for you, and you're too scared of anything different to even give them a chance."
"I can't ask her to do that." Harry said.
"Again, coward." Jack said simply, watching as Sam walked over to him and handed him his coffee. "We'll meet you at the SGC. We need supplies before we do anything."
"I'll text you the location." Harry said.
"Do I want to know?" Sam asked softly, rolling her eyes when Jack shook his head. "Of course not."
Dropping to his knees, Taryn curled up into himself and groaned as blood ran down his lips. He barley even registered when Kennedy knelt down beside him.
"You should just give in and tell us what we want to know." Kennedy said.
"I really hope you're around when my dad shows up." He growled angrily, grunting when Kennedy grabbed a fist full of hair and pulled him up.
"It's freaky how much you look like O'Neill."
"Did you seriously think he wasn't our dad?" He frowned "Why does everyone think that?"
"Maybe because he's not smart enough to have produced two genius level children." Kennedy said.
"Oh god, you're even dumber than I thought..." Taryn growled.
Kennedy laughed at that before he felt a gun to his head. "Colonel O'Neill, I presume."
"Oh look, he has some functioning brain cells." Jack growled. "I'm going to give you one warning. Step the hell away."
"So dramatic." Taryn laughed weakly, dropping his head when Kennedy let go of his hair.
"You don't want to shoot me, Jack." Kennedy said.
Keeping his gun firmly in place, Jack moved around Kennedy carefully and knelt down beside Taryn. "You ok?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of the other Colonel.
"I'm alive." Taryn agreed, using the back of his hand to clean the blood off of his lips.
"Alive is good." Jack smiled. "Think you can stand?"
"Depends..." Taryn groaned, pushing himself to his feet carefully. "Can I punch him?"
"Oh, gladly." Jack smirked, watching as Taryn took a fist across Kennedy's face and sent the Colonel spiraling onto his ass.
"Son of a..."
"Nice hit." Jack smirked. "I have clothes for you, but... they're not... male sized."
"Wonderful..." Taryn whispered, closing his eyes and focusing for a second. She barley registered when her usual long hair fell against her back. "Better?"
"Much" Jack agreed, hanging her the bag on his shoulder. "Change quickly."
"Gladly." Taryn huffed, moving behind Kennedy while her dad kept his gun trained on him and she changed into the clothing her dad had given her.
Doing up her belt, Taryn smiled when her dad tossed her his spare side arm.
"Time to go." Jack smiled, heading for the door while Taryn checked her weapon.
"You're not going to get away that easily." Kennedy said.
Turning around, Jack grunted when Kennedy unholstered his gun and fired at him.
"That was probably a bad idea..." Taryn winced, watching as her dad checked the new hole in his shirt.
"Don't kill me, jack, it will ruin your career." Kennedy said.
"I'm not going to kill you, because I've been told not to." Jack explained calmly, walking over to Kennedy carefully. "But I'm also not leaving you conscious now." He growled, taking his fist across Kennedy's face and watching as he hit the ground unconscious.
Kicking the next door in, John raised his weapon quickly and growled when he saw someone standing beside Terri. "I'd move if I were you." He warned, stepping into the room and letting Terri's Jaffa past him.
"Prina..." Terri whispered in Gould. "Help me..."
"You're more than welcome to take her." Doctor Withers said calmly. "I'm not going to argue against a gun to the face."
"Most people wouldn't." John huffed, watching as Aphrodite's first prime picked up his fiancee carefully. "Especially when I have three very upset Jaffa."
"I would rather not." Withers huffed in annoyance, his eyes following the Jaffa as they carried Terri out of the room while John followed closely behind and closed the door behind them.
"Ass." John growled, lowering his weapon and turning around to face Terri. "You ok gorgeous?"
"Little tired." Terri whispered in ancient, glad she had taught John it.
"We're getting you home." He smiled softly, bringing a hand up to her face "You're going home. You're safe now. I promise"
Terri shook her head as she hid her face in Prina's armor.
Standing outside, Taryn examined her dad's shoulder as they waited for everyone else. "You really need to learn to wear a tac vest." She huffed in annoyance.
"Seem's like a waste." Jack admitted. "I mean, those things do cost money."
"Yes, but at least then it looks less bad when you don't start bleeding." She huffed, smacking her dad in the shoulder while he laughed.
"You didn't even flinch, sir." Mike said.
"I've been overseas countless time's kid." Jack pointed out. "You think I didn't get shot once in a while?"
"But you act like it didn't even hurt." Mike said.
"Taking a swan dive in a plane is a little different than getting shot." He pointed out "I can get hurt. there's just certain things that don't hurt me."
"Like a speeding bullet." Taryn huffed.
"You continue to amaze me, sir." Mike said.
"Me too, Jack." Harry said. "You were in and out in no time."
Keeping her back to Harry, Taryn let her hands drop from her dad's shoulder and watched as he pulled his uniform jacket back on. "John's taking too long." He frowned, his eyes trained on the door they had entered through.
"Give him a minute." Mike said. "Terri might have been in worse shape than Taryn."
Shaking his head, Jack started to walk towards the door when it swung open and Aphrodite's Jaffa came out with Terri in the first prime's arms and John following close behind. "There we go." He sighed softly
"Thank god." Mike whispered.
"Let's get them to the base." He ordered "Janet can look them over. Yes, that includes you." He ordered, glaring at Taryn when she tried to protest.
"Fine..." Taryn huffed in annoyance. "But I want different clothes when we get there."
"I'm sure John would be more than willing to part with one of his uniforms." Jack smiled playfully.
"It's scary how you are the same size as your ex." Mike said as he walked over to John and Terri.
Taryn shrugged her shoulders "only in one form." she pointed out
"And we speak not of how we found that out." John warned, wincing when Colonel O'Neill glared at him.
"Let's not and say we did." Mike smirked before turning to Terri. "How is she?"
"She needs a doctor." John whispered softly, looking over at Terri as she laid in Prina's arms. "I wish I had been allowed to shoot the bastard."
"President is only so nice." Jack said softly, walking over to Terri and checking up on her injuries. "Come on Kiddo. Let's get you back to base."
"The symbionts..." Terri whispered
Jack raised an eyebrow when Terri started to speak to him in Her and Taryn's made up language. "I only got part of that, but I'm assuming you're worried about the symbionts." He said softly "Teal'c and Captain Carter went to get them. They found the tub but..."
"But?"
"There are still some symbionts left." He promised "There's still some that are ok and they are getting them to the base for you."
"I need to be with them." Terri said in ancient.
"They're going to take care of them." He promised "Teal'c knows how to take care of them."
Terri nodded as she cuddled into Prina once again.
Watching her family, Taryn sighed softly as she pulled her dad's jacket close, thankful he had given it to her when they got outside. "Harry, you touch me and I will break your wrist..." She warned when she sense Colonel Mayborn close to her.
"Can we talk?" Harry asked.
"We are not talking." She said sternly. "We are never talking. We are forgetting any of this ever happened, you are going to find that ring fuck knows where and get rid of it, and you are going to stay the hell away from me."
"Taryn please." Harry said.
Turning to face Harry, Taryn clenched her jaw. "You don't even want anything to do with me, so don't act like me being angry hurts you at all." She growled before walking away.
"I wouldn't do that." John warned when he saw Harry moving to follow Taryn. "She will break something."
"Ouch..." Harry whispered.
John rolled his eyes "Let's get them to the base." He said softly, putting a hand in Terri's hair as she hid away in Prina's armor.