Author's note: Once again, thanks so much for reading and reviewing!
They had the start of a new plan and Sam thought it might even have a chance of working. Maybe Sheppard was right and Rodney McKay did work better under pressure. She was pretty sure he'd come close to a breakdown after she shot Niam, but he'd come up with an innovative, off-the-wall idea afterward.
She just wished that the idea wasn't at the expense of Jack and Woolsey's well-being.
Choices like those were exactly why she let Sheppard lead the mission.
She still would have ordered it if she had to, and she knew that Jack had survived Replicator-style interrogations before, but she felt worse leaving him there and knowing what would happen to him than she did turning back to the 'gate and finding out that Daniel didn't make it through. One was a horrible circumstance. The other was an active choice to leave someone she cared about in enemy hands.
Sam couldn't guarantee that she would make the same decision if their situation were any worse than it currently was.
Once McKay finished demonstrating the placement of the C4 and crystals, they all headed back to the jumper to get supplies before splitting up to accomplish the task in front of them.
"All right, Ronon you go with Elizabeth and Carson you go with Teyla," Sheppard ordered. "Carter and I will go to the holding cell where they're keeping O'Neill and Woolsey. Rodney, you see if you can get a message to the Daedalus to keep them from blowing us up."
Ronon, Weir, Teyla, and Beckett gathered some of the C4 and the crystals that had already been removed from the ARGs. They left the jumper to get a head start because each team was traveling to more remote areas of the city for at least one of their emitters. Ronon and Weir were hitting a group on the opposite end of the city. Teyla and Beckett were starting with their furthest emitter and then doubling back to the other two that were in closer proximity to the underwater jumper bay.
Sam removed the crystal and put down the ARG she'd been disassembling.
She turned to Sheppard.
"I can't go with you to the brig," she told him. "You have to bring Rodney instead."
She didn't want to make this choice. Right now, she wished that she could be right by Jack's side.
"Why?" Sheppard asked.
She had to stay far away now so that she'd be able to see him alive later. Jack O'Neill knew her too well. If she was in the same room as him, there was a higher likelihood that he'd figure out their plan. It would compromise him and if the Replicators interrogated him again, which they were counting on for their plan to succeed, it might ruin everything.
"We can't risk it. He'd see through my lies and he might figure it all out too soon. He knows me too well."
On any other mission, the fact that Jack O'Neill knew her so well would be an asset, but not when they were trying to use him and Woolsey to feed false information to the Replicators.
John Sheppard nodded, taking her at her word.
"McKay, change of plans," Sheppard called to the man at the other end of the jumper. "You're coming with me and Colonel Carter is staying here. Carter will join Teyla and Beckett if she gets done early."
McKay looked up from his laptop. "What? Why?"
Sheppard adjusted his weapon. "Carter made a good point. The mission will work better if you trade places."
McKay set down the laptop and looked between the two of them, incredulous.
Sam didn't know why he was so surprised. It had been her idea in the first place to contact the Daedalus from the jumper instead of waiting and hoping the control room was still in good shape.
"This is the difficult part of the mission." He gestured to the computer. "I need to be here to do this. Blondie can handle the fake lock picking."
Every time she started to think that Rodney McKay might actually be a decent person, he went ahead and said something like that.
"Nice to know I have your respect, McKay."
The sarcasm in her voice was heavy, but he must've missed it.
"It's okay, not everyone can be me," he replied with a wave of his hand, "but you still have your talents."
McKay turned back to his computer and kept typing.
"Rodney," Sheppard said, his tone impatient, "You're coming with me now. Give her the laptop and grab the C4 and crystals we need."
"Fine," he blurted before shoving the computer at her chest. "Hope you don't screw it up for the rest of us."
"I'll do my best."
Sam set the laptop down and reviewed where McKay was at in coding the message. He hadn't gotten very far, which would actually make picking up his work way easier for her.
She just hoped that he was as good doing her original assigned task as she would be with his.
Jack O'Neill, to put it lightly, did not like Rodney McKay.
She remembered how pissed off he'd been after one recent memorable meeting with McKay. He waited to complain about it until they were both off base, but before he'd even shut the car door, Jack blurted, "People like him are exactly why I don't like scientists!" She laughed and promised him that she'd remind him later why there was an exception to every rule.
Yes, the fact that McKay was going with Sheppard would distract Jack. She just wasn't sure if it would be enough. Sam doubted that McKay was a great actor. Luckily, she had an idea.
"Rodney, if things start going badly, I need you to pass along a message for me to General O'Neill."
"Yeah, okay," McKay replied as he collected the C4 and crystals needed for the plan.
She and Jack always tried to keep things professional, but she told herself ever since they got together that she was never going to leave things unsaid when they got themselves into possible end of the line situations. Today seemed like it might be one of them. Especially with the Daedalus on the way to carry out Jack's standing orders to destroy the city.
She might not be able to see him yet to carry out this part of the plan, but she could be there in spirit.
"Just tell him I love him."
McKay turned, startled. "I'm sorry, what? Who?"
She would treasure forever the look of surprise on Rodney McKay's face and higher register of his voice as she caught him off guard. Maybe he'd finally stop hitting on her.
"General O'Neill," she responded.
McKay turned to where Sheppard was awkwardly fiddling with the ARG and pretending not to listen in.
"Do I have a head injury? I am I hallucinating again?"
Sheppard gave a low chuckle and shook his head. "You never seemed right in the head to me."
McKay rose, indignant. "Oh, that's a nice thing to say."
Their dynamic reminded her a little of Daniel and Jack on some of their early missions, if Daniel had been more arrogant and Jack had less of a temper.
She decided to jump in before anything escalated.
"I can't go with you, so just do me this favor if things start to go badly."
McKay turned back to her, disbelief still evident in his features. "But why? Why would you...and him? I…"
He trailed off.
"You did seem to think you owed me."
McKay sputtered. "Well, yes, but it wasn't really you and - "
"It'll help with the plan anyway. You need him distracted."
It wouldn't be anything that Jack hadn't heard before, but she suspected he'd find special delight in the fact that she was forcing Rodney McKay to send the message.
"Oh, that'll distract him all right," Sheppard commented from the corner.
"Why does he need to be distracted?" McKay asked. "He'll pass on exactly the information we tell him. This plan will work."
Rodney McKay had gotten better over the years, but he was still full of himself and was way too comfortable looking down on those who didn't demonstrate their intelligence the same way as him.
"If I went in there, he'd figure out the plan in two minutes. With you, it will probably only take four. He's smart, McKay, especially with things like this. You need him distracted so he doesn't put it together too soon that something's off with what you tell him. We can't let the Replicators get a hint."
"Fine," McKay grumbled, "but only for the sake of the mission. I don't like being a go-between."
Sheppard laughed. "Speaking of, Colonel Carter, did you hear about the time Rodney had to share his body with Lieutenant Cadman and she planted a kiss on Dr. Beckett?"
McKay shoved Sheppard. "What did I say about never discussing that again?"
Sheppard shrugged, an amused smile still pulling at his lips.
Sam knew what it felt like to not have complete control of your body so she couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for McKay. Only a little bit.
"Yeah, body-sharing is rough. Trust me, you could have had it much worse."
Sam was glad that Jolinar's memories had started to fade as the years passed by. There had been situations where they were useful, but she still wasn't sure if the trade off had been completely worth it. At least, outside of having extra years with her dad due to the Tok'ra and the handful of situations where having naquadah in her blood had been an advantage.
"That story never leaves this jumper," McKay insisted. Sam nodded. She didn't really care who he ended up kissing anyway.
An awkward silence followed until Sheppard suggested they head out. While they were all busy planting the C4 and installing the crystals from the ARGs, she was going to try to contact the Daedalus from the jumper and ask them to delay deploying the warhead if the ship got here before their plan succeeded.
She'd have to boost the signal, encrypt an encoded message, and hope the Daedalus figured it out before the Replicators did, but it would be worth it if they all survived.
Sam had better things to do today than die.