Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Stargate SG1.
May 24, 1999: Milky Way: Earth: High Orbit: Galileo
"Sir, we've lost contact with Cipher and Pixie," the radar officer of the Galileo stated clearly. The entire ship was at Condition One, or General Quarters. Every gun, turret and damage control port was manned and ready for combat even though no threat was apparent. "They were in radio blackout during reentry and we had them for just a second when they came out of it. Their radar signatures are gone. They've either lost their transponders or have been destroyed."
"Colonel, we need to organize a rescue team," Samantha Carter, the Executive Officer of the Galileo, urged her Commanding Officer, Jonathan O'Neill.
"Where did we last have their radar signatures?" Jack asked, ignoring his XO.
"They were flying over northern Scotland," the Radar Officer reported.
"That means that if they crashed that they're likely in the UK," Jack closed his eyes in thought. "We'll need to run it through the President to organize an SAR in another country. Those guys are allies, not enemies and will get curious if some of our planes start flying over their land without permission." He looked at his XO. "Carter, get the necessary paperwork ready and send a message to the President. Meet me in my quarters when you're done." He turned to the Officer of the Deck. "Set Condition Two throughout the ship. There's no threat here." His subordinates hurried off to complete their tasks.
May 25, 1999: Milky Way: Earth: Northern Scotland
Harry's eyes opened groggily. Wearily he looked around, finding himself to be surrounded by small cots and rubble. He eased himself to his feet to get a better look around. The area looked familiar enough but not enough so that he could explain where he was. Columns and pieces of stone walls surrounded the area he stood in. Behind him, a few towers stood in silent power.
The pilot climbed onto the top of a piece of rubble, peeking over the other side. His eyes widened in recognition. He dropped down from the rock and ran a gloved hand over the metal object before him. It was a Drop Pod from the Corona.
"This must be where Jack was being held," Harry muttered in shock. He looked around desperately trying to find something else. "How the hell did I get here?"
"Some crazy people on broomsticks showed up just in the knick of time." Harry spun around to see Pixie standing atop the piece of rubble behind him.
"God damn, Pixie, you scared me," Harry muttered shaking his head.
"Really, I'm serious," Pixie insisted, jumping down to eye level with his wingman.
"Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it," Harry muttered, shaking his head. His hands fumbled around on his flight suit, looking for an energy bar. Harry dipped his hand into a pocket and pulled. Two items fell out, an energy bar and a black case.
"Hey, what's this?" Pixie wondered as he bent down and picked up the box. He popped it open.
"Oak leaves," Harry muttered around a mouthful of food. "I was going to give them to you when I got on the rings." He shrugged. "You're the new CAG of the Galileo." Pixie stared at him with something akin to shock.
"And to think, I already put in a request for reassignment to Cheyenne Mountain," Pixie said, voice laced with shock. "I'd thought that you'd go with either Kat or Scotch."
"You're the one who's had the most engagements with the Goa'uld," Harry explained, taking another bite out of his bar. "You know their battle tactics, their maneuvers, their weak points; you were the only believable choice." He looked around. "Anywho, we need to find a way out of here."
"The wizards said they'd be back soon," Larry said absently as he looked around.
"Did Galileo send him to find us?" Harry wondered.
"Not Wizard," Pixie shook his head. "He can't stay on one topic long enough to find us. I mean the wizards that saved us from the lake." Air whooshed around them. "There they are now."
Voices spoke out from behind the rock. "Albus, this is a bad idea. Don't you remember what happened the last time we ran into him?"
"We kidnapped one of his comrades," another, more wizened voice replied. "He was simply rescuing him."
"And in doing so he destroyed the Heart of Hogwarts!"
'Albus,' Harry thought to himself. 'Oh shit, not them! That's the last thing we need.'
"Wait a minute," another, younger voice interrupted. "Where are they?" Three heads popped over the top of the rock and looked down at the two pilots. One had an oversized eye, the first one who'd spoken. The third speaker was considerably younger, maybe around Harry's actual age. No one could really tell; the pilot looked a lot older than he should have. The third head he recognized immediately as Albus Dumbledore, the man who had kidnapped Jack.
Instinctively Harry reached for his waist and drew a pistol, bringing it level with the three heads. The two younger heads disappeared. Albus stayed rooted in his spot.
"Okay, what the hell do you want with us?" Harry asked accusatorily. "You already kidnapped my CO once and I'm not going to let you take anyone else."
"Stupefy!" Harry's head whipped around to see two beams of red light being shot at him. Instinctively he raised his hand. The beams hit his glove and… ricocheted…? "That isn't possible," the gruff voice said in shock. Harry's other hand came over to aim at the man with the oversized eye.
"If you try something like that again, I'll blow your head off," Harry warned.
"Come on, Harry, these guys are the ones who saved us!" Pixie argued from behind him. Unknown to the other four, Albus twitched involuntarily; he'd never gotten over losing Harry Potter. Any Harry made him nervous.
"I don't care if they saved us," Harry retorted, his hand never wavering. "These people tortured my CO and tried to kill the rest of my team."
"I'm sorry for our actions before," Albus Dumbledore apologized, coming down from the piece of rubble. "We are in a state of war and were when you arrived two years ago."
"If you've been fighting a war two years why haven't you won it by now?" Harry asked bored. "Didn't you ever ask for help from the States or Europe? There's no way any enemy could stand up to the American Military."
"Our war is a bit more… complicated than what you seem to think," Dumbledore said patiently. "Our enemies are far superior to any that you have ever faced."
"Are they like you?" Harry wondered. Albus nodded. "Well, my one team seemed to be able to kill a whole lot of your forces without too much trouble. What makes you think that your enemy would be any different?"
"Our enemy, lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters are very powerful," Dumbledore explained. "There is no way that you would be able to kill them all."
"How many people have died?"
"Two thousand collectively," Dumbledore answered sadly. "The body count is almost too high to imagine." Harry snorted. The three wizards stared at him in shock and anger.
"Who do you think you are?" Big-Eye asked.
"Have you ever seen the death tolls for wars?" Harry inquired, ignoring the gruff mans question. "Two thousand people; that is with both sides combined."
"What are you getting at?" the younger man asked tentatively.
"Well, you say that the American Military couldn't do a thing about your conflict," Harry shrugged, his gun remaining level. "You say that we couldn't kill them all. Let me tell you the death toll of the Gulf War. Two hundred coalition soldiers died in that war. One hundred thousand died on the enemy's side. Before you go spouting off about the terribleness of your war, think about how small it truly is."
"What kind of monster are you?" the young man asked angrily.
"I'm not a monster," Harry explained offhandedly. "I'm a realist. You've spouted about how terrible your war is and how there's nothing anyone can do to help you." His tone changed over to mock sympathy. "There's nothing you can do. The death tolls are too high to imagine." His tone switched back. "You make me sick. Next time, ask for help and then if there's nothing that you can do, I'll believe it."
Big-Eye and Young-Buck seemed about ready to stab him in the heart. Dumbledore merely stared at him.
"Who are you?" he asked calmly.
"Lieutenant Colonel Harry "Cipher" Potter, United States Air Force, Sixth Air Division, of the Sixty-Sixth Air Force Unit, Galm Flight," Harry responded monotonously. He'd rehearsed it many times in front of the mirror, just in case he had to meet any foreign dignitaries. The reactions he received were surprising to say the least.
"You're military," Big-Eye realized, his eyes now looking on in respect.
Dumbledore on the other hand looked and was shocked. "Harry Potter is dead," he resolved sternly as though trying to win an argument. "He died nine years ago." Harry's gun spun around to center on him. "He died of blood loss due to his Uncle's beatings."
"How the hell would you know about that?" Harry asked, tone bordering on anger.
"Because, I was the person who placed him with his relatives," Dumbledore said sadly. "It was the greatest mistake I ever made." A split second later found the old man pressed up against a rock, the barrel of a gun in his neck.
"You bastard!" Harry screamed at him. "You're the one who sentenced me to eleven years of hell!? If Thor hadn't saved me I would be dead right now!"
"You are not Harry Potter," Dumbledore insisted. "You look nothing like him."
"Oh and you would know having only seen me as a one year old!" Harry yelled at him angrily. "I can change my hair color but look at my eyes! Have my eyes changed?!" Dumbledore obliged and stared at the younger man's pupils. Green irises stared back at him. He gaped; they were Lily's eyes.
"Harry," Albus choked out. Harry released his hold on the man and forced him to his knees. He brought the gun level to the man's head.
"I should shoot you," Harry said monotonously. "You harmed me more than you could have possibly imagined. If Thor hadn't saved me from that hell, I'd be dead right now and you would have a much better chance at survival."
"Harry, hold up a second," Pixie urged, placing a hand on his flight lead's shoulder. "What happened to you?"
"Apparently this man placed me with harshly abusive relatives," Harry explained slowly but no less angrily. "For eleven years they tortured me just because I existed. After Thor rescued me, he helped to remove the scars on my mind. That's the only reason you know me as you do now. This man is responsible for everything I went through."
"Wait a minute," Pixie said again. "Thor saved you. Do you mean the little gray Asgard that helped get Earth in the PPT?" Harry looked at his wingman.
"Congratulations Pix," he said with a fake smile on his face. "You're now the only person on Earth that knows my origins." He turned back to Dumbledore. He looked ready to blow his brains out.
"Asgard or not you can't just go around killing foreign dignitaries," Pixie argued. Without warning he grabbed his CAG's gun and pulled it on him. "It would be murder to kill him now." He smiled slightly. "Besides, we need them to get back."
Harry stared at his wingman for several seconds, and then smiled. "You just saved an old man's life. I would have blown his brains out." He turned to look at Dumbledore. "We'll forget what you've done to me in the past. We'll forget what I was about to do to you. We'll wait until later to express it. Until that time, I want you to tell me exactly what's going on. Tell me about your war and I'll see if there's any need to bring it to the President's desk. If it is and can be won without serious casualties, we may help you fight it. Now, if you would be so kind, sit down and explain everything to me in detail."
(End Chapter)
Well, there you have it. There's another chapter for you guys to munch on or remunch on depending on your tastes. It's simple, only about 2k words. Next time I'll focus on the state of the magical world and effects of SG1's mission in Britain in season one. Until that time, which is a statement I find I said too many times, have fun.