Disclaimers in Prologue
Team One - Epilogue
A month had passed since the happenings in D.C. The White House issued a press release stating that the esteemed Senator Kinsey from Minnesota had developed paranoid schizophrenia which resulted in his killing his military aid, his bodyguards, and then himself. No one questioned it. Between Hammond, Burns, and the President the police and emergency service personnel who had responded to Carter's 911 call were convinced that's what happened.
SG1 drove up to Murphy's Folly and got out of the car. This was the second trip they had made here since their return from D.C. The first trip was the day after the shootings. Jack had felt it was necessary to tell the Reverend Mother and the kids what had happened face to face rather than over the phone. The Reverend Mother took the news as well as could be expected. Jack, Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c had stayed while she told the kids. Then they waited with her until Sister Sophie had arrived. She would stay with the kids while the Reverend Mother flew to D.C.
They were greeted at the door by the voice of Jonathan.
"Good afternoon, Colonel."
Jack couldn't get over feeling a little uncomfortable talking to a computer, but he hid it well. "Good afternoon, Jonathan. How is she doing?" he asked.
"Oh as well as can be expected," he answered.
"Where is she?" asked Jack.
"She's on the couch in the main living room. Sleeping I think. The kids have been informed to remain quiet. School's out for the summer."
"Sir, if she's resting ..." began Carter.
"She would be disappointed if you left without seeing her, Captain Carter. I think she's grown rather fond of you all."
"Jonathan, you're a computer. What would you know about fondness?"
"Enough to recognize it, Colonel."
"You said the main living room?" he asked.
"Yes."
Jack and the rest of his team walked through the maze of corridors until they came to the room that was used as main living room. The air outside was still a bit nippy at night and the stone walls of the castle retained that coolness until midafternoon. A fire had been lit in the large fireplace that dominated one whole wall of the room. There were several couches, the ones that faced SG1 as they walked into the room were empty. They quietly approached the couch facing the fireplace.
Jack looked over the back. "She is sleeping," he whispered.
"No she's not. She's just bored. No one around here will let her do anything."
Quinn Masters sat up drawing the blanket around her and making room on the couch for Jack and the others to sit. Coming around, Jack sat down next to Quinn. Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c took a seat on the stone ledge in front of the fireplace.
"I thought you guys had deserted me. I've been home for two weeks now," she said smiling.
Jack smiled back, but it was Carter who answered. "We flew right back to D.C. with the Reverend Mother. You'd lost a lot of blood and you were in a coma and no one knew how long before you would come out of or even if you would come out of it. Reverend Mother convinced us to come back here. She'd call us if there was any change. When you did, we were ... well we were away. We just got back."
"Awww. Ye of little faith."
"Well when we found you, you did tell us about your will," said Jack.
"I did?"
"You don't remember?"
Quinn sighed ... deeply. "Not really."
"What's the last thing you do remember?" asked Daniel.
"Clearly ..." she raised her hand and rubbed her forehead where the bullet had entered, "let's see. Samuels at the door holding a .45?"
"You don't remember getting shot?"
"Nope," Quinn said shaking her head. "Could have knocked me over with a feather when I woke up and they told me I'd been shot ... not once, but twice. I've never been shot before." Quinn screwed up her face. "I must be getting old."
"Well all I can say is it's a good thing you've got a hard head," joked Jack.
"Yeah, they told me. The bullet had lodged in my skull just short of penetrating."
"You're going to have a nice little scar there, you know."
"Oh I don't know. I'm vain enough for plastic surgery."
"Well you certainly can afford it," said Daniel.
Quinn threw a mock glare at Daniel. "Again with the money?"
Daniel knew well enough to look chastised, and he did. Then they both smiled at each other.
"So what happened? I mean, I know Kinsey and Samuels are dead, but that's all."
"You mean Admiral Burns didn't tell you?"
Quinn drew her feet up on the couch in front of her. "I haven't seen him since he flew me and the Reverend Mother back in Scooter. He spent just enough time here to make sure I was okay, then he left. Took Scooter when he did, too. I might just have to file a police report." She smiled.
Jack related to her all that they knew including that it was her bullet that had killed Samuels. She'd hit him right through the heart. He also mentioned that she had hit Kinsey, but it was only a glancing blow to his arm.
When Jack was done, she said, "See, I am getting old. I let a Senator from Minnesota shoot me in the head, and I only grazed him. Disgusting."
Jack continued, "Your old team helped us out on what we had to do next which was check out Consolidated Mining and see what they had in the way of documents and such from Kinsey. We didn't find anything. Apparently they didn't want anything lying around that could tie them in with the Senator. However, they did get an anonymous message telling them that Kinsey was a nut case and to check out the news to see what happened to him. We're thinking they took the hint."
"Well I guess it's all tied up then, huh? Everyone can get back to business as usual," said Quinn.
"Yeah. Business as usual," said Daniel remembering their last mission.
"Hammond told us that they are reinstating Team One," said Jack. "Would you consider going back?"
Quinn looked off into the distance and smiled. After a few seconds she met Jack's eyes. "You know Colonel, if they asked I'd probably say no."
"Why?" asked Daniel. "It's your team. You were in on it from the beginning."
Quinn looked over at him. "Well without the Admiral, it just wouldn't be the same, but there's something else too."
"The kids," said Carter.
Quinn looked at her and smiled. "Yeah, the kids. When I first got back here they were happy and scared. Happy I was okay, but scared because of what had happened. I've also realized that while I enjoyed working with Team One and Admiral Burns, these last two years with just the kids and Reverend Mother have been more rewarding than anything I ever did for the military. Besides," she laughed, "someone's got to be here to fix all the things the Reverend Mother throws. That in itself is a full time job."
When SG1 left later that afternoon with a promise to return, Quinn was being waited on hand and foot by 17 kids. She looked happier and more satisfied than they had ever seen her.
When there had been a pause in all of this and all 17 were out of the room at the same time, Teal'c reminded Quinn about his promise to show her how to fly a Death Glider.
"Cool," she said.
***
The End
Team One - Epilogue
A month had passed since the happenings in D.C. The White House issued a press release stating that the esteemed Senator Kinsey from Minnesota had developed paranoid schizophrenia which resulted in his killing his military aid, his bodyguards, and then himself. No one questioned it. Between Hammond, Burns, and the President the police and emergency service personnel who had responded to Carter's 911 call were convinced that's what happened.
SG1 drove up to Murphy's Folly and got out of the car. This was the second trip they had made here since their return from D.C. The first trip was the day after the shootings. Jack had felt it was necessary to tell the Reverend Mother and the kids what had happened face to face rather than over the phone. The Reverend Mother took the news as well as could be expected. Jack, Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c had stayed while she told the kids. Then they waited with her until Sister Sophie had arrived. She would stay with the kids while the Reverend Mother flew to D.C.
They were greeted at the door by the voice of Jonathan.
"Good afternoon, Colonel."
Jack couldn't get over feeling a little uncomfortable talking to a computer, but he hid it well. "Good afternoon, Jonathan. How is she doing?" he asked.
"Oh as well as can be expected," he answered.
"Where is she?" asked Jack.
"She's on the couch in the main living room. Sleeping I think. The kids have been informed to remain quiet. School's out for the summer."
"Sir, if she's resting ..." began Carter.
"She would be disappointed if you left without seeing her, Captain Carter. I think she's grown rather fond of you all."
"Jonathan, you're a computer. What would you know about fondness?"
"Enough to recognize it, Colonel."
"You said the main living room?" he asked.
"Yes."
Jack and the rest of his team walked through the maze of corridors until they came to the room that was used as main living room. The air outside was still a bit nippy at night and the stone walls of the castle retained that coolness until midafternoon. A fire had been lit in the large fireplace that dominated one whole wall of the room. There were several couches, the ones that faced SG1 as they walked into the room were empty. They quietly approached the couch facing the fireplace.
Jack looked over the back. "She is sleeping," he whispered.
"No she's not. She's just bored. No one around here will let her do anything."
Quinn Masters sat up drawing the blanket around her and making room on the couch for Jack and the others to sit. Coming around, Jack sat down next to Quinn. Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c took a seat on the stone ledge in front of the fireplace.
"I thought you guys had deserted me. I've been home for two weeks now," she said smiling.
Jack smiled back, but it was Carter who answered. "We flew right back to D.C. with the Reverend Mother. You'd lost a lot of blood and you were in a coma and no one knew how long before you would come out of or even if you would come out of it. Reverend Mother convinced us to come back here. She'd call us if there was any change. When you did, we were ... well we were away. We just got back."
"Awww. Ye of little faith."
"Well when we found you, you did tell us about your will," said Jack.
"I did?"
"You don't remember?"
Quinn sighed ... deeply. "Not really."
"What's the last thing you do remember?" asked Daniel.
"Clearly ..." she raised her hand and rubbed her forehead where the bullet had entered, "let's see. Samuels at the door holding a .45?"
"You don't remember getting shot?"
"Nope," Quinn said shaking her head. "Could have knocked me over with a feather when I woke up and they told me I'd been shot ... not once, but twice. I've never been shot before." Quinn screwed up her face. "I must be getting old."
"Well all I can say is it's a good thing you've got a hard head," joked Jack.
"Yeah, they told me. The bullet had lodged in my skull just short of penetrating."
"You're going to have a nice little scar there, you know."
"Oh I don't know. I'm vain enough for plastic surgery."
"Well you certainly can afford it," said Daniel.
Quinn threw a mock glare at Daniel. "Again with the money?"
Daniel knew well enough to look chastised, and he did. Then they both smiled at each other.
"So what happened? I mean, I know Kinsey and Samuels are dead, but that's all."
"You mean Admiral Burns didn't tell you?"
Quinn drew her feet up on the couch in front of her. "I haven't seen him since he flew me and the Reverend Mother back in Scooter. He spent just enough time here to make sure I was okay, then he left. Took Scooter when he did, too. I might just have to file a police report." She smiled.
Jack related to her all that they knew including that it was her bullet that had killed Samuels. She'd hit him right through the heart. He also mentioned that she had hit Kinsey, but it was only a glancing blow to his arm.
When Jack was done, she said, "See, I am getting old. I let a Senator from Minnesota shoot me in the head, and I only grazed him. Disgusting."
Jack continued, "Your old team helped us out on what we had to do next which was check out Consolidated Mining and see what they had in the way of documents and such from Kinsey. We didn't find anything. Apparently they didn't want anything lying around that could tie them in with the Senator. However, they did get an anonymous message telling them that Kinsey was a nut case and to check out the news to see what happened to him. We're thinking they took the hint."
"Well I guess it's all tied up then, huh? Everyone can get back to business as usual," said Quinn.
"Yeah. Business as usual," said Daniel remembering their last mission.
"Hammond told us that they are reinstating Team One," said Jack. "Would you consider going back?"
Quinn looked off into the distance and smiled. After a few seconds she met Jack's eyes. "You know Colonel, if they asked I'd probably say no."
"Why?" asked Daniel. "It's your team. You were in on it from the beginning."
Quinn looked over at him. "Well without the Admiral, it just wouldn't be the same, but there's something else too."
"The kids," said Carter.
Quinn looked at her and smiled. "Yeah, the kids. When I first got back here they were happy and scared. Happy I was okay, but scared because of what had happened. I've also realized that while I enjoyed working with Team One and Admiral Burns, these last two years with just the kids and Reverend Mother have been more rewarding than anything I ever did for the military. Besides," she laughed, "someone's got to be here to fix all the things the Reverend Mother throws. That in itself is a full time job."
When SG1 left later that afternoon with a promise to return, Quinn was being waited on hand and foot by 17 kids. She looked happier and more satisfied than they had ever seen her.
When there had been a pause in all of this and all 17 were out of the room at the same time, Teal'c reminded Quinn about his promise to show her how to fly a Death Glider.
"Cool," she said.
***
The End