Anna sat alone in a cosy café in a small town just outside of Colorado Springs. Sipping a latte, she watched out the window as cars sped past on their way to work and school. A school bus stopped across the street picking up a handful of kids that had been standing with their parents there for the last ten minutes. Smiling at the image of the kids, five and six years old, with backpacks half the size of them, Anna didn't notice her reason for being there walk in the door of the shop. A tall, dark and handsome man slid into her booth and casually placed a file on the table between them.
"Hey boss." He said with a thousand watt smile. Anna frowned,
"Call me Anna when we meet, it could blow everything."
"Sorry, Anna," he corrected. "What's up?" he asked meanwhile motioning to the waitress to bring him what ever Anna was drinking.
"I had to tell the General," she said simply.
"What if he's one of them?" her colleague asked, lowering his voice. Anna paused as another coffee was placed on the table, before answering.
"He isn't, I've checked him out. Besides I trust him, call it a gut instinct."
"Anyone else know?"
"Yeah, the second in command of the base, but he's alright too."
"But - "
"Don't worry Mike, everything is going smoothly"
"Okay, if you say so Captain" he teased with her false title.
"So what did you find out?" she questioned getting down to business. Her friends chocolate brown eyes lit up and he pushed the folder to her.
"Three for three, good job boss lady"
"Really?" she asked taking a sip of her now lukewarm coffee. "All three were moles?" Mike looked proud of himself.
"Yep, and all three are being detained as we speak, before they head into work." Anna nodded wanting to look in the folder but thought against it as they were in a fairly busy place and last thing she needed was someone finding out about what they were doing.
"You guys okay to do the questioning?" She asked looking at him.
"Yeah, we're good. I got Vin and Steele messing with their heads for a bit first." Mike answered with a smirk. Anna let out a brief laugh. The other two members of her team were each over six feet tall and built like Teal'c was. They could be very intimidating.
"Poor guys" she chuckled. Mike smiled drinking half his coffee in one gulp.
"So you're almost finished then?" he asked hopefully, wanting to know if the job was going to end soon. He loved his job and all, but he missed his wife and two daughters a great deal.
"Uh… yeah" She replied, obviously somewhat sad at the thought.
"What is it?" Mike pried. Anna looked into his sincere eyes that were firmly locked on her. He had forever been like a brother to her and one way or another he always got her to tell him what was wrong. One time he even flipped her onto the floor and sat on her, refusing to move until she talked.
Sighing, she answered him.
"It's just that the people at the base have sorta grown on me." She said hoping he'd leave it at that.
"Uh huh," Mike didn't believe her. He regarded her for a moment. She was absently tearing up a napkin, while staring into the depths of her coffee cup.
"I think," he paused, pasting a know-it-all expression on his face, "that a certain somebody has grown on you," he stated, knowing he was right when she froze all her movements and looked at him in surprise.
"So who is he?"
"What makes you think - "
"Don't even try to fool me, I've known you since high school, you can't get anything past me." Mike crossed his large, muscular arms over his chest and tilted his head looking at her. "So I'll ask again: Who is he?"
"…His name is Daniel and he's just a friend," she said stressing the 'just a friend' part.
"But you want that to change, right?"
"I never said that! I -"
"You didn't have to, I can tell you're falling for this guy, hard." Mike interrupted again. He finished up his coffee and leaned back into the worn material of the crescent shaped booth.
"Yeah" Anna sighed looking at her hands. Boy am I ever, she thought to herself.
"I didn't think you went for the military types, but hey, what ever floats your boat right?"
"He's a civilian not military." She clarified, tracing circles with her finger on the tabletop.
"Oookay, then what exactly does our civilian do?"
"Archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, etcetera, etcetera." She said knowing what was coming next.
"A nerd? You're falling for a pencil pushing bookworm?" he asked completely dumfounded. He didn't picture her with a clumsy, bumbling, library loving teachers pet.
"He's not a nerd Mike, he's different, he's…- I don't know, can we just drop it?" she said pouting, trying to make him feel bad. It worked, Mike leaned forward resting his arms on the table, and he looked her straight in the eye.
"Well whatever happens, I hope that you're happy, and don't forget that me and the boys gotta meet him sometime if this thing works out." Mike said casually, but dead seriously.
"And what, if he survives you guys he's okay for me?" Anna rolled her eyes. As sweet as it was that her team was concerned for her, it didn't help that they scared away almost every man she ever tried to date.
"Yep"
"Let me get this straight, you guys will let me crawl in a mile long mine field in Iraq, but not let me pick who I date?" She crossed her arms over her chest in protest. Mike cracked a cocky smile.
"Sounds about right, well I've got to be going – don't want to miss out on the 'questioning' session now do I?" He got up, tossed a few dollar bills on the table paying for both coffees and shrugged on his jacket, leaving the café before Anna could pursue their argument further. Also getting up Anna grabbed the folder Mike had brought her and headed to the base to inform General Hammond of their findings.
~ ~ ~
Once at the base Anna changed into her 'work' clothes: the standard black t-shirt and blue pants, and made her way to Hammond's office. She had made a few stops on her way to the base and it was now mid afternoon; she hoped he wasn't eating lunch or in a meeting. She knocked on his door and when called to come in she was once again surprised to see Colonel O'Neill sitting there. This time Major Carter, Daniel and Teal'c accompanied him.
"Sorry, I didn't realize you were busy, I just thought you would like this," Anna said holding up the folder that contained the information about the three leaks that had, as of that morning been successfully interrogated and arrested for espionage in a military organization. Recognition and interest flickered across Hammond and Jack's faces, not going unnoticed by the rest of SG1. Handing the General her report Anna turned to leave, fully aware of everyone's eyes on her.
~ ~ ~
"General? Why is Doctor Connor giving you a report if she's basically done nothing here so far?" Daniel asked Hammond, ignoring Jacks glares telling him to mind his own business.
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about son." Hammond reassured the younger man. Daniel nodded not believing what he said, and wondering what Jack had to do with it, after seeing his friend's interest in the file.
"Okay people, let's get down to business, the reason I called you in here is that three SG teams are over a day late from off world, and we need to find out what's happened to them." He said seriously.
"Sir, with all due respect, why are we in here and not in the briefing room?" Sam asked, feeling that the office was definitely not big enough for five people. Because we don't know if the briefing room is bugged or not Carter, Jack thought to him self.
"That is not important at the moment Major, what is important is that we get our teams home." Hammond stated with authority.
"Maybe they just got caught up in a party or something," Jack suggested, wondering what all the secrecy was about. SG1 had been later than this more times than he could count.
"It is believed that they have been taken by the rogue NID operatives off world, to a secret base on P98-3C6." With that being said it dawned on all of SG1 why their meeting was in Hammonds office, seeing that nobody except him entered it, and no body but him had access to it. He even had to open it for the cleaning people, and supervise their work. So it was a slim to none chance that it was bugged.
"And you want us to get them back Sir?" Jack asked incredulously. His team was not trained to do full scale search and rescue missions and he certainly did not want to risk their lives in a futile attempt at the impossible.
"That's right Colonel, however I will send another team with you"
"Which one, the only team with even close to enough expertise in search and rescue is SG3, and aren't half of them in the infirmary?" Jack pointed out.
"You will not be going with another SG team, it will be a civilian team, who specialize in that area." Jack finally caught on to what the General was saying.
"Who Sir?" Sam asked curiously.
"Um, General, have you asked them, or particularly her yet, about this?"
"No I haven't, but there's no time like the present now is there?" Hammond said raising his eyebrows. Jack leaned back in his chair and ran a hair over his tired face. He was getting too old for this.
General Hammond picked up the phone receiver and punched in a number,
"Yes, could you please come to my office immediately" he said, waited a moment and then hung up.
"She will be with us in a few minutes" he said cryptically leaving Sam, Daniel and Teal'c slightly confused as to whom he was talking about.
~ ~ ~
Less than five minutes later there was a firm knock at the door and Anna entered.
"You wanted to see me sir?" she asked, not sure why she had been called to a meeting with SG1.
"Yes, please come in and shut the door." He said kindly. Anna shut the door and stood in front of it. She noticed that three quarters of Jack's team were staring at her, with puzzled expressions on their faces.
"You're probably wondering why you are here"
"The thought had crossed my mind," she admitted, pushing a strand of golden hair back behind her ear.
"Something has come up here, and I was wondering if you and your team would be willing to go on a mission with SG1." Hammond said honestly, cutting to the chase. Well aware that the people in front of him were going to want answers about Anna.
"What's the mission?" Anna asked sceptically.
"Three of our teams are a day late from off world exploration and it is believed that they have been captured by the NID."
"Maybe they're just late sir, and no offence but where did you get the idea that they have been taken?" Anna said not liking the idea of bringing her men into a trap.
"I have my sources and they are reliable, don't you worry. I would not send any of my teams on a wild goose chase around space on just a hunch." Hammond stated defensively, but then remembered she was only looking out for her people's best interest, and his face softened a bit.
"Who is she sir?" Sam asked, slightly put off that the woman Daniel had been talking so fondly about, for the last few days, wasn't actually that person.
"This is Anna Connor, that much was true, but she is not actually in the military and she is the head of a top secret organization, but that is all that I'll tell you," he said after seeing Anna's almost horrified look when he told them about her. "She can tell you the rest herself."
"Gee thanks," Anna muttered under her breath. She looked at SG1, all of who were silent. Her heart twisted when she saw Daniels expression of hurt, betrayal and distrust. Great, she thought sourly. Taking a deep breath she focused on the issue at hand and looked backup at the General.
"Sir, I am fully willing to help you out, but as for my team it will be their decision, and if they say no then it will be left at that." She said sternly, leaving no room for argument.
"When can you get them here to debrief?" he asked her, already knowing that she would be in charge when it came to her team, and that if they said no to the request then that was that, and he better leave them alone.
"If I could use a secure line out of the base then they could be here in less than an hour." She replied very as a matter-of-factly.
"Do it." Hammond said pushing his own phone forward over the desk.
Anna walked to the desk, and despite being very uncomfortable under SG1's stares, she dialled Mikes cell number and waited four rings before he picked up.
"Hello?" his low voice said. Anna twisted the phone cord between her fingers absently,
"Hey," she said still considering if the whole idea was a good thing or not.
"What's up?" he asked, slowly becoming impatient with her mysterious and unusual silence. Every part of Anna screamed that this mission was a bad idea, going against her gut feeling, she spoke up,
"I hope you guy's haven't packed yet…."
TBC…
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Sorry it took so long to update, I've just been busy with school and stuff, and don't worry it'll get more interesting in the chapters to come, I promise :)
Pleeeeeeease review.