Reposted on 02-08-16 after a Grammarly check

A/N:

From :

WOW! 5 REVIEWS IN LESS THAN A WEEK?

I gotta be dreaming. That's more than even "price" has gotten in the amount of time it's been up! First for my reviewers: THANK YOU!

And a couple of comments:

Chase M. Dakota: I'll be doing my best to hail your request…

Andrewjameswilliams: Thank about the press: Oh yeah. Even the Danish press, whom used to be blessed without that sort of thing, is starting to look like a bunch of a******* if you ask me. BTW: Just wait until you get to Jack's reaction to Berto. And Keith's reaction to Martouf (Go to and have a look at the filmography; It'll give you a hint of what I'm talking about), if the two ever meet, (I'm still a bit uncertain about that one) should be quite interesting as well.

About the "No anonymous review" thingy: I completely forgot that I had that option on. It was turned on in a preemptive strike as this piece of scum surfed around, making little and extremely rude comments via the review option and seemingly just for the sake of being rude. The coward did this anonymously. However since I haven't seen anything of the likes lately, I'll turn it back off (Actually I already have).

Thanks for the review. And thanks for adding me to your favorites list.

Sockenfresser42: Cute name. From Germany are we? Although chewing on a sock seems a little. eccentric.. And as previously said: I'll do my best to comply. Thanks for the remark

Candydawn: Hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much.

HoneyB: Thanks. Both for the comments and the corrections on spelling. Right now there's a Danish interpreter running around with a very pissed fan fiction writer out to get him. Or her.

Another note before starting today's chapter:

I'm in the middle of moving 200 km away. That means I won't be able to update more than once a month until august. Hope you won't mind. But after that things should look better. Both for this story and my other stuff.

Second: I just discovered, that there are going to be two Rachel's in this story: Rachel as in Josh's girlfriend and Rachel as in Rachel Glass, the main producer and second in command at I24 from Breaking News. So this is how it's going to work:

Rachel= Josh's Rachel

Rachel/I24= I24's Rachel unless in conversations.

/Mental communication/ between host and symbiotes.

{Translation from Ghoa'Uld}

(Translation from another language)

And now on with the show:

Exposure

Chapter 2

By

Armitage374

Denmark

"So, what do you think about this entire thing?" Berto asked over the intercom as the Hawke neared Area 51.

"Oh come on, Berto. Aliens? A 10.000-year-old device to send people to other planets? Snakes living in people's brains? Someone in Pentagon obviously blew a fuse." Max retorted.

"Well, the scientific report done by this Major Carter seems solid enough. The theory behind the wormholes certainly holds water.."

A heavy sigh made it past Max's lips before he could successfully suppress it. Not again. Berto had been talking about that report 50 miles a minute since reading it.

"Max? Are you asleep up there?" Berto had gotten suspicious when an uncharacteristic silence had erupted in the front seat.

"Not quite. Unfortunately" The addressed party mumbled beneath his breath.

"Well, you've got to think about it this way: With all the other warped stuff, which have happened to us over the last couple of years, what makes this impossible, Hermano? So far we are talking about cyborgs, killer laser beams, crazy robots, people sucking electricity like others drink water and not to mention people turning into giant snakes." Luckily Berto didn't seem to have noticed anything else than the fact that Max was awake.

"You've got a point there. I guess I'm just cranky about not being able to help contain the situation back at N-Tek. I feel kind of helpless." A beeping sound disturbed any kind of answer Berto would have made.

"We're approaching Area 51. I hope they've remembered to leave one of their hangars open for us."

Area 51

A hangar.

"This is silly." O'Neill fidgeted with the tie of his dress uniform. He hated that thing, but unfortunately, the General had insisted on it.

"What is silly, O'Neill?" Te'alc seemed to be totally comfortable. But that could be attributed to the fact that he, and Jonas Quinn as well for that matter, was wearing civics since they were not officially military personnel but civilian advisors. Or it could also very well be the fact that one would have a very hard time to break through that damned Jaffa stoicism of his.

"I believe the Colonel is referring to the fact that we are standing in a hangar waiting for an invisible aircraft." Jonas Quinn said quickly, not wanting to tempt faith. The Colonel had been short tempered since General Hammond had told they would be on stand-by until their new unit member had been cleared for active duty on the program.

"We have encountered this kind of stealth technology before." Te'alc raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, but that was onboard a Tok'Ra tel'tac in outer space. Not on a fairly normal aircraft on Earth. Although, if N'Tek developed these Max-probes, the fact that they could develop something like a cloaking device is quite possible. I wonder why they never made any attempts to market that. The possibilities in medical research alone would be"

"Not nice." A male voice broke in from behind. And for the first time since a younger Samantha Carter first encountered, and went through, the Star Gate, she was silenced. Apparently their guests had not only entered the hangar but also landed without anyone noticing. As SG-1 got a good look at their new partners, Max and Berto got an equally good look at SG-1. Neither party really knew what to make of the other. To O'Neill, it looked as if Max could hold his own in a fight, but that could only be proven in combat.

As for the other one.

"Oh, for crying out loud. Not another one. And a teen at that." He muttered under his breath.

"Not another what, Colonel?" Max's voice could have cut steel. His Max-enhanced hearing had easily picked up the low muttering. Berto gulped. This was not good. Usually, Max only used this particular tone of voice when he was pissed about something, and that something was usually a bad guy. And that usually meant huge fight and a substantial amount of collateral damage. Berto put his hand on Max's arm.

"Easy, Hermano. Whatever the Colonel meant, I'm sure it's nothing seriously. Besides, we're here to work with these guys, not beat them up."

Max gritted his teeth for a moment, then forced himself to relax. Berto was right. These people were not the enemy. He couldn't resist one final barb before letting the incident fade away, though.

"We might have to work with them, but that doesn't mean we have to like them."

Sam could feel the little hairs on her neck standing on end. They were not 5 minutes into the partnership and the air was already thick with tension. Not the best way to start, if you asked her. And Jack's jaw seemed to be trying to press itself into his skull. Doing the only thing to she could think of to alleviate the situation she jumped in vocally, diverting everyone's attention to herself.

"I'm Major Samantha Carter, this is Jonas Quinn, the one with the baseball cap is Te'alc and that's Colonel O'Neill. And incidentally, how did you hear that?"

Max opened his mouth to answer, but Berto beat him to the punch. "It's the Max-probes. They enhanced his hearing. By the way: I'm Bertho Martinez, the big guy here is Max Steel. Are you the Major S. Carter who wrote the scientific report on the Star Gate?"

"Yes, and I've read some of your stuff from NASA as well Dr. Martinez. Quite impressive. If you don't mind, there was something in that delayed experiment of yours I wanted to ask you about…"

" THAT is what I meant about another one." O'Neill mumbled, this time, directed directly to Max, backing the statement up with a suffering look as Carter and Berto went into what the SGC- personnel lovingly called the Carter-zone. Techno-babble extraordinaire. A half-smile showed on Max's face.

"In that case, you're forgiven. Call me Max. Or Josh. Depending on the situation." He knew that feeling.

O'Neill took the outstretched hand and shook it.

"It's Jack when not in service."

A loud beeping sound made itself present from Max's wrist.

"Damn. I'm almost out of energy. I better power down until we get to base." He pressed a couple of buttons on what looked to be an oversized wristwatch and right in front of the astonished eyes of SG-1, the muscled Max Steel turned into an average teenage kid.

"Josh McGrath to your service." Where Max had felt rather secure about the situation, Josh was just the opposite. But except a nervous glimpse in his eyes, he managed to hide it well. He knew that they would accept Max, if for anything else, then because of his special abilities. But would they be as forthcoming about his more normal self? This was one of the reasons why he had never told Rachel. He dreaded her reaction. And that dread was also the reason why he had been pushing his conversation about the recent developments with her. He knew that sooner or late he would have to talk to her, but he would rather that it was later.

"Nice to meet you, kid. Let's get going, General Hammond can't wait to meet you two." O'Neill was rather impressed by the little show, but sensing the kid's nervousness, he choose not to comment on it. And if the General's estimates of the situation were correct, there would be plenty of time later.

"How much energy do you have left? Should I get the transportable charger?" Berto was not taking any chances. Normally when Max powered down, it was because his reserves were close to depleted.

"Don't worry. After Dads little lecture the last time I went flat, I adjusted the gauge to strike the alarm bells a little earlier. Besides, we're not on duty right now. I can wait 'till we get to the base." Berto gave him a suspicious glare over the frame of his glasses.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Deciding against checking the readings himself, Berto just nodded. 5 minutes later they were outside the base, making their way towards Cheyenne Mountain.

Richmond Inn

Room 345, North Tower.

"Rachel, what I'm telling you is, that no one at N-Tek is talking. It's like hitting a brick wall. But if I can work alone, I'll be more invisible against the rest of the crowd and I might get something. I got a couple of contacts, whom I can talk to, but only if I come alone."

"Are you kidding? After scamming us about that guerrilla interview in Sierra Leone? I want someone there who can verify your story." Rachel/I24 was still pretty pissed about that one, he could hear. And he could understand it as well. I24 had a tight budget and the fact that he hadn't been able to deliver the promised interview had made the entire journey nothing but an unneeded expense. And then there was the fact that he had gone over her head to get his way. Not exactly a great way of making friends.

"I understand that, but I'm not asking you anything except borrowing me the camera. I'll even pay the expenses myself in case this falls to the ground. "

Rachel/I24 rubbed her eyes tiredly. It had just been one of those days. "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive. There's something fishy about the entire thing. And if I'm right, not only can we get ratings for saving that poor kids life, we can also seriously affect CNN's reputation and score more viewers on their account." Keith went for the kill. If there was one thing he knew that producers valued more than ratings, it was the possibility to do it on a competing channels account.

"Don't lay it on too thick, Fitzgerald. But you are right, if this turns out to be true, it could be the biggest story we've gotten so far, even beating that air crash Mel was on."

"So I get the camera then?" Keith couldn't help a crooked smile to appear on his lips.

"Yes, you get the camera. And tell Tom to haul his ass back here. He's needed."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. It's a good story. But make sure it spins out."

"I will. Bye."

Rachel/I24 didn't get the chance to say goodbye to anything else than a dead line. And Keith went online, trying to track down a contact he had used before. A brilliant hacker with the innocent alias "Snowball". After all, when the purpose was good, weren't the means indifferent?.

TBC.