DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Anniversary

Part four

Sam stood in front of the safe staring at the contents in confusion. Ok. There was the ribbon device and healing device and a couple of other items of goa'uld technology still held at the SGC, but there was no sign of the device brought back from Hathor's planet. Racking her brains, Sam tried to remember what she had done with the object before she had left on vacation. She was certain it had been locked away before she went to the briefing, she never left potentially dangerous items lying around her lab, just in case. Then a frown crossed her face. Maybe in her state of mind she had forgotten to put it away and one of the other scientists had taken it away for further study. Bringing herself back to the present, Sam locked the safe again and headed off to ask around for information regarding the missing weapon.

An hour later, Sam returned to her lab deep in thought. No-one had seen the weapon or touched it, all had reassured her that they would never touch anything in her lab without authorisation, which she had known deep down. She was going to have to…

'Carter?' Colonel O'Neill's voice just behind her made her jump and she turned to face him. 'Everything alright?'

'Actually, sir, no,' Sam admitted, seeing the uncomfortable look cross his face at the thought that she was about to have another break down. 'I can't find the weapon. I've just been around to ask the other scientists but no-one has seen it or touched it. I…there's a possibility that I didn't lock it away before I went on vacation, sir.' Sam looked down at the floor in embarrassment, then gathered her courage and looked up at Jack. 'I'm sorry, sir, I should never have left it lying around.'

'No, you shouldn't,' Jack told her bluntly. 'But we'll deal with that later. We better go and see General Hammond I guess. Someone took it, someone who should have known better and hopefully it's just lying around in a storage room.'

**********

It was getting late by the time the base had been searched for any sign of the weapon. Everywhere had been searched: bathrooms, personal lockers, the infirmary, offices, labs and store rooms, the kitchen and sleeping quarters, no stone had been left unturned but still there was no sign of the weapon. SG1 gathered with General Hammond in the briefing room, Sam slumped in her seat looking defeated and guilty.

'Now what?' Sam asked, her voice dull and sounding tired.

'Well, it's not on the base, that means someone has taken it off base or off-world,' General Hammond summarised. 'SG3 have been the only unit to go off-world in the last couple of days and Colonel O'Neill has already spoken to them and is satisfied they didn't remove the weapon.'

'So that means someone has taken it off the base.' Jack said. 'Talk about a needle in a haystack, sir.'

'Not necessarily,' Daniel had so far been quiet, turning something over in his mind. 'What about Teal'c?'

'Teal'c is in the infirmary remember?' Jack reminded Daniel.

'Yes, but he did leave the base and when we found him he was muttering away in goa'uld,' Daniel explained. 'I didn't think anything of it at the time, I just thought he was delusional but he was saying something about concealing the source, hiding it from the enemies. Maybe he meant the weapon.'

'Why would he want to hide it from us?' Jack wanted to know.

'Maybe it's to do with that stuff that he inhaled, making him think that we were the enemy and that he had to stop us from making use of whatever this thing - weapon - is.' Daniel hazarded a guess. 'Maybe it was the energy it was giving off that affected him, who knows.'

'Ok, say he did take it,' Jack picked up the thread of Daniel's suggestion. 'What did he do with it? It could be anywhere by now, he had plenty of time to conceal it somewhere. It could take us weeks or even months to find it.'

'Not necessarily,' Daniel looked thoughtful. 'Remember when he attacked that woman? Maybe he suspected she had seen where he'd hidden it and was trying to stop her from telling anyone? Maybe he gave it to her?'

'That's an awful lot of maybes Daniel,' Jack sounded doubtful.

'Yes, but it is somewhere to start and if we were to search everywhere from here to Burlington and interrogate everyone on the base to try to find it, that would be a lot more maybes,' Daniel argued.

Hammond considered this for a moment then issued his orders. 'Very well, SG1, I want you to start with Ms Connolly and backtrack from there. I'll have some of the SG units on stand by to continue the search between here and Burlington if you don't turn anything up. Report back as soon as you've got anything. Dismissed.'

*************

The car drew up in front of a small house in a suburban area of Burlington just as someone was walking up the steps to the front door, a small child jumping up and down the steps waiting for the door to be opened. The sound of car doors slamming startled her and she turned to see two familiar faces coming towards her, this time accompanied by an unfamiliar female. Licking her lips nervously she grabbed the child by the arm and pushed him behind her while she turned to face them, her keys hanging loosely in her hand as she wondered what on earth was going on now, still a little edgy from her encounter with that big black guy who'd tried to strangle her.

'Miss Connolly,' Jack greeted her, 'I guess you probably remember us - Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson, and this is Captain Carter.' Jack's voice tailed off as he saw her face close over and she backed up against the door.

'What do you want?' She sounded anything but willing to co-operate, Jack looked at Daniel and took a couple of steps away to allow Daniel to have a go.

'I'm really sorry about this, but we need to ask you some more questions about the other day,' Daniel smiled at her and he was relieved to see the scowl on her face relaxing slightly. 'I know you probably hoped you'd never see us again but we think Murray, the guy who was sick, had something with him and we need to try and find it.'

'I didn't see anything, sorry.' Maria turned to open the door, indicating that as far as she was concerned the matter was over.

'It's possible he might have concealed it somewhere before he reached you, can you remember anything of what he said?' Daniel pushed for more information. Maria paused, her back to them before she sighed and half turned back.

'I guess you'd better come in,' she said and led the way into the lounge, carefully keeping the little boy well away from her visitors. He didn't appreciate it, however. Throughout the conversation on the doorstep he had been peeking out at these strangers and had poked his tongue out at them, the one with grey hair had been making faces at him and seemed like the type of person who would be fun to play with. 'Ben, go and fetch your toys and you can play in the dining room.' Ben stood still, his eyes lingering on the grey haired man, wondering if perhaps he might want to play with him. 'Ben? Now, please.' Sighing to himself and taking one last look at these exciting new people, he left the room to fetch his toy bag.

'Your son?' Daniel asked, trying to break the ice.

'He's my nephew, he's staying over for the weekend,' Maria replied briefly. 'What did you say you were looking for?'

'It was a dark grey cube shape, about so big,' Sam showed her how big it was. 'There were some raised marks on five of the sides, the sixth side was smooth.'

'I can't remember seeing anything like that, in fact I can't recall him having anything in his hands at all, although everything happened so fast it's all a bit of a blur really,' she shivered then stood up abruptly to try to get herself under control again. 'Coffee?' Her offer was accepted and she headed out to the kitchen, glad to have some space for a few moments while she waited for the coffee to brew. All too soon it was ready and she headed back carrying a tray, and, in spite of her earlier misgivings, smiled as she saw Ben standing solemnly in front of Colonel O'Neill showing him his most prized possession, an Action Man figure with a whole host of accessories. Colonel O'Neill had an equally serious expression on his face as he watched the little boy demonstrate exactly what Action Man was capable of doing, asking him questions and listening to the answers provided.

'Ben, I've got you some juice,' Maria told him, 'You can sit down to drink it, then I want you to go back to the dining room.'

A few minutes later, the adults were left alone as Ben retreated to his toys.

'I know this is difficult for you, but can you try to remember anything else about that day? Did you see Murray earlier at all?' Daniel asked the questions.

Maria thought hard, then shook her head. 'No, like I told you before, he was just sitting in the middle of the field and when I went up to him he attacked me. I'm sorry, but…'

'Aunty Mia,' Ben interrupted her, a puzzled expression on his face. 'I can't get my new toy to work.' He held an object in his hand which he was fiddling with all the time he was talking.

'What new toy?' Maria turned to him equally puzzled, reaching out her hand to take a look, only for Sam to leap to her feet and kneel down in front of Ben.

'Can I take a look?' Sam asked, smiling at him. Ben clutched the object to him and stuck his thumb in his mouth, shaking his head.

'Will you show it to me, Ben?' Ben looked at Jack and walked towards him, holding out the object for him to look at but leaning up against Jack's legs, not taking his eyes off the toy for a moment. Jack ruffled Ben's hair with one hand while he held the cube up with the other.

'Is that it?' Maria asked, confused. 'I don't know where it could have come from, unless…' She paused, then continued, 'Unless he put it in my pack. It's an old one I use to keep Ben's toys in for when he comes over, but I lent my regular one to a friend and when I wanted to go out, I just used that one. I guess I didn't empty it out properly after and just put the toys back in on top of it. I never noticed him doing it, but then, I was otherwise engaged at the time.' She gave them a small smile, then their attention returned to Jack, who was now trying to negotiate with Ben.

'Ben, this toy you've found is actually something very important and really top secret and we've been looking for it,' Jack was whispering loudly to Ben, the child responding to the thrill of secrecy by puffing his chest out importantly. 'I can't tell you what it is, but I've got something even better you can have. The only problem is, I haven't got it with me, so you're going to have to trust me.'

Ben looked thoughtfully at Jack. 'What have you got?' He asked, not seeing the amused glances from the others, entertained by the sight of Colonel Jack O'Neill reasoning with the child.

'Do you know about the new GI Joe coming out soon?' Jack bent his head closer to Ben's, making it all seem very exciting and secretive. 'The one with the space ship and the space suit?' Ben nodded, then his eyes grew wider as he realised what was being offered to him - the toy wasn't even available in the shops yet.

'When can I have it?' The little boy still kept to practical matters, wanting to make sure everything was clear before he handed over ownership of the small box.

'Let me see,' Jack appeared to think it over, before replying. 'How about next Saturday?' Ben's face immediately fell as he realised something.

'But…but I won't be here then,' Ben wailed, his chin quivering as he tried to bravely hold back the tears. 'You won't be able to find me to give it to me.' The tears had started now and he buried his face in Jack's leg as he tried to hide the fact that he was crying - he was nearly four years old after all and big boys don't cry. Jack looked at Maria, raising his eyebrows questioningly and he could see her caving in.

'Ben,' Maria knelt down beside the boy, hugging him to her and rubbing his back soothingly, 'How about if I ask mum and dad if you can stay again next Saturday, would you like that?' Ben, still keeping his face in his aunt's shoulder nodded and at last the tears stopped. He allowed himself to be cleaned up before turning back to Jack.

'I don't know your name,' Ben stated in a down to earth voice.

'I'm Jack.'

'Ok, Jack, it's a deal,' Ben thrust his hand out and Jack shook it, thus sealing the agreement.

Jack handed the artefact to Sam who hastily stashed it in her purse.

'Thank you very much for your help,' Daniel smiled at Maria, before adding, 'And I think Jack has found himself a new friend.'

'When you come next Saturday will you stay and play?' Ben was asking Jack who had just stood up to take his leave.

'I will if your aunt doesn't mind,' Jack received a smile and a nod from the lady in question, knowing her life wouldn't be worth living if she didn't agree. 'Well, in that case, see you in a week.'

To be continued…