Exposed
This story and all themes and ideas contained in said story are the sole
ownership of J.L. Scott. Any copyright infringements can be prosecuted in a
court of law.
To borrow a phrase: Stargate SG-1 no mine......no money, no sue, please?
"So you're telling me the only reason I broke that code was because...I'm the freaking Ferling Rosetta Stone?" Jackie exclaimed quietly as they started up the short walk to Bart Carright's house. No one was quite sure why she had been included in the sojourn, except that there was always "in case."
"No" Daniel replied immediately, "Well, sort of" he amended.
"Great. So I can count on early retirement then?" Daniel had to hide his smile. They had explained to her what was going on when they'd gone back to the SGC to report to General Hammond. Since they'd not really found any relevant information, he'd sent them straight to Idaho to try and find Bart. None of them were expecting to find much, but Daniel was hoping to at least find some clues as to where the older archeologist might have gone.
The house was a nondescript, suburban home with a nicely trimmed lawn and some rose bushes near the front door. Jack knocked. They waited but there was no response. The Colonel reached for the knob and found the door locked.
"Jackie?" he turned to his younger sister. The rest of SG-1 gave him confused looks while Jackie pulled two bobby pins that had been assisting her pony tail out of her hair and moved to the front door.
"Jackie is a woman of many talents" Jack told his friends.
"You can pick locks?" Sam asked, sounding mildly impressed. Jackie gave her a mischievous smile. But just as she slipped the first end of the bobby pin into the lock the door suddenly swung open. A man, probably about Jack's age, stood just inside the doorway. His clothes were disheveled and stained. His eyes were red rimmed and blood shot, as if he hadn't slept in days.
"Who are you?" he demanded loudly, "What do you want?"
"Uh, hi, Bart" Daniel shoved his way to the front of their little group, "I don't know if you remember me. My name is Daniel Jackson, we were on a dig together, years ago, in Egypt. In the Valley of Kings? I was a student"
"What do you want?" The man didn't seem to understand anything Daniel had just said.
"These are friends of mine. Jack, Sam, Murray and Jackie. Can we come in?" Carright gave them wary looks, but moved away from the door. They filed in, one by one, holding their breaths against the stench of rotting food and very dirty laundry. There were no lights on and the blinds were all pulled, so the only light came from the open door behind them. It was enough to see that the house was a mess though.
Daniel saw it first. The jar everybody was so worried about was sitting on the coffee table. It was the only visible surface not covered with filth. But he didn't have time to say anything about it. As soon as Carright shut the door, he gave a battle cry and jumped on Carter, who had been the last one to come in.
"Hey!" Jack yelled. Carright was throwing his fists into Carter's sides, forcing her to curl and drop to the ground. Jack and Teal'c were immediately at her side, pulling the crazy man off of her.
"You've come to kill me!" the archeologist yelled, swinging his fists and trying to get away from the two men, "I won't let you! I won't let you! It's mine, do you hear? It's mine!" His eyes bulged and he started frothing at the mouth. Daniel and Jackie watched on in horror as he continued struggling for a few more minutes, until his eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp. Jack and Teal'c carefully lowered him to the floor. Carter got to her feet and looked down at her attacker.
"Is he dead?" she asked. Jack checked his pulse.
"Yeah." He answered and then held his hands up in front of his face with a look of disgust, "Yuck. He's all wet."
"I noticed" Sam said, fingering the dark spot on her side where Carright had made contact.
"What happened?" Jackie asked.
Cut to Dr. Fraser back in the briefing room.
"I don't know yet, sir. We're still running tests"
"What do your initial tests reveal, Doctor?" General Hammond asked. SG-1 had called and had a special unit come and collect the body and the jar and returned to the SGC. Fraser gave them all exams, but had reported them all a-okay.
"Not much, sir" she reported, "By all appearances, he seems to have suffered from an epileptic seizure. I pulled his medical records though and there is no mention of him ever exuding any symptoms of epilepsy"
"Why was he wet?" Jack asked.
"You mentioned that before, Colonel" Fraser said with a small shake of her head, "But I didn't find any traces of moisture on the body, or his clothes"
"Are you sure about that?" Jack asked. Fraser gave him a surprised look.
"Well, yes, sir" she answered. Jack gave her a distrusting look but didn't say anything else about it. Jackie frowned. It wasn't like Jack to be so untrusting.
"How long do you think it will take for you to get your test results, Doctor?" General Hammond asked.
"It might be a couple of days, sir" Janet answered.
"All right. Dr. Jackson, Ms. O'Neill, I'd like you to start an analysis of the rest of the engravings on that jar" he ordered.
"Why do they get to work together?" Jack piped up.
"Excuse me, Colonel?" Jack looked down at the table. Jackie could tell he was fighting with himself, biting his tongue.
"Nothing, sir" he muttered.
"I'd like you all to stay on the base until we've come up with something" the General concluded.
"Do we have to?" Sam demanded, narrowing her eyes at the General. He hid his surprise and gave her a stern look.
"Yes, Major, you do" he replied, "Dismissed" Jackie and Daniel exchanged a glance and followed their friends out of the briefing room. Jackie followed her brother down one hallway as the others dispersed towards their own projects.
"Hey, Jack, wait up" she called as he started to pull ahead of her at a quick rate. He didn't pause and she had to jog to catch up with him.
"For cryin' out loud, Jack, what is wrong with you?" she cried, trying to match his step as his picked up the pace.
"There's nothing wrong with me" he answered harshly, "Maybe there's something wrong with you"
"What are you talking about? I'm not the one that just snapped Dr. Fraser's head off in there" she sighed and changed her tactic, "Come on, big brother. Tell me what's wrong" Jack suddenly stopped and turned to face her.
"Why are you here anyway?" he demanded callously, "Why don't you go to Daniel? That's where you want to be anyway" Jackie was so shocked she couldn't say anything. She just stood in the hall, stunned, as her brother stalked away. She took a deep breath to try and push away the tightness in her chest that she was aware wanted to turn into tears, and headed toward Daniel's office where he was no doubt already studying the engravings from the jar. The code that Dr. Quibble had given her circled the equator of the jar, but there were other markings above and below it. She hadn't had a chance to look at them yet, and had no idea if it was encoded or not.
He was pouring himself a cup of coffee when she walked in. The enhanced photos were already spread out over his desk, and there was a spiral notebook ready for her use.
"Hey" Daniel greeted her as she took a seat on the provided stool.
"Hi" she replied absently, pulling some of the photos closer to her. She grabbed a pencil and directed her gaze downward, but she wasn't really seeing the markings. Daniel put his mug down and took a step closer.
"What's the matter?" he asked softly. Jackie shook her head.
"Nothing" she answered quietly, but he could tell there was something serious bothering her.
"Tell me" he pleaded. She squeezed her eyes shut and blew out a deep breath.
"It's just...watching...that poor man die and then...Jack...something Jack said...I just..." She couldn't even complete a full sentence and she looked like she might start crying at any moment. He couldn't help it, she looked so miserable. He pulled her into his embrace, tucking her head under his chin. She leaned into him and he relished in the feel of her body pressed against his, the feel of her back under his hands. He could feel her suck in a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. He wasn't ready when she tilted her chin up and opened her green eyes, looking right up into his. His gaze fell to her lips, and before he knew it he was kissing her. And she was kissing him. Her arms wound up around his neck and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. A warm feeling flowed out of her mouth, into his and through his entire body.
"Get off her!" a familiar voice shouted and then Daniel was being knocked to the ground.
"Jack?" It was all he had time to say before his old friend began pummeling him with his fists. Daniel had known the older man would take it badly, but he hadn't thought he'd take it this badly.
"Jack! Jack, get off of him!" Jackie was yelling, "Jack, stop it! Jack stop it!" All Daniel could do was try to protect himself from the vicious battering. He could tell Jackie was trying to pull her brother off of him, but she was much smaller and didn't have the strength.
Two airmen happened to be passing at the same time, however, and heard her desperate screaming. They rushed in and together pulled their superior officer off the young doctor.
"Let go of me! That's an order, airman!" Jack yelled, but with a look from Daniel the men kept a hold of the Colonel.
"Jackie, go get the General and Dr. Fraser" Daniel ordered her quietly.
"You're hurt" she said, stepping towards him.
"You stay away from her!" Jack yelled, startling her into stopping.
"I'm fine, just go"
To borrow a phrase: Stargate SG-1 no mine......no money, no sue, please?
"So you're telling me the only reason I broke that code was because...I'm the freaking Ferling Rosetta Stone?" Jackie exclaimed quietly as they started up the short walk to Bart Carright's house. No one was quite sure why she had been included in the sojourn, except that there was always "in case."
"No" Daniel replied immediately, "Well, sort of" he amended.
"Great. So I can count on early retirement then?" Daniel had to hide his smile. They had explained to her what was going on when they'd gone back to the SGC to report to General Hammond. Since they'd not really found any relevant information, he'd sent them straight to Idaho to try and find Bart. None of them were expecting to find much, but Daniel was hoping to at least find some clues as to where the older archeologist might have gone.
The house was a nondescript, suburban home with a nicely trimmed lawn and some rose bushes near the front door. Jack knocked. They waited but there was no response. The Colonel reached for the knob and found the door locked.
"Jackie?" he turned to his younger sister. The rest of SG-1 gave him confused looks while Jackie pulled two bobby pins that had been assisting her pony tail out of her hair and moved to the front door.
"Jackie is a woman of many talents" Jack told his friends.
"You can pick locks?" Sam asked, sounding mildly impressed. Jackie gave her a mischievous smile. But just as she slipped the first end of the bobby pin into the lock the door suddenly swung open. A man, probably about Jack's age, stood just inside the doorway. His clothes were disheveled and stained. His eyes were red rimmed and blood shot, as if he hadn't slept in days.
"Who are you?" he demanded loudly, "What do you want?"
"Uh, hi, Bart" Daniel shoved his way to the front of their little group, "I don't know if you remember me. My name is Daniel Jackson, we were on a dig together, years ago, in Egypt. In the Valley of Kings? I was a student"
"What do you want?" The man didn't seem to understand anything Daniel had just said.
"These are friends of mine. Jack, Sam, Murray and Jackie. Can we come in?" Carright gave them wary looks, but moved away from the door. They filed in, one by one, holding their breaths against the stench of rotting food and very dirty laundry. There were no lights on and the blinds were all pulled, so the only light came from the open door behind them. It was enough to see that the house was a mess though.
Daniel saw it first. The jar everybody was so worried about was sitting on the coffee table. It was the only visible surface not covered with filth. But he didn't have time to say anything about it. As soon as Carright shut the door, he gave a battle cry and jumped on Carter, who had been the last one to come in.
"Hey!" Jack yelled. Carright was throwing his fists into Carter's sides, forcing her to curl and drop to the ground. Jack and Teal'c were immediately at her side, pulling the crazy man off of her.
"You've come to kill me!" the archeologist yelled, swinging his fists and trying to get away from the two men, "I won't let you! I won't let you! It's mine, do you hear? It's mine!" His eyes bulged and he started frothing at the mouth. Daniel and Jackie watched on in horror as he continued struggling for a few more minutes, until his eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp. Jack and Teal'c carefully lowered him to the floor. Carter got to her feet and looked down at her attacker.
"Is he dead?" she asked. Jack checked his pulse.
"Yeah." He answered and then held his hands up in front of his face with a look of disgust, "Yuck. He's all wet."
"I noticed" Sam said, fingering the dark spot on her side where Carright had made contact.
"What happened?" Jackie asked.
Cut to Dr. Fraser back in the briefing room.
"I don't know yet, sir. We're still running tests"
"What do your initial tests reveal, Doctor?" General Hammond asked. SG-1 had called and had a special unit come and collect the body and the jar and returned to the SGC. Fraser gave them all exams, but had reported them all a-okay.
"Not much, sir" she reported, "By all appearances, he seems to have suffered from an epileptic seizure. I pulled his medical records though and there is no mention of him ever exuding any symptoms of epilepsy"
"Why was he wet?" Jack asked.
"You mentioned that before, Colonel" Fraser said with a small shake of her head, "But I didn't find any traces of moisture on the body, or his clothes"
"Are you sure about that?" Jack asked. Fraser gave him a surprised look.
"Well, yes, sir" she answered. Jack gave her a distrusting look but didn't say anything else about it. Jackie frowned. It wasn't like Jack to be so untrusting.
"How long do you think it will take for you to get your test results, Doctor?" General Hammond asked.
"It might be a couple of days, sir" Janet answered.
"All right. Dr. Jackson, Ms. O'Neill, I'd like you to start an analysis of the rest of the engravings on that jar" he ordered.
"Why do they get to work together?" Jack piped up.
"Excuse me, Colonel?" Jack looked down at the table. Jackie could tell he was fighting with himself, biting his tongue.
"Nothing, sir" he muttered.
"I'd like you all to stay on the base until we've come up with something" the General concluded.
"Do we have to?" Sam demanded, narrowing her eyes at the General. He hid his surprise and gave her a stern look.
"Yes, Major, you do" he replied, "Dismissed" Jackie and Daniel exchanged a glance and followed their friends out of the briefing room. Jackie followed her brother down one hallway as the others dispersed towards their own projects.
"Hey, Jack, wait up" she called as he started to pull ahead of her at a quick rate. He didn't pause and she had to jog to catch up with him.
"For cryin' out loud, Jack, what is wrong with you?" she cried, trying to match his step as his picked up the pace.
"There's nothing wrong with me" he answered harshly, "Maybe there's something wrong with you"
"What are you talking about? I'm not the one that just snapped Dr. Fraser's head off in there" she sighed and changed her tactic, "Come on, big brother. Tell me what's wrong" Jack suddenly stopped and turned to face her.
"Why are you here anyway?" he demanded callously, "Why don't you go to Daniel? That's where you want to be anyway" Jackie was so shocked she couldn't say anything. She just stood in the hall, stunned, as her brother stalked away. She took a deep breath to try and push away the tightness in her chest that she was aware wanted to turn into tears, and headed toward Daniel's office where he was no doubt already studying the engravings from the jar. The code that Dr. Quibble had given her circled the equator of the jar, but there were other markings above and below it. She hadn't had a chance to look at them yet, and had no idea if it was encoded or not.
He was pouring himself a cup of coffee when she walked in. The enhanced photos were already spread out over his desk, and there was a spiral notebook ready for her use.
"Hey" Daniel greeted her as she took a seat on the provided stool.
"Hi" she replied absently, pulling some of the photos closer to her. She grabbed a pencil and directed her gaze downward, but she wasn't really seeing the markings. Daniel put his mug down and took a step closer.
"What's the matter?" he asked softly. Jackie shook her head.
"Nothing" she answered quietly, but he could tell there was something serious bothering her.
"Tell me" he pleaded. She squeezed her eyes shut and blew out a deep breath.
"It's just...watching...that poor man die and then...Jack...something Jack said...I just..." She couldn't even complete a full sentence and she looked like she might start crying at any moment. He couldn't help it, she looked so miserable. He pulled her into his embrace, tucking her head under his chin. She leaned into him and he relished in the feel of her body pressed against his, the feel of her back under his hands. He could feel her suck in a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. He wasn't ready when she tilted her chin up and opened her green eyes, looking right up into his. His gaze fell to her lips, and before he knew it he was kissing her. And she was kissing him. Her arms wound up around his neck and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. A warm feeling flowed out of her mouth, into his and through his entire body.
"Get off her!" a familiar voice shouted and then Daniel was being knocked to the ground.
"Jack?" It was all he had time to say before his old friend began pummeling him with his fists. Daniel had known the older man would take it badly, but he hadn't thought he'd take it this badly.
"Jack! Jack, get off of him!" Jackie was yelling, "Jack, stop it! Jack stop it!" All Daniel could do was try to protect himself from the vicious battering. He could tell Jackie was trying to pull her brother off of him, but she was much smaller and didn't have the strength.
Two airmen happened to be passing at the same time, however, and heard her desperate screaming. They rushed in and together pulled their superior officer off the young doctor.
"Let go of me! That's an order, airman!" Jack yelled, but with a look from Daniel the men kept a hold of the Colonel.
"Jackie, go get the General and Dr. Fraser" Daniel ordered her quietly.
"You're hurt" she said, stepping towards him.
"You stay away from her!" Jack yelled, startling her into stopping.
"I'm fine, just go"