Part 2

Cheyenne Mountain

Stargate Command

August 24, 2004 23:25

O'Neill stood in the doorway, watching as the medical teams scurried around the three silent figures laying on the gurneys, his thoughts going crazy in his head. The one thought that seemed to be the most prevalent was that he had shot his own daughter. Or was she? He still didn't know for sure.

Feeling someone come up behind him, he turned and looked at his commanding officer and with a silent sigh, he cast one last look into the chaotic infirmary before he turned, following the older man to try and explain something even he was not sure off.

05:00

Jack sat in his office, the door closed, thinking about the past few hours. First the mess with the Tok'ra and the Gao'ulds, then having a girl, who might be his daughter of all things, just appear out of no where like that. He still wasn't totally sure about her, he had only met her once before, several years ago, when she showed up on his front step, looking like death warmed over.

Lost in thought, he almost didn't hear the knock on his door. He wanted to ignore it, like he had been ignoring the pile of papers on his desk for the last few weeks, but he knew who was on the other side. Teal'c, a man he considered one of his best friends, and he called for him to enter.

"You are troubled O'Neill." The big man said, more a statement then a question as he took a seat in the one chair that was not covered in files..

"I didn't exactly tell the General everything. That girl, I know her, or knew her, kinda."

"Indeed. She called you 'Pop'. An Earth slang for Father I believe. It is also used by some when referring to the carbonated beverages people drink."

"She meant it the first way." O'Neill said, rubbing his face trying to gather his thought. "I've only meet her once before, but, she could be my kid."

"Do you wish to speak of it?" the other asked, his face as unreadable as always. "I too know what it is like to not know your child."

Moving to the coffeepot sitting in a corner of the room, Jack poured them each a cup before taking his seat. Slowly, dragging the night up into focus he told everything he could recall.

---

He had been driving home for the long Labor Day weekend in 1998, wanting nothing more then to grab his pole and go sit on the end of the dock, a few beers and some fishing to take his mind off the past few weeks.

Rounding the corner in the road, prepared to turn into his driveway, he had spun the wheel, trying to miss the person standing in the way looking at his house. He still wasn't sure how he had missed hitting her, it had been that close, but when he jumped out of his truck, wanting to see if she was all right, and yell at her, he didn't see her.

Walking back the few yards to where she had been standing, he peered into the ditch beside the road, expecting to find a body laying there broken and bleeding. Instead, he found himself peering into a pair of deep brown eyes, something almost familiar about them, before she all but exploded. He had stood there, shocked, at some of the words she used. Some he didn't even know the meaning off.

Finally, she calmed down enough for him to get a word in, and he found himself inviting her back to his house, 'just to make sure your OK'. What he learned when they got there had left him shocked. She was looking for her father, and as far as she knew, that was him.

---

"Did you seek proof?" Teal'c asked after Jack told him the story.

"Of course I did!" the first man the Jaffa followed, not out of duty, but out of friendship told him, sounding like he had just been asked the most absurd question ever. "I just couldn't find it."

"What happened after?"

She didn't ask him for anything more then to have a place to stay for the night after she told him her story, edited he was sure, before she vanished the next day taking all his unanswered questions with her. He remembered meeting her mom, when he was assigned TAD to Peace AFB in Portsmouth New Hampshire. The fun times they had had before he was shipped back to Mirimar to start his training with the Air recon still gave him rather pleasant dreams.

He never thought of her again, marrying Sara two years later and rising in the ranks. He had hired a private investigator after the girl left, and he had been able to confirm some things, but until now, he never thought he would actually have a chance to find out the entire truth, and for that, he needed a DNA test done.

"Perhaps Doctor Fraiser can be of assistance." Teal'c told him, as he stood and left for his own reasons.

With a weary sigh, Jack pushed himself to his feet, heading for the infirmary, trying to figure out how to ask the Doc without getting to involved in the reason why.

Janet looked up, hearing the door open softly, knowing who the silhouette standing in the door was, and flipped her office light on. The light beckoned the gruff Colonel like a moth to a flame, and she pulled out the files on the three visitors that were still sedated, or medicated, in the other room.

"How are they?" he asked, peering into the dimly lit ward, seeing the curtain's pulled slightly closed, allowing them a semblance of privacy.

Taking the three files, she moved into the ward itself, Jack following her as she did. Stopping at the foot of the first bed, she opened the top file, scanning its contents quickly.

"This gentleman, identified as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, is in the best shape. Cuts and bruises, none serious, and he seems to be suffering from some type of exhaustion. We have him on an electrolyte and antibiotic drip for now. I believe he will be the first one to awake." She told him before moving to the middle bed.

"Alexander L. Harris, he has a slight skull fracture that has me a bit concerned, as well as a broken wrist and two deeper cuts on his right upper chest. He is doing as well as can be expected, but until he wakes up, I won't know if there is any brain damage."

"How did you find out their names so fast Doc?" he asked as they moved to the bed that possible held answers long unknown.

"Found their wallets." She told him, the hint of a smile on her lips at knowing who they were before he did.

"And the girl?"

"Faith Donavan, she's a bit worse for wear, but nothing life threatening. Two broken ribs on the left side, dislocated shoulder, and blood loss were the worst of it. That and about sixty stitches on her back.. I also ran DNA test on all three. They're all human, and scans show no sing of a Gao'uld. "

"When do you think they will wake up? Hammond is eager to talk to them." He told her, trying not to get to excited about her casual remark.

"Normally, I would say sometime in the afternoon, but seeing the way the got here, I can't be totally sure. I sedated them all, wanting to give them a chance to heal a bit. I will let the General know as soon as one of them wakes up."

"Let me know too, will ya? I'll be in my quarters till then." He told her, casting a last glance into the half-light that covered the main are.

---

Xanders head was pounding, and it felt like he had been in another drinking contest with Faith, the cotton feeling clogging his throat not allowing any moister past. Forcing his eye open, his first thought was to panic as the gloom refused to vanish but as his mind caught up with the rest of his body, he realized it wasn't his eye sight that was dimmed, it was the lights.

Moving his head slightly, he found the expected IV running into his arm, the tape pulling slightly on the skin and hair on the back of his hand. As he lifted his other arm, he felt an unfamiliar weight pulling it down, and after twisting his head back the other way, an act of supreme effort on his part, he saw the metal and gauze splint that encased it.

He closed his eye, trying to figure out what was going on. He remembered the fight, and getting hit by a large, butt ugly vamp, and he thought he remembered Faith tossing him to where Wes was, but it was to fuzzy, and his mind refused to cough up any more info.

Feeling a presence, he cracked his eye open once more, finding himself looking at the face of an older woman, her brown eyes filled with warmth. "Hi" he managed to croak out.

"I'm Doctor Fraiser. How are you feeling?" she asked him after letting him take a small sip of water

"Like dying would be an improvement." He told her, somewhat truthfully.

"Do you know who you are?"

"Yeah, do you?" he asked her back.

"You have a fractured skull, I need to do some tests." She replied, thinking that he reminded her of most of the men in the military. "Can you answer a few questions for me while I examine you?"

---

Twenty minutes later, having decided that the young man, who insisted on being called Xander, would be fine, she summoned her commanding officer. Waiting for the General, she called the rest of SG-1 as well, knowing they would more then likely show up anyway, they were all too curious for their own good sometimes.

As Jack met the others out side the infirmary, they heard a loud crash and ran into chaos. Bolting through the door, he stopped short, seeing the tableau before him. Faith was backed against the wall, the young man facing her, while she held the two SP's assigned to guard them off with a scalpel. Her empty hand was wrapped around Janet's neck, using her as a shield, and too say the shorter woman did NOT look happy was a bit of an understatement.

"Young lady!" Hammond shouted, drawing everyone's attention. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Who are you, where are we, and what did you do to us!" she said, not taking her eyes off the two SP's.

"Faith, let the nice lady Doc go, and we'll figure this out." Xander said, trying to reason with her, wishing for nothing more then to find a quiet corner to curl up and sleep in.

"Xan, remember what you told me about those soldier boys back in the 'Dale? Well, I think this group did one better. Baldy over there ain't human."

Twisting, Xander back towards the Slayer, keeping his attention on the silent Teal'c as he did. "Another Inititive! I should have known." He all but spat out. "So, you played mad scientist and got a demon that looks human? I think we'll have to bust this joint up as well."

"Son, we are the United States Air force. I don't know how you got here, or what your talking about, but as long as she's holding one of my officers hostage, I don't think we will be able to figure it out."

"And we should trust you why? Pop already shot me with some kinda gizmo." Faith told him, locking eyes with O'Neill, a mixture of betrayal, confusion and distrust showing on her face.

"I didn't want to, but you were going to attack Teal'c here." He said, stepping forward. Behind him, Carter and Daniel shared a look, mouthing 'Pop' to each other. "You didn't give me much choice."

"I'm sorry, but I don't play guess the good demons." She told him, glaring at him as he took another step. "Unless you want to find a new Doc, I would stop right there."

"I am not a demon. I am a Jaffa, former First Prime of Apophis. There are no such things as demons." Teal'c told her, moving into the room to show his empty hands. He recognized the look, knowing that she truly believed what she said, and he also knew that the situation called for something a little different then normal.

Ignoring the others, he moved to the center of the room, dropping to his knee and bowing his head before her. Placing his hand over his chest, he waited for her to make the next move.

"Xand?" she asked the man beside her, unsure what they should do.

"We might as well listen. They did fix us up, and, he doesn't look all the dangerous does he?"

"I don't like this. But I'll follow your lead, for now, I want our clothes back, and our weapon's. Just cause were going to listen doesn't mean we have to serve ourselves up to them."

"I can not allow you to have your weapons back yet, but I you have my word, no one here will harm you." Hammond told her, his voice firm.

"Faith." A soft voice called, drawing their attention to the only other person in the room they did trust. "You can trust them." Wes told her.

Releasing her hold slightly, Faith handed her make shift weapon to the petite doctor before letting gravity take hold and sliding to the floor. The two SP's immediately moved forward, ready to take her into custody, only to stop when O'Neill pushed past them, Daniel right beside him.

Looking at the general, they took his silent cue and took up positions where they could keep their guests in sight.

"Now, someone wanna tell me just how you got here?" they heard O'Neill ask.

"Would it be all right with you if we had a moment to ourselves?" Wesley replied, the others keeping silent, for now.

"Colonel, doctor, if you would come with me." Hammond said from the doorway. "We will let them have a little time to talk, but I will want answers when they are done. His tone left no room for argument. Leaving the two SP's outside the door, the rest followed him towards the briefing room.

---

"OK Watcher man, you better have a good reason for this." Faith said as she and Xander pulled two stools up beside the older mans bed.

"Did either of you see the ring?" he asked, looking around to make sure no one was to close to overhear them.

"Ring? The only ring I know is the one in my head right now." Xander replied, folding his arms on the edge of the bed and cradling his still pounding head."

"The room we arrived in. It held a giant ring of some sort, surrounded by symbols. I never thought it existed. The Council searched for it for centuries."

"OK, so, you got a hard on for this thing," Faith told him in her own unique manner that he had gone bookish on them. "what's it for. More important, why were the tweeds so interested in it?"

"It was said to be a gateway to other world. Other dimensions. We must find out why the military has it." he told them. The only replies he got after that was two identical groans.

---

"Sit down." Hammond told the others as he all but fell into his own chair, seeing the five people split and took seats on either side of the long table, he turned to Janet first. "What can you tell me about them?"

"Aside from the injuries they had when they showed up, they all bare traces of past fights. Mr. Harris, as you may have noticed was missing his left eye, and his torso was covered in scars. Mr. Wyndam-Pryce was the same, including what looks like a near fatal scar on his neck. Ms. Donavan is similarly scarred, more so then the others, but I noticed that she is healing very fast."

"Just how fast are we talking? Like a snake head would?" Jack was a bit concerned to hear the report. Two of them were in their early twenties and to have enough injuries for the Doc to mention it could only mean a few things. War, torture, or abuse, none of witch was a pleasant thought.

"Last night I put sixty stitches in that young woman, today, the cuts look like they have been there for over a week."

"How is that possible? Could a Gao'uld have gotten on the base and used a healing device on them?" Daniel asked, his own past mishaps letting him know people did not heal that fast, not without help.

"I'm not sure yet." The physician answered.

"We ran their prints through our data base." Sam told them, passing out three sheets of paper to each. "To say they have lead colorful pasts is a bit of an understatement. Everything from petty theft, theft of government property to assault and even murder."

"There is a murderer on my base!" the oldest in the room all but shouted, flipping through the facts to see who.

"Yes sir. It seems Ms Donavan was quite the juvenile delinquent. She confessed to two counts of murder. One was tossed out due to lack of evidence, the other was what can be described as unusual. She killed a man with a wooden stake through the heart."

Beside her, Daniel was flipping through all three files, a faint memory nagging at his brain. He had heard faint rumor when he was in school that the thing mentioned were starting to trigger. When Sam mentioned the stake, his head snapped up, and if anyone had been looking, they might have sworn they saw a light bulb go on over his head. Jumping to his feet, he ran from the room, heading for his office. He just hoped he still had the mythology book one of his professors had given him as a gag gift so many years ago.