Ray fired around the corner.
"Ray, let me just..."
"No, Fraser." Ray said shortly. "N. O. You stay put. I'm right near the place. Seleen's on the way. You come down here and everything that can go wrong, will. I know you. You have this... " He ducked a shot and retreated a step or two further down the hall. " ...thing...this...whatchacallit...this aura, this fucking zone around you."
He fired without looking and kept talking.
"Shit just goes wacky when you show up."
"That's not very nice, Ray."
"Fraser, just stay in the goddamned ship, okay?" Ray clicked off the comm and fired a bunch of blasts at the Jaffa he couldn't see.
A hand touched his shoulder and he almost punched Seleen, flailing about madly with the velocity of his aborted blow.
"Do NOT do that," he hissed and ducked zat fire again. "Do NOT sneak up on a guy who's being shot at. It's not cool, it's not right, it's not buddies." Seleen looked abashed.
"Many apologies, Reii-An."
"Forget about it." Ray nodded his chin at a storeroom door. "Get in there. I'll cover." He took out a second zat and began firing continuously with both hands as Seleen raced to the storeroom they were using as a ring site. Ray followed close behind and within seconds they had reached the relatively safe haven of the scout ship.
Dion was already strapped into one of the two rear hold seats. He made a pleased noise when he saw Seleen.
"Welcome to the Lullaby, Seleen. She's not big, but she's pretty and she runs good. And she can cloak like a motherfucker." Ray tossed his zat into a corner and went forward, sliding wearily into the pilot seat. " Sit down, have a drink. Make yourself at home."
Seleen kissed Dion quickly and strapped herself into the other rear hold chair.
Ray didn't look at Fraser as he began lifting the tiny, cloaked ship slowly up, peeling away from the skin of the mother ship. He could feel Fraser's anger and he knew he'd been harsh, but Fraser was being even more pissy and controlling than usual. He didn't know why, either.
You should talk to him. Shir said in his head. Talk to him soon, Ray.
I will, Lady. Ray muttered. Fraser with a bug up his ass...?
As they peeled away from the mother ship, however, his mood lightened. It usually did at this point in a caper. It was doneski, now. Finished. Over. In this gig, at the end of the day, if they didn't die, they had won. They were safe, the snakes had lost another round, and they'd picked up some fresh blood for the officer pool of this little cozy little underground they had going here. Ray grinned as the sheer joy of being alive and kicking ass settled into his bones. He could feel Fraser getting more riled by the second and that made him grin hard and get harder.
Ray was getting laid tonight, oh yeah.
"So that was the infamous SG-1 we keep hearing about." Ray said casually.
Thwarted in his attempt at telepathic bitching, Fraser replied coolly, "It would seem so, Ray."
Ray's grin widened. He loved spiking Benton Fraser's guns. Ben would inevitably want to freeze Ray out right about now, but his insane politeness obsession simply wouldn't let him NOT respond to conversation. Ray would get him talking and when they landed he would take Fraser into his mouth and into his body and remind him that they were alive, that they'd won. Again.
Life was sweet.
"Nice bunch. We'll have to run into them again some time."
"I'm fairly certain we will, Ray." Fraser paused and looked out the front view screen as Ray prepared to go to hyper. As the stars disappeared he looked back at his partner.
"It almost seems inevitable."
"What the hell happened, Colonel?"
General George Hammond, Commanding Officer of Stargate Command watched the medical teams swarm around his returning team.
"Well, sir," Jack said grimly. "There's the good news and the bad news."
"What's the good news, Colonel?"
"We've got some kind of new player in the game. Not real sure who they are yet, but they're damned effective. They seem to be Tok'Ra of some sort. And they really, really seem to hate the Goa'uld."
"That is good news." Hammond nodded, and then asked warily, "What's the bad news?"
"There's also a new player on the Goa'uld front. New system lord, by the sound of it. And he's got the biggest, craziest, most..."
"Colonel!" Dr. Janet Frasier interrupted Jack. They were wheeling Daniel out and he wasn't making a whole hell of a lot of sense. Jack ran to catch up, the General following close behind. "He keeps asking about someone, Colonel." Dr. Frasier said softly, "But we can't make it out."
Jack fell into place next to the wheeling gurney. "Hey, Daniel. What's up?"
Daniel's blue eyes flickered open and he looked at Jack with a strange heat. Daniel's soft blue eyes, unfocused and unfamiliar, locked onto Jack with a look full of desire and promise. It shook Jack, literally rocked him for a moment, as he saw a seductive stranger peering out of his best friend's eyes.
Recognition seemed to come over Daniel then, and his look changed. Totally unexpectedly, he blushed. A full, fiery red suffused his cheeks and he closed his eyes.
Jack stopped and watched the gurney roll toward the medical wing. He knew something had just happened, but he was at a loss as to what it was. He felt off-balance, his world changed somehow. He could feel General Hammond looking at him.
"My office, Colonel. Ten minutes." The General walked off.
Jack was left standing in the concrete hall of the SGC, feeling like something key had shifted, like he was missing something very important. And the only thing he knew for certain was - this wasn't over.
Not by a long shot.
end
Author's Note: Please Read/Review!!
Watch for Maintain The Right #3: Shelter