Jon O'Neill grunted as he landed on his backside in the cool grassy meadow outside of the school. His nose was bleeding and he had bruises all over. This apparently was enough for the two large idiots who had decided he would make a good punching bag, because they walked away snickering with each other. Jon scowled after them, but didn't rise from his position until he was certain they were gone.
He sighed as he slowly got to his feet, wincing with pain. He was fairly certain that when he had been sixteen before, he hadn't been so picked on. Nor had he fallen flat on his face when trying out for hockey the first time. At least, that was how he thought he remembered it, and that was another thing that was different. He knew he'd had a photographic memory; it was one of the reasons getting over Charlie's death had been so hard. Every moment was etched as though printed on a photograph just waiting to be looked over. At least, that's how it had been. Now, it was a wonder he was able to remember to do his homework on time.
"Damn Asgard," he muttered to himself as he brushed dirt and leaves from his stained clothes, "If they hadn't cloned me…"
A flash of light interrupted his ranting and he found himself staring into the concerned (well, he supposed it was concerned, Asgard expressions being so easy to read and all) eyes of an Asgard. The name of this particular alien escaped him at the moment, but he was sure it wasn't Thor. Well, fairly certain. Okay, so he wasn't at all sure, not with his brain not working like it used to.
"Greetings," the Asgard said in that strange atonal quality the Asgard had, "Have you seen O'Neill?"
Jon blinked. Then he blinked again. Then he laughed. "Look, uh…"
"I am Frere," the creature stated, sounding annoyed that he even had to supply his name.
"Right. Look, Frere. Me and Jack don't get a long too well you see, so no. I haven't seen him since he dropped me off in front of the school eight months ago. So could you just let me go back to…"
"Then have you also not been in contact with Commander Thor?" Frere interrupted, "We are highly concerned."
Startled, Jon could only stare at the small grey alien for a minute. Thor was missing? And possibly Jack? This did not bode well for his weekend plans consisting of training for the next hockey try-outs. He sighed and looked down at his feet. He had hoped that going to high school again would help him forget about the SGC and everything he'd done and seen in his lifetime, but it hadn't worked out very well. Soon after he'd begun, he had started wishing he could go back to the excitement of fighting for his life and that of his teammates.
Now, here Frere was offering him the perfect chance to get back in the action, and he was reluctant. He definitely remembered the times he'd come face to face with his robot clones and how much he'd hated the thought there was somebody else out there with his memories. He knew Jack would feel the same way, because he did have his memories, and Jon didn't want to get in the middle of something that would cause a scene.
"When did they disappear?" Jon finally asked after a silent debate with himself.
Frere blinked at him and tilted his head slightly, as though giving the question considerable thought. When he answered, it wasn't what Jon wanted to hear. "I do not know. Commander Thor has been out of contact for some time, but we only noticed the discrepancy recently. We attempted to contact General O'Neill, but…"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jon interrupted, that last bit catching his attention, "General O'Neill. When did…oh. Right. Sorry, finish your story."
"As I was saying, we attempted to contact the general, but he was not available. He had only been reported missing as of that morning." Frere paused for a moment and gave Jon a penetrating look before continuing, "Loki escaped from his holding facility during the time the replicators were attacking our new home world."
Jon decided not to ask what that was all about, especially with news like that. "Loki's running around free as a bird? Well. That's just peachy, ain't it? And that's why you got me. You were hoping I'd know what he was up to." Jon shook his head slightly, feeling that strange sense of satisfaction that came with being one up on a superior species. "Hate to break it to ya pal, but I'm nothing more than second rate to your friend Loki. He didn't even care if I died or not." As much as he hated it, he couldn't keep the bitterness from his tone.
"Then we may all be doomed," said Frere.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
The Asgard blinked at him, but said nothing. Jon scowled slightly, then his eyes widened. "Hey," he shouted, just before he was transported back to earth.
"…don't do that," he finished, then looked around, hoping no one had seen that.
Obviously the only way he was going to get his questioned answered, was to go directly to the source. Daniel. The archaeologist would tell him anything. At least he hoped he would. Especially after learning what Frere had done.
Elizabeth Weir was standing in the control room of the Atlantis gate area when an incoming wormhole activated. She frowned slightly. No teams were off world except for Major Sheppard's, and horrible images of what could have happened to them flashed before her eyes, but she shoved them aside and waited along with the tech manning the station for the identifier that would tell them it was okay to open the shield.
Not long after the wormhole was established, they got it, and Weir gave the order for them to lower the shield. Almost immediately, weapons fire rained into Atlantis, and she had to duck behind a pillar, her heart racing. What had happened to her team? Teyla was the first through, but it was some few seconds before Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford came through, dragging Rodney between them.
Elizabeth watched, her heart in her throat, as the shield was raised and five loud 'thumps' could be heard against it. She didn't wait any longer before running down to the men in the center and crouching by Rodney's side.
"Get a medical team in here, immediately," she shouted, not looking up from the horrible burning wound in the scientist's shoulder. He was, thankfully, unconscious, but he looked so pale.
"What happened?" she questioned Sheppard, "This wasn't caused by a Wraith weapon, was it?"
"No ma'am," Lieutenant Ford answered, gasping with pain, "It was a staff weapon…" he broke off with a grimace and clutched his leg. Elizabeth instantly felt guilty for not noticing it earlier, but told herself that Rodney's wound was just so terrible that she couldn't have noticed anything else. If any of the others had been injured like that, she'd have done the same thing.
Then the import of what Ford had said hit her. "Staff weapon? Here, in the Pegasus galaxy?"
"Yeah," said Sheppard as Beckett forced his way through them to the patient, "There was a whole sh…er lots of them. They got the drop on us, just as we were coming back to report."
"And the people you were going to meet?" Elizabeth reluctantly stood aside as the medical team pulled Rodney onto a gurney and took him in the direction of the infirmary. Ford was next, despite his protests, which Beckett acted like he didn't even hear.
Teyla made a sudden motion, but didn't say anything. Sheppard shrugged and gazed at the Athosian in concern. "I don't know, Doctor. Teyla said they were shy, but when they didn't come to meet us after a certain period of time, she said she didn't like the feel of the place."
"All right," Weir told him, "You two go get cleaned up and checked over, and meet me in the conference room in one hour. We'll talk about this in more detail then."
Just as she had finished speaking, the 'gate suddenly sprang to life once more. Elizabeth and Sheppard both tensed as they turned towards it. If the Goa'uld could get to the Pegasus galaxy, then would they be able to find a way to break through the shield?
Sheppard must have been thinking along the same lines, because he shouted for the soldiers to fire on his command. The shield sputtered and went dead before he had finished.
The atmosphere was tense as they all awaited what would happen next. None of them was prepared for the sight that met their eyes at that time though, for, out of the wormhole stepped a man none of them had ever thought to see for a very long time.
General Jack O'Neill.