Author's note: Thanks for the positive words and emails you guys, I really appreciate what you've all had to say! As for the volcano update; there's lava there right under the surface of the big lump in the crater of Mount St Helens. It's not on the surface itself, but it's heating up the rock above it – it looks really cool, all red and steaming and venting... I might run up there tomorrow night, I hear you get a good view at night. It still hasn't blown, but they're still saying it's going to – although they're saying it'll go upwards this time, instead of sideways which is what happened in 1980. I'll keep you updated as things change

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The safe house was a very comfortable four-bedroom two-bathroom building on the main floor. Looking through it with Teal'c and the labs, Jack thought that someone would have never guessed the basement held such sinister cells and secrets. There were assorted weapons lying around – the weapons that Thor had taken from the Rangers when he'd beamed them into the cells – and Jack and Teal'c gathered these up and locked them in a closet where they'd be out of the way in the event they had to bring Major Clay back upstairs.

There were three entrances into the house, which was built on a small heavily wooded hill in the middle of a very swanky neighborhood. Both the front door and the back door were locked, and the door that led to the garage – which held a late model dark blue van – was locked only moments after Teal'c discovered it. Now there would be no surprises. Jack had already had enough surprises for the day.

"Kinsey told Clay that he'd be here sometime after his breakfast thing," Jack told Teal'c as the two stood in the living room, O'Neill looking through the shades that covered a large picture window at the driveway that led up to the house. "When he gets here, I-"

The phone rang, interrupting him.

"Damn."

Because they'd just explored the house thoroughly, Jack knew where all the phones were. By the time the second ring pealed through the main floor of the safe house, he had picked up the two cordless handsets and he and Teal'c were on their way to the basement.

Ian looked over at their arrival, but Jack didn't have time to ask him how he was holding up – he looked calm enough, maybe the Major was behaving himself.

"Answer that," Jack told Clay, handing a phone through the cell. "If it's anyone but Kinsey, tell them you'll call them back later. If it's Kinsey, you'd better make sure you think twice about what you say."

The meaning of that was as clear as the gun in Ian's hand. As soon as Jack gave over the first phone, Sam's Beretta appeared in his hand and was pointed at the Major while O'Neill waited for Clay to activate the phone he was holding.

Major Clay desperately wanted to tell them all to go fuck themselves, but his courage was fading quickly. Thanks to the big black guy and the kid, he now knew that this man in front of him was Jack O'Neill – Colonel Jack O'Neill. Clay didn't know O'Neill personally, obviously, but he'd heard a lot about him. The man was supposedly a top-notch special forces operator from way back when, who was now involved in some kind of hush-hush project, and was definitely not someone Clay would have chosen to take on. While the Major didn't understand what O'Neill had to do with Shawn Adams or the other cadets, he had a feeling from the way he was acting that this was personal. And there was no denying that O'Neill couldn't stand Kinsey for some reason.

He wanted to tell him to fuck himself, but there was no way he'd do it.

He turned on the phone, watching as O'Neill turned his on at the same moment, and put it to his ear.

"Major Clay."

"What took you so long to answer?"

The voice was Kinsey's. It sounded slightly off-kilter to Clay, as if he had heard some bad news or something. Clay looked over at O'Neill, whose expression clearly told him to make something up.

"I was taking a leak."

There was a pause.

"You said you abducted more than one cadet last night, right?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Was one of them named Ian Brooks?"

Clay looked over at O'Neill, who looked over at Ian. Since he didn't know what was being said, Ian wasn't sure why O'Neill suddenly looked at him so intently, but the Colonel's eyes went to Clay a second later, and he nodded slightly.

"Um... yes, Sir. I think so. I haven't actually interrogated them."

"You have him there?"

Oh, yeah. He's right here pointing my fucking gun at me, Clay thought. How he wanted to tell Kinsey that! He didn't, though. Instead he nodded – although the Vice President-elect couldn't see the motion.

"Yes, Sir."

"What is the condition of the cadets?"

"The same as before, Sir..."

"You hold onto them, Major." Kinsey's voice was suddenly hard. "If they get loose, it's going to be your head that rolls. I'll be there in a couple of hours."

"Sir-"

He almost blurted it out – almost warned Kinsey that there was going to be a trap waiting for him. Then he saw the gun in Jack O'Neill's hand lower. One minute it was pointing at his head, the next it was nudging his groin. Clay felt all the blood leave his face, and was certain he could feel his testicles try to climb back into his body.

"What?" Kinsey's voice sounded impatient.

Clay swallowed, finding there was no moisture in his mouth to complete the action.

"We'll be here, Sir..."

The line went dead as Kinsey hung up, and Jack hung up his extension as well, handing the phone to Teal'c.

"Smart move, Major." O'Neill told him.

Clay didn't answer. He wasn't sure he could have and he didn't want to show O'Neill any more fear than he already had.

Jack turned to Ian.

"Do you know Senator Kinsey?"

Surprised by the question – when would he have ever met a Senator?- Ian shook his head.

"No. I didn't even vote for him."

"You've never met him?"

"No. Why?"

"He asked about you by name."

Ian shrugged.

"I can't imagine why, Colonel. Maybe he wanted to know who else they had?"

"Maybe..." Except that he hadn't asked about River Hayden, Jack noticed.

"Is Kinsey going to come here, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

Jack nodded, "He told Clay he'd be here in a couple of hours." That was good. Jack was definitely ready to have a long conversation with Senator Robert Kinsey.