Rating:PG-13
Chapter 14 - Pawns
January 2005, Tauri
John and Dawn were siting on their simple beds studying each other in silence. Dawn eyed her roommate up and down, ruminating about how she should proceed. She needed more information about the place to plan a possible escape and the guy seemed to be closed there for some time. Perhaps he could help her to get out? On the other hand, her captors definitely locked him up for a reason and she had no idea how dangerous he might be. Dawn gave his face a second look, admitting he didn't exactly carry a Fredy Krueger expression. Spiky brown hair, friendly eyes. If the situation was different she'd consider him quite handsome and probably a nice person, but the way he was looking at her showed a soldier who was alert the whole time. Is he going to glare at me until I die of boredom?, Dawn wondered. After several minutes Dawn came to the conclusion she had waited long enough and decided to force him talk to her. "Is this some kind of staring competition Tauri? Or are you just inarticulate?"
"Maybe I just have no interest to talk to you slayer." John countered. So she finally decided to speak, he thought. John was curious about many topics that concerned the new prisoner, but what startled him the most was her age. The girl couldn't be older then eighteen and too young for a soldier.
Dawn was a little surprised the guy knew about slayers but tried not to show it. "What's a slayer?"
"Oh come on. The black combat outfit, NID's interest in you and you called me Tauri. Nobody from the Earth would do that.", John smirked, making clear she didn't fool him.
Well at least now I know I'm not in SGC but NID, Dawn thought. "Doesn't mean I'm a slayer and since you think you're so smart do you have an idea where we are?"
John was thinking about sending the girl to hell but decided against it. They were both in the same situation right? Maybe he could use that and find out something about slayers in the meantime. "I've seen only six rooms and two corridors but I guess it's an abandoned hospital. No idea where the building is. From the grilled window I could only recognize we are in the first floor and near a park."
"And how did they capture you?"
"That's none of your business.", John growled. The cheap way NID agents got to him was still pestering his mind. Jack would laugh his ass off if he found out and John had no intention to reveal his failure to this girl.
"Oh." Dawn chuckled. "I guess it wasn't very heroic was it?"
"I'm sure you got captured during saving our planet."
"Well. Actually. Yes. " Dawn lingered if she should share more information and decided it couldn't hurt as long as she doesn't reveal anything too important. "There was a Ha'tak in the orbit of your planet and we tried to destroy it. We managed to disable the shields and then an Asguard vessel appeared and destroyed the craft."
"We?" John inquired.
"My friend didn't make it. She..." Dawn closed her eyes, remembering Vi's features changing as the Goa'uld revealed himself and the fight that followed. "...became a Goa'uld."
John recognized the pain in the girl's face. He knew exactly how it felt to loose a friend in battle against the snakeheads. "I'm sorry."
Dawn looked up right into his eyes, studying his face and then nodded with a little surprised expression, a soft smile playing on her lips. "You are."
John started to be even more curious about his new roommate. She certainly didn't meet his expectations of a slayer. He imagined their appearance and behavior would fit their calling - slayers. Ruthless, vicious and ready to kill anything in their path, but the girl in front him looked more like someone he could meet in high school. The only difference was in her eyes. They revealed a person who lived through more then anyone in her age John knew and definitely belonged to a very strong character. Maybe he was wrong and slayers weren't an aggressive nation trying to conquer other planets. Maybe they just fought to survive the same way as SGC. Their situation might be even worse then the problems of his own world. It would explain one thing - the girl's age.
"Was your friend...uhm...as young as you are?" John hoped the question won't make her even more upset.
"No." Dawn shook her head. "She was twenty-three. One of the oldest."
John stared at the girl next to him, hoping his mouth didn't open with surprise. Her team member was twenty-three and one of the oldest soldiers? What kind of nation is sending children to fight their wars?
"Thank you.", John blurred out, surprised by saying that to a slayer.
"For what?"
"Trying to save us.", John replied, aware his thanks were a poor comfort, compared to what she had lost, but he hoped it would at least improve her mood a little.
"You should thank Vi. She was the one to persuade me that we can't let the Ha'tak attack a world with six billion people." Dawn confessed she probably wouldn't help if Vi didn't persuade her.
John nodded, accepting her explanation. "What's your name?"
Dawn hesitated for a while, but then she decided her name wasn't exactly one of the most crucial information to give away. "Dawn."
"I'm John O'Neill. Well now you don't have to call me Tauri."
Dawn studied her surroundings. "You said we're in a hospital. Why? Your land ran out of prisons?"
"I think the NID is using this facility for their experiments and testing. That's why they captured me. I happen to have an advanced DNA or whatever. I guess they brought you here for the same reason. Because you're a slayer."
"I'm not a slayer." Dawn smirked. He obviously had no idea what a real slayer would do in this situation. Buffy could easily break through that door and get rid of all guards within two minutes. "Not all of us are slayers. Got it? Slayers are... let's say it's a rank." Dawn stated.
"Got it. Well NID thinks your people are genetically engineered soldiers because of your strength and speed. I guess that's why you're here now."
"We're not and..." Dawn studied John's face closely."Wait a minute. John O'Neill. You're Jack's clone!"
John frowned. "And how do you know that?"
Dawn realized she made a mistake. "Uh.., let's say my friends visited your friends few days ago. You know what? I feel tired. I think sleep is a good idea right now." , she pretended to be asleep and yawned, hoping he won't ask more questions.
John agreed, thinking of various possibilities how Dawn could know about him. He doubted SGC would tell the slayers even if they stopped fighting against each other. He laid on his bed, tossing various ideas about the 'visit' Dawn mentioned in his mind. He decided it would be better to act like he didn't suspect anything. Maybe Dawn would tell him more later.
----
Dawn woke up, finding a plate with food and a glass of water on a table next to her but John was gone. She hoped the tests he had talked about were not something Initiative-type. The previous day John seemed to be quite okay so she doubted it and started eating. Before she left Antara with Vi, Dawn had created a charm that would shield her from the effect of various chemicals so she didn't have to worry about the food being drugged.
Exactly in the time when she finished her meal the steel door opened and a guard holding John came inside. He roughly pushed John towards his bed, causing him to fall hit the metal structure.
"John!" Dawn ran to him, her face filled with worries.
"Introduction to NID's behavior. Chapter one - gentleness." John snorted, standing up with a grin. Then he carefully walked to the door to make sure the guard had really left. "I have bad news. I heard the guards talking while I pretended to sleep. SGC found the crash site of your ship and is looking everywhere for you."
"What's so bad about it?"Dawn wondered.
"The guards said Kinsey will probably decide to kill you before SG-1 finds this place. That bastard wants to control SGC and a war with your people would help him to persuade the president about Hammond's incompetence. We have to get out of here. They'll probably try to get some informations out of you before they kill you. It's strange they haven't tried it yet."
"Oh, they did." Dawn shrugged." Before I was brought to this room they used some kind of truth serum but it didn't work. So do you have an idea how to get out of here?"
"I'm quite sure I could disable the lock on the door. The problem is the camera in the corner. You know that's a device able to record video and..."
"I know what a camera is.", Dawn cut in."I'm from another planet, I'm not retarded. And you can disable locks? A family tradition?"
"When you spend twenty years as black ops you learn stuff." John explained. "Though I might have lost touch during the last years in SGC."
"Right. I forgot you used to be Jack."
"You have no idea how it is to wake up and be suddenly someone else.", John replied, his voice much more sad then before as he recalled his days in SGC.
"You'd be surprised. I had my share of identity crisis few years back." Dawn chuckled, remembering her behavior when she found out she was the key. "So you miss it?"
John nodded. "It was my life. SGC. Fight against the Goa'uld. I would do anything to join this fight again but Hammond made it clear that two O'Neills on one base are too much even for him. So the problem is..." John continued. "...to make those who control the camera let it monitor only the other side of the room and in order to do that you have to ask for a soap."
Dawn raised her eyebrow so high it would make Teal'c proud."You want to WASH the camera?"
"Not exactly." John started explaining."You know the sink is on the opposite side of the room and all the guards are men so..."
"Forget it you perv!" Dawn interrupted John, making a face of disgust.
"If you have a better idea I'm listening."
"If you think I'm going to do 'Wet and Wild' in front the types that kidnapped me then..." Dawn reconsidered the situation. "...you're probably right. But I doubt it will work. I mean these guys aren't amateurs."
John viewed Dawn's figure with a satisfied grin spreading over his face. "Have you looked into the mirror recently? It will work." ,he smirked and went to the room's window, looking where the sun was. "In less then ten minutes one of the guards will drive away to get some food. He leaves the same time every day for more then two hours and the doctors usually join him. I think that during their absence are two of the remaining guards in the control room, watching the monitors and one stays near the main entrance." John paused. "Now it's time to feel dirty."
Dawn rolled her eyes, shaking her head in irritation. Boys.
"You know what I mean."
Dawn nodded and started knocking at the door. In about twenty seconds she heard foosteps followed by a guard's voice. "What do you want?"
"Can I get a soap to wash my hands?" Dawn inquired, trying to make her request seem as innocent as possible.
"Use the water. That's enough." ,the guard snapped at her.
"You know I'm not from this planet right? I don't have natural resistance against the bacteria on this world." Dawn explained, hoping he would buy it. "You don't want me to die too soon do you?"
"Bring her the damned soap man." another guard bark. "I don't want any complications."
The first guard growled and left. In two minutes he returned with a soap , opened the door and gave it to Dawn, who eagerly accepted it, giving the guard a seductive smile.
"Now we have to wait until one of them leaves for food." John remarked. "Let's hope it will be soon."
"So eager to leave my company?" Dawn chuckled. She wanted to leave as soon as possible too, but she still didn't know how to find Buffy without sneaking into SGC. What will happen after they get rid of the NID agents?
"I'm not." John shook his head."This building didn't have many visits while I was here. Only Kinsey and those refugees a few weeks ago."
"What refugees?"
"I'm not sure. I overheard a conversation between two guards. They were talking about the NID testing a new brainwashing drug on some refugees from one of Apophis's worlds. The drug is supposed to cause hallucinations but they said it worked only on one of the five test subjects and only partially. NID couldn't even find out the trigger. They said her subconscious somehow chose it, without her even knowing about it. So they just gave her something to forget she was ever here and the NID gave up using the drug on members of SGC."
"But why would they try to brainwash refugees?" Dawn asked, hoping the woman John mentioned wasn't who she thought it was.
"The NID lost access to the stargate but the people the SGC saves are usually sent to another world and can come back without problems because the SGC gives them an IDC or places a MALP on their planet. That can be very useful." John explained, looking out of the window, observing the situation outside. "It's time."
Dawn went to the sink, turned on the water and slowly started to undress her T-shirt while John was lying on his bed and pretending to watch Dawn. He soon realized he is not pretending at all and it took him a lot of self-restraint to concentrate on the camera instead of Dawn's torso now covered only in a black bra. The plan worked and the camera stopped it's usual rotation and focused on Dawn who was now washing her arms and shoulders. John sneaked to the lock and used a piece of metal he picked up earlier as a screwdriver to open it. He studied the lock's interior for a while to find out what type it was and which wires he had to connect. He turned around to find out if the camera was still fixed on Dawn. It was, but the problem in that moment wasn't the camera but Dawn herself because John couldn't help it and started staring. Somewhere deep in his mind John's old reasonable self just got it's ass kicked by his teenage boy hormones.
Dawn noticed what John's doing and decided she better make him finish his work before the guards realize what's happening. "Did you make this plan to get us away from here or to salivate?", she inquired without turning to him.
'Both.' John's mind answered but he replied:"I prefer blonde astrophysicists. No offence."
"Then perhaps you could stop that drooling contest and do what you're supposed to."
John connected the right wires and the lock opened without alarming the soldiers. "Finished."
Dawn quickly dressed and ran after John to the hospital's corridor. They heard footsteps coming closer and hid behind a wall near the door, hoping they won't be discovered. When the two guards entered their room to inspect the prisoners, they attacked them from behind, easily disarming them and then tied the two agents, using their own ropes.
"There's still one left." John reminded Dawn. He wanted to continue walking towards the exit when he heard a shot behind him and felt sharp pain in his leg, losing his balance. Dawn turned around and fired at the last guard. She didn't miss and the man dropped his weapon with a bullet in his shoulder. Dawn shot once more, this time hitting his leg and he fell to the floor.
"Are you OK?" Dawn ran to John who was now sitting on the floor and holding his leg, looking more annoyed then in pain.
"It's just a scratch. It's almost not bleeding." John took a piece of cloth from one of the guards, tore it and used it as bandage. Meanwhile Dawn tied up the last guard, not caring about his injuries and searched through the others. She took their wallets and ammunition, putting it into one of their bags. She also took a cell phone and gave it to John. "Call your friends in SGC."
John nodded and dialed a number he was given by Jack in case he got into trouble. He remembered Jack's warning to never ever use it and expected a lot of yelling when Jack would pick it up. Fortunately Carter reached the phone sooner so Dawn didn't have to spend the next hour watching him argue with his former self. After a short dialogue they agreed to send a helicopter and take them to a local military base.
"They located our position using the cell phone's signal." John informed her. "A group of local FBI agents is on their way here and also looking for the remaining agent and the doctors. SG-1 should arrive here in about three hours. I guess it's over."
"Good." Dawn nodded and checked the ropes they used to tie the three guards once more. Then she walked behind John. "Thanks for your help. I changed my opinion about Tauri. Not all of you are ass holes. And don't forget I'm sorry for the other thing."
"The other thing?"
"This." Dawn hit the back of John's head with the handle of the pistol, knocking him out. "I'm sorry but there is no way SGC would just let me go."
Dawn ran out of the hospital to a road not far away. She started waving her arm and hoped hitchhiking worked the same way on Tauri. Several cars passed her and Dawn almost thought she's doing something wrong when a small green car stopped ten meters in front of her. She ran to the door and quickly got in, looking at the driver for the first time. It was an approximately sixty years old woman with grayish hair who welcomed her with a friendly smile. "Where are you going honey?"
"Colorado." Dawn answered, turning back to make sure nobody followed her.
"Oh. Well I can take you only to St.Paul. I'm visiting my relatives there." The woman replied kindly, studying Dawn's almost ruined outfit and bruises she had from the fights, looking worried. "Far away from home child?"
"You could say that.", Dawn chuckled. Far away didn't really cover it.
"Well. I hope you know what you're doing."
Dawn didn't answer and just nodded. She knew exactly what she had to do. Find Buffy.
End Chapter
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