104

Denouement

The rest of the trip through the ducts was carried on at a fast, silent crawl. None of them spoke a word. When they reached a junction, Daniel would merely stop until Evree pointed out the way.

There was the occasional screen-like grille along the way, which caused them some consternation, but they slipped by them as quickly as they could, and so far no one had spotted them. Or seemed to, at least.

Daniel had just scurried past another of the vents, not even stopping to look through it, when Evree grabbed his ankle.

He turned around and looked at her, and saw that she had inched back out of eyeshot of the vent. Then, he looked out.

Well, the good news was that they had made their way to the gate room. The bad news was that it wasn't empty.

&&&&&

Curtis was starting to smell a rat. So far he had been allowed to see, from a distance of several feet, Evree's offspring. He had met the Tok'ra named Marvath and discussed said offspring. But Evree was conspicuous in her absence. So was that pain in the ass colonel, come to think of it.

"All right, general," he said impatiently as they left the infirmary. "Where exactly was the Goa'uld when you put this facility under quarantine?"

"Right here," Hammond replied completely truthfully. "Right in that infirmary, as a matter of fact."

"But she's not here now." Curtis didn't even bother to try to make it sound like a question.

"No, she's not." Hammond felt safe enough telling Curtis now. He wasn't going anywhere.

"And why wasn't I informed?" Curtis' voice was rising, as was his color.

"I informed the president," Hammond reported. "Even if I had been inclined to tell you, I had no method of contacting you, since you neglected to provide that piece of information on your last visit."

"And would you care to share now and let me know where she is?" Curtis was starting to calm down already and think. He could see how he'd been suckered in, and there really wasn't anything he could do about it at the moment. But since his job was to gather information, then gather information he would. Such information as he could pry out of the close-mouthed general.

&&&&&

The refugees had pulled back from the vent for a whispered conference.

"Those.., things are what Anubis wants to use my children for?" Evree was horrified, bordering on a very real state of shock.

"That's why we came to rescue you," Daniel said gently. "So Anubis can never do that to your children."

"O'Neill." Evree scarcely acknowledged Daniel's reassurance. "Will you promise me something? Please?"

Jack was going to try to put her off, pointing out that working out an escape plan was the immediate priority, but there was such a sense of urgent desperation in Evree's voice that he couldn't bring himself to. "Depends on what you want me to promise," he replied cautiously. He felt he had to hedge his bet on that since he never knew what was going to come out of that crazy Goa'uld's mouth.

Evree looked at him for a long moment as though memorizing his features. Finally, she spoke. "If the situation becomes such that we are unable to escape, I wish you to kill me." Before O'Neill could protest, she raised a hand to forestall him. "I will not breed those.., those atrocities. And I feel sure that the torments that Ahriman visited upon me would be as nothing to what Anubis would devise for anyone who dared to stand in his way." She looked down for a brief second, then straight into Jack's eyes. "You would not allow me to suffer so, would you, O'Neill?"

"I promise." He said it very quickly, before it stuck in his throat. But she was right, that was actually the worst part, she was right.

&&&&&

"So you're trying to tell me that a Goa'uld willingly sacrificed herself for the good of mankind?" Curtis couldn't possibly have sounded more skeptical.

"That's how it sounded from her note," General Hammond replied. "It was enough to plant a seed of doubt in my mind."

"And so you took it upon yourself to send in a rescue team for someone who may not have actually needed rescuing?" Curtis pressed. "You must know that you have overstepped your authority on this one, General."

"That's why I didn't order the rescue mission," Hammond explained. "It was strictly on a volunteer basis."

"Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson volunteered to rescue a Goa'uld?" From the way the bureaucrat sounded, Hammond might as well have said that they traveled to Anubis' ship on flying pigs.

"They did," General Hammond reported. "And since they, more than anyone else, with the exception of Dr. Frasier have spent time interacting with her, perhaps that will give you some insight into just why I thought a rescue mission was in order."

Curtis was still having trouble dealing. He sat down in the nearest chair. "I've read the reports," he muttered. "Colonel O'Neill hates the Goa'uld. And he volunteered to rescue her." He shook his head, but the facts didn't change. "General, could I trouble you for a glass of water?"

&&&&&

Skipping straight past the uncomfortable moment there might have been if they had had the leisure for it, Daniel said, "First, let's see if we can keep you from having to carry out that promise, Jack."

"Fine by me," O'Neill agreed. "I don't suppose you happen to have any more fancy gadgets that will penetrate those super boy's armor, do you?"

Jackson shook his head. "What you saw was what I had," he admitted. "And the fuel cell needs to be recharged on that. What's left wouldn't be good for more than a couple of short bursts. No concentrated cutting."

"Stabbing instead of slicing?" Jack suggested. He was beginning to get the glimmer of an idea.

&&&&&

"Report." Anubis' voice echoed throughout the chamber.

"The body, Lord, of one of the slaves. His wounds seemed to be self-inflicted, however."

"And the queen?" Anubis cared less than nothing about the life of a slave, but Evree still had some value to him.

"Still no sign, Lord Anubis," the lackey admitted. "And we have nearly finished searching the ship. I do not believe she is within."

"But she must be," Anubis growled. "For I have been assured that neither the gate nor the rings have been activated. And the fliers are all accounted for. Evree is still on this ship. As is whoever activated the gate before she went missing."

"But if everyone searches and she is still yet to be found, what then, Lord?" He was not Anubis' best and brightest, and was too in awe of his lord to dare an original thought.

"Continue on as you are," Anubis replied indolently, lazing back in his seat. "Make sure that all possible escape routes are guarded and continue to search." He barked out a short, unpleasant laugh. "If my little queen does not stick her neck out soon enough to suit me, I shall have to devise a way to flush her out of the hole she is hiding in."

&&&&&&

Animal silent and stealthy, O'Neill crept up behind the super soldiers guarding the gate. He barely dared to breathe. It was all going to have to be timed so carefully. He trusted Daniel implicitly, but even if he put that much faith in Evree, and the jury was still out on that one, they had never before worked as a team, and couldn't predict each other's moves.

He'd known the mission was going to be dangerous, but now it was starting to acquire the feel of suicidal.

Once O'Neill was in what he felt was the optimal position, he nodded.

The grate in the gate room crashed to the floor, and Daniel and Evree popped out, arguing loudly.

The soldiers immediately headed towards the newcomers, almost, but not quite in unison. Jack took advantage of them being slightly out of sync. He came up behind the one that was lagging back a pace or two, and brought his fist down towards the thing's left shoulder. Just as he was about to make contact, he flipped on the plasma cutter, which, luckily for all of them, went through both the armor and the soldier inside it. He repeated the move on the second soldier before it had time to realize what had happened to its companion.

Seeing the second guard fall, Daniel began frantically dialing for Earth.

&&&&&&

Jacob had sat down for a moment, but he didn't realize that he was in imminent danger of being throttled by either one of his companions for the way he was tapping his fingers on the tabletop. He looked at said companions. Teal'c was standing in front of a picture that Selmac was fond of, staring at it intently, hands crossed behind his back. One good look at the big Jaffa showed that he was tensed and ready for action, even though there was no action to be had. His daughter wasn't even hiding the fact that she was pacing now. Then, she looked at the clock.

"It's been almost five hours," she remarked, her tones laden with worry. "Don't you think..,"

"That's all we've been doing," her father pointed out. "And all it's done is given us all a prize case of nerves. Stealth takes time, you know that, Sam."

"And stealth will be what is needed aboard Anubis' ship if the mission is to be successful," Teal'c added, not even looking away from the picture.

"Why does it always seem to take longer when it's someone else doing it, though?" Sam muttered rhetorically.

&&&&&&&

The gate opened, but instead of herding their small group through it, Daniel was surprised to see Jack halt by one of the fallen soldiers.

"Uh, Jack, we really don't have a lot of time," he commented diffidently.

"And I'm thinking that we really don't want Anubis to know that we managed to off a couple of his toys," O'Neill replied. "They're going to have to go with us."

"O'Neill is correct." Not surprisingly, Evree backed him up. "Anubis would be even more set on destroying you all if he considered you that much of a threat."

With a long-suffering sigh, but with the tacit admission that they were right, Daniel went and grabbed the feet of one of the soldiers while O'Neill took the shoulders.

&&&&&

"Incoming wormhole, sir," the technician informed Hammond.

"Where's the source?" Hammond asked. Curtis was watching curiously, but staying out of the way, for the moment. He still seemed to be a little rattled.

"The coordinates for the rescue mission, sir," was the reply.

"Open the iris," General Hammond ordered. As he gave the order, an armed team drew down on the gate, just in case.

The first two, people, for want of a better word, very obviously did not come through the gate under their own power, but looked as though they had been tossed through, as indeed they were. Everyone became even more alert, if that were possible, seeing that they were two of Anubis' super soldiers, but the forms lay there, unmoving, dead.

Then, Jack and Daniel came through the gate with Evree between them.

"Home and safe, as you can see," Jack said, looking extremely self-satisfied.

Evree surprised them all when she suddenly burst into tears.

Feeling awkward as hell, especially in front of everyone, but unable to bring himself to deny her the small, or maybe not so small comfort, O'Neill put his arm around her and let her cry on his shoulder.

&&&&&&

Anubis' ship rang with the echoes of his rage. Not only was his queen gone before she could even begin to breed for him, but two of his soldiers had simply disappeared into thin air. Or, more likely, the stargate. But there was no way to trace whence the travelers had gone. Somehow, someone had managed to set a device that deleted the history read-outs. He had no way of knowing where they had gated to. although he had his suspicions.

For now, he had other things to attend to. But soon, very soon, he must deal with the unexpectedly troublesome Tau'ri.

&&&&&&

Teal'c was pleased that the quarantine had been lifted as he now walked through the corridors of what now, more than any other place, was home to him. But his contentment received a check when he saw Evree, slinking through another corridor, checking around corners before she passed by and generally acting suspicious. He began to follow her.

It was not a difficult task, really. It didn't seem to have occurred to the Goa'uld queen that she could be seen from behind as well as in front. The longer he trailed after her, the more it seemed to the Jaffa that she wasn't so much trying not to be seen by everyone, since she passed by many people, but that perhaps she was avoiding one person in particular.

Finally, his curiosity got the better of him, and he allowed himself to catch up with her. Goa'uld she might be, but the human body she inhabited was small and fragile.

"Evree." He spoke her name suddenly, and she jumped visibly. "My apologies for startling you, but is there something amiss?"

Evree looked at him like he was insane. She still didn't know how things stood with.., other people, unwilling to admit to even herself that she had been thinking about O'Neill. But to have the renegade Jaffa show concern for her was beyond confusing. "Would it matter to you?" she asked cautiously.

"If it had not, I would not have asked," he stated quietly. "You move as though you are trying to avoid someone or something. Let me assure you that this base is secure."

"I am not afraid," Evree replied haughtily, with a toss of her head. The effect was marred, however, by the fact that her eyes kept darting about as though she expected someone, or something, to jump out at her at any moment.

"Tell that to someone who has no eyes," Teal'c scoffed. But the tension she was radiating was unsettling. "Perhaps you would be more at ease somewhere out of the public corridors?" He motioned to a currently empty conference room.

Evree slipped inside as though both Anubis and Ahriman were after her, which if they knew precisely where to look, no doubt they would be. But Teal'c did not believe that it was Goa'uld that were making her behave this way. Especially when she visibly relaxed once the door was shut behind them.

"Well?" Teal'c prompted. "What is out there that makes you look like you fear you are walking into a trap?"

"Was it really so very obvious?" Evree asked plaintively. "I didn't think it was. But for all the size of this place, one keeps seeing the same people, over and over again. And there I some people that do not wish to see me."

That statement in itself confirmed the Jaffa's suspicions. He had already spoken to O'Neill and gotten caught up on what had transpired while he and Major Carter had been in exile, as it were. "You mean that you were avoiding O'Neill," he corrected her.

"After I embarrassed him in front of both superiors and underlings, he cannot possibly wish to see me," she murmured defensively.

"So you are doing this for O'Neill?" Teal'c crossed his arms across the expanse of his chest. "If so, then you are operating under a false premise. He wishes to speak to you."

"He cannot." Evree turned her back on Teal'c, attempting to hide the fact that her eyes were welling up with tears again. "I cannot."

Teal'c walked over to her, coming close, but not too close, her nerves were starting to show again. "O'Neill will not harm you," he said gently. "Surely you know that by now."

Evree nodded, and tried to suppress a sniffle. "I know that," she began.

O'Neill came in, and at first, all he saw was Teal'c's broad back. "There you are, Teal'c," he started in without preamble. "Someone said that they thought they'd seen you come in here. Have you seen..," He stopped, verbally stumbling upon seeing that the Jaffa was not, as he thought, alone. "Hello, Evree."

There was a long silence while Jack and Evree just stood, facing each other, but not exactly looking at each other. Since they were not looking at him, either, Teal'c made a silent exit. He did not believe that his presence was needed any further.

It was O'Neill that finally broke the silence. "You've been crying again," he said gently. "Did Teal'c say something to upset you?"

Evree shook her head, not yet trusting her voice. She was caught up in a jumbled welter of emotions at the moment, and speech was temporarily beyond her powers.

"Then what?" O'Neill was honestly confused. She was back at SGC, safe and sound. Her children were hale and hearty, all forty-two of them. He really didn't have a clue as to why she should be upset. Or, for that matter, why she had been going to extreme measures to avoid his company. When she didn't immediately answer, he reached out and touched her face, brushing away an errant tear. "Was it something that I said?"

"I cannot believe that you would wish to see me after the way I embarrassed you upon our return," Evree muttered, eyes still cast downward. "I am sorry, O'Neill."

"You didn't embarrass me," he lied, then, honesty compelled him to add. "Well, not that much. And no one ever died of embarrassment. Is that why you've been playing hide and seek with me?"

"I was trying to hide," Evree admitted ruefully, at long last allowing her eyes to meet his. "I am a Goa'uld, and a 'pain in the ass'. And yet, I find out that you volunteered to rescue someone who is 'more trouble than she is worth'."

Jack winced at that one, he was kind of hoping that she'd forgotten about those careless words, spoken in the heat of the moment. But he should have found her and apologized for them anyway, even if she had forgotten. "Evree," he started, then stopped and cleared his throat, and tried again. "Listen, my mouth sometimes kind of leads a life of its own. It's definitely gotten me into more trouble than anything I've ever done." As apologies went, that sucked. Start over. "I shouldn't have said that," he muttered, forcing himself to keep looking at her, though he was far more embarrassed now than he had been when she'd cried on his shoulder. "I was tense and edgy and still kind of suspicious and I was taking it out on you, and I'm sorry."

"You are apologizing to me?" Evree was stunned. She stopped a moment to let it sink in. "Then you did not mean what you said?" That could have been a given, since he'd apologized for it, but she wasn't about to make any assumptions where O'Neill was concerned.

"Of course I didn't mean it," Jack snapped, the irritation that she had a gift for bringing out in him springing to the fore. "Okay, so maybe I did mean it, a little. But I shouldn't have said it." The memory of the look on her face when he had flashed before him in a detailed visual. "You looked at me like I'd hit you. Like I'd hurt you."

"It did hurt," Evree admitted quietly, turning away from him. "You had come to rescue me when I was feeling so hopeless that I was contemplating ending my existence. When you said that, it made me feel as though I was going to be responsible for your death as well. And Daniel's too," she added as an afterthought. "I felt as though I were truly as loathsome as all the other Goa'uld, using others merely for my own gain. I would rather have died than have done that to you, O'Neill. Or Daniel."

"You like Daniel, don't you?" It might have been him that she seemed to turn to when the chips were down, but she had always seemed to be more comfortable with Daniel.

"Aside from Draylea, or maybe not," Evree replied. "Daniel is the first person who ever offered me friendship without being forced into it. I do like Daniel." With a few mental hints from her host, the import of the question sunk in. "But not the same way that I like you."

Jack was almost afraid to get his hopes up, and he groped for just the right words to say to find out, then decided to hell with words. They'd almost ruined everything. It was his actions that had drawn her to him, and he'd always been more a man of action anyway. He put his hands on her shoulders, gently, so as not to startle her, and turned her around to face him. Then, he took her in his arms and kissed her.

&&&&&&

Sam had been looking for Jack. She'd been brought up to speed on things by General Hammond and Daniel, but there were a few things that she wanted to ask O'Neill personally. She was passing by a conference room that she knew for a fact wasn't in use when she thought she heard Jack's voice inside. Curious, she opened the door. Then, almost as quickly, but with much more care, she shut it again and went on her way. Her questions could wait.

&&&&&&

"Did I do that correctly?" Evree asked. "All I know of kissing I saw on the television. I did not know about using tongues."

"You did fine," Jack said quickly. Damn, she could come up with the awkward statements. "But before we progress beyond kissing, if we do, I think we need some time to do some serious talking."

Evree nodded. "I think I understand," she murmured. "We are so very unlike. We need to understand one another."

"Well, now we've got the time for it," O'Neill replied. He looked down at her, and didn't really feel like talking at the moment. "But maybe it could wait until later," he added, bending his head down towards hers again.

Finis