Fading into the background is not a pleasant experience when one was used to being in the spotlight, but Jack knew that even spotlights dimmed and eventually went out. The spotlight had been on him for the first nine years of his involvement with the Stargate program, starting from when he'd first went through it to Abydos, all the way through the subsequent years leading up to his promotion to Brigadier General. He and his team had conquered Goa'uld System Lords and had saved the world single-handedly many times, making it appear as if they were legends in their own time.
But the spotlight had dimmed when he had been promoted to a desk job running the SGC. He was no longer out there fighting Goa'ulds and saving the day with last minute heroics. He was no longer stepping through the Gate to go on fact finding missions and rescue missions. His expertise these days was needed to make decisions on which team would go where and when they would go. Growing old sucks, he thought as he stood in the Gate room with his hands in his pockets waiting for Daniel to show up. His team was leaving without him again and Jack wondered if all this was worth it.
"Sir?" Carter asked. She was standing next to him and was watching him carefully, as if he would break. She had no idea how close she was to being right, he thought, even as he made a conscious effort to smile at her.
"Carter?" he replied, smiling at her through his sadness. He wanted to go out there with them, he needed to get back into the action. This staying behind stuff was for the birds, but he knew it couldn't be helped. His job as commander of Stargate Command was just as important, but that thought didn't help him in controlling the depression that was starting to wash over him.
"What's wrong?" she asked him outright. Jack just shrugged, there was no use in even trying to explain it to her. He knew from experience that he would just bungle up the words, making him appear to be dumb. Words just didn't come easy for him.
Carter didn't push it, although he could tell she wanted to. Instead she gave him an encouraging smile that did nothing to ease his mental anguish. Jack turned to stare at the Stargate, the fact that it was standing there silently beckoning to him deepened his depression and he decided to alleviate the tension that seemed to be building among them. "Reardon is just about to crack, I can tell," he said to Carter. "What with Teal'c giving him the evil eye and you smiling at him making him think he's the luckiest guy on Earth, and my imposing character scaring him into an early grave, I think he's going to tell us everything any time now."
"I'm really interested in finding out how he knew Lindsay was your niece," Carter spoke up, her smile widening at his analogy of the situation. "I mean he knew she was your niece, but had no idea that you and Mac were identical.
"I got the impression that he's not the brightest light bulb in the package," Jack said, "And now that we know that he had been working outside of the rogue unit of the NID, it makes more sense…"
"He would have been better informed if he'd had the help and the resources of the NID or the rogue faction," Teal'c finished for him.
"Things are pretty bad when rogue NID have rogue agents working out of their organization," Daniel said, as he walked up to them.
"Nice to see some things haven't changed," Jack told his friends as he pointedly looked at his watch, but directed his next question at Daniel, "Where have you been?"
"My watch must be slow," Daniel replied without even looking at his watch. He smiled at Jack and asked, "Did I miss anything?"
"Not much seeing as we had to wait for you to even show up," Jack said. Ah well, might as well get this over with. He turned to the window that served as a barrier between the control room and the Gate room and nodded at Walter, alerting the Sergeant to go ahead with the dialing sequence.
The klaxons sounded, while the inner wheel of the Stargate began turning and Jack turned to watch it in action. The wheels of fate had taken him away from the action he had been used to when off-world, leaving him here to deal with the constant decisions of running a military base.
This was not good, he decided, mentally shaking off the feelings of gloom. He turned toward Carter just in time to see her glance at Daniel with a questioning look and Daniel shrugging his shoulders. They knew something was wrong and Jack hoped they wouldn't push the subject.
"So," he said as he clapped his hands together, "Are you all set? Did you remember to pack your suntan lotion? Now I want you to watch out for each other… Carter, keep an eye on Daniel. You know how he has a tendency to wander off. And make sure you all look both ways before crossing the street." His ruse worked, he realized with relief, as Carter was now smiling at him and Daniel rolled his eyes.
"Yes Dad," Daniel said sarcastically.
"We will be careful O'Neill," Teal'c said with a slight bow of his head. The Jaffa was staring at him with a concerned look, Jack noticed, and he realized that his ruse hadn't worked after all.
"Go," Jack said when Walter announced that the seventh chevron was locked and the Stargate came to life. "Have fun and bring back some goodies. Daniel, I mean it, no feeding Bigfoot. You hear me?"
"Bigfoot starves, got it," Daniel replied, as he walked up the ramp and through the Stargate. Jack stood there watching them leave, waiting until the Stargate disengaged, before heading off to spend more time trying to get his prisoner to talk.
His prisoner was still being very uncooperative and Jack was starting to really get pissed. What was the big secret anyway? All he wanted from this guy were the names of his contacts and how he got his hands on the pictures. Getting the answer to Carter's questions would be a definite plus, as well, but Reardon was being stubborn - in a polite way. The cheerful politeness was also getting to Jack, although he was able to keep that fact from the man.
"Could I get some water?" Reardon asked, as he leaned back in his chair. They were in the interrogation room several levels above the Gateroom and Jack was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the table, trying his best not to show his irritation.
"After you tell me what I want to know," Jack responded. "The shoulder still hurt?"
"Yes, it does. You had no right to shoot me," Reardon said, the polite smile evaporating.
Interesting, Jack thought. "I'm thinking about shooting you again," he told his prisoner. "I'll swear that you tried to attack me."
Reardon pulled himself together and put on the polite smile again, but Jack had figured out his weakness. "It would be good to see you rotting in jail, O'Neill," Reardon said.
"There are no witnesses Reardon," Jack replied. "Who do you think they'll believe - a kidnapper and a thief or an Air Force General?"
"Is that what you told them had happened? That I attacked you?" Reardon asked, all pretenses of being polite dropped, as his anger took over.
"Where did you get the pictures?" Jack asked, hoping to take advantage of Reardon's anger.
"None of your fucking business," Reardon snarled. Jack stood up at that point and went to the door, knocking on it to alert the guards that he was ready to leave. He turned toward his prisoner and saw that Reardon had a confused look on his face, not quite sure what was happening. Jack turned back toward the door when it opened and quietly asked the guard for his gun.
"Sir?" the guard asked with concern.
"This guy is threatening to strangle me," Jack lied, knowing full well the guard would give him the gun no matter what. He wanted Reardon to think seriously about giving up the goods.
"That's a lie!" Reardon shouted, while Jack took the gun the guard offered and turned back toward his prisoner.
"That'll be all, Captain," Jack said to dismiss the guard.
"Are you sure, sir?" the Captain said, eyeing Reardon warily.
"Yes. I've handled worse than this scum before," Jack said to reassure him.
The guard left, closing the door behind him while Jack moved to sit in the chair opposite Reardon and put the gun down on the table. He put his hands on the table next to the gun and waited for Reardon to say something.
Reardon kept his silence as he eyed Jack and the gun. "Who gave you the pictures?" Jack asked again, picking up the gun. He was pleased to see the color drain from Reardon's face.
"You won't shoot me O'Neill," Reardon said. "I have nothing to say to you."
Jack didn't respond, he just got up and walked around the table, tugging on Reardon's good arm to force him to stand.
"What are you doing?" Reardon asked, his apprehension apparent in his voice.
"I want to make sure there will be no doubt in the minds of others that you tried to attack me," Jack replied innocently. "I have to make it look good."
"You're crazy," Reardon said as he backed away. He looked toward the door, then back at Jack, a glimmer of fear showing in his eyes.
"Don't worry about the camera," Jack made sure to tell him. "The film in it will disappear within an hour after I leave here. Give me a reason to pull the trigger," he begged.
Reardon took a full minute in debating his options before deciding to believe Jack. The fact that Jack was seriously considering shooting him anyway probably showed in his attitude and was what convinced Reardon to do the right thing. He told Jack everything, including the fact that the pictures came from a prominent businessman who had ties with the Trust. Jack was amazed and incensed on Mac's behalf when Reardon told him that it was Mac's neighbor who had given him the flight information, telling him that Jack's brother and his family would be arriving in Denver. Mac's neighbor, it seems had been working for the prominent businessman for some time.
From what Reardon had told him, and this was all based on second-hand observations, Robert Riley had been asked to keep an eye on a former Phoenix Foundation employee, just in case Mac's talents could be recruited for the cause. Red flags went up when Jack disappeared in Washington, only to be dropped off at his hotel the next day in a car owned by the former Phoenix Foundation employee. Riley had been contacted andhis story of a long lost brother showing up on Mac's doorstep put the wheels in motion to getting the pictures translated. Mac was right about this whole thing being part of an elaborate plan, and Jack briefly wondered if Steve's accident had really been an accident. At this point, nothing would surprise him.
Jack put the gun away reluctantly, telling Reardon that he'd done the right thing. Reardon just looked relieved that he was going to live another day.
