SEVEN: THE NID
(If you haven't seen 'Foothold' this ficlet is going to be horribly confusing. Also, seeing as how I'm not American, nor familiar with what the NID actually stands for, I'm guessing it stands for the National Intelligence Department. Until I'm told otherwise, that's what I'm gonna be referring to it as. Also, if you notice distinct similarities to the ep 'Resurrection' ie. The boring ep after Heroes, it's not entirely coincidental.)
It wasn't the first time that the NID had tried this idea. Except this time, it could actually work. They could actually pull this off with no one the wiser. Doctor Julius Vaughn was willing to infiltrate the SGC, posing as a member of staff. He was willing to pretend to care about the members of staff he would be treating. He was willing to babysit a teenage ball of hormones, and he was willing to be flirted with by a socially awkward documentarian.
He was less than happy with suddenly been five foot two, but it was the quickest way into the SGC. It helped that the body he was somehow projecting as his was rather good-looking, and he had no qualms about showering while still wearing the strange device that allowed him to parade around in Doctor Janet Fraiser's body.
Wearing a skirt wasn't all it was cracked up to be either. And he wanted to know how the hell she managed to run around the base in two-inch heels every day as well. They were just lucky that the projections allowed for the person to change clothes and hairstyles as well, or else this ruse would have been over quickly.
What he did know was that the people of the base were respectful and friendly to the doctor. He found it odd that in the three days he'd been on base, he'd picked up on a subtle pattern of the way people addressed each of the medical staff. Doctors Warner, Brightman, Mackenzie, Solomon, and March were all referred to by their salutation and their surname. Doctor Fraiser was merely Doc to all and sundry, except General Hammond and Teal'c. And Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson, who merely referred to her as Janet. But whenever anyone asked for the Doc, it was Janet that they wanted.
"Are you erm…flirting with me?" Vaughn asked slightly uncomfortable. Just because he was willing to allow it to happen didn't mean he had to like it.
"Excuse me ma'am," an SF interrupted their meal, and Vaughm sighed with relief. "You're required in the ready room immediately."
"Thank you," Vaughn said. He turned to Emmet Bregman, the documantarian who had been harassing the staff of the SGC, trying to get interviews and interesting shots for the film he was trying to put together of the inside of the SGC. "Sorry."
Vaughn stood and quickly moved to the change rooms, stripping out of the uncomfortable dress uniform and into the green camouflage pants and black shirt. He tucked Doctor Fraiser's dogtags beneath the neckline of the shirt and pulled on a jacket and tac-vest. Grabbing a cap to ensure that the shaggy hair that Janet Fraiser had recently been sporting was going to be out of Vaughn's face for the mission, he grabbed a medical kit and quickly made his way to the Gate Room.
His first time offworld.
He knew that he would have something interesting to report back to his seniors. This was the type of thing that his superiors had wanted all along. Off-world experience, as well as personal information about the officers stationed at the SGC base. Vaughn smiled to himself as he stepped through the wormhole for the very first time.
And, the very last…
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Strange that the rogue NID agents that managed to keep themselves hidden within the loyal Intelligence agents should learn of their colleague and science project's demise from one of their own, who had no idea that the doctor who had died in the field had actually been an Intelligence officer rather than the CMO of the Stargate Command.
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Marks, Colonel Maybourne's successor, could not have been more upset if he tried. One of the most underhanded and ethically challenged doctors he'd ever met had been killed, and now they had no insider within the SGC.
It also brought up the question of what the hell they were to do with Doctor Janet Fraiser now that she had been declared KIA.
Marks frowned and silently contemplated the almost mature symbiote that they had procured from their offworld agents nearly two years earlier before O'Neill had underhandedly brought down the entire operation. Maybourne should never have trusted that O'Neill would ever truly defect. He was too loyal to his country and to the people he served with.
The symbiote was interesting from a scientific point of view, but almost useless without a host. If he were to implant the symbiote into the doctor…well, he'd had a Goa'uld with the knowledge of one of the most trusted people within the SGC, and he'd have a host with the genetic memory of the Goa'uld.
It was a win-win situation if he thought about it. Now he just had to get the rest of his team to agree to it.
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Doctor Warner was pale and shaky as he knocked on the door to General Hammond's office. Hammond glanced up, taking in the other man's stance and demeanour. The General knew exactly what was wrong with Warner though. Performing an autopsy on not only a colleague and boss, but also a friend was going to take its toll on even the most emotionally repressed doctor.
"Doctor Warner, come in," Hammond said, his voice soft and somewhat gentle. "Have a seat."
"Actually sir…there's something you need to see."
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Colonel Jack O'Neill eyed the dead man who lay on the metal table, eyes closed and chest burnt beyond recognition. Except O'Neill could feel no pity for the man.
"Who the hell is he?" O'Neill asked.
"I wish to god I knew," Warner replied.
Major Samantha Carter picked up a disturbingly familiar round object, holding it up for her teammates to see. O'Neill glared at it in dislike and Daniel frowned. Teal'c's cheek muscles twitched, the only outward sign of the rage he felt towards the underhanded plot that had taken place within the SGC.
"I thought these had been destroyed," Sam said angrily.
"Obviously not," Daniel said.
"They somehow managed to modify them as well," Sam observed. "The wearer could change their appearance. Clothing, hair style, anything they wanted. I can't believe I didn't notice."
"Me neither," Daniel muttered.
"Do we even know how long this guy's been posing as the Doc?" Jack asked.
The group fell silent, exchanging worried glances. A curtain of guilt fell over the group as they wondered when, if ever, they'd have realised that their friend had been replaced with a false, an image worn by a man they assumed to be from the NID.
"Well, disturbing as this is, we still need to find our Doctor Fraiser," Hammond interjected. "Major Carter, contact Agent Barrett, find out what he knows. I don't think I need to tell any of you that this is to stay between the five of us until we know more about what's going on."
Unspoken was the fact that if they told the base that Doctor Fraiser was alive, and she'd been killed by the NID, it would only make morale on base plummet even further.
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Two humvees pulled to a silent halt, a dozen members of SGC security personnel, as well as the four members of SG-1 quickly jumping out of the backs of the trucks and positioning themselves around the perimeter of the building.
To the naked eye, it was an abandoned industrial complex in the outskirts of Colorado Springs. And now it was the one of the most secure buildings in the city.
Colonel O'Neill silently hand-signalled for the SF's and for his team to spread out in different directions and enter the building through the entrances on the sides.
With a precision born of training and skill, the SF's and SG-1 entered the building, quickly and quietly subduing the half-dozen guards that were scattered throughout the corridors. When the two teams met up at a well-guarded door, they glanced at each other, and silently prayed that their instincts were correct.
Teal'c managed to break the door down with a single kick, and SG-1 were the first to enter the room, neutralising the two guards inside. The guards were quickly unarmed, and the doctors standing over the metal table where a familiar but unconscious figure was strapped facedown were apprehended.
The doctor holding the writhing Goa'uld symbiote was 'accidentally' shot in the kneecap, and the symbiote that the doctor subsequently dropped was crushed beyond recognition by Teal'c's foot.
Sam quickly raced to the table unchaining fragile wrists from the handcuffs that kept her immobile.
She pressed her fingers to the pulse point in her best friends neck, breathing a sigh of relief as she felt the steady beat beneath the skin. She glanced at her CO and nodded.
The relief that ran through the group was palpable.
Daniel quickly wandered over to a table that was set off to the side of the room, pages of notes and vials of serums scattered over the desk. He glanced over the notes, wishing he understood half of what it was saying.
"I have no idea what they gave her," he admitted hopelessly.
Sam glanced up. While her speciality was astrophysics, she had a basic knowledge of field medicine. Plus working with Janet during medical emergencies had given her a better understanding of what should and shouldn't be done in certain circumstances. She was reluctant to leave Janet's side though.
"Teal'c," Sam called, instinctively seeking out the person most capable of protecting her best friend.
The former First Prime stepped forward and carefully picked up the small woman, carrying her across the room, lifting her with a casualness that spoke of his easy strength.
Sam flicked through the pages, skimming over the information, eyebrows furrowing. They'd had her best friend so high on drugs, and she knew that Janet would likely go through an interesting period of withdrawal as soon as they were flushed from her system. She noticed that the drugs were for very specific purposes, none of them pleasant.
"We need to get her back to base," Sam said. "I'm not sure enough about what the hell they've given her to even try giving her anything else on top of it."
With a nod from O'Neill, the room emptied. For good measure, O'Neill toppled the table, watching in satisfaction as the glass vials smashed to the ground, spilling liquid across the floor in a pattern of colours that could never be used to harm another human again.
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"Well, the good news is that she's stable," Warner announced as he approached the anxiously waiting members of SG-1, who stood slumped against the walls, General Hammond waiting beside them. "The symbiote that you mentioned didn't have a chance to even scratch her, let alone try and take up residence in her spinal column."
"And what's the bad news?" Jack asked impatiently.
"That Doctor Fraiser has one of the most impressive vocabulary lists that I've ever heard," Warner said. "And the adage that doctors make the worst patients was specifically written with Fraiser in mind."
SG-1 exchanged exuberant grins. The worst was over, they'd dismantled another NID sleeper cell, and their CMO was back in the SGC. Not bad for a day at the office. Not bad at all.
(This idea is also blatantly ripping off the ep 'Smoke and Mirrors' and inspired slightly by RocketChick's 'One Last Kiss'.)