Title: Outside the Lines: Beyond
Author: Annerb
Rating: Mature (violence and language)
Summary: How far would you go to make your world right again?
Classifications: Action/Adventure, Drama, Angst, S/J
Season: 4 (Alternative storyline for 'Chain Reaction')
Disclaimer: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Author's Note: Just to warn you, this section has quite a bit of violence and some really bad language, so prepare yourself.
Man…I'm tearing through this fic, huh? An update a day? I hope you guys don't get used to this…;)


Beyond

Sam stood in total shock, her back pressed against the cold anonymous concrete of the wall behind her. Everything was careening back and forth and she wasn't sure she would ever be able to breathe again.

Blood trickled down her wrists. She could feel it drying on her face. She licked it off her lips, horribly aware that it wasn't her own.

From the beginning, Sam had known there would only be two ways to do this. Jack had tried the first, walking a careful path, cutting a few corners here and there. Essentially within the boundaries of the law and human decency. It hadn't worked and he had died trying.

The second path yawned open before her. Sam knew she would walk outside of the lines. She would do whatever it took. She would push forward until the lines were nothing more than a distant memory.

Whatever it took.

At the noisy diner two nights before, Sam had listened to Teal'c and Daniel discuss various plans to draw out the members of the conspiracy. Brainstorming for ways to investigate without arousing the attention of the very people they wanted to bring down. After initially filling them in on everything she had discovered and suspected, Sam had said nothing.

She said nothing because she already knew what needed to be done. But she held her tongue, knowing that Daniel would never be able to understand. Teal'c had already worked it out, though. She could tell just by looking at him.

They needed details. They needed names. They needed someone on the inside to talk.

And Sam knew just how to do that.

Tucked into a tiny pocket on the interior of the briefcase left for her by Jack had been a single post-it note. 'Just in case' was written across the top above a name and an address. Bill, 3526 East Trundel.

After dropping Teal'c and Daniel off, Sam had ventured back to Denver, pulling into the warehouse district under the cover of darkness.

A slightly overweight balding man opened the side door after Sam pounded on it, noting the small security camera perched on the lintel.

"Bill?" Sam asked quietly.

"That depends," he responded with a smile, placing one hand on the jamb so that his jacket hung open, revealing a holstered gun.

"I'm Carter. Jack sent me," she tried.

The man's face broke into a wider smile and stepped away from the door. "Well in that case, you're in the right place."

Sam followed him inside, her eyes swiftly cataloging the six guards in various positions throughout the warehouse. The pressing familiarity of her sidearm at the back of her waist offered little comfort in the face of such odds. She'd just have to trust Jack.

"So what's Jack up to these days? It's been a while."

"He's dead," Sam managed to say with a steady, uninvolved voice.

"Dead? Damn, I thought that guy had more lives than a frickin' cat. But I guess everyone's luck runs out eventually."

He led her to a desk in a small office at the rear of the warehouse, gesturing for her to take a seat.

Sam quietly adjusted the seat so her back was no longer to the door and settled down, her eyes wandering over the office.

Bill smirked at the unconscious gesture. "You worked with Jack, right? He told me that if you ever came in that I should get you whatever you wanted."

Sam nodded. "I need some equipment. Tasers, sodium pentothal, TD, and such."

Bill's eyebrows rose, but he just jotted down some notes and said, "I got it. I'll get you the works."

"I also need a location. A small room, thick walls, one entrance and no windows. In an out of the way spot. I don't want to be interrupted."

Bill nodded. "I think I've got something appropriate. Will you need clean up?"

Sam shook her head. "I'll take care of it."

Bill didn't bother to pry. They discussed various other items for a short while, Bill promising to have it all in place by dusk the next day.

Bill wouldn't take any payment and Sam couldn't quite bring herself to ask what Jack had done for him to make him so accommodating. So she just softly thanked him.

At the door, he reached out a hand to stop her. "He was a good man," he observed. "I hope you get what you need."

Sam raised her eyes to his face and let him see the determination there. "I won't stop until I do," she pledged quietly.

Bill nodded and released her arm, letting her walk back out into the night.

The next evening after work, Sam had met Daniel and Teal'c at a bar far from the base. Teal'c met Sam's gaze steadily. "Have you made proper arrangements?"

Sam nodded, not surprised to find Teal'c on the same page before she had even spoken. He knew the stakes and he knew the techniques. One couldn't be a First Prime and not know.

She could feel Daniel looking between them in confusion, but he was wisely keeping quiet.

"Who will it be?" Teal'c asked softly.

Sam took a deep breath, her choice already made. It had to be someone who knew what had happened on that planet, but preferably someone on the fringe. A lackey that could be easily broken.

"Wash," she finally answered.

Teal'c nodded his agreement at the choice.

"He has leave for three days starting the day after tomorrow," she continued. That more than anything had sealed his fate. No one would notice his absence.

Daniel was no longer looking confused. Now he stared down at his drink, his brow drawn tight. He was struggling, Sam could tell.

"There has to be another way," he finally said quietly.

"There is not," Teal'c said.

Daniel dropped his head into his hands. "This is wrong."

This was exactly why she had tried to get him to leave. "I don't want you anywhere near this, Daniel. I mean it." There was no room in her tone for discussion.

Daniel was still for a long time before he nodded once, not looking up at her.

"I need a zat," Sam continued, satisfied that Daniel was going to follow her order.

"That may be difficult," Teal'c noted.

Sam nodded, knowing it would be nearly impossible to slip one out of the SGC.

"I have one," Daniel finally offered, his tone resigned.

Sam quirked an eyebrow at him, wondering where the hell he had managed to get a zat. But there was more there. Daniel's offer was the closest he would get to condoning this enterprise.

She put a hand on his. "Thanks," she said softly.

He gently squeezed her hand before pulling away, still refusing to look her in the eye.

It hurt, but she had no more room for emotional consideration. She would see this through.

Sam carefully arranged Wash's capture. She followed him to a local haunt, a dark bar with bad music and a questionable clientele. Pressing a thousand dollars into the hands of a working girl for her to proposition Wash and lure him into a small back room.

Wash fell with a pathetic squeak after one hit with a zat. Another thousand dollars ensured the lady's silence. She left without a backward glance, leaving Wash to the tender mercies of Teal'c and Sam.

Wash didn't regain consciousness until after he was carefully tied down to a chair in the center of a lank, boxy room with solid concrete walls.

"What the hell?" he sputtered, glancing around at the room.

Sam let Teal'c stare menacingly at Wash while she methodically taped her hands. Split knuckles would be a dead give away. She still had to go back to work tomorrow, after all.

After they had dropped off Daniel the previous night, Teal'c and Sam had discussed how this would go down.

"Major Carter, you will let me do the interrogation."

Sam thought interrogation was a rather glamorous word for what they had planned.

"I have done this many times," Teal'c continued.

Sam knew that he wasn't claiming that his experience would make him more effective. He was claiming that his soul was already stained; he wouldn't be crossing any new lines. It was a form of darkness he knew how to deal with.

For the tiniest moment, Sam was tempted to take him up on the offer. It would be the easy way. But she shook her head instead. "This is something I have to do, Teal'c."

Teal'c stared hard at her and she could almost read his thoughts. 'O'Neill would not want you to become this in his name.' But Teal'c did not speak the words.

Sam looked away, knowing he was right. But Jack was dead, so what he thought was immaterial. At least he would never have to witness it.

In the end, Teal'c had acquiesced, acknowledging Sam's right. But he stood in the dank room with her, a constant presence of support and witness.

Sam finished with her hands and injected Wash with a cocktail of TD and sodium pentothal. "Do you know who I am?" she asked quietly.

Wash looked at her with wide eyes, glancing from the syringe to Teal'c. He nodded once, swallowing thickly before saying, "Major Carter."

"Do you know why we are here?" she continued mildly.

Wash smirked now; obviously convinced he was in no real danger. After all, all he knew of Major Carter was the brainy lab geek. He had never seen her in the field. He had no idea what she was capable of. "Come now, Major," he taunted, "do you really want to play this game?"

Sam carefully put the syringe away before turning back to Wash. "Yes," she answered briefly before slamming her fist across his face.

There was a crunch of bone and Wash's skin split. He blinked a couple of times to clear his head before spitting out blood and a lose tooth at Sam's feet. "You bitch!" he shouted.

Sam carefully rubbed at her hand. "I want to know what happened on your mission with Colonel O'Neill," she continued calmly.

"Fuck you," he swore at her.

Sam didn't hesitate to hit him again. And again. She had all night.

"Alright, alright!" he finally sputtered, spitting more blood on the floor. "We were ambushed. Morris went down under Jaffa fire and O'Neill went back to get her, ordering us to get back to the gate and open it up. Morris must have been dead, though, because O'Neill came running back, her tags in his hand, waving for us to go through. He was almost there when a wild shot hit him from behind. I checked his pulse and found none. So I grabbed his tags and high-tailed it back to the SGC."

Sam had stood deathly still through his recitation, knowing that every word that fell from his lips was complete bull. She glanced at Teal'c and he carefully chose a small taser from the line of equipment Bill had provided and handed it to her.

"I want to know what happened on your mission with Colonel O'Neill," she repeated calmly. "I want to know who you take your orders from."

Wash eyed the taser, fear beginning to bloom in his eyes. "They will kill you," he threatened. "It's only a matter of time."

"Who?" Sam asked harshly, holding the crackling taser inches from his skin. "Who?"

Wash licked his lips and sighed. "The NID."

"The NID ordered the deaths of General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill?" Sam asked in clarification.

Wash nodded.

"I want names," Sam demanded.

"I don't know any names!" he swore.

Sam pressed the taser to his arm. She told herself that what made her different from the Goa'uld was that she found no pleasure in his screams, but she quickly shoved the thought aside.

"Oh god!" he swore when she stopped. "I just know that York and Mathers are in with them."

"Who else?"

Wash began to snivel quietly. "I've only heard a few other names in passing…"

Sam waited quietly.

"Kinsey," he finally whispered. "Oh man…they're going to kill me…"

Kinsey. Sam felt everything swirl around her for a moment. She had known he was an arrogant fanatic that had it out for the SGC, but she never would have suspected that he would be behind this. That he would be in bed with the NID.

She carefully placed the taser back on the table before she asked the question she dreaded. It was morbid, but she had to know. "How did you kill them?" she demanded, holding his head steady in one hand, winding up the other for another punch.

But Wash didn't need it. He was already broken, blubbering softly, swearing to tell them everything. That was the problem with bullies; they were rarely more than surface and cracked under the slightest pressure.

"We took their tags and made them kneel on the edge of a ravine. Morris was crying and O'Neill was whispering to her, all the while tugging at his restraints. York gave me a staff weapon and said, 'Kinsey sends his regards, Colonel.' Then York ordered me to shoot them."

Wash closed his eyes and swayed slightly in the chair, blood dribbling down his chin.

"And then what?" Sam ordered in a rasp.

"I shot Morris, knocking her body off the edge of the cliff. O'Neill swore at us and stared me in the eye the whole time. I…I didn't want to do it, but I knew York would kill me too if I didn't!"

Sam walked a few paces away, willing her stomach to stop its tumultuous play. She would not throw up in front of this worthless piece of trash. That Jack would meet death in such a way. And Morris, whose only crime was the poor luck to have been deemed disposable by her superiors.

Wash swallowed compulsively before confessing in a small garbled voice, "I think I missed."

Sam's head snapped up. She crossed the room and grabbed him roughly by the jaw, feeling it give as she shook him. "What did you just say?" she growled.

"I was nervous," he mumbled through the blood and pain. "My shot went wide, hitting O'Neill high on the chest. He was knocked off the cliff, though."

Sam turned all her concentration on controlling her breathing, falling back against the hard wall. In and out, in and out, waiting for the world to right itself again. The minutes passed in agonizing silence as Sam tried her best not to completely lose it.

"Are you saying he could have survived?" she finally asked with deceptive calm.

Wash shook his head. "No…it was a tall cliff…rocks below. I don't think-"

"You don't think?" Sam snarled, venom dripping from every word.

Wash flinched under her gaze. "Well…maybe…possibly…," he said weakly.

Sam rounded on him, yelling in a raw voice. "Maybe! Possibly! You think!" Each word was punctuated with a solid thud of her fist hitting his flesh.

She wanted to kill him, knew he deserved it. She wanted to kill him with nothing more than her bare hands, beating him slowly to death. Teal'c understood better than to try and stop her. She was well within her rights.

But something penetrated her bloodlust, broke into the sound of fists striking flesh.

"Killing a man is no badge of honor, Captain," Jack warned her softly.

"I know."

"Look, I'm no expert on this thing," he said, waving Hanson's Bible. "I generally read one commandment, and I think it's the first."

"I am the Lord your God and you shall take no other gods before me?"

Jack smiled and shook his head. "Okay, so it's not the first one. I'm talking about the 'no killing' one. No matter what the reason, every time you break it, you take one step closer to Hanson."

The words echoed in her ears, as if he had just whispered them to her.

Her fists abruptly dropped to her sides. She turned away from the unconscious bloody lump of a man, closing her eyes for a moment, letting calculated calm replace the lust of revenge. No one deserved to be beaten to death.

She grabbed the zat and fired at the man rapidly three times.

Now all that remained of him was the blood staining Sam's skin.

She had willingly taken a step closer to that darkness Jack had warned her about. There was no pleasure, no revenge to be found. Just quick death. In the end, Wash was too much of a threat to her team to let him live. It was too early to show their hand. She had done what she had to do.

Wash could no longer spill their secrets. He could no longer betray the good men and women of the SGC and Earth.

And if she had to, Sam knew she would do it again.