Author's Note: I hope the editing wasn't too rushed on this one, but I really wanted to get it done tonight. :) The last chapter, this chapter, and the next chapter are all what I refer to as transition chapters. They take me forever to write and I generally end up with a plot hole somewhere. I caught three in this chapter alone while I was editing so if you see any others, feel free to let me know. Dastardly things, them! Sneaksy they are! ;)
Author's Note2: I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who's reading this. If you've read this far you must like something about it, and that makes me happy. I also want to say a gigantic thank you to all of you wonderful people who have left reviews or sent me a note. IMHO reviewers can't be thanked enough for their continuous support and encouragement. My muse, Katchi, thanks you all as well. :D
Disclaimer: Because it's been a while…see disclaimer on the second chapter! (I'm lazy :P)
FRED - Field Remote Expeditionary Device. The big doohickey that carries stuff for them! :D
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Jack sighed. He hated waiting. It'd been over a day since he'd gated to P5C-421, the Gerations new home. Almost two days since he'd last eaten, and as his body was now constantly reminding him it'd been far too long since he'd last moved. He just couldn't trust himself to get up and move around. The already too close encounter with the boy was proof enough that something could still go wrong with this plan.
Of course, that was only shortly after he had left MacGyver, Jack silently reasoned, then promised himself that if he was still waiting on the fourth day he'd risk getting up and stretching from time to time. By then he should be hungry enough not to care anyway.
Idly flicking at a pebble Jack wondered just how Mac was coping. His team would look after him, Jack knew, but the man sure had a habit of getting himself into trouble without trying. Just then the gate started up.
Hunkering down even further, just in case, Jack watched as the chevrons lit up one by one. With his luck it'd be a troop of jaffa. Jack cursed and growled under his breath, "Now why did you have to go and think a stupid thing like that, Jack!" But thankfully no hostiles stepped through the gate, just SG4, exactly as planned. Well, a little later than planned, but still a sight for sore eyes.
He watched as Major Elkins, his team, and six FREDs arrived on P5C-421. "Welcome to OZ," Jack murmured pulling out his binoculars from his vest. Each FRED looked heavily loaded. Two contained boxes Jack figured would be big enough for his trip back, now all he had to do was wait for them to check in with the Gerations, do a bit of show and tell, and head back. Two days, top.
Jack watched with some amusement as the team tried to steer all six FREDs at once. Not an easy task even when you had just one to manage. There were times Jack swore the machines had minds of their own. Then one of them stopped in its tracks causing the one behind it to bump into it.
He couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was obvious Elkins was not a happy camper. After about ten minutes it was apparent the FRED wasn't going to move for anyone. It was also one of the ones carrying a big enough box for Jack to hide in.
Wondering for a moment if the FRED's refusal to work was caused by him or for him, Jack watched as SG4 decided to just leave it and repacked the other FREDs to accommodate for the broken machine's load. It was then that they ran into a second problem as not only would the stubborn contraption not move, but neither would the large container on top of it. Now Elkins really wasn't a happy camper.
Eventually SG4 took everything out of the box, piling several farming tools precariously on top of the other boxes. Watching with amusement, Jack wondered what accounting said to the merchants every time they had to put an order like this one through. Cheyenne Mountain wasn't exactly known for its farming.
It was a while before SG4 finished and left. Even longer before Jack finally decided it was safe enough for him to sneak out. In the end he figured there'd be no difference to him waiting under a bush or in a box. At the very least he should check it out.
Sneaking down to the FRED turned out to be far more difficult than Jack anticipated. Mostly because his limbs refused to work the way God had intended them to. But thankfully no chance passerby was witness to his less than graceful decent down the hill.
The FRED sat like a bolder on the ground and giving the black container a good look over the only thing Jack could reason was that it was somehow glued to the FRED. Jack looked inside the empty box thinking. It certainly seemed big enough, but with the FRED inoperable they'd have to either manually haul it back to the gate or have some of the engineers come out here to fix it. More guys meant more chance of discovery.
"I guess I'm just going to have to fix it," Jack murmured, then quickly looked around to check again that he was alone. The fact that the box was glued down suggested that it had been tampered with, and if the box had been tampered with, then most likely the FRED had been as well. And knowing Mac and Carter it'd be something simple yet effective.
Checking the electrical panel only enforced his theory that this, for once, wasn't by chance. All four screws were just slightly loose, enough that it wasn't hard for him to take them all the way off with just his fingers. It took a minute, but he soon found what he was looking for. The wire that connected the transceiver to the power unit had come undone.
Jack wound it back around the screw that normally held it in place. It wouldn't hold forever but it'd hold, at least until the maintenance check found the screw was loose and tightened it back up. Messing with the machine made Jack wonder if he should start carrying a Swiss Army knife like Mac did.
Still, there was no guarantee this was the only thing wrong with the FRED, but a quick look around showed everything else in their proper place so Jack refastened the panel plate and screwed it back in place.
After that there was nothing left to do but crawl into the box. If his body felt stiff from lying out on the ground, it would absolutely hate him for this. The box wasn't very long so he'd have to curl up pretty tight to fit. With a reluctant sigh the Colonel climbed inside.
It took three different attempts before he found what he figured was the best position to wait in. Getting the lid closed had been a small challenge but as he grabbed it his fingers found something out of place. Examining it further revealed a makeshift latch that enabled the box to be locked from the inside. Jack grinned. "Way to go guys!"
At last Jack closed the lid and set the latch, plunging his world into blackness, only it wasn't as black as he'd expected. Small points of light shone out to him like a sea of stars. They were miniature holes covering near every side of the box he could see. Jack hadn't noticed them from the outside, and while they were small, the sheer amount solved yet another problem the Colonel hadn't really thought too much on. With this Jack wouldn't need to chance opening the lid for more air at all if he wanted.
Jack sighed, shifted, and then shifted one more time.
It wasn't long before he'd become bored with waiting again. That, combined with the cramped space and the manmade starry night atmosphere he felt his eyelids grow heavy and Jack soon fell into a restless sleep.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he came awake again but he fervently wished he hadn't. His side had cramped up so tight it felt like a spear had gone through him instead of a bullet. Jack grunted with pain trying to convince his body to relax, but it wasn't working so well.
"What was that?" A muffled voice suddenly questioned from outside the box. Jack froze, gritting his teeth as his side gave out another rather sharp stab of pain.
"What is it, Gilman?" Another voice responded. Jack was sure it was Major Elkins and Captain Gilman talking. Was the rest of SG4 here? Were they going back already? Jack was sure it'd have been at least a day, although he couldn't say just how long he slept for, either.
"Not sure, sir," Gilman answered. "Probably just an animal."
"All right. Dial up the gate for our check in."
"Do I tell them about the broken FRED or do we just leave it till we go back?" It was obvious Gilman didn't much care for manually pushing the contraption back just yet. Jack didn't blame him, he'd had his fair share of hulling FREDs out of ditches, too.
"If we wait it'll just sit here for two weeks rusting," Elkins replied not too happy. Two weeks?! Jack's world suddenly jerked as someone kicked it. Than Elkins said, "We'll tell the General and let him decide what to do." The voice was moving away now but Jack could still hear him remark sourly, "Stupid piece of junk. They're always braking down."
Jack silently hoped the General would decide to retrieve the FRED now. He didn't think he could survive hiding in a box for two weeks! It was a long time her was left waiting in apprehension before he heard any voices again.
"What seems to be the problem, sir?"
Jack knew that voice, it was Sergeant Siler! He half expected to hear Carter's voice, too, but it seemed Hammond had only sent Siler this time.
"It won't move," Gilman stated as if it were obvious.
Bracing himself Jack felt his little world shift and rock once again, this time a little more than needed in his personal opinion as whomever it was tried to remove the glued down box. Jack had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from crying out as his side protested quite strongly to being jerked about. Being discovered right now was the last thing he needed.
Siler, ever the serious man questioned, "What's wrong with the cargo container?"
"It won't move, either," Gilman told him and Jack's world shook once again. Do you mind? Jack mentally complained. "I think it's stuck on something." There was more jerking and bumping as they tried vainly to move the box than pry at the lid. Jack squeezed his eyes shut forcing himself to remain calm. Right now he was mentally sending his thanks to his team for their foresight and dreading should that latch fail. Somehow he didn't think they'd react so well.
Oh, hey Colonel, what are you doing in our box?
Oh, you know. Resting.
Oh, okay.
Ya, he didn't think it'd go over that well at all. It was five panic filled minutes before the shaking stopped and Elkins demanded, "What are you both doing? You're supposed to be fixing the FRED."
"But the container won't even open now, sir," Gilman protested, obviously annoyed with it.
"At least we got what we needed from it first. Let the guys back at the SGC handle it," Major Elkins told them. "I want to get this hunk of scrap metal back through the gate before it gets dark."
Jack sighed with relief but suddenly had to brace himself again as the FRED jerked forward in motion.
"Are you sure this was broken?" Siler questioned, the controls no doubt in his hands.
Gilman cursed, but Elkins just ordered, "Let's get it back through the stargate while it still works."
Jack had traveled through the gate so many times now the sudden shift never bothered him anymore, but this was his first time going through in a box…conscious anyway. It was weird, there was just no other way to explain it. And when he hit the other side he had to bite his tongue again to keep from making any noise.
There was the usual clatter of sounds, but it soon faded away as the FRED was guided out of the gate room. When the FRED finally came to a stop Jack wasn't sure what he should do. He was back on Earth, but he was still trapped inside this box as long as there was even a chance there was someone in the room. Now all he needed was-
"Sergeant Siler?"
Right on time.
"Yes Major Carter?"
"Whenever you have a moment, I'm getting some strange output reading from the device SG-7 brought back. I'm wondering if it might be similar to the readings we get from the gate sometimes."
"I have a moment now, Major," Siler responded and for a moment Jack thought he actually heard the man sigh. He'd never thought about it before but sometimes Siler did seem to be everywhere at once. He should talk to the General about getting that man a bit more credit.
Jack waited till he heard the door close to consider taking the chance of opening the box, but before he could put the thought into action he heard something. Jack strained his ears trying to figure out what it was. Was someone else in the room? Then someone knocked on the box startling him and Jack involuntarily jumped, bumping his head as it were.
"Jack?"
Daniel! He was going to kill that man!
"Jack it's all clear, you can come out now, we rigged the cameras."
"Maybe we didn't put enough holes in it." That had to be Mac
Jack twisted about to reach the latch but with all the jostling it didn't want to move.
"Then how do we get in?" Daniel asked sounding somewhat worried, much the way Jack was feeling right now. His fingers pried at the metal latch but it still refused to budge.
"Would not a sharp impact set it free?" Teal'c suggested.
Jack internally wondered if the jaffa was joking or serious but then Mac hurriedly replied, "Give me a minute to think, okay?"
"Jack?" Daniel tried again.
"I'm here, Daniel," Jack finally responded, cursing under his breath as his side flared to life in pain. It didn't much like the twisting about either. "Just give me a minute, will ya?"
No one said anything and after much threatening the latch finally gave in. Actually it came right off. He pushed the lid open, blinking back against the sudden light.
"Colonel, are you all right?"
Jack focused on the four faces circled around the box and realized one was out of place. "Janet? What are you doing here?" He glared up at the rest of them struggling to get himself out of the box but cramped joints and sore muscles refused to cooperate. "Does everyone know? Because if that was the case I'd rather have walked back then be shipped!"
"No one else knows O'Neill," Teal'c reassured him.
Jack wasn't all that comforted, especially as he twisted his side again trying a new position for getting out of the box. It didn't working either.
"Answer me one thing Colonel," Janet said in her no nonsense tone of voice she usually reserved for the times she needed to pull rank as CMO. "Or should I say, Dexter Fillmore?"
Jack stopped his struggling to look at her startled. Dexter? It was hard to keep his face from showing his shock, but a quick look at Mac and Jack half-demanded, "How do you know that name?"
Fraiser looked worried, Teal'c calm, and Daniel incredulous. "You mean that really is you name?" Daniel exclaimed.
Looking a little uneasy Mac said, "I had to tell them Jack, I'm sorry."
Tell them what exactly? But then Janet asked him her voice laden with concern. "Colonel, if it comes out that you have an identical twin will it really put your life in that much danger?"
Jack turned to her and he could honestly say, "Yes Janet it will. And to anyone who knows me." After that the group was pensive until Jack shifted yet again and finally griped, "Will you guys please help me out of here?"
Teal'c and MacGyver each grabbed an arm and with a good yank out he popped. He was glad they were still hanging onto him after because it was several minutes before his legs wanted to hold him on their own, but as soon as they did he stated in his own no nonsense tone of voice. "All right Mac, it's time for you to leave."
"Are you sure?" Mac asked, all too innocently.
Jack gave him a hard glare. If that latch getting stuck was any kind of sign Jack definitely wanted Mac to leave! "Yes, I'm sure."
Ready to tow the man after him if it meant getting him out of the mountain Jack grabbed Mac's arm and gave the man a tug towards the door.
"Wait, Jack, the cameras," Mac reminded him.
Stopping, Jack tiredly ran a hand through his hair asking them, "Is this the only camera that's fixed?"
Before they could answer all the lights went out plunging the room into complete blackness. A high disadvantage to having a base underground but in the next second the klaxons came to life and the emergency power flickered on.
"Daniel go find out what's going on," Jack immediately ordered. The anthropologist immediately turned and that's when Jack noticed the man's limp, remembering blatantly that Daniel had been injured only a day or so ago. But before Jack could retract his order Jackson had left with Doctor Fraiser hot on his heels, she had her own responsibilities to cover whenever the alarms sounded. That left just Teal'c here with them. Jack seriously wanted to talk to Mac in private, about as much as he wanted to find out what was happening. "T, watch the door, will ya? I want to make sure no one stumbles in on us by accident."
The jaffa tilted his head and moved away to stand guard at the entrance of the FREDs' storage room. He was a little out of place there like that the Colonel realized, but it got the jaffa out of the way at least. As soon as they were alone Jack turned to MacGyver and demanded, "Okay Mac, just what the hell did you tell them?"
Mac opened his mouth and a rushed explanation came tumbling out. "Your real name's Dexter Fillmore, you had a twin brother named Mike, you saw HIT kill him, testified and now you're under the WPP. Mike and I were mixed up at the hospital but you and I never met till after your new identity so to keep from uncovering it that's why we keep our relationship a secret."
Jack couldn't help it, he just stared at MacGyver. "And they believed you?"
Shrugging Mac replied, "Sort of, but I think they're highly suspicious."
Then another question demanded to come out. "Why Dexter?! Isn't he one of your alter egos?"
"It was the first name off the top of my head," Mac replied defensively. "Would you rather it'd been Angus?"
Jack had to agree. "No." Then with a slight grin added, "Besides, that's your name."
Mac grimaced, and then blatantly asked, "Jack, why can't we just tell them? They're your team aren't they? I just feel like we can trust them."
"No," Jack stated quite firmly. "I'm not about to risk anyone else with this."
The alarms cut out ending whatever emergency was going on, at least on the immediate level, but the power still didn't switch back over.
"We might not be able to stop it this time Jack," Mac told him somberly.
"Well we're going to try," Jack replied determined, but deep down in his core he was having the same feeling Mac was.
Mac let out a long sigh and looking somewhat grim said, "I think we might have another problem to consider. If I'm correct it took nearly seven hours for the effects to wear off."
"What? But I was halfway across the galaxy!" Jack knew the effect of their particular relationship was still active when the Geration nearly stumbled upon him, but for it to last seven hours?
"Maybe as we've gotten older the field of-"
Jack cut the man off. Mac was getting that glint in his eyes. The same one every scientist got when examining an experiment. Jack just didn't like being the experiment. "Mac. At least wait till tomorrow. I've had a long day."
The man bounced a bit on the spot but nodded agreement. "Sure Jack."
Then the door opened and both men tensed ready to make a quick dash behind the nearest FRED if need be, but it was just SG1 returning.
"Sir," Carter said as soon as they approached. "There was an energy surge in the gate, knocked out the power till we can get the transformer fixed."
"But," Daniel added wobbling slightly till Teal'c put a hand of support under his elbow. "It means the cameras are out again till then. So it's now or never."
"We'll take now." Then Jack frowned and he half-asked, half-demanded, "Daniel, what are you doing out of the infirmary?"
Daniel snorted. "Are you kidding me? I wouldn't miss this for the world, Dexter."
The Colonel tried giving the man an evil glare but it wasn't working as well as he wished so he turned back to the business at hand. "Okay guys, let's go."
They carefully made their way up two levels to the same place Jack entered the SGC not two days before. The latches sealing the door shut were still burnt through which meant no one had discovered it yet. And with luck, no one would for some time.
Poking his head inside the tunnel Mac looked up its long dark length. "I guess there's no sense in waiting." He reached out and grabbed the dangling rope and harness, fastening it around him. Turning back he pulled a disk from his pocket and handed it over to Jack. "Here, just in case."
Eyeing the object wearily Jack slowly asked, "What is it?"
Mac grinned. "Your report." But there was something in the man's eyes that told Jack there was something more on the disk as well.
Tucking it into his pocket but feeling the alien disk there as he did Jack suddenly asked, "Where's the disk?"
The rest looked somewhat confused and Carter even murmured, "Disk?" But Mac grinned again, replying, "In Carter's lab." Then with a smirk MacGyver waved and said to the group. "It's been fun. I'll see you around, Jack."
"Ya Mac." Jack leaned in to watch as the man began the long assent up the shaft pulling his way up the rope one foot at a time.
There was no warning, just a feeling Jack couldn't ignore. The Colonel had been about to turn away, reassured that Mac was safely making his way up to the surface when quite suddenly the rope gave out and Mac was no longer climbing but falling. Jack lunged forward. There was at least another five floors to the bottom more than enough of a distance to kill a man. "Mac!"
The Colonel felt strong arms wrap aground his middle even as he half fell through the hatchway catching at Mac's outreached arm right at the last second. As soon as Teal'c could get a hand in the jaffa took over pulling a somewhat alarmed MacGyver out of the tunnel and back out into the hallway.
It was Carter and Daniel who'd latched onto Jack to prevent him from falling and as MacGyver came back out they all separated reassured they were all safe. Jack sank back against the wall in pain. He knew his team meant well, but they didn't know about his bullet wound and the extra support had sent flares shooting through his body in protest.
As soon as MacGyver got his feet under him again he smiled at Teal'c radiating relief and gratitude. "Thanks. That could have been bad."
"Indeed," the jaffa replied solemnly.
"Was the rope cut?" Daniel immediately questioned.
MacGyver pulled up the rope dangling from his harness and looked at the end carefully. "Nope. It broke."
Carter took the rope from him frowning as she examined it. "The rope isn't that old and they're tested to hold up to three tones."
"Guess I've put on some weight," Mac joked then looking at Jack asked concerned, "You okay?"
Jack had been trying his best to hide the pain from his face but as soon as the attention was on him he knew it was impossible.
"Sir, you're hurt," Sam exclaimed in alarm.
"I'm fine Carter," Jack responded and pushed himself away from the wall as if to prove it but he wavered slightly uncertain and finally had to grab at his side to keep it from clenching on him.
Daniel gave him a look of disbelief and stated simply, "Jack, you're not fine."
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Mac asked worry in his eyes.
"Yes!" Jack almost cried out exasperated, even more determined to somehow get MacGyver out of the mountain than before. "Mac, you think you can climb it on your own?"
The man poked his head back in examining the tunnel carefully. "Probably, but I'll need a flashlight."
"Teal'c, go get him a flashlight."
The jaffa left but Daniel persisted in asking, "Jack, how did you get hurt?"
"I was shot," Jack snapped back irritated with the whole situation. Why couldn't things just work the way they were supposed to!
The anthropologist was too shocked to be offended. "On P5C-421?"
"No," Jack grumbled somewhat calmer but grimacing as his side began to throb. "Before that."
"Sir," Carter said sounding somewhat injured. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because you didn't need to know, Carter. We had enough to deal with out there, remember?" Jack replied.
Teal'c returned at a fast walk, almost a run for anyone else. Mac took the offered flashlight but turned back had to ask one last time. "Jack, are you sure-"
"Mac, get your butt up there will you?" Jack cut him off in exasperation. Mac just shrugged then getting back inside the dark tunnel began to work his way up bracing himself between the walls to get better stability as he held the flashlight in his mouth. Now, if nothing else went wrong…
Voices could be heard approaching from down the corridor. Jack cursed, then jumped into the shaft grabbing onto Mac's legs as he did. MacGyver let out a string of garbled words before grabbing the flashlight with a quick hand and exclaiming, "Jack, what are you doing?!"
Jack ignored him hissing sharply, "Teal'c close the door!"
The jaffa did, just in time as Jack heard someone question surprised, "Major Carter? Doctor Jackson? Teal'c? What are you doing here?"
"What does it look like, we're talking," Daniel replied smartly.
Then Carter stated in her best military voice, "On your way Airmen."
"Yes ma'am."
"Jack?" Mac whispered from above and Jack looked up into the dim light, feeling the man's worried gaze more than seeing it. "We can't keep this up."
"Just another minute," Jack whispered back up to him.
"No, I mean-" but the hatch door was opening again and Jack was carefully getting back out.
"Okay Mac, it's safe to go now."
"I'm trying Jack, believe me!" But Mac began his climb upwards again, if a bit slower than before. They waited till he was out of sight before they closed the door. Jack wondered if he should have told Mac how to get past the security on the lid but figured the man would improvise his way out if he needed to. Hopefully.
Once Mac was safely on his way Jack felt himself relax somewhat, then he turned and had to face the expressions of his team and any bit of relief vanished. "What?"
"So how did you get shot?" Daniel demanded.