Warning: Stan's back!
Chapter 10
O'Neill and Mackenzie arrived at their destination; they were both wearing ball caps and sunglasses. O'Neill parked the car down the street from the restaurant so he could get a good view of those coming and going. He pulled out his cell phone and dialled the restaurant. "Yea is there a Danny Jackson there?" He had to grin thinking about Daniel's reaction to his page. A few moments later, there was a voice on the phone.
"Ah Jackson here."
"Hey Daniel."
"Jack! What the hell is going on?" Daniel was talking quietly, but he did emphasize Jack's name.
"We'll get to that later, were you followed?"
"Ah no."
"You sure?"
"Yes, now do you mind telling me what's going on?"
"All in good time Danny-boy. Now I want you to leave the restaurant, walk up the street to the newspaper stand, wait a few minutes, and then go into the coffee shop across the street. Got it?"
"Yes Jack I got it. Don't you think you're being a little paranoid?"
"No Daniel, just cautious; now get moving." Jack ordered Daniel this time.
"Okay Jack." Daniel said, then headed out the restaurant and did as instructed.
Jack and Mac watched Daniel as he left the restaurant and started walking. They kept an eye out for any signs that Daniel was being followed. He finally made it to the coffee shop, "That's my cue, keep your eyes open Mackenzie." Jack said as he got out of the car and headed for the coffee shop.
Daniel sat in a booth in the corner of the coffee shop; he was sipping his coffee waiting impatiently for Jack to show up. Then he saw him enter wearing dark sunglasses and a baseball cap. He watched as Jack went to the counter and ordered a coffee before coming to sit down at the booth. "Nice of you to show up Jack, now what…the…hell…is…going…on?" Daniels' anger and desperation was clearly showing.
"Nice to see you too Daniel."
"Jaaaack."
"Okay, for starters Carter's alright. She got beaten pretty badly, and has a concussion but she's doing better now."
"Geez Jack I was so worried, when I saw all that blood…" Daniel was looking down shaking his head.
"Yea Daniel I know. You know head wounds bleed a lot, plus Carter thinks she broke the nose of one of the attackers."
Daniel had to smile at that, "That's our Sam, quite the fighter."
"That she is Daniel." Jack said with a grin, and pride in his voice. "Anyway Daniel, we can't bring her in until we find out whose behind this. Carter says she'll never be safe at home and doesn't really want to take up residence at the base. Not that I can blame her."
"So what can I do to help?" Daniel was hoping he could be useful; after all, he did love Sam. she was family. Their bond had grown over the years they had worked together, and being the scientists, they felt a kindred spirit.
Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Carter did some digging and came up with these places in the area; we think they were used by Maybourne and his secret NID operation. I need you and Teal'c to check them out, covertly. Do you think you can handle that?"
"What about General Hammond?"
"Report to him, but make sure it's his ears only, let him know what's going on. Carter's going to try to do some more digging."
"Ah Jack, where did Sam get a computer?"
"Oh yea, it seems our illustrious Commander Rabb called in his partner from JAG, a Lt. Col. Sara Mackenzie, who brought some supplies along with her including a computer."
"Wow that's handy, but another lawyer, what about me or Teal'c, we'd give out lives to help Sam." Daniel was now letting his anger show.
"Yea I know Daniel, it wasn't my idea to bring her in; but seeing as she's here now, we put her to use. Actually she's in the car watching my back."
"Oh really?" Daniel was shocked that Jack would let someone he didn't know, watch his back.
"So you get going, when I want to talk to you next time, we'll get in touch on the computer again, when we do, go to the little coffee shop on Baker St. and wait, I'll get in touch with you."
"Okay Jack, I'll get right on it."
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It was a hot summer day in Colorado Springs; Mac had been sitting in the car with the windows open for a while now watching the coffee shop entrance and surrounding area. She saw a few people go in, but didn't see anything suspicious. 'Why do I always get the boring jobs?' Mac thought to herself. She watched a young mother pushing a stroller down the street; she could hear the baby crying and saw the woman leaning over the stroller trying to calm the baby down. Mac thought about how she'd like to be in that position some day, and grinned remembering the pact she and Harm had made. "In five years, if we're not with anyone, how about you and I have a baby." 'Yea I wouldn't mind having a baby with Harm.' Mac thought, but now is not the time to be thinking of that.
Mac continued to watch the coffee shop, and noticed that the young mother was coming her way. She hoped nothing would happen; she didn't want the woman and her baby to be in any danger. Then she noticed the woman reach into the stroller, pull out a gun and fire it her way. At the sight of the gun, Mac instinctively took cover lying down in the car. The first shot missed her, but the second didn't, she saw that she was actually shot by a dart, before her world went black. Moments later a white van pulled up beside the car, two men dressed in black and wearing masks grabbed Mac put her in the van and quickly sped away. The woman with the 'baby' had already jumped into the passenger's seat of the van, when it sped away.
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Sam was laying on the couch working on the computer, grateful that the pills and finally taken affect. "Would you like something to drink? Since there's no power, I think the best I can offer is some nice cold water from the tap." Harm asked with a smile.
"Yea thanks, water would be good. Too bad the powers off, air conditioning would be nice about now." Sam said pulled the sweaty t-shirt away from her neck, the long sleeve jacket having been discarded long ago.
Harm brought her the water, and went back to checking around the house. It would be nice to open some windows in this heat, but he wouldn't take the chance until the others came back. He was checking the windows in the back bedroom, when he heard a noise coming from the basement. He drew his gun and headed for the basement door. "Sam, I think I heard something, keep your guard up." He called out.
Sam heard Harm's warning and grabbed the gun that was beside her and slid the lap top under the couch so just an edge was showing, while keeping a watch on the windows and door of the living room. Since the couch was up against a wall, she didn't have to worry about someone sneaking up on her. Then she heard a noise coming from the bedroom area. "Harm is that you?" She called out but not too loudly. When she didn't hear a reply, she dropped herself to the floor laying flat between the couch and coffee table; hopefully she would be hard to spot. Then she heard what sounded like a scuffle coming from the basement. She was scared and worried, but her soldier mode kicked in quickly calming her down, readying her for a fight.
Harm silently crept down the basement stairs ready to shoot anything that moved. His eyes had to adjust to the dim light, he scanned the area, and saw nothing at first, then he noticed a broken window, he turned quickly only to come in contact with an intruder who had skilfully grabbed hold of his gun, and started fighting with him. It didn't last long as a second man shot him, Harm's eyes widened with shock just before he passed out.
Sam was listening intently, for any clues of what was happening; maybe the colonel was right about splitting up, but at least Mac wasn't here, she should be safe with the colonel. Then she heard footsteps approaching, if it was Harm, he knew to acknowledge himself; who ever it was, was going to be sorry. She watched the entrance to the hallway waiting for any sign; then she saw a shadow. Her heart was pounding as she readied to shoot.
The next few moments happened quickly. Sam fired at the shadowy figure, as a gas canister was thrown into the room, landing not far from her spewing smoke. The room quickly filled with smoke, as the front door busted open, she shot at the figure entering the house, only to feel the impact of something hitting her in the arm. She saw that she had been pierced with a dart; she continued firing, this time at the figures at the doorway to the hall, only to be shot again with another dart hitting her in the back, her vision was starting to blur, but she would not give up, she kept firing in both directions hoping to hit her marks. The smoke was obscuring her vision and now causing her to cough and the two darts were fighting with her adrenaline making her drowsy, but she wasn't going to give up, not with out a fight. After the third dart hit her, her battle was over as she finally lost consciousness.
The four intruders all clad in black, with ski masks hiding their faces, made their way cautiously into the living room; two from the front door, two from the hallway. "Shit, I can't believe it took three darts to put her out. Is everyone okay?"
"I got clipped in the arm, but I'll be alright." One guy said, holding his arm.
"It's a good thing we're wearing vests." Another man said.
"Let's get her out of here, before the gas fumes get to us." As this was said two other assailants went and picked up Sam dragging her out of the smoke filled room, out to the garage and into a waiting white van.
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O'Neill came out of the coffee shop, grateful that he had been wearing his sunglasses, as the glare of the sun hit him right in the face. He held his hand to his forehead and looked for the car. He noticed a baby stroller next to the car, but no one was around. He got very concerned and scanned the area even more; he noticed the car was empty. 'Damn it, where did she go,' he thought as he made his way to the car. What he saw next made his face go pale. The car was empty except for a single dart with a red tail sticking in the seat where Mac had been sitting. He quickly pulled out his cell phone and called Rabb's number. He waited impatiently for Rabb to pick up, but he never did. O'Neill put his phone away, and sped off to their hiding place.
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Stan was on the phone, nervously talking to his boss. "Yes Sir, we're hitting both places at the same, we should have Major Carter in our care today." Stan hung up the phone, and only hoped for his sake that the plan to capture Carter would work.
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Jack drove up to the house, and to his horror, he saw the front door had been kicked in. He pulled out his gun and slowly and cautiously entered the house. He saw the empty gas canister, and more darts all over the room. He took a calming breath, and proceeded to check the other rooms on the main floor; after finding nothing he started to go down the stairs to the basement. He cautiously made his way down, and saw Rabb lying on the floor face down with a dart in his back. Jack checked out the rest of the basement before going over to Rabb.
"Rabb, can you hear me?" Jack said pulling the dart out and shaking Rabb vigorously. "Come on Rabb, wake up." Jack said even louder, but was getting no response. Jack turned Rabb over checked his pulse and found it to be strong and steady. Next, he took out his phone and dialled Daniel. "Daniel, everything's shot to hell, looks like they got Sam and Mackenzie, inform the General, then get Teal'c and get over here." Jack told Daniel the address and waited patiently for them to arrive, and for Rabb to wake up.
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Mac was carried into the large basement room, where Stan had been waiting impatiently. She was dropped unceremoniously on the floor. Stan stepped over to her, bent his head to the side as he looked at her face. He then turned to the two men and woman and asked. "Why the hell did you bring her here?"
One of the men spoke up, "Ah you wanted her here." He said puzzled.
Stan knelt down beside Mac and pulled the cap off her head. "Does this look like Major Carter?" He yelled.
This time the woman spoke up. "She was with O'Neill and with the hat on we couldn't tell it wasn't her."
"That's a sorry excuse! Let's just hope things are going better with the second team. Lock her in the storage room down the hall for now." Stan was angry, and couldn't believe things were going so wrong.
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Jack saw Rabb start to stir, "Rabb, come on wake up." Jack was once again shaking Rabb's shoulder.
"Wha…what?" Rabb said as he brought his hand to rub his forehead. "What's going on?" He said sounding confused.
"That's what I'd like to know, what happened to Carter?" Jack's anguish for Sam was growing by the second; he needed answers and needed them now.
Harm was now sitting up with some help from O'Neill. "I heard some noises, warned Sam then went to check it out. I remember fighting with one guy all dressed in black and wearing a ski mask." Harm looked around the room, "that's all I remember, I must have been knocked out."
"Yea well they were using a dart gun, from the effects it has on you, it must be some pretty strong stuff."
Harm once again looked around the room noticing that someone was missing. "Where's Mac?" He asked looking O'Neill in the eyes.
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Mac was coming around, she'd never felt this groggy before, she started to rub her eyes to try and focus better. She had a nagging pain in her arm and when she went to rub it, she found something stuck in her arm. She instinctively pulled it out, then remembered she had been shot with a tranquilliser dart. Realization hit her, she had been taken by the people after Sam; they must have thought she was Sam. Fear started to set in, she knew they wanted Sam alive, but what about her. Her attention was brought to the noises she heard outside the door.
"Hurry up; you know how impatient Stan can be."
"I know but you're not the one carrying the load. I'm going as fast as I can"
"Well it's about time!" Stan yelled as he saw the four men entering the room, one carrying a body that at least looked like Major Carter from where he was standing.
"Where do you want her?" The man carrying Sam asked.
"Just drop her on the floor, I don't care where." Stan said, not believing how stupid these people could be. He saw Carter being dropped to the floor, then moved closer to assess her condition. First, he nudged her with his foot, but there was no response. He tried again, but this time he kicked her hard in the right side; still no response.
"Shit what the hell's wrong with her?" Stan yelled at the others, he was worried that if she were dead, it would be his head on the chopping block.
"We had to shoot her…three times."
"What the hell are you talking about Frank; three of those darts can kill a person!"
Frank knelt down beside Sam and checked if she was breathing, and then checked her pulse. "Well she's still alive, but her pulse is weak and breathing shallow. Maybe all she needs is to sleep it off."
"You better hope so, because if she dies, it our heads. Put her in the storage room with the other one, hopefully she'll wake up soon so we can get on with the plan." Stan told them.
Frank motioned for one of the other guys to help him, and they dragged her out of the room.
Mac heard voices again in the hall, then she heard the doorknob being moved. She got up and waited beside the door.
The door swung open, and Mac was ready to throw her elbow towards the first person she saw, unfortunately there were four people surrounding the door, two of whom were holding on to an unconscious Major Carter under the arms. "Get back in the room Col. Mackenzie." Frank said, still holding Carter just outside of the door.
"How do you know my name?" Mac said, then looked down; "and what did you do to Major Carter?"
"We know a lot of things Colonel, and the Major put up more of a fight than she should have been able to, unfortunately she ended up with three darts."
Mac looked shocked at the news, she knew how she felt waking up after just one dart, what the hell would three do. "I think she'll need a doctor." Mac said as she crouched down next to Sam, who was now inside the room with her. Mac felt for a pulse, and was relieved to find one, it was faint, but it was there.
"That's not an option Colonel." Frank said as he slammed the door shut and locked it.
Mac was extremely worried, she knew that the darts had some kind of tranquillizer in them, and Sam had received three doses. She hoped Sam would survive the overdose and not die on her. For now all Mac could do was watch to make sure Sam kept breathing, and had a hart beat. Mac rolled Sam on her side, so she wouldn't choke in case she vomited while unconscious.
"It's all up to you now Sam." Mac said to the woman, who had slowly grown on her, and now thought of as a friend
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Jack and Harm had now been joined by Daniel and Teal'c. Harm was now up and pacing around the living room. "I can't believe you let them get Mac." He said angrily at O'Neill.
"Well I don't see Carter anywhere around here either!" O'Neill spat out.
"Look you two, this isn't helping." Daniel said speaking up.
"I want to know how they found us?" Harm said looking at Daniel.
Daniel furrowed his brow, and didn't like the innuendo. "I don't know Commander how did they find you?"
"Look we were fine until O'Neill contacted you." Harm said in his most steely voice.
"Commander Rabb, Daniel Jackson had nothing to do with the enemy finding Major Carter and Colonel Mackenzie." Teal'c informed him, showing no emotion as usual.
"Okay that's enough everyone, right now we have to figure out where they took them." Jack said taking command of the situation. "You know Rabb, now that Carter's been kidnapped, there's really no reason for you to stick around. We can handle this ourselves."
"You've got to be kidding. There's no way in hell I'm leaving now, or have you forgotten Mac's also been kidnapped. I'm not going anywhere until both women are found and back with us." Harm said his face turning slightly red with anger.
"Okay okay, Daniel you still have those addresses I gave you?" Jack asked.
"Yes Jack." Daniel said exasperated.
"Teal'c you and Daniel check out the first address, Rabb and I will check out the second. Try and stay out of sight, if you find anything give me a call and we'll be right there."
"We will do as you say O'Neill, as I hope you will call us if you find Major Carter and Colonel Mackenzie." Teal'c said bowing his head.
"Daniel did you bring the extra fire power?" Jack asked
"Sure did, it's in the car." Daniel said as he lead Jack and Harm to his car, where he opened the trunk and allowed Jack to grab two P90"s and two zats.
"Rabb, this weapon is top secret, so make sure no one sees it." Jack told Rabb and then showed him how to arm and fire it. "Just remember, one shot stuns, two shots kill. It's quieter than a gun, so we should be able to sneak in to the place ."
"Understood." Rabb said as he took the weapons from O'Neill.
"Everyone ready to go?" O'Neill asked.
Jack heard two yeses and one indeed, then proceeded to getting into the car with Rabb and speed off. He saw Daniel and Teal'c take off in the opposite direction. 'They have to be in one of these places, I hope.'
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Mac checked Sam's pulse for the umpteenth time; she wasn't sure but she thought it was getting stronger, and her breathing didn't seem to be as shallow. 'Good signs' she thought to herself. Then she heard the doorknob rattle again, before it opened.
This time there were three people, two men holding guns and a woman. "Go stand over there." one of the men, said pointing to the wall across from Sam. Mac got up and slowly moved to the wall. The woman came in, knelt beside Sam, turned her on her back and straightened her arm. She then pull out a large syringe and proceeded to take a blood sample.
"That should do it." The woman said as she put a cotton ball on the injection site, then got up to leave with the others. "You might want to put some pressure on that." She told Mac as she left the room, and the door was locked once again.
Mac went back to Sam's side and did as the woman suggested, putting pressure on the injection site to stop the bleeding. 'What do they want from you Sam?' She thought to herself. Then she felt Sam start to stir. "Sam, Sam can you hear me"
Mac said gently shaking Sam's shoulder.
Sam couldn't believe how tired she was feeling, she could swear she heard someone calling her name. She was trying to open her eyes, but finding it very difficult.
Mac noticed Sam's eyes fluttering, and tried again to pull her into consciousness. "Come on Sam, wake up." Mac was using a more forceful voice and now lightly slapping Sam's face.
"What the hell." Sam mumbled.
Mac let out a slight laugh, "That's it Sam, come on wake up." She said while shaking her shoulder again.
"Ow." Sam said as she slowly started to wake up. She could feel someone shaking her shoulder, and for some reason it hurt.
"S-stop, sh-aking me."
"Only if you wake up Sam." Mac said feeling thankful to be getting a response.
"I'm a-wake." Sam slurred.
"I'll believe you when you open your eyes"
"..kay." Sam said while trying to open her heavy eyelids. Finally, she was able to open them slightly, regretting it when the light hit her. "Oh, I feel sick."
Mac helped turn Sam back onto her side, just in case and noticed her try to jerk away when Mac touched her side. "Your side still giving you a lot of problems?"
"Actually I thought it was getting a little better when I was lying on the couch, but now it hurts like a son of a bitch." Sam said as she reached to touch the area.
"Maybe it got injured more during your capture."
'Capture?' Now it was coming back to Sam, how they had come back for her, the darts and firing her gun. "I thought they wanted me, what are you doing here?"
"I think they got us mixed up, and took me by accident." Mac said, now sitting on the floor with her knees bent.
"That's odd, we don't look alike."
"Well I was wearing a baseball cap, while waiting for O'Neill in the car."
"Just like I was wearing a baseball cap on the drive to the house. They must have been following us." Sam realized. "I'm sorry Mac; it's my fault you're here."
"No it's not your fault, it's theirs." Mac said trying to dissuade her guilt.
Sam was trying to sit up, and was grateful for the assistance Mac provided. They managed to get Sam so she was leaning against a wall, with her head resting on her folded arms against her knees. "I hate to have to tell you this Mac, but I won't give them any information, no matter what they do."
"Do you think they might try to use me to get you to talk?" Mac said nervously, she knew she was expendable and didn't like the consequences that might occur.
"Yea, I'm afraid so. The best thing to do is not to show any emotion, no matter what you hear or see. I may have to say some pretty nasty stuff; just don't take it personally." Sam sighed, not liking that Mac was now stuck in this position with her.
"Don't worry about me Sam, you do what you have to, I understand." Sometime being a soldier really sucked, having to put on a brave face when you wished you could be anywhere but here.
"Mac if you get the chance to escape, take it. Don't look back; just run." Sam could see the indecision in Mac's eyes, but hoped she would follow the instructions.
"Hey, who's the ranking officer here? I'm the one supposed to give the orders." Mac said jokingly.
"Yea well I'm the one with more experience." Sam said matter of factly.
Mac could tell from the look on Sam's face that she was dead serious about having the experience, which peaked Mac's curiosity even more.
Their conversation ended abruptly, when they heard the doorknob rattle. The door opened with the same four men standing outside that had brought Sam there. One man stepped in pointing a gun at Sam. "Good to see you're awake, now come with us."
Sam looked up at the man; he was tall with a thin build and sandy blonde hair. "I don't think I can move yet."
"Well you better try." Frank said.
"She just woke up a few minutes ago, I had to help sit up." Mac said, trying to convince him.
"Then you can help her now; stand her up. Now." Frank said in a commanding voice.
Mac shook her head, but moved over to Sam, after a bit of a struggle the managed to get to their feet with Sam leaning heavily on Mac.
"Okay you two this way." Frank said pointing the way with his gun.
They were now walking down the dark dank hallway, Mac figured they must be a basement, but had no idea where. "Any idea where we are?" Mac whispered so only Sam could hear. She saw Sam shake her head no, and just sighed. They were lead into a larger room, with one small window that looked like it was eight feet high.
"Ah welcome Colonel Mackenzie, nice of you to drop by; and Major Carter how nice it is to see you again." Stan said with a sneer.
Sam looked at Stan's face and noticed the bruising; she figured out he's the one whose nose she broke. "Well I see I gave you something to remember me by." Sam said weakly, still being held up by Mac.
Stan stepped closer to the two women, put his hand under Sam's chin and lifted her face so she was looking him in the face. "I also remember something from our previous encounter." He said smiling as he punched her in the stomach.
The force of the blow made Sam lose what grip she had on Mac, causing her to fall to the floor gasping for air. Mac tried hard to keep Sam up on her feet but was unable to do so when the blow came. She watched as Sam fought to get her breath. "What the hell was that for?" Mac said clearly letting her anger show.
"Ah Colonel, why don't you have a seat, you might learn something." Stan said motioning to the others. Two men grabbed Mac and forced her to sit in a chair, tying her hands to arm rests and her feet to the legs of the chair.
"Now that you're comfortable Colonel, its time to make the Major more comfortable. I had a special place prepared just for her." Stan motioned to the same two men, who moved over to Sam. They tied her hands together in front of her, than hauled her to her feet and dragged her to the support column. A metal hook had been nailed into the concrete high above her head. Frank went over to help; he lifted her up while the other two manoeuvred her arms so they hung from the hook. As they let go of Sam, her knees buckled under her, and now was only being held up by the ropes tied to her hands.
"You can't do this!" Mac called out, she couldn't believe the situation she was in, that she was actually going to witness someone being tortured. That someone being Sam Carter.
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A/N: I know I'm being nasty again, leaving you here. It must be the Goa'uld taking over again. (eyes glow)