((Head 'um up… Move 'um out… got my flow back it seems… 'Mifune' is a real restaurant in San Francisco Japan town; the noodles are the best :). And as always thank you for the reviews. Swear word this installment but eh this is 2005 and you hear worse on 'Dateline.' And need I mention that the 'Denver Post' belongs to them… I make no assumptions/claims of ownership.))

Colorado Springs, Colorado
Stargate Command - Level 27 SGC Briefing Room – 1:58pm

"Just what do you think you're doing here Senator?" Hammond said as he slowly rose from his chair at the head of the conference table; a fury he rarely felt was building within his veins and slowly overriding his usually well engrained sense of decorum.

"What I'm doing General is ensuring that your incompetence doesn't further compromise this nation's security and put more innocent civilians in harms way." He replied ignoring the General's demand; the aged Statesman slowly moved to the opposite end of the table and as he crossed his arms over his chest he straightened up to his full height, trying to present a picture of authority… it did little to impress those within the room.

"Need I remind you Senator that I answer to the Joint Chiefs and that they are fully aware of the situation and your concern is dually noted. Now if you'll excuse us I trust you know how to find your way out." Replied the seasoned warrior as he rested his hands on the dark wooden surface and glared at the man that had quickly moved from mere thorn in his side to an outright hindrance to the daily operations of his base.

"Furthermore," he said as he glanced behind the Senator, "you should know better then to bring an unauthorized individual into a classified briefing."

"This is Richard Grant, and you can save your righteous indignation for another time General. I assure you that Mr. Grant has the proper clearances to be here." He replied without taking his eyes off the General.

"Probably from those oh so charming people at the NID Sir, you know how concerned they are about national security and such." Colonel O'Neill said out of the blue, his cold brown eyes alternating between the Senator and his silent companion.

"If I might ask… just how," said O'Neill as he turned his attention away from Marius and back to Kinsey, "did you learn about this situation? I was under the impression that it was compartmentalized and well… you're not in our command structure."

Marius lowered his head to hide the grin upon his face at the brashness of the Colonel's words… 'Oh if you only knew the truth Colonel… that I was behind telling Kinsey about Kallisto's death… and that soon all this will be mine!'

"I don't need to explain myself to you COLONEL O'Neill," replied Kinsey, his ire slowly rising at the blatant lack of respect apparent in Jack's voice, "or have you forgotten that I am Chairman of the Senate Oversight Committee on Intelligence?"

"Just how did you learn about this situation Senator", Hammond said before O'Neill's mouth could completely open with what would most likely have been a suitably derisive reply, "and furthermore I don't see how this situation concerns you?"

"I'm here to ensure that you don't screw up yet again and endanger the lives of more innocent civilians." Kinsey replied in a condescending tone as he straighten up and slowly strolled down the length of the table, an air of superiority radiating from his every pore.

"I don't understand what you mean by 'innocent civilians' Senator?" Daniel asked as he swiveled in his chair to glace towards Kinsey over the rims of his glasses.

"Dr. David Jordan… Dr. Steven Rayner… and let's not forget Dr. Sarah Gardner, Dr. Johnson… any civilians that have the misfortune to cross SG-1's path wind up either dead or hosts to a Goa'uld." Kinsey was oblivious to the reaction of those around him, especially Daniel's. Oh no, Kinsey's sole focus was the man slowly advancing upon him from the head of the table.

"Why are you here SENATOR Kinsey?" Hammond reiterated; coming to stand toe-to-toe with the man that had, during his years as the head of the SGC, gone from valued ally to the programs most virulent detractor.

"Why to inform you that, as the head of the Intelligence Committee, I am assigning the recovery of Major Frasier to the NID", he smirked, "and that SG-1, and you General, are to stay out of their way."

"You can't do that!" Sam blurted out finally finding her voice, she glanced toward her CO and could see that he was about to snap.

The sound of slight chuckling from there base commander drained the mounting tension from the room; its sound was foreign and seemingly out of place during such a serious situation.

"I am so very glad that you find this amusing General." Said Kinsey, as he folded his arms across his chest; a look of uneasy slowly replacing the cheerful glee that had filled his face.

"Oh yes Sir, Senator I find it very amusing," Hammond turned to Major Davis, "Major if you would be so kind."

Major Davis had remained silent throughout the entire conversation, he had learned in his long posting as an aide within the Pentagon how to remain unnoticed until the moment required it… and that moment was now; walking from his position at the head of the conference table the Major approached Kinsey and from within the breast pocket of his dress blues removed a sealed envelope "Senator these are signed orders from the President himself ceding all direct operational control of the recovery of Major Janet Frasier USAF to Stargate Command and General George Hammond USAF."

The Senator grabbed the enveloped from the Major's hand and tore it open hastily; Davis quietly returned to his former position at the head of the table. Those gathered had the rare pleasure of watching the color upon Kinsey's face at first totally drain then quickly be replaced by a deep red as he was put in his place.

As he crumpled the signed document within his hand he glared at the General and slowly turned leaving without another word.

…

Denver, Colorado
Mifune Japanese Restaurant – 5:32 pm

Five days… 120 simple hours…it was hard for her to grasp it but that's how little time had passed since her world had been turned upside down, maybe it was for the best… comfort bred a lassie faire attitude and she was pressed to admit it… a familiarity that could have proved fatal.

Since her death she had been either practicing with her sword or going for long runs early in the morning mingled with time spent in the Hotel's gym. There was little left to do; she was to depart tomorrow at 2pm on a flight from Denver to O'Hara, then the 11:25pm Red-eye from O'Hara to JFK.

Setting her chopsticks down and taking a final sip from her beer Kallisto stood and, after leaving a couple of twenty dollar bills to cover the tab and tip, pulled her leather trench coat from the back of the chair and without a backward glance moved toward the door of the small restaurant. Emerging from the gentle glow of the dimly lit eatery she slipped into the embrace of the soft calfskin coat, the comforting weight of sword and dagger nestled against her side.

She stood there for a moment glancing at the waning light as it bathed the Rocky Mountains in gentle pink hues, the cold crisp air stung her face… wind tussled thought her hair, she was loathed to spend another evening locked away in her room, she turned and slowly started to walk down the block. Deciding to visit the park that she knew was just a few blocks away, it would probably be quite some time before she ever set foot in Denver.

…

From his car across the street, John looked up as Kallisto exited the restaurant. She tilted her head back and then after a few moments started to walk off down the road, in the opposite direction of her hotel. He brought his camera up and snapped off a few quick shots, examining her beautiful face closely as she walked down the sidewalk toward his parked sedan.

The wind whipped her short raven black hair about her head, sometime yesterday evening he figured, she had changed her hair color. The color he guessed was more in keeping with her natural color but also lent a harsher persona to her usually soft warm features.

…

As she passed the rear bumper of his sedan, John watched her in his rear view mirror continue down the street at a slow and casual pace.

Leaning down and after fishing under his drivers' seat for a moment, John straightened up with a well worn city/street atlas in hand and after quickly flipping through its well worn pages planned his next move. Having spent several years watching Immortals one developed a sense about there patterns and his best guess was that Kallisto, tired of being cooped up in a hotel room, was making a beeline for the small city park a few blocks away.

Tossing the atlas over his shoulder onto the back seat he started up his sedan and slowly pulled into the slight evening traffic, taking a slow circular path toward the park. After finding a parking spot, John grabbed his digital camera, exited the car, and moved into the park only pausing for a moment at a newspaper machine to grab a copy of the Denver Post's evening edition. Finding a quiet bench near the path that Kallisto would most likely enter the park at, John sat and glanced at the paper.

If he was right she would be there in moments and if he was wrong he would just return to the hotel and wait.

…

She strolled quietly into the park merging onto the gentle grade of the walking path from the city street. The chill mountain air felt refreshing, its sting elicited a red hew upon her cheeks; this, along with the cold winds tussling her hair, helped to remind her that she was alive.

…

John tracked Kallisto over the edge of the folder paper he was half-heartedly reading.

He hated this near arctic weather; the ache it elicited in the old football injury to his knee was tolerable but still it made his gait falter with a noticeable limp. Counting to five he rose from the bench and slowly started to trail Kallisto.

…

As Kallisto moved further into the park, John struggled valiantly to maintain a distance of ten yards; unfortunately, slowly but surely, he was falling behind her with every bend in the winding path. Up ahead he watched as she rounded the bend in the path into a small wooded area.

…

As she exited the small wooded area that also was home to parks storage shed, Kallisto continued forward for another ten yards then stopped. The snap-hiss from the parks various sodium streetlights mingled with the gentle rustle of leafs on the trees and those that had succumb to the ravages of time, falling lifelessly to the cold ground below where they where scraped and scuffed against the ground by the wind.

…

Moving as quickly as his now protesting knee could carry him, John came closer to the small densely wooded area. Adjusting the strap of his camera to ensure it was snug against his body he moved forward. Hoping that Kallisto hadn't decided to stray from the paved path, the mere thought of having to traverse any rough ground made his knee throb.

…

"Damn it, Rico we could have had a good time with that lady that just came past… and she looked like she was loaded!" Whined Tony, a pasty malnourished meth addict as his hands constantly moved up and down his forearms. Had it not been for the ravages of time and drugs upon his young body Tony would have been considered handsome, he was of average height but it was his eyes and hair that always marked him for his eyes which where steel blue and hair a fiery bright red.

His two companions faired better in there lives then young Tony. Rico was a short stocky individual with hard eyes, a light caramel complexion that complemented his Aztec ancestry, evidenced in the prominent sweep of his nose. With a tired sigh Rico glanced toward the third member of their little clique. Nicky was the quiet one with a thin willowy build and a head topped with a shaggy mop of greasy brown hair.

If asked which of the two people he ran with scared him the most… Nicky would win. Rico didn't ask much about his silent friend, so long as he kept his mouth shut and did what he was told they got along fine. But it was Nicky's eyes that gave him the creeps, and Tony too when he was in between his highs and withdrawals… they where pitch black and almost lifeless.

"That's your problem Tony, you're too reckless. Sure that bitch looked all rich and hot in her long leather coat. But if you pulled yourself away from the needle and actually learned more about the world today you would know that she probably is some uptight self-defense nut and more trouble then she'd be worth." He said in a condescending tone.

As Rico watched the path he spots an older man struggling down the same secluded lane, "See Tony, all ya gotta do is wait… and bam… sumthin better comes along." A vicious grin dominated his face accompanied with a cocky nod of his head toward the slowly approaching figure.

…

Colorado Springs, Colorado
Stargate Command - Level 16 Secondary Command Center – 5:32pm

"Ok Major, you're all set here." Replied Sergeant Siler as he slid out from underneath the edge of the console.

"The satellite is tied directly into this panel here," he spoke as he double-checked the monitors one-by-one, "and the other monitors are tied into both NORAD's orbital tracking center and all local and national news feeds per your orders."

"Good job Sergeant, that'll be all." She said as she took a seat before the massive bank of monitors.

Samantha Carter leaned back in the desk chair, arms crossed protectively against her chest, and stared at the monitors but her mind was elsewhere. "Don't worry Jan, we'll get you back."

((Move to come… hey watta ya know... a dramatic cliffhanger-like ending… ))