A/N: I don't own these characters or the shows they come from. I'm just borrowing them for a bit.
A/N 2: Ugh, this chapter just kept going-it's the longest, and I hope you can bear with me. I could have broken it up, but decided that for those who like long chapters-here you go. Also, I got a bit tired at the end and apologize for any mistakes with Goa'uld ship technology. I also added a brief reference to characters from a movie (the original was the scariest)-it wasn't intentional, it just popped out there, but I figured I'd leave it. Also, one one scene is inspired directly from the season-ending ep of Stargate SG-1. I just couldn't resist. :)
A/N 3: Thanks for the reviews: Locathah, sorry for the confusion. Hope this chapter makes up for it :), theNightEnchantress, thanks! but this way you get both points of view, nera, thanks, hope you like this chapter too, sherryw, already emailed you, but I'm glad you enjoy this story and it's almost over, but not quite, shinyhappyphantoms, glad you're enjoying this, here was the next chapter :), Reiji Neko Mitsukai, your comments just cracked me up, thank you so much for reviewing :D, Stoko, here was part of the other ending, more to come. Everybody have a good week!
O'Neill's forgotten walkie-talkie crackled to life.
"Colonel! Is everything all right? Is the room secure?" General Hammond's voice shouted.
O'Neill quickly responded. "Yes sir, actually the room is secure now. Everything's fine. Great, actually." He said, looking at Clark bemusedly.
He could hear the General give a relieved sigh. "Good. I didn't want to have to evacuate the base. Get whatever help you need-the invasion force must have come from a ship, we still have to deal with that. Should I send Dr. Frasier there?"
"Yes sir that might be a good idea. Teal'c took a staff blast to the shoulder, and we've got some casualties. It's not as bad as it could have been, though. Sir, I think we're going to owe Clark and his folks a debt that can't be repaid-I think this time it was him that saved the world." O'Neill told his superior officer.
Clark gaped at him, eyes wide, and there was silence for a moment. Then the General spoke again. "Understood. I thought I told the civilians to stay in their room, but in this case I'm glad my orders were disobeyed. I'll expect a full debriefing as soon as any threat to Earth has been eliminated."
O'Neill looked at the young civilian staring at him, and a grin tugged at his mouth. "Sir, permission to bring the civilian along on an op? We'll draft the necessary paperwork later. I have a feeling that we're going to need him. "
"So long as he agrees and you bring him back healthy I understand that time is of the essence. However, if anything happens to our guest, Colonel, I will let you be the one to face his parents." Gen. Hammond said.
"Understood sir. Oh and there's a little matter of a Goa'uld symbiote here, I think it's dying but maybe the Tok'ra can get information from it. It's already left its host body-we'll need a container or something." O'Neill asked.
"I'll have the doctor bring the appropriate equipment. Be careful. Hammond out."
Clark looked excitedly at O'Neill. "You want me to come with you? To help you fight?"
O'Neill nodded ruefully. "Well, seeing as you single-handedly defeated the entire invasion force and then knocked out its leader, I think it'll actually be the other way around."
"Huh?" Clark asked.
Sam smiled at him. "He means, basically we'll be backup to you, as you take care of the force on the ship. Just do what you did here. You were amazing."
Clark blushed and looked around the bay. The enemy forces had been secured, and he looked back down at the dying snake-like form which he knew was the real enemy he had battled. His eyes detected movement and for a moment he felt a rush of deja-vu. Almost without knowing why, he shifted into super speed and grabbed the Goa'uld by what he figured was the neck, gently enough not to hurt it but stopping any motion it might have made. SG-1 was staring at him, and he swallowed.
"Um, I think it was going to leap up or something." He said sheepishly.
Just then Dr. Frasier arrived. Her eyes widened as she saw what Clark was holding, and she pointed to the equipment that airmen had carried in for her. Following her directions, Clark placed Apis in the apparatus.
"I'm guessing that was the leader?" she asked Maj. Carter as she made certain that the symbiote was secured.
"Yes, and we're hoping the Tok'ra can gather information from it. Do you think you can save the host?" Sam replied.
Dr. Frasier checked over the large inert alien form, and shook her head. "It's dead." She pronounced.
Clark hung his head. He hated when things turned out that way-but the alternative was to let the alien hurt his friends and take over the base, and that just wasn't going to happen.
The doctor treated Teal'c and then turned to Clark. "How are you holding up?" she asked.
She looked him over, but his invulnerability had protected him, and he was fine.
"Fine, uh, could you tell my folks I'll be gone for a little while? Tell them I'm okay and that I needed to do something and I'll be careful." Clark asked Dr. Frasier, feeling that his parents knew her a little and would be worried if the General just said he went on a mission.
Janet smiled at the teen and nodded. "All right. But do everything that Sam and Jack tell you to do and come straight to the infirmary the minute you get back. No arguments."
Clark agreed, and walked over to where Sam was scooping up the glove-like hand device that had caused Clark such trouble. His eyes widened, and he went to back up a step. Sam looked up and smiled.
"Don't worry, this can't hurt you anymore. It only works when a Goa'uld uses it."
"Technically, that isn't quite true. I think anyone with Naquadah in their system can wield it. Remember, you used it when we met Seth…" Daniel had walked over to them, but trailed off at the alarmed look in Maj. Carter's eyes. She shifted her glance to Clark and Daniel understood. "Then again, handguns only hurt you if the person wielding it wants to shoot you. No one here wants to hurt you Clark, in fact we need your help."
Daniel turned to Sam. "We can use that to activate the rings and get up to the ship. There's probably a welcoming party ready, though."
"That's why we have our new secret weapon with us." O'Neill said, striding over and placing a hand on Clark's shoulder. His other hand held a field jacket that he handed to the young civilian.
Clark turned, looking at SG-1, as Teal'c now joined them. He swallowed. "You really think I can do this? Help fight a ship full of aliens?"
He read the truth in their eyes and stances. O'Neill grinned, and spoke for the rest. "You did good here kid. Real good, and yes, we think you can help. Believe me, if I didn't think so, I wouldn't have asked Hammond to okay it. So, you ready to take a trip?"
Clark breathed in and squared his shoulders. His eyes held determination. "Yes, I'm ready. Let's go save the world." He grinned at the Stargate team, and received answering smiles.
After securing new weapons and any supplies they felt they might need, SG-1 along with Clark and a few soldiers took their places where they had seen the rings appear during the battle.
"Ready?" Maj. Carter asked.
They all nodded, and she pressed the button that remotely activated the ring transporter. There was a certain whine, and then Clark marveled as rings seemed to appear out of nowhere, descending and surrounding the group. He felt a brief vertigo, and then the rings were raising and disappearing and Clark noticed he was no longer in the bay. He gulped at seeing a bunch of armed Jaffa but steadied at a touch on his shoulder.
"You're on. Just do what you did in the bay, and you'll be fine." O'Neill said. "And remember; don't get too far ahead of us."
"Okay." Clark replied, and sucking in a breath, he shifted into super speed.
Apis' first prime had remained aboard the ship, coordinating the Jaffa sent down to fight the Tau'ri. For some time he had not heard from his god, and he was beginning to feel as though something might have gone wrong. Though he knew that Apis was a formidable opponent, he was well aware of the reputation of these particular Tau'ri. Most Goa'uld, even those in far systems like Apis had heard of the accursed SG-1 joined by the shol'vah (traitor) Teal'c, and the fact that where they went, trouble always followed. He was beginning to wonder what he would do should his god fail (gasp!) in his plan. Then the ring transporter was activated without communication from Apis, and the Jaffa knew something was not right. Was his god fleeing? He turned, ready to bark orders to send the ship away from Earth's orbit, knowing that probably would be Apis' command, and he was shocked when what materialized was not his god but the enemy themselves.
An invisible force seemed to knock down the Jaffa in the room with the transport rings. Their weapons were twisted away from them and thrown into a corner of the room. Within a minute, no Jaffa remained standing. The first prime had realized something was wrong, and exited quickly through the door to the room the moment he saw who occupied the transport ring pad. Clark had been otherwise occupied disabling over a dozen other Jaffa and had only noticed the one leaving in his peripheral vision.
In the silence after Clark had decimated the troops waiting to transport to Earth, O'Neill looked around and nodded at the teen. "Good job."
He turned to two of the soldiers that had accompanied them. "Hicks, Ripley, keep this room secure. Make sure none of these Jaffa are mobile for awhile and shoot anything but us that tries to get back into this room."
He received two "Yes sir's" and turned back to Clark and the rest of his team. "I think one of them got away-we'd better be quick about getting to the control center of this ship before an alarm gets out. Move out."
The two soldiers set about securing the Jaffa and Clark and SG-1 left the room, looking both ways down a long corridor.
"Okayy" O'Neill drawled. "Which way? Daniel, any ideas?"
"Um," Daniel began but Clark broke in.
He swallowed audibly, and then said in a rush while looking at the other soldier present, "Icantakealookandseewherethecontrolroomisyoujusthavetotellmewhattolookfor."
"Pardon?" O'Neill asked him, looking at Clark along with the rest of SG-1.
"Uh" Clark began but Sam nodded.
"It might not look exactly like what I'm describing, but it should be similar." She said, proceeding to explain what she knew of Goa'uld ship technology.
Clark listened intently and then turned to the corridor wall in front of him. He concentrated, and it seemed to fade away. 'Guess the walls don't have lead in them' he thought with relief, and then looked ahead until he could literally see stars. 'Whoa, that's cool. Pete would freak.' Getting down to business, he focused left and right, up and down. 'There!'
"Where?" O'Neill asked, and Clark realized he'd spoken aloud.
"Two levels down and ahead and to the right a little. Lots of important-looking stuff."
"Okay, let's go. Be careful, and remember don't get too far ahead of us. An alarm could go off any minute." O'Neill said.
As if to prove his point, at that moment alarms began to blare.
"Sometimes I hate it when I'm right." The Colonel sighed.
Using his vision, Clark located what he figured was an elevator, or what passed for one, and the team raced for it. They made it in without incident, and when they arrived at the designated level Clark looked through the doors to see if there would be a welcoming party. There was. The team crouched down and tried to make themselves as insignificant a target as possible, and when the doors opened Clark shot out and knocked the Jaffa unconscious before they could fire. On a roll, he raced for the control room, disabling all the warriors as he went by. Cursing, O'Neill and the rest of the team ran to catch up, O'Neill muttering under his breath, "I know I told him not to get too far ahead. Kids these days…"
Not seeing a knob or a way to quickly open the control room door, Clark decided speed was of the essence, and twin beams of heat left his eyes, tracing around the doorway in an upright rectangle. Done, he charged forward and burst through the weakened doorway, the alien metal clanging to the floor. There were a lot of Jaffa in the room, and Clark set to work, hearing SG-1 clattering in behind him.
"Sir, the alarm! They might trigger a distress beacon and other Goa'uld ships could respond!" Sam said, her eyes sweeping the strange panels.
"Teal'c?" O'Neill turned to his alien friend, but Teal'c was battling Apis' first prime, preventing him from touching any of the controls.
Seeing that Clark was still busy, the other soldier was trying to give them cover and that Sam and Daniel didn't seem to have a clue how to shut off the alarm quickly, O'Neill made a quick decision, aimed at the most important-looking piece of technology, and let the poor equipment have it, firing repeatedly until suddenly the alarm stopped. Golden silence reigned as Clark finished off the last of the Jaffa, Teal'c succeeded in overpowering the first prime and Sam and Daniel turned to O'Neill with their mouths hanging open in shock. A wisp of smoke rose from the ruined machinery.
Daniel looked at O'Neill incredulously and said in a surprised voice, "Jack?"
O'Neill shrugged. "When in doubt, shoot it. Lesson for you to remember, Danny."
The archaeologist just shook his head.
Sam was also aghast at the damage to the control panel, but realized that her superior just might have been right this time-the first prime had been about to use the ship's self-destruct. With Clark's help, SG-1 and the other soldier rounded up and secured the rest of the Jaffa, and when the first prime realized that his god was now a prisoner he eagerly surrendered, throwing in his lot with the Tau'ri, knowing that he would not be accepted by the other Goa'uld-Apis was something of an outcast. Except for some battle damage and the ruined control panel (which Sam was able to help fix) the Stargate Program now had a Goa'uld ship to study. Clark ringed back down to the base with the rest of SG-1 (technicians were already beginning to swarm over the ship) and promptly went to the infirmary, where he met his parents and Lex and General Hammond.
"Clark! You're okay!" his mother criedin relief, immediately encircling him in a hug.
"Son." Jonathan said, emotion choking his voice. He too grabbed Clark and hugged him.
"Mom, Dad, it was amazing. I actually saw the stars." Clark said, hugging gently back, and then disentangling himself from his parents.
He looked at Lex, and his friend just grinned, coming forward to pat him on the back.
The General cleared his throat, and then shook his head. "Son, I don't know what to say. We owe you a debt that can't be repaid. It has been suggested by a few people (he looked at O'Neill and his team) that you be made an honorary member of SG-1. What do you think?"
Clark's jaw dropped, and he looked in surprise at his new friends.
To be continued. (Because it's late, and I have to stop somewhere :))