Previously: "So Daniel, when your wife disappeared, did you just sit back and stay safe while someone else looked for her?"
Samantha Carter was standing outside the VIP room when Daniel exited. They both flinched when they heard a muffled thump from the other side. Judging from the awkward smile on her face and from the way the guards were carefully not looking at him, Daniel could only surmise that some of his argument with Ella has trickled out into the hallway. Great, he thought. Just great.
Sam gave Daniel a small, encouraging smile as they headed down the hall. Ella had been placed in the most distant VIP room from the main activity area of the base.
"So, how is she doing?" Sam asked in a very neutral tone.
He gave her a dark look. Daniel was still trying to calm the emotions that Ella's last comment had elicited. The saying "Your family can push your buttons because they installed them" ran through his head. "Not good. She is scared and upset and is blaming everyone from God on down for her current predicament. I seem to be only one step below God on that list." Daniel knew that he was being unfair in asking Ella to "sit and behave" while her life was falling down around her. It was something that he would never have been able to do himself. But how many nights, after Sha're's death, had he wished that he had sat back and let someone else be the one who had gone into that tent with Amonet? In his mind, he had spent countless nights retracing his steps. Sha're had been saved hundreds of times in hundreds of different circumstances. He was trying to spare Ella some of that torment. But he knew that if things did not change soon, Ella would be doing far more than just climbing the walls in frustration. She might flat-out demolish them.
The teammates entered the elevator and Daniel leaned against the back wall, self-consciously wrapping his arms around his chest. "You know, Sam, I had a chance to keep Ella out of all of this," he voiced the concern that had been plaguing him all day. "When we found each other out here, I already knew just how dangerous it could get. But she was the only real family that I had. I didn't want to let her go. But later, after Sha're died and Ella and I…" he couldn't finish the sentence. "What if this really is my fault?"
"Daniel, we don't know what has happened to Alex," Sam responded with compassion. "And even if this is because of his connection to you, we will find him. It will be okay."
Daniel didn't feel as confident, as much as he wished he did, but he knew that he did not have time for the self-pity he was indulging in. "You're right. We will find him."
The conference room was already pretty full, holding Cameron Mitchell, Teal'c, and Generals Hank Landry and Jack O'Neill. From the sounds of the intense conversation, Cameron was updating the Generals about the morning trip to Ella's house.
Jack turned to greet the new arrivals. "Daniel, Col. Carter," Jack smiled. "Join us. Col. Mitchell here was just telling me about a new Goa'uld weapon…" His voice went up as a question and he raised his eyebrows in Daniel's direction.
Dammit. "Um - " Daniel stumbled. He was not ready for this question yet.
"All in good time. Sit down kids, we gotta talk." Daniel and Sam choose chairs while Jack opened the file in front of him. "What I am about to share with you does not leave this room. Of all the secrets of the Stargate Program, this one was buried so deep that no one even knew it was there. About six years ago, a top-secret cancer research program was started by this man, Dr. Quinn Gillson." Jack passed around a picture of a benign looking man with fluffy gray hair. "Alexander Portmanoy was the senior research assistant."
"But Alex is a physicist," Daniel protested.
Jack held up a piece of paper. "Alexander Roth Portmanoy. Double major in biology and astronomy from Collier University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Chose a career in medicine and was halfway through his residency when he was hand picked for this study."
"But that doesn't - "
"Daniel," Jack held up a hand to ward off further questions. "Let me finish." Jack consulted his notes again. "The project was showing a lot of promise. There were twenty patients, each with a different form of cancer. All were showing improvement. But, then, something happened. The people funding the experiment seemingly got spooked and told Dr. Gillson to terminate the project. He took them at their word. He had Alex Portmanoy inject them all with an unknown substance. Within three hours, every last patient was dead."
"Oh my god," Sam breathed.
"Yeah," Jack replied. "There's one more thing you should all know. Dr. Gillson was using Goa'uld symbiotes for his research."
There was a horrified gasp from almost everyone in the room. Daniel was silent. He felt ill. He had personally checked out Alex's background as soon as Ella told him she was in love. Daniel had found nothing indicating that Alex was anything other than a good safe man. Nothing that indicated there was a secret of such magnitude lying beneath the surface. Nothing that would have made Daniel keep Ella far, far away from him.
He looked up and realized that everyone was staring at him. He had known Alex the best; their faces seemed to be saying. Hadn't he had any idea? He searched for something to say. "Um…did Alex know what was going on?"
"From what little information I have, it appears that Alex Portmanoy did not know what was going to happen when he administered the final injection. He had been told that it was just another part of the treatment. There is no indication that he knew the true nature of the experiment."
"Sir," Mitchell spoke up, "how does something like this happen? How did they get symbiotes?"
"And how is this the first the we're hearing of this?" Sam added.
Jack's hard tone revealed the depth of his anger. "It seems that this project was funded by the 'rogue' elements of the NID. When the more 'legit' side found out, they rushed in to shut it down before anyone on the outside heard of it. It seems that there was the feeling that twenty dead cancer patients would look bad to the outside world. Unfortunately, they were too late. When they got there, all they found was a panicked Alex Portmanoy, a few hysterical nurses, and a stack of corpses. Dr. Gillson could not be found for questioning, and, in fact, was reported to be dead not long after all of this happened"
"Good God," Mitchell seemed to be speaking for everyone in the room.
"Jack," Daniel just could not get his brain around this situation, "I don't understand. The SGC did a background check on Alex. I did one myself. Where was all of this information then?"
"When the NID found the bodies, they took Alex into custody. They detained him for three weeks. Three weeks during which he did not have a lawyer, no contact with the outside world, nothing. He told them everything that he knew and they finally somewhat believed him. Before they released him, he had to sign a non-disclosure agreement. In exchange, he requested that his own record was cleared. He wanted it wiped clean of any hint that he had ever worked in medicine. He got his doctorate in astrophysics and seemingly never spoke of any of this again. When the NID buries something, it goes deep. And they have the connections to make sure that no one finds out there is even a hole with something in it. After all, if there was anything suspicious about Alex's records, tracking it could lead to the NID. They know what they are doing when it comes to secrets."
It felt as though a bomb had gone off in Daniel's head. He needed coffee; he needed sleep. "We're missing something. What does all of this have to do with Alex being missing?"
Jack answered, "Some of the names that I was given of the major funders of this research are also suspected of being involved in the Trust. And Dr. Gillson, presumed to be dead? Well, all I know is that the car accident he was supposed to have been in was horrific; the body was burned beyond recognition. It could have been anyone. Now, Daniel, what do you know that you haven't shared?" Jack looked at the younger man with an expression of annoyance mixed with concern.
Daniel met his friend's gaze before his own eyes fell down to his hands that he had clenched in front of him. It was time, he knew it. After so many years of keeping this nightmare to himself, this would be the third time in 24 hours that he had talked about it. And this time, he would tell them everything. "When Shifu came down to me, he gave me a vision. He gave me the knowledge of how to build a massive orbital weapons system of Goa'uld design that would circle the earth. It was immensely powerful. Creating it – changed me. I had Teal'c assassinated, Sam imprisoned. I had the United States government jumping to my beck and call because I knew how to create this thing. On the day that the weapon came on-line, Jack, you came to my house. At the last minute, Russia wanted to back out. They were going to attack us. Anyway, I decided that I did not have to listen to them or anyone else." He looked up at Jack. "Despite your best attempts at killing me, I used just one cannon of the hundreds that had been created, to annihilate Moscow and effectively take over the world." He paused and gripped his hands harder as they had started to tremble faintly. Fatigue, he told himself. "Just one cannon is all it took. The weapon that Alex is - was - working on is the exact same design."
He waited for someone to be shocked at what he revealed. To him, his susceptibility to the power he had obtained revealed a weak, terrible side to himself that he had feared ever since. It was only when he looked around at his friends and saw that none of them were looking at him with disgust that he was able to say "It was just a dream" and really believe it.
"So," Gen. Landry spoke up for the first time, "What we have, then, is a missing physicist with a hidden past with the Trust and he might have the knowledge of how to make this weapon. Is that everything?"
Not quite. "The Asgard are involved," Daniel added.
"What? How?" Jack said in complete disbelief.
The archeologist shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know how, but they are. Loki."
Jack made a sound of disgust at the mention of that particular Asgard. "Well, I guess we should put a call out. Gah. I hope it's not him that answers it."
Gen. Landry tapped his pen on the table while he considered the next things to do. "All right. At this point it seems that there is little else we can do. If the Trust is involved, no doubt we will know soon what they want. Hopefully the Asgard can help us get one step ahead of them, at least. Col. Carter, I want to you to look at the information that Dr Jackson found on this weapon. Figure out what you can. I think we will need to know how to protect ourselves from it. Dr. Jackson, I am sorry, but I need you to find alternate housing for your guest. We can use one of our regular safe houses but this base is just not a good idea. I will, however, assign two guards that will watch her at all time. And I am ordering all of you to get some rest. We're gonna need it."
"Yes, sir. Um…General…s," Daniel indicated both of them men infront of him, "I would like permission to share some of what we have learned with Ella. She is going crazy and has the right to know about her husband."
"Daniel, do you realize how many issues of national security are involved in this?"
Daniel smiled a little at Jack's words. "Jack, we're talking about the person she loves more than anyone else in this world. Ella doesn't care about national security any more than I did." Daniel knew that Jack understood exactly what he was saying. "Look, I know what to leave out, but I have to tell her something. And even if I told her about the Trust, do you think anyone in this country would be surprised to learn that there was a corporate conspiracy to take over the world?"
The two General's exchanged a glance. "Be that as it may," Jack answered him, "try to leave that part out, okay?"
"Done."
With orders to be back at 0800 the next morning, everyone was dismissed. Daniel began the trek back to the VIP room, feeling as though he was heading into the lion's den. His argument with Ella had hurt him deeply and as much as he tried to remind himself that she was talking from her fear, he wasn't sure that he could take much more of her anger at this point.
"Daniel! Daniel, wait up." Sam came running up next to him. "Hey."
"What's up?"
"I was thinking. I can work from home tonight. Why doesn't Ella come with me and stay at my place?"
"You would do that?"
"Yeah. I mean it's obvious that she is getting cagey here. An official safe house would just be more of the same. And if someone is looking for her, they would be less likely to look for her at my place than they would at yours."
"That is a great idea. I think she would appreciate a break from me anyway." His smile was interrupted by an enormous yawn.
"Okay. Have her meet me upstairs in 30 minutes, all right? Will that be enough time?"
"Yeah. And hopefully tomorrow Thor will be here and we can actually get some headway on this search," Daniel scrubbed his face, briskly, trying to feel more awake.
Sam rubbed Daniel's shoulder encouragingly. "Get some rest, tonight, Daniel. I'll see you later."
Daniel took the elevator to Ella's room. When he got there, Carolyn Lam was talking with his friend. Ella was seated at the table, her hair damp from a recent shower. She had changed into a long peach colored top and a pair of loose, black yoga pants.
"Hello, Dr. Jackson." Dr. Lam was the picture of efficiency as she made some final notes in Ella's chart. "I was just checking up on your friend."
"Thank you. I appreciate that," he replied.
"Think nothing of it. It's not often I get to help with many pregnancies. It's a nice change." She grabbed her bag and headed towards the door.
"Thank you, Dr. Lam." Ella watched Daniel watch Dr. Lam leave. "Daniel?"
"Hmm?"
This was interesting. "Daniel is there something I should know?"
He finally turned to her. "Something…?" When Ella merely indicated the door with her eyes, he began to sputter, "Something about Caro – about Dr. Lam? What are you talking about?"
Ella raised her hands in mock surrender. "Nothing, nothing at all."
"She's my co-worker. And Gen. Landry's daughter."
Ella just smirked. "Forget I said anything."
Sighing with exasperation, Daniel say across from her. There was a half-eaten plate of spaghetti sitting next to an open book.
"Dr. Lam wants me to eat more but it seems that my morning sickness is hitting right about now. Which reminds me, if we could not have a wrestling match tonight, that would be just great."
"Ella - "
"No, wait, let me say something, first." Ella pushed the plate away and leaned toward him. "Daniel, I'm sorry. Last night, this afternoon, everything is just so out of control. But, this isn't your fault. I may not agree with everything that you have done, but I know that you are doing what you think is best."
"Wow, Ella, I don't think I have ever heard you apologize to me before."
"Don't make me regret it." They both laughed a little and some of the tension went out of the air. "All right, what?"
"What, 'what'?" he responded.
"There's something you don't want to tell me. I can see it in your face." She leaned back in her seat and waited.
He told her everything he could. He told her about Alex's secret career in medicine and his involvement in the research project. He did not reveal any organization names, just said that it had been funded by some unofficial sources. Ella sat impassive as Daniel revealed years of her husband's life that she had never had a clue about. It was only when he told her about the deaths that she reacted.
"Excuse me," she held up her hand and climbed out of her chair. She walked calmly to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Daniel heard her begin to retch.
After a few minutes of silence, Daniel went over to the door and knocked. She opened the door and stood there, gray-faced and clammy.
"Twenty people died?" she asked him.
"Alex didn't know what would happen," was all Daniel could say.
Ella walked to the bed and sat facing away from him. Daniel continued his story.
"Alex was taken into custody and held for three weeks without any contact from the outside world. He told everything he knew. When he was finally released, his part in this whole mess was buried with everything else. Including, at his request, his medical career."
Daniel went and sat behind Ella. Gently, he put his arms around her. She held on to his hands until she finally turned herself around and buried her face in his shoulder. They stayed that way for several minutes.
Finally, she pulled away. "Is this why he's missing?"
"It's possible," he told her.
She took that in. She considered everything that Daniel had told her. She was so angry with her husband. She felt lied to. Betrayed. But, in her heart of hearts, she knew that Alex was not a murderer. Her husband was a loving and gentle man. Whatever mistake or crimes had occurred, she knew that it must have destroyed some part of him to have been a part of the deaths of all of those people. Why had he never told her? She would have understood! She would have tried. She would have believed him.
Daniel cupped her face in his hands. "Ella, I know that this is a lot to take in. It's going to take awhile and we are going to keep looking for him. You're going to go stay at Sam Carter's house tonight. There will be guards, but I think you will do better off of this base. Does that sound okay?"
It was a measure of how upset she was, that all Ella did was nod at his words.
"Just remember what I said, Ella. We are going to take care of you. No matter what." He pulled her back into his arms. "No matter what."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
It was over. The Goa'uld lay panting on the floor from the unexpected exertion. Not that he minded. The stronger the fighter, the better the host. He smiled, feeling unfamiliar muscles stretching to obey. He was connected to every part of this new body. If he listened, he could still hear the screams of the vanquished soul that was now exiled within its former body, but he would only listen when he had time to treasure and savor the pain and terror.
Human hands reached down to assist him off of the floor. He smiled at his new subjects. They did not know how to respond. He knew why. No Goa'uld smiled as he did, with pure delight and joy. He rejoiced in every part of being a Goa'uld. It had been too long since he had been free.
The subjects asked how he wished to be addressed.
This was his favorite part of choosing a host. He could switch identities, become someone new. Or old. He dismissed the current host's former name at once. There was no music to it. He ran through all of the previous incarnations he had had.. Then he remembered…
"You may call me Loki."
TBC