Sorry this is so short, I'm working on the next chapter already, just though I'd put this up to keep you busy :)
Mitchell had finally found something to keep himself amused by, though this activity was quickly loosing its charm. Mark, Sam's brother, and his best friend Pete, Sam's former fiancé, had shown up at the SGC. Apparently, Sam had planned to spend the downtime SG1 was supposed to be on with her brother. When she hadn't answered her phone or her door he had found the spare key and let himself in, discovering that she wasn't home. He'd called around and discovered that Sam had missed quite a few appointments in the past few weeks.
Naturally, he was worried. He had used all of his available resources to find his sister, including his best friend. Even though Sam had dumped him, Pete Shananhan still cared enough to try and help his friend find his ex. Pete had immediately suspected that she was on a mission that had carried over the expected time, but he knew better than to tell Mark. Instead, he had brought his friend to the SGC where they had waited in the parking lot for somebody to come ask them what they wanted.
"Isn't that Sam's ex?" Mitchell had asked, looking over the shoulder of the airman in the security room. He and Vala had gone there with Landry as soon as the situation had been called to their attention. After referencing the database the airman at the controls had confirmed that it was Sam's ex-fiancé and her brother.
"What are they doing here?" Vala asked.
"That Pete guy knows about the Stargate Program, right?"
"Yes he does, Colonel, but her brother doesn't…"
"Wait a minute, Sam's ex-boyfriend knows about the SGC but her brother doesn't even though their Dad was a Tok'ra?" Vala butted in, Mitchell nodded confirmation and Landry continued, giving Vala a dirty look.
"Colonel I want you to go talk to them, find out what they want, report back to me. Do not tell her brother about the Stargate, the SGC or anything else. We study deep space radio telemetry. If the boyfriend keeps pressing bring him in to security and I'll meet you at the front desk."
"Yes, sir," he turned and headed toward the surface, Vala in tow.
"Vala!" Landry called after her.
"What?" She spun around, still walking backwards in an attempt to 'miss' what he said.
"Why don't you stay here, let Mitchell handle this one himself…" With a sigh, Vala returned to the security room and watched Mitchell waiting in the elevator on his way to the surface.
/\
"I have located the Ancient ship you told me they had with them, but there are no life signs in the vicinity. There seems to be a village several miles away, easy walking distance for both the Colonel and the General," Thor told Daniel as soon as they came into orbit around the planet. They had spotted the ruins of the outpost right away and Thor had reported the lack of life signs there with similar lack of emotion.
"Would it not be wise to search the village for O'Neill and Colonel Carter?" Teal'c asked. Daniel had been trying to hail them on their radio but was having no luck, either they weren't near the radio or they had decided not to respond because they were much closer in range and Daniel was picking up their signal just fine.
"I will send you down next to their ship so that you can examine it for yourselves," Thor did just that and they appeared next to its branch-coated form several seconds later.
It was dusk, the sky turning a variety of reds, peaches, and gold above them, illuminating the trees with an eerie, golden tinge between the green. It was hot, the air damp and humid against their skin.
"Well, they're not here." Daniel observed, noting the empty jumper.
"Indeed," was Teal'c's response, and he began walking in the direction of the village Thor had pointed out. Daniel jogged to catch up and then fell in step next to his longtime friend.
The noise level grew immensely as they approached the village, it sounded like the entire village were outside dancing. When they reached the edge of the trees they realized that the entire village was out in the open center and was celebrating something. The banners that hung around a house and all over the center suggested that somebody had gotten married; Daniel got the usual spark in his eye when he realized that the banners were in a variation of Ancient. The entire village seemed to be out dancing but before the pair of them could look around a cold voice came from behind.
"Who are you?" The man speaking was short and had dark coloring and no hair. He had a bow with an arrow cocked and ready to fly, behind him were a number of bright green birds with their feet tied together, it looked as though he had dropped them to the ground to threaten the remainders of SG1.
"We're explorers…" Daniel started but he was knocked out cold by somebody behind him before he could finish his sentence. Teal'c fell to the ground next to him. The hunters picked up the birds and dragged Daniel and Teal'c along behind them by the ankles.
/\
Jack and Sam were thoroughly enjoying themselves, deliberately not thinking about Thor's ship that would pick them up in a matter of hours. They had thrown the radio back in the bin with the rest of their 'old' things and had joined the festivities after a quick celebration of their own with each other.
The wedding had been beautiful, banners coated the center and the entire village had turned up in their best dress. Sam was in a strapless blue dress that swirled around her knees when she walked. Jack had found a pair of soft, loose leather pants and a dark brown shirt that had loose sleeves, letting air flow over most of his skin even if it were covered. They fit in as well as they could, being much paler and at least a head taller than everybody else in the village.
They held each other close and swayed to the music that was coming from the strange, organ-like line of pipes at the edge of the market place. The pipes were separate from each other, each played by a different person, the overall effect sounded like an organ being played by a hand bell choir. The music that was being played was surprisingly happy for something coming out of pipes that reminded them of The Phantom of the Opera and going to Church on Earth.
The ceremony was interrupted when the hunters returned with the wedding feast. At first the village reacted normally, everybody made way and shouted celebrations of the birds that had been caught, but then everybody noticed that two of the hunters also dragged men behind them.
"Is that…?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I think it is…"
K, I'm not sure of that whole organ played by a hand bell choir thing worked but its supposed to be like each pipe is separate (like hand bells) and each person plays so well that it sounds like an organ… yeah.
Verago500: I hadn't even thought about the whole replacement thing! It would work as a good excuse for the pair of them… :) I was thinking that Hammond would've been pulled out of retirement temporarily to cover for Jack, so he'll get his job at the Pentagon back- but then I know nothing about the military. Anyway, I hope you'll excuse my slight deviation from reality!
Sangoslayer001: This is kinda supposed to be after Sam and Pete have split (thank goodness for that,) but the whole thing with Mark looking into it with Pete's help should make it interesting if I do this right!
Thank you all for the reviews! Keep them coming!