Chapter Seven

Sighing loudly, Daniel slumped into the chair behind his desk and laid his head in his hands, taking a deep breath to calm his shaken nerves. The thought of Teal'c trapped inside the Stargate was a little too much for him to handle, even though he realized his friend was most likely unaware of his current condition. The news that was most difficult to swallow, however, was that even with the most brilliant minds in the world, there was still the very great possibility that Teal'c might not return.

Soft hands slid up his back and onto his shoulders, applying gentle pressure. His girlfriend leaned over and kissed the back of his neck, whispering tenderly, "What's the matter, sweetie?"

Straightening, he smiled sadly and captured her hands with his own and brought them to his lips, kissing them lightly. "Teal'c's in trouble, Nicole," he whispered, his small smile disappearing.

Her eyebrows furrowed with concern. "How so?" she asked, worry running its way across her features.

"The wormhole disengaged before he could rematerialize. His pattern is stuck in the buffer and not even Sam is sure how to get him out."

Nicole rolled her eyes and lowered herself onto his lap, wrapping her arms around him. "This is why I don't travel through the damn thing."

"Very funny," he replied, not looking very amused. "But it doesn't help Teal'c get out of there."

She nodded. "I know, I'm sorry. Maybe I could go help Sam. I don't know much about the Stargate, but she could at least bounce ideas off of me, and I would understand."

Daniel smiled. "That you would. And I think Sam could really use an understanding friend right now. She's taking this pretty hard."

"It's not her fault," Nicole answered, giving her boyfriend a strange look.

"Yeah, I know, but try convincing her of that."

Nicole found Sam in the control room, her blue eyes glued to the computer screen and the worry shining clearly through them. The redhead sighed and sat down next to her friend, placing a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder.

Sam looked over and gave Nicole a weak smile. "Daniel told you what happened?" she asked quietly.

The former Q nodded. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Not unless you can perform the impossible and resume a reintegration process that was cut off prematurely."

Shaking her head, Nicole answered softly, "Not anymore, sorry. But I can listen and maybe help you work through some stuff. Obviously I don't know as much as you do about the Stargate, but I'm sure whatever you want to throw at me, I'll have a general grasp of the concept."

The astrophysicist nodded, her gaze once again turning to the screen before her. "Thanks, that might actually be a lot of help."

A few hours later, Nicole had actually gleaned enough information from watching and listening to run some equations on her own. With the knowledge that Sam would be down soon, Nicole went to Sam's lab and began to run a few simulations on one of the computers. Each one was failing, fueling the former Q's frustrations and making her wish that she still could do whatever she wanted with just the snap of her fingers.

In the middle of her experiments, someone she didn't recognize entered the room, causing her to look up and take in the sight of a man dressed in civilian clothes. There was bag slung over his shoulder, and he was staring at her with the same confused expression Nicole assumed was written all over her face as well.

"Are you lost?" she asked, pressing a few buttons on the keyboard, pausing her calculations momentarily.

He shook his head. "No, I was looking for Major Carter. This is her lab, isn't it?"

Nicole nodded, folding her arms over her chest. "It is, but I haven't seen her in a while. Last I saw her, she was still in the control room."

The man shook his head back and forth as he walked toward her. "She's not there anymore. Any idea where else she would be?"

"What am I, her keeper? I have no idea where she is. Probably hard at work, like me. Any other questions?" she retorted angrily, already resenting this man for distracting her.

"Yeah, who are you?"

Nicole laughed and turned back to her work, deciding to multi-task the best she could. "I could ask you the same question."

"Dr. Rodney McKay, scientist sent over from Area 51 to help with the Teal'c situation," the man answered with a smile, his hand reaching out to shake hers.

She regarded it carefully, then finally accepted it, shaking it quickly before returning to her work. "Nicole," she told him shortly, her attention on the equations before her.

"Nicole? No title or last name to go with that?" McKay asked, his eyebrows raised suspiciously.

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "No, I don't need those things to feel important, unlike some people," she responded sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind, I have some more equations to run. I'm actually trying to get my friend out of that Stargate."

McKay scoffed. "And just how are you going to do that?"

Green eyes flashed in his direction, burning with anger. "I don't know yet, doctor. That's what I'm trying to figure out. So why don't you go look for Sam somewhere else?" Grumbling, the man shook his head and left the room.

"Jack did what?" Nicole asked, flabbergasted. She shook her head back and forth slowly as she stared at the woman next to her. Jack, Daniel, and the Russian Colonel were all on their way to the SGC as she and Sam shared this conversation. "Of all people, Jack is the one who got the info to save Teal'c?" Nicole continued, as her and Sam's smiles widened as they thought of the irony in the current situation. "And Maybourne helped?"

Sam nodded. "I know, pretty hard to believe, isn't it?" she asked as they turned another corner in the hallway on their way to the Briefing Room. "I'm just glad it was in time. One more spin of the Stargate and Teal'c would have been gone."

"Life's funny like that, isn't it?" the former Q asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah, it is," Sam replied with a smile.

Just then, a man ran up beside them, falling into step with the two women, causing both of them to lose their smiles almost immediately. "What's going on?" McKay asked them, his eyes narrowing on Nicole's face when recognition set in. "Why was the dialing sequence aborted?"

Nicole didn't respond but glared right back, remembering what Sam had told her about McKay's "dumb blonde" comment from earlier in the day. It was Sam who answered the scientist's question. "Well, McKay, it turns out you were wrong and there is a way to save Teal'c after all," she replied, a smug expression sneaking its way onto her features.

"I'll believe it when I see it," McKay spat doubtfully before turning around and walking off in the opposite direction.

"He's a trip and a half," Nicole commented dryly. "Who told him he was so wonderful anyway?"

Sam laughed and shook her head. "Not me, that's for sure."

"Hey, are you really sure you want to be in there for this?" Jack asked sweetly through the intercom system. Nicole and Daniel shared a smile, both thinking how at times Jack made his feelings for his second in command very obvious.

Siler apparently thought Jack was directing his question to everyone in the Gateroom and answered warily, "Not really, sir."

Jack looked as if Siler had just walked in on a private moment between the colonel and Sam, even though there were many other people around. "Wasn't talking to you," Jack informed Siler in an irritated tone.

Sam held out her arms in an attempt to show her ambivalence to her location. "Sir, if the 'Gate blows up, it won't matter where we are on the base," she told him.

Jack leaned back and pointed at her as if to show how correct she was. "Right," he replied, the tone of his voice conveying his feelings that he should have known that all along.

Sam turned to Siler and nodded. "Do it," she told him resolutely. If she had any fear about the experiment, she didn't show it. Rather, she stepped closer to another piece of equipment and prepared herself for what was to come, hoping for the best.

Siler flipped the switch and the Stargate flared to life, electrical currents running all along it and sparks flying, due to the absence of a control crystal in the DHD connected to it. Finally a translucent event horizon formed over the interior of the ring, shimmering brightly onto the people situated in the two rooms. After what seemed an eternity, a large man stumbled out of the shimmering surface, his hands wrapped tightly around the giant weapon he was still carrying.

The event horizon disappeared behind Teal'c and Sam smiled quickly, realizing with relief that they had succeeded in rescuing their friend against all odds. Before anyone could move, however, an energy surge traveled its way from the Stargate through the conductors to the DHD, causing a massive explosion. Sam shielded her face with her arms, then turned back to look at the DHD.

The device was effectively blown up from the inside out, a gaping hole in the middle where the explosion had ruined it. Jack and General Hammond ran out of the Control Room quickly, alarmed by the sudden turn of events. Daniel and the Russian Colonel's eye were wide open, staring in shock at the once useful bargaining chip of the Russian people.

As sparks continued to fly from the now non-operational piece of technology, Daniel commented to the man standing next to him, "Well, that never happened in any of the simulations." Nicole barely stifled a giggle at her boyfriend's statement, watching the stunned expression of the Russian as he turned to look at Daniel in surprise.

As General Hammond and Jack entered the gate room, Jack told Siler quickly, "Shake it off, sparky." Then the colonel and Sam made their way up the gate ramp to meet their friend. "Teal'c, buddy!" SG1's leader exclaimed happily, "You all right?"

"Indeed," the Jaffa answered, lowering his weapon as he stepped closer to meet his friends.

"Teal'c, as far as you know, what just happened?" Sam asked, curious to know if he was aware of the time he had spent in the Stargate.

Teal'c stared at her momentarily before responding in a satisfied voice, "I have my revenge. Tanneth is dead." He then began to remove the strap from around his shoulder and handed his weapon to a nearby airman.

"That's nice," Jack replied, minor frustration edging his voice, "I'm happy for you." With that last sentiment, Jack placed his hand on Teal'c's shoulder, at which the Jaffa seemed confused.

Sam smiled. "It's good to see you in one piece, Teal'c," Sam told him, barely controlling her excitement. Teal'c bowed in appreciation of her concern.

"Yes," Jack added, "We thought we lost you again." He put an arm around Teal'c's shoulders as they began to walk down the ramp.

"Are you sure you're feeling perfectly normal?" Sam asked, following the two men.

"Yes. What has transpired here?"

"Well, believe it or not, you owe your life to a Goa'uld," Jack informed Teal'c.

As soon as they reached the end of the ramp and made their way around the now broken DHD, Jack and Sam fell into step on either side of their friend. "Never," Teal'c replied.

"Oh, yes," Jack told him.

Nicole and Daniel met them a few steps later. "There's going to be a celebration, right?" the redhead asked, a huge smile covering her face. "With cake?"

Jack nodded, putting his arm around Daniel's girlfriend and his other around Teal'c. "Oh, yes, Nicole. Lots and lots of cake." Sam smiled and shook her head as she and Daniel followed their three friends.

Humming quietly to herself, Nicole made her way through the halls of the SGC to Daniel's office. He had asked her to grab a few things for him while he and the others attended the mandatory debriefing before they headed off to Jack's house. Teal'c needed to know what had happened while he was gone, and General Hammond just wanted to make sure everything was under control before his elite team headed off base for some much deserved down time.

Turning a corner, the redhead nearly collided head-on with the man she had begun to despise seeing. McKay backed up quickly, holding his arms out to steady the woman before him. "Sorry, didn't see you there," he said, before his eyes lifted and saw who he was addressing. "Oh, it's you," he muttered, dropping his arms.

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah, it's me. Sorry to disappoint you."

He shook his head. "No, it's not your fault. I have to go to Russia now," he replied angrily as he began to walk past her.

Nicole sighed, a small amount of pity creeping into her heart. "Wait," she told him, turning around to face him and watching as he did the same. "I'm sorry they did that to you. It wasn't right."

He shook his head, bewildered. "Are you trying to be nice to me? After all those things I said about Major Carter?"

Certifiable wack-job came to Nicole's mind as she shook her head and managed to keep her anger in check. "Oh believe me, I am not happy with a lot of what you've said or done here, and if you ever say such things about any of my friends again, I will hunt you down and kill you. I don't care how precious your mind is to the Air Force. But even so, no one deserves to be treated the way you have been, shipped off to a country like Russia without your consent."

"You're one of those 'believe in the best in everyone' persons, aren't you?"

She shrugged. "I suppose. There could be a future for you yet. Just remember you're not always right. That's something I had to learn a while ago."

He shook his head. "What would you know of it?"

"More than you think, Rodney McKay. You have no idea who I am, where I've come from, and you have no right to judge me or my friends. Maybe I'm wrong to feel sorry for you. Maybe you are just a pompous asshole after all."

"Just when I thought you were a nice person," he retorted sarcastically. "It's a shame, you are really hot."

She shook her head. "And taken. And don't ever think Sam would be interested, either." She stepped closer, her eyes narrowing on his face. "Oh, and one more thing. Sam is far from being a dumb blonde. She is smarter than you'll ever be, and I should know." The corners of her lips lifted upward slightly. "I'm smarter than you both, and I can say that without reservation."

"Who are you?" he asked, taking a step backwards and putting some distance between them.

She smiled. "Oh, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Why don't you take some reading material with you to Russia? I'm sure you could get your hands on some classified files that pertain to me and my species."

"You're not . . . human?" he asked cautiously, regarding her with new eyes.

She laughed. "Well, I am now, but I haven't always been. Maybe you've heard of us? We're called 'Qs'." His eyes widened, disbelief shining clearly through them. It was apparent he had read some files she was referring to, although he had apparently never thought he would meet a Q. She shook her head and patted his shoulder as she walked by. "Have fun in Russia."