Thanks, once again, to Rinne for the beta-ing! Without whom this chapter would have been another bloody battlefield in the aftermath of butchered grammar and misused tenses.
And also thanks to all of my readers out there! Your reviews and input are very much appreciated. I seem to come up short to devianttart's expectation :( No helicopter chases. I don't know how to fit that into the story -even if I knew how to write it! Although that would have been really cool. I have a rough outline of where this story is going, but any suggestions would be welcomed!
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The team arrived in time to hear the announcement informing the passengers of the delay in the bus' departure from the station, no doubt due to O'Neill and his call. Carter immediately headed for the bus in question as O'Neill and Teal'c walked through the crowds.
It wasn't long before Carter rejoined them. "Daniel's not with the other waiting passengers and the driver hasn't seen anyone matching his description."
O'Neill sighed. Perhaps they had jumped to conclusions. What if Daniel had found another way to get home? They could be losing whatever trail he left while they go off on this wild goose chase.
"O'Neill," Teal'c said, his voice brimming with as much emotion as either of his two companions had ever heard before.
He turned to the direction his friend was facing, and his breath hitched in his throat as he saw what caught Teal'c's attention. Daniel was seated on one of the benches on the far side of the station's lobby, hunched over with glasses in one hand and pinching the bridge of his nose as if to stave off a headache. For one heart stopping moment, O'Neill stood frozen at the sight of the man he hadn't seen for the past two months. And, to be honest with himself, never thought to see again. Last night he was ready to accept that his friend wouldn't be returning, the thought of which hurt him all the more as the guilt ate at him.
Carter placed a hesitant hand on O'Neill's arm, bringing him back to focus. He nodded to his 2IC, although he never took his eyes off the oblivious figure of their friend. Feeling strangely euphoric and apprehensive at the same time, O'Neill lead the way. He broke through the crowd as if they did not exist, which earned him and his companions a few muttered curses.
O'Neill did not know what he could possibly say once they reached Daniel, who still hadn't looked up from his hunched position. He could summon no words that seemed adequate to convey exactly how he felt. Anger, frustration, fear, and the overwhelming relief hindered his effort in coming up with anything suitable for this situation. He hoped, at least, to avoid the embarrassing moment they both experienced in the 'gate room at Daniel's return from apparent death aboard Apophis' ship a few years ago.
They were halfway across the lobby when Daniel finally glanced up, glasses in place once again. He and O'Neill made eye contact, and Jack realized he didn't need to know what to say for Daniel to understand what was going through his mind, what he was thinking now. Daniel could read him like a book and he himself had long ago learned all of Daniel's nuances and expressions by heart. So it was with surprise that instead of the familiar warmth Jack was expecting, he saw fear in those eyes. Surprise turned to bewilderment as his friend got up and headed away from them.
"Carter," O'Neill remarked calmly as they sped up to keep up with the archaeologist. "What's Daniel doing?"
"He's... trying to get away from us, Sir," she replied, incredulous.
"Right. Spread out. Search for hostiles in the area." It was the only explanation he could come up with to explain Daniel's behavior.
His team followed his order without question, disappearing into the crowd with purposeful strides. O'Neill's eyes never strayed from Daniel's retreating form as he tried to keep up without drawing attention. Ah, the hell with it, he thought as he broke into a run.
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Amery could not believe his luck.
"What do you mean SG-1 is there?" he asked icily. Amery's voice, though quiet, came through clearly on the headset of his agent.
"Exactly what I said, sir. I was trailing the target as instructed when they appeared."
Amery had spent the past weeks in tracking down his escapee and just when they found him, had a plan in place to get him back, they coincidentally showed up.
He could not allow Daniel Jackson to reunite with his teammates. He would not chance being exposed, even at the expense of the project the doctor was brought in for in the first place. "Take him down. Now."
"Yes, sir."
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Nathan walked fast. His hope was that he would blend in with the crowd as he tried to distance himself from his pursuers. He might have forgone that and just ran had he remembered the single-mindedness of Jack O'Neill, especially when it concerned his friends. Given that he knew none of this, he continued to weave his way through the people as inconspicuously as possible. He made it out the main entrance doors before he felt the vice-like grip on his arm, halting him completely.
"Daniel?"
Nathan stared at the man who stopped him, startled to see fear and concern etched on his face instead of the expected triumphant grin favored by Amery's goons.
Not in any of the possible scenarios supplied by his mind could he have predicted what happened next. Without warning, Nathan found himself wrapped in the other man's arms and squeezed till his breath caught. He inanely wondered if this was some kind of new torture technique that involved asphyxiation.
He was quickly released, however, as the older man seemed to come to his senses and realized how public the area was.
Nathan was too stunned to do anything but stare. "So... what's up?" the silver-haired man asked, sounding casual.
"Um," Nathan gaped. "What was that?"
"Oh, you know. Happens when your friend comes back from the dead." The older man's eyes grew soft and Nathan thought his voice was on the edge of wavering when he asked, "Seriously, are you okay?"
The tone the man used suddenly reminded Nathan of where he had heard it before. "You were the one I called. Last night."
"Yes. And it actually would have been helpful if you had given me something to work with," he said, still not picking up the subtle wrongness of his friend's behavior.
Nathan didn't know what to say to that. Obviously this man knew him, and he had since ruled out that the man posed a danger to himself. Not since the impromptu hug anyway. Plus, he obviously was concerned over Nathan's well being.
Nathan decided on the straightforward approach and asked, "Who are you?"
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O'Neill's grin fell and his stomach fell with it. He was about to ask a few questions of his own when he caught sight of Teal'c. Daniel followed his gaze but didn't comment, instead he dragged O'Neill's focus back on him.
"What happened to me?" Daniel's voice was filled with a desperate hope for Jack to supply an answer to this, and all other as yet unasked, question.
O'Neill shook his head, not in answer to Daniel, but to indicate that now was not the time. He had seen the look on Teal'c's face and it filled him with misgiving. O'Neill searched the crowds and spotted Carter heading toward Teal'c's position with the same look on her face: grim and determined. Unable to see the threat his team saw from his vantage point, he took hold of Daniel's arm again to try to drag him away from such an open space. Daniel, of course, resisted.
"Daniel. No arguing!"
"O'Neill!" shouted Teal'c, followed closely by Carter's, "Colonel!"
Realizing that his teammates would give away their position like that only when they were in immediate danger, a danger that neither of them could stop in time, he grabbed Daniel and brought them both to the ground.
"Crap," O'Neill muttered as he felt the unmistakable sting of a bullet grazing his arm. He didn't hear a shot being fired, but the people surrounding them apparently did as some started screaming and all of them scrambled to get away.
He stayed on top of Daniel for another moment, shielding the younger man from other possible threats. Daniel pushed him off.
"Stay down!" O'Neill hissed. Daniel nodded, his eyes wide in alarm when he saw blood darkening O'Neill's sleeve. O'Neill ignored it to search for his teammates, and saw Teal'c had a man pinned under his powerful figure. Carter was making her way to them at a jog, dodging the frightened people that inadvertently got in her way.
"Sir? You okay?" she asked when she was near enough to be heard.
"Fine, Carter," he said, dismissing his wound. "Was he the only one?" O'Neill nodded in Teal'c's direction as he stood up. Daniel slowly followed suit.
"He seems to be working alone. At least, he was the only one we could spot. Whoever else might have been with him must have gotten away by now," Carter said, apology in her voice.
O'Neill shook his head, knowing it would be impossible to track anyone in this chaos. "Let's hope he was alone. But let's find somewhere safer to talk, just in case."
Carter nodded, then ignored his suggestion as she brushed past the colonel to give a fierce hug to Daniel, squeezing him just as hard as O'Neill had. Daniel coughed.
O'Neill waited, knowing she needed this. When she finally backed away, he caught her eyes. "Go help Teal'c and notify the general of what happened, see if he can get someone down here to deal with this mess."
Carter nodded, puzzled to hear weariness in his voice instead of elation in finally finding Daniel.
"We need to get Daniel back to Frasier."
Carter turned a worried gaze to Daniel, checking him out for injuries. "Carter," O'Neill interrupted her, "go. I'll explain once we get out of here."
She nodded again, finally noticing that Daniel had remained uncharacteristically silent throughout the whole exchange. "Yes, sir."
The two men watched her go. Daniel, seemingly lost in thought, started at the touch on his elbow.
"Come on," O'Neill said quietly. He searched Daniel's eyes for any signs of recognition, but saw only confusion and bewilderment. Fear once again crept up his spine as he wondered just what the hell happened to his friend in the past two months.