Sorry, I'm being evil again, but I wanted to get something up before I left for the weekend. Enjoy.
Reynolds downed half the cup of coffee in three gulps, not paying any attention as the steaming liquid scalded his throat on the way down; he'd now been going for nearly forty-eight hours straight. Coffee was the only thing keeping him awake, finding Col Mitchell and Dr. Lam was the only thing keeping him going.
The exhausted Col forced his eyes back to the screen as the images flashed by rapidly. His vision was just starting to blur again when something caught his attention, "wait, go back."
The young Sgt did as ordered flipping the image back to that of an older, silver Ford truck stopped at the gate; he stared at the picture for nearly a full minute before swiveling to another monitor and bringing up another image of the same truck. "Take a look at this, sir."
Reynolds tore his eyes from the faint navy blue smudges on the front bumper of the truck to look where the Sgt was pointing. The date on the image was that of the previous day, and the bumper was spotless. "Who owns this truck, and why the hell wasn't he on our list?"
"Ah, he left well before Col Mitchell and Dr Jackson did. But sir, isn't Dr. Jackson's…"
Reynolds nodded. "Yes, Dr. Jackson's Forrester is navy blue, and yes it's missing paint along the back tailgate. This is our guy."
Twenty-four floors down, Daniel bolted up-right in bed. He quickly grabbed his head as the headache he'd had for the last twenty-four hours returned with a vengeance, but that didn't diminish the memory of his dream. He'd been recalling more and more of the moments after his accident throughout the day, but he had yet to get a clear picture of their assailant's face, until tonight.
Daniel still had no idea who the man was, but he definitely remembered seeing him around the base recently. He dressed as quickly as he could, managing to only trip over his pants once.
Jackson had no doubt that the General would still be in his office coordinating the investigation, even at this late hour. He literally ran into Sam as he rounded the last corner; the funny thing was that Teal'c and Reynolds were only three steps behind them. "Sgt Wilks?" Nods of ascension were seen all around as the four barged into Landry's office.
"We know who it is, sir," Carter stated the second the General acknowledged their presence. "Sgt Ethan Wilks was assigned to SG-19 a couple of weeks ago; before his medical clearance came through he was assigned to surveillance camera maintenance."
The General sighed with relief, scarcely hoping to believe that they'd finally gotten the break they needed. "Get his address, and let's get over there."
"Already have it, sir."
Daniel watched as Teal'c leaned slightly to see over the Col's shoulder, the creases in his forehead became deeper the longer he stared at the paper. "What's wrong Teal'c?"
"This address is a large apartment complex, I do not believe that Sgt Wilks would risk taking Col Mitchell and Dr Lam to such a public domicile."
STARGATE: SG-1
Carolyn's arms tightened reflexively around Cameron's neck as she stared down the barrel of the nine millimeter Wilks held in a shaky hand. "Carolyn, stand up."
Before she could obey, Cam shook his head gently against hers and subtly shifted so that as much of his body was between her and Wilks as possible. "Sgt, this is a no win situation for you. You know my team is going to find us soon; we'll go easy on you if you just turn yourself in now." The speech sounded even more cliché coming out of his mouth than it had in his head, but he had to say something.
"Carolyn, I said stand up." Wilks didn't give any indication that he'd heard Cam's statement; he simply seemed irritated that Lam hadn't obeyed him the first time. When she didn't move immediately he pointedly flipped the safety to the off position and aimed the gun at Mitchell's head.
Carolyn scrambled off his lap was quickly as she could with injuring either of them. Growing up in a military household, Lam was used to being around guns, but that didn't mean she was in any way comfortable with them. Especially when they were pointed at someone she cared about.
Cameron tried again, "Sgt, don't do this."
Wilks replied without taking his eyes off Carolyn, "I have to, Col. You forced me into this the minute you stole her from me."
"He didn't steal-"
"YES HE DID!" Wilks's carefully controlled calm disappeared as a savage kick sent Mitchell and the chair hurtling into the cabin wall.
Realizing this might be her only chance, Carolyn used the marine's momentary distraction to land a stunning roundhouse to the side of his head with her unchained leg. Even being made of pure muscle, her small stature decreased the force of her blows; but Carolyn had a level of speed and agility that made her the envy of all her class mates and she was able to land several more blows before Wilks could recover from the first. She drove him to his knees with a series of double fisted jabs from her bound hands; she took every possible opportunity to land a strike.
Carolyn expected Wilks to rally at some point, but she was still unprepared for the vicious backhand that sent her flying into the side of the couch.
Cam watched it all from ten feet away. He mentally cheered Carolyn on, even as he struggled violently against the zip ties that still bound his wrists. His hands had quickly become slick with blood and he could feel the plastic starting to slip.
The ties snapped a fraction of a second after Wilks's hand connected with Lam's face. Mitchell rushed at Wilks for what seemed like the tenth time that day.
He was so intent on protecting Carolyn, the discharge of the handgun didn't even register.
They hit the floor hard, the Sgt's body cushioning Cam from the majority of the impact; Cameron driving the marine's head into the solid wood planks several times. Wilks apparently gathered enough coherent though and strength to flip them both, rolling towards the kitchen. Cam continued to fight valiantly and finally managed to pin Wilks beneath him again. He lifted the marine's head and slammed a finally fist into the man's jaw, allowing his skull to thunk back to the floor.
He sat up breathing heavily before turning back toward Carolyn; "Baby, you ok?"
Lam nodded; in truth she knew that she was going to have some pretty spectacular bruises, but it was nothing compared to what Cameron was most likely feeling. Her eyes widened in fear when he turned toward her and she got a view of the large blood stain spreading across his t-shirt; the dark red contrasting sharply with the pale blue.
Carolyn watched as Cameron managed three halting steps towards her before collapsing.
STARGATE: SG-1
The neighbor's mouths dropped in disbelief as the three large black suburbans pulled up to the curb, spilling teams of black clad men and women.
Sam, Daniel and Teal'c rushed up the stairs with Reynolds hot on their heels; they stopped in front of 7G each hoping that their friends were alive and well inside. Carter waited for confirmation that all the teams were in place before moving aside to allow Teal'c access to the door. The man was better then a battering ram when he was angry.
A dozen soldiers burst into the sparely furnished one bedroom apartment; it took less than ten seconds to clear both rooms. There was no indication that Cameron and Carolyn had ever been there, and they certainly weren't there now.