Part Eleven.
Dooley closed his door and with a resigned sigh he stared at his room and all of the stuff he had collected over the months he had been working here. Sure, it wasn't a lot but, it was the memories he guessed. Memories with the best bunch of guys he had ever met. All trying to find their way on the world and wanting to have a bit of fun doing it. Finding them his life didn't end up as miserable as he thought it would have...and he was going to miss them, something he would never admit to their faces.
Pulling off his jacket he sat on the bed and let his head fall into his hands. The General had told him to pack up and he would be shipped out first thing in the morning to face a court-martial for his behaviour, and it was only now Dooley actually realised what O'Neill had saved him from. The irony wasn't lost on him as he realised how much he wanted to have the Colonel dish out one of his more imaginative punishments. Like doing the washing up in the commissary in nothing but an apron. Or, cleaning the locker rooms, really cleaning the locker rooms, using nothing but the contents of his own soap bag. Tooth-paste and the tooth-brush were pretty effective at removing those mildew stains, and the place sure did smell cleaner after wards.
He laughed to himself.
In a way, O'Neill was a little like him. Trying to get by, and having a laugh doing it. If only Dooley had realised that sooner. Seen the funny side to the Colonels reprimands.
Better late than never, or so they say. Dooley just wished that applied in this instance. It didn't. He was still in big trouble and he was still on his way out of the program and possibly jail.
His train of thought was disrupted by a crash of some kind coming from the room next door and Dooley let it slide. Captain Carter was looking around the room, she could have easily knocked something. He was packing a small bag with some clothes when he heard the next clatter this time followed by a shout. This bothered him and cautiously he opened his door and peered into the hallway beyond. The Captain was pissed with him and he didn't think he could take another ear-bashing today.
The racket continued, though it was...a quiet sort of disturbance. He could hear movement, quick, frantic movement. The sound of clothes rubbing against itself and the boots as they hit thr floor, but not walking, no...like, struggling.
No longer concerned with his own pride and protecting it, he stepped out and hurried to the door of the next room. It was open and he looked inside at the scene. Terror gripped him as he saw Captain Carter pinned to the floor by his new neighbour! He had one hand gripped around her throat and he was pressing down so hard she couldn't move or lift herself up. He was choking her. Her legs lashed out, kicking at anything and every direction, either trying to contact her attacker or get someones attention.
Well she had it.
With no further concern for himself Dooley ran in and gripped the man with his arm, locking his neck in a tight head lock and pulled back, dragging him off of Carter. She gasped and coughed, rolling onto her side, obviously okay while Dooley done his best to wrestle this insane bastard down and hoepfully keep him there.
He held on, even as the attacker backed into a wall, making sure Dooley took the full force of the blow. He felt the uneven surface press into his back and the wind explode from his lungs as a second shove drove home and hurt like hell. All he could do was bare the brunt of it and continue to pull back on his arm and pray the guy passed out before Dooley ended up with some serious spinal injuries.
He growled, biting back the pain as a third shove can and went, the fourth was a little easier to take. The guy was starting to weaken as slowly his oxygen was limited to the muscles he required to keep up this pace.
"Go down you dumb..." He pulled back again, harder and this time the guy dropped to one knee, gasping and wheezing. He was red in the face and slowly turning blue but Dooley wasn't about to let up till he was down, for good if necessary.
With one finaly throaty wheeze, Dooley let go, seeing the Captains attacker fall face first into the cold floor, out cold.
"You okay, Captain?" He asked, reaching down to help her up, wincing when he saw some pretty heavy bruising already starting to form around her neck. "We should get you checked out, ma'am."
"No..." She quickly snapped, her voice sounding like she had just gargled with glass. "Is he..?"
"Not dead, ma'am. He's still breathing." He reported as he checked the pulse point of the unconscious man.
"Good, we'll need to ask him some questions..." Carter rubber her neck and coughed.
"Sure you're okay?"
"I will be, soon as I know what the hell is going on." She looked at Dooley and then smiled a little. "Thanks, by the way."
"No need for thanks, ma'am. I kinda feel responsible for all of this." He looked down at the guy shaking his head. "Guess Mitchel had an accomplice..."
"I don't think so. This guy was only drafted into the program a couple days ago, after Mitchel returned dead from the last mission."
"So why did he attack you?"
"I don't think he did." As if on cue the body at their feet started to writhe and spasm. Both of them looking on in disbelief as a bright light emerged from the now open eyes of their fallen man. It hovered there briefly before drifting...almost weakly towards the air vent.
"It's getting away!" Dooley exclaimed but Carter just shook her head.
"No, it's not." Without another word, she knelt down by the air vent and reached inside, pulling out a small mechanical orb with shone dimly.
"What's that?" He asked.
"This, is our assassin."
---
"I still don't get it." Jack was very honest when it came to these things. If he didn't follow, then he would let you know. What made it worse for Sam and Daniel was that he was still in pain and laid up - with not only a broken leg but a pretty bad knife wound to his hip too. Sam had tried her best to explain and it was clear she was in some discomfort with her throat, the angry bruising around her neck probably not half as bad as the damage that was caused on the inside.
"Basically," Daniel began, sitting forward in the chair, he himself was feeling well enough to finally tell them his side of events and not get to confused with fever and what ever else had been wrong with him. "This, thing was contracted to kill the leader of Earths military force." Jack blinked. "You."
"But I'm not..."
"I know...we know, but they don't."
"Who don't?"
"Who ever paid this alien to kill you."
"But it didn't."
"I know...but...will you just...stop that."
"Stop what?"
A deep breath was then taken in by the SGC's - so far - only archaeologist.
"Alright, sorry. What you're trying to say is this thing possessed, Mitchel?"
"Exactly, sir."
"How, I mean why him?" Daniel held up his hand and proceeded to answer.
"Mitchel was part of the team that took me to 773." At Jack's blank look Daniel elaborated. "The planet with all those rocks." Realisation and so Daniel continued. "Well, a lot of the find were just that, rocks, in the shape of these orbs. We still have no idea what the significance of them are, but, the device that Sam found in Mitchel's room is an exact replica, only rather than a carving, it's actually a device. I saw no evidence of this on the dig that day, but the similarities are incredible, it must have come from that same place."
"So how come you didn't this thing before today?" It was Sam's turn.
"We done some back ground checks on Mitchel, he was actually working for a government branch called the NID. Seems he's been selling on artifacts and the pieces of technology that he manages to smuggle out, to them."
"So...he finds this...thing. Doesn't document the find, keeps it to sell later to the highest bidder?"
"Yes, sir."
"But," Daniel continues Jack's train of thought. "The entity inside takes control of Mitchel and uses him as it's tool to try and get close to you, Jack."
"And is using ideas from Dooley's club to throw us off the scent of who the real assassin is." Adds Sam with a definitive nod.
Jack takes a moment to digest this information, chewing on his bottom lip before speaking once more. "And this other guy...the one who likes to play with knives?"
"He inherited Mitchel's room, sir, and the alien device was still hidden away inside the vent."
"But how did this, alien get from Mitchel's dead body, to the other guy?"
"According to, Sam the entity she saw was...some kind of energy and Janet reported that when she was trying to revive Mitchel, some of the equipment shorted out. Could be it escaped using our own energy source and had free run of the base."
"Ahh." A nod. "So who sent this thing after me?"
"No idea, sir. Could be the Goa'uld I guess. They know were out here now gathering technology and knowledge."
"Like there own Trojan Horse." Daniel added. "We bring it back, and this thing is inside ready to cause havoc."
"Sneaky." Jack added. "So where is it now?"
"Teal'c and Sg-2 have it sealed away and are disposing of it as we speak, sir."
"Oh good. Not sure how much more of this I could take."
"Likewise, sir." Sam smiled as she rubbed her neck and coughed.
"You okay, Carter?"
"Yes, sir. Little sore but, I'll survive."
"How did you get out of that, Sam?"
"Dooley, actually. He came through in the end."
"Who's Dooley?" Daniel asked looking to both Sam and Jack for an explanation. After all, he had been out of it while most of this was going on.
"Long story," Jack stated and grimaced as he tried to move to get comfortable.
"What? It's not like you're going anywhere."
"Oh but I am. I'm going to sleep."
"But you just woke up."
"Yes. The difference being this time I can actually close my eyes and not worry about someone trying to kill me." He grinned as he turned out the light. "Night, Daniel."
"But," He turned to Sam who just laughed and got up. "Sam?"
"I'll tell you later, Daniel. My throat is real sore."
"Oh, okay." With a sigh he sat back and threaded his fingers together. He could wait. He would have to wait, but at least he had something to amuse himself with, thanks to Jack. With a double click on the icon on his lap-top, Daniel settle back to play the tetris game and try and beat Jacks high-score.
The game music started and was heard around the ward, despite not being turned up that high. It was quite fun now that he was playing it and not just listening to it. A sentiment shared by his friend who groaned from beneath his covers.
"Daniel."
"Jack."
"Will you turn the music off?"
"I thought that wasn't possible." Daniel grinned as Jack just sighed having been caught out. Daniel had been very much out of it, yes, but he spent most of his time falling asleep to this tune because Jack just wanted to irritate Janet. Maybe next time he would decide to be a little more helpful.