Author Notes: Once again, thanks for the feedback, and for not complaining about the slight wait :)
Chapter 7
Doctor Warner was not having fun. SG-1 had been fine to check over, and he had already sent them to be debriefed by a very disgruntled General Hammond. It had even been relatively easy to disinfect and stitch up the bullet wound on the arm of one of the aliens, as it had only been a flesh wound. And then he had hit a brick wall – not entirely literally, but close enough, as it took the shape of two rather large masked men.
They refused to speak a word, they refused to remove their masks, and when he had tried forcibly, the littlest one of the five had grabbed his wrist in such a grip he had thought it was going to break. It was then that one of the armed escorts had stepped in, and suggested they wait for Hammond to get back up here. Unfortunately, whatever he had to say to the SGC's flagship team was apparently taking a long time, as it had already been three hours, the only indication that something was happening being the doubling of men guarding the room. They had even tried moving the five to a secure holding cell, as Warner had been unable to fully examine them, but that had been just as unsuccessful.
In the end, nearing four hours since they had been dumped in his lap, it had come down to a staring match, one which the patient Doctor was steadily losing. He was about to give in, and march down to see General Hammond himself when there was movement at the door. All five tensed, while Warner could have cried with relief, "Doctor Fraiser! Thank goodness. How did the surgery go?" He kept his tone light before he pleaded for help.
The woman looked worn, giving him and the group of five a wan smile, "Jonas should pull through. The blow to his head caused some inter-cranial bleeding, and there was abnormal clotting behaviour in his blood; General Hammond had to call in some help for a specialist the situation had progressed so far." She scrubbed her face, before finally actually realising she had five masked and cloaked aliens sitting in her Infirmary, "Why are they still here?"
Warner shrugged, "I couldn't get them to co-operate, and both General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill have been rather scarce."
Janet resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "Jonas is in the post-op room down the hall, maybe you could check on him while I take over here? I've already informed General Hammond."
She could tell her colleague was relived as he muttered a contrite, "Yes, of course."
Narrowing her eyes and putting on the voice she usually reserved for dealing with SG-1, she faced the group, "Okay, my name is Doctor Fraiser. As was explained to you when you arrived, all incoming travellers through the gate are required to submit to a medical examination. Jonas is fine. He is not going anywhere, and the sooner you get the all clear from me, the sooner you can see him, because there is no way in hell I am letting you near someone who has just had brain surgery when you could be carrying any kinds of contaminants. So, first things first, cloaks and masks off – I can't give you the all clear from examining your hands." At first nobody moved. She increased the level of her glare and placed her hands on her hips, "Sometime this century would be nice."
The smallest one hopped off the bed on which she had been perched, shrugging off her cloak. A hand tried to stop her, but she had already unclasped her mask and thrown it on the bed before he got halfway. She gave Janet a soft smile while the doctor struggled not to react. It was hard to believe one as slight as she could garner herself such a reputation. She was much younger than Janet would have suspected, and would not have looked out of place on Abydos. A barely audible sigh and the owner of the hand followed suit. At a glance, the doctor would say this man was a relative of the girl; same eyes, same expression. She raised a pointed eyebrow at the remaining three.
"Well, who am I to deny such a polite woman the honour of looking at my face?" An amused voice was soon matched with the face of a dark-haired woman with intelligent eyes, "Boys, be gentlemen." She elbowed the man next to her, who complied and removed his mask along with his shorter companion.
Janet was very hard pressed not to scream. A hand on her shoulder made her jump. It was Colonel O'Neill, "You're not dreaming. I've spent the last four hours trying to explain this. Trust me."
Doctor Fraiser swallowed, regarding the man who looked exactly like Daniel Jackson. The man shifted under the attention, "The sooner you examine us, the sooner we can see Jonas." A not-so-subtle hint. Janet nodded weakly, ordering her equally shocked nurses into action. No doubt the whole of the SGC would know of the return of the two lost members of SG-1 by dinner.
The work was quick. Doctor Warner had done a good job with the woman's arm, and apart from that, they were all in peak physical condition. She noted in the back of her mind how Daniel seemed to be able to see perfectly well. When she was done, she turned to O'Neill, who was still waiting, "Well? Where's General Hammond?"
Jack, who had been watching from the opposing wall, looked grim, "He's arguing with a shed-load of stuck up Tok'ra, with the Pentagon on the phone, while the IOA are crawling up people's backsides. Go figure. They're to be moved to the isolation rooms. Warner told me Jonas will be okay? Hammond says keep him where he is, but still wants the armed guard. Or, better put, the Tok'ra want it."
Janet winced. No wonder they hadn't seen hide nor hair of the base's commanding officers. It sounded like they were holding up a floodgate. If it had been anyone else behind those masks...
"No." Daniel's voice cut clean through her thoughts. Arms folded, he stood at the fore of the group.
Jack raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"
"We let ourselves be examined. Take us to Jonas."
"What? No pretty please?"
Daniel's eyes darkened, but Jack did not back down. Vala stepped forwards, resting a hand on his arm. Jack shifted, made uncomfortable by the trust that shone between the pair, "I'm not usually the first to suggest something like this, but this isn't exactly normal, Daniel. They've shown themselves to be good so far," she fixed her gaze on Jack, "Let Daniel stay with Jonas. We'll go ahead to one of your rooms. Together."
Jack held eye contact with the woman. Her cool, clear eyes told him that was as good as it was going to get, and if he was going to let anyone wander off out of this lot, it was going to be Daniel. The IOA would be pissed they would be staying in the same room, but to be frank, Jack couldn't give a rat's ass. "Done."
Daniel had lost track of the time he had spent watching his friend sleep. After O'Neill had led him to the room, he had been left more or less in peace. With Jonas still sleeping off the after-effect of whatever they had drugged him with, Daniel had been given an awful lot of time to think over his decision to lead them all here. Too much time. He soon found himself second guessing himself, and when he wasn't distracted by thinking up theories about what an 'IOA' was, he was constantly replaying things over in his mind – most specifically, Drek's death, and the following 'rescue' from the facility. How had he let himself be taken in that easily? Looking back, it had been such a transparent ploy. The others had relied on him, and he had let them down. Especially Jonas, but the others as well.
Echoing voices from down the corridor drew his attention from his inward-berating. He recognised the voice of the female doctor, but the other was unknown to him. He rose smoothly, noting how swiftly the guard at the door tensed at the change of situation.
The owners of the voices seemed to stop moving, as they got no louder. Once again, he found himself impressed by the strength of presence that small woman commanded, "I am sorry, Mr Woolsey, but Jonas has just undergone surgery, and given his prior medical history, I refuse to rush things. Now, I will send Daniel back to the others, but I will not be swayed any further than that. If you'll excuse me."
Her last statement had clearly been more than a request. Daniel didn't see any need to hold up any pretence when she entered, "I will not leave." He was disturbed by the apparent knowledge this Fraiser had claimed over Jonas' past.
For a moment, it looked as if the small woman was going to get angry, but then she sighed, and her gaze softened. "I understand how worried you are, Daniel, but I promise Jonas will be safe under my care. I tried to argue your case, as did Colonel O'Neill, but there are higher powers at work here, and they demand you are placed in a more...secure environment for the night."
Daniel kept his face impassive, but inside he was screaming. How could he have been so stupid to have brought them all here? Everything was completely out of their control, they were weaponless. He's made the wrong decision again, and-
He cut himself off. No. If they hadn't come here, if he hadn't taken the risk, Jonas would be dead. The doctor had tried to explain to him about the nature of the injury, but all he needed to know was how that last look in Jonas' eyes before he had slipped into unconsciousness had not been right.
Reluctantly, he nodded his consent.
Jack bristled as Woolsey settled down a seat behind him. They had set up a video feed to monitor their new guests, and it was turning into a regular freakshow. What galled Jack the most was how the IOA and the Tok'ra had apparently found a common ground – the dangerous and untrustworthy nature of these individuals. All that was left for dispute was who got the control over them.
Teal'c and Carter both shot him a look, and he shrugged nearly imperceptibly. Woolsey had gotten bored a couple of hours ago, seeing as the four remaining aliens weren't saying a word, and had left to see what the Tok'ra and Hammond were doing. Jacob had been not-so-subtly recalled by the Tok'ra when the reality of the situation had been realised. Either way, it had given SG-1 some much needed private time in peace to talk over the situation in the video room.
The reason for Woolsey's sudden reappearance was realised soon enough, as the door opened, and Daniel walked into the room. Immediately, the dark haired woman – Vala – threw up her arms, and rose to her feet, "Finally! Do you realise how worried we've been? No, of course you don't. You were no doubt going over everything, thinking how this is all your fault." She hit him in the arm. Jack couldn't keep the surprised expression from his face; after all these hours of silence, and that's the first thing she comes up with?
Daniel seemed to be thinking something along the same lines, but was apparently used to it, as he didn't waiver, "Their healer seems to think Jonas will be fine. He was still sleeping when I left. How have you all been?"
"Quiet." Vala sighed, "This place gives me the creeps, and we had more to think about than talk over, especially with you two missing."
The dark-skinned boy was seen to move forwards as well, folding his arms across his chest as if cold, "Vala's right. This place is too..." He trailed off meaningfully, gesturing at the grey walls of the small room. Jack found his interest piqued, but Beren didn't elaborate further, "Not that any of this seems to be a worry for Kera." He gestured to the other girl, who smiled softly, and shrugged, seeming to be completely at ease with their situation. The only thing that irked the girl was her inability to tell them what she now knew – these people were from Daniel and Jonas' past, a time before the facility.
Kera's knowledge, however, remained forcibly private. Daniel was seen to sigh and pinch the bridge if his nose, an action that made Sam flinch with the familiarity of it. "Alright. We'll get some sleep. There's not much we can decide until Jonas is awake anyway."
It didn't sound like an order. Nor was it said with any sort of body language that demanded respect. Nevertheless, Vala nodded softly, gently reaching out to squeeze Daniel's shoulder before moving away, grabbing pillows and blankets from the beds in an action so reminiscent of their first night at Neith's palace. As soon as Beren and Kera were comfortably settled, Vala gave the other two men a meaningful look, before curling up next to the younger pair under the blankets. The plain oddity of this sleeping arrangement was not lost on those in the video room.
So softly that the microphones had trouble picking the voices up, Renn turned to Daniel, "You must rest. I will stay awake tonight."
Daniel let out a breathy laugh, but no humour laced his tone, "You think I could sleep at a time like this?"
The solid presence in front of him shook his head, "No, but you must at least try."
Daniel made to protest, but Renn held up a hand, silencing him with a look. Reluctantly, he nodded, and the other man settled himself crossed-legged on the bed facing the door. Before he made his way over to the others, however, Daniel murmured, "I think these people know Jonas."
Renn cracked open an eye from his meditative posture, "You think they are the masked men?" His voice was no more than a hiss, dripping with venom.
Daniel shook his head, "No. They do not go out of their way to be too dissimilar to that place, and I truly think that had all been down to her." He refused to speak Neith's name, "I think they might have known Jonas...before."
Renn regarded him for a long moment before replying, "If there was a before."
That seemed to end the discussion, as Daniel moved slowly to lie down with the others. Vala dropped any pretence of sleep, and caught his hand in hers. He returned her reassuring smile, and tried to find the rest Renn had been so adamant about.
Jack blinked. He managed to restrain himself from saying anything until Woolsey had risen with a soft 'interesting' and left the room. Stubbornly ignoring the connection his once-presumed-dead best friend had with these people, he turned to his team, "They think we might be the 'masked men'? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It would seem that the men who attacked us and took Jonas Quinn and Daniel Jackson also played a part in bringing them together with the others, O'Neill." Teal'c spoke calmly, his eyes never leaving the screen.
"It's now too much of coincidence for those men to have just been bounty hunters like we thought, sir." Carter added.
Jack ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "Well ain't this just peachy."
It had been a ridiculously long day for Janet, and yet she almost dreaded going home to Cassandra. What was she supposed to say? She sighed, checking over the readouts from the monitors surrounding Jonas' bed. His injury had hardly been the worst the SGC had seen, but there had been something...off about it. For some reason, the bleeding in his skull had been much more severe than should have been expected. Once the danger of the operation was over, she had ordered samples of his blood to be screened for possible chemicals that could have been the cause. Not only that, but there was the added worry of Jonas' history after that nightmare incident of the Goa'uld-gifted fortune telling he had experienced while on SG-1.
Her attention was suddenly caught by movement in the bed occupied by the current object of her thoughts. The machines registered a slight increase in heart rate as a frown creased Jonas' features, and his muscles tensed. His eyelids began to flicker rapidly, and at a guess, she would assume he had just fallen into REM sleep – and a rather disturbed one at that – meaning the sedative was wearing off.
"Jonas!" She called firmly, determined to wake him up before deciding whether a further sedative was necessary. "Jonas, wake up please. It's okay, you're safe."
Confused green eyes cracked open, nightmare-fear hindered by the groggy feeling of being drugged. He blinked, "Doctor Fraiser?"
Janet almost took a step back in shock. Could it be possible Jonas remembered what Daniel didn't?
But then Jonas' expression began to clear as he fully dredged himself up from semi-consciousness, and it was soon replaced by fear as he scrambled to sit up and get away from her, "Where am I? Who are you?"
A sudden spell of dizziness was the only thing that stopped him from acting violently out of his fear and confusion. It forced Janet to administer another sedative as things were confused by the arrival of that damned IOA representative and a miscellaneous Tok'ra with General Hammond.
As Jonas fell back into dreamless unconsciousness, Janet found that she had no desire to relay what had just happened to these people who at heart she knew did not truly care for the welfare of the SGC and its people.
When she finally got the General and SG-1 alone to tell them of the development, she knew she was not alone in this assessment. They would protect their own until such time when they could once again protect themselves. In the meantime, she would join them in cursing that damn snake to hell.
To Be Continued...
Author Notes: Any thoughts?
