Chapter Six – Beat Them At Their Own Game
xxxxxx
Jack, remote in hand, wandered nonchalantly into the kitchen where Sam, Teal'c and Ishta set quietly chatting.
Wine glass to lips Sam hesitated. Over the rim of the glass she watched him a moment as he stood there looking confused. "What?" She finally asked, setting the glass down and cocking her head in question.
"Could ya – ya know – look at this thing?" Somewhat reluctantly Jack put the remote on the kitchen bar carefully placing it right in front of where Sam sat.
"Tonight?" She looked at him with disapproval.
"I think the Naquadah Monster Child has ..."
The not so subtle scrap of her stool, the glare in her eyes and the fact that she'd come up off the stool at an alarming rate clued clueless Jack that he'd stepped over that fragile line with Sam. Quick to repair the implied he shouted, "Not ours! I swear Carter I would NEVER call your child – ah, damn it – our child... I was talking about Rose!"
"Rose is a baby Jack! She may be the only Jackson showing more than trace amounts of Naquadah, but she is by no means ..."
"Look at the goddamn remote! It's either possessed, Vala's mini me did it or Ishta's little… 'in your side' Jaffa zatted it! It was working just fine before and not one of the Meek Geeks dared to lay a hand on it! Look!" He pointed at the object, jabbing his finger repeatedly.
Ishta's head tilted to the right and her left brow rose. Teal'c's head went left and the right brow rose.
Both hands went up, he clinched his fists before going for crossing guard 'stop' as his arms went out to the side and then quickly returned to the front in a protective gesture. Jack tried to backtrack the last 'open mouth insert foot - never speak ill of the Jaffa' statement. "Oh, crap, I didn't mean that Thorn was actually…" he pointed to his side, eyes darting, "well… that he'd actually zat the thing...not that he couldn't if he wanted to... not that he would...he's not ... ah never mind, I better go check the tracking sensor."
xxxxxx
She'd insisted and he'd relented. Getting the rental car at the airport had been a nightmare. It was late and Daniel was tired and in a foul mood as he drove towards the cabin.
Vala, tall, pink and sparkly Disney Princess pen in hand, scribbled on an envelope she'd dug out from the bottom of her very large leather bag. "You know, Daniel, I CAN drive." She popped her gum loudly.
He clinched his jaw. "Uh hmm."
"Daniel, I need a new bag, I've had this old thing for over twelve years."
"Uh hmm," his eyes went wide with the effort to control himself.
Gum popped. She scrawled something on the paper, pen scratching in the quiet, the glow of the implement lending an eerie light inside the car. "I hope Rose is okay, you think she's okay don't you?" She blew out a bubble, popped it and continued on, "I can't believe I let her go. I should have kept her, shouldn't I? What kind of mother lets her three year old go off with Jack O'Neill? The 'IOA of Parenting' will, no doubt, come to my door and take her away. You really think she's okay? I mean, what if she wandered outside and got lost and no one even knows she's gone. Oh my gods! Daniel you don't..."
"VALA!" he snapped.
She burst into tears.
The car pulled off to the side of the road. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."
One hand covered her eyes, while the other shot palm forward right into his face.
Oh crap! He took a deep breath and let it out. It was not a usual occurrence – Vala crying – he supposed that's why it wrenched his heart... he knew it was the one thing that had snapped him out of his stupor years ago. Smiling at the thought he placed his palm against hers, laced his fingers with hers. "Remember that day? The day you burst into tears, right there in the Gateroom? It was what changed the whole thing…the night you conceived Danny." His voice was soft and caressing.
Nodding her head she sniffled, "I'm such an emotional wreck right now!" Vala laced her fingers with his, squeezed his hand, let go and dried her tears. "Come on, darling, I'm anxious to see my children."
He nodded and pulled back onto the highway. "They'll be asleep."
"I can kiss them." Pop!
"We shouldn't wake them." A muscle in his jaw twitched as she continued to pop and smack her bubble gum.
Pop! Pop! "Well, Daniel, it's not like I'm the Wraith Queen come to feed on them, I merely meant to kiss their foreheads. Besides…."
His hands gripped the steering wheel and he tuned her out.
xxxxxx
"Something's not right." Once again Jack stood at the kitchen looking confused at the gadget in his hand.
"O'Neill." There was a note of caution in Teal'c's voice.
"No, T, the sensor. They haven't moved at all, not 10 feet. Nothing. You suppose they settled in already? It's barely dark."
Teal'c, obviously concerned, stood and moved towards Jack, with Sam and Ishta right behind him.
Sam took the sensor and examined it. "Nothing is wrong with the sensor Jack. They were probably tired, hungry, in the dark…alone and stopped where there were."
"Yeah, well Eli has a penlight." Jack commented absently, looking uneasy.
"Bray has his knife." Eyes cutting momentarily to Ishta, Teal'c frowned.
"They don't have any food."
"Or water, O'Neill."
"Yup. Suppose we should go and get them, huh?"
"Indeed."
With flashlights in hand and the tracking device activated, Teal'c and Jack walked across the yard into the dark silent night.
At the door, Sam watched, arms hugging herself as Ishta stood behind her. A deep sigh – a breath of relief - escaped Sam. "He can be such a stubborn ass, but he's a softy at heart."
Moving beside the other woman Ishta bowed slightly and uncharacteristically placed a hand on Sam's shoulder, "I believe that Teal'c has learned much of his...softer side...from O'Neill. They are both about to face the consequences of their actions. It will be interesting as to how they will proceed and who actually is receiving punishment."
"Mommie?" a half asleep, teary eyed Rose appeared.
"No, Darling, it's Auntie Sam and Auntie Ishta. Mommie will be here in the morning."
At first Rose began a sad little silent weep as tears flooded and rolled from her eyes. Thorn padded up beside her and his arm landed around her shoulder. "ist awwhite, Dawling I am heya, peas doan twy."
Then without further warning the screaming started, "Mommie!"
Sam and Ishta rushed forward to comfort Rose.
xxxxxx
Vala had one foot out of the car and on the ground when the first "Mommie" reached her ears. She leapt from the vehicle, cleared the porch steps in one bounding jump and pushing against the locked handle screamed back in terror, "Rose!"
"Mommie!"
"Rose! Darling!" Vala screamed like a banshee banging and pushing on the door as Daniel tried to calm her.
Sam jerked out of her shock and fumbled with the lock yelling through the door that everything was okay.
"MOOOOOMMMMMMIIIIIEEEEE!"
"Vala, please, can't you hear Sam? She's trying to unlock the door, nothings wro..."
"ROSE! DARLING!"
The door burst inward and Vala landed against the other wall. Daniel blinked, grinned at Sam, and shrugged his shoulders before he scooped up Rose and hugging Vala and the child as one he calmed them.
Thorn stood with a hand over each ear and both tiny brows raised. Sam had a hand to her heart and a wrist to her forehead while Ishta stood calm and stoic, "The child has very strong healthy lungs, DanielJackson, you should be proud."
"Oh. Yeah. Sure I am." With a weary sigh, Daniel kissed Rose's temple and pulled Vala tight to his side.
Thorn laced his fingers behind his back, "Embead."
xxxxxx
Six shirtless boys, charcoal painted tribal symbols on their foreheads, (looking remarkably Jaffa-ish), sat around the remnants of an old fire, eating MRE's.
"You think they know yet?" Drake questioned boredom evident in his tone.
"I know one thing, Mom's gonna have a cow when she finds out. I'm sure glad she's not here, not in her condition." Danny scratched at his mud and leaf decorated chest.
"Your mom will be fine. They won't even start lookin' until really late; when Uncle Jack figures out that we haven't moved." Ian was hacking off the material from the bottom of his pants – using Bray's knife. "They probably think we're still back at the clearing right where they left us."
"I agree. The technology they used will continue to send the signal from where we left the shirts." Bray grinned in the darkness as he charcoaled around his eyes in mask fashion.
"They're gonna be really mad now!" Jake stood up and began to pace.
Eli accepted the knife from Ian and began to sharpen his stick. "Like they weren't before? We won't mention we knew about the chips – we tell them we decided to play survivor-SG1! I'm sure they weren't planning on coming back until tomorrow anyway. They want to scare us, teach us a lesson." Shining the small light up into his own face, illuminating hair muddied in pointed spikes, Eli waggled his head, then turned the light on his comrades. "Jez Danny could ya put on something more then a loin cloth!"
"I really wanted a fire." Trying the bandanna he'd made from his own pants material around his head, Danny pounded his chest with his fists and let out a long and well practiced Tarzan yell.
"Pipe down!" Eli was grinning.
Bray finished wrapping himself in leaves and twigs tied with vine. "A fire is easy to spot."
"Right." Eli shined his small light up a nearby tree. "Okay, we need to get up to the tree house fort again. I got a pair of night goggles. If we're lucky we can see them coming!"
Once settled in the makeshift tree house Drake put on the night goggles. "I got first watch. I'll wake you in an hour."
"Good, I'm sleepy." Danny yawned.
"You're such a light weight Dannyboy!" Eli checked his illuminated watch, snapped the cover back in place and then slapped his friend on the back.
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Not!"
"Are!"
"STOP!" Bray demanded. "Now… what are we going to do?"
"Wait." Both Eli and Danny said at once.
xxxxxx
The men had been gone at least forty-five minutes before they checked in.
"What do you mean you can't find them?" Sam was on the Sat phone with Jack, walking the hall towards one of the guest room. "Not where you left them in the forest all alone? Humph!" Very softly she knocked on Daniel and Vala's door.
Slowly, the door opened and a wide awake Daniel peeked out. "They're both asleep," he whispered, "Hey, what's wrong." Sensing something, Daniel moved out of the room and shut the door behind him.
"It's Jack. They can't find the boys." Sam, eyes round with worry, handed the phone to Daniel. "He wants to talk to you." Biting her lip she followed Daniel all the way back down the hall, through the house and out onto the deck.
Daniel snapped the phone shut and looked across the yard, brows drawn in concentration. He wasn't much concerned, or afraid, he was curious - as was Jack and Teal'c, but to Sam he appeared troubled.
Sam placed a hand on his bicep "Daniel, what is it? What did he say?"
"Look Sam, please don't wake Vala, she's been stressed enough today. I'm going to get a few things from the car and Jack's truck, and then meet up with Teal'c and Jack."
"The boys have sensors, they were tagged!"
Swallowing and dropping his head to hide the grin Daniel confessed, "Ah, Jack found the boys shirts."
Sam covered her mouth and her eyes went wide with dread.
"They'll be fine." Daniel took off in search of the much needed equipment.
xxxxxx
"Bray!?" Teal'c's voice boomed into the stillness sending night creatures scurrying frantically in every direction.
Jack picked up one of the shirts. "Eli!? Danny!?" He called, then mumbled, "Damn little…."
Both Jack and Teal'c spun around reaching for non-existent weapons.
"Damn it Daniel!" Jack barked out.
Daniel, wearing jeans, a black T-shirt and his black utility vest, entered the clearing squinting against the light Teal'c pointed in his face. He yawned as he tossed the other vests to his waiting teammates and then tied his black bandanna around his head. "So…what's the situation?"
Donning a vest Jack replied drolly, "The situation is that the little smart asses most likely have the pair of night goggles I've been missing for a week now…"
"A knife," Teal'c interjected closing his vest and checking his supplies.
"… and a penlight, not sure what else. You call Mitchell?" Jack raised his flashlight into Daniel's face.
"Stop that, and yeah I called him, he's working on it."
"Let's move out." Jack took the lead with Daniel in the middle and Teal'c on the six. "I can see the headlines now, 'Retired Air Force General goes nuts and strangles six boys…he's acquitted by a jury of fathers!"
"Or perhaps, O'Neill, it will read 'Alien from outer space kills six…no kills five Earthling boys and one alien boy."
Jack laughed out loud, "nice one T."
"Thank you, O'Neill."
They moved along in silence for a while until Daniel offered, "Maybe it will be 'overprotective, geeky archeologist…"
"Spacemonkey."
"…spacemonkey kills retired general and alien in an effort to save six misguided but brilliant youngsters from annihilation."
"Yeah, well that one works too. But, for cryin' out loud, Daniel, we've got to get them to stop being so…so, Carterish."
"You are going in a circle, O'Neill."
"Well, we gotta look like we're looking while we wait to hear from …"
"Jackson!?" The radio beeped.
"Mitchell?" Daniel thumbed the button.
"Expecting someone else?" Cam's voice was coming through in a loud whisper.
"What?"
"I gotta talk low, don't wanna wake up the baby."
"Right."
"I got 'em!"
"Thank god."
"Thank Carolyn for insisting on puttin' that transponder chip in him when he broke his arm."
Grinning, Daniel listened to the coordinates and requested radio silence.
xxxxxx
Bray sat up instantly when Danny touched his shoulder and insisted, "Look."
Taking the goggles from Danny, Bray scanned the woods. "Oh, not fair!"
"What?" Eli's sleepy voice croaked out.
"Look."
The goggles passed to Eli. "Vests! And Uncle Daniel! Crap!"
Ian lifted his head, "Go back to sleep!"
"Look!" Eli, Bray and Danny said in unison. Both Ian and Drake popped up, wide awake now.
"Time for Plan B." Ian muttered miserably, tossing the night vision glasses to Drake.
"I love Plan B." Drake handed the goggles back to Ian.
"We know!" The other five chorused, exasperated.
xxxxxx
Shoulder to shoulder the three fathers headed for the boys.
"I'm thinking," Jack murmured quietly, "We should spread out a bit, like we're not going the right way, we'll use the radios if we have to, switch to hand signals when we can and move in from different directions. They might be taking turns staying awake and watching."
Teal'c pulled his night vision binoculars out, moved behind a tree and surreptitiously aimed them in the track of the coordinates. Daniel moved off to the left, and Jack to the right. "There is a structure in a tree. They must be up there." Teal'c pointed and the other two nodded in understanding.
Jack signaled for Teal'c to go left, after Daniel, as he moved further off to the right. It took them a good twenty minutes of cut backs and crisscrosses to finally reach their target.
Looking smug, Jack motioned the other two to join him at the base of the tree.
"Nice fort, you build that?" Daniel asked Jack as he looked up.
"Not me. He musta built the damn thing himself. Eli! Get your scrawny ass down here right now!"
"Hands up!" Eli demanded holding his sharpened stick to his fathers back.
"You too! Dr. Jackson." Danny poked Daniel with the penlight.
"No Jaffa tricks, Mister!" Ian instructed as both he and Bray held sticks to Teal'c's back.
"I love a good Plan!" Drake walked around the front of the three men. "Drop your weapons!"
"We don't have weapons." Jack frowned.
"Well, drop your fancy vests and radios and all the other crap!"
"Don't say crap!" Jack scolded.
"Yes sir, sorry, but drop it all anyway." Drake pointed across to Eli. "You, General O'Neill take their stuff."
"It's not STUFF Drake! For cryin' out loud."
"Well then what is it?"
"It's … it's…"
"Paraphernalia ?" Daniel offered.
"Para… heck no!" Eli said taking Daniel's offered vest and putting it on.
"Equipment?" Teal'c suggested.
"Nah." Danny took Teal'c's vest handing it off to Drake.
"Gear?" Jack recommended, tossing his vest to Bray.
"Yeah. That's it, Gear!" Eli poked his dad with the stick.
"Hey, get that damned stick outta my back!"
"MOVE!" Eli poked him again.
"Your mother is gonna wonder what happened to you when I bring you home."
"Right, yada, yada, yada… move soldier!"
"Airman!" Jack corrected indignant.
"What the hell have you got on?" Daniel asked getting a good look at Danny.
"Not much!" The other boys laughed out.
"I need my phone." The captured O'Neill said hands held high in the air as he was prodded along.
"No privileges for the enemy." Bray claimed loudly.
Jack turned, "Fine, you're the one that has to face Ishta, not me."
Bray felt around in the vest and found the satellite phone. "Cool phone. Five minutes."
"Three." Eli offered.
"Three minutes, mister!" Bray opened the phone, dialed the number and turned it to speaker holding it in front of Uncle Jack who reached for it, "Hands up!"
Rolling his eyes, Jack lifted his arms. "Ah, Sam?"
"Jack?" Sam's voice filled the night air.
"We found them, their fine; we'll be back for breakfast."
"Whaaat? Breakfast?"
"Yeah, we're just staying here tonight."
"Jack?"
That damned stick felt like a cats claw in his back. "I gotta go Carter. See ya tomorrow."
Hands held high the three men marched ahead, rumbling with laughter.
xxxxxx
Sitting on the deck drinking coffee the next morning, Ishta, Sam and Vala looked at the odd scene as their husbands, hands up in surrender, were prodded forward by boys who, to Sam, resembled the Nox, to Vala, resembled the Unas, and to Ishta, nothing she had ever witnessed before.
Rose's head gently leaned on Vala's barely protruding belly. "Da baby is talkin to me mommie, it's a gurl."
Thorn's brows rose in wonder and he put an ear to Vala's tummy.
"Is it, darling?" Vala did not take her eyes from the bizarre group approaching as she placed a gentle hand on each of the children's heads.
"Um hmm."
"And what is she saying?"
Very seriously little Rose listened. "She's sayin... I lub you Dahling and I can't wait to meet you."
"Embead."