Adam pulled the electrodes off his skull and chest and stood up. The pointless questions had been asked, answered, and tallied. He stood and watched while Daniel took his seat and was connected to Carter's contraption. They needed mortal baselines and the reactions of the other team members in order to test Max. No one asked Adam to leave so he remained still and observant while the rest of SG-1 was run through the gamut.

"So?" Adam asked Carter as she began cleaning up the electrodes.

"Well, now I need to run the numbers and check what we've recorded. Assuming everything went well we can test Max tomorrow."

"If this machine shows she isn't lying will you let her out of that cell?" Adam asked. Carter winced at his choice of words and sighed.

"That's not my call, it's up to the general and the president."

Adam gave her a cold sneer and left. He went to the gym and worked out his wrath. Teal'c observed dispassionately from his position on an adjoining mat. The big Jaffa observed Adam's skill and speed and calculated his weak points. Finally he approached the immortal and saluted him with his staff. Adam paused and studied Teal'c for a moment, finally he stepped back and returned the salute. He allowed the Jaffa to gain the mat and then attacked savagely.

Teal'c parried and dodged the blows Adam hurled at him. The immortal was more dervish than calculated warrior, but his tactic was working the Jaffa was forced to spend all his energy and concentration defending himself from Adam's savage, wild, and unpredictable blows, worse the few that managed to evade Teal'c's defenses were beginning to leave him bruised and weak. Finally as his arms burned and throbbed Teal'c spotted what might be a pattern to Adam's gestures, he focused and concentrated and timed his action precisely. The staff wove itself into Adam's blows and lanced out viciously striking the immortal hard in the midsection. It staggered Adam enough to force him back and turn the offense over to Teal'c.

Teal'c wasted no time, using staff, fists, feet, and once an elbow he drove Adam to the edge of the mat and rained blows upon him. That almost none got through the immortal's defenses was not the point the immortal was so harried and battered that he could not attack, Teal'c had turned Adam's tactic against him. Eventually Adam used the same tactic Teal'c had and forced a wedge in the Jaffa's offense, he managed to bring Teal'c to the ground and pin him.

Both men were literally dripping with sweat and gasping like a blacksmith's bellows. Adam pushed and managed to throttle Teal'c but the Jaffa drew a blade and placed it against Adam's heaving chest. Adam nodded and released the Jaffa. He helped the bigger man to his feet and saluted him

"Do you feel better Adam Pierson?" Teal'c inquired between breaths. Adam nodded, speechless and struggled to catch his breath as he wiped the sweat from his face.

"Indeed I do." He finally said handing a fresh towel to Teal'c.

"You are a very skilled warrior." Teal'c said. High praise indeed from the close mouthed Jaffa. Adam spared him a grim expression.

"You are at least my equal." He said and tossed the damp towel into a bin. He left the gym without a backward glance. Teal'c's passive visage regarded him closely. Adam was lying; while the battle had been ferocious he could have ended it at any point, not easily but certainly decisively. He was not comfortable with anyone knowing the full extent of his skills. He cursed to himself as he stalked back to his room. He had had enough. While the powers that be had decided to let him in on some of the secrets the mountain held he was still not being allowed enough information to produce effective correct translations, his friend was still basically a prisoner, and every day these powerful mortals learned more about his kind. Fed up he returned to his quarters.

Once inside he locked the door and slipped a chain lock he had installed as well. He stripped showered and then dressed very carefully. Against his skin was a very uncomfortable but useful cloth made from a tightly woven mesh of Kevlar and a heat sensitive flexible metal. The material would turn the sharpest edge and dull his heat signature to help him blend into the back ground. He tugged on a watch cap of the same material that he could cover his head, face, and neck with. He put on what looked like leather driving gloves but were again lined with the special cloth. Finally he slipped on steel toed boots and his regular clothing. He paused and studied his sword. He had a replacement on the outside, this one had no real significance to him but still he did not like leaving Cheyenne without a weapon. He frowned and shrugged so be it, he didn't need it and it would only serve to identify him as an immortal if he were picked up. He picked up a small duffel bag instead and slung it over one shoulder.

Adam stood in his quarters and flexed his hands; he loosened his neck back and shoulders and stared around the room. There was nothing there of vital importance. He left leaving the door unlocked and headed to his workroom.

Once there he logged in using a stolen I.D. and initiated his virus. It was a diabolical construct designed to chew through the SGC database, it would eradicate all information relating to Max and himself and scramble the rest. To mollify the impact he had engineered it with an internal timer, forty-eight hours after implementation the scrambled data would revert to normal but all information about immortals would be lost forever.

Adam stared at the screen for a long moment. If he hit enter there was no going back. The U.S. government would not buy an 'I'm sorry, my bad'. If he decided he wanted back in. But, his safety, Max's safety, the safety and sanctity of all immortals had all ready been severely impacted whether the Watchers and the rest of his race new it. He hit enter and let out a low breath. He stood and left quickly. The virus would crawl through the SGC, inserting bits of itself in every computer powered on and connected to the intranet. That left the hardcopy records and the standalone back up. Adam pulled a thumb drive out of his desk and slipped it into his pocket. On it was a duplicate of the virus. As he locked his door a late patrolling SF passed by, the two men exchanged friendly nods.

Adam paused in front of the secure data room. He checked his watch. He had to hurry he had fifteen minutes to install the virus, insert flash grenades in each of the twelve locked cabinets and get Max out of the iso ward. He considered his options. If he left Max she would likely be fine, the SGC would realize keeping her caged was a waste especially after testing her with the new contraption, Adam was confident that Akna was toast and it was his Max looking out from behind those eyes. He entered the room, forcing the lock and moving quickly. A silent alarm was no doubt sounding even now but he should have just enough time.

He went to the stand alone database first and uploaded the virus. While it was uploading he began forcing locks and dropping in flash bangs, he took the time to insert earplugs and avert his eyes from the flash; soon twelve fires were burning merrily away. He left just as the distant sound of hurried marching reached him.

He checked his watch. There was almost no time to go for Max, he ground his teeth and went for her anyway. The halls seemed endless and the crunching thud of security forces and Marine squads began to echo throughout the level. He hurried along silent and black, a moving shadow, finally he reached the iso room and forced the lock. He snatched the door open and faced –

Colonel Jack O'Neill. Adam's face clouded and he darted away into the SGC. They knew! His heart hammered and mind raced. How? It didn't matter he had to get out. He raced along rounding a corner before clearing it he ran almost face first into a squad of four marines. The four men raised their weapons and began to depress the triggers. Adam backpedaled and raced away the shots were never fired. Moving more cautiously he evaded two more patrols only to be spotted by the cc security cameras and have his location announced throughout the compound. A sense of desperation began to cloud his thoughts he dropped the duffel bag, pulled his watch cap down and opened the duffel bag. Inside was a set of goggles designed to adapt to ambient or low light environments automatically, he pulled them on and drew a small sidearm. It was filled with a potent tranquilizers, he strapped it to the outside of his right upper thigh and attached two replacement cartridges giving him thirty shots. He pulled a respirator out and secured it to his face. He was now immune to tear gas and power loss. He kicked the bag aside and proceeded quietly. The Marines who had nearly shot him arrived.

Adam stood sidelong to them, his new appearance threw the squad for half a heartbeat, long enough for Adam to dart the lead and draw a bead on another Marine. The Marines raised their weapons and opened fire, Adam fired rapidly and ran, not quite fast enough he took a shot to the chest. The alloy he wore slowed the bullet enough to prevent it from being a fatal shot but it hurt and the blood loss was a problem. Adam kept moving hoping the shots had been good and the Marines were now deeply asleep.

He skidded around a corner and spotted the elevators. He sighed and hurried toward them as the fire doors began to descend around him. The lights were cut at the same time. Adam slipped under the fire door and got to his hands and knees. The immediate area around the elevators was now sealed off. Experimentally Adam tried to open the elevators but they were locked down.

He turned his attention to an access hatch which was also firmly sealed. Cursing Adam felt around in his pockets and finally came up with a hard stolen palm sized chunk of C-4. He peeled off a strip the length and width of his middle finger, split it in half and place one half on each of two sets of hinges on the door. He jammed a timer's wires into both lumps and set the timer for forty-five seconds. He moved to the far side of the tiny room and put his back to the blast. He had no doubt that if he survived the blast it would hurt like hell.

Adam woke and got to his feet. The blast had killed him, and severely damaged most of his clothing, the alloy suit was mostly okay with the exception of several large cuts where shrapnel had penetrated. He shrugged on the remnants of his coat and checked the access hatch. The door lay on the floor. Satisfied Adam drew his dart gun and began climbing the ladder to the surface. He was reasonably sure there would be quite a few heavily armed security personnel awaiting him. He wished for one of his flash bangs for a moment and then continued. He paused roughly ten feet below the exit and searched in his pockets again. While he still had a sizable lump of C-4 he did not have anymore timers, which was just as well he didn't want to kill any of the security teams pursuing him, still it might be a good distraction.

He wadded the C-4 into a ball and just before emerging he hurled it up and out. There were a few muffled shouts and then Adam launched himself out of the tunnel, he cleared the lip of the access hatch and darted the half dozen or so Airman and Marines not under cover and took off like a bat out of hell. Shots rang out and Adam felt the air and plant life around him shredded by bullets. His chest stung and itched but had mostly healed. He ran as hard and as fast as he could before his burning heaving lungs forced him to slow from his breakneck gallop to a steady jog. He paralleled the access road to the base and hoped his pursuers wouldn't think he was that stupid, or desperate. But, he was, he had fucked up big time, somehow they had known his plan.

He heard engines up ahead and slid to a halt. It was hard to hear where they were approaching from. He scrambled into a thicker patch of wood land and listened hard. Whatever it was, it was coming up on his right. He settled in and checked his dart gun. He reloaded the cartridge and waited as silently as he could. The vehicle arrived and parked within ten feet of his hidey hole.

The engine idled and at least two people got out and slammed their doors. Adam heard muffled voices. He struggled to remain unseen but catch a glimpse of the newcomers. Finally he spotted them. O'Neill and Teal'c. Adam bit back a curse as O'Neill reached over and killed the engine. They had borrowed a Humvee from an EOD unit stationed at the base. Adam closed his eyes and wiped sweat from his brow. He brought the dart gun up and darted Teal'c first the big Jaffa went down without a word, O'Neill drew his sidearm and keyed his radio before he too went down. Adam waited a few seconds and then dragged the two men in under the bushes into the shade.

He didn't want them to overheat or get heatstroke. He loosened their collars and insured water was at hand when they woke up, finally he dug through the Humvee and came up with a map and a pen. He scrawled an apology across it and tossed it down between the unconscious men.

Adam hopped into the Humvee and killed the radio. He steered toward the highway and goosed the accelerator. As he left in a cloud of smoke Teal'c stirred in his sleep. The Jaffa's superhuman immune system filtered the drugs faster than O'Neill's and far faster than the immortal expected. Teal'c sat up and took in the situation. He drank the water set aside for him and then gathered O'Neill and Adam's note. He settled the unconscious officer on his broad shoulder and headed back toward the base.

Adam raced across the no man's land between the Cheyenne Mountain complex and the civilian highway, as the highway loomed closer he slowed and vaulted onto the access road. The vehicle's frame whined and complained the suspension rocked and sparks flew from the undercarriage but Adam kept the beast on the road and increased speed, finally the on ramp loomed ahead, complete with two weapons equipped Humvees and razor wire draped across it. Adam curse and hauled on the wheel while goosing the accelerator, the rugged low slung beast whipped sideways and shot on to the shoulder it barreled through the catch fence along the side of the road and into open country.

It thumped and ricocheted along the open dirt and woodlands while behind him heavy machine gun fire opened up belatedly tracking Adam's suicidal path. He bared his teeth in a grimace of concentration and wrestled the Humvee struggling to keep it from stalling out or flipping finally he reached a relatively smooth area and piled on the speed. Satisfied that the deadly on ramp was far behind he took a hard left and angled back towards civilization. Over the roar of the mistreated Humvee's engine Adam became aware of the low thump of chopper blades. Scowling he ignored it for the moment. There was little he could do to evade the flying spy while in open country.

Finally he made it onto the highway grateful that it was still dark out and traffic was light. He literally put the gas pedal to the floor and focused on keeping the massive vehicle on the road. The chopper was momentarily forgotten although a plan was forming in the back of his mind to deal with it. The worn tires and battered suspension complained at the further mistreatment but Adam managed to get ahead of the local traffic surrounding him and create enough distance to allow him to deal with the chopper. A low overpass was rapidly approaching. He took his foot off the gas and allowed the vehicle to slow on its own, he didn't want the beast over his head to see the brake lights.

As the Humvee dropped from ludicrous speed to merely suicidal Adam began looking for good points to exit the massive vehicle. He spotted a hillside crammed with close knit ivy and other climbing weeds and greenery he steered the Humvee near it and used a strip of his outer shirt to tie the steering wheel straight. He climbed onto the rail of the Humvee's right side and braced himself. The hillside was not flush against the highway, the embankment ended and there was a good fifteen foot drop before the hillside, and then it angled down sharply.

Broken bones were assured, death was likely. Adam took a deep breath, whispered a mantra under his breath and jumped. He made it, barely.

His left foot caught the top of the embankment sending him into an uncontrolled tumble he hit the hillside with enough speed and force to break his neck, crack his collarbone and break several ribs. Unconscious and dying he bonelessly rolled down the hillside and fetched against a tree stump at the base. A slow trickling brook flowed under him. He remained still and dead as the Humvee rocketed into the overpass and burst into flames. The chopper which had just caught up to the now slower Humvee hovered predatorily as the vehicle burned merrily away. Twenty minutes later civilian and military emergency responders had arrived the military EMTS and crash experts chased away the civilians and were in turn chased away by SGC personnel.

As dawn arrived, sluggishly coloring the horizon Adam stirred. He opened his eyes and sat up. He was soaked and soar, but not in chains. Grinning he got up and listened. There was still considerable activity above him. He began walking along the brook remaining out of sight. He decided he would go back to Bulgaria, and maybe Tibet, civilization was beginning to get a bit too exciting. Above him O'Neill was cursing a blue streak as the forensics team repeated their report.

"There was no one in this vehicle when it burned Sir. Whether he was thrown clear from the vehicle or evacuated before the impact we can't say but there is no sign of any driver or passenger in the immediate vicinity.

Jack scowled at the blackened hulk mashed into the concrete overpass. The general was not going to like this. The rest of SG-1 awaited their commander at the unmarked SUV the Colonel had checked out from the motor pool.

"What's the verdict?" Daniel asked.

"He's gone, he did a bunk, jumped from the Humvee before it blew or got tossed."

"So, that's it he got away?"

"Yes Major." O'Neill said wearily in a rare show of rank. Carter bit her lip but was not happy. Adam had trashed her state of the art ultra secure system. She felt responsible for leaving it vulnerable and wanted to know how a linguist, albeit an immortal one had known so much about high end security software. She pulled out Adam's note and read it again.

Sorry, had to go, wait 48 hrs and things will be normal again. My best to Max.

She groaned and sighed, in 48 hours anything could happen in the meantime the entire SGC including the dialing computer were stuck in the pre-computer age. Everything was locked up even the chow hall was on the fritz. She sighed and stuffed the note back into her pocket.

Jack called into the general and delivered his report via the encrypted phone. The general was not pleased but there was little anyone could do other than entering Adam's information and photo into Interpol. They returned to the SGC weary and frustrated. Max was dying for news.

She had been woken in the middle of the night and asked to talk to Sara, the child was suffering night terrors and refused to be comforted. Obliging Max had been transferred to the child's room and shushed her to sleep. She had been left there as a base wide alert was issued. After a while it became apparent that Adam had decided to go home. While Max was concerned for her friend she was more worried about any personnel who might try to stop Adam. As she paced her room the door burst open and an irritated Major she had never met appeared.

"Can I help you?" She inquired acidly. The officious but well built man regarded her with hostile eyes.

"Where is your friend?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"You do realize he has committed capital crimes including treason?"

"Oh, is that what all that banging and those alarms were for?"

"This is not a game Ms. Holloway!"

"No shit captain obvious. Look he can literally and I mean that in every sense of the word- be ANYWHERE in the world, he knows pretty much every current language and a ton of dialects. I have no idea where he is and cliché as it is if I did there is no way in hell I would ever tell you." She snapped rounding on the Major. He glared at her and left as abruptly as he had arrived.

Daniel arrived next.

"Hi." She said happy to see a friendly face.

"He cause a lot of damage, every computer in the SGC is offline and will probably remain that way for another thirty-six hours or so. No one was seriously hurt, a few bruises and some headaches, and he annihilated a Humvee."

"Is he in custody?" She asked tensely. Daniel sighed.

"No he made it away." She nodded.

"So I guess this means you'll never let me out?"

"I have no idea but I know Jack is arguing for you."

"Look Daniel no offense but what makes you think I couldn't do what Adam just did?"

"Max, talk like that won't help you."

"Fine but it makes me feel better. Is Carter going to use that doohickey on me or what?"

"She needs a computer to use it."

"Ah."