A/N: As always, thanks go out to ladygris for all her help with Beta services and her friendship. Lithane might have had some input but I don't remember. He probably does. So thanks either way.
Merci,
~Sandy
Not a Hero
Chapter 10
One Day at a Time
"Shoot now!"
Anthony's shout reminded Evan of his obligation to serve and protect everyone, including himself. His weapon too far away, he dived into a shoulder roll and came up on one knee, the device he'd taken from Anthony in his right hand. His thumb slid around the surface until he felt a slight indention.
His training in the military and as a cop kicking in, Evan hit the creature in midair. A powerful bolt of energy was spit from the front of the Zat accompanied by a bzzt-pow! The symbiote fell to the floor at his feet and lay there twitching, the frill around its neck bent at an odd angle. If he hadn't hit it when he did, it would at this moment be burrowing into his skull.
Bentaresh quickly traded places with Anthony. "Twice more, Evan! Hurry!"
Without thinking, Evan did as he was told and the symbiote disappeared in the blue-white arc of electrical fire. A wisp of smoke was disbursed by the environmental system just as the Senator got to her feet and ran. She'd only gone a few feet when another bolt of white light came over Evan's shoulder to hit her in the back.
The woman Evan had seen in the hall earlier was now beside him holding a weapon just like the one he held loosely in his fingers, his face slack with shock.
She nodded at the weapon. "As you've probably surmised, once stuns, twice kills, three times disintegrates."
Her name came to him in a sudden moment of clarity. Dr. Elizabeth Weir, diplomat, linguist, negotiator.
She rolled the Senator onto her back. Her voice deep, she remarked, "Elizabeth does not care for her political stance on the health care bill now before Congress but would never have wished this on her. If the symbiote cannot be removed, she will spend the rest of her life in prison at Stargate Command." Evan continued to look from her to Anthony and back as if he were at a ping pong match. "You are concerned that we have eliminated Jendayi so that we would be able to take over Earth in her place."
Still processing everything, all Evan could do was nod.
Anthony got to his feet with help from Elizabeth. "I am Bentaresh and she is Anouke. We are of the Tok'ra. Though we are joined as are the Goa'uld, there the similarities end. We do not force ourselves upon a host. If consent is not given, the joining does not occur even if the alternative is death." Voices coming toward them drew their attention. Turning to present Evan with his shackled hands he waited for the handcuffs to be removed.
Evan tucked the Zat into a pocket and released Anthony then he and Elizabeth dragged the unconscious Senator into a closet.
"She will be out for quite some time. We will return for her after the security detail has been assured that all is well." Bentaresh turned control over to Anthony again while Anouke did the same for Elizabeth. To Evan, Anthony whispered, "You should let Elizabeth and I do the talking."
Stargate Command
A Few Days Later
Sam leaned back in her chair, tossed her pen on the desk and rubbed her eyes. As long as Daniel and Olivia continued to kick, she wouldn't be able to get any work done and rubbing the sweet spot wasn't helping because it only worked when Rodney did it. She looked at her belly and could actually see them moving around. She and Rodney had been assured that their development, though fast-tracked, was normal, but it didn't stop her from worrying. She was just better at hiding it than her husband was. Except for today. Pushing out of her chair, she waddled to the door, down the stairs, into the Infirmary and over to Carolyn's office. "Hey."
"Hey. How you feeling?"
"Uncomfortable, physically and mentally. I'm probably worrying for no reason but…"
"But you'd like another ultrasound."
"Yeah."
With a smile of understanding, the medical doctor came around her desk and took her friend by the hand. "Come on. I'll do it myself."
"Thanks."
Carolyn helped Sam lie down on an exam table, pulled the curtains around the bed and readied the scanner. She squirted a small amount of the gel onto her bare stomach and began the exam. On the monitor, a three dimensional image of two babies appeared.
"They look perfect." Sam's voice was filled with wonder.
Carolyn's smile was in her voice. "They are. Everything is exactly the way it should be, well, except for the shortened maturation period. We had no idea that the device would react with the hCG levels, kicking it into overdrive. I…"
"Carolyn!" Sam's voice had changed from wonder to shock. "Look!"
When Carolyn turned back to the monitor, something odd was happening. Babies opened their eyes while inside the womb, but this was different. Their heads had turned as if they knew where the scanner was and were looking directly into it. The boy on the left and the girl on the right turned their heads to follow the probe as Carolyn moved it over Sam's belly. They were also smiling, a response that is learned during the first three months of life outside the mother's womb.
"Uh…" The medical doctor was at a loss to explain the unusual reactions.
"What is happening with my children?"
"I wish I could tell you. I've done hundreds of these and have never seen that happen before." She set the scanner aside while she went to the controls, tapped the keyboard a few times and returned to Sam's side, handing a DVD to her friend. "I've sent the video to Jennifer and Carson. We'll confer and get back to you as soon as possible."
"Rodney is going to well, freak out is the only way to describe it." A reassuring hand took hold of Sam's and was gripped tightly.
"I know. Want me to tell him?"
Sam shook her head. "He had to go back to Atlantis. I'll give him a call. Um, what about the naquadah?"
"It may have been a factor. We're still working on it." Carolyn finished wiping the gel from Sam's stomach and helped her sit up. "Go back to work and try to relax. Think happy thoughts."
"Easy for you to say." Sam nodded at the monitor where the last view of the babies was displayed on the monitor. They were still smiling.
Atlantis
Pegasus
Rodney was alone in his lab trying to fit a crystal no bigger than a BB into one of the LSDs. It was an experiment he had been working on for months, to create a smaller and better power source for the devices. So far it hadn't worked out quite like he'd planned. It was like trying to get the BBs into the slots in one of those kids' games, except that it had never taken him more than thirty seconds to finish one. All he had to do was put this last one in and…
"McKay!"
The voice startled him and he dropped the crystal on the floor. "Son of a bitch!" He dropped to his knees searching the floor for something that was very small and almost invisible to the naked eye. He was just reaching for it with a smile of triumph when a pair of enormous booted feet came into view. The smile turned into dread when he heard a crunch. With a long sigh of exasperation, he sat back on his heels ready to rip the person a new one. That thought died before it made it to his mouth when he saw that the culprit was Caldwell. "You have just ruined three days of work, Colonel." Getting to his feet, he went to the door that led to the fabrication area. "That was my last prototype."
"You didn't answer the page so I'm here to deliver a message."
"Fine." Rodney put on an air of impatient waiting. "But it better be important."
"It is, Doctor. Your wife needs you back on Earth ASAP."
Rodney only heard up to "your wife" and he was out the door. "Why the hell didn't you say so?"
Caldwell watched him get into the transporter and disappear. A man of few words, all he did was lift one eyebrow.
~~O~~
After receiving Rodney's frantic call, Jennifer met him in the Gate Room, giving him a reassuring smile and pat on the back just as they stepped into the event horizon.
Stargate Command
Barracks Level
Sam watched Rodney watch the video of the most recent ultrasound and waited for his reaction. Using the remote, he reversed and watched it again and again. Finally, he shut it off and just stared at the blank screen.
"Well?"
"They aren't supposed to do that."
"No."
He got up and paced around their room. When he saw the look on her face, he came back to the sofa, took her in his arms and kissed her temple. "I'm taking a leave of absence."
"Why?"
"I need to be here, not three million light years away."
"That would mean leaving Zelenka in charge. Remember what happened last time?" He helped her stand and guided her over to the bed.
"You have a point. I'll just work from home for now." After propping her up in the bed with lots of pillows, he handed over her computer.
"I'm glad you're here." She took him by the hand, giving him an adoring smile. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"
"Mmm. Not in about twelve or thirteen hours. You're late." Rodney returned the smile and included a lingering kiss on her lips. "Love you too."
After setting a bottle of water on the bedside table, he took another for himself and went to the desk. He took a long drink while his computer booted up.
Her attention on the screen in front of her, Sam felt around but was too far from the table to reach her water. "Rodney, hand me my drink please? Thanks."
"Hmm?"
"I said thanks for the drink."
"What drink?"
"Uh, this one." Sam waggled the bottle.
He turned from the desk, the complicated equations displayed there already forgotten. "I've been right here."
"You didn't just hand me this?" Her voice was laced with concern.
"No. What the…"
Sam raised her hand, a strange look on her face. To the air, she said, "I'd like my slippers please." A moment later a pair of fuzzy black slippers floated through the air and landed on the bed next to her.
"Wh-Who did that?"
"Wasn't me." Sam shut her computer and set it aside. This new development was more than a little troubling.
Rodney huffed. "But I didn't do it. What if it's…" They looked at each other then at her belly both having the same thought at the same time. "You don't think they…"
"The evidence supports that conclusion."
"Oh, crap." Their response was said in unison.
"I don't suppose this is something we can keep from Jennifer and Carolyn." Sam shook her head. Taking her by the hands, Rodney helped her off the bed. "Might as well get it over with. Think they'll see through the feigned ignorance?"
"Don't know. Let me see your I-have-no-idea-what's-going-on look?" She waited while he altered his expression into one of confusion. Shaking her head and chuckling, she took his hand as they left their room. "Better let me do the talking. You're a terrible liar."
San Francisco
Metro Substation
Evan parked his car in employee parking, checked his hair in the mirror, straightened his tie and got out. Taking his brand new Inspectors badge from his pocket, he clipped it to the waist of his pants then attached his building access card to the lapel of his jacket and went inside.
As he made his way to the squad room, he thought about what had happened after he'd killed the symbiote. Anthony and Weir had smoothed things over with security then he'd watched as the Senator disappeared in a flash of light. He was told they had the technology to remove the symbiote and that Senator Sarah Palin of Alaska would once again be herself. A story would be concocted to explain her bizarre behavior and all would be well again.
And they'd been right. When Evan visited her in the hospital, she hadn't remembered him or the events at the conference. After he'd been extensively debriefed by O'Neill and Davis, Dr. Weir had used her pull to get him a few days off and the results of his inspector's exam.
So here he was his first day as a member of the unit formerly led by Nash Bridges who'd retired the year before. Evan had been a little ticked as he'd wanted to work with the man from the moment he decided to become a cop.
Making his way to the third floor without bothering to use the elevator, he checked his hair one more time and opened the door on a bustling squad room. Winding between the desks and narrowly avoiding being run over by a young man pushing a mail cart, he knocked on the Lieutenant's office door. A female voice barked out "come in." He took a deep breath and went in.
Area 52
Tish's Office
"Are you nervous about tonight, John?"
Tish was wearing long pants and a short sleeved top in her usual black with shorter heels. She moved and light glinted off the ring on her left hand. This was the first time John had noticed that she was now wearing an engagement ring and his detective's eye told him it was on the pricey side. "No, because I'm not going." His eyes wouldn't meet hers.
"It's a condition of your employment."
"I'll go next week."
"No. You have to go tonight. Want me go with you?"
John shook his head and tried again. "I don't have wheels."
Tish set her pad and pen aside when the buzzer beeped signaling an end to this session. "Go to the motor pool." She stood and he did as well allowing her to usher him to the door. "The most important a thing to remember is that it's an illness, not a character flaw. There are many people out there in the same situation. Some you might never suspect."
"Like who?"
She shook her head. "You know I can't tell you that."
John shrugged. "Had to ask."
~~O~~
John pulled up to the building, got out and walked slowly to the front door. He reached for the handle stopping just short of actually touching it. I'll come back later when there aren't so many people.
"Hey, buddy. In or out?"
"Uh…" Looking over his shoulder, John met the eyes of a man about fifty wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He looked like an average Joe, clean-cut, a wedding ring on his left hand, not someone who had an uncontrollable impulse to gamble his life away. "In, I guess."
He took a seat all the way in the back as far from the others as he could, watching them mill around holding cold drinks and munching on cookies. Someone offered him a cup of coffee but he declined. Resting one ankle on the knee of the other, he hooked his arm over the back of the vacant chair on his right, ignoring the person who took the seat to his left.
The meeting started, many people standing up to tell their stories of how they became addicted to gambling, how long it had been since they'd last gambled and how it felt to go another day without it. The group was supportive whether the person was new or had been a member for more than a decade.
John was bored with all of it. Yes, he knew he was one of them but the thought of getting up in front of a bunch of strangers and telling your whole life story in a hundred words or less made him cringe. As if his life could be summed up in so few words. He covered a yawn, checked his watch and thought about leaving.
"Thanks so much for sharing your story, Sean. Anyone else?" An arm covered in an expensive suit jacket rose into the air. "Ah. Stand up please and tell us your name."
"Hello, my name is Richard."
As they had all night, the group chorused "Hi, Richard."
John sat up straight at the sound of a familiar voice. What the hell is Woolsey doing here? He nearly slapped himself on the forehead. Duh! Craning his neck, he could see his new boss holding the microphone. No wonder he was so adamant.
"Thank you. Today is the seventh anniversary of the day I decided to take back control of my life from gambling. But I have to give credit where credit is due. I don't think I could have made it this far without the support of the woman who just this week agreed to be my wife, Morticia Adams." Tish stood up, took a quick bow and resumed her seat while Woolsey continued his story.
Him and the shrink? Yeah, I can see it. John nodded to himself. Way to go, Woolsey!
Movement to his left told him his seatmate had decided to tell her story. Oh, yeah. He knew it was a woman, could tell that the moment she sat down from the way his body once again reminded him of things he was better off not thinking about right now. She stood up and the leader brought the microphone.
"Hi, my name is Jennifer."
That was all she had to say to get his attention. His head snapped around to stare up at the woman who'd saved his life, listening as she too told her story of addiction and continuing quest for redemption. There was a round of applause as she sat down again, her face aglow. She must have sensed him watching her because she turned to him with a small smile. "What?"
"You, uh…"
"Yes, John. I'm a recovering gambling addict."
"What about…" John gestured helplessly in the vague direction of Woolsey.
"Him too. Why do you think he insisted on it being a condition of your employment? He saw it. We both did." Jennifer took him by the hand and urged him to his feet pulling him behind her. When they got outside, she held that hand between both of her smaller ones. "I know you're a loner, John, have been most of your life. But you need to understand that you don't have to go through this or anything else alone. I had my dad, Rodney, Sam, Mr. Woolsey, Derek, Ana, Tish. They can be your support system too, if you let them."
As gently as possible, he pulled his hand from hers, shoving both into his pants pockets. "What do I know about making friends and influencing people?"
"Who's talking people? Take it one day at a time. Start with one person. Just one. Pretty soon, there'll be a second and a third. On and on it'll go and before you know it, you have a circle of friends who know all about you and like you anyway."
John thought about what Jennifer was saying knowing she was right. Trust had to start somewhere. Watching her feet, he let his eyes take a quick survey of her body language and facial expressions. With an internal snort at himself, he thought, I'd bet good money she's telling the truth.
~~O~~
Jennifer watched the top of John's head as one foot kicked a stone into the grass, waiting for his response. When he finally looked at her, she waited, holding her breath. He shifted his feet as he extended his right hand and she took it.
"Hi. My name is John and, uh, I'm a gambling addict."
She let a smile come to her face as she squeezed his hand. "Hi, John."
Stargate Command
The Next Day
Jennifer knocked on Sam's door and entered without waiting for permission her eyes going wide at the scene before her.
Sam and Rodney were sitting side by side on the sofa with a table in front of them. Sam was working at her laptop as was Rodney. That in itself wasn't unusual. What was strange was that Rodney had one hand on Sam's pregnant belly and the other was working at his laptop.
"Hi guys. Um, what's going on?"
"It's the only way they'll stay still long enough for me to get any work done."
"Okay. I know this is an imposition, Sam, but can we talk?"
"Uh-oh. Girl talk. I'll be in the conference room down the hall if you need me." Rodney scooped up his laptop and kissed Sam on his way to the door.
Watching Sam and Rodney together had Jennifer almost chickening out on what she wanted to say.
"So what happened between you and that detective?"
TBC