Tegan Chronicles

Origins 3

"I'm just saying…"

"Kiser?" Jack turned to her when she stopped mid sentence.

She looked around, holding her P-90 with her finger over the trigger as she slowly turned in a circle. "She's here."

"Who?" Daniel readied his own weapon.

"Nirrti."

"I do not sense her presence." Teal'c lifted one brow.

"Sam?"

Sam stood there for a second and looked questioningly at Tegan before shaking her head no. "But it's not the first time Tegan's felt her presence before we have."

"Alright, everyone keep your eyes and ears peeled." Jack pointed back in the direction of the gate.

Three hours later they were nearing the gate. "How's that feeling Kiser?"

"I don't know, sir. I'd like to say it's gone, but I could just be getting used to it."

When they reached the DHD Jack turned to Tegan and lifted his palms in an open shrug.

"I've been thinking sir."

"What's that Kiser?"

"We could radio ahead and have someone bring Shadow into the gate room and seal it off until we know it's just us."

He glanced at Sam who nodded. "Alright Carter, dial us home."

Tegan stepped through the gate to find security reinforcements and Shadow standing at the foot of the ramp, she was followed by the rest of her team.

"How are you feeling now?" Jack leaned into her ear as the gate shut down.

"Perfectly normal sir, as soon as I stepped through the gate the feeling went away."

"Colonel?" General Hammond asked from his post in the control room.

"False alarm sir."

"Maybe it had something to do with the naquada deposits we found?" Sam reasoned. "Maybe a sign there's something deeper in the ground. I think it's worth sending another team through to investigate."

"We'll talk about it when we debrief." Colonel O'Neill pointed to the door.

Another SG team was sent back through the following week to try and determine if there were adequate levels of naquada to whether they should try and mine or not. Wednesday afternoon Sam walked into Tegan's lab while Shadow was on his afternoon run. Tegan lifted her head before Sam spoke a wrinkle creasing her forehead.

"You ok?"

Tegan eyed her for a minute, but as quickly as the feeling came, it left. "Yeah, what ever happened with the Naquada mining on PX-4598?"

"SG6 is still looking into it. I came down to pass on a dinner invitation at Janet's, the three of us and Cassie."

"I've actually got some things I need to take care of after work tonight. Errands and running around. I was going to ask if she minded taking Shadow home and keeping him for the evening."

"He can stay with me if Janet doesn't want him. I'll let her know it'll just be me."

"Thanks." Tegan buried her head back in her work as Sam left.

Tegan stepped onto the elevator that evening and felt the presence again. She looked at the airman who'd gotten on just before her.

"Are you ok Major Kiser?"

"Fine." She moved back eyeing his neck for any signs he was Goa'uld. She was really beginning to think she was losing it as she continued to her car.

"Tegan," Janet called over to her after she'd opened her door.

"Yeah?" Tegan glanced around for Shadow.

"Sam's dropping him off when she comes for dinner."

"Oh." She glanced at her arm swearing someone had just brushed by her.

"I was hoping I could get you to help me out in the infirmary tomorrow morning, Paige has a dental appointment."

"Not a problem, I'll stop by when I get in." Tegan waved goodbye before climbing into her Porsche.

She was home by seven-thirty and the feeling she'd had earlier no longer seemed to bother her, although she wasn't sure it was gone. She slipped into a pair of thin lime green cotton pajama bottoms and as she reached for a white t shirt she swore she felt someone run their hand along her spine. She quickly pulled the cotton shirt over her head and turned around, there was no one there. Just her, but she could swear she'd felt the metal tip or a ribbon device run down her spine.

She felt stupid but spoke into the dark emptiness all the same, "Nirrti if you're here show yourself."

"Now why would I want to do that?" Tegan heard the voice as she went flying backwards out of the room, her back hitting the far wall in the hall. She wasn't able to move before Nirrti trained the ribbon device on her. The pain was intense as she slowly crawled toward the living room groping for anything along the way to use as a weapon. She cursed her OCD for neatness, even though not too many people have a baseball bat hanging around in their hallways.

"Tell me what I want to know and I'll stop." Nirrti taunted from behind her invisibility cloak.

"I don't know." She continued her blind quest as Nirrti started sending images through the ribbon device, images of Cassie being tortured mercilessly.

"I know where she is, and I will make sure she doesn't live this time."

Tegan reached up and grabbed a lamp from the end table and swung it connecting with Nirrti's arm, knocking her off balance. The ribbon device faltered for a second before Tegan found her body once again flying through the air. This time she landed on top of her coffee table which splintered beneath the strain. It was as if Nirrti had picked her up and slammed her back down like a weightless rag doll.

Nirrti watched as Tegan tried to move. "You are stronger than I often give you credit for. By far one of the strongest Tau'ri I have had the pleasure to torture."

"Arrrgh!" Ignoring the pain Tegan catapulted herself up and forward trying to tackle the invisible woman instead she ended up in a heap in the corner allowing Nirrti to reactivate the device.

"All you have to do is tell me what I want to know."

After several minutes and when she didn't think she could take the pain anymore, Tegan spoke. "You're going to kill me and then you'll never know my secret."

Nirrti stopped the torture for only a second and then resumed. Tegan wasn't sure how long it was before she stopped again. She lay on the floor as Nirrti uncloaked herself, she couldn't have moved that very second if her life depended on it. Unable to even lift her head to see what Nirrti was doing, she felt a sharp pain in her left side and heard a popping sound. She struggled against the darkness as she heard the front door open.