Here's another chapter- early 'cause I'm busy tomorrow. Are you enjoying this story? Sorry if Dalton was a bit of a jerk in the last chapter- that's honestly what I think he'd be like if face-to-face with Carter. *shrugs*
Anyways, on to the good stuff:
Daniel looked around the room where SG-1 found themselves. The initial analysis of a lab didn't quite fit; it seemed to function more like a library. The walls were lined with bookshelves stuffed with books of all kinds.
He stepped closer to inspect a shelf. There was literature in at least six different languages he recognized and two more in ones that he didn't. There was a large table in the center of the room, scattered with what looked like artifacts covered in writing. As he looked closer, he realized the inscriptions were all written in Ancient.
He'd say that this was his office if he didn't know any better.
Carter had come to the same conclusion.
"I wonder what my lab looks like," She mused.
They all turned sharply at the sound of the door rattling. They froze, a hand on their weapons. The door opened slowly, and one Daniel Jackson shuffled into the dark room and flipped on the light switch, intently focused on the book in his other hand.
He entered the room and placed the text on the table, suddenly noticing the four intruders in his office. He saw Carter first, then quickly registered O'Neill and Teal'c, his gaze finally settling on himself. His eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Oh."
o-O-o-O-o
Despite O'Neill's protests, SG-1 was unceremoniously escorted down the hallway into a holding cell.
"I swear, this is a complete accident. We don't mean any harm. We want to return to our own- whatever it's called."
"Alternate reality." Carter supplied helpfully.
"Right. We need to speak with General Hammond and get his whole thing straightened out."
His pleas fell on deaf ears, however, and they soon found themselves locked into a large cell.
"Well, at least now I know this SGC cares about its prisoners," Daniel said.
Four cots stood along the walls, two blankets and a pillow each. This bordered on luxury compared to places they'd been held in the past.
"I guess we just wait until they figure out what to do with us," Carter said, sitting down on one of the cots. "All we need to do is get back to the quantum mirror and find our own reality. Which, I admit, might take some time. Then we just have to gate back to our Earth."
"What of our other traveling companions?" Leave it to Teal'c to address the elephant in the room.
Daniel sighed. "Jack, we can't just leave them here."
O'Neill shot him a glare. How did the man always know what he was thinking?
"I know that." He said, "They've seen too much."
"For now, we just ignore them. Once we talk to Hammond, we'll figure out what to do. But they'll probably go through, or at least see, the Stargate at some point." Daniel pointed out.
"And I don't think 'deep space telemetry' is going to cut it this time," Carter said.
After a pause, Carter spoke again. "Sir? One question. Why did you tell that guy- MacGyver, my real title? Why give fake names to everyone but me?"
O'Neill turned towards her. "Just 'cause you're special."
She looked at her lap. He grinned internally. He loved making her blush.
"Nah, T over there already used your name. Didn't want to tip him off right away."
She nodded. "Ah. Of course."
o-O-o-O-o
After twenty minutes of sawing, MacGyver finally snapped the zip tie around his wrists. He made quick work of his feet and was free. He rummaged through some other boxes until he found a stiff wire.
He went to pull his knife from his pocket- and realized it was gone. He didn't even bother checking the floor. Someone had taken it. Probably the older man, if he had to guess. Whatever his real name was.
He found another piece of wire instead. Just as MacGyver was about to get the lock to click open with his makeshift lock pick when he heard Jack Dalton waking up behind him. He worked faster, finally getting the lock to yield.
"Mac?"
He closed his eyes and rested his head against the door.
"Mac! How'd you get out? Help me!"
MacGyver turned and gave his friend an apologetic look as he slipped out of the storage closet, shutting the door behind him.
Dalton's shouts were almost completely muffled from the outside, and MacGyver knew anyone walking by wouldn't hear him unless they were listening for someone inside a random storage closet. He winced, gave Dalton a silent apology, and started down the hallway.
MacGyver's first order of business was to find a computer. He hoped that would give him some desperately needed answers.
o-O-o-O-o
Hacking into the system was harder than MacGyver had anticipated. Which made him even more determined to get in. He had locked himself in what looked like a lab, with a laptop sitting on one of the tables. It was one of the fanciest pieces of technology he had ever seen, and he wished he had more time to play around with it instead of hacking it.
Finally, after nearly six hours, he had gained access to a few restricted files on the device. He opened the first one. It was formatted like a mission report. MacGyver sat back and started to read.
The information he was seeing was almost beyond belief. The reports he read told tales of battles fought on other planets against threats larger than anything he had ever seen, ever dreamed of. They also documented each new race encountered along the way, each belief system and language. There was data on the planets themselves; soil composition, weather patterns, local flora and fauna, diseases, and their cures.
The file on the Stargate itself was difficult to read. MacGyver was smart, no doubt about that, but this level of wormhole theory was way over his head. He read enough about it to know why everyone had been so secretive about who they were or what they did for a living.
The world- their world, wasn't ready for this kind of secret.
Finally, MacGyver found the file he had been looking for, the personnel file on SG-1. He had to smile- he'd been right about their name. He learned that Colonel Jack O'Neill commanded the odd bunch, confirming his suspicions.
He was ex-Black ops, which told MacGyver everything he needed to know. His second in command, Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter was the closest thing Earth had to an expert on the Stargate. She was not only a Colonel in the US Air force but also held a Ph.D. in astrophysics.
As he read her file, he realized he probably owed his life to her. Him and everyone else on Earth. He was impressed.
The other two members didn't quite fit the pattern. Dr. Daniel Jackson held two related to archeology and spoke over twenty languages. MacGyver squinted at the screen. What? How the heck does someone learn twenty languages? He continued.
The fourth member of SG-1 was completely different. As MacGyver read, he realized that he wasn't even human. All he could gather was that Teal'c was really old and had previously been the First Prime to one of Earth's enemies. Whatever that meant. He closed the laptop. Now all he needed to do was find them so he could get the heck out of there.
o-O-o-O-o
He had already found a schematic of the base on the laptop, so he had a sort of map. From his snooping, he knew he was in one of the most secure military bases in the world. His world. Their world? That was going to take some getting used to.
It wouldn't be a good idea just to waltz around.
MacGyver dug around in the room he was in before finding a cabinet near the back that contained some kind of uniform. It looked pretty simplistic, so he hoped it matched some dress code.
Changing quickly, he buried his clothes in the bottom of the trash can, transferring the contents of his pockets into the new uniform. He adjusted the hat to cover part of his face, opened the door, and stepped confidently out into the hallway.
MacGyver had been roaming the base, ducking in and out of hallways, walking casually when people were watching, quicker when there weren't. He saw the cameras on the ceiling and ensured he wasn't doing anything that might alert the wrong person to his presence.
After nearly an hour of walking, MacGyver was starting to realize the base was huge. It seemed to stretch forever, but he never came to an elevator or stairs. He assumed that was because they were in orbit around Earth. Or what he assumed was Earth.
Finally, he walked by something that caused him to do a double-take. It appeared to be a holding cell, and as he looked closer, he realized that it was SG-1 inside.
He quickly located the nearest security camera and stepped into its blind spot.
"Guys?" He said quietly. The soft sounds from inside the cell cut off abruptly, and a face appeared at the small square of metal bars in the heavy door.
It was- he now knew- Colonel Carter. "What are you doing here?" She asked, surprised.
"Getting you out." He said bluntly.
He watched as she stepped aside. Or rather, was shoved aside.
"I personally zatted you and tied you up. If you know what's best for you, you'll go right back to that storage closet and wait for us to come get you." Colonel O'Neill said.
MacGyver looked at him, confused. "Zatted?" He asked.
"Never mind. Get out of here."
MacGyver sighed. "I know about the Stargate program." He said, hoping that would make them realize that they weren't going to get rid of him so quickly.
There was a stunned silence from inside the room. Finally, Carter's face appeared at the window again.
"What do you need?"
First, he had Colonel O'Neill toss his knife back through the bars. He knew it'd been him to take it. Then, MacGyver walked casually into the range of the camera. He faced the door and pretended to look inside the room while carefully prying the panel off the door controls.
He kept his back to the camera while he looked down at the wires in the box. It looked simple, but he'd need to cut a few things. He hoped this wasn't going to set off any kind of alarm.
Colonel Carter appeared at the door again.
"There's a control panel by the door," She said, "Try to get the cover off if you can. In our reality, I designed the door controls; maybe the same thing's true here."
He nodded and then realized she couldn't see him.
"I'm almost there," He said, cutting some wires and twisting others together.
"Okay. Do you have the cover off?" Carter asked.
"Just a sec," MacGyver replied.
A second later, the lock slid back with a clang, and the door swung open. Carter stood there, surprised.
Colonel O'Neill pushed past them and started walking down the hallway. Dr. Jackson and Teal'c followed. MacGyver motioned to Carter to go first. She looked him up and down. "Impressive." She said, with a small smile.
o-O-o-O-o
Colonel O'Neill quickly located the nearest armory and reclaimed their confiscated weapons.
SG-1 and company were on their way back through the base to the storage closet they came from when they heard voices approaching from the other end of the hallway they were currently in. There were no doors or rooms to duck in, so they all turned around and started walking the other way.
They already knew there was at least an alternate Dr. Jackson here, so they could also assume the rest of them existed in this reality.
Jack didn't know whether to wish their alternates were off-world and hope whoever they were about to run into didn't know that or hope they were here but far enough away that they didn't run into each other.
A second later, he didn't have to speculate anymore.
"Freeze." A commanding voice ordered.
All five of them did so.
"Drop your weapons." They did, and MacGyver couldn't help but stare at the impressive pile on the floor. He didn't even recognize half of the things in front of them.
"Turn around. No sudden moves."
Jack had a sinking feeling about who he was about to come face to face with. He turned around slowly.
SG-1 was being held at gunpoint by SG-1.