The Other Side of the Story: John's Point of View

Interlude 4: Give me the phone

"This isn't working!" I pushed away from the table impatiently, standing and running an agitated hand through my hair. We'd been at it for hours and still had nothing ... hours during which Sabina was being subjected to ... frankly I didn't want to let my mind go there. We were only a couple of hours from the 24 hour mark, a painfully significant milestone I'd hoped we wouldn't get to.

"John," Teyla got up and put a hand on my shoulder, I'm sure not missing how tense I was.

"Sorry," I muttered, turning back to the others apologetically. I usually had better control than to let my frustrations be so apparent but after hours couped up in that room on top of no sleep the night before I was down to the thin end of the rope.

"Don't apologise," Daniel replied for everyone. "I know it's slow going but we have made progress – we've ruled out more than half of these companies."

"Which still leaves twenty, any one of whom could be responsible," I pointed out grimly.

"I can narrow that done some more," Rodney promised.

"Then General Landry will authorise for teams to check out each location," Walter finished.

"And if none of them turn up anything?" I cut to the heart of my concerns - after all we really had no idea what we were looking for and could easily have eliminated the wrong company in the first five minutes.

"Then we look again," Daniel promised. "We keep looking until we find something."

"I still have my contacts actively searching for anything to point us in the right direction," Agent Barrett reminded me. "No one can keep a secret of this magnitude for long – someone will talk if we offer the right incentive."

"Perhaps you should take a break," Teyla suggested to me.

"Yeah, okay," I took the hint for what it was – my irritation was distracting them and I was getting discouraged, neither of which was helpful to Sabina. Maybe some fresh air would help.

oOo

Pacing around in the trees wasn't any more satisfying than pacing in the conference room had been. Throwing myself down on the ground I stretched out on my back. Looking up at the sky I tried for the first time to actively think about how Sabina would be handling this. She'd be scared but she wouldn't want her captors to know that which meant she'd probably be taking a big page out of the John Sheppard Book of Smart Arse Remarks. My girl took way too much pleasure in having someone say she was like me! I could only hope she didn't provoke a response with a too well aimed barb but hopefully these guys were professionals not so easily manipulated.

No, my main concern was what they'd do to her when she didn't cooperate – and I never doubted for a minute that she would. Sabina would do everything in her power to make things as difficult for her captors as possible. She'd see it as a matter of pride ... my pride just as much as her own. And she'd get hurt as a result ... in fact if I knew her at all she'd probably already pushed it too far and been punished for resisting. It was that thought that had me so uncomfortable in my own skin I could hardly sit still.

"I'm trying to find out more but it's a closed room," an unfamiliar male voice drifted to my position through the trees.

There was a pause before the voice came again, this time with more than just a hint of exasperation. "I'm sure they don't know where she is or they'd be out there instead of still here."

I sat up abruptly as the meaning of that registered.

They were talking about Sabina.

Getting quietly to my feet I crept through the trees towards the source, listening carefully for the next instalment.

"I'll do my best to find out more but I'm not making any promises ... unless you'd like to up my fee of course."

Someone had sold Sabina out for money! I felt the rage clamouring for a voice inside my head ... it was only years of surviving situations guaranteed to make even the mildest mannered person angry that gave me the control to use that rage rather than let it use me.

Silent footsteps carried me towards the informer ... "Come on," I thought. "Say something!"

"I'm taking the risks you're paying me for," his voice sneered, much closer than before. "Yes - I'll make my next report in two hours."

Okay, that conversation was clearly over. I had to sacrifice a bit of stealth for speed otherwise he'd be out of range before I could see where he went next. If it was inside the mountain I'd be set because I could just look at the sign in sheet. But if he went somewhere else first I'd never find him.

Sprinting through the trees I burst out into the car park beside the rear entrance ... the favoured place for personnel needing a quick trip outside ... just in time to catch the back of someone heading towards the check in point. Rather than alert my target and possibly give him a chance to get away I kept a reasonable distance, letting him clear the check point and head back to wherever it was he worked inside the mountain.

"Sergeant Pierce, who was the last person you signed in?" I asked the check point guard in a tone that made him sit up to attention.

"Jason Rogers Sir," Pierce replied quickly.

"Who is he?" the name wasn't familiar to me, not surprising since I was stationed in a whole other galaxy.

"Secretary to the IOA Sir," Pierce explained. "He comes in sometimes with Mr Woolsey, especially if there are a lot of meetings."

"Any idea where he was going?" I asked casually.

"No Sir," Pierce replied. "But Mr Woolsey uses a conference room on level 25 – he might have gone there."

"Thank you Sergeant."

I signed myself in before heading down to level 25, tapping the earpiece I still wore on the way.

"Ronon, grab Teyla and Rodney and meet me outside the conference room on level 25," I closed the channel without further explanation, knowing he'd follow my order without question.

I must have got the next lift after Rogers' because I spotted his back heading down the corridor only a few metres in front of me when I exited on his level. Stalking after him I barely registered the personnel passing me, giving distracted nods as I kept my eyes firmly on my target.

He disappeared into a room just up ahead, my arrival in the doorway taking place only a few seconds later.

"Ah Colonel Sheppard, any news?" Richard Woolsey looked up from the stack of papers he'd been reading and saw me standing there.

"No," I replied shortly, looking at the man now sitting across from Woolsey.

"Was there something else you wanted?" Woolsey asked in confusion.

"A word with your secretary ... in private," I slammed a fierce glance straight at Woolsey, everything in my eyes telling him to leave NOW! For once he picked up on the signals and did what he was told without the need for a big discussion.

"Colonel Sheppard?" Jason Rogers looked at me with innocent confusion once Woolsey had closed the door behind him. "You wanted to speak to me?"

"No, but you're gonna speak to me," I said grimly, walking over to his position and yanking him roughly up from the table. Slamming him up against the nearest wall I leaned into him threateningly. "You can start by telling me who you were talking to up on the surface."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rogers eyes skited away from mine, making a mockery of that statement. He knew all right and he was scared.

"Do you know how close to the edge I am?" I asked menacingly. "You don't want to push me right now."

"You don't scare me," he said bravely.

Grabbing him by the throat I squeezed hard. He was a typical office type – light on mass – which made it easy for me to lift him off the floor by his neck. "How about now?" I growled. I was close enough to see every nuance of expression in his eyes, close enough for him to read the determination and intent in mine. He believed I'd follow through on the implied threat if he didn't cooperate but still he hesitated.

"John!" Teyla's shocked voice broke into my concentrated focus.

"What?" I ground out, still keeping my hold around Rogers' throat.

"Oh God - he's lost it now," Rodney muttered, crowding into the doorway with the rest of my team.

"Sheppard?" Ronon rumbled, pushing past the others to stand at my shoulder. He was the only one to deduce immediately that there was a valid reason for me choking the life out this guy, and so the only one to stand beside me in support.

"This guy sold Sabina out," I shot a glare at Rogers before glancing over at Ronon. "He's getting paid to pass on information about us too – presumably to warn them off if we get too close."

"Leave him with me for a few minutes," Ronon suggested with a feral grin. "He'll talk."

"O – k ... k," Rogers tried to say something.

"John, at least loosen your hold so he can speak," Teyla urged.

"Oh – right," I let go of Rogers abruptly, watching with a fair amount of pleasure as he slumped down the wall to sit gasping on the floor.

"I can't tell you anything," Rogers held a hand to his throat, voice shaking with nerves. "You know they'll kill me if they find out."

"I thought we'd already established that I'll kill you if you don't," I leant down and hauled him back up, slamming him down into the closest available chair. "Anything that happens to Sabina from this point I'm holding you personally accountable for - until you give me what I need to put a stop to this."

"Do I get a deal?" Rogers was still looking out for number one.

"You get to live," I looked at him in disgust. "Be grateful for that because I'd be just as happy to feed you to the Wraith and call it a good day."

"I don't know his name," Rogers capitulated with sudden ease – thank god the bad guys never stuck together. "I get a call on the phone he gave me ... he sets the time for the next call."

"Give me the phone," Rodney strode over to the guy, holding out a hand and clicking his fingers impatiently. Once he had it he hurried from the room, explaining as he went. "I'll access the phone's records; see if I can track his last call to a server. Once I've got that I should be able to trace the next call."

"How'd this guy you say you don't know approach you the first time?" I demanded.

"I got an SMS asking me if I was interested in making a little money on the side," Rogers explained defensively. "I ... may have sold the occasional piece of information in the past so he probably got my contact information from that."

"You're a credit to the IOA aren't you?" I shook my head distastefully. "And I thought the members of the committee were bad enough." Trying to get a lid on my emotions I paused for a few moments before turning back to Rogers.

"I want to know everything you told your contact," I said sternly. "Start talking or I'll let my friend here have a chat with you instead."

"He already knew about the girl," Rogers admitted. "Said his sources had provided him with information about her medical background that was of great interest. All he wanted from me was a heads up if either you or the girl turned up here, plus a report on anything I might overhear while you were both around."

"And what did you overhear?" I asked grimly.

"Just that you weren't staying very long," Rogers replied defensively. "He said he had someone tailing you ... asked me to keep an ear out for anything else relevant."

"What else did you pass on?" I demanded angrily.

"Woolsey asked me to arrange a special meeting of the IOA," Rogers looked up at me, checking to see if I was following.

"And you told your contact what it was for," I concluded, frowning as I realised whoever had Sabina had even more ammunition to taunt her with. It would appear this guy knew more than she did – she'd be off balance. God only knew what other background information he'd dredged up to use against us.

"Is that all?" I looked at him in disgust. This guy hadn't been solely responsible for Sabina being taken but he'd done more than his fair share as an accomplice. I could barely stand the sight of him, especially since I wasn't allowed to rough him up now he was being so cooperative.

"I was supposed to let him know if you looked like you had a lead," Rogers replied. "I couldn't get close enough to give him anything useful beyond the fact that you were all still here."

"Okay," I stood behind the guys chair and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing hard enough to make him cry out in pain. Leaning down close to his ear I whispered "be glad I checked my weapon in when I got here." The little whimper he let out was enough to know he'd got the message. "I find out you've lied to me or did anything else to jeopardise Sabina's rescue? I'll come back and make you regret it."

Straightening I turned away, rubbing a hand over my face as I considered what we should do next.

"What do you want to do with him now?" Ronon stood beside me, silently lending his support for whatever I might want to do.

"Put him in the brig," I said, slumping down at the table tiredly. "If that phone doesn't pan out we'll have to lean on him some more – see what we can squeeze out."

Ronon muscled Rogers out of there, leaving only Teyla and myself behind.

"Teyla, head back upstairs and fill in Doctor Jackson and the others on what's happened," I requested. "Tell them we appreciate the help and we'll let them know if we need anything else."

"Very well," Teyla agreed graciously. Rather than head out she walked over and sat down beside me. "Are you all right?" she asked in concern.

"She wouldn't cooperate would she?" I looked up at Teyla reluctantly, not wanting to see the worry I knew would be on her face.

"Sabina has a strong sense of right and wrong," Teyla replied evasively. "She will hold on until you find her John."

"Well, let's just hope we don't make her wait too much longer," I replied grimly.

"Rodney will work his usual magic," Teyla said confidently. "When the people who did this call again we will know who is responsible."

"And then we go get Sabina," I promised, "whatever it takes."

Authors Note:

I'm not a mobile phone expert ... in fact everything I know about tracing prior calls came from watching NCIS LOL. I hope it doesn't feel like this storyline is dragging on ... progress is coming I promise!

Next Up? Fortunate Journey Season 4 Chapter 6