Chapter XVIII: Taking Atlantis

A/N: Well, here is the second to last chapter of TWGO. Apologies on the long wait, a lot happens in this chapter, so maybe that'll make up for it. Kudos to Annelantis and IzzieStar for their assistance, I couldn't have gotten it done without them. Enjoy the chapter. SSD

A green light. And a sigh of silent relief emitted from Laura's lips. It was the day and, even with all her years of training and experience, her heart hadn't stopped racing since she had woken up that morning. The odds were higher now. So much higher than they'd ever been before and Laura couldn't even contemplate what would happen if she let them down which only served to put her nerves more on edge. She'd made it through security and yet she still couldn't relax. Of course, if anybody had been onto her, she would have been stopped by now. She knew that. She just couldn't persuade her racing heart to realize that and as much as she tried to take her mind off it, she couldn't stop herself going over the oh-so precise schedule that Rodney and Sam had decided on. If she was off, even by a couple of minutes, this whole plan would fall apart. So she continued walking to her office, avoiding eye contact with anybody coming her way wearing a suit as she was doing so, she turned over the security pass in her hand, hidden in her pocket. She had four hours to prepare. Or four hours not to be caught. Either way, these were going to be the longest four hours of her life.

Rodney was jabbering nearly nonstop. Once John, Jack, Mitchell, Daniel, Vala, and Zelenka had arrived, things were kicking into high gear. They needed to get to the jumper and steal it without anyone noticing. They'd done what was usually a 20 minute drive in roughly 12 minutes. Zelenka was driving in a separate car so as not to arouse suspicion.

Once they'd come to a complete stop, Jack and Mitchell looked like they were glad that the ride was over, Daniel was slightly green, and of course Vala was the only one who looked completely unfazed. Everything was about to begin with Rodney. They would be parked close enough to get into the building quickly, but far enough away so Daniel and Vala would have to take a cab to get there.

Rodney stood outside the building rubbing his palms on his trousers. He used to go on dangerous missions all the time! Admittedly, it had been a few years now, but come on! He shouldn't be this nervous. He wasn't even leaving his laboratory.

As he waited for his "partner in crime", Rodney checked his breast pocket for the visitors pass he had just collected from security. It wasn't there. Trying very hard not to panic, he rubbed the sweat from his palms again and began methodically checking the other pockets. Left trouser pocket – no. Right – no. Back left – Oh, thank God! He mentally congratulated himself as he pulled the card out of its hiding place.

Zelenka walked towards him. He wore brown tweed trousers and matching blazer with a white shirt and, was that a bowtie?

"Oh, bowties are not cool!" thought McKay. The outfit, coupled with his perpetually frizzy hair and little round glasses, made him look like a mad scientist – no, not suspicious at all.

"Rodney," he greeted.

"You're late," McKay chided.

"Sorry, bad traffic," Zelenka replied, defensively. "We should get inside now though, shouldn't we?" He put his hand out, expectantly.

Rodney restrained himself from slamming the card into his hand but there was still a noise as it impacted. Zelenka winced, though it was unlikely it was from pain, and looked like he was about to say something. He stopped himself and started walking towards the main entrance. McKay trotted to catch up with him, staring at the building before him, knowing this would be the last time h would ever be going inside. Wow, that was a weird thought. He briefly wondered if he would miss the place or the people.

The reception area was a large space with black marble floors and walls, and a mahogany high top counter straight ahead. To the right of the counter was an X-ray machine for bags and peripherals, and a metal detector arch. Two large men in black trousers, white shirts, black ties and hats manned the area. They were dressed like run of the mill supermarket security but McKay knew the look was deceptive – they were government employees in a high security government facility that housed some of the USA's most important top secret projects.

He and Zelenka walked up to the mahogany counter to see the equally menacing "receptionist". Zelenka showed his pass and gave his name. The guard started checking his computer.

"He's with me," chimed in Rodney, perhaps unnecessarily, judging by the quizzical look the guard was giving him. The man then returned his attention to the monitor, nodded and handed Radek his card back. "Thank you, Doctor Zelenka." He indicated towards the arch.

Zelenka went through, after placing his worn leather satchel on the conveyer belt into the X-ray machine, along with his watch, shoes and glasses. Rodney was holding his breath as he stepped under the arch. There was no alarming beep and the guards waved him on. Rodney let his breath go, relieved.

Rodney shoed his own pass on a lanyard around his neck and he was allowed to through the check without going through the metal detector or taking anything off. He stood by as Zelenka put on his shoes, watch and glasses. How long did he need to take?

Finally, he was done and the two of them walked as calmly as possible towards the elevators at the end of the hallway. McKay pressed all the call buttons and tapped his fingers on his leg as he waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive.

When one finally did, the door slid open and they all but jumped inside. Rodney hit the button for the top floor and they rode up in tense silence.

Rodney and Sam's laboratory was only down the corridor and around the corner and was separated from the hall by secure glass doors. McKay swiped his security card in the reader to the left and the doors slid apart after three beeps.

"Showtime," Rodney said under his breath, nervously.

He walked in briskly and threw his jacket down on the high table in front of him. The buttons clattered on the surface, echoing around the near silent room, and six allegedly highly qualified underlings looked up, shocked by the sudden noise. Rodney almost smirked at the thought of any of these people trying to keep their nerve in the Pegasus Galaxy.

Rodney folded his arms across his chest and looked at each of them. Two were at the whiteboard attached to the right wall of the main lab, working on some sort of brainstorming session. The others were through the door to the left in the adjoining hangar bay, visible through a glass wall. They all seemed to be gazing in awe at the puddle jumper in the middle of the bay.

"What the hell is going on in here?" he shrieked his voice higher than he meant it to be. He moved forward so he could be heard by all of them, rather than having to do this twice.

Doctor Kane, the blond bespectacled man who looked like he should have still been in high school, stepped away from the whiteboard and gulped before stuttering, "Excuse me, Doctor McKay?"

"You're all standing around here like this is an office and you're all around the water cooler! Why aren't any of you doing, I don't know, some work?" he shouted, clapping his hands theatrically.

The scientists in the hangar bay came into the main lab, heads bowed in shame.

"All right, this is Doctor Zelenka," he said, gesturing to Radek. "I have asked him to come in because I need someone who actually knows what he's doing!" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zelenka do a double take.

As they all looked at him blankly, Rodney felt a twinge of remorse. But only a small one. "You know what? You're all nothing but sycophantic, wannabe morons. Not one of you has been able to figure out anything to fix that jumper and I have tried to leave you to it, but I am sick of it. This man is ten times the scientist than any of you will ever be and…" He stopped deliberately, trying to let his frustration show. "Get out," he said, quietly.

Doctor Kane looked at the others, confused. "Doctor McKay?"

"You heard me!" he yelled and pointed to the door. "Get out! All of you! Zelenka and I will do it ourselves!"

All six of them – two women and four men – Rodney was only sure of Kane's name – ran to the doors and exited as quickly as possible.

"And the Oscar goes to…" said Zelenka in his thick Czech accent as the doors closed.

Rodney collapsed on the nearest stool. "That was exhausting," he gasped. He did feel some guilt towards them for his outburst but they needed to be gone. Besides, it had been coming. Sam and Rodney – mostly Sam – had decided to let them do the bulk of the work to repair the jumper. It was supposed to be a good learning experience for them. Please! Trained monkeys could have done a better job than that bunch. He would have had it flying months ago.

"Come on, Rodney," said Zelenka, as he took of his blazer and made his way towards the hangar. "We have work to do." He removed his bowtie as he looked at the jumper. "Oh my, I did not think I would be seeing one of these again."

"Well, today's your lucky day," McKay said. He got up and walked to his area of the laboratory in the far right corner by the whiteboard. After booting up his computer, he worked his way through the systems, entering codes and passwords he should not have known, until he found what he was looking for: closed circuit television footage. There were cameras throughout the building, on every level, in every corridor, elevator, laboratory and restroom (well, probably not the restrooms).

"The stuff you need should be in the jumper already," McKay called, not taking his eyes from the screen as he cycled through each camera, preparing for the task ahead.

"Uh… Rodney?"

He looked up as he heard Zelenka's uncertainty. "What?"

"What you said to those people…"

Oh, he should have seen this coming. Trust Zelenka to get all misty-eyed about it. "Don't let it go to your head."

He saw Radek grin slightly. "I won't," he said as he turned around and headed back to the jumper.

Rodney watched him go and smiled. He then returned to the monitor. Twenty minutes later he observed a familiar couple as they trooped into reception.

Daniel marched towards chest level mahogany desk, squaring his shoulders as he made eye contact with the burly man sitting behind it. He was obviously tall and muscular, with tanned skin and a black goatee. His hair was covered by a hat.

Daniel turned to see Vala smiling as her eyes appraised the guard, closely. He elbowed her lightly and shook her head. He turned back and cleared his throat loudly.

"Excuse me?" he said, politely but impatiently.

The man looked up at him but said nothing.

"Hi," started Daniel, "I need to see Samantha Carter."

"The man turned to his computer screen. After a minute, he said, "Doctor Carter's not in today."

Daniel tapped his hand on the countertop. "Okay," he said, tersely. "I know Sam's probably busy but would you mind calling her lab and telling her to come down? My name's Doctor Daniel Jackson – she'll want to see me."

The man replied in a deep monotonous tone. "Doctor Carter is not here. She called in sick."

"Come on," Daniel said. "I –" he indicated a petulant looking Vala behind his shoulder with his head. "We need to see her."

"Daniel, just forget it," said Vala rather loudly. "She obviously doesn't want to see you."

"Well, you need to see her," Daniel said, sounding frustrated.

"Why?" Vala shouted. "I already know you're sleeping with her!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned in their direction. Okay, thought Daniel, now we've got their attention.

Trying his best – acting was never his strong suit – to appear outraged, Daniel spun around to face his lovely wife, swinging his arms around as he cried,

"Oh, for Christ's sake, I am not sleeping with Sam!" Barely pausing for breath he continued, "Sam is my friend and yours too, by the way! Her husband is my best friend I could never do that to him or to you!" He reached his hand out to touché her cheek. "I love you, Vala," he said more softly but still at a high volume. "And Sam will tell you that herself."

Vala shoved his arm away. "Oh, please!" she laughed. "Of course she's going to deny it. She's hardly going to tell the truth here, is she?"

Daniel groaned. Vala was on a roll. "There's nothing to tell." He gesticulated with his hands. "We are not sleeping together! We have never slept together and we will never sleep together!"

Vala pushed past Daniel and put her arms on the desk. "Hello," she said charmingly to the guard. "Could you please ask Samantha to come down as soon as possible?"

"Like I said to the gentleman, Doctor Carter is not here," was the answer.

Daniel stood beside her, noticing that the two guards at the checkpoint had been joined by three more men and a woman, all dressed in the same uniform. It was working. Daniel also noted that all the guards had what looked like nine millimeter Berettas holstered on their belts. He was sincerely glad that he had talked Vala out of bringing a weapon. He doubted they would have had any qualms about shooting her if she started waving a gun around.

"Vala, what are you doing?" he said. "I thought you didn't want to see her."

"Well, now I do!" she bellowed. "It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind."

"You are totally nuts!" Daniel raised his voice again. He really should have brought some water for this.

"Well, let's see how nuts you think I am when I punch your lover in the face!"

"What?"

Vala turned back to the guard behind the counter. "Please get Carter down here at once," she demanded as she rolled up her sleeves. "I'm here to tell her that if she wants my Daniel then she's going to have to fight me for him!"

Daniel heard one of the personnel by the metal detector calling for back-up. Time to bring it home.

"Okay, Vala," Daniel said, moving behind her and wrapping his arms around her body, lifting her off the floor. "No one's fighting anyone for me."

Some of the guards started taking steps towards them, not at all impressed by his actions. Vala struggled in his arms as he stepped backwards, trying not to tip over as she bucked wildly.

"Let me go, you bastard!" she roared.

As the guards got closer, Daniel let go of Vala. Spinning around, he saw a look of rage in her eyes as her arm swung and her fist connected with his jaw.

The punch was so hard; he fell backwards, narrowly keeping his head from cracking against the marble floor. His jaw throbbed painfully and he speculated on the possibility that she had managed to loosen some of his teeth. He looked at his life partner incredulously. This was not what we agreed, he thought.

Vala, for her part was mouthing sorry when she was grabbed from behind by the arms. The guards had all come running from the hallway past the checkpoint and the reception area was now in chaos. Vala writhed and screamed, "Get off of me!"

Daniel staggered back to his feet. He counted ten guards. That was all but two of the number that were supposed to be on shift. He thought back to what McKay had told them as they made these plans. Lunchtime – three security personnel in reception, one manning the office in the basement, monitoring the closed circuit feed (they wouldn't leave that room unless absolutely necessary and a domestic dispute would not qualify). The others would have just completed their rounds of all the levels and headed to the cafeteria on the first floor to eat and gossip. They would not be far away if reception called for assistance. So, seven had come to aid their colleagues. One was unaccounted for. Oh, well, that wasn't too bad, he was sure the others could handle one guard if he or she came across them.

Rodney counted the guards surrounding Daniel and Vala in the reception area. He could see ten. He quickly used the mouse to select the camera in the cafeteria and saw one man in the same outfit sitting alone at a large table in the middle of the room, the half empty plates indicating that the area had been recently vacated – except for him.

It was time. He sent a quick text on his phone then made his way through various systems until he found the electronic locking system. He found the lock for the delivery entrance at the rear of the building on the ground floor. He had recorded footage of the empty loading bay and various empty corridors and stairwells while Daniel and Vala were raising hell below. He had already set the footage outside the rear door on a loop, to play over and over again. As far as the security guard on duty could see, no one was in the area.

John yawned tiredly. He'd been up since 0400 when Cadman had arrived to get the security pass that had been given to them. He had no idea who had given it to them. He had his suspicions, but wasn't entirely certain about any of them.

Thankfully, both of the twins had slept all the way through the night without any kind of interruptions for the first time since they were in DC. He'd packed up their belongings in boxes. John had also watched them sleep peacefully for a while. It helped remind him why he was doing this: He was doing this for them and for Elizabeth, so that they could be a family at last.

There was a quiet but audible click inside the thick metal door. John said a silent prayer and gently pushed the handle down. There was no resistance as he pulled the door open slightly and pooped his head through the gap to make sure the corridor was all clear. He noted the camera at the end of the hallway, pointing towards the door and him and hoped Rodney was keeping up his end of the plan.

As he saw John push the handle down on the door, Rodney set to work, hacking into the camera in the corridor and replacing the live feed with the footage he had recorded earlier. The corridor appeared to be empty and did not contain, as he could see on the actual film, three men, all dressed in black, making their way to the stairwell door. He then started hacking into each camera along the pre-determined route to the laboratory, making sure that all the guards saw was empty corridors and staircases.

John, Jack, and Cameron moved quickly but stealthily, until they reached the top floor.

As they walked towards Rodney's laboratory, John's heart began to quicken. If they pulled this off, and the odds were increasing with every moment, they would be one step closer. They had to pull this off, though, there was no other choice. This jumper was the only way to reach Atlantis and Atlantis was their only hope of rescuing Elizabeth before the IOA deactivated her nanites. They couldn't fail.

Finally, they reached the glass doors of the lab. John knocked on the pane and saw Rodney look up and heave a huge sigh of relief.

Rodney had set the pre-recorded footage in the laboratory rolling so ran over to the doors and pressed the button to allow John, Cam and Jack to enter.

"Well, that was a piece of cake," said Jack, glaring at McKay.

"Hey, didn't you used to be black ops?" retorted Rodney.

"Can we not?" said Sheppard, looking at both of them, pleadingly. "We're here, so let's get on with it."

Rodney nodded sheepishly, understanding his friend's impatience. Picking up a tablet from his desk, he gestured for them to follow him and led them through to the hangar bay. He looked back to see John running his hand along the hull of the jumper as they went around to the rear hatch. He bit his tongue as he thought of telling John to get himself and the jumper a room. It was probably inappropriate.

As they filed past Rodney into the ship, Rodney reiterated the next part of the plan.

"I'm gonna reset the cameras back to normal – except for the elevator – then I'm gonna come and help. Do not leave this jumper as there is no camera in here but there is out there. Radek, how's it coming?" he called.

Zelenka was under the dashboard in the cockpit, only his lower body visible. "Nearly there!" he answered.

I knew it, thought Rodney. If it took Radek less than an hour (though a lot of the work had been done in terms of finding out what the problems couldn't be), then how did those idiots even graduate high school? Well, it didn't matter anymore. After today, he wouldn't have to put up with any of them ever again.

He went to the computer and completed the camera reset. He got his phone out.

Daniel and Vala sat on two chairs opposite each other in the reception area, still surrounded by security. None had left as each time it looked like a possibility Vala would kick up a fuss again. Last time, she had wrapped her arms around the waist of the well-built "receptionist" and wept as she told him of their lackluster relationship, the loss of trust, the fact that that she would have to raise their son alone… Daniel had rolled his eyeballs more than once, earning him glares from every one of the spectators. She was still good.

Daniel's phone rang. He slowly reached into his inner jacket pocket, not wanting to make any of the armed guards jumpy. It was McKay. "Hello?"

"We're in. Go to the RVP, we'll be there soon." The connection cut.

Daniel, however, didn't. "Sam… Where are you? Oh, you're not at work…Why? No reason really…It's just Vala and I thought we would, you know, catch up… You'd like that? Great. Where are you? Uh-huh… Okay, see you there." He hung up and looked at the guards. They all looked at him as though he had just spoken to his mistress. This meant they had bought it.

"Vala, sweetie?" he said, laying on the charm thickly.

"What?"

"Sam wants us to go over to her place."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes." Daniel stood up. He turned to Vincent, the guy in charge of the day shift. "Look, is it okay if we go? I really want to get this clear up and now I know Sam's not here…"

Vincent looked darkly at him. "Fine, but may I suggest that I never see you here again."

Daniel nodded quickly. "Oh, that won't be a problem." He went over to Vala and pulled her by the hand out of her chair. "Sorry about all this," he said as he hurried past.

"Good day, Sir," said Vincent. He quirked a smile at Vala, "Ma'am."

Daniel had no doubt that Vala winked at him, even though she was behind him. Some things never changed.

No one spoke as Rodney and Zelenka continued their repairs. Fifteen minutes had passed since John Cam and Jack's arrival and, if anything, the jumper looked worse, with tools, wires, and crystals strewn everywhere.

"Sheppard!"

John looked up to see McKay pointing to the pilot's chair. "Sit," he commanded.

Too tense to start an argument with him, John just went and sat down.

"Start it up," said McKay, as he manipulated the overhead circuit boards in the rear compartment.

John concentrated on engaging the jumper but nothing happened. He couldn't feel any kind of connection to the jumper at all. It had been while since he had flown one but he hadn't forgotten how it felt to be in control of a puddle jumper – it was something he sorely missed. "Nothing," he informed Rodney.

"Damn it!" McKay barked and continued what he was doing, then pushed a few crystals into the wall above the bench. "Radek, how's it looking under there?"

Zelenka pushed himself out from under the dashboard. "All done," he announced. "Do you want to check for yourself?"

"Well –"

Suddenly, John's mind was filled with information: the condition of the engine pods, munitions, air supply, dimensions of the room outside the jumper. The dashboard lit up.

Cameron stood behind him, smiling. "Looks like we're cooking on gas now, people."

Jack shot a glance over to McKay. "There a way out of here, or do we need to make a big hole in the wall?"

"No, no," stated McKay, at the same time as the Heads Up Display blinked into life, showing a picture of the ceiling, Rodney pointed. "There's a hatch above us. That's why we're on the top floor."

"Then let's get moving," said John over his shoulder, now eager to get in the air. So close now…

"Hold on," said Rodney, running out of the jumper.

"All right," he said, confidently as he got back in. "We are in business. I've rigged this tablet to open the ceiling hatch without setting off the alarms. So if you can cloak before we get out of the hatch we should be home free. For a while, anyway."

John nodded to him. He pressed the button to bring up the rear hatch and grabbed the controls. The jumper lifted from the floor and, almost immediately, John directed it to cloak.

Rodney activated the ceiling hatch and John carefully maneuvered the jumper through the hole.

The five men glanced out of the viewport, at the city below. John found it strange to be flying a puddle jumper over an Earth city – it was not something he had ever been able to do but it was pretty cool.

He flew the jumper to a park not too far away from Rodney's ex-workplace (well not yet, but it wasn't like he was ever going back). The HUD's life signs detector showed it was all but deserted, thanks to the fact that everyone's lunch breaks were long over and the kids were still in school. There was a pre-school age playground near the main entrance which showed activity but they moved over it, finally lowering at the edge of a wooded area.

Rodney got out his phone and called Daniel. "Get ready," he stated brusquely, "we're landing at the co-ordinates now."

They touched down. John saw two life signs moving out of the woods and opened the rear hatch.

He turned to see Vala and Daniel standing outside, though they clearly couldn't see that the jumper was right in front of them. Rodney ran to the opening and poked his head out. John marveled at the vision of the floating head of McKay they must now be seeing and shuddered.

As soon as they were inside, John shut the hatch and lifted off. He turned to greet their passengers and saw that Daniel was sporting a distinctive red mark on the left side of his jaw. It would make a spectacular bruise in the morning. "What happened?" he asked, guilt building as he imagined Daniel being hit by the guards whilst creating a diversion so they could rescue his w-Elizabeth.

"Vala happened," said Daniel, his voice clipped.

"I got caught up in the moment," Vala explained. "How many more times can I say I'm sorry?"

Daniel looked at McKay. "How long is the trip to Pegasus?"

Rodney shrugged. "Eighteen days, give or take. But if it helps, I think the…" he waved in the area of Daniel's injury, "…really helped sell it."

"See!" said Vala, triumphantly. "Thank you, Doctor McKay."

"But did you have to sell it quite so hard?" pointed out Daniel.

John turned back to the front, tuning out all the conversations and arguments behind him. He smiled as he came to a realization. Part one of the plan was complete. They were now actually one step closer. Just hold on, Elizabeth, he thought. We're on our way.

Cadman looked up at the clock. It would take about twenty minutes to get to where Elizabeth was, and then if things went as planned, they'd be in Atlantis a very short time later.

She needed to leave and soon. Maybe she'd get there with some time to spare, and talk to Elizabeth. And maybe they'd get away scot-free without any complications.

Laura snorted. This wasn't going to be easy. The risks with this rescue mission had risks all their own. If this didn't work… It was time to leave. She had a date with destiny.

They'd split off into teams upon arrival. John, Jack, and Rodney were a team, with Cameron, Zelenka, Daniel, and Vala on two other teams.

Stealing the jumper had been easy, once they all had gotten past security, in their various ways. John smirked at how Daniel and Vala had argued as a distraction. If things hadn't been so serious, he would have laughed at the whole thing.

Rodney's Intel had been correct. There was only a skeleton crew on Atlantis and they were slowly herding them into the Gate Room carefully. Mercifully none had noticed that they were being herded to be beamed out or even noticed that there were others in the city at all.

Once he got to the last room of his route, John saw something that made him smile. Kavanaugh had his back turned as was completely oblivious to anything and everything around him. Smiling to himself, he raised the zat and fired. The bastard never saw it coming.

Calling in on his comm, John said,

"I've got everyone in my sector. Time to beam everyone out."

A few seconds later, all of the skeleton crew was gone. The city was theirs. But there was no time for celebration.

"Hey Rodney, time to beam the kids and the others in. You ready?"

A few seconds later, the kids, Sam, Carson, and Cassie were in Atlantis. The kids were staring all around them with big eyes.

As Cadman got to where Elizabeth was, she used her card again. Once she was allowed in she heard,

"Laura, what are you doing here? I thought your rotation was done."

"We don't really have time for questions, Doctor Weir. I need you to put this bracelet now."

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked as she put it on.

"It's a locator beacon and our way out of here."

Of course no sooner did Elizabeth get her locator beacon on, did alarms start going off.

"Ah shit." Laura muttered.

"Rodney, what the Hell's going on? Shouldn't Elizabeth and Laura be here right now?"

"There's a glitch in the programming."

"A glitch? Now?"

"I'm working as fast as I can, Sheppard."

John was on the edge. If things didn't work out…

"Hands in the air, now!"

Deciding that obeying was good idea, Laura and Elizabeth put them in the air.

Elizabeth closed her eyes. She felt a bright white light engulf her.

A/N 2: What did you guys think? I know I'm being cruel here, but there's a reason.