CHAPTER 16

They were all sitting around the table eating fresh lasagna, garlic bread, and blue Jello. O'Neill insisted on the Jello. They decided not to argue and had it for dessert. Mel was experiencing her first time with soda pop. She said it made her nose fell funny, but she liked the taste. When Ford noticed she was trying root beer, he mentioned that would happened with that pop. They talked about different things as though they'd known each other for years, even though three of them already had. The conversation varied between different subjects, but what made Ford more scared than he had even been in his life was when a certain subject came up.

"I admit that I had a few nightmare's when I started this job, but I got over them. Hell, I'm probably not the only one." Jack said taking a sip of his drink. "What about you Ford?"

"Me? No. Worst nightmare I ever had was from playing a video game. I had to sleep at a friends house for a couple of days after that."

"A video game?" the Jack and Sam said. Jack was the first to go on. "What sort of game could cause nightmare's. It wasn't a virtual reality type was it?"

"I'd be dead if they made it virtual reality. I know though. My age and waking up afraid of the dark and what might be there. Stupid. You should have heard of the game though. It's called Resident Evil. Came out with a few sequels that I looked at but never tried. The first was freaky enough. The movie was terrible though." Ford said with a visible chill.

He looked to see them still staring at him in confusion. Mel was really confused. She had no idea what a video game even was. Jack gave her a brief run down which she still didn't get. He said he'd show her later what they where taking about.

"I've never heard of this game. Much less the movie and I keep up on what's out there." Jack said.

"C'mon. That's impossible. Okay, maybe they called it here by what Japan called it. BioHazard." he said leaning forward. When they shook their heads, Ford started to feel frightened.

Oh God! It can't be……

This game……this memory is disturbing. And I thought I saw some freaky things in my time.

"Tell us about it. I've got to hear what made you scared." Jack said leaning in with interest.

"Okay. It starts in a old mansion in the hills outside of Raccoon City. From there it went to.."

"Raccoon City? There's been a few news reports around that area recently." Carter said. "Not good reports either."

Ford sat back slowly as his eye's visibly widen. Mel could sense he was scared of something, badly. Everyone could see he was looking ready to panic.

Ford……your making it difficult to keep your body regulated.

It may get worse!!!!

"Was….is….ah…" Ford tried saying. He tried composing himself better then continued. "Was there a company called the Umbrella Corporation here?"

"Yeah. They were doing illegal genetic experiments in several area's of the country and in their main office in Europe. The research was destroyed as were their facilities. From what the reports said a lot of people died, but the lethal toxins they had produced were contained and destroyed." Carter said.

"It was confirmed destroyed?" Ford asked her a little forcefully. "Completely?"

"Yeah." she said nodding her head.

"When?" he asked quickly.

"About a month or two before you arrived."

"Oh damn. Okay, what about the mansion near Raccoon City?"

"There was none that I know of. Certainly nothing in the new reports or any reports." Carter said looking really lost. Ford looked like he was turning white or sick.

Oh god no!!!!

Calm down. It can't be……whoa…maybe it can be that bad. Hercules said seeing a few of the memories from the game come up.

Ford rubbed his face then asked the one question that would determine everything. "What sort of news has been about Raccoon City?"

"Missing people. Strange deaths. Some people reported seeing, which is non confirmed, the walking dead or zombies."

"Oh Jesus Christ." he muttered sounding like he was about to cry. He grabbed the table to keep from passing out but it didn't seem to help.

"Ford!" Carter said grabbing his arm. Jack came over to grab his other arm.

"Let's get him to the infirmary." Jack said.

"No. Computer terminal. I need to check something." he muttered trying to shake them off. They took him anyway.

"What happened now? Did they get too far apart again?" Janet asked as they placed Ford on bed.

Ford didn't lay down, but stayed sitting up muttering to himself looking like he was ready to pass out. He was practically pale as a ghost with fear.

"No. We were talking about that Umbrella incident." Carter said. "Apparently in his world it was a big video game take gave him nightmares. It must have been a really bad game to cause him to be this scared. He just about passed out. I've never seen him like this before."

"It must be something bad. You look like you've seen a ghost." Janet said looking him over.

"I'm not sick, just….oh god I'm possibly living my nightmare. Janet the experiments they did would make you want to quit being a doctor. There's isn't enough ammo in the world to stop that virus."

"You're leaving us in the dark here Ford. What was Umbrella up to that freaked you out so bad?" Jack asked.

"Umbrella created a deadly infectious, airborne and transmittable through touch disease called the T-Virus. That damn thing could wipe this planet out without a problem. Hell, in the game it took out the entire Raccoon City."

"What does this virus do?" Janet asked.

"It turns people into the zombies. Living or dead. Just a vial of that stuff could wipe out this whole complex. If they're already dead, it reanimates them. Any living creature is reanimated and has one thing on the rotted mind. Food, specifically flesh and blood."

"That doesn't sound so scary." Jack commented. "A bunch of zombies would be easy to kill."

"EASY! I had shotguns, a rocket launcher, a flame thrower, and a colt python, and did I mentioned I cheated. I still died enough times I almost threw the system out the window. It turns any living creature into the dead then hunts to eat anything or anyone. Trust me. That game was the sickest thing I ever saw."

"Then why the hell did you play it?!" Jack asked waving a hand at him.

"The graphics were cool and there was a contest to see who could beat it within a certain amount of time. I won, bought a bunch of tickets and won the lottery. After that I sold the game never wanting to see it again. What's worse is that Umbrella had made plants become flesh eaters. Spider's as big as baby cribs. Wasp as big as your head." he said being forceful on purpose. "The Goa'uld have nothing on the Umbrella corporation."

"I'm going to check something." Carter said then left.

"If they're still operating at that mansion, then we have an epidemic on our hands." Ford said. Mel didn't understand much of what was going on, but she did understand living dead. That didn't sound good.

Janet continued to look him over some since he still was pale looking.

"If there is a mansion, if Umbrella is still operating there, if these things you say are going on. What do you think we should do? Go in and investigate?" Jack asked.

"Hell no! We'd all be infected or worse. Imagine if the Goa'uld ever got that stuff. They could wipe out the entire planet without even having to fire a shot. Just have to infect one person and then it spreads rapidly. I'd say nuke it."

"We can't drop a nuke bomb on our own country!" Jack said surprised at his suggestion.

Carter came back with a laptop and placed it on the table. "I looked up a few things about what you told us. The mysterious disappearances around Raccoon City have been growing the last several months. S.T.A.R.S., a branch of the Raccoon Police Department sent a team in and haven't heard from them since. When Bravo team wasn't heard from, they sent in another team called Delta and they haven't been heard from either. They were sent to a mansion just outside of the city. As for that virus you said, according to the reports I found, people at the different locations were found to be, what was believed alive until they became under attack. The government realized soon what Umbrella was up to and had the places napalmed or worse. I guess they didn't do a through search." she said showing them the reports and several video recordings.

One recording showed the camera man being eaten by what looked to be one of his crew. The camera was laying on its side being held by a severed hand. Several other people were in the background shooting at other zombie's. The tape kept recording until a soldier came and turned it off.

"That's what I'm talking about. Genetics at its worst. To you it may seem silly, but me it freaks out." Ford said shuddering at the video he saw.

"That just isn't right." Jack said in disgust. "I've seen a few undead movies, but to actually live it now. Ugh!"

"We have to show this to General Hammond." Carter said.

"Wouldn't he have left by now?" Janet said not really asking anyone.

"I think he's still in his office. I call and find out though." Jack said getting a phone. After a moment he got off saying Hammond would meet them in the briefing room. Since Janet didn't think Ford had any serious problems other than being abnormally scared, she let him leave.

That is terrible. Worst than terrible. Talk about genetic manipulation!!

I know. Nirriti would be pleased to see this.

Everyone assembled in the room and Carter put the information she found on a bigger screen that was brought in. She went over it in much deeper detail explaining the different things that were found out and done at the Umbrella Corporation area's. For Ford, it was more like being told about the games, in some detail anyway, before playing them. Ford never really played the others after the first one, but he saw them played by others, briefly. When she brought up the different video files including one's Ford didn't see in the infirmary with everyone else, but he knew were on the game's video camera's that had been used in the games, he turned away. Just learning that the T-Virus existed was scary enough. Hammond noticed that Ford turned away, but didn't say anything. Jack had explained as they came in what had happened up to going to see Janet. He was very brief but to the point. Jack made a few comments referring to the grossness and ugliness as they watched. Even Carter was shocked with some scenes. When a particularly ugly scene of a soldier fighting several zombie's at once came on, even Mel quit watching. The soldier fired his assault rifle into the crowd but they over took him quickly. His screams were terrifying as they ripped him apart, literally and ate him alive. Carter stopped the video and turned off the TV.

"That wasn't right." Jack said with a wince. "I can see what terrifies you so much now. I'm going to have trouble sleeping seeing that."

"There's more video footage sir, but it only gets worse, much worse. I certainly think I've seen enough to realize this is a bigger threat than the authorities were led to believe." Carter said sitting back down. She even shuddered.

"This is upsetting news Major, but it's not really our field of what we here are trained to take care of. I can make a few calls and see what's happening, but at the moment I can't do anything without talking to the President." Hammond said.

"The President may or may not know about the strange disappearances at the mansion outside Raccoon City. There are areas within the government that do illegal things to get what they want. I used to work with a certain government agency, and had a very high rank. Before 9/11 I was in charge of information extraction. At the time, it was more civilized. After 9/11, I was given strict orders to get the information by any means necessary. I regret to admit I did, something I sincerely regret. The things I did it while reading up on all the information I could about 9/11 I don't want to ever do again. Some information lead to saying that our government was behind the attack." Ford said looking at the Stargate. He slowly turned to the table. "The point being, I think there is a branch of the government involved in this. Who, I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if the N.I.D. was in on it."

They all sat in stunned silence, with the exception of Mel who had no idea what was going on.

"There's fighting on your planet?" she asked. It was an innocent question, but it almost made everyone laugh. She noticed that everyone nearly laughed, but a nervous laugh. "We've always been getting along together on our planet. We figured that the Goa'uld was the only enemy."

"No." Jack said dragging out the word.

"Unfortunately, this planets population has been killing, fighting, destroying since the beginning of time. Man is just stupid really." Ford commented.

"That's a harsh way to put it." Carter said.

"If women took over, things would get better quickly. Unfortunately that's my opinion. No offense guys." Ford said.

"As much as this conversation is interesting, we need to get back to the main subject. What do we need to do about this new development? Unless otherwise authorized, you are all to proceed to England and get back the stolen artifacts. I'll talk to the President before I leave and let you know what he plans on doing, when you all are here in the morning. Until then try to forget this and get some sleep. Dismissed. Major, a moment of your time." Hammond said standing up after he was finished.

Ford heard him asking about her giving him some more details before he called the President as they all left. Ford only heard since he was the last to leave.

"Forget about he says. How do you forget something like that?" Ford said shuddering.

"You're not kidding. Is there a cure?"

"No Jack. None I ever found or heard about. Worse of all is I think it can bring the recently deceased such as within a few weeks back."

"Graveyards everywhere would come alive. Oh man I'm getting no sleep tonight." Jack said.

Where Teal'c and Jack went Ford didn't notice and didn't seem to think about as he and Mel came back to their rooms.

"How is this going to work?" she asked.

"How is what…oh right. I kept thinking I…never mind. Um, you know what a bunk bed is?"

"You told me once before when I was here. You must be tired."

"Tired, physically and emotionally. For the time being, we'll share a room that has accommodations for two. They're for special guest staying the night and that sort of thing. We can go get in one in the morning. Unless you want to go to it now."

"No. I've had a hard enough day."

"I'll take the bottom bunk and put a sheet across it that will cover it so…you know." he said. "Trust me, I won't try anything."

"I don't think you would. You don't feel like someone who would take advantage of a female."

Ford hid a yawn as he nodded. They went into one of the rooms and he did put up a sheet. Luckily, he thought anyway, it was a black sheet. He crawled onto the bed and didn't even bother with the covers. It wasn't long before he fell asleep quickly. He had nightmares, but Hercules was able to help try to get rid of most of them as they came up.

The next morning O'Neill walked in noticing the sheet covering the bottom bunk. Mel was still fast asleep, or so he thought as he walked over and pulled the sheet back. He figured Ford must have been having a good dream since his eyes were moving all over the place. He shook Ford's arm. Mel turned over waved a hand at him.

Ford…Ford…time to get up.

What for Herc. I'm having a good dream. This is about as close to flying I'll ever get, unless there's a planet with little to no gravity on it. Ford said in his dream to the voice as he stopped flying around over some trees. The dream dissolved as he groaned.

"Damn Herc. I was enjoying that." he mumbled as he sat up.

"Took ya long enough. We need to get going and you were suppose to go home and get those things to be returned to the base. Remember?" Jack said giving him a cup of coffee.

"Oh yeah, I was, wasn't I. Great, I forgot my gun and other things are there as well. I'm going to have to go there first then meet you all at the airport." he said getting off the bed. He motioned for Jack to leave with him. He closed the door giving her privacy.

"How long do you think you'll be?"

"Here or at home?"

"Here."

"Oh, about fifteen minutes top. Why, what time is it?" Ford didn't bother to look at his watch.

"It's zero five hundred. Hammond wants to see us at zero eight hundred. I figured you would or her I should say, would need more time to get ready. Well, see you later." he said.

"What are you going to do?" Ford asked.

"Paperwork." he whispered. "I do early in the morning since I hate doing it while everyone is awake."

"That's right." Ford whispered back. "MacGyver didn't mind paperwork."

"Right." he said after a moment and then hissed. "Keep quite about that."

Ford laughed quietly as he walked away. Several minutes later she opened the door refreshed and fixing her hair. She had on Stargate personnel clothing like Ford.

"Morning."

"This is certainly a little early for me. But I might as well get used to it."

"We need to go to my house, like we were suppose to last night."

"I'm ready to go." she was carrying a white coat that could have passed as a robe, but it had a hood.

"I'm going to get cleaned up at home since all my clothes are there too." he said pulling his card out.

As they headed for the elevator, Ford asked a airmen if Daniel had came in yet. The airmen said that he was suppose to show up within the next hour. The elevator ride was rode in silence. Once at the top, a guard asked him what he was doing.

"General Hammond wants me to go back to my house to get a few things and bring them back to base. I was suppose to do it last night but I forgot."

"Colonel O'Neill said that's what you were doing. Just checking to make sure."

"Not a problem. Where's my car?"

"Your car sir? Isn't it a Saturn?"

"Not anymore. I own that Dodge Charger that was brought in."

"Oh! The General Lee. Yeah, they parked him over there around the corner sir. Here's the keys. Nice car sir." he said giving them over.

"Thanks. I should be back in an hour." he said walking away.

Mel put her coat and pulled the hood over her head. Unless you looked closely, you'd think it was an ordinary woman.

"Nice coat."

"It helps on those hot days when the suns really beat down. It protects me rather well."

As they came over Ford realized that she had never been in much less seen a car.

"Sorry, I forgot. The doors are welded shut."

"Why?" she said looking it over.

"It's a original. I'll explain later." he said showing her how to get in. It took her a moment but she figured it out. He helped her then got in himself.

"I hope this doesn't hurt your ears. If it does, let me know so I can stop it."

She nodded, but didn't understand. Ford put the key in and started it for the first time. It roared to life making Mel jump. Ford thought the sound was perfect.

I've heard creatures that used to make noises like that.

I bet you have.

"It suppose to sound like that?"

"Yeah. It's over thirty years old. But sounds like he just came off the assembly line. You okay?"

"I've heard worst. This isn't bad." she said looking around the inside.

Ford told her how to put the seat belt on and why. She didn't get it at first until he told her why. He slowly pulled out then headed out of the mountain complex. As they were leaving the fenced area Ford looked over seeing a man in blue jeans, fading brown or red curly hair, and a black leather jacket. Mel was looking around at the mountain side not noticing Ford wasn't watching where he was going, not also know the machine had to be piloted manually at all times. Ford continued to look at the guy arguing with a guard as the car kept creeping forward. Mel smacked his arm telling him to watch where he was going. Ford looked to see he was about to run into a parked Hummer. He looked out seeing a soldier looking at him.

"Hey Sergeant. I need you to come with me. Can you follow in that Hummer?"

"Yes sir." the Sergeant said.

"Why's he following us?" Mel asked.

"I have things I have to get back to the SGC and I'd rather not have them in this car, just in case."

The trip to his house was uneventful, even though he did notice that he was being followed by a black car several lengths back. It looked familiar, but he couldn't place it at the moment. It was nagging him badly too.

"Something wrong?" she said looking back, trying to see what he was looking at.

"Other than the Hummer behind us, there's a black car following us. I can't recall why it's familiar and it's driving me nuts." he said pulling into the drive. The Sergeant parked behind him and got out.

"Is something wrong sir?" he asked putting his hand on his sidearm and looking around.

"Just thought I saw something." Ford said helping Mel out of his car. "Come with me airman."

"So you live here?" she said looking around the inside. She removed her hood as she sat at a bar stool. As Ford walked away Mel followed.

"Yeah. It's a lot of fun sometimes." he said going over and moving the picture. After putting in his security codes and such the door opened. He grabbed a few locked cases and handed them to the Sergeant. "These go back to the base. I'll be along shortly."

"What's in them sir?" the soldier asked as Ford grabbed a few other things for himself from the secret closet.

"Just a few zats and a healing device and something Anise gave me."

"Alright sir. I assume General Hammond will known what to do with them." he said walking out. Ford closed the door as the Sergeant drove away. He then closed the drapes, which were a darkish blue.

"Everything okay?"

"Oh yeah. I just don't want any problem to happen if someone walks by."

She nodded taking the long coat off and setting it across the couch.

"I'm going to take a shower. Umm….you can sit on my bed and watch TV while I'm…"

"TV?"

He took her into his bedroom and showed her how it worked.

"Wow." was all she could say as he grabbed a few things and headed into bathroom. She was flipping through the channels not noticing the time that went by when Ford tapped on her shoulder.

"What the?" she said startled. She looked at him a moment then realized where she was. "This is interesting technology."

Ford laughed as he turned off the TV. "It's addicting if your not careful."

"I got to check that out again sometime. How long does it last?"

"The TV has to be replaced or fixed every several years or longer depending on how you treat it. The programs you saw on our all the time. There's a couple hundred different channels with a variety of different shows. Most of them are fiction though."

When she asked what fiction meant he explain it meant not being a actual real thing happening.

"A better way of putting it is acting out a story." he said putting his armored coat and placing his weapons in their holsters and other places.

"You always carry that much?" she asked bewildered.

"I'd say seven out of ten times, we find the Goa'uld more than anything on other planets. Better to be prepared."

"But we're not going to another planet."

"I always go in with overkill. I was trained that way."

"I don't doubt it." she said putting her coat back on.

As Ford opened his door he almost walked into a man. A very large man. Ford had to look up to see who it was. Mel was so surprised at the guys size she looked at him forgetting to cover her head.

"Whoa. Taller than I thought." Ford muttered.

"Are you Ford Primus?" the tall dark haired man with sunglasses asked. He had a X like scar between his eyes and a large leather jacket that looked very big and heavy. He also had a red headband on and blue jeans.

Is this guy a giant?

Just about.

Looks like he could crush us.

I don't doubt that for a second. He's the reason I have an armored coat. He just about protected as I am.

"Yeah. You're taller than I thought Bean." Ford said looking at the seven foot something guy. Ford was only six foot three and built like a tank, but Bean Bandit was built more like a heavily armored battleship.

Bean glanced at Mel and raised and eyebrow as he removed his glasses. With his other hand he pulled a big file from inside his jacket. "I've heard of yiff parties but…..I have what you called about. Do you have the money?"

"Yeah. Yeah I do. One moment." Ford said going back over and getting inside the secret room again.

Ford removed a large metal brief case, closed and then gave the case to Bean. He opened it and looked inside. It didn't take him long to count it all since Ford had the money in there all in hundreds. One point five million dollars worth of them.

"Here's the spec's. A note of warning though. If you try to come after me to use…" Bean began saying.

"Bean. I never saw you. I know you by name and reputation and that's as far as it goes. We never met." Ford said.

"That's fine with me." he said closing the case. He put his glasses back on and turned around. Ford and Mel watched him start his large custom made car, Buff and take off.

"Who was that? And what's a yiff?" Mel said after a moment.

"That was Bean Bandit. The only man I know of that could probably take me, provided we used our fist. Man he's huge. As for the yiff thing….don't ask. You truly don't want to know."

"If you say so. That was the biggest living person I've ever seen." she said putting her hood up. "Well, out of you humans anyway."

"No kidding. I thought I was big."

"What was he here for?"

"I wanted the technical spec's about his car. He had managed to make it so it can drive sideways. The only car that can do that, at least until now. I plan on using this to make the General do it as well."

Mel mumbled something that Ford didn't make out as they went over to the car. After helping her in he started to get in his side when someone behind him placed a gun in his back.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Ford said as he shook his head and then whispered. "Stay quiet."

He spun around quickly grabbing someone's hand. He was ready to punch whoever it was when he noticed it was a woman and he let her go quickly.

"Damn it Vincent. I almost punched you! What the hell where you thinking?!"

"What hell am I thinking! I'm thinking about putting a bullet in you for that stunt." she said pointing her C75 pistol at him with her left hand. She was shaking her right hand. "How do you know me?!!!"

"Reputation as a bounty hunter. Damn good one too. What are you here for? You work in Chicago." Ford said. "Wait a minute…you were following Bean. Great." he said throwing his hands in the air. "Look, I wasn't giving him money to take something somewhere or do anything illegal. He had something I wanted, and I paid for it. Everything was totally legal….wait….where's May?" he said looking around.

He saw her 67 Mustang Shelby Cobra parked a block down the street but no one inside.

"I know she loves explosive's and if she plants one bomb on this car, she'll be in serious trouble. And don't say who's May. Minnie May Hopkins is her real name."

"May isn't here. She's still in Chicago. What did you buy from Bean?"

"Car information. Cost me a million bucks so he shouldn't be doing anything illegal for some time, maybe. In any case, I have to go." he said grabbing her gun from her.

"What the hell are you…." she screamed as Ford disassembled her gun quickly without damaging it.

"Sorry, but I'm in a hurry and I don't want you shooting my car. I feel the same way about mine as you do yours. I'll pay you for the damage to you gun later." he said getting into the General.

"Wait a minute!" she said grabbing the door handle. She tried to open it only to find it welded shut.

"Leave a note in my mail box and I'll send any special gun you'd like to have." he said starting the vehicle.

"What?" she said in surprise.

"Sorry Miss Vincent, but I have to go save the world. I wouldn't follow me though. I work for the government." he said pulling out with a squeal of the tires. He floored it quickly as he headed away. He could see her running to her car.

"Talk about have trouble. Anyone I want to know?"

"Not really. She's a famous bounty hunter in the city of Chicago. I didn't think I'd see her ever. Hold on, I'm going to go fast."

She was cute.

Carter wouldn't like you saying that.

I said it cause only you could hear me. You thought she was cute.

Many women are cute, Carter has the best looks though.

"I don't think this can go as fast as our gliders." she said. "I don't see what I have to worry about." she casually said putting the hood down. The sun was bearing down on them seeing it was clear skies and already hitting 85 degrees.

"True this can't go as fast as those gliders, but…" he said taking a corner making the car run on two wheels for only a second or two.

The wheels only went about two inches from the ground.

"But this thing doesn't have inertia control or a system that keeps you from flying around in your seat." he said increasing the speed to over eighty.

"I see what you mean." she said feeling herself being pulled into the seat.

Ford sped past a cop sitting near a sign waiting for a speeder. It didn't take him long to start following. Ford floored it as he got onto the road that took him to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. He called ahead to the guard station telling them to radio the police car behind him. They said they'd get right on it. Ford pulled around a few corners with more speed than needed as the cop suddenly stopped. Ford didn't see what the cop was doing since he disappeared around the corner. As he pulled up to the complex he stopped and showed his badge before continuing on.

After Mel and Ford left, Jack went to his office and began working on the paperwork he had been putting of. Ford learned sometime ago who he was. Actually his brother was MacGyver. He had to make it look like he was MacGyver to keep his brother safe. So far he had kept it secret despite Carter bothering him about it. Even Hammond didn't know he had a brother much less that it was MacGyver, or he figured that Hammond didn't know. He continued on his coffee as he started writing.

Carter woke up just shy of twenty minutes after Ford left. After freshening up, she went to get breakfast and see how Ford was doing. She learned that he was off base, so she went to her office to work on a few things.

Daniel came home right on schedule, for a change. Hammond had a message sent to Jack and Carter to let them know that Daniel had returned, and on time. When he came through he had a couple more bags with him. Hammond shook his head and welcomed him home.

"Thanks General. I decided to come home early so I could put this all away and be ready for the meeting. Might even have time to catalog some of it."

"Very well Doctor. I'm glad to see you're having fun." he said dismissing him. After Daniel left Hammond went back up to his office to finish his breakfast.

When Ford and Mel came to the meeting, they were late. Almost ten minutes late. They had came in and did a better job of setting things up for there accommodations since they had to live together on the base for some time, an unknown amount of time. After they finished the room problem they went to eat. Ford explained a few more things to her about how they lived, TV, the financial stuff, and other aspects of life. Ford was almost surprised that the rest of SG-1 didn't come to see them when he realized they already ate most likely. It was also then he realized they were late.

"We were suppose to be in the briefing room ten minutes ago." he said getting up.

"Oops." she said setting her drink down.

"Hammond sent me to tell you that your late sir." a guard said coming in.

"Thanks airmen. I just realized it." he said as they rushed out.

"Took long enough. Usually its Daniel that's late, not you." Jack said as they came in.

"Sorry, I lost track of time." Ford said sitting down. The chair creaked loudly under his weight. It sounded like it cracked too. Ford got up, took his coat off and set it on the floor, then sat back down. They all noticed the three piece suit which was unusual.

"Let's hope it doesn't happen again Ford. You're usually the early one. Now that everyone's settled, let's get down to business. I made a few phone calls and found out that there has been strange incidents in and around Raccoon City. The President is sending in several National Guardsmen to check things out. He had me find out if any one of our groups would go with them. SG-9 and SG-11 volunteered to go with them. They left last night with my approval. I'll be getting frequent reports as they come in. As for our situation with Miss Croft, even though the President would rather Melissa stay here, I told him what you know and your situation. He agreed it would be worth the risk since Miss Croft is too much of a known figure to have a fire fight that could end up causing international and diplomatic problems. Since this mission is on Earth, take what you think you might need, but no weapons from other planets. Considering what Ford has said about SG-1's track record and the things Lara Croft has came across, I advise bringing weapons. I shouldn't have to explain about taking anything with you that shows you work at the SGC." Hammond explained.

"Not a problem sir. We've been training for this day." Jack joked. This made everyone chuckle.

"The plane leaves within the hour so gear up and get going. Dismissed."

"Let's go people." Jack said heading out first. Mel walked out thinking Ford was behind her.

"Hey General. Can you hold this for me that it doesn't get lost or damaged. It also can't be patented?" Ford asked.

Suddenly his head began to buzz. Ford grabbed his head and groaned as Mel cried out from where ever she was. She came back in quickly with a angry look.

"Sorry."

She waved him off and kept rubbing her head. Ford was doing the same as he handed the file he got from Bean to Hammond.

"I'll put it in a safe place. I won't look at it either, if that's what you're wanting."

"No, if you wanted to you can, but someone else already owns the patent." Ford said.

"I'll keep it here till you get back."

"Thanks." Ford said.

SG-1 was all in the armory section getting a few weapons, with the exception of Ford who was stocked up as he put it.

"What's with the suit?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah. It's not like where going somewhere formal." Jack said.

"Hammond said and I pretty much knew he was going to say that we have to go without drawing attention to what he really do. I always like the feel of a suit, so I wore one. Besides, this is my favorite. It's armored as well." Ford said.

"Did anyone else see that coming?" Jack said throwing his hands in the air.

"I was kidding." Ford said as they laughed at Jack's statement. "I tried one of those types of suits and they were to restricting."

"I was believing that too." Jack said.

"Just wondering, but what am I going to use, if I am going to use anything?" Mel asked.

"Let's see….." Jack said looking around.

He grabbed a few different small arms and told her to follow him. Ford went along as they went to the firing range. Luckily no one was there shooting.

"Okay, we can try these. This is a nine millimeter Glock, this is a nine millimeter pistol, a .32 caliber pistol and a .357 magnum. Now I'm pretty sure you can use all of these, but the .357 might be to loud and too powerful, so let's try it first." he said loading a few rounds.

She followed his instructions and pointed it at the target that was thirty feet away. Ford, at her request, covered her ears the best he could. Jack had his hand on her back in case she was thrown back. Unfortunately, she couldn't handle the gun. When she fired, the bullet went way off its target as her hands jumped back behind her from the kick. Jack was able to keep her from falling back and since Ford was covering her ears, he couldn't stop the gun from smacking him in the face from the kick. Ford shook his head acting like it only dazed him.

That hurt!

NO KIDDING!!! Ford thought back to Hercules.

He really wanted to scream out and stick his face in ice water. Instead he sucked it up.

"Ouch."

"Are you okay!!" Mel asked dropping the gun on the table and looking at him concerned.

"That must have hurt. Should I call Janet?" Jack said concerned as well.

He figured that Ford was okay since he didn't cry out in pain and he wasn't bleeding, he also figured that Ford was ignoring it out of pride by the looks of it.

"I'm fine." Ford said rubbing his nose and blinking away tears. "A little sore."

The gun hit him sideways across the nose and between his eyes. Her fist had slightly connected with his mouth, but not enough to draw blood.

"Good thing I didn't have my sunglasses on."

"You sure you're okay? I know I saw that gun hit you."

"I'm fine, really. Carter's punch was worse."

"Let's try the others." Jack said moving on seeing Ford nodded to him to continue.

She tried the others and since the .32 didn't have much of a punch for her and wasn't too loud she took it. When they went back to the armory, he got her a holster. Teal'c was still looking through when he finally decided on a pump action shotgun. As they all got to the upper level, they packed there stuff into the back of a Hummer. Ford said he needed something from his trunk and headed over to his car which was within seeing distance. Mel looked up noticing Ford was walking away and started moving, but was not fast enough. Hercules told Ford to stop or he'd be paying for it, but he told a little too late. His head started hurting and he quickly backed up. Luckily it lasted only a moment. Mel smacked him in the arm and told him to remember next time. After retrieving his suitcase of clothes they got into the Hummer. Despite what Ford said about letting Carter drive when Jack said he didn't feel like driving, Jack made him drive anyway. Teal'c and Carter sat up front while Daniel sat in the back near the window with Mel in the middle and Jack on the other side. If it weren't for the fact it was so hot out and that windows were going to be down, they would have let Mel have a window seat. She didn't totally mind it, but understood. As they left the mountain complex, Carter noticed Ford's face was red. Red and swollen. Ford almost looked at her, but knew what she was looking at. He could see it in the mirror. His nose was cracked and he looked like he'd have a partial black eye, the right eye from where the trigger area hit him. His sinuses didn't feel all that well, but he ignored it. Hercules was working on it.

"Are you alright?" Carter finally asked.

By this time they were ten minutes out of Cheyenne Mountain. Ford nodded and continued to watch the road and his mirror seeing they were being followed by a black car. It was too far back to identify, but Ford was confident it was the same one that followed him earlier. Mel had fallen to sleep and it looked like Teal'c had done the same. Daniel was looking through a book or notes, Ford couldn't tell. He kept going and made several turns. Still seeing the car he spoke.

"Hey O'Neill." Ford said. "I think we are being followed."

"Why?" Was the first thing Jack said.

Ford chuckled making his face hurt. He shook it off and looked back in the mirror seeing the black car turn off. "Never mind. My mistake."

"What was it Ford?" O'Neill said in command mode.

"I could swear that the car following us was the same one that followed me home earlier. Must have been my imagination."

"You were being followed? When?" Carter asked.

"When I went home to get my things and those objects Hammond wanted back. I figure that whoever it was that was following me decided to wait to catch me alone. With that Sergeant there they might have been scared away."

"Did he see anything?" Jack asked.

"No. Neither of us did. Like I said, it must have been a different car." he said pulling into the airport.

Hammond had charter them a private plane so the trip would be fast and straight. It also helped that it was a plane that belonged to the SGC so they didn't have to go through a customs or things like that. At least not till they got to England. O'Neill shook Mel awake as they came to a stop.

"I think I realize now why you didn't want to drive Ma…O'Neill." Ford said almost slipping.

No one noticed the slip but it didn't matter to O'Neill. Jack shot him a glare and looked ready to smack him. Ford ignored the glare and continued anyway.

"You wanted to fly this bird?"

"Bird?" Mel asked.

"Yep. We sometimes call planes bird's." Jack said with a better disposition as he grabbed his bags. "Let's get going people. Time is of the…..the…whatever the word is." Everyone followed along as a guard got off the plane and got in the Hummer. He drove away as O'Neill started his startup check list. Ford started to come up front when his head began to buzz.

"Knock that off!" Mel practically cried out as she moved forward. Ford came back toward her holding his head.

"Sorry." he mumbled.

"Carter get up here and be the copilot." Jack commanded. "Have to see Ford's skills later."

"Yes sir." she said as everyone took there seats. Ford and Mel sat down rubbing their heads.

"We have to stop doing that." Ford said.

"You're the one who keeps forgetting." she mumbled.

Mel was impressed with how things look from so high up since it was her first time off the ground. It was truly a very interesting experience for her. She was really happy. Hercules thought it was cool since he hadn't been off the ground in a long time either. They took off several minutes later with little trouble. They had to wait for a bigger plane to get off the run the runway and then let another big one land. After that they had clearance. They had to do a lay over in Michigan and then one more in Pennsylvania before heading for Heathrow airport.