CHAPTER 42

EPISODE…………AFFINITY

It was a nice sunny day, very quite and peaceful. Teal'c was enjoying it, was being the word.

Two vehicles, one a dark car, the other a silverish gray car, were driving down the slanted road near where Teal'c's apartment area was. It was a nice part of town. Very nice. The street was one way. The buildings on the other side of the street had the street that had vehicles to go the other direction. In between these two small streets was a concrete section that stretched up between them with grass growing and beautiful maple trees. A week or was it two….well sometime within that month, Teal'c had the housewarming party that Carter suggested. They all had fun talking and seeing how he liked it so far, living off base and how people were treating him and things. So far, he was really enjoying it and was glad to be able to be outside in the world without having as much restrictions as on the base. He also enjoyed driving his own vehicle, a nice 2004 Dodge Durango, black with most of the special features. Music wasn't a big thing with him. It was one of the vehicles that the two cars passed as they came to the stop sign. At the house warming party, Jack brought a cake, no surprise there. Daniel brought a potato salad. Teal'c made a dish that was special on Chulak. It was quite good. Ford brought a lasagna, which turned out to be a very bad idea, very bad, seeing as he made it personally. Extra cheesy. Jack ordered him, and everyone thought he was joking at first, but he was being serious, that Ford was to at least cook in the mess hall once a week, for everybody. Carter had brought drinks, pop mostly. Jack also brought beer with him, another not surprising development.

These two vehicles came to the stop sign and the silverish gray vehicle plowed right into the back of the dark vehicle, hard. The car crumpled in and smoke came out from under the damaged hood and grill quickly. It was quite obvious that the car needed to be towed to move. People around the area stopped to see what was going to transpire. Three guys got out of the damaged vehicle, all looking like punks or gang members. Ironically the radio was not damaged and the music kept playing rap, loudly. The guy in the vehicle that got rear ended, got out quickly to see how bad it was. Just some average guy, tweed jacket, un-tucked button up stripe shirt with faded jeans. Probably some college guy trying to get by.

"What the hell are you doing?!!!!" the driver said waving his hands angrily. He was bald and looked ready to spit nails, or start a gang war.

"I was trying to park." the other driver said nervously.

"Did you ever hear of signaling pal?!!!!"

"I did signal." he said as a black man from the car got behind him.

"Listen man, if you don't know how to drive, maybe you should try staying off the damned road!!!!"

"Well, maybe if you hadn't been tailgating me, this wouldn't have happened."

This just about pissed off the other guys. The bald guy looked at his friend behind him who was laughing.

"Oh no, you didn't just say that!" he said grabbing the young man by his lapel and pulling him over in front of the black Durango.

"Look man, I don't want any trouble." he said as the bald guy pushed him into the driver door of the damaged vehicle. He could feel the music beat through the doorframe on his back.

"Too late." the bald guy said sneering in his face. He pulled his fist back to punch him but his hand was stopped. He looked over seeing a dark man with a strange metal symbol on his forehead.

"This is unlawful behavior." Teal'c said holding the arm.

"Who the hell are you?!" the bald guy said.

"Collision procedures dictate that you exchange insurance information and if necessary, notify the police."

"What?" The bald guy chuckled as he looked at his friends.

The friend that laughed earlier was behind Teal'c while the other one was standing near the front of their damaged vehicle.

"This gentleman did indeed signal, which would mean that you were the one at fault."

"Pal, you better learn to mind you own damned business!" he said with clenched teeth as he tried to remove Teal'c hand.

When that didn't work, he tried to use the other hand to punch Teal'c. Teal'c blocked it and head butted the guy who dropped quickly to the ground. The black guy, the one in front of the damaged vehicle, came in for a swing. Teal'c ducked and gave him two quick uppercuts. The other guy walked up and punched. Teal'c put his head down making him hit the top of his head making the guy yelled out in pain and grabbed his hand. Teal'c then gave him a uppercut as well and he dropped to the ground. He turned seeing the bald guy getting up slowly. He spit out some blood, yelled and Teal'c gave him a quick punch that knocked him out. Sirens were heard in the distance making several of the people watching happy.

"Whoa." some kid said with a hat on backwards.

"I believe it will now be necessary to notify the police." Teal'c said looking at the other driver.

"Yeah, thanks." he said still shocked.

Teal'c nodded and waited till the police arrived.

Walter walked up to the partially opened door to Jack's office and looked in while knocking. Jack was filling out more paper work, as usual.

"Sir, uh…Colonel Kendrick from the office of special investigations is here to see you." he said sounding nervous.

"Does he have an appointment?" he said loudly on purpose. This guy is testing my patience lately.

"No sir.." Walter began.

"You wouldn't return my phone calls, sir." a guy with much more than a receding hairline said walking in past Walter. Business suit and brief case included.

"I was busy? Didn't think it was important? Had more important work to do? Take your pick."

"You know as well as I do there has been another incident. When you petitioned the O.S.I. to allow Teal'c to live off base.." he said as Jack dismissed Walter. "Your request was approved under certain provisions. These provisions have clearly been violated."

"Oh, come on Colonel!" Jack said tossing his pen on his desk and sitting back frustrated. This guy was getting on his nerves. Maybe Ford could…..nah.

"If you had saved Earth from total annihilation a couple of times and your government told you, you couldn't go out to play, wouldn't you consider it more of a guideline than a rule?" he said some what sarcastically.

"We all appreciate what Teal'c has done for us, sir, on numerous occasions, but that doesn't change the fact that he is a liability, and everyday that he is allowed to roam around in public, jeopardizes national security."

"Oh don't be so dramatic, Dick. It will give you gas." he said getting tired of the guy quickly as he looked over his desk.

"Well, either you take action to ensure that these provisions are met, or the O.S.I will."

"Hey. Watch it." Jack said warning the guy as he pointed a finger at him. "I will look into it."

"Yes sir." he said lightly as he left.

Jack waved his hand as the guy left like telling him to shoo. After he was gone he rubbed his face.

"Ford was right. There are many asshole's out there against us."

In apartment 40, Teal'c opened his door as it was knocked on.

"Hey."

"Daniel Jackson." he said smiling.

"Just wanted to come by and see how you're settling in."

"Please enter." Teal'c said with a smile.

"Wow. I like what you are doing with the place, sort of a Jaffa sheik with and an East African flair." he said looking around.

When they had the party, Teal'c was still in the processes of moving in and setting up.

"I have discovered that there are many programs on television that offer advice on home design and decoration."

"I'm a little more into the history channel myself." he said looking at a object on a small table. "Ford's got me into some interesting anime's too."

"Can I offer you anything?" he asked looking at the drink in his hand then back at Daniel.

"No. I'm fine." Daniel said standing up. "How's the fern doing?"

Teal'c gestured to the plant on the mantle. Oh, it was pretty much dead.

"I don't suppose you have tried talking to it?"

"I have not." he said almost surprised at the notion.

He would have been if he hadn't known that Ford and Carter did it to theirs. For some reason, it seemed to work for theirs. Daniel looked back at the dying plant.

"Perhaps you should tell me why you are here?"

"A guy can't just come by and visit his friend." Daniel said sitting down.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow not believing him.

"Yep, heard what happened the other day…" he said slapping his leg then getting up. "Two KO's, first round."

"O'Neill sent you to speak with me." he said sitting his glass on the fake fireplace mantle.

"No….yeah. He wanted to send Ford, but he….agrees with what you did, not that you did anything really wrong."

"I broke no law. I intervened to prevent a criminal activity and was forced to defend myself."

"You see that is kinda the point. Look, there's no reason why you shouldn't be allowed to live off base, especially since you not carrying a symbiote anymore, but you're suppose to be keeping a low profile."

"That is not always easy." he said slightly shaking his head.

"Yea, I'm not just talking about the tattoo, although I do see how that could be a problem."

"I often cover it to avoid stares in public. But for those who have seen it, it is a tribal mark from my homeland."

"Yes, this is less about appearance and more about behavior." Daniel said trying to get his point across.

"Have I not conducted myself as a typical member of this community?"

"N-no. No, actually you haven't. No. Besides the other day there was ah, the incident with the old man and the teenagers in the park." Daniel said walking over to Teal'c. "There was that guy with the thing with the pit bull."

"In each case, I was only attempting to render assistance where it was needed."

"See that is kind of the problem."

Teal'c didn't understand as was evident on his face.

"Normal human beings are a little more careful about getting involved with business that isn't theirs. I know it sounds bad, but that is just the way it is. And um, you can't afford to be drawing attention to yourself."

"I understand. What about Captain Ford then?"

"He's….a bad example. But then he was a…officer of the law, so helping other's comes natural to him, even when he shouldn't do it. He's a trouble magnet unfortunately. Come to think of it, he's stated a few times that all of SG-1 are trouble magnets. Anyway, it's just…" Daniel said trying to think.

Teal'c looked to be about to say more when the door was knocked on.

"Excuse me."

"Hi." a short long red haired woman said as he opened the door.

"Krista." he said smiling.

She held up a zip lock bag of large homemade cookies. "Made you cookies."

"Please come in." he said after taking the bag and nodding.

She walked in and saw Daniel.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had company."

"Krista James. This is Daniel Jackson." he said introducing her. She walked over and shook his hand.

"Hi."

"Krista lives in the apartment next door."

"Doctor Jackson. You're the archeologist that hired Teal'c to come over from Mozambique." she said catching Daniel off guard.

"That's right." he said quickly.

"Well, I should thank you. It's great having him here. It's nice to have a man around who cares about his neighbors."

"Actually we were just talking about that." Daniel said looking at Teal'c.

"In fact that is why I am here. The cookies are a bribe. My pipes are doing that thing again."

"Normally I would be happy to provide assistance, however…"

"No, no, no, no, no. Don't let me interrupt. I've got to be going anyway, so.." he said walking to the door.

"Ah Teal'c, that thing we were talking about…um. Ever rule has it's exceptions. Just call Ford if you need help, like certain questions answered that I can't." he said waving goodbye. Teal'c nodded at him in understanding.

Krista waved goodbye and he left. Teal'c then went with her and helped with the pipe problem, again.

Seeing it was a day off, Carter and Ford were walking through the park. They stopped at a hot dog vendor for lunch seeing as they both had enough good cuisine lately. Ford couldn't help seeing a few children with hungry looks on their faces as they asked their mother's for some as well. Ford gave the guy three hundred dollars and said make the kids some too and keep the change. Most of the parents were shocked at the offer but didn't snub it. Even the vendor was shocked, but complied.

"Ford that was sweet." she said as they walked away.

"They looked like they were really hungry and I like helping. I've done it in the past when I can, before I got here and a few times when I got here as well. Helped a couple of homeless people get back on their feet too. One of them is working construction again and has quit his drug problem all together." he said taking a bite.

They walked past other children to a bench and sat down.

"How often have you thought about…" she said inclining her head toward the jungle gym/fort set up.
"Having a child? Quite often actually. Especially with what we have been doing. You'd make a great mother."

"You think so?" she said almost sounding like she didn't believe it.

"Completely. I know you unfortunately lost your mother, but your father was there, when he could be. He was trying the best he could." he said trying not to bring up bad memories. "I personally think you've turned out very well."
She didn't say anything but only nodded slightly as she looked at the ground.

"My childhood was pretty much built on everything I know. I had little in any friends to play toys with, games like these children here, stuff like that. I grew up around CIA people and other government people. I learned things they knew since it was the only thing I knew, other than the cartoons I watched, the Sci-fi shows and other ones."

She laughed at that. Ford did love his cartoons. His other shows he liked, they didn't exist here, most of them on TV anyway. They actually were part of this universe, though most she didn't know. A couple of cartoons he liked were also real in this universe. He once told her some of them he found.

"I have thought about it a lot. I would like to before I get too old…"

"You far from old Sam, very far from it." he stated like he was waving her thought away.

"Do you even know how old I am?" she asked after staring at him for a moment.

"Actually…..no." he said scratching his head. "I think I'm older than you. I figured early thirties though you look in your early twenties. Sad to say really since I was at your last birthday party and I didn't ask then, though you wanted your real age kept quiet. Being married and not knowing is pretty sad to."

"Seriously!" she exclaimed. "You have no idea……I'm almost forty. One year away."

He looked her over with his eyes. More than once. "What? Wait a minute I thought…"

"I was much younger?" she said with a smile. "Like my twenties."

"You look that young to me, but I figured, considering rank and such, somewhere in your early thirties or near me, not…" he started counting and gave up on purpose. "Well, you're just a bundle of wonders. Considering what we've been doing lately, you've got the stamina and constitution of a twenty year old. Besides that, you do wear your age impressively well."

She smiled and squeezed his hand.

"I'm ready if you want to now though, but it would in may ways be easier to keep waiting." he said bringing the other subject back up. "With the job we have."

"That's the only reason I'm waiting. Our job has gotten more dangerous and I don't want to be out on maternity leave when I could be saving the world. Wait, that came out wrong."

"I understand what you are saying. We still have plenty of time." he said holding her close. "I'm not worried."

"Hopefully this will end soon and we can have a life away from so much trouble." she said running a finger up the inside of his leg. She didn't go to far though seeing as they were in public.

"Ahem, well Thor and the others are working as fast as they can on building new ships and other stuff with the Adamantium. It's just a long process that takes time." he said having to cross his legs, making her laugh lightly.

"A long time though." she said looking up at him.

"I'd like to have a daughter."

"A daughter?" she said looking at him surprised as she sat back. "I would have thought that you'd want a boy."

"No. I want a daughter. If we have a son, I don't mind. I'd just rather have a daughter first."

"I would too." she said smiling at the thought. "Next question is names."

"Ah, the hardest part about having children. Before the raising part they say. Well, I like…"

Teal'c and Krista were walking back to their apartments. He went with her to the store to help carry back the things she needed. They were still walking home and each had a paper bag.

"I'm sorry to keep asking you to help with my plumbing, but the super is never around." she said as they walked by a parked car that a woman was getting ready to get into. She placed her purse on top of the car though. "My boyfriend is not very handy."

"There is no need to apologize."

"Anyhow, you'll forgive me once you have tasted my lasagna." she said smiling.

"Hmm, a good dish. One I am familiar with."

"Yo, T." the young kid with the backwards hat said coming up. They did a handshake that involved several movements.

"Greetings Eric."

"I saw how you took out those three gorillas the other day. Nice work."

"In retrospect it may have been unwise to intervene."

"They deserved it." Eric said somewhat not understanding.

A guy in a red coat jumped up on the ladies car grabbing her purse and took off running past Teal'c and his two friends.

"Hey! Stop that guy! He stole my purse!!" she yelled.

They guy bumped into Krista and made her drop her bag of groceries.

"Aren't you going to do anything!?" Eric said.

"I must not intervene."

Krista looked at him confused.

"You're just going to let him get away?!" Eric said not understanding.

Teal'c looked at the man running away, put down his bag and grabbed a avocado off the ground and gave it a nice toss. It knocked the guy who was almost a hundred yards away out. He dropped hitting the road hard.

"Oh man! What a shot!" Eric said excited.

"How did you do that?" Krista asked.

"You the man T!"

"Thank you." the somewhat elderly lady said.

"Thanks so much." she said then went to get her purse.

"That was amazing." Krista said surprised.

Teal'c nodded in his usual bowing fashion.

"You are the man! Got to give the man his props!" Eric said giving another handshake.

Teal'c smiled then looked worried as someone in a hidden location just across the street and up in the building took pictures of him. He figured that phone call Daniel suggested was a good idea, just in case.

Teal'c was getting ready for bed that night, after the phone call sometime ago. He was lighting his candles as always when he heard pounding outside his room.

"Krista!" a mans voice said pounding on her door. "Come on! Krista! Listen, listen, listen. Just let me in."

By this time Teal'c had decided to go see what was going on and had opened his door.

"Doug. I have to work tomorrow." she said opening the door.

"So?" he asked as Teal'c walked toward him.

Teal'c saw the young man, maybe early thirties, straight hair, and had blue jeans along with a pullover sweat shirt on and a black vest over it.

"So, you're drunk. Just go home please." she said as Teal'c walked up.

"No, no, no. I ain't going nowhere." he said trying to walk in.

"Doug!"

"Is there a problem?"

"This is a private conversation." Doug said pointing at her.

"If it were private, you would not be having it in the hallway. Nor speaking so loudly." Teal'c said then looked behind him seeing the elderly lady with her cat watching.

"It's alright Misses Conner's. Just go back inside." Krista said.

The elderly lady didn't look like she believed it but closed her door anyway.

Teal'c was smiling until he looked back at Doug.

"Do you require assistance?"

"No, I'm okay." Krista said.

Doug put a hand up and got real close to Teal'c.

"Who in the hell is this guy?"

"His name is Teal'c. He is my neighbor." she said.

"Teal'c?" he said with a laugh. "What kind of crazy name is that?"

"He just moved here from Mozambique." she said.

"Oh, no doubt." he said sarcastically.

"Krista has requested that you leave. I suggest that you comply." Teal'c said smiling. It didn't look like a friendly smile, not much anyway.

"You better check yourself before you get hurt." he said threatening Teal'c.

"I have checked. I suggest you leave before it is you that gets hurt." Teal'c said.

"Doug. Go sober up."

"You know what." he said turning to her. "I'll call you tomorrow."

He looked at Teal'c then left.

"I'm sorry about that. I hate when he gets that way." she said leaning against her doorframe with her arms crossed.

Teal'c could tell she was upset as he watched the man leave.

"This is not the first time?"

She nodded.

"So you have stopped receiving him."

"Not exactly. He's not always like that. Since he lost his job, he's been….you know."

"I do not."

"It's been hard on him." she said smiling at Teal'c. She could tell he didn't understand.

"And has it been hard on you?"

"I'm fine."

Teal'c nodded with a smile and went back to his room.

The next day at the base, just around the morning. SG-1 was in Daniel's office. Carter was looking at the laptop screen Daniel was seated in front of. Teal'c was on the other side with his hands on the table seeming frustrated. Ford was looking through some notes Daniel wanted him to read, not only for him to understand the language better but to get another perspective. It was about the same thing Carter was looking at seeing as they were helping him at the moment.

"I do not understand Krista's behavior." Teal'c said shaking his head slightly.

"Yeah that is a common problem. Most cultures on Earth recognize the significant gap experiences between men and woman." Daniel said. "Among the Masia of East Africa, each newlywed man is required to wear his wife's clothing for a month as a way of gaining insight into her life."

"Glad that isn't done here." Ford muttered. "They'd never fit."

Carter looked over at him and thought about the prospect. It made her laugh but she coughed it away quickly.

"You okay?" Daniel asked.

"Just fine. A little tickle. Continue please." she said trying to hide a smile.

She then realized he did have some insight into her life, after that incident with the body switching. At least he didn't bring it up. But she did notice he did notice her fake cough and was probably thinking about that moment.

"Okay, the point is, while rituals and custom's may vary, almost all cultures put significant pressure on single adults to form bonding pairs. In ancient Persia, if the girl died a virgin, they would go so far as to marry her off corpse before the burial."

"That's horrible." Carter said disgusted.

"Uh the groom is usually quite well paid though."

"Still rather sick Daniel. How far did this marriage go any…you know what, never mind. I'd rather not know. Forget I asked."

"It depended."

Ford and Carter both had a shudder at the idea of what that meant. Teal'c realized after a moment what Ford asked and had a look of disgust on his face as well.

"Okay, let's go back to the main subject here. Teal'c how do Jaffa couple's handle their problems?"

"Are you and Ford having trouble?"

"No." they both said.

"Are you sure?" Daniel asked concerned.

"Daniel, everything is going well, very well. If there was anything wrong, you and Teal'c would be the only one's we'd tell." Ford said putting the notes aside and giving him a serious look.

"Sam?"

"Ouch." Ford muttered.

"General O'Neill would rub it in one of our faces and probably ask a lot of questions so we try to keep private things to ourselves. You two ask little if anything so we give you more leeway, to a certain point." she said. "Don't tell him I said that though. Otherwise we will have troubles."

"I never heard a thing." Daniel said raising his hands.

"Anyway Teal'c, I was trying to see if there was anything that might help your situation." she said. "Seeing as she is in your apartment building and your friend."

He nodded understanding. "On Chulak, a dispute between a man and a woman, that cannot be resolved, necessitates a pledge break. It must be requested by one and granted by the other."

"And if that doesn't work?" Daniel asked.

"A weapon is required."

"Any certain type?" Ford asked.

"A variety of them are available."

"Any of them energy based?" Sam asked.

"They can be if chosen."

"Ouch." Daniel said. "You know, the Masia people I talk about. You two did do something like that once."

Ford slowly set the notes down and looked up, but not at him.

"Daniel, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. We all promised never to bring that up."

"You both did though."

"You've been hanging around the General too much." Sam said giving him a look to drop the subject.

"It was just an observation."

They both gave him death glares.

"Never mind." he said cringing away with the notes. Teal'c followed him out.

"The nerve of some people." she muttered.

"He…." Ford started saying as she turned around quickly and put a finger on his lips.

"Had a point though, yes. But I am not going to tell anyone, but you, that thinking back on it, it was an interesting experience." she whispered still holding a finger to his lips. It was replaced by her lips moments later that didn't last long as they heard Daniel clear his throat.

"Yes." Sam said slowly.

"Ah, if you two want to continue that, I don't care, but some of us have to work."

"So?" Ford said.

"You're in my office."

"Oh. Sorry Daniel. We'll be leaving now." she said quickly.

After they left though.

"I bet they talk about it all the time." he muttered as he sat down in front of his laptop again.

Out in the park near where he lived, Teal'c was practicing his martial arts, the Jaffa ones. His clothes were jogging style and he had a wool cap on to cover his gold tattoo. Many people were around, but going about their own business. On the sidewalk behind him, Krista was standing there watching. He didn't know she was there until a move he had to perform turned him around.

"Sorry, I don't want to interrupt you. I just came out for a little air." she said as he relaxed.

"Are you alright?"

"I had another fight with Doug." she said walking over to him. "I told him it was over. I told him that I didn't want to see him anymore."

"Are you unhappy with your decision?"

"I guess it was the right thing to do. But he's not a bad person. He's just going through a tough time."

"You have no cause to feel guilty."

"What was that that you were just doing?" she said smiling.

"It is called Lok'Nel. An ancient form of martial arts training."

"Do you think you could teach me?"

He smiled and nodded to her gesturing for her to stand next to him. He showed her the beginning stance and from there began training. They trained outside for the next couple of days and even in his apartment at night a few times. She was getting very good at in Teal'c's opinion.

One day…….

He walked out of his room going to hers since she hadn't showed up yet. He knocked on her door.

"Oh hi." she said opening it just barely. Teal'c nodded to her.

"You are late for your next training session."

"Yeah, I meant to tell you. I don't think I'm going to be able to train with you anymore."

"You have been making tremendous progress." he said smiling at her achievement.

"Well, I just don't have the time anymore, you know."

"Has something transpired?"

"No, everything's fine. Look, I've got to go." she said starting to close the door.

"You are injured." he said seeing a bruise on her left wrist. He stopped the door from being closed as he noticed it.

"It's nothing, please."

"Krista, who is it?" Doug said from inside the room.

"It's just my neighbor." she said sounding a little scared.

"Oh yeah." he said opening the door. "Oh, the plumber. I'll handle this."

"Doug..!"

"I said, I'll handle it!" he said not really loud but with a commanding tone. The elderly lady opened her door to see what was going on, but only enough to see.

"Don't think I don't know what is going on around here." Doug said as she walked off into the room behind him. "She told me everything."

"Are you the one who injured her?"

"What goes on between me and Krista, it's none of your business."

"If you ever injure her again, I will kill you where you stand." Teal'c said seriously.

Teal'c walked off leaving the man to think about his future.

Ford and Carter were in her lab. She was on her laptop as usual working. Ford was on a different one trying to come up with an idea he realized once. Now he could somewhat implement it since he had a simulator for the gate itself. There was a few hours left until it was time to leave, or so they thought. Carter stifled a yawn and rubbed the side of her face as she kept at it.

"I think we can go home early Sam. You don't need to work yourself into exhaustion." he said stopping his typing.

"I know. Just something I'm trying to finish. That and we need to actually go home and sleep for once." she said tiredly as Jack walked in.

"Captain." he said then looked at her seriously. "Carter?"

"Jack."

"Sir?" she said hoping he didn't hear all that. He apparently didn't by the look on his face.

After too many times of Ford saying Jack instead of his rank title, Jack told him to give it up and just forget the rank unless in very important situations. He also got tired of how Ford would call him Brigadier, but in a funny way. Carter once asked him why and he showed her a Doctor Who episode with Tom Baker in it. She got it then and even laughed.

"I never thought I'd say these words. I need that report." he said with both his hands out.

"Huh? That is a first." Ford said.

"I need yours too Captain."

"Right…um I just need to finish typing up my notes." she said looking through a small pile of folders.

"Jack, you can't be serious." Ford said looking at him shaking his head. "Wait, I finished mine. You should…."

"I'll have it to you first thing tomorrow." she said quickly not hearing what Ford said.

"It is tomorrow." he said looking at his watch.

"What? We've been in here longer than I thought." Ford said looking at his watch. "I figured we had a couple hours until midnight."

"You're right though. I didn't come for the report so you can stop looking Carter. And yes, I got yours Captain."

"Then why are you here sir?"

"To tell you to both go home. That's an order. You stay any later, something big might come up and then you'll both be useless! You've both been tired coming to work lately as it is. Getting up for that morning jog isn't worth it. Just workout here or something."

"He has a point." Ford said rubbing his eyes. They both had been looking at screens for over five hours now.

"Yes sir. We'll leave…."

"Now. I'll have you escorted off if need be."

"Yes sir." she said hearing the tone in his voice.

They saved what they were doing and left with him making sure they got on the elevator and out of the mountain. Only then did he finally go home as well.

Teal'c came home that night to find Krista outside room sitting on the ground.

"Krista." he said loud enough for her to hear him as he walked up quickly.

She wiped her eyes to keep him from seeing she was crying. He noticed anyway as she got up.

"Hey, I was waiting for you."

"Has something happened?" he asked concerned.

"It's just…..it's over with Doug. For real this time. I'm sorry about what happened before." she said.

He could tell she was hurt and being sincere. He touched her cheek lightly and wiped a tear away.

"I need to get out of here. I can't think in this place. Will you come with me?"

"Perhaps tomorrow…"

"No, now. Tonight. We'll just get in a car and drive. We'll take the whole weekend. It doesn't even matter where we end up…as long as it's away from here. Please?" she asked on the verge of crying.

Daniel was in his office writing on his computer that Monday after getting back. Ford and Carter walked in looking disturbed.

"Hey, what's going on?" he said looking up at them.

"General O'Neill just got off the phone with Colonel Kendrick. Krista's boyfriend was found dead in her apartment."

"What? What happened?"

"We don't have all the details, but preliminary evidence indicates that Teal'c may be responsible." Ford said.

"That's impossible."

"I know." Ford said.

"I said the same thing, unfortunately Teal'c is missing as is Krista. As of right now, Teal'c is wanted for kidnapping and murder."

"Teal'c wouldn't do that. From some of the things he told me about her, she's disturbed. Her boyfriend was a drunk that beat her occasionally. He was a control freak. I'm going to try and look into this and see what I can find out."

"How? You know something we don't, maybe." Daniel said slowly.

"No, I'm a detective, or was anyway. Well, never got the actual license but I was trained to be one. It became a hobby of sorts, once."

"You're full of surprises. I never knew that." she said.

"I….never thought about it……I never really needed to use it, here much anyway." he said rubbing the back of his head. "Till now. I like reading mystery novels and such so details are sometimes clearer for me What's the popular saying, let's go crack this case."

Carter laughed and followed him out.

Teal'c and Krista were driving down the road in her car the night she asked to leave. They were still on the move. Teal'c was driving at the moment.

"I am not meaning to alarm you, but I believe we are being followed."

"Who would be following us?" she asked.

"Perhaps Doug."

"No." she said quickly before looking out the back window then to the front again. "He doesn't know I'm gone yet."

"Then they are most likely following me."

"You? Why would anyone be following you?"

"It is difficult to explain." he said taking a turn. Whoever it was followed.

"Can you lose them?" she asked seeing the car still following.

"I believe so. However it will require me to violate posted speeding limits and several safe driving regulations."

"I'm okay with it."

"Hold on." he said flooring it.

Teal'c was pretty sure later that he managed to lose their tail. They stopped off at a motel and got a one bedroom room.

"Don't tell me you learned to do that back in your village." she said closing the drapes.

"There are aspects of my life that I am not at liberty to divulge." he said after putting a bag on the bed and turning to her.

"What are you, a spy or something?" she asked. She didn't get an answer.

"One things for sure, you're not really Doctor Jackson's research assistant. I figured that out after about thirty seconds."

"Krista I…"

"It's okay." she said putting a finger over his lips. "For now, I'm just glad you are here."

Their lips met and then one thing lead to another.

Carter and Ford was going over the reports, more Ford than anything else. He was able to, with certain high connections outside the SGC to get himself assigned to the case to figure out things. Presidents do have quite a bit of pull. With certain, almost illegal transactions and other computer plus paper work, he managed to get a few more…credentials. He even legally got a PHD like Carter had in physics. They hadn't went to the crime scene yet, just looking at reports so far. But the plan was to look there soon. K-9 was looking through the evidence, scanning it really to see if anything looked wrong.

Teal'c woke up when he turned over in the small bed and found he was alone. The small lamp was on, but he didn't see her anywhere.

"Krista? Krista?" he said getting out of bed and looking around.

She wasn't in the bathroom. He turned hearing a knock on the door. He walked over, turned on the light and opened the door to several heavily armed and armored police officers pointing guns at him.

"Freeze! Turn around and interlace your fingers behind your head!"

He complied not understanding what was going on.

Back at the SGC…..

"Well, where is he being held?" Colonel Kendrick asked as he followed Jack.

"He's in his old quarters."

"Is he at least under guard?"

"He's not going anywhere." Jack said as they entered his office.

"He's a murder suspect." Kendrick said trying to get a point across.

"You know, I talked to him. He said he didn't do it."

"That's good enough for you isn't it." he said sarcastically.

"Pretty much." he said sitting down.

"Well unfortunately you are not in charge of this investigation." he said with a threatening tone.

"No, actually Captain Carter is. And I trust him a hellva lot more than most people. And Teal'c also said he felt he was being followed that night." Jack said staring at the man.

"The O.S.I did not have Teal'c under surveillance."

"Yeah." he said not believing him. "How did you find him?"

"We received a tip."

"You didn't think this striked you as…..odd?"

"I told you something like this would happen. But you flat out ignored my warnings."

"Not so much as ignored but, as completely disregarded."

"With all due respect General, I'm going to have to insist that Teal'c be placed into confinement immediately or else I will have him assigned elsewhere." he said. Jack heard that threat a mile away.

"And yet, you're not in charge so that threat won't work. He's under our surveillance and that final. Back off on the threats Dick or else."

Daniel was looking through some papers in his office. He grabbed his coffee cup and took a drink as his computer brought up some window with a Ancient language message on it.

"What the hell?" he said slowly.

Another small screen opened in a text message saying, Look familiar? The phone rang seconds later.

"Daniel Jackson." he said putting to his ear.

"Did you get my message?" a distorted voice said.

"Who is this?"

"The symbols Doctor Jackson. Do you recognize them?"

"I don't know who you think this is."

"We need them translated into Goa'uld."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." he said after a moment.

"We know it is the language of the Ancients. But the dialect is obscure. We need you to translate them. Your friend Teal'c is in trouble."

"How did you know about that?" he asked quickly.

"We can help him. We have been watching him. We have proof he was not the killer. We saw the whole thing."

"You witnessed the murder?"

"We have it all on tape. Concrete evidence that proves Teal'c's innocence. And it's yours in exchange for the translation. You tell anyone, we'll know, and the deal's off." the strange voice said then hung up.

Ford and Carter were finally able to see the crime scene. It was a single bedroom apartment. When you walked in, there was a small closet to the right with the bedroom on the left. The kitchen, living room and bathroom were in front of those. The living room separated the kitchen and bathroom from the other two rooms. Ford had his coat on over his jean clothes. Carter had a black leather jacket, blue blouse like shirt and jeans.

"Hmm?" Ford said looking at the picture of the dead man and the outline on the floor.

"So?"

"I'm still thinking and looking." he said looking around. "Like physics and some of our very technical work, it takes a few moments."

"Hmm." she said glancing around.

There was no struggle on the floor from the looks of things. Nothing was knocked around or broken.

"Okay Sam, now that you have taught me some things over…..ah…"

"Almost two years?"

"Yeah, now I'm going to teach you something."

"Me?" she said with a smile. This sounded interesting. "Ah, the student teaching the teacher routine?"

"Kinda. Watch and learn. Okay, first, I think this was a one sided fight. This isn't were the body was attacked though, to much is wrong. Way to much. So much the idiot that looked at the body and this place apparently was being either lazy, was payed off or has no clue how to do real detective work. Now, the investigator says that the victim was pinned against that wall, chocked to death and then fell to the floor." he said pointing at the wall.

"Right."

"But, by the markings of the finger marks on the guys neck, it couldn't be Teal'c though. Too small. More like, your hands for instance. And there looks to be no sign of a struggle."

"I'd have to agree. I saw the body with you." she said nodding.

"The position of the body is wrong as well. Another sign that the idiot didn't do their job right. That victim was small compared to Teal'c so Teal'c wouldn't need leverage to do this. His landing is all wrong as well. If he had been dropped, he'd be more curdled up. What does the picture and outline show?"

She looked at them for a few moments.

"He's completely straight. Both arms and legs."

"Very good. And my other theory I stated in the beginning." he said smiling as he tapped his lip and stared at her.

"He must have been moved and placed here." she said after thinking a moment as she looked up from the floor at the picture a few times.

"Right." he said smiling. "You're catching on quickly."

"By why move the body?"

"Ah, the right question. I'll turn you into a detective soon enough." he said tapping her nose lightly. "Moving him here makes it look like someone big and tall did it. Much…stronger you could also say."

"I see. So it was a set up." she said quickly understanding.

"Oh yeah, but by who and why is the next question. Teal'c said he was being followed when we talked to him earlier. But he didn't know who or why." Ford said walking around while scratching his chin. "He thought it could have been the O.S.I., but they claim they didn't have him followed."

"Which has to be true since it took that tip they stated they got to go get Teal'c." she said.

"Very good. You're catching on real quick."

"Thank you." she said smiling brightly. "What's next then?"

He was looking for where the attack started and something was telling him he was overlooking something important, but what escaped him at the moment.

"The Air Force said they were not watching him either, well that's what General O'Neill learned anyway." she said while he was glancing around. "Maybe it was the N.I.D. Unfortunately, if it was, we'll never really know."

"Watching….watching….hmm?" he said looking out the windows.

He pulled the curtains aside a bit more to allow her to look better.

"Ah., there. That's where someone would have to be to see this or Teal'cs room." Ford said pointing at a building across the street. "You're right though, that Colonel probably was lying. I think he's a alien hater. He doesn't like me either."

"You get on a lot of peoples bad sides. Those outside the SGC anyway."

"I know." he said smiling to her as they left the room. "I know too much and it makes people look bad. Certain ones. Remember when Daniel got captured looking for the fountain of youth device, whatever it was called and I was away being questioned?"

She nodded.

"Anyway, some of those questions I had to answer involved what I knew. Some of the information I gave them, disturbed most and scared others. I was deemed a serious security threat by several of them because of what I knew, but they couldn't do anything to me about it. I threaten them with telling important news stations and with proof if they tried to come after me. They leave me and my friends alone, my mouth stays shut."

They went over to the other building which was a old apartment building that was under renovation or being bought out. They really didn't check and no one stopped them from looking around, mostly cause there was no one around. Carter pulled her lock pick kit and got the door open. Ford couldn't find his figuring it was somewhere else in his coat or at home. They entered slowly with weapons drawn just in case. She had his Desert Eagle and he had the other. The place was empty, very empty. No one was in there so he put the weapons away. He knelt down on the carpet feeling slowly near the window.

"Anything?"

"Yeah. You can see both places from here as I thought. There's also traces of a tripod being here once."

"Yeah, question is who?" she said seeing it as well.

"That should be easy to figure out, hopefully. Now I'm pretty sure this place is wiped down really clean so sending a team from the SGC would be pointless."

"It's a dead end then." she said sadly.

"Far from it. I'm almost disappointed in you, but then you didn't have the training I did. I was a cop though, remember. Well, more than one, anyway, there is one thing about stakeouts that remains a constant. And that would be?"

She shook her head not knowing.

"Sam, you didn't even try to think. Try again and I'll give you a hint this time. Teal'c likes doing it." he said tapping his lip as he watched her think. It took her a minute.

"Food. Like Teal'c and the donuts he always brings." she said pointing her finger.

"Exactly. See you already know a lot more than you think. Considering where we are, I'd say pizza places. We just got to ask who was a more than regular customer for several days to maybe even weeks and we have our man or woman. Whoever."

"Strange way to investigate."

"It's a cop thing. Trust me, it works. Never fails."

"Definitely a cop thing. I've never heard of it."

"You haven't watched enough TV and cop related shows and movies then."

"Where the time with what we do…"

Daniel was walking in the park keeping to himself as he was told per instructions.

"Doctor Jackson." a guy said walking up with a styrofoam coffee cup. Daniel didn't look at him though. "Keep walking."

Daniel started walking as instructed with the guy next to him.

"You came along, I'm impressed. I like a man who can follow instructions. I almost believed that that troublesome man Ford would be with you nearby."

"Yeah, well he's got better things to do." Daniel lied, somewhat anyway. "Are you the one who called me?"

"It doesn't matter. Did you translate it?"

"That's why I wanted to talk to you, I need more time."

"Your friends life is at stake here Doctor Jackson."

"I can't translate something unless I understand the context. Where they were found? What they are for?"

"You think I'm stupid?" he said casually.

Daniel pulled his shades off.

"I'm not lying." he said looking at the man.

He looked down at the coffee cup. "I see we are going to have to do this the hard way."

"What does that mean?" Daniel said looking around.

"Either you give us the translation now….or I will be forced to take this to the next level."

"Beyond kidnapping and murder."

"We did not kill the boyfriend. But we will kill the girl if we have to."

"How do I even know if you have her?"

"Come with me and I will show you."

"Yeah, you know what, I got a thing…." he said turning and walking away.

"I have three snipers targeting your very position at this moment Doctor."

"You're bluffing." he said turning back around. The guy put his coffee cup on the picnic table next to them and stepped away.

"Position one. Take the coffee cup."

A second later a hole appeared on either side of the cup. It spilled its contents but didn't tip over and no sound of gun fire was present.

"So we going to take your car or mine or should I just follow you?"

"We check several all night pizza joints and other eatery places near your apartment to see if there was any repeat customers."

"An interesting investigative method." Teal'c said leaning on the table.

"Yeah. It worked though. You can thank Ford here for that idea. He figured it out as he said he would." she said. "At one place the owner reported that a Caucasian male who had been over a dozen times in the last two weeks."

"Is that unusual?" Teal'c asked.

"Not with stake outs." Ford said.

"Ford figured it was our best lead and we managed to get the license plate number off the security camera out front. We're checking it out now."

The door opened and Jack walked in.

"O'Neill." Teal'c said standing. Carter stood up as well. Ford was already standing and just turned.

"Kendrick is finally convinced that something else is going on around here."

"Really? What caused that?" Ford asked surprised and smiling at the news. "My investigating I hope. Correction, our invest…."

"Daniel is missing." Jack said interrupting him.

"What? When?" Ford asked losing the smile quickly.

"Just found out recently. He's not here or at home or answering his pager or cell phone."

"Hmm. If only he was off planet we could find him quickly. Any leads?" Ford said.

"Why would being off world make it easier?" Teal'c asked.

"Tracking device. You all have one when we leave. Jack used to."

"Used to? Captain, what are you talking about?"

"When we leave, there is a tracking device in all of your boots. I put them there in the event that anyone of you was captured or whatever so I didn't have to search the planet to find whoever was missing, captured, etc. I can tell who is who on the tracking radar. I told you this before. Sam knows I do it."

"That's an interesting idea. When we are captured, they take away all but our clothes and boots." Carter said. "Oh, I remember now. You told me when dad had to leave."

"Right. That's why it's in the boots. If your hit with a zat, it isn't damaged then. I designed them not to be hurt by the environment either. Now, what about Daniel?"

"Don't know. Got no leads, no clues…."

"I'll check his office to see what he might have been doing before he left. I'm one of the few that know his password."

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"I can't say because he made me promise not to tell you." he said walking off.

Daniel was being taken to someplace he didn't know. He was handcuffed and in a van, but little else was available to be seen or found that helped his situation.

"So you guys are ex-N.I.D." he said. "You call yourselves the Trust now, right?"

"We want the same thing you do Doctor Jackson." the guy that was talking to him before said. "We just want to protect the planet."

"And that is why you were watching Teal'c. You thought he was a significant threat to planetary security?"

"Stargate Command may think it's okay to let an alien walk the streets unsupervised, we beg to differ."

"Yeah, let's just forget the fact that he helped save the Earth more times than I can count." Daniel said. It upset the man.

"He is an alien. Their motives can never be trusted. He is partly responsible for the boyfriends death. Had he not shown the girl how to crush a man's windpipe, none of this would have happened."

"So she killed him?"

"It was self defense really. He was getting out of hand."

"So that's when you guys moved in? You planted evidence to make it look like Teal'c did it."

"We saw an opportunity, and we took it. Fortunately we got what we needed done before that troublesome Ford figured out that your friend couldn't have done it."

"Yes, he is a pain in some people's side." Daniel said looking at his hands. Ford more than likely would have taken everyone out in here by now. He thought to himself. Maybe I should take his classes more often.

The van pulled off going into an old abandoned building. The sign read, WESTMINISTERS BOILER & TANK COMPANY, LTD. It came to a park and then Daniel was pulled out of the van a little forcefully. He was lead to a chair near a table and seated in it. A black bald man grabbed the guy that talked to Daniel by the arm near the front of the van as Daniel walked by.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"The situation is under control."

"You were suppose to get the information and leave. He's a member of SG-1. Do you have any idea the resources they will mobilize to get him back? Not to mention that tall one in the group I don't want to deal with!"

Daniel looked back at them wondering what the guy meant. It couldn't be what he thinks the guy meant. Then again.

"Once we get the translation, it will be too late." the guy said calmly. "Bring the girl."

Daniel sat there just looking around somewhat as the men walked in front of him, standing there.

Ford and Carter were back in her office. After a few phone calls and some time on the internet, some of which Ford did illegally, he found out the things he needed.

"The car was a rental, the name on the agreement was a fake I.D."

"That's our man. It has to be." she said.

"Yeah, I've got a bank account, social security number and credit cards all from a guy who died around six months ago. Whoever this was did a pretty through job, but not enough luckily. Right now I'm checking to see if it had a GPS system or something close to it."

"Is K-9 doing anything?"

"He's checking the bases phone records and Daniel's computer just in case I missed anything."

"That's why I haven't seen him around."

"The link is established, we are ready to transmit." a Japanese lady said from the computer on the table. She had four screens in front of her. The men turned back around to Daniel.

"We need those symbols." the dark man said.

Daniel looked off to his left seeing Krista brought out of a room and placed in a chair next to him.

"Daniel?" she said as she was sat down, her hands tied in front of her. "Who are these people?"

"It's going to be okay." he said.

The black man held out a clipboard with a paper and pen.

"The symbols. Now, or we kill the girl." the guy that talked to him in the park said.

"She has nothing to do with this."

"Look Doctor Jackson. If it had been up to me, things would have never gone this far." the black man said lowering the clipboard. "It was suppose to be a simple surveillance operation. But when that domestic dispute happened and Teal'c got involved. We knew you were not going to help us voluntarily."

"So you decided to try a little blackmail instead?"

"Let's just say one thing led to another. But in any case, it's too late for that now." he said pulling a nine and pointing it at her. "Either you give us what we want, or I will kill her."

She was frightened but didn't cry out or anything. She just looked at him with pleading eyes. The black man looked at Daniel waiting. Daniel relented and held out his hands and he was given the clipboard.

"Oh and by the way, we will know immediately if the symbols are incorrect." he said pointing the gun at her again.

It didn't take him long and he finished the translation. The clipboard was taken from him quickly after the black guy nodded to another man. The paper was taken and placed on a scanner which the computer brought up on the screen.

"Scanning. Transmitting symbols." she said from where she was typing. A moment later. "Translation confirmed."

"Good. Get up."

Just down the street, a couple large vehicles were headed for the old building. Ford found the satellite info for the car and where it had been over those two weeks. K-9 managed to find phone records that showed Daniel talking to an unknown source that took more time to trace the caller. It ended up being a phone booth in a remote area nearby the location they were headed. Carter was driving the Mustang to the scene with Ford and K-9. They were second in line and the only reason she drove the nice red muscle car was in case of a needed fast get away and it was bullet proof. A special gift from the Knight Foundation. He was able to put a MBS shell on the car. Other than that, the car was normal. They pulled up outside quickly and the men started taking positions near the front.

"K-9 start scanning." Ford said setting him on the ground. He pulled the revolvers while Carter stuck with a nine.

"Over there. Face the wall." the black guy said pointing with the gun.

They didn't move so a couple of men pushed and pulled them over.

"I gave you what you wanted." Daniel said.

"I said face the wall." he said pointing the nine at Daniel after he turned around.

"Look, you don't have to do this." Daniel said turning to the wall.

The officers, in black outfits, started getting near the big door as Ford told them to back off. Carter got on the side of it. She was wearing body armor and it reminded him he had something to give her later.

"K-9 we need that door open fast."

"Yes Master. Master, scanners detect several armed men inside. Doctor Jackson and the woman you have described are inside as well."

"Anything else?"

"Yes Master. Several computers are erasing data…"

Ford suddenly sneezed as he got the feeling.

"Oh no." Carter said.

"Blast it K-9!" Ford said quickly.

"Daniel?" Krista said scared.

"It's going to be okay." he said looking at her.

The black man shot them with a zat gun then looked around suddenly.

"Something wrong?" the guy that brought Daniel said.

"We have company outside. We need to leave. Now."

They all got into a circle near each other and vanished as the door was blown open. Ford walked in first hearing other doors being opened as he looked around with his Eagles pointed. The others came in moving off. Carter stayed near him as they walked past a van.

"K-9 see what you can get from those computers."

"Yes Mistress."

"Sam, there's Daniel and the girl." Ford said pointing.

"They're unconscious." she said checking them out.

"There is no one here. We have all the exists covered." a lieutenant said walking up.

"K-9 was there a strange energy anomaly before we entered?"

"Yes Mistress. I am sorry Mistress but the computers are destroyed."

"How?" she said standing up.

"Severe magnetic disturbances Mistress."

"Great. They used a large magnet to fry the system." Ford said putting his weapons away. "Stay away from that magnet if you find it K-9."

"Yes Master. It is five meters on my right Master."

"Someone get that thing out of here." he yelled.

One of the officers grabbed the magnets and took them away. They double checked the place but found nothing. Ford and Carter kept it to themselves but from what K-9 reported, the people they were looking for were transported away. Krista was taken away with the police. They found the evidence need to save Teal'c and took it with them as well as Daniel. They took and put him in the back with K-9 who told them that a zat gun was the reason the two were unconscious. Seeing as there was little else to do, they went back to base. The other people there was left to do clean up.

Teal'c was released seeing as he did not do it. He unfortunately had to move though. Krista was also released seeing as it was self-defense that got the guy killed, not murder.

"Be careful with that package Eric." Teal'c said as he placed another box in the back of his Durango. He was outside packing the last of his things. "Those contents are…"

Eric accidentally let it slip off the sidewalk and a cracking noise was heard.

"Fragile."

"Sorry." Eric said.

"There is no need for an apology." Teal'c said picking the box off the skateboard. "I am grateful for your assistance."

He turned to put it in the Dodge when he saw Krista standing behind him.

"Hey."

Teal'c smiled and nodded to her then put the box inside.

"So, you're really leaving?"

"Indeed I am." he said standing back up.

"You know, you don't have to do this. The whole thing was my fault."

"There is no need to blame yourself."

"The men in the warehouse, I don't know who they were, no one told me anything. But I know they were using me to get to you."

"If it had not been you, it would have been someone else. They would not hesitate to exploit any relationship to their advantage."

"What did they want?"

"That I cannot say."

"Right." she said taking a breath. "So, where are you going to go?"

"Back to where I came from."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I must say goodbye."

She looked past him and he turned seeing Eric holding his dead fern.

"This is all that was left." Eric said.

"Thank you." he said taking it.

"Check it out." he said lifting the board. The symbol on Teal'cs forehead was on the bottom of the board just in front of the wheels.

"I am honored."

"Later T." he said.

Teal'c turned around putting the fern inside the back and closed it. He looked at Krista who smiled lightly. He smiled back, patted Eric on the arm then got into his vehicle. They watched him drive away and out of their lives.

Jack was later able to convince the appropriate people to let Teal'c live off base in a different area. With Ford's help, he managed to get to live in the house Ford once had.