**Author's Note: First off, SUMMER BREAK IS HERE! Which means I'll be writing more! So, expect more updates! Second, you will possibly notice the lack of song lyrics in this chapter. I will be removing all song lyrics from previous chapters. Now if you're reading this after the fact: Ignore it! :) Enjoy, please review! **
Beth kicked a pebble. Her first mission with SG-1, and where'd she end up? Locked in prison… No wonder these people were called the Suicide Squad around the SG-C… And they didn't even care, they were just lounging around like this was just another Tuesday afternoon tea to them.
She sighed, looking at O'Neill. "Please tell me you have some kind of a plan… any of you?"
He shrugged. "Eh. Not really. Things generally seem to work themselves out in matters like these."
She groaned and shoved her head into her hands. "Oh that's just great…"
Sam turned to look at Beth. "There's honestly nothing we can do right now. We've been captured before, trust me, when the moment presents itself, we'll get out of this."
Beth's head tilted up to the ceiling. No one was this cocky… no one. Teal'c was just sitting in a corner, Daniel was the only one who even looked remotely concerned, and he wasn't even panicked at all.
These people were nuts.
Kait woke up with a gasp, sitting straight up in the bed and gagging at the tubes in her throat. Retching, she pulled at them, as Carson rushed over.
"Stop, lass, I'll have these out as soon as I can, but you're going to tear your throat up doing that!" he said, as she nodded, going still so he could gently ease the tubes from her throat. She coughed and sputtered as they were finally removed fully, and began scanning the room.
"What happened? How did I get back here… and why am I not dead?"
Carson made her sit back, and began checking her vitals. "You guys were very close to not coming home, love. A few more minutes and you would have been too far gone…Rodney was close behind you."
Her eyes flew open and she began looking around. "Rodney! Is he ok?"
"He's fine. We got both of you back to Atlantis after giving you the antiviral, but unfortunately we didn't have time to lock up the laboratory. The Chancellor took SG-1 and a doctor who was accompanying them prisoner. The military is working on a rescue mission to get them back, but we're not sure how long they have."
As Carson moved away from the bed, she swung her legs off and went to stand, before leaning heavily on the bed once more. Carson grabbed her arm, but she shrugged him off. She said one word.
"Where."
Carson gave her a stern look, but pointed. "He was in better shape than you, so he's being monitored in his quarters."
Shakily at first, she hoisted herself up and began running for the door, leaving an exasperated Carson.
"I swear you people never listen to me! Why do I give any of you medical advice at all? You're all just going to blow it out your ears in the end!"
'I have to make sure… it felt like a dream…'
'I have to make sure it was real…'
The hospital gown fluttering as she ran, her bare feet swiftly going across the various floors, she pushed past people in a hurry, vaguely aware that the gown's ties were even holding tight. One thing was for sure, it was a good thing her undergarments had been left on her.
She turned right, then left, heading for the living quarters. Her muscles were already aching from the sudden unwanted exercise, and she reached his door. She quickly gave the door the override command, making it slide open. He was almost dressed; pants, shoes, undershirt all on.
His eyes darted up and met hers, and a look of equal relief flooded both faces.
She pushed herself off the door frame, and threw her arms around him.
"I'm glad to see you up and exercising already." He said, smirking down at her. She blindly swatted at his arm, and after a moment, she stood straight, letting his shirt go.
"You know, we have a few things to… discuss… right?" he said, as she nodded.
He moved her to the bed, sitting her down as he began pacing.
"I mean, we work in the same department, we work together regularly, we can't, right? It's too distracting, it would complicate things…"
"Rodney..."
"Not only that but what if something happened and you ended up pregnant? You'd have to leave Atlantis, I'd go with you because I wouldn't leave my kid and girlfriend out there alone… Girlfriend would be the right word, right?"
"Rodney!"
"And if the SG-C got wind of it, you'd be sent away, we'd be reassigned…"
"RODNEY!"
He stopped the pacing and the string of words to look at her.
"You DO realize you're massively overreacting, right?"
He tilted his head to the side. "Wha-"
She stood up and crossed her arms. "You're being ridiculous…"
Rodney puffed up in annoyance. "Oh do explain how, miss know-it-all."
She stood up, her eyes narrowed, and instantly, Rodney realized he had made her angry. Moving in front of him, she poked her finger into his chest and growled. "First off, you're making a LOT of assumptions that I would even be remotely interested in any kind of relationship after your little tirade here. Second, you're definitely overreacting, since, if I recall, you were all hot and bothered about that chick from medical who was just so perfect at everything a few weeks ago, and NONE of that crap bothered you then. And third, you seriously need to get over yourself! You act like you're just this irresistible man who everyone wants, but when you get like this…" she moved forward and pushed his shoulders lightly. "NO ONE wants to be around you."
He glared and leaned forward, before sneering a bit. "That didn't stop you in that laboratory, did it? Or would any old pole have worked-"
Her hand connected with his face and he stumbled back, before she turned on her heels and walked out of the room.
He narrowed his eyes at the door, then sighed and sat heavily on the bed. Every time he got close to any woman, hell, anyone for that matter, he had a bad habit of shoving them back. And he had probably just done irreparable damage…
"Bring the one with the glasses."
"Which one… did Lord Ozymandias mention which one with glasses he wanted? There are two in there, a female and a male…"
"The male."
From around the corner in the prison, Daniel leaned forward and looked up. "Well, I guess they want me for something." He said. "I'll see if I can gather some intel on what's going on."
"Don't get hurt Daniel." Sam said, as Daniel shrugged. "Eh, we've done this a million times, this is no different."
The guards opened the door to the cell, and pulled Daniel out.
"Come on guys, ouch! I don't think there's any reason you need to be so rough, I'm coming with you." He muttered, as they jabbed him with their staffs.
As they marched Daniel away, Beth moved forward and peered wide eyed from the bars. "Are you serious? You're not going to do anything?"
"There's nothing we could do, Beth. Daniel has the best chance of deciphering something on his way to or from being interrogated, something we can use to escape." Sam said, as Beth sighed and nodded.
"I hate this… I've never even been in trouble with the law on Earth before."
"Well miss perfect, this isn't like having a parking ticket, these are aliens who want to kill us." O'Neill said, as Beth looked at him.
"Aliens… but to them, we're the aliens, right? I mean, to them we're the invaders…"
O'Neill simply blinked at her, before focusing on the wall again. He hadn't thought of it like that, to be honest.
In the interrogation room, Daniel was sat in a chair and strapped into it, as Ozymandias entered the room. His mate was behind him, with a small satchel clutched to her chest as lovingly as a mother would hold her newborn babe. She sat off to the side, as Ozymandias paced in front of Daniel.
"Pray tell, where are the scientists?"
Daniel had the decency to look confused at least. So, Carson had gotten them out before Ozymandias had gone after them, that was good at least. "I'm not sure what you mean."
Ozymandias grabbed an item from the satchel and pressed it to Daniel's arm, making him grunt in pain. Electro-shocks… lovely.
"I will not ask a third time, boy."
Daniel shot him a nasty look. "Not going to happen. Why don't you head on back to the Watchmen, and let Nite-Owl know I want to borrow that flying owl-ship of his while you're there-" he quipped before Ozymandias shoved the rod into the side of Daniel's neck, making him cry out in pain.
"I assure you, I have no idea what you're blithering on about, but I can promise you that your mouth is about to get you in a fair bit of trouble." Ozymandias growled, as he motioned to Ankhesenamon to hand him the satchel. Daniel glanced up after a moment, as Ozymandias began to pull tools out of the satchel.
Well, this was going to be fun…
"As your physician, I do NOT recommend this Kaitlyn, and I'm ordering you back in bed!" Carson said, as Kait continued to pack her things in her room.
"Not a chance. I just heard that SG-1 got captured, and that means my friends are on that godforsaken planet. God only knows what they're doing to them… You can't expect me to sit here on my hands!"
"I can and DO expect it! Your body needs time to recover!"
"I'll be fine, Carson. I've got a plan on how to get in there, and Colonel Sheppard said he could use me. So, either you give me something to keep some pep in my step, or I go without. Your choice." She said, before looking up at Carson. "Daniel would do the same for us." She said. Carson nodded, sighing, and grabbed a syringe and a vial.
Holding her finger up, she rolled her pants to reveal her hip, giving Carson a look. "And if you sedate me, you'll really hate what'll happen when I come to." She said, as he rolled his eyes and jabbed her in the hip with the needle, making her yelp.
"Like I would sedate you. I may not agree with your decision but that's no reason to sedate you, even I know that." He said, as she simply rubbed the spot where he had injected her. She pulled her black tank top down over the black pants, tightened the ponytail, and threw the dark green hat over her head.
"Be careful, please." He said, as she gave him a thumbs up before holstering a weapon. "Oh, and did you see Rodney? How is he?"
She glared at that. "He's as much of an asshole as he ever was." She said before turning and heading out the door, leaving a confused Carson sitting there.
"Well, that was unexpected."
That was what led Carson to the other scientist's quarters, a confused look on his face as he knocked at the door. With no answer, he used his medical override, and opened the door, and stepped in to find Rodney reading a book with an annoyed look on his face.
"Well at least one of my patients is taking the bed rest I prescribed." He said, as Rodney glanced up.
"What are you blathering about now?"
"Nothing really, Nichols is on her way back to Sokra with Sheppard and his team to try and help SG-1 is all."
Rodney shrugged, going back to his book with barely a change in expression, but Carson noticed it. "And I care why?"
"Well, I just figured that with the way things had been around here before the lab, and then what happened on Sokra, that you may care about her well-being is all."
"Well, you thought wrong. I'd care more if she wasn't so stubborn, but she's a grown woman, she'll do what she wants to do."
Carson shot him a look. "Pity that someone's not got enough influence on her to sway her into staying."
"Yup. It's a pity."
Carson glared and left the room. 'I don't know what happened between those two, but one of them needs to be an adult, and I have a feeling it's the one sulking with a damn book that needs to do so more."
Kait looked at the rest of the initial rescue team, and steeled herself as the Stargate was activated. She adjusted the vest on her body, and checked her weapons.
"Remember, we get in, we try and get SG-1 their chance to get out. There will be other teams coming through if we can't do this, but then we'll be looking at a potential war with this planet… right now, we can possibly get out without causing all-out war." Sheppard said, looking to all of them. "Do not do anything stupid…" he turned and began walking through the Stargate.
In the meantime, a certain scientist had been thinking about Carson's words, and had put his book down and taken off for their gate room.
He arrived just in time to see the last of the group go in, weapons up, one of them with a brown ponytail.
Damn.
Daniel was thrown backinto the cell with a wet thud, his shirt soaked with blood. He groaned as he sat up with help from Sam and O'Neill.
"Daniel? Are you ok, what happened? You're covered in blood but there's no wounds…"
"Yeah, Sam, that's because they decided to heal me after each round of 'interrogation'. His lover, Ankhesenamon, is ruthless. She sliced my skin open, then they'd heal me. I'm glad Teal'c taught me some torture resistance techniques, otherwise I promise you… I wouldn't have been able to hold out."
O'Neill helped him sit back, then stood up and looked at him. "What did they want?"
"Oh, they want Rodney and Kait. They need them… they want them to work on the virus, they want their blood because, they were exposed and then cured. They have natural immunity now, and that's invaluable and more efficient than the vaccine that Carson made. Not only that, but I think they were lying… I think their Goa'uld bodies are still IN there… I think their Wraith/Goa'uld bodies are-"
"They're falling apart…" Beth muttered. Daniel looked at her, and nodded.
"How'd you know that?"
"It was the bloodwork and genetic tests I ran on Atlantis… their bodies are part Wraith, but still part Goa'uld… and the Goa'uld part needs a new host every so often. Genetically, the two I tested in Atlantis were starting to fall apart. It was the beginning stages, subtle, but it was there."
Daniel nodded. "I think that's another reason they want Rodney and Kait. Their natural immunity makes them perfect hosts, they can handle this virus and not die now, and the bodies would give the Goa'uld symbiotes some protection. As they are now, they're exposed. I think they're thinking that it's better to be reliant on a host body, than to die in their current ones."
Teal'c nodded. "That would make sense, even the Goa'uld must take new hosts eventually, the Sarcophagus can only keep them alive for so long without problems."
"So, we need to warn the SG-C to keep them protected for now…" Sam said, as O'Neill barked a laugh.
"Oh yeah, because that's going to go swimmingly. 'Hey, do you guys mind if we borrow your communications so that we can contact our commanding officers to keep the two civilian scientists your leaders want away from here?' Yeah, you get right on that and tell me if it works. In fact, if it DOES work, I'll personally buy everyone here the first round of drinks when we get home."
Beth looked at them. "Well it's not like they'd come here, not after being sick like that."
Daniel exchanged a look with Sam. "Er… you don't know Rodney or Kait very well."
As they arrived on Sokra, the gate shut down behind them. "Ok people, we have 2 hours to learn something and report back to the SG-C. General Hammond will be sending SG teams 3 and 4 at that time. If we can get them out, great, but no heroics, we're here on recon only." Sheppard said. "Divvy up into teams of 3 and head out."
Kait ducked back, letting people go off in groups and head off. She was an odd number, and preferred to work by herself right now after what happened earlier. Besides, she needed to bust into some technological areas and she really didn't want some military person asking her over and over what she was doing when she needed to concentrate.
She took off for the main building in the city, off to hunt for the control room of the city. If she could cause a little chaos and unlock all the doors in the city, she knew SG-1 could get themselves free and get away. All she had to do was cut the circuit and block it from re-connecting, and that would be simple enough. A computer virus would make it so that the computers running the city would believe there was a broken circuit. And that was just her forte.
Rodney stormed into Elizabeth's office, a look of determination on his face. One way or another, he would make this right.
"Elizabeth, we need to talk. When are the next SG-teams going to Sokra?"
"Why? You need to rest…"
"Because I'm going, they'll need my help and expertise. So you can either send me yourself, or I'll take a puddle jumper on my own. Either way… I'm going back to Sokra."