The moment Jack slipped his earpiece back into place, he was wishing he could toggle the volume down on the thing.
Simon was rambling a mile a minute. And worse, Sam wasn't stopping him.
"Jesus kid. Do me a favor and take a breath will ya?"
Knight spun. "Kid? Who's he talking to?"
Harry ignored him, turning with him and taking a moment to slide in his own earpiece. Only to grimace when he was assaulted by the same excited volume of Simon's voice.
"I knew it! I told you there was a secret lair! What does it look like? Is there a vault? Oh man, I hope there's a vault!"
"Zip it, Simon." The curt all-business tone Sam took with him stopped the rambling immediately.
"What do you have Colonel?"
He winced.
Uh oh. He was going to have a lot of making up to do.
Clearing his throat, he stopped himself from apologizing on the spot. "I have the laptop."
Simon whooped. "Yesss! Okay, turn it on and slip in the thumb drive. I'll take care of the rest."
Jack nudged Karl to his feet and walked him forward. But instead of heading for the couch and laptop, he turned them towards the small rack of clothes.
Once they stopped in arm's reach, Jack motioned the knife in a circle, prompting him to turn around.
"Hands."
When Karl spun and pushed his hands behind his back, Jack stuck the hilt of the knife in his mouth and slipped the hanging gold and black striped tie from the rack; making quick work of tying Karl's wrists together.
"Hey, you got anything else over there?" Harry called out over Knight's incessant banter. "Anything will do. Tie, scarf, ball gag?"
Shoving Karl onto the couch, Jack took a seat in front of the laptop; placing his knife alongside it. "Didn't see anything."
Harry cursed under his breath as he forced Knight to his knees.
Dennis sneered defiantly. "Good luck assholes. It's password protected and that dick over there can't help you this time."
Ignoring him, Jack pressed the power button. When the thing loaded and prompted for the password, he opened his shirt pocket, grabbed the flash drive, and plugged it in. "Alright, it's in. Do your thing."
It really was something. Having absolutely zero interest in computers, it still boggled his mind to see the screen flash and the cursor begin to move on its own like it was possessed.
A command prompt screen appeared first. Followed by a flurry of letters, numbers, and special characters. Long lines of code that looked like complete nonsensical gibberish.
It was only then that he realized he wasn't the only one staring. The room was completely silent as Simon worked his magic.
And Knight's face was priceless.
Mouth agape, eyes blown wide, and skin paling by the second as the password screen was bypassed altogether and the files on the computer began to open.
The clacking of keys in Jack's ear paused as the death rattle from a straw on its last Slurpie remnants took its place. Simon chuckled, "Alright. I'm almost done. Damn, this is fun."
The keys picked back up and minutes later, Simon was giving him permission to pull the drive.
Then his mind skipped to the next step on the list. Covering their tracks.
He looked around the room before coming back to the laptop. If there was a button to close the bookshelves, this is where he'd put it.
His hands slid under the edges of the coffee table and around before he felt it and smiled. "Shazam." As soon as the button was pushed, the bookshelves moved, whisking back into place and isolating them in the little space.
Pressing it again, they opened back up. And he took the laptop with him to the desk. Setting it up right in plain view.
Then it occurred to him. Why would Knight leave his computer behind? They needed to sell the story that Knight was on the run. And if he was, it wouldn't make sense for him to leave the evidence of his betrayal in plain view. If they took it with them, they'd have to find another way.
"Hey. If the laptop was busted up, would they still be able to get anything off of it?"
"Umm, yeah. As long as the hard drive was still in one piece."
Jack picked the laptop back up and tilted it on its side. Then grabbed a tight grip of both ends and bent them backward until the casing popped.
Satisfied with his handiwork, he tossed both pieces into the small bin underneath the desk and headed back to the alcove.
When Knight missed the upcoming meeting about the pipeline and the Cartel came looking, they'd see emails and wire transfers making it look like he'd left in a hurry with Karl, and a boatload of their money.
Now, Evac time.
Well, shit.
When Jack had decided to ignore the earlier pleas from everyone not to engage and sneak back out to make another attempt in a few days, he hadn't thought this far ahead.
As soon as he'd heard Knight's voice. Being so damn eager to track them down. So cocky and confident. He wanted to tear him apart.
And although killing Knight there would be…well…satisfying. It would ruin everything.
"What's the plan, Sir?"
Ouch. She might as well have been yelling. The irritation was loud and clear, and he was already thinking of ways to make it up to her. One particular way was right at the top, and he couldn't help smirking sinfully at the thought of it.
Harry cleared his throat to get his attention and although Knight wasn't privy to the convo, his thoughts were aligned.
"What now huh? You may think you might have gotten away with something here. But whatever you planted isn't anything that can't be fixed with a phone call." he sneered. "And now you're fucked. Because you can't kill me and there's no way in hell you get me out of here without being seen."
Harry looked solemn. As if he had already considered the consequences and had accepted making his last stand there.
Jack couldn't blame him. If Knight was dead, at least his family would be safe.
He, on the other hand, was not willing to give up so easily. Not when he finally had the chance to wake up every morning by her side.
"I'll take care of this Jack. Get out of here."
Jack immediately rejected it as he snatched up the knife, tucked it into the front of his waistband, and paced. "Not a chance. There's got to be another way."
Knight laughed wryly. "You guys are so unbelievably stupid. Did you honestly not think this far ahead?"
Gritting his teeth in frustration, it took Jack two strides to get to Knight. And one crushing right cross to his jaw to knock some sense into him.
Knight's head snapped to the side from the harsh impact, and his body followed. Flopping over like a ragdoll. He laid there moaning, half in and out of consciousness; it all happening a little too fast to get his hands up when it counted
And now, a generous amount of blood seeped out along the crease of his lips as Jack crouched and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him up to get him eye to eye. "You know Dennis. It's painfully obvious you've gotten way too far in life without someone whipping the ever-loving shit outta you. So let me be clear. Keep running your mouth, and I'll be making up for lost time. I'll beat you so bad, you'll be begging for me to shoot you in the head just to get it over with."
Jack shoved him back down and stood. Feeling his scraped knuckles screaming from the impact with Knight's teeth, and still aching to repeat the process.
But dead weight was a concern, and the guy wasn't small. Having to carry him out of that place would be a bitch.
"I've updated Dad and Teal'c," Sam said. "He recommended an immediate Exfil. They can set down closer and provide some cover fire. With the added advantage of having high ground, I'd have a good shot at…"
"No."
As soon as she started shooting multiple rounds, silenced or not, her position would be compromised. Not to mention the absolute clusterfuck it would cause at the SGC once some house staff's cellphone video was plastered all over CNN.
"Jack…you have to get out of there. We can figure the rest out later."
"Forget it. We're not running again."
If the cartel got wind, that's exactly what they would be doing.
"Wait," Harry interrupted, "wasn't there something about a passageway or a tunnel?"
"I figured there wasn't one since you guys didn't say anything," Simon offered, "but yeah, that was one of the rumors along with the vault."
"Well, there's definitely no vault," Jack grumbled.
When he locked eyes with Karl, Karl shook his head to confirm. "As far as I know, this is it."
Knight groaned and sat up with a struggle, while Jack walked to the far side of the alcove and began feeling around the wood paneling.
When he knocked to test the density, Knight grumbled. "You're wasting your time, there's only one way in and one way out."
Jack ignored him, knocking six inches to the right and working his way from one side to the other.
"Are you deaf?! I said there's nothing there."
Jack paused, before continuing. "No Dennis, what you said was that I was wasting my time. But now, seeing how upset this is making you, makes me think I might be on to something."
The thud hit differently on the fifth spot.
"Hmm, what do we have here?"
"Please tell me that's a way out," Sam said wearily.
"No way, you found a tunnel?!"
"Easy bub," Harry said as Jack's hands searched for the edges of a possible door, "he hasn't found anything yet."
"Nope, I haven't. But I think I'm warm."
His fingers were too thick to get in between the creases, so he took out his knife. Using the tip of the blade to poke gingerly.
"It might be a pressure lock. Try pushing in."
Following Sam's advice, he flattened his hand against the hollowed spot and pushed. The paneling gave. He heard a click. Then smiled as he let go and it popped out towards him. Opening it further to reveal a small hallway and another door beyond.
"We're in business. Glad you're on our side Carter."
"HELP! Somebody help me!"
Jack spun and saw Harry fighting to cover Knight's mouth with his free hand as he screamed. Feeling the hair standing on the back of his neck as he realized the air-tight barrier of the room had been compromised the moment he'd opened that door.
"Shut him up, Harry!"
Watching as Harry cursed in frustration and took a big swing, popping Knight in the temple hard with the butt of the gun.
The room went silent as Knight's body went slack and slumped over.
Everyone froze and listened while Jack gnawed on the inside of his cheek.
"Report."
Sam answered immediately. "One guard turned around for a moment along the side of the house. He's standing there listening. Standby, I'm shifting my position."
It was a long few minutes before she updated. And he took up a position near Karl in case he started the same nonsense.
"Harry, why don't you grab a bag and fill it with some valuables. We're going to have to make it look like he left in a hurry."
With a quick nod, Harry set off to the bedroom.
It took longer than he'd liked for her to get back to them. "Okay, guard has moved on. It doesn't look like he's moving with any kind of urgency."
"Nope," Simon added. "I have him around the corner. He just dug a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. Looks like he's about to light up."
Karl looked up at Jack.
"Hey, you guys are going to let me go right? I swear to you, I'm not going to say anything."
Jack didn't answer him.
Back in the day, Karl would've been collateral damage. For the safety of the mission, he would have killed him quickly. One shot in the back of the head that he wouldn't even have seen coming.
But now they were in the age of 'memory conditioning'.
Something Stargate Command had damn near perfected using what they'd learned from the memory stamping technology on P3R-118 and re-engineering it to help with PTSD. It was also very useful, in extreme circumstances, for wiping a certain event from someone's memory.
"Listen. You're coming with us for now and we'll drop you off somewhere a little safer for us later."
It was obvious Karl didn't like the idea but nodded. "So let me guess, you got a helo standing by for a quick extract?"
The corner of Jack's mouth quirked up in amusement. "Yeah, something like that."
When Harry returned with a stuffed duffle, he turned back toward Knight and tucked his knife into his waistband. "Whelp looks like I'm carrying this shithead outta here. How's it look out there?"
"Quiet for now. The main guard patrolling that stretch is averaging about two minutes on the far end before he heads back. I have eyes in case things go south. Simon, how does the front look?"
"Good, yeah all clear there."
"Alright," he shared a look with Harry which had them trading places. As they crossed paths, Jack handed over the gun he had stowed in the back of his waistband to Harry for safekeeping. "let's get this over with."
Grabbing Knight's limp arm, he hefted the man with a grunt into a fireman's carry. "Christ."
Harry chuckled, "Must be all that bullshit weighing him down."
He wasn't wrong, Jack thought as he got to the door and took a moment to stare down Karl. "Listen, we have a team out there with a lot more firepower than some shitty Glocks, so if this thing goes sideways, our odds are better than you think. Nevertheless, if you even open your mouth to breathe, I will take you out. Understood?"
Karl licked his lips nervously and nodded. "Roger."
Army, Jack decided. Infantry, if he had to put money on it. Good at taking orders and not questioning them, which was exactly why he felt pretty confident Karl took the threat seriously.
He filled in Sam and Simon as he made his way gingerly. Doing his level best to hide the pain in his voice as his knees and back protested the extra weight with every step. "We're on our way out. How's the coast?"
"Busy at the moment," Sam answered as he landed at the bottom of the stairs and paused, looking at the doorknob that held his freedom.
The deep grating drone in the back of his throat voiced his displeasure as he hiked Knight up higher onto his shoulder.
"One second, he's right in front of you."
"Yep, got it."
A bead of sweat dripped past the band of the hat and he gave his head a quick shake to keep it from going into his eye.
"Okay, five more seconds."
He felt his heartbeat stutter as he held his breath, knowing something as small as an accidental sneeze could seal their fate.
"And…," her voice hissed, "now."
With a turn of the wrist, the door opened and he moved forward quickly. Glancing side to side to verify the coast was clear as he crossed the small clearing and entered the tree line.
The soft footfalls landing behind him were the only indication that Karl and Harry were following…and that Karl was keeping up his part of the bargain. No doubt having a gun aimed at him was proper motivation.
It took about thirty feet and confirmation by Simon that the guard seemed none the wiser as he headed back to his position, to make Jack feel any kind of relief.
As much relief as you can feel toting a buck eighty-pound man on aging joints.
Huffing pretty good as they made their way up a slight incline. And grateful when he heard Sam's voice pipe through.
"You're about halfway there, straight ahead. But Teal'c said he found a smaller clearing much closer to your location, just Northeast of your position."
"God, I love that man," Jack said gratefully, switching his heading immediately. "Tell him we'll meet him there, and the pizza's on me when this shit is over."
Sam chuckled, "Yes sir. I'm going to have to gear up and circle around to make it over there in time. Which means I won't have eyes."
"Copy. We'll see you there." His lungs were burning, along with everything else. Not long now and they were home free.
Maybe it was the mantra running through his head about just keeping one foot in front of the other. Or the anxiousness of having Sam back in his sight again; safe in his arms. But one thing was for sure. He should have felt the obvious tension in Knight's body as he awakened.
Instead, it wasn't until the bicep on the arm draped around his front tightened in his grasp, that he knew he was in trouble.
Feeling the knife being pulled from his waistband as he tossed Knight backwards off of him. And the deep slice of the serrated blade as it tore a bloody path through the muscle along his left clavicle and trap, missing his neck by an inch.
He growled from the pain, turning as Knight dropped with a heavy thud and rolled into a crouch. Muscle memory had the Glock in Jack's hand, aimed center mass before the dust even settled.
"Jack, what's going on? What's happening?" She was running. Fast. He could hear the clacking of her gear through his earpiece and the worry in her voice.
A quick glance showed Karl on his knees and Harry's gun trained on the back of his head.
Jack knew immediately that his left arm was out of commission. Even so, he confirmed it when he tried to lift his arm and failed.
"They might not be able to hear me yell from here, but they sure as fuck will hear a gunshot. I'm going to enjoy this." Knight looked downright gleeful.
Jack felt the blood oozing down his arm and tucked his elbow in as he holstered up and yanked the hidden push dagger out of his belt buckle.
Watching Knight's sneer droop as he took up one of his own.
No matter the limitations. There was no way this ended with him on the losing end. There was no way he was saying goodbye to her already.
Just the thought of it had him raging inside. The deep flare of it pulling him away from the pain.
"Talk to me Jack, please." Her worry had edged into panic. "You're hurt. I can hear it. I'm calling for help."
"No! That's a negative. Get to the Evac site now Major. That's an order!"
Even as he said it, he knew how crazy he must've sounded. But he didn't want her anywhere near what was happening. Didn't want Knight to use his safety as leverage, again.
"Kiss my ass, Sir!" She shot back.
He should've been mad but instead found himself grinning. Wondering how many times she'd wanted to say that to him over the years.
Knight's movement forward had him focusing again. Evaluating.
His stance was all wrong, crossing his feet as he tried to sidestep and circle around him. The way he held the knife, poised for stabbing instead of slashing. His knuckles white on the grip, which meant he was more worried about dropping it than anything.
Meanwhile, Jack's push dagger was all of three inches of blade. More apt for covert operations. Coming up from behind and sinking the blade in the base of the neck of an unsuspecting victim. Not for close-quarters combat.
Jack bladed his body into a southpaw stance, his fist tightening on the t-handle. Knowing his best bet would be to wait for Knight to come to him. But he didn't have time to outwit a tactical attack. He needed to make him angry. Sloppy. Make him charge.
"What's the matter, Colonel? Don't want her to come watch as I cut you down?"
Jack chuckled wryly.
"First of all, Dennis, that's not going to happen. Second, and I'm just curious. Do you even realize how irritating your voice is or are you just that totally oblivious? You've got that whiny, self-righteous tone that needles right under the skin. Know what I mean Karl?"
Dennis gnashed his teeth together as he took a quick glance over. "Get up and do something you worthless bastard. They can't shoot us without compromising everything."
"In case you didn't notice asshole, my hands are literally fucking tied," Karl bit back.
Jack barked a laugh to egg him on.
"That's your employee calling you an asshole Dennis. Tell me. Did your wife call you an asshole before you killed her? Did she even get the chance?"
He stopped the circling and pointed the tip of the blade at Jack, his eyes raging. "Shut your mouth! You don't get to talk about her!"
Jack's head tilted curiously. His stance loose but ready. "Wait, do you really still think there was something going on between her and Shanahan?"
When Knight didn't respond, Jack tsked in mocked sympathy. "Oh Dennis, come on."
Knight paced, "There was! I saw it."
He forced a laugh of disbelief. "No Dennis, what you saw was a cop trying to get a woman away from an abusive husband. That's what cops do. That's their damn job. And I bet that's exactly what he told Ian when he was torturing him wasn't it?"
Even as Dennis shook his head dismissively, Jack could see the emotional struggle within and tried to ignore the puddle of blood forming at his feet. He was running out of time.
A person could fight through a myriad of things but severe blood loss was not one of them. Eventually, his body would decide when it was done, whether he liked it or not. Still, he pushed the thought away.
"Do you even know why you hit her Dennis? Killed her? A woman you thought you loved more than anything, based on a hunch?"
Knight's chest heaved as he paced, a caged tiger readying his attack. It wouldn't be long now.
Jack allowed that dark fury to stir inside of him. Felt the push of oxygen flood his lungs on his next breath as took a measured step forward. "Because Dennis, underneath all of that low self-esteem and narcissistic entitlement, there is one truth about you that will never change. One truth that no amount of power or money will ever be able to hide."
Inching his feet into position, Jack sneered, "That truth Dennis is that you are a fucking coward. Even now you just stand there, not having the balls to do what needs to be done. Come on you piece of shit, what are you waiting for?! Show me what a big man you are!"
With a roar, Knight charged. Closing the short distance in a flash and lunging. Jack pivoted just in time to avoid the knife being lodged into his chest. Using his forearm to block the attack and spun.
The jostle of their bodies alone was enough to make his vision blur from the pain. His shoulder was on fire, and he found himself struggling to focus as Knight turned and came back for another go.
His attack was more measured this time, slashing fast and hard through the air when he was within range.
There were loud metal-on-metal clangs as Jack defended with the small blade, parrying what he could and dodging the rest. Delivering a vicious leg kick into Knight's shin at the end that sent him to his knees as he passed by.
Jack stumbled after and dove. Tackling Knight from behind as he tried to get up, and sinking the blade in between his ribs.
Dennis cried out, rolling his body underneath and slashing as he turned, snagging past the shirt and into the flesh of Jack's chest with the serrated edge.
Cursing, Jack rolled off, only to have Knight climb on top and attempt to punch the blade down.
"That's it," he heard Harry say as he seemed to close the distance. Only to hear a scuffle break out just out of his view.
The next instant, Jack saw the gun fly past both of them. Guessing Karl had decided to take his chances fighting after all. No doubt hedging his bets in case Knight won.
Meanwhile, the t-handle of Jack's dagger locking with the hilt of the knife was the only thing stopping the blade from entering his chest cavity.
They both struggled, gasping and spitting against the strength of the other. Knight definitely had the advantage. Gravity. Position. And the strength of two hands against one.
As the tip nicked his bloody shirt, he thought of Sam. Already deciding on the moment he would abandon the fight and use his last breath to shove his blade into Knight's carotid.
If this was how it ended, he was taking Knight with him.
At least then she would be safe.
The glint of the scope from his left, piercing through the trees, was almost as angelic as the sound of her ragged voice in his ear. "Jack, I'm here. He's too close, push!"
Gritting his teeth and with one hard-fought guttural yell, Jack arched his back and pushed against Knight's weight with everything he had.
As soon as Knight's back straightened, a thump sounded in the distance.
And Jack heard the distinct whiz of a high-caliber round, closing his eyes as it met its target inches above his face.
Jerking harshly as hot, wet blood splattered his face. Not needing to open his eyes to know that Knight's head had disintegrated in front of him.
Then he was weightless, his arms flopping down to his sides as the body was thrown off of him from the impact.
Jack gasped for air, his eyes rolling back as he struggled not to pass out.
Whatever had been going on with Karl and Harry seemed to have stopped instantly.
"Tell him to give up or he's next," he heard her say coldly.
Karl gave up immediately, dropping back to his knees when Harry relayed the warning.
Jack didn't remember losing consciousness. But figured he must have when he felt her hands on him the next instant and opened his eyes.
Her voice was muddy as she rattled on about something, or maybe it was just his mind. But her face. Her face was gorgeous. Dirty, sweaty, those beautiful blue eyes sparkling with worry.
If he could've moved, he would've been kissing her. Instead, he said the only thing that mattered.
"Marry me."
She froze, her jaw dropping in disbelief. And then he watched as the corners of her mouth took a slow upward turn into a radiant smile that lit up the world.
Her eyes watered, and when she nodded and her lips formed the "yes" he'd been praying for, a rush of pure unadulterated joy surged through every fiber of his being.
She was his, finally. Truly his.
Even as he lost the battle to keep his eyes open, he couldn't fathom how'd he gotten so lucky.
And when he felt her soft, warm, comforting lips on his, he let himself succumb to the tug of unconsciousness.
Knowing that the small taste of her was only the beginning...
.
FIN
.
.
.
*Author's Note: I envision an epilogue down the road to tie up a few things and have one in mind, but for now, this is the end.
I'm not even sure where to begin. It's been such a journey and labor of love for sure. Bittersweet to say goodbye to these two. And you. My heart brims with gratitude. To each and every one of you who embarked on this journey with me, I offer my most sincere thanks. Thank you for being part of this adventure. Your curiosity, your willingness to immerse yourselves in this world I've created, and your unwavering support have been amazing.
Much Love ❤️
