Chapter 11, part 1.

The next day was Labor Day, but Alice got up early after another exhausting night with little sleep, and planned to sneak into the SGC to do some work, anyway. She didn't think spending the day at home where she would have to cross paths with Deanna was a good idea. The girl probably needed to be alone now—Alice would.

Nevertheless, she went for a run as normal, and then took a shower that reinvigorated her a little before she went back down to grab some breakfast and ran into Dee in the kitchen.

"Hi," she greeted the younger woman cautiously. "How are you doing?"

Deanna smiled and almost looked like her old sunny self. "I'm great, actually." But then she turned towards the kitchen counter, hiding her face, and asked over her shoulder: "Pancakes or eggs?"

Alice sighed. "You really don't need to cook for me, Dee."

"Nonsense." She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "I'm cooking for myself anyway, might as well do it for two. Just tell me what's your preference?"

"Either one is fine," Alice replied, defeated, but Deanna actually turned around and glared at her, so she added: "Eggs will be great. Thanks." She wasn't really hungry—if Dee weren't there, she would've just grabbed a Pop-Tart with her coffee.

"Bacon and eggs, coming right up!" Her roommate sang with a smile and busied herself with the preparation. It was a testament to how different things between them were that she didn't really talk while doing so. She used to never shut up, but now she kept quiet until it was time to serve. They exchanged a few inane remarks then, and continued to eat in awkward silence. Alice finished quickly, thanked Dee for the meal and fled the kitchen before Deanna had a chance to react; but the girl caught up to her in the hallway.

"Wait, wait!" She called and Alice stopped and turned around, picking up her car keys from a chest of drawers.

"Yeah?"

Deanna stepped up to her and handed her a little packet with a ribbon tied around it. "Happy birthday," she said, smiling, but Alice thought she saw regret in her eyes.

"Thanks." Alice accepted the gift. "That's very thoughtful of you."

"Well, I figured your stepping into old age merited a little something," Dee quipped and for a second she sounded like her old self. "Open it."

Alice smirked and shook her head, but she pulled off the ribbon and ripped open the colorful paper. It covered a small velveteen box. Alice clicked it open to reveal a pair of black star-shaped earrings.

"Dee, they're beautiful!" Alice exclaimed, picking one up to look closer.

"A friend from work makes jewelry and she was kind enough to show me how to do it, so this is made by yours truly." Deanna bowed jokingly. "I hope you like them."

"I love them," Alice reassured her. "Thank you—they're amazing. I wish I could put them on now!"

This made Dee frown. "Why can't you?"

"It's a stupid military rule—I'm not authorized to wear earrings that hang like that, only small, round and conservative ones, and since I'm gonna be wearing a uniform all day, it doesn't make sense to put them on now," she explained. "But I can wear whatever I want while off-duty, and you can be sure I'll be sporting them soon enough!"

"Oh, okay then. I'm glad you like them."

Alice sent her a beaming smile which took a bit of effort, and then closed the box with a sigh. "I'll put them right here so they're waiting for me when I get back." And she laid them on the dresser.

"Why are you going to work, anyway?" Deanna asked. "It's Labor Day."

"I just have a lot of work to do," Alice replied, shrugging.

"Even on a federal holiday? Why?" Her roommate asked and then made a face as if she was displeased at herself. "I'm sorry, I know you told me you can't say anything…"

"It's okay." Alice smiled crookedly. "I am preparing for a big assignment and I just have to make sure I'm ready, that's all."

Deanna frowned again, but held any further questions she might've been tempted to ask. "Okay, if you say so. Well, anyway, I hope you take it easy, at least a little bit. Nobody should be overworking themselves on their birthday."

"I'll be okay." Alice assured her and then sighed. "I should go. Thanks for the gift again."

"Sure. Bye, Alice."

She nodded and headed out the door and into the garage.

At the SGC, Alice changed into her PT uniform and did her normal Monday workout at the empty gym. By the time she showered, changed and got to her lab, it was almost nine o'clock. Before getting to work, she checked messages on her phone. There were quite a few—people wishing her a happy birthday: her mom, Jake and Aaron; Aaron's bandmates: Zach, Curtis and Ian (no message from Jeff, though); and her cousins, Tobey, Jodie, Patrick and Lee. She replied to them all, then checked her Facebook feed—where a few old acquaintances also posted on her timeline, having seen a birthday reminder; and eventually moved to Twitter. She was surprised to see hundreds of mentions from strangers. She scrolled down the feed and finally came to the first tweet that started the storm—it was from Aaron, posted at six in the morning, Colorado time.

Hey peeps, how about everyone heads over to my best friend's twitter SpaceTinkerbell to wish her a happy birthday?

She smiled and typed her own tweet.

Thank you all for b-day wishes! I'm surprised to see AaronStarr awake so early, someone pls check if he hasn't been replaced by aliens ;)

She observed people reacting to the message for a moment, but then turned the phone off and focused on work.

"Happy birthday!" Aaron said in a sing-song voice. "How are you feeling with the number 3 at the beginning of your age?"

Alice rolled her eyes at the phone. It's been ringing all afternoon, and even though everyone clearly had the best intentions, she was getting real tired of it. The frequent calls distracted her from work and kept reminding her that time went on while she was stuck in the past—or the future.

Today was her thirtieth birthday, and that meant that in a few more days, she'd be achieving ten years Time-In-Service—and her contract with the Air Force would expire. She had already signed an extension, but she could not escape the intrusive thoughts about how it was supposed to go instead. She was supposed to terminate her contract. She was supposed to become a civilian scientist on Atlantis. She was supposed to finally be able to become an official couple with Karim. It was supposed to be the beginning of the rest of their lives, together. Instead, Karim was gone, she was no longer on Atlantis, and she had no reason not to renew the contract.

And Jareth was still out there somewhere, his continued existence like a slap in her face.

"I don't really feel any different than yesterday," she replied tiredly.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concern audible in his tone. "You sound a little… deflated."

"I guess I am. It's been a long few days." She looked up at the ceiling of her lab. "I had to testify in court Friday and it wasn't the easiest thing to go through, I guess I still feel a little whiplash after that."

"Wait, what?" He sounded astonished. "In court? Like, with the judge and the jury? Why? What happened?"

"It was a court-martial, a military trial," she explained and sighed. "But I really don't wanna talk about this. At least—not today."

"Fair enough. Where are you now?"

She hesitated, and her reply sounded like a question. "At work?"

He exhaled loudly. "Why does that not surprise me. Allie, you gotta stop doing that. You're gonna burn out. Go home, relax, celebrate a little—even if it just means getting a beer with Dee."

"Yeah, I don't think that's a very good idea right now," she muttered.

"Why? What happened?"

"It's just that—I mean—I don't really wanna talk about it either," she managed eventually. She wasn't sure if she should—it wasn't really her secret to share. "I'm just so tired of people, you know, with their expectations and everything…"

He was silent for a moment. "Do you want me to leave you alone? I can call you back tomorrow or—"

"No, that's okay, you don't count as people," she told him, without even really thinking about it.

He chuckled. "I don't know if I should treat that as a compliment or an offense."

"Neither, it's just the way it is." She got up and walked back to her desk to grab a bottle of water, raising her voice to be heard through the speakerphone. "You better tell me what's going on with that house of yours—did the purchase go through?"

"Yes!" He replied enthusiastically. "I just signed the last of the paperwork on Friday. I'm both thrilled and completely terrified—I've never spent so much money in one go."

"Yeah?" She was back at the table, unscrewing the bottle. "How long will it take you to make it all back?"

He laughed nervously. "It's not as easy as you think. We haven't had any new albums or tours in a while. Though we're gonna be slowly coming back now."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it's time," he confirmed; an excited smile was audible in his voice. "We've been talking about coming back to the stage soon, and the success of the reunion show gave me an idea. We don't have enough material for an original record yet, but every good band does a cover album sooner or later, so we're thinking about doing just that!"

"That's not a bad idea," Alice admitted. "It's definitely less engaging than writing new stuff, though knowing you all, you're gonna do all new arrangements anyway."

"Probably," Aaron agreed.

"Know already what you're gonna cover?"

"Still gathering ideas. We have to clear each song, you know, get the license and all. It'll take a while before we're actually in the studio."

"You're planning any promotion tours?"

"Yeah, both our agent and our manager are pushing for it, but I'm not sure." He sighed. "Ike is still so small…"

"He's almost two," Alice contradicted. "If it were any other child, he'd be preparing to go to preschool now. I am far from giving advice on parenting, so treat it as a food for thought: maybe it would be beneficial for him to interact with other children instead of adults all the time."

"I've thought about it," he admitted. "And it scares the hell outta me to let him in with strangers and all, but I agree he needs to socialize with kids his age. Still, preschool is only a few hours a day, and if I go on tour, I'll be away for days or weeks at a time."

"Well, he has a mom, he can stay with her for some time," Alice noted, and then added: "Or you can take him with you."

"On a tour? I dunno…"

"Why not? He doesn't go to school yet, so he's not gonna be missing anything. You can have the nanny accompany you so he stays with her when you're on stage or doing press or whatever. And let's face it, you're rich enough to get a fancy hotel with all the accommodations for children anywhere you go."

"That's true. Hmm… I'll have to think about it. But, while we're on the subject—are you planning to come home this weekend?"

"I've just been home a week ago," she replied vaguely.

"I know, it's just—we're planning a little party for Ike's second birthday on Saturday. Perhaps we could celebrate his and yours together, you know—it'll be just family and friends—"

"No," she said quickly, realized it sounded a little harsh, and elaborated: "I mean, I don't want to confuse Ike or anyone. I'm fine, I don't want any party or celebration of any kind."

"Okay. Why?"

"I just—I just don't, that's it."

"Allie, it's your thirtieth, we should mark it somehow–"

"I said no," she interrupted him, putting some authority into her voice. "That's the end of discussion."

He went silent for a moment, and then sighed. "Okay, if that's what you want, I guess. But you could come to Ike's party, though? He would be delighted."

She exhaled loudly. "That's not fair!" She accused.

"Come on. Please?"

She deliberated for a moment. At least it would get her out of the house for the whole weekend, let her avoid Deanna… "Fine."

"Yes!" He exclaimed, sounding genuinely thrilled. "I have to say, Allie, I know you didn't want it, but I'm really happy you got reassigned to Colorado. I love being able to see you more often."

"Yeah, that's nice," she admitted. "Though I doubt I'll be able to come home as often starting next week."

"Why's that?"

"I'm preparing for a new assignment and it might make my hours less flexible," she explained carefully.

"What do you mean by assignment?"

She sighed. "I can't discuss it, you know it."

She could almost hear him rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

For a few seconds neither of them said anything, and then Alice spoke up: "Alright, I should get back to work now."

"No, you should go home, rest up a little," he disagreed. "And eat something!"

"Sure, sure," she dismissed it.

"I mean it!" He tried to sound menacing and failed.

"I will, I promise!" She humored him.

"Good. Alright, then. Bye, Allie."

"Bye, Aaron."

Alice spent the next two days running exercise scenarios with her team up at the Academy's training center. She wanted to see how Rodriguez would do as part of the team; she knew he was smart, she had weeks to ascertain that, but how he would act in the field was quite a different thing. At the end of the second day, she found herself reasonably pleased with his performance—it wasn't completely devoid of mistakes, but none too egregious, and he managed to conduct himself well even in the scenario that was set up to make him fail.

On Thursday, they were scheduled to finally go offworld and begin the operation—which, they learned during their pre-mission briefing, was important enough that it received its own codename: New Light, which Alice thought was quite a clever play on her character's name: Nova Ray, a new star's stream of light. She didn't ask who came up with it, but she immediately liked it.

After the briefing, and before it was time to go, she sat Rodriguez down in her lab to quiz him on his character's backstory. She was satisfied to see that he had it down pat.

"This is going to be very different from what you've been training for," she told him eventually. "Are you sure you're up for this? There's still time to pull the plug."

"No, ma'am, I'm ready," he assured her earnestly.

Alice sighed, shaking her head. He was so young—twenty-three years old, just a year out of the Academy, a butter-bar who knew nothing of the world out there. Did she even have the right to bring him into this mission? What if something happened to him? She knew this was a reality they all had to live with every time they stepped through the Gate, but this boy was her responsibility. If anything happened to him, it would be her fault.

There were other considerations, too. What if he wasn't ready? What if he messed up somehow, blew the operation? Of course this applied to herself, too; she's never been undercover before, but she knew it was different: her determination was unwavering. He was just a boy who wanted to prove himself. She remembered when she was just like him—ambitious, eager for any challenge that let her show her worth to those above her. She would not have been ready for a mission like this back then; but then again, back then she was an F-302 pilot and didn't think of any other possibility.

"Okay," she said, because there wasn't anything else to say. The mission was approved, and if she pulled the plug on him now, it could alert Carter to just how nervous Alice was about the whole thing. "Just remember, starting from now, I am no longer a major or a ma'am—I'm Nova."

"Sure," he agreed, looking determined.

She took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's go then."

Their first mission wasn't supposed to be hard or long. They traveled to a planet with a large market that catered to all types of people, from Free Jaffa and legitimate buyers from various planets all over the Galaxy, to mercs, smugglers and frauds. As was the plan, Watson and Morgan—affectionately called the B Team by Alice—came through an hour earlier, to make sure that there was no immediate danger around and, more importantly, so that they wouldn't be linked to Alice and Rodriguez when they appeared on the planet.

The market was essentially one long road that meandered along a river bank on one side, and a local village on the other. It was full of booths and stalls, and just as many—if not more—people showing off their goods on blankets or rugs directly on the ground. Alice and Rodriguez—both dressed in their leather outfits, the boy's being a recycled getup from someone the SGC had captured years ago—didn't look out of place, to Alice's relief. If anything, they looked a little too well dressed, but, she knew, this problem would solve itself in the course of their leisurely stroll along the road: there was so much dirt and dust that Rodriguez's brown coat was already looking much darker that it really was.

They stopped at a few places, but nothing really attracted Alice's eye until they reached a bigger booth that even boasted a sign: Merlon's Magical Marvels. Alice couldn't help a smirk when she saw that.

"Welcome, welcome, dear customers, please take a gander at my marvelous stores!" The large seller called to them, waving at the assorted goods in front of him. "Tell me, what is that you are looking for? Maybe something pretty for the beautiful lady?" And he gestured at a collection of medallions.

"We're looking for something less gaudy and more practical," Alice replied, raising one eyebrow at the flashy gold necklace with a ruby that would fetch a pretty price back on Earth. "You have any tech?"

"Aaah, a discerning customer!" Merlon clapped his hands. "Let's see, what we have here… Ah! Interested in a Goa'uld hand device, by any chance? Only available at Merlon's Magical Marvels!" And he dived under one of the shelves and brought out a golden ribbon.

"May I?" Alice reached out with her hands.

"Of course," he answered oily, surrendering it to her, but she noted his other hand dropped to his belt. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rodriguez casually shift on his feet, his arm beneath his coat now.

She took a good look at the hand device. "That's a really nice replica," she said casually.

The seller got all flustered. "That is not a replica! It's the genuine article, taken off the hand of a dead Goa'uld!"

"Looks pretty real to me," Rodriguez commented, side-eyeing it, most of his focus still on Merlon.

"Ha! Listen to the boy, he knows what he's saying!"

She ignored him and brought the device closer so that Rodriguez could see it. "Look at the gem—it's glass, not crystal. Genuine Goa'uld crystals have a very high refractive index—that means the light bends a lot when it hits the surface," she explained. "This is cut like a crystal, but it's definitely glass, just look at how little the light bends inside. Also, look at how yellow it is—that means it's merely gold-plated. Pure gold is soft, malleable, so solid gold jewelry—including Goa'uld artifacts—is actually made of alloys of gold and small amounts of other metals, like copper or nickel—or, in case of hand devices, Naquadah. It makes them look gold, but not as yellow as this. It's a pretty thing, but still a fake." She handed it back over to Merlon.

He grabbed it protectively and put it back to where it had been hidden before. "It's still very valuable," he snapped.

"I'm sure it is," Alice said conciliatorily. "Do you have any genuine artifacts?"

He threw her a calculating glance; all of his earlier overt delight at having customers had disappeared. "Do you have the means to pay?"

"Doesn't work like that." She shook her head. "You show me what you got and I'll decide if I wanna pay."

"What is it that you're interested in, then? A healing device? A bottle of Nish'ta? Memory recall device?" He barked a short, derisive laugh. "All of those go for hundreds of pounds of weapons-grade Naquadah, or equivalent. Do you have that much?"

She pressed her lips into a thin line, but then exhaled loudly. "No, I don't have hundreds of pounds," she admitted. "But you gotta have something in there that I can afford?"

He huffed, but turned around, opened a heavy trunk that stood behind his booth, and pulled a long, flat box from inside. He put it gently on top of one shelf full of leather pouches and opened it.

"This is my mid-range stuff," he explained. "It'll cost anything from two to fifty pounds of refined Naquadah."

Alice nodded, scanning the contents of the box with her eyes. Most of it was taken up by weapons—a few zats and shock grenades and a Goa'uld scanning device—but there were also a couple page-turning devices and a hand-held visual communicator. The thing that caught her attention, though, was a silver half-oval with a sort of a tail on one end and a small crystal in the middle.

"What's this?" She asked, pointing at it.

"It's a stun weapon the Ori soldiers used," Merlon answered. "Pretty powerful little thing. I'll take six pounds for it."

"Six pounds for an Ori weapon?" She shook her head. "What's the catch?"

"There's no catch!" He assured her, but her expression and sidelong glance were enough for him to relent. "It's true, it's a genuine article—it just doesn't really work at the moment…"

Alice laughed. "And you want me to pay six pounds for it? No way."

"Well, if you don't want it…" He shrugged.

Alice rolled her eyes. "I'll give you two pounds, take it or leave it."

He frowned. "Five."

"Two," she repeated confidently.

"Four, then—that's my last offer."

"Forget it. Two or I walk."

"Fine, three then!" He threw his hands up.

"Fine, three," she agreed. "But you'll add something pretty. That green glass thing, maybe?" She pointed to one of the baubles on a shelf.

"The scarab?" He picked it up. It didn't really look like an Egyptian (or Goa'uld) amulet he was referring to, but it was tapered on one side, with six edges, glass sides and silver structure that held them in place.

"Yeah, I like the color—it'll look nice on my desk." Alice shrugged nonchalantly.

"Alright, I'll throw it in as an extra," he conceded, putting it with the Ori device on the side and replacing the box in the trunk.

Alice opened a leather pouch fastened to her belt and started rummaging in it in search of the right size of a Naquadah brick. She found one and pulled it out carefully.

Merlon put their acquisitions into a thin fabric bag that looked like it was made of an old shirt and they exchanged goods for the Naquadah over the shelves of his booth.

"Thank you for your purchase!" He beamed, suddenly back to his friendly disposition. "Great bargaining, it was a pleasure!"

She smirked and bowed her head slightly. "Likewise, Merlon. We'll be back sometime."

"I'm counting on it!"

Alice turned around and walked away, with Rodriguez in tow.

"Did we really just buy a weapon that doesn't work and a paperweight?" He asked incredulously as soon as they were out of Merlon's earshot.

Alice stopped and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. As she was turning towards him, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye: two men suddenly stopped next to a stall a couple paces away from them and pretended to admire women's outfits that hung there.

"That paperweight—" she said in her normal voice, wondering if the men could hear it, but unwilling to lower the volume—it would be suspicious and she didn't want to let them know she'd noticed them "—is an Ancient personal shield emitter, a very rare find—and we essentially got it for free!"

"You're joking! And he just threw it in as an extra, just like that?" Rodriguez shook his head. He was either better at this undercover thing than she'd given him credit for, or he was really that shocked.

"Our dear friend Merlon had no idea what he had." Alice shrugged. "I'll have to examine it, of course, but chances are it's not even broken—just needs to be activated by someone with the right Code of Life." By which she meant the ATA gene, but that nomenclature wouldn't be known in the galaxy, and with the risk of being overheard, she preferred to keep to the Goa'uld terminology.

"We can get a nice return on investment if that works," he quipped. "And the Ori weapon?"

"There's gotta be more of those lying around," she noted and then started walking again. "I'm pretty sure I'll be able to fix it."

"Not a bad haul for two hours work," he commented.

"Oh, no, my friend, work's not done yet—we still gotta get this stuff back home and then I gotta fix it while you lay around and look pretty." She said it lightly, turning her head to him, but her eyes pointed behind them when she was saying gotta get this stuff back home.

His gaze went there for a fraction of a second and then he looked back at her. He didn't nod, but blinked quickly and she knew he spotted their shadows, too.

"Hey! I do stuff around the house," he protested, playing along, and she barely noticed the tenseness in his muscles. He was doing great.

"Yeah, like what?" They were almost at the end of the market; here the road twisted right, away from the river, and disappeared in a forest. They had to cross it to get to the Stargate.

"You know, I clean! Sometimes!" The two men that followed them fell back a little as Alice and Rodriguez left the buildings behind and walked onto the bend of the road, just a hundred yards away from the tree line.

"Yeah? When was the last time you cleaned anything?"

"Well, I polished something very recently," he murmured under his breath, but Alice heard and, despite the situation, she couldn't help a hearty laugh.

The laughter died on her lips when two men stepped out from the shadows under the trees. They weren't the same as those who were tailing them; but they must have been in contact because the other two have just stepped out of the cover of the last building and were heading towards them, too.

"Hi newbies," one of the guys greeted them with a sarcastic smirk on his face. He was tall and muscular, imposing, and his companion was only a few inches smaller—easily towering even over Rodriguez's five feet and ten inches. Both had Zats in their hands. "I'm afraid you come here to trade, you gotta pay the toll. Empty your pockets, and that pretty pouch you have there, too."

Alice smiled icily. "And if we don't?"

"You don't wanna find out."

Alice raised her eyebrows, aware that the other two were almost in range now.

"There's something you should know about me—I was trained by the Tok'ra."

"Yeah? So?" They still didn't make a move, though she noted they grasped their Zats a little tighter.

"So I'm very fast," she answered, and at the same time she dropped to one knee, pulling her own Zat from the holster on her thigh. The taller guy got out a shot, but it went high. Alice pulled the trigger and her aim was true: the ball of energy enveloped him and he fell. Next to her, Rodriguez reacted with only a second's delay, downing the other man.

Alice turned around without getting up, pivoting on her knee—thankful for the excellent quality leather of her pants that protected it from getting scratched on the dirt road—and sent a shot towards the other two men, the ones who had been following them; but they were still rather far, and they managed to dodge it. They didn't try to fire back—instead, they turned tail and ran away.

"Do we follow?" Rodriguez asked, the Zat still up protectively.

"No, they're just gonna mix in with the crowd." She shook her head and got up to her feet, dusting off the knee. The leather looked untarnished. Then she looked back at the two thugs they managed to stun and nodded at them. "Let's grab their weapons before they come to."

Rodriguez approached them quite gingerly, picked up the two Zats and hid them in the cavernous flaps of his coat.

"Let's check their pockets and relieve them of any valuables, too," she told him. He raised an eyebrow at this, but she shook her head infinitesimally, so he didn't question it.

As he was finishing with the second ruffian, the brigand moved a little and moaned. Rodriguez jumped back, his Zat at the ready, but Alice waved at him to stand down. Instead, she came closer, put a boot on the man's chest and waited until he blinked awake.

"Tell your friends not to fuck with Nova Ray," she told him in a very cold voice. She increased the pressure for a moment, and then let go and stepped over him. "Let's go, Levi." And she marched off towards the forest.

Rodriguez caught up with her a moment later. Neither of them said anything, both listening intently for the sound of footsteps—their would-be attackers could try to follow them. But they heard nothing except the trills of some exotic birds in the treetops. They arrived at the Gate unbothered, dialed the address and went through.

Alice had decided that going directly back to Earth after their excursions to Lucian Alliance-visited worlds wouldn't be prudent, and so their first stop was an uninhabited planet where they were supposed to rendezvous with Team B—but Watson and Morgan wouldn't be going through for another half hour, so Alice had Rodriguez check the perimeter first, and then they both sat on a fallen tree log with a good view of the Gate.

"Not bad for our first outing," Alice said to break the silence. "Good job, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, ma'am," he replied, still a little tense, she saw.

"Relax, Rodriguez. We're safe here now."

"Yes, ma'am, it's not that—" He stopped himself, and repeated lamely: "Yes, ma'am."

She shook her head. "Spit it out, Lieutenant. What is it?"

"Nothing, I just—I wonder why you had me steal these guys' stuff…" He avoided looking in her direction while speaking, his stare fixed on the Stargate.

She sighed. "Because we had an audience and it was something Nova Ray and Levi Kern would do."

He blinked and turned back to her. "Oh."

"Those two guys that followed us—we scared them away, but you can be sure that they stopped just inside the perimeter of the buildings and watched us from safe distance," she elaborated. "I'm afraid this operation will see us do a lot of things that aren't necessarily… honorable."

"But, ma'am, isn't stealing from an enemy against international law…?"

"I don't really think Geneva convention applies out here," she said with a ghost of a smile. "I get it, Lieutenant, I don't feel very good about this either. But think of it like this: when undercover cops take down a cartel, they seize all of their assets to be used again in other undercover operations. That's basically what we're doing—we haven't taken the Naquadah for ourselves, we're gonna use it to further our strategic objective."

He frowned for a moment, thinking hard, and then visibly brightened up. "I guess if you put it like that, ma'am—it makes sense."

She nodded. "Listen, Lieutenant—you really did a great job today. I was impressed with your ability to get into the character, and you took that second bandit pretty quick."

"Not as quick as you," he contradicted wistfully.

She chuckled. "Give it a few years."

He beamed at her, but then they heard the sound of the Stargate moving, and they both got to their feet and took defensive positions behind tree trunks, just in case it wasn't the rest of their team. But then Watson and Morgan stepped through, their cloaks flapping in the wind, Zats at the ready, and Alice relaxed once again.

"It's clear!" She called to them, walking up closer, trailed by Rodriguez.

"Hello, ma'am, everything alright?" Watson asked, giving her a once-over, as if trying to make sure she was in one piece. "We heard there was an incident…"

"Oh, you heard about that, didn't you?" She put the Zat back into its holster and crossed her arms on her chest. "From whom and what exactly did they say?"

"The barkeep," Watson replied, unfazed. "The tavern's close to the entrance to the market, a good place from which to launch a rescue op, if needed," he added, seeing Alice's amused expression. "And it's rife with gossip. We were about to get going when we overheard the barkeep telling one of her customers that a couple local hooligans tried to swindle a pair of visitors and instead they ended up wrecked themselves."

"We went to check it out immediately, but you were gone by then," Morgan added nervously.

"We managed to deal with it ourselves." Alice smirked. "Alright, gentlemen. I'd say mission accomplished for today—let's get back home. Airman, dial Earth."

Morgan jumped towards the DHD to fulfill the order while Watson pulled a GDO to send the code through. Alice and Rodriguez didn't have their own GDOs for this mission; it was risky to be out without them, but if they were ever searched, they couldn't have any Earth-made objects on them. So, instead, if they ever became separated from Watson and Morgan, they had a couple planets designated as rendezvous spots, and if all failed, they could always get to the Alpha Site, whose personnel was instructed to let them through back to Earth.