Author's Notes – Hope you enjoy.
The house was dark as she drew up, happy to be home, even if it was only for a few weeks. Parking in the driveway, Sam grabbed the groceries she'd picked up on the way back from the base and headed inside.
Despite the fact she'd been away for the past six months, the house was spotless thanks to what Daniel termed the 'SGC Busybodys'. What they were was the spouses of the base personnel who, despite not knowing specifics, cleaned and watched over the houses and apartments of the members of the SGC either on long term assignment on ships, planets or Atlantis. Daniel didn't like them as they once cleaned away books that he had sitting out in a specific order, along with all the notes he'd made, ruining weeks of work.
Sam, on the other hand, was grateful they existed because it meant she knew her house would be looked after while she was away, and she wouldn't have to fight something growing in her fridge. Heading to the kitchen, she put away her groceries and was contemplating what to do for dinner when her doorbell rang. Assuming it was Mrs Dawkins, her neighbour checking in since her car was in the driveway, she froze in amazement at the man standing there, the last person she expected to see.
"Hi, Sam," her ex-fiancé Pete said with a slight smile, "Need to talk to you."
x
Sam stared at Pete for several moments before asking, "What are you doing here?"
"Can I come in?" he asked, "This is not a conversation that should be had on your doorstep where anyone could overhear."
Confused, but intrigued, Sam stepped back and let him inside. He followed her to the kitchen and gave her a slight apologetic grimace.
"I would have called first but I don't have your number anymore," he told her, "I checked you still lived here and hoped you were in."
"Just got home ten minutes ago," Sam stated not wanting to get into a long conversation.
Understanding that she was confused why he was there, Pete told her, "Anyway, I'm here because I was assigned a missing person's case that I think may be connected to the Stargate."
"In Denver?"
Pete shook his head, "I moved here about six weeks ago."
A small flash of gold on his left hand caught her attention, "You're married?"
He grinned, "Three months now."
"That's great," she told him before asking, "So, you've got a missing persons case."
"Yes," Pete pulled a file out of his jacket, "Nineteen-year-old college student Hannah Grey, second year studying Biochemistry with good grades, no troubles, goes home once a week for dinner with her family at least. Until two weeks ago, when according to her friends she attended a lecture outside the college and disappeared two days later." He sighed, "In her room we found this," he moved the photograph in front of her.
"These are Daniel's published work and a transcript of his lecture," Sam stated in astonishment.
Pete nodded, "There were two witnesses who saw Hannah talking to the lecturer after the talk was done. They both claim they saw the woman's eyes glow."
Sam winced, "That is concerning."
"I can't leave the file," Pete stated as she mused, "But I can meet you and whoever you need to bring in to review this tomorrow at the station." He rubbed his eyes and reminded her, "Sam, I wouldn't be here if I didn't think this was important."
"I know," Sam bit her lip as she thought, "Daniel is offworld just now, but due back first thing tomorrow. Considering this seems to be centred around his work, he's who I think is the best person to bring in for this. Assuming there's no issues, he and I will meet you at noon, if that works for you?"
Pete nodded, pulling out a small piece of card, "This is my number if you need it." With that he headed to the door, stopping and looking back, "It's good to see you."
Sam nodded, "You too."
Once Pete had driven away, Sam grabbed the phone and dialled the SGC.
"General Landry," she stated when she was put through to him, "We have a possible situation."
Daniel yawned as he stepped out of the base to where Sam was waiting for him, accepting the coffee cup from her and taking a long drink.
"You do know I haven't slept in almost twenty-four hours, right?" he demanded at her amused look.
"Sorry," Sam smiled, "But this may be a security breach and, as your published works are involved, you're the best person to look into it."
He grimaced but climbed into the car beside her, "Fine."
"How was the mission?" she asked as she started driving, hoping to get him into a better mood, instantly realising by his grimace she had made a mistake.
"Long and irritating," he replied.
Sam winced, "Vala still not talking to you?"
"Not at the moment," he grimaced.
Sam chuckled, "Well, you could have been a little more…"
"I tried to let her down gently, but since she can't take no for an answer," Daniel stated sharply, "I had to be a little…"
"Brutal," Sam noted, "Or that was the word Cam used."
Daniel shook his head, "I tried multiple times to be nice about it, I finally did what I had to."
Sam frowned at him.
"What?" he demanded at her look.
"You know how much she cares about you…"
"Sam, I did my best to be nice," he sighed, "It's not my fault that she couldn't just accept I have no romantic interest in her at all. I've never treated her any differently than I do you."
Sam decided against continuing the conversation, instead moved it to where they were going and the reason why.
"How much did Landry tell you about what's happening?" Sam asked.
Daniel yawned before replying, "Not much. Just that there's a possible breach that seems to be connected to what I published which brought me to Catherine's attention, and we needed to check it out before I could go home and sleep."
Sam winced, "Well, I returned home last night, and Pete appeared on my doorstep."
"Pete?" Daniel asked confused for a moment before realisation hit him, "As in your ex-fiancé, Pete?"
She nodded, "He's working on a missing persons case which appears to involve your research from before you joined the programme and a woman whose eyes glowed."
Daniel swore in what she was sure was Abydonian. It always amused her that he tended to slip into other languages for profanity but that one was the first he always used.
They reached the station, and Sam found a place to park, walking in she spotted Pete in one corner reading something on his desk.
He glanced up and saw them, moving through the people to meet them.
"Hi," he said, "Nice to see you again, Daniel."
Daniel nodded quickly in reply.
"Ignore him," Sam smiled amused, "He's not slept in a while and has only had one coffee so far."
"Coffee I can do," Pete said as he led them to a small room, "Can't guarantee the taste but it's hot and full of caffeine."
"I'll take it," Daniel replied, "Black is fine."
Pete disappeared again and they each took a seat waiting for him. He reappeared quickly, with two mugs of coffee while another man pushed a board into the room for him.
"Thanks, Joe," Pete said to the younger man, "Can you grab the files as well?"
The younger man disappeared and reappeared carrying a large stack of files which he placed on the desk before leaving them alone.
x
Sam frowned confused, "What's this?"
"Okay," Pete stated, "After we talked, I began think over it some more and realised that this couldn't be the first missing person if it is connected to what I think it is. So, I reached out to my old station, and some colleagues who've moved away too. Asked them to check for similar cases over the past ten years."
"And that's a lot of cases they've sent," Daniel noted with a wince.
"I know," Pete grimaced, "And not everyone has replied."
Sam winced as did Daniel, both thinking the same thing.
"Okay," Daniel stated, "We should go through each file and find any links we can." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, "And I am going to need a lot more coffee."
"We can use this room," Pete told them, "I'll get some pens, paper and pins." He gave Daniel an amused look, "And I'll send someone out for some proper coffee."
Daniel lifted the top file but before Pete could leave asked, "Are these in any order?"
"Just as I received from," Pete told him before leaving them to pick up the supplies they needed.
Daniel sighed, "This is going to be a long, long day."
x
Three hours later, the board was covered in information. Pete was trying to put together a timeline on a second board using what they already had, Sam was making notes on a file in one corner while Daniel was doing the same in another. There were still five folders sitting to be looked at as the final few replies had come in over the past few hours.
Taking a long drink of coffee, Daniel suddenly slammed his mug on the table and stood. He stared at the timeline Pete had created before he started going through the five files that they hadn't looked at yet. He checked only one thing before taking the file Sam was reading out of her hands, looked at it then handed it back.
"What?" Sam and Pete asked in unison as he began to study the timeline.
"Assuming these are all the missing people there are," Daniel stated, "The first person went missing exactly two weeks after I died."
"After you what?" Pete asked confused.
"Long story," Sam replied, "And…"
"Classified," Pete finished for her.
Daniel frowned, "More just something I don't like to talk about. But I do know from the records that SG1 went on a mission just after it happened where you told Osiris I was dead."
Sam nodded, "But Sarah is no longer a Goa'uld."
"Who knows who else Osiris told though," Daniel replied, "And if that Gould has been on Earth since then, they might not know I'm back."
"Especially since you're a government employee who works for a classified project," Pete added, "Finding you isn't an easy thing to do. A few of the detectives I contacted about the cases were trying and had no luck tracing you."
Daniel mused for a second, "That's a good thing."
"Anyway," Pete said, "If that is when the first person went missing, and this Goa'uld is using your work, there has to be a connection."
"That's what worries me," Daniel murmured.
x
Daniel yawned.
He'd managed to grab a catnap while Pete sent out for some food and Sam reported back to Landry, but it hadn't really helped much.
He needed more caffeine.
A lot more.
Picking up the file sitting next to him, he spotted a piece of paper stuck inside. It was folded in half, so it hadn't been picked up when he'd went through it the first time. Opening it, he saw that it was for a lecture tomorrow, titled The Untold History of Ancient Egypt being held by a group called the 'Light Foundation'.
"Here," Pete slid a pizza box onto the table, "What's that?"
"It seems to be a lead," Daniel handed him the flyer.
Pete read over the information and mused for a moment before frowning, "You want to go, don't you?"
"Well, if this is what the person whose been kidnapping these kids is from or even connected to it, then I want to hear what they're saying," Daniel told him, "Besides it's the best lead we've got."
"It's the only lead we've got," Pete noted, as Daniel grabbed a slice of pizza and sighed happily as he took a bite.
"Never thought the pizza from Dom's was that good," Pete chuckled.
Daniel shrugged, "It's been a long time since breakfast."