Chapter 15: Transcripts and Packing

O'Neill had been less than pleased. Spitting mad, was probably a more apt term.

Alex could almost feel it across the staticky phone connection – the anti-bug devices apparently interfered. But they weren't being overheard.

After several minutes of convincing, Sheppard had argued for them to get another eight hours in the city to finish their errands, before O'Neill sent in the calvary to raid the Center. There had been no stopping him once there was mention of multiple artifacts in Theo's office. Not to mention the whole goa'uld thing.

Alex just hoped they could do it quietly enough and that no one else in the building was involved.

Very quickly, a plan came together. They would go see Alex's advisor and fill out the official transfer paperwork. Then, they would go to his apartment, pack his things, and get beamed out before O'Neill sent in his guys.

Beamed out.

Alex hadn't quite wrapped his mind around that one – and probably wouldn't until it actually happened.

All things said and done, knowing that someone he had trusted was actually working for the bad guys was less surprising than anything else. It had happened before; it was bound to happen again. So far though, O'Neill and Sheppard seemed like good guys.

"Hey," Sheppard nudged him. They had parked in front of the administration building on campus. "Let's get this over with."

The headache had subsided some while they were talking with O'Neill, but there was still the nervous flutter in his stomach that someone else would be watching. Not a gut feeling, but… more just plain paranoia. That everything he did would be scrutinized by unseen watchers until he managed to get away.

He didn't even have his backpack to hide behind anymore.

They walked through the halls to the advising office that Alex had only stepped foot in once – when he had initially enrolled and had to prove that yes, he really had completed a secondary education. It had taken a little finagling from Byrne.

"I'm here to see Jeremiah Fitzgerald," he said to the desk worker.

They just snapped their gum in his direction, before pointing to the chairs. "He'll come get you."

And, for the second time that day, Alex found himself in a waiting room. This one was much smaller and with much more uncomfortable chairs.

Sheppard poked around at the magazines, before shaking his head sadly. "Not even a Popular Mechanics."

That brought a hint of a grin, but Alex couldn't help but bounce his leg nervously.

It wasn't like they could deny his transfer.

This was just supposed to help smooth over any awkward questions that people might ask.

Like his classmates realizing he was suddenly gone.

"Er… Rider?" An older man poked his head out of one of the cubicles – because they clearly didn't have enough space for actual offices here. "You can come on back."

Alex shoved to his feet, followed closely by Sheppard. The cubical was about as dismal as Alex had been expecting – two little chairs shoved into a tight space and an ancient looking computer monitor taking up most of the desk. It was probably running Windows 98…

The man, Fitzgerald, all but folded himself into his chair behind the desk and waved Alex to the other one. "Oh, sorry…" He glanced apologetically at Sheppard, "Not much room, I'm afraid."

Sheppard waved him off, then gingerly leaned against the wall. Alex wasn't entirely sure he was just pretending to be leaning, because he wasn't sure how the flimsy divider stood up to the weight.

"Now, eh, you're requesting a transfer?" He plucked at the keys on the keyboard, very slowly putting in Alex's name. His full name. "Quite unusual in the middle of a semester…"

"An opportunity arose to be closer to friends and family." Alex shrugged casually. As if he weren't planning to leave the planet entirely.

"Yes, yes." He pushed his glasses further up his nose. "We just have to verify some information. Social security?"

Alex painstakingly recited out the number and watched the man punch it in one key at a time. Address, phone number, and student email were filled in at the same mind numbingly slow speed. He was about to reach across the desk, grab the keyboard, and put it in himself, but that would probably just mess things up.

"Very good." He punched a few more keys and Alex saw his own student picture finally pull up on the screen. At least they wouldn't have to go through that process again. "Now, what do you need from me?"

Alex let out a very restrained breath. "Transcripts and copies of course syllabi, if possible. And an official signature on the transfer request." The SGC was going to have to suffice with the bare minimum. Or they would be stuck in the office until their eight hours were up.

"Certainly, I can have the transcript and syllabi mailed—"

"We're going to need it today," Sheppard said firmly, tone brokering no argument. "We've got several urgent arrangements to make, so Alex can stay on track to graduate. I'm sure you understand." He grinned a grin that showed all his teeth and Fitzgerald shrunk away.

"Of, of course. Abs-absolutely." He pecked at the keyboard and slowly clicked through several dialog boxes. "It will, it will take some time for the documents to print."

"Perfect, then you'll have plenty of time to get these papers signed." Sheppard handed over the stack of papers that the SGC had probably invented. Alex had glanced through them and it was a little more than just a standard transfer request. There were quite a few that related to the confidentiality of his student information as well – above and beyond the protections that already existed. Anyone who touched his file after he left was likely to get a visit from the government.

Fitzgerald paled as he thumbed through the papers, then looked at Alex with wide eyes. "Yes, yes, sir. Just let me—" He jerked a thumb toward the exit and hightailed it out of there with the sheaf of papers.

Alex slumped into the chair. "You didn't have to scare him."

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "We would've been here all night. And besides, now he's likely to warn all his colleagues – and voilà, there's one less angle that the, erm, you know can track you down."

If it worked.

Papers tucked away into the depths of the duffel were the only remaining proof that he had any sort of post-secondary education. His records had been neatly wiped following their visit – for his safety.

Alex couldn't help but be a little wary of it. Someone else was seemingly taking over his life again. Dictating where he went and what he did.

It would only be a quick step back to what MI6 had had him doing.

But so far, everyone had seemed genuine about trying to keep his own best interests in mind. That he was a human being with rights to education, for one.

Blunt had never cared about that.

They had had to stop by the office for his apartment building to pick up a spare key – Sheppard said they had some lock picking devices, but most only succeeded in breaking the lock. Great if it was somewhere they needed to get out of. Not so much if Alex wanted his deposit back.

Not that that was going to matter.

Unfortunately, saying he was kidnapped by aliens was not a reasonable excuse to lose his key, so he was losing a part of that deposit no matter what.

Sheppard let out a long whistle when they stepped into the apartment and looked around. "Nice place. How'd you afford it?"

Ah, the million-dollar question. "Inheritance." Ian had left behind a surprising amount of money – money that had only been uncovered after several months of searching through left behind files. If he had only known about it, maybe Jack…

"Huh." Sheppard reached into his pocket and pulled out what he had dubbed the bug-zapper – the Asgard technology instead of Ancient. After a moment, he nodded to himself. "We're good."

Alex blew out a breath of relief. He wasn't sure what he would've done if someone had invaded his apartment and placed bugs. Given the Trust was after him, it was a little surprising that they hadn't. But perhaps they just hadn't felt it was important enough – not when they were planning to just take him over.

"We've got a couple hours to spare, so figure out what you want to take with." Sheppard crossed the room to poke at the desktop computer. He pulled out a flash drive and waved it in the air. "We'll get you your own devices once we get on planet, but I can get everything copied over for you."

"Okay…" And it gave them a chance to be apart for just a few minutes. Probably the only minutes in the next several days, if the past few were anything to go by. Alex crossed into the kitchen, letting his gaze slide over the few pots and pans he had gathered in the past few months. It hadn't been much, but it had been his.

He was going to have to start over again.

It wasn't worth sacrificing space for.

In the bedroom, he pulled his favorite clothes out. His well-worn hoodie, the plaid shirt that had been Jack's favorite, Uncle Ian's silk button-up. The memorable pieces. He shoved them into place in the duffel bag, then packed the essentials around it. The jackets and hoodies he had grown so comfortable in, in the past several months.

His own shoes.

The board shorts that had somehow survived a rip current.

Socks.

Underwear.

He shoved a few personal toiletries into the bag as well. With Atlantis being as remote as it was, there was no telling just what would be available there. There would be no room for his teenage acne to suddenly break out and not have access to anything.

The harder things to pack were the more personal bits.

The cuttings and clippings Ian had gathered while Alex grew up – awards in martial arts, badges from the various historical sites they had visited around the world. All the innocent bits of his life, gathered into one place.

He shoved them into his backpack.

His DS-1350 – the one mystery Ian had left behind that no one could quite figure out – that designated him as the offspring of a U.S. citizen, despite the fact that neither of his parents were American. And since the last time he had tried to go digging into his parent's past had ended up with him accidentally joining a terrorist group… he wasn't going to take the chance again.

His notebooks full of mathematical proofs. The schematics of the different objects he had tried to break down into their pieces.

The reminders of why engineering really fascinated him.

The small DVD and CD collection he had gathered in the past year – all attempts to drown out the reality around him.

Relics of the past twelve months he had lived on his own – and then had his reality turned upside down once again.

Aliens were real and wanted his body.

"You good here?" Sheppard popped his head into the room and took a glance around.

Alex glanced at the empty closets and dresser drawers. He didn't have very many belongings.

It was kind of pathetic.

"You want your pillow? Totally not a space hog and 100% worth it."

Alex glanced at the bed. He would take the whole thing if he could. It was probably the most comfortable bed he had had in a long time. But the pillow would be about all he could manage. He grabbed it up and hugged it to his chest.

"Anything else you want, or are we ready for pickup?"

"You got all the computer stuff?" There wasn't anything valuable on there, but it did have a lot of his notes and study guides for the tests he had taken. The information was somewhere else, but not nearly as concise.

Sheppard dangled the flash drive. "All here, ready to go."

Alex scanned the room one last time, then shrugged on his backpack and hugged the pillow to his chest. It all felt very final.

Even though this was supposed to be the start of the good part.

"Yeah, let's go."

Sheppard clapped his shoulder, then picked up the duffel bag and slung it over his other shoulder. He pressed a button on his watch, then shuffled closer to Alex. "Might want to close your eyes."

No sooner had Alex started to close his eyes, the world around him erupted into a flash of bright white light. As quickly as it had come, it faded away and Alex tried to blink spots out of his eyes.

Sheppard pushed his shoulder, turning him toward a large window. "Welcome to space. I heard you've been here before, but I much prefer this view."

A/N: And they've officially left the planet. Sort of. It's a shorter one, but I've had some recent life changes and I'm trying to figure out the new schedule of my life. Still trying to do once a week, but we might have to be a bit, uh, flexible with the definition of a week! As always, let me know what you think, thoughts, and predictions!