O�Neill thought after he looked in Major Samantha Carter's
Lab and Doctor Daniel Jackson�s office. �I guess I�ll just head
on out� a bored Jack said aloud to no one in particular. Signing
out of the Air Force base, Colonel O�Neill headed home. He
had two weeks of downtime and he planned to spend most of
it fishing at his grandfather�s cabin in Minnesota. The lake next
to the rustic cabin was crystal blue with pine trees surrounding
most of the property it provided a wonderful place to have a
little R and R.
The next day as Jack was heading out of Colorado Springs he
had this feeling that he needed to check in with his team. He
still hadn�t heard from them and was a bit worried. He dug out
his cell phone and called Daniels number first.
"Ah, you have reached the office, well ah actually the answering
machine of Daniel Jackson. Well, ah, you know what to do."
BEEP "Danny!? Danny!? If you are there pick-up! DANIEL
WHERE ARE YOU? Fine!"
Next he tried his second in command Major Carter. "Hello, you
have reached the office of Major Carter, Leave a message
after the beep and have a good day" BEEP "Oh for crying out
loud, Carter you are even cheerful on your message. Are you
there? Guess not or you would have answered."
Dr. Daniel Jackson stumbled warily toward his phone showing
one new message.
"It's Jack," he says out loud, "I bet it's Jack... Sam never calls
me."
He gave a small smile of victory when Jack's voice comes over
the machine.
"Damn it... he's probably mad at me now."
He thought about calling Jack back, but what would he say?
Where had he been? He couldn't remember. He had come
home from work yesterday night and it was now... he fleetingly
glanced at the clock... it was now 1600 hours. Jack never took
getting lost in a book as an acceptable answer. He stared at
the phone a long time. He should call Jack and at least let him
know that he was alright... As much as he hated to admit it, he
was kind of fond of his friendship with the Colonel.
He picked up the phone and dialed.
Daniel groaned.
"So, Jack's not answering his phone. Either he's really mad at
me or he's in some kind of trouble..." Images of the NID ran
through his mind and he shook his head to make himself come
to his senses.
As Jack drove he began to think �The kids might not think they
need him anymore, but what would happen when, not if, they
got in trouble.� He shook his head. "Drat, when did they tame
me?" He pulled his truck into a u-turn and started driving back
towards Home.
Something felt wrong; he glanced in his rearview mirror, "Oh
for crying out loud!� Squeals pierced the night.
He wasn't sure how long he'd be out and when he came to he
wasn't really sure where he was for a few seconds.
"Oh yeah..." he groaned. That stupid car had come out of
nowhere. Nowhere being an off ramp that led outside of town.
But as quickly as he had come too he was passed out again.
Daniel got out of his car with a little bit of difficulty, having been
turned upside down in the ditch.
"At least something went right..." he muttered sarcastically,
climbing up out of the ditch.
He wasn't terribly injured, a broken nose, maybe but otherwise
just a few bumps and scratches.
"Hey!" he called over to the other car. He inspected his glasses
on his way, which were shattered, typical. "Hey! Are you okay?"
As he got closer to the car, he saw small bits of flame protruding
from the rear of the truck. He gave it no mind, but edged closer
to the driver.
"Are you okay?" Daniel called again. He pulled open the door
of the car and a figure was slumped against the steering wheel.
"Hello?" Daniel felt for a pulse. Breathing, that's good. The
man groaned and Daniel was stunned and yet utterly alert all
of a sudden.
"Jack?"
In a flurry of a rush, Daniel whipped out his cell phone, thanking
God for the small pleasure of the phone's intact little self, and
dialed Sam.
After a few rings, she picked up.
"Hey Sam, this is Daniel. Jack's here and, uh... there's been
an accident..."
"Argh . . . huh, what? Jack squinted at the unfamiliar man.
Daniel turned on his heel to regard Jack. "You're awake. Are
you okay? How do you feel?"
�For crying out loud what do you think, my head aches, I'm
bleeding everywhere and I have a complete stranger asking
me how I feel. I think I feel pretty rotten.� The small burst tired
him out and he put his head back on the steering wheel.
"Daniel? Oh my god! What happened...Daniel, Daniel" Sam
waited for a reply that didn't come. She quickly used her new
laptop to triangulate Daniel's location. The computer quickly
came up with a location and Sam rushed to inform the base
commander General Hammond. He gave her permission to
leave ASAP.
Daniel had completely forgotten about his phone when Jack
had come too. He snatched it up and pulled it to his ear. Static.
"Damn it!"
Daniel frowned headily, hung up and re-dialed.
Sam quickly grabbed for her phone and attempted to drive at
the same.
"Carter." She answered.
Jack opened his eyes and saw a strange man with his back
towards him talking on the phone. Where was he and more
importantly was he in any danger? He learned long ago when
in doubt, get lost. With great effort, he edged himself out of the
truck and to the ground. He hoped that he would be able to
get away before the stranger noticed.
Jack continued to edge away from the stranger who apparently
didn't notice he was leaving. He looked around and saw the
stranger�s car. It was upside down on the side of the road.
Not good. His car had flames coming out of it and the stranger
had not moved him. A definite sign of ill will in his book. So,
what could he do? Best thing he could do was make to the
side of the road and hide himself. In his condition, he wasn't
getting far.
Daniel turned just in time to see Jack sneaking away. "Hey,
Jack, where are you going?" Daniel asked, confused. Into the
phone he said, "Yeah okay Sam, come down here will you?
...Yup... Okay, bye Sam."
He hung up his phone and shoved it into his jacket pocket. He
turned back to Jack.
"Get back over here," Daniel muttered; "Glory Jack, you look
like you don�t know who I am..."
Jack looked around trying to find an escape. He couldn't see
anything reasonable, so he decided to play along with what
ever game this jerk wanted to play.
"Well, for Pete's sake of course I know who you are." He rolled
his eyes dramatically as he stood. "Like I could forget you."
The look on his face proved that if he hadn't been in the Air
Force, Hollywood and television would have been the place
for him!
He smiled broadly at the man trying to appear as open and
honest as possible all the while covertly checking for potential
weapons he could use against the man if he made a wrong
move.
Pulling up to scene Sam could see that her CO was on the
defensive. She slowly got out of the car.
"Hello Sir, how are you feeling?"
She could see the wound to his head was causing swelling.
Jack looked over at the blonde woman who had just arrived.
He began to think to himself, �Great now there are two
unknowns. Is she with this stranger who is trying to keep me
here, on my side, or have her own agenda? She looks nice
enough, but so does the stranger who keeps pretending like
he knows me. Of course, she called me Sir that feels familiar.
Why? Maybe I need to take the same approach with her. Play
the �I am sure we are friends and are glad you are here card.�
He smiled at the new comer. "Oh, feeling a little sore, you
know how it is." He gave her a half-smile that looked out of
place on him to anyone who knew him. "So, it was good of you
to come pick up the big guy" he gestured at the other stranger
�and me. Really appreciate your help." He smiled at her again.
"...Big guy...?" Daniel looked at Jack funny, "Jack! This is no
time for jokes." He looked at Sam, "See that thing on his head?
We should get him to Janet or something..." Walking closer to
Sam, he whispered just quietly enough so Jack wouldn't hear.
"I think he hit his head too hard or something... Jack would be
ranting and raving about his truck right now. And 'Pete�s sake'?
That... that is just not a Jack thing to say..."
Okay, it was obvious the two of them were in on this together.
He could see and hear them colluding. Course he couldn't
hear exactly what they were saying. Okay, can't trust either of
them, but the best thing he could do, would be to grab the
woman�s car and get away from them until he could figure out
what was going on.
For the life of him, he couldn't even remember where he was
stationed right now. He knew the bump on his head was
probably confusing him, although some drugs could do the
same thing. It didn't matter now. He heard the guy mention
Janet. He knew a Janet. She was a good doctor two, more
importantly she had been a good friend before she married
the dirt bag that was her husband. Maybe it was Janet he
could trust. There for very few doctors that he didn't think
was needle happy. If he could just find her, last he had heard
she was stationed at the Air Force Academy. So the plan
was, grab the car, find out where he was, and then find Jan.
"Not Joking" He smiled wide. "I really appreciate the lady
coming to get us." He stood up straight and tried to walk
towards her and more importantly her car. "Sure are looking
at me funny, got something on my face?" He laughed.
He noticed the man, bend down to get his glasses he had just
dropped. This was his opportunity. He hit the man with
everything he had. The stranger crumpled to the ground over
his broken glasses. He grabbed the can of mace from his
keychain and held it up at the woman. "Give me your keys.
Now!"
"Jack I am not going to hurt you" Sam said in her kindest voice.
She slowly took a few steps forward, "you have been in a bad
car wreck and I can see from here that you are going to need
stitches and I can tell you have memory loss." "Let me help
you, please."
Jack glared at the woman for a moment, probably a look she
knew well. "Sure you can help me. Hand over the keys. That
would be very helpful lady." He continued to point the mace
at her. He moved over to her car, sure that if she didn't give
him the keys he could hotwire it.
Daniel, the bump crumpled on the ground, groaned a little
and peered up at the blurry figures.
Forget the glasses.
"Oww..."
Jack heard the �Oww� and looked down. Great in a minute he
would have to deal with both of them. Luckily the man didn't
really look that dangerous, neither did the woman, but he knew
appearances could be deceiving.
In the blink of an eye Sam had Jack on the ground.
"Now I didn't want to have to do that but you�re my friend and
you need to see a doctor. Now I am going to let you stand up
but don't try anything. Remember i have a level 3A in hand to
hand combat."
She slowly eased her knee away from Jacks back and helped
him stand.
He stood accepting her help and looked at her warily.
She managed to get the drop on him; even in his impaired
state he could take most people, so that meant she was
good - darn good. He was impressed. If she was the enemy
why was she allowing him up? Lure him into a false sense of
security? It made sense, but someone he just thinks so. He
looked from the woman to the man who was still on the ground.
There was something nudging on the back of his mind.
Something he should know about these two. There was
something. He looked back at the man on the ground. He
sort of reminded him of Charlie, his little boy at home waiting
in Sarah's arms. Actually, the woman sort-a looked like Sarah
too, now that he thought about. Maybe it was time to drop the
masks and be direct?
"Look lady," his sarcastic tone was back with vengeance.
"Just who the heck are you people and what do you want from
me? I mean for crying out loud!"