SCIFIBIGBANG: Wrapped in an Enigma Part Three

[alexs_storybook]

Part Three

~~~~~

CHAPTER 21

Jack and SG-1 had not lingered long after their talk with Harry though they did share a midday meal with him and his people. Jack figured there was no need to eat protein bars when Harry’s wives were such good cooks.

After lunch, they bid the jaunty spy-turned-monarch farewell and headed home. If nothing else, this whole episode had been discouraging from beginning to end.
*

It was not even noon when they got back to the SGC.

“What now?” Mitchell didn’t want to sit around and twiddle his thumbs all day but he wasn’t at all sure what there was to do at this point. They all knew that something simply did not fit properly but no one knew what to do about it.

“We contact the Nox now. Perhaps they have news,” Daniel said.

“Wouldn’t they just show up if they wanted to tell us something?” Vala interjected.

Daniel sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. They do still see us as children anyway.”

“That might be true but they would not allow Colonel Carter and General O’Neill’s son to be harmed if they could prevent it.” Teal’c had said little all day, but that was fairly normal for him.

“So what else is there to do?” Vala asked.

Landry looked at Cameron. “You have mission reports, Mitchell. Several of them.” He smiled and slid the folder with Mitchell’s paperwork across the table to him. Cam’s groan was very audible.

Vala turned to Daniel. “What shall we do, Daniel?”

“You can help me catalog some artifacts. SG-5 found them in an old Goa’uld stronghold. They seem to predate the hand devices we saw them use so many times.”

Vala clapped her hands together. “Oh goody!” She followed Dr. Jackson nonetheless.

She really didn’t mind helping him and sometimes she was even able to answer a question about the Goa’uld or the Ori that he didn’t know the answer to. Having been a Goa’uld host and having been married to an Ori follower helped a great deal.

She wondered sometimes if she shouldn’t have gone with Tomin and helped him rebuild his world after the end of the Ori. He was a good man and she had loved him after a fashion. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be at home here on Earth.

Well, if Muscles had done it then so could she.

“Daniel, do you have any idea where Sam and the child are? Are we really so clueless?”

“I’m afraid we are.”

“I hate feeling so helpless. I felt like this after Adria was born and they took her away from me.”

Daniel sometimes forgot what she had lost in the last few years. She’d lost her daughter though she claimed that Adria was simply a tool of the Ori and not really her child, he knew better. He saw that hollow despair sometimes when she didn’t think anyone was looking at her. She did love Adria, no matter what the girl was and she mourned her loss.

“I’m hopeful that they’ll be back soon. I don’t know why but I am.” Truth was, he couldn’t imagine a world without Carter any more than Jack could. She had been a part of his life for so long that she was like a sister to him. She had to come back. No other outcome was acceptable.

“I want her back too.” Vala was much more perceptive than most knew.

Daniel looked at her oddly for a moment then returned to his work. He would never figure her out altogether.

*

It was nearly dark when Samantha and Jonathan were returned to the storage shed for the night. Food arrived in about an hour along with some extra blankets. After she was sure their captor was gone and before they lost all light, she removed the hoe from its fallen position and inspected it. It wasn’t in great shape but it might serve the purpose of forcing the hasp off the door if she could get it through the slim opening.

“What are you doing?” Jonathan was at her elbow, whispering his question.

“I’m trying to force the door open so we can head for the Stargate.”

“Will he kill us if he catches us?”

“I don’t know but he’s shown no interest in hurting us so far.”

“Shouldn’t we wait a while to make sure he is asleep before we go? He’s not been gone very long yet.”

Samantha smiled. He was such an intelligent boy. He was thinking much more clearly than she was, apparently. “You’re right. I had only thought to get to the Gate as quickly as possible. We’ll rest a few hours then try it.”

She set the alarm on her digital watch and they lay down with their extra blanket to catch a few winks before they attempted to escape.

*

Far away on the Nox home world, Lya was getting ready to rescue Samantha and Jonathan. She would simply gate to the planet, cloak them with invisibility and they would come back through the Gate. Then she would take them back to Jack O’Neill.

Quick and simple.

*

Back at the SGC, Daniel Jackson was still in his office with Vala. They had catalogued several items and he was making tea for them with his back turned to her.

“You know, Daniel, I’ve been trying to decide if I’d rather make love with you or Mitchell. What do you think?”

He almost dropped the teakettle where he stood. Why did she say things like that?

“I… uh… I’m sure that is your decision, Vala.”

As soon as he finally managed to pour the hot water into the cups, he turned around. She smiled a smile that would have made a shark proud.

“I think I’ve made my decision, Daniel.” She moved around the desk they had been working at and toward Daniel. He felt the urge to run. Fast. But he felt another urge too; one to take this crazy woman in his arms and throw caution to the winds.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, he was saved by the bell as his office phone rang. It was from the IOA, wanting him to chair another symposium on ancient artifacts in Egypt.


~~~~~

CHAPTER 22

Samantha’s watch woke her after roughly two hours of fitful sleep. Jonathan woke too. They hurriedly packed what little stuff they had and Sam picked up the hoe. The blade was pretty long so she thought she could wedge it in the door and still have some blade to press against the hasp.

She cautiously began to do so. The hoe slipped in between the opening and the blade pressed against the metal hasp. She kept pushing and it moved a little. She stopped, worrying that the blade might not be long enough to account for the amount of play between the door and the frame.

After a second, she threw caution to the wind and pushed at it hard. It loosened the hasp a lot but it didn’t open it all the way. The door opened inward so slamming themselves against the door wouldn’t work. They had to keep working with what they had, hoping that they could simply keep at until it finally was pushed far enough that the nails holding the hasp would pull out and they could slip out and head to the gate.

After a few minutes of fruitless struggle, it dawned on her that perhaps she and Jonathan could pull the door inward now enough to loosen the nails, using the hoe and handle as their tool to do so.

After several minutes of frustration, it worked. The hasp popped and Samantha and Jonathan were free.

Now they had to make good on their escape.

Samantha grabbed the hoe for a weapon and off they went in the direction of the Stargate.

“Can you turn on your light?” Jonathan had been amazed at Samantha’s flashlight, never having seen one before.

“I’m afraid it’ll be seen. Maybe when we get farther away from the compound.”

“I sure wish we could take a puppy with us,” Jonathan said wistfully.

Sam felt bad for him. “Maybe if your mother says it’s okay, we can get you one from Earth when we get back.”

That seemed to satisfy him and they moved steadily in the direction of the Gate. They kept to the edge of the path so they’d be harder to see. Jonathan seemed to have no trouble keeping up with her. He was a hardy child who’d grown up in a world without Earth’s modern conveniences. He was strong and fast for his age.

They’d been walking about half an hour when they heard dogs barking in the distance. Sam knew their captor was hunting them.

“Just keep moving. I still don’t think he’ll hurt us but I don’t want to be locked up anymore either.”

Jonathan just nodded and they picked up the pace.

The night was not very dark. The stars shone brightly and the moon was much larger than earth’s, giving off a bright glow. This was good for them to see but it also made it easier for them to be seen.

The sound of the dogs didn’t seem to be coming very much closer but they pressed on. Samantha estimated that they were getting close. Very close.

Suddenly, up ahead she heard the sound of the Gate opening. It was unlike the sound it made when dialed with a DHD, but she recognized the sound. It was the sound that the Stargate made when the Nox opened it.

“Run toward the sound,” she whispered to Jonathan.

She turned to look behind them and almost as if by magic, their captor was closing in on them from behind. It would be a miracle if they made it to the gate, simply a miracle.

“Colonel Carter!” He called out in his oddly inflected voice. “Things will go better for you and the boy if you surrender now. If not, well, who knows what things the dogs might do to you or the child.”

Carter’s answer was to just keep running. She caught up with Jonathan and scooped him up. He was slender and adrenaline made him seem almost weightless and she ran as fast as she could toward the Gate. She could see the light of the open Stargate through the trees.

Not much farther!

Suddenly someone grabbed her from behind ands she and Jonathan fell to ground, rolling in the dirt.

“Run!” She shouted at Jonathan as she grappled with the masked man.

They weren’t going to make it.

As suddenly as the man had grabbed her, he let go. They were almost in the clearing where the Stargate stood. Sam didn’t have much time to think but this one looked a little familiar. It would come back to her. She had other things to do right now. Like get away.

But he didn’t come after her or Jonathan when she ran. She realized why when she saw Lya standing in front of the Stargate with her arms opened wide. They were invisible!

“Come quickly, Samantha Carter and young Jonathan. O’Neill awaits your return with very little patience.”

They hurried to the Gate and soon they were on Lya’s planet. She and her family fed them and made sure they suffered no ill effects from their captivity then they returned to the Gate.

The next stop was the SGC.

*

The claxons sounded and Walter made his customary announcement. “Unauthorized wormhole!”

Landry was quick to message him. “Open the iris.”

Before Walter could object and do much of anything, the Gate opened then the iris opened anyway. Lya stepped through. One hand was holding Samantha Carter’s and the other was holding young Jonathan O’Neill’s.

Jack and the others had heard the announcement and by the time they got to the Gateroom, Lya and her charges stood on the ramp. The Gate had closed and Lya was smiling at them all.

Jack almost lost his breath when he saw the boy. Charlie had looked like Jack too but this little boy was the spitting image of Jack at his age. Jonathan had no trouble figuring out which one was his father either.

“Papa!” He shouted the name and ran to Jack’s arms. “I am so glad to meet you! Colonel Carter says you’re a great man!”

Jack looked over the boy’s head at Carter, who smiled and blushed. “We’ll have to see about that but I sure am glad to meet you. You and I have to go through the Gate to let your mom know you’re safe. That okay?”

“Yes! I missed Mama!”

Lya bowed and waved her hands, making the Gate open again. She smiled and nodded to them all and stepped back through the Stargate.


~~~~~

CHAPTER 23

Everything had transpired so fast that no one seemed to know exactly what had happened. SG-1 escorted Jack and Jonathan back through the Gate to Edora. They had barely come through the Stargate when Laira came running.

“Oh my son!” She grabbed Jonathan and swung him around. “You’re safe! You’re home!” She began to rain kisses on him and he began to object like any little boy will when his mother kisses him in front of other people.

Jack beamed like a proud papa.

Laira turned to Jack. “Thank you all so much!”

“We didn’t do much. Thank Carter. She took care of him while they were kidnapped,” Jack gestured to Samantha.

“I’m just so glad to have him back!” She kissed him again and he wiped the kiss away, grinning at Jack all the while.

Finally she invited them all to her house to celebrate Jonathan’s homecoming and they accepted. Neighbors brought food in and the men of the village set up tables on the lawn. A few jugs came in too. Jack winced at the memory of the strong drink they made here. He’d had few hangovers that bad in all his years.

Jonathan never left Jack’s side all evening. He hung on his father’s every word but then Jack returned the favor.

Sam found herself wondering if maybe Jack would retire and move here to be with his son. But then he looked at her and she knew that the boy was not the only one he was glad to see. Even if he didn’t say much, his feelings were shining in his dark eyes as he smiled at her and patted the chair on his other side.

“Come. Sit. Long time no see.”

She sat, smiling at him. It was good to be back, good to see Jack again.

The celebration lasted long into the evening, long after Jack had helped put young Jonathan to bed, promising that he’d still be around when morning came.

Daniel found himself dancing with Vala as one of the Edoran men played a fiddle. The music was similar to an Irish Jig. The two of them acquitted themselves very well but they were completely breathless when they song was done. They grabbed some ale and found chairs.

“I enjoyed helping you work today, Daniel.”

“Sometimes, you’re not bad to have around,” Daniel muttered as he put an arm around her shoulder. She moved a little closer and placed her head on his shoulder.

Cameron might have been jealous but he was too glad to see Vala smiling. He was nothing if not a good sport. Besides, there were always more women, weren’t there?

He turned to Teal’c. “Must be nice to see General O’Neill again, huh, big guy?”

Teal’c nodded. “Indeed.”

It was somewhere in the wee small hours when the party broke up. Teal’c decided he would stay with Jack and the Marines here on Edora while the rest of SG-1 went back home. They still had a big mystery to unravel.

*

Work on unraveling the mystery was slow, even with Sam helping. She simply did not know where they had taken her.

“There was something about it that seemed familiar but I can’t think of what. Not sure if it was the Gate, the planet… I just don’t know.”

Daniel said, “I’ve had that feeling all along, almost as if it were a very strange practical joke but who would do such a thing?”

“We’ve met lots of strange people over the years. That’s for sure. Some didn’t even know they were. Remember Joe, the guy with the stone?” She asked.

Daniel laughed. “I always thought Jack was the weird one there. He had been living Joe’s life and never said a word to anyone.”

“Speaking of the stones, have you heard any more from the Icarus group since they were lost on the Ancient ship?” Sam asked.

“They are still out there. They come back once in awhile using the stones but we don’t hear much since most of that goes through the Pentagon. The SGC is out of the loop sometimes since the IOA runs the whole show these days, or tries to anyway.”

“Do you know Rush?” She asked.

“I met him a few times. He might be brilliant but I think even Rodney McKay has more personality than that guy.” Daniel made a face.

“Yeah, me too,” she laughed.

Cam joined them. “Any ideas yet?”

In unison, Sam and Daniel answered, “Not yet.”

“I know we all want to know. But I’m beginning to think that ain’t gonna happen. The really important bit is we got Sam and the kid back safe and sound, isn’t it?”

“But don’t you want to know?” Daniel asked.

“Not so much now that they’re safe.” Cameron couldn’t even explain why but there was a part of him that said not knowing would be a good thing.

“Do either of you know where I can get a puppy?” Sam asked them.

“You don’t seem the dog type.” Cam observed with wry grin.

“I’m not but there was a litter of puppies in the barn where we were being held and the man… that man let Jonathan play with them almost every day. I told him I would get him a puppy when we got home.”

“Don’t you think you should ask his mother?” Daniel pointed out to her.

“I know I should but I don’t think I will. I think I’ll get one and surprise him. When Laira sees how he loves it, she won’t mind.”

“Go to the pound first. The dogs there need homes.”

Sam grinned and stood. “You’re right, Daniel. I’m going to check out their website then have a visit with them.”

*

Jack O’Neill and his son, Jonathan O’Neill, were riding in the long canoe on the shallow stream that Jack had rowed on years before. They’d caught a few fish and waded in the shallows near the shore.

“Do you love Sam?” Jonathan asked out of the blue.

Jack didn’t have an answer for him for a second. Finally he said, “Yes, I do love her. I have loved her for a long time.”

“Then why do you not bond?”

“She works for the same people I do and they would frown upon us marrying.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t work for them then. Sam is keen. She treated me like a grown up when that man had us. She never talked to me like I was a child.”

“Maybe you’re right, son. I surely will give it some thought. I’ve worked for these people a long time. Maybe I need to retire.” He grinned and ruffled Jonathan’s hair. “I’ve got a son to teach how to hunt and fish and stuff. I might not have time to work anymore.”

Jonathan felt so proud to have such a fine father after all these years of waiting.

*

Two days later, Sam gated to Edora with a wriggling Golden Retriever pup named Sandy in her arms. The Marines met them at the Gate and escorted them to the village. Word had already gotten around that Sam had come by the time she stepped up onto Laira’s porch. She knocked on the door and Jonathan opened it.

He squealed and shot out the door like a bullet, taking the puppy from Sam’s arms. “You did it! You didn’t forget!”

Laira raised an eyebrow at Sam but then she smiled. “What do you say, son?”

“Thank you, thank you!” He jumped up to hug her, puppy and all.

“I have his bowl and other things in my pack. He is healthy and has had all his vaccines and such though I’m not sure what good they’d be here. I wish I’d been able to tell the Animal Shelter where he was going to live. He’s probably the first Earth dog to live on another planet.”


~~~~~~

EPILOGUE

After several months of trying to determine who had kidnapped young Jonathan O’Neill and Colonel Samantha Carter, the case was put away. It was not closed. Stargate Command and the IOA still wanted answers but there were other more pressing things to consider.

The Icarus group on the Ancient ship Destiny were still lost in space billions of light years from home. Every day was crucial as they raced time to keep ahead of their dwindling supplies.

The Jaffa were still arguing over leadership roles in their newly formed government. They had survived the Goa’uld and the Ori but arguing amongst themselves was close to dividing them anew. General O’Neill had insisted that SG-1 be a part of the negotiations. Jackson, Mitchell and Vala were spending much time with Teal’c, trying to help them settle their differences.

When the Atlantis Expedition returned, bringing their city with them, that too was a problem. They needed to be kept hidden. There was also the issue of their enemies possibly following them from the Pegasus galaxy and they had some formidable enemies in the Wraith and the replicators.

This did not mean that SG-1, Sam Carter and Jack O’Neill gave up. Not at all. But they kept running into dead ends. They’d think they found something but then it wouldn’t pan out. Once they found a compound on an uninhabited planet that looked exactly like the one Sam and Jonathan had been held at but it wasn’t. When Sam had gone to see it, she’d seen small differences including the fact that the storehouse door showed no signs of her having broken out of it.

*

Jack O’Neill still headed Homeworld Security, a job he despised. He hated being a bureaucrat and that’s all he was any more. He longed for the old days of fighting Goa’uld or better yet, he longed for the weekends when he went to Edora to visit Jonathan and learn how to be a father again.

The other part was proving a bit harder. Sam was seldom on world but when she was, they made some time to see one another.

“Carter, I, uh, I think you should know something,” he’d stammered to her when he’d returned home after spending several weeks with Jonathan when they were first rescued.

“What is that, sir?” Her heart was hammering in her chest so hard that she could barely hear herself think.

“I’d like, what I mean is, uh, when I retire, I’d like you to come fishing with me in Minnesota.”

“I’d like that, sir.”

“Permanently.”

She had been taken aback but had finally stepped close enough for him to take her into his arms. “Oh yes, sir! I’d like that very much.”

*

Vala was still playing Cam off of Jackson but she knew that Daniel was the one for her. She needed him to know it too before she committed to him, but he was stubborn.

“Daniel, will you take me to the SGC holiday party?” She knew he had no family and Cameron was going to visit his parents. He had no excuse.

“I think I’ll just work this year. I’m not much into the holidays.”

“I am not taking no for an answer. I don’t want to be alone and you don’t either so there.”

He finally agreed grudgingly. Vala set about planning to make him her own. She never noticed the knowing smile that Teal’c sported every now and again.

*

On a planet very far away, Desmond Blackwelder planned his holidays. He would not be on Earth but that didn’t mean no presents and no fun.

Not that he’d had a lack of fun this year. He’d bet that SG-1 was still chasing its tail over who had kidnapped the boy and Carter. He was fairly sure that the Nox knew exactly who he was but he’d bet a cow that they’d never tell, not unless asked directly. That wasn’t too likely at all.

He had done it all for O’Neill anyway. He had stumbled across a file about Edora and then visited there. One look at the boy told him all he needed to know about the child’s parentage. He figured he owed Jack at least that much and an idea was born. He should have known they’d make it complicated but that was just SG-1.

The side benefit was that he’d gotten to see them all again. And even go to Earth for a few hours.

Well, he hadn’t been found out. That was a good thing. He hated it when someone found he’d done a good deed. He much preferred to be thought of as bad. Besides if they did find out, what could they do? Ban him from coming back to Earth? Too late for that.

As the Bard said, all’s well that ends well.

Blackwelder headed back to the village. He smiled and nodded to all the townspeople he met. At the center of the village, he mounted a throne.

“May I serve you, King Arkhan?”

“No, my wife. I am well pleased just to watch you all go about your work.”

Yes, indeed, it was good to be the king, thought Harry Maybourne to himself.

~The End~



























NOTES

Just a few notes and acknowledgments.

I’d like to thank yappichick for hosting this event and offering lots of encouragement to us all. I’d also like to thank my artist, rightxhere for her wonderful work. I couldn’t ask for a better banner! Most of all, I’d like to thank my wonderful beta and friend, larian. Without her, I cannot write at all, and my hubby Larry, who always thinks I can write anything!

A few notes and such.

I chose this story because it was one of the most obvious loose ends that were never revisited. There was even talk of follow up on ‘A Hundred Days’ but it was never done. There are many other tales to tell from this world but hopefully they will wait for another year.

I am a Jack/Sam shipper as well as a Vala/Daniel shipper though no woman in her right mind would turn down Cameron Mitchell. I never could get him to just come out and ask Vala though he seemed to want to awfully bad.

I tried to stick to canon as much as possible and for the most part, I did. I am not sure that Harry was still King Arkhan after the Goa’uld attack but for my purposes, he was. I also remember that the Nox were supposed to have buried their Stargate. I chose to have it working again, as well as the Gate on Edora.

I did not even try to make time match up… I sort of randomly had it night or day, whichever suited my purposes as I wrote. I also did not chronicle how many days the entire ordeal took, no more than one to two weeks, I think. It really wasn’t too important to the story past the first few critical days.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Susan Williams (alexcat)