Colonel Jack O'Neill knocked on the open door of his superior officer's room and stepped inside, not bothering to wait for an invitation. General Hammond replaced the phone and turned to his 2IC.
"General you wanted to see me?"
"Come in Jack, shut the door, sit down." Hammond paused for a moment to wonder how his subordinate was likely to take the news. "Jack, I've been told by several people that you're a good skier."
Jack was surprised by the statement.
"Ah......Some people, I suppose, might think..........." he began guardedly, wondering what his CO had in mind.
"Good. That's settled then." Jack was taken aback.
"Excuse me? Did I miss something here?"
"You've just volunteered to take part in the 'Interservices' skiing competition next month. You'll represent the SGC at Aspen."
To say he was gobsmacked was an understatement. After a few moments to take in the implications, he asked, "Me? You're kidding, right?" Hammond shook his head, grinning. "General I haven't skied in a competition for years."
"You'll find all the details written in this memo from the Pentagon." he said, handing him a bunch of papers. "You can take your team with you for moral support. You'll leave next week, this gives you a fortnight in which to get as much practice in as possible. It's all arranged, hotels etc., booked from Tuesday. Think of it as an all expenses paid vacation Jack." he grinned.
"Yes Sir." Was all Jack could think of to say. He felt he'd just been steamrollered into something he just wasn't sure about, it was so unexpected. Yes he loved to ski, but he just wasn't certain about such a stiff contest. His love of the sport was purely for pleasure now. Okay, he'd won a few medals in his prime, but that was a long time ago. Wasn't he a little old now for this level of competition, he wondered. "What about some of the younger personnel Sir? I mean, some of them have to be better than me."
"I'm sure you'll do just fine Jack. It'll do SG-1 good, to go and have some fun."
Jack admitted to himself that they really could do with a good long break. They'd been on quite a few back to back hair-raising missions lately, where they'd come home a little battered and bruised. Their latest foray earning him a few days in the infirmary, and had just managed to escape from the Doc's ministrations. This seemed to be too........what?.......he couldn't put his finger on it, there was something fishy about it. It smacked of........covert?
"Is there something wrong Jack?"
"No.....No Sir. I'm just a bit surprised that you would choose me, but............I get the feeling there's something more to this. Something you're not telling me." he looked his CO straight in the eye.
"I never could keep anything from you. Actually there is an ulterior motive behind the gesture."
"Ah.....see....now that would explain it." he commented dryly.
"We seem to have sprung a leak."
"Again?"
"We're not sure what's being leaked right now, but we believe the NID are involved. A Captain Stephen Wilson, who works at area 51, is the main suspect. All the information we have is in there, and there's a photograph too." he indicated, as he passed a folder across to Jack. "We've had a tip off that he's trading secrets about the missions and technology the SG teams have brought back, and he plans to pass them on at some stage during the competition.. We're not sure who to, but that would be your job to take notes. As far as he knows, you're only there for the skiing. There'll be military personnel everywhere, far too many to rouse any suspicion about talking to reporters, as there's going to be a lot of media coverage on this event. It's the brainchild of the President, so everyone is going out of their way to make it work. Good publicity to be seen motivating your Military establishments." he grinned.
"And you want me to do a little digging?"
"SG-1 Jack, count your team in on this one too. You know the sort of thing. Just unearth a few details, if you can. Dr. Jackson can take lots of photographs, possibly video footage, of the 'area' if you know what I mean. Then that's as far as we go. Just send in your report and leave the rest to the proper authorities."
"Yeah right, the authorities. I remember the last time we had a leak."
"Jack, that WAS an accident, no matter how it looked."
"Yes Sir." he answered half-heartedly, he still wasn't sure despite the assurance of his CO.
"See if you can unearth anything improper going on. This Interservices thing is your cover story, so hopefully no-one will suspect you. Just look as if you're all enjoying the break. I know you'll do your best Jack. Oh and good luck in the competition."
"Thank you Sir...I think.. I'll give it my best shot."
Jack left the General's office and went to inform his team of their surprise 'holiday'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why do you suppose the Colonel want's to see us?" asked Sam, Jack's 2IC, Major Samantha Carter, to the other two members of SG-1.
"I don't know, but I think it might have something to do with his being summoned to see General Hammond this morning. He seemed very subdued afterwards, like he had a lot on his mind. I just hope it's nothing......bad." Dr. Daniel Jackson speculated.
The fourth member of the team, sat silently, content to listen to the others pondering the reasons they were in Jack's office waiting for him to appear.
"I do believe we are about to discover that now Daniel Jackson. O'Neill approaches." The tall, muscular, alien Jaffa Teal'c, informed them, his hearing much more acute than any human's.
Jack rounded the door frame to see his crew sitting, ready and waiting for him.
"Okay.......We're going on a different kind of mission next week." he stated, closing the door behind him and making his way across the room to sit on the edge of his desk.
"Sir?"
"Where Jack?"
"Well......General Hammond......ah..........'informed' me this morning, that we would be going to Aspen, on a little skiing trip. It's all been arranged apparently."
"What for? I mean why Aspen Sir?"
"Although I didn't know it until.......ooh....about 2 hours ago, I've been 'volunteered' to enter the 'Interservices' skiing competition to represent the SGC there on February 15. We leave on Tuesday."
"Wow." commented Sam.
"I presume this means you can ski then Jack?"
"Very funny Daniel. I haven't done any competitive skiing in years, we're leaving early so I can get some practice in. Any questions?"
"Aren't you getting a little long in the tooth for this sort of thing Jack?"
"Wrong sort of question Danny. Anybody else? Good, 'cos that's what everyone else is gonna think. We're going undercover......"
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The drive took longer than they expected, the traffic was heavy and the roads were hazardous round the mountains. There had been a lot of snow overnight and some of the minor routes were closed, taking them the long way round. Eventually they arrived, tired, starving hungry, desperate for a shower and a clean up. They found they had several rooms on the same floor, sharing one room as their own personal lounge. The Ski Lodge was perfect from Sam's point of view. The scenery from their lounge was magnificent, overlooking the mountains, where she could see crowds of people enjoying the delights of the slopes among the pines. This was one assignment that had her approval any day.
They spent the next morning teaching Teal'c to manoeuvre himself on his skis.. He was unsure about having these long unwieldy 'things' strapped to his boots. Jack assured him that they would take care of him. He progressed rapidly considering it was his first time. The others were experienced enough to bypass the nursery slopes, but stayed with Teal'c on the very gentle slopes in deference to his beginner's status, after which the more seasoned members of the team graduated to the more experienced pistes after lunch, whilst Teal'c sat back and watched them through the binoculars.
Sam and Daniel escorted Jack to the highest point and watched as he made his way down the steep slope with grace and ease, as if he'd never been away from the sport. They were suitably impressed with his skills, and wondered why he had ever given up competing.
"I think that answers your question as to whether he can ski, Daniel." Sam grinned as they watched their CO disappear from sight. "Actually he's very good."
"At that rate, he may even stand a chance. And....he reckons he's out of practice......makes you wonder what the other contenders will be like."
Jack felt relaxed as he slued to a halt at the foot of the slope. His face tingled in the cold, his cheeks suffused with red from exposure, and his breath coming fast, sending puffs of condensation into the freezing air around him. He'd missed the thrill of a fast run and began to look forward to the contest. Standing, leaning on his skis at the bottom of the gentler slopes, he waited for Sam and Daniel to rejoin him. They were both thirsty and decided to meet up with Teal'c to watch Jack complete another run from the relative comfort of the cafe a few yards away.
It was crowded with military personnel, holiday makers and the media, all there because of the competition. They squeezed their way through and Daniel eventually found an empty table and chairs on the veranda, where they sat down to watch Jack's descent. He was fairly easy to spot as he skied down towards them, picking up speed, his bright orange ski jacket and hat standing out starkly against the snow. Daniel lost track of him as he disappeared behind some trees, puzzled when he didn't reappear again further down as he should have done. His heart leapt into his mouth when it became apparent that something must have happened. He could now see people hurrying over to a spot hidden from his view and from where Jack had failed to emerge.
"Ah guys.......I think Jack's had a mishap........there's a lot of activity going on up there, and he never reappeared from behind the trees when he should have."
"Oh God Daniel......let me see." She took the offered binoculars from him and focused on the area. You're right. We'd better get there quick."
They hitched a ride with one of the emergency crews and three anxious people arrived on the scene of a bad accident. Several people it seemed had collided and were lying around in various stages of recovery, some of which were already strapped into wire stretchers to be taken away to the hospital. Daniel and Sam scanned the casualties, looking for their CO.
"What's up kids?" came a familiar voice from behind them.
Daniel and Sam both jumped a mile and swung round to face Jack, Sam holding her hand across her heart to quieten it as it beat double time from being startled, both breathed a sigh of relief.
"What?"
"Jack......you're okay........"
"Of course I'm okay. I'm fine. Daniel........Hey, you didn't think............No....not me luckily. Almost had me. I just stopped to help out. Some damn idiot stepped out into my path though. I managed to avoid him, but another skier wasn't so quick, he was barely able to swerve in time but then he collided with another couple of skiers, who crashed into another couple, etc., I'm okay, just mad. It was real stupid to even be walking near here."
"You had us worried there for a minute Sir, when you failed to reappear from behind the trees."
He grinned and shook his head.
"Anybody would believe you thought I was a novice Carter. No offence Teal'c."
"None taken O'Neill."
"Yeah...well they won't be winning any races this year." he pointed out, waving his hand in the general direction of the injured. "One of them has a busted leg, another one has a broken arm, and another guy has a suspected broken hip. The others were luckier, just a few sprains and bruises. They were all here for the contest, so I don't suppose their CO's are going to be very pleased about that. As for that idiot, he took fright and disappeared. Damn stupid fool could have got himself and them killed." He neglected to include himself in the statistics.
They made their way back to the lodge and settled in for the evening, enjoying a superb meal together, then passed the rest of the evening away playing cards, while more gently falling snow piled up outside in the streets.
Jack was up bright and early, he thought he'd do a little snooping before taking to the slopes for more practice. This brought him to the attention of the media, and they fired all manner of questions at him about what he did. Giving them the usual patter about Deep Space Radar Telemetry, he tried to make his escape.
"You're Colonel Jack O'Neill right?" A young, well manicured woman asked, stepping up to him from the edge of the group, stopping him in his tracks.
"That would be me." He looked her up and down. She looked so out of place in the deep snow, with her expensive clothes and stiletto heels.
"Colonel what can you tell us about the Stargate?"
"Sorry? The what?" he feigned ignorance.
"The Star gate project...........You and your 'team' are supposed to be working on it."
"Oh......right..........Well I don't know where you got your facts from Ms..........."
"Browning." she offered, "Julia Browning. AABC."
"Ms. Browning, but my team and I work on a project called Stargaze, with a 'z'. As I said it's all about Deep Space Radar Telemetry.........It's a satellite." he stated blithely, hoping to confuse her. "I think you'd better check your resources. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to practice." he offered a lopsided grin.
He left them standing, his long strides no match for the high heeled 'bimbo' who couldn't even dress appropriately for the weather conditions. He pondered if this was just one of the people who Wilson had been trading with, and made a mental note to get one of his team to keep tabs on her. Evidently it was too early for the suspect to be up and about, so Jack gave up and donned his ski's for a practice run.
The other members of SG-1 spent the next few days lounging around the cafe's and bars in an effort to catch anyone looking suspicious near Wilson. Daniel taking lots of video film, making himself out to be the archetypal tourist.. Teal'c spotted the suspected Captain Wilson, chatting to a group of men, wearing business suits, which stood out among the swollen population there in the mountains, because most people were wearing brightly coloured ski clothes. He could see several of them looking around furtively, watching to see if they were being observed. Teal'c casually sat watching them chat for another 10 minutes before Wilson left the group, and Teal'c went to report back to Jack.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack, Daniel and Sam were sharing a joke or two as they made their way across the crowded lobby towards the Coffee Lounge. They'd agreed to meet Teal'c in there after he'd spent time following the suspect. Jack felt a hand grip his arm fiercely and swung round to see who was accosting him. He came face to face with a man in his fifties, well built, slightly shorter than himself, he had dark hair streaked with grey around the temples. Wide piercing grey eyes which smouldered as he recognised his former subordinate. Jack knocked the man's hand from his arm with disdain.
"Well if it isn't the exemplary Jack O'Neill. I thought I recognised that voice, but the grey hair had me fooled there for a minute." he sneered. "I often wondered where you'd been hiding away."
"What do you want Morris? 'cos I got nothing I want to say to you."
Daniel and Sam stood back hesitantly, watching their CO closely, curiously, was this yet another skeleton in Jack's many closets.
Morris looked him up and down, hatred clear in his eyes, then he turned to look at Sam. His eyes widening in appreciation as he took in her appeal.
"Hmm....Very nice. Bit young for you Jack isn't she?"
"Ah.....Colonel......." Sam glared hard at Morris, disturbed by his comment. She'd dearly love to clock this arrogant swine, whoever he was.
"Easy Major." His hand went out in front of her as if to hold her back, but not actually touching her.
"So it's Colonel now is it? And I must say with a very attractive Major? Well...well. Have you slept with her yet? How many does that make in your long career? Or aren't you keeping score?"
Sam gasped at his inference and went beetroot red with embarrassement, and absolutely furious at his suggestion, she averted her eyes keeping them glued to the floor, but otherwise stayed quiet. Her CO would never have done that......would he? she wondered. Jack, quietly fuming, glared daggers at Morris. Daniel could tell his friend was getting agitated because his hands kept clenching into white knuckled fists. Daniel didn't know the background of these two, but whatever it was, it was not pleasant, and Jack was itching to knock his block off.
"We're not all like you Morris." he stated, ultra calm, with a rock hard voice. "Some of us have respect for female officers. We don't need your methods."
"Oh? Isn't that how you rose up the ranks?" He looked round to see if anyone was listening to them, then dropped his voice to a fierce whisper. "Well just let me find just one excuse O'Neill and by God I swear I'll get even with you."
"You'll be waiting a long time then."
"You ruined my career."
"What career?.....the only career you ever had was one of abuse, and you ruined that yourself."
Now Daniel could see Morris getting worked up. Before he could answer, however, Jack turned and strode away from him, leaving Morris with an unreadable glint in his eye. A red cheeked Sam quickly followed, still avoiding Morris' face and Daniel who looked at him with dawning recognition.
They made their way over to where Teal'c was already seated waiting for them.. They sat round the table and Jack beckoned the waitress over, ordering coffee for the three of them.
"Who the hell was that Jack? What did he mean.......an excuse to get even with you?"
"Daniel didn't anyone ever tell you never to listen to private conversations?"
"Jack......I'd hardly call it private, when everyone in at least a 10 yard circumference must have heard him.....em...... accuse you of......you know.........." Sam coloured up again. "I think you at least owe an explanation to Sam to let her know what he meant by those comments. He did more or less accuse her too."
"What can I say? He didn't........doesn't.....like me."
"Jack....there's more to it than that, and we all know it."
Jack thought about it for a few moments, as the waitress placed their coffee in front of them. He sighed, picked up his cup with both hands wrapped round it for warmth, rested his elbows on the table and took a deep breath. Looking quickly across the table at Sam and silently apologising, he dropped his gaze down to stare at the coffee in his cup, and began to explain it to them.
"It was all a long time ago. 'Major' Morris, as he was then, was my CO. There'd been a bit of trouble on the base, several of the female personnel got raped. Nobody would talk about it, they were all too scared. It happened that I was late back one night and came across him, in the act, as it were. He threatened to bust me back down to airman if I didn't keep quiet, but I stood up to him. The officer in charge of security found no evidence against him, mainly because he was a friend of Morris'. I managed to persuade Je......the female officer, I'd caught him with, to go to the CIC and with my evidence too, other women came forward too, and he was court-martialled and drummed out of the Air Force. I got transferred out of the way." he turned to Sam again and their eyes met. "I'm sorry he more or less accused you, Carter, the last thing I want is for you to get mixed up in anything to do with that bastard. Ignore the SOB. He's just a loud mouthed bully boy. I thought I'd seen the last of him."
"Yes Sir." she whispered, not trusting her own voice to keep steady.
"That's why you're so hot on not breaking the regulations isn't it? You won't because you know what would happen to Sam and yourself"
..
"Daniel........ for crying out loud, will you just shut up and keep your voice down. Yeah I know okay. I've seen it ruin many a good career." Jack whispered fiercely. "I wouldn't want to see that happen to Carter." He smiled at her briefly then drank his now cool coffee.
"Ooops.......Sorry." He didn't say another word, but looked over at Sam. He could see her struggling to keep her emotions in check. Daniel knew that Sam and Jack both shared a deep affection for each other, and he often wondered why they didn't do anything about it. He knew all about the regulations, but the full implications never before seemed to mean anything until today. Now he thought he understood why they had agreed to keep it hidden.
"Didn't you have any qualms about turning your CO in Sir?" asked Sam tentatively.
"Hell no.....He was a complete bastard. We had a young female Lieutenant on the team and she was damn good at her job, she would have made an outstanding officer. But that rat bastard made her life a living hell, she resigned, because of him."
Sitting there in near silence, long after their coffee was finished, Daniel suddenly recalled why he thought Morris looked familiar.
"Jack......I just remembered. I've seen Morris before."
"You have? Where?"
"Here........he was talking to Wilson yesterday. I managed to take a few pictures of them. They seemed to get on well together. Maybe there's a connection there."
"Possibly....Carter see what you can dig up about our friends, on your laptop."
"Yes Sir.......with pleasure."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next week went well. They tailed the suspect and quietly observed as he slipped plain A4 envelopes, tucked inside newspapers, or shopping carriers, across the table to the strangers, trying so hard to look innocent. Daniel surreptitiously snapped more video footage. Wilson also spent a lot of time with Morris too. Sam delved into their background, but had so far drawn a blank..
Having a light lunch, they were in good spirits, their bantering carried across the room where a middle aged woman sat watching them interact together. She beckoned to a waiter and asked him a few questions which he answered, bringing a warm smile to her lips. Replacing the empty cup on the table, she stood up and made her way over to stand beside Jack.
"Colonel Jack O'Neill?" she asked emphasising his rank, smiling at him.
Jack's head tilted up quickly and he looked hard at the fair haired woman. She was about 5'8" and had a tired face which told of a hard life. Her clothes were practical rather than fashionable, but still rather smart, and there was an aura of sadness about her. Jack knew she seemed familiar. He searched his memory, trying to think who she was before realisation dawned.
"God......Jenny?" When she nodded, he stood up quickly and they embraced warmly, clinging together for some minutes.
"It's good to see you again Jack."
"Yeah.....you too." He stood back at arm's length, keeping his hands on her shoulders, studying her face. "What brings you here?"
"Ahem......" Daniel brought their attention back, waiting for an introduction.
"Sorry kids." He pulled up another chair and motioned for Jenny to sit down. "This is Jenny. We......er.....we worked together for a while, a very long time ago. This is Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and that's Murray." Jenny nodded at the others as Jack ran through their names, introducing them..
"You seem to have a good team here Jack. I'm glad. I can see you all get on well together."
"Yeah........well as far as it goes, they're okay I s'pose." Two indignant gasps from his team and a raised eyebrow were the only reply he got, before he laughingly added, "They're the best really Jenny. We're like.....family."
"What brings you here then? Work?" She enquired. "Or shouldn't I ask?" she laughed.
"Yes and no........I'm taking part in this skiing thing. My CO nominated me.........without my knowledge." he grinned.
"Really? My son is taking part too. I was going to surprise him, he doesn't know I'm here yet."
"Your son? You're married now then of course?"
"Um.....no Jack, I never married." she said quietly, hanging her head down to hide the pain behind her eyes.
"Oh. Sorry....Sooo.....your son is in the Services then?" He tried to gloss over her embarrassment.
"That's right Stephen. He joined the Air Force straight from school. He's a Captain now. Maybe you know him. Captain Stephen Wilson. He works over at Nellis."
The four members of SG-1 went quiet. Jack took the initiative.
"I've only vaguely heard of him, because he's racing the same course as I am.."
Jenny seemed quite satisfied now, and smiled. Thankful he hadn't probed further.
"Where do you work now Jack, or is that classified?"
"Actually I work in Cheyenne Mountain."
"I expect you're married now with kids too? I bet you made a great Father."
"Ah...I was, and I did have a Son but.....he.....he died, some years ago." he brushed lightly over that painful chapter of his life, and he averted his eyes for a minute, but she still caught the deep pain behind them.
"Oh God Jack......I'm sorry......I never......" she stammered unsure what to say.
"Sokay." he shrugged and changed the subject again. "Where do you live these days? What have you been up to all this time."
They continued to reminisce for a while, Jenny laughingly telling the others what life was like in the Air Force when they were both younger. Jenny suddenly looked at her watch, shocked at how much time they had spent chatting. Unknown to them, they were being observed by Morris who watched with undisguised hatred in his eyes, as he took in the easy manner in which Jack and Jenny conversed.
"You know I really must go and find Stephen. It's been so good to see you again. Thanks for everything Jack." She stood up and he followed suit, she leant forward and kissed him on the cheek, before hugging each other again. "You're a good man Jack, take care of yourself. Good luck in the race." She walked towards the exit, Jack's eyes following her until she was out of sight. He thought over what Jenny had said and sat down again pensive. Daniel and Sam exchanged glances.
"Did I just assume wrongly, but was that our suspect's Mother?" Jack broke out of his reverie to respond.
"That's what the lady said, wasn't it?" He was puzzled as to why she'd never married when she left the Air Force. Making an excuse he got up from his table to leave, allowing the others to finish their meal, he never noticed one of the business men glance his way and turn quickly to talk about him, to the others. Captain Wilson, already looked scared, wondering how on earth his Mother knew O'Neill. He blustered his way out of the room, making haste, carefully avoiding SG-1 and Jack, whilst the other men quietly discussed the situation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack compiled his report on their findings and Daniel and Sam drove back to the base to hand over the report and video evidence to General Hammond. They didn't want to trust the postal services with such an important document. They kept a copy for themselves, Sam also downloaded it onto a disk from her laptop, and sent a copy by e.mail to the SGC too. Happy that they had accomplished their mission, they relaxed a little, enjoying the sunshine. Jack could now concentrate his efforts in practising for the competition, leaving Teal'c free for the afternoon to wander round the shops.
Jack raced down the mountain at breakneck speed, the cold air rushing by making the thrill of it more enjoyable. However he was totally unprepared for the sight which greeted him round the next bend. An abandoned toboggan lay slap bang in his path and he leapt clear of it, losing a ski and rolling over and over in the packed snow, slowing gradually to a stop. Several other rivals and race officials ran over to assess his injuries, and found him relatively unharmed, apart from a crack on the forehead where his loose ski thwacked him as he tumbled. He regained his dazed senses after only a few moments, and picked himself up shakily, insisting he was fine, just gotten a few bruises. The race organisers had other ideas though and he was ordered to the hospital for a check up and told to rest for the remainder of the day, before he would be allowed to continue skiing again tomorrow. He brushed the snow from his clothes and looked back up the mountain for the offending sledge, but it had mysteriously vanished in all the excitement.
Sam and Daniel rejoined them the next day and were shocked to see him sporting a couple of bruises to his forehead, and prised the story reluctantly from him, and the bits he omitted from the stoic Teal'c. Sam was worried that something wasn't quite right, it was bugging her, as to why both the mysterious man, who had stepped out in front of Jack escaped before anyone could question him, and now the toboggan that went missing from the scene of this latest incident. It was all too carefully arranged as far as she could see. Jack dismissed it as pure fantasy on her part, worrying unnecessary about him. He insisted he was fine, and no-one was about to 'jump out' at him. He told her to relax and enjoy herself. Tomorrow the first trial runs were to take place on Ajax. General Hammond had promised to be there, and he was bringing Janet and Cassie to help cheer him on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack, not the world's greatest sleeper at the best of times, couldn't settle down for a proper night's rest. He was too keyed up about the trials later that day, and the niggling doubts about the leaked information, that just wouldn't go away, thoughts of Jenny and her son. It all conspired against him and kept him from sleeping. Giving up he rose and had an early breakfast, he was out of the door before daylight had touched the snow covered streets, and any of the others had stirred. He had time to take just one last practice run down the mountain before they closed it off ready for the day's events. A habit he'd gotten into whilst they'd been there. The town was almost deserted as he made his way up to the chair lift. There were only one or two people about and he was content to put up with them, knowing they would be concentrating on the races too. Most of the skiers got off the lift lower down and only himself and three others got off at the top. They waved a greeting to him and he returned the gesture, before setting off to the start area.
Taking his time he stood, luxuriating in the morning glory, breathing in the fresh pine scented mountain air. It was beautiful and clear, the sun climbing higher now, peaking over the mountain's summit and chasing the shadows further down towards the valley. A light blue crystal clear sky, which he knew would deepen to a rich azure as the hours ticked by, gave promise of a glorious day to come. He smiled to himself, wondering what the rest of his team would think if they heard him talk like that. He had his reputation to think of, it would never do to let them see his real appreciation of such wonders.
He heard a commotion behind him, and turned round slightly annoyed that his fellow skiers should desecrate the peace and his concentration. He didn't see the blow coming straight at his face as he turned, and it left him struggling to stay upright on his skis. Another blow to his ribs doubled him over and had him gasping for breath. Then an earth-shattering blow to the back of his head, made the daylight recede as he crumpled insensible onto the hard packed snow. One of the three men then calmly stuffed a note in his jacket pocket before they pushed him down the steep slope, watching as he tumbled gracelessly downwards, coming to rest in a deeper patch of fresh snow. They took off after him, careful to avoid leaving any ski prints in the pristine snow around him, they carried on down the mountain slope at top speed, leaving him lying alone and hurt, and possibly undiscovered for some time, having disabled the chair lift first.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam walked into their private sitting room and found a brief note propped up against the bowl of fruit in the centre of the low table. It was from Jack..
Gone for a final run down Ajax, back about 08.00hrs, before Daniel's even awake. O'Neill.
Sam looked at her watch, it was 08.15 now, Daniel was stirring next door and Jack still hadn't returned. She went down to the lobby and across to the finish area of the run, but couldn't see him anywhere. Shrugging her jacket round her against the biting cold, she made her way over to the chair lift, only to find it wasn't working. She could see a few people skiing down the course and deduced it must have been working earlier, so she sat on one of the seats in the recently assembled stands to await her CO.
Daniel and Teal'c joined her about 40 minutes later, having been told by the door man where she was. She was getting desperately worried by now, almost all of the skiers she had seen were now at the bottom and there still no sign of Jack anywhere.
"He probably got delayed up at the start, Sam. I expect he'll be down any minute. You're sure he said this mountain, and not one of the others?"
"No Daniel, he said this mountain, and that he'd be back before you'd woken up." She checked her watch again. "That was over an hour and a half ago now. It doesn't take that long to ski down the mountain. Something's happened to him, I just know it."
"O'Neill approaches." Teal'c calmly stated, looking up at a point about 600 yards away.
They snapped their heads up and could see him making his way towards them. Sam studied him closely.
"Something is wrong, he's all hunched over, and......stiff........plus he's taking it way too slow."
When he finally reached the bottom, he saw them rush towards him, and straightened himself up a bit, wincing as it pulled on is sore ribs. He knew they would be anxious and start asking all sorts of questions as to why he was so late, and looking, he thought, like he'd had an argument with a tree.
"Sir?....." Sam got a good look at his face as he looked up grinning sheepishly, noticing the bruising around his jaw. His hat was missing and the grey hair around the back of his ear, was stiff with dried blood, some of which had run down his neck staining his collar. "What happened?"
Daniel and Teal'c rushed forward and grabbed his arms, just as he began to sink to the ground. He felt drained. Skiing down a three mile course on shaking knees was not his idea of fun, especially not with a monster headache.
"I'm fine, really.......just a bit of a mishap." he lied. He hated himself for not telling them the real reason, but he didn't want to worry them unnecessarily.
They helped him across to the Lodge and back up to the lounge. He was wet and frozen from lying in the snow for ages, so they wrapped him in the duvet from his bed, making him lie down on the sofa, and Sam made some hot coffee for him. As he cupped his hands around the mug and nestled into the warmth of the quilt, Sam cleaned the cut behind his ear. Soon the comfort and warmth he now felt, at last eased his shivering, and before long he found himself nodding off. Sam rescued the mug in time to stop the last drops from spilling and falling from his relaxed hands. They retreated to the other side of the room to discuss what could have happened.
Sam took his wet things and placed them over the chair in front of the open fire to dry. She noticed a piece of soaking wet paper stuffed roughly in his pocket and as she brushed the dirt from his jacket, she took it from it's resting place, thinking to dry it for him. She smoothed it out flat, and absently noted the now fuzzy writing on it, horror dawning as she read on. Daniel saw her reaction and asked her what it said. She carefully gave him the note and he read it incredulously.
'O'Neill.....if you continue to to poke your nose in where it's not wanted, you're going to find yourself in deeper trouble. Take this friendly gesture as a warning of what might come.'
"He lied to us....again........he said he had a mishap, when all along he must have been.....beaten instead. I can't believe he just did that. Why? Why would he do that again?"
"Shhhh Daniel please.......keep your voice down, you'll wake him. He's so tired. He probably thought he was protecting us."
Daniel was angry, he thought after the last fiasco over an undercover mission, Jack would have learnt that they could be trusted. He grabbed his jacket and left them, deciding to go for a walk to try and calm himself down. Sam tried to get him to come back, but he shrugged her hand off his arm and left. Sam just managing to stop the door from slamming.
She settled down to watch over Jack while Teal'c volunteered to follow Daniel and keep eye on him. The town was filling up now, spectators coming in from all over the country. Sam jumped when the door opened and to her surprise and relief, Janet and Cassie walked in, they'd left the General downstairs talking to an old friend of his that he'd met in the lobby.
Jack woke up immediately with a start. He checked his watch and let out a sigh, when he realised he still had plenty of time before it was his turn to ski the course. He sat up and winced slightly when Cassie greeted him by jumping on him in her enthusiasm.
Nothing got passed Janet as she noticed him flinch. She took Sam into the other room and asked why Jack was looking the worse for wear. After Sam explained, she grabbed her bag and marched up to him.
"Colonel, you have to let me see to those injuries Sir."
"It's nothing. I just had a.........."
"Sir....begging your pardon, but that was no accident." Sam braved the wrath she expected, as he looked up at her in surprise. She handed him the note, and could tell by his puzzled face it was the first time he'd seen it. I think you ought to let Janet take a look Sir."
He looked up at the two Majors and sagged visibly before their steady determined gaze. He threw his hands in the air, knowing he'd never win against the two of them.
"Okay then......you win. Do your worst Doc."
Sam took Cassie downstairs to the coffee lounge and bought her a hot chocolate drink loaded with cream, whilst Janet examined Jack.
Jack reluctantly lifted his shirt and Janet felt all round. He had several bruises which stood out starkly against his tanned body.
"I can't feel any broken ribs Colonel, but you do have a lot of bruising there, it's possible that one of them could be cracked though. You're lucky this time, and I can see that the cut on the back of your head's okay for now. How's the jaw?"
"It's okay, just a bit tender. Look I'm fine now. I just needed a rest. Look, I gotta get ready."
"Ready? For what Sir?"
"The race Doc......I'm due to start in a couple of hours."
"Sir I don't think you should be........."
"Nothing is gonna stop me from competing Doc. They or whoever it was, or is, are not dictating their wishes to me by threatening me. I'm fine.....really.." he stated adamantly.
Knowing that he hadn't accumulated any real damage, she relented.
"Okay Sir.......but don't say I didn't warn you." She gave him a couple of pain killers for the headache he said he didn't have, but she knew him well enough by now.
"It'll help with the aching jaw Sir." She countered, watching him swallow them dry, to make sure he took them. He got up and left her, to get changed.
Daniel returned with Teal'c, and Sam, Cassie and the General followed them into the lounge. Sam had already appraised the General on the day's events and he was genuinely worried. When Jack put in an appearance, the General took in the bruised jaw and moved off into a corner to talk with him. Daniel had calmed down a bit now and could see that Jack was trying to push off the attack by being blasé about it. He didn't have a chance to talk to him about it, but he would later. For now he had the race to watch, and although he was angry at Jack, he saw no reason not to wish him luck.
"Major Carter told me what happened Jack. We can leave here any time you want. Your job here is finished. We have all the evidence we need for a court martial against Wilson. You don't have to continue with this ploy any more."
"It's okay General. I'm fine really. I'd like to continue with the competition Sir if it's all the same to you. I was beginning to enjoy myself. Besides I have the other competitors worried."
"If you're sure you want to do this, then go ahead son. Just don't get yourself into any more trouble over it."
"No Sir. I'm just going to concentrate on winning for the SGC." he grinned.
"Off you go then Jack. See you at the finish. Good luck."
"Thank you Sir." He bid the others farewell and left to take his place at the start.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group of business men sat bundled up on the balcony of their hired house and watched the race with boredom, sipping their drinks and munching on snacks laid out on the table. Too many military types around for comfort as far as they were concerned. They monitored the race through a telescope set up for the purpose, seeing how the race progressed. Captain Wilson was also taking part in the race and was the Colonel's closest rival, they watched as he arrived at the finish. His time faster than a lot of the others, finishing in 3rd place so far, but there were others still to follow and he could be knocked off his position yet. They knew there was a second race in which Wilson had to compete before the winner was announced. The suited men occasionally glanced up the mountain to see what was happening, when a certain number on a ski suit caught the eye of one man, and he called for the others to look.
"Number 23. Well if it isn't O'Neill. How come he's still racing. I thought you boys took care of him. Part of our bargain was to see that Wilson came in the top three. With O'Neill still in the running, the odds of him beating Wilson are too great.
"We did try to persuade him Boss, but he must be a lot tougher than he looks.."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack halted his downward descent in a big flourish of snow, as it sprayed from his skis. He tore off his goggles and looked up at the results board to see how well he'd done. He heard Sam somewhere behind him calling out and he turned and grinned at her when the results showed that he'd finished in 2nd place so far on the first run, pushing Wilson down into 4th place. That meant he'd have a pretty good chance of winning a medal if he could keep it up on the next run. He stepped out of his skis and walked over to the barrier where his friends were waiting excitedly. Sam forgot herself and threw her arms round his neck, giving him a big hug to congratulate him. Not that he minded, but he had to remind her the General was there watching too. She backed off hurriedly, embarrassed. Janet didn't care whether the General was watching or not, he deserves this, she thought, with all he'd been through today, so she hugged him too, and so did Cassie. General Hammond shook his hand and Teal'c nodded to him in his usual manner, actually smiling, and Daniel patted him on his back, genuinely pleased for him.
They made their way over to the cafe and sat around drinking coffee, and talking about the race. Unbeknown to them, they were being closely observed, the sun glinting off the lenses of a pair of binoculars high in the mountain, it's owner hidden by the trees. He allowed himself a feral grin and promised himself a satisfying outcome, to the race.
Before long Jack had to make a move again, for the second race of the day, to decide the winner. The others made their way back to the spectator stands to get a good place to watch from. They couldn't see all the race without the help of the huge screen which relayed the images via a satellite link, and they kept an eye open for Jack's turn. Cassie spotted him at the starting gate, keyed up and ready to let fly.
Captain Wilson had already finished and was lying in 1st place so far. Of his other nearest rivals one had fallen and the other had a particularly bad run, after nearly falling, effectively taking them out of the running for a medal. The only other person to come near to his time was at the gate about to start his run.
As the timer beeped, Jack launched himself as fast as he could out of the gate and quickly gathered speed down the mountain. He was going well and reached the spot where there were a few jumps to clear, he leapt over the first one, landing easily, and cleared the second one with no problems. He swept round the twists and turns, and knew he was making good time, he felt right, and the run down was just perfect. According to the clock he was 200ths of a minute up and gaining speed, against his rival for first place. He was about to rise up, ready to leap over the next jump when a deep burning pain in his chest threw him backwards off balance and he fell awkwardly, tumbling over and over in the icy snow, his limbs colliding painfully with the frozen ground. He felt himself hit the hard packed snow with a sickening crunch to his head, despite the protection of the helmet, and the blackness rushed in to claim his consciousness, while his limp form continued to roll and slide away from the course into the deeper snow at the edge and into the barrier, which stopped his progress altogether.
Back at the stands a cry of despair went up as the crowd watched every moment of his fall. Everyone stared at the screen with disbelief and sympathy as he lay unmoving whilst the officials rushed towards him, deeply concerned because he was so still. Six people could not believe their eyes as they watched in undisguised horror, at their friend's disastrous fall, wondering what had gone so wrong.
Janet was the first to move. She handed Cassie over to Sam to look after so that she and the General could find out where they were going to take him to recover. She had to get to him to see for herself how he was. The General, being a 'General', managed to get them up to the side of the mountain where the medics were working on Jack.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first medics on the scene could tell something was badly wrong when they got their first real look at Jack. One arm was twisted, lying at an odd angle from the rest of him, and apart from an obviously broken arm, they could see no outward signs of injury except a deep graze down the side of his face.. He was almost face down and unconscious, one of them felt for a pulse and was relieved to find a weak but steady one there, at least he was alive. They called for the stretcher and placed a cervical collar round his neck as a precaution, and with great attention to a possible spinal injury they rolled him over onto his back, careful not to cause any further damage to his arm.. It was then they could not fail to notice the snow beneath him was soaked with his blood and with growing disbelief they saw a bullet wound low down in his chest, which was bleeding profusely. The medic quickly grabbed a dressing and pressed it into the wound. He called for a helicopter to air lift Jack to the nearest hospital. They would have to stop the race until after he was safely on his way for emergency treatment.
Janet could see them busily working on him and she ran over to them, explaining who she was. The medic looked up at her and she could see he was shocked..
"Doctor.....he's been shot. He's got a bullet wound to the lower chest, and in the subsequent fall he sustained a broken arm and a head injury. His pulse is weak but steady but his breathing seems to be a little rapid. No outward signs of any further injuries Ma'am. We're waiting for the helicopter to air lift him to the hospital."
Janet and General Hammond could hardly believe what they were hearing. It was obvious now, that who ever had beaten him that morning had been out to get him. It never ceased to amaze Janet how many times he had avoided being killed outright. She bent over him and took his pulse again checking it for herself, satisfied that he was in no immediate danger.
The helicopter hovered overhead a few feet above the ground, enough to lift him into it without using the hoist. Janet was given a hand up into the craft and stayed beside him all the way, checking him over again for her own peace of mind. General Hammond watched them go before he went back to inform the others about what had taken place and tell them how he was. He eventually reached the stands and found his people waiting for him, desperate to know what happened and his condition.
They had watched everything on the big screen until the transmission was cut, and then it only showed the few remaining competitors milling around at the start waiting impatiently to begin their run, oblivious as to why they had to wait so long. The General made them leave the area and took them back to the Lodge to explain everything to them in private. At first they were surprised by his secretive attitude, but he knew they would be glad of the privacy afterwards.
"General? Why all the secrecy. How is the Colonel? Sir......he is all right isn't he?" Sam suddenly had thoughts that he wanted to tell them of her CO's demise in private, so they wouldn't have an audience to contend with.
"At the moment he's been air lifted to the hospital for emergency treatment. It seems that whoever threatened him this morning tried to make good their threat. Colonel O'Neill was shot as he took part in the race. As far as I know he's going to be all right. He was knocked unconscious in the fall and suffered a broken arm, but until they carry out some tests at the hospital, we don't know if he sustained any other injuries. Dr. Frasier is with him now and will stay until we can move him to the SGC. If you are all ready I suggest that we go along to see how he's doing."
He looked around at the stunned faces of his best team and sighed. Cassie was hugging Sam as if her life depended on it, and he realised just how upset she was. He couldn't begin to recall the number of times they had been in this position before. Sitting round, waiting for a team-mate to recover from being shot at, be it, bullets, spears, arrows, darts, rocks, or staff blasts, it was always the same. They were a team and as such they stuck together through thick and thin, and now was no exception. They all crowded into the General's car and made their way to the hospital.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The race continued, but no-one bettered his time and so Captain Wilson was declared the winner, his nearest rival a good 500th of a minute behind him. The NID would be celebrating in style tonight, as well as a few business men. Morris celebrated by himself, but watching closely as Wilson toasted his Mother, and they celebrated in style. Jenny was genuinely concerned about Jack, having seen him fall, and she promised herself to go visit him in the hospital if she was allowed. The real reason for Jack's fall had not been released to the public, so everyone believed it was as it appeared to be, just a bad fall.
However with evidence from Jack's team, the MP's soon swooped down on Captain Wilson and he disappeared from the scene. The business men also took flight and by the time the police arrived they had already gone. No one knew their whereabouts and the authorities issued APB's on them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Janet entered the small waiting room and was confronted by five anxious faces, all eager to know how Jack was. She turned her attention to her CO and made her report to him.
"We've taken scan's, MRI's and some X-rays, and these show he's suffered a fractured leg, as well as a fracture to his arm. The cracked rib from his earlier encounter, also gave way, thankfully it didn't puncture his lung. The worst injury was the bullet wound, it was fairly low down on the right side of his chest, luckily it missed his heart and all the major blood vessels. He has some nasty bruising just about everywhere, and a concussion from hitting his head, according to the scans there doesn't appear to be any brain damage, so all in all, he's been very lucky. I've seen worse injuries than those from a lesser skiing accident, let alone having been shot as well."
General Hammond was once again surprised how Jack just kept himself from getting killed. He must have more than the statutory nine lives of a cat. How he managed it was beyond anything he'd ever seen in all his years in the military. Cassie flew into Janet's arms.
"But Jack is going to be okay isn't he Mom?" she asked tearfully.
Janet crouched down and hugged her adopted daughter, brushing the tears from her cheeks.
"He's going to be just fine Cassie. As soon as I can arrange it, he'll be moved back to the SGC. For now though he's got to stay here, because he's too sick to move. You can visit him there. Okay sweetie?"
Cassie nodded, and was satisfied that what Janet had told her was the truth. She had grown very fond of Jack, she loved the others too, but Jack was her favourite, he was more like a child than a grown up, and he was fun to be with.
Sam and Daniel asked the question that Janet knew wouldn't be long in coming..
"Can we sit with him?"
"He won't be awake for some time, he's still under the anaesthetic for now........."
"Please Janet." begged Daniel and Sam together.
"Okay.....but as I said he'll be asleep for a while yet."
"Thanks." they chorused.
General Hammond volunteered to take Cassie back to his house to be with Tessa and Kayla. Teal'c elected to stay at the Lodge. Janet said goodbye to Cassie and the General promising to keep him up to date with Jack's progress, then she took Sam and Daniel to the small private room where Jack was.
He was wired up to several monitors, laying pale against the sheets. His plastered arm propped on a pillow and his broken leg elevated in traction. His chest bare except for the attached wires and the dressing covering the bullet wound. The earlier injury to his jaw looking if anything, angrier now, together with the new ugly graze down the side of his face, half hidden by the ventilator.
Sam and Daniel took the chairs from against the wall and brought them up to the bed, sitting on them to keep vigil over their friend, looking lost among the myriad of tubes and wires surrounding him. Sam wanted to hold his hand, so that he would feel they were there, watching over him, but the plaster cast covered most of one hand and the other was supporting the IV needle. She had to content herself with hoping he knew they would be there, just like they always were when any of them were in this position. She hated to see him like this, weak, vulnerable, dependant on others, normally he was so strong and vibrant, someone they could rely on for help and support. Now he needed their support.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The incessant, rhythmic beeping echoed loudly through his head. So slowly, gradually, other sounds joined it until he realised he was in the infirmary.......could that be right? he wondered. How could he be, he was skiing in Aspen, all the team were there. What the hell happened, and why was he in here again?
His frown deepened, and Daniel sitting beside him watched as Jack's facial expressions flickered with puzzlement. Janet approached his bed and together they waited for the moment her patient finally awoke. Barely a minute had past before they were rewarded with fluttering eyelids and a steady if somewhat sleepy brown eyed gaze took in the strange ceiling and it's surroundings. After soothing him for a moment while he gathered his thoughts, she removed the ventilator, offering him a drink to take away the residual soreness.
"Colonel? It's good to see you're with us again. How are you feeling?"
"Doc? Where am I? What the hell happened?"
"You were skiing in the race Sir, when you were shot.....You're in the General Hospital in Aspen. Do you remember anything?"
Jack racked his befuddled brain, trying to piece together the events.
"Oh Yeah.....I do now." he croaked, his throat still dry. "Thirsty."
"Here you are Sir." she held a straw to his lips and he sucked the refreshing cool water from it greedily. "Careful Sir......not too much, too quickly."
"Daniel, Carter, Teal'c?" he asked.
"I'm here Jack." Daniel peered at him from behind Janet. "Everyone's okay. We're all fine."
"Good." he settled back into the pillows again.
"You're doing just fine Colonel." she watched as his eyelids drooped again. "Go back to sleep Sir. You need to rest." He barely nodded, too tired to talk again. He was going to be okay, Doc was right there to make sure, and his team were all fine, now he could let go and give in to the pressing need to sleep once more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
General Hammond opened the large manila envelope and took out a wad of papers marked Top Secret. He opened the folder and saw he was looking at the preliminary report of the interrogation of Captain Wilson, plus a copy of his signed confession. The General sat back in his chair and reached for his cup of coffee, settling down to read what Wilson had to say. He swore he knew nothing about the incidents concerning Jack, swearing he had no part in the shooting of his main rival. He gave them a list of names and addresses and what exactly he had passed on. He readily admitted to passing on secrets, saying he was blackmailed into it, because of an incident many years ago which was not his fault. When they found out he was working at area 51, he had been pressured into divulging the deepest secrets of the base. He truly regretted the incidents in Aspen, and hoped that Colonel O'Neill would recover. However when interrogated further about his dealings with a certain disgraced Major Morris, he became agitated and refused to answer the questions.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and the General beckoned Sam to enter.
"Sir, Just before the Colonel's.....ah......'mishap', he asked me to investigate a possible link between Captain Wilson and Morris."
"And?"
"Well Sir. From what |'ve been able to find out so far, it's that Morris is Captain Wilson's Father."
"His Father? How? I thought the reports showed that Morris was still single?"
"Yes Sir, that's true. But Colonel O'Neill knew Morris a long time ago. Apparently he was court-martialled and drummed out of the service. He'd raped several of the women on the base. I think given Wilson's age and the Colonel's statement, it's obvious that at least one of his victims must have gotten pregnant." She knew it was Jenny, but wanted to see where everything was leading, before she stated categorically that Jenny was one of Morris' victims.
"I'm sorry......What has this to do with the Colonel? I don't see the connection?"
"Sir......Colonel O'Neill was responsible for getting Morris convicted. Morris said himself, in front of Daniel and I, that he would try and get his revenge on the Colonel. I'm just suggesting that it could have been Morris who shot Colonel O'Neill."
"This is getting more complicated by the hour. Major."
Janet knocked and entered the office and they both turned worried eyes on her.
"Dr. Frasier........how is Colonel O'Neill?"
"He's doing fine Sir. I should be able to transfer him back here the day after tomorrow." she smiled.
"He woke up briefly this afternoon, and appeared quite lucid. I've taken him off the ventilator, for now and he seems to be coping well. Given time, I expect him to make a full recovery Sir."
"That's good news Doctor. Thank you." Janet smiled, glad she had something good to tell the General. He may appear tough, and be a strict disciplinarian, but underneath that brash exterior, lay one of the most caring CO's she'd ever had the fortune to serve under. She turned and left Sam and the General to continue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The door of the hospital room opened and Jenny stood on the threshold, not wanting to intrude. Daniel looked round and immediately rose and met her. He took her elbow and gently guided her in further, making her sit down by Jack's bed.
"How is he doing?" she whispered.
"He's doing just fine. Dr. Frasier, the CMO of Cheyenne Mountain, says he can be moved onto the base tomorrow, all being well."
"You're a member of his team aren't you? Dr Jack..son?"
"Yeah....I'm Daniel."
"I hope you don't mind my being here, I just wanted to see how he was. I was terrified he'd been killed. Stephen said he'd been shot?"
"Ah....yeah. He'd been threatened beforehand, but he never let that stop him doing anything."
"Just the same as always. He never would take no for an answer. Did he explain to you...... about me?" She tentatively asked.
"No....no, Jack never said a word. He's like that, doesn't talk about personal things."
"Do you know, they've arrested Stephen for treason? He was doing so well until he met up with his father. That SOB led him astray, and now he's ruined Stephen's life, just like he ruined mine."
Jack stirred and she made touched his arm gently. He seemed to quieten again..
"Did he tell you he rescued me, back then, when we served together?"
Daniel sat quietly listening, letting her talk through the turmoil, he saw warring across her face.
"No, he didn't." he answered softly, not wishing to distract her.
"I.......I was raped one night in the grounds of the base, and Jack happened to be late back that night, so he caught the.........bastard at it. He was threatened with all sorts of nasty things, but he stood up for me. He was beaten you know, that SOB tried to beat him into silence, but Jack was too stubborn for his own good. He persuaded me to stand up against Morris too, by reporting him to the CIC. With both our testimonies he was court-martialled and thrown out of the Air Force." She fell silent for a moment, her eyes never leaving Jack's quiescent form. "Jack was immediately transferred to another base, and soon afterwards I resigned, I couldn't go on any longer, I couldn't cope with all the looks and comments. I had to leave anyway, I found out I was pregnant. My parents and I didn't believe in abortion, so that's when I had Stephen."
"Morris was the father right?"
She nodded, turning slightly so that Daniel caught a glimpse of tears staining her cheeks.
"I didn't tell Jack, I knew he'd be furious, and I didn't want him to do anything to ruin his career. He was a good officer then, and I bet he's just as good now." She looked at Daniel for confirmation. Daniel nodded, agreeing with her.
"The best, as far as I can tell........I'm not military you see, and we don't always agree over... things." he grinned.
"I'm sorry.......you shouldn't have let me ramble on. I don't know why I just told you all that. I just came in to see how he was.. Take care of him, he's a man in a million. I've never met another like him. He's unique among men.. He cares, though I don't think he'd like to hear me say that to anyone."
"I know he cares Jenny. That's what makes him the best friend I ever had. In his own unparalleled and individual way he cares deeply, 'though he'd never admit it."
Jenny stood up and moved closer to Daniel, hesitantly she kissed him, as she would have done her own son.
"Say goodbye to him for me Daniel. Please. Tell him I'm.......paying him back for his kindness."
She patted his shoulder and walked silently out of the door. Daniel watched sadly as the door closed behind her, wondering why life should pay such a kindly woman back with so much unhappiness in her life. He turned his eyes back to the still sleeping Jack, and now saw him as a young Sir Galahad, rescuing maidens in distress. It certainly didn't suit the tough macho image he had of him, but somehow deep down he knew it was in there somewhere.
It was a few hours later that Daniel saw his friend open his eyes again and look round.
"Jack Hi........How you doing?"
"Daniel?......you still here?" he asked grogily.
"Yeah........and I'm staying right here until Teal'c relieves me."
Jack tried to sit up a bit, but he gasped in agony, clutching his chest with his good arm, and cursing. Daniel raised the head of the bed a bit, making it easier for him to see more. Jack surveyed the damage to his body, grimacing as he took in the elevated leg, and his plastered arm. He gingerly felt around his face for the expected tenderness, cussing when he found it was still tender.
"You never could do anything by halves, could you Jack?"
Jack shrugged, but it ended up in a strangled moan as he pulled his abused ribs and sore chest.
"You just missed Jenny. You were asleep."
"Oh? She came here? Why didn't you wake me? Was she okay?"
"I think so.......she seemed very........sad. She said to tell you that she was paying you back for your kindness to her. Then she left. You know Stephen's father is Morris don't you?"
"Yeah I guessed as much from the other day."
"She said she didn't want to tell you, because you might have done yourself more harm than good in the long run. Career wise."
"Too right. I'd have killed him, if I could have gotten my hands on him at the time."
"That's why she never said anything."
"I'd have married her too if I'd known."
Daniel's eyes nearly started from their sockets at this confession.
"Married her?"
"Yeah. I liked Jenny.....a lot. We'd been dating for a while. I would have done anything to protect her." Daniel congratulated himself for being right. He knew there had to be more to Jack's greeting of her the other day. It 'looked' as if they were more than simply friends.
"What about Sara?"
"It was along time before I met Sara. Que sera sera!" Jack yawned deeply and immediately regretted it.
"Well I think life has just dealt Jenny another hard blow. She knows about Stephen and blames it all on Morris, saying he'd led him astray."
"Now why am I not I surprised about that. Evil bastard." Jack yawned again, and Daniel saw his eyelids drooping. "God.....I'm so damn tired........I can't stay awake......Sorry Daniel.....I.." He was asleep again before he could finish his sentence. Daniel smiled. He was content to know just a little bit more to the person inside Jack O'Neill, and he was pleased at what he saw. He was human after all, despite the tough exterior, inside he was a big softie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Captain Stephen Wilson looked at his Mother with deep remorse. He had let her down so badly. She had tears in her eyes as he tried to explain why he'd betrayed secrets about Jack and his team, and what they did below Cheyenne Mountain. He had discovered the truth between his Mother and O'Neill. She had told him about the dark secrets she had carried for years since before his birth. That his Father was a lying SOB who was nothing more than an overgrown bully. He truly regretted his actions and confessed to her, that it was because his Father had wanted information about SG-1, and threatened to expose to the Air Force, just who he really was. The assurance from his Mother did nothing to persuade him from thinking otherwise. He was afraid he would be thrown out of his chosen career. The one he'd wanted all his life, the one he'd wanted to make up for his Mother's failure. He admitted knowing that Jack was his Father's target, and that he'd planned on getting his revenge. He just hadn't realised how he intended to do it. Now he knew, and he informed the authorities of his Father's preconceived intention of killing O'Neill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack was moved to the SGC the next day. Janet had sedated him and he slept throughout the transfer, finally waking long after he'd been settled into the infirmary. His team were all there, waiting for him to rouse. He grinned up at them.
"Hi kids. I'm still here."
"Sir.....Hi."
"It is good to see you back O'Neill."
"Welcome back Jack."
"Good to see you back again Colonel." General Hammond announced, walking in the door. His grim face belying his words.
"General........I'm sorry I didn't get to win the race for you Sir....But I kinda got waylaid."
"Forget it Jack. It's not that important, however, YOU are!"
"Why the solemn face Sir? It's not that bad to have me back is it?" The General looked at the others gathered around the bed.
"People, I'd like a word in private with Colonel O'Neill, please." They filed out of the room reluctantly, puzzled, but not wanting to disobey an order..
The General looked at Jack lying, still sleepily, and pale against the pillows. He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but he felt it was his duty after he'd heard all about the Colonel's conversation before, from Daniel.
"Colonel.......It seems that Morris was arrested last night and moved to a high security area this morning."
"Glad to hear it!"
"No doubt you'll be pleased to note, that he was also killed by a single bullet to the head........"
Jack looked startled, and found it difficult to comprehend.
"We also have a written confession from Wilson, stating that it was Morris' intention to steel information about you and your team, not the SGC as originally thought. He wanted to get even with you. He hired a few business men to give you a hard time with the excuse of making sure you didn't win. He'd already decided to take you out. He's the one that shot you Jack. You must have really pissed him off all those years ago. But......as I said he was killed today."
"Who did it Sir..........." He asked softly, not really wanting to know. He already knew who it was, he just didn't want to think about it.
"I understand she was a friend of yours Jack..........Jennifer Wilson. Captain Wilson's Mother. She walked up to Morris and calmly shot him before the MP's could react. Then she........she turned the gun on herself and.....fired again. God.....I'm really sorry Jack......but you had to know sometime."
He nodded, not trusting his voice to speak clearly enough. His instincts had been right. Jenny had done it. That time when she told Daniel to say goodbye to him, he'd had an inkling it's what she intended, but he was powerless to stop her in his condition. He knew she would have done it despite anything he could have said or done. She was past caring.
"I'll leave you now son. You going to be all right?"
"Yes Sir." he answered in a strangled sob. His hand pressing hard against his forehead to try and stop the pain from burgeoning there.
The General patted his shoulder, offering his sympathy, then turned and walked from the room, quietly closing the door behind him. He made the rest of the team go to the commissary for a meal, issuing orders that they were to leave Jack alone with his grief until later. They had to give him some time alone to come to terms with the news. Only later would they have to rally round him and bring him back to them, making him whole again, back to being one of the team again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was three months later when Jack attended a hearing for the charge of treason of Captain Wilson. He sat and watched the proceedings with interest, seeing what would happen with the latest testimonial in favour of turning States Evidence. He was relieved when they returned with a verdict of 'Not Guilty,' but still required disciplinary action against him. Jack was pleased at the outcome. The Captain, now a 1st.Lieutenant again, had spoken to him on several occasions when he'd visited him in prison. He actually liked the boy, but then perhaps he was biased.
Several months later a new batch of recruits entered the hallowed halls of the SGC and were put through their paces by SG-1. Jack and his team gave them all a hard time, but eventually they won out, and were enlisted into other SG teams. Jack was especially proud of one, who would be joining SG-12. Giving him a new start in life, and with someone who would look after his interests near by to keep watch over him. The newest member of the SGC, was one 1st..Lieutenant Stephen Wilson, who looked on his new sponsor with something akin to hero worship. The last link with his Mother. The man who gave him a second chance at life in the Air Force. One, Colonel Jack O'Neill.
Author's Notes: I don't know Aspen, Colorado, so please forgive me, if I got any of my facts wrong. Hell I'd love to go visit, but I'm UK based and there isn't much chance of it happening this side of Armageddon. So until such time, I have to make do with information off the Internet. I don't know if there is such a competition in existence, if there is......well, you just got some publicity.....free. Thanks to my sister Min, who lived in Beverly Hills for 5 years and helps me with some of the little details in my stories.
© December, 2002 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.