• Spoilers: The story contains references to the episode Secrets.
• After the episode Secrets, Jack is still not happy with the accident answer in the case of Armin Zelig's death. He is given the chance to search for the truth along with finding out who leaked the Stargate information to him. This story contains an original character.
• PG-13 [D]

It had been several days since the sudden, accidental death of Armin Zelig, but Jack O'Neill couldn't get the sound or the sight of Armin dying in his arms out of his mind. Nor could he get out of his mind the idea that Armin had died believing that Jack had been responsible for his death. General Hammond had been adamant that it was an accident, but he had known that Jack was having a difficult time accepting it. This was the reason Hammond had now called him to his office.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

Hammond looked up from the paper he was reading. "Yes Colonel. Come in and sit down."

Jack came into the General's small office and took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of Hammond's desk.

"You look terrible, Colonel," Hammond remarked.

"Well Sir, I guess I haven't been sleeping very much."

"Armin Zelig?"

Jack sighed deeply and nodded.

"I figured as much." Hammond took the paper he had been reading and passed it across his desk to Jack. "I can tell you there is an official investigation into our leak and into Zelig's death, but I don't think that's going to satisfy you, is it?"

"Sir, if you say..."

"Jack I can't officially suggest this, but that piece of paper you're holding can help you find the answers you need so you can go on from here."

Jack read, "Vice Admiral Harriman Burns?"

"Retired."

"But sir, how can a retired Admiral help?"

"Ever heard of Team One?"

"Yes sir. Team One was supposed to be the ultimate investigative unit of the military. It's members were drawn from all branches of the service. They were on call to anyone who needed a covert investigation. One of my guys tried to get in, but his security clearance wouldn't pass their muster. They've been disbanded now, haven't they General?"

"Harriman Burns was their commander. When he retired, they retired the unit. I don't know why, but you can ask Burns if you decide to call him. He's an old friend of mine. I talked to him last night and told him you might be calling him."

"Sir, did you tell him why?"

Hammond shook his head. "No. If you call him it'll be your decision as to how much information he needs to know."

Jack stood. "Thank you sir."

Before he could walk out of the office Hammond added, "Colonel, we didn't have this conversation."

Jack looked back and smiled, "What conversation, sir?"

***

Quinn Masters was scowling at a television remote control. She had the back off of it and was slowly removing the small computer board inside. Once that was out she laid it on a small static free mat, picked up a cigarette and lit it. Making a face, she put the lit cigarette in the clean ash try in front of her. "Blech!" Then she picked up the small computer board again.

"Quinn."

"Yes Jonathan."

"Admiral Burns is here to see you along with four other people."

Quinn looked up from the board and smiled. She knew what was coming next. "Do we know the other four people Admiral Burns wants to see?"

There was silence for a moment and then Quinn heard what could have been a sigh. "Admiral Burns is here along with four other people to see you."

"Gotta watch out for those dangling participles Jonathan."

"Yes Quinn."

"Do we know why Admiral Burns wants to see me?"

A different, older voice joined in the conversation. "It's a military matter Quinn. Have Jonathan open the door."

"Turned the two-way on Jonathan?"

"Sorry Quinn -- my mistake."

"Well let's not compound it then. Let the Admiral and his four friends in."

Admiral Harriman Burns was a very dignified, elderly gentleman who still held the good looks that had made him one of the Navy's most dashing young fighter pilots in his youth. Brave of heart, and strong of will had proved him in good stead and he had risen fast through the ranks. Being a Ring Knocker had also helped. He led Colonel Jack O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c through the maze of hallways and rooms that made up Murphy's Folly. He talked as he led, "Back in the 1800s at the height of the gold rush an Irish immigrant named Sean Murphy made his fortune. He had always dreamed of living in a castle, so he went back to Ireland and bought this one. Then he spent the majority of his money having it shipped over here stone by stone and rebuilt. He lived in it until his dying day and then left it to the State of Colorado."

"Quinn bought it from them about 12 years ago. The State couldn't afford it's upkeep anymore and had put it on the block. Ah, here we are."

He brought them into a large, rectangular room with a long refectory table in the middle. There was only one occupant. All SG1 could see was the top of a small head covered in a cap of curly reddish brown hair.

"Quinn."

The head moved and a face appeared. Jack O'Neill thought it was a nice face and way too young to belong to the person Admiral Burns said had been the leader of Team One.

Admiral Burns seemed to read Jack's thoughts. "She's older than she looks Colonel."

"Ah, yes sir."

Quinn Masters did look a lot younger than her years. This was one of the things that had made her so successful at her job for the Navy. No one ever expected her to be the leader of the infamous Team One. That and the smile. It was as if someone had told a really good joke when she was born and she was still laughing at it.

"Admiral, it's nice of you to drop by. How's retirement?"

Admiral Burns took a seat on Quinn's right and indicated that SG1 should take seats also. "Everything Elizabeth wants it to be. You know her, she just wanted to have time to get to know the grand kids before we both keel over and die."

"Admiral," Quinn admonished, "you will never die. You're too 'onery and Elizabeth is too good. You know, how she ever ended up with you was always a mystery to me."

Admiral Burns smiled. "Me too Quinn. Me too."

Quinn raised her left hand and touched her ear and Jack noticed that she was wearing a small receiver.

"Yeah Ma. What's up?"

"Your mother's here?" asked Jack.

"Not exactly," Quinn answered. "Would you guys like some lemonade?"

"Uh sure." Carter looked around for a microphone but couldn't spot anything.

"Yeah lemonade would be fine," said Quinn. Quinn was listening again. "How about lunch? Are you guys hungry?"

"No Quinn, I don't think lunch is called for," Admiral Burns answered.

"No Ma, no lunch ... cookies ... chocolate walnut cookies ... sure whatever." Quinn shuddered. "Lemonade and chocolate cookies, yummy." She shuddered again.

The cigarette that Quinn had let burn in the ash try went out and Quinn reached over and lit up another one. Jack made a face. "I know this is your house, but is that necessary?"

Quinn puffed on the cigarette to get it going and laid it in the ash try. "Yep."

"Quinn, what's with Jonathan. It isn't like him to make errors," Burns asked.

"Oh yeah. Well he's trying to sound more human. He's got it in his head that he was too machine like."

"Jonathan's a ..." began Carter.

"A computer. He kind of runs things around here."

"A computer. AI?" Excitement tinged Carter's voice.

"Well as close to AI as I hope we ever get. He was an accident. I was working on a new computer design and a voice recognition program and got him instead. Sometimes I wish ..." Quinn never finished because someone came into the room.

The Reverend Mother Margaret Callahan was a short, plumpish woman whose face radiated serenity. She was carrying a large tray with a plate heaped high with cookies and a large pitcher of lemonade and several glasses on it.

"I heard Jonathan announce that you arrived. Quinn never remembers amenities like offering her guests refreshments." She set the tray down in the center of the table and then took a seat on Quinn's left. Quinn smiled at the Reverend Mother.

"Admiral Burns, it's good to see you again."

"Reverend Mother." Burns pointed to the TV remote control that Quinn was working on. "Yours?"

The Reverend Mother looked a little embarrassed. "Well it just stopped working one day."

"The Reverend Mother has a temper," Quinn explained. "When she gets angry or frustrated she likes to throw inanimate objects at inanimate objects."

"Quinn, are you working on anything really delicate right now?" Reverend Mother asked sweetly.

Quinn didn't look up from what she was doing but paused for a moment. "Ah yes. Actually I am."

"Could you stop for a moment?"

Quinn lifted her hands from the computer board and held them out in front of her. Reverend Mother Margaret Callahan reached over and slapped Quinn on the back of the head. Quinn flinched slightly and smiled. "The only person she ever hits is me." Quinn began putting the remote control back together again finished with working on the small computer board.

"Well you deserve it."

Quinn glanced up at Jack and winked. "Yes ma'am. I certainly do. Admiral, could you hand me that package of batteries?" Quinn put two batteries in the remote and handed it to the Reverend Mother. "It should work now. Next time though. Before you throw it, check the batteries. The ones that were in there were dead."

The Reverend Mother looked like she was going to slap Quinn again and she flinched waiting for it, but it never came. Reverend Mother took the remote and put it somewhere in the voluminous folds of her habit. Then she reached over and took the cigarette from Quinn who had just picked it up. She put it out in the ash tray and took the pack and the matches and hid them in her habit.

"Quinn what have I told you about smoking?" she asked.

"Well you know ... it's kind of difficult to quit once you've started."

"Not if you really want to do so, Quinn."

"Yes Reverend Mother."

The Reverend Mother rose and the men of SG1 and Admiral Burns also rose to their feet. "I'm sure you don't want me hanging around here and I know that Admiral Burns must have something important to talk to with Quinn, so I'll be going now." To Quinn. "Eat at least one of those cookies. The kids worked hard on those. They really don't understand why you don't eat sweets."

"Yes ma'am. I will and thank the kids for me."

The Reverend Mother smiled down at Quinn and touched her lightly on the head, then nodded at the rest of them and left. Jack realized that this woman was really fond of the leader of the now defunct Team One and he wondered how someone with a reputation for being heartless could extract such fondness from someone like the Reverend Mother.

"You don't really smoke, do you?" asked Carter.

"Good god no. That stuffs bad for you."

"Then why?" asked Daniel.

Quinn smiled. "She thinks she's saving me. It makes her feel good. But I'm going to have to quit one of these days and then come up with something else for her to cure me from. She's already broken me of cursing and drinking. She knows I'd never run numbers or join a gang so I'm kind of limited."

"Sex?" suggested Daniel.

Quinn grinned, "I don't think there's a cure for that."

Daniel looked embarrassed and when he was he got flustered. "I ah meant, ah ..."

"I think we all know what you meant Daniel. I don't see the Commander here turning to prostitution either."

"Thank you ah ... who exactly are you guys anyway?" Quinn reached over and picked up a cookie. She took a small bite and chewed. "Not too bad. You guys ought to try them."

"Quinn, This is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c."

She locked eyes with each as Admiral Burns had introduced them. Teal'c held her gaze a moment longer than the rest. "Teal'c. Short, succinct, I like it. You're not from around here, are you?"

Jack snorted. "That's an understatement if I ever heard one."

"Colonel O'Neill has a problem. He's hoping you can help him with it. He needs your expertise."

Quinn began sorting through the tools that she had used on the TV remote, finally deciding on one, she picked it up and started dissecting the cookie that she had nibbled on. "I don't do that sort of thing any more Admiral." Finding a chunk of walnut she picked it up and popped it in her mouth. She looked up. "You know that."

"Quinn. It's important. It's for a friend," Burns explained.

"Colonel O'Neill is a friend of yours?"

"No, his commanding officer is."

"Oh. So this 'favor' is for a star?"

"Quinn you're being awfully argumentative today."

"I'm in the mood. Is the favor for the star or for the bird?"

"Quinn ..."

"I'm serious Admiral. After what they did to my team after you retired, I'm really not in the mood to be very cooperative with the military."

"That was ... expedient."

"I know expedient after doing what I did for so many years. I wasn't all that fond of expedient then and my feelings haven't changed now."

"The powers that be asked for my recommendation. They didn't like what I gave them or the reasons why. They thought it was better for everyone all around to do it the way they did."

"Better for them, you mean."

"Commander ... Admiral. With all due respect sir, is this getting us anywhere?" Jack turned to Admiral Burns. "General Hammond said you could help. You brought us here. It doesn't sound like the Commander here is willing. Is there anyone else we can talk to?"

"Quinn will do it."

"I will?"

Admiral Burns turned to her and locked eyes. "Yes, you will. As a favor to my star."

Quinn and Burns stared at each other for a few moments and then she smiled. "Which one? First, second, or third?"

Burns returned the smile. "First I think. You were a lot less argumentative then."

"Aw Admiral. You enjoyed it and you know it."

"Me and my ulcer."

"So what's a colonel, a captain, a doctor, and a Teal'c need from me?" asked Quinn looking pointedly at Jack.

Jack sighed and looked somewhat relieved now that everything seemed to be back on track. "We need you to investigate an information leak and a possible murder ... and it's classified."

"Isn't everything?"

"Not really," replied Jack.

"Are you sure?"

"Quinn." Burns interrupted. "Colonel, you see what I had to put up with?"

"Actually, she sounds a lot like Jack," put in Daniel.

Both Quinn and Jack turned to stare at Daniel. Daniel returned the stare. However he wasn't really any match for the two of them and finally he dropped his gaze. "Sorry."

Quinn started laughing and the humor she saw in the moment became contagious and Jack started chuckling also, as well as Carter and the Admiral. This seemed to embarrass Daniel, but it soon passed and he began laughing with the rest of them.

When the laughter started to die down, Quinn turned once more to Jack. "Alright Colonel, you've got your investigator. Now tell me all about it."

Several hours later, the lemonade was gone as well as all the cookies. At first she balked at what she was being told, but SG1 finally convinced her that they had been traveling to distant planets, fighting Goa'uld, and discovering that some of the planets out there had been populated with people from earth. It was a lot to take in, in such a short amount of time. Jack gave Quinn credit though. She knew the right questions to ask to get the answers she needed.

"Well Commander. What do you think?"

"Quinn. Call me Quinn. I'm not a Commander any longer. I'm retired."

"Okay," Jack responded. "What do you think?"

"Well you guys certainly have it over Asimov and Heinlein. Not to mention Steven Spielberg, Chris Carter, and George Lucas."

"Who are Asimov and Heinlein?" asked Teal'c.

"Science fiction writers Teal'c. They wrote stories about the future. And Spielberg and Lucas made movies about aliens," answered Daniel.

"Chris Carter?"

"He's made a TV show called The X-Files about two FBI agents looking into alien abductions and stuff. I don't think you'd like it Teal'c. They make the aliens look like bad guys."

Teal'c's left eyebrow elevated as he digested this new piece of information.

Quinn grinned slightly at Teal'c's reaction and shook her head. "It's all rather fantastical Colonel. Now tell me, you don't think it's anyone at your facility, but you've got all sorts of other places where this leak could have come from. How do you suppose you've managed to keep this a secret this long?"

"Everyone at the SGC knows how important this project is and what it could mean if it ever became public knowledge. The Air Force has managed to debunk all the stories about Area 51 for 50 years and the political involvement ... well, there have been numerous covert ops that have remained secrets for longer than we've been in existence."

"Granted, but you've mentioned that there might be corporate influences here. Wherever there are corporations involved, there's theft of information. All I can say is you guys are damn lucky that you've kept it quiet as long as you have." Quinn turned to the Admiral who had been sitting quietly listening to everything for the past two hours. "God Admiral, this is bigger than Balthazar and there are a ton more people involved here."

"I know Quinn. But you went through Balthazar in less than a week and by yourself without your team. I know you can handle this."

"By myself?"

"Balthazar?" queried Jack.

"Your security clearance isn't high enough Colonel," Quinn answered.

"I have an SC3."

"Not high enough Colonel. I repeat -- by myself? I need my team."

"Sorry Quinn, not an option."

"Admiral, you're asking me to investigate not only a security leak that involves 100s of people, but a possible murder as well. By ... My ... Self. It's impossible. I need a team."

"Uh Jack, why couldn't we help," Daniel ventured.

"Daniel, this investigation is off the record. We're not even supposed to be here," Jack explained.

"Well I've got vacation time. I could take that. No one would know what I was really doing."

"Colonel, Daniel has a point. We've promised to take Teal'c out several times, show him around. We could all take leave and use that for the excuse," suggested Carter.

Quinn looked at each member of SG1. "We're talking about a possible murder and cover up and a security leak that could reach as high as Capitol Hill. This isn't going to be any walk in the park. It's going to be dangerous."

"Dangerous Commander?"

"Quinn."

"Dangerous. Try having all of your atoms broken down and put together again somewhere else."

Quinn grinned. "Nice try. But you're a little off on the quote. I think it's ..."

"Quinn."

"Okay Admiral. I could use them. There's going to be a lot of leg work involved in this, a lot of computer time, and some old fashioned breaking and entering."

"Breaking and entering? That's against the law," said Daniel.

"Of course it is. So is what I plan on doing with the computer, but that's what makes it so much fun." Quinn turned serious. "If you guys are in you have to realize that I'm in charge. You balk at even one order and I'm out of here. This is what I did for a living and I know what I'm doing and how to do it. Conscience isn't an option. Is that clear?"

"How about loyalty?" asked Jack.

"It depends on where you place you loyalties Colonel. If it begins to look like it was someone in your SGC and you don't want to believe it, I can't help you."

"Where do we start?"

"We start with you getting your leave."

***

"All four of you on leave for 30 days?" Hammond asked.

After they had left Murphy's Folly, SG1 went back to Cheyenne Mountain and filled out the paperwork requesting 30 days leave. Then they had requested a meeting with General Hammond.

"Yes sir," Jack answered. "We all realized that we had been promising Teal'c for some time now to take him out and show him the sights."

"All four of you?"

"Yes sir."

Hammond sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "And just what sights did you have in mind?"

Jack exchanged looks with the other members of his team and it was Daniel who spoke first. "Well General. We thought we'd start with the seat of our democracy ... our government as it were. Washington D.C. You know the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial ..."

" ... belt way traffic, Paramount Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens. You know. All the really educational things," Jack added. "Those things that will give him a better idea of what kind of people he's hooked himself up with."

Hammond smiled. "I see. And it will take all four of you 30 days to do this."

"Well you know Sir. Have you ever tried to see everything there is to see in D.C. in a week? I mean Carter lived there for what ..." Jack looked at her and she said, "Two years." Jack continued, "Two years and she didn't even get to see everything. Granted she was working on the Stargate project for the Pentagon at the time so she couldn't spend all of her time sight seeing, but still ..."

"Alright Colonel. I get the picture." Hammond picked up the team's leave papers and reread them through.

***

Four identical signatures later SG1 was getting their things together to meet with Quinn back at Murphy's Folly.

"Carter, did you get that list the Commander wanted?" asked Jack.

She patted her pocket. "Yes sir. Everyone who is assigned here and at Area 51 including Senator Kinsey and his staff."

"Good. Teal'c, no."

Teal'c had walked into the locker room carrying a zat gun. "You can't take that with you."

"O'Neill it is easy to conceal. No one will notice."

"Teal'c, we're going sight seeing and the marines inventory those things. If one comes up missing, we'll be called back here so fast your head will spin."

"I am not sure I understand what you mean. Why would my head spin?"

"Take my word for it Teal'c. No zat gun, no staff weapon. Nothing."

Teal'c's look was one of either disappointment or confusion. Jack really couldn't tell which sometimes.

"O'Neill. Commander Masters said this would be dangerous."

"Yes Teal'c I know. But we can pick up some more conventional weapons outside."

"Very well O'Neill. I shall return it."

When Teal'c left the room Jack shook his head. "You know that boy has really got to get out more often."

Carter and Daniel smiled. "What do you think we're doing Jack?" asked Daniel.

***

"Admiral, did you update your General friend?"

Admiral Burns had walked back into the dining room after making a telephone call to General Hammond to let him things were going well.

"Yes. Officially he doesn't know what you and his people are up to. Unofficially, he'll give you all the help you need."

Quinn picked up the barrel of the Glock she was cleaning and looked through it. Satisfied that it was clean, she snapped it back into place. "He sounds like he might be a good man."

"He is. Believe me. He has the same kind of relationship with Colonel O'Neill and his team as I had with you and yours." Admiral Burns sat down opposite Quinn at the table. "Look, I pulled a few strings and got Prochek, Miller, and Bain back into N.I.D." he said quietly.

Quinn looked up from the Glock and gave the Admiral a wistful smile. "I know Admiral. I appreciate it and I know they do too."

"You've talked to them?"

"Yeah, right after their new orders came down. They called to let me know. It's not the same as Team One, but it's better than what they were doing."

She went back to inspecting the Glock and the Admiral watched for a few moments.

"Quinn what's up?"

"What do you mean Admiral?"

"I know you. Something's bothering you. What is it?"

Quinn set the Glock down on the cleaning pad. One deep breathe later ...

"I don't know these guys Admiral. I don't know what they can or can't do. All I know is that I'm taking them into what could possibly be a dangerous situation. They are going to be my responsibility and it worries me."

"I figured." Admiral Burns leaned over and placed the brief case he had carried onto the table. Opening it, he extracted four folders and passed them to Quinn. "Here are their jackets. I think you'll find that you can trust them to do whatever you need done and to do it well."

Quinn grinned at the Admiral before she took the folders. She shook her head. "Damn, you had this planned from the start didn't you? You knew they'd volunteer to come along and came prepared."

"I thought the Reverend Mother broke you from swearing."

"She thinks I smoke and that I was close to being an alcoholic once too." She grinned at the Admiral, took the folders from him, and started to read.

A couple of minutes later Jonathan announced, "She's coming."

Quinn dropped O'Neill's folder and scrambled to cover the Glock and her cleaning supplies with a cloth, but her actions weren't quick enough.

"Quinn!"

"Jonathan!"

"Don't yell at Jonathan. It wasn't his fault. I know where you have those sensor things put. I just avoid them."

"You missed one," Jonathan said.

"I'll find it next time."

"Reverend Mother. I put those there for a purpose," Quinn explained.

"I know. To make sure the kids don't get into certain areas of this place and that if they do, you can get to them before they get into any trouble," Reverend Mother said, "but I'm not one of the kids."

"Geez Louise."

"Quinn!"

"That's not cursing. It's ... it's frustration."

"You might have well as said a curse word. It's the same thing."

Quinn dropped her face to her hands and her shoulders started to shake. The Reverend Mother's stern look changed to one of concern and she rushed to place a hand on Quinn's shoulder. "Quinn?"

"I'm not crying Reverend Mother, I'm laughing. You are so ... so ..."

"So what?" asked the Reverend Mother.

"I don't know! Exasperating!"

Reverend Mother sat down next to Quinn and quite innocently said, "I took a class once."

Quinn looked at the Admiral who was grinning at the exchange between herself and the Reverend Mother. "Now you know how I felt dealing with you," he said.

She raised her face and looked up at the ceiling and implored, "God, give me strength."

"He will. Now are you going to explain why you have that pistol out here?"

"Reverend Mother you know there are some things I can't tell you. This is one of them."

"Alright, but does this mean you'll be leaving?"

Quinn nodded, "For awhile. I don't know how long, but I will be back."

"Of course you will. God has his eye on you."

"Oh I hope so Reverend Mother, I hope so."

***

Three hours later, SG1 had returned, Quinn had had time to read their jackets and the opinion she had formed while reading them was that they would do if she couldn't have her team back. She was impressed with O'Neill's jacket. Eleven years in Special Forces, then three years on the Stargate project. She noted the incident with his son and wondered if that is what kept him going in the SGC. Some men hide in dangerous work after tragedies like the one he had gone through.

She'd laid her worries to rest and finished the meal that the kids had made for her. She could only eat part of it. The kids would never understand that she didn't eat anything that used to have a face, so they always served her some meat. However, they did put lots of vegetables, fruit, and cheese on the table as well.

Now, the table cleared of the meal and the kids off doing homework with the Reverend Mother's help she and SG1 were holding a strategy meeting in the dining room.

"The first thing you have to understand is that an investigation such as this is incredibly intrusive. If you have a problem with that, you need to put it aside. By the time we're done, we're going to know practically everything there is to know about everyone you work with ... including yourselves and your General."

"General Hammond isn't the one," said Daniel.

"No one, Dr. Jackson, is above suspicion. Like I said, you four are even on my hit list."

"Hit list?" asked Teal'c.

Quinn looked at Jack who smiled at her. "Teal'c hasn't learned all of our colloquialisms yet."

"Oh." She turned to Teal'c. "It means that everyone is suspect Teal'c, even you."

"I see."

"Continuing. Right now Jonathan's crunching those names you gave me. He's checking all financial records, phone records, and military and civilian records for every name on there. I entered into his database certain key elements that he is to look for. If he finds anything unusual he'll tell us. Then the footwork starts. We're going to fly out to D.C. tomorrow and start looking into Zelig's history. He had to leave some kind of trail. Everyone does no matter how hard they try not to do so. I just hope that your official investigation doesn't get in our way or mess up any evidence.

"It's not going to be a walk in the park either. It's been two weeks since the hit and run. A lot of evidence is going to have been scattered by now or, if there was any to find, the Metro Police should have found it already."

"Will we be able to find out what they know or don't know?" asked Carter.

Quinn nodded. "Everything they know, we'll soon know Captain. They are the least of the problems. If the hit and run wasn't an accident, then it may be that someone high up arranged for it to happen. And they aren't going to like us digging around in their backyard. Now if we do this right, they won't even know. But there is always a chance that they are going to get wind of it. Are you prepared for that? They can't do much to me; but Colonel, you and the Captain still have your careers to worry about and all four of you have your work on the Stargate to think about."

Jack looked around at his team and they all nodded their heads. "Commander, we've talked about that. What we're doing is very important to us ... to me. We'll follow through no matter what happens."

"Quinn. What is it going to take to get you to call me Quinn?"

Jack smiled, "An act of Congress maybe?"

"Well that was easy. They accepted my retirement so that they could get rid of me. Does that qualify?"

"I'll think about it."

"Commander, just off the top of your head. Who do you think would gain by leaking this story?" asked Carter.

"There are all sorts of reasons for people to commit high treason, and that's what this would be. Money being the most persuasive. You've got one real major problem that I see right now. Someone leaked this, for whatever reason. They know what's happened. They know Zelig was killed before he could publish. If it was for money, then the person who did it is probably satisfied with what they got. But if this was for control or power over the Stargate, then your looking to see the leak pop up again. Another reporter is going to get the story. So the sooner we get this over with, the better it is for you and your project."

"Damn, I never thought of that," said Jack.

"Well that's what you're paying me for Colonel."

"Look, I've still got some preparations to do. Why don't you all get a good night's rest. It might be the last one you get for awhile."

"Can we explore?" asked Daniel.

"You mean Murphy's Folly. Sure, be my guest. Let me get you one of the kids though. A person could get lost in here if they don't know where they're going or where they've been."

Quinn arranged for one of the older kids to take SG1 on a tour of the castle. Then she took her kit bag and started going through it piece by piece to make sure everything was in perfect working order. She had everything laid out on the table when Jonathan spoke again. "Colonel O'Neill is on his way in."

Quinn looked up from what she was doing. "Thank you Jonathan. Oh and Jonathan?"

"Yes Quinn."

"Remind me to move the sensors."

"Sensors?" O'Neill asked when he entered the room.

"Yeah, I've got a kind of motion detector set around the place. They let me know if any of the kids are going into unauthorized areas. Things like that."

"Good idea," Jack replied. Motioning with his hand at all the items Quinn had out on the table he asked, "What's all this stuff?"

"Just my kit. I'm checking to make sure everything is here and working. Don't want any surprises when we get to D.C. tomorrow."

Jack wandered up to the table and picked up a small zipped pouch. "Lock picks?"

Quinn took it from him and opened it up. "Tracking. Kind of like a Low Jack, but a bit smaller and a little more range." She handed it back to him.

Jack zipped it back up and placed it back on the table. "What happened Commander? What happened to Team One?"

Quinn paused in what she was doing. She looked into Jack's eyes. "You heard Colonel. Political expediency."

Jack sat down at the table. He didn't say anything, just waited. Finally Quinn joined him. "I wasn't trusted with the team when Admiral Burns retired. I'd gotten a bad rep from a couple of incidents and the politicals involved in some of those things are still pretty powerful on the Hill.

"Admiral Burns recommended that a protege of his, a Navy one star take his place. However, the only reason the team survived as long as it did was because of Burns and the control and influence he had when he was active duty. With him retiring, the powers that be could do anything they wanted with the team ... including taking command of it away from me and putting in one of their own lackeys. They knew that I wouldn't put up with that or that the members of the team wouldn't. We gave them what they wanted. I retired as well as any of the other members of the team that could. The rest stayed in the military to get their years in. They got shit postings as a kind of punishment. Admiral Burns managed to get them put back into investigation by pulling a couple of strings ... calling in a few favors. I'm just hoping that they can hold on until they get their years in and they don't reach the wall and have to get out early. None of them have been promoted in the two years since we've disbanded. And Miller had his points when all this happened."

"Are you sure you want to do this then? You might be going up against some of the same people."

The smile Quinn showed to Jack was deadly. "I know I will Colonel. Senator Kinsey was one of the ones who wanted me out."

***

Part of Jack reeled at this announcement from Quinn, but he was able to keep it out of his face or his body movements. He remembered earlier in the day while he and the rest of his team were telling Quinn about the Stargate and what had brought he and Carter to Washington D.C. in the first place. They had told Quinn about Kinsey and how he had tried to shut down the Stargate Project. How he had, in fact, succeeded. But for SG1's precipitous jump through the Gate to the coordinates that Daniel had gotten, the Stargate Project might have been closed down for good. He tried to remember if Quinn had given any clue to knowing Kinsey then, but couldn't. She had seemed matter of fact about it.

"Kinsey?"

"Kinsey, Colonel. He was mostly responsible for what happened to me and my team. It's why I wasn't surprised when you told me that Kinsey wanted you shut down. It's like him."

"Damn. Tell me."

Quinn got up and wandered over to the fireplace and seemed to stare off into space for a few moments. Then she turned back to Jack.

"Three years ago we were asked to investigate why a particular pet project of General MacNabs had been shut down. Kinsey had just been put in charge of the subcommittee and one of the first things he did, was to start shutting down projects that he said he could see no future in. Projects that he said would bring no benefit to the military and were just a waste of taxpayer money.

"General MacNab had gone to the Hill to specifically get money for this small Mom and Pop design company. They had come up with a design for a new field communication unit, but needed funding to build it. They held patents on some of the components, but couldn't get one on the device itself until it was built and working. MacNab had seen a lot of potential for this company and the new unit. He was successful in getting them a small amount of money to build it.

"They had already done one field test on the unit that had resulted in frying out several of the components, but they knew they were on the right track and planned on a second field test as soon as they could rebuild and fix what they figured went wrong. Then the money stopped coming in."

"Kinsey stopped it?"

Quinn walked back and sat down opposite Jack again and nodded. "Needless to say General MacNab was livid. He went to Kinsey's office and demanded a full report. Why had Kinsey stopped the inflow of money to the project? These people had been so close and the unit would be better than the one currently in use.

"Kinsey's answer was that the military didn't really need a new field unit. The existing one worked fine in the field. He told MacNab his findings indicated that it was wasted money. He had been willing to let them go until the field test, but when it failed he pulled the plug. He said it was like taking a car that you'd just bought that wouldn't run, putting five dollars on the front seat and then pushing the car into a river."

"Throwing away good money after bad," Jack translated.

Quinn grinned. "Yeah. Kinsey's full of little homilies like that. It's why he's so good at convincing some people he's right. Anyway, General MacNab wasn't convinced that was the only reason so he called us in to look into it. Covertly of course, you don't want to anger the man who has his hands on the purse strings.

"We went in and started looking at it from a slightly different angle so Kinsey wouldn't know it was MacNab who brought us into it. What we found out was that Kinsey had closed down a lot of projects that he had said 'findings indicated that they weren't profitable or that their defense capabilities weren't needed'. We zeroed in on the 'findings' angle. Where was he getting his information from and was it reliable? If what we found out is any indication, and I personally don't think it's true, Kinsey doesn't have a mind of his own."

Jack looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"All of his information is gathered by his aides. That in itself isn't unusual, but all of his opinions are those given to him by those aids. He doesn't seem to do any of the thinking or opinion making on his own. He just takes their word for it."

"That doesn't sound like the Kinsey I met."

Quinn nodded. "I agree. And it's why we started digging deeper. We managed to find out that two of the projects that had been shut down by Kinsey had been reopened with a different company doing the work ... companies in Kinsey's congressional district."

"Kinsey's taking kick backs?"

"We couldn't prove it, but we did prove that two of his aids were. One a civilian and one was his military liaison. Those two are now serving some significant jail time.

"None of us were satisfied that Kinsey wasn't in on it. We split up. Half of us went after the Kinsey angle to see if we could find that he was taking kick backs and the rest of us continued on looking into the different projects. I took on MacNab's project and had found that another company, one in Kinsey's district, was also working on a new communication unit. It was slightly different than MacNab's but similar enough to warrant my suspicions that someone had leaked the design to them. I wanted to find proof that these aids, on Kinsey's orders, had given the design specs to not only this company for this project, but that they had given designs to those other two companies. I believe I would have had him, but we were called off."

"Called off? Why?"

"MacNab jumped the gun. When we had evidence on the two aids, he went to Kinsey with it. Kinsey was livid. He said it was because his trusted aids had used him. I think it's because he was terrified that we were going to find out that he was involved and also that he was going to lose some of his power and any money he was getting back from this. It probably took him several years to get aids that would work with him like this and, if this didn't destroy his career, it was going to take several more years before he could start up again."

Jack sighed deeply. "So you think because of this, Kinsey had it out for you?"

"God Colonel, I know it. Oh he was all peachy keen and sweet that we had discovered and stopped the corruption in his office, but behind closed doors ..."

"He was pissed as hell."

"When Admiral Burn's retirement came up, it was Kinsey who objected most to letting us go on about our business the way we had with Burns friend as the reporting head of the team. It was Kinsey who suggested the assignment of a new leader for the team to replace me. It was Kinsey who got Bains, Prochek, and Miller put on shit assignments. You tell me if Kinsey didn't have it out for us."

Quinn's voice had risen during this and Jack held up a hand. "Whoa. Back off Commander. You're preaching to the initiated."

Quinn took a deep breath and seemed to calm down. "Colonel, you want to know what I think?"

Jack nodded.

"I think Kinsey is behind your leak. You know why?" Quinn didn't let Jack respond before going on, "Kinsey is in this not because he's the saving grace of taxpayer money, but for the power. He tried to shut down your project because he couldn't use it some way as it stood. The only power over it he had was in the purse strings. I think he figured out some way to use the Stargate to his advantage and in order to do that, he needs it out of military control and put in the private sector. Well, he can't do that now. Not after what you guys did. But, he can do it another way. Leaking the information to the public he can get it shut down. Then the Stargate can be given to the highest bidder and I would bet the highest bidder is in Kinsey's back pocket."

Jack looked confused again. "Commander, if you think it's Kinsey behind the leak, why are you investigating everyone involved in the Stargate project?"

Quinn smiled. "Colonel, I may jump to conclusions in my mind, but never in my work."

That was when Jack realized that they had found the right person to discover the truth.

***

Jack had informed Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c about Quinn and her speculations. All had agreed that Quinn's conclusions made sense. Carter was the one who brought up Colonel Samuels.

"Sir, if Quinn is right about Kinsey and what he's doing and has done, then he found the perfect person to help him with Samuels"

"I agree Captain. I wouldn't put it past old Samuels to be involved in something like this. It's the kind of cowardly thing he'd do." General Hammond had told O'Neill about how Samuels had wanted to go through the Stargate after his Naquadah nukes didn't destroy Apophis' ships. Jack had been disgusted, but not surprised to hear it. "Besides, we did kind of railroad him out of the SGC."

"Sir, Samuels was never really a team player."

"I agree with that also Captain. Samuels is a coward. The Stargate scared him. But if Kinsey is involved in this, don't you think that Samuels would be the perfect foil for him to use?"

"Yes sir. Have you told Quinn about this?" asked Carter.

Jack shook his head. "No, not yet. I will though. On the plane. Where is she?"

Jack looked around the entry way to the castle. Quinn had told him the night before that they would be leaving at 0800 hours and it was 0815 now and Quinn was no where in sight.

"O'Neill."

"Yes Teal'c."

"I hear voices outside."

Jack went to the front door and opened it. He was greeted by the sight of a big yellow school bus, the Reverend Mother, and 17 kids all crowded around Quinn.

"You're going to the Capitol?" one of the kids asked.

"Yes Oliver."

"Are you going to see the President?"

"No, not this trip."

"Are you going to be gone long? We've got a soccer game on Saturday and we wanted you to watch."

Quinn knelt down next to the little girl who had asked the question, "Jackie, I really don't know how long I'm going to be and if I can get back here to watch your game, I will. But," and she put her hands on Jackie's shoulders, "if I can't, the Reverend Mother is going to tape it and I can see it when I get back. Okay?"

Jackie looked back over her shoulder to Reverend Mother who nodded. Then she turned back to Quinn, "The Reverend Mother?"

"Yes Jackie."

"Couldn't someone else tape it?" Jackie leaned in closer to Quinn as though she was going to whisper something to her, but her voice didn't drop in volume, "You know the Reverend Mother. She'll throw the camera if it doesn't do what she wants it to do."

Reverend Mother's mouth dropped in feigned shock and Quinn and the other kids all burst out laughing. Quinn gathered Jackie up in her arms in a bear hug, lifting her off of the ground. "Well Reverend Mother, it looks like your reputation precedes you," she said. "Maybe Reverend Mother can get Sister Olivia to come to the game with her. She can do the taping. Would that be okay?" Jackie nodded and Quinn set her down.

"Okay, it's time to go to school now. I'll call when I can."

The kids piled onto the bus giving Quinn a hug before they did. Reverend Mother was the last on. "You won't be here when I get back, will you?"

Quinn shook her head.

"Well then, take care of yourself. God go with you." Reverend Mother shut the doors to the bus, started the engine and drove off down the road. The kids had all crowded into the back of the bus and were waving. Quinn waved back and watched until the bus made a turn and was out of sight. Then she turned towards the castle. Spotting O'Neill and group she apologized for the lateness, "Sorry, it's the first time I've left here in two years since Team One was shut down. The kids are concerned."

Jack walked down to where Quinn was standing followed by Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c. "No problem. They look like a nice group of kids."

"They are especially considering the problems some of them had when they got here. The Reverend Mother has done wonders for them."

"And you too, I would imagine," added Carter.

"Nah, not me," Quinn said grinning. "The Reverend Mother would kill me if any of them started taking on my traits." Quinn clapped her hands together. "Well I'm packed and ready to go, how about you guys?"

"Our stuff's in the hallway."

"Well, get it and let's get this show on the road." Quinn walked to the castle followed by SG1 and they loaded their gear into the Jeep Cherokee that had been hidden behind the bus.

***

Quinn pulled into the small airport at Colorado Springs and drove directly to one of the private hangers. Outside a Gulf Stream was parked and Quinn pulled up next to it. A young man in coveralls came out of the plane when he heard Quinn's car door slam.

"Hello Commander," he greeted.

"Hello Bobby. Everything ship shape?"

"Aye aye ma'am. All the stuff the Reverend Mother sent over last night is on board. Where does she think you guys are going ... a deserted island in the South Seas? She sent over enough food and drinks for the SeaHawk to survive on for a week."

Quinn laughed and said, "You know the Reverend Mother Bobby. She was a boy scout in a previous life ... always prepared."

"Well if you come down in the mountains, you certainly aren't going to have to worry about starving to death or dying of thirst that's for sure. Other than that, Scooter is fueled up and ready to go."

"Thanks Bobby. I'll see you on the return trip."

"Scooter?" asked Jack.

"It was my call sign when I was flying Tomcats. Seemed appropriate somehow."

"Uh Quinn?"

"Yes Dr. Jackson?"

"Call me Daniel."

"Okay, Daniel."

"Can I ask a personal question?"

"Well you can ask. I can't guarantee I'll answer."

"A castle and now your own plane. I can't imagine that the retirement pay for a Commander can cover this kind of cost."

"You're wondering where I got the money?"

"Well, yes ... kind of."

"I'm a computer designer and programmer, Daniel. I've got a few patents and copyrights floating around that bring in some extra cash."

"So you're ... ah ... kind of rich?"

Quinn grinned at Daniel. "Filthy."

Daniel smiled back. "Ah, okay."

"Shall we get our stuff on board and get out of here?"

***

Once in the air, Jack told Quinn about his team's speculations concerning Colonel Samuels. She agreed that he sounded a likely candidate for Kinsey to use. "We'll know by tomorrow if he has anything to hide ... financially. Jonathan should be done with the data gathering by then. He was up to the 'Ls' this morning."

The flight to D.C. was uneventful except for when Quinn let Teal'c take the controls. There was a hairy moment when the plane took a nose dive and Teal'c over corrected. Quinn heard a few choice curses and some body thumping in the back when this happened. O'Neill had come running up front to find out what was going on.

"What the hell?" Then he saw Teal'c's hands on the controls.

"I apologize O'Neill. This is not the same as a Death Glider."

"No problem Teal'c. Have you got it now?"

"I do. There will be no more incidents like that last."

"Good. Maybe if there is a next time, Commander, you could give us warning."

"He's a natural Colonel. But you might want to take your seat now. It looks like there are some turbulence ahead," Quinn answered.

Jack took Quinn's advice and told the others what had happened. As soon as he got strapped in the plane started to bounce around a bit, but there were no more shocks.

Quinn took the controls back from Teal'c for the landing and brought the small plane down into Frederick's Field. Taxing it up to a hanger, she powered down.

"Thank you Commander Masters."

Quinn unbuckled her seat belt and stood. "Hey no problem Teal'c. You are a natural. Maybe you'll return the favor sometime and let me fly one of those Death Gliders. They sound like a kick."

"A kick?"

"Fun."

Teal'c raised one eyebrow. "If there is ever a chance, Commander Masters, I will indeed show you how to fly a Death Glider."

Two taxis were waiting at the hanger when the plane landed and Quinn herded everyone and the gear into them. The drive from Fredericks to D.C. took a little over an hour and the taxis finally pulled into an apartment complex. They followed a rather convoluted path through the parking lot surrounding several buildings in the complex before coming to a stop in front of one with a big "500" printed on the front.

"An apartment?" asked Jack.

"Sure. Makes it a little more difficult to trace us if someone catches on. They'd look in hotels first before thinking that we might have leased an apartment instead."

While the rest were unloading the gear, Quinn made a call on her cell phone. "Bain. We're out front. How about coming down and letting us in?" She listened a moment and then put the phone away. "He's on the way down."

"Bain?"

"An old friend."

"Team One?"

"Yeah." By then a very large, very bald black man had come to the door and opened it. The first thing he did after that was gather Quinn up in his arms and give her a hug hard enough that Jack was positive he could hear bones snap.

"Bain, you can put me down now," was all she said.

When Bain lowered Quinn back down to the ground, it dawned on Jack how small she actually was while she was standing next to the giant of a man who had come to the door. Of course, this guy towered over him as well and he wasn't short by any definition. This guy was over a foot taller than Quinn. He had to be 6'6" tall and broad and made up entirely of muscle.

"Everyone's upstairs waiting, Commander. We could only get a three bedroom on such short notice. I hope you don't mind?"

"No Bain, I don't. We'll double up."

"The furniture has been trickling in all morning but it all should be here by this afternoon. These guys your new team?" He looked at SG1. Jack waved.

"In a way. I'll save the introductions until we get inside. Shall we?"

Bain picked up several bags and everyone else took a few also. He led them inside and around a corner to the elevators. "You're on the fifth floor at the end of a hallway. We tried to get next to the stairs, but it's the best we could do."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it will be fine."

With Bain and all the gear, the elevator seemed crowded and Jack was relieved to finally reach the fifth floor. They had to turn another corner and walk to the end of the hall to get to their apartment. The entrance to the stairs was three doors down and across the hall. Bain set the bags down and started to take out a key to unlock the door, but it was thrown open before he could. Four other men were standing there crowded into the small entry way to the apartment. All four had grins on their faces. All four were as big as Bain.

Quinn grinned back at the group. "You guys going to let us in or do we stand out here all day?"

As if choreographed all four made room for Bain, Quinn, and SG1 to enter the apartment. Jack had known men like these. He had worked with people just like them and he silently congratulated Quinn on her choice of working companions. He assumed that this was Team One they were meeting and he wondered how she had orchestrated it.

As if reading his mind she said, "I called Bain yesterday. Told him I was coming here and needed a place to stay and transportation for five. He arranged all of this."

Bain nodded. "No one knows we're here. Hazard and Chilly were easy since they aren't in the military any more. Prochek and Miller aren't on duty until this evening. I'm on leave. So if there's any way I can help."

"No Bain."

"But Commander ..."

"No Bain. I mean it. There are enough careers on the line in this and I don't want yours to be one of them. I took a big enough chance just calling you and asking you to set up this place. I'm not willing to take any more."

Bain looked like he wanted to argue some more, but all he said was, "You're the boss."

"Not any more Bain. But thanks anyway."

Quinn made introductions all around and then left SG1 to fend for themselves for a moment while she talked to her old team. The phone rang and the one that had been introduced as Prochek answered it. "The rest of the furniture is here. I'll go down."

Miller explained the phone. "The intercom system here is tied into the phone system. When someone buzzes downstairs, it routes through your phone. Push the star key after you answer it and it releases the door downstairs."

"How's everything listed Miller?"

"The apartment is leased to a Felix Compton. The furniture to May Packard. The cars to Rex Higgins and the phone is under Lillian Kellerman."

"How did you manage the females?"

"Mary."

"Mary, how is she? Mary is Miller's wife," Quinn explained.

"She's fine, but she's going to be hopping mad if you don't stop by for a visit."

"When this is over I will. Thank her for us will you?"

"No problem, Commander."

After the rest of the furniture had been put in it's place, Team One and SG1 sat down to coffee that Daniel had brewed up in the small kitchen. Quinn had orange juice. "You haven't changed Commander. You still eat and drink all that wimpy stuff?" asked Chilly.

"Yes Chilly I do. You'd do well to eat and drink some of the 'wimpy stuff' too. You're putting on some weight," said Quinn.

"I am not!"

Quinn grinned at Chilly and he grinned back realizing that Quinn was teasing.

"Look Commander, Hazard and I aren't in the military anymore. We don't have to worry about careers. We want to help."

Quinn shook her head. "I know you guys want to help, but you've helped all I'm going to let you. Understand?"

"Commander."

"Hazard, this isn't your decision. It's mine. You're going to have to accept that. We aren't Team One any longer. I know Colonel O'Neill and his team appreciate your dedication, but ..."

Jack broke in. "Commander Masters is right. This is something we have to do and we have to do it on our own. We all know what the consequences of our actions might be. What we don't know is where this is going to end or what kind of trouble we might run into. It might be nothing at all, or it might be that someone gets hurt. She's not willing to put you in jeopardy and neither am I. Are we clear?"

Team One shared a silent communication using eyes only. Jack knew the signs. His own team did the same thing. He waited.

"Alright Commander ... Colonel. But if there is anything you need ..."

"Don't worry, if we get into some deep kimchee that we can't get out of, we'll give you a call," Quinn answered. "Now I hate to do this, but we've got some planning to do."

Team One rose as one. Each shook hands with Quinn and SG1 and silently left after turning over all the keys to the vehicles and the doors to the apartment and the building to Quinn.

"Good men."

"Yeah," Quinn said. "The best." A beat later. "Shall we get started then?"

***

Quinn went to the kitchen table where she had put her lap top and sat down. SG1 followed. She opened the lap top, punched a few keys, and a few seconds later everyone heard Jonathan's voice.

"How's it going Jonathan?"

"It's going well Quinn. Except Reverend Mother threw her stop watch at a lamp in her room."

Quinn chuckled. "Break the lamp?"

"Into a million pieces. She's trying to glue it back together now."

"What brought that on?"

"She said the stop watch wasn't working. I think she's worried about you."

"I know, but I'll be fine. So will Colonel O'Neill and his people."

"I tried to tell her."

"Don't worry about it now. How are you going on the background checks?"

"Almost done. So far only one red flag."

"And that would be?"

"A Colonel Samuels. He's listed on Senator Kinsey's staff."

Jack slapped the table. "I knew it!" he yelled.

The lap top had made a jump and Quinn grabbed for it. "Careful Colonel. We don't know why Jonathan flagged it yet."

"But ..."

"Jonathan, what's the flag for?"

"There was a $9,999.00 cash deposit made into his checking account one month ago."

"That's an odd amount," said Daniel.

Quinn looked towards Daniel. "Not really. Not if it's for ill gotten gains. Banks have to report any deposit activity of $10,000 or more to the IRS. It's standard procedure. I think we may be onto something concrete here. If we are, Samuels is an idiot. Bank records are the first thing anyone investigating corruption would look at and the amount being one dollar less than the reporting amount makes it look doubly suspicious."

"So what now?" asked Jack.

"Now we wait for Jonathan to finish his checks on everyone. Jonathan, did you find anything out about Armin Zelig?"

"He was a free lance writer for several newspapers. The last one that published one of his articles was the Washington Post. He was well respected as an investigative reporter. His stories were always highly regarded even though they were pretty speculative and generally not common place. If he were writing an article on the Stargate, it might have been taken seriously by a lot of people.

"The police have no leads so far on the hit and run. There wasn't much to go on just a description of the car and the driver. There were two people in the car according to one witness. No one got a license plate number. The only thing the witnesses remember is that it was a Maryland tag.

"He's survived by his mother and one brother. His will left everything to the mother. The police had the apartment sealed for a week after the accident, but have opened it now. There isn't any indication that his mother or his brother have closed it down. No truck rentals to either of them in the last two weeks and neither one own a truck to move his things out of it. And the apartment hasn't been listed. It's safe to say that the heavier items are still there. As for personal effects, I don't know. Lights and water are still on.

"The IRS is finished looking into his finances and have cleared the way for his mother to collect any money in his estate. Probate doesn't seem to be a problem."

"How much money are we looking at Jonathan?"

"Not much really. Four thousand in a savings account and another couple thousand in his checking account. Some Savings Bonds and an investment that total $32,000. It all tallys with his tax returns and what he was paid for his articles. There is one thing though."

"Go on."

"I pulled up his mother and his brother's financial records. A month ago each one rented a safe deposit box at the same time. Of course, I don't know what's in them, but it just seemed odd."

"Anyone else rent a box at the same time?"

"There were three box rentals within a five minute period that day. The third is to someone named Harvy Brahms. I can't find any records whatsoever on him. He doesn't exist."

Quinn was rubbing her hands together. "Well Jonathan, I think you earned your cookies and milk for today."

"Thank you Quinn."

Daniel looked puzzled. "How does he do all that?"

"He just hacks in."

"Hacking, isn't that ..."

"...illegal." Quinn finished. "Yes it is and so is what I'm going to do tonight."

"Which is?" Jack asked.

"You and I, Colonel are going to break into Zelig's apartment."

"We are?"

"Yes, we are."

***

The rest of the day was spent organizing the apartment. Teal'c and Daniel shared one room as well as Carter and Quinn. Jack would get one all to his self. After Quinn had unpacked, she announced she was going to lay down and take a nap. After flying half way across the country and with what she planned on doing tonight, she wanted to be well rested. This left SG1 on their own.

"Sir, General Hammond knows what we're doing doesn't he?" asked Carter.

"General Hammond is the one who gave me Admiral Burns name and phone number, but ... you don't know that. None of you."

"Do you think we should call him and let him know what we've found out so far?"

"No. I want to leave him out of it as much as we can. Besides, the Commander's right. We don't have that much to go on yet."

"Jack one thing kind of bothers me."

"What is it Daniel?"

"Well when we do find out what's going on and who is responsible for all of this. Are we going to want the guilty parties brought to trial?"

"What do you mean Daniel," asked Carter. "Of course we do?"

"No Captain. Daniel's right in asking. Think about it. Any try at prosecution is going to run the risk that all of this is going to end up becoming public knowledge. We're talking about a very powerful Senator here. Leaving the Stargate project out of it isn't going to make bringing him down easy. I mean, that's what we're looking for. A leak from his office about the Stargate to the press. And if Zelig was murdered and that murder was to keep him quiet. We're opening up a whole can of worms here and I haven't decided what we're going to do once we find out the truth."

Carter's face showed her understanding, but it was Teal'c who brought up the next obvious question.

"What about Commander Masters?"

"Good question Teal'c. She has an axe to grind with Kinsey. If he's guilty, she's going to want him to pay for it. But I think she realizes how important it is to keep the Stargate secret. At least I hope she does."

Jack got up and walked to the large picture window in the living room. It overlooked the swimming pool. A number of people were down there sunning themselves and playing in the water.

"Maybe you should talk to her Colonel?" suggested Carter who had joined him at the window.

"Yeah. I will. Not right now though." Jack turned his back to the view. "Hey I'm hungry. What kind of food did those guys leave us anyway?"

Jack strode into the little kitchen and pulled the refrigerator door open. "Sweet. Nuts and berries. Didn't those guys bring us any real food?"

***

Quinn awoke to the smell of steaks cooking. Shuddering and making a face she got herself up and into the bathroom where she splashed water on her face. Daniel was setting the table with Teal'c's help and she could hear Carter and O'Neill in the kitchen.

"Looks like I woke up just in time for dinner," she announced when she came out of the bathroom.

"Yeah," Daniel answered. "We had to go find a store though. All that was in the fridge was vegies, fruit, and cheese and lot's of juice and milk."

Quinn chuckled and walked into the kitchen. It was small and barely big enough for two people to maneuver in. Jack was bending over the gas stove checking on the steaks in the broiler and Carter was at the sink washing vegetables and cutting them up. Mushrooms and onions were on a pan on the stove bubbling in butter.

"Ummm. Smells ..." Quinn shook slightly, "wonderful."

Jack raised up quickly when he heard Quinn's voice and his head hit the handle of the pan the mushrooms and onions were sauteing in. Quinn reached out and grabbed the handle before it could overturn. Setting the pan back on the burner she said, "Watch it Colonel. Third degree burns aren't fun."

"Yeah, I know." He rubbed the back of his head where he had hit the pan handle. "Sleep well?" he asked.

"Like a babe."

"I hope you're not cooking one of those things for me?" Quinn pointed down to the steaks in the broiler and shuddered again.

"No Commander. Carter is making a salad and cutting up some fruit and vegetables for you."

Quinn peered around Jack to look at her. "Thank you Carter."

She looked up and smiled. "My pleasure Commander."

"You guys don't go in for first names much do you?"

"I think it's the Air Force in us ma'am," Carter answered.

Quinn made a face. "Oh god. Ma'am. That's even worse than Commander. Look, if you guys can't say Quinn how about Masters and I'll call you Carter and you, big guy, O'Neill?"

Carter and Jack exchanged glances. "Humph," was all Jack said.

"Seriously folks. I really think we should leave the rank out of this. We're here outside of the military domain doing something that isn't officially sanctioned. Get my drift?"

"You got a point ... Masters."

"Thank you. Oh, by the way I think you'd better check on your steaks. It's starting to smell like charcoal in here."

Jack bent down quickly and pulled the pan out of the broiler narrowly avoiding the pan of mushrooms and onions.

***

Jack's steaks weren't burnt and the meal went well. Daniel had done most of the talking describing to Teal'c in vivid detail the Mall and the different monuments and building surrounding it. Teal'c said he would like to see it if they got a chance and it was agreed that when this was over they would spend a couple of days showing Teal'c around.

Once the dishes were in the dishwasher and everything was cleaned up and put away everyone sat down at the table again with coffee and juice.

"Okay, here's what's going to happen tonight. O'Neill, you and I are going to Zelig's apartment. We're going to look around and see if we can get inside without being spotted. If we can, you'll help me search."

"What about us?" Carter asked indicating herself, Daniel, and Teal'c.

"Well there isn't much that you can do tonight. But use my lap top and dig into Kinsey's voting record. I also need voting records of the others on his committee and their backgrounds. I need to know what projects Kinsey has subsidized or shut down over the past year and what government contracts, if any, are meted out to his state ... no matter how small. Jonathan can help you.

"Tomorrow, depending on what we find in Zelig's apartment and what you and Jonathan have dug up, we'll begin in earnest. Okay?"

"Sounds good to me," said Jack. "When do we go?"

"We're going to leave here at 0200 hours. It's the best time. Most people are home by then and asleep. Doormen and others who might be watching are usually so bored stiff by then fatigue sets in and they miss things."

***

Quinn drove down Georgia Avenue towards Silver Spring. Turning right on Plyer's Mill she drove slowly past the first intersection and turned left down McMahon. A sign lit up on the right corner said "Walter Reed Army Medical Center - Forest Glen Annex".

"Walter Reed?"

"It's housing for the guys stationed at the hospital. See these town houses coming up on the left? Zelig's is in there."

There was enough light from the street lights that Jack could see two rows of town houses, then the view was blocked by trees. "There's no way in."

"The entrance is down that first intersection we passed. I just wanted to see the back first. This road circles back around to the other side."

"Well I guess we won't have to worry about doormen?"

Quinn glanced at Jack out of the corner of her eye. "Nope."

The road they were on twisted and turned, but finally they came to another intersection and Quinn turned left. Then left again at the next one. She drove slowly down the road and turned into the driveway between the two rows of town houses. Going all the way down the end of the driveway she parked the car in a corner spot under a large oak.

"Either your official investigation is over and they don't think they're going to get anything by watching his apartment or they're sloppy. Either way, it's in our favor. There's no one watching."

Jack twisted in his seat. "How can you be sure?"

"Instinct, a little research, and observation."

"Explain."

"Must I?"

"Please."

Quinn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay. I had Jonathan pull up a listing of all the tenants here. Then he went into vehicle registration and got a listing of all the cars registered to the people who live here. He also checked to see if any of the tenants were new in the past couple of weeks. None are. There are exactly the number and make and model of cars here that should be ... including Zelig's which is that Buick Regal over there. There is no where to park across the street and see down in here and there isn't anywhere to unobtrusively park on MacMahon and see in here. Now as for instinct. I just don't feel like we're being watched. Satisfied?"

"Peachy."

"Here, put these on." Quinn handed Jack a pair of rubber surgeon's gloves. Once he had them on she said, "Okay, we'll go up to the apartment now. Be quiet. There's a window open on the second floor of the townhouse next to Zeligs. And don't let the car door make any noise when you close it."

Quinn and Jack made their way soundlessly down to the front door of Armin Zeligs. Quinn retrieved a small zippered pouch from her pants pocket, opened it, and took out two small picks. Inserting one into the lock of the dead bolt and holding it in place, she inserted the second pick and turned. Jack could hear the lock click back. Quinn put one pick back in the pouch and used the other one on the keyhole of the door knob and turned it. Then she turned the knob and slowly opened the door. Holding it open for Jack, she took one more look around and then followed him into the townhouse. She closed the door quietly behind her and put her back to it.

"Don't move. Let you eyes adjust to the light before you do. And don't touch anything," whispered Quinn.

"But you said you wanted me to help you search. What am I doing here then?"

"You're here to keep me honest," Quinn answered.

"Honest?" Jack paused. "Where exactly did you learn to do that? Pick locks, I mean," Jack whispered.

"My father taught me."

"Your father?"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you? He was a thief."

Quinn pushed herself away from the door leaving an open mouthed Jack standing there in the dark.

Jack recovered quickly and followed. "How do you know we didn't just set off a security alarm?"

"Because everyone who owns one has to have them registered with the police. Zelig's not registered."

"Oh."

"You start in here. Go through everything. Look under everything. It looks like the mother hasn't taken anything out yet. But whatever you do, do it neatly and make sure everything is back the way you found it."

"What am I looking for?"

"Anything out of place. Anything. Papers, notes, computer disks, photos. Feather the pages of all the magazines and books. Check the bindings on the books. Look for cuts in the furniture where something might be hidden inside. I'm going to start with the computer."

"How do you know he has one?"

Quinn shook her head and pointed to the living room and then she went up the stairs to the second floor. Finding Zelig's office in the second bedroom, she immediately went to the computer. An hour later she came downstairs and Jack was just finishing up the kitchen.

"Find anything?"

"Just this. It was in one of the books." Jack handed a Maryland driver's license to Quinn with the name of Harvy Brahms on it. It had Zelig's picture on it.

"Good work O'Neill. Excellent."

"Thanks. Did you find anything?"

"Think so, but I won't know for sure until we get back to the apartment. Are you ready to go?"

"I'm done."

"Well then, let's boogie."

"You know you're going to have to explain that 'my father was a thief' remark."

Quinn grinned through the darkness. "Someday O'Neill. Someday."

***

Back at the apartment Quinn sank down on the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table. Jack sat down in one of the easy chairs.

"So?" asked Jack.

"So what?"

"What did you find?"

"Oh, a hard drive and a stack of zip disks," answered Quinn. She yawned wide and stood up. Stretching for all she was worth, she then bent over and touched her toes. "I'm going to bed now. I suggest you do the same."

"Wait a minute," protested Jack.

"What?"

"What did you find on the hard drive and the disks?"

"Nothing."

Jack shook his head. "Alright. I'm confused. You found a hard drive and some disks with nothing on them. So ..."

Quinn leaned over and emptied the cargo pockets of her pants. She took out a hard drive and several zip disks. "So I brought them with me. I'll check them in the morning."

"You took his hard drive?"

Quinn looked hurt. "I'll put it back as soon as I've checked it."

"That's not what I'm concerned about. You said there wasn't anything on it or the disks."

"Yeah."

"So why bring them?"

"How much do you know about computers?"

Jack shrugged. "They're really expensive typewriters."

"Yeah right." Quinn tried to explain. "Look, there is nothing on the hard drive or the disks. Who has a computer with nothing on the memory devices? These have been purposely wiped clean. I'm going to try to find what was wiped off of them."

"You can do that?" he asked.

"Yes I can. Now can I go to bed?"

"No."

Quinn shot a stunned look at Jack. "No?"

"No."

Shaking her head she sat back down on the couch. "Alright. So what now?"

"Your going to tell me about your father."

"Oh for crying out loud. Why?"

Jack paused for a moment, shot a fast look at the ceiling, and then looked back at Quinn. "You keep throwing out these little bomb shells. Your father being a thief is one of them. Tell me about it and anything else that you feel I need to know."

"I don't think you need to know about my father."

Jack was getting exasperated. "Then why did you mention it?"

"You asked?"

"I didn't ask what your father did."

"Semantics. You asked where I learned to pick locks. I told you."

"We're not getting anywhere here."

"You're right."

"You're not going to tell me?"

"I told you. Someday ... maybe."

Jack closed his eyes, took a breath all the way to the basement, and let it out slowly. When he opened his eyes he was calm and Quinn was smiling ... again. Jack stood up. "Alright. If you feel that strongly about it."

"I don't."

"You don't?"

"No, it's just so much fun to bait you."

Shaking his head he started for the hallway leading to the bedrooms. "I'm going to bed now."

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes," growled Jack.

"Okay." Quinn put her feet back up on the table. "It's really quite simple."

Jack sat down on the coffee table and crossed his arms.

"It starts back with my Grandfather. He was a second story man. Shoot back then that's about as high as any of the buildings went. I'm told he was pretty good, but he did get caught a couple of times. The last time he decided that it wasn't worth the hassle so he stopped and got himself an honest job working in the silver mines in Idaho." Quinn started to chuckle. "He probably thought it was honest work even though he did bring home some of the silver he was supposed to be mining for the silver company.

"Anyway, he taught my father what he knew about second story work and my father expanded on that knowledge. Dad got real good with locks, safes, and alarm systems. But instead of going out and robbing people for himself, he hired himself out to insurance companies as a 'retrieval expert'. Someone would get robbed, the insurance company would contact my dad. Then he would find out who did the heist and steal whatever it was they took back. The insurance company paid him ten percent of what they would have had to pay the insured for the item.

"He taught me everything he knew about it plus all his investigative techniques to find out who had committed the robberies. I just followed in Dad's shoes and built off of what he taught me and did it for the military."

She stood and smiled down at Jack. "Satisfied?"

"Yeah." Jack stood also. "Is your Dad still doing that?"

The smile vanished so fast from Quinn's face that Jack wasn't sure he'd seen it in the first place.

"No, he was murdered along with my entire family."

Quinn quickly left leaving Jack behind. But she didn't go to the hallway leading to the bedrooms, she walked out the front door of the apartment instead. Jack stared after her for a few moments. Then he shook his head and went to bed.

***

When Jack got up in the morning, he found Daniel making breakfast with Teal'c watching. Carter was at the dining room table with Quinn watching her connect Zelig's hard drive to her lap top. After seeing what the two women were doing and talking about, he decided it would be safer in the kitchen with the cooking.

"So," he said rubbing his hands together, "what's for breakfast?"

"Oh, good morning Jack."

"Good morning, O'Neill."

"Good morning, now what's for breakfast?"

Daniel lifted the lid to the pan he was watching. "Denver omelets and hash browns and one Denver omelet without the ham extra cheese and onions."

"Umm. Sounds good. When do we eat?"

"In a few moments. I'm almost done."

"Teal'c learning how to cook?"

"No I am not, O'Neill. I am just standing."

Jack looked back and forth between a grinning Daniel and a stone-faced Teal'c. "I see that ... now. I, ah, think I'll go and see what the ladies are doing."

"They are working on Armin Zelig's hard drive."

Jack paused in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room. He turned back to Teal'c. "Thank you Teal'c."

"You are welcome O'Neill."

Shaking his head slightly, he sat down opposite Carter and put his chin in on his hands. "Having fun?" he asked.

Carter looked over the table at Jack. "Sir we've already checked the zip disks and there wasn't anything on them relating to the Stargate. Quinn's connecting Zelig's hard drive up to her lap top now so we can check it."

"I see. And any idea how much longer that is going to take?" he asked.

"Not much longer, sir. In fact ..."

"I'm done." Quinn started punching some keys and symbols began scrolling across her screen. "Well whoever wiped this didn't know what they were doing, or they didn't care. I should be able to reconstruct all of it."

"Anything about the Stargate?"

"It's going to take a little while Colonel."

"Well then while we're waiting, why don't we set the table? Breakfast is almost ready."

***

"Daniel, you can make my breakfast any day," commented Jack with a satisfied smile.

With Teal'c's help, Carter and Quinn had cleared the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher. After only one day they had seemed to have established a routine. Whoever didn't cook, cleaned up after.

"Thanks Jack but I don't think I want to make a living cooking you breakfast every morning," responded Daniel.

"Hey, it was just a suggestion."

Everyone was back gathered around the table and Quinn was looking over the notes that Carter had made the night before about Kinsey. "Looks like we might have something here."

"What?" asked Jack.

"Well our Senator here has shut down five projects in the last year. Companies in three different states. Two in California, one in Nevada, and one in Washington. He's raised funding for three. Two in Minnesota and one in California."

"He's from Minnesota."

"I know. Two of the companies are developing weapon designs: one for air to ground missiles and the other for hand held rocket launchers. The one in California is working on stealth technology."

"Your point being?"

"Two of the five projects he shut down were weapons designs."

"Let me guess? Air to ground missiles and rocket launchers?"

"Actually no." Quinn looked up and grinned at Jack. "A ground to air missile delivery system and a new rifle ... similar to the MP9, but with a grenade launcher attached."

"Okay, I'm confused," said Daniel.

"I'm just trying to look beyond it Daniel. When companies submit bids for new technology they have to also submit the specs for that technology. Kinsey gets copies of all of that. Now say he's got a pet corporation that makes weapons for the military. They pay him kick backs to make sure that they are the low bidder. But what if they are also paying him for copies of other bids and the design specs for other projects? It's the premise I was going on when I investigated him before and was pulled off.

"Now if he gave the design specs from the ground to air missiles and the rocket launchers to those two companies in Minnesota, then raised their funding for their current projects, then those companies could use that extra cash to begin work on two new projects. They'd have a jump on things when they submit their designs for approval."

"But how are we going to prove that without waiting around to see if those companies submit designs?" asked Carter.

"That's the difficult part and the one that needs the most planning. But I'm not sure if we even need to go into that. We are after all looking for you leak. If it's Kinsey, we need to find some way to tie him to it and a reason for his doing so. If it is because he wants the Stargate in the private sector, then that's where we have to look. What would the Stargate benefit by being taken out of military control? It's in these companies he's funding, I'm sure of it. It's going to take a lot more research and maybe some serious breaking and entering."

"Serious?" Jack asked. "What was last night?"

"That was just child's play. Getting into a company with Government contracts can be like combat. It's tricky and dangerous. A JAG lawyer I know was almost killed breaking into a place in California that held a Government contract."

"But you can do it, right?" asked Carter.

Quinn shrugged. "I've done it before. I'm thinking we're going to need to get into Kinsey's office and home, too."

"Oh now that ought to be fun," said Jack.

"As much fun as sitting on a land mine."

Daniel got up and went into the kitchen. When he returned he had the coffee pot and a pitcher of apple juice. He refilled everyone's cups and set the pot and pitcher down in the center of the table.

"So what now?" he asked.

"Do you think Zelig's hard drive is reconstructed by now?" asked Carter.

Quinn opened her lap top and entered a few commands. Then she passed it to Carter. "It's done. You look. I've got something I need to do." She rose from the table. "I'll be back in about an hour."

When she had left Carter took the lap top and began scrolling through Zelig's directory. Daniel sipped his coffee and Jack seemed lost in thought.

"Jack?"

"Yeah Daniel?"

"You're awfully quiet all of a sudden."

"Oh sorry. Just thinking. There's a lot of 'research' here. It's not what I'm used to doing."

"Yeah, you're more of an action oriented type of guy." Daniel grinned.

"Yeah."

"Well I wouldn't worry about it too much. If we have to break into one of those companies or Kinsey's office and home, we'll probably be in for a lot of action."

Jack slapped Daniel on the shoulder. "You might be right Danny boy. You might be right."

***

Quinn was back an hour later. SG1 was still seated around the kitchen table and they didn't look too happy.

"What's with all the long faces?" she asked.

"Carter didn't find anything about the Stargate on Zelig's hard drive."

She sat down in the chair she had vacated earlier. "Oh. Hey that's okay. It goes like this sometimes."

She reached in her pocket and pulled out the Driver's License that Jack had found at Zelig's and tossed it in the center of the table. Jack reached for it.

"What's this?"

"It's Zelig's phony ID."

"I can see that, but now it's got my picture on it."

"Hi Harvy."

***

"Okay, I know what you want me to do, but why me?" protested Jack. "Why not Daniel or ... okay not Teal'c, but why not Daniel?"

"Because Daniel doesn't strike me as a very good liar," answered Quinn.

"Meaning, I am?"

Daniel looked at Jack and grinned and Carter was trying hard not to laugh. Teal'c also seemed to see the amusement, because a ghost of a smile lit up his face for a moment.

"Well you were in Special Forces, Sir," reminded Carter.

Jack turned on her. "That doesn't mean I lied Carter, it means I could get into someplace, shoot someone and they wouldn't know it until they didn't wake up in the morning."

"Yes, sir."

"Look, O'Neill. It isn't going to be difficult. I'd do it, but I don't think I have the right accessories," explained Quinn with a smile.

Jack turned his glare onto Quinn. "What about the signature? I developed my writing style purposefully so a person couldn't read it -- makes writing reports a lot easier."

Quinn had been carrying a white, plastic shopping bag when she came in and she now placed it on the table in front of her. She nudged it toward Jack.

Jack stared at the bag but didn't open it, so Daniel looked inside.

"Hey, this'll work." He started digging the contents out of the bag and putting them on the table: gauze, tape, rolled cotton, ace bandages, plaster of paris, and several newspapers.

"Oh, so I'm supposed to have a broken arm and can't write huh?"

"Have you ever tried to write legibly with a cast on your writing hand?" Quinn asked.

"Yes, and there's no difference."

Quinn shrugged. "After you just told us how you write, I'm not surprised."

Jack could see his arguments weren't going to get him anywhere so he gave in. "Alright, so who gets to play doctor?" he asked.

"To your nurse?" teased Quinn.

"Ha. Ha."

"Carter, want to help?"

"Sure."

They moved all the casting supplies to the kitchen and while Quinn filled the sink with hot water, Carter started laying down newspapers on the floor and counter tops. Then they started in covering Jack's right arm with gauze. Daniel and Teal'c watched from the doorway.

"Quinn I'm curious," said Carter.

"About what?"

"You and the Reverend Mother."

"Ah, well she gave me my name."

"Oh she's known you since you were born?"

"Not exactly."

"Not exactly?" asked Jack who was watching wet plaster being applied to his arm.

"I was one of those babes left on the doorstep with the proverbial note. Reverend Mother, then Sister Margaret, was the one who found me."

"How old were you?" asked Carter.

"Two. Actually that's all anyone knew about me. The note wasn't very informative. I'm told it had my birth date and 'Please take care' written on it."

"Must have been tough?" suggested Daniel from the doorway.

"Not really. Sister Margaret and the other nuns took real good care of us."

"Us?" asked Jack.

"Yeah, they were a serving order. They ran an orphanage."

"You said Reverend Mother gave you your name," stated Carter.

"She had a little sister who died from Scarlet Fever when she was seven. Her name was Quinn and Masters is her mother's maiden name. She said I reminded her of her sister at that age."

"But you were adopted eventually," said Jack remembering Quinn's remark from the night before about her murdered family and her talk of a father.

"Yeah, when I was five. But the Reverend Mother kept in contact. She said I was a 'special case'." Quinn grinned at Jack. "Twelve years ago the orphanage got shut down. That's when I bought Murphy's Folly. I told her if it wasn't against the rules, she could set up again there. We're done."

The two women stepped back and admired their handiwork. They hadn't made too bad a job of it, and had even managed not to make too big a mess of the kitchen.

"Without a heat lamp, it's going to take a while to dry and we'll bang it up a bit to make it look older, but I think it will work. What do you think Carter?"

"Perfect."

Jack examined the cast that ran from his elbow to his knuckles. He wiggled his fingers experimentally. "I hate casts."

***

After lunch the cast was dry enough to work on and Quinn used some camo makeup to dirty it up a bit. Seated around the dining room table again, Quinn was explaining what was going to happen next. She'd tossed two pictures on the table top and SG1 was looking at them.

"That's Zelig's mother and brother. O'Neill, you're going to go in and pretend to be Harvy Brahms while we stand watch around the bank in case those two show up."

"How will I know if they do?"

"Transmitters. We'll all be wired in. Once you get the box, just pocket what's in it. If it's negotiables, leave it ... well unless you've got a bill lying around you need to pay," she said grinning.

She got a dirty look and eyeball rolling from Jack.

"Of course we're assuming that Zelig's brother or someone else hasn't taken what was in there already," said Jack.

"Well yeah, but it's worth a try."

"I've got a question," said Daniel.

"Yeah?"

"What if they know Zelig ... at the bank I mean?"

"If they did, Zelig would hardly rent a box under an assumed name. It's really not kosher," answered Quinn. Then she tossed a couple of twenty dollar bills at Jack.

"What's this for?"

"Lost key."

Jack pocketed the money. "Oh right."

***

Quinn parked the car in the bank parking lot.

"Well we can see everything from here. Who goes in and comes out. So we won't need to split up." She handed Jack a receiver and small microphone which he put on. Anyone who saw the receiver in Jack's ear would think it was a hearing aid. The microphone clipped onto the inside of Jack's coat.

Quinn also wore a set. Jack got out of the car. He tapped on the ear piece and said, "Testing."

"Works fine O'Neill," Quinn answered. "Have fun."

Jack threw her a dirty look. "Yeah, right."

There weren't many customers in the bank and Jack looked around to make sure that Zelig's mother or brother weren't already in there. Jack could see far enough into the open vault to spot the safe deposit boxes. No one in there either. Feeling relatively secure, he went to the first available teller.

"Good afternoon, sir," the woman said. "What can I help you with today?"

"Afternoon. I need to get into my safe deposit box, but I've lost the key."

"No problem, sir. May I see some identification?"

Jack handed her the phony driver's license and she disappeared into a back room with it. A couple of minutes later she came back out and gave Jack back the driver's license. "That'll be $45, sir. For the replacement key."

"Oh yeah, right." He took out Quinn's two twenties and added a five of his own and passed them through to the teller. She wrote out a receipt for the $45 and gave Jack a copy. "This way sir." She led him to the vault. At a small table set off to the side, she handed him a card which he signed. She compared the signature to the one on the card she held and smiled. "Casts make it difficult to write, don't they sir?"

"Sure do." agreed Jack.

"Could I see your driver's license again, please?"

He handed it to her and she compare the three signatures. After a few seconds, she seemed satisfied and noted on the card the time and date. Then she handed Jack back the license along with a key. He pocketed the license again with the key hoping that the teller would take him to the box and not wait around for him to lead the way. He didn't have long to wait. She led him to a row of boxes and pulled a key from a chain around her neck, inserted it into one of the smaller boxes and waited for Jack to do the same. He did and the woman pulled the box from the wall. She handed it to Jack and he took it to the small table.

"If there's anything else I can do for you Mr. Brahms, just ask."

"I will, and uh, thank you."

Left alone with the box, he slowly opened the lid and drew in deep breath, let it out slowly and stared. There had to be over $100,000 in that box in new $50 bills.

"Sweet."

Quinn heard him through the transmitter. "What?"

"What's in the box," answered Jack keeping his voice low.

"What's in the box?"

"Enough to pay off my mortgage."

"Anything else?"

When he didn't answer right away, Quinn asked again, "O'Neill, anything else?"

"Later."

Sitting on top of the money was an envelope, a couple of zip disks, and several photographs. Jack pocketed the disks and flipped through the photos. Anyone seeing the smile on his face would have thought the devil had just entered the room through Jack. Pocketing those, he next took the envelope. It was a standard legal size letter envelope and it was sealed. From the thickness and weight, it couldn't have more than a couple of sheets of paper inside. Jack decided to wait until he got out of the bank to open it.

He counted the bundles of $50s and if there was were 50 bills in each bundle, then it was exactly $100,000. He also pocketed one of the wrappers from the money and closed the box. Putting it back in the slot in the wall, he left the room, waved at the teller, and exited the bank.

Breathing a whole lot easier now that he was out of the bank, he walked to the car and got in.

"Well?" asked Daniel.

"There was $100,000 in there in new 50 dollar bills. Here I grabbed you one of the wrappers and you owe me five bucks," he said to Quinn.

"Anything else?"

He handed the photographs to Carter. Daniel and Teal'c looked at them also as she flipped through them. "It's us," remarked Daniel. "And General Hammond ... Oh my god."

Jack had put what he thought was the best picture on the bottom of the stack. "It's Kinsey and Samuels."

"Yep."

"What else O'Neill?" asked Quinn.

He handed her the zip disks, but kept the envelope. Opening it, he took out one, typewritten sheet of paper which he started to read.

Jack handed the letter to Quinn, put his head back on the head rest, and closed his eyes.

The drive back to the apartment was spent in silence.

***

Once inside the apartment, Quinn went to her laptop. Sitting down, she pulled the two zip disks that Jack had given her from her pocket. "Well at least he labeled them. Disk one." She held it up. "And disk two." She raised that one. She opened the case and took out the first one. Turning on the laptop, she slid the disk into the slot.

SG1 joined her at the table.

"He writes well," said Quinn. She passed the laptop over to Carter who was sitting next to her.

"It's his story, Colonel. Damn. He knew it all: the discovery of the Stargate, your first trip to Abydos, everything up to our destroying Apophis' warships."

Jack sighed. "What's on the second disk?"

Quinn handed the disk to Carter and she slipped it inside the laptop.

"It's a journal, sir. It started about two months ago and it goes to ..." she scrolled to the last entry, "... the day we came to D.C. to get our medals. He says he's going to try talking to either you or me to get our side of the story."

"Does it mention who his source was?" asked Daniel.

"I don't know," she answered shaking her head. "He's pretty prolific. There's a lot of stuff on here. It'll take me awhile to read it all."

"Well you better get started then Captain and while your at it," he turned to Quinn, "you can take this damn cast off. It's starting to itch."

"Sure, no problem. I think I brought a hacksaw with me," she said.

"A hacksaw!"

***

A couple of hours and pots of coffee later, Carter had finished reading Zelig's journal and the cast was off of Jack's arm. He was still rubbing it where the Dremel had nicked him while Quinn was cutting. She'd been extremely apologetic and after a half an hour, Jack had let her off the hook and accepted her apology. She'd looked relieved.

"His source was Samuels," announced Carter.

"He knew that for a fact?" asked Quinn.

"Yeah. Samuels didn't identify himself, but Zelig recognized him after he'd seen him and Kinsey together in the Congressional Building. That's when he took that picture.

"Zelig got a phone call asking him if he wanted a story that would probably make him famous. The caller said he chose Zelig because of the stories he'd done it the past. How his pieces were mostly speculative but seemed plausible. Zelig agreed to meet him the next day at the Air and Space Museum.

"When Zelig got there, Samuels approached him. They wandered around the museum for about an hour while Samuels gave him little tidbits about the Gate. Zelig said he couldn't write about it without knowing the whole story and that he would need some proof that the Stargate existed and that this wasn't all just a ligament of Samuel's imagination.

"Samuels agreed to give it all to him, but not then. They arranged more meetings and over three weeks, Samuels had given him everything he had. The only thing he couldn't give him was proof. He did give him our pictures and that one of the Gate. There's a couple of scans in here of the Gate symbols and Daniel's original translation of the cover stones with the hieroglyphics."

"Damn it all to hell," muttered Jack.

"Sir, Zelig was fairly intelligent. He kept asking Samuels why he was giving him all of this. Samuels told him it was because he was tired of all the money the government was spending on covert operations like the Stargate. Zelig didn't believe him. For one thing, he formed the opinion that Samuels didn't have the chutzpah to take this on himself. He thought someone was behind him, pulling his strings. When he saw Samuels and Kinsey together, he figured it was Kinsey."

"Well he was right about Samuels not having the guts to do this himself. Did he get proof it was Kinsey?"

"No not exactly."

"Not exactly?"

"That's where the money and the bearer bonds come into it. He got a package in the mail a couple of weeks before he was killed. No return address. The postmark was Greenbelt. Inside the package was the $100,000 you saw and another $100,000 in bearer bonds. There was a computer printout with the money. All it had on it was 'Kinsey is one arrogant bastard and he keeps souvenirs. Use this to find them.'"

Quinn slapped the table, excitement rang in her voice. "Damn. Kinsey keeps journals. All we have to do it find them."

"How do you figure?" asked Jack. "All it said was that he kept souvenirs."

"And that he is an arrogant bastard, which we all know is true. Now what does a man who is smitten with himself do when he wants to relive his accomplishments?"

"He keeps a journal so that he can go back and reread it?" asked Daniel whose journal writing was common knowledge among his team members.

"Like yours, huh Daniel?" teased Jack.

"I don't write those to 'relive my accomplishments'. I write them for posterity ... to keep track of events. That sort of thing," said Daniel trying to defend himself.

"Uh huh."

"Dammit Jack!"

"Daniel, he's teasing you," said Carter.

"I know, it's just that sometimes it's so ..."

"Frustrating?" finished Quinn.

"Yes, exactly. Thank you."

"He probably took the same class the Reverend Mother did."

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"Who sent Armin Zelig the package?" asked Teal'c. "And for what purpose?"

"Good questions Teal'c. His partner in crime perhaps?" suggested Jack.

Quinn nodded her head. "I would imagine."

"But why?" asked Daniel.

"Greed more than likely. Whoever said there was honor among thieves, didn't know too many."

"Do you want to explain that?"

"First I think we need to figure out what and who would benefit from control of the Stargate. Have you guys come up with any ideas?"

"Naquadah," said Carter.

"Naquadah?"

"It's the stuff the Stargate is made out of and in liquid form, a very small amount is what powers Teal'c's staff weapon. Almost all Goa'uld technology is based on it. If someone had access to Naquadah, they could use it in almost anything that needs power. You haven't seen the damage a staff weapon can do. It's phenomenal."

"Advanced weapons designs. There's those two companies that Kinsey supports in his state. I think you're onto something Carter," said Jack.

"Thank you, sir."

"But if Kinsey goes down, wouldn't those companies lose out?" asked Daniel.

"Possibly, it depends on how good of a record Kinsey keeps. If it was me and I was going to turn on my partner, I'd make sure that my name didn't appear anywhere with Kinsey's except in a legitimate manner. If someone knows Kinsey keeps a journal, whose to say that they haven't been edited somewhat? But it doesn't have to be one of those two companies. It could be ... say a mining concern," suggested Quinn. "And if this Naquadah of yours is that versatile, it could be almost anyone who manufactures products that need a small, portable power supply. First, we find those journals."

"I realize that, but how is that going to help us find who sent Zelig the money?"

"Well, if it's one of those two weapons companies, it's the one whose name doesn't show up in the journals."

"And if both names are there?"

"Then we have some more digging to do."

***

"So we're going to break into Kinsey's, right?" asked Jack.

Quinn nodded. "His house I think. Something as incriminating as a journal I don't think he'd keep in his office in the Congressional Building. That and the fact that I can see him sitting in a chair next to a fireplace holding a glass of brandy reading about his exploits," she said smiling.

"Where does he live?" asked Daniel.

"It's within walking distance from here. Sharon Pratt Kelley's old house that she bought when she was elected Mayor of D.C. It's just down 16th Street a couple of blocks."

Quinn stood up and stretched. "Look there's a few things I have to do tonight. Why don't you all relax? Take Teal'c out and show him some of the sights."

"What things do you need to do?"

"Things. Boring things. Just trust me on this, will you?"

"I would like to see the Mall that Daniel was telling me about," said Teal'c.

Jack turned to Teal'c trying to read the big Jaffa's face, but as with almost all of Teal'c's expressions it could be saying almost anything. He shrugged. "I guess we're going to the Mall."

"The Metro station isn't that far from here and it runs until midnight. You can walk to it," Quinn tossed a set of keys to Jack, "or drive. There's plenty of parking." Turning she walked down the hallway and disappeared into the room she shared with Carter.

Jack watched her go and then turned to Carter, indicating with a nod of his head that she should go and see what Quinn was doing. She got up and went to the bedroom door.

Knocking first she asked, "May I come in?"

The door muffled the answer, but it was a positive one. Carter opened the door and walked in shutting the door behind her. "I just want to change my clothes before we leave."

Quinn was sitting on her bed digging in her bag.

"You're not going to go to Kinsey's by yourself tonight, are you?" she asked when she saw that what Quinn had been looking for was a Glock 9mm.

Quinn looked up after inserting a magazine in the pistol. "No, Carter. I'm not. I'm going into a part of D.C. that isn't very nice." She tucked the pistol in the back of her pants under her shirt. "And yes," she smiled, "I do have a carry permit."

"You're sure?"

"That I have a carry permit, of course. Do you want to see it?"

"No, that you're not going to try and get into Kinsey's."

Quinn put her bag back down on the floor at the foot of her bed. "Yes, I'm sure." Quinn could tell that Carter wasn't satisfied. "Look, I know a guy who knows a guy who broke into the Pratt-Kelley house right after she finished all her remodeling. I'm going to go and try to find him. He lives in South East. You lived here for a couple of years. You know what it's like in there."

Carter sat on the foot of her bed. "How do you know this guy?"

"From my father." Quinn put her hand on the doorknob. "Ask O'Neill about my Dad, he'll tell you how he knew him." Then she left.

By the time Carter walked back out into the living room, Quinn had left the apartment.

"Well?" asked Jack.

"She said she's going to go find some guy that broke into the house before. She said her father knew him and that you could tell me how."

"Later," Jack waved it off. "Believe her?"

"Yes, Colonel. I do."

Jack looked around at his team. "Well then I guess we're going to the Mall."

***

Jack and his team managed to catch the last train from the Mall to Silver Spring. When they got back to the apartment, Quinn was already in bed and apparently asleep. The next morning, she was the first up.

Jack found her working on some hand drawn floor plans. He sat down across the table from her. "Kinsey's place?"

"Yep."

"Nice looking place."

"Yep."

"Big."

"Yep."

"So, when do we go in?"

"I go in tonight."

Jack put his right hand over the drawing that Quinn was marking on and waited for her to look up. When she did, he asked, "What do you mean 'I go in'? We're here as a team, remember?"

Quinn sat back in her chair, took a deep breath, and put her hands on the table in front of her. "Colonel, this is going to be delicate. Kinsey's augmented Pratt-Kelly's security with a system of his own. He's hired his own thugs as guards for the place. I can guarantee that I can get in. I can't guarantee I can get a horde in, and that's what four extra bodies would be in this case. I need you outside, as backup in case things go sour."

Jack tried hard to come up with objections to her logic; but as much as he wanted to, he couldn't. "You'll go in carrying?"

She smiled, "Of course. And I have some for you also. I dropped by Bains' house to say hello to his wife. While I was there I picked up a few things for you. They're over there, behind the couch."

Jack got up from the table and walked to the couch. Looking behind he spotted a large, wrapped bundle. He bent and picked it up and lying it on the couch, unwrapped it. Inside were four MP-9s and four Glock 18s along with extra cartridges for all and several boxes of shells. "Where did he ..."

Quinn had joined him at the couch. "Don't ask. You don't want to know." She reached over and picked up one of the Glocks, popped the cartridge and showed it to him. It was empty. "You'll have to load them all before we go. I've got more shells I brought with me if you don't think these will be enough."

Jack counted the boxes. Enough there to fully load each cartridge. "These should be enough. We aren't going to start a war."

"My thoughts exactly." She set the pistol back down on the wrapping and walked back to the table, sat down, and started making marks on the paper again. Every once in awhile she would consult another piece of paper before making a mark.

Jack joined her. "How did you know that Kinsey added security?"

"Easy, that stuff has to be registered. I had Jonathan check the Metro police records, everything's on computers these days. It not only lists what kind of system it is, but who installed it. Then it was a matter of getting the installation diagrams."

"You broke into a security firm?"

She grinned up at him. "It was fairly easy. All the systems are pretty much the same. Some use motion sensors, some use magnets on the doors and window casements."

"Are you sure you've made all your money with patents and copyrights?"

***

Everyone pretty much left Quinn alone for the majority of the day while she studied the floor plans to Kinsey's house. Carter made breakfast and lunch, and Daniel and Jack were preparing dinner when Quinn finally broke with what she was doing and went to the bedroom. She came back out carrying two large, black duffles and an empty black backpack. Soon the living room floor was covered with stuff and Quinn was picking and choosing things and placing them in the backpack. When she was done, the backpack went by the front door and the two duffles went back in the bedroom.

Dinner conversation consisted of what SG1 had seen at the Mall the night before. Teal'c had been fascinated with the monuments -- especially the Lincoln Memorial.

Daniel had bought him a couple of books about Lincoln. Teal'c had spent the day reading one of them. Ever since he had learned how to read, he had devoured every book Jack, Daniel, or Carter had given to him. He was hungry for knowledge, especially anything to do with freedom and democracy.

Once the dinner dishes had been cleared from the table and put in the dishwasher, Quinn brought out her floor plans again. Everyone sat around the table. Daniel made sure that everyone's coffee cup and Quinn's juice glass were full.

"The house has two floors, no basement. There are four main rooms on each floor. Downstairs a living room, dining room, kitchen, and a den or library ... whatever you want to call it. Upstairs are two bedrooms, an office and a smaller library." Quinn pointed to each on the floor plan as she enumerated them.

"Kinsey has had the house wired pretty thoroughly, but it's not impenetrable. The man is paranoid. He's also got a guy inside that wanders around at night, two guys that walk the grounds, and one in the gate house ... here.

"At one point he had cameras outside, but they had an ice storm last winter and were destroyed. He hasn't replaced them."

Jack looked at her drawings. "Just what kind of security are we talking about here inside the house?"

"Motion and glass break sensors in each of the rooms except for the hallways and Kinsey's bedroom. Electronic keypads at each door to deactivate them so that the guard can check the rooms at night. The doors and windows have magnetic contacts. If they're broken, they set off the alarm."

"Wired directly to the police?" asked Carter.

Quinn chuckled. "Used to be, but they had some false alarms. After three times, the District starts charging for calls so they're just hooked up to the Gate house now. The guard there calls for the police if there's an actual problem that Kinsey's thugs can't handle."

"Where do you think he's hiding the journals?" asked Daniel.

"If I had to guess, I'd say in his office upstairs. There's a safe up there that Pratt-Kelly put in. Nothing fancy to it though," she answered.

"So what's our job in all of this?"

"Stand watch and come running if I need help. There's an alleyway behind the house where two of you can watch the back. It's not lit so no one is going to spot anyone loitering there. You really can't see the house from the street. It's set pretty far back and surrounded by trees. But those same trees can hide anyone watching the house from out front. You can see the guard shack from the street. Sixteenth street is divided there with a median running down the center. Each side has two lanes. We'll walk to get there. Parking is at a premium all along 16th, so there isn't going to be anyplace to put a car.

"I'm going to go over the fence ... here," she pointed to a spot on the backside of the property. "It's pretty blind actually. Lots of trees."

"The fence is electric?"

"No Daniel. Not in a residential area. God, all he'd need to do would be to fry a neighbor kid and he'd be run out of town on a rail."

Jack cleared his throat preparing to speak. Quinn looked up at him.

"We have to talk about what we're going to do when you find those journals," he said.

Quinn sat back in her chair. "Go on."

"A public trial would be just as bad as if Zelig had published. Worse even. It would lend credibility to the story. Everything would come out in the open. Even if it was a closed session, word would leak or out of spite, Kinsey would tell everything once he's prosecuted."

"Agreed," said Quinn. "Don't worry Colonel. Kinsey won't tell anyone about the Stargate."

"How can you be so sure?" he asked.

"Trust me on this one, okay? I know how important this is and I know how important it is to keep it quiet. I know Kinsey well enough to know what to say to keep his mouth shut. A trial won't be necessary. You just want to close the leak, right?"

"Right."

"After tonight, Kinsey's part will be closed."

"What about his partner ... the company he's working with?"

"We'll have to save that for tomorrow after we find out who it is. In the meantime, get some rest. We'll go in at 0200 hours."

***

It had been pretty easy walking from their apartment to Kinsey's even carrying automatic rifles and pistols. SG1 had brought along their black combat gear and Quinn had her own version which she wore.

After their planning session closed, Jack and Quinn had shown the others of the team the armament that Quinn had brought for them and they spent the rest of the evening getting things ready. All the weapons were checked and loaded, all the transmitters and receivers had been checked to make sure there would be no glitches in communication. Quinn had already checked and loaded her backpack with the gear to get her in the house. Then they all lay down to rest.

Approaching Kinsey's house from the alley side, all five kneeled down when they reached the corner of the fence. One guard could be seen walking in the backyard heading towards the front. He was smoking a cigarette and was easy to spot. The red tip of the it glowed like a beacon in the dark. Quinn pointed out where she was going to get in and showed Daniel where he could stand watch.

Lights were on in the kitchen. Through the curtains, they could make out movement inside.

"We wait," whispered Jack.

"No," said Quinn. "We don't know how long whoever it is in there is going to be. It might even be Kinsey's partner. I'm going in."

"But ..."

"No Colonel. This is my call. I'm going in. It actually helps. See?" She pointed.

She pointed and Jack could see that there were three guards outside. The guard they had originally spotted had moved out of their view, but they could see two more approaching along the side of the house from the front.

"Kinsey's meeting with someone and he doesn't want witnesses. See the balcony? Those doors lead to the upstairs hallway. That's how I'm getting in."

Indicating that Daniel should stay here, she led the rest to the other corner, where they left Teal'c. Circling the fence, they watched the guard as he crossed the left side of the house and emerged in the front. The other guard hadn't been spotted yet. He was probably on the far side.

Jack chose to stay at this corner of the house, closest to the guard shack, so Quinn led Carter around the back of the house again to the other side. The women spotted the second guard as he made his turn from the right side to the back of the house. In the quiet of the night, they heard a radio cackle and the guard speak indicating that everything was clear.

Quinn left Carter and headed back to Daniel's location.

Climbing a tree whose branches over hung the fence, she waited until all three guards were out of sight. Dropping quietly to the ground, she moved without sound through the stand of trees that were shielding her from the house until she was at the reline. There she waited and Daniel lost sight of her for a moment. The next time he spotted her, she was running across the open area and climbing up the stairs that led to a the balcony that ran the length of the back of the house. She had timed her run so that she could make it to the back of the house before the guard emerged on the side of the house from the front. He lost sight of her again when she knelt down by the double glass doors. A minute later he saw one of the doors open and shut. He waited to see if he was going to hear an alarm and when none went off, he whispered into his mic, "She's in." He heard two clicks indicating that his message had been received.

***

Quinn knelt down on the balcony and shook off her backpack. Looking inside through the sheer curtains, she didn't spot the anyone in the hallway. She checked the door to see if it was locked and wasn't surprised when it was. Opening her pack and pulling out a small case, she took out one of the utlra thin magnet strips, slowly easing it between the double doors. Sliding it down until she came into contact with an obstruction, she paused. Then she gently wriggled it gently in between the magnet in the one door and the steel stud in the other. Once that was done, she pulled another thin strip of metal from the case. This she inserted on the magnet side. Ripping off a piece of black electrical tape, she held it in her teeth while she picked the lock on the door. With one hand holding the plain metal strip in place, her other eased open the door. She placed the tape over the piece of metal so that it was making a firm contact with the magnet in the door frame. The magnet strip held itself to the steel stud in the other door. She grabbed her pack and slipped inside, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Not knowing if whoever was downstairs would soon come upstairs, she worked as quickly as possible. Removing a small electronic device from the backpack, and a small electric screwdriver, she went to work on the keypad of the door to which she was closest. Once the front plate was off, she hooked up her device to two small terminal poles in the keypad. Turning it on, she watched numbers flash on the screen of her electronic lock pick. They quickly counted down and she soon had the combination. She hastily put the cover back on the keypad and opening the door, moved inside and quietly closed the door.

She was in the small library. Moving quickly, she went to the connecting door leading to Kinsey's office. Punching in the combination on the keypad there, she was rewarded when the indicator light went from red to green. She went in and after closing the door behind her, she entered the combination on the keypad on this side setting the system back on the library.

Going directly to the desk she ran her hands under the lip. Finding the small button she was looking for, she pushed it and part of the wall behind her silently slid out of sight. Behind was a safe and two shelves. The shelves had notebooks on them; the kind a person might use to keep a journal in. Pulling the first one down, she sat in Kinsey's chair. Taking a small pen light from her pocket, she scanned the book. Smiling to herself she said sotto voice, "I found them Colonel."

Outside SG1 heard her and they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"The Stargate?" asked Jack.

"Not yet. I've got to go through them. It'll take me a minute. I'll let you know."

She stood up and put it back, took down another one and thumbed through it. She managed to make it through all of the journals, before she heard someone coming up the stairs to the second floor.

"Still have three guards outside?" she asked. A double click told her there were. "Well at least I won't have to come and find you, Senator," she said to herself.

There was a pause in the steps outside the door. Quinn sat down again in Kinsey's chair and waited. She kept the last journal in her hand and she pushed the button to close up the back wall. Knowing that the Senator would notice that the security was off in this room, she hoped that he would think someone forgot to set it and not call his guards. Quinn didn't want intruders just yet.

The door opened slowly and Senator Kinsey entered the room. Switching on the overhead light, he paused.

"Commander Masters. I thought we'd cross paths again," said Kinsey casually as he walked into the room.

Quinn swiveled Kinsey's chair to face him. "Senator Kinsey. Nice place you've got here. Have a seat." She pointed to the couch opposite the desk with her pistol. "We have to talk."

***

Outside Jack put his finger on the receiver in his ear and cursed. "Damn. She planned this."

"What do you mean Colonel?" asked Carter.

Jack kept his eye on the man in the guard shack while he talked. "Remember what she said? Kinsey will never tell anyone about the Stargate."

"Yes."

"She's going to kill him."

"Sir, how can you ... Do we go in?"

Jack shook his head. "No, we wait."

"But sir ..."

"I said we wait, Captain. That's an order."

"Yes sir."

***

Kinsey sat on the couch and leaned back. "What's there to talk about?"

"Oh, this." Quinn waved one of Kinsey's journals in the air.

Kinsey paled slightly when he saw what she was holding, but he recovered fast.

"It's fascinating reading. You know Senator, you have a way with words. You should have been a writer."

Kinsey didn't respond.

She waved the book a little. "Of course, you don't know which one of your little journals this is, do you? It's the one about the Stargate. Proof that you had Colonel Samuels leak the Stargate information to Armin Zelig."

"You'll never get out of here," he threatened.

"Oh sure I will. But you know what I find interesting in this?"

"Wha.." Kinsey's voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "What?"

"There's several places in here where you mention your mysterious partner in crime ... the person you sold the Stargate to, but it doesn't quite read right. I mean, in your other journals you name names, but in this one you don't. It's as though someone went through this and rewrote some parts so that the name of the company you're working with isn't mentioned. Whoever did it, did a good job of it too. I don't think anyone would ever be able to tell."

Quinn dropped the journal onto the top of the desk and leaned back in her chair. She looked casual, but she was keeping a close watch on Kinsey ... his reactions to her words.

"You've been rolled Senator. You finally found someone greedier than you. They want you found out. That's why they sent $200,000 and a cryptic hint about you to Zelig. They knew Zelig would dig until he had proof it was you. Then they figured that Zelig would have to give up your name sometime and you'd be out of the picture. Any profits from the Naquadah they wouldn't have to share with you. There's no real proof, just your word if you were to turn on them. And I would imagine it's someone you've never had any dealings with before ... oh, say like a mining concern. So they felt fairly safe. After you were gone, they'd leak the story to someone else.

"But then, you knew all that, didn't you Senator? Zelig contacted you didn't he? That's why you had two of your thugs run down him down. As long as he didn't know your name, you were safe. But as soon as he did you had to get rid of him.

It's over. Who'd you sell the Stargate to Senator?"

Kinsey rearranged himself on the couch trying to look casual but failing miserably. "You'll never prove it."

"I don't have to Senator. All I need to know is that the story will never go public. You're going to tell me who you were working with and then you're going to promise me that you won't tell a soul about the Stargate. Oh, and you're going to retire from public service. In exchange, I'll let you live. If you don't want to deal with me, well then ..." Quinn showed Kinsey the Glock she had in her right hand.

"You won't shoot me."

Quinn smiled. "I wouldn't count on that, Senator. I'm still a little pissed about what you did to me and my team."

Kinsey licked his lips and his eyes twitched to the doorway. A ghost of a smile played about his mouth and was gone. "I guess it doesn't matter now. It's Consolidated Mining."

"There, that wasn't so difficult was it?" Kinsey swivelled the chair to face the door. Her pistol aimed at the person standing there. "Hello Colonel Samuels. I was wondering when you were going to show up. Although I wasn't real sure if it was you or Kinsey's business partner who were holding the little pow wow downstairs. Why don't you come in and join us?"

Colonel Samuels had pushed open the door to Kinsey's office and now just stood in the doorway. He was holding a .45. His face was pale and the hand holding the pistol shook slightly. Kinsey stood and shouted, "Kill her you fool."

***

Jack yelled, "Now! Everybody in." He ran across the street and headed for the guard shack. By the time he reached it he heard the first shot from inside the house. The guard in the shack had jumped up and grabbed the phone, but Jack reached him before he could do anything with it. The butt of Jack's MP9 connected with the guard's temple and he went down. Jack entered the shack and pushed the button that opened the gate. Carter ran through with Jack right behind her. He heard the sound of an MP9 coming from the back of the house and knew that Daniel and Teal'c had scaled the fence and had probably taken out the two guards.

A couple more shots could be heard from the interior of the house. Jack sprayed the front door with his MP9 and kicked what was left of it open. A guard was running up the stairs leading to the second floor. He turned when he heard Jack and lifted a pistol. Jack didn't hesitate. One shot to the torso and the guard was rolling down the stairs. Jack jumped over the body and headed upstairs, Carter close behind. He slowed at the top of the stairs and moved down the hallway to the open door. Then he looked in the room.

***

Colonel Samuels and Quinn fired simultaneously. Quinn's bullet hit Samuels in the chest. Samuels bullet hit Quinn high in the chest just below the shoulder blade of her left arm spinning her and the chair she was sitting in around. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kinsey drop to the floor. Her left arm numb, she slowly rose from the chair looking for Kinsey. Spotting him on the floor in front of the desk, she saw him rising. When he came up, he had a small .32 in his hand. She raised her pistol and fired. His pistol went off at about the same time. Quinn never saw if she hit Kinsey as his bullet tore into the right side of her head. She spun around and dropped to the floor.

Kinsey rose, clutching his left arm. Walking to where Quinn lay unmoving on the floor, he nudged her with the toe of his shoe. Quinn took a shuddering breath. Kinsey raised his .32 again. "Good bye Commander Masters."

The sound of the shot was loud in the small room as it tore into Kinsey's spine. Kinsey was pushed forward into the wall where he slid down to the floor next to Quinn. Jack rushed in followed by Carter who checked Samuels first. By that time, Jack had reached Quinn and he was checking her for a pulse. Carter left Samuels and went to Kinsey. Jack raised a questioning eyebrow and Carter shook her head. "Quinn?" she asked.

"She's got a weak pulse."

"I'll call an ambulance." Carter rose and went to the phone on Kinsey's desk. Before she could dial, she heard footsteps running up the stairs and down the hall. She raised her rifle and then dropped it when she saw it was Daniel and Teal'c. She quickly dialed 911.

Daniel and Teal'c came slowly into the room.

"Oh my god ... is she?" asked Daniel.

"She's alive. But barely."

Quinn opened her eyes. "Colonel," she smiled, "it's about time you showed up."

Jack bent over so that he could hear her better. "You didn't give us much notice."

"Kinsey?"

"He's dead. So's Samuels."

"Did you hear?" her voice was barely audible.

"Yes, I did. You did good Quinn."

"Colonel, tell the Reverend Mother ..." Quinn coughed and doubled up. Jack reached out and took one of her hands.

"Don't talk. An ambulance is on the way."

She shook her head. "No, tell the Reverend Mother that Jonathan knows where my will is."

"She's not going to need it."

"Tell her not to spend it all in one place." A ghost of a smile crossed her features and then was gone. Quinn's eyes closed.

"Quinn? Quinn! You are not going to die on me." Jack frantically checked for a pulse. Not finding one he started CPR. "Quinn!" he yelled. "Daniel, get over here and help me." Daniel ran over and knelt down. Positioning her head, he began mouth to mouth. Jack continued talking to her as he pumped on her chest trying to get her heart going again. "I am not going to go back to Colorado and tell the Reverend Mother and 17 kids that you are dead. Do you hear me Quinn? Carter, where's that damn ambulance?"

***

A month had passed since the happenings in D.C. The White House had released a press release stating that the esteemed Senator Kinsey from Minnesota had for some reason gone crazy killing his military aid, his bodyguards, and then himself. No one questioned it. Between Hammond, Burns, and the President the police and emergency service personnel who had responded to Carter's 911 call were convinced that's what happened.

SG1 drove up to Murphy's Folly and got out of the car. This was the second trip they had made here since their return from D.C. The first trip was the day after the shootings. Jack had felt it was necessary to tell the Reverend Mother and the kids what had happened face to face rather than over the phone. The Reverend Mother took the news as well as could be expected. Jack, Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c had stayed while she told the kids. Then they waited with her until Sister Sophie had arrived. She would stay with the kids while the Reverend Mother flew to D.C.

They were greeted at the door by the voice of Jonathan.

"Good afternoon, Colonel."

Jack couldn't get over feeling a little uncomfortable talking to a computer, but he hid it well. "Good afternoon, Jonathan. How is she doing?" he asked.

"Oh as well as can be expected," he answered.

"Where is she?" asked Jack.

"She's on the couch in the main living room. Sleeping I think. The kids have been informed to remain quiet. School's out for the summer."

"Sir, if she's resting ..." began Carter.

"She would be disappointed if you left without seeing her, Captain Carter. I think she's grown rather fond of you all."

"Jonathan, you're a computer. What would you know about fondness?"

"Enough to recognize it, Colonel."

"You said the main living room?" he asked.

"Yes."

Jack and the rest of his team walked through the maze of corridors until they came to the room that was used as main living room. The air outside was still a bit nippy at night and the stone walls of the castle retained that coolness until midafternoon. A fire had been lit in the large fireplace that dominated one whole wall of the room. There were several couches, the ones that faced SG1 as they walked into the room were empty. They quietly approached the couch facing the fireplace.

Jack looked over the back. "She is sleeping," he whispered.

"No she's not. She's just bored. No one around here will let her do anything."

Quinn Masters sat up drawing the blanket around her and making room on the couch for Jack and the others to sit. Coming around, Jack sat down next to Quinn. Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c took a seat on the stone ledge in front of the fireplace.

"I thought you guys had deserted me. I've been home for two weeks now," she said smiling.

Jack smiled back, but it was Carter who answered. "We flew right back to D.C. with the Reverend Mother. You'd lost a lot of blood and you were in a coma and no one knew how long before you would come out of or even if you would come out of it. Reverend Mother convinced us to come back here. She'd call us if there was any change. When you did, we were ... well we were away. We just got back."

"Awww. Ye of little faith."

"Well when we found you, you did tell us about your will," said Jack.

"I did?"

"You don't remember?"

Quinn sighed ... deeply. "Not really."

"What's the last thing you do remember?" asked Daniel.

"Clearly ..." she raised her hand and rubbed her forehead where the bullet had entered, "let's see. Samuels at the door holding a .45?"

"You don't remember getting shot?"

"Nope," Quinn said shaking her head. "Could have knocked me over with a feather when I woke up and they told me I'd been shot ... not once, but twice. I've never been shot before." Quinn screwed up her face. "I must be getting old."

"Well all I can say is it's a good thing you've got a hard head," joked Jack.

"Yeah, they told me. The bullet had lodged in my skull just short of penetrating."

"You're going to have a nice little scar there, you know."

"Oh I don't know. I'm vain enough for plastic surgery."

"Well you certainly can afford it," said Daniel.

Quinn threw a mock glare at Daniel. "Again with the money?"

Daniel knew well enough to look chastised, and he did. Then they both smiled at each other.

"So what happened? I mean, I know Kinsey and Samuels are dead, but that's all."

"You mean Admiral Burns didn't tell you?"

Quinn drew her feet up on the couch in front of her. "I haven't seen him since he flew me and the Reverend Mother back in Scooter. He spent just enough time here to make sure I was okay, then he left. Took Scooter when he did, too. I might just have to file a police report." She smiled.

Jack related to her all that they knew including that it was her bullet that had killed Samuels. She'd hit him right through the heart. He also mentioned that she had hit Kinsey, but it was only a glancing blow to his arm.

When Jack was done, she said, "See, I am getting old. I let a Senator from Minnesota shoot me in the head, and I only grazed him. Disgusting."

Jack continued, "Your old team helped us out on what we had to do next which was check out Consolidated Mining and see what they had in the way of documents and such from Kinsey. We didn't find anything. Apparently they didn't want anything lying around that could tie them in with the Senator. However, they did get an anonymous message telling them that Kinsey was a nut case and to check out the news to see what happened to him. We're thinking they took the hint."

"Well I guess it's all tied up then, huh? Everyone can get back to business as usual," said Quinn.

"Yeah. Business as usual," said Daniel remembering their last mission.

"Hammond told us that they are reinstating Team One," said Jack. "Would you consider going back?"

Quinn looked off into the distance and smiled. After a few seconds she met Jack's eyes. "You know Colonel, if they asked I'd probably say no."

"Why?" asked Daniel. "It's your team. You were in on it from the beginning."

Quinn looked over at him. "Well without the Admiral, it just wouldn't be the same, but there's something else too."

"The kids," said Carter.

Quinn looked at her and smiled. "Yeah, the kids. When I first got back here they were happy and scared. Happy I was okay, but scared because of what had happened. I've also realized that while I enjoyed working with Team One and Admiral Burns, these last two years with just the kids and Reverend Mother have been more rewarding than anything I ever did for the military. Besides," she laughed, "someone's got to be here to fix all the things the Reverend Mother throws. That in itself is a full time job."

When SG1 left later that afternoon with a promise to return, Quinn was being waited on hand and foot by 17 kids. She looked happier and more satisfied than they had ever seen her.

When there had been a pause in all of this and all 17 were out of the room at the same time, Teal'c reminded Quinn about his promise to show her how to fly a Death Glider.

"Cool," she said.

***

I would like to thank my beta reader, Cokie, for her help. I am eternally grateful. However, any errors you might spot are mine, not hers.

© August 15, 2001 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.