CHAPTER FOUR
Sam had to admit that tonight's date was really nice, even if some of it had been a bit of a surprise. Whatever possessed Pete to crash the fiftieth anniversary party of two people he didn't even know was beyond Sam, but it was fun all the same. They danced for hours. If it wasn't for one thing, Sam would have been completely content. That one thing was Daniel. She couldn't seem to get him out of her mind tonight. She was concerned for him and his inability to get any real sleep. He was supposed to use biofeedback tonight, and she hoped that he did. She was also still thinking about how he almost seemed to be avoiding her lately. If she had gone to breakfast at her usual time yesterday, she wouldn't have seen him at all that day. She hadn't seen him today except for when she poked her head into his office to find out if he'd gotten any sleep. The second she'd laid eyes on him, she knew the answer to that question and made him swear that he'd try the biofeedback tonight.
Sam and Pete were now on their way back to her house. Sam was thinking about inviting Pete inside, but she knew that would be an open invitation for him to take things a lot further. So, didn't she want that? They had been dating for several weeks, long enough to go beyond just hugging, kissing and hand-holding, though maybe not long enough to go all the way.
It had been so long since Sam had been intimate with a man that she'd nearly forgotten what it felt like. And she did want that, longed for it . . . but did she want it with Pete?
That question had no sooner crossed her mind when the car pulled up to her house. Pete turned off the engine and looked at her. A little nervously, Sam smiled.
"I had a wonderful time, Pete. Thank you so much," she said.
"I had a great time, too, Sam." Pete caressed her cheek, then pulled her in for a long kiss.
As Pete's hand started wandering over Sam's body, causing a thrill to quiver down her spine, Sam almost said to hell with it and told him to come in. But something stopped her, a feeling that was telling her that something was missing, something important.
Sam slowly pulled back. Pete smiled into her eyes.
"That was very nice," he said. The look in his eyes and the way that he was touching her told Sam that he wanted her.
"Yes, it was," she admitted.
"So . . . are we going to sit out here the rest of the night?" he asked teasingly. "Not that I have anything against that, mind you. I've spent some very pleasant hours with women inside cars." His smile broadened. "I'm talking about stakeouts, of course."
Sam laughed. "Of course you are." Her smile faded. "Um, Pete, I. . . ."
Pete's smile was also gone. "I'm guessing that this is good night."
Sam met his eyes, seeing the disappointment there. "I'm sorry. I . . . I guess I'm just not ready yet. But I did have a wonderful night, Pete."
"I'm glad, though I have to be honest and say that I'd hoped the wonderful night would be continuing."
Sam sighed. "I know."
Pete put a smile back on. "Hey, there's always tomorrow night, right?"
Sam's lips turned up. "Maybe. I haven't agreed to go on another date yet."
"Oops. How presumptuous of me. Samantha Carter, would you go out with me tomorrow?"
Sam thought about it for a moment. "All right."
Pete's smile grew into a grin. "Great!"
Sam got out of the car and gave him a soft kiss. "See you tomorrow."
"I have to go back to Denver in the morning to file my report, but I'll be back later on. Will eight o'clock work again for you?"
"That'll be great."
Sam went up the path to her house. After unlocking the door and opening it, she waved at Pete, who had waited for her to reach the house safely. He waved back, started the car and drove away. Sam went inside and shut the door behind her. For a moment, the emptiness of the house made her wish that she'd let Pete come in. But, no. She had made the right decision. Until she was absolutely sure it was what she wanted, she could not make love with Pete. Doing otherwise would be a big mistake. She'd already made too many mistakes in her life when it came to men. She didn't want to make another.
Satisfied with her decision, Sam headed, alone, to her bedroom.
Daniel slowly and cautiously rose to his feet, staring at Osiris. "You've been trying to access my memories of the Ancients," he said, now understanding everything. "You thought you could find out the location of the Lost City from me."
"Very good, Doctor Jackson. That is exactly what I was attempting to do. And I was so very close to succeeding."
"Now, I know that you can't be getting into my house by ordinary means, so I'm guessing that you're transporting yourself here somehow."
"Anubis once probed the mind of Thor and gained access to the Asgards' beaming technology."
"Ah. Okay, so why didn't you just grab me and probe my mind?" Daniel realized the answer before Osiris could reply. "You can't, can you. The mind probe can't access my memories of the Ancients. Is it because they're in my subconscious or does it have to do with the way Oma blocked them?"
"It does not matter, not to you. It is a shame that I am going to have to kill you, Doctor Jackson. My host is quite fond of you and has many pleasant memories of your time as lovers. If there was time, it would be quite interesting to see how accurate her memories are of you and your . . . skills."
Anger arose in Daniel upon hearing the Goa'uld's words. It enraged him that the creature had raped Sarah's mind like that, stealing private memories that should have belonged only to Sarah and him.
His anger took a back seat as Osiris lifted her hand, the ribbon device beginning to glow. Not hesitating a second, Daniel mentally struck out at her. The Goa'uld went flying backwards and crashed into the wall, falling to the floor. Shaken, she got to her feet, both shock and wariness on her face.
"What manner of weapon do you use against me?" she asked, moving cautiously away from the wall and around to the end of the bed. She looked at him up and down. "I see no weapon on your body."
Daniel glanced down at himself. "You know, if I was Jack, I'd probably make a very crude remark right now," he said.
Osiris glared at him. "Do not toy with me, Doctor Jackson. If I so choose, I could crush you for your insolence."
"Do all of you Goa'uld read from the same script or something? You know, you really should come up with some new material."
Apparently deciding that she didn't like Daniel's attitude, Osiris tried yet again to blast him with the ribbon device. This time, she didn't even have the opportunity to activate it. The device was torn off her arm and went flying through the air to land in Daniel's outstretched hand. A second later, the Goa'uld was thrown back against the far wall and pinned against it, unable to move.
"What is this? What trickery do you use?" Osiris snarled, struggling against the unseen force that held her captive. "What alien power have you discovered?"
Daniel realized that there was no point in trying to hide the truth. Sooner or later, Osiris would figure it out anyway. "Well, if you were Nirrti, you'd probably call me a Hok'tar," he said as he walked up to her.
The Goa'uld's eyes narrowed. "An advanced human." Her expression turned calculating. "If this is true, you would be of great value to Anubis."
"Oh, I'm sure I would be, which is why I can't let you tell him. I should probably call someone to come get you since I really don't want to have to entertain you all night. So, if I let go of you, will you behave?" Osiris just stared at him, not answering. Daniel gave a little sigh. "Yeah, that's kind of what I figured."
The sudden sound of a car backfiring startled Daniel, momentarily breaking his concentration and his hold on Osiris. The Goa'uld instantly took advantage of the moment of freedom. Before Daniel could stop her, she touched the device on her left wrist. The familiar blue-white light of an Asgard beam enveloped her. Not stopping to think, Daniel grabbed onto her. An instant later, he found himself onboard a Goa'uld Al'Kesh. A second after that, his throat was seized in a crushing grip. He looked into Osiris' eyes and saw her intent to kill him.
The memory of what he did with the barbell came to Daniel's mind. With all his physical strength, he shoved the Goa'uld away, tapping into his telekinetic abilities at the same time. Osiris' grip on his throat was broken as she was hurled twenty feet across the room. She landed hard and slid across the floor another six or seven feet.
A sharp pain in his neck made Daniel reach his fingers up to it. They came back red with blood. He'd been scratched by Osiris' fingernails.
Seeing the Goa'uld get to her feet rather painfully, Daniel gave a silent apology to Sarah.
Osiris moved slowly to her right, Daniel watching her closely. He didn't want to attack again for fear that he'd serious hurt Sarah, but if the Goa'uld gave him no choice, he'd have to defend himself. He could not let her escape, not with the knowledge she now had about him.
"You are, indeed, quite powerful, Doctor Jackson," Osiris said, coming to a stop behind a control console. "Anubis will be very pleased."
Daniel's sixth sense warned him an instant before the Goa'uld pulled out a zat gun. At the same time that she pulled the trigger, Daniel struck at her again. But it was too late. He felt the blast hit him even as he saw the Goa'uld go flying backwards. He fell, losing his battle to remain conscious a second after hitting the floor.
Jack was awakened by the ringing of the phone. His eyes only half-open, he reached for it and put it up to his ear.
"This had better be good," he grumbled.
"Colonel O'Neill?"
The no-nonsense tone of the unfamiliar voice fully roused Jack. He sat up, hoping that he hadn't just ticked off some four-star. "Yes?"
"This is Detective MacGregor. You are listed as the emergency contact for Doctor Daniel Jackson."
"What's wrong? What's happened to Daniel?" Jack asked as he sat upright.
"I'm afraid that we don't know, sir. Neighbors reported a disturbance at Doctor Jackson's house. When police responded, they found signs of a struggle inside. Doctor Jackson is missing."
Crap. This was not good. "I'll be right over. I have some reason to believe that this might be connected to Doctor Jackson's work with the military. I will be contacting my superiors, and you can expect a team to be showing up there."
"Very well, Colonel. Just make sure that your people don't get in the way of the forensics team. He may be an employee of the military, but Doctor Jackson is still a civilian."
Jack hung up and quickly dressed. As he rushed out the door, he dialed General Hammond's house. When the general answered, Jack told him what was going on.
"Sir, I don't know what we're dealing with, but we need to make sure this gets turned over to us. If some cop gets too nosy, it's going to cause problems. And if any of them start taking a peek at those personal journals of Daniel's. . . ."
"There's no need to say anything more, Colonel. I'll make some calls right away."
"Thank you, sir. Oh, and could you be sure that Teal'c is told and is with the team that's sent over?"
"Consider it done."
Jack was already on the road when he disconnected the call. Normally, he would now contact Sam, but he was concerned that, if she had a date with that Pete guy tonight, she might be . . . in the middle of something. For the sake of Daniel, he didn't want to believe that was the case, but he had to be realistic.
Jack traveled another couple of blocks before making up his mind. Carter needed to know, and if he didn't call her, she'd probably be furious with him later. He hit the speed dial for her home number. Sam's sleepy voice answered the call.
"Carter, something's happened to Daniel. He's missing, and there's evidence of a struggle at his place."
There was a soft gasp. "You mean somebody took him?" Sam asked.
"I don't know. Considering what Daniel can do, I find it hard to believe that anyone could managed to snatch him. I'm on my way over there now."
"I'll be there as soon as I can, sir."
The click and the following silence told him that Sam had hung up. Jack put his phone back in his pocket. A short while later, he was pulling up near Daniel's house. There were several cops in the yard and curious neighbors all over the place. Crime scene tape was all around the house.
Jack headed over to one of the uniformed cops. He showed his ID and asked to see Detective MacGregor or whomever was in charge. A couple of minutes later, a short, balding man in his fifties approached Jack. He held out his hand.
"Colonel O'Neill, I'm Detective MacGregor."
Jack shook the proffered hand. "Do you have anything yet?" he asked as he slipped under the tape.
"No, not yet. The forensics people are going over the place right now. We've interviewed the neighbors. No one saw anyone entering or leaving the house, even after the racket that caused them to call the police. A couple of people claimed that they saw a bright flash of light in the bedroom. The interesting thing is that all of the doors and windows are locked from the inside. There is no way that anyone could have gotten out."
Jack had stiffened the second that the detective mentioned a bright flash of light. Damn. Not that. Please don't let it be that.
The sound of someone slamming on their brakes drew Jack's attention to the road. Sam's silver Volvo had just made a rather sudden stop across the street from Daniel's house. The major jumped out of her car and hurried over. A cop stopped her, and, for a brief instant, Jack thought that Sam was going to use her advanced level three hand-to-hand training on the hapless man to make him get out of her way. Instead, she showed her ID and pointed at Jack. The officer let her by.
"Sir, any news?" Sam asked, slightly out of breath. Considering how fast she got here, it was no wonder.
"I'll fill you in later, Major. Detective MacGregor, this is Major Carter. She works with Doctor Jackson."
The detective shook Sam's hand. "Do you know of anyone who might have reason to kidnap Doctor Jackson?" he asked.
Sam glanced at Jack. "He is privy to quite a bit of classified information. It's possible that someone took him to gain access to it."
"You mean like foreign spies?" the cop asked, doubt heavy in his voice.
"There is a chance that whomever took him is . . . foreign," Jack replied.
Sam looked at Jack sharply. He met her eyes, and a silent message passed between them. The worry on Sam's face increased tenfold.
Jack turned back to MacGregor. "Due to national security, we're going to have to take over this investigation."
"Oh, I don't think so, Colonel," the man responded unpleasantly. "Like I told you on the phone, Doctor Jackson is a civilian, which puts this under our jurisdiction."
"Not when matters of national security apply," Jack insisted.
"Well, unless I get a call from the president telling me to turn this over to you, this case stays with us."
Just then, Jack's phone rang. He talked with the person for a few seconds, then held the phone out to MacGregor. "It's for you."
"Who is it? The president?" the detective sneered.
"Nah, it's only the governor."
MacGregor lost his sneer. He took the phone.
"This is Detective MacGregor, sir. It's an honor to— Yes, sir, I am." There was a pause as the person on the other end spoke. "What? But sir, I don't understand." Another pause ensued, at the end of which, the detective was frowning severely. "Yes, sir. Goodbye, sir."
The cop handed the phone back to Jack with a sour expression. "He told me to turn the case over to you. You guys must have some connections pretty high up to have the governor calling people at this time of night." The man's eyes narrowed. "Exactly what does this Doctor Jackson do for the military anyway?"
"Now, Detective, you don't really want me to tell you that, do you?" Jack asked pleasantly. "I'd think that you would want to live to see your next birthday."
The expression that crossed MacGregor's face was both shock and nervousness. "You're not joking, are you."
"That's for me to know and for you to . . . not know."
The man paused. "Fine. The case is yours."
"Good! Now, we're going to want all the evidence that your forensic people gathered."
"Right."
MacGregor called one of the uniformed cops over and told him to go into the house and tell the forensics team to stop what they were doing, pack up, and turn any evidence gathered over to Jack.
A few minutes later, several people came out carrying equipment. One of them came over and, after giving Jack a penetrating look, handed him some evidence bags, which Jack gave to Sam.
A while later, the cops had all left. A moment after that, a military SUV pulled up out front. Teal'c and SG-3 got out.
"O'Neill, what has happened to Daniel Jackson?" the Jaffa asked.
"We don't know yet, but I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that the Goa'uld are involved."
"How do you know, sir?" Sam asked.
Jack glanced about, seeing all the curious neighbors still hanging around. "Come on. Let's go inside. Colonel Reynolds, stay out here and secure the perimeter. Don't let any of those nosy neighbors get too nosy."
"Yes, sir."
Jack, Sam and Teal'c went inside. Everything looked fine in the house until they got to the bedroom. That's where the mess was. Several things that used to be hanging on the walls were now scattered all over the floor, some of them damaged or broken. A small table had been overturned, the items on it also littering the floor.
"Well, whatever happened here, somebody put up a good fight," Jack remarked.
"Sir, why do you think that the Goa'uld are involved?" Sam asked again.
"Some of the neighbors reported seeing a bright flash of light here in the bedroom."
"You're thinking a ribbon device?"
"Well, that or some kind of transportation device, like what the Asgard have. All the doors and windows were locked from the inside when the cops got here."
Sam's eyes widened. "Oh my God. Anubis!"
"What? What about Anubis?"
"He probed Thor's mind. It's very likely that he obtained information on the Asgards' beaming technology."
"Major Carter, Osiris is in the service of Anubis," Teal'c said.
"Yes, she is. Do you think that she was the one who took Daniel?"
"I was thinking of the dreams that Daniel Jackson has been experiencing."
"Dreams?" Jack repeated. "Daniel said something about having some dreams that were keeping him awake."
Sam nodded. "He's been having dreams about Sarah Gardner, about back when they knew each other in Chicago. The dreams were all wrong, though. In them, there was a tablet with Ancient written on it with information about the Lost City. Daniel was trying to translate it."
"I believe that the dreams may have been created by Osiris in an attempt to gain knowledge of the Lost City," Teal'c stated. "The Goa'uld possess the technology to explore a person's memory."
Sam nodded. "She could have been sneaking into Daniel's house at night and using some sort of modified memory device, attempting to get the information out of his subconscious."
Jack cursed under his breath. "Daniel probably woke up, there was a big fight between them, and she somehow managed to blast him with a ribbon device and knock him out."
Sam had a terrible thought. "Sir, if Daniel used his abilities against her, it would mean that she now knows about them. She would immediately see the advantages of having control of that kind of power, and the only way that she could have real control would be to—"
"No! Don't say it," Jack ordered sharply.
"You believe that Osiris may have taken Daniel Jackson as a host?" Teal'c asked.
"Ahhh! I said not to say that!" Jack exclaimed. "No way! That snake has not taken over Daniel. I refuse to even consider that."
The three members of SG-1 fell silent, all of them hoping that they'd get Daniel back, and that he would still be himself when they did.
