Chapter 18
Teal'c was most uncomfortable. He could feel Dr. Fraiser's eyes on him as he sat in the corner of the small room, attempting to meditate. He was, however, distracted by both Dr. Fraiser's attention and the increasing haze fogging his mind, not to mention his worry for his teammates who were conducting missions of their own without him. Finally, Teal'c sighed and opened his eyes.
"Teal'c, are you okay?" Dr. Fraiser asked, her eyes filled with concern. She was sitting on the floor as well, leaning against the opposite wall, her arms crossed tightly around her torso.
"The wounds I sustained on the Tok'ra rescue mission are nearly healed, Dr. Fraiser. There is no need for concern. A confused look grew on the doctor's face.
"Tok'ra rescue mission? Is that what you were doing? Teal'… uh… just to make sure… you *do* understand that none of that was real, right?" she asked, leaning forward.
"I do understand, Dr. Fraiser. However, as I perceived it, it was in fact real. As has been the last year, even if it was real only for myself and the rest of SG1. What is done is done. And this place is still real in the truest sense of the word… it has merely been wool pulled over our eyes." Teal'c raised his chin as he conveyed his wisdom to the younger woman. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment.
"Teal'c, I'm sorry."
"To my knowledge, you have nothing to apologize for, Dr. Fraiser," Teal'c replied, puzzled. He regarded his friend, examining her for indications of what she was thinking.
"We… we tried looking, Teal'c… for a long time. But we couldn't get through. We couldn't find you, and we left you guys here… We should have done more, tried something else, anything…" Dr. Fraiser appeared on the verge of tears, and Teal'c rose slightly, creeping along the floor to comfort her. He crouched beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder. He immediately dismissed the unbidden notion that leapt to mind, telling him to move his hand up just a bit more to her neck, and squeeze… He took a deep breath.
"Janet Fraiser… for as long as I have had the honor of knowing you, you have done nothing but fight for us, supporting us and saving us when we were in need. You are one of the finest people I have ever known." She opened her eyes and stared at him, eyes wide. Teal'c continued. "It was not possible for you, nor anyone else, to know what was taking place here. There was nothing you could have done. But now, you are doing no less for us than you have always done. I am proud and honored that you came here to help us, when it was not necessary. It is not you who should apologize, Janet Fraiser, but I. For never thanking you sooner."
"Teal'c… I… I don't know what to say. That's gotta be one of the-" Janet Fraiser and Teal'c were both startled when they heard a quick rap on the door, and held their breaths.
"Janet? Teal'c? It's me, Sam. Open up!" Came a muffled voice from the other side of the door. Teal'c raised an eyebrow and Janet shrugged as she got up and moved to open the door.
Janet smiled brightly as she opened the door for her friend, but the smile faded as she saw that someone other than Leske was with Sam.
"Janet, this is Markhen. He's a friend of Leske's," Sam said as she slipped through the door. Janet stepped back and crossed her arms, her face darkening.
"Yeah, like *Ronar*?" Janet replied. Sam deactivated her IHFG and glared at her friend.
"Relax, Janet. Teal'c, how are you feeling? Any weird headaches or dizzy feelings? Unusual thoughts or impulses?" Sam asked, redirecting her attention toward Teal'c. He bowed his head slightly as she and Markhen moved toward him.
"In fact, I have experienced all of those symptoms, Major Carter. Is something wrong?" Sam smiled to her friend.
"Not for long, Teal'c. Markhen, here, is going to deactivate your neurofilter."
Teal'c bowed his head in assent and Markhen cautiously moved toward him. He was a lot bigger in real life. As Markhen got to work helping Teal'c, Janet took Sam aside.
"Sam, is this really such a good idea?" she asked. Sam nodded her head.
"Leske already deactivated mine, and I'm feeling a lot better. We think Daniel's just went a little haywire because she made her own DaD. This one here is the real deal." Sam paused before another thought came to mind. "Janet, when Markhen found us, he told us that Talin had the Colonel and Daniel. How long ago did they leave?"
Janet's eyes widened. "What? Only about twenty minutes ago. They were going to try and turn off the Environment at the main switch. Is that where Leske went?"
"Yeah. If Daniel and the Colonel have been compromised, she might be our only chance," Sam replied softly as both women turned back toward Teal'c and Markhen.
Teal'c was lying on the floor with Markhen rising from a crouch beside him. Teal'c was out like a light.
"All done. He should wake up in a minute," said the young man as he brushed off his pants. He handed Sam the DaD. Seconds later, Teal'c was already opening his eyes. Sam brushed past Markhen, nodding her thanks, and crouched down next to Teal'c, followed closely by Janet.
"Teal'c? How are you feeling?" Janet asked as the large man sat up.
"I am experiencing a slight pain in my head, however it is subsiding. I am fine." Sam and Janet both smiled and helped him up.
"Um… Major Carter?" Came Markhen's troubled voice from near the door. Sam looked over at him. "What now?" he continued. Sam shook her head and was about to answer when the bathroom began to melt away. The four people turned around, stunned to see that they were suddenly surrounded by a cold, warehouse type setting, with walls covered in wiring and various pieces of technology with which only Markhen was familiar.
"Well, I guess they turned it off," commented Janet. Sam nodded, and a second later, her eyes lit up.
"Markhen, the gateroom is only a short distance from here, right?" she asked. Markhen nodded.
"What are you thinking, Major Carter?" Teal'c asked. Sam smiled.
"I'm thinking that we need to get control of that Stargate, Teal'c."
"Um, Sam? Our weapons were holographic. They disappeared with everything else," said Janet. Sam looked at her with a wry grin on her face.
"Not all of them…" she said as she reached behind her and pulled a Zat from her waistband. Janet's eyes widened and Markhen took a step toward her.
"Wh- where did you get that?" he asked.
"Picked it up after the other Environment was turned off. Saw it just lying there on the floor. Figured it might come in handy later." Sam was positively beaming.
* * * *
"Leske, what the hell is going on here?" Jack demanded with the realization that his gun had vanished into thin air as soon as he stepped from the control room.
"Well, Colonel… it looks like we are going to the gate room unarmed… The holographic weapons disappeared as soon as the Environment was shut off," she replied as she showed him her empty hands. "Unless you can use your Special Ops training to get someone to relinquish their weapon…"
"I'll work on it… Lead the way." Jack hesitated. "Leske, the Environment is shut down completely," he said, waving his hand to illustrate. "All through here, correct?"
Leske nodded her head in acknowledgement. Realization of the point Jack was attempting to make dawning on Daniel. "Jack, I don't believe Sam is going to wait in the bathroom, or whatever it has reverted to. I trust Sam would have taken everyone and gone straight to the gate."
"My thoughts exactly, Daniel, but as a precaution…Leske…can you take us on a route to the gate room that would pass the bathroom?"
"Actually, Jack… the bathroom would have just dissapated…"
"You are telling me that they would have been left standing in the middle of a… a huge-ass open room without protection, without walls, without a door, without a WEAPON?" Jack's face turned red in anger. Anger at the situation, anger at Leske, anger at the people who had taken a year away from his life and his teammates' lives… "You better hope nothing has happened to them, or…"
"Or what, Jack?" Daniel asked. "I want us to go home… all of us… not stand here and argue… point fingers. We don't have time for that. Our friends don't have time for that."
Jack glanced at Daniel and sighed. "Come on, let's move out."
Jack allowed Leske to take point through the unfamiliar maze of corridors, while he pushed a too-pliable Daniel in front of him. The threesome hugged the walls for a distance, coming to a stop when Leske issued the command to halt. Fingers to her lips, she pointed out a single soldier standing at the intersection of two halls, a weapon visible in his side holster. Jack easily overtook the distracted soldier and obtained a Zat and an unfamiliar type of handgun. Jack kept the Zat and attempted to hand the gun over to Daniel, when Leske grabbed it from his outstretched hands.
"Hey!" Daniel yelled in indigence, grimacing as the sound of his voice echoed in his head, starting his headache anew.
"Look, Daniel… no offense, but I'm leading the way to the gate room, and being in that position, I would prefer to be armed. The Colonel's covering our six… I'm sure you want whomever is watching your butt to be armed…"
"All right, Leske, I get the point," Daniel answered begrudgingly.
"Well, I don't. How do we know we can trust her?"
Daniel placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Listen to me. We can trust her, believe me. She risked her life to save me… to save *us*."
"Daniel," Jack replied a small smile playing on his lips. "I should listen to you. Like I shoulda listened to you in the Control Room and shot you."
Daniel blushed. His eyes slid down and he fidgeted under the older man's scrutiny. "Yes! I mean… no! I mean… thanks for not listening to me, Jack. Umm… back there in the… I didn't think the friendship…"
"I know Daniel."
"It's important to me that…"
"Knock it off, guys…" Leske said in an impatient whisper. "Finish it when you get back to earth."
"Sorry," they both answered simultaneously.
The hallways of the former SGC were mostly deserted. The majority of the occupants of the SGC environment had been actors, and, in all probability, were not going to wait around to see how the final scenario turned out. Daniel touched Leske's arm and pointed to a group of men disappearing around another hallway.
"Ronar's men," Leske whispered in response to Daniel's unasked question.