"Off-world activation " The klaxons screamed and red light flashed as I self-assuredly made my way to the control room. I looked out the window, down at the spinning Stargate and running SFs.
"It's SG-1's IDC, sir, right on time." The sergeant said when he saw me coming in.
"Thank you Sergeant, open the iris, and stand by for audio and visual communication." I'd been waiting all day for this call, or whatever you wanna name it.
"Yes sir."
The Sergeant handed me the microphone, which I quickly placed into my ear, eager and ready to hear about SG-1's new adventure. And for once it should be going well, since the planet I sent them to seemed peaceful, just, and with a level of technology very close to our own. Hopefully we were right about its people and SG-1 will be able to bring back some interesting technology. I heard some static, understanding it was time for me to pay close attention and listen carefully for what'd come next.
"Hello this is Colonel Jack O'Neill, come in." I heard from the mike.
His voice sounded far away, as in a long distance call, but I suppose that's exactly what it was. "Colonel O'Neill, how are the negotiations going?" I asked into the mike, waiting anxiously for his reply, very well knowing that this was a damn good - and rare- opportunity for us to make treaties.
"Pretty smoothly sir. The locals have accepted to provide as much naqadah as we want in exchange of medicine and a few stuff only Carter is able to comprehend, let alone pronounce. Sir."
I could almost hear the sarcastic smile in his voice but knowing the man, I didn't let that get in the way of detecting his good mood. For once.
"So everything's in order over there?" I could never be too sure.
"Yes sir." He sounded very confident and I decided to take that confidence as a good sign.
But as he was responding, I heard people shouting on his side and it was getting louder and louder, even through the mike.
"Colonel? What's going on?" I asked, suddenly aware that his confidence, as well as mine, had just dropped a few points. His answer took a few seconds to reach us.
"I'm not sure sir. There seems to be a crowd forming down the road around ...crap ! Sir, I gotta go, talk to you later, bye!"
I realized he hung up his radio long before the sergeant shifted uncomfortably beside me, and looked at me with fearful eyes.
"We've lost contact, sir."
What the hell is going on Jack?
******
"Carter! What the hell is going on?"
I finally made it through the crowd to where Carter, Teal'c and... Daniel were standing, surrounded by very angry people.
"I'm not sure, sir." She confessed when I'm right beside her, looking, bewildered, at the big guys holding Daniel by the shoulders and his hands tied behind his back.
"What do you mean 'not sure'?"
Daniel intervened. "Jack, I'm accused of murder." He was so calm when he said that, I thought it must've been some kind of joke or something.
"Come on Danny, you couldn't hurt a fly even if you wanted..."
"He's serious, sir." I looked over at Carter incredulously.
"I'm sorry?"
"Jack, I'm really accused of murder" and as he pronounced those prophetic words, a man broke through the crowd and handcuffed Daniel, then started taking him away.
"Hey! What do you think you're d..." I tried to stop them but Carter's hand on my arm stopped me as she tried to keep me from going after Daniel. I turned to look at her and shook the hand away, but I immediately softened and then felt just a little guilty. She seemed hurt by my not-so-delicate movement, but seconds later she was back to herself again.
"Sir, the only way to help Daniel right now is by not complicating things and proving he's innocent. Now, they're taking him to a cell for the moment and we'll be able to go and see him there as we please. He'll tell us what happened."
"Carter, I know I always turn out to be the bad guy around here, but I won't let Daniel be accused of anything. We're breaking him out of there."
I began walking away but she was faster and placed herself in my way, her hands up, ready to stop me by force if necessary.
"Damn it Carter!" I tried to pass by her but she stopped me again.
"Sir, with respect, no. Talk to General Hammond before making any rash decisions. I don't think we should give up all the things they are willing to give us just yet. Not when I know Daniel is innocent."
She was right, as always. But I sure didn't want her to see that right away.
"I'm gonna talk to Hammond. You and Teal'c try and figure out where they're taking Daniel. I wanna know what's going on."
"Yes sir."
And with that, we left.
******
The streets of this city were so clean, I had to wonder how they did it. I mean on Earth, keeping the streets as clean as this would cost billions. And the buildings were so high I don't think I'd ever seen buildings so high in any of the many cities I've visited on Earth. It was very impressive. Especially when getting dark, just like now, with the lights illuminating the whole city. In fact, I think this is the closest planet to Earth, technologically speaking, that we have ever came across. Approximately the same level of technology, the same time frame, more or less, and the same feelings. Only it's always different. Different laws, different people and different governments. That last aspect is exactly what brought Daniel to want to stay here for a while. At first it sounded like a great idea, and he even managed to find some fellow archeologist that allowed him to look at her newest find: a six foot tall wall with ancient writings on it. Nothing out of the ordinary you might say, and I would normally agree, only this time it was different. This time Daniel supposedly killed his 'fellow archeologist', and the 'different government' was ready to condemn him to death, and the different laws would make that possible without even an adequate trial.
I had tried to reassure the Colonel that everything would be all right without acting by force, but I wasn't too convinced of that myself. I just thought it'd be wise to wait until things cleared up a bit before doing anything that could compromise this treaty, one of the most important to date from what I could tell. I don't think anyone really understands the value of naqadah, except these people, apparently, and this treaty would permit us to get as much as we wanted, as long as our methods respected the mines that were already in use. And that wasn't such a big problem.
"Major Carter, we are at our destination." Teal'c snapped me out of my reverie.
I looked up and looked at the sign of the building where we stopped. When we first came through, the people who first met us brought us here, and I guess you could call it a town hall. It was a big building made out of big yellow bricks, which is not so surprising when the naqadah derivative they use becomes yellow after transformation. It looks like sand to the naked eye, but it's a whole lot more solid than sand to the touch. The entire city was built with it.
Teal'c passed by me and knocked on the door with that look on his face that betrays his worry for his friend. It took a good two minutes for someone to open the door and Teal'c hadn't moved an inch the whole time.
The person who greeted us was a woman, which was not so surprising considering that a lot of important jobs are occupied by women. She smiled kindly at us, but I didn't really feel like returning the gesture right now. And from the look on his face, Teal'c didn't either.
"Excuse me ma'am, we're looking for someone from the jail administration, we need to get some information about our friend."
Understanding suddenly flowed on the woman's face and she rushed us in with false civility and a flow of words that even I couldn't manage to say all at once.
"Yes! Of course, come in! You are the visitors from the other planet! I'm sorry I did not recognize you! But then I saw your clothes and the way you hold your weapon is very unusual for a citizen of this city!" And then she laughed hysterically, but I'm not even sure why. I exchanged a confused look with Teal'c and I had to struggle not to smile at his puzzled look. Still laughing, she took us in a circular room where there were chairs and desks and she invited us to sit.
"What can we do for you?" She asked once we're all sat and ready to talk.
"One of our friends, Dr. Daniel Jackson, has just been accused of murder and we'd like to get information about where he is, and what we can do to help him. Basically we want to know about the laws and what we can or cannot do." Damn it, Daniel was the one good at this stuff, I'm not a diplomat!
The woman looked down and suddenly became very serious, something I never thought could be possible after those few minutes of uninterrupted laughter and giggling.
"Yes, of course. I will be happy to provide that information. However, I must warn you that every evidence points towards your friend's guilt."
"Maybe so, but I know Daniel, and I know he'd never hurt anyone."
She seemed to consider that for a moment, then, looking resolved, stood and went behind the desk, obviously looking for papers or something. Once she's found what she was looking for, her face illuminated and she came back to us, handing me a huge pile of files and folders.
"Here are the previous cases similar to yours, however none of these accused were from an other planet!" And there goes her hysterical laughter again.
I took the pile from her hands gratefully, trying to ignore her coolness on the subject. Obviously she didn't understand what it means to have one of your best friends condemned to death.
"What about law books? Maybe we could find some more information?" I asked, trying to get all we could need.
"Yes of course." She got up again and walked to the shelf covering the entire wall. She picked up a couple of heavy-looking books and dropped them into Teal'c arms.
She sobered again and looked me in the eye for the first time since we came in. I was surprised at the intelligence and comprehension I could read in them. "If you wish to defend your friend, you will have to do it with evidences and undeniable proofs." I stared at her as the instructions sank in. I finally nodded and after a quick meaning look at Teal'c we both got up to leave.
"Oh, and we can visit Daniel whenever we want right?"
She nodded and I began making my way to the door. Before reaching for the door handle I turned around one last time.
"Just out of curiosity, how many of these accused were liberated?" I asked, holding the pile of paper in front of me. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, but that's all I needed to know.
"Ah. Thank you."
**********************
"Guilty until proven innocent." I closed the humongous law book in front of me with anger and looked at Carter whose head was buried inside another one of those books.
"I gather you have found nothing" Teal'c commented on the obvious and moved to yet another book.
"The only thing I did find is the same thing I found in all those books. Guilty until proven innocent! Is practically the beginning of every law book in this god damn place!"
Carter let out a sigh and closed the book she was reading. She gave me an accusing look and started talking. "Ok let's see what we have so far. Daniel couldn't have done it, we all know it, but now we have to prove it. What do we know about the murder?" she looked at Teal'c in question.
"Yuany was found in the tent on the northern part of the dig where they kept all the findings and cataloged them" Teal'c read from the notes in front of him.
"Yuany... That's the woman Daniel was involved with isn't it?" I looked at Carter who gave me one of her... 'You're hopeless!' looks and just nodded in agreement.
"Yes she was the black haired archeologist Daniel was having a thing with" she paused for a second and then added "a very beautiful woman". Carter sounded almost jealous when she said that... I tried avoiding staring at her but I kept looking at her from the corner of my eye, Carter jealous of Yuany? Or was it the fact that Daniel actually tried to have a life other than the team?
"What other information do we know about the murder scene?" I brought my thoughts back to the problem at hand, I'll deal with any other..."problem" that might occur later.
"That's all we know!" Carter answered with a sigh. "We have a meeting with the local policeman handling the case in two hours, we should know more then".
"Alrighty then... we should get some rest, we'll get to the bottom of this tomorrow.
***************************
We made the short walk to the police station in silence the following morning. I kept looking at the colonel and Teal'c but we were all deep in thought and no one wanted to be the one to drag us back to reality. When we arrived we were immediately shown to a small back room and we were told the inspector would be with us shortly. A minute later the door opened and a tall man entered. I wouldn't have called him a handsome man but his face was pleasing and he had an essence of power and intelligence about him. He wore a rundown blue suit with a black tie, something that on earth would be considered totally out of fashion since it was a complete suit, not just a jacket like our detectives tend to wear. His hair was black and was left to grow a bit longer than necessary, probably from lack of time to cut it I suppose, and as a result it looked totally untidy and messed up. His black hair stood in complete contrast to his brilliant gray eyes that, when he looked at you, could cut you through with a look alone. He looked us over slowly making his judgment about each of us, staring me in the eyes a little longer than I would have liked .
"Good morning." He said softly, his voice totally not what I expected. It was a soft voice, warm and pleasing. "I am inspector Fillmore, how can I be of service?" he moved to the table and took the seat opposite from us.
"We want you to tell us why the hell you're accusing Daniel of murder? What evidence do you have?" The colonel sounded like he was going to jump out of his chair and knock the guy out. I gave him a look asking him to quiet down.
"Please, Inspector, Daniel couldn't have done it. We need all the information you have so we can prove it" I gave him one of my best pleading looks and hoped for the best.
"I don't believe your friend murdered Lord Hefron's daughter either Ma'am" he said plainly, his eyes piercing me with a deep look.
"Then why the hell did you arrest him?" The colonel was furious now, but the Inspector seemed to be accustomed to that sort of behavior and seemed untouched by the colonel's temperament.
"You must understand, Colonel, what you are dealing with if you are to prove your friend's innocence," he said calmly "Yuany was the daughter of Lord Catmen Hefron General of the Combined Forces of the Union of Nations, by his title you can understand that this is a powerful man. And such men do not like their daughters messing around with aliens, especially when said daughter is engaged to the son of the richest family in the city. And when she was found murdered he thought it only logical that the alien did it." He gave Jack one last look and then reached in to his breast pocket and fished out a small pocketbook.
"Yuany was found in the north tent of the dig where they keep the items that need to be cataloged." He started reading slowly from the small notebook.
"We already know that." The colonel stopped him rather rudely, but the inspector simply ignored him and moved on.
"She was strangled with a shoelace that seemed to be missing from a boot owned by one Daniel Jackson. Also a torn patch belonging to the overcoat of said Dr Jackson was recovered under the body. All indications in the murder scene point to your Dr Jackson Ma'am." He lifted his head and stared at me "All the physical evidence that is" he quickly added. The colonel started murmuring something to himself but I just ignored him.
"But you still don't believe he did it right? And what about motive? What could Daniel possibly gain from such an act?"
"Daniel Jackson would not gain anything from such an act Major Carter." Teal'c said suddenly, staring menacingly at the inspector, his baritone voice contrasting with Fillmore's lighter voice.
"I know, that was rhetorical Teal'c." I replied gently. I knew his forwardness hadn't been directed at me, but I still felt like I needed to make myself clear.
Fillmore seemed to consider that for a moment, his forehead showing lines of thought and then slowly answered.
"Jealousy has always been a powerful motive." He moved his eyes slowly over to the colonel, "it causes people to do things they never thought were in them." He moved his gaze back to me and added "but I do not believe your friend did it. And if there is anything I can do to help you prove it would be my pleasure." And then he gave me a radiant smile that reached his lovely gray eyes. Teal'c seemed to relax a bit.
"Thank you Inspector" I gave him an equaled warm smile. "Can we take a look at the murder scene?"
"I'll arrange it immediately Ma'am" he said as he got up to leave the room.
"Please call me Sam" I heard myself saying as he got up. He turned to me and gave me another warm smile.
"Sam" he repeated the name with a small smile and left the room.
"Please call me Sam?" The colonel repeated in disbelief, but I merely shrugged.
*********
The Inspector led us to the site a few minutes after that, so we walked until we reached the restricted area.
"Do you have any other suspects that we might consider?" I asked Inspector Fillmore as we were walking, he and I at the front, Teal'c and the colonel following us closely.
"Yes of course." He reached again for his notepad and began scanning it until he spotted what he needed. "There! The victim was engaged to a rich man called Jophan. We have yet had the chance to talk to him, but he could very well be suspected. I do not imagine he took it well when he heard his soon-to-be wife was messing around with an alien and therefore putting him to shame. There is also one of her fellow archeologist, named Allen, who was in the proximity of the crime scene and does not have an alibi for the time of the murder. There was a lot of professional hatred between him and the victim and professional glory is as good a motive as any. He is also under custody at the moment."
"So we can talk to them right?" O'Neill jumped in. The inspector smiled from the corner of his mouth and nodded.
"Yes of course. You can interrogate whomever you want. I suggest you gather as much information as possible, but when talking to Jophan one might want to exercise a bit of politics. His family will not take it kindly if one of their own should be connected with a murder investigation, let alone be a suspect in it. " He added.
"So we'll work together right?" I asked, kinda thrilled at the idea of investigating a murder with a true professional. Fillmore turned to me and smiled warmly.
"If you want us to. I am willing to give you all the information I can get, but you will have to do the same." I looked at O'Neill but he just shrugged, so I smiled my answer to the inspector.
"I believe we are approaching the site where Yuany was killed are we not?" Teal'c added quietly, startling Fillmore from his reverie.
"Yes, we have arrived."
The murder site was carefully tagged, restricted from access to any unauthorized personnel and a guard was posted to make sure nothing was disturbed. Fillmore exchanged a few words with the guard and after a few nasty looks from the guard we were let into the site. The body was removed long ago but the markings of its position were still left on the ground marked with some chalk-like material. I looked around the tent trying to observe anything that could help us prove Daniel's innocence. There was no evidence that a fight took place so who ever it was that killed Yuany did it quickly and probably came from behind so she didn't have much chance to struggle. Inside the tent were two large tables filled with various artifacts and strange looking machines all tagged and neatly wrapped with see-through packing material waiting to be cataloged. There was also a small writing desk that had a few dusty notebooks on it and someone's dinner that hasn't been touched.
"She was found on the floor?" I asked moving to look at the body's position closely.
"Yes. The apprentice found her laid on her back her hands covering her eyes. The police surgeon estimated that she was killed between the hour of rangor till the hour of shilman. " Fillmore replied. When he saw the confused look on my face he added "approximately 5 to 7 pm your time".
"Her hands were covering her face?" Colonel O'Neill asked suddenly before I had a chance to process what Fillmore was saying. Fillmore looked at the colonel with questions in his eyes. The colonel moved closer to him and suddenly grabbed him from behind and started strangling him. Fillmore's hands moved instinctively to his neck to try to remove the colonel's grip. O'Neill gave me a small satisfied smile and released Fillmore.
"If she was strangled her hands should have been trying to protect her neck rather then her eyes. She was blinded by something" I explained what the colonel was trying to prove to Fillmore.
"Yes..." The inspector was getting a grip on his breathing after the colonel's example, and gave him a dirty look and continued " Yes that's what I thought... even if I was not so dramatic about it. That was why I initially thought the alien did not commit the murder."
"Will you stop calling him that?" The colonel shouted at Fillmore.
"I beg your pardon?"
"The alien! He has a name. It's Daniel! And I would appreciate it if you would call him that and not the alien!"
Fillmore seemed embarrassed for a moment but then he simply gave me a small apologizing look.
"Yes of course. My apologies Colonel O'Neill"
We walked around a little, observing all the little tiny details that could be important. As I reached the wall Daniel and Yuany were working on, the colonel joined me.
"You sure we can trust him?" He whispered when he was close enough.
"Well...yeah. Aren't you?" I replied as I examined the wall. I heard him sigh so I turned to look at him, his hands in his pockets and one of his eyebrows raised.
"No not really. We don't know him. And he seems a bit too eager to please if you know what I mean. " He said simply.
"He's an inspector of police!" I stated as if his title would define the man as I turned my attention back to the site.
"So?" O'Neill asked bluntly.
"So...he's supposed to be impartial in this and yet he wants to help us." Seeing his unconvinced expression, I added, "I think he's trustworthy sir." He looked at me, then nodded imperceptibly and went to talk to Fillmore.
Well he *is* trustworthy isn't he?
*********
After Fillmore explained to us everything about the crime scene, what we could touch and what we couldn't, we decided to go and talk to Daniel. Luckily for us - me - the good inspector had something else to do than to accompany us so Carter, Teal'c and I got there all by ourselves.
The building where Daniel was held was small relative to the other skyscrapers, but still it'd have been hard to tell it really was a jail. Huge windows everywhere, clear walls, bright lights. We followed the woman at the entrance's instructions to get to Daniel's room. It was a simple cell, with - Carter confirmed - naqada bars behind which Daniel was settled. He had a bed, since he was only here for a short time, and people brought him water and food a few times a day.
When we came in he was sitting on the bed writing on his notepad.
"Jack! Sam! Teal'c!" He said as he got up to meet us until the bars kept him from going further.
"Hey Daniel...Are they treating you well in here?" I asked as I looked around.
"As good as they can treat you in jail..." he replied grimly, but smiling and shrugging nonetheless.
"Glad to see you're keeping yourself sane." I said as I pointed to his notepad.
"Oh, yes. If I don't do something I'm gonna go nuts. This..." he said as he waved his arm around the cell, "this is a nightmare! How could I kill someone? How could I kill *her*?" He added as he gripped the bars.
"We know Daniel", Carter interjected. "We're gonna get you out of here, we're working on it."
"How?" His scrutinizing eyes moved from Carter to me, then to Teal'c and then back to me.
"Well we're gonna find out who killed her!" I said as I thrust my hands into my pockets. "But first, you have to tell us what happened."
Daniel moved to sit on the bed with an odd look on his face.
"What do you wanna know?"
"How about everything?" I looked at Daniel waiting for some explanation for his odd behavior. Usually Daniel has to be stopped from talking and now, when it's his life that's on the line, suddenly he is as quiet as a shell!
"I was with Yuany until about noon and then I went to lunch. She said she wasn't hungry and that she'd ask Thomas to get her something later if she wanted to. After I came back she seemed to be a little on edge but when I asked her about it she said it was nothing and that I should mind my own business. So I did." Daniel desperately tried to ignore the surprised look on my face and went on with his story. "Around 16:30 I decided to go study the other half of the wall on the other side of the dig. Before I went she grabbed me and kissed me" he blushed "... and... and said she was sorry. She asked to meet her at eight near her apartment. And that was the last I saw of her. I was on the other side of the dig when I heard Shila, Yuany's apprentice, scream and the police came." He closed his eyes as he finished his story. He took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. He probably hasn't slept a wink since it happened and for a moment Daniel looked older than me.
"Who's Thomas?" Carter moved closer to the bars.
"The Hefron family butler. He has been with them for years from what she told me".
"Someone must have seen you working on the dig on the other side" Carter tried to fish for more information from Daniel.
"Not that I know of" Daniel sighed and gave Sam a sad look "we just started exploring the other side of the dig. Most of the personnel were on the main dig site."
"What happened with your lace?" I asked as I gestured towards his boots and Daniel mimicked me.
"When I put them on that morning, the lace was already missing. Along with my patch."
"What about the man to whom she was promised to?" Teal'c finally stepped in.
"I.... I didn't know about that until last night" Daniel's cheeks where suddenly painted with a soft red glow. I didn't care that he was in jail... this was just too good to miss.
"Last night?" I gave him a small grin and waited for further explanations.
"I was under the impression that Yuany was single. She said nothing about any fianc? or boy friend. The last night we spent together I invited her to come back to earth with me... and see my home. That's when she told me about Jophan. She said she wasn't in love with him, but that her father wanted her to marry Jophan for his money. That she was promised to him and above all it was a matter of honor. And that's when..."
He stopped his face showing visible signs of embarrassment.
"That's when...?" I exchanged looks with Carter, both of us filled with curiosity.
"That's when she told me that it was me she loved" Daniel continued in a voice so soft I could barely hear him " and that even if she was to marry Jophan there was still one thing she could give me that would never be his..."
"You don't mean...?" Carter's blue eyes went wide with surprise as she stared at Daniel.
"What?" I was definitely missing something here. Carter gave me a strange look but after another moment when she saw I still didn't understand she explained.
"He slept with her" I didn't expect Carter to be so direct about those things... but apparently I was wrong.
"Oh..." was the only thing I could say.
"Oh indeed" Carter seemed almost angry at that and then she turned to look at Daniel "We'll be back in a while, there are a few other people we need to talk to. Don't worry Daniel we will get you out of here" and with that she turned and left the room. I gave Daniel a sympathetic look and then signaled Teal'c and we both followed.
"What the hell was he thinking?" Carter shouted as soon as we got out of the building. I stepped beside her and tried to keep up with her quick pace.
"What do you mean?"
"We're on duty! He's not supposed to go sleeping around! He doesn't even know her!"
I frowned at her reaction. Why was she acting up so much? I never thought Carter could have a thing for Daniel, but then, why was she acting like a jealous teenager? Or were there any other reasons? I couldn't tell.
"Ah come on Carter! Daniel's big enough to know what he's doing!" She suddenly stopped walking and turned to look at me.
"This is not about Daniel sir!" She said, her blue eyes wide and pleading for me to understand without having to say more. But I had no idea what the hell she was talking about.
"Huh? If it's not about Daniel, what's it about?" She threw a glance at Teal'c who apparently got the hint.
"I have forgotten to give my condolences to Daniel Jackson. I will remedy to that immediately." He simply said and before I had a chance to reply he was gone. I moved my eyes back to Carter questioningly, but she met my stare dead seriously.
"Sir, I..." She shook her head. "Forget it," she said as she began walking again.
"Not a chance in hell Carter! If there's something wrong I wanna know what it is so I can fix it!" I grabbed her elbow to make her face me and it saddened me to see despair in her eyes. She sighed and looked down, trying to think of a way to say what was bugging her. Carter being lost for words scared the hell out of me.
"It's just...I guess I feel...jealous." She admitted after a while.
"Jealous..." I repeated as a knot made its way down my guts.
"Yeah...I envy Daniel, because...it's just so easy for him to get involved with someone. He doesn't have to care about the consequences." For a moment I'm struck speechless. I surely didn't expect Carter to admit something so personal, certainly not just like that, kinda out of nowhere. After a few seconds my expression softened and I put my hands on her shoulders to make my point.
"Sam, no matter how easy it seems to be for Daniel, or as consequence-free as he seems to be, I'm sure after all he's lived through it's even harder for him to be involved with someone. Especially when his most recent relationships ended rather drastically. I'm sure he, - almost - more than any of us," I added with a lopsided grin, "has to calculate every action in regard of the consequences."
She met my eyes again and this time I recognized Carter as I knew her. Fiery, self confident, strong. I smiled wider and just then Teal'c showed up again so we resumed our walk to see the victim's father.
Lord Catmen Hefron General of the Combined Forces of the Union of Nations.
Whatever that means.
*******
The star that served as the sun was beginning to set when we finally got to the Hefron villa. It was a huge property, a paler shade of yellow than the rest of the buildings. I guess they used their money to make their house stand out and above the rest.
We were stopped at the entrance by three men who disarmed us, not without some loud complaining from the colonel. Even Teal'c seemed reluctant to leave his staff weapon, and to be honest, I felt the same. Even if, theoretically, we were on the same side as the Hefron family, there was no way of knowing how they would interpret what had happened. And the Lord was probably not so happy that his daughter would threaten a very important union by having an affair with Daniel.
For the xth time today, I felt like we needed Daniel to help us solve this. *He* was the diplomat, he had this capacity of finding out how a social, economic and political system works very quickly. He'd sure be less likely to jeopardize our position than the colonel, or myself for that matter.
We were led into a small office somewhere in the house and we waited there, standing and looking around. It was a very simple office, with a table and one chair that was completely different to any design I had ever seen on earth. There were books on the shelves and a big window in one corner, which faced the setting sun and lit the room with its last rays.
A few minutes later, a tall and very thin man came in and observed each one of us cautiously. His face was long and thin, he had piercing eyes and a pointed nose, and a thin line defined his mouth. A powerful man, and yet overworked, I deduced from the lines under his eyes and the slump of his shoulders. I suppose the fact that his daughter was just killed must have added some more to that pressure he was feeling.
"You are the strangers?" He stated more than asked as he still observed us.
"Yeah I'm Scully, this is Mulder," The colonel said pointing to me and then looked at Teal'c with a frown. "Who are you?" He asked him and I smiled.
"Sir it's the other way around." I whispered into his ear.
"Really? Whatever..." He turned to the Lord again and smiled smugly. "I take it you are Lord...General...Hefron?" He asked as he extended his hand.
"Yes." He simply answered but didn't shake the colonel's hand.
"We have some questions to ask you." I added with the gentlest voice I could take.
"For what reason?" He asked, obviously walking on eggshells.
"We need to know about your daughter. It's really important." I replied, trying to be as diplomatic as I could. The Lord sat carefully on his weird chair and stared at me.
"I was under the impression that your Dr. Jackson would have filled you in by now." He said, obviously trying to intimidate us. It was obvious by the tone of his voice that he believed Daniel was the murderer.
"He did." O'Neill interjected. "But he didn't know her as much as you do. What can you tell us?"
"Why are you here Colonel O'Neill?" So he already knew who we were. "Don't you think it is already hard enough to lose her without having to talk about her all the time? We are mourning the death of my daughter here! And we would like to do it in peace!" The last words were shouted, and I could feel the colonel's good intentions of diplomacy slipping away.
"Well, the sooner you tell us whatever we wanna know the sooner you'll be able to mourn in peace!" He said angrily as he leaned menacingly over the table, his hands coming to rest on the surface. The Lord stood and looked the colonel in the eye.
"I will not tolerate this tone under my roof!" The man said, his voice rising again.
He called the security and they threw us out of the house.
"That seemed to be of little help to us" Teal'c said calmly without a trace of emotion to his voice, the only guilt he laid was in the look he threw the colonel, and even that was so brief, it could have been all in my imagination. But the colonel apparently saw it too since he gave Teal'c an annoyed look and frowned.
"Okay what next?" The colonel looked at me as if I was supposed to have all the answers.
"How about we go to speak to this Jophan fellow? He might shed some light on the subject," I said calmly, hoping I could explain to the colonel that 'we' meant me or Teal'c but definitely NOT him.
When we reached the Qualimor Villa, we saw Inspector Fillmore talking to the security guard outside the gate. The guard was obviously annoyed by the Inspector and was practically shouting at him. Fillmore was not all that pleased with the guard either, his face showed his anger but his voice was still calm and pleasant.
"That is not acceptable Sir!" Fillmore looked at the guard with anger.
"Well then, ye'll just have to live with it won't ya?" the guard looked at him with disgust.
"I assure you that if I have to come back here with a warrant I will not be as discreet as I am now. My manners seem to evaporate whenever I am forced to run around to city hall for no reason. And if my manners should disappear then I can assure you the entire neighborhood will be aware that I am here to investigate your lord in regards to a gruesome murder... and society has little tolerance for those who do not walk the same path" he paused and pierced the guard with a look and then added " no matter how rich they are."
The guard gave the inspector's words some thought - obviously not happy with the idea of letting a lowly police inspector in to one of the most high class and expensive homes in the city. Having matters dealt with by the police was something that just wasn't done in high society; they solved matters on their own. Police was for the poor and middle class and not for those with money. The inspector should have known his place!
"Ye wait here, I'll see what I can do" the guard finally gave in and went inside the small guardhouse to talk to his superior.
Fillmore just pulled a face and took out his small notebook and wrote down something he obviously thought important.
"Hello Inspector" I said with a smile. He lifted his head from the notebook and gave me a radiant smile in return.
"Hello Sam" He looked at me and tilted his head as a hello. He moved his gaze to Teal'c and the colonel standing next to me and added "Sirs".
"Are you here to interrogate Jophan?" I looked at the high tower of what must have been an enormous house that was hidden behind a bunch of trees. Fillmore looked at me with a bit of amusement and nodded.
"One does not interrogate the son of the most powerful family in the county Sam. I am just going to ask some needed questions since he was the victim's fianc?."
"Um isn't that a whole lot like interrogating?" The colonel said sarcastically from behind me.
"No Colonel it's not." I could see a small staring contest start up between the two men "This is the heart of the most powerful society in the country. And in society appearance is 80% of the deal with money making up the rest. If the police are simply talking to you in order to get your help and it is done by your own approval and in the comfort of your own house, then it's almost passable. Having the police interrogate you is totally unforgivable."
"From your early conversation with the guard I can assume Jophan is not that eager to help you Inspector." Teal'c stated.
"Yes, but it will still look like it was done by his approval." He sighed. "And that's all that matters".
A second later the guard re-appeared and with a disgusted look he said the owner of the house will be most happy to assist the police in any matter regarding the shameless murder of the poor innocent Yuany by the alien. Fillmore invited us all to join him in his questioning and naturally we agreed. We were driven by another of Jophan's staff, who simply dropped us off at the front of the manor. He said that if we wished to leave then we should tell the butler and he would summon him.
The inside of the manor was even grander than the outside. It was decorated with good taste, letting visitors know that the owner of the house had an obscene amount of money, probably more than anybody could ever have, but in a delicate way. The butler, a small man with oily hair and beady eyes, showed us to what he called a morning room. The room was designed to catch all the sunlight of the morning sun, allowing the owner to enjoy the first rays of sunshine as he ate his breakfast.
Moments later a man entered the room. Everything about him yelled out money. And he was extremely handsome but it was a cold kind of beauty as if it was manufactured. There was nothing warm or alive in the man's face. He was about the colonel's height with light brown hair and blue eyes. His face looked as if it were carved from stone and there were no visible laughter lines. His skin seemed to be stretched over his bones in a very precise manner. He acknowledged the men's presence in the room with a small tilt of the head and then moved his attention to me and gave me a deeper bow and then he turned to the only one who he seemed to know. Fillmore introduced all of us and then continued with his questioning.
"How can I help you Inspector?" the last syllable came out of his mouth with a poisons tone to it.
"I would like to know about the nature of your relationship with Miss Yuany" Fillmore was now concentrating his attentions in trying to read Jophan's face.
"We were engaged to be married Inspector, have been since the day she was born." Jophan moved and sat on one of the sofas that were in the room and gestured all of us to do the same. "Her loss is a tragic event."
"You don't seem to be all that shook up if you ask me," the colonel whispered behind me just loud enough for everyone to hear. Fillmore winced and Jophan pierced the colonel with a look, his face never loosing its frozen quality.
"I don't know what its like on your world..." He stopped for a second and then continued "Sir - but this is how we do things here." He reached for the wall behind him and pulled some hidden lever, a second later the butler appeared.
"Get our guests something to drink." The butler simply bowed and left the room without a word. A moment later he returned with what seemed to be ice-cold lemonade.
"What did you think about Yuany's relationship with Dr Jackson?" Fillmore refused the lemonade and continued to stare in to Jophan's face.
"I was appalled, naturally. But she was just playing around. Yuany and I would have been married had she lived. I am sure of that. She knew her duty to her family and to me."
"Her duty?" I couldn't stop myself from commenting about such a comment "Is that how you people see marriage? As a duty?" even the thought alone disgusted me.
"Marriage of powerful families is a matter for the mind, not the heart Miss Carter. It is just our way" nothing seemed to touch this guy.
"And what if Yuany didn't think that?" the colonel moved closer to the man and gave him an angry look.
"Yuany did think that. She was merely playing around with your Dr Jackson, not a proper thing to do but then again he is a handsome man and she was only human" Jack was going to reply but was interrupted by the sound of a telephone-like machine. A second later the butler reappeared and handed Jophan a small note. After he read it, he quickly made his apologies and left the room, not before inviting us to come visit again when the time was more appropriate - which, if I was to judge by his voice, would be never.
When we were finally out of the manor Fillmore looked at me and with a small shy smile invited us to dinner... well actually he invited me. I have no idea how the colonel and Teal'c got in the middle of it.
When I hesitated to answer, Fillmore repeated the question.
"Please? Join me?" He asked with a move of the head. It's the colonel who answered.
"Well sure! As long as you're buying!" He said with a smug smile. Fillmore looked between the colonel and I for a moment, and then he smiled, as if he'd just figured out something he hadn't noticed before.
"Yes, of course." He then said and we followed him. As we were walking, I subtly tried to apologize for the colonel's rather...possessive behavior.
"I'm sorry for the colonel's insisting on coming too," I said as I walked with Fillmore. "It's just that we never really separate when we're on a new planet. Especially after what happened to Daniel." It was a slight, but gentle, lie.
"I understand." Fillmore replied but I wondered if he really did.
"Great." After a while I added, trying to make conversation, "where are we going to eat?" He turned and smiled but didn't answer quite immediately.
"You'll see."
I got the hint and stopped talking so I decided to turn my attention to the conversation behind me.
"You know Teal'c", the colonel was saying, "I don't like the way things are going."
"Why is that O'Neill?" Teal'c replied.
"I don't know...I just got this...hunch."
"What is your...hunch...telling you O'Neill?" It took a while before the colonel answered.
"That I don't like the way things are going."
I smiled.
*********
Fillmore took us to a public market first, bought some stuff to eat and then led us to a quiet park where we could sit on the ground and picnic. I knew he'd asked Carter only, but I wasn't ready to let her go with a complete stranger, especially after what happened to Daniel. Even if around us he was a real gentleman, I didn't trust the man. Maybe it was the way he just
assumed he was always right, or the way he'd smile but you never knew if it was sincere or not, or the way he just looked at you and seemed to know everything about you. Or just the way he looked at Carter which made me sick. He didn't know a thing about her and yet he was all charm and smiles when she was near. He didn't know a thing about us either. He didn't know what we did, what our life was like on earth, or what she liked to eat for dinner. On the other hand, we didn't know a thing about him either, so I decided to break the ice as we quietly ate in the park.
"So...Fillmore, are you from around here?" I asked with a grin. I watched as a shadow passed over his features and he looked down at his plate.
"No." He simply answered. So he likes interrogating but doesn't like to be the one interrogated. Interesting.
"Where are you from?" I pushed, well aware of the look on Carter's face, pleading me not to ask him questions he didn't want to answer. But I couldn't help myself. He looked up again, and I noticed his jaw muscle contracting as we stared bluntly at each other. He didn't like me, but fortunately the feeling was more than mutual.
"Sir, could I talk to you for a second?" Carter suddenly interjected, breaking the 'staring contest'.
"Sure", I replied, eyes still on Fillmore. I got up and followed her a few meters away from our lunch site.
"Sir, with respect," she began, which meant under no uncertain terms that she was about to tell me everything that was on her mind, including my behavior toward Fillmore, "you guys should stop acting like stubborn kids and team up instead of growling."
"Carter, as much as I want to, there's something bugging me about this guy!"
"I know sir." She replied and we locked eyes. "But we need him right now. As much as I hate admitting it, with our diplomatic talent there isn't a chance in hell we're gonna be able to help Daniel at this rate. Fillmore knows the laws, he knows how things work here and especially how people think. We don't wanna lose him sir. Not now when he's our only chance at finding the murderer." She's very convincing when she wants to be. I considered her words for a moment, and then nodded reluctantly.
She let out a sigh I hadn't realized she had been holding and we got slowly back to our lunch.
"What's wrong with my diplomacy anyway?" I asked on the way, and Carter laughed.
******
When we finished our meal it was more than time to call it a day. We'd managed to see Daniel, interrogate Jophan and Yuany's father, without much luck, and we'd even examined the murder site, all in one day. Fillmore filled us in on what he had been doing at the time he was separated from us. From what he said he went to investigate Allen, Yuany's fellow archeologist and finally dragged some information out of him that excluded him from the suspects list. Apparently Allen was involved with a girl with questionable background (I suppose that was Fillmore's nice way to say she was a hooker) and he wanted to hide it, but when presented with the possibility of being a murder suspect he came clean. Fillmore asked me to stay a little longer, saying that he'd see that I get safely to our camp site himself, but by the look of the colonel and our previous conversation, I decided not to push it too much and declined the invite.
As we walked towards our camp, the colonel and I side by side and Teal'c a few meters behind us, I decided to break the almost palpable silence.
"Sir, about Fillmore..." I began, not too loud as if the sound of my voice would disrupt the quiet equilibrium of the silent night.
"What about him?" He walked proudly, I noticed, looking straight ahead, his face illuminated only with the moons and stars that the planet was orbiting.
"You said there was something about him that was bothering you." I watched his face carefully for any signs. He looked down and kicked a rock with his foot.
"Yeah, there is." Usually I would have got the hint and stopped talking about it, but this time I couldn't help myself.
"What is it?" I asked gently, not sure if I'd pushed it too much. I looked away when he glanced at me, and I heard him sigh.
"The truth?" He asked suddenly, well aware that a lie would probably make it easier for both of us.
"The truth."
The colonel took a deep breath and shifted his MP5 between his hands, as if searching for some sort of comfort in the action.
"I don't like his attitude." He finally answered.
"What about it?" I kicked myself for going so far, but I felt like he was more likely to talk tonight than usual. He looked me straight in the eyes, and I noticed his eyes were shining in the moonlight. He seemed to think for a second, probably trying to avoid this situation as much as he could. Then he sighed and chuckled bitterly.
"For God's sake Sam what do you want me to say?" He finally blurted out, and I knew I had touched a sensitive cord. "I just don't like the guy, I don't like his attitude towards..." he hesitated, "...us." This time I knew it was time to back up, so I nodded weakly.
He was right, what was I trying to prove? That the colonel's strange behavior was due to...jealousy? That he cared enough for me to feel betrayed when I looked at someone else? Was I trying to make him admit things that we both knew couldn't be admitted? Even when *I* was the one wanting to keep it 'in the room'?
We walked the rest of the way in tense and awkward silence.
*******
I didn't sleep well at all that night. I kept tossing in my sleeping bag, until I couldn't take it anymore and decided to get up. I got out of the tent where Teal'c and Carter still slept. Well Teal'c wasn't really sleeping, but he was deep enough into his kelnoreem not to notice me. I started a small fire and sat in front of it, trying to somewhat clear my head and be able to sleep. Of course I didn't succeed, campfires seem to have this power - get you so absorbed with their flames that at one time or the other you get absorbed with your own thoughts too. Feeling I wouldn't sleep much anyway, I made myself some coffee and thought.
First I thought about Daniel. How were we gonna get him outta there? It sure wasn't going too well so far. There had to be a way to get around things and find the real murderer! I should have listened to my guts and broken him out of there when I still could.
Then my thoughts wandered to Fillmore. I knew he was doing his job, and by the looks of it, he was great at what he did, but did he really have to do it with us? I saw the way he looked at Carter, and the way he smiled at her, and it made me sick. He had no right to just appear in our complicated lives and offer an easy way out of it.
I was so lost in my thoughts I was startled when Carter sat beside me, I hadn't heard her coming.
"Sorry sir" she apologized when she saw me jump. "I'll take a cup of that too." She said as she pointed to my coffee cup. I poured her some coffee and handed her her cup, startled again when our fingers touched.
"Thanks." She answered with a smile. Had she felt it too? I had no way of knowing. We didn't talk for a while, and I knew that Carter wouldn't say anything until I broke the ice, well aware that after our last conversation, the ball was in my court.
"Wanna know what I don't like about Fillmore?" I asked as I threw her a quick look. She sighed as she smiled and looked at her cup in her lap.
"Sir I'm sorry about earlier. I don't know what I was trying to do..." she said as she fidgeted with her mug.
"Sorry? Do you realize it's the second time today that you've apologized when you have nothing to be sorry about?" I replied as I too looked down at my mug.
"Yeah, well...I'm sorry anyway." She said after a while, a shy smile on her lips.
"So do you wanna know? About Fillmore?" I asked again after a few seconds of silence. She looked at me sideways and slowly shook her head.
"No." I stared at her, genuinely surprised. How come this woman was able to amaze me again and again? She smiled nervously and took a sip from her mug. "No, I don't wanna know." She repeated, but somehow I knew that she already knew my reasons.
We sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the night, waiting for the sun to rise again.
******
When I opened my eyes a couple of hours later, I found myself looking right into the brilliant eyes of inspector Fillmore. For a moment I completely lost myself in his eyes but hearing Colonel O'Neill mumbling behind him quickly dragged me back to reality.
"What's wrong? " I looked at Fillmore and then at the colonel, seeing there was something here I was missing.
"Daniel disappeared! And your friend here thinks we helped him!" Jack looked like he was ready to kill the inspector where he stood. And did he really have to emphasize the word friend with such bitterness? I decided to simply ignore him, knowing it would probably make things worse. At that point I really didn't care.
"Disappeared?"
"When the guards came to give him breakfast this morning he was not in his cell. No one knows how he got out since there are no signs of breaking and entering and the locks have not been tampered with. This is very serious Sam" he paused for a minute. "No one has ever escaped from our prison. The only reason I came here first was the fact that it was the logical place to start looking. If I were on an alien planet and had just escaped from jail I would go to the only people I knew and tried to find help... and since you are all Daniel knows I figured he would come here." He gave me an apologetic look and continued "I didn't think even for a minute you had anything to do with it, I just had to make sure... it's my job you understand." He looked as if he was waiting for me to tell him everything was alright and, just for a moment, I got a glimpse of a man different from than I had seen in him so far, a man who desperately wanted to be comforted and a man I would have loved to get to know.
"I know. I believe you " I heard the colonel growl from behind me and I was willing to let it pass but apparently Fillmore wasn't.
"What exactly is your problem with me Colonel? I have been nothing but polite and helpful to you and your team since you stepped foot on my world and yet you seem to be constantly annoyed with me. Why not just say what you're thinking out loud and get it over with!"
The colonel took one threatening step forward and gave Fillmore a look usually reserved for Goa'uld System Lords.
"My problem with you buddy is that you constantly keep showing up in places where I least expect you, that you know a whole lot more than you let on, that you keep making googly eyes at my second in command and most of all that you are all helpful and polite! No one is that helpful unless he has something to gain from it!" Fillmore took a step closer to the colonel and both men were now in a staring competition. Since they were almost the same height, Fillmore a bit taller than the colonel, they were almost killing each other with looks and there was no resolution in sight. Why is it that men always start fights and women keep cleaning up the mess after them?
I let out a sigh and pushed myself between the two men, for a moment I thought they wouldn't even notice me but the colonel seemed to sense my body pressed close to him and he gave me a confused look and then backed away. Teal'c was ready to act if necessary, I noticed, as he stood, alert.
"This isn't over with Fillmore!" the colonel always has to have the last word.
"Why don't we finish it then colonel? This is starting to get on my nerves and it is interfering with my investigation!"
"Okay! I've had enough! From both of you!" they both turned to me slowly. The colonel looked at me with raised eyebrows but then their eyes immediately dropped to the ground. I didn't mean to yell that hard but I had had enough!
"Colonel" I desperately tried to get some control over my temper "I think its safe to say that inspector Fillmore is only here to help us! And the main issue here is Daniel and we should focus all our energy on finding him and not to some stupid male ego thing! Or who is making googly eyes at whom!" I moved my look to Fillmore "Inspector you have to understand and take in consideration that we come from a different god damn planet than you do! And that we do things our way sometimes... and maybe that's a hard concept to live with but you'll just have to deal with it! Now I don't want to hear another word about this issue from both of you! Am I understood?" I moved my gaze slowly from the colonel, who raised an eyebrow at me with a small lopsided smile, to Fillmore. They both murmured something that sounded like acceptance and I was ready to leave it at that.
"Okay now let's go find Daniel" and I just turned and walked away, well aware that I would hear some feedback from the colonel on my insubordination toward him. But what the hell!
**********
Never expected Carter to be so... just...*so*. Took me completely by surprise. We walked in silence to the jailhouse. Strangely Fillmore and myself found ourselves walking in the back of the group and we actually got a few civil words out between us... who knows maybe this guy isn't as bad as I thought, but I still don't like the way he looks at Carter.
When we got to the jailhouse there was a huge commotion going on. A small man, dressed in police uniform approached us the second we got there.
"Inspector Fillmore! The commissioner has been looking everywhere for you! Report to him at once!" before he even finished the sentence a man dressed in a very handsome suit stepped out of the building. His face was red with anger and, when he saw Fillmore with us, it got even redder.
"Inspector Fillmore! What do you have to say for yourself?" Fillmore seemed untouched by the man's anger... it was as if he was used to it.
"I really have no idea what you are referring to commissioner" Fillmore's voice was now dripping with honey.
"This!" the man pointed to us and gave me a particularly mean look. "You are being accused of associating with the aliens and helping them with their vile plans! You are letting your personal feelings towards the alien" he was looking directly at Carter when he said that "interfere with your professional work!" Fillmore got red for a moment but soon regained his normal frozen look.
"I am doing no such thing! They are simply helping me solve this crime." Got to hand it to Fillmore; if I were him I'm sure I would have decked the guy already.
"The crime has already been solved! We had the criminal behind bars and the case was closed, I really see no need for any further investigation! Now, because of your meddling, the murderer is loose in our fair city and a threat to any law abiding citizen."
"I do not believe he was the murderer sir," I could hear Fillmore's teeth gritting, "and I intend to prove it!"
"If you continue with these useless efforts, I will make sure that you are fired from your position!"
Fillmore was about to respond when a policeman came running and nearly knocked the commissioner off his feet when he hit him.
"'Pologiz sir! But there was nother one!" the man was clearly out of breath.
"Another what?" the commissioner was annoyed that his conversation was interrupted.
"Nother dead sir! His lordship! He collapsed while on a meeting!"
Fillmore turned and looked at me and I could see my thoughts echoing in his eyes. This was not good...
Not good at all.
"I don't understand! How can these murders be explained? It's obviously the same murderer that killed the lord!" Carter was only making things worse by asking questions no one knew the answers to. Well, no one except Fillmore.
"We can not make that assumption just yet. The Lord's body will need to be examined before we can draw any conclusions. I will see to it myself, personally." He threw a defying glance to his boss, who took in a sharp breath at the inspector's audacity. "Unfortunately, this event matches with the escape of your friend," he added in a whisper, "therefore I am afraid his innocence will be even harder to prove." He stated matter-of-factly. I nodded as I made out a little plan in my head.
"Alright, Fillmore, I'll tell you what," Carter looked scared of what I was about to say, so I tried to keep all sarcasm from my voice as I went on. "You keep on investigating the lord's and Yuany's deaths, and we'll try and find Daniel." I added the last part in a hushed voice, not wanting anyone around to hear it. I sincerely hoped I was doing the right thing trusting him. He nodded his agreement and Carter, Teal'c and I left in search for Daniel.
I sighed my discouragement as I thought about the task at hand. He could be anywhere, and, frankly, I had no idea where to start. We instinctively moved towards our camp, looking for some signs that he could have at least been there for a while. We arrived at about noon, and started looking. Carter went into the tent while I looked around, in the woods, and Teal'c doing the same.
"Sir! Over here!" I heard Carter shout, and I was there as quickly as I could. I found her bent over something inside the tent, and I bent too, trying to see what she'd found, catching my breath at the same time. Teal'c came running at that moment and Carter showed us what she was holding in her hands.
Daniel's glasses.
"He was wearing them in the cell wasn't he?" I asked, not sure if it was just wishful thinking.
"He was." Teal'c confirmed.
"He was writing in his notepad, and he needs them to see what he was writing, I remember clearly." Carter replied, looking around for any more clues of Daniel's presence here. We found none, except for a few rations missing.
"So...What? Daniel came and picked up some of his rations, but left no clues on where he could be? It doesn't make any sense. If he'd left us a note or something, we would have been able to get him outta here..." I said as I passed a tired hand over my face and Carter still looked around. This detective stuff was really getting to her.
"I'm sure he's left something. He has to have left something." She said stubbornly.
"Teal'c, what about the footprints, think we could track him?"
"It is not possible O'Neill, there are too many of them." He replied as he too looked around.
"What do you mean 'too many of them'?" Frustration was slowly rising inside of me.
"Daniel made tons of footprints, not to let anyone know what the good tracks are." Carter intervened. I slapped my hand against my face. Why does he have to be so damn smart all the time?
"So what do we do? We wait for him to show up? Is that what he wants us to do?" I said, getting angrier by the minute. Carter sighed and shook her head, in thought.
"I have no idea sir. I'm sure he must have left something here. Besides those." She said as she gestured towards the glasses.
"Or not." I replied as I slumped on my bedroll, lying on my back.
"I will try to find the tracks of Daniel Jackson" Teal'c said and disappeared outside before I even had the time to reply.
"Yeah, sure, go ahead." I replied without moving. Carter came to sit beside me and she had this look on her face, that look that says she's thinking real hard.
"If he took his rations, then he's expecting to be out of contact for a while." She wondered out loud. "What about his radio? Can't we find him from the signal it's emitting?" She asked, hope coming back to her voice.
Still lying on my sleeping bag, I replied. "He wasn't wearing it when we visited him. I think the guards in jail confiscated his stuff."
"Hmm..." Deep in thought, she bit her lower lip and concentrated some more, joining her knees in front of her and circling them with her arms.
"What?" I asked, needing to know what was going on in her mind. She snapped out of her contemplation and looked down at me.
"Oh, erm, just trying to figure out where Daniel could have gone. I mean if he's alone, then there's not so many places he could go, not knowing anyone." She said, still looking down at me. Then she untangled her legs and lay down beside me, both of us looking up at the ceiling.
"Yeah, well it's Daniel we're talking about here. He could make friends with anyone. And it *is* a big city. It's easy to hide. What I don't understand is how he got out of there. The guy said the lock hadn't been tampered with, and that there were no signs of breaking out." I wondered.
"Someone let him out?" She asked, turning her head towards mine and looking at me in the eye, trying to understand where my thoughts were leading me.
"Well I dunno, I'm just saying..." I replied, placing my hands on my chest but never breaking our eye contact. For a moment we didn't say anything, just looked at each other, and, once again I found myself wondering what she was thinking about. Was she thinking about the whole situation? About Daniel? About me?
"It would make sense..." She said finally, her voice coming in a whisper as she moistened her lips with her tongue. I watched as her breaths came faster, her chest moving up and down quickly as her breaths became shallower. I turned my eyes away from hers, not wanting for this to get any harder than it already was. When I looked at her again, she was still staring straight at me, and she shifted so she was lying on her side, facing me, her head resting on her propped up hand. Her eyes locked with mine again, and then they moved lower to my face, my lips? I couldn't tell, but I found myself staring back, holding my breath in...what? Expectation? Hope? Fear?
As she opened her mouth to say something, the door of the tent slipped open and for a moment I got blinded with the light behind the shadow standing in the doorway that had interrupted us.
"Oh, I am sorry, I will wait outside."
Fillmore.
The guy doesn't do anything to make me appreciate him.
*******
The moment gone, I stood slowly and got out of the tent, making sure Carter was following. I joined Fillmore and Teal'c who were discussing near our "fireplace". I threw a look at Carter on my side, but the woman who'd just been staring at me as if she'd been undressing me mentally was gone and replaced by an efficient and business-like major. As we approached the two men, I took off my cap and ruffled my hair, then putting it back on, I waited for Fillmore to tell us what he so gently interrupted us for.
"Have you found any trace of Dr. Jackson?" The inspector asked, looking between Carter and I. I would have given a few bucks to know what he'd been thinking when he found us in the tent. For a moment I considered the pros and cons of lying to him and telling him we didn't find anything. But then, what good would it do?
"None whatsoever" I answered finally. "However, we did find these." I said as I handed him the glasses. He took them and looked at them closely. He finally looked up at us.
"Nothing else?" He asked, and I could tell he was disappointed by that fact.
"No," Carter answered, "he did take some of his rations though."
"What about you? What did you find out?" I asked Fillmore.
"The Lord was poisoned." He said as he picked his notepad from his breast pocket.
"Poisoned?" Carter echoed, a bit disgusted with the idea. "With what?"
"A plant called Riga. One must administer a small dose a few times a day to make the victim sick of the stomach, and then finishing him off with one last dose. It is highly poisonous, and we could find traces of this venom in his hair and nails." He finished reading from his paper.
"Kinda like arsenic?" I asked, but Fillmore only got more confused.
"Yes sir." Carter answered, throwing me a quick look.
"Inspector," Teal'c joined in, "Daniel Jackson therefore has an alibi that reinforces his innocence." Carter went on with the explanations.
"Teal'c is right, in order to kill the Lord Daniel would have had to be free for a couple of days, even weeks before today. Besides, he wouldn't know anything about that plant." Carter pleaded. Fillmore looked at her seriously and slowly smiled.
"Yes, you are entirely right Sam. However, this doesn't negate the fact that he is now a fugitive, and wanted for the murder of Yuany." Carter nodded slowly as this fact sank in.
"Then who would kill Yuany *and* the Lord?" She asked again, certain that there was a link between the two.
"We cannot prove yet that the two crimes are related. However, it would seem indeed strange for two members of the same family to be killed in two days." He replied. They all seemed to think about that for a while, until I spoke again.
"Then who's next?" I asked, and everybody turned to look at me with wide, startled eyes.
*****
We walked to the police station the with the colonel and Teal'c leading the way while inspector Fillmore and myself walked in the rear. He kept looking at me from the corner of his eye and I kept trying to ignore it.
"So.... Inspector," I made an attempt at some polite conversation. "Have you always been a policeman?" When I looked at him he seemed almost embarrassed by the question. He lowered his head and answered in a very hushed voice.
"No, I have been doing this for the last ten years or so." In his eyes there was some plea to me not to ask any more questions about his past but it only got me more curious.
"So what did you do before?" I could see he was embarrassed about the answer but there was a certain acceptance in his eyes.
"I was a thief" I stopped walking from the shock of the announcement. Apparently the inspector didn't notice since he kept on walking and only after a few more steps he stopped and turned to look in my direction.
"A thief???" I didn't mean to shout...honestly I didn't. But that wasn't what I was expecting to hear from a police inspector! The colonel picked up on it right away.
"Who's a thief??" he came slowly back our way. And I could see Fillmore's face coloring.
"Um.. No one... no" I could see that no matter what I said the colonel wouldn't let it be. Fillmore let out a sigh and gave me a disappointed look like a man who was condemned and knew it.
"I was a thief before I became a police inspector" he lifted his head and looked directly into the colonel's eyes.
"You were a thief? How does that sit with being a police inspector??" The Colonel didn't like this... I could tell by the look on his face.
"Just fine" was the only reply he got. Fillmore just turned around and kept walking to the police station. The colonel and I exchanged a confused look but after another moment we silently decided to let the subject drop for a while.
*******************
The police station was one of the most hectic places I had ever seen. There were policemen running all over the place and from what Fillmore told me it was all due to the Lord's murder. When a powerful and rich man like him gets killed no one rests until the murder is solved. The second we got in one of the rooms, the sergeants ran to Fillmore and after a short conversation Fillmore told him to show us to the private interrogation room and give us some refreshments while he went to talk to his superior. We sat around the small table and no one talked. I could tell from the look on his face that the colonel REALLY wanted to talk to me but something was keeping him back, so he kept looking up at me and studying my face from the corner of his eye. Finally I couldn't take it anymore.
"What?? What is it?" he gave me a weird look and started fiddling with his hands.
"Nothing." he stopped the staring for a while but I could hear his teeth grinding and he kept moving in his seat.
"What is it?" I gave him one of my best threatening looks and finally he gave in.
"A thief?! He was a thief! I knew there was something fishy about him! And you said I was a bad judge of character! He was a thief! I am an *excellent* judge of character!"
"I admit it's a little..." I searched for the right word, trying to ignore the looks the he was giving me. "Unusual" he made a face showing me he didn't approve my choice of words, "but whatever he did in the past the people on this planet obviously have forgiven him and it doesn't seem to affect his job so why should it bother us?"
"Oh I dunno...maybe because he was a thief??" I was going to reply when the door opened and Fillmore walked in. From the look on his face I could see he'd heard what we were talking about or at least had a feeling we were talking about his past.
"I have news." Fillmore said coldly, his voice retaining the same soft tone he used the first time we met him. He opened his mouth to speak when a feminine voice from the doorway took over.
"I will be taking over the case from this moment on and I expect your full cooperation."
*****
I felt a strange feeling of d?j?-vu when I heard a feminine voice taking over where Fillmore had stopped. I threw a glance at Carter, remembering how she had done the same thing the first time we'd met. I winced as I recalled in no uncertain terms what an asshole I had been that day. As I turned again towards the entrance, my eyebrows raised of their own accord as I took in the woman's appearance. She was rather short, her head not exceeding Fillmore's shoulder behind her, but she was exceedingly beautiful, her shoulder-long brown hair cupping her face and her bright blue eyes held a determination in them that gave stubbornness a whole new meaning. When I realized I'd been staring, I coughed lightly and raised an eyebrow towards
Fillmore, demanding an explanation. Not that I minded the new turn of events but...
The woman took a step in our direction and extended her hand for me to shake, and I took it slowly, still recovering from the first shock.
"I am Inspector Luhan, but please, call me Jo," she said with the decided smile of a businesswoman as she shook my hand self-assuredly and then took Carter's and finally Teal'c's. Even the Jaffa looked a bit out of it when she took his hand. Carter, being the only one immune to that woman's charm, was the first to ask the question that I knew was somewhere in my mind to ask eventually.
"Fillmore, what's going on?" She asked, sounding a bit freaked out by the turn of events. Jo answered before the good inspector had the time to even open his mouth.
"Inspector Fillmore has been..." She looked at him with a false apologetic smile.
"Fired?" I finished for her, and the sound of my voice as much as the meaning of my words made Fillmore jump slightly.
"No, not fired...Let's just say he cannot handle the case anymore." She replied before he had a chance to, patting his arm teasingly and he sighed angrily. She suddenly looked at me directly in the eye, making me uncomfortable. Carter intervened, still sounding a bit panicked.
"Why? I'm sure we were on the right track, everything was going fine!" She argued, and I figured she was just a little too eager to keep Fillmore around.
"Sam," he tried to explain, "my superiors do not think I can be objective about this case anymore..." She didn't let him finish his sentence.
"Objective? You *are* objective about this case! You want to find out the truth just as much as we do! Why wouldn't you be objective?" I figured I had to do something to calm her down...
"Carter, relax will ya? I'm sure Fillmore's superiors know what they're doing..." She turned sharply to me with wide eyes, and I immediately stopped talking, knowing I'd just gotten myself into more trouble.
"Oh sure, that's easy for you to say colonel, isn't it? You're getting just what you wanted, aren't you?" I didn't mind her freaking out, but when she starts attacking my integrity I can't let it pass.
"Easy Major" I said with my best CO voice, and it seemed to work, her shoulders slumping in a resigned manner, but her eyes still wide open and defying me.
"Sam," this time it was Fillmore's soothing voice that tried to reassure her, and to my bewilderment it worked even better than my military-mode voice. She looked up at him with a plea in her eyes, but didn't say anything, willing him to reassure her. "Do not worry about me, or about Dr. Jackson. Inspector Luhan is very good at what she does," he said as he put a hand on the woman's shoulder and squeezed a bit too hard to be nice, "and I am certain that with her good sense and logical skills she will be able to see that your friend is innocent." Was that sarcastic, I wondered, but when I saw the look of hatred Jo threw him I knew it was. Forgetting Carter's annoyance, the relationship between Fillmore and Jo amused me. I looked between the two of them with raised eyebrows, remembering the same defying looks between a colonel and a captain a few years back. "Besides," added Fillmore, "I am going to help Jo for a while, just for the time being for her to get comfortable with this case." This seemed to reassure Carter some more, but put an angry frown on Jo's pretty face.
This mission was getting worse the more I thought about it.
*****
The days were getting so hot I had to take off my jacket and roll up my pants a bit until they were up at my knees. I noticed the colonel glance briefly at my bare legs, but I was too angry with him for what he'd said to be glad of such attention. Seeing my distress with the heat, Fillmore took pity on me and offered a chance to go wash up and freshen up at his house, until everything was ready for the new inspector to take over. I shot a glance at the colonel and accepted way before he had a chance to refuse. But then, with a shrug he followed us and I realized he was just as hot as I was. I tried not to give him the satisfaction of my stare as he too took off, very slowly, his jacket, but I just couldn't help myself. So I secretly watched him under my sunglasses, the muscles of his arms and shoulders appearing under his black t-shirt, and then the muscles of his back as he bent to put his jacket into his pack. I'm sure he was more than aware that I'd been staring, or at least aware that someone was. I shot a glance towards Jo Luhan and I realized I hadn't been the only one staring. I shrugged and decided to focus my attention back onto the shower I so craved for right now. After all, we hadn't had a chance like this since we'd arrived here and I felt more than dirty.
Once the colonel had finished his strip show, we all moved to Fillmore's house. It took us a good thirty minutes to get there, so when we finally arrived, I let out a sigh of relief and Fillmore smiled at me. I was surprised to see that his house was in fact a rather small apartment, with only the strict minimum of furniture, and, basically, a total mess everywhere. Even more messy than the colonel's closet. There were folders everywhere, on the floor, on the tables, on the couch, and yet the apartment made me feel good, it was small but cheerful, mysterious and yet happy. After visiting, Fillmore showed me to the bathroom, since I was the one who needed a shower in the first place. As I was about to close the door, he put his foot in the way at the last second, so I stopped and looked up at him.
"Sam I..." he began, but then shook his head. "If you need anything, I will be in the living room with the others." He said with a smile. Oh I couldn't let this one go...
"Fillmore!" He turned to look at me with something in his eyes that I couldn't quite catch...Hope? Resignation? I couldn't tell. "Are you out of this case because of me?" I asked bluntly as I leaned against the bathroom doorframe. He looked down for a moment, thinking about it, then met my eyes again.
"Yes." Then he just left.
Damn.
*****
As Fillmore started picking up all his folders to make us some room to sit, we could hear Carter starting the shower. This was weird, us being here, in the good inspector's apartment, waiting for a shower in the middle of the afternoon. Apparently, Fillmore knew how to get women, offer them a shower on a hot day and there you go. He offered us some kind of juice, which I took gratefully. We all sat in the living room and Fillmore and Jo started talking about the case he was passing over to her.
"Why do you think Dr. Jackson is not the murderer?" She was asking. When we first came here I would have been offended if someone as much as suspected him, but now, I knew that there was no point in arguing unless you had some good and reliable proof. So I let Fillmore lay down his theory which was, basically, that he no idea who was the murderer, but knew that it wasn't the one accused. At least that's what he said to Jo.
Carter got out of the bathroom all freshened up a few minutes later and I decided to give it a go too, seeing how good she seemed to be feeling. I picked up my pack and walked towards the bathroom. I met Carter halfway in the corridor, but she didn't say anything, didn't even look at me, so I figured she was still sulking over what I had said earlier about Fillmore. As I was about to enter the bathroom, I had a thought.
"Hey Carter!" I called, and she turned, her face dead serious. "You wouldn't happen to have some shampoo would you?" I asked gently, well aware that it wasn't the time to make a scene and reprimand her for her attitude towards her CO. Of course that would only be an excuse to make her talk. She searched for something in her pack, then threw me a shampoo bottle I caught with one hand, and I smiled gratefully. She turned away and walked back to the living room.
I watched her walk away from me with a weird knot in my stomach. I realized at that moment that I should really apologize to her, tell her that even if I don't trust Fillmore, I do trust her and her judgment and that I forbid her to ever doubt that. But then, would she listen? Would she believe me?
I closed the bathroom door and jumped into the shower. As the cool water flowed over me, taking all the tensions of the last few days away from my muscles, I opened Carter's shampoo bottle and put some into my hand. The sweet aroma immediately floated to my nostrils and the knot I had been feeling earlier came back full force. I spread the shampoo into my hair and I wondered how I would survive the day with Carter's scent constantly distracting me, a constant reminder that I had to talk to her. And apologize...
I finally got out of the shower and got dressed. Soon I was back in the living room, feeling refreshed but no better.
*********
We left Fillmore's place right after Teal'c got out of the shower and we headed back to the police station. Fillmore took the opportunity to catch up on some paper work and left us in Jo's hands. I should have known something was up when he took his dismissal from the case so easily. Sam seemed a little reluctant to share her thoughts with Jo and it seemed she didn't trust her as much as she trusted Fillmore. She kept sneaking sad looks at the direction of his desk when she thought no one was watching, what is it with her and that guy!
It was about an hour after we got back to the police station when a policeman stormed through the door demanding to speak to Jo. When she came back she looked furious.
"The blazing idiot!" She hit the desk with anger.
"I beg your pardon?" at first I thought she was talking to me but from the look she gave me it was obvious she was referring to someone else.
"Fillmore! He got a tip from one of his old buddies on the street and went to investigate it on his own! I am going to kill him! Come on, get your stuff we are going after him" and with that she turned and left the room.
"We're going after him?" Sam repeated the words slowly and then started to gather her stuff up very quickly.
"We're going after him." I repeated with a sigh and looked at Teal'c.
"It seems we are." He said simply and since he had no things to gather he simply started to walk after the enraged inspector Jo.
**********
We followed Jo to a part of town we hadn't seen before. It looked nothing like the nice streets and clean surroundings we spent time in until now. This part was dirty and almost unlivable. It seems that like all societies this one also had its illnesses and back streets as well. We stopped at what seemed to be a lower class tavern; there were a few woman dressed in revealing rags who, from the looks and gestures they gave me, could be nothing else but prostitutes. It looked like a place I wouldn't be caught dead in, and as much as I hate to admit it - it looked like a place Fillmore wouldn't be caught dead in either.
"Are you sure we're in the right place?" I tried gently to get some information from Jo, but the cold look she gave me made it clear she wanted me to shut up. When we went in I spotted Fillmore instantly. He stood out from the crowd with his suit and good ole' trench coat. He was talking to a small weird looking fellow who kept grinning at him. I wondered for a moment how he could even bear wearing that coat when the days and nights were getting so hot. I guess he was used to the climate.
"You mind telling me what the hell you're doing Fillmore?" Jo seemed to be very close to losing her temper when she said that, this was well beyond professional dislike. Fillmore seemed not a bit surprised to see us there; and if he was surprised his face certainly didn't show it.
"Just having a drink with an old friend Inspector" he emphasized the last word and went back to his drink "I don't see how it is any concern of yours".
"It is a concern of mine when it has something to do with a case *I* am handling and you have been told to stay away from!" the odd looking man in front of Fillmore seemed to be genuinely entertained by the exchange of words.
"Oh ya miss. Don't worry bout it! What ever I tell me buddy here will not have to do with case. Just work related ya see" the small man looked at Jo and then winked at Fillmore as if what he said would be enough to convince Jo. She, on the other hand, simply dragged a chair from a nearby table and sat down.
"This is a private conversation Inspector! And you were not invited! Now if you would please take your friends and be gone!" Fillmore gave us all a dirty look and drank what was left in his glass.
"Willie" Jo turned to the weird man, suddenly sounding all gentle and seductive " why don't you tell me what this is all about for real... be a good fellow" she then touched his hands and gave him a radiant smile that seemed to mesmerize the guy, and I could see why... she was even more amazing than I thought. I heard Sam growling behind me but I simply ignored her. Willie gave Fillmore an apologetic look and sighed.
"Sucker I am. Aye miss, I called Conner here" he pointed to Fillmore " since I have info to share with him, as a favor to an old friend".
"Fillmore! A word if you please" Jo got up from the chair and motioned to Fillmore to follow her, they stood a few feet away from the table but I could still hear what was said.
"Do you have any idea how stupid that was!" Jo looked at Fillmore with anger.
"I don't care! I am doing this on my own private time! This is not your concern or the department's concern!"
"It is my concern when it has something to do with my case! Conner you can't keep doing this! She isn't Joan! Joan is dead! And there is nothing you can do to bring her back!" For a second there I thought Fillmore was going to hit Jo but he simply turned around and left the tavern slamming the heavy door behind him. For a second Jo's face showed nothing but concern and affection for Fillmore and a bit of something else... something I couldn't really read. Carter got up a second after Fillmore, gave me a look and followed him out. I was going to follow her out when Jo placed a hand on my arm and motioned for me to sit down.
"So Willie... mind sharing the info you gave Fillmore with me?" And there goes the charming smile again.
***
I followed Fillmore out of the tavern without exactly knowing what made me do it. Somehow I felt it was my doing that got him here, and I had to know for certain. What I had to know, I wasn't sure, but that's what I followed him for. It was dark outdoors, but I spotted the inspector walking down the street, so I ran to catch up with him. When I arrived beside him he didn't slow his pace nor look at me, but it didn't make me change my mind.
"Sam you should not be here. Go back inside with your team and inspector Luhan." He ordered, still looking straight ahead and far from slowing his pace.
"No, I need to know what's going on." I insisted. "Just tell me what the hell this is about and I'll leave ok?" I hadn't even realized I was shouting. "You said you were out of this case because of me, now I wanna know why!" I noticed a few people looking in my direction as my voice reached a level I wasn't used to hearing myself. Fillmore finally stopped walking, looked around, then grabbed my elbow and dragged me to a less public place.
We walked for a minute or two and finally stopped in a dark alley behind the tavern. Only then did he let go of my arm. He looked more tense and cold than ever and for a moment I hated myself for doing this to him, a man who obviously had a hard past, and was having a hard time accepting it.
"I was born a thief, to a family of thieves. There wasn't a jewelry store in existence that I couldn't get into. I was the best" for a moment there was a certain self-mockery and a bit of hidden pride in his voice. "All I knew in life was stealing and I was rather proud of my chosen profession. I was ...till I met Joan. She was a spirited woman with long blond hair and sea blue eyes. She was every man's dream but for some strange reason she loved me. I promised her I would better myself and I did. When I first met her and looked at myself from her eyes I could see no good in me, but she showed me there was good in everyone. She helped me and even though everyone told her I was no good for her, that I would drag her down to my own back alley life she still chose to marry me. She disobeyed her father, her family and consented to give me her hand in marriage, and I was the happiest man in the world. I should have taken her father's threats more seriously... he said he would rather see her dead than see her married to scum like me. But I didn't... and he killed her." There was rage in his voice when he said that and I could see it took all of his self will to stop himself from breaking down. "It took me two years to prove he did it, but I did.
The only good that came of it was that I found that I was good at solving crimes. It was the only profession my background actually gave me an advantage in. I knew the streets... I knew the players. And there was no going back to the life of crime. I made her a promise I intend to keep for the rest of my life. It took a lot of convincing... but I was finally accepted as an advisor to the police force... and one thing led to another and here I stand." he gave me a sad smile
Was that tears forming in his eyes or just the play of the moonlight on his face? I couldn't tell, all I knew was that I could feel tears forming in my own eyes and a large knot in my throat as I listened. He took in a deep breath and looked down at me, as if realizing for the first time I was here.
"So that's how I became an inspector. The institution agreed to let go of my dark past and let me enter into their service." He shrugged but I could see he was still fighting the pain, as I'd seen a man I care about do more often than he'd have cared to admit.
I felt like an intruder speaking, but somehow I needed to know.
"How does that relate to me?" I asked gently, still fighting my own dismay. A sad smile appeared at the corner of his mouth and I didn't know if I wanted to hug him or just shake the expression off his face.
"You remind me of her, not just physically, but the way you act." He finally admitted and I took in a sharp breath. "Her hair was longer, but..." He raised a slow hand to touch my hair gently and I looked down. Why was it that the only reason men were attracted to me was because I looked like one of their dead loves? I felt disappointment flow over me. Fillmore took away his hand sharply, as if I'd said my last thoughts out loud. I looked up suddenly and, from the surprised look on his face, I realized that I had.
"Sam, I am sorry if I offended you...If I had known..." I stopped his babbling with a raised hand.
"No, I... it's just that you're not the first one to tell me that, and I...Well..."
"Don't get me wrong, you are a very attractive woman...With spirit and a smart mind..." I felt a huge 'but' coming so I stopped him before he had a chance to say it.
"Fillmore, it's fine, really." I said convincingly and he nodded, a bit reluctantly. "Besides," I added with a smile, "I don't have time for a man." I heard him chuckle gently as I turned to walk back to the tavern. He caught up with me and squeezed my shoulder gently as we walked.
"Women always say that, but they are well aware that a man is what they are craving for. That's the force that joins them together, no?"
"Yeah, I guess..." I replied, not too sure if I wanted to agree with that.
"Besides, I know a man who only has eyes for you Sam."
I looked up sharply at him, wondering who he was referring to, but he seemed lost in thoughts again, so I decided to drop it. For now.
*****
The man, apparently called Willie had some very interesting info about Yuany's murder and, therefore, Daniel.
"Know a man who told me that his friend saw the dead woman yesterday." He said. I raised my eyebrows and exchanged a look with Teal'c. Jo leaned in closer to the man.
"How could he have seen her if she is dead?" She asked, not sounding very convinced. If Fillmore trusted the man and his sources, it was obvious that Jo didn't.
"This is easy!" He leaned in too conspiratorially and Jo played the game. "She is not dead!" He finally said, very serious. If I'd listened to my own judgment, I'd have left the man with his liquor.
"What are you talking about?" Jo asked, leaning back in her chair and throwing me an apologetic look.
"Yuany was not murdered!" He said again, I couldn't help responding to that.
"What do you mean not murdered? Didn't you guys check before saying she was dead?" I asked Jo, but she turned her look to Willie, ignoring me.
"Willie, I really need you to tell me who gave you this information." She said, with those little puppy dog eyes that made her irresistible. Willie seemed to hesitate for a second but then dragged his chair very close to Jo's and whispered in her ear, with his hand shielding his mouth from us so we couldn't make out what he was telling her.
He was barely finished talking to Jo when she got up quickly and ran to the door. Teal'c and I imitated her and followed her outside, until I stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"Hey what about Carter?"
Jo turned to me and shook her arm away, throwing me a defying glance. "Look, Colonel, you can wait for her here if you will, but I cannot risk missing something by waiting for her. You can either follow me and let Conner bring Major Carter back to your camp," not a chance in hell, I thought, "Or wait for her here and let me do my job."
"Hey, we're talking about the freedom of my friend here, I wanna know what's going on! If you found anything out about Daniel, you have to tell us!"
"No Colonel, I do not have to. Now if you will excuse me." And on that she left, running down the street.
I turned to Teal'c. "Teal'c, you follow her, find out what's going on without letting her know that you're there, if possible. I'm gonna wait for Carter here. We meet back at the camp tomorrow morning understood? If you're not there, or me for that matter, we'll get in touch by radio understood?"
"Understood O'Neill." Then he jogged down the street to follow Jo.
***********
I was playing with the Velcro strap of my watch and trying to smell my hair when Carter finally arrived.
"Sir?" She asked as she saw me sitting there waiting for her. Apparently she wasn't angry with me anymore.
"Hiya Carter, would you please be good and tell me where you have been?" I asked very politely, too politely to be kind. Carter picked up the sarcasm in my voice and sighed.
"I'm sorry Sir, I shouldn't have gone like that, but I really needed to talk to Fillmore." I knew she was telling the truth, but it just made me feel angrier. What the hell would she *need* to talk to Fillmore for?
"Well, Major, may I ask what you needed to know?" I said coldly as we began to walk, Carter following me a few inches behind, trying to explain herself. Why was I doing this, using my rank to make her admit personal feelings? It was a very ugly thing to do, but I felt it was the only way I could get something out of her, without actually having to lower my own emotional walls.
"Well, sir, it's rather personal...He said something to me this afternoon that needed clearing up, so after he ran out I figured it was the best time to...clear it up. Sir. For once and for all." This made me stop walking.
"What do you mean 'he said something'? I asked, staring bluntly and using my best military voice.
"He told me he had to leave the case because of me, so I needed to know why." She admitted, a bit reluctantly.
"Did he tell you?" I asked, not really believing what was going on.
"Yeah...It has something to do with his past, but I'd rather not talk about it...Sir. But, trust me on this, you really don't have to worry."
I looked at her suspiciously. What the hell was the link between Carter and Fillmore's past? But at the same time her eyes were pleading me to understand the meaning of her last words. Was I supposed to read everything she was saying between the lines? I started walking again, musing over this new information.
"Where's he now?" I asked after a while, realizing I hadn't seen a glimpse of him since he'd left.
"He went to investigate what the man in the tavern told him."
I stopped walking again and looked at Carter. Why didn't she say so earlier? I realized immediately it was because of my stupid questions.
"Did he tell you what it was?" I asked, really hoping all this Fillmore stuff didn't blind her enough for her to forget about our goal, even momentarily.
She opened her mouth, but closed it quickly, her eyes widening as realization of what a big mistake she'd just made. I closed my eyes slowly and shook my head as I began walking again.
"Sorry sir..." She said in such a little voice I couldn't help but feel guilty. I looked down at her and seeing her distress I gently elbowed her side.
"Hey, don't worry about it, Teal'c's gone to do some investigation of his own. He'll tell us what's going on in the morning."
That didn't seem to make her feel better.
As we walked side by side, the wind suddenly brought to my nostrils the smell of my hair.
Or was it Carter's?
***
I felt stupid. Really really stupid. And confused as hell. First of all, how on earth could I forget something as important as asking for the info Fillmore got from the man? Secondly, why the hell had I been so disappointed and relieved at the same time when Fillmore told me he cared because I looked like an old love? On one hand, I knew I had been relieved because, as intrigued as I was with the man, I was far from being in love with him so I would have felt bad if he did have feelings for me that I didn't - couldn't - return. On the other hand, I was disappointed. But why? Was it because of what I had told him? The thing about feeling like everything but a woman when guys tell me they only care because I look like
a dead woman? Or was it more the fact that I really enjoyed the attention?
I turned in my almost-sleep state and as my eyes fluttered open for a moment, they fell on the colonel's sleeping form. I opened them completely and stared as he slept, lying on his back, an arm loosely covering his eyes and the other across his chest. Fortunately, the nights were getting hotter, just like the days, so we didn't have to sleep with our jackets and stuff. Tonight the colonel was only wearing a clean black t-shirt - I could tell it was clean because his clean clothes smelled so good, not that his dirty ones stank, but, anyway... - and it was all twisted around him so that it revealed a bit of his stomach. I found myself smiling fondly as I watched him sleep, making that little sound of his that he makes when he sleeps. Not quite snoring, just...breathing, I guess. A sound I was dangerously getting used to.
I lay on my stomach, my head turned in the colonel's direction so that I could watch him as I slowly fell asleep. Unfortunately, sleep didn't come as easily. Usually as soon as I lie on my stomach it means sleep is approaching, but right now, I was enjoying watching a certain colonel sleep way too much. I wondered for a moment about what Fillmore meant when he said someone had eyes only for me. The first person that had come to mind had been the colonel, and, frankly, he had been *the* only one that had come to mind, but also the one I had dismissed from my mind as quickly as I'd thought it. 'The colonel having eyes for me' was simply a phrase that didn't exist, that was completely forbidden, that was utterly lacking good sense. But at the same time, even if I enjoyed Fillmore's company, I knew that I couldn't ever replace what I felt as I watched the man sleep. This surge of affection, of bittersweet eagerness and mostly sadness when reality hit. That was a feeling I reserved only for Colonel Jack O'Neill.
I was still staring without really looking when I realized he was staring right back at me. I felt myself blush a little but thank god it wasn't light enough for him to notice.
"Sam?" He asked softly, in a voice I rarely had the chance to hear. For a moment I even wondered if I had dreamt it. If this was a dream, I decided to make good use of it.
"Jack?" I replied gently. For the first time, me, Samantha Carter, as myself, had allowed myself to call my colonel 'Jack' and he seemed to like it. A lazy and sleepy smile appeared on his face and he slowly extended his hand towards me. I reached for it slowly, afraid to wake up if I moved too fast, because this was a dream, right? Tentatively, as if in slow motion, my fingers then my palm came in contact with his and, mesmerized by the movements, I watched as his long, sensual fingers gently wrapped around mine, caressing my hand gently. My eyes moved back to his face, and I realized he too was amazed by our joined hands, as if he was a bystander, watching a movie, or hands that weren't really ours. Then, sensing my eyes on him, he looked up at me and suddenly I felt his hand tense around mine. The next thing I knew I was being crushed against his body and kissed as if his life depended on it.
Before I knew what I was doing I was responding, urging him with my tongue on his lips to deepen the kiss and he soon complied, moaning softly as our tongues met. I let the sensations flow over me, the smell of him, the taste of him, as if it'd been real, as if I really was being kissed passionately by Jack O'Neill, as if it could really happen. Our lips still locked and dueling I let my hands wander over his back, and I realized that at one time or another Jack had shifted us so I was laying on my back and he was leaning over me. The kiss slowed a little but became more erotic as his hands also started to wander, his hand first on my cheek, my hair, my neck, over my shoulder, sliding down my arm and entwining his fingers with mine. His lips still on mine, he brought our joined hands to his chest and rested mine there. I could feel the heat emanating from him as well as his erratic heartbeat. Or was it mine? I moved the tips of my fingers from his back to trail lightly over his stomach, never really fully touching, and I felt the muscles of his stomach contract as if trying to escape from the tickling sensation my feather touch caused. Goosebumps appeared on the skin of his arms and he shivered.
I smiled at the reaction and, feeling my smile against his lips, he pulled away a few millimeters, our breaths still mingling. His eyes were so bright and full of passion I felt a surge of heat reverberating through my entire body. He opened his mouth to say something, but I figured we shouldn't waste a dream with words, so with a hand on the back of his neck I brought his lips back to mine, and immediately he was invading my mouth with his tongue, and this time it was my turn to moan lightly.
If only dreams lasted forever.
A sound. A voice. Through the radio. Teal'c!
"O'Neill, O'Neill, it is I. Please respond."
I opened my eyes.
"O'Neill. Major Carter. I have acquired the information you desired."
*********
Following inspector Luhan proved to be a much easier than I expected. She seemed distressed and made the walk back to the police station in a hurry. She noticed I was following her when I entered the station right after her.
"So you decided to come with me?" she stated the obvious "Where's O'Neill?"
"O'Neill remained in the tavern and entrusted me with the mission" I answered plainly not moving my eyes from hers. She opened her mouth to object but then reconsidered and closed it again.
"Fine" she finally said "I can use a strong fellow like you where I'm going. Try to keep up" I simply took her words as she gave them, not reading anything more in to them or taking offence. I have learned long ago that words can be a weapon to some and the best defense is to ignore them. She armed herself and took a few extra weapon clips with her and we were out the door as quickly as we entered.
We made our way to the city docks in silence. She only tried to make conversation once when she asked about the gold symbol on my forehead. My explanations seemed to satisfy her and we discussed it no more. After about twenty minutes we reached an old warehouse at the end of the dock.
"Watch yourself," she whispered, "there might be hostiles near" I did not need her drawing my attention to the fact that we were indeed in danger. We had been watched since the moment we entered the dock area and I could feel eyes burning at the back of my neck. Of course I gave no reason for the watcher to suspect I knew of his existence, but I was painfully aware of his.
"Over here" I heard a soft whisper to my left coming from a small and very unclean boy and a second later we were shown into a lard warehouse. Inside there were a group of men with questionable backgrounds and motives. Talking to them was non-other than inspector Fillmore.
"Ah yea Connor I swear to ya if ya weren't a kin of mine I would have had you killed long ago" the older man of the group was saying when we interrupted their meeting by entering the warehouse. He turned and gave our young companion an angry look.
"Found them poking around governor" the young boy spoke to explain, "I figured you wouldn't want no one to know you been talking to the cops" he gave the one called the governor a black smile and sat down on the floor obviously content with himself. The older man looked us up and down and finally his expression softened.
"You did good boy, now go to your mom, this is adult stuff" the boy was going to protest but after a second he decided this was a no win situation and did as he was told.
"Well there Inspector what do ya have here?" the older man moved to take a closer look at me and I tried to sustain the same appearance of calm I usually display, a task that I have perfected to an art.
"Simon, I would like you to meet Teal'c. Teal'c this is Simon he is.... A friend of Inspector Fillmore."
Simon looked me up and down again his face showing admiration and then moved to stare at Fillmore. "So a friend am I now Connor?" The inspector seemed embarrassed for a moment and then he simply lifted his eyes and looked me directly in the eye.
"He is my father Teal'c." he paused for a moment as if remembering a painful memory and then simply brushed it away and continued. "So Simon, got some information you want to share with me about the murder?"
"Ya Sure we can trust her Conner? She doesn't seem like she can get the point to me kid" Jo was about to respond when she was cut off by Fillmore.
"I trust her with my life Simon." He said simply "Now tell me your information" Jo tried to conceal the reaction Fillmore's proclamation prompted from her, but I could see it had touched her deeply. Humans are a weird people when it comes to matters of the heart. As much as O'Neill explains it to me I can never really understand.
"The girl wasn't murdered at all. I saw her with me own eyes last night walking on the docks with that boyfriend of hers... that guy her father disapproved of...she seemed totally alive for a person who should be dead. Word on the street is that she paid off that desk constable of yours... that small guy with the lazy eye, to arrange things with the police."
"I saw her body myself Simon" Fillmore seemed to give his father some thought and then added, "even if it was just for a moment."
"I told ya Connor, I will lie to everyone but you. I made a promise to your mother, may she rest in peace." Fillmore considered that for a moment but his face showed he did not believe the man standing before him.
"Fillmore a word if you please" Jo and Fillmore exchanged looks and we moved to a more private place.
"You think its possible?" Jo seemed almost pleased with the news.
"I learned long ago that everything is possible. But then again you have to consider the source of this information... not totally trustworthy."
"I believe the man speaks the truth" I said as quietly as possible and when they both turned to me I explained "he has no reason to lie and it could be seen in his face that even if he were to lie it would not be to you Inspector" Fillmore looked at me for a moment and sighed.
"Do you know what its like to have a father you're ashamed of Teal'c?"
"I know what it is like to have a father that others call a traitor and a disgrace to the gods. I choose to find my own truth and not that of society. I suggest you do the same." Fillmore seemed surprised for a moment by my declaration
"That still doesn't explain where your Dr Jackson is."
"Ya talking about that nice Dr fellow who isn't a Dr at all?" Simon suddenly appeared behind Fillmore and joined our circle.
"What do you know of the whereabouts of Dr Jackson?" I asked trying to refrain from having any emotion in my voice.
"The boy is sitting as we speak" he turned and pointed to a far away door at the end of the warehouse, "eating my food in the other room!" before he even finished the sentence I was on my way to the door. I quickly brushed aside the guard standing at the entrance who offered little resistance when he saw me approaching him...size has its advantages sometimes. When I opened the door I indeed found a very well fed, very sleepy one Daniel Jackson sitting near a dinner table reading a book, his eyes almost completely shut. When he saw me standing in the doorway his eyes flew open in surprise.
"Um... Hi Teal'c" he said almost apologetically. "Good to see you again."
*****
At first I had been angry, very angry with Yuany, and for a variety of reasons. First she had lied to me by saying she loved me, then she had seduced me, only to make her plan work more effectively. And then - no that's not all - she used me to escape a situation she wasn't "comfortable" in and worst, she pretended to be *dead*, planting all the evidence to make me the most suspect...suspect.
So when she showed up in the jail that night, I was in such emotional turmoil I didn't know what to make of the situation. First I almost fell off my bed, thinking I was hallucinating, or maybe even seeing a ghost - nothing could surprise me after everything we'd been through - but then there was such dismay on her face and in her voice when she spoke that I felt sorry for her. Of course I was shocked, but I didn't become angry until she explained what she'd gone through all this trouble for. But then she looked at me with those eyes of hers, and even if, now that I knew the truth, I wouldn't ever let myself fall for her again, I still forgave her. I realized that even if what she did was wrong, she had done it for a good reason, for a thing we should all fight for.
Love.
Oh not love for me, even if I realized that she did care even after what she'd made me go through, but love for her true lover, Kolbi.
So after looking at me with puppy dog eyes - an expression she must have seen Jack use with Sam - she offered to make it up to me and free me from my cell. Of course I obliged, even if this would make me a fugitive. Apparently Yuany was still officially "dead", and I was still the official "killer". So when we got out - don't ask me where all the guards had gone, suddenly - we didn't lose a minute, we ran. And ran. First we went to SG1's campsite, where I figured we could take some rations and maybe leave some sign behind saying subtly that I was alive and well and that I'd be back soon. And after that we hid in the woods for a day or two - I lost track of time. While there we had a lot to talk about and Yuany had a hell of a lot of explaining to do so we just sat and talked, just like we had done when we'd been working on the dig.
She told me all about her upcoming wedding with a guy called Jophan, and then how she had planned her own death to escape this alliance and therefore be able to be with Kolbi.
"Why did you make me a suspect?" I asked trying to understand how she could even consider it, after the fun we'd had together. "I mean you took my shoelace, my patch, everything to make the police believe I killed you... How could you do that to me?" I wasn't trying to make her feel bad or guilty, I'd gotten over that, but I was just trying to understand.
She sighed and picked up some grass to fidget with as she thought about what to tell me. "It was Kolbi's idea." I sighed, disappointed that a girl as smart as her could fall for such a manipulative guy. "I didn't feel right about it Daniel, I swear to you, but I believe he was jealous. He did not like the fact that I worked with such a kind and passionate guy." I got up, my disappointment even greater than before.
"But you did it anyway..." She got up too. Even if I didn't want her to feel bad about it, a small part of me was bitterly happy to see that she *was* feeling bad about it.
"I am sorry Daniel. How many times will I have to say it to you? I really am so sorry!" She had such distress in her voice I smiled sadly.
"I know."
"That is why I freed you in the first place." She seemed proud about that, so I smiled a little more.
"I know." She smiled too, realizing I had forgiven her, so she took my arm and we walked.
"I know a good place where you could hide." She said and I looked at her.
"Where's that?"
"Have you ever been to the docks?" She asked and I shook my head. "I have some...contacts there."
"You know Yuany, I'd really like to know what your plans are. I mean you freed me from jail, which is great, but now what? I'm gonna have to go home eventually." At that her head snapped up towards me, horrified. I guess she had forgotten I wasn't from here. We walked in silence for a while as she thought about my point.
"I have an idea." She said suddenly. "You stay here while I go get Kolbi, and we'll manage a way for you to find your friends, so you can go home." Before I had a chance to reply she was gone, so I went back to our little camp and sat.
When she came back a few hours later she was accompanied by a small and thin guy who I figured was Kolbi. Even if I wasn't a threat to him and Yuany anymore, I saw his anger towards me in his eyes so I decided not to let myself trust him completely. I nodded towards him politely, acknowledging his presence and Yuany had the good sense not to make us shake hands. I picked up my stuff and we went to the docks.
When Teal'c showed up I was only half surprised. I knew that someone would find out that I was there, but I hadn't realized it was Yuany's doing. Apparently her "friends" had done a good job at gossiping, and finally this particular gossiped information got to the right ears; the inspectors'. I had deduced that Jack, Sam and Teal'c couldn't find me on their own, so I understood that Yuany really knew her people. And mine.
Teal'c had with him two inspectors. The man I knew, Fillmore, I think was his name, he had interrogated me a couple of times when I was in jail, and a little woman who kind of reminded of Janet with her stubborn expression.
I swallowed and repositioned myself on my chair when I saw them coming, not sure if they would arrest me or not. If they found me here, then they knew Yuany wasn't dead, so I wasn't a fugitive anymore right?
"Where's Sam and Jack?" I asked, trying to sound relaxed. To my surprise the two inspectors looked at each other and sat at my table.
"I will contact them immediately." Teal'c replied and off he went.
I turned to the two inspectors and smiled.
******
"O'Neill, Major Carter, I have acquired the information you desired."
Hardly opening my eyes, I crawled to my jacket and picked up my radio.
"Yeah we read you Teal'c." I replied shakily. But then I realized that the 'we' were only half there. I threw a glance behind me and I was surprised to find Carter *very* close to my bedroll, if not on it, still trying to wake out of her dazed state. What was she doing on my bedroll? It had only been a dream right?
"I have found Daniel Jackson." Teal'c replied after a while.
"Where are you?" I asked, the fact that he'd just found Daniel seeming so...not important in my "unreal" state. My eyes locked on Carter as she slowly sat up and passed her hands over her face, trying to shake the sleepiness away.
"I am in the city's docks with both inspector Fillmore and Luhan." Carter looked around her and frowned, wondering what she was doing on my bedroll in the middle of the night. She looked up at me and I shrugged, not really having the answer myself.
"Ok Teal'c, we'll be there in an hour." I replied finally.
"Very well." I turned off my radio and placed it back in my jacket's pocket.
"You ready to go?" I asked Carter as I fastened my boots, still looking at her. In the dim light her hair seemed to glow as well as her pale skin, her eyes a deep shade of blue, almost black.
"Yes sir." She stood and went to get her things and only then did I look away. The dream I'd had had been so vivid, so...real. It was...incredible. If kissing Sam Carter meant what I had felt in my dream, I was a fool not to...
I shook the thought away, knowing that it wasn't possible. It couldn't be. The night being warm and humid, I decided against bringing my jacket, so I picked only the necessary from my pockets; my radio, a chocolate bar, sunglasses. A few minutes later Carter was ready too so I picked up my gear and we walked towards what I knew were the docks. Fillmore had had the clever idea of giving Carter a plan of the city, so that we could travel wherever we wanted to whenever we wanted to. It was still very dark, but the pale color of the sky told me dawn was coming soon. There were clouds in the south, so my internal barometer and my deductive skills told me it was gonna rain today. I could smell it in the air too, the humidity, the light breeze...
We walked in silence for a while, both of us still half asleep, still half in our dreams. Well I know I was. I looked down at her beside me and tried to figure out what she was thinking about. She had a frown, which meant she was thinking about something that needed concentration, and she looked down which meant she was brooding about something.
" D'you sleep well?" I asked finally, trying to take her mind off whatever she was thinking about. She looked up at me with a smile, but the frown was still there.
"Yeah, kinda. That is until Teal'c woke me." She added as she looked at me. It was still dark but...was she blushing? "You?" She asked after a few seconds.
"Oh...ah...the same..." I replied dismissively, "the same..." We walked for a few minutes in awkward silence until I spoke again.
"How did you end up on my bedroll?"
Her shy smile got wider and she lowered her eyes to the ground. "I...I don't know. I guess I was looking for heat, body heat, I mean." She babbled, which made me smile mentally. This was too good to pass up so I went on with my teasing.
"Body heat...my body heat?"
She laughed nervously and looked around at the houses and streets, at everything but me.
"I guess so, yes." Ok, this has gone far enough, I stopped myself before we'd reveal too much.
"How come didn't you push me back?" Oh I should have expected payback! Of course Carter couldn't let me win, she just had to have the last laugh! It was my turn to laugh nervously and I took off my cap, ruffling my hair before putting it back.
"Because I liked your body heat?" I suggested with a grin and Carter's eyes went wide, as did her smile. She coughed slightly, my last comment slowly sinking into her mind. But at least she was struck speechless, which meant that I had won the argument. For once.
"Ok you got me there, I don't know what to reply to that." She said finally and I clapped my hands together.
"Yes!!"
She laughed quietly until I heard her stomach grumble. I picked up my chocolate bar from my pack and handed it to her.
"Thank you sir." As she gratefully took it, our fingers brushed and we looked at each other. Yes, we had both felt it this time. She looked away, but strangely enough I couldn't bring my eyes to do the same. Strangely enough I just had to look at her, as if attracted by a magnet. I walked closer to her so that our shoulders touched. She broke the bar in two and handed me the other half, this time our fingers lingering together before parting. I shook my head, trying to break the spell and our fingers disconnected.
"I can't wait to find out how Daniel got out of jail." Carter said after a few minutes, reaching for her canteen to dissolve the sweetness of the chocolate in her mouth. I smiled inwardly at her subtle attempt to change the subject to something more innocuous. However it went away as soon as her lips touched the top of her canteen. I found myself mesmerized by her actions and I swallowed with difficulty as I watched. What the hell was wrong with me? Just because of one little dream, one little dreamed kiss I barely could stop myself from taking her in my arms and kissing her as if my life depended on it? I shook my head, trying to clear it, trying to stop thinking thoughts that weren't leading me anywhere but down. When she was done, she handed me her canteen and I took it, careful that our fingers didn't touch this time.
"Yeah..." I replied before taking a sip. "He better have a damn good explanation for leaving us without any kind of explanation" Without warning I reached behind her and opened her bag so I could put her canteen back in. She stopped to allow me better access and I did my job, and then we resumed walking, putting a little more distance between us.
"I'm sure he does. After all he's a fugitive, he knows he's wanted." The sun was rising and we could see the first rays through the spreading clouds.
"Yeah...I just hope this damn thing will have a happy ending."
"I'm sure it will sir."
Then it started raining.
*****
When we got to the docks we were greeted by a small boy that showed us in to one of the large warehouses. I spotted Teal'c immediately... he has a tendency to stand out in a crowd. When we got a little closer I also recognized the man standing beside him. Daniel. Now that boy has got some explaining to do! Is it just me or does trouble seem to attach itself to this boy wherever he goes??
"Daniel" I gave him one of my best accusing 'you should have known better and I'm so disappointed in you' looks.
"Hello Jack" he said simply, ruffling his hair with his hand and desperately trying to avoid eye contact. Sam moved in closer and gave him a hug. "You had us worried Daniel. Where did you go? How did you get out? Why didn't you tell us anything?" Carter had this look on her face, she was desperate for information and I think she would have kept asking questions if it wasn't for the dark haired woman who stepped from a shadowed area of the room and walked in to the light. Carter's mouth literally dropped open from the surprise and I knew I should have acted the same but I just couldn't place the woman's face... she seemed familiar but... I guess its true about the memory being the first to go.
"Yuany!" Sam's eyes moved from Yuany to Daniel and then to me and back to Yuany.
"Ha?" was the only thing I could say, this was getting confusing. "Isn't she supposed to be dead? Does ANYONE want to explain what the hell is going on here? "
"She is dead, was dead... Daniel?" Sam, for once, seemed to be just as confused as I was.
"She faked her death so she wouldn't have to marry Jophan. I was just handy to take the fall for the murder and make it more believable. But after she did it, she had a change of heart." Daniel sounded almost bitter when he said that. Not like him, but after the meaning of his words settled in I couldn't really blame him.
"OK" I looked at the two inspectors standing next to Yuany "I think we just proved that Daniel didn't do it and we are going home. Come on kids... the general will be waiting at the door with warm milk and cookies." I didn't care about anything else, as long as I got my team back home in one piece and didn't start a new intergalactic war I was happy. I turned and signaled the others to follow me back to the campsite, the sooner we get out of here the better.
"I can not allow you to leave just yet colonel" Fillmore. Again. What is it with that guy? I try to like him... honestly. I'll admit that I didn't like the looks he kept giving Carter but the guy has a tendency to grow on you - kinda like Daniel - but now he was just being mean!
"And that is... why? Exactly?" I tried desperately to control my temper but it was dangerously approaching boiling point.
"We still have one unaccounted for murderer." He gave me a look that for a strange reason resembled the one Carter always gives me when she has to explain what it is she's just said. "Yuany's father. We questioned Yuany and she has an alibi for his time of the murder so she couldn't have done it." He explained.
"That is your business Fillmore" I looked him straight in the eye, "we have proved Daniel's innocence, sort of, the other murder has nothing to do with us. And if you try to make us stay I'm sure your superior will see things more our way." We held eye contact for a few more minutes but I could see in his eyes that he knew I was right. He had no legal reason to keep us here anymore. His help came from a person I least expected to get involved in the conversation.
"It seems to be wise that we should stay and help with the solving of the crime if we wish to sustain a diplomatic relationship with his people O'Neill." Just typical. Teal'c just had to choose that particular moment to become all chatty. Carter gave me a look and I could see in her eyes that she was with Teal'c but her motives, I'm sure, weren't even close to having anything to do with the diplomatic future of the world. I felt as if I'd just received a punch in the stomach at the idea of Carter wanting to stay here with Fillmore. She couldn't be considering this could she? My jaw clenched tightly, but I forced myself to remain calm.
I moved my gaze to Daniel and his face just said everything... when the hell did this team become a democracy? I'm sure I was the commanding officer of this team! But what can you expect from a team when half of it ain't even military? I let out a loud sigh knowing I was beaten, fighting with them was useless. If it was just Carter and Daniel I could have just make them leave, but they had Teal'c on their side. And he never takes sides! I saw a small grin appear on Fillmore's face - he knew we wouldn't leave.
"Two days!" I desperately tried to keep an angry look on my face to show them I wasn't happy with this, but the small smile that spread on Carter's face and the soft look she gave me made it almost impossible. She has no right to make me change moods like that! "And that's it. After that we're going back home, and Fillmore you make sure all charges against Daniel are dropped NOW so he can move around with us and help us. And that's not negotiable! If you don't do it we're outta here!" Fillmore simply bowed his head and gave me a small smile.
"I'll get to it immediately colonel. Thank you." He gave Carter a way too warm smile and started gathering his things. "You should go back to your camp, get some rest and I'll see you all later." He AGAIN gave Sam a warm smile and left the warehouse with Jo and Yuany on his heels. My anger came back in full force.
"Jack" Daniel was attempting to make peace now that we were all alone... but for some reason I wanted him to suffer a little bit more. After all if it wasn't for him we never would have met Fillmore and he never would have got on my nerves.
"Later Daniel. Let's get back to camp."
*****
We walked back in silence, the warm rain washing over my face and wetting my clothes. I really felt like talking, it seemed I had tons of things to say and I felt I really needed to explain everything I had been through, just to...you know, talk about it and then feel better, liberated. But Jack wanted none of it. I think he just wanted me to feel guilty about leaving them on their own without giving any clues as to what I was doing or where I was. But I felt guilty already, even though I knew I had a good excuse for what I had done. I threw a look around at my team. Teal'c walked ahead, and I had told him everything already, so his mind was clear as to what we needed to do next. Jack and Sam were next, walking a distance from each other that was too small to be informal, both lost in deep thoughts. I wondered what had happened to them while I was away. They seemed distant and yet longing, as if, by walking too closely they would burn up and by walking too far away they'd get cold.
Sensing my eyes on her back, Sam turned around and waited for me to catch up. At least someone wanted to talk!
"You Ok?" She asked gently, and I had missed that during the last few days. The people I met were nice, granted, but no one had actually shown real concern for me. Don't take me wrong, I know Jack and Teal'c care about me, we're a team and we're friends, but Jack had been too busy hiding behind sarcasm to let me know his true feelings.
I nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine."
"You wanna tell me what happened to you?" She asked, narrowing her eyes against the rain that kept pouring onto us. I was about to reply when I heard Jack snort from the front. We both looked up at him in surprise.
"What?" I asked, really wondering what was wrong. He turned around and we all stopped. Sam had this frown on her face saying that she was confused by Jack's action, and it was a frown I had often seen on her features.
"You wanna know what the problem is?" I nodded slowly but he was so caught up into his speech he wouldn't have noticed if I'd said no. "The problem is that suddenly Carter goes all worried and friendly, when we all know what she's been thinking about during the last few days!"
I exchanged a look with the accused, but she sincerely seemed not to have a clue about what Jack is talking about.
"What?" She asked in disbelief.
"You know what I mean Carter, and don't go telling me you don't!" My God, what the hell had happened while I was away?
"I have no idea what you're talking about SIR!" Oh-uh, her voice was rising and so was Jack's and that was certainly not good. He took one dangerous step in her direction but she didn't move. Where was the subordinate soldier Sam often plays?
"Of course you do! Why do you think you're so damn eager to stay here? Wouldn't it have anything to do with a certain inspector, that, for some reason, seems to have gotten so much under your skin that you can't even leave this goddamned place!? You don't care a damn about what happened to Daniel! All you want is a good reason to stay here and..." He was shouting now and I looked on unashamedly, wondering what was going on. An inspector? Was he talking about Fillmore? Sam cut him off. She was fuming, that was clear, and I knew that there wasn't a chance in hell she'd remember her situation and the appropriate 'with all due respect'.
"What the hell is wrong with you? I thought this Fillmore thing was clear for once and for all! I was hoping you knew that I care too much for my team to just leave it like that and not worry about Daniel and everything he's gone through! Now if I wanna know what he did and you don't it's your problem!" Ok, Sam, let's all calm down. I decided to intervene, after all they were fighting about me here... I raised my hands defensively and took one step in their direction.
"Ah...guys, look you don't have to argue because of me..." They turned to me as if they'd forgotten I was even here and spoke at once.
"It's not about you Daniel, stay out of this!" They both shouted so I took one step back. OK, this wasn't good. They turned towards each other again and Jack responded to her last attack.
"No, no, it's not MY problem Carter, it's yours! There's caring and caring, and I've seen the way you just seemed to enjoy the investigation way too much, and that's not acceptable!" What? Were they completely insane? I'm sure they didn't even mean half the things they were saying and yet they seemed to like hurting each other.
"Oh ok I get it! Just because I care for someone else you start to accuse and don't even trust me? Is that it? Because if that's it, you shouldn't really be talking, should you? It's never happened to you, has it? To find someone with whom you can share things?" He was about to reply but she cut him off. "Oh right, wait a minute! I seem to remember a few incidents...What about Laira, oh and Kynthia?" When she saw she'd made her point, she added, "I have absolutely no lessons to learn from you SIR!" She yelled and left.
The rest of us stayed silent for a few seconds, looking down at the mud in which we
were standing. Jack seemed more hurt than angry and Teal'c looked dubious, almost
vulnerable. I walked passed Jack and Teal'c followed me in silence, heading back to camp. If Jack wanted to come, he would when he felt better.
When we arrived at the camp Sam was already there, reorganizing her bag, which I'm sure was in perfect order this morning. She was still livid, it showed in her sharp movements and I didn't know if I should talk to her or just leave it be. She didn't even look at us when we came into the tent, so I decided against talking.
Talking could wait.
I lay down on my bedroll, waiting. I don't know what I was waiting for, but I figured we wouldn't do anything until Jack came back, and with Sam's bad mood, I decided to just...wait. Soon the sound of the raindrops on the roof of the tent made me sleepy and I closed my eyes and Teal'c decided to go outside, oblivious to the rain.
After a while, Sam stopped fussing beside me, so I figured she must think I'm asleep or something. She gave a long sigh and I opened one eye to look at her. She was sitting in one corner, her head leaning over her bent knees in front of her and her arms circling them.
"You ok?" I risked asking, I wasn't expecting any kind answers, so I wasn't disappointed.
"What do you think?" She mumbled without moving. I stood and went to sit beside her.
"Look, I know I haven't been around for a few days, but what I just saw...I mean... what was that? What happened?" I tried to use my gentlest voice so she didn't feel like I was pushing her, and soon she looked up at me. There were no tears, but there was so much sadness in her eyes, I fought against the urge to comfort her. I knew she wouldn't let me, she's far too proud for that.
"That's the whole point Daniel, nothing happened! We've been getting along really nicely all the time you were away. I mean we had some minor disagreements, but don't we always?" I nodded, just to confirm my attention. "But this morning...I don't know. I guess we just got carried away." I looked at her closely. She seemed sincere and obviously what had happened was beyond her comprehension, but I felt something still bugging me.
"And nothing happened with Fillmore?" I tried to make it more of a statement than a question so I wouldn't get her angrier by doubting her integrity.
"No, nothing at all, that's the whole point! I mean we've talked about it, Fillmore and I, and there's nothing going on."
"You've talked about *it*..." I repeated. "*It* what?" She glared at me for a second, apparently not sure what to tell me.
"Well...we've gotten...friendly, you know." At the expression on my face she went on hurriedly. "Nothing serious, we just get along, and I guess there's some sort of...attraction, but it's nothing, and we've cleared that up." I nodded. That's what made Jack lose it then. He had seen *it* and had gone and imagined all sorts of stuff that made him crazy. I put one hand on her shoulder and stood to go outside. It was still raining but I had the impression she needed to be alone for the moment. So I got out and went searching for Jack and Teal'c.
******
We finally solved the case...or rather I believe we did. Jo... I mean inspector Luhan and myself put all our efforts into solving it since the night Daniel Jackson had shown up. She was relentless, and I learned to admire her mind more and more by the day. She asked me to remain on the case unofficially and help her out, something I did not expect from her, but I agreed even before she finished asking me. All our efforts had finally been fruitful.
"You coming Connor? " Jo stood there in the door with her face showing the same excitement I'm sure mine was.
"Right behind you inspector" I picked up my weapon and made my way to follow.
We reached the lord's manor soon enough. There were only the two of us since Jo believed we both could handle it and too many men would scare the murderer away.
She knocked on the door impatiently and it was a few minutes before the butler opened the door with a very annoyed look on his face.
"Anything I can help you with inspectors?" he looked at us both with distain, his beady eyes moving from Jo to myself and back again.
"We have some questions for you Thomas" I looked at him carefully.
"That's Mr. O'Malley to you Inspector." He seemed almost outraged that a policeman should use his given name "but of course I would be happy to assist the police in any way I can" he soon added with a fake smile that made me almost lose my breakfast.
He showed us to a small room with a sofa and two small chairs. He relaxed on the chair and motioned us to each take a seat. The chair was very uncomfortable and from the glint in his eyes I saw that Thomas had planned it all along. The more uncomfortable we are the sooner we leave... or so he thought. Jo and I exchanged looks and it was silently decided I would ask the questions.
"Where were you the night Lord Hefron was murdered?"
"I already been through this with your policeman, inspector" Thomas said impatiently.
Jo seemed to be annoyed by that and I could see the muscles of her jaw line tightening and it looked like it took all her self-control to remain civil. "But I'm sure you won't mind going through it again" she iced him with one of her best looks. He shifted, uncomfortable in his seat, but finally decided it would be less trouble to repeat everything again than trying to go against the police.
"No I suppose not, even if I do not see the reason to harass a law abiding citizen such as myself with endless questions. I was with my darling wife in our room. Like every night before and every night after. I'm sure my wife will account for my whereabouts."
"I'm sure she will but we would like to make sure anyway if you don't mind" I said plainly. His wife gave us no new information but we did not expect anything more. He showed us to the door and right before we left I knew it was the time to set the trap.
"Do you not find it strange that you should be the only heir to the lord's fortune in case his daughter would die and that in some mysterious way that he should die soon after his daughter's death?"
"What are you saying inspector?" I could see the arrogance in his eyes, the arrogance of one who thought he had planned the perfect crime.
"I'm just saying" I looked at him with a hint of amusement "that you should not count your fortune just yet Thomas" I let the name roll over my tongue slowly as I knew it annoyed him. "It turns out Yuany is not dead after all and you are yet again reduced to a level of a butler." And with that we left the manor. Jo looked at me with the most amazing smile on her face.
"I believe the trap is set" she said, circling her arm around mine.
"I believe so Jo, I believe so" and with that we made our way to Yuany's apartment to wait for Thomas to prove our theory.
*********
I could see O'Neill staring at me from across the room. Jo felt it would be safer to have some backup and since they were already involved with all the details of the case we, or rather she, decided it would be best to let them come along. He doesn't like me, I can feel it, but the funny thing is that I believe it doesn't have anything to do with me, and a whole lot to do with Sam. She looked at me from her post and I could see that when O'Neill caught her glance as well, his eyes filled with rage... and sadness. I guess he thought he had thrown it all away. He sure is blind. We waited in Yuany's apartment for over three hours, mostly in silence, till a soft knock on the front door finally released us from the wait.
"Who...Who is it?" Yuany tried desperately to control her voice and prevent it from shaking.
"It's me Miss Hefron" Thomas's voice sounded so gentle from behind the door.
"I'll be right there Thomas!" she looked at me with fear in her eyes and I tried to give her the most reassuring look I could. We have been through every possible scenario with her at the police station before the trap was set. She knew what was coming but it still did not prevent her from being afraid. We all took our positions and hid ourselves in various rooms of the apartment.
"Miss Hefron!" Thomas burst through the door the second Yuany opened it and gave her a cold hug.
"I was so relieved to hear you were alive! It was such a shock to hear of both your father and yourself being so brutally murdered! I thought I would faint when I found your dead father in his office" Yuany squirmed out of the hug and moved to the other side of the room.
"Yes it was very unsettling when I heard of my father's death."
"Yes indeed" Thomas put the package he was carrying on the table and moved to sit down.
"Don't you think it's odd that my father would die so soon after my death when it was you who prepared his meals and it was you who would get all of the estate in case of our deaths?" Yuany turned and stared at the butler, his face no longer showing that smug smile he was wearing a few moments before.
"You have been talking to the police, haven't you little miss?" his voice was now cold and threatening.
"They have informed me of several useful facts I didn't know of Thomas."
"That's a shame," he said and slowly got up and moved closer to Yuany. "You see no one knows you have come back from the dead yet. As far as everyone is concerned you are dead. And I am going to make sure you stay that way" he reached for the package he was carrying and took out a small pastry.
"The police know I'm not dead" Yuany's voice was now shaking with fear.
"What they know and what they can prove are two different things my dear...and when they find that you have committed suicide with the same poison that killed your father I don't think they will be able to prove my involvement in the issue. And once again I would be richer then I ever thought possible." The young woman seemed horrified at the idea of dying slowly and painfully as her father did, and that was enough for us to prove his guilt so Jo stepped out from her hiding place.
"I do believe we can prove your guilt now Thomas" she said slowly her eyes piercing him with a hard look. He moved to run but O'Neill quickly moved to block his way out through the door.
"Going anywhere? And just as we were starting to have fun." Thomas knew he was caught.
The murder was solved.
***************
"So the butler did it" Jack looked at me with an amused look on his face, obviously amused from the live clich? that had just taken place.
"Yes I guess he did. We can finally go home now." I moved to look at Yuany in the arms of Kolbi, both seeming very happy to finally be able to be together. Jack put one hand on my shoulder briefly in a gesture of support.
"You'll do fine Danny boy. You'll do fine." Then we found ourselves standing next to the Stargate waiting for Sam to say her goodbyes.
"You take care of yourself Connor." She said as she hugged him.
"You too Sam. Come back and visit me" I moved to look at jack and I could see his face hardening with anger.
"Sure I will. Remember what we talked about." She moved to look at Jo standing just a few feet away from them and gave Fillmore a secretive smile.
"And you remember the same Sam." I thought I saw Sam blush for a second and then she gave Fillmore another hug and turned to Teal'c and motioned him to dial the gate.
"Finished with your goodbyes Major?" Jack seemed bitter when he said that as he could see Sam's eyes shining like she was about to cry.
"Yes Sir" she replied with a cold voice and I could see her jaw tightening and it seemed she wanted to add something more but after a second she reconsidered and simply remained quiet. I was both happy and sad to leave this world. As much as I hate to admit it I really did like Yuany. I believed that I had finally found a person I could share something with. SG-1 is great, they are my family, but I miss the closeness of a partner in life, and as strange as it may seem a guy like me doesn't get much of a chance to date normal women from earth.
The gate opened and a few seconds later we were standing in the SGC. The gate room was filled with people, most of them medical personnel.
Janet was standing at the start of the platform leading to the gate ready for action. When she saw us all coming down the ramp healthy and obviously uninjured she looked both relieved and surprised at the same time.
"Daniel... you're... not bleeding" she looked at me studying me carefully.
"Um... No Janet...Should I be?" I gave her a small smile, which she returned gladly.
"Well I was kinda looking forward to your usual week in the infirmary after a mission that gone wrong" she teased me and I got to thinking that maybe earth women aren't so hard to meet after all.
*****
When we arrived home, General Hammond was more than happy to hear our debriefing, but we all felt the tension that remained among SG-1. Daniel was silent, which was unusual on it's own, the colonel was serious, and I felt guilty. Teal'c was... well...his usual self. As tense as it was, Hammond didn't notice that anything was wrong, or at least if he did he didn't show it. So after a few hours in the debriefing room, we were all tired so I went to take a shower, hoping to be able to talk to the colonel before he went home. Unfortunately I didn't have that much luck.
After what we had said to each other during that fight, I wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not. I knew he was angry with me, but I also knew that if I didn't tell him what I had to say now, I would lose my chance forever. He would probably go on, as would I, and he probably wouldn't have any regrets, but I would.
So on an impulse I got out of my car, in which I had been sitting for the last fifteen minutes. I walked determinedly to his front porch, probably looking more self-confident than I felt. I knocked a few times and waited. I knew he was home, Daniel had checked for me, so I waited some more until I heard his footsteps behind the door. I held my breath as I waited for him to open the door, and finally he did. I was speechless for a moment as I saw him, a blue shirt, open at the top with baggy beige pants. He looked so good and so angry. I swallowed with difficulty.
"I was wondering when you'd decide to get out of that car." He said, but I could easily detect the sarcasm in his voice.
"Yeah..." I looked at him closely, looking for some signs that he would be able to listen to what I had to say with an objective ear, but I found none. His face was as closed as it could be, which meant he was angry. Very angry. With me. After a while of just staring, he broke the ice.
"What do you want Carter?" His voice was so plaintive, I had to swallow the knot in my throat.
"I'd like to talk to you..." From the look on his face, he was awaiting the 'sir' but it didn't come. I figured with what I had to say I would be better off without too many formalities. He nodded after a few seconds and opened to door wider, so that he could lean on the doorframe, his hands in his pocket and yet not looking at all nonchalant. Ok so he wasn't gonna let me in, that's not good.
"So...I'm listening. What did you come here to tell me?" I looked down at my feet as if they would give me the courage to say what I had to say. Unfortunately they didn't.
"Major?" Ugh... He wasn't gonna make it any easier than necessary was he? Suddenly, coming out of nowhere, I felt the inspiration coming to mind. So I went ahead and dived right in.
"Permission to speak freely Jack?" He nodded and a little smile showed in the corner of his mouth at my choice of words, or rather, my choice of what I called him. His reaction to my next words was crucial.
"A friend of mine once told me to get a life." He nodded slowly, his eyes piercing mine with anticipation and fear. I breathed in, bracing myself for my next words as I cleared my throat.
"So here I am."
He nodded slowly, never breaking eye contact and biting his cheek, and considering my proposition for a moment. I held my breath, well aware that his next words would either break or make me. The ball was in his court now, and I was giving him the opportunity to take me, or not. Since my conversation with Fillmore, I'd thought about my relationship with my superior officer and I had weighed the pros and cons for days, always wondering what was the best decision to make. My feelings for Jack O'Neill were crystal clear, they had been for a long while now, but I wasn't sure if it was worth risking my professional life. But then, I realized that I could never decide myself until I knew for sure what he thought about it. That's what had given me the courage to come out here in the first place.
I held his scrutinizing glare with certainty, showing him that I knew what I was doing. His face was inscrutable, but his eyes...His eyes were the mirror of all the emotions that went through him as he observed me. Hope, wonder, fear, fear of trusting me again and being hurt...I recognized all those emotions because I had felt them all before making my decision.
Finally he looked down and I breathed out, thinking this was his way to tell me to go bother someone else. But instead he looked up at me again with a lopsided grin, and stood aside, inviting me in.
"I was wondering if you ever were gonna say that." He said and I smiled a little, relieved but still on my guard. After all this wasn't going to be easy, going from colleagues to something deeper and more dangerous. Not forgetting that we still had a whole lot of explaining to do about Fillmore and everything that had ever come between us.
With a gesture of his hand, he invited me in again, and this time I walked into his house.
"Would you like a beer? Or something to drink?" He offered as I made my way into the living room, taking off my jacket and sitting on his couch.
"Yeah, a beer's fine...Thank you." I replied with a smile, the nervousness slowly fading away to be replaced by excitement, and the promise of something better.
"You know Sam," he said as he opened the bottles, "while we were on the planet, I had this dream..."
THE END
***********
Thanks for reading and please send us some feedback! we live on it (its a medical need!) Rav & Amelie
Story Notes: WARNINGS: Maybe a bit of language. And this is not a totally Sam and Jack story, but the ship is there anyway, the story is not just focusing on them only.
AUTHORS' NOTES: Ravital: Thanks to Anne Perry for writing such great murder mysteries!
Amelie: Thanks to DustDevil for the great betareading!
FEEDBACK: Yes, please! Either to me or Amelie, but please, we are dying to know what you think!!
AUTHORS' NOTES: Ravital: Thanks to Anne Perry for writing such great murder mysteries!
Amelie: Thanks to DustDevil for the great betareading!
FEEDBACK: Yes, please! Either to me or Amelie, but please, we are dying to know what you think!!
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]