DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).
"Lieutenant Simmons?"
The young officer's head jerked up with an audible snap, and she rose quickly from the floor, salute already in progress. "Sir! Yes, sir!"
The major nodded. "At ease, Lieutenant. Where's the vault?"
"Sir, I need to see your id first."
"Oh, of course." He handed her a standard issue military id along with the drawing she'd been told to expect.
She studied it for a short moment, allowing a little bit of time to get her sleep-addled wits in gear. She could not believe she'd fallen asleep on the floor next to the vault. Some lookout she'd turned out to be. "Yes, sir. This is what Major Carter told me to look for. Here's the key. But I am a little confused, your id card says Colorado."
Louis Ferretti looked grave. "When General Hammond couldn't reach either Colonel O'Neill or Major Carter earlier today, my team was sent to DC. Now, I'm assuming this is the vault?"
"Yes, sir. It's like a museum in there, sir. I've never seen anything like it."
Ferretti exchanged a significant look with his team. "Thank you, Lieutenant. We'll take it from here."
Daniel cringed in spite of himself as Parker reached for him. The slight movement was not lost on the older man who openly laughed at Daniel's reaction. "Anticipation is half the fun, Daniel."
"Not anticipating anything you have, Parker." Daniel's head snapped to one side as Parker's gentle caress turned violent. 'Ouch. Make note -leave smart-ass remarks to Jack.' Waves of dizziness swept over him as he turned back to face his attacker. The steel gray eyes contained more emotion than Daniel could previously recall from their earlier encounter, and what he saw filled him with trepidation. Desire was the primary sentiment Daniel read in those eyes, accompanied by no small amount of evil. There was nothing else it could be called. He'd read long ago that the eyes were the windows to the soul. Well, here was a man whose soul had long ago disintegrated, leaving nothing in its wake but an inner glimpse of hell.
"Ah, Daniel. I wish we had time to consummate our relationship, but time is very short, and you are very ill..."
The veracity of the colonel's words was partially realized when his young prisoner's response was interrupted by a round of coughing.
"...And we have a long way to go. It is a long journey to the Middle East. I have summoned my personal physician to accompany us. No doubt you will be feeling much more yourself when we get there. We will then have all the time in the world to become better acquainted while we search for the tomb."
"You...you don't have a map." Daniel wheezed, fear partially paralyzing his lungs as well as his body.
"I confess that a map would be nice, Daniel, but I do not really need one. Not when I have you. Because we both understand that you know where the tomb is. How to get there. How to find the entrance." He leaned closer, drinking in Daniel's fear, as he spoke. The back of his forefinger stroking the younger man's face, his other hand deftly working its way inside the robe. A chill ran up Daniel's spine as Parker's hand began caressing his nipples.
The unwanted sensation releasing him from his momentary paralysis, Daniel tried to push Parker away, a whispered plea of "Nooo!" on his lips.
The colonel had other ideas, however, swiftly seizing both of Daniel's wrists in his own much larger hand and shoving his arms above his head, pinning them to the wall above Daniel's head. As Parker leaned closer, his helpless prisoner turned his head away in revulsion even as he struggled to pull air into burning lungs. Ignoring the rejection, the older man leaned forward, lips almost touching Daniel's ear as he whispered, "I've had many... lovers ... Daniel, but I've been looking forward to our union for thirty years. You were such a beautiful child."
Boring. This was getting boring. 'God, O'Neill, you're beginning to sound like Urgo.' Jack had never realized before how much he'd come to depend on Daniel's endless stream of chatter. Or for that matter, how nice it was that Carter was such a good conversationalist. Hell, Teal'c could be a talk show host compared to the tag team duo seated across from him. The idiots even seemed to blink in unison. Jack decided to once again focus on the back of the businessman's head. Maybe even pretend he had a bead on him.
Jack frowned as the man suddenly stiffened, noticing the same thing the colonel had noticed. The limo was slowing to a halt. An unexpected halt if the other man's reactions were any indication. Jack's suspicions were confirmed when the man pressed the intercom button. "Why are we stopping?"
"Sorry, sir. License check ahead. They've got cars pulled over on either side of the road."
"License check? Out here? Isn't that a bit unusual?"
'Out here? Where the hell is here?' Jack muttered to himself as he strained to hear the conversation.
"Yes, sir. But I've had the radio on up here, and apparently the local authorities are looking for a couple who robbed a convenience store nearby. A short-haired blond woman and a really big black guy with a gold tattoo of some sort on his forehead."
Jack's facial muscles fought hard to form a wide grin, but were over-powered by his good sense. 'Excellent work, Carter. Back-up is a good thing.' Forcing himself to slump dejectedly into his seat, he concentrated on looking harmless, all the while glad that the monotonous ride was almost over ... one way or another.
To Daniel's relief, Parker backed slowly away. "Much as I like the scenery, you cannot travel dressed like that. Someone will bring you clothes." The man sighed and walked to the door, turning to look back at Daniel as he reached for the knob. "I know you have much too much sense to try to escape, but just in case, remember the cameras."
Daniel sagged heavily against the wall as Parker closed the door. Clothes. They were bringing him clothes. Thank God! But wait. Parker had said they were leaving. And taking him with them. Oh, nononononono! Not gonna happen. With or without the cameras, he'd find a way out of this mausoleum.
He frowned as he unconsciously sat down on the bed. Why now? What was the big rush? Absently he noticed running footsteps passing the door, and faint shouts coming from the distance. His spirits suddenly lifted as he realized that Parker and crew were - what was that term, oh yeah - bugging out. They were running. And that could only mean one thing. His friends had found him.
Ferretti walked slowly through the vault, only half-listening as his team's archaeologist sputtered and exclaimed and was appropriately incoherent over the items he was seeing. The rest of his team was carefully taking an inventory of what they could identify, and applying multicolored tags to the various items. Green tags for the obvious antiquities, blue tags for items that were obviously not antiquities, and red tags to anything whose age or ownership were in doubt.
The major's attention had been drawn to a pile of rocks, hidden away in a corner. "Hennesey!"
He'd called three times before the bemused archaeologist answered. "Sir?"
"Over here." Ferretti waited impatiently for the man to reach him. Without waiting for a question, he continued. "What are those rocks?"
The puzzled archaeologist moved to examine the items more closely. "From the shape and markings, I'd say these were once columns." He paused, then frowned. "That's odd."
"What's odd?"
"Some of the stones have, what appears to be, dried blood on them."
Ferretti closed his eyes. 'Oh God!' Taking a deep breath, he looked at Hennesey. "Captain, I don't care what it takes, these get stored separately from the rest of the items, and under no circumstances is Dr. Jackson to see them. Understood?"
"Yes, sir. Separately, sir." The young man wanted to ask why but the iron in his CO's voice told him that now was not the time.