ANOTHER SCIENTIST!

Author: Leana Effrenus

Feedback:(rbbr10664@blueyonder.co.uk)

Fandom: SG1/MacGyver

Pairing: Jack/Mac

Rating: PG ish, Slashy over tones

Summery: Jack meets Mac! My attempt at answering Peja's challenge.

Authors note: I apologise in advance for offending anyone with my lack of knowledge and crude use of the language, sorry! And a huge thank you to Peja for the encouragement, Ta much!

Disclaimer: Not mine, yadda, yadda, yadda!

ANOTHER SCIENTIST!
by Leana Effrenus

Cheyenne Mountain.

"You have got to be kidding me, this guy's worse than Danny ever was! He doesn't even carry a weapon for cryin out loud!"

General Hammond sighed, he had known Jack would react like this, it was inevitable.

"I know Colonel, but the Phoenix Foundation had asked for our help, and he is their top man, I have spoken about it to them, but they are adamant that he will be the operative on the case, they only came to us in the first place because they came across something they realised was not human and contacted the president as a courtesy, he sent them to me, they didn't have to let us in on this, they are a privet Foundation and don't even have to answer to the President, I'm just grateful they have enough sense to ask for our help, you can bet the FBI or CIA wouldn't."

Jack sighed,

"When you put it that way! When do we meet him then?"

General Hammond looked down at the desk uncomfortably and grimaced, braving himself for the coming outburst.

"SG1 are out of this one, they said one operative from our end would be more than enough, you're on your own."

"WHAT? For cryin out loud Sir! This is insane! I'm dumped with a pacifistic SCIENTIST and I don't even get to take my team?"

It took another hour of hashing out to get Jack calm enough to be told that his contact was meeting him that afternoon in a hotel in Colorado Springs, then Jack had to bring him back to the base for a tour, General Hammond knew it was going to be a very trying day!


***************

Phoenix Foundation H.Q.

"You want me to go into a possibly extra terrestrial situation with a gung-ho sociopath with a death wish! Are you insane?"

Mac looked at his boss and hoped he was joking, after they lost two operatives on this case and found some extremely non-human tech they had called the President and told Mac he had the job, and then told him he was working with a nut!

"I am perfectly sane thank you MacGyver, and you are meeting Colonel O'Neill this afternoon in Colorado Springs so I suggest you get packed and go, you really don't want to be late for your first meeting, you know these military types and punctuality!"

Mac sighed and knew he had no choice, he had to deal with this threat like every other one thrown his way, he was soon on his way home and decided it was as good an excuse as any to give his bike a good blow out, so he packed as little as usual, a change of clothes, his Swiss army knife and a roll of duct tape, and hoped the fates saw fit to let him come out of this with another minor miracle, not a body bag! Then wondered when he had become such a pessimist!


***************

Grange Hotel,
Colorado Springs.

Jack walked into the hotel Lobby and looked around, sub-consciously assessing any possible threats and grinned as his eyes came to rest on his contact, MacGyver, international Boy Scout, and eternal pacifist, basically his complete opposite, but he had looked through his dossier and his record for property damage was impressively high, and he had never failed an opp, or left anyone behind, and that was always a good sign, Jack could never discount a man who bought everyone home, there were few rules which Jack adhered to, most of them he ignored, but you never left a man behind, whoever it was, even the damn Tok'ra, and he couldn't stand them! Which bought him to his next rule, always tell Jack everything you know about the situation before it became life threatening, not leave it until he has a gun, or Snake, to his head, and narcissism or not, he was definitely easy on the eyes. Mac looked up and saw him enter the hotel, he smiled at the grin and wondered just how bad this guy could possibly be, ok, he had a very covert back ground, he had been in covert opps for over ten years and then he disappeared into Cheyenne Mountain seven years ago and even Mac hadn't been able to find out what he had been doing.

"Colonel O'Neill I presume?"

Jack smiled,

"MacGyver, there's a room booked for us, I'll get the key."

Jack went straight to the front desk and booked in, the base had an account and the General had rang through earlier so he only had to grab the keys and head up, Mac shook his head at the lack of social pleasantries and then remembered what he had read about this man and felt grateful he had been as nice as he had, he wasn't an insecure man, he knew his faults and limitations, he just hoped they could both get out of this alive and sane. Jack headed back towards him and they quietly went to the room where Mac got a few more answers than he was looking for, and a whole slew of annoying questions. Once they were sat ready Jack looked at Mac closely, assessing him and asked,

"So where do you want to start?"

"Well, you know more than me so I may as well tell you what I know and you can fill in the blanks, ok?"

Mac could see the shock in Jacks eyes for a split second before it was hidden again in those deep chocolaty depths, so like his own in colour but so alien in aspect.

"Sounds fine, go ahead."

"Well, the Foundation got a request for help, I guess you know what we do, a cult had set up in a little town down in Texas and the local kids were going nuts over it, then they started disappearing, the local cops can't get in there and the FBI wont touch it, apparently they haven't enough proof that anything is happening, so we sent a man out, a good man, he disappeared, so they sent a cleaner to find him and find out what was going on, he was dead, the cleaner sent one report and said he was going in for a closer look and we've heard nothing since, the report was interesting though, photos and film of a new weapon, there's nothing like it on Earth, so the Foundation thought they would give the President the heads up on it, turns out he knew more than we did, so I got given the case and sent here to learn all I can off you."

Mac stopped and grinned at Jack, he knew nothing he had said had surprised the man, he also knew he was still surprised by Mac's open attitude, but hey, he seemed happy!

"Sounds about right, most of the Snake bastards have a God complex, they really go for the whole religion thing, don't get it myself but a lot of folks seem to fall for it. Basically they are parasites called the Goa'uld, or Snakes, they take a host and suppress it's mind, then they use the body for anything and everything, they aren't too friendly for the most part, there are the Tok'ra, but at least the Snakes are honest about screwing you over, we have a few allies, the Asgard are on our side but they are pretty busy with their own problems at the moment, and the Nox are friendly, but
they wont allow violence, you'd probably love them, they use illusions and stuff, totally pacifistic, then there are the other humans out there, they are mostly behind us technologically, the Snakes don't like brain's in their slaves, but a few are more advanced or on a par with us, then you've got
Danny's bunch, they keep out of most things unless they are threatened, then they kick serious ass, but we don't expect any help from them, we are basically on our own, and we have only recently bought in a few other countries, the Russians have known for a while, and we just told the British, Canadian and Chinese, that went well, any questions?"

Mac nodded as he took it all in,

"Who are 'Danny's bunch'?"

Jack's grin was a little wistful.

"Danny was the one who opened the Gate, he was on SG1 until he ascended a while ago, there's this race lead by Oma Desala who found out how to ascend to a higher plane of existence, they glow and manipulate nature and stuff, very cool, Danny got hit by way too much radiation saving a planet and ascended rather than die, he pops back now and then, he helps when we need him the most, like when I got caught a while ago, he kept me sane until the others gave me a way out."

Mac nodded again,

"You were held prisoner again, your record said something about Iraq, that can't have been fun."

Jack looked at him carefully,

"No, they didn't have room service."

Mac held his breath for a moment, he knew that if this was going to go down hill it would plummet right now, and even though Jack could hide his expressions well, nobody could hide that kind of remembered pain and terror, not from a man who lived by reading people as well as he read situations. Jack looked at Mac and knew he was being read, the weary caution and the tensed body, obviously ready for flight at a moments notice, were unmistakable, and Jack was just as good at reading people as he was, this was no challenge as Mac wasn't even trying to hide, and that in itself was enough to reinforce Jacks already good opinion of the man, they were going to get on just fine, he smiled and continued,

"And the pool was a nightmare!"

Mac smiled back and let out the breath he had been holding, this was going to be fine, and he finally started to look forward to the up coming tour of Cheyenne Mountain.

***************

Cheyenne Mountain.

"So, this is where all the fun happens, it's pretty self explanatory, just open a door and see what's inside, if you can't open it, you aren't allowed in there, if it says 'Ladies' you aren't allowed in there, other than that, I'm going to check in on the team and see what's up, you wanna come?"

Mac grinned he couldn't believe how quickly they had hit it off, in between the explanations and the tour so far they had talked about all sorts of meaningless crap, the kind of things friends chat about when they have nothing better to do, it was like they had known each other for ever, not a
few hours, when they had met the General it was easy to see his relief that they were getting along, and not hard to figure out that he had expected them to be at each others throats, ah well, it was always good to keep the brass on their toes! Being predictable was highly over rated and tended to get you killed! Despite Jack's distaste of science and Mac's distaste of guns they had managed to find plenty of common ground, and found the actually agreed on more than they disagreed on, they were soon in the commissary seated around a table being introduced to the rest of SG1, Sam and Mac hit it off immediately just as Jack had thought they would, they had the same mind set, it gave Sam the chance to talk 'Geek' with someone who actually knew what all the words meant. Jonas was his usual chipper self, no surprise there, but Teal'c seemed to immediately take to him as well, which did surprise Jack, the stoic Jaffa had loosened up a lot over the years but he had rarely taken to anyone this fast. As they were leaving the commissary Jack dropped back with Teal'c and asked him about it.

"You left the Mountain with the clear and simple plan of either killing this man outright or making his life a living hell until you parted ways."

Teal'c said with much more insight than Jack appreciated being turned in his direction.

"But you arrived here as obvious friends, from what I know of you, the last time you changed your mind about someone this fast and this completely it was Daniel Jackson, if you trust him half as much as you did Daniel then I have no choice but to follow, and if you fell about him as you did Daniel, then you should appreciate this figurative kick up the ass and do something about it, you have lost Daniel but you know he would hurt you severally if he thought you had ignored your feelings because of a misplaced loyalty to his memory, he is no longer with us and will not return permanently, he would tell you to 'get a life' if he was here, so I shall have to remind you for him."

To say Jack was stunned would have been like saying that Apophis was a little full of himself, of a nuclear bomb was a little dangerous, he stood there with the patented 'beached guppy' look that Daniel had done so well, and just stared at Teal'c, he couldn't have been more surprised if the Jaffa had pulled out said guppy and slapped him around the face with it.

"Huh?"

Teal'c grinned at that, Jack currently had all the eloquence of that same fish, and it was pleasant to render him speechless, even if his was beginning to wonder if he was spending too much time around the man, his fish obsession appeared to be rubbing off!

"You know exactly to what I am referring O'Neill, even Major Carter eventually noticed, and applauded, your relationship, as did General Hammond."

Jack's head flew up at that,

"WHAT?"

Mac, Sam and Jonas looked back at the two and wondered what had got Jack so worried,

"Sir, is there a problem?"

"Problem? PROBLEM? No, not at all, 'Don't ask. Don't tell' my ass, did the entire base know? Did I miss the memo? Was it sent to the Pentagon, or just straight to the President?"

"Calm your self O'Neill, it is old news and no longer important."

"WHAT? Calm? Old news? Not to me it isn't, for cryin' out loud T! you could have given a guy a little warning, and you Carter, why bring it up now?"

Sam had finally cottoned on to what was happening and as they were near Jonas's office she pulled Mac and Jonas in and waited for Teal'c to direct Jack, she knew the room was as good as sound proofed so the shouting would be easier to contain.

"What was the point in saying anything Sir? When he was here it had to be hidden and after he left it was a moot point, saying anything could only have gotten you in trouble."

Jack was looking somewhere between broken hearted and homicidal and Mac decided he really didn't want to be around if this man blew, but at least he now knew there was some chance, from what he had caught of the conversation so far Jack was at least bi if not gay, which was all to the good, he had been told on more than one occasion that he could charm the birds from the trees, maybe he would have the chance to find out! The rest of SG1 had also seen Jack's mood and Teal'c moved ready to restrain him if necessary while Sam and Jonas backed slowly away, it was plain to see that they not only respected their CO, but also had a healthy dose of very real fear of him too, which from what Mac had read could only be a good thing.

"A moot point?"

Jack's voice had gone dangerously quiet, and it didn't take but a moment for Mac to realise what SG1 already knew, he was currently almost as dangerous as he got, one wrong move and he really would loose it, which would not be a pretty thing.

"A moot point? You came to me bitching about me not caring enough to show it after he left, you stood and looked me in the eye, and it was written all over your face, if I wasn't your CO you would have tried decking me, because I wasn't showing enough pain, enough suffering, you knew what he meant to me and you stood there and treated me like the lowest, heartless bastard,
because we had to get on with the JOB, all that saving the PLANET crap, and I wasn't broken up enough over Danny. What did you want Major? Did you want a hollow point bullet? Is that it? Danny got the last one, did you feel left out? If it bothers you that much you can have the one I got back from Danny's stuff after he left, here, have it!"

Jack pulled a small wooden box out of his pocket, they had often noticed it in the safest pocket he had since Daniel had left, but knew he was a very privet man and hadn't asked him about it, and had gotten used to its presence. Jack threw it at Sam and turned on his heel, leaving the office before slamming the door so hard it was probably heard throughout the level. Sam opened the box after looking at it stunned for a while, there was a single hollow point bullet, pure silver, nestled on top of a piece of paper, as she lifted the paper she realised there was writing on it, as she opened
and read it silent tears streamed down her face, she looked at Teal'c and handed it to him before turning away and trying to compose herself. Teal'c took the paper and immediately recognised Daniel's elegant and precise handwriting, and for the second time since she had known him, Teal'c cried as he read it.


Dear Jack.
I'm sorry. If you are reading this then I'm gone, and I can't tell you how sorry I am for leaving you. I don't know what to say, I can't imagine what you are going through, I tried to put myself in your place, imagine what I would want to hear from you but it didn't work, it just hurt too much, all I could think was I wouldn't want to go on without you, and that hurt even more, because I realised you would feel the same, I can't bare the thought of you giving up now, ending your life, literally or figuratively, because I'm gone, so do one thing for me my Love, LIVE. We worked too hard to waste it now, we both suffered and worked too hard after Charlie to let it go to waste, I love you too much to think of you going through that again, you were in so much pain when we first met it broke my heart, you can't go back there Love, I wont allow it. So this is for you, Love, keep it close and remember why you didn't use it back then, and don't forget, you still have a job to do, I didn't spend the best years of my life (hopefully) fighting the Snakes with you just so you could quit without me, I need to know that you will go on living, loving and fighting, and you have
to look out for Sam and Teal'c for me, we both know Sam wont deal well with this, and though he hides it better, neither will Teal'c. Sam is a soldier at heart, just keep reminding her why she is fighting and not grieving, don't let her wallow, if she stops to think for too long she wont stop, just
like you, not that either one of you would admit it, you both need to keep on fighting, don't sit around and mourn, remember the good times, if you must dwell on the past make it the good stuff, give them a while to get over it, when they can both handle it take them out, get them plastered for me and remember the good times, laugh, joke, sing my Love, but be happy, remind them that my life was never better than when I was with SG1, you were the first real family I have known since my parents died, and I can't stand the thought of you mourning me, I always tried to make you happy, all of you, don't remember me with sadness, only with joy, so get them plastered and
give me a proper send off Love, you know I'll be watching you somehow, don't let me down, don't let them hurt more than they have too, you protected my heart, now protect theirs, I know you can do this for me, you are the strongest man I know, just don't give up my Love, and don't forget the good times.

Live my Love.
Danny.

When he had finished he realised that Mac had left the room but he couldn't face the people he knew would be out side the room to try to find him and just hoped he was ok.

When Mac saw Sam crying over the letter he knew it was not good, the when Teal'c started as well he realised just how bad it really was, he knew they didn't want him there, but maybe Jack needed some with him, he left the room and wondered which way he had gone, he looked down the halls and saw the terrified airmen to his left, he took a wild guess and went their way.

"Have you seen Colonel O'Neill?"

The men shuddered and nodded, pointing further down the hall and he took off to find him. Mac soon realised that he only had to follow the trail of fear running threw the base and it would eventually lead him to Jack, all the people on base knew he was not a man to mess with at the best of times and now they were truly terrified of what they saw in his eyes. It didn't take him long to track him down to the gym, as he went into the changing room he was carefully warned not to go any further but took his life in his hands and carried on, when he saw Jack beating seven shades of crap out of the heavy bag he wondered if it might have been a mistake but he knew Jack had already seen him so he couldn't back out.

"You know, losing someone is never easy, and I know you've heard it all before so I wont go over it again, but they thought they were doing the right thing, just from what you've told me of them your self, I know they were trying to do the right thing, they couldn't do anything else, especially not to you."

Jack carried on taking everything out on the bag and for a moment Mac wondered if he had even heard him, then he stopped, holding the bag still and resting his head on it, and murmured,

"I know."

Even with their short acquaintance Mac knew Jack was a man of action, not words, so he didn't expect anything more, when he realised Jack was continuing he listened hard to the soft quiet words.

"My love for you has made me true to a heart that's no longer mine, the day we met you were like a net it was almost to good a sign, you looked at me and all I could see was a look that said 'you're all mine', I tried to resist but you couldn't have missed with such a large heart to assign, it's strange somehow but it doesn't matter now since you took your vow with mine, that's how I know without a show that you will always be mine."

Mac watched him as he stood there, drowning in the memories, he had read Jack's file, he knew he had and English Lit major, but to hear him reciting poetry after he had terrified and entire base without even trying was somewhat shocking, to say the least. He waited for Jack to do or say
whatever was coming next.

"He made me strong, he thought I gave him strength but it was always the other way around, after Charlie I had no reason to go on, but he gave me one, even before I fell for him, he was my reason to live, then he made me go on without him, I wouldn't have bothered, but I knew he was out there somewhere, and it would have killed him if I didn't, so I did what he asked of me, I played the tough soldier, and I dragged them along with me, just like he wanted, but they wouldn't let it go, they're still mourning him, so I failed, he wanted me to get them plastered, make them remember the good times, but they wont let me, so I failed him again, I left him behind, I let him die, and now I cant even get them to remember the good times, I haven't heard them laugh since he left, they only smile when Jonas does something naïve, he's done more for them than I have, so I failed them too. I can't win."

Mac looked at the floor, he couldn't face Jacks eyes if he looked up.

"If you failed them then they failed you too, they knew how it was and they didn't say anything, just let you take the brunt of it, they leant on you but didn't give you the chance to lean on them, you tried to do what he asked of you, but they wouldn't let you, they kept quiet so they could lean
on you, if anyone failed it was them, not you. It's been a year, talk to your boss, this mission can wait a few days, get the time off and you three can tell me all about him, remember the good times, if you want to."

Jack looked up at him then, and he could have drowned in the pools of chocolate, the fear of letting go out weighed by the need to finally do it.

"Lets go."

Mac didn't say a word as he followed Jack to General Hammond's office and waited for him to request the time off, as soon as the General saw Jack's eyes he agreed to anything that would get him off the base, he had had reports by the dozen from scared airmen wanting to know what to do about Colonel O'Neill, other than avoid him, they would all walk bare foot over broken glass for him but they were smart enough to be petrified when he was like this. Jack left the office and went straight back to Jonas's office where the rest of SG1 was still getting over the shock of the letter, he walked in and looked at them, seeing the grief and fear of him in their eyes, even Teal'c knew he would be in danger if Jack started now.

"With me now."

Jack was not yet in the mood for pleasantries, or explanations and they knew better than to question him, they immediately followed him out the door and up to the car park, and all piled into the back seat of his car. They were all silent as they tried to figure out where they were going and why, he drove straight to the liquor store nearest his house and went inside, as he got out he looked at Mac.

"With me."

Mac also knew better than to argue, or balk at the lack of manners, and followed quietly as Jack went in and bought enough alcohol to sink a Goa'uld Mother Ship. They put it in the trunk of the car and drove to Jack's house, when they pulled up he merely told them all to get out, opened the trunk and left them to carry it all in while he opened the door. When they were all inside he turned to them and looked them each in the eye, finally resting on Sam.

"I'm sick of it, I've spent a year hiding everything, and I couldn't even talk to you, couldn't risk it, now I've had enough, we are off duty till I say otherwise and we aren't going back to the Mountain till this is sorted, in fact, you aren't leaving this house until we've got over this, I guess
you read the letter, so you know why, and now we are going to remember the good times if it kills us, which it might if you don't get this done. There's a phone for take out and enough drink for the SGC let alone us, we are going to get plastered and we are going to laugh, and we probably are going to cry, but we will do it here and now, because I can't go on like this, I know I don't do well with emotional crap, Danny was right about that, but we will deal with this, because I will not fail him again, I refuse to go back to that bullet."

They were all staring at him in shock, they knew he didn't deal well with emotion and this was the last thing any of SG1 had expected of him, then Sam really thought for a moment, of all the things he had done and said over the years, how he was the one Daniel had trusted, the one they had all gone to with their problems, the way he allowed them to lean on him and only ever leaned back on Daniel, and he no longer had that.

"Yes Jack, we will laugh, and we will definitely cry but most of all we will remember the good times."

They all nodded at that, and Mac grinned a little, he could see this was going to be an experience, and by the end of the night he felt like he had known Doctor Daniel Jackson his whole life. Jack handed them each a beer and walked into the living room, when they were all seated he grinned, a small, sad, but loving grin.

"That damn Bonnie hat."

Sam and Teal'c finally grinned at that and Sam recounted the many times they had tried to persuade him that it really didn't suit him, but he always insisted, 'it's not a fashion parade, it keeps the sun off.' They told of their first meetings, and they all got to finally hear the full story of the
first mission to Abydos, the way even then that he had died to save Jack, who had been a complete prick for most of the time since they had met, it was just Daniels way, everyone always came before him. They spent the rest of the night talking and getting drunk, finally reaching the plastered state Danny had wanted. Teal'c had just finished recalling a particularly funny mission where the natives had insisted they celebrate the signing of their new trade agreement, with a three day party, by the end of it they had hardly been able to stand and had only managed to find the gate and dial home on auto pilot, it was only pure luck that Sam had remembered to use the GDO and they hadn't all ended up splattered on the back of the iris. As the laughter was dieing down they felt a breeze where none should be, Jack, Sam and Teal'c looked at each other as it slowly rifled through their hair, Jack smiled and raised his drink.

"Glad you could be here Danny, we finally got there Love."

The others raised their glasses in a silent toast to their friend and heard a quiet chuckle.

"You took your time guys, thank you. Grab it with both hands Jack, don't let him go Love."

With a final rustle of wind he was gone, Jack had closed his eyes when he heard his lovers voice and sat in his chair, head back and eyes closed, smiling, for the fist time since he had left, Danny knew and he was ok with it, of course Danny knew, he could always read Jack like a book, but he was alright with it, encouraged it as well, so Jack was finally happy. Mac and Jonas hadn't encountered Danny before, at least not since his ascension, and were a little shocked, actually Mac was freaked, but as the others all seemed to take it in stride he let it go, and concentrated on what he had said, rather than what he was, 'don't let him go', but who? Jack finally opened his eyes and looked around the room at his 'family', raised his bottle and said,

"To love, friendship and family, may we always have them."

They all raised their drinks and nodded with a smile.


***************

SG1 finally returned to base three days after they had left, much sooner than the General had expected them, and in a much better mood than when they had left. Jack and Mac were sent straight to Texas and the rest of SG1 remained on base, finally getting to the mountain of work that always awaited them.

It didn't take long to find the cult HQ and not much longer for Jack to realise that it was no Goa'uld running the show, the snakes might be arrogant but they weren't stupid, and it didn't hurt that he recognised the seal of Seth, he told Mac about their encounter and Seth's subsequent death and they realised it was the work of a few die hard fanatics trying to continue the 'work' unfortunately they still had the Zat's and that was something they couldn't ignore, even more unfortunately one of the leaders recognised Jack and decided it would be best to get rid of him. Mac sent a full report to the Foundation and Jack let Hammond know what was going on and decided to grab a meal before getting an early night and cleaning up the mess the following day, but the cultists had other ideas. They were walking along the street and both men knew they were being watched, there were only a few people on the street with them when they felt a sharp pain in the back of their necks, as they fell to the floor Jack managed to mutter before he fell unconscious,

"Oh crap!"

They had been walking past a shop door and as they fell it opened as a tall man with short blond hair stepped out, he saw them fall and immediately went to them, he looked at the younger of the two men, who was closest to him and muttered to himself as he picked him up and carried him into the shop before coming back for the other one, only he was gone! He looked around in shock
but couldn't see anything or anyone so he went back into the shop to help the man he could, it didn't take him and the shop keeper long to realise it was serious and they soon had him in the car and to the hospital, they just couldn't figure out why he had been drugged.

The following evening when Mac finally woke up he was frantic, he had found a good friend and possibly more, and gone and lost him, to fanatical wanna-be snakes, it didn't take him long to get in touch with the Foundation and the SGC and he almost wished he hadn't, Hammond was furious and immediately sent SG1 and several others to the cultists HQ, Mac also knew the Foundation would do the same so he started searching everywhere else he could think of.

***************

Rio Hondo County,
Sheriff's office,
Texas.

Mac was frantic, they had taken the HQ and found no sign of Jack, they had tracked down the remaining members of the cult and found several of them unconscious in the leaders house, and more than enough evidence to prove they had been holding Jack there, but that was three days after he had gone missing, he had only tried the Sheriff's office of the next town on the off chance that someone had reported Jack in the area, when the Deputy told him that the Sheriff was out but they had a man by that description in the back he walked straight toward the cells.

"Sir you can't go back there, that man is dangerous to say the least, it took every deputy we have to subdue him enough to get him in there, he went nuts for hours, we couldn't even give him medical attention, we couldn't get close enough, then he just sat in the corner rocking and muttering, I don't even think it's English."

Mac closed his eyes and counted to ten as slowly as possible before he did something he would regret.

"I would imagine it's Iraqi, he has been drugged and kidnapped then attacked by you when he managed to escape, probably after being tortured, again, he's been through this before, and recently went through it again, add that to the drugs and you have one very uncooperative Colonel."

"Colonel? He's Army?"

"No, Air force. We're working together, undercover, and he got taken, they hit us both with tranc darts but a local saw what happened and got me out before they could get me, I've been looking for him for two days, he's probably been drugged since they got him, if you can get me a phone I can get his doctor here."

"Oh, don't worry about that, we called one, he'll be here in a few minutes, Doc can look after him."

Mac smiled, but it was far from pleasant.

"I wouldn't suggest it, unless you want a dead doctor, if he's lucid enough to sit quietly he's lucid enough to kill anyone who goes in that cell, I sure wouldn't go in there, but his team know how to deal with it, they've been there before. They can be here in half an hour, I suggest you leave him
to calm down until they do."

Mac picked up the phone and called the Mountain, he quickly told General Hammond where they were and how Jack was, he knew it wouldn't take them long to get Janet to him. As he put down the phone the local doctor walked in with the sheriff, they went to go straight back to the cells but Mac called them,

"Hey, didn't the deputy tell you not to bother?"

The Sheriff didn't look pleased at the interruption,

"I'm sorry Sir but I have a prisoner who needs attention, I will talk to you when I know he's safe."

Well, at least he sounded like he cared.

"I am well aware of that Sir, but as I told your deputy, anyone who goes in there will probably end up dead, or wishing they were, I may be a pacifist but the Colonel isn't."

The sheriff looked at him closely and held the doctor back,

"Why?"

"The Colonel was a POW in Iraq, he really has issues with being locked up, especially on his own and a lot more so when he's been drugged kidnapped and tortured."

The sheriff really wasn't happy to hear this and Mac explained everything he could, the Deputy was getting some hard glares for not letting the sheriff know earlier, but he relaxed slightly when he heard Jacks doctor was on her way. Within twenty minutes of the phone call they heard a chopper land out side and Mac went to meet the rest of SG1 and Dr Fraiser.

"Where is he, now."

Sam was not a happy camper; she flew through the office and straight to the cell demanding the key with Janet a step behind her. The deputy looked at her as he wondered whether to do it or not, then wished he hadn't, Sam grabbed him by the throat and smashed him into the wall,

"I said NOW!"

The Sheriff strode in and grabbed the key, opening the door as fast as he could, Jack was still in the back corner, his head buried under his arms, knees pulled up as far into his body as possible, shaking and rocking, still whimpering in Iraqi, Janet knew better than to touch him in this state, but
she needed to get him sedated so she could treat the wounds, even the ones she could see were going to be bad and she just knew they weren't the worst, Sam knelt down and started talking to him quietly and evenly, like you would a frightened animal, slowly getting closer, it took her ten minutes to get him to even acknowledge her, when he finally stopped muttering and they knew he was listening, coming back to reality, Sam touched his shoe, nothing more, she knew that if she scared him any more he would lash out, and then he could easily kill her, she was well trained, but she had nothing on him. Jack accepted the touch and came back to himself enough to realise who she was, he suddenly lurched forward and threw himself at her, the Sheriff drew his gun and they were all quite impressed with his reactions as well as the fact that he didn't shoot immediately, Janet waved him back and they realised that Jack was hugging the stuffing out of Sam and talking to her. Even Sam didn't catch what he was saying, but the gist of it was a very hearty thank you for finding him and an admission of how scared he had been, she finally managed to calm him enough to let him know Janet was going to sedate him and as soon as he drifted off she handed him to Teal'c who gently put him on the bunk.

"What the HELL did you think you were doing? Are you incapable of recognising the signs of torture and abuse? Did it not occur to you to check with the surrounding hospitals? Any of whom would have told you that the Air Force had an APB out on a Colonel Jack O'Neill, six foot two, silver hair, well built and possibly injured, but no, that would have shown a little sense wouldn't it, so much more fun to put him in a cell and scare him shitless, how many times is he supposed to go through this? He only got let out of the infirmary last month; he wasn't even speaking English was he? He went back to Iraqi again didn't he? You were supposed to be there with him MacGyver, you've seen his file, he's the strongest man I know but he can only take so much before he finally breaks, your people said you would be enough, we weren't allowed to send a full team, well shows how much they know! Get out of my sight now, all of you, we're taking him home."

Mac really didn't appreciate that but he knew she was scared and worried for Jack so he quietly let it go, not so the Deputy who decided he really didn't like this 'female' pushing him around, the others were smart enough to stay out of her way, but he moved in front of her and tried to glare at her.

"Now look here missy,"

He didn't get any further, Sam turned to him and her eyes went cold, like chips of ice, her right fist came up into his stomach and as he bent over in agony her left connected with his chin, knocking him flat on his back and unconscious, she was used to dealing with Jaffa, he was nothing, she just
wished she had a Zat. Teal'c picked Jack up again and followed Sam to the chopper, Jonas grinned sheepishly at them all and headed out after them, Mac decided he would find his own way back, they knew enough, there was no Goa'uld, just the remnants of Seth's devoted followers, the Foundation already moved in and cleared up the last of them, they had succeeded in their mission, if Jack hadn't been quite so good and let them rescue him instead of escaping as he did it would have been over hours ago, damn the man for being so bloody well trained!

***************

When Mac got back to the Mountain he finally got past the guard stations and was taken straight to General Hammond's office for a meeting he really didn't want. The General looked at him as he came in and gave him a small smile, he knew it wasn't his fault that Jack had been caught, he had already spoken to the Foundation and gotten the full story including the day Mac spent unconscious in hospital, before he had chance to sit down Hammond stood and said,

"Lets go down to the infirmary, I've explained what happened and Jack's awake, he's already been asking for you."

Mac wasn't going to argue, and quietly followed the older man to the infirmary and the waiting SG1. When they got there Sam looked at him a little sheepishly but he grinned at her and got a small smile in return, no hard feelings, no problems, everyone was entitled to overreact in that type
of situation, especially after the week they had had before. He looked at Jack lying asleep on the hospital bed and his heart broke, it looked so much worse now that he could see his face and especially against the crisp white back drop of the infirmary sheets. As he watched Jack slowly woke up and looked around the room, as he saw his team and then Mac a smile brightened his face and Mac could see why he was the strongest man Sam knew, even though he must be in almost unbearable pain he still had a smile for his team, and the cheeky glint in his eye was almost miraculous.

"Hey, we get 'em?"

Mac smiled and nodded.

"Sure did, even the ones you so kindly gift wrapped for us, nice work by the way."

Jack's grin widened and he looked at Janet.

"So, you gona spring me now?"

Janet shook her head and smiled at him,

"You know I can't, you need supervision, the wounds are mostly superficial but they wont feel that way, you know it's gona hurt like hell, and you need someone to make sue you get your medication and food."

Jack just grinned at her,

"Got it covered Doc, Mac owes me one, he's gona keep an eye on me, aren't you Mac?"

Mac just grinned and nodded then looked at Janet.

"If that's ok with you Doc, it'll save your ears and nerves if what this lot of told me about him is right, you should be glad to get rid of him before he starts to wind you up."

Janet couldn't help laughing at that and the others joined in, Jack was notorious as the worst patient in the base, he regularly drove all the nurses mad with his wheedling and whining if she didn't let him go as soon as he was conscious.

"I'm not going to argue with that, if you think you can survive it you can carry on, it will save my nurses having to call in sick."

It didn't take long for the arrangements to be made and get them safely back to Jack's house, Jack wrapped up on the sofa with strict orders from Janet to stay there. Mac finished making the coffee and bought it in to Jack who gratefully accepted it, Mac sat on the floor, leaning back against the sofa and they started chatting about nothing in particular as they drank their coffee, they spent most of the afternoon there, Mac getting up to prepare their meal and returning to his spot while they ate, the evening went by quietly as the men got to know each other better until Mac finally let slip the thought that had been running through his head all day.

"So, Danny doesn't mind then?"

Jack looked slightly stunned for a moment while he wondered where that had come from then nodded.

"Apparently so, he always could read me like a book, never figured out how though."

Mac nodded at that, Jack certainly wasn't the most open man he had ever met, the most infuriatingly gorgeous maybe, narcissistic as that may be, but not the most open. He grinned up at him and realised just how close they had got throughout the evening, they're lips were mere inches apart and it seemed Jack was intent on closing that distance, not that he was objecting, far from it, and he decided it was only fair to help the injured man by doing it for him, and a few other things too.

THE END.