Memento Mori

Sam was beginning to get a little edgy setting at the table in the very nice restaurant which Jack had asked her out to. The unusual part about this was that they had been dating for a few months now and this was not normal behavior for him. He was dressed up in a shirt and tie with a nice pair of slacks. She knew that he hated to wear a tie and would avoid it as much as possible when he was not at work. He was acting nervous also and she noticed a lump that he was trying to hide under his napkin. She was getting excited now as well as nervous. They worked their way through the meal, which was a bit tense as if he wanted to say something but he was having a hard time getting up the courage to do it.

Sam had been waiting for years for this and if he didn’t do what she was expecting him to do she was going to kill him. It was hard enough not to get up and take the napkin off the small square box that was being halfway concealed. Another thing was that he had not had a beer or any kind of alcohol at all today as far as she knew. The waiter had come by and asked them again if they would like a drink. She accepted and asked for a glass of wine to calm her nerves.

Jack got up and excused himself for a moment to use the facilities and to walk off a little of his nervous energy. He was a nervous wreck, what if she said no. He knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her but what if she didn’t. He only had one way to find out and that was to ask. He was going to the restroom to wash his face and get himself under control before he blew the only chance he was ever going to get at this. He was trying to make everything perfect with a romantic dinner at a very nice restaurant and all but things were not going as planned. He would take a good firefight anytime to the stress this was causing him. His stomach was tied into knots. He wasn’t thinking about it much when a couple of men came into the restroom until he saw the taser. In the brief moment that he had to think before he had to fight for his life, he thought that this was just what he needed, a good fight. He was able to hit one man hard in the jaw and felt the bone of his jaw break as the man went down but that was all he knew as the taser reached out and touched him from across the room.

The man let go of the trigger of the taser but didn’t stop as he took the needle out of his pocket and injected his victim before he gathered things together. His partner that was supposed be helping him was dead to the world now and he had compromised the mission by moving in too fast. There was nothing that he could do for the man now and he had though about just using his knife but he didn’t have the time. He gathered the General up, pulling his arm over his shoulder and walked him out of the restroom and out the back door. The waiter was walking down the hall and noticed the man helping the nice man that was with the beautiful blond woman being carried out. He went back to the table to let her know that the gentleman that had brought her in had fallen ill and was being helped outside.

Sam jumped up and grabbed the box that was under the napkin as she was running out the back door only to see a car speeding off. It was too far away to get a license plate. When she looked down she noticed Jack’s tie lying on the ground where it had been dropped. She flipped her phone open and called the base letting them know that they had a situation. As soon as that was done she had a chance to open the box which held the most beautiful ring she had ever seen and a note that simply said ‘Please marry me.’

It was a good thing that the waiter had come out to see if he could help as she was about to fall down as the tears came that she couldn’t stop.

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The interrogation was going slowly because of the fact that the man had a broken jaw but that didn’t stop anything. Sam had to be taken out of the room by force when she tried to beat the information out of the man. He was now sporting a bloody nose and two black eyes that she was able to give him before she could be stopped. Vala and Daniel tried to talk sense into the man letting him know that he would be put so far behind bars that he would never see daylight again if he didn’t start giving them information. It was obvious that he was not going to give them anything voluntarily so they gave up and left the room. Daniel turned to the man before he left. "

"Its time for the second shift to start now, so make sure you scream out if you decide to talk."

Teal’c was wearing one of his black tee shirts that showed off the massive amount of muscle he carried. The man had fear in his eye but he summoned up his courage.

“I have been trained to resist touchier so you do not frighten me.” He harrumphed and glared at Teal’c as he slowly walked over to the table and bent down next to the man’s ear. Teal’c was almost smiling as he told the man what he had planed to do which was to let Colonel Carter back into the room alone with him if he didn’t start talking. That thought frightened him more than anything that this big man could ever do.

Teal’c walked out of the interrogation room with all the information that he needed to go out and get the General back. Sam was standing in the hall looking at the ring that she had put on and she was quietly crying as Teal’c walked up to her. He put his massive arms around her and hugged her before wiping her tears away as he would comfort his own child. To him she was one of his children and he would protect her with his life like any good parent would do.

“Samantha, we have the locations of the safe houses that this man knows about so we will be able to launch a rescue now. Do not worry, we will bring him home.”

There were five locations that the agent knew about that they could have taken the General to but he had no idea which one they were going to use this time. They gathered teams in record time to go out on this mission. Each team took a location but they were scattered all over the city.

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Jack was not happy at all with the people that had taken him from one of the most important evenings of his life. He also had a headache that was about to split his head in half right now. That was when a rather attractive blond woman walked up into his sight.

“Good afternoon General O’Neill, it’s good to see you up and about.” Jack was not at all surprised when her eyes flashed letting him know that she was Goa’uld. “We’re going to play a little memory game now to see how much of the Ancient database you have retained. Once that is finished I have a friend that wants to see you. Ba’al has been looking forward to a reunion with you for some time now.”

A technician stepped forward then and pushed a recall device into his temple, which hurt causing Jack to flinch away. The woman was smiling. “That will be nothing compared what Ba’al has planed for you once I’m finished with what I need to do.”

The woman seamed to take great pleasure in turning the power up high, which was extremely painful to him. His back was arching up as he twisted and writhed with the pain. The woman was smiling as she walked out of the room telling the technician to keep going until they had all the information recorded. The man that was left in charge told the technician to turn the device down. He walked up to Jack and smiled down at him.

“You know General, this will go a lot easier on both of us if you just relax and let the machine do its job. Fighting it will only make you hurt and it will take a lot longer to get what we want, but we will get it eventually. There is a lot of information that we need to get out of you so stop fighting us.”

Jack was seething with anger at this point. They were going to drain the information out of him then throw him to Ba’al to play with.

“I’m going to kill you slowly and painfully as soon as I get up from here; you can count on it.”

“Well General, that could be a problem for you. When we’re finished with you I don’t think you will be in any condition to put up a fight with a six year old let alone a trained fighter like myself.”

The man took great pleasure in turning the machine back up to full volume and laughed as Jack screamed out in pain. One of the guards came in at that moment letting them know that something was happening outside and two of the checkpoints had not made their scheduled check in. He turned back to the technician telling him to sedate the General again and get him moved to another location.

Jack had been working on the Velcro straps that were holding his arms and legs in place. With the added incentive of the pain from the machine he was almost there. The man walked out of the room with the guard to see what was happening as the technician came at Jack with the syringe. Jack had just broken the strap loose that was holding down his left arm when all hell broke loose in the building. The technician had not turned off the machine yet it was still on a low setting. The man in charge ran back into the room firing his weapon at a group of men that were storming the building. He was surprised to see that Jack was finishing unfastening his legs as he stepped forward to try and stop him. Jack was not going to do what he had said earlier because he didn’t have the chance. The technician that was holding the syringe earlier was throwing some switches and Jack saw the warnings and danger sign that labeled the panel where the technician was standing.

Jack grabbed the man that was in charge of the building now and dispatched him quickly and effortlessly. At that same time though someone from the rescue team fired a Zat at the technician hitting him and the memory recall device. Jack was thrown back as the added power of the Zat was transmitted through the machine into his brain. Things went fuzzy for Jack then as he reached up and ripped the button that was imbedded into his brain out. He was sick and woozy as he got up and staggered his way out of the building. He didn’t know why but he knew that he had to get out of the building now. He hit the window hard and crashed through it then got up and ran as hard and as fast as he could. The building behind him was blown into splinters seconds later.

Jack wondered through the night not knowing where he was or for that matter, who he was. He was cold and he hurt all over but the one thing that hurt him the most was his head. He finally lay down in a quiet park area and went to sleep for the night.

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That evening the SG teams were all gathered again except the team that had died in the blast that took down the building. It was confirmed that it was that location where they were holding General O’Neill. Sam was sedated by the Doctor when she fell to pieces in front of General Landry. She was in no shape to help with this investigation right now and they had a lot of work to do. They all knew that Sam was one of the strongest people on the base but everybody had their breaking point and she had finally reached hers.

SG1 was all-together except for Sam as they started going through their strategies. Someone had seen a man matching Jack’s description leaving the area just before the building blew up and they were going on the assumption that he was still alive. Teal’c was the one to bring it to their attention that if he were still alive he would have made contact with the SGC by now. They had put out bulletins to the local law enforcement agencies and hospitals in the area letting them know that this was not a criminal that they were looking for but he should be handled with all due caution if he was located. That was the best they could do to keep him safe and to let the outside world help find him.

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The nights were getting cold now and there wasn’t much of a way to get comfortable on the ground. Jack was rolling over to try and find a comfortable position, which he had not found yet when he saw a pair of small eyes looking back at him from under a bush. It was a small black and tan Dachshund with a long soft coat. This was just a puppy and she was freezing out in the open like this. This was the smallest of the breed, which was called a rabbit and she would only get to be about eight pounds when fully grown. As soon as the puppy saw that he was not going to hurt her she ran over to him to get some attention. She was cold to the touch so Jack held her against his body and that helped them both to warm up a small amount. The little dog couldn’t have been more than a few months old.

It never made any sense to Jack how someone could take in an animal then just throw it out to take care of itself when it wasn’t convenient for them anymore. The puppy had probably had a little accident on someone’s expensive rug when they wouldn’t take her outside and here she was in the park freezing along with him. The puppy wrapped herself around his neck and both of them went to sleep more comfortable that night.

The next morning Jack picked up the little dog and took her with him. He was not going to leave her alone again and he knew that she wouldn’t be able to survive long out in the open like this. He didn’t have anything that he could use for a leash to walk her with but she was so small that it didn’t matter anyway. She was warmly tucked in his arm and seemed to be very happy with this arrangement.

When Jack got back over into a light industrial area again he came onto a place called Sol’s Diner. He didn’t have anything in his pockets and he had no idea what he was going to do. The puppy was whining as it smelled the food and Jack’s stomach was rumbling also. He wasn’t going to beg them for food but he needed to do something for the puppy. He was going to need to name the dog soon and he was thinking about that as he went around to the back of the diner. He was checking to see if they had anything that he could feed the dog in the trash bin. He was just lifting the lid when the back door opened and a stocky man came out carrying a sack of trash.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Jack was a little ashamed that he had been caught digging through the trash but he was honest when he answered. “I’m sorry Sir, but the puppy was hungry and I don’t have anything to feed her. I was just looking for something that she could eat.”

The man felt sorry for him and he could tell that he was telling the truth but he could also hear the man’s stomach rumbling from over by the door. “You look like you could use a little something yourself. I tell you what, I need some help here in the Diner so why don’t you come in and I’ll fix you and your dog something. I’ll let you work it off, if that’s alright with you?”

Jack walked in and the man got the puppy and Jack something to eat in a small closed off room in the back. Sol took notice of the beat up condition that he was in and asked if he was alright. “I’ve been worse but the odd thing is that I can’t remember who I am.”

Jack had cleaned up as much as he could in the restroom before he ate but he was still dirty and scratched up. Then there was that deep bruise and puncture mark on his left temple. Sol got one of his tee shirts for the man and bandaged him up. When Jack took off his shirt there was a large bandage on his left arm by the bicep. Jack had no explanation for what it was but joked that it was where they had removed his alien tracking device. He went on though and said it was probably were they removed a mole or something like that.

The only thing that he could remember was that his name was Jack. He had some strange thoughts that were floating through his head though and he decided that it was a good idea not to mention those to Sol at this time.

“So what’s the dogs name then?”

“I was thinking of calling her Miss Wiggles because that’s all she does, lick and wiggle.”

Sol got a box and cut the top out then put some water and an old towel in it for the puppy while Jack was helping in the kitchen. Sol noticed when he had first seen Jack that this was no homeless person. The nice slacks and highly shined shoes told him that. When Sol offered to take him to a hospital or call the police so they could help Jack insisted that he was alright and that he hated hospitals.

That afternoon Jack worked hard and Sol never had to ask him to do anything. He was right on the job doing whatever needed to be done and he turned out to be a really good cook. The only thing that Jack had a problem with was the broiler where he burned a couple of steaks but other than that he was a fantastic cook.

He was doing such a good job and Sol felt that he could trust this man. He told Jack that he was going out for a while and left Jack to do the cooking while Betty ran the tables and the cash register. Sol went by and picked up an air mattress and sleeping bag along with an old pillow that was still in good shape and some blankets. Then he went by and got some clothing for Jack so that he didn’t ruin his nice dress pants along with underwear and boots. On his way through the store he came across the pet section and got some things for Miss Wiggles like a brush, collar and leash along with some puppy food.

Jack was very thankful when Sol brought the things in for him and that night he was able to sleep comfortably with Miss Wiggles still sleeping at his side.

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Sam was let out of the infirmary a couple of days later and she was searching all around the area of the warehouse that had been destroyed. They had checked all the hospitals and emergency medical centers in the area as well as the morgue incase he had gotten out but had been injured badly enough that he didn’t make it. Nobody wanted to do that job but it had to be done anyway. Daniel and Vala had been the ones that did that knowing that it would help to have company if they did find him there. As it was there were no leads at all. The DNA that was recovered from the blast area was mostly burned and unusable but what little they did find none of it was Jack’s. The building had been rigged to explode if it was raided and they had done a very good job in setting the explosives to cover all evidence.

Charlotte Mayfield was in her office when the news that nothing had shown up in any of the emergency rooms or morgues that would have suggested that Jack O’Neill had survived the explosion. The machine that was connected to him to download his memories was destroyed but she was able to see enough information before she left the warehouse to know that the information was still there. All they had to do was extract it. Unfortunately the memory recall device and the information it had in it had all been completely destroyed as it was supposed to be. That also meant that if Jack O’Neill did die in the explosion they had lost it all. Ba’al was not happy at all about this situation and he had expressed his displeasure with a lot of force. It was going to take several more days for her symbiote to be able to heal the damage that he had caused.

The pretty blond woman turned to the man that had brought the news and told him to keep looking and not to slack or he would be the next one to tell Ba’al that they had not been able to find any information. The man paled at the thought of having to do that. He had seen Charlotte when she had first gotten back to the office and he knew that Ba’al really liked Charlotte. If he had to take this kind of news to him he would definitely be killed very slowly and painfully. He got his men and redoubled their efforts to find any information at all about Jack O’Neill.

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Sol had an old notebook that he wasn’t using and Jack had asked if he could use it. Sol had no problem with that he was getting a top notched employ that was becoming a very good friend now. In the last week Jack had really helped clean the place up and he had done a lot of painting as well as redecorating. The only problem Sol had with him was trying to get him to slow down and take it easy now and then. It seemed that Jack was so full of nervous energy that he couldn’t set still. Sol finally got him to sit down at one of the tables and eat once all the customers had left for the afternoon.

Sol picked up the notebook that Jack seemed to always carry with him. Sol asked if he minded and Jack told him to go ahead and look if that was what he wanted to do. When he opened the book on the first page was a drawing of a very beautiful woman from the shoulders up. Sol ask him if he knew who the woman was but Jack only said that he felt she was very important to him but he had no other information. The rest of the book was filled with mathematical equations and some very detailed diagrams of machines. When Sol asked what they were Jack said it was just some silly things that kept popping into his head that couldn’t be real. It was just nonsense that he felt compelled to write down but meant nothing. Miss Wiggles was whining from the back room then so Jack got up to take her out for a walk and to give her the attention that she needed.

Sol was still looking at the drawings and schematics in the book and he took notice of the very neat and precise letters and numbers that had been used. This man was very intelligent and paid a lot of attention to details in everything that he did. It was concerning to Sol that he kept having some very bad headaches and seemed to always be in the aspirin. He was thinking that he really did need to get him some help but Jack had insisted that he did not want to be taken to a doctor. He had joked about how they would always shine their lights in his eyes which hurt but it never did anything for their diagnosis that he could tell.

Sol was happy that he had some memories even if it was only the odd thing now and then. When Jack had told him that he remembered a small red haired doctor that he cared a lot about fussing over him but he felt that she was gone now and it saddened him to think about it. Sol turned back to the drawing of the woman again and he could only admire the ability and detail that Jack had put into making the drawing. The customers started coming back in at that time so Sol placed the notebook under the counter as Jack was coming back in. Jack washed his hands and went back to work in the kitchen.

One week later one of the regular customers who was a Detective with the local police department and loved the way Jack was making his steaks came in. Jack smiled as Detective Ryan sat at his normal table. Betty brought his drink that he always got and a cup of coffee but Jack had already started cooking his favorite dinner.

What Detective Ryan didn’t see was the two men that were in the window behind him but Jack did see them and was instantly on the alert. These men were out to do no good and he could tell. The diner was full of people now so Jack couldn’t take the chance of someone getting hurt. When the men burst in the front door they both had on trench coats that were concealing sawed off shotguns which were hung by thin ropes but easy to get to. They pulled their weapons and screamed for everybody to stay very still and put all of their valuables, purses and wallets on the tables. While one man was watching the crowd the other one was going for the cash register.

Detective Ryan was doing his job and observing the men in great detail but he was not going for his weapon. He knew that he would not be able to take the men out before one or both men were able to discharge their weapons. It would have ended up with innocent people being killed or injured so he would just work on catching them later after they left. The man that had gone for the register had finished and was taking things from the table tops when one of the men tried to make a move. He was knocked down and the man was squeezing the trigger tighter and tighter.

Detective Ryan could tell that the man was about to shoot a helpless victim when a little dog came running into the diner and started barking at the man and biting at his ankle. Miss Wiggles which Detective Ryan had been introduced to was attacking the men. It was almost laughable as the man jerked back away from the little puppy that was acting like she was a big dog. The man that was standing at the door covering the crowd was laughing at the misfortune of his partner and that angered him. He moved the weapon from the man to the dog and was about to blow her away when a man appeared in front of him as if he just popped out of thin air.

Detective Ryan watched as Jack hit the man on his forearm. The weapon dropped out of his hand only to be caught by Jack’s other hand as he did a palm strike to the assailant’s chest. Detective Ryan heard the bones of the man’s chest break from the impact of the blow and watched as he flew back into his partner. Jack was on top of the other man before he was able to do anything and removed his weapon as he was covering both men now although the one that he hit was have a very hard time breathing.

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Sol was on the phone calling the police as Detective Ryan was taking control of the situation. Jack knew that he was going to be taken in for questioning now so he asked Sol to take care of Miss Wiggles while he was gone. She had run up to Jack when all the tension was gone and was begging to be picked up. When the cruisers and ambulance got there to take the men away Detective Ryan asked Jack very nicely to come down to the station with him. He did not cuff him or put him in the back of the car like policy dictated. He knew this man and he saw everything that had happened so it was only a formality that they go in for the reports. He had after all taken out two armed men with his bare hands.

As they walked into the police station there was a man that had been sent for only one purpose and that was to see if Jack O’Neill was brought into the station. When he saw Jack he was quick to get on the phone to his superiors to let them know.

Detective Ryan started asking the normal questions like what Jack’s full name was and his address. Jack was smooth as he answered that his name was Jack Johnson and gave the address of the Diner. Detective Ryan was a little sharper than that though and he could tell that he was being fed false information. The thing about all this was that he liked Jack and he had not done anything illegal in fact he had saved a lot of people’s lives tonight alone. Jack was asking if he could go back to the Diner now because he and a lot of work to do. One of the other Detectives came in and whispered something into Detective Ryan’s ear. Jack could tell that they were talking about him and he was about to try to make a quick exit but two more officers were standing at the door.

Detective Ryan was the one to break the news to Jack. “Jack, it seems that you are wanted for questioning about another matter and we are to detain you until someone comes to get you. I know that this is not easy and believe me, I don’t want to do this, but I’m now under orders.”

Sam had been listening to the police scanner and when she heard the report of an armed robbery that was stopped by a single man with his bare hands the chatter was all over the radios. Sam got the location of the Diner and was there in a matter of minuets. Sol was just getting ready to close the Dinner when he spotted a rather attractive woman coming to the door. It took him a moment to look her in the face but he knew her from somewhere. It was then that he remembered the notebook that he had accidentally left under the counter a week ago. He had gotten another one for Jack when he couldn’t find where he had put that one, so it was still there. Sol asked her to come in and locked the door so they wouldn’t be disturbed. That was when Miss Wiggles came running out of the back room. She had jumped over the top edge of her box again for the second time tonight. She ran strait up to the woman and started doing a dance to be picked up and loved. Sam couldn’t resist picking up the little dog and loving on her.

“You’ll have to excuse Miss Wiggles, she is very demanding for attention. She’s Jack’s dog and I was wondering if you might know him.” Sol pulled out the notebook and showed her the picture he had drawn of her. Sol told her what he knew as she was looking over the other information that was in the book. Sol watched as her eyes bulged out as she saw some of the things that he had put into the book. Sam told him how she was connected to Jack and showed him the engagement ring. Sol told her what had happened this evening and that he was down at the police station. Sam used her cell to call the others to let them know.

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Daniel, Vala and Teal’c were fast to get to the police station and make their way to the Detectives office where they said that Jack was being held. Daniel showed his government credentials to the Detective letting them know that they were here to pick up Jack O’Neill. Detective Ryan looked a little upset and told them that he had just been picked up a few minuets ago by a Colonel Samantha Carter. Daniel asked for a description and it was similar to their Sam but it wasn’t her. They were about to all run out of the building when Detective Ryan told them that they were heading for the freeway. A police car was parked behind their SUV when they got down to the parking lot but the officer that was driving the car was nowhere in sight. An off duty officer was about to leave the parking lot on his motorcycle when Vala stepped in front of him. She explained that they had an emergency and that she needed his motorcycle but he just laughed at her as he was about to drive by. He suddenly felt lighter than normal as Teal’c grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him off the bike. Vala didn’t waist a second in grabbing the bike as it was rolling toward her and jumped on.

Daniel watched and was very surprised that she was such a good rider. She took off at a breakneck speed in pursuit. The man that Teal’c had pulled off the bike was about to get irate at the man who had done this to him when he looked back and up. Teal’c was not in any mood to mess with the man and Daniel knew that he meant the growl that came deep out of his chest. The man decided that he wasn’t going to say anything now and quickly left the area.

Sam had asked Sol if she could take Miss Wiggles with her. Sol knew that Jack would want to see his puppy and if she was going to get him this was the best thing to do. Sam buttoned the bottom of her jacket and put the little dog safely inside as she zipped her in. Miss Wiggles popped her head out of the jacket and seemed to be very happy as Sam jumped on her bike and took off for the police station.

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Jack knew that these people could not be trusted and he was getting that feeling that if he didn’t get away from them then he was not going to survive this. He had his hands cuffed behind him but that wasn’t a problem. He had taken off his watch and used the pin that was on the buckle to pick the locks. He actually had time to put his watch back on before he was ready to do anything. It was a blur of motion as he palmed the back of the drivers head then came across to the passenger in the front seat with a viscous chop to the side of the head and then he came back to the man that was riding in the back seat with him using his elbow to knock him out. He ducked down as the car went into a skid then started to roll. He was just crawling out the broken back window of the car when a motorcycle came skidding to a halt right in front of the car. The woman with long black hair had pulled a pistol from her holster when the man that was in the front passengers seat came to and got out on his side of the car. The man was able to get off one shot as he himself was shot by the woman. The bullet grazed her arm knocking her to the ground as she hit the man in the chest with her shot. She had fired a split second before he did which deflected his aim or she would be dead also.

Jack was fast to get to her side and pickup the weapon then he went over to the car and checked the man taking his weapon and ammunition. He was covering the woman the entire time and did not let up for a second. Vala sat up and screamed out that the bastard had ruined her jacket. She got up and came over to where Jack was standing and kicked the dead man a couple of times for what he had done to her. Once that was done and she was feeling better she turned back to Jack.

“General O’Neill we need to get you back to base as soon as possible.”

Jack was not going for that again, that was what they said as they took him from the police station and he didn’t know if he could trust her with the information that he was carrying around in his head either. He did trust her more than he had the others though and he decided that he needed more information than what he already had, which was none.

A man pulled up beside them and asked if everything was alright. Jack pointed the weapon at him and told him to get out of the car. They could’ve taken the motorcycle but it would have been a lot more difficult to control this woman if they were on a bike. Jack caught the keys out of the air as the man threw them to him. Then he was told to run. The man didn’t waist any time getting out of the area and into cover as fast as possible.

Jack had her drive for a while before he told her to pull into a motel so that he could look at her wound. She was giving him that look like ‘sure you want to look at my wound in a hotel room’ but did as she was told. He had her take off her jacket and then he checked her for weapons. She was carrying a large assortment of canceled weapons and he had to admire the skill at which she had gone about hiding them.

She was trying to convince him that he needed to get back to the SGC with her so that they could fix his problem. She was also telling him that he was a General in charge of a super secret program called the Stargate Command, which was where she lost him. The believability factor was just too much even with the things that he had been writing down for the last two weeks. He had chalked it all up to an overactive imagination rather than anything that could be remotely real. She was telling him that they had a machine that could bring back his memory. That idea only frightened him like he had already had a very bad experience with something like that but it was just out of reach to his conscious mind. He was getting hungry now so he went down to the vending machine after he handcuffed her to the bed. He brought something back for her also and since she was not able to feed herself with the handcuff on and a sore arm on the other side he fed her.

Jack knew that he needed to get out as quickly as possible now and it was very sad to him when he thought that he was not going to be able to get back to Sol’s Diner to get Miss Wiggles. He knew that Sol would take care of her for him but he was going to miss the little dog all the same.

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Sam was on the phone with the SGC as soon as she got to the police station and found out what had happened. The man that they had taken the car from was at the station now as he was giving his report. It had been almost an hour and a half before the SGC called her back letting her know that they had finally gotten a lock on Vala’s tracking device. Sam was off in a shot with the others following close behind. It took about thirty minuets to get to the area and find the car. Then they had to find out which room they were in. The motel manager was more that happy to help once he was shown their credentials. Sam opened the door only to see that Vala was handcuffed to the bed with a bandage on her arm. Sam was not at all happy to see this because Vala’s pants were lying across the chair on the other side the room.

When Vala saw the look in Sam’s eye and the weapon in her hand, which was not a pleasant thing to see.

“Sam hold on, its not what it looks like. He didn’t touch me other than to search me for weapons and he only took my pants so that it would be harder to follow him if I was able to get loose somehow.”

Sam seemed to relax and Vala was sure that she saw something move in her jacket. Then a small dogs head popped out of the top of the jacket to see what was going on. Miss Wiggles could smell that Jack had been in the room not too long ago and she wanted to get out so that she could find him. Sam was doing her best to calm the little dog down as she went over to get Vala out of her handcuffs. Vala decided to lighten the mood a little.

“It seems to be such a waist though, here we were in a motel room with handcuffs and all but he just didn’t seem to be in the mood.”

Sam knew that she was teasing her now and couldn’t help but smile as Vala was putting on her pants. Sam’s phone rang then letting her know that the police had spotted Jack as he ducked into an old warehouse a few blocks away. They made it there in record time. Daniel was telling Sam that she needed to stay outside for now. She realized that if he got away from them then she would be their only hope of getting him to stop. If he got away this time there would be no finding him again.

The police had been guarding the entrance of the warehouse and had said that a team had already gone in just before they arrived.

Daniel, Vala and Teal’c drew their weapons and advanced on the door. They opened it quietly and slid in. They were being very careful to not present themselves as targets as they moved through the large building. Like the police had said there was only one way in or out of the building. There was a door at the back of the building but it was locked off securely.

The four Trust operatives were told that they were to bring in General O’Neill or they would be answering to Ba’al himself if they failed this time. They were not there to play games. They would take O’Neill even if they had to kill him to do it. Ba’al had a sarcophagus which could be used to bring him back to life if they had to as long as they didn’t shoot him in the head. They had sent two people high to look for their victim while the other two stayed on the ground level. They were in a good position when they saw three people come into the warehouse.

Daniel saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and instinctively knew that it was a danger. He pushed Vala down out of the way as the shot narrowly missed her head. They all returned fire as quickly as possible but the man had already taken cover again. Teal’c was pinned down now and so was Vala with only Daniel able to defend them. Daniel was getting very good with most any weapon he picked up these days. Unlike the first few missions that they had gone on he didn’t hesitate to use quick and deadly force when the need arrived.

One of the men on the top bin came up for another shot but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid the bullet that Daniel sent his way. He fell off the top of the rack and smashed heavily into a stack of pallets where he would stay until the coroners took him down. That left three more bad guys to deal with. The bad guys were communicating with each other with radios clipped to their ears. None of them saw it as the agent that had been killed was stripped of his radio. They were going to stand on a count of three and fire all at the same time so that they could get this over with and get back to business. They counted to three and stood but they were not expecting to see General O’Neill was already standing. He had a 9mm in each hand and fired three single shots hitting each one of the Trust agents in the head or chest killing them instantly. He has seen where they all were and he had worked himself into the proper position to take them out.

He was quick to bring the weapon to bear on Daniel and Teal’s as he was slowly backing his way up to the door. Daniel and Teal’c both could see that he had the weapons ready to fire in a second if he had to. He was not playing around and if he did fire they were both dead. For some reason Daniel was not afraid. It could be that he had already died twice that made him feel like he could take on the world but this was his friend that was holding a weapon on him and he knew that he couldn’t let him get away.

“Jack, we’re here to help you. You need to trust us now.”

“No, I can’t let this information get into the wrong hands.” He slowly put the gun to his head letting them know that if he had to he would keep the information safe any way possible.

“Jack, you can’t do that. We need that information as badly as everybody else but what we need more than that is to have you back with us. You’ve led this battle against the Goa’uld and every other enemy that has ever presented itself to us for so long now that it would be very hard to do it without your leadership.”

Sam was at the doorway and she knew that she needed to do something fast before he got the idea that there was no way out for him. It was a simple plan but they were sometimes the very best. She unzipped her jacket and let Miss Wiggles down on the ground where she ran to her human and danced at his feet to be picked up. Jack seemed to melt at the sight of the little dog. He lowered his weapon and Sam let him know that she was behind him. He turned to look at her as he picked up the little wiggling dog which started giving him puppy kisses as soon as he got her in his arms.

“Jack, Miss Wiggles and I need you to come home with us. Your safe now and nobody is going to force anything out of you or they will have all of us to answer to.”

Jack saw the woman that had been in his dreams ever since this whole thing started. She was showing him the ring on her finger as she started talking again.

“Thank you for asking me to marry you at the restaurant and yes I will marry you.”

Jack put the safety on for the weapons in his hands and tucked them into his pockets before he took the woman into his arms.

Sam was now crying with happiness as she held him and the puppy. She pulled slightly away from him as she whispered in his ear. You know this is a little early but it sure looks a lot like Christmas. I have a beautiful engagement ring; I have you back now and a new puppy. What more could a girl want.

End