Jack and Daniel were escorted into Washington D.C. after the plane had landed; this was a little less than comfortable for either of them. Daniel frequently had a concerned look on his face, but said not a word to anyone during their flight back from the airstrip near Antarctica. Jack on the other hand was busy thinking on other matters. Right now an opportunity presented itself. He knew that he could go and save his son before the tragic accident that took his life. He wanted to go and spend time with his son, and if that were impossible at least leave a note that would tell himself not to leave the gun where Charlie could get his hands on it. When their plane first landed everything was okay. Jack politely told them that they appreciated it and they'd get where they needed to be, only to find that 2 men with guns decided that they needed to go for a ride. Of course Daniel and O'Neill agreed to this reluctantly.
Jack's only words to the matter: "So much for the milk of human kindness." The car ride was equally as quiet, but in the last few moment Jack knew where he was going and looked at Daniel. Daniel stared back and Jack with a questioning look on his face.
"So what does the NID want with us? I distinctly remember paying my tab at the bar before I went to the Antarctic."
"Shut up!"
"You know…we're not resisting here. And I don't think you could shoot us right now either. Your boss would be pretty mad." Daniel interjected.
"The two of you are in serious trouble. Col. Mayborne wants you two in irons and I plan on delivering you, but I never promised alive."
"You know what's good for agitation? Sleep!" Jack hit the guard with the gun square in the jaw with his elbow. The car now was careening out of control, but Jack soon took it over and started to regain it. Daniel hit his guard with some force, but not enough to do the same job O'Neill had done.
"Dammit Daniel, would you clock him already? He's got a gun!" Daniel head butted him in the nose and after a bone-curdling crack the guard slumped in his seat. He then took the key to the cuffs he was wearing out of the pocket of the agent and unlocked himself. Doing the same for Jack they soon pulled over in a bad neighborhood and dropped off their captors after wiping them clean of all their weapons and equipment, and then took off again in their car.
"Well this wasn't the good time I was hoping for."
"Jack, shut up please. This has got to be the worst day we've ever had. And I have a headache from hitting that guy."
"Talk to me about bad days when you're on an Asgard ship full of Replicators about to slam into the planet pal."
"What I'm saying is I'd rather be in the SGC, eating the food in the cafeteria, and listening to Sam talk about her breakthroughs in Naquadah enhanced generators."
"We'll make it back home soon, we just need to find this unprocessed diamond. Now the question is where do we find an unprocessed diamond?"
"We could go to any science museum and try their first."
"Rob a museum?"
"No, we just explain to them that we need the diamond and offer them some money for it."
"Rob a museum?"
"Jack, it's not robbery, I have 60 dollars in my pocket right now, and I know you have a few on you."
"Not the poker winnings, I'm keeping it for posterity, Makepeace lost to me on a pair of 2's."
"C'mon, we're going to need the diamond and the calibrator. A museum is likely to have both."
"Or we could buy a calibrator, couldn't we?"
"Where do you suggest we buy a calibrator?"
"Radio Shack?"
"Serious conversations and you, I can't seem to ever put that in the same sentence unless something terrible has happened."
"Daniel, first off I don't want to be in Washington. This isn't a good place for us, considering our time traveling, and regular exploits in this town. Secondly, right now I imagine a calibrator is a calibrator. I don't know, but an electronics store is the first place I'd look, and if not there, possibly we could go to a museum and asked where they got theirs. But we'd better do all this quick. We still have a long way to go to get back to the Antarctic to get through the gate. And if possible I'd like to screw up the NID's little operation up there before we did. But we're going to have to find some vehicle to do it with, because this one's likely to be followed if we keep it too much longer."
"Thank you. Was that so hard?"
"Not really, but it's a matter of want. Now if you insist upon a museum I know one we could go to that might have just what we want. It's a matter of getting a plane or car to get there."
"Since that was bound to come up, where do you plan on getting one?"
"I don't have a clue, but I've got part of my paycheck with me, so we might get a used one pretty easily."
"Well that being the case don't you think a plane would be easier?"
"Shut up."
Daniel smiled knowing that he'd nailed Jack. He sat back while O'Neill took the first exit out of town and into anything that looked like the country. After wiping down the vehicle they pushed into a ditch and started their walk back to D.C. It wasn't the first choice for either of them to go back there, even for the airport, but it seemed that there wasn't too much in the way of options either.
They walked for 3 hours to get to the airport. Jack kept his eye out for anyone NID, and even took the regard to change into something a bit more civilian when they came across some clothes hung out on a line to dry. Daniel raised his eyebrows at the choices Jack had grabbed, it made them look a little like lumberjacks.
"Don't worry, I saw this on Star Trek once."
"Yes, and as I recall in that episode they were caught by a policeman."
"Optimistic Daniel, optimistic!"
"Right…"
They finally made it to the airport. Jack looked around and sure enough the place was crawling with NID agents. "Aw Crap. I shoulda known to take Greyhound."
"What are we going to do now? We try to board a plane we're going to get made."
"We're going to have to find someway of getting to Minnesota, we're out of options other than a plane. The drive would take us hours to do, and we've both had little time to sleep. So we're going to have to risk this one."
"Whatever you say Jack."
They started walking casually through the airport. Daniel's heart raced every time they came near an agent. He gasped just slightly knowing that getting caught was merely a hand's grip away. Jack made it up to the ticket booth and looked into a smiling lady's face.
"What are you're prices for two tickets to Minnesota?"
"Um…do you really want to argue the point of price?"
"I'm a bargain shopper, so shut up."
"We don't have anything for Minnesota at the moment, sir, but there are a couple of last minute cancellations to Minnesota with another airline. If you hurry they can get you there. It's only 60 per person."
"Hey that works for me. Let's go Danny, no time to waste."
Jack grabbed Daniel and started to walk fast. He could see two NID agents looking around the terminal, and then the two that were driving them to HQ showed up. One had a bandaged nose, the other a purple jaw.
"Looks like Barney showed up, c'mon Daniel, the less time we waste the better off we are."
"So Replicators did you say? Is this still not as bad as that time?"
"Fireball speeding down with a ship full of self-replicating bugs vs. outwitting the NID…hmm…nope this is still better."
Daniel shook his head keeping pace with the Colonel. They made it across the terminal and they made it to the desk. In no time their seats were booked and the NID agents made their mark. The two agents that were chasing them started to pound the floor hard and Daniel was about in shock. He knew that in no time the NID would be trying to figure out who they were really, and what they were trying to accomplish in the Antarctic. Jack looked and saw a security guard. He ran to him and quickly, with Daniel in tow.
"Hey, Mr. Officer."
"May I help you?"
"You sure can, you see those two coming running at us? They've got fake badges and are carrying guns. They were trying to talk people into going with them earlier. You might wanna stop `em before they do kidnap someone."
"YOU TWO STOP RIGHT THERE!!!" The security guard yelled, running towards them with gun drawn. Even as the two started to pull their badges he insisted on telling them to hit the floor and radioed for back up. Jack smiled and waved to the two of them even when other NID operatives came to try and stop two of their own from being arrested.
"Plane's about to leave Jack, we'd better be on it."
"Daniel my boy, that's the best sense I've heard all day." The two of them got on the plane and it pulled out. Jack and Daniel found a couple of vacant seats close to one another and started to write and pass notes. Found it might be simpler than telling everyone their plans.
"Why Minnesota?" Daniel wrote.
"Because I know the area, and we might be able to get the supplies from a museum I know."
"Well, that's a good thing I will admit, but isn't that where your wife and son live?"
"Yes, and I'm busy doing other things so I can't possibly run into myself."
"Jack, what are you planning?"
"Nothing, I'm merely wanting to get the stuff and go."
Daniel looked across to Jack and gave him a look of disbelief. Jack's looked back and the expression in his eyes gave a definite `What?' To that Daniel wrote back to him.
"You're wanting to go and see your son, aren't you?"
"So what if I am? It's one of the last chances that I'll have ever to see him."
"Jack, there's all sorts of reasons I can give you not to do this."
"And I'm not interested in hearing one of them, so I suppose that stops it."
Daniel threw down his pen and looked at Jack whispering. "It's irresponsible Jack, you could screw things up. I mean already we've done a good job of making a mess of things. We're just lucky they don't have a record of what we look like other than the human brain."
"Daniel, I'm gonna get some rest. When I wake up, I'm going to pretend that you're not lecturing me. And I want to look into reality to find I'm right. I'm going to go and see him. I want to. I have a right to as his father."
"I didn't say you didn't have rights as a father, but there are some temptations too great, and it risks making a mess out of what we know to be history."
"Go to sleep Daniel, the discussion is over. Period."
Daniel sat back in his chair, disgusted that his words were tossed aside like so much trash. He thought to himself how much he wished that Sam and Teal'c were here to voice their reasons to him. Though Teal'c understood the need for a father to see his son, he also knew that there was a delicate balance to be held. Daniel truly felt alone now. It was a matter of if the NID didn't catch them; Jack could screw up history himself. Neither possibility pleased him. He thought long and hard about it and eventually drifted to sleep fearing there trip had truly been for the worst.
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