Shadows and Siege 17
May. 4th, 2008 02:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lit_galPrevious Chapters:
Shadows and Siege part one
Shadows and Siege part two
Shadows and Siege part three
Shadows and Siege part four
Shadows and Siege part six
Shadows and Siege part seven
Shadows and Siege part eight
Shadows and Siege part nine
Shadows and Siege ten
Shadows and Siege 11
Shadows and Siege 12 (Wednesday afternoon)
Shadows and Siege 13 (Wednesday night)
Shadows and Siege 14 (Saturday early afternoon)
Shadows and Siege 15 (Saturday late afternoon)
Shadows and Siege 16 (Saturday evening)
I tried for reconciliation and sex in this chapter. The boys kept arguing. *Gives the boys a stern look*
Shadows and Siege part one
Shadows and Siege part two
Shadows and Siege part three
Shadows and Siege part four
Shadows and Siege part six
Shadows and Siege part seven
Shadows and Siege part eight
Shadows and Siege part nine
Shadows and Siege ten
Shadows and Siege 11
Shadows and Siege 12 (Wednesday afternoon)
Shadows and Siege 13 (Wednesday night)
Shadows and Siege 14 (Saturday early afternoon)
Shadows and Siege 15 (Saturday late afternoon)
Shadows and Siege 16 (Saturday evening)
I tried for reconciliation and sex in this chapter. The boys kept arguing. *Gives the boys a stern look*
Blair woke in the middle of the night, his arm dead and his fingers tingling from Jim's weight. "Shove over," Blair whispered, trying not to bring the nurse over. Thank god the IV was out, and he really didn't need more medical attention. "Jim, man, you're killing my arm," Blair complained as he pushed at his partner's shoulder. Someone had pushed a second bed up and connected it because Jim was asleep right on the crack where the two beds med, right on top of Blair's arm. "Jim!" Blair said a little louder, shoving him again.
Jim grumbled and rolled in his sleep so his back was to Blair, and at least now Blair could rescue his arm. With the circulation returned, the pins and needles were even more painful and he rubbed his arm. Jim gave a heavy sigh and then rolled back toward Blair, reaching out and pulling Blair close. "Big Bad Ranger Snuggler," Blair whispered affectionately as he curled up into Jim's chest and closed his eyes. Let Jim get squashed and wake up with pins and needles if that's what he wanted.
When Blair woke up again, Jim was gone and he was sprawled across the double hospital bed.
"Well, how's my shit-flinging patient this morning?" a cheerful voice asked. Blair blinked one eye open just far enough to see the short doctor smiling at him way too brightly for safety. He checked her hands for needles or other sharp instruments.
"I don't know. What do you have planned?" Blair asked as he rolled to his back and sat up.
"After last night's performance, I'll even give you one day's clemency for being an ass yourself."
Blair smiled as he remembered Jack's face when the line of watery shit had neatly splashed across his shirt. "He deserved it."
"Oh honey, more than you know. Now normally I'd think flinging your poop was rather primitive, but we're all trained to make use of the weapons we have."
Blair looked around. An orderly or nurse was going through a cabinet full of bottles and boxes and a soldier stood at attention just inside the door, but no Jim. "Where's Jim?"
"He decided to follow his nose to the cafeteria. By the time the trays get up here, they're cold, and he thought he'd have time for a hot breakfast before you woke up. I guess you surprised all of us by waking up early. How does the stomach feel?" And then Frasier was poking and prodding and pressing down hard enough on Blair stomach that he came seriously close to peeing on her.
"Whoa, hey, unless you want more of my bodily fluids on your floor, give me a second to go to pee," Blair grabbed at her wrist. She raised an eyebrow at him before stepping back.
"Since you're going anyway, I'll let you fill this up for me," she said as she pulled a plastic cup off a tray and held it out for him.
"If I fill that, do you promise to not stick any more needles in me?" Blair asked suspiciously.
"Not even a chance in hell," she said with a bright smile as she handed him the cup. "Bathroom's right through that door." She gestured to the side before she turned and walked away, her heels clicking on the tile.
Blair knew when he'd been beat, so he padded barefoot across the cold floor and filled the cup before finishing. After two days of not shaving, his beard was coming in pretty good and his hair was greasy and hung in limp clumps.
"Any chance I could get a razor and some soap for a shower?" Blair called from the door of the bathroom. If he got in the bed again, no way would Frasier let him out until she had poked and prodded to her heart's content and he really wanted a shower.
"Will you be a good little patient then?" Frasier rolled her chair to the edge of her office and looked at him.
"I promise not to fling any more poop."
She laughed. Standing up, she grabbed a small plastic bin from a shelf and brought it over. When Blair saw the soap and shampoo and razor, he could have kissed the woman. "Thank you," Blair said seriously as he traded the bin for the cup of pee.
"You're welcome. Besides, the rest of us will appreciate you showering too," Frasier said with a nod toward Blair's hospital bed. Blair looked over and the orderly was already stripping it, but the white sheets were definitely gray. Blair wasn't surprised because he felt gray... gray and washed out. But hopefully washing up would make the world suck a little less.
After a long hot shower and a shave, Blair felt human, but not exactly better. Option A was Section with their very bad habit of taking people out and shooting them when they got to be too much trouble. Option B was SGC, and the only nice thing Blair could say about them was that their induction rituals were actually less painful than Section's had been. Blair still trembled at the memory of that room where Madeline had 'profiled' his reactions to pain and questioning. The fact that Makepeace had to go back through that made Blair actually feel sorry for the man. And option C was the big unknown. Blair wished he could believe that Nikita had lied when she said they probably wouldn't survive going independent, but she hadn't. He knew it and Jim knew it. And Blair really wasn't into dying.
Well, he couldn't hide in the bathroom forever. Blair came out and found Jim sitting in a chair with a magazine draped over one knee and a cup of coffee in hand. Now two soldiers stood inside the door, each with matching blank expressions, but Blair could guess what their orders were.
"You look comfortable," Blair commented, ignoring the guard. Jim also looked military issue. He had on the same black t-shirt and military green pants that everyone else had on. It bothered Blair enough that he made a mental note to meditate on it later.
"I'm not. Their laundry uses cheap soap," Jim commented, and Blair immediately dropped his towel and went over to Jim. Pulling up the arm of the shirt, Blair checked the skin underneath and found the skin slightly red, but not enough to quality as a rash.
"Oh man, we've got—"
"Chief, don't," Jim said quietly. "O'Neill and Jackson are coming, and the last thing I want is to reinforce this idea they have that Sentinels are helpless." Jim's jaw was twitching, the bulge popping until Blair imagined he could almost hear the molars groan in protest.
"Fine," he whispered as he heard footsteps, but if it turns into a rash, we're complaining." Blair stepped back and spoke in a louder tone. "Oh man, tell me you got me some coffee. I am dying from caffeine withdrawal here."
"On the counter. I picked up a couple of pieces of fruit since algae wasn't on the menu."
Blair headed over to the table next to the bed they'd slept in and found a huge mug of coffee, an apple, a banana and a huge muffin. Grabbing the coffee and the muffin, Blair announced, "I love you, you know this, right?"
"Yeah, Chief, you'd follow anyone home if they had food."
"No way, I followed Iris and there was no food involved."
"So, you're saying a promise of cheap sex is enough for you?" Jim asked with some amusement.
Blair glared, fairly sure Jim was intentionally poking that sore spot. "I don't know, are you offering me cheap sex?"
"Nope," Jim shrugged and took a drink of coffee. He had that smug look on his face, and Blair could practically read his mind. Jim was offering more than cheap sex, but of course, Blair still worried about why Jim was offering sex. Blair sighed and stuffed half the muffin in his mouth to just avoid the conversation. The answer to this dilemma was fairly simple, he was going to sleep with Jim even if all Jim wanted was a way to better control the senses. Some was better than none, and right now, Blair wanted as much of Jim as he could have.
"Is the coast clear?" Daniel asked from the door.
"He doesn't have any more pans of shit, if that's what you're asking," Jim answered for him since Blair still had his mouth full.
Daniel coughed suspiciously and then came in. "I heard about that. I'm sorry I missed the..." Daniel paused and Jack came in the door behind him.
"Careful Danny, you never know when you're going to find your stash replaced with decaf again." Jack walked in and poked his thumb, which was enough to make the two guards leave.
Daniel gave Jack a dirty look, but didn't seem particularly threatened. Blair swallowed and pinned Jack with a nasty glare, one that Jack returned.
"Change shirts?" Blair asked sweetly. Jack's eyes narrowed more.
"And here I thought the Sentinel would be the one with attitude."
Jim gave a wry laugh. "You seem to have some strange assumptions, colonel."
"That's just it," Daniel hurried to say as he stepped closer. "We're all making a lot of assumptions here, and we don't really know much about each other. How much can we really learn from reading each other's files?"
"Quite a lot," Jack interrupted. "Like Colonel Ellison was a captain two weeks ago. Whose butt did you kiss for that promotion?"
"Don't even start—" Blair snapped as he got ready to throw something at the man and really wished he had another bedpan.
Jim stood up and held out his hand. "Chief," he said quietly. It almost killed Blair, but he crossed his arms and settled for glaring as Jim put his coffee down slowly and carefully. "Colonel O'Neill, since I got here, you have lied, manipulated, and poisoned my partner."
"It was laxative. Laxative, not arsenic," Jack argued, and Jim totally ignored the man.
"You threatened to put me in lock-up and made assumptions about not only my abilities but about self-control. You have gone out of your way to belittle me and Sandburg, and my bosses arranged with the President for me to have a rank that would at least give me some protection from bullies like you."
"Hey!" Jack snapped, and Daniel's hand was there on Jack's arm. Blair watched in amusement as those two had their own staring contest for a second.
Daniel looked back at them first. "Jack may have been a little off base..."
"A little?" Blair demanded, but Jim just had his arms crossed as he stared at them.
"A little," Daniel repeated firmly. "He certainly has been showing you the same courtesy he normally reserves for visiting goa'uld and Russians."
"Hey, I resemble that remark," Jack said with a roll of his eyes. "Okay, let's lay the cards out here. I don't trust you two, and I don't know why the President wants you on the team. More than that, if your boss really is who I think he is, I don't know why Section would let you be here."
Blair looked at Jim with some alarm, but Jim seemed to take it all in calmly.
"Your intel is old. My boss is not who you think," Jim said as he gave one of those thoughtful frowns that Blair had so much trouble interpreting. He might be calculating the odds of decking Jack or just considering how much to tell Jack, who knew.
"But your boss is Section," Jack prodded. Jim nodded. "Okay, see, that would be why I don't trust you. You work for a shadow government. Tell me you aren't trying to get in here to spy on us."
"Whoa, why would we spy? Man, Section so does not need us to spy because as you already pointed out, they have your files. They have your files and they are backing your play. They ordered us to protect your position," Blair said as he poked his finger in Jack's direction. Jim came over and draped an arm over Blair's shoulders.
"The Israelis are usually on our side, and they've spied on us more than anyone," Jack almost yelled back.
"And this is completely off track," Daniel inserted as he again put his hand on Jack's arm. "Jack, just lay out what your concerns are and let's deal with them."
"Fine," Jack said, his jaw about as tight as Jim's. "Why would Section let you come here?"
Jim glanced down at Blair, but Blair had no idea what to say. All he knew was that he so did not want to end up like Tobias, but he didn't really understand where the line was. How much of Section was common knowledge, and what piece of information would get him a bullet in the back of the head? He stared back at Jim and could feel his heart start to pound faster. Jim's arm tightened on his shoulders, and Blair just leaned into that touch. "Because the President requested it," Jim answered simply.
"And Section takes orders from the President? See, I have a problem believing that," Jack said as he took a step back and leaned against the wall. "The Section I know was the wrench in the works any time they happened to cross purposes with a US mission."
Daniel looked at Jack with a frown. "Okay, Jack, can you give those of us without black ops training a primer here? I don't even know what we're dealing with."
Jack stared at Jim, and Daniel looked from one to the other before his gaze finally fell on Blair. Blair held both his hands up. "Don't look at me. I'm just so along for the ride and doing what Jim says when it comes to Section. I just know they're not nice people, but the times we've worked for them, they're going up against even less nice of people."
"They're black ops, a shadow government created to fight terrorism, but it grew out of the control of any one world power," Jim said shortly. "My Ranger unit was taken down by a Section team, and our rescue target disappeared."
Jack made a noise that drew Daniel's attention. "Most black ops soldiers have heard of them. They're ruthless. If you know a piece of information they want, they will get it out of you. There are stories of Section operatives taking out entire units. They're the boogey men of intelligence work."
"And you work for them?" Daniel asked as he looked at Blair in confusion.
"Man, I try to repress that thought any time it pops its head up," Blair sighed as he realized he did work for them. Shit, this was so not good for his karma, and he really disliked the fact that he was starting to see why Jack was so on edge. Of course, he wasn't sorry he'd flung runny shit at the man, but he could at least understand him. He didn't know whether to trust himself at this point.
"And now we have our very own Section operatives in the middle of the most secure base in North America. And the President seems to be under the impression that you're up for grabs, but then the President was never black ops," Jack pointed out. "Are you prepared to turn against Section?"
"No," Jim immediately answered, and Jack threw up his arm in a clear 'you see?' gesture directed at Daniel.
Daniel at least tried for calm even though Blair could see he was getting frustrated as well. "Okay, I'm obviously not understanding something. If you won't turn your back on Section, why would the President tell us that you were available and that he wanted us to try and recruit you?"
"Man, if that's your recruitment speech, I so don't want to be around when you decide you don't like someone," Blair said with a snort.
"I don't like you, Squirt," Jack immediately shot back, and Daniel glared at him. Jack put up a hand in surrender. "Fine, talk to the Section operatives all you want Danny, but I'm not about to let my guard down." Daniel kept glaring, and Jack sighed. "Look, Ellison, if you and Sandburg need help to get away from them, I'm going to be the first to step up to the plate. You have a good record, and some of the shit the service has thrown your way... you didn't deserve it. But you can't tell us that your loyalties are still with Section and not expect some suspicion on our part."
"I won't turn on Section, and you don't want me to," Jim said quietly. You're right that they're dangerous, and you don't want them wondering just how much you know."
"I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself," Jack said, and suddenly the man looked a lot more interested in what Jim was saying.
Jim just shook his head. "Not without authorization. Get the President to talk to our boss, and I will happily tell you whatever you want, but short of that, you aren't getting anything."
Daniel was biting his lip as he looked from one to the other, and Blair could admit to feeling a little panic here, himself. They were finally communicating, but the communication didn't actually seem to be improving anything.
"Okay, let's just focus on the now," Blair suggested. "Right now, we're here because our boss gave us an out."
"Working for us and spy on us," Jack said as he again crossed his arms.
Jim took a step forward so that he was between Blair and that glare and Blair had a nice view of Jim's black t-shirt. "Our boss offered to cut all ties. We can take you up on a job offer or try to run the gauntlet of intelligence services on our own."
"He's pulling security off you?" Jack asked.
"If we want, yes. If we don't, then we're in by our own choice."
"Instead of being in at the point of a gun," Jack guessed. The room went silent, and Jim slid back to Blair's side, again draping an arm over Blair's shoulders. "Your boss is a woman." Jack's statement, dropped into the middle of the silence made Blair jerk in surprise, and Jack nodded thoughtfully. "I thought you two were trying a little too hard to avoid pronouns. So, did that profiler take over?"
"I won't comment on Section policy or politics," Jim said firmly, and Jack pinned Blair with a hard look. Blair just stared back until Jack finally gave up, rubbing his face tiredly with a hand.
"You two are pains in the ass. Have you ever met a rule or regulation you didn't break?" he asked with a sort of weary admiration.
Jim gave a dark laugh. "I think with the throwing shit at a commanding officer, Sandburg pretty much finished our goal of breaking every rule in the book."
Blair was surprised to see Jack actually grin at that. "Didn't see that one coming, you betcha," he said ruefully. "Usually Danny just glares when I push too far. But I'm not seeing a logical solution here. I won't have men in my command who I can't trust."
"Man, when did you get the impression we wanted to be here?" Blair demanded. "Look, our boss ordered us to come here and play nice for five days because she's trying to play nice with the President. That doesn't mean we want to be recruited."
"You'd rather work for Section?" Jack demanded. Blair stopped, his brain not quite able to grasp the idea that the choices really did seem to be Section or Stargate Command. Cascade and their nice boring lives chasing serial killers never seemed so far away. Jim's arm around him tightened.
"Sir," Jim said carefully, and Blair could hear just how badly Jim wanted to go off in that one word. "We want to go back to Cascade and go back to our lives. Maybe we should just keep working for Section because at least that way we could pretend to have something normal between missions. If you have a secure room with more features than the cells on the lower level, I'd appreciate it, but at this point, I’m thinking maybe Sandburg and I should just spend the next four days in lockup. Give us a ride back to Cascade at the end of the week, and everyone is happy."
Blair wasn't happy. He could feel the tightness in his chest, the same panic he'd felt when the Section helicopter had landed next to them and Michael had jumped out. Blair had been sitting on the ground holding Jim's head, not knowing if the Sentinel was dying from the drugs Section had used. He had known their run was over and Section had won, and he had that same feeling of panic now. Section won. Maybe that's what all this was, some elaborate op to prove to them that even when there appeared to be an escape, that Section would always own them.
"Blair?" Jim asked.
"Is he okay?" Daniel's voice sounded funny.
"He's fine," Jim almost snapped at them.
"Just get the fuck out, okay?" Blair said as he looked up at Jack and Daniel. They both had concerned expressions, and Blair could feel the heat in his face. Yeah, Jim wasn't the one with control issues because Blair was dangerously close to breaking. "Just get the fuck out. Don't you get it? You don't have any more choice in this than we do. Section is using you like fucking pawns, and congratulations for playing their game, but just fuck off while we deal with the fact that we are exactly what you're accusing us of being. We're Section operatives and we always will be." Blair ended up yelling before he knew it, and Jack reached out and yanked Daniel back away.
"Look, Sandburg," Jack said.
"He's right." Jim's arms came around Blair's shoulders and pulled him close. "You won't trust us unless we turn on Section, Section won't let us live if we do. This is a game, colonel, a game designed to teach us all our place, and I think we all understand exactly where our places are."
Daniel started shaking his head like he was going to argue, but Jack pulled him close as he backed up toward the door. "If that's the way you want to play it, Colonel Ellison," Jack said. "There's a room ready one level up, if you'd like to follow the airman," Jack said as he stood in the open doorway and held his hand out in an invitation.
Blair crossed his arms, suddenly very aware of the fact that he was standing in scrubs, no shirt, no shoes and wet hair. Jim stared at the door for a second before reaching down and stripping off his shirt. "Here, Chief, you're already on the verge of getting sick." Jim started for the door, leaving Blair standing there just clinging to Jim's shirt.
"Aw, for pete's sake, we aren't monsters, Ellison. Danny, get Sandburg a shirt and some slippers or something," Jack sighed, and Daniel hurried over to a cabinet near the bathroom door.
"What size?" Daniel asked, and Blair could hear him struggle to still sound friendly, but Blair wasn't sure if the man was pissed at Jack or them.
"A medium's fine," Blair said as he handed Jim's shirt back. Jim slipped it back on and tucked it into his pants silently. Just as Daniel pulled out a shirt, Jim headed for the cabinet himself, and Blair froze as Jack suddenly had his sidearm out and pointed. Jim stopped without even turning around and put his hands up.
"I’m just getting him pants, colonel."
"Danny, get back here," Jack ordered, and Blair watched as Daniel detoured around Jim, who stood with his hands raised and his back turned. "You're good, Ellison. I've never seen a Sentinel half as good. I'm just sorry you put your loyalties in the wrong place."
Jim slowly lowered his hands and headed for the cabinet where he pulled out pants and underwear from the various shelves. "I don't give a rat's ass what you think of me, Colonel O'Neill," Jim said firmly as he returned and handed Blair the rest of the clothes. "You can change in the bathroom, Chief. We'll wait for you." Jim deliberately sat on the edge of the bed and crossed his arms as he watched Jack and Daniel with all the emotion of a dead fish.
Jim grumbled and rolled in his sleep so his back was to Blair, and at least now Blair could rescue his arm. With the circulation returned, the pins and needles were even more painful and he rubbed his arm. Jim gave a heavy sigh and then rolled back toward Blair, reaching out and pulling Blair close. "Big Bad Ranger Snuggler," Blair whispered affectionately as he curled up into Jim's chest and closed his eyes. Let Jim get squashed and wake up with pins and needles if that's what he wanted.
When Blair woke up again, Jim was gone and he was sprawled across the double hospital bed.
"Well, how's my shit-flinging patient this morning?" a cheerful voice asked. Blair blinked one eye open just far enough to see the short doctor smiling at him way too brightly for safety. He checked her hands for needles or other sharp instruments.
"I don't know. What do you have planned?" Blair asked as he rolled to his back and sat up.
"After last night's performance, I'll even give you one day's clemency for being an ass yourself."
Blair smiled as he remembered Jack's face when the line of watery shit had neatly splashed across his shirt. "He deserved it."
"Oh honey, more than you know. Now normally I'd think flinging your poop was rather primitive, but we're all trained to make use of the weapons we have."
Blair looked around. An orderly or nurse was going through a cabinet full of bottles and boxes and a soldier stood at attention just inside the door, but no Jim. "Where's Jim?"
"He decided to follow his nose to the cafeteria. By the time the trays get up here, they're cold, and he thought he'd have time for a hot breakfast before you woke up. I guess you surprised all of us by waking up early. How does the stomach feel?" And then Frasier was poking and prodding and pressing down hard enough on Blair stomach that he came seriously close to peeing on her.
"Whoa, hey, unless you want more of my bodily fluids on your floor, give me a second to go to pee," Blair grabbed at her wrist. She raised an eyebrow at him before stepping back.
"Since you're going anyway, I'll let you fill this up for me," she said as she pulled a plastic cup off a tray and held it out for him.
"If I fill that, do you promise to not stick any more needles in me?" Blair asked suspiciously.
"Not even a chance in hell," she said with a bright smile as she handed him the cup. "Bathroom's right through that door." She gestured to the side before she turned and walked away, her heels clicking on the tile.
Blair knew when he'd been beat, so he padded barefoot across the cold floor and filled the cup before finishing. After two days of not shaving, his beard was coming in pretty good and his hair was greasy and hung in limp clumps.
"Any chance I could get a razor and some soap for a shower?" Blair called from the door of the bathroom. If he got in the bed again, no way would Frasier let him out until she had poked and prodded to her heart's content and he really wanted a shower.
"Will you be a good little patient then?" Frasier rolled her chair to the edge of her office and looked at him.
"I promise not to fling any more poop."
She laughed. Standing up, she grabbed a small plastic bin from a shelf and brought it over. When Blair saw the soap and shampoo and razor, he could have kissed the woman. "Thank you," Blair said seriously as he traded the bin for the cup of pee.
"You're welcome. Besides, the rest of us will appreciate you showering too," Frasier said with a nod toward Blair's hospital bed. Blair looked over and the orderly was already stripping it, but the white sheets were definitely gray. Blair wasn't surprised because he felt gray... gray and washed out. But hopefully washing up would make the world suck a little less.
After a long hot shower and a shave, Blair felt human, but not exactly better. Option A was Section with their very bad habit of taking people out and shooting them when they got to be too much trouble. Option B was SGC, and the only nice thing Blair could say about them was that their induction rituals were actually less painful than Section's had been. Blair still trembled at the memory of that room where Madeline had 'profiled' his reactions to pain and questioning. The fact that Makepeace had to go back through that made Blair actually feel sorry for the man. And option C was the big unknown. Blair wished he could believe that Nikita had lied when she said they probably wouldn't survive going independent, but she hadn't. He knew it and Jim knew it. And Blair really wasn't into dying.
Well, he couldn't hide in the bathroom forever. Blair came out and found Jim sitting in a chair with a magazine draped over one knee and a cup of coffee in hand. Now two soldiers stood inside the door, each with matching blank expressions, but Blair could guess what their orders were.
"You look comfortable," Blair commented, ignoring the guard. Jim also looked military issue. He had on the same black t-shirt and military green pants that everyone else had on. It bothered Blair enough that he made a mental note to meditate on it later.
"I'm not. Their laundry uses cheap soap," Jim commented, and Blair immediately dropped his towel and went over to Jim. Pulling up the arm of the shirt, Blair checked the skin underneath and found the skin slightly red, but not enough to quality as a rash.
"Oh man, we've got—"
"Chief, don't," Jim said quietly. "O'Neill and Jackson are coming, and the last thing I want is to reinforce this idea they have that Sentinels are helpless." Jim's jaw was twitching, the bulge popping until Blair imagined he could almost hear the molars groan in protest.
"Fine," he whispered as he heard footsteps, but if it turns into a rash, we're complaining." Blair stepped back and spoke in a louder tone. "Oh man, tell me you got me some coffee. I am dying from caffeine withdrawal here."
"On the counter. I picked up a couple of pieces of fruit since algae wasn't on the menu."
Blair headed over to the table next to the bed they'd slept in and found a huge mug of coffee, an apple, a banana and a huge muffin. Grabbing the coffee and the muffin, Blair announced, "I love you, you know this, right?"
"Yeah, Chief, you'd follow anyone home if they had food."
"No way, I followed Iris and there was no food involved."
"So, you're saying a promise of cheap sex is enough for you?" Jim asked with some amusement.
Blair glared, fairly sure Jim was intentionally poking that sore spot. "I don't know, are you offering me cheap sex?"
"Nope," Jim shrugged and took a drink of coffee. He had that smug look on his face, and Blair could practically read his mind. Jim was offering more than cheap sex, but of course, Blair still worried about why Jim was offering sex. Blair sighed and stuffed half the muffin in his mouth to just avoid the conversation. The answer to this dilemma was fairly simple, he was going to sleep with Jim even if all Jim wanted was a way to better control the senses. Some was better than none, and right now, Blair wanted as much of Jim as he could have.
"Is the coast clear?" Daniel asked from the door.
"He doesn't have any more pans of shit, if that's what you're asking," Jim answered for him since Blair still had his mouth full.
Daniel coughed suspiciously and then came in. "I heard about that. I'm sorry I missed the..." Daniel paused and Jack came in the door behind him.
"Careful Danny, you never know when you're going to find your stash replaced with decaf again." Jack walked in and poked his thumb, which was enough to make the two guards leave.
Daniel gave Jack a dirty look, but didn't seem particularly threatened. Blair swallowed and pinned Jack with a nasty glare, one that Jack returned.
"Change shirts?" Blair asked sweetly. Jack's eyes narrowed more.
"And here I thought the Sentinel would be the one with attitude."
Jim gave a wry laugh. "You seem to have some strange assumptions, colonel."
"That's just it," Daniel hurried to say as he stepped closer. "We're all making a lot of assumptions here, and we don't really know much about each other. How much can we really learn from reading each other's files?"
"Quite a lot," Jack interrupted. "Like Colonel Ellison was a captain two weeks ago. Whose butt did you kiss for that promotion?"
"Don't even start—" Blair snapped as he got ready to throw something at the man and really wished he had another bedpan.
Jim stood up and held out his hand. "Chief," he said quietly. It almost killed Blair, but he crossed his arms and settled for glaring as Jim put his coffee down slowly and carefully. "Colonel O'Neill, since I got here, you have lied, manipulated, and poisoned my partner."
"It was laxative. Laxative, not arsenic," Jack argued, and Jim totally ignored the man.
"You threatened to put me in lock-up and made assumptions about not only my abilities but about self-control. You have gone out of your way to belittle me and Sandburg, and my bosses arranged with the President for me to have a rank that would at least give me some protection from bullies like you."
"Hey!" Jack snapped, and Daniel's hand was there on Jack's arm. Blair watched in amusement as those two had their own staring contest for a second.
Daniel looked back at them first. "Jack may have been a little off base..."
"A little?" Blair demanded, but Jim just had his arms crossed as he stared at them.
"A little," Daniel repeated firmly. "He certainly has been showing you the same courtesy he normally reserves for visiting goa'uld and Russians."
"Hey, I resemble that remark," Jack said with a roll of his eyes. "Okay, let's lay the cards out here. I don't trust you two, and I don't know why the President wants you on the team. More than that, if your boss really is who I think he is, I don't know why Section would let you be here."
Blair looked at Jim with some alarm, but Jim seemed to take it all in calmly.
"Your intel is old. My boss is not who you think," Jim said as he gave one of those thoughtful frowns that Blair had so much trouble interpreting. He might be calculating the odds of decking Jack or just considering how much to tell Jack, who knew.
"But your boss is Section," Jack prodded. Jim nodded. "Okay, see, that would be why I don't trust you. You work for a shadow government. Tell me you aren't trying to get in here to spy on us."
"Whoa, why would we spy? Man, Section so does not need us to spy because as you already pointed out, they have your files. They have your files and they are backing your play. They ordered us to protect your position," Blair said as he poked his finger in Jack's direction. Jim came over and draped an arm over Blair's shoulders.
"The Israelis are usually on our side, and they've spied on us more than anyone," Jack almost yelled back.
"And this is completely off track," Daniel inserted as he again put his hand on Jack's arm. "Jack, just lay out what your concerns are and let's deal with them."
"Fine," Jack said, his jaw about as tight as Jim's. "Why would Section let you come here?"
Jim glanced down at Blair, but Blair had no idea what to say. All he knew was that he so did not want to end up like Tobias, but he didn't really understand where the line was. How much of Section was common knowledge, and what piece of information would get him a bullet in the back of the head? He stared back at Jim and could feel his heart start to pound faster. Jim's arm tightened on his shoulders, and Blair just leaned into that touch. "Because the President requested it," Jim answered simply.
"And Section takes orders from the President? See, I have a problem believing that," Jack said as he took a step back and leaned against the wall. "The Section I know was the wrench in the works any time they happened to cross purposes with a US mission."
Daniel looked at Jack with a frown. "Okay, Jack, can you give those of us without black ops training a primer here? I don't even know what we're dealing with."
Jack stared at Jim, and Daniel looked from one to the other before his gaze finally fell on Blair. Blair held both his hands up. "Don't look at me. I'm just so along for the ride and doing what Jim says when it comes to Section. I just know they're not nice people, but the times we've worked for them, they're going up against even less nice of people."
"They're black ops, a shadow government created to fight terrorism, but it grew out of the control of any one world power," Jim said shortly. "My Ranger unit was taken down by a Section team, and our rescue target disappeared."
Jack made a noise that drew Daniel's attention. "Most black ops soldiers have heard of them. They're ruthless. If you know a piece of information they want, they will get it out of you. There are stories of Section operatives taking out entire units. They're the boogey men of intelligence work."
"And you work for them?" Daniel asked as he looked at Blair in confusion.
"Man, I try to repress that thought any time it pops its head up," Blair sighed as he realized he did work for them. Shit, this was so not good for his karma, and he really disliked the fact that he was starting to see why Jack was so on edge. Of course, he wasn't sorry he'd flung runny shit at the man, but he could at least understand him. He didn't know whether to trust himself at this point.
"And now we have our very own Section operatives in the middle of the most secure base in North America. And the President seems to be under the impression that you're up for grabs, but then the President was never black ops," Jack pointed out. "Are you prepared to turn against Section?"
"No," Jim immediately answered, and Jack threw up his arm in a clear 'you see?' gesture directed at Daniel.
Daniel at least tried for calm even though Blair could see he was getting frustrated as well. "Okay, I'm obviously not understanding something. If you won't turn your back on Section, why would the President tell us that you were available and that he wanted us to try and recruit you?"
"Man, if that's your recruitment speech, I so don't want to be around when you decide you don't like someone," Blair said with a snort.
"I don't like you, Squirt," Jack immediately shot back, and Daniel glared at him. Jack put up a hand in surrender. "Fine, talk to the Section operatives all you want Danny, but I'm not about to let my guard down." Daniel kept glaring, and Jack sighed. "Look, Ellison, if you and Sandburg need help to get away from them, I'm going to be the first to step up to the plate. You have a good record, and some of the shit the service has thrown your way... you didn't deserve it. But you can't tell us that your loyalties are still with Section and not expect some suspicion on our part."
"I won't turn on Section, and you don't want me to," Jim said quietly. You're right that they're dangerous, and you don't want them wondering just how much you know."
"I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself," Jack said, and suddenly the man looked a lot more interested in what Jim was saying.
Jim just shook his head. "Not without authorization. Get the President to talk to our boss, and I will happily tell you whatever you want, but short of that, you aren't getting anything."
Daniel was biting his lip as he looked from one to the other, and Blair could admit to feeling a little panic here, himself. They were finally communicating, but the communication didn't actually seem to be improving anything.
"Okay, let's just focus on the now," Blair suggested. "Right now, we're here because our boss gave us an out."
"Working for us and spy on us," Jack said as he again crossed his arms.
Jim took a step forward so that he was between Blair and that glare and Blair had a nice view of Jim's black t-shirt. "Our boss offered to cut all ties. We can take you up on a job offer or try to run the gauntlet of intelligence services on our own."
"He's pulling security off you?" Jack asked.
"If we want, yes. If we don't, then we're in by our own choice."
"Instead of being in at the point of a gun," Jack guessed. The room went silent, and Jim slid back to Blair's side, again draping an arm over Blair's shoulders. "Your boss is a woman." Jack's statement, dropped into the middle of the silence made Blair jerk in surprise, and Jack nodded thoughtfully. "I thought you two were trying a little too hard to avoid pronouns. So, did that profiler take over?"
"I won't comment on Section policy or politics," Jim said firmly, and Jack pinned Blair with a hard look. Blair just stared back until Jack finally gave up, rubbing his face tiredly with a hand.
"You two are pains in the ass. Have you ever met a rule or regulation you didn't break?" he asked with a sort of weary admiration.
Jim gave a dark laugh. "I think with the throwing shit at a commanding officer, Sandburg pretty much finished our goal of breaking every rule in the book."
Blair was surprised to see Jack actually grin at that. "Didn't see that one coming, you betcha," he said ruefully. "Usually Danny just glares when I push too far. But I'm not seeing a logical solution here. I won't have men in my command who I can't trust."
"Man, when did you get the impression we wanted to be here?" Blair demanded. "Look, our boss ordered us to come here and play nice for five days because she's trying to play nice with the President. That doesn't mean we want to be recruited."
"You'd rather work for Section?" Jack demanded. Blair stopped, his brain not quite able to grasp the idea that the choices really did seem to be Section or Stargate Command. Cascade and their nice boring lives chasing serial killers never seemed so far away. Jim's arm around him tightened.
"Sir," Jim said carefully, and Blair could hear just how badly Jim wanted to go off in that one word. "We want to go back to Cascade and go back to our lives. Maybe we should just keep working for Section because at least that way we could pretend to have something normal between missions. If you have a secure room with more features than the cells on the lower level, I'd appreciate it, but at this point, I’m thinking maybe Sandburg and I should just spend the next four days in lockup. Give us a ride back to Cascade at the end of the week, and everyone is happy."
Blair wasn't happy. He could feel the tightness in his chest, the same panic he'd felt when the Section helicopter had landed next to them and Michael had jumped out. Blair had been sitting on the ground holding Jim's head, not knowing if the Sentinel was dying from the drugs Section had used. He had known their run was over and Section had won, and he had that same feeling of panic now. Section won. Maybe that's what all this was, some elaborate op to prove to them that even when there appeared to be an escape, that Section would always own them.
"Blair?" Jim asked.
"Is he okay?" Daniel's voice sounded funny.
"He's fine," Jim almost snapped at them.
"Just get the fuck out, okay?" Blair said as he looked up at Jack and Daniel. They both had concerned expressions, and Blair could feel the heat in his face. Yeah, Jim wasn't the one with control issues because Blair was dangerously close to breaking. "Just get the fuck out. Don't you get it? You don't have any more choice in this than we do. Section is using you like fucking pawns, and congratulations for playing their game, but just fuck off while we deal with the fact that we are exactly what you're accusing us of being. We're Section operatives and we always will be." Blair ended up yelling before he knew it, and Jack reached out and yanked Daniel back away.
"Look, Sandburg," Jack said.
"He's right." Jim's arms came around Blair's shoulders and pulled him close. "You won't trust us unless we turn on Section, Section won't let us live if we do. This is a game, colonel, a game designed to teach us all our place, and I think we all understand exactly where our places are."
Daniel started shaking his head like he was going to argue, but Jack pulled him close as he backed up toward the door. "If that's the way you want to play it, Colonel Ellison," Jack said. "There's a room ready one level up, if you'd like to follow the airman," Jack said as he stood in the open doorway and held his hand out in an invitation.
Blair crossed his arms, suddenly very aware of the fact that he was standing in scrubs, no shirt, no shoes and wet hair. Jim stared at the door for a second before reaching down and stripping off his shirt. "Here, Chief, you're already on the verge of getting sick." Jim started for the door, leaving Blair standing there just clinging to Jim's shirt.
"Aw, for pete's sake, we aren't monsters, Ellison. Danny, get Sandburg a shirt and some slippers or something," Jack sighed, and Daniel hurried over to a cabinet near the bathroom door.
"What size?" Daniel asked, and Blair could hear him struggle to still sound friendly, but Blair wasn't sure if the man was pissed at Jack or them.
"A medium's fine," Blair said as he handed Jim's shirt back. Jim slipped it back on and tucked it into his pants silently. Just as Daniel pulled out a shirt, Jim headed for the cabinet himself, and Blair froze as Jack suddenly had his sidearm out and pointed. Jim stopped without even turning around and put his hands up.
"I’m just getting him pants, colonel."
"Danny, get back here," Jack ordered, and Blair watched as Daniel detoured around Jim, who stood with his hands raised and his back turned. "You're good, Ellison. I've never seen a Sentinel half as good. I'm just sorry you put your loyalties in the wrong place."
Jim slowly lowered his hands and headed for the cabinet where he pulled out pants and underwear from the various shelves. "I don't give a rat's ass what you think of me, Colonel O'Neill," Jim said firmly as he returned and handed Blair the rest of the clothes. "You can change in the bathroom, Chief. We'll wait for you." Jim deliberately sat on the edge of the bed and crossed his arms as he watched Jack and Daniel with all the emotion of a dead fish.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2008-05-04 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 11:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 10:47 pm (UTC)Emma
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Date: 2008-05-04 11:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 10:52 pm (UTC)Laurie
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Date: 2008-05-04 11:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 12:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 01:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 12:39 am (UTC)Just when the hell is Jack going to buy a clue and realize that they're with Section under extreme duress! Geez Louise!
Your writing can make me THIS mad. This is a good thing. *g*
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Date: 2008-05-05 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:03 am (UTC)Well, harumph to that anyway! LOL!
*g*
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Date: 2008-05-05 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:07 am (UTC)My dear, ANY chapter you put up will make me happy! We've been watching PBS for two hours with no ads.
*off to find new chapter*
*g*
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Date: 2008-05-05 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:10 am (UTC)That will be very good. I've just found it and I can't wait to read it. =>}
Thanks for the heads up! *g*
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Date: 2008-05-05 12:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 01:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 09:48 am (UTC)But, somehow, I feel like for all that they are still in disagreement, at last they are beginning to communicate.
I was so pleased to see two more chapters this morning (and more that slightly awed by how far you have brought us in such a short time *g*). Doubly pleased that it is a public holiday, so I got to stay home and read it, instead of having to wait for the week end.
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Date: 2008-05-06 01:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-06 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 07:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-06 01:28 am (UTC)