Shadows and Siege 19
May. 6th, 2008 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lit_gal
And here is the climax of the story!!
The phone interrupted Blair's lazy sleep, and Blair could only guess it was morning. The last request for a meal had brought pork chops, but they might have missed a meal somewhere, and neither of them had bothered turning on the television.
Leaning across Jim's body, Blair picked up the phone.
"Yeah?"
"Are you two decent or still fucking like bunnies?" O'Neill asked.
"Um, both." Blair rubbed his face and tried to ignore the frustration starting to build at the very sound of Jack's voice. Jim chuckled and large hands traced some pattern on Blair's hips that only Sentinel eyes could see.
"General Hammond is requesting your presence in the briefing room. I'll send an airman with clean clothes." The phone went dead.
"Sure, we'd love an invitation. How about tomorrow around noon?" Blair asked sarcastically as he hung up the already dead phone. Jim laughed again.
"We have to get out of bed at some point, Chief," Jim pointed out.
"We have. I've gotten out of bed to pee and shower. You've answered the door for food, showered, and spent an hour staring at a painting of trees. See, that's too much out of bed time already," Blair complained softly as he lay down on Jim's chest. Hands immediately ghosted over his skin. Unfortunately, a knock interrupted them when Blair was just sinking into that happy place that was all about lazy touches.
"Annoying minions of the assholed one," Blair said as he crawled out of bed and pretty much stormed over to the door and threw it open. The airman on the other side turned out to be an airwoman who immediately blushed dark red at the sight of Blair in nothing but his tribal necklace.
"Your clothing, sir," she said as she thrust the pile into Blair's arms before quickly turning her back. Blair kicked the door closed with a bare foot. When Blair turned around, Jim was smirking.
"O'Neill did that on purpose," Blair growled as he threw the neatly folded pile at Jim.
"Of course he did," Jim said. "I'll have to thank him later because the look on her face was really just about perfect. You're lucky she didn't knee you, run away screaming, and file charges for sexual harassment."
Blair flipped Jim off, and the other man just laughed as he dug through the pile for the clothes that would fit him. Blair watched Jim move, and was struck by how much more at ease the man seemed now. He laughed a lot more and smiled, and when their dinner showed up burned, had a hundred stories about the Army and bad food instead of growling his displeasure. "Are you getting dressed, Chief, or do you plan to meet with General Hammond naked?"
"Oh man, now that would be precious," Blair said with a wicked smile of his own. Almost immediately, the phone started to ring. Blair looked over suspiciously.
"Tell me he didn't hear that," Blair said as he crossed his arms.
"I picked up the echo from the bug yesterday, but they only have audio, no visual," Jim answered as he pulled on pants. The phone kept ringing. "Don't get your pants wedged up your ass, O'Neill, he's getting dressed," Jim told the ceiling before he tossed Blair the other pair of pants. The phone stopped ringing.
Jim padded over, still barefoot and shirtless, and Blair might have taken interest in a shirtless Jim except for the fact that he had come so much in the last two days that he was fairly sure he wasn't going to be able to hard again. Bending over, Jim whispered in his ear. "O'Neill's trying to give you a heads up that others have heard. NID on scene."
Turning around, Jim headed back for the bed and grabbed one of the black shirts. Blair twitched at the idea of one more secret agency running around. He was as much of a conspiracy theorist as anyone... more than most maybe, but he never wanted to have a close, personal relationship with the conspiracies.
With disgust, Blair pulled on his pants and ran fingers through his hair until he could pull all the curls back into a ponytail. Blair's mood didn't improve as they walked with their escort back down to the lowest levels of the complex. This time they ended up in a new room, a conference room with a huge table. General Hammond was at one end, and all of SG-1 lined up on his right. Blair gave Jack an extra glare before he focused on the other side of the table.
A sharp faced man sat in a tailored suit with a thick file lined up in front of him, but even Blair could smell military on the man, and beside him sat an older soldier in a dress uniform with body language that almost screamed its deference to him. Okay, this would be the NID agent.
"Detective Ellison, Dr. Sandburg," General Hammond said as he stood up to meet them. Jim stood stiffly, but Hammond just walked around the table and offered him a handshake. Once he had shaken hands with Jim, Hammond offered Blair his hand, and Blair shook it suspiciously.
"I'm sorry about the trick, Dr. Sandburg. This is not a traditional command, and I'm afraid that we do use rather unconventional approaches to evaluating our candidates' suitability in the field." Blair wished he could hate Hammond, but over the last couple of days, he had kinda figured that out on his own.
"Man, I just wish you had asked us if we wanted to be recruited before the hazing," Blair said with a roll of his eyes that reduced the whole event to an annoyance.
"Yes, I heard that O'Neill made a particularly bad impression on you both," the sharp-faced man offered. He was standing now, as were his buddy and SG1.
Hammond paused for just a second, just enough to let Blair know that despite Hammond's neutral expression, he didn't like the new guy. "Colonel Simmons, this is Dr. Sandburg and Detective Ellison. And this is Sergeant Collins." Simmons' military buddy simply offered a nod.
"Detective?" Simmons eyebrows went up and the amusement in his voice set Blair on edge. Before he could say anything, Jim had stepped forward.
"My commission hasn't been reactivated."
Simmons nodded. "I had noticed some rather confusing paperwork. Certain paperwork suggests you've been called to active duty, another paperwork trail says you're currently on loan to the FBI for an invisible taskforce, and a mysterious promotion was approved through equally mysterious channels, and yet no one wants to challenge any of it. Up until now you have had some powerful protectors," Simmons said, and if Blair thought they were going to start with the small talk, he was obviously wrong.
"And?" Jim asked dryly. It was the tone that often made suspects start babbling confessions just to avoid whatever might follow.
"And now you don't. Section has pulled out of Cascade."
Blair reached over and grabbed Jim's arm. No way. No way would Nikita tell them they had a choice, back them into choosing Section, and then abandon them. Okay, Nikita would, but not without some sort of reason. Jim reached down and rested a hand on Blair's back.
"Clearly you are less than impressed with the way Stargate Command is run, which is hardly surprising considering the number of times the base has been compromised." Simmons smiled with crocodile charm. "I will say, the bedpan was a nice touch, Dr. Sandburg." The smugness just set Blair's teeth on edge, and no one else in the room seemed to appreciate it either.
"I'm even less impressed with you than I am with Colonel O'Neill at this point," Jim said as he almost bristled with aggression.
"Hey, I could do an encore of the bedpan trick if you want." Blair crossed his arms and looked at Simmons to let him know exactly which direction the shit would be flying this time.
Jack got an amused look on his face. "Now kids," he said in a mockingly paternal voice, "you play nice."
Jim glanced over, and Blair couldn't quite identify the communication that passed between them before Hammond was moving back to the head of the table. "The President has given Colonel Simmons permission to offer you an alternative to working for Stargate Command." Hammond's voice was carefully neutral as he sat at the table. SG1 carefully settled back into their chairs, but Simmons walked around to the end of the table where Jim and Blair stood and offered his hand.
"Colonel Frank Simmons, and I'm sorry I seemed to have made a poor first impression because I think I can offer you a deal that can top anything the SGC can put together." Simmons had come at them with his an unctuous smile that reminded Blair of the Chancellor and all her butt-kissing politics, but before he could do much more than register his dislike, Blair found himself pushed behind Jim.
"Way to prove you're not a caveman," Blair whispered sarcastically, but Jim didn't move from the spot in front of Blair as he stood off against Simmons with his arms crossed. Blair could barely see the colonel as he looked around Jim's shoulder. Simmons' smile slowly faded as he pulled his hand back.
Jack really was smirking now. Smirking and leaning back in his chair with undisguised amusement. At least Daniel was trying for subtle as he watched with a gaze that flickered from them to the table, back to them and then to Jack.
"I can respect your suspicion given the circumstances," Simmons said. The warmth was gone from his voice, but he didn't sound hostile, either. "Perhaps you might feel more comfortable after looking at the details of my offer." Simmons turned back and flipped open his file folder. "I have all the specifics here, but let me outline the deal in broad strokes. Dr. Sandburg would work for us training Sentinels. We can set up a training facility outside Cascade, so you will be able to stay in the area and remain in close contact with friends and family. The training facility would house no more than three Sentinels at a time and a wide range of individuals would remain on base so Dr. Sandburg would have discretion regarding the choice of guides."
Blair stepped forward so that he could catch the packet of papers Simmons sent sliding down the table. "As you can see the salary starts at $117,000 a year, and if the program is successful, bonuses are possible."
Jack whistled. "I didn't know Satan paid so much for souls."
"Colonel," General Hammond said sharply.
Simmons glared at the man. "Detective Ellison," Simmons finally said as he turned back to Jim and Blair, "you may either choose to reactivate your commission and take a leadership role on base or we are prepared to hire you as a civilian consultant. In addition to the Sentinel work Dr. Sandburg will be doing, we will have covert training classes on base, which will provide the pool of potential guides. Your background qualifies you to either teach training classes or coordinate the facility, your choice."
"Wait! You're giving him his own base?!" Jack asked as he now leaned forward. The facetious expression was gone as he frowned at Simmons.
"What are you offering him? His own SG team? You're out of your league here, colonel," Simmons said with a dismissive expression.
"You're assuming I want a command," Jim pointed out dryly.
Simmons shook his head. "We're just as happy to hire you as a trainer, Detective Ellison, just as long as you remember that you will be answering to whoever is in charge of the facility under those circumstances."
"But you won't let him stay a detective with the Cascade police," Blair said the thing that really bothered him the most. Blair loved working with victims in Cascade, loved it. But he'd loved researching South American customs and he'd loved researching people with one or two enhanced senses, and he'd really loved annoying Jim to death with testing. As long as he had Jim, he'd be happy. But Jim was a cop. Blair couldn't really imagine him sitting behind a big desk doing paperwork, and while he could see Jim teaching classes on military tactics, he couldn't see Jim only teaching class.
Simmons sighed as though Blair had just asked a particularly naïve question. "Dr. Sandburg, we can't have you running into the middle of a firefight because Detective Ellison has a zone."
"Zones out," Blair corrected the man automatically.
"When he zones out.... I stand corrected. However, your expertise is simply too valuable to waste, either on the streets of Cascade or on an SGC team."
Blair looked from Simmons to Jim and then to the general. Okay, this was all getting officially strange.
"Why?" Blair asked.
That question caught Simmons off guard. He sat back in his chair and just frowned at Blair for a second.
"You have obviously developed new techniques for training Sentinels that are providing far more useful results. That's worth quite a lot, Dr. Sandburg. Furthermore, you have provided these techniques to Section. While certainly not a terrorist organization or even particularly hostile to American interests, Section is a competing agency. Some might believe that if you were to provide valuable information to a competitor and refuse that same information to the American government, that you could be accused of treason."
Blair could almost feel the aggression rolling from Jim. "So, if we don't work for you, you'll arrest us?" Jim asked.
"Assuming you don't disappear before we have the chance," Simmons said calmly. Blair could feel his stomach sour, and Daniel had an alarmed expression on his face now.
"Do they need lawyers here?" Daniel asked as he leaned forward. "Because they're civilians, and as civilians, they have a right to a lawyer if there's a question of legality."
Simmons gave Daniel a looked of amused condescension. "Dr. Jackson, we're simply discussing options and realities. No one is talking about arresting Detective Ellison and Dr. Sandburg."
"Yet," Blair spat the word. "No, you just make vague threats, but man, I have been threatened by better. And as far as working for you, I would spork myself to death before I'd work for the NID."
Jack spluttered with laughter as his attempt to drink water ended badly. "You tell 'em, Squirt."
Colonel Simmons stood up. "Dr. Sandburg, perhaps you should discuss this with your partner because I don't believe you understand the gravity of this situation. Section has withdrawn their protection, a dozen different agencies have seen what your Sentinel and what Section's Sentinels can now do, and now they're all looking to you for explanations. How many offers of protection can you afford to turn down?"
"Forget it," Blair said, crossing his arms.
Jack stood up. "Hey, you heard the kid, forget it Simmons. Go slime your way into someone else's life." By the time Jack finished, General Hammond and the rest of SG1 were on their feet.
"This is the security of the nation we're talking about, gentlemen." Simmons looked from Jack to Jim and back, clearly not sure who he was supposed to be fighting.
Blair had the weird feeling that he was the prize in a boxing match, and three colonels were about to start throwing punches. Blair inched closer to Jim. Yeah, Jim might think Blair was in charge in their relationship, but when it came to these overt, militaristic shows of power, Blair knew damn well that he came in a pretty sorry second to Jim. In fact, Jim had his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at the whole room in clear alpha-male warning of his own.
"I think my partner was pretty clear, Simmons. We aren't interested in working for the NID," Jim growled. Blair felt a heavy arm go over his shoulders, and he leaned into the touch.
Simmons stared at Jack for a second, a second during which Jack just smirked right back. "And how did you know I represent the NID?" he asked Jim even while still focusing on Jack.
"Hey, wasn't me." Jack held up his hands. "Ellison's got a good nose on him, who knows what he smells on you."
Blair choked back a laugh at the expression on Simmons' face, and Simmons turned to them. "Think about the offer. I'll leave the contracts with you," Simmons said with a nod toward the thick stack still sitting on the table in front of Blair. "We're offering you something that comes closer to your current life than anyone else could offer you."
Simmons stalked out of the room, his silent minion following close behind.
"Well that was..." Jack's voice trailed off.
"Disquieting?" Daniel suggested.
"I was going to go for something more inappropriate," Jack shrugged.
"Gentlemen," Hammond said, focusing on Jim and Blair as SG1 took their seats again. "The offer Colonel Simmons brought is genuine. I can't say I like the man, but I have it from the President that the government will honor any deals he makes."
"Funny, they're after the runt, after all," Jack said with a dry laugh.
"Colonel, that runt has given Section an advantage that's only now being recognized in the intelligence community. Old dogs like you and me were introduced to the idea of Sentinels as niche players with very little practical application in the field."
"Hey!" Blair protested. "That is so not true. Jim is a walking crime lab. Have you seen his case closure rate?"
"That's the point, Chief," Jim said as he tightened his arm around Blair's shoulders. "If the military had trained my senses, I wouldn't be a walking crime lab."
General Hammond shook his head. "Son, I doubt you'd be able to function as a detective at all. Hundreds of men and women have the potential for hyperactive senses, and for the most part, the military avoids activating them. Active Sentinels are territorial, aggressive, prone to seizures and allergies, and have limited control over their senses. Surveillance equipment is far more accurate."
Blair frowned at that description. "No way."
"Without your training, that is true of Sentinels," Hammond said.
Jack nodded in agreement. "But if you can train Sentinels as good as Ellison here, I can see the advantage of that. The General and I have actually been doing a lot of reviewing on your case and on some intel the CIA has gathered on Section, not that they have that much, but," Jack shrugged. "The point is that you're good, Ellison. I never would have dreamed of sending a Sentinel in undercover, and you've handled some difficult assignments, and from the oddities in your case files, you've used your senses heavily while undercover. I can definitely see the advantage of that."
"Indeed. Tau'ri equipment is conspicuous when attempting to conceal one's identity," Teal'c offered. Blair blinked, totally caught off balance by the sudden lack of aggression in the room.
"Would you like to take a seat?" Hammond waved a hand toward the half-dozen open chairs at the table, and Blair glanced up at Jim.
Jim had a curious expression on his face, but Blair wasn't about to ask what he was picking up on. He just followed Jim's lead, dropping into a seat and rolling it a little closer to the seat Jim had taken at the far end of the table from General Hammond. Now Jim and Blair were on one side of the table with the four members of SG1 on the other.
"Simmons and his buddy leave behind NID cooties?" Jack asked as he glanced at the empty chairs between Jim and General Hammond.
"I don't like the way he smells," Jim shrugged.
"Look," Daniel jumped in, and Blair could pretty much guess that the man hoped to talk fast enough to keep Jack quiet. Jack seemed to accept that Daniel was taking center stage because he leaned back in his chair and watched his teammate. "This mission left us all on edge. Let's start by defining the positions that we each feel are absolutely non-negotiable. If Section has withdrawn, you need protection, and maybe we can find some common ground."
Blair glanced at Jim, but the man had emotionally withdrawn.
"We aren't talking about Section. Man, I so do not even want to think about Section too loudly because those people are scary. Way scarier than you are," Blair said as he looked around the table.
Daniel glanced at Jack, but it was General Hammond who actually spoke up. "Son, did you choose to join Section?"
Blair snorted, but then shut up as Jim's hand rested on his arm in a warning.
Jack leaned forward. "I don't want Section getting first hand stories about what goes on in here. It's bad enough that the entire base knows that I got shit thrown at me, I really don't need that story going any farther."
Blair had no idea what to say to that. He remembered being in that chair, and the pain. He never thought he could hurt so much, and if it came down to it, Blair was fairly sure he would confess to shooting President Kennedy and fathering alien babies before he would hold out against that pain.
Luckily Jim spoke. "I can't make promises, Colonel, no more than any other member of your team could. I won't willingly give the information and if my information is time sensitive, I will hold out as long as I can to give you an advantage, but when it comes down to it, if Section wants the information out of us, they will get it."
Jack and Hammond traded looks. "That's fair," Jack said.
Daniel smiled at him. "Okay, so we have some common ground."
"They are not going on a team," Jack immediately countered in a tone that challenged anyone to argue with him. Daniel's smile vanished at Jack's tone of voice.
"Jim's the one who got the job done, not you," Blair snapped right back.
"I don't even know what job got done. He tells me there's a new foothold situation with an unidentified alien, and then he checks out for lala land. You think I'm going to have that in the middle of an op?" Jack demanded.
"Whoa, if you hadn't split us up, he wouldn't have zoned."
"HEY!" Daniel shouted over both of them. "We're defining positions, not arguing over the mission."
Teal'c almost smiled. "It appears they are, in fact, arguing over the mission," he intoned seriously. Daniel glared at him.
"No, they aren't," Daniel said firmly. Teal'c tilted his head.
Jack was still shaking his head. "Sandburg, I won't have you in the field and if you aren't there, I don't want Ellison close enough to even hear the field."
"Because of my theories on Sentinels?" Blair asked incredulously. "Man, I can give you a copy of my not-so-secret dissertation. It's not like I'm doing something wild and crazy; I just treat Jim like a competent human being."
Jack laughed and poked his thumb at Sam. "Carter here has a PhD in being way too good at knowing everything and is the leading authority on the Stargate, the dialing device, the hand device and just about every other piece of alien tech we've ever found. Daniel has PhD's in Archeology and Philology and can curse at me in more languages than anyone else--on or off earth. And Teal'c--" Jack looked over and Teal'c just gazed back. "Teal'c's Teal'c," Jack shrugged. "Look, if I was worried about protecting assets, I'd worry a lot more about their assets than yours. But they aren't going to have a panic attack in the middle of a mission."
"That wasn't--" Blair started, but Jim cut him off.
"That's fair," Jim said. Blair turned and glared at the man, but Jim had his stoic look on. "Chief, you always come through in the end, but if you panic on a mission, even for a second, you could make younger members of the team panic. If you're working with me or Simon, that doesn't matter. It would with some eighteen year old first lieutenant from Omaha. Besides," the corner of Jim's lips twitched, "do you even want a combat position?"
"So not the point, man," Blair said unhappily.
Jack just snorted at the admission that Blair didn't actually want the position. "It's not just you Sandburg. I won't have Ellison in the field either. As a captain, he'd be an asset, but as a colonel, he'd be an unmitigated disaster."
Jim's hand on Blair's arm tightened immediately. "Blair, I have to focus on my senses and let you watch my back. A team leader is supposed to be in control at all times. O'Neill's right; a Sentinel really is not designed for a command position." Blair opened his mouth to argue that piece of illogical logic.
"I wouldn't send Carter in command of a combat mission for the same reason," Jack said before Blair could even get out a sound. "She has saved our lives more often than I can count, but for her to use her skills, she needs to concentrate on whatever gizmo is trying to blow us up. It's my job to defend her so she can concentrate. Being a Sentinel is no different. Ellison can't be a colonel and a Sentinel at the same time."
Blair looked around the room and realized that as much as he hated it, as much as he thought of Jim as being damn near unstoppable, Jack was being frighteningly logical. "Man, it really sucks that you're being reasonable. I really preferred hating you," Blair complained, and even Hammond smiled at that. However, if Jim and Jack were going to gang up on a particular point, Blair had to admit that he probably wasn't going to win.
"So, let's define our positions," Daniel suggested. "You two won't be in combat and you won't willingly compromise security."
"No way do I want to sign up for the military. I'm not enlisting, and no way is Jim getting forced back in. I wouldn't do that even for Section," Blair added. Jack narrowed his eyes in confusion for a second, but Hammond quickly agreed.
"That's fine. You and Ellison can both take civilian positions. We do, however, require full confidentiality agreements."
Blair waved his hand at that. "Whatever. Man, secrets are not so secretive in this whole covert ops world, but I'm not going to be the one telling anyone anything."
"Blair, that means you can't use any of your research to publish," Daniel said seriously, and Blair stopped when he saw the curiously pained expression on Daniel's face.
"Oh man. Your life's work... you can't publish any of it," Blair said with a grimace. "Man, that seriously sucks."
"It'll be the same for you," Daniel warned, and Blair smiled at the concern in the other scientist's face.
"No problem. I write about my work in Cascade with the PD. I never have been able to take my primary thesis to any journals, but I can write a paper on anything; that's how I got into working on victimization." Blair didn't add that Section had set him up for that life.
"And now that you won't be working in Cascade, will you be equally happy without being able to publish at all?" Hammond asked just as seriously.
Blair stared at the man, and that little feeling of panic was back. "No way. No, I'm not going to spend my life underground in some secret facility. Man, I want to go home." Blair looked to Jim for backup on this one.
Jim was nodding. "We don't have a problem working for you. Blair can train Sentinels in Cascade, but we aren't going to disappear like Jackson here did," Jim said firmly.
"Jackson disappeared?" Blair asked, suddenly concerned. He so had not gotten the feeling that Daniel had been forcibly recruited, but now...
Daniel obviously knew what Blair was thinking. "I stood in front of a room and argued that aliens built the pyramids. Trust me, the disappearing was all about me saving face," he said wryly. "I was such a kid that I actually believed that people would listen just because I was telling the truth."
"Man, not smart," Blair sympathized.
"Sounds like someone I know," Jim said as he reached over and tugged Blair's ponytail.
"Yeah, that's Danny for you. He's the most brilliant man I know, but not a lot of common sense," Jack said fondly. "But Blair, you need to remember that people are interested in what you're doing. If you're in Cascade, there's a limit to how well we can protect you."
"I've read..." Blair stopped, not willing to talk specifically about what he'd read in Section documents. "Sentinels are protectors. If I'm working with military Sentinels, I'll be the most well-defended person in America. Old ladies with dangerous looking handbags won't be able to get near me."
Jack exchanged a look with Hammond, and now Blair just knew they knew something. "We need Sentinels who can go off-world, and that means going through the gate with them," Hammond said.
"Cool," Blair quickly answered, and Jack rolled his eyes.
"Look, kid, these men and women are going to be relying on your training and they'll die if you don't take this seriously."
Blair had stood up before he even registered Jim's grip on his shoulder. "Don't go there. You think I would ever short-change a Sentinel just because I think you're an asshole? No way. No fucking way. They're tribal warriors... they're watchmen patrolling the boundaries of the tribe, no matter how big that tribe gets. Their lives are hard enough without getting used like chess pieces on a board, so don't even try to tell me I don't take this seriously."
"Chief, just calm down," Jim said, and Blair found himself pulled back into Jim's chest and held.
"O'Neill, you're an idiot if you think Blair wouldn't give his best. But how many Sentinels are we talking about? From the sounds of it, you don't exactly want to set up an assembly line."
"To start with, two or three."
"Blair," Jim asked, "how long would that take?"
Blair thought about that. His work with Jim had taken years, but the research Section had done suggested that with a stable bond, a Sentinel was functional within weeks. Functional, but not at a level with Jim, not at first. Two of Section's Sentinels had numbers comparable to Jim's. Blair mentally reviewed those files. "I would need to work with them before they had a guide, explain what the senses are, how they affect daily life."
"I'll need to be there," Jim quickly added. He remembered when Blair had been working with Alex and the growing discomfort he'd felt until Section had murdered the woman and left her body in the courtyard of Rainier.
"They need a wide range of people to choose from," Blair said as he chewed his lip. "Simmons just wanted to pair Sentinels to other soldiers, but no way. People can't make life-partner choices based on what works best for the boss." Blair crossed his arms and dared Jack to argue with that one. He didn't.
"We have a lot of scientific expeditions: botanical, anthropological, astrological, archaeological," Sam said. The Sentinels would meet scientific and military personnel, and they would all be cleared for the program."
"And if two men or two women make a connection?" This time Blair looked right at General Hammond.
"Son, the military has been ignoring what Sentinels and companions did since long before you were born. No one is going to say anything."
"Oh, some might try, they just won't try for long once I find out about it," Jack promised with a dangerous smile. "So, what schedule are we looking at?" Jack asked again.
"I meet with them and work with them for a few days up front, maybe a week. They go to different posts and interact with a lot of people until they settle into pairs on their own," Blair said firmly. "Then I can work with the pairs, maybe a week-long session every two to four months."
"That's it?" Jack looked confused.
"The senses are natural. I have exercises that I can teach the guides to walk the Sentinels through and some tests to identify any weak areas like zoning during flashing lights, but yeah, that's it. Now do you see why this whole thing is idiotic? I have no idea what you've been doing to 'train' your Sentinels, but I'm thinking they'd be better off if you just got out of their way and let them figure it out on their own."
"Chief, I think you might be underestimating yourself," Jim interrupted. "General Hammond, Blair has a habit of just mentioning things in passing that end up being incredibly valuable to my control. After the pairs are settled in, you may want to have a longer term training session set up as a series of training ops."
Hammond nodded thoughtfully. "That's fair. We can set up a series of trainings."
"Man, that still leaves a lot of time unaccounted for," Blair pointed out. "I mean, a week at intake, a week at two and four months, and two weeks at the six month mark. Out of 24 weeks, I'm only working with the Sentinels for five weeks at the most. We could go home to Cascade," Blair argued as he rested his hands on Jim's arms. Jim held him tightly, and Blair watched as Jack and Hammond traded looks.
Jack looked back at them first. "You could work with the Sentinels individually. Three Sentinels would give you 15 weeks of work, and if you're anything like Danny, the extra eight or nine weeks would vanish under all that paper you academic types love to read and write on."
"No," Blair said firmly. "No way. I'm not having my whole life hijacked. If Section really has pulled out..."
"They have," Hammond said quickly. "The President has confirmation on that from both the NID and FBI as well as from Section directly."
Blair nodded, suddenly uncomfortable at the thought of not having Section there in the background, which was an issue he was so going to have to work through in meditation... possibly therapy. Blair strangled a quick and inappropriate need to laugh as he considered what type of therapist must have clearance to work with these people. The therapist was probably as crazy as the patients. "Okay, so someone's going to hijack our lives. Man, my vote goes to whoever hijacks it the least," Blair said firmly. "And that means Jim gets to work at least part time with Major Crimes."
"Chief, that isn't really--"
"No," Blair said firmly, refusing to let Jim say it. "I know you. You need to serve and protect, that's what you do. And if we were going on an active unit, that would be how you protected your tribe, but you are not going to get pushed into the background here, and I don't care what the government needs out of me."
"Is he always this pushy and annoying?" Jack asked with a sigh. Strangely his gaze quickly slid from Blair to Daniel.
"Yep," Jim said fondly.
Jack and Hammond exchanged a long look. Hammond spoke first. "It's theoretically possible, but you have to understand that any attempt to insert you back into your life in Cascade is going to come with a fairly high price." Blair narrowed his eyes at Hammond and waited for the other shoe to drop. He was really tired of dropping shoes at this point. "Section will continue with your security in return for some alien tech."
This time Sam spoke up. "The technology they requested isn't dangerous, but with the resources Section has, we don't know what they might reverse engineer."
"You mean, as opposed to what we reverse engineer?" Daniel asked, and this was obviously an old sore spot for them.
"Danny," Jack warned.
"Jack."
"This is not the time," Jack said firmly.
Daniel just rolled his eyes. "Yes, you see, Blair, there are those who feel that if we go out there and just tell people we represent the entire Earth, we don't actually have to share the technology we find with anyone else, even our allies."
"Section is not an ally," Jack almost yelled. "I don't care who's running the show over there or what they've told the President, the man is an idiot if he thinks we can play nice with Section."
"Colonel!" General Hammond ordered Jack down with a single word, and Jack subsided with a few last mutters.
"Section will protect you, we will pay for that protection with the tech," Hammond repeated. "It would allow you to reenter your life in Cascade, but with Section still watching you..."
Hammond didn't finish, but Blair could tell exactly where he was going anyway. They'd be on two leashes. Blair traded worried looks with Jim. These people added a whole new meaning to Machiavellian.
"You see why you're better off staying here?" Jack asked.
"Blair, I know this is hard, but it's not as if you'd be cut off from your friends and colleagues," Daniel argued earnestly. "You'd have free access to phones and Internet. There's an apartment free near my place, not that I'm ever there, but it'd be nice to have a neighbor who'd save my books if the complex caught on fire."
Blair closed his eyes, trying to just find a space inside his own head to think this through. He wished, just once, that Nikita would have just told them what game she was playing.
"Look, kid, you do this, and Section is still going to have a hold on you. They take you, and there's no promise we'll ever find you again." Jack said it so seriously that Blair was surprised into opening his eyes. Jack was leaning forward with his elbows on the table.
Slowly, Blair started shaking his head. "No. No way are they going to pick us up again. They got what they wanted out of me. Shit. They have my dissertation, my notes, they observed my interaction with Jim for years. They fucking used me to train their Sentinels, and now that they can't get any more out of me, they're trading me for a new, shinier toy. Damn it. Why didn't I see this?" Blair asked as he silently cursed himself.
"One that doesn't fling his shit?" Jack asked, perfectly deadpan. Blair glared at the man, but he just couldn't keep it up for long. Shit, Nikita had traded them away like an old car, and Blair suddenly didn't even have the energy to care.
"Dr. Sandburg, Detective Ellison, are you ready to risk your lives and freedom on that assumption?"
Jim answered first. "Sir, we've lived with that risk for years now. If anything, I'm more comfortable now because Blair's right, they've gotten what they want."
"And if they decide they don't want anyone else to have access to that information?" Jack asked.
Blair swallowed heavily and looked at Jim. He was man enough to admit that he might be totally fucking wrong and signing their death warrants. Jim shrugged. "They would have put a bullet in the back of our heads and left us on the floor with Tobias. Chief, you're right. We just got traded."
"So, do we have a deal, gentlemen?" Hammond asked.
Blair looked up at Jim. They hadn't talked about salaries or schedules or even asked Simon if this would work, but Hammond wanted an answer now.
"Yes, sir, I think we do," Jim answered for them.
Leaning across Jim's body, Blair picked up the phone.
"Yeah?"
"Are you two decent or still fucking like bunnies?" O'Neill asked.
"Um, both." Blair rubbed his face and tried to ignore the frustration starting to build at the very sound of Jack's voice. Jim chuckled and large hands traced some pattern on Blair's hips that only Sentinel eyes could see.
"General Hammond is requesting your presence in the briefing room. I'll send an airman with clean clothes." The phone went dead.
"Sure, we'd love an invitation. How about tomorrow around noon?" Blair asked sarcastically as he hung up the already dead phone. Jim laughed again.
"We have to get out of bed at some point, Chief," Jim pointed out.
"We have. I've gotten out of bed to pee and shower. You've answered the door for food, showered, and spent an hour staring at a painting of trees. See, that's too much out of bed time already," Blair complained softly as he lay down on Jim's chest. Hands immediately ghosted over his skin. Unfortunately, a knock interrupted them when Blair was just sinking into that happy place that was all about lazy touches.
"Annoying minions of the assholed one," Blair said as he crawled out of bed and pretty much stormed over to the door and threw it open. The airman on the other side turned out to be an airwoman who immediately blushed dark red at the sight of Blair in nothing but his tribal necklace.
"Your clothing, sir," she said as she thrust the pile into Blair's arms before quickly turning her back. Blair kicked the door closed with a bare foot. When Blair turned around, Jim was smirking.
"O'Neill did that on purpose," Blair growled as he threw the neatly folded pile at Jim.
"Of course he did," Jim said. "I'll have to thank him later because the look on her face was really just about perfect. You're lucky she didn't knee you, run away screaming, and file charges for sexual harassment."
Blair flipped Jim off, and the other man just laughed as he dug through the pile for the clothes that would fit him. Blair watched Jim move, and was struck by how much more at ease the man seemed now. He laughed a lot more and smiled, and when their dinner showed up burned, had a hundred stories about the Army and bad food instead of growling his displeasure. "Are you getting dressed, Chief, or do you plan to meet with General Hammond naked?"
"Oh man, now that would be precious," Blair said with a wicked smile of his own. Almost immediately, the phone started to ring. Blair looked over suspiciously.
"Tell me he didn't hear that," Blair said as he crossed his arms.
"I picked up the echo from the bug yesterday, but they only have audio, no visual," Jim answered as he pulled on pants. The phone kept ringing. "Don't get your pants wedged up your ass, O'Neill, he's getting dressed," Jim told the ceiling before he tossed Blair the other pair of pants. The phone stopped ringing.
Jim padded over, still barefoot and shirtless, and Blair might have taken interest in a shirtless Jim except for the fact that he had come so much in the last two days that he was fairly sure he wasn't going to be able to hard again. Bending over, Jim whispered in his ear. "O'Neill's trying to give you a heads up that others have heard. NID on scene."
Turning around, Jim headed back for the bed and grabbed one of the black shirts. Blair twitched at the idea of one more secret agency running around. He was as much of a conspiracy theorist as anyone... more than most maybe, but he never wanted to have a close, personal relationship with the conspiracies.
With disgust, Blair pulled on his pants and ran fingers through his hair until he could pull all the curls back into a ponytail. Blair's mood didn't improve as they walked with their escort back down to the lowest levels of the complex. This time they ended up in a new room, a conference room with a huge table. General Hammond was at one end, and all of SG-1 lined up on his right. Blair gave Jack an extra glare before he focused on the other side of the table.
A sharp faced man sat in a tailored suit with a thick file lined up in front of him, but even Blair could smell military on the man, and beside him sat an older soldier in a dress uniform with body language that almost screamed its deference to him. Okay, this would be the NID agent.
"Detective Ellison, Dr. Sandburg," General Hammond said as he stood up to meet them. Jim stood stiffly, but Hammond just walked around the table and offered him a handshake. Once he had shaken hands with Jim, Hammond offered Blair his hand, and Blair shook it suspiciously.
"I'm sorry about the trick, Dr. Sandburg. This is not a traditional command, and I'm afraid that we do use rather unconventional approaches to evaluating our candidates' suitability in the field." Blair wished he could hate Hammond, but over the last couple of days, he had kinda figured that out on his own.
"Man, I just wish you had asked us if we wanted to be recruited before the hazing," Blair said with a roll of his eyes that reduced the whole event to an annoyance.
"Yes, I heard that O'Neill made a particularly bad impression on you both," the sharp-faced man offered. He was standing now, as were his buddy and SG1.
Hammond paused for just a second, just enough to let Blair know that despite Hammond's neutral expression, he didn't like the new guy. "Colonel Simmons, this is Dr. Sandburg and Detective Ellison. And this is Sergeant Collins." Simmons' military buddy simply offered a nod.
"Detective?" Simmons eyebrows went up and the amusement in his voice set Blair on edge. Before he could say anything, Jim had stepped forward.
"My commission hasn't been reactivated."
Simmons nodded. "I had noticed some rather confusing paperwork. Certain paperwork suggests you've been called to active duty, another paperwork trail says you're currently on loan to the FBI for an invisible taskforce, and a mysterious promotion was approved through equally mysterious channels, and yet no one wants to challenge any of it. Up until now you have had some powerful protectors," Simmons said, and if Blair thought they were going to start with the small talk, he was obviously wrong.
"And?" Jim asked dryly. It was the tone that often made suspects start babbling confessions just to avoid whatever might follow.
"And now you don't. Section has pulled out of Cascade."
Blair reached over and grabbed Jim's arm. No way. No way would Nikita tell them they had a choice, back them into choosing Section, and then abandon them. Okay, Nikita would, but not without some sort of reason. Jim reached down and rested a hand on Blair's back.
"Clearly you are less than impressed with the way Stargate Command is run, which is hardly surprising considering the number of times the base has been compromised." Simmons smiled with crocodile charm. "I will say, the bedpan was a nice touch, Dr. Sandburg." The smugness just set Blair's teeth on edge, and no one else in the room seemed to appreciate it either.
"I'm even less impressed with you than I am with Colonel O'Neill at this point," Jim said as he almost bristled with aggression.
"Hey, I could do an encore of the bedpan trick if you want." Blair crossed his arms and looked at Simmons to let him know exactly which direction the shit would be flying this time.
Jack got an amused look on his face. "Now kids," he said in a mockingly paternal voice, "you play nice."
Jim glanced over, and Blair couldn't quite identify the communication that passed between them before Hammond was moving back to the head of the table. "The President has given Colonel Simmons permission to offer you an alternative to working for Stargate Command." Hammond's voice was carefully neutral as he sat at the table. SG1 carefully settled back into their chairs, but Simmons walked around to the end of the table where Jim and Blair stood and offered his hand.
"Colonel Frank Simmons, and I'm sorry I seemed to have made a poor first impression because I think I can offer you a deal that can top anything the SGC can put together." Simmons had come at them with his an unctuous smile that reminded Blair of the Chancellor and all her butt-kissing politics, but before he could do much more than register his dislike, Blair found himself pushed behind Jim.
"Way to prove you're not a caveman," Blair whispered sarcastically, but Jim didn't move from the spot in front of Blair as he stood off against Simmons with his arms crossed. Blair could barely see the colonel as he looked around Jim's shoulder. Simmons' smile slowly faded as he pulled his hand back.
Jack really was smirking now. Smirking and leaning back in his chair with undisguised amusement. At least Daniel was trying for subtle as he watched with a gaze that flickered from them to the table, back to them and then to Jack.
"I can respect your suspicion given the circumstances," Simmons said. The warmth was gone from his voice, but he didn't sound hostile, either. "Perhaps you might feel more comfortable after looking at the details of my offer." Simmons turned back and flipped open his file folder. "I have all the specifics here, but let me outline the deal in broad strokes. Dr. Sandburg would work for us training Sentinels. We can set up a training facility outside Cascade, so you will be able to stay in the area and remain in close contact with friends and family. The training facility would house no more than three Sentinels at a time and a wide range of individuals would remain on base so Dr. Sandburg would have discretion regarding the choice of guides."
Blair stepped forward so that he could catch the packet of papers Simmons sent sliding down the table. "As you can see the salary starts at $117,000 a year, and if the program is successful, bonuses are possible."
Jack whistled. "I didn't know Satan paid so much for souls."
"Colonel," General Hammond said sharply.
Simmons glared at the man. "Detective Ellison," Simmons finally said as he turned back to Jim and Blair, "you may either choose to reactivate your commission and take a leadership role on base or we are prepared to hire you as a civilian consultant. In addition to the Sentinel work Dr. Sandburg will be doing, we will have covert training classes on base, which will provide the pool of potential guides. Your background qualifies you to either teach training classes or coordinate the facility, your choice."
"Wait! You're giving him his own base?!" Jack asked as he now leaned forward. The facetious expression was gone as he frowned at Simmons.
"What are you offering him? His own SG team? You're out of your league here, colonel," Simmons said with a dismissive expression.
"You're assuming I want a command," Jim pointed out dryly.
Simmons shook his head. "We're just as happy to hire you as a trainer, Detective Ellison, just as long as you remember that you will be answering to whoever is in charge of the facility under those circumstances."
"But you won't let him stay a detective with the Cascade police," Blair said the thing that really bothered him the most. Blair loved working with victims in Cascade, loved it. But he'd loved researching South American customs and he'd loved researching people with one or two enhanced senses, and he'd really loved annoying Jim to death with testing. As long as he had Jim, he'd be happy. But Jim was a cop. Blair couldn't really imagine him sitting behind a big desk doing paperwork, and while he could see Jim teaching classes on military tactics, he couldn't see Jim only teaching class.
Simmons sighed as though Blair had just asked a particularly naïve question. "Dr. Sandburg, we can't have you running into the middle of a firefight because Detective Ellison has a zone."
"Zones out," Blair corrected the man automatically.
"When he zones out.... I stand corrected. However, your expertise is simply too valuable to waste, either on the streets of Cascade or on an SGC team."
Blair looked from Simmons to Jim and then to the general. Okay, this was all getting officially strange.
"Why?" Blair asked.
That question caught Simmons off guard. He sat back in his chair and just frowned at Blair for a second.
"You have obviously developed new techniques for training Sentinels that are providing far more useful results. That's worth quite a lot, Dr. Sandburg. Furthermore, you have provided these techniques to Section. While certainly not a terrorist organization or even particularly hostile to American interests, Section is a competing agency. Some might believe that if you were to provide valuable information to a competitor and refuse that same information to the American government, that you could be accused of treason."
Blair could almost feel the aggression rolling from Jim. "So, if we don't work for you, you'll arrest us?" Jim asked.
"Assuming you don't disappear before we have the chance," Simmons said calmly. Blair could feel his stomach sour, and Daniel had an alarmed expression on his face now.
"Do they need lawyers here?" Daniel asked as he leaned forward. "Because they're civilians, and as civilians, they have a right to a lawyer if there's a question of legality."
Simmons gave Daniel a looked of amused condescension. "Dr. Jackson, we're simply discussing options and realities. No one is talking about arresting Detective Ellison and Dr. Sandburg."
"Yet," Blair spat the word. "No, you just make vague threats, but man, I have been threatened by better. And as far as working for you, I would spork myself to death before I'd work for the NID."
Jack spluttered with laughter as his attempt to drink water ended badly. "You tell 'em, Squirt."
Colonel Simmons stood up. "Dr. Sandburg, perhaps you should discuss this with your partner because I don't believe you understand the gravity of this situation. Section has withdrawn their protection, a dozen different agencies have seen what your Sentinel and what Section's Sentinels can now do, and now they're all looking to you for explanations. How many offers of protection can you afford to turn down?"
"Forget it," Blair said, crossing his arms.
Jack stood up. "Hey, you heard the kid, forget it Simmons. Go slime your way into someone else's life." By the time Jack finished, General Hammond and the rest of SG1 were on their feet.
"This is the security of the nation we're talking about, gentlemen." Simmons looked from Jack to Jim and back, clearly not sure who he was supposed to be fighting.
Blair had the weird feeling that he was the prize in a boxing match, and three colonels were about to start throwing punches. Blair inched closer to Jim. Yeah, Jim might think Blair was in charge in their relationship, but when it came to these overt, militaristic shows of power, Blair knew damn well that he came in a pretty sorry second to Jim. In fact, Jim had his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at the whole room in clear alpha-male warning of his own.
"I think my partner was pretty clear, Simmons. We aren't interested in working for the NID," Jim growled. Blair felt a heavy arm go over his shoulders, and he leaned into the touch.
Simmons stared at Jack for a second, a second during which Jack just smirked right back. "And how did you know I represent the NID?" he asked Jim even while still focusing on Jack.
"Hey, wasn't me." Jack held up his hands. "Ellison's got a good nose on him, who knows what he smells on you."
Blair choked back a laugh at the expression on Simmons' face, and Simmons turned to them. "Think about the offer. I'll leave the contracts with you," Simmons said with a nod toward the thick stack still sitting on the table in front of Blair. "We're offering you something that comes closer to your current life than anyone else could offer you."
Simmons stalked out of the room, his silent minion following close behind.
"Well that was..." Jack's voice trailed off.
"Disquieting?" Daniel suggested.
"I was going to go for something more inappropriate," Jack shrugged.
"Gentlemen," Hammond said, focusing on Jim and Blair as SG1 took their seats again. "The offer Colonel Simmons brought is genuine. I can't say I like the man, but I have it from the President that the government will honor any deals he makes."
"Funny, they're after the runt, after all," Jack said with a dry laugh.
"Colonel, that runt has given Section an advantage that's only now being recognized in the intelligence community. Old dogs like you and me were introduced to the idea of Sentinels as niche players with very little practical application in the field."
"Hey!" Blair protested. "That is so not true. Jim is a walking crime lab. Have you seen his case closure rate?"
"That's the point, Chief," Jim said as he tightened his arm around Blair's shoulders. "If the military had trained my senses, I wouldn't be a walking crime lab."
General Hammond shook his head. "Son, I doubt you'd be able to function as a detective at all. Hundreds of men and women have the potential for hyperactive senses, and for the most part, the military avoids activating them. Active Sentinels are territorial, aggressive, prone to seizures and allergies, and have limited control over their senses. Surveillance equipment is far more accurate."
Blair frowned at that description. "No way."
"Without your training, that is true of Sentinels," Hammond said.
Jack nodded in agreement. "But if you can train Sentinels as good as Ellison here, I can see the advantage of that. The General and I have actually been doing a lot of reviewing on your case and on some intel the CIA has gathered on Section, not that they have that much, but," Jack shrugged. "The point is that you're good, Ellison. I never would have dreamed of sending a Sentinel in undercover, and you've handled some difficult assignments, and from the oddities in your case files, you've used your senses heavily while undercover. I can definitely see the advantage of that."
"Indeed. Tau'ri equipment is conspicuous when attempting to conceal one's identity," Teal'c offered. Blair blinked, totally caught off balance by the sudden lack of aggression in the room.
"Would you like to take a seat?" Hammond waved a hand toward the half-dozen open chairs at the table, and Blair glanced up at Jim.
Jim had a curious expression on his face, but Blair wasn't about to ask what he was picking up on. He just followed Jim's lead, dropping into a seat and rolling it a little closer to the seat Jim had taken at the far end of the table from General Hammond. Now Jim and Blair were on one side of the table with the four members of SG1 on the other.
"Simmons and his buddy leave behind NID cooties?" Jack asked as he glanced at the empty chairs between Jim and General Hammond.
"I don't like the way he smells," Jim shrugged.
"Look," Daniel jumped in, and Blair could pretty much guess that the man hoped to talk fast enough to keep Jack quiet. Jack seemed to accept that Daniel was taking center stage because he leaned back in his chair and watched his teammate. "This mission left us all on edge. Let's start by defining the positions that we each feel are absolutely non-negotiable. If Section has withdrawn, you need protection, and maybe we can find some common ground."
Blair glanced at Jim, but the man had emotionally withdrawn.
"We aren't talking about Section. Man, I so do not even want to think about Section too loudly because those people are scary. Way scarier than you are," Blair said as he looked around the table.
Daniel glanced at Jack, but it was General Hammond who actually spoke up. "Son, did you choose to join Section?"
Blair snorted, but then shut up as Jim's hand rested on his arm in a warning.
Jack leaned forward. "I don't want Section getting first hand stories about what goes on in here. It's bad enough that the entire base knows that I got shit thrown at me, I really don't need that story going any farther."
Blair had no idea what to say to that. He remembered being in that chair, and the pain. He never thought he could hurt so much, and if it came down to it, Blair was fairly sure he would confess to shooting President Kennedy and fathering alien babies before he would hold out against that pain.
Luckily Jim spoke. "I can't make promises, Colonel, no more than any other member of your team could. I won't willingly give the information and if my information is time sensitive, I will hold out as long as I can to give you an advantage, but when it comes down to it, if Section wants the information out of us, they will get it."
Jack and Hammond traded looks. "That's fair," Jack said.
Daniel smiled at him. "Okay, so we have some common ground."
"They are not going on a team," Jack immediately countered in a tone that challenged anyone to argue with him. Daniel's smile vanished at Jack's tone of voice.
"Jim's the one who got the job done, not you," Blair snapped right back.
"I don't even know what job got done. He tells me there's a new foothold situation with an unidentified alien, and then he checks out for lala land. You think I'm going to have that in the middle of an op?" Jack demanded.
"Whoa, if you hadn't split us up, he wouldn't have zoned."
"HEY!" Daniel shouted over both of them. "We're defining positions, not arguing over the mission."
Teal'c almost smiled. "It appears they are, in fact, arguing over the mission," he intoned seriously. Daniel glared at him.
"No, they aren't," Daniel said firmly. Teal'c tilted his head.
Jack was still shaking his head. "Sandburg, I won't have you in the field and if you aren't there, I don't want Ellison close enough to even hear the field."
"Because of my theories on Sentinels?" Blair asked incredulously. "Man, I can give you a copy of my not-so-secret dissertation. It's not like I'm doing something wild and crazy; I just treat Jim like a competent human being."
Jack laughed and poked his thumb at Sam. "Carter here has a PhD in being way too good at knowing everything and is the leading authority on the Stargate, the dialing device, the hand device and just about every other piece of alien tech we've ever found. Daniel has PhD's in Archeology and Philology and can curse at me in more languages than anyone else--on or off earth. And Teal'c--" Jack looked over and Teal'c just gazed back. "Teal'c's Teal'c," Jack shrugged. "Look, if I was worried about protecting assets, I'd worry a lot more about their assets than yours. But they aren't going to have a panic attack in the middle of a mission."
"That wasn't--" Blair started, but Jim cut him off.
"That's fair," Jim said. Blair turned and glared at the man, but Jim had his stoic look on. "Chief, you always come through in the end, but if you panic on a mission, even for a second, you could make younger members of the team panic. If you're working with me or Simon, that doesn't matter. It would with some eighteen year old first lieutenant from Omaha. Besides," the corner of Jim's lips twitched, "do you even want a combat position?"
"So not the point, man," Blair said unhappily.
Jack just snorted at the admission that Blair didn't actually want the position. "It's not just you Sandburg. I won't have Ellison in the field either. As a captain, he'd be an asset, but as a colonel, he'd be an unmitigated disaster."
Jim's hand on Blair's arm tightened immediately. "Blair, I have to focus on my senses and let you watch my back. A team leader is supposed to be in control at all times. O'Neill's right; a Sentinel really is not designed for a command position." Blair opened his mouth to argue that piece of illogical logic.
"I wouldn't send Carter in command of a combat mission for the same reason," Jack said before Blair could even get out a sound. "She has saved our lives more often than I can count, but for her to use her skills, she needs to concentrate on whatever gizmo is trying to blow us up. It's my job to defend her so she can concentrate. Being a Sentinel is no different. Ellison can't be a colonel and a Sentinel at the same time."
Blair looked around the room and realized that as much as he hated it, as much as he thought of Jim as being damn near unstoppable, Jack was being frighteningly logical. "Man, it really sucks that you're being reasonable. I really preferred hating you," Blair complained, and even Hammond smiled at that. However, if Jim and Jack were going to gang up on a particular point, Blair had to admit that he probably wasn't going to win.
"So, let's define our positions," Daniel suggested. "You two won't be in combat and you won't willingly compromise security."
"No way do I want to sign up for the military. I'm not enlisting, and no way is Jim getting forced back in. I wouldn't do that even for Section," Blair added. Jack narrowed his eyes in confusion for a second, but Hammond quickly agreed.
"That's fine. You and Ellison can both take civilian positions. We do, however, require full confidentiality agreements."
Blair waved his hand at that. "Whatever. Man, secrets are not so secretive in this whole covert ops world, but I'm not going to be the one telling anyone anything."
"Blair, that means you can't use any of your research to publish," Daniel said seriously, and Blair stopped when he saw the curiously pained expression on Daniel's face.
"Oh man. Your life's work... you can't publish any of it," Blair said with a grimace. "Man, that seriously sucks."
"It'll be the same for you," Daniel warned, and Blair smiled at the concern in the other scientist's face.
"No problem. I write about my work in Cascade with the PD. I never have been able to take my primary thesis to any journals, but I can write a paper on anything; that's how I got into working on victimization." Blair didn't add that Section had set him up for that life.
"And now that you won't be working in Cascade, will you be equally happy without being able to publish at all?" Hammond asked just as seriously.
Blair stared at the man, and that little feeling of panic was back. "No way. No, I'm not going to spend my life underground in some secret facility. Man, I want to go home." Blair looked to Jim for backup on this one.
Jim was nodding. "We don't have a problem working for you. Blair can train Sentinels in Cascade, but we aren't going to disappear like Jackson here did," Jim said firmly.
"Jackson disappeared?" Blair asked, suddenly concerned. He so had not gotten the feeling that Daniel had been forcibly recruited, but now...
Daniel obviously knew what Blair was thinking. "I stood in front of a room and argued that aliens built the pyramids. Trust me, the disappearing was all about me saving face," he said wryly. "I was such a kid that I actually believed that people would listen just because I was telling the truth."
"Man, not smart," Blair sympathized.
"Sounds like someone I know," Jim said as he reached over and tugged Blair's ponytail.
"Yeah, that's Danny for you. He's the most brilliant man I know, but not a lot of common sense," Jack said fondly. "But Blair, you need to remember that people are interested in what you're doing. If you're in Cascade, there's a limit to how well we can protect you."
"I've read..." Blair stopped, not willing to talk specifically about what he'd read in Section documents. "Sentinels are protectors. If I'm working with military Sentinels, I'll be the most well-defended person in America. Old ladies with dangerous looking handbags won't be able to get near me."
Jack exchanged a look with Hammond, and now Blair just knew they knew something. "We need Sentinels who can go off-world, and that means going through the gate with them," Hammond said.
"Cool," Blair quickly answered, and Jack rolled his eyes.
"Look, kid, these men and women are going to be relying on your training and they'll die if you don't take this seriously."
Blair had stood up before he even registered Jim's grip on his shoulder. "Don't go there. You think I would ever short-change a Sentinel just because I think you're an asshole? No way. No fucking way. They're tribal warriors... they're watchmen patrolling the boundaries of the tribe, no matter how big that tribe gets. Their lives are hard enough without getting used like chess pieces on a board, so don't even try to tell me I don't take this seriously."
"Chief, just calm down," Jim said, and Blair found himself pulled back into Jim's chest and held.
"O'Neill, you're an idiot if you think Blair wouldn't give his best. But how many Sentinels are we talking about? From the sounds of it, you don't exactly want to set up an assembly line."
"To start with, two or three."
"Blair," Jim asked, "how long would that take?"
Blair thought about that. His work with Jim had taken years, but the research Section had done suggested that with a stable bond, a Sentinel was functional within weeks. Functional, but not at a level with Jim, not at first. Two of Section's Sentinels had numbers comparable to Jim's. Blair mentally reviewed those files. "I would need to work with them before they had a guide, explain what the senses are, how they affect daily life."
"I'll need to be there," Jim quickly added. He remembered when Blair had been working with Alex and the growing discomfort he'd felt until Section had murdered the woman and left her body in the courtyard of Rainier.
"They need a wide range of people to choose from," Blair said as he chewed his lip. "Simmons just wanted to pair Sentinels to other soldiers, but no way. People can't make life-partner choices based on what works best for the boss." Blair crossed his arms and dared Jack to argue with that one. He didn't.
"We have a lot of scientific expeditions: botanical, anthropological, astrological, archaeological," Sam said. The Sentinels would meet scientific and military personnel, and they would all be cleared for the program."
"And if two men or two women make a connection?" This time Blair looked right at General Hammond.
"Son, the military has been ignoring what Sentinels and companions did since long before you were born. No one is going to say anything."
"Oh, some might try, they just won't try for long once I find out about it," Jack promised with a dangerous smile. "So, what schedule are we looking at?" Jack asked again.
"I meet with them and work with them for a few days up front, maybe a week. They go to different posts and interact with a lot of people until they settle into pairs on their own," Blair said firmly. "Then I can work with the pairs, maybe a week-long session every two to four months."
"That's it?" Jack looked confused.
"The senses are natural. I have exercises that I can teach the guides to walk the Sentinels through and some tests to identify any weak areas like zoning during flashing lights, but yeah, that's it. Now do you see why this whole thing is idiotic? I have no idea what you've been doing to 'train' your Sentinels, but I'm thinking they'd be better off if you just got out of their way and let them figure it out on their own."
"Chief, I think you might be underestimating yourself," Jim interrupted. "General Hammond, Blair has a habit of just mentioning things in passing that end up being incredibly valuable to my control. After the pairs are settled in, you may want to have a longer term training session set up as a series of training ops."
Hammond nodded thoughtfully. "That's fair. We can set up a series of trainings."
"Man, that still leaves a lot of time unaccounted for," Blair pointed out. "I mean, a week at intake, a week at two and four months, and two weeks at the six month mark. Out of 24 weeks, I'm only working with the Sentinels for five weeks at the most. We could go home to Cascade," Blair argued as he rested his hands on Jim's arms. Jim held him tightly, and Blair watched as Jack and Hammond traded looks.
Jack looked back at them first. "You could work with the Sentinels individually. Three Sentinels would give you 15 weeks of work, and if you're anything like Danny, the extra eight or nine weeks would vanish under all that paper you academic types love to read and write on."
"No," Blair said firmly. "No way. I'm not having my whole life hijacked. If Section really has pulled out..."
"They have," Hammond said quickly. "The President has confirmation on that from both the NID and FBI as well as from Section directly."
Blair nodded, suddenly uncomfortable at the thought of not having Section there in the background, which was an issue he was so going to have to work through in meditation... possibly therapy. Blair strangled a quick and inappropriate need to laugh as he considered what type of therapist must have clearance to work with these people. The therapist was probably as crazy as the patients. "Okay, so someone's going to hijack our lives. Man, my vote goes to whoever hijacks it the least," Blair said firmly. "And that means Jim gets to work at least part time with Major Crimes."
"Chief, that isn't really--"
"No," Blair said firmly, refusing to let Jim say it. "I know you. You need to serve and protect, that's what you do. And if we were going on an active unit, that would be how you protected your tribe, but you are not going to get pushed into the background here, and I don't care what the government needs out of me."
"Is he always this pushy and annoying?" Jack asked with a sigh. Strangely his gaze quickly slid from Blair to Daniel.
"Yep," Jim said fondly.
Jack and Hammond exchanged a long look. Hammond spoke first. "It's theoretically possible, but you have to understand that any attempt to insert you back into your life in Cascade is going to come with a fairly high price." Blair narrowed his eyes at Hammond and waited for the other shoe to drop. He was really tired of dropping shoes at this point. "Section will continue with your security in return for some alien tech."
This time Sam spoke up. "The technology they requested isn't dangerous, but with the resources Section has, we don't know what they might reverse engineer."
"You mean, as opposed to what we reverse engineer?" Daniel asked, and this was obviously an old sore spot for them.
"Danny," Jack warned.
"Jack."
"This is not the time," Jack said firmly.
Daniel just rolled his eyes. "Yes, you see, Blair, there are those who feel that if we go out there and just tell people we represent the entire Earth, we don't actually have to share the technology we find with anyone else, even our allies."
"Section is not an ally," Jack almost yelled. "I don't care who's running the show over there or what they've told the President, the man is an idiot if he thinks we can play nice with Section."
"Colonel!" General Hammond ordered Jack down with a single word, and Jack subsided with a few last mutters.
"Section will protect you, we will pay for that protection with the tech," Hammond repeated. "It would allow you to reenter your life in Cascade, but with Section still watching you..."
Hammond didn't finish, but Blair could tell exactly where he was going anyway. They'd be on two leashes. Blair traded worried looks with Jim. These people added a whole new meaning to Machiavellian.
"You see why you're better off staying here?" Jack asked.
"Blair, I know this is hard, but it's not as if you'd be cut off from your friends and colleagues," Daniel argued earnestly. "You'd have free access to phones and Internet. There's an apartment free near my place, not that I'm ever there, but it'd be nice to have a neighbor who'd save my books if the complex caught on fire."
Blair closed his eyes, trying to just find a space inside his own head to think this through. He wished, just once, that Nikita would have just told them what game she was playing.
"Look, kid, you do this, and Section is still going to have a hold on you. They take you, and there's no promise we'll ever find you again." Jack said it so seriously that Blair was surprised into opening his eyes. Jack was leaning forward with his elbows on the table.
Slowly, Blair started shaking his head. "No. No way are they going to pick us up again. They got what they wanted out of me. Shit. They have my dissertation, my notes, they observed my interaction with Jim for years. They fucking used me to train their Sentinels, and now that they can't get any more out of me, they're trading me for a new, shinier toy. Damn it. Why didn't I see this?" Blair asked as he silently cursed himself.
"One that doesn't fling his shit?" Jack asked, perfectly deadpan. Blair glared at the man, but he just couldn't keep it up for long. Shit, Nikita had traded them away like an old car, and Blair suddenly didn't even have the energy to care.
"Dr. Sandburg, Detective Ellison, are you ready to risk your lives and freedom on that assumption?"
Jim answered first. "Sir, we've lived with that risk for years now. If anything, I'm more comfortable now because Blair's right, they've gotten what they want."
"And if they decide they don't want anyone else to have access to that information?" Jack asked.
Blair swallowed heavily and looked at Jim. He was man enough to admit that he might be totally fucking wrong and signing their death warrants. Jim shrugged. "They would have put a bullet in the back of our heads and left us on the floor with Tobias. Chief, you're right. We just got traded."
"So, do we have a deal, gentlemen?" Hammond asked.
Blair looked up at Jim. They hadn't talked about salaries or schedules or even asked Simon if this would work, but Hammond wanted an answer now.
"Yes, sir, I think we do," Jim answered for them.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 04:07 am (UTC)I hope you write a sequel, I'd like to see more of SG1's interactions with them and I'd like to see Jack and Blair come to a better relationship.
Impressive story, and they've just been so manipulated and press-ganged.
Laurie
no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 04:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 05:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 05:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 05:59 am (UTC)Hmm. I'm not sure at all just what I think about all this. I shall have to ponder on it awhile. =>}
Wonderful writing in a very intricate and interesting universe. Thanks! *g*
no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 06:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 06:04 am (UTC)No, no, no! Nothing like that at all!
I just built up so much anger throughout the whole story because their lives had been taken away and they could never get them back again. I know there's really no way out of it and that this choice is as good as it gets, still I stay angry for them both.
Don't worry about it. Well written stories can affect me this way. It is BECAUSE it is so well written that it does so. =>}
It is an excellent read. Thanks again for sharing it with us. =>}
no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 07:08 am (UTC)nevertheles, a good job...I hope, you will write a new sentinel story soon.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 07:15 am (UTC)Jack nodded in agreement. "But if you can train Sentinels as good as Ellison here, I can see the advantage of that. The General and I have actually been doing a lot of reviewing on your case and on some intel the CIA has gathered on Section, not that they have that much, but," Jack shrugged. "The point is that you're good, Ellison. I never would have dreamed of sending a Sentinel in undercover, and you've handled some difficult assignments, and from the oddities in your case files, you've used your senses heavily while undercover. I can definitely see the advantage of that."
no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 07:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-09 04:10 am (UTC)Shadows And Siege 19
Date: 2008-05-07 10:05 am (UTC)Wee fixes:
Jim chuckled and large hands tracing some pattern [traced]
as she thrust out the pile into Blair's arm [thrust the]
you use both Ph.D. and PhD, need to standardise on one of them
panic on a mission, even for second, [a second]
Jack was being frightening logical [frighteningly]
if you don't take this seriously. [seriously."]
on that assumption. [assumption?]
Re: Shadows And Siege 19
Date: 2008-05-09 04:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 12:20 pm (UTC)That was like watching some bizarre mating dance on a documentary channel - so much posturing and bravado at the start - rejection of one partner and eventual acceptance of another.(sorry it's early, I couldn't sleep, my brain is in weird mode!)
Excellent to see Simmons get kicked into touch. The man makes me want to take a shower. Very complex negotiations, but then Section are anything but straightforward - even without being present, they still dominate the proceedings. At least Jack and co are straightforward by comparison, so in the end I don't think the boys had a choice. This isn't a comfortable resolution, but in this world, it's probably a realistic one.
Skips off to the final chapter.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-09 04:14 am (UTC)And yeah, Jack is more straightforward. I think in the long run there will be some respect between these guys even if the trust is always a little strained.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-07 03:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-09 04:15 am (UTC)