Shadows and Siege 7
Second post in two days, so read 'em in order!!!
Shadows and Siege Part 7
Sequel to Shadows of the Past
Fandoms: Primary: Sentinel. Secondary: La Femme Nikita, Stargate SG-1
Slash, Rated: ADULT
Shadows and Siege part one
Shadows and Siege part two
Shadows and Siege part three
Shadows and Siege part four
Shadows and Siege part five
Shadows and Siege part six
"Get Section on the line," Jim ordered as he swept into the room where Clare was sitting crosslegged and tapping away at the computer in the middle of the huge bed.
"Sir?" she asked.
"Get Nikita on the line, soldier," Jim snapped, obviously not in a mood for having anyone question his orders. The sudden snap from the forced casualness on the street to this military sharpness caught Blair as off-guard as anyone, so he could only watch as Jim paced the room and glared at Clare as he waited for her to get the connection live.
Karl Jurgen slipped into the room and glanced questioningly at Blair, but he could only shrug his shoulders. He certainly had no idea what had driven Jim into military-mode. "Colonel," Karl said carefully, and Blair noticed that it was the first time Karl had ever used Jim's rank… the first time Karl had even revealed that he knew Jim's rank. "What's the situation?"
"Colonel O'Neill, Dr. Jackson, and Major Carter are all confirmed. Teal'c is no doubt somewhere close. And I'm not sure, but I think I caught something following us, possibly NID." Jim stopped at the covered window and stared at it.
"Oh." Karl didn't say any more, but Clare had turned a lovely shade of white.
"Colonel?" she said softly as she turned the laptop toward him and abandoned the bed, "I have Nikita on the line."
Jim went and sat near the computer, his fingers hovering above the keyboard for a second. "Tobias, Jurgen, walk north perimeter. Knudsen," he said into his lapel, "get Bruhn and walk south. I want listening bugs planted at twenty yard intervals."
"Should I get Makepeace and Clark?" Clare asked. Jim's fingers twitched, violently curling before he stretched them out again. "No." He said the word sharply enough that Clare came to attention before Karl's hand rested on her shoulder.
"We'll gather the supplies," Karl said quietly and then he was pulling Clare out of the room.
"Oh man, what the hell is wrong with you?" Blair demanded the second they were alone. Jim looked at him blankly for a moment and then started typing.
"Nothing."
Jim stared at the screen as though expecting something to jump out at him. His whole body was tense.
"Don't shut me out," Blair warned as he turned a wooden chair backwards and straddled it.
"Chief," Jim strangled the word as he hit the computer keys a little harder than really necessary.
"Jim, man, we're in this together. Look, I don't know if it's the goa'uld or this whole bonding situation, but you are like seriously freaking out here."
"I do not freak out," Jim said darkly.
"Of course not," Blair snorted as he watched Jim pound the computer even harder. "You just do a good impression of freaking out," he added. Jim just stopped, his hands curled into fists on either side of the computer.
"Do you trust me?" Jim asked, and he looked up with such fear and despair in his eyes, that Blair immediately moved to his side and leaned into him.
"Without reservation. I trust you more than Naomi, and I adore my mom, you know that."
"You trust me even if I don't seem to be acting rationally?" Jim asked.
That made Blair pause. He studied Jim's face, and the immediate and simplistic answer died on his lips. Remembering how the other Sentinel had reacted to Seth, Blair could admit to having just a little bit of fear curling at the bottom of his stomach. "Oh man, I believed when you saw a ghost, but there are limits. If you start doing something like sitting in a bell tower with a high-powered rifle I'm so not going to be the one handing you ammunition."
Jim snorted and scrubbed his face with one hand as he watched the computer screen. Blair tried to edge closer, but Jim gave him such a cold look that he stopped and held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Fine, geez, you seriously need an attitude check."
"Sandburg," Jim practically growled, and then he was typing again, this time a little slower. "Blair, give me your impression of the team."
"The whole team?" Blair retreated to the chair and straddled it again. Jim glanced up and then focused on the computer again without answering. "Okay, the whole team. Clare and Karl are so totally doing it… either that or they're about to."
"That's not your impression of them, that's just a statement of fact," Jim said with a wry expression.
"Fact? Really? Oh man, I knew it. Knudsen and Bruhn are too, aren't they?"
Jim rolled his eyes. "Either that or they're bathing in each other's sperm. Chief, I need your impression of the team members, each of them. Limit yourself to three words per person."
Blair looked at Jim for a moment. "James Joseph Ellison, occasional asshole," he started. Jim barely twitched. "Hannu Knudsen, loyal. Of course, maybe that's because of what Bruhn did for him, but I'm fairly sure he'd be happy to die if it meant saving Bruhn."
"That's more than three words, Chief," Jim said, but his voice was distracted as he typed on the computer.
"James Joseph Ellison, often an asshole," Blair amended himself softly, "and that's three words." Jim just grunted. "Fine. Korporal Miko Bruhn-unflappable, professional. Rebecca Clark-calm under fire. Robert Makepeace-hates me. Clare Tobias-smart and nervous. Karl Jurgen--." Blair stopped. No way could he describe Karl Jurgen in three words or less.
"Nevermind," Jim said with a frown.
"Oh man, you're freaking me out here," Blair said quietly. Jim stopped typing and rested his head on the heel of his hand, his elbow propped on his knee so that he looked like the perfect image of exhaustion. For a long minute, he sat there, unmoving, as the computer beeped for attention.
"Jim?" Blair got up, concerned that his Sentinel had slipped into another zone, but Jim took a deep breath and sat up before focusing on the computer screen.
"You know, I used to call all the weird shit in my life the Sandburg zone," Jim sighed.
"Used to?"
Jim shook his head, refusing to answer, and that cold touch of fear skittered across Blair's nerves. "Go get the rest of the team. As soon as the listening bugs are planted, I want everyone in this room."
It was the first indicator that Jim had turned off his lapel mike that kept him connected to the rest of the team, and the cold fear sharpened. But all Blair could do was nod in agreement. This wasn't his world, and he didn't know how to keep them safe, so he had to rely on Jim. He just really wished he understood what was up with him.
Since Blair didn't have a mike that everyone automatically heard, he took the long route and just walked the area, casually giving the others a little circle with his finger to tell them to head to the rally point. Clare and Karl were holding hands and wandering the street, stopping to kiss and slip listening bugs into inconspicuous corners. Knudsen and Bruhn were playing friendly drunks having a good belching contest and generally convincing the people of Slovenia that Americans were as crass and disgusting as the worst stereotype they could imagine. Their American accents weren't doing much to improve the locals' opinions either. Bruhn sounded like an escapee from the Dukes of Hazard and Knudsen's voice was all nasal tones. And what was really sad was that they totally sounded American.
Upstairs, Clark and Makepeace had both retreated to their individual rooms, and Blair gave each door a quick knock before heading back to Jim's side. When he got to the room, Jim was still in front of the computer, but now his sidearm was out, resting on the bed next to him, and Blair was truly ready to freak.
"Come sit over here, Chief," Jim said quietly, gesturing toward the portion of the bed behind him.
"Tell me you're not about to do something stupid," Blair begged.
Jim's face hardened into something cold and unflinching. "Blair, trust me," he said calmly. Right, this just might be the rifle in the bell tower moment, but looking at Jim's face, Blair couldn't do anything but trust him. He walked to Jim's side and sat behind him on the bed. Rebecca Clark and Makepeace got there first, both looking confused. Clark's ponytail had lost several strands of hair on one side, and Blair was guessing that he had woken her. She'd had night watch, so she probably hadn't gotten enough sleep. Jim nodded to them and kept his eyes focused on the computer. Makepeace immediately went to parade rest and ignored them, but Rebecca shot a confused look in Blair's direction. Blair could only shrug helplessly.
Clare and Karl slipped in next. Clare looked a little more comfortable, but she still had a slightly nervous expression. Out on the street, Karl had taken care of that by kissing her until she had stood with her eyes half closed in a look of pure bliss, but Blair didn't figure that strategy would work well in this room, especially considering Jim's foul mood. Finally Knudsen and Bruhn appeared, closing the door behind them. Jim sat up straight and considered everyone in the room.
"We have a situation. SG-1 is on scene with orders to neutralize the goa'uld. NID agents are also confirmed on the ground, and their intel seems to be better than anticipated. SG-1 and the NID have all tracked the goa'uld to the university although neither team seems to have identified the aliens yet. Section does not want a conflict with SG-1, so the mission protocol has changed."
"Sir?" Clare asked, and the fear was just below her façade of calm.
"You and Makepeace are to remain out of sight at all times," Jim said. "Tobias, continue trying to track the goa'uld through their computer activity. Makepeace, you and Clark are in charge of security for Tobias and the computer and communications equipment. At no time are any of you to leave this building."
"Sir," Makepeace said, his lips drawn to a thin, tight line. "What is the mission protocol if SG-1 breaches security?"
Jim stared at the man, and it took Blair a second to process what Makepeace was asking. Blair knew that Colonel O'Neill had arrested Makepeace after they'd served together for years, but Blair couldn't even guess whether Makepeace wanted permission to shoot the colonel or a promise that he wouldn't have to.
"Stay out of sight," Jim repeated. "If all else fails, wipe the computers and meet at checkpoint delta. If cornered, surrender, but you are not to provide any information to Stargate Command for any reason. Understood?" Jim looked from one face to another and they all nodded.
"What about me?" Karl asked calmly.
"You, Bruhn and Knudsen will form second unit. Spend as much time as you can tailing our two goa'ulds. Record all contacts and make your observations. You need to report back to Makepeace and Tobias… and Clark every four hours, keep downtime limited to the local area." Jim's eye had that minute twitch that suggested he was on the verge of completely losing his temper, and Blair touched his back, silently offering his support.
"And you?" Karl leaned forward, his face a study in polite curiosity and nothing more.
"Blair and I have our own orders. Dismissed." Jim stood up with his sidearm in hand, and for a panicked second, Blair had the vague impression he was going to use it on the team. Instead he slid it into the hidden holster at the small of his back.
Rebecca hesitated for so long that Makepeace gently slipped a hand under her elbow and twitched it to move her along, and then Blair found himself sitting in the room with a pacing Jim who was looking more like his spirit animal with every passing second.
"Jim," Blair said slowly and carefully. He took all his frustrations, labeled them and neatly set them aside as he tried to focus on the reality. "Jim, you need to talk to me before I do something drastic and unpleasant."
"Something-" Jim choked on what sounded like a laugh.
"Man, I am not kidding. I understand that on the street we can't talk. I am there with you on how you needed to maintain authority in front of the others. But this is just the two of us, and if you don't stop shutting me the fuck out, you're going to wake up with schmuck tattooed on your forehead in tribal symbols. And man, you do not want to know the tribal symbol for schmuck, much less have it tattooed on your head."
"Blair," Jim sighed.
"Unless the next words out of your mouth are an explanation or an apology, save it. I'm not a member of your team, I'm your fucking guide."
Jim opened his mouth, and Blair sprang up off the bed. "And if you say one fucking thing about me not actually being your guide because of this bond, I will strip naked and tackle you right now."
"You think you could take me?" And now Blair could see amusement in Jim's face and the deepening of those little lines at the corners of his mouth even if he wasn't technically smiling.
"I know more about your senses than you do, Ellison. If it came down to a fight, I’m betting on me." Blair gasped and took a step back as he realized what he had just said. "Shit. I didn't mean that. I'm frustrated, and I'm taking it out on you."
"So," Jim said as he crossed his arms, "you *don't* think you could take me?" he asked in a deceptively quiet voice that so wasn't fooling Blair.
"There is no answer that won't get me in trouble, so I'm taking the fifth," Blair quickly answered as he held his hands up in surrender. For a moment, he thought Jim might start yelling, or even worse, storm out, but instead Jim just scrubbed his face with his hand and took a deep breath.
"I am sorry, Chief."
"That apology had better be because of your shitty attitude and not because of some bizarre sense of guilt for dragging me into this, which you didn't."
Jim nodded and came over to the bed, sitting down heavily before he reached over and flipped the laptop shut.
"That bad?" Blair asked.
Jim nodded. "Out there. I zoned."
"Oh man, I was there. I haven't seen you check out like that for a while."
Jim was still nodding, and Blair sat next to him, so close that their thighs touched. Jim's hand reached out and hovered over Blair's knee for a second before he pulled it back without touching. "Clark isn't one of us."
"Rebecca? What? Oh shit. Is she a spy?" Blair hated this espionage crap. He wanted to trust people. He didn't want to turn into someone so closed off and suspicious that he couldn't open his heart to trust. Besides, of all the people on the team, he actually liked Rebecca the most. He so could not see her spying for the NID.
The low, strained chuckle from Jim made the hairs on Blair's arms stand up. "Jim?"
"She isn't one of us at all. She didn't come with us. She was on the street and she did something and all these memories came flooding in… meeting her in Section, training with her, the way she was the only one of the team to stick up for you when you kept screwing up during drills."
"But… Jim, that did happen." Blair could feel the panic start. Something was seriously wrong with Jim. Seriously.
Jim was already shaking his head. "No. It didn't. I could remember those things like one sheet of stained glass laying over another so that the pattern was distorted, so I just confirmed with Nikita. Our team has seven members: Makepeace, Tobias, Jurgen, Bruhn, Knudsen, you and me. There is no Rebecca Clark."
"But-"
"Chief, trust me," Jim said with such seriousness that it derailed all of Blair's objections. "Whatever she did, it couldn't override the senses. She isn't one of us. She did something to make us remember things that aren't real. Section has no record of Rebecca Clark even existing."
"Fuck." Blair breathed the word, his brain still struggling to sort through memories that he suddenly found he couldn't trust. "What else is wrong in our memories? Oh man, this whole conflict we're having over bonding… is that real?"
"As far as I can tell, Rebecca Clark just added herself to our memories." Jim sounded tired.
"So, when you told them that we have a different mission protocol-we're going to find out where she came from?"
Jim sat and stared into space for so long that Blair just knew he wasn't going to like the next words to come out of his mouth. "We are officially compromised," Jim finally admitted.
"That's sounding ominously… ominous."
Jim shook his head and reached over to rest his hand on Blair's knee. "They aren't going to cancel us," he quickly reassured Blair, and Blair could feel his heart start to slow. He hadn't even realized it had been racing until that point. "They just don't trust us to be in command with compromised memories. They're sending another shadow unit to watch Clark, Makepeace and Tobias, and we have orders to make ourselves available to the other unit capable of eliminating the goa'uld threat while Section evaluates the Clark situation."
"In English?" Blair asked. He sure didn't know about any other units in the area.
"We're supposed to let SG-1 capture us so they can use my senses to identify the goa'uld," Jim said quietly.
"Aw, shit." Blair groaned and fell back on the bed so he could stare blankly at the ceiling. "Man, do you have any idea how many ways that could go wrong?"
"Yeah, Chief, I do. But it's that or disobey Section orders."
"Which is up there with suicide by cop, but with even more of a chance of ending up dead," Blair agreed.
"Yep. And we are not to mention Clark or her amazing ability to manipulate the human mind."
Blair rolled onto his side and frowned at Jim. "Wait. We aren't supposed to tell the frontline defenders of the Earth that either a new species of alien is invading or the goa'uld have a bright, shiny new toy that fucks with the mind? Jim?"
"I know." Jim scrubbed his face even harder. "I know, but those are the orders."
"Stupid orders, and you know how I feel about stupid orders."
"And if we do tell them?" Jim demanded as he stood up and started pacing again. "She slips false memories into their heads and they'll do whatever she tells them. She could convince them she's the president. We can't afford to compromise them. Our orders are to provide assistance and maintain a safe distance between Clark and SG-1."
"So we compromise Makepeace and Tobias by leaving them here with no warning." Blair knew he had scored a direct hit when Jim's jaw locked and his face lost much of its color.
"I know," Jim said softly. "I hate this, but we have to contain Clark and we don't know if she can remove thoughts as easily as she implants them."
"Jim, she could be reading us right now," Blair said, and now he could feel his heart starting to pound painfully fast.
"I felt it, Blair. Whatever she did, I felt it. And she was close to us on the street even though she looked different at the time. She was the heavy woman with the flower dress standing near one of the houses. But this power she has, it has to be chemical or biological because my senses can distinguish the real memory from the planted one. So, we just have to leave quickly without spending any time with her."
"And we leave Makepeace and Tobias."
"They're safer not knowing. She's here for information, and as long as Jurgen is bringing information back through here, she won't hurt anyone."
"You're hoping," Blair pointed out. Jim stopped mid-pace and nodded.
"I know the risk, Chief. And better than you, I know the consequences of having my judgment be fatally wrong. Get your jacket because we might be out late tonight. We aren't coming back here."
"Oh man, I'm going out to intentionally get myself captured by government agents. I need therapy. Lots of therapy."
"You've had lots of therapy, Darwin."
"Yeah, well, it obviously didn't take."
Blair sat up and stared at Jim before getting up and heading for the door. When Jim reached over and ruffled his hair, Blair closed his eyes and just tried for one second to pretend that this wasn't all completely freaking him out. It didn't work. They were so incredibly fucked.
Shadows and Siege Part 7
Sequel to Shadows of the Past
Fandoms: Primary: Sentinel. Secondary: La Femme Nikita, Stargate SG-1
Slash, Rated: ADULT
Shadows and Siege part one
Shadows and Siege part two
Shadows and Siege part three
Shadows and Siege part four
Shadows and Siege part five
Shadows and Siege part six
"Get Section on the line," Jim ordered as he swept into the room where Clare was sitting crosslegged and tapping away at the computer in the middle of the huge bed.
"Sir?" she asked.
"Get Nikita on the line, soldier," Jim snapped, obviously not in a mood for having anyone question his orders. The sudden snap from the forced casualness on the street to this military sharpness caught Blair as off-guard as anyone, so he could only watch as Jim paced the room and glared at Clare as he waited for her to get the connection live.
Karl Jurgen slipped into the room and glanced questioningly at Blair, but he could only shrug his shoulders. He certainly had no idea what had driven Jim into military-mode. "Colonel," Karl said carefully, and Blair noticed that it was the first time Karl had ever used Jim's rank… the first time Karl had even revealed that he knew Jim's rank. "What's the situation?"
"Colonel O'Neill, Dr. Jackson, and Major Carter are all confirmed. Teal'c is no doubt somewhere close. And I'm not sure, but I think I caught something following us, possibly NID." Jim stopped at the covered window and stared at it.
"Oh." Karl didn't say any more, but Clare had turned a lovely shade of white.
"Colonel?" she said softly as she turned the laptop toward him and abandoned the bed, "I have Nikita on the line."
Jim went and sat near the computer, his fingers hovering above the keyboard for a second. "Tobias, Jurgen, walk north perimeter. Knudsen," he said into his lapel, "get Bruhn and walk south. I want listening bugs planted at twenty yard intervals."
"Should I get Makepeace and Clark?" Clare asked. Jim's fingers twitched, violently curling before he stretched them out again. "No." He said the word sharply enough that Clare came to attention before Karl's hand rested on her shoulder.
"We'll gather the supplies," Karl said quietly and then he was pulling Clare out of the room.
"Oh man, what the hell is wrong with you?" Blair demanded the second they were alone. Jim looked at him blankly for a moment and then started typing.
"Nothing."
Jim stared at the screen as though expecting something to jump out at him. His whole body was tense.
"Don't shut me out," Blair warned as he turned a wooden chair backwards and straddled it.
"Chief," Jim strangled the word as he hit the computer keys a little harder than really necessary.
"Jim, man, we're in this together. Look, I don't know if it's the goa'uld or this whole bonding situation, but you are like seriously freaking out here."
"I do not freak out," Jim said darkly.
"Of course not," Blair snorted as he watched Jim pound the computer even harder. "You just do a good impression of freaking out," he added. Jim just stopped, his hands curled into fists on either side of the computer.
"Do you trust me?" Jim asked, and he looked up with such fear and despair in his eyes, that Blair immediately moved to his side and leaned into him.
"Without reservation. I trust you more than Naomi, and I adore my mom, you know that."
"You trust me even if I don't seem to be acting rationally?" Jim asked.
That made Blair pause. He studied Jim's face, and the immediate and simplistic answer died on his lips. Remembering how the other Sentinel had reacted to Seth, Blair could admit to having just a little bit of fear curling at the bottom of his stomach. "Oh man, I believed when you saw a ghost, but there are limits. If you start doing something like sitting in a bell tower with a high-powered rifle I'm so not going to be the one handing you ammunition."
Jim snorted and scrubbed his face with one hand as he watched the computer screen. Blair tried to edge closer, but Jim gave him such a cold look that he stopped and held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Fine, geez, you seriously need an attitude check."
"Sandburg," Jim practically growled, and then he was typing again, this time a little slower. "Blair, give me your impression of the team."
"The whole team?" Blair retreated to the chair and straddled it again. Jim glanced up and then focused on the computer again without answering. "Okay, the whole team. Clare and Karl are so totally doing it… either that or they're about to."
"That's not your impression of them, that's just a statement of fact," Jim said with a wry expression.
"Fact? Really? Oh man, I knew it. Knudsen and Bruhn are too, aren't they?"
Jim rolled his eyes. "Either that or they're bathing in each other's sperm. Chief, I need your impression of the team members, each of them. Limit yourself to three words per person."
Blair looked at Jim for a moment. "James Joseph Ellison, occasional asshole," he started. Jim barely twitched. "Hannu Knudsen, loyal. Of course, maybe that's because of what Bruhn did for him, but I'm fairly sure he'd be happy to die if it meant saving Bruhn."
"That's more than three words, Chief," Jim said, but his voice was distracted as he typed on the computer.
"James Joseph Ellison, often an asshole," Blair amended himself softly, "and that's three words." Jim just grunted. "Fine. Korporal Miko Bruhn-unflappable, professional. Rebecca Clark-calm under fire. Robert Makepeace-hates me. Clare Tobias-smart and nervous. Karl Jurgen--." Blair stopped. No way could he describe Karl Jurgen in three words or less.
"Nevermind," Jim said with a frown.
"Oh man, you're freaking me out here," Blair said quietly. Jim stopped typing and rested his head on the heel of his hand, his elbow propped on his knee so that he looked like the perfect image of exhaustion. For a long minute, he sat there, unmoving, as the computer beeped for attention.
"Jim?" Blair got up, concerned that his Sentinel had slipped into another zone, but Jim took a deep breath and sat up before focusing on the computer screen.
"You know, I used to call all the weird shit in my life the Sandburg zone," Jim sighed.
"Used to?"
Jim shook his head, refusing to answer, and that cold touch of fear skittered across Blair's nerves. "Go get the rest of the team. As soon as the listening bugs are planted, I want everyone in this room."
It was the first indicator that Jim had turned off his lapel mike that kept him connected to the rest of the team, and the cold fear sharpened. But all Blair could do was nod in agreement. This wasn't his world, and he didn't know how to keep them safe, so he had to rely on Jim. He just really wished he understood what was up with him.
Since Blair didn't have a mike that everyone automatically heard, he took the long route and just walked the area, casually giving the others a little circle with his finger to tell them to head to the rally point. Clare and Karl were holding hands and wandering the street, stopping to kiss and slip listening bugs into inconspicuous corners. Knudsen and Bruhn were playing friendly drunks having a good belching contest and generally convincing the people of Slovenia that Americans were as crass and disgusting as the worst stereotype they could imagine. Their American accents weren't doing much to improve the locals' opinions either. Bruhn sounded like an escapee from the Dukes of Hazard and Knudsen's voice was all nasal tones. And what was really sad was that they totally sounded American.
Upstairs, Clark and Makepeace had both retreated to their individual rooms, and Blair gave each door a quick knock before heading back to Jim's side. When he got to the room, Jim was still in front of the computer, but now his sidearm was out, resting on the bed next to him, and Blair was truly ready to freak.
"Come sit over here, Chief," Jim said quietly, gesturing toward the portion of the bed behind him.
"Tell me you're not about to do something stupid," Blair begged.
Jim's face hardened into something cold and unflinching. "Blair, trust me," he said calmly. Right, this just might be the rifle in the bell tower moment, but looking at Jim's face, Blair couldn't do anything but trust him. He walked to Jim's side and sat behind him on the bed. Rebecca Clark and Makepeace got there first, both looking confused. Clark's ponytail had lost several strands of hair on one side, and Blair was guessing that he had woken her. She'd had night watch, so she probably hadn't gotten enough sleep. Jim nodded to them and kept his eyes focused on the computer. Makepeace immediately went to parade rest and ignored them, but Rebecca shot a confused look in Blair's direction. Blair could only shrug helplessly.
Clare and Karl slipped in next. Clare looked a little more comfortable, but she still had a slightly nervous expression. Out on the street, Karl had taken care of that by kissing her until she had stood with her eyes half closed in a look of pure bliss, but Blair didn't figure that strategy would work well in this room, especially considering Jim's foul mood. Finally Knudsen and Bruhn appeared, closing the door behind them. Jim sat up straight and considered everyone in the room.
"We have a situation. SG-1 is on scene with orders to neutralize the goa'uld. NID agents are also confirmed on the ground, and their intel seems to be better than anticipated. SG-1 and the NID have all tracked the goa'uld to the university although neither team seems to have identified the aliens yet. Section does not want a conflict with SG-1, so the mission protocol has changed."
"Sir?" Clare asked, and the fear was just below her façade of calm.
"You and Makepeace are to remain out of sight at all times," Jim said. "Tobias, continue trying to track the goa'uld through their computer activity. Makepeace, you and Clark are in charge of security for Tobias and the computer and communications equipment. At no time are any of you to leave this building."
"Sir," Makepeace said, his lips drawn to a thin, tight line. "What is the mission protocol if SG-1 breaches security?"
Jim stared at the man, and it took Blair a second to process what Makepeace was asking. Blair knew that Colonel O'Neill had arrested Makepeace after they'd served together for years, but Blair couldn't even guess whether Makepeace wanted permission to shoot the colonel or a promise that he wouldn't have to.
"Stay out of sight," Jim repeated. "If all else fails, wipe the computers and meet at checkpoint delta. If cornered, surrender, but you are not to provide any information to Stargate Command for any reason. Understood?" Jim looked from one face to another and they all nodded.
"What about me?" Karl asked calmly.
"You, Bruhn and Knudsen will form second unit. Spend as much time as you can tailing our two goa'ulds. Record all contacts and make your observations. You need to report back to Makepeace and Tobias… and Clark every four hours, keep downtime limited to the local area." Jim's eye had that minute twitch that suggested he was on the verge of completely losing his temper, and Blair touched his back, silently offering his support.
"And you?" Karl leaned forward, his face a study in polite curiosity and nothing more.
"Blair and I have our own orders. Dismissed." Jim stood up with his sidearm in hand, and for a panicked second, Blair had the vague impression he was going to use it on the team. Instead he slid it into the hidden holster at the small of his back.
Rebecca hesitated for so long that Makepeace gently slipped a hand under her elbow and twitched it to move her along, and then Blair found himself sitting in the room with a pacing Jim who was looking more like his spirit animal with every passing second.
"Jim," Blair said slowly and carefully. He took all his frustrations, labeled them and neatly set them aside as he tried to focus on the reality. "Jim, you need to talk to me before I do something drastic and unpleasant."
"Something-" Jim choked on what sounded like a laugh.
"Man, I am not kidding. I understand that on the street we can't talk. I am there with you on how you needed to maintain authority in front of the others. But this is just the two of us, and if you don't stop shutting me the fuck out, you're going to wake up with schmuck tattooed on your forehead in tribal symbols. And man, you do not want to know the tribal symbol for schmuck, much less have it tattooed on your head."
"Blair," Jim sighed.
"Unless the next words out of your mouth are an explanation or an apology, save it. I'm not a member of your team, I'm your fucking guide."
Jim opened his mouth, and Blair sprang up off the bed. "And if you say one fucking thing about me not actually being your guide because of this bond, I will strip naked and tackle you right now."
"You think you could take me?" And now Blair could see amusement in Jim's face and the deepening of those little lines at the corners of his mouth even if he wasn't technically smiling.
"I know more about your senses than you do, Ellison. If it came down to a fight, I’m betting on me." Blair gasped and took a step back as he realized what he had just said. "Shit. I didn't mean that. I'm frustrated, and I'm taking it out on you."
"So," Jim said as he crossed his arms, "you *don't* think you could take me?" he asked in a deceptively quiet voice that so wasn't fooling Blair.
"There is no answer that won't get me in trouble, so I'm taking the fifth," Blair quickly answered as he held his hands up in surrender. For a moment, he thought Jim might start yelling, or even worse, storm out, but instead Jim just scrubbed his face with his hand and took a deep breath.
"I am sorry, Chief."
"That apology had better be because of your shitty attitude and not because of some bizarre sense of guilt for dragging me into this, which you didn't."
Jim nodded and came over to the bed, sitting down heavily before he reached over and flipped the laptop shut.
"That bad?" Blair asked.
Jim nodded. "Out there. I zoned."
"Oh man, I was there. I haven't seen you check out like that for a while."
Jim was still nodding, and Blair sat next to him, so close that their thighs touched. Jim's hand reached out and hovered over Blair's knee for a second before he pulled it back without touching. "Clark isn't one of us."
"Rebecca? What? Oh shit. Is she a spy?" Blair hated this espionage crap. He wanted to trust people. He didn't want to turn into someone so closed off and suspicious that he couldn't open his heart to trust. Besides, of all the people on the team, he actually liked Rebecca the most. He so could not see her spying for the NID.
The low, strained chuckle from Jim made the hairs on Blair's arms stand up. "Jim?"
"She isn't one of us at all. She didn't come with us. She was on the street and she did something and all these memories came flooding in… meeting her in Section, training with her, the way she was the only one of the team to stick up for you when you kept screwing up during drills."
"But… Jim, that did happen." Blair could feel the panic start. Something was seriously wrong with Jim. Seriously.
Jim was already shaking his head. "No. It didn't. I could remember those things like one sheet of stained glass laying over another so that the pattern was distorted, so I just confirmed with Nikita. Our team has seven members: Makepeace, Tobias, Jurgen, Bruhn, Knudsen, you and me. There is no Rebecca Clark."
"But-"
"Chief, trust me," Jim said with such seriousness that it derailed all of Blair's objections. "Whatever she did, it couldn't override the senses. She isn't one of us. She did something to make us remember things that aren't real. Section has no record of Rebecca Clark even existing."
"Fuck." Blair breathed the word, his brain still struggling to sort through memories that he suddenly found he couldn't trust. "What else is wrong in our memories? Oh man, this whole conflict we're having over bonding… is that real?"
"As far as I can tell, Rebecca Clark just added herself to our memories." Jim sounded tired.
"So, when you told them that we have a different mission protocol-we're going to find out where she came from?"
Jim sat and stared into space for so long that Blair just knew he wasn't going to like the next words to come out of his mouth. "We are officially compromised," Jim finally admitted.
"That's sounding ominously… ominous."
Jim shook his head and reached over to rest his hand on Blair's knee. "They aren't going to cancel us," he quickly reassured Blair, and Blair could feel his heart start to slow. He hadn't even realized it had been racing until that point. "They just don't trust us to be in command with compromised memories. They're sending another shadow unit to watch Clark, Makepeace and Tobias, and we have orders to make ourselves available to the other unit capable of eliminating the goa'uld threat while Section evaluates the Clark situation."
"In English?" Blair asked. He sure didn't know about any other units in the area.
"We're supposed to let SG-1 capture us so they can use my senses to identify the goa'uld," Jim said quietly.
"Aw, shit." Blair groaned and fell back on the bed so he could stare blankly at the ceiling. "Man, do you have any idea how many ways that could go wrong?"
"Yeah, Chief, I do. But it's that or disobey Section orders."
"Which is up there with suicide by cop, but with even more of a chance of ending up dead," Blair agreed.
"Yep. And we are not to mention Clark or her amazing ability to manipulate the human mind."
Blair rolled onto his side and frowned at Jim. "Wait. We aren't supposed to tell the frontline defenders of the Earth that either a new species of alien is invading or the goa'uld have a bright, shiny new toy that fucks with the mind? Jim?"
"I know." Jim scrubbed his face even harder. "I know, but those are the orders."
"Stupid orders, and you know how I feel about stupid orders."
"And if we do tell them?" Jim demanded as he stood up and started pacing again. "She slips false memories into their heads and they'll do whatever she tells them. She could convince them she's the president. We can't afford to compromise them. Our orders are to provide assistance and maintain a safe distance between Clark and SG-1."
"So we compromise Makepeace and Tobias by leaving them here with no warning." Blair knew he had scored a direct hit when Jim's jaw locked and his face lost much of its color.
"I know," Jim said softly. "I hate this, but we have to contain Clark and we don't know if she can remove thoughts as easily as she implants them."
"Jim, she could be reading us right now," Blair said, and now he could feel his heart starting to pound painfully fast.
"I felt it, Blair. Whatever she did, I felt it. And she was close to us on the street even though she looked different at the time. She was the heavy woman with the flower dress standing near one of the houses. But this power she has, it has to be chemical or biological because my senses can distinguish the real memory from the planted one. So, we just have to leave quickly without spending any time with her."
"And we leave Makepeace and Tobias."
"They're safer not knowing. She's here for information, and as long as Jurgen is bringing information back through here, she won't hurt anyone."
"You're hoping," Blair pointed out. Jim stopped mid-pace and nodded.
"I know the risk, Chief. And better than you, I know the consequences of having my judgment be fatally wrong. Get your jacket because we might be out late tonight. We aren't coming back here."
"Oh man, I'm going out to intentionally get myself captured by government agents. I need therapy. Lots of therapy."
"You've had lots of therapy, Darwin."
"Yeah, well, it obviously didn't take."
Blair sat up and stared at Jim before getting up and heading for the door. When Jim reached over and ruffled his hair, Blair closed his eyes and just tried for one second to pretend that this wasn't all completely freaking him out. It didn't work. They were so incredibly fucked.