Minnesota lakes... All the aliens who'd ever threatened Earth did it just to get their slimy paws on its pristine lakes where fish are virtually jumping into rowboats. Young Jack, fishing with his grandfather, side by side... wordlessly. Occasionally, the young boy squirmed, glanced up at the elder O'Neill (who stared at the gleaming water before him), then followed his gaze back out onto the water. 'Grandpa?' 'Shh. You'll scare the fish.' 'Yeah, but--' 'Jack, you'll scare the fish.'
There came a gentle rap at his door, quiet, but insistant. "General O'Neill?" That... wasn't grandpa...
Jack rolled over, his arm falling across his eyes, torn between wakefulness and sweet slumber. He groaned softly as he removed his arm and let it fall heavily, his eyes opening and staring into the darkness above and around him.
"Yeah--" He sounded... tired. Not quite awake. "Come back to--" Ah, hell. "Right." He rolled out of bed, checking his watch. It was... damned late. Or early. He ran fingers through his short, greying hair and padded towards the door. He was dressed in a t-shirt, a pair of blue sweat pants.. but barefoot. Obviously.
Opening the door at the same time as he gave his 'greeting', "What?", he didn't get much else out as he focussed on the woman before him.. dressed in...
Aiyanna gave her best smile when the General opened the door. She thrust the beer in his direction, "Do you mind if I come in. I think we need to talk." That said Aiyanna made the attempt to move past the man into his tent while he was still befuddled.
There were other reasons for dressing up then giving everyone else the wrong impression... She also hoped that it would put the General off balance enough for her to get herself through the door. "I apologize for the lateness of the visit but I assure you that it is important."
Aiyanna's tones remained low the whole time she spoke, not wanting anyone to overhear the things she said. Not that anyone was close enough to hear, as she had scouted the area before she knocked on the door, but one can never be too careful.
"Do you mind if I come in. I think we need to talk."
"Excuse me?" It wasn't quite befuddlement as Aiyanna made her way into his tent. It was more like... tired annoyance mixed with the real desire to figure out a way to get her out of his tent.
He couldn't help but notice the dress as a six-pack was thrust into his hands, and his brow creased. "We do?"
Still, the door closed behind her, and he put the beer on a small table off to the side of the door, a 'catch all' spot for anything and everything. After all, it was a somewhat clear horizontal surface.
His tent wasn't in any way ostentatious. It had the bare necessities; everything that would be needed for a 'new life'. The real personal effects were still stored away but for a couple of pictures... someone that didn't look like anyone Aiyanna might have recognized, and a young boy.
"No..." Jack was a little more awake, now, and he stood still, watching the ... well dressed woman. "No. It would be 'I apologize for the earliness of the visit', because you're a bit early for my office hours which start... in several hours from now." He had to check his watch on that to be sure. "What could possibly be all that important?"
Aiyanna slipped inside and headed for the nearest surface to sit on. Once she was seated she slipped off the heels with a sigh of relief, "I must say I hate those things. I think they were one of the worst inventions that mankind every came up with. Along with the girdle, pantyhose, and the push up bra, but that is neither here nor there."
Aiyanna did take a moment to survey the place, which actually had a few more homey touches then her own tent. The only real personal effect she had was her sword and it was tucked away and not on display, "Early, late... It's all a matter of perspective General. Since you actually went to bed it's early. Now for me, who hasn't slept, it's late. As for office hours... Well this way I figured we would not be interrupted and I couldn't say that when it comes to your office."
Aiyanna paused a moment, brows furrowing as she caught the hints of irritation, "Well what could be that important... I'd say that my identity was of relative importance." There is another pauses before she continues, "You see, everything before medical school in my file is a complete and total fabrication, from my name and place of birth to my family and my age." She has to laugh slightly there, "Let's just say that I'm older then I look." At least the medical school isn't a lie, or her work as a doctor.
Aiyanna raised her gaze to look directly at you, "Would you say that bit of information was important?"
Jack's tent wasn't large, and certainly not appointed 'as befitting' a general. Not in the least. The man was always 'field', well used to the fact that he'd have to pack and leave given a moment's notice. Perhaps it was a look into the man's head that he hadn't yet 'decorated' like most of the others, preferring, instead, to wait for his cabin. That would give the man more time to adjust to 'colony life'.
As a result, the only real spot for Aiyanna to alight would be what had been his warm bed... that one place he wanted to return to. Without present company.
He crossed the room quickly, in only a couple of steps, and put the beer down beside her, returning it to her. Jack shook his head quickly-- "What are you doing?"
"Early, late... It's all a matter of perspective General. Since you actually went to bed it's early. Now for me, who hasn't slept, it's late. As for office hours... Well this way I figured we would not be interrupted and I couldn't say that when it comes to your office." He stared at the woman before him, uncertain as to whether or not to be insulted. He could have had a guest over... or...
Still, that didn't last long either when Aiyanna started with her explanation as to why she thought it a good idea to come in the middle of the night... early morning... he couldn't tell in the dim light. Reaching for a light switch (hooray for naquadah generators!), the tent was filled with a dim but sufficient light soon after. A sure sign that no assignation was occuring, or about to occur. He remained where he was, now, by the light, his arms crossing before him, a rather unhappy looking expression creasing his face.
"Yeah-- I'd say I understand... because if you were in my office with that information, I'd have a brig built so I could toss you in for falsification of identification, doctor. As much as the Lieutenant appreciates a pretty woman in a cocktail dress and heels in the middle of the night, bringing beer, I won't wake him up for this."
With his arms still crossed before him, dark eyes remaining on the seated woman, only his hand moved in a small circle in encouragement. "Okay. Then..." He was waiting, now, for the blanks to be filled in. No... for the real story.
Aiyanna simply smiled at the mention of the brig, obviously not worried in the least about it, "Well I hadn't thought of that. It would have been problematic since most of the time that happens as a way to force information out of a person, and frankly I wouldn't have spoken until we were alone. The secret I have to tell is not for just anyone's ears General, and frankly it took a lot of thought on my part before I was even remotely comfortable with the idea of telling you. You see when people hear about me they tend to have only a few reactions - disbelief, awe, fear, or something that is a cross between horror and sympathy."
Aiyanna's smile faded and she took a deep breath, almost allowing the weight of years to flood into her eyes, "As I said, I am older then I look General. I was born over 3000 years ago to a Native American tribe that no longer exists. I died the first time in a raid on my village. A warrior from another tribe wished to claim me as his bride and I did not wish to go. I fought him and I died." Aiyanna paused a moment, letting that sink in before continuing, "I came back though and my people thought me blessed by the Great Spirit. They named me Aiyanna, which means forever flowering. I have been a shaman, a warrior, a professor, a nurse, a doctor, a lawyer... and even for a brief time an Indian chief."
Aiyanna was not done yet, she just needed to take a breather before continuing. She took a long pause, weighing her words before she spoke them, "I am an Immortal. I will not die unless my head is removed from my body. Over history there have been many of us taking our places among humanity, just trying to live. There are some though who really fight the Game. It is said there can be only one, and so they fight. They hunt other immortals in the hopes of taking their head and building their strength, for when an immortal removes the head of another immortal they grow in power gaining the quickening of the other Immortal... their life essence. I do not hunt... anymore. The last head I hunted was George Armstrong Custer. And when I said it had been a while since I fired a gun I meant the Battle of Little Bighorn."
"So as you can see, it was rather necessary to falsify documents. I have to do it ever so often. I have to become someone new, because the reality is more then most people can actually bear. You can throw me in the brig if you like General, but I must say that jail gets rather boring after a fashion."
The humour once again fills Aiyanna's eyes, chasing away the years and putting closer in tune with what her file says about her, "And that is the truth, whether you wish to believe it or not." She rather hopes he does, and without demonstration too, but she is prepared for that too.
Jack remained standing where he was, his expression not shifting, but instead remaining impassive, dark eyes watching as Aiyanna offered her story. He blew a drawn out breath at the end, his brows rising in askance, though no question followed.
The SGC files were still classified, and would be for a long time. That information that people were given was probably never truly digested. Atlantis. Ascended. Ten thousand years gone, and a whole lot longer in the past when they lived in 'human' form. Then, there were the Goa'uld... again, a good two, three thousand years old. Apophis' host was an Ancient Egyptian, born during.. one of those pharoah.. periods.
Not to pull wind from the sails of the doctor, but.. for him, not so much 'news' as 'new information' of yet another race.
"Good to know. Now... why doesn't Daniel know again? He'd have been all over this, and he could have put it in one of the many, and I do mean many reports he writes that I never read, and we both could have had a good night's sleep?"
Tactically, of course, he could understand the importance of the information, and it wasn't lost on the general. Really, it wasn't. Jack brought a hand up to scrub at his face, thumb and forefinger digging into his eyes before his hand dropped heavily.
"Are you really a doctor?" He had civilians to protect, and someone serving in the role that wasn't 'qualified'-- and living 3,000 didn't qualify one to practice... that would be bad.
All in all, if Aiyanna was expecting the general to react in horror, sympathy, awe, fear... and all those other emotions, she would have been disappointed. What she did receive was a brow raise at the mention of Custer (he knew something was off about the guy) and a potential redirection to the 'best person to talk to'.
Aiyanna arched a brow up at the General, "I am disappointed General. Apparently you aren't as fast on your feet at this time as you are at others. I said that everything before medical school was a fabrication. This wasn't my first run at medical school, but I figured I needed the refresher course. I have also been a combat nurse or medic in every major war the United States has fought in, including Vietnam. I must say this that napalm is by far the worst way I have encountered in which to die... at least to date."
Aiyanna paused a moment, backtracking a bit in the conversation, "As for why Dr. Jackson, does not know... well that would be easy. Immortals do not like documentation of their existence, and reports are documentation. I am telling you because I thought it was of potential tactical importance. If you feel that it would be of major importance to inform Dr. Jackson then I will do so, butI would rather as few people know about this as possible. The average person would not take the information I gave you near as 'in stride' as you did."
The general had spent his career allowing others to underestimate his intelligence, which always served him well. Those who were close to him knew that most of the time, it was an act. He'd learned a great deal from Carter and Daniel over the years; if not actual information, then how to tell if something just didn't look right/sound right.
Let her think he wasn't paying attention due to the early hour, that was fine. Jack was good with that. If nothing else, she gave him a good deal more information than she had just moments ago. Combat nurse and medic. And, of course...
"The napalm worked." The voice of a soldier that believed in victory, or rather, in saving his peoples' lives. Still, there was no way that he was going to get into a raging debate about the costs of war.
Instead, he exhales in a sigh, not moving from his spot by the lightswitch, his gaze still firmly on the shoe-less woman sitting on his bed. "Daniel'd be a good one to talk to," Jack repeated. "I get tactics, and yeah, I know now that you're combat medic trained. Doesn't mean I'm gonna ask you to do anything more than I'd ask any other doctor. Trick is to keep everyone alive, not play 'how far can we push it'."
With that out of the way, Jack went back to the topic of Dr. Daniel Jackson. "Daniel's smart... way smarter than me, or maybe you. He's seen and done stuff that, frankly, I couldn't begin to explain. A lot o'times, I just take his word on it. He's a valued member of my team, and frankly, him and Colonel Carter are my back-ups. I don't like to do this solo if I don't have to. Believe me when I tell you, the only reason Daniel might get excited about it would be the chance to learn some dead and dusty language.. or something."
The man shifted in his spot, and his brows raised in prelude to his next question, "Now. Will you please put your shoes back on, and leave? I have work in the morning, and I'd like to be able to not face-plant in my cereal." He was going to be in the field all day, and into the evening, but while it wasn't 'classified', everyone and their mother didn't need to know about their first 'real' training maneuvers.
Aiyanna revealed only as much as she was willing to... those things she thought the General needed to know. The problem with curious anthropologists is that they have a tendency to ask more questions then Generals. Aiyanna exhaled a sigh, "I will speak to Dr. Jackson if that is your wish General. I can even teach him a dead language or two."
Aiyanna rose to her feet, keeping her shoes off, "Keep the beer General. Call it an apology for the inconvenience."
That said Aiyanna headed for the door. She paused at the entrance for only a moment before looking to the General, "And I apologize further for what I am about to do."
Aiyanna gave the General a smile that would likely set the wheels in his head turning before she literally stormed out his door. Once outside she turned back to the entrance of the General's tent, shoes still in hand, "You are such a jerk!" It had all the marks of a woman scorned in both her tone and bearing.
That little performance done Aiyanna stormed back to her own tent... the General wasn't the only one needing sleep.
All the aliens who'd ever threatened Earth did it just to get their slimy paws on its pristine lakes where fish are virtually jumping into rowboats.
Young Jack, fishing with his grandfather, side by side... wordlessly. Occasionally, the young boy squirmed, glanced up at the elder O'Neill (who stared at the gleaming water before him), then followed his gaze back out onto the water.
'Grandpa?'
'Shh. You'll scare the fish.'
'Yeah, but--'
'Jack, you'll scare the fish.'
There came a gentle rap at his door, quiet, but insistant.
"General O'Neill?"
That... wasn't grandpa...
Jack rolled over, his arm falling across his eyes, torn between wakefulness and sweet slumber. He groaned softly as he removed his arm and let it fall heavily, his eyes opening and staring into the darkness above and around him.
"Yeah--" He sounded... tired. Not quite awake. "Come back to--"
Ah, hell.
"Right." He rolled out of bed, checking his watch. It was... damned late. Or early. He ran fingers through his short, greying hair and padded towards the door. He was dressed in a t-shirt, a pair of blue sweat pants.. but barefoot. Obviously.
Opening the door at the same time as he gave his 'greeting', "What?", he didn't get much else out as he focussed on the woman before him.. dressed in...
Oh, god.
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There were other reasons for dressing up then giving everyone else the wrong impression... She also hoped that it would put the General off balance enough for her to get herself through the door. "I apologize for the lateness of the visit but I assure you that it is important."
Aiyanna's tones remained low the whole time she spoke, not wanting anyone to overhear the things she said. Not that anyone was close enough to hear, as she had scouted the area before she knocked on the door, but one can never be too careful.
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"Excuse me?" It wasn't quite befuddlement as Aiyanna made her way into his tent. It was more like... tired annoyance mixed with the real desire to figure out a way to get her out of his tent.
He couldn't help but notice the dress as a six-pack was thrust into his hands, and his brow creased. "We do?"
Still, the door closed behind her, and he put the beer on a small table off to the side of the door, a 'catch all' spot for anything and everything. After all, it was a somewhat clear horizontal surface.
His tent wasn't in any way ostentatious. It had the bare necessities; everything that would be needed for a 'new life'. The real personal effects were still stored away but for a couple of pictures... someone that didn't look like anyone Aiyanna might have recognized, and a young boy.
"No..." Jack was a little more awake, now, and he stood still, watching the ... well dressed woman. "No. It would be 'I apologize for the earliness of the visit', because you're a bit early for my office hours which start... in several hours from now." He had to check his watch on that to be sure. "What could possibly be all that important?"
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Aiyanna did take a moment to survey the place, which actually had a few more homey touches then her own tent. The only real personal effect she had was her sword and it was tucked away and not on display, "Early, late... It's all a matter of perspective General. Since you actually went to bed it's early. Now for me, who hasn't slept, it's late. As for office hours... Well this way I figured we would not be interrupted and I couldn't say that when it comes to your office."
Aiyanna paused a moment, brows furrowing as she caught the hints of irritation, "Well what could be that important... I'd say that my identity was of relative importance." There is another pauses before she continues, "You see, everything before medical school in my file is a complete and total fabrication, from my name and place of birth to my family and my age." She has to laugh slightly there, "Let's just say that I'm older then I look." At least the medical school isn't a lie, or her work as a doctor.
Aiyanna raised her gaze to look directly at you, "Would you say that bit of information was important?"
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As a result, the only real spot for Aiyanna to alight would be what had been his warm bed... that one place he wanted to return to. Without present company.
He crossed the room quickly, in only a couple of steps, and put the beer down beside her, returning it to her. Jack shook his head quickly-- "What are you doing?"
"Early, late... It's all a matter of perspective General. Since you actually went to bed it's early. Now for me, who hasn't slept, it's late. As for office hours... Well this way I figured we would not be interrupted and I couldn't say that when it comes to your office." He stared at the woman before him, uncertain as to whether or not to be insulted. He could have had a guest over... or...
Still, that didn't last long either when Aiyanna started with her explanation as to why she thought it a good idea to come in the middle of the night... early morning... he couldn't tell in the dim light. Reaching for a light switch (hooray for naquadah generators!), the tent was filled with a dim but sufficient light soon after. A sure sign that no assignation was occuring, or about to occur. He remained where he was, now, by the light, his arms crossing before him, a rather unhappy looking expression creasing his face.
"Yeah-- I'd say I understand... because if you were in my office with that information, I'd have a brig built so I could toss you in for falsification of identification, doctor. As much as the Lieutenant appreciates a pretty woman in a cocktail dress and heels in the middle of the night, bringing beer, I won't wake him up for this."
With his arms still crossed before him, dark eyes remaining on the seated woman, only his hand moved in a small circle in encouragement. "Okay. Then..." He was waiting, now, for the blanks to be filled in. No... for the real story.
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Aiyanna's smile faded and she took a deep breath, almost allowing the weight of years to flood into her eyes, "As I said, I am older then I look General. I was born over 3000 years ago to a Native American tribe that no longer exists. I died the first time in a raid on my village. A warrior from another tribe wished to claim me as his bride and I did not wish to go. I fought him and I died." Aiyanna paused a moment, letting that sink in before continuing, "I came back though and my people thought me blessed by the Great Spirit. They named me Aiyanna, which means forever flowering. I have been a shaman, a warrior, a professor, a nurse, a doctor, a lawyer... and even for a brief time an Indian chief."
Aiyanna was not done yet, she just needed to take a breather before continuing. She took a long pause, weighing her words before she spoke them, "I am an Immortal. I will not die unless my head is removed from my body. Over history there have been many of us taking our places among humanity, just trying to live. There are some though who really fight the Game. It is said there can be only one, and so they fight. They hunt other immortals in the hopes of taking their head and building their strength, for when an immortal removes the head of another immortal they grow in power gaining the quickening of the other Immortal... their life essence. I do not hunt... anymore. The last head I hunted was George Armstrong Custer. And when I said it had been a while since I fired a gun I meant the Battle of Little Bighorn."
"So as you can see, it was rather necessary to falsify documents. I have to do it ever so often. I have to become someone new, because the reality is more then most people can actually bear. You can throw me in the brig if you like General, but I must say that jail gets rather boring after a fashion."
The humour once again fills Aiyanna's eyes, chasing away the years and putting closer in tune with what her file says about her, "And that is the truth, whether you wish to believe it or not." She rather hopes he does, and without demonstration too, but she is prepared for that too.
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The SGC files were still classified, and would be for a long time. That information that people were given was probably never truly digested. Atlantis. Ascended. Ten thousand years gone, and a whole lot longer in the past when they lived in 'human' form. Then, there were the Goa'uld... again, a good two, three thousand years old. Apophis' host was an Ancient Egyptian, born during.. one of those pharoah.. periods.
Not to pull wind from the sails of the doctor, but.. for him, not so much 'news' as 'new information' of yet another race.
"Good to know. Now... why doesn't Daniel know again? He'd have been all over this, and he could have put it in one of the many, and I do mean many reports he writes that I never read, and we both could have had a good night's sleep?"
Tactically, of course, he could understand the importance of the information, and it wasn't lost on the general. Really, it wasn't. Jack brought a hand up to scrub at his face, thumb and forefinger digging into his eyes before his hand dropped heavily.
"Are you really a doctor?" He had civilians to protect, and someone serving in the role that wasn't 'qualified'-- and living 3,000 didn't qualify one to practice... that would be bad.
All in all, if Aiyanna was expecting the general to react in horror, sympathy, awe, fear... and all those other emotions, she would have been disappointed. What she did receive was a brow raise at the mention of Custer (he knew something was off about the guy) and a potential redirection to the 'best person to talk to'.
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Aiyanna paused a moment, backtracking a bit in the conversation, "As for why Dr. Jackson, does not know... well that would be easy. Immortals do not like documentation of their existence, and reports are documentation. I am telling you because I thought it was of potential tactical importance. If you feel that it would be of major importance to inform Dr. Jackson then I will do so, butI would rather as few people know about this as possible. The average person would not take the information I gave you near as 'in stride' as you did."
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Let her think he wasn't paying attention due to the early hour, that was fine. Jack was good with that. If nothing else, she gave him a good deal more information than she had just moments ago. Combat nurse and medic. And, of course...
"The napalm worked." The voice of a soldier that believed in victory, or rather, in saving his peoples' lives. Still, there was no way that he was going to get into a raging debate about the costs of war.
Instead, he exhales in a sigh, not moving from his spot by the lightswitch, his gaze still firmly on the shoe-less woman sitting on his bed. "Daniel'd be a good one to talk to," Jack repeated. "I get tactics, and yeah, I know now that you're combat medic trained. Doesn't mean I'm gonna ask you to do anything more than I'd ask any other doctor. Trick is to keep everyone alive, not play 'how far can we push it'."
With that out of the way, Jack went back to the topic of Dr. Daniel Jackson. "Daniel's smart... way smarter than me, or maybe you. He's seen and done stuff that, frankly, I couldn't begin to explain. A lot o'times, I just take his word on it. He's a valued member of my team, and frankly, him and Colonel Carter are my back-ups. I don't like to do this solo if I don't have to. Believe me when I tell you, the only reason Daniel might get excited about it would be the chance to learn some dead and dusty language.. or something."
The man shifted in his spot, and his brows raised in prelude to his next question, "Now. Will you please put your shoes back on, and leave? I have work in the morning, and I'd like to be able to not face-plant in my cereal." He was going to be in the field all day, and into the evening, but while it wasn't 'classified', everyone and their mother didn't need to know about their first 'real' training maneuvers.
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Aiyanna rose to her feet, keeping her shoes off, "Keep the beer General. Call it an apology for the inconvenience."
That said Aiyanna headed for the door. She paused at the entrance for only a moment before looking to the General, "And I apologize further for what I am about to do."
Aiyanna gave the General a smile that would likely set the wheels in his head turning before she literally stormed out his door. Once outside she turned back to the entrance of the General's tent, shoes still in hand, "You are such a jerk!" It had all the marks of a woman scorned in both her tone and bearing.
That little performance done Aiyanna stormed back to her own tent... the General wasn't the only one needing sleep.
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