(SG-1/Warehouse 13) Cooperation for gladdecease
Title: Cooperation
Author: sheryden
Fandoms: Stargate: SG-1/Warehouse 13
Characters: Jack O’Neill, Daniel Jackson, Walter Harriman, mention of Janet Frasier; Artie Nielsen, Pete Lattimer, Myka Bering
Pairings: No pairings
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2800
Spoilers: Spoilers for Stargate: SG-1 episodes 7x17 and 7x18-Heroes, Parts 1 and II. No spoilers for Warehouse 13.
Warnings: Mention of past canon character death, minor language
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and Warehouse 13 belong to their respective creators.
A/N: This was written for gladdecease. I hope you like it! Also, thanks to colls, my beta. Any remaining mistakes are mine.
Summary: When two officers go missing at the SGC, Artie suspects that an artifact he once failed to find is responsible. He sends Pete and Myka to Cheyenne Mountain to investigate, but Jack O’Neill is less than thrilled.
General Jack O’Neill leaned back in against the cool metal of his chair and stared stone-faced at the two agents sitting across from him. “All right,” he said with a dramatic breath. “Let’s try this one more time. Who’s gonna tell me why two Secret Service agents are playing a game of cloak and dagger at one of the most classified sites in the entire country?”
After a few moments of awkward silence, one of the agents-Pete Lattimer according to his file-leaned forward and tapped on the table, “Look, General,” he said. “We already explained this. We’re investigating the disappearance of Lieutenants Baker and-”
Jack felt a pocket of bile start to swirl around in his gut. Biting the inside of his cheek, he said, “Last I checked, Pete, the president thought we were capable of handling the investigation.”
The other agent, one Myka Bering, who had been sitting stoically in her seat up to this point, nodded. “And you are, General,” she said. There was a slight hint of condescension in her voice, but Jack was pretty sure she’d meant the statement to sound genuinely warm and conciliatory. “We’re just looking at it from a different perspective.”
Lattimer gazed at his partner with appreciation. “Yeah. You know…fresh eyes and all that.”
Pushing the chair back with a loud screech, Jack rose to his feet and stared down at the two agents. He’d been in a bad mood from the moment he’d heard about the disappearances of Baker and Warren, but the tiny shreds of patience he had left were starting to dissolve into dust with each passing moment.
“Look,” he snapped. “I have two missing officers and two trespassers who can’t give me a satisfactory reason for their presence. I’m gonna leave the room, have a piece of pie, and give you two a chance to think. If I were you, I’d come up with a better answer for me by the time I get back.” And with that, he strode purposely out the door and into the hall.
***
The moment General O’Neill disappeared into the hall, Pete sprang out of his chair and started to pace back and forth. “Well,” he said. “That went well.”
Myka gazed at her partner for a moment, then shifted in her seat. “Nothing like a little inter-agency cooperation.” she said. After a moment, she let out a long breath. “All right. Let’s go over what we have.”
Pete stopped pacing and cocked his head in thought. “Okay. Two guys go poof on camera near one of the archaeologist’s offices, and… what? They’re invisible? They were vaporized? They got sucked into some thingy somewhere?”
“Well, we’ve ruled out the security camera.”
“Yeah.” Pete licked his lips. “I’d really like to get into that office. That artifact’s gotta be in there somewhere.”
Myka rubbed her eyes and tried to fight off the fatigue she felt creeping up her back and neck. “We’re still no closer to working out what we’re looking for, though. Artie went through this place with a fine tooth comb when he was here.”
“Yeah, and there were two people who disappeared back then, right?”
“Right.” She tapped on the table and ran through the mental checklist of things Artie had told them at the briefing. “They were nowhere near that office, though,” she said after a moment. “They disappeared in a storeroom.”
“And no one else has been zapped until Baker and Warren.”
“So it never left the storeroom?”
Pete threw a punch into the air. “Ah, I hate being cooped up like this.”
“I don’t like it either Pete.”
“What do you think they did with our Farnsworth?”
Myka shook her head. “I don’t know. We missed our last check-in, though. Artie’s got to be wondering where we’re at.”
***
After Jack left Agents Lattimer and Bering, he found Daniel waiting for him just outside the interrogation room, his arms folded across his chest and his face set into the kind of grave expression he usually wore when he was trying to work out some all-important cosmic puzzle. He gestured toward the room from which Jack had just emerged. “Well,” he said. “What happened?”
Jack ran a hand through his short gray hair. “Not a whole lot. And I’m telling you, Daniel, my sunny disposition is taking a hit right now.”
Daniel flashed a small grin. “I’ll consider myself warned. Do you think they’re legitimately Secret Service?”
“Yeah, I think they are. And that pisses me off even more.” Jack motioned in the direction of the cafeteria. “Come on,” he said. “I need pie.”
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Daniel cocked his head for a moment then fell into step beside Jack. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind a bite of something. I worked right through lunch.”
“How unlike you.”
They shuffled off to the cafeteria and grabbed two pieces of chocolate pie, a coffee, and a bottle of water. Once they’d sat down, Jack stabbed his forked into the innocent chocolate and let out a breath.
“You know,” he said. “I’m not a fan of the inter-agency hand-holding thing, but I would be a damn lot more willing to accept their presence if someone was being upfront with me.”
Daniel nodded, as he sipped his coffee. “I’m with you on that, Jack.”
“And seriously. What jurisdiction does the Secret Service have in an SGC matter? How does this pose more of a threat to the president than anything else that’s happened in this mountain?
“That’s a good point.”
“And you would think I would have clearance to know about something like this.” He shoveled a forkful of pie into his mouth and leaned back in his chair. “What different perspective could they possibly have?”
They ate in silence for a few moments, then Daniel laid down his fork and leaned forward. Biting his bottom lip, he said, “Jack, do you think we’re looking at something like The Trust?”
“I thought about that.” Jack rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know. But either way, I’m going back in there, and this time, I plan on getting some answers.”
With a decisive nod, Jack wiped the last bit of chocolate off his fingers and rose to his feet. He was about to head back to the interrogation room when Walter Harriman appeared in front of him.
“Sir.” Walter paused for a moment to catch his breath, then he gestured toward the hall. “You have a visitor.”
“Who?”
“He says his name’s Artie Nielsen. He’s here about Agents Lattimer and Bering. He’d like to see you and Doctor Jackson.”
***
Artie paced back and forth across the floor of the interrogation room where he’d been brought to wait for General O’Neill and Doctor Jackson. He imagined that Pete and Myka were in a room just like this one. It had been years since he’d stepped foot in Cheyenne Mountain, but an atmosphere of familiarity hung in the air. He remembered his brief conversations with Janet Frasier and the little pangs of loss he’d felt her death. He’d barely known her, but she’d treated him with genuine kindness and the world had felt momentarily darker when she left it.
“You.”
Artie jumped a little at the sound of General O’Neill’s voice. He glanced up and saw O’Neill standing just inside the doorway with Doctor Daniel Jackson in tow. They both looked pretty much the same as they had when he last saw them. Of course, back then they’d known him as Emmett Bregman, a reporter who’d been commissioned to make a documentary on the SGC.
Clearing his throat, Artie walked over and held out a hand. “General, Doctor Jackson. It’s been a while.”
O’Neill stared at Artie for a moment, then held out his hand. “So. Not a reporter?”
Artie shook his head. “No. And I’m sorry about the ruse, but discretion was crucial at the time.”
Daniel shoved his hands into his pockets. “You don’t look like Secret Service.”
Flashing a quick smile, Artie said, “Have you ever heard of the Warehouse?” When both men stared blankly at him, he continued. “No, of course not. Um. We search for dangerous artifacts, and we put them in safekeeping.”
“Artifacts?”
“It’s a long story. But listen, we’re on the same side. I promise you.”
O’Neill put his hands on his hips. “No, Artie, you listen. I need to know what you and your agents are up to. And don’t babble about discretion and clearance, because I have the president’s personal phone number. Okay?”
Artie arched an eyebrow. He’d forgotten how pushy O’Neill could be when he wanted something. “Okay,” he said. “We’re trying to track down an artifact that we believe caused the disappearances of Baker and Warren, as well as the disappearances from a few years ago.”
“And that’s why you were sticking your nose in our business before?”
“Yeah. Only I never found the artifact, and the disappearances stopped. But now it’s active again, and I sent my agents in to find it.”
Daniel gazed at him. “Why couldn’t you just be honest with us about this?”
“Doctor, what we do his highly sensitive. I couldn’t risk letting the proverbial cat out of the bag.”
“You’re probably right,” Daniel deadpanned. “We here at the SGC are way too fast and loose to keep a secret.”
“I don’t make the rules.” Artie gazed at Daniel for a long moment, then let out a breath. “General, Doctor. We just want to help find out what happened to your people. Let us help.”
***
Jack stood in just inside Daniel’s office and watched as Pete puttered around and scrutinized everything from a crusty old shard of potter to Daniel’s coffee cup. He wasn’t sure what he had to gain from this little exercise, but they were no closer to solving the disappearances of Baker and Warren on their own.
While her partner searched the lab, Myka stood off to the side and questioned Daniel about the disappearance of the two men. “I know you’ve been through this already,” she said. “But even the slightest detail could help us figure out what we’re looking for.”
Daniel folded his arms across his chest. Jack could tell by his posture that he was reaching the upper threshold of frustration. “Look,” Daniel said. “I don’t know I can help you. I didn’t see them disappear.”
“But the security camera shows them just outside your office at the time of their disappearance.”
“Well, they weren’t in my office.” Daniel turned toward Pete. “Please be careful with that.”
Pete took a step back and flashed an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”
Myka glanced around Daniel’s office. “Well, our best starting point is to assume that the artifact was near their point of disappearance. And your office is the closest space besides the hall.”
Daniel leaned against his desk. “Can you give me a better idea of what you’re looking for?”
“It has to be something that would have been here when Artie was here filming the documentary.”
“And,” Pete added. “It’s something that would have been packed away or something.”
Myka nodded. “Because it’s been dormant until now.”
Daniel glanced at around the room. “That doesn’t narrow it down much. I mean, we’re constantly bringing things out of storage.”
Artie lowered himself into a chair near Daniel’s desk. “Doctor Jackson, maybe it if you walk us through that day again. Even if it seems unimportant.”
Daniel threw his hands up in the air. “I barely remember. I haven’t slept in two days. Too bad I don’t have it on film this time.” He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. That’s the fatigue talking. I didn’t mean to snap.”
“I know this probably opens old wounds, but-”
Waving a hand through the air, Daniel turned his back to Artie. “It’s fine,” he said, his voice soft and clipped. “Uh. I was sitting here, and I remember hearing the two of them down just outside my door. I was up to my eyeballs in research, and they were making a racket. I was about to go and chew them out, but the noise stopped. I assumed they left.
Myka tugged on her bottom lip. “Just out of curiosity, what were you researching?”
Daniel squared his jaw. “Well, it could be any number of things.”
Jack, who had been quietly observing since the search began, let out a breath. “Daniel, you’re the one who’s always giving me lectures on inter-agency cooperation. Tell them what they want to know.”
For a moment, Jack thought he might put up a fight, but fatigue apparently won out over stubbornness, and Daniel pointed toward his desk. “It was the journal. I’ve been working on it for days. Baker and Warren had no contact with it, though.”
Pete took a step closer to the journal. “Sometimes proximity can do the job. Where’d you get it?”
“It belonged to a colleague of mine. He passed away a few years ago, and a lot of his things were put into storage here in the mountain. I ran across this when I was searching for his notes on the Unas.”
“The what?”
“Unas. Long story.”
Artie leaned down to take a closer look. “Of course. It’s the journal of Desmond Collier. I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me.”
Pete made a face. “Who’s Desmond Collier?”
“He was an archaeologist. Not particularly celebrated, but he had some interesting theories.”
Daniel ran a hand through his hair. “His work is fascinating. I’ve barely even breeched the surface of it.”
Artie turned to Pete. “Get a bag. Collier was a brilliant man, to be sure, and he was on the brink of what he believed would be one of his most important discoveries. But he was also an obsessive workaholic.”
Jack laughed under his breath. “Obsessive workaholic. Sounds familiar. What happened to him?”
“Well, he had a little meltdown and knocked off a couple of colleagues who kept interrupting his work.”
“Kind of like a couple of soldiers making noise down the hall?”
Daniel bit his lip. “Oh,” he said quietly.
“Now hang on,” Jack said. “I’m trying to follow. You’re telling me that his book somehow zapped Baker and Warren because they were bugging Daniel while he was reading?”
Artie nodded. “Pretty much. It got super-charged with Collier’s obsessive need for quiet.”
Jack cocked his head at Daniel. “Well, it’s a good thing you weren’t reading when I asked you to have pie. I told you obsession wasn’t healthy.”
About then, Pete produced a bag, and he and Artie stuffed the journal inside. Purple sparks shot off, and Pete flashed a grin. “Done,” he said cheerfully. “That’s one book that’s going permanently into the return pile.”
As Pete and Artie saw to the book, Daniel leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. “So… what happened to Baker and Warren?”
Myka slid up beside Daniel. “We’re not sure,” she said softly. “It wasn’t your fault.”
After a few minutes, Walter popped his head into the office. “General?”
“Yeah, Walter?”
“Baker and Warren seem to have reappeared, sir.”
Jack smacked Daniel on the shoulder. “Well, that’s damn fine news.”
“And sir?” Walter continued. “There’s about a dozen other people with them. One of them thinks it’s 1951.”
Pete smirked. “Guess this was a popular book.”
“Yeah,” Jack said. “I guess so.” He gazed at Daniel and the Warehouse agents for a long moment, then followed Walter out the door. “This should be interesting.”
***
Artie leaned back in his chair and smiled as the image of a spunky Air Force doctor chattered silently away on his monitor. This was the first time he’d watched the video since the day it was shot, but as he sat there, he found himself thinking that maybe he should pull it out more often.
“So who was she?”
Artie hit the pause button and glanced over his shoulder at Pete and Myka. “Hmm? When did you two get here?”
Pete smirked and gestured at the image of Janet on the screen. “What do we have here? A little crush? Special lady?”
“She was special,” Artie said wistfully. “She truly was.”
“Was?”
“Yeah. She was a doctor, and when I was at Cheyenne Mountain last time, she got called out to help wounded soldiers who had been ambushed. She died in the process.”
“Oh.” Pete fell silent and started to glance helplessly around the room.
With a smile, Myka laid a hand on Artie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Artie shook his head. “Nah,” he said with a genuine smile. “I’m glad I met her. Sometimes I lose myself among dust and artifacts. Janet reminded me that there’s another world out there. And it’s not so bad.”
-END-
Prompt:
That was Artie wandering around the SGC interviewing people in Heroes. He never did find the artifact, and now it's become active again. Now-General O'Neill isn't pleased to learn why Artie was really there, or why his people are there now.
Author: sheryden
Fandoms: Stargate: SG-1/Warehouse 13
Characters: Jack O’Neill, Daniel Jackson, Walter Harriman, mention of Janet Frasier; Artie Nielsen, Pete Lattimer, Myka Bering
Pairings: No pairings
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2800
Spoilers: Spoilers for Stargate: SG-1 episodes 7x17 and 7x18-Heroes, Parts 1 and II. No spoilers for Warehouse 13.
Warnings: Mention of past canon character death, minor language
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and Warehouse 13 belong to their respective creators.
A/N: This was written for gladdecease. I hope you like it! Also, thanks to colls, my beta. Any remaining mistakes are mine.
Summary: When two officers go missing at the SGC, Artie suspects that an artifact he once failed to find is responsible. He sends Pete and Myka to Cheyenne Mountain to investigate, but Jack O’Neill is less than thrilled.
General Jack O’Neill leaned back in against the cool metal of his chair and stared stone-faced at the two agents sitting across from him. “All right,” he said with a dramatic breath. “Let’s try this one more time. Who’s gonna tell me why two Secret Service agents are playing a game of cloak and dagger at one of the most classified sites in the entire country?”
After a few moments of awkward silence, one of the agents-Pete Lattimer according to his file-leaned forward and tapped on the table, “Look, General,” he said. “We already explained this. We’re investigating the disappearance of Lieutenants Baker and-”
Jack felt a pocket of bile start to swirl around in his gut. Biting the inside of his cheek, he said, “Last I checked, Pete, the president thought we were capable of handling the investigation.”
The other agent, one Myka Bering, who had been sitting stoically in her seat up to this point, nodded. “And you are, General,” she said. There was a slight hint of condescension in her voice, but Jack was pretty sure she’d meant the statement to sound genuinely warm and conciliatory. “We’re just looking at it from a different perspective.”
Lattimer gazed at his partner with appreciation. “Yeah. You know…fresh eyes and all that.”
Pushing the chair back with a loud screech, Jack rose to his feet and stared down at the two agents. He’d been in a bad mood from the moment he’d heard about the disappearances of Baker and Warren, but the tiny shreds of patience he had left were starting to dissolve into dust with each passing moment.
“Look,” he snapped. “I have two missing officers and two trespassers who can’t give me a satisfactory reason for their presence. I’m gonna leave the room, have a piece of pie, and give you two a chance to think. If I were you, I’d come up with a better answer for me by the time I get back.” And with that, he strode purposely out the door and into the hall.
***
The moment General O’Neill disappeared into the hall, Pete sprang out of his chair and started to pace back and forth. “Well,” he said. “That went well.”
Myka gazed at her partner for a moment, then shifted in her seat. “Nothing like a little inter-agency cooperation.” she said. After a moment, she let out a long breath. “All right. Let’s go over what we have.”
Pete stopped pacing and cocked his head in thought. “Okay. Two guys go poof on camera near one of the archaeologist’s offices, and… what? They’re invisible? They were vaporized? They got sucked into some thingy somewhere?”
“Well, we’ve ruled out the security camera.”
“Yeah.” Pete licked his lips. “I’d really like to get into that office. That artifact’s gotta be in there somewhere.”
Myka rubbed her eyes and tried to fight off the fatigue she felt creeping up her back and neck. “We’re still no closer to working out what we’re looking for, though. Artie went through this place with a fine tooth comb when he was here.”
“Yeah, and there were two people who disappeared back then, right?”
“Right.” She tapped on the table and ran through the mental checklist of things Artie had told them at the briefing. “They were nowhere near that office, though,” she said after a moment. “They disappeared in a storeroom.”
“And no one else has been zapped until Baker and Warren.”
“So it never left the storeroom?”
Pete threw a punch into the air. “Ah, I hate being cooped up like this.”
“I don’t like it either Pete.”
“What do you think they did with our Farnsworth?”
Myka shook her head. “I don’t know. We missed our last check-in, though. Artie’s got to be wondering where we’re at.”
***
After Jack left Agents Lattimer and Bering, he found Daniel waiting for him just outside the interrogation room, his arms folded across his chest and his face set into the kind of grave expression he usually wore when he was trying to work out some all-important cosmic puzzle. He gestured toward the room from which Jack had just emerged. “Well,” he said. “What happened?”
Jack ran a hand through his short gray hair. “Not a whole lot. And I’m telling you, Daniel, my sunny disposition is taking a hit right now.”
Daniel flashed a small grin. “I’ll consider myself warned. Do you think they’re legitimately Secret Service?”
“Yeah, I think they are. And that pisses me off even more.” Jack motioned in the direction of the cafeteria. “Come on,” he said. “I need pie.”
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Daniel cocked his head for a moment then fell into step beside Jack. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind a bite of something. I worked right through lunch.”
“How unlike you.”
They shuffled off to the cafeteria and grabbed two pieces of chocolate pie, a coffee, and a bottle of water. Once they’d sat down, Jack stabbed his forked into the innocent chocolate and let out a breath.
“You know,” he said. “I’m not a fan of the inter-agency hand-holding thing, but I would be a damn lot more willing to accept their presence if someone was being upfront with me.”
Daniel nodded, as he sipped his coffee. “I’m with you on that, Jack.”
“And seriously. What jurisdiction does the Secret Service have in an SGC matter? How does this pose more of a threat to the president than anything else that’s happened in this mountain?
“That’s a good point.”
“And you would think I would have clearance to know about something like this.” He shoveled a forkful of pie into his mouth and leaned back in his chair. “What different perspective could they possibly have?”
They ate in silence for a few moments, then Daniel laid down his fork and leaned forward. Biting his bottom lip, he said, “Jack, do you think we’re looking at something like The Trust?”
“I thought about that.” Jack rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know. But either way, I’m going back in there, and this time, I plan on getting some answers.”
With a decisive nod, Jack wiped the last bit of chocolate off his fingers and rose to his feet. He was about to head back to the interrogation room when Walter Harriman appeared in front of him.
“Sir.” Walter paused for a moment to catch his breath, then he gestured toward the hall. “You have a visitor.”
“Who?”
“He says his name’s Artie Nielsen. He’s here about Agents Lattimer and Bering. He’d like to see you and Doctor Jackson.”
***
Artie paced back and forth across the floor of the interrogation room where he’d been brought to wait for General O’Neill and Doctor Jackson. He imagined that Pete and Myka were in a room just like this one. It had been years since he’d stepped foot in Cheyenne Mountain, but an atmosphere of familiarity hung in the air. He remembered his brief conversations with Janet Frasier and the little pangs of loss he’d felt her death. He’d barely known her, but she’d treated him with genuine kindness and the world had felt momentarily darker when she left it.
“You.”
Artie jumped a little at the sound of General O’Neill’s voice. He glanced up and saw O’Neill standing just inside the doorway with Doctor Daniel Jackson in tow. They both looked pretty much the same as they had when he last saw them. Of course, back then they’d known him as Emmett Bregman, a reporter who’d been commissioned to make a documentary on the SGC.
Clearing his throat, Artie walked over and held out a hand. “General, Doctor Jackson. It’s been a while.”
O’Neill stared at Artie for a moment, then held out his hand. “So. Not a reporter?”
Artie shook his head. “No. And I’m sorry about the ruse, but discretion was crucial at the time.”
Daniel shoved his hands into his pockets. “You don’t look like Secret Service.”
Flashing a quick smile, Artie said, “Have you ever heard of the Warehouse?” When both men stared blankly at him, he continued. “No, of course not. Um. We search for dangerous artifacts, and we put them in safekeeping.”
“Artifacts?”
“It’s a long story. But listen, we’re on the same side. I promise you.”
O’Neill put his hands on his hips. “No, Artie, you listen. I need to know what you and your agents are up to. And don’t babble about discretion and clearance, because I have the president’s personal phone number. Okay?”
Artie arched an eyebrow. He’d forgotten how pushy O’Neill could be when he wanted something. “Okay,” he said. “We’re trying to track down an artifact that we believe caused the disappearances of Baker and Warren, as well as the disappearances from a few years ago.”
“And that’s why you were sticking your nose in our business before?”
“Yeah. Only I never found the artifact, and the disappearances stopped. But now it’s active again, and I sent my agents in to find it.”
Daniel gazed at him. “Why couldn’t you just be honest with us about this?”
“Doctor, what we do his highly sensitive. I couldn’t risk letting the proverbial cat out of the bag.”
“You’re probably right,” Daniel deadpanned. “We here at the SGC are way too fast and loose to keep a secret.”
“I don’t make the rules.” Artie gazed at Daniel for a long moment, then let out a breath. “General, Doctor. We just want to help find out what happened to your people. Let us help.”
***
Jack stood in just inside Daniel’s office and watched as Pete puttered around and scrutinized everything from a crusty old shard of potter to Daniel’s coffee cup. He wasn’t sure what he had to gain from this little exercise, but they were no closer to solving the disappearances of Baker and Warren on their own.
While her partner searched the lab, Myka stood off to the side and questioned Daniel about the disappearance of the two men. “I know you’ve been through this already,” she said. “But even the slightest detail could help us figure out what we’re looking for.”
Daniel folded his arms across his chest. Jack could tell by his posture that he was reaching the upper threshold of frustration. “Look,” Daniel said. “I don’t know I can help you. I didn’t see them disappear.”
“But the security camera shows them just outside your office at the time of their disappearance.”
“Well, they weren’t in my office.” Daniel turned toward Pete. “Please be careful with that.”
Pete took a step back and flashed an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”
Myka glanced around Daniel’s office. “Well, our best starting point is to assume that the artifact was near their point of disappearance. And your office is the closest space besides the hall.”
Daniel leaned against his desk. “Can you give me a better idea of what you’re looking for?”
“It has to be something that would have been here when Artie was here filming the documentary.”
“And,” Pete added. “It’s something that would have been packed away or something.”
Myka nodded. “Because it’s been dormant until now.”
Daniel glanced at around the room. “That doesn’t narrow it down much. I mean, we’re constantly bringing things out of storage.”
Artie lowered himself into a chair near Daniel’s desk. “Doctor Jackson, maybe it if you walk us through that day again. Even if it seems unimportant.”
Daniel threw his hands up in the air. “I barely remember. I haven’t slept in two days. Too bad I don’t have it on film this time.” He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. That’s the fatigue talking. I didn’t mean to snap.”
“I know this probably opens old wounds, but-”
Waving a hand through the air, Daniel turned his back to Artie. “It’s fine,” he said, his voice soft and clipped. “Uh. I was sitting here, and I remember hearing the two of them down just outside my door. I was up to my eyeballs in research, and they were making a racket. I was about to go and chew them out, but the noise stopped. I assumed they left.
Myka tugged on her bottom lip. “Just out of curiosity, what were you researching?”
Daniel squared his jaw. “Well, it could be any number of things.”
Jack, who had been quietly observing since the search began, let out a breath. “Daniel, you’re the one who’s always giving me lectures on inter-agency cooperation. Tell them what they want to know.”
For a moment, Jack thought he might put up a fight, but fatigue apparently won out over stubbornness, and Daniel pointed toward his desk. “It was the journal. I’ve been working on it for days. Baker and Warren had no contact with it, though.”
Pete took a step closer to the journal. “Sometimes proximity can do the job. Where’d you get it?”
“It belonged to a colleague of mine. He passed away a few years ago, and a lot of his things were put into storage here in the mountain. I ran across this when I was searching for his notes on the Unas.”
“The what?”
“Unas. Long story.”
Artie leaned down to take a closer look. “Of course. It’s the journal of Desmond Collier. I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me.”
Pete made a face. “Who’s Desmond Collier?”
“He was an archaeologist. Not particularly celebrated, but he had some interesting theories.”
Daniel ran a hand through his hair. “His work is fascinating. I’ve barely even breeched the surface of it.”
Artie turned to Pete. “Get a bag. Collier was a brilliant man, to be sure, and he was on the brink of what he believed would be one of his most important discoveries. But he was also an obsessive workaholic.”
Jack laughed under his breath. “Obsessive workaholic. Sounds familiar. What happened to him?”
“Well, he had a little meltdown and knocked off a couple of colleagues who kept interrupting his work.”
“Kind of like a couple of soldiers making noise down the hall?”
Daniel bit his lip. “Oh,” he said quietly.
“Now hang on,” Jack said. “I’m trying to follow. You’re telling me that his book somehow zapped Baker and Warren because they were bugging Daniel while he was reading?”
Artie nodded. “Pretty much. It got super-charged with Collier’s obsessive need for quiet.”
Jack cocked his head at Daniel. “Well, it’s a good thing you weren’t reading when I asked you to have pie. I told you obsession wasn’t healthy.”
About then, Pete produced a bag, and he and Artie stuffed the journal inside. Purple sparks shot off, and Pete flashed a grin. “Done,” he said cheerfully. “That’s one book that’s going permanently into the return pile.”
As Pete and Artie saw to the book, Daniel leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. “So… what happened to Baker and Warren?”
Myka slid up beside Daniel. “We’re not sure,” she said softly. “It wasn’t your fault.”
After a few minutes, Walter popped his head into the office. “General?”
“Yeah, Walter?”
“Baker and Warren seem to have reappeared, sir.”
Jack smacked Daniel on the shoulder. “Well, that’s damn fine news.”
“And sir?” Walter continued. “There’s about a dozen other people with them. One of them thinks it’s 1951.”
Pete smirked. “Guess this was a popular book.”
“Yeah,” Jack said. “I guess so.” He gazed at Daniel and the Warehouse agents for a long moment, then followed Walter out the door. “This should be interesting.”
***
Artie leaned back in his chair and smiled as the image of a spunky Air Force doctor chattered silently away on his monitor. This was the first time he’d watched the video since the day it was shot, but as he sat there, he found himself thinking that maybe he should pull it out more often.
“So who was she?”
Artie hit the pause button and glanced over his shoulder at Pete and Myka. “Hmm? When did you two get here?”
Pete smirked and gestured at the image of Janet on the screen. “What do we have here? A little crush? Special lady?”
“She was special,” Artie said wistfully. “She truly was.”
“Was?”
“Yeah. She was a doctor, and when I was at Cheyenne Mountain last time, she got called out to help wounded soldiers who had been ambushed. She died in the process.”
“Oh.” Pete fell silent and started to glance helplessly around the room.
With a smile, Myka laid a hand on Artie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Artie shook his head. “Nah,” he said with a genuine smile. “I’m glad I met her. Sometimes I lose myself among dust and artifacts. Janet reminded me that there’s another world out there. And it’s not so bad.”
-END-
Prompt:
That was Artie wandering around the SGC interviewing people in Heroes. He never did find the artifact, and now it's become active again. Now-General O'Neill isn't pleased to learn why Artie was really there, or why his people are there now.