Inter-agency Nightmare 11/?
Tim sat next to Gibbs, watching as Carter bandaged his injured arm. She finished with a smile and moved on. Luckily, the injury count had been light and minor this time, but it was enough to keep her and the Marine medic busy for a little bit. Once they were alone, Tim scooted closer to Gibbs.
Hesitant fingers hovered over the bright white bandage. "Does it hurt?"
"Nah, I've hurt myself worse shaving." When Tim didn't look convinced, Gibbs wrapped his other arm around him and pulled him a little closer. "I'm fine, you're the one I'm worried about."
"Me? Why are you worried about me?" He didn't notice the amused glint in the bright blue eyes.
Gibbs let his hand slide up to squeeze the base of McGee's neck. "Because you're the one that's going to have to come up with what to tell DiNozzo."
Tim's head snapped around, his eyes narrowing at the smirk on Gibbs' face. "Very funny."
The smirk grew wider. "I have my moments."
Somehow, being with this group seemed to loosen up something inside Gibbs, but before Tim could press further, Jack walked up to them and dropped two MRE's on their laps. "Here you go, ladies. Kicking Gao'uld ass always gives me an appetite."
McGee frowned. "Carter was sure those weren't Gao'uld weapons."
O'Neill's head bounced around as he debated the best way to explain. "Sometimes the System Lords don't like to get their hands dirty, like when they're trying to murder other System Lords or anyone that opposes them. There's some mercenaries, assassins, that they call in on jobs like that - the Ashrak. Daniel found some evidence that the demon these people are all afraid of is actually an Ashrak. Not only that, Daniel's convinced that this Ashrak is rogue, which means that he doesn't answer to anyone, just aligns himself with the highest bidder."
"But why here, and why" Tim waved his hands around at all the destruction, "all this?"
Sitting on the steps next to Gibbs, Jack explained his theory. "As I see it, there's only two reasons why an Ashrak would go through all this trouble. One, that he's got his personal base of operations here on the planet somewhere and doesn't want the people stumbling across it."
It seemed like a rather expensive and elaborate 'do not disturb' sign and Gibbs' gut was telling him to go with option two. "Or?"
"According to the history that the High Priest showed Daniel, the people were cast out of their jewel-encrusted city because they were selfish and didn't want to share the pretty baubles."
"So he drove them out and helped himself?"
"Which fits the rogue theory because if there's that kind of riches here, a System Lord would have been here with an army of Jaffa to strip the planet down to its crust."
Tim started to get to his feet. "I need to figure out if that thing sent out a signal." Jack waved him back down.
"Eat and get some rest, that's an order. If it did, it's too late to do anything about it now. When both suns go down it gets dark here and I'd rather have you fresh in the morning, just in case."
It had been a very long day and McGee nodded before stepping away, following the path to the latrine area that had been set up. Jack watched him leave. "He did good, today. I don't have a clue exactly what he did, but he did it well."
"When it comes to the computer stuff, I never know exactly how he does it, but he always makes it look easy. What happens now?"
"Well," Jack shifted and stretched out his legs. "We will get the hostages back in the morning unless the Ashrak shows up first. You two and the hostages will go back through the Gate with some of the team and the rest of us will continue the negotiations here and set up a watch in case they have trouble later."
Gibbs nodded, looking thoughtful, and O'Neill suspected that Gibbs had more questions, so he smiled at Daniel as he waited.
"You and Daniel?"
"We don't advertise, but we don't hide, either. You and McGee?"
"Finally admitted it to ourselves before we came through the Gate." Gibbs looked around, watching as Daniel and Teal'c tended a fire, quietly talking to some of the others. "Doesn't seem to be an issue."
The first sun was setting, giving an odd combination of glow and long shadows. Jack looked around at the men and women he'd fought beside many times since that first trip through the Stargate. "When the bad guy out there can pretty much melt your brains out of your ears, it gives you a different perspective, changes what's really important in life."
Gibbs didn't say anything, but he was listening intently to everything Jack said. Jack nodded his understanding and reached up to point out the first stars visible in the darkening sky. "Even the guys that might have been phobic when they arrived at the Mountain - the first time overnight on a different planet, it changes you. Looking up at the stars and realizing that there's not one constellation out there that you recognize because you're so far away from Earth makes a lot of problems back on Earth seem pretty petty in comparison."
"Makes sense." Gibbs smiled as he watched Tim's slow return, as almost everyone stopped him to shake his hand or pat his back.
"What happens, how will it be for you and McGee when you go back to Washington DC?"
Gibbs didn't have an answer, but the flash of worry that crossed his face spoke volumes. O'Neill tapped his leg as he stood. "You've both earned a spot here with us if you want it. Things get bad there, you've got options."
"Appreciate it." The relief replaced the worry as Gibbs got up and met Tim, who was returning with a cup of coffee from one of the Marines.
Tim didn't say a word, just smiled and handed the cup over, but he did smirk at the look of pleasure on Gibbs' face. Shoulders touching, they passed the cup back and forth until it was empty. Gibbs then handed the cup off to one of the other Marines who was headed for the campfire. Gibbs licked his lips. "There's nothing better than that first cup of coffee after a successful battle. Jack will show you where to set up our bedrolls, okay?"
"Sure. Are we on early or late watch?"
"Neither." It was Anderson who answered as he walked by. "Newbies always get the first night off of patrol, especially civilian newbies. Enjoy the night sky, it'll be magnificent."
Even with one sun still on the horizon, there were more stars visible than any night in DC so neither man argued. Gibbs followed the path to the latrine area and McGee went up to find Jack.
---NCIS---
Gibbs felt bad about not taking a watch, but he knew that Anderson was right, he was constantly distracted by the night sky and the sounds of strange animals in the brush. He watched as one of the Marines took photos with a night camera of a three toed animal that was the size of a house cat. With large, luminous eyes and silky fur, it rubbed against Gibbs' leg as it was photographed, then scurried back to its nest at the base of a burned out tree stump. Soft mewling sounds from deep under the stump suggest that there were babies down there waiting to be fed.
"What was that?"
"I don't know, Sir, but she was sure cute. There's a team of scientists back at the Mountain that are studying the animal life we find, so I always try to get a few pictures for them if I can."
Still smiling at the little creature, Gibbs found McGee and their beds set up near the deactivated master control. The two bedrolls were set up a few feet apart, like Gibbs would expect if they were hiding the new changes in their relationship. However, Gibbs had taken Jack's words to heart and moved his bed closer to McGee before laying down.
If Tim was suspicious when Gibbs moved the beds closer, all doubt was eliminated when Gibbs snuggled up behind him and draped his arm over Tim. "We're not hiding."
"But what happens when we go home?"
Gibbs smiled against the back of Tim's neck. Like I said, we're not hiding and I'm not giving you up."
"They'll separate us."
"Did you notice that when the fighting started, Teal'c was the one watching Daniel's six and Jack was with Carter?"
"Yeah, I did." Tim turned slightly in Gibbs' arms, so he could see the other man better. "Will that be enough in our world?"
"I think so, but it might slow down your chances for advancement."
Tim snorted and slapped gently at Gibbs' hand. "After what we've seen, my ranking at NCIS is pretty insignificant when you look at the big picture. All I care about right now is not getting separated from you. The rest honestly doesn't matter, not anymore."
"Yeah." Gibbs ran his fingertips across Tim's arm. "If we have problems, we've got a place at Stargate Command if we want it."
"Really?" Tim raised up enough to look down into Gibbs' face. "You'd give up everything in DC? Your friends? Your home?"
"If you're what I get out of the deal? Yeah, I'd do it in a heartbeat. What about you? Truth be told, you'd be the one giving up a lot more." Tim might not know it, but Gibbs knew Vance was seeing the younger man as a successor someday.
Still timid, McGee lowered his face to rest his forehead on Gibbs'. "The only thing that has kept me in DC all these years, Jethro, is you."
---NCIS---
Ganlok paced in his small control room, the few Jaffa under his power keeping well out of his way. Over one hundred and fifty Earth years ago, Ra had condemned him to death after a failed mission. It had only been dumb luck that he'd landed on a a backwards planet forgotten by the System Lords. A beautiful woman had taken him in and nursed him back to health. Not knowing about the symbiote inside him, she believed it was their strange worship of the land that had saved him.
They were a strange, primitive people without a clue to the true value of the gems they casually made into tawdry jewelry and decorated their walls. By the time he'd had his ship repaired and space worthy again he'd amassed enough gems to buy himself honor and prestige, but Ra was still a threat. Biding his time he'd used that first wealth to gather weapons to take over the planet and this time the wealth he'd gathered would buy him not only prestige, but now that Ra was dead, a place at the table as a System Lord himself.
Now, on the verge of his triumphant grasp of power something has gone wrong. Waving his hand over the control screen, it remained dead. There was only one thing left to do. "Prepare my ship, we leave immediately."
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