Fading Memories
By Terri D. Thomas
Part 11
Jack O'Neill plopped down in the chair opposite his commanding officer's desk. "I called the detective in charge of the case. There's been no sign of Teal'c or Daniel."
Hammond stared intently at his subordinate. He knew he could have criticized the man for his lax attitude in the presence of a superior, but the tired brown eyes convinced him that protocol was not important at the present.
"Have the police apprehended a suspect in the shooting?" Hammond asked as he sat down in his chair.
"No. But they do think they know who shot the guy. The victim was involved in a gambling racket. He owed a lot of money to the wrong people. Apparently, he was late on repaying his debt."
"And our boys just happened to stumble upon this?"
"Yeah." O'Neill leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. "I'm worried, General. Danny running off. . .well, I'm kinda used to that. But not Teal'c. He wouldn't just disappear unless there was a damn good reason for it."
Hammond nodded. "I agree, but where does that lead us?"
"It leads us to the conclusion that something has to be seriously wrong with Teal'c."
"And Dr. Jackson as well?"
Jack gave his commander a knowing look. Hammond shook his head. "Never mind. Okay, so we presume that both Teal'c and Dr. Jackson have gone missing somewhere in the streets of the city. I can free up some men to help search for them, but I have to have an idea of where to start."
"I want to go back to Daniel's car. Maybe there's some clue as to where they disappeared to in it."
"Where is it?"
"Still outside of O'Malley's last time I saw it."
"If the car is still there then that must mean they are in the area," Hammond reasoned.
Jack nodded in agreement. "Presuming that they weren't taken somewhere else."
"By the shooters?"
Jack took a deep breath. "Well, they did witness a murder."
Hammond was silent for a moment, considering the Colonel's words. Finally he pushed himself out of the chair and walked around the desk to face Jack. "There's no evidence that anything like that happened. I prefer to believe in a more positive explanation until there is information to the contrary."
Jack nodded and then stifled a yawn. He stood and hobbled to the doorway. "I'll go back to the car."
"No, Colonel," the General's stern voice halted the man in his tracks. "You will get some rest. You're still injured and you've been up all night."
"But General. . ."
"No 'buts' Colonel. You will not do Teal'c or Dr. Jackson any good in your current state. Get some rest. . .and some pain killers from the infirmary. I'll send someone out to find Jackson's car and sweep the area covertly. We can't forget that this is outside of our jurisdiction."
Jack's shoulders slumped. "I can do it, I'm all right."
Hammond's voice softened. "No, you're not. You're exhausted and worried, Jack. Let someone else take a look at the area. Perhaps they'll see something you didn't."
"But I. . .," Jack protested once again.
"It's an order, Colonel," Hammond interrupted.
Jack stared at the man for a long time. He would've sworn that he could have outlasted the older man in the 'staredown' contest, but he was wrong. The General gave no sign of weakening. Defeated, O'Neill nodded. "Yes Sir."
"This is your transportation?" Teal'c asked his captive. His dark eyes roamed the exterior of the vehicle. The man was clearly curious about the nature of the object.
"Yes. We call it an automobile. . .uh. . .'car' for short," Daniel answered, his voice quiet from exhaustion. "I have to use a key to operate it. It's in my pocket."
Teal'c nodded and watched as the man reached into his pocket.
Daniel fumbled in the early morning dawn to find his keys. His search was made more difficult by his injured shoulder. 'Damn the luck,' he muttered to himself. The keys were in his right pant's pocket. 'I'd have to be a contortionist to get them out with my left hand.'
Biting his lip, he held back the instinctual groan which arose in his throat as he forced the right arm to move. The numb fingers of his right hand slid into his pocket and pulled out the small ring. Finally, he was successful at sliding the instrument into the door lock. Succeeding at the task of unlocking the car, he glanced back at the larger man standing behind him. "I suppose I should drive," he muttered with an air of sarcasm in his voice.
"You will take me to the Chaapa'ai now." It was an order, not a request.
"Ah. . .yeah," Daniel answered, as he opened the driver's side door.
The doctor's mind whirled through his options. Getting back to the SGC would be the best way to get help for Teal'c. Surely there would be enough triggers there to cause the man's memory to return. If seeing Daniel wasn't sufficient by itself, then maybe seeing Jack and Sam would be enough.
However, at the same time, Daniel was concerned about what would happen to the Jaffa if his memory did not return. He would enter the compound as Apophis' First Prime. He would consider himself to be an enemy of those who controlled his only means of escape. As a result, he would defend himself at all costs, which would lead to disaster.
In the end, however, Daniel could think of no other solution. He couldn't continue to wander around the city with an injured Jaffa in tow. Sighing, his left hand pointed to the passenger side of the vehicle. "You need to get in on the other side."
Teal'c examined the layout of the vehicle. He then grabbed Daniel by the uninjured arm and pulled him away from the door. Shutting the driver's side door, he dragged Daniel to the passenger side with him. "You will enter first. I will follow."
Daniel couldn't help but shake his head in amazement. Even injured, the warrior was strategizing. The passenger door was opened and Daniel was pushed inside the car. He didn't struggle against Teal'c's rough treatment. Instead, he slid himself into the driver's seat and waited for Teal'c to climb in.
"We will go now," Teal'c demanded.
Daniel nodded, and with his left hand he started the car's engine, slid the gearshift into drive and pulled out into the street.
"Colonel?" Samantha Carter's voice stopped Jack's hobble down the corridor.
Jack turned to his team member. "Captain."
"I didn't expect you to be here. Did you find Daniel and Teal'c?" the woman asked, hope in her voice.
O'Neill shook his head. "No sign of either of them."
"Then why are you here?"
"Orders. Hammond seems to think I need rest."
The woman glanced down at Jack's injured right foot. "Is it hurting?"
"It's fine. That's what I tried to tell Hammond." The words were laced with frustration.
Sam smiled skeptically as she looked at the pain reflecting in the brown eyes of her commander. "Yeah, right Sir, anything you say."
Jack gave the woman a dirty look. "And I suppose you're feeling like a million," the man snapped as he concentrated on the swollen lump decorating the woman's forehead.
Sam fingered the wound self-consciously. "It's not bad, Sir. Just causes a bit of a headache."
"Yeah, concussions will do that so I hear."
O'Neill passed the woman and continued to limp down the hallway. Sam spun on her heal to follow. "What do you think has happened to them?" she asked quietly.
"I wish the hell I knew. It makes no sense. Okay, sure, Daniel will run off at the drop of an artifact, but he wouldn't be gone this long without a reason. And he certainly wouldn't intentionally do anything which would endanger Teal'c." Jack stopped his hobbling and leaned against the gunmetal gray walls. "Danny wanted help to find Teal'c. He wouldn't be gone this long unless. . .," he paused, not wanting to consider the alternatives.
"I understand, Sir. So what do we do?"
"For now, we follow orders," Jack growled.
"Orders?"
"I've been ordered to rest, and I'm ordering you to do the same."
"But, Sir, I can. . .," the Captain protested.
O'Neill's hand in the air stopped her mid-sentence," Ah! If I have to follow Hammond's orders, you have to follow mine. That's kinda the way this chain of command thing works." Jack's sarcasm laced the words.
Sam bit her tongue. The Colonel gave her a sly smile. "Sometimes I like my job," he said as he turned and continued the trek to his quarters.
End Part 11
To Part 12