Cat's Eyes A Highlander/SG-1 Xover By Tasha Part 4 O'Neill did not like playing baby-sitter, but he could see the reasoning behind the General's order. Pierson acted as if he was perfectly calm and in control of the situation; he would be a hard nut to crack, but the kid let every thought flow across his face. Relax him a little and Ryan might actually let something slip. Jack was not happy, but he managed a vaguely friendly expression when he walked into the room where Ryan was being kept. He had waited until Daniel had been along and moved Pierson, and he had to admit that the kid was looking a little dejected when he walked in. The background check had so far come up with a juvenile record, an age and a list of foster homes: the young man's recent history seemed to be a little more difficult to track down. That he was nearly 24 had been quite a surprise when Jack had skipped through the kid's file, come to think of it he was going to have to stop thinking of Ryan as a kid. He had the face of a teenager, but he clearly wasn't. "Hi," Jack opened the conversation when the "guest" looked up, "I suppose you're having a bad day." "That's an understatement," Richie replied, and O'Neill decided dejected was also an understatement. "Well, I can't guarantee that it's going to get much better," Jack told him, almost feeling something for the puppy dog eyes, "but I am allowed to let you out of this room. How does lunch sound?" "You serious?" the question was wary and Jack noted that this guy seemed to have a healthy suspicion of authority. Ryan's expression was edgy, but he didn't look as if he was going to refuse out right. O'Neill registered the fact that the kid seemed to prefer anything but being locked up. Well even a Special Forces trained Colonel could sympathise with that. Considering his background, O'Neill couldn't blame him. Ryan's file was nothing if not interesting, and his juvenile record had probably given him a lot of experience with The Establishment. "As I ever am," Jack told his charge. "Now the mess food is as likely to kill you as nourish you, but most of us take our chances." Ryan grinned at that and managed to look even more like a kid. "Well I'm just about hungry enough to risk it," the young man replied, "but I warn you when I start to eat I've been known to cause a famine." O'Neill found himself grinning back before he realised it and decided that maybe he was going to have to watch this kid a bit more closely than he had thought. Ryan's wit and unorthodox manner could be disarming. "Well this way then," Jack told him and indicated the door, "I'll tell you to close your eyes if we go past anything top secret." Richie rolled his eyes and Jack congratulated himself on a sharp move as he saw the young man let his guard down just a touch more. The two men made their way to what served as a mess hall 28 floors down inside a mountain, and O'Neill was surprised to find out that Ryan had not been exaggerating too much when it came to how much he could eat. They talked as they ate and Jack found that Richie was shrewder than he would have given him credit for. He diverted questions with much more skill than O'Neill expected, and on his part he didn't ask any probing questions of his own. He asked the odd thing, but it was all harmless small talk, as if he was making sure Jack knew he was not a threat. Ryan did let slip that he had ridden motorcycles on the professional circuit for a while, and he'd travelled extensively over Europe. O'Neill made mental notes of anything that Intelligence might find useful in a background check, and made small talk for the rest. By the end of the meal, Jack was actually beginning to believe that Richie was as clueless about the Stargate as he had claimed to be. As they walked back towards the bunkroom cum holding cell, O'Neill had to admit that if the situation had been different he could actually like the kid. Jack was just considering trying to find something else for them to do so he could learn more about his companion, when a Sergeant accosted them. "General Hammond wants to see you in the briefing room, sir," the young woman told O'Neill brusquely with practised efficiency. "I've been ordered to take the," she almost said 'prisoner', but caught herself when Jack glared at her, "guest back to the secure area." "Very well, sergeant," O'Neill replied, "treat him nicely." ===================================================================== O'Neill had just reached the bottom of the stairs in the briefing lounge when the klaxon sounded to announce that someone was coming though the Stargate. Everyone in the room, including Daniel, Carter, Teal'c and the General looked through the now-open blast shield towards the control room and the gate. "Party has SG-2's signature," the controller announced before anyone could react. "Iris deactivated." The Gate room itself contained four marines on semi-alert, and a whole group of technicians to help with the equipment SG-2 would be bringing back with them. "At least now we can ask those on the ground exactly what they found," Daniel commented, and Jack realised he had missed an earlier conversation. "Get SG-2 up here as soon as they've handed over their gear," Hammond ordered through the intercom. "I want to know if what you found, Carter, was a glitch or whether we may have attracted some unwanted attention." The Stargate burst into life and flicked with its strange watery sound. What stepped through was not what anyone watching was expecting. Two Jaffa in lion head shaped helmets were the first revealed, and they took down the marines without a second thought. All the alarms sounded and the blast shield started to come down automatically. The last thing O'Neill was able to see were three more figures appearing from the gate. Another Jaffa carrying what looked like the body of one of SG-2, and what had to be two Goa'uld. With training that had been instilled into Jack over years he took in every detail he could with one glance. One of the Goa'uld was female, the other male. She wore a headdress in the style of a lioness, which framed her cold but beautiful face, he a circlet with two feathers moulded in metal. O'Neill was trying to get a better look as the shield blocked the view completely. Before it finally shut there was the sound of numerous staff weapons being discharged. ===================================================================== The facility was shutting down faster than a turtle into its shell. The sergeant had drawn her gun the moment the alarm had sounded and she had moved Richie into a side corridor. She took hold of Richie's arm and he had the distinct impression that a bull elephant couldn't have stopped her taking him wherever she wanted him to go. Richie didn't even try and stop her, but they didn't make it more than a few feet: The lights dimmed, sparked, and the junction box beside both of them exploded. The last thing Richie felt was heat, and then there was complete blackness. ===================================================================== "I guess, Adam was telling the truth," Daniel said as the fail-safes went into action around them. "Are we to assume that these are Shu and Tefnut, Doctor?" Hammond asked as he was handed a print out of stills from the close circuit cameras. The surveillance devices had been destroyed, but not before they picked up some nice close ups. Daniel nodded. "An exact match," he told everyone in the room. "Shu is usually shown with between one and four feathers on his head, and you all saw the big cat touches. Tefnut usually has the head of a lioness." He peered at the pictures the General had placed on the desk. "My god, they have golden eyes." "All Goa'ulds have funny eyes," O'Neill pointed out. "No look," Daniel insisted and pointed at a particularly good still of Tefnut, "they've changed their eye colour: it's like a cat." "And teeth," Sam offered as she leant over, "look at this, they have fangs." She was indicating a shot of the triumphant looking Shu smiling at the chaos around him. "These people really like the old lions, don't they," Jack said, his tone more than a little sarcastic. "Maybe they got caught up in their own propaganda," Daniel mused aloud, "anyway, it doesn't seem that these Goa'ulds have changed their images lately." The General didn't waste any time. "Get down there, Colonel," he ordered, "and make sure they don't get out of that room. We have to contain this situation, or this mountain is the last place any of us with ever see." Just as Jack ran to the stairs yet another alarm sounded. "Stargate closed," one of the controllers announced, "but they brought through at least another ten people. They used something we haven't seen on the door, they're into the main complex." ===================================================================== It had only been five minutes since the original break through the Stargate, but already there was chaos. The intruders had split into two groups and they were causing havoc. One group seemed to be almost suicidal, and they were attacking anything that moved. This included air conditioning, and cameras as well as the humans they came across. The other group, which included Shu and Tefnut, were working their way to a goal, which seemed to be anything and everything to do with the control of the facility. The defenders could only guess that someone, possibly members of SG-2, had given them information on the layout of the facility. The marines seemed to be having better luck at keeping this group under control, the Jaffa were protecting their royal commanders as well as fighting, and it slowed them down. They had with them three of the technicians from the Gate room and they were using them as shields whenever the need arose. Shu was not pleased, not pleased at all. The initial intelligence had revealed that the technology of these humans should have been no match for theirs, and yet they were not winning as swiftly as he wanted. It seemed that maybe Apophis had not been trying to cover his own bungling with the reports he had sent to his brethren. Apophis and Shu had never been friends, although they were not open enemies, and Shu had assumed his royal cousin had been either covering up his incompetence or hiding something about the humans. All the observations from most sources had shown that humans could not match Goa'ulds, but they seemed to be doing just that. "We must regroup," he ordered suddenly, and stepped over the charred remains of one of the enemy. "This enterprise is not going as planned." Tefnut turned and her brother saw the momentary anger in her eyes: they glowed with Goa'uld power, but she soon contained her wrath. "You are right, beloved," she said, calming herself, "maybe we have miscalculated." There was a groan from Shu's feet and he looked down. It seemed the body on the ground wasn't as dead as it had seemed. His golden eyes scanned the burnt face, and he almost raised his hand to put the creature out of its misery. It wasn't from any feeling of compassion; Shu just enjoyed reminding himself of his own supremacy every now and then. A spark of blue fire stopped him, and something very unexpected happened; part of the injury on the human healed. "My love," Shu said slowly, "look at the slave." Tefnut looked down, but there was contempt in her eyes, only when the blue spark appeared again did she really take notice. "He heals so quickly," she commented. "Our intelligence from Apophis' campaign did not mention this. This enterprise may not have been fruitless after all." "Jaffa, carry the slave, we are returning through the gate," Shu ordered without pausing. "As you command, Master," the nearest guards responded and effortlessly threw the charred human over his shoulder. The other Jaffa began clearing their way back to the gate room, which took the marines by surprise. Taken off guard by the sudden change in objective, the soldiers really didn't stand much of a chance. "They do not use our technology to activate the Stargate," Tefnut pointed out as the royal party moved towards their escape, "how will we remove ourselves from this place." Shu smiled and glanced at the three terrified technicians they were still dragging along. "They will value these lives," the Goa'uld told his companion with a smile, "we will bargain, using them to gain our return home. It is not difficult to fool humans." End of Part 4