Part 13 Jack caught up with Daniel as they left the briefing room. "Are you okay with this?" the Colonel asked his companion almost as soon as the anthropologist acknowledged his presence. Now this was a question Daniel didn't quite have an answer to yet, and he decided to think about it before he gave an answer. Jack took this the wrong way. "Look if you're not happy I'll go in there and tell the General that we need a new plan," O'Neill told his friend. "If I'd thought you had any doubts in there I wouldn't have pushed it. If Richie is going to be a problem ..." "Jack," Daniel interrupted him before the officer could get overly worked up about the subject, "it's okay. If I'd really objected I would have said so in there ... I just have to get used to the idea, okay." O'Neill didn't look convinced. "You're not just saying that?" he enquired. "No," the anthropologist promised, and hoped Jack would believe him. "I know I'm having trouble accepting that Richie is around, but I'll get over it. It's not as if he acts like a Royal Goa'uld, it's just my prejudices getting in the way." He was actually pleased that Jack had cared enough to ask, but he was slowly coming to believe his own answer. "Jack, it's fine, honestly," Daniel tried once more to shift his friend's dubious expression. "Besides, I'm just like the rest of you, I'll go to hell and back to get Mayburne." That did it; O'Neill actually smiled. ====================================================================== "Mayburne, put him back now!" It was seven o'clock in the morning and Mayburne had arrived to cause trouble very early. Hammond was to say the least, furious. "I have orders to transport the prisoner to Area 51," the Colonel returned from where he was escorting two of his men who had Richie in restraints being dragged between them. "I don't care about your orders," the General was barely concealing his anger. "Put my guest back in his room, remove those ridiculous chains and then report to my office." "But General," Mayburne made the mistake of trying to argue. Hammond's face was eerily calm when he placed it only an inch from the Colonel's. "This is my facility," the senior officer said evenly, "you are man handling a person who is my responsibility, and you didn't even ask first. Now if you so much as breathe in the wrong place I will personally throw you off the top of this mountain. Is that understood?" Mayburne's face was pale where he tried to stand his ground. "Yes, Sir," he said very tightly. ====================================================================== Methos was not a happy man, and he was barely holding onto his composure as he watched General Hammond speaking to the President on the phone. At least he was in good company, because from the look on O'Neill's face the Colonel felt the same way. It was obvious that Mayburne had been hoping to get Richie out of SGC without too many people noticing. The fact that everyone had been expecting such underhand tactics was the only thing that had prevented the evil little man getting away with his plan. One thing that Methos was damn sure about, he wasn't letting any government lackeys get their hands on Richie. "Yes, sir, I realise this is slightly different from Teal'c's situation," Hammond was saying, "but my team is willing to do this. Colonel Mayburne's initial report is inaccurate and inflammatory, Richard Ryan does not pose a threat to national security." There was a pause. "Yes, sir I am willing to stake my career on this," the General responded. Methos' mood was getting darker by the second. There was another pause. "But Mr President, if he is removed from SGC it will be that much harder to get him back," Hammond continued. The General looked about as pleased with everything that was going on as Methos, and his expression didn't get any better in the next pause. "Yes, sir, I understand, but..." the General definitely didn't want to give up on this one. To the oldest living Immortal it looked like a loosing battle and he finally made a decision. "General," he said stepping forward, "give me the phone." Hammond looked up at him sharply, but Methos stared him down. Looking into eyes that had seen over five thousand years was a daunting challenge and the General was not up to it. Reluctantly he handed over the receiver. "Good morning, Mr President," Methos said in a calm pleasant tone, "you don't know me, but I have something very important to tell you. This is a Prometheus matter, Mr President." There was a pause from the other end. "I'll make the necessary calls," came the reply from the other end. "Thank you, Mr President," Methos replied, and handed the phone back to General Hammond. He could see the questions building up in the room, and rather than answer them all at once Methos just turned and walked out. He hadn't really wanted to do what he had just done, but he hadn't been able to see any other way. There was only one person he knew who could sort out the current mess, and he hadn't seen him in fifty years. Methos was one of only a dozen or so people who could call on him for assistance and it was something he would only ever do in a dire emergency. ====================================================================== Jack spent the best part of the next two hours trying to find Adam and ask him what the hell was going on, but it seemed that the Immortal was a master of the vanishing act. When things started happening again as if by magic, Adam reappeared. "Are you going to tell me what's going on now?" O'Neill asked pointedly as he found the Immortal on the way to the outside. "Not a lot to tell," Adam replied, and Jack really wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. "I've involved an old friend, most people call him Prometheus, and he solves problems." "Who's problems?" unanswered questions were one of the Colonel's pet hates, and he didn't like the feeling this operation was giving him. A few days ago his world had been complicated enough when it involved aliens and Stargates, now it was even more of a nightmare and Jack was beginning to think a lot more things were beyond his control than he had first thought. "Everyone's," Adam told him calmly. "Everyone who?" O'Neill was in the mood to push for answers. "What is he, US Black Ops?" "To tell you the truth I'm not exactly sure about the answer to that question," the Immortal replied. "When I say everyone I mean everyone ... Prometheus handles the problems no one else can fix, for anybody who needs it. I met him in 1937 in Greece and we found it mutually beneficial to keep in contact for several years. Heads of state all over the world do their damndest to remain on his good side, and that's all I can tell you." They paused as the soldier on duty passed them through to the outside. "If he's so useful why didn't you mention him as soon as Mayburne showed up?" Jack asked as they moved on. "Because Prometheus always makes up his own mind," Adam said evenly. "His idea of solving this situation may be to make Richie disappear. He always looks at the big picture and sometimes that makes him a really dangerous man." O'Neill chose not to ask any more questions. ====================================================================== Methos stood beside Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond as the helicopter landed, and three men got out. They all wore dark suits and carried themselves like people who knew they were supposed to be exactly where they were. The man in the lead looked the youngest of them all, but the familiar sensation of another Immortal just underlined to Methos that he was nothing that he seemed. Clear green eyes scanned the three of them and then Prometheus smiled. "Michel, how nice to see you again," he said lightly as he settled on Methos. "It's Adam now," Methos said calmly, Prometheus just smiled again and turned his attention to the others. "And you must be General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill, I've heard great things about you both," he said in a disarmingly charming manner. Prometheus reached out his hand and the General shook it. "Nice to meet you, sir," Hammond said, obviously not quite sure how to take the youthful figure in front of him. "Please, call me Prometheus," the Immortal said amiably, "every one else does. These are agents Kovor and Davis, my associates." "Welcome to SGC, gentlemen," the General greeted. Methos found Prometheus looking at him again, and he stared back calmly. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a word with my old friend before we dive into the red tape," the younger Immortal said evenly. "Of course," Hammond agreed, "why don't we show Agent Kovor and Agent Davis the way in." The two Immortals waited as the other four men walked away, and then Prometheus' mask of cheerfulness was replaced by an expression that told Methos he was now deadly serious. "The official reports say Goa'uld technology has created a man with incredible healing powers," the green-eyed man went straight to the point. "I assume he is actually one of us." "You assume correctly," Methos replied without the least trace of emotion. "Do any of the mortals suspect?" Prometheus obviously wanted to know exactly what was going on before he moved in. "General Hammond and the SG-1 team know the truth," the oldest living Immortal supplied, and wondered just exactly what was going through his companion's head. "It was the only way to launch a rescue mission. The information will go no further." His companion looked a little unhappy at the news, but he didn't comment, just nodded. "Why when there's big trouble do you always seem to be in the middle of it?" Prometheus asked shortly. "A talent I've being trying to shift for centuries," Methos replied. "I've led them to believe I'm a little over two hundred years old, I would appreciate it if it stayed that way." The two men regarded each other for a long moment, and in the end it was Prometheus who looked away. "Well let's get on with this then," he said with just a trace of annoyance. He went to walk towards the entrance, but Methos caught his arm. The ancient man looked into his companion's eyes. "He's my friend," he said calmly, his tone totally neutral, but the expression on Prometheus' face said he understood the meaning completely. ====================================================================== There were many things Richie could have been feeling, but having been dragged out of his room, chained up and then virtually thrown back in he had settled for really annoyed. If he'd let himself he probably would have been terrified of the prospect of being imprisoned at Area 51 for the rest of his life, but he was covering that with seething anger. Hence when he felt the presence of another Immortal he was ready to yell at anyone and that included Methos. His plans fell into pieces, however, when it wasn't Methos who stepped through the door. The first thing Richie noticed about the newcomer was his bright green eyes, and the second was the fact that he did not look too happy. "Good morning," he said in an even tone, "my name is Prometheus." Richie just sat very still trying to figure out what was going on. "At this moment I am working for the United States government, Adam called me," the stranger went on. "Are you here to kill me, or help me?" Richie decided to be blunt, he was in no mood for games. At that Prometheus actually smiled. "Practical, I see," he said and walked further into the room, "and to answer your question, I haven't decided yet." Well at least this was going to be an honest conversation. It was something Richie had not seen a great deal of since Mayburne arrived. "According to one report you are the greatest find since the Stargate itself, according to another you the biggest threat," Prometheus told him. "Once I have decided who is right I'll decide which course of action to take." The cards were on the table. Richie knew his future was now never going near Area 51. He gazed at the man who held his life in his hands and tried to come up with a plan should this not go well. "Tell me about yourself," Prometheus said calmly and sat down on a chair next to the door. "I don't have a god complex if that's what you're wondering," Richie responded trying to think of something useful to say. "I'm just me, which isn't quite who I used to be, but it's pretty close. I have no idea what Mayburne had been saying about me, all I can tell you is he asks really dumb ass questions." "On that count, everyone seems to agree with you," the other man said, and then fell silent again. Richie knew this was going to be a very long few minutes. End of Part 13