
On mission I did, it seems a lifetime ago, I had to go in with a team
to rescue a downed fighter pilot. Think all the great action movies,
and make them a bit more realistic, and you have my mission. It was a
heart pounding flight out to the pickup spot, and a mind blowing all
hands on deck ride back. I was patching up the unconscious pilot when
militants started firing. There is nothing like trying to set a broken
bone, dodge the gunny and fly back to base, praying you got all the
bleeding under control and the bullet really did not graze an artery.
Luckily the kidnapping of Vala was a bit less nerve wracking. Well all
up until the point when Cam got shot, and Daniel and Sam having a small
stand off as they raced to find both Cam and Vala.
It started as I walked out toward my car, stretching my aching muscles
as I saw Daniel and Vala get into his car. I waved as they drove past,
doing a slight double take; Daniel was in a suit, not his normal off
duty clothes. I thought no more of it as I drove to my apartment I
stayed at when I was Earth-side. The SGC owned it, and stored three
officer’s clothing in the apartment so when one of us were home, we
would have a place to stay and clothing. Of course I have stayed in the
guest quarters in the SGC before, but this time they have a training
session and were all booked. Personally I miss the stargazing.
My phone rang in the middle of me falling asleep on the small balcony
on a lounge chair. “Dr. DeBarr.”
“B. We have an emergency.”
“Put ice on it.”
“What?”
“Calm down.”
“Oh,” Cam said. “This is serious, Bay.”
“Okay, I’m awake. What’s the matter?”
“Vala has been kidnapped.”
I blinked and sat up slowly. “Kidnapped? Are you sure? Maybe she is
just hiding. Where is Daniel?”
“Jackson is right here. Bay, she is gone. The TRUST has her. We are all
sick with worry.”
“Ok I’ll be there in 5. I assume you are all over back at the SGC.”
“No we are at the restaurant.”
I took down the name and address, Daniel giving me brief instructions
how to drive to the place. I grabbed my supplies and drove to find Cam
and Daniel talking to one of the managers. Sam was with SG-3,
canvassing the area. Cam came over and seemed like he had been hit by a
truck.
"She was going to the ladies room when they nabbed her."
I raised and eyebrow. "And you boys wonder why we go to the bathroom in
herds?"
"Bay, this is serious," Cam said, rolling his eyes and trying not to
smirk. "We have no leads. No one saw a thing."
"No one thinks they saw a thing," I corrected. I went over to Sam, Cam
trailing with a suspicious look on his face. "Any luck?"
"The waiter said he saw two men in dark suits, perhaps one wearing a
military watch," Sam said, looking over her notes. "He said he noticed
it because normally suits don't wear military wear."
I glanced down at my wrist and at Sam's. I looked over at Daniel.
"Unless your military," I said. Sam nodded. "Direction?"
"Out the service entrance he thought. That's the only way out toward
the back. Can avoid the kitchen too."
"Smart. Ok, look in the back?"
"Indeed," Teal'c said, a beanie pulled low over his forehead. "I have
found these tire marks." He held up two Polaroid pictures and we
studied them.
"Now what?" Cam asked.
"We wait," Sam said, grimly.
- - -
The next day Daniel was huddled over a steaming cup of coffee, flipping
through a magazine. He looked as if he hadn't slept and as I saw Cam
push his way through the doors of the commissary, I figured he had
joined in the sleep over. I picked up another cup of hot chocolate and
sat at the table. I pushed the second mug toward Cam.
"She will show up sooner or later. She's too strong willed not to
fight," I said.
"Ya, but even our moles inside the TRUST have nothing on her. They said
that they think they heard something a few months ago about trying to
get into the SGC and find something," Daniel said, looking at me. His
blue eyes seemed blurry.
Sam hurried in with a smile on her lips. "We have a lead."
Daniel and Cam's heads snapped up and I turned to look at her. "Where?"
Cam demanded.
"A guy called one of the police officers who works for us and said that
there was some commotion outside a building. A few people were seen
pulling a girl in to the building last night."
Cam drained his hot chocolate and stood up. "Let's go. Bay, if you
could bring the –"
"Done," I said, on their heels as they raced to the elevators. I made a
detour to grab my medic bag and hurried out the door to meet them
topside.
Cam climbed in back of the van, telling the SF where to drive. We
checked our guns, me included, and sat waiting while we drove to the
building. I looked out the window and watched the trees whiz by,
reminding me of several medic missions I made in South America. The
dense trees and the freedom fighters were not a healthy mix when
someone's life was on the line. The warehouse was at least in an
abandoned industrial park, with no trees and no life around.
We rolled to a stop and quietly stepped out, racing to the door, guns
ready, my medic bag slung across my chest. Cam gave the hand signals
and we went in, Teal'c kicking the door down and the rest of us
storming the place. A quick exchange of fire was all that was heard
until we finally backed them into a corner. Sam spotted a small room
and I went with her; we figured that was where Vala was.
Opening the door, two men in white coats were hunched over a device and
chair, rapidly yanking out wires.
"STOP!" Sam commanded. I forget she could be a drill sergeant if she
ever wanted to be. "Back away from that stuff." Slowly the two men
complied, getting up on their feet and turning around.
I had just enough time to react. I saw the man on the right reach under
the seat and saw a glint of silver, I raised my gun and as he brought
his piece up and aiming at Sam I fired. The explosion in the small room
echoed and left my ears ringing. The man, on the other hand was
crumpled on the floor, and his partner was cowering in the corner.
Don't tell me doctors only know how to use needles.
I backed out of the room as Cam and Daniel came running toward Sam who
was wrestling the man out of the room.
"You okay?" Cam asked. I nodded and he looked over at the man Sam had.
"Get over here. Where is she?"
"I don't know," the man answered. Cam looked like he was about to wipe
the smirk of his face when Daniel placed an hand on his arm.
"Let's get him back to the base."
Cam nodded and lead the man toward the waiting van.
- - -
"How is it going?" I asked sometime later, coming up to the observation
deck. Down below sat the man – Weaver as he called himself – and Cam
and Teal'c in the infirmary room turned interrogation room.
Daniel sighed as he took the coffee I offered. "Not as well as Cam is
hoping. He and Teal'c have been tag teaming for about," he checked his
watch, "two hours. Weaver refuses to talk."
Sam nodded as she sipped her own coffee. "I don't know what to do. It
looks like we will have to wait for her to contact us."
"If she can," Daniel said.
Sam looked at Daniel. "Hey it's not your fault. They probably would
have nabbed any one of us if they could. Vala just made herself an easy
target."
Daniel did not answer, but seemed to take a great interest in the cup.
I leaned against the wall and watched Cam and Teal'c talk over Weaver
about federal pens. I looked back at Sam and Daniel as they suddenly
started to talk loudly.
"You were what?"
"It was to help her feel less… alien," Daniel said, spreading his
hands. He backed his cup up on the counter. "I don't mean anything when
I do that."
"Ya, I guess not," Sam said, swinging back to look at Cam and Teal'c
who were now leaning into Weavers personal space.
"I would have done the same if it was you."
"I would not be draping myself over you like that, Daniel. She… she…
doesn't care what it looks like. I bet she even suggested you take her
home."
Daniel turned quickly to face the window too, but not quick enough. Sam
stormed out of the room seeing the pink in his cheeks.
"Be careful who you are seen with. You may wind up hurting those you
love the most," Daniel said softly as I turned the door knob.
"She will understand, Daniel. She's just… scared of maybe loosing
something special," I said back, closing the door and giving a soft
smile to Sam who was slumped in a chair, wadding up a tissue.
- - -
Finally after a two week search, the police informant called telling
Cam that they had a suspicious person meeting our description of Vala,
at the station. The rest of SG-1 went off, hoping to recover her and
bring her back. I think even Sam was beginning to miss her; maybe it
was the way Vala sent Daniel screaming from his own office and took
refuge in Sam's that made her almost giddy to have her back.
Me? I sat back and waited for two lab results. Dr. Lam had taken some
leave to tend to her mother who, as Landry said in passing, "liked the
attending physician," after a nasty fall. I bounced a ball Cam had left
me as the phone rang.
"Dr. DeBarr," I said, watching the ball bounce off the wooden chair.
"Bailey, it's Sam. I think you may need to come here," Sam said, an
amused tone to her voice. She gave me the address and added, "Bring
some scrubs too."
I turned the infirmary over to the nurses and scurried out of the SGC.
I did not really know what to expect so I brought a few things with me:
scrubs, tools, and physicians bag. I drove out to the address, thankful
that rush hour was still a few hours away; I got to the other side of
Colorado Springs in 47 minutes.
"What is it?" I asked, looking over the dingy motel.
"A dingy motel," Sam said, smiling at me. "However… maybe people like
it that way." I looked at her and she motioned for me to follow her to
one of the end rooms. "In there."
I opened the door and saw Teal'c look down at me. He grinned and moved
past me out of the room. I looked further into the shadows and laughed.
"Oh ya, really mature. Go on, laugh at the helpless man," Cam said from
the bed. He shifted and the sheets seemed to go lower.
"Cam, are you wearing anything under there?"
He turned to look at the ceiling. "No," he breathed. And quickly added,
"She stole my clothes, all of them. Even my lucky socks. My lucky
socks, Bay. What kind of crazy woman would do that?"
I shifted the candy wrappers around. "A woman who obviously thinks you
can live on candy alone. Or maybe she is wanting to get you fat. Your
six pac is showing a bit there, bud."
"Oh, yes, let's keep torturing the man," Cam said, rolling his eyes.
"Ok, doc, let's get me out of here."
"Well get up."
"I'm naked."
"So I see."
"Bay, I'm sure on some really, really gross level, you are kidding." He
cleared his throat and swung his arms up, "Tied up here at the moment."
"Oh you poor, poor man." I took out my small lock picking set and
popped the lock on the handcuffs. "So she likes it kinky huh?"
"Ok, this has gone from bad, to worse, to all kinds of bizarre Arkansas
family wreath kind of… wrong. Can I just have the scrubs please?" Cam
said, rubbing his wrists.
"You know, it usually is the man who takes the girl out on the date
that gets the kinky stuff. But in this case, I don't think Daniel minds
letting you have that kind of fun," I said, throwing the scrubs toward
him and watching him groan again.
Ah yes, battle field torture and moral booster. I have a long resume.
- - -
I ended up following the crew back to another warehouse – they get so
cliché after awhile – and we found Vala, dazed and confused.
Bringing her back to the SGC she told us (aka anyone who listened) how
she ended up at a small café, working her turkey sandwich bill
off, kicking the snot out of some guy who wanted to rob the place,
kidnapping Cam, thankfully skipping any sexual contact that happened,
and then how she flung herself back into "my Daniel's arms."
She beamed, I just shook my head, Cam looked embarrassed, Daniel
shrugged, and Sam looked like she was about to puke. Teal'c was doing
his eyebrow routine as he processed the conversation. Or maybe he was
kel-ko-reeming standing upright, who knows.
I passed Landry as he walked to the elevators. "You have those papers,
Doctor?"
"Yes sir."
"Follow me. So I hear Dr. Lam is itching to come back to work."
I looked at Landry. "You don't talk to your ex-wife, sir?"
"More like she doesn't talk to me." Landry gave a small smile. "SG-1 is
about to become bigger, that is if these papers give me clearance."
I peaked over his shoulder and smiled. "Looks like it."
"Care to join in the party?"
"Sure."
We went to Daniel's office where SG-1 and Vala seemed to be talking
(more) about her adventure. Cam and Sam stood stiffly as Landry came
into the room.
"At ease. I just wanted to make sure Ms. Mal Doran is doing better, and
to offer this," he said, holding out a velvet box. Cam took it and
opened it.
"Oh wow, that's cool. Who are they for?" Vala said, peering at the SG-1
patches.
"It's for you," Cam said, handing the box back to Landry and handing
one of the patches to Teal'c. They placed them on her shoulders and
beamed.
"Welcome to the team," Landry said, clapping Vala on the back as he
left.
"Well now we need to celebrate," Cam said, almost bouncing. I rolled my
eyes.
"First Daniel and I need to finish our date," Vala said.
"It wasn't a date," Daniel said from behind his desk, far away from
Vala.
"I don't know, Jackson, that was a fine place you took her," Cam piped
up. I saw Sam look back at Cam.
"It wasn't a date," Daniel said, almost clenching his jaw. Sam's eyes
swiveled back to Daniel.
Cam, Vala and Teal'c continued with their plans on celebrating Vala's
promotion of sorts. I was stuck behind the slow moving train and looked
back at Sam to ask her if her engineering project was any further
along, but noticed Sam and Daniel in a staring contest.
"You took her on a date, Daniel." She rushed past me as Cam cleared the
door.
"It was not a date! It was a friendly outing among coworkers and
teammates," Daniel said, his protests falling into the empty air. I
gave him a pitying smile as he laid his head down on his arms.
"She'll forgive you. You may just need to do better then McDonald's for
this apology," I said, leaving too.
"Thanks," Daniel said weakly, returning the smile.
Oh yes, this was much bigger then anything Daniel had taken Sam on in
the past. Maybe even jewelry would be called for.