by Cindy Combs
"Well, Mr. Sandburg," the officer practically sneered, "you WILL be going to a briefing in five minutes and you WILL listen."
A short bark of laughter burst out of Blair, causing him to wince slightly from his headache. "Trust me, after teaching Anthropology 101, I KNOW you can't make anyone listen if they don't want to. So you might as well give it up now."
"Besides," Janet Frasier broke in, "Mr. Sandburg really should rest."
"He can rest later."
Janet wasn't liking this at all. "Colonel..."
"Let's go." Maybourne waved his hand toward the door where four guards waited to escort Blair.
Blair took a deep breath, drawing his inner strength around him like a cloak. He had a feeling he was going to need it.
General's briefing room
Daniel looked up eagerly when the door opened, only to frown when he noticed the guards surrounding the long-haired man in jeans and a flannel shirt. "What's going on here?"
Maybourne ignored him. "General, this is the sentinel expert, Mr. Blair Sandburg."
"Excuse me," Daniel insisted. The anger brewing in the eyes of the expert worried him. "Why is Mr. Sandburg under guard?"
"I think Dr. Jackson has asked a very good question, Colonel Maybourne," General Hammond commented. "Why is this young man under guard?"
Blair glanced at the huge man with rows of ribbons across his chest, then continued to study the rest of the room around him. When his eyes landed on a lanky blond at the table dressed in fatigues, his jaw nearly dropped open. Mac? How did MacGyver get here so quick?
The brown eyes, familiar yet different, studied him a moment. Then the man straightened up. "What happened to him?" he growled dangerously, waving at the butterfly bandage on Blair's eyebrow.
Struggling to maintain his composure, Blair returned his focus on the general. Don't want to give anything away and blow Mac's cover.
"Mr. Sandburg hasn't been very cooperative," the colonel answered. "We had to use some persuasion."
Anger flared in spite of Blair's efforts to remain calm. "So that's what you call abduction now-a-days?"
"Abduction!" O'Neill shot up from his chair. "What in the Hell did you do, Maybourne?"
Blair stole a surprised glance at the man. While admittedly he hadn't known Mac all that long, he could have sworn heated outbursts weren't his style, even if he was undercover.
"We had to move fast."
"But I was going to go to Cascade to give him a job offer," Daniel inserted, confused.
"We already gave him a job offer," Maybourne announced smugly.
"Which I turned down since I've accepted another," Blair replied. "Speaking of Cascade, may I go back home now?"
The Colonel ignored him. "General, Mr. Sandburg's knowledge is essential for this project."
"So that justifies kidnapping, Maybourne?" O'Neill questioned angrily. "Instead of letting Jackson persuade him, you jump in and turn the expert against us from the very start?"
"Are you questioning my methods, Colonel O'Neill?"
O'Neill was now in the other man's face. "Hell, yes, I'm questioning your methods."
Blair blinked. That's sounds more like Jim than Mac.
"Just because you've been leading SG-1 for two years doesn't mean you have any say outside this facility," Maybourne blustered.
"It does when you ignore the perfect man for the job just to advance your career, then screw it up in the process!" O'Neill yelled back.
Two years? How could Mac be on some secret undercover assignment for two years without me knowing it? Admittedly, I don't know everything, but he certainly couldn't have kept that haircut secret. It can't be Mac. With that realization, disappointment sank Blair's hopes to the floor.
"It's up to you to make him work out." Maybourne waved his hand in Blair's direction. "I just bring them in."
"Then you can take me back," Blair growled, anger now rising in place of the disappointment. "In fact, just drop me off in front of my car where you picked me up."
"Please, let's calm down here people," General Hammond soothed. "Let's work out a solution."
"I don't understand the problem anyway," Maybourne continued. "Nobody'll miss him. He's just a discredited bastard son of a new age flower child. Hell, she was too high to even know who his father was."
That did it. Registering the insult to Naomi, Blair's temper erupted. His fist flew, landing a clean blow to Maybourne's nose. Then running on instinct, he ducked under the grabs by the guards. Dodging between them, he made a break for the hall. Unfortunately, he had only taken a couple of steps before running into a pole. Then the pole latched onto his shoulders. Tilting his head up, Blair found himself staring into the dark face of a man, a gold emblem on his forehead.
"O'Neill," Teal'c called out over Blair's shoulder to his commander. "Do you need this person?"
"Yeah," O'Neill replied with a chuckle.
"Great," Blair grumbled as he was grabbed from behind. "You'd think after all my time around Major Crimes I'd know how to dodge human mountains."
"Take him to a holding cell until we can get a handle on this situation," General Hammond ordered, not pleased.
In the corner, O'Neill leaned against the table next to Daniel and Sam, watching the expert being led away. The respect in his eyes tempered the smirk on his face. "You know, I think I've finally found a scientist I could actually like."
Daniel and Sam exchanged glances. They had both been targets of Jack's disdain for scientists.
Next morning, pre-dawn, Denver, CO
"I still wish I could be there, Dad." The frustration vibrated through the voice over the satellite link.
MacGyver sighed, rubbing his nose. "I know, Sam. But this is the best way to handle it."
A matching sigh filtered over the phone line. "I know. Just tell Blair I back him no matter what. And tell..." Mac's eyes opened as he heard his son's voice crack. "...tell Jim that, whatever happens, I'll keep my promise."
"Promise?" Mac gently prodded.
"Jim'll know. Love ya, Dad."
"Love you too, and stay safe." Mac hung up the phone, then glanced over as Jim left the bathroom, towel-drying his hair. "Sam said to tell you he'll keep his promise?" Mac let the question hang in the air, hoping for enlightenment.
Blue eyes, filled with worry, glanced up. "That's between Sam and I. Right now, I'd just like to get Blair out and safe so Sam doesn't have to keep it."
Knowing a losing battle when he saw it, Mac dropped the issue as the sentinel limped over to his duffel. "How's the leg?"
"Sore, but good to go." Pulling on a T-shirt, Jim asked, "What are we going to do after we get Blair out? After everything he's been through, I'd hate to make him go into hiding. Blair would go nuts with that kind of secrecy."
"Nikki and Pete are working on that now." Mac stretched, working out some kinks. "Once we have Blair, we'll be holding most of the cards. I have a temporary place to stash you both while Phoenix makes a deal." Mac paused a moment. "How do you feel about going into hiding?"
Jim shook his head. "I knew it could come down to this. Hell, I even started making plans when word of Blair's diss hit the media. I just..." Jim took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling. Softly, he continued, "I don't know if I could leave Cascade permanently. It's hard to explain, but even now something's tugging at me. It's not as strong as the need to get Blair back, but it's there. Whatever it is, it wants me in Cascade." Jim turned to Mac and shrugged. "Maybe Blair can figure it out."
Mac leaned back in the lounge chair thoughtfully. "Perhaps your instincts consider Cascade your territory, so that's why you're drawn to it." After a moment of thought, Mac shelved the idea with a shrug. "In any case, I'm hoping we can wrap this up quick. I want both you and Blair to be able to sort out your lives without intervention from someone else."
Holding cell, Stargate Command Center
Blair sat cross-legged on a bunk, staring at the dull wall. Man, not a bright color in sight. Definitely a military
operation. Rubbing his eyes, he reflected on the previous hours.
When he had first been shoved roughly into the cement cell, the young man had been furious. He had paced the short length, making savage turns at each end. But as time passed, his temper cooled. His mind back in control, Blair had investigated every nook and cranny of the room, searching for a way out. All he found was dust and a camera watching his every move. After flipping the bird at the camera, Blair had settled on the lowest bunk to wait. Apparently fate had decided to give him some time to process recent events.
The long hours of introspection had led to some interesting revelations. The most surprising was that, even if given the chance, he didn't want to go back to Rainier. Thinking over the last few days, his anger towards that institution had grown by leaps and bounds. His first warning should have been the incident over Brad Ventriss. That they would be willing to dump him simply because he refused to let a rich student get away with cheating had shaken his confidence in the high standards of academia. But he had been so close to obtaining his Ph.D. he had ignored the tremor, thinking he could get out of there before the 'big one' struck. He should have known he wouldn't be so lucky.
Instead, the Dean went along with Syd the slimy publisher and announced his dissertation to the world without his permission. Hell, they announced it before he had even handed the paper in to his committee, let alone had the chance to defend it. That, he now realized, had been totally against any school policy he had ever heard of, but apparently due process disappeared where he was concerned. The Dean had only thought of the good publicity she could obtain from his research and Nobel Prize nomination. She'd never given a thought about how it might affect the student. She and the university had shoved him into a corner where his only true options were going along or committing professional suicide. It wasn't surprising that they would toss him out like trash when he took the second option. They never cared about him or his teaching or his research. They only wanted him to serve their image and egos. After devoting so much of his time and energy to Rainier, it angered him to be betrayed by them.
Yet in a flash of honesty, Blair had to admit to himself that he was also partly to blame. He should have changed dissertation topics after Lee Brackett. The whole incident should have been a warning of the possible consequences to his sentinel if word of his abilities were made known. Then Jim's reaction to reading the intro should have made him think twice, even though Jim had backed down later and given him the go ahead. MacGyver had specifically warned him that release of Jim's name could start a chain reaction of events that was impossible to foresee or control. Blair had just been too caught up in his work to really think it through.
Even the incident with Alex a year ago should have shaken him from his obsession but didn't. Looking back, Blair could see that his all-encompassing devotion to academia and his excitement in finding another test subject had blinded him to the downward spiral his roommate was in. It had taken being kicked out of the loft for him realized that Jim was out of control. Yet by the time of his wake-up call, Jim had been so deep into primal sentinel instincts, Blair couldn't reach him. It continued to haunt him, wondering if he could have stopped the sequence of events that had nearly led to his tragic death had he paid attention to his own sentinel instead of Alex.
Yet even that harsh brush with reality didn't stop him from writing his dissertation on sentinels. He was so focused on the goal, he hadn't really thought of what finishing it would mean to his life and the people around him. Why hadn't he changed topics? Why didn't he see that his dissertation had the power to destroy the sentinel, the very thing he wanted to study and protect? He had been so na‹ve four years ago when he thought he'd just help Jim out for a few months, get his information, write his Ph.D., and leave the sentinel behind. Instead, he had been drawn deeper and deeper into Jim's world, into the drive of the sentinel to protect his people from the predators that stalked the tribe. Blair had become the partner Burton had hinted at in his monograph. The one who guided the sentinel, guarding his back and anchoring him to prevent a zoneout. Blair hadn't been acting like an objective researcher; he had 'gone native'. No wonder his diss had been a disaster. Hell, even Mac had seen it coming and in his gentle fashion had pointed it out to him, but Blair had been too deep into his obsession to heed the warning.
So where did he go from here? It suddenly dawned on Blair that there was only one place he wanted to be. All the time he thought he was preparing to be an anthropologist, he had really been preparing for his true destiny. He was a sentinel's guide, without whom the sentinel could not fully function. His true place was at Jim's side, guarding his back as they protected their people. If it meant that he had to become a cop, that was okay. At least his friends in Major Crimes had backed him when the University kicked him out. If being a cop meant he had to carry a gun, so be it. Blair wouldn't like it, but he would do it to protect Jim and to hold up his end of the sentinel deal. He would even consider cutting his hair if it meant being Jim's partner full time. Just as Jim had been forced to make the choice to be the Sentinel after Incacha's death, now Blair had finally made the choice to be his Guide.
However, he could not be a guide from within some military compound. How would he get out? Did anyone even know where he was? Deep within his soul, he knew Jim would be searching for him. Which led to another concern, that Jim would walk right into these idiots who wanted to find sentinels. Blair didn't want them to get their hands on Jim, too. He could only pray that his father had joined his sentinel and could keep Jim from doing anything too stupid.
Thoughts of Mac brought thoughts of the other man who had looked so much like him. The more Blair thought of the man's actions, the more he realized it couldn't be his even-tempered father. MacGyver would have thrown logic at that colonel, out-maneuvered him mentally. He wouldn't have sworn at him or yelled in his face. That was more like Jim than Mac. Yet Mac didn't have any living family besides Sam and himself, or at least that's what he had said. Surely he would have mentioned a twin brother if he had one. While Naomi might have shunned a family member in the military, Mac had been in 'Nam and didn't make those kind of judgments against people. If he had any other family at all, Mac would have found some way to maintain contact.
So who was this guy? The human pole he'd run into had called him O'Neill. He apparently had the clout to yell at that colonel, so he must be fairly high up in the military ranks. The colonel had mentioned O'Neill had led something called SG-1 for two years. What was SG-1?
Perhaps more importantly, what did it have to do with sentinels? He had been introduced as a sentinel expert which everyone seemed to think they needed. That one guy with the glasses, Dr. Jackson, even mentioned traveling to Cascade to offer him a job. What kind of job did they have to offer him? Why would the military need a discredited anthropologist? Did he really want to know? Though if he knew what they wanted, perhaps he could convince them that he really wasn't what they wanted after all.
A loud 'clunk' of the door lock signaled that someone was coming in. Blair stood up and pulled himself together. He was going to need all his wits to get back home.
Daniel took a deep breath as the guards unlocked the door. Once again, he was being called upon to play peacemaker between the military and a civilian. Yet this time, he felt even more responsible. It was his research that had unwittingly targeted Sandburg. Now it was up to him to not only make peace with the fellow scientist, but to try to convince the man to join forces with them. How he was suppose to do that without revealing anything about the Goa'uld or the danger to earth he did not yet know.
Putting a friendly smile on his face, he entered the small cell. Sandburg stood facing him, neutral blue eyes quietly studying him. In spite of the youthful look and grunge clothes, Daniel could sense the strength in the personality in front of him. Man, this is going to be an even harder sell than I thought. "Hi," Daniel greeted. "I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to talk before. I'm Daniel Jackson."
"Blair Sand
burg," the other man replied. He reluctantly took Daniel's offered hand, still trying to decide whether he was friend or foe.
Daniel hoped he could turn the tide soon to 'friend'. "Have they brought you breakfast yet?"
Sandburg lifted an eyebrow. "They haven't given me any food yet."
"What?" Daniel turned to stare pointedly at the guards. "You must be famished by now. I guess I'd better take you to get something to eat."
"Dr. Jackson, the prisoner is supposed to stay here," one of the men put up a token resistance.
"And starve? Do I need to go talk with the general and Colonel O'Neill about this?" Both men immediately shook their heads. They had heard that O'Neill was on a rampage, and neither wished to get in the way of his sharp tongue. They also knew that O'Neill would be there at the first word from the scientist in front of them. Their reaction was noted by the prisoner.
"All right then. Let's go to the mess hall." Daniel led Sandburg down the halls. "The food's okay here. Not terrific, but I've tasted worse. There was one time in Egypt..."
Blair listened with half an ear to the other's story while he studied his surroundings.
Somewhere in the foothills of the Rockies, Colorado
The first rays of sun were just barely touching the horizon with color when MacGyver raised his hand. Ellison halted as he surveyed the dry, rocky terrain around them, broken only by an occasional juniper or patch of sagebrush. As far as Jim could tell, there was no reason to stop here. He turned back to MacGyver, only to find the older man on his knees and pulling his backpack around. Puzzled, Jim watched as Mac swiftly set up his laptop and satellite receiver. He finally decided that Blair's dad must know what he was doing. Jim turned his attention to their surroundings, staying alert while carefully shifting his weight off his aching leg.
Mac took a deep breath before he started to type. He was sincerely praying that Dr. Jill Ludlum hadn't changed his security clearance during the past few years. When a happy beep and a welcoming message scrawled across the screen, Mac couldn't contain his grin. Apparently, his back way into the facility in case of a problem was still in place. He briefly wondered if anyone else knew he still had access. Then he shrugged before typing in several codes and commands. He would deal with any repercussions after he knew Blair was safe.