Daniel and Adrienne #7: Target

“Shots fired! Shots fired in training room three! Requesting units!” Walter’s voice over the loudspeaker startled Daniel so bad he knocked his coffee into his lap, leaping from his desk to avoid the brown liquid that was already on its way to his legs.  

“Dammit,” he swore loudly, not only was it hot but for once he was wearing jeans to work and not BDU’s, so of course this would stain, a deep dark spread right across his groin.  What a way to start a morning.  Walter repeated his announcement and it finally registered to Daniel what was being said and sloughing off the excess liquid with his hand and ignoring the embarrassing spatter, Daniel dashed out of the lab and straight for the stairs to see what was wrong.  

By the time he arrived at the training room, a large crowd had gathered, whispering, gossiping, but since there was no one being hauled away by the security personnel or any other armed staff members, he figured it was safe to assume that it was a training misfire.  Excusing himself through the throng of people, trying to figure out what had happened, he got about halfway through when he found himself face to face with Dr. Carolyn Lam, who was pointing a finger angrily at his chest.  

“Dr. Jackson, I’m finished. I’m finished with her.  From this point on, if it’s not mission related, I refuse to treat her! Are we clear?”  she said in a tone that she often reserved for when he had done something she deemed stupid, which was far more often then he liked to admit. However, he had just been working away in his lab all morning, it had been a quiet week, so he was completely confused by her outburst.  

“Who, Vala?” Vala was always his first thought when it came to doing something stupid, her leap first and glean information later attitude getting the team in almost as much trouble as he did, accidentally of course, but rather than agree, Dr. Lam shot him a face of disgust.  

“No, Dr. Rowan! Someone needs to inform her that she is not a superhero and that this is not the damn Justice League Headquarters!!” Dr. Lam was furious, Daniel could tell, but he tried to stifle his laughter, thinking to himself how much Adrienne would enjoy the reference. Hoping to quell her anger, he tried to reach for her arm in a gesture of good will, but she flipped it around shoving his hand, pushing him out of the way by his shoulder and storming back toward the infirmary.  Daniel looked behind watching the very upset lead doctor swear her way down the hall, promising himself that he would have to go down and talk to her later, and then continued to push his way through the crowd. His foot was stepped on at least three times, and the coffee spill against his skin wasn’t making him anymore comfortable, but he made it to the entrance of the training room where he saw Adrienne, leaning against the back left wall, Teal’c and Dr. Cassie Frasier, Janet’s adopted daughter, hunched over her.  He rolled his eyes and made his way over to his assistant, yelling before he even got over to her. Why did she do shit like this?

“Adrienne, you have got to be kidding me! What in the world is wrong with you?” he scolded as he walked around Dr. Frasier and Teal’c, to stand at Adrienne’s right, leaning over her to see what mess she had managed to get herself into now. Cassie was trying to pull Adrienne’s shirt over her head as Teal’c held her steady, both of them focusing on a large reddish blotch on the opposite side from where Daniel was standing, Adrienne wincing in pain as they moved her carefully. The young doctor removed the tight tank top and tossed it aside, returning to examine Adrienne’s wound as Teal’c glanced up at Daniel.  

“It was not her fault DanielJackson; there was a malfunction with my staff weapon and I fired at AdrienneRowan.  We were fortunate both she and I move so quickly,” Teal’c pointed to the staff weapon laying beside him, stuck in the open position and when  Daniel looked for and found Adrienne’s own weapon, in the closed position laying beside her, supporting Teal’c’’s claim. Feeling bad for screaming at her over what was obviously an accident,  Daniel looked back at his assistant who was leaning and flinching in pain as Cassie tended to a rather large laser burn on her upper left torso.  The smell of charred flesh hit Daniel causing him to gagged out of reflex, but he held back, not wanting to break when he could tell that Adrienne was trying not to cry out in pain, a feat he found remarkable, the burn being so red, black and bloody he couldn’t understand how she hadn’t passed out.  Cassie dabbed another substance on the wound and finally Adrienne screamed out, a shriek like he had never heard her make, causing Teal’c crawling on his knees to help her, taking her into his strong arms, a look of guilt plastered across his face.  Dabbing the wound once more, Cassie looked up at Daniel, her face grim with concern.  

“Can you and Teal’c help me get her to the infirmary? I need better lighting,” she requested, not giving Daniel an opportunity to yell at his assistant further, which he hadn't planned on, seeing her in this state. Shaking his head, Daniel walked over to help, thinking that he might as well add his assistant’s blood to the list of things he would need to get out of his pants.  Before Daniel could even lean down to Adrienne, Teal’c stepped in front of him, taking full responsibly for her care and scooped up Adrienne himself, carrying her out in his arms, Cassie following close behind. Daniel looked down, grabbed Adrienne’s decimated shirt and her staff weapon, pausing to look over his shoulder at a few gawkers who had made their way into the training room. 

“Can one of you take that, carefully, to Teal’c quarters?” he requested, pointing down to the open staff weapon.  He heard a yes sir and one of the men sprang into action, jogging over to the staff and leaning over carefully to secure it, Daniel turning to follow his little problem.  

When he got down to the infirmary, Adrienne was laying on her side under a bright light while Cassie continued to clean the wound.  Daniel noticed Dr. Lam, as promised, was refusing to get involved and hiding in her office as if no patient at all had been brought in.  Maybe now was not the time to talk to her.  Letting out a sigh, he walked over to where Adrienne was being treated, noticing that Teal’c was gone.  

“Where did Teal’c go?”  Daniel asked Cassie, now concerned that Teal’c might have had a wound himself that needed treatment. 

“I told him to go; he kept apologizing, but it was just an accident,” Adrienne hissed through her teeth as Cassie continued to work.  Daniel couldn’t wait to hear this story.  

“What happened?”  he asked his wounded cajun assistant as she lay on the operating table, swearing in French under her breath. Her cheeks reddening, she looked up at him sheepishly.

“Just what he said.  We were doing defensive maneuvers with a closed staff, Teal’c said I was ready to move on from the wooden staff for those kinds of maneuvers, and we hit, we backed up, Teal’c went to spin his staff and it just went off. We both, OWW!!,” Adrienne shouted out interrupting her barely coherent babble. 

“Sorry Addy,” Cassie said, “but to be honest you are just pretty darn lucky to be conscious at this point.”  

“It’s ok; just lost my focus,” she shot a look at Daniel, seemingly annoyed to be explaining herself to him again, but continuing, on the off chance that he was genuinely worried and not just looking for another excuse to scold her. 

“As I was saying,” she began again, gritting her teeth,”we both saw the end open and I jumped just in time, but got singed a bit.  A big bit.”  Disappointed in herself for reasons Daniel could not understand, Adrienne glanced mournfully at her side.  Cassie was drying the wound now with some gauze, grabbing a large gauze and bandage from the tray in front of her to protect the now clean and hopefully sanitized wound.  Placing the large white piece of cloth over the red raw area, Cassie began to wrap the bandage around Adrienne’s waist, but was having some trouble, Adrienne’s muscular build being too much for the small young doctor to lift, so Daniel rested the staff weapon against the wall, threw Adrienne’s shirt over his shoulder and helped her wrap the bandage around his now mortally embarassed assistant. Cassie thanked him and looked over at Adrienne, a small smile on her face.

“Ok Addy, you’re gonna be fine, but you’ll need to have this bandage changed once a day, at least, right after you shower.  If you want to come down here afterward I can fix it and -” Cassie began when Daniel heard a squeal behind him.  

“ADDY!! I heard Teal’c shot you and you were bleeding to death!!!” Of course, more drama, Daniel recognized the voice as Adrienne pushed him out of the way by his hip so she could answer.  

“No, I’m not bleeding to death, who in hell started that rumor?” Adrienne did not like to be the talk of the base, especially after the footrace incident where Daniel had landed on her and busted her lip.  Since then, she preferred to keep a low profile, or so she claimed. 

“I don’t know; I was in the commissary getting something to eat and I heard the sirens.  When I got there a young lieutenant was saying something about Teal’c shooting you and him carrying you out bleeding all over the floor so I came right down,” Vala said, moving past Daniel as if he wasn’t there at all.  He hated them as friends.  

“No, I’m ok, a bit of blood.  Actually, you just missed the show,” Adrienne said as Cassie helped her sit up, Daniel remaining in the background the woman had shoved him into watching Vala fuss over her friend.  Rushing over, Vala grabbed Adrienne right arm steadying her as she sat and then cocked her head over her shoulder at Daniel, finally acknowledging his presence.   

“He come to kiss it and make it better?” she asked jokingly.

“Ha!” Adrienne laughed, “That might be your fantasy mon ami.  Now if it’s Dex we’re talking about....” Adrienne replied, giggling like a teenage girl. He hated them as friends.  

“On that note,” Daniel said turning to leave without so much as a good bye from his assistant or supposed friend.  It wasn’t until he reached the doors of the infirmary when he realized he had Adrienne’s burnt tank top still draped across his shoulder.  Grunting in annoyance, he shoved it into the trashcan by the elevators and hit the button to go down, determined to get something accomplished.   

About an hour later Daniel realized he had forgotten about dinner in latest installment of Adrienne madness.  Marking his spot in the database, he stood, feeling a stiffness on his leg and remembering the rest of the wonderful start to his morning. Damn coffee, he thought, as went over to his locker to see if he had a pair of uniform pants stowed away for a situation like this. He opened the door, relived to see that he had a duffel stuffed inside with, sure enough, a pair of clean pants.  Looking over his shoulder at the clock, he noted it was 7:30 p.m. and he figuring that he was alone on the floor, he unzipped his jeans and shucked them to the floor, pulling them from his feet and reaching down to retrieve them and shove them quickly into his locker.

“Quick, Vala’s coming! She might kill me in a jealous rage if she finds me with you sans pants,” he heard from behind him and dashed behind his desk in embarrassment. There was Adrienne, standing in the doorway, laughing hysterically as she held her side wincing in pain.  

“Dammit Adrienne, don’t you knock?” he demanded, looking desperately as his pants which were sitting on the table beside the locker, too far for him to reach unless he wanted to parade around in front of his assistant in his underwear. 

“Uh, not when I’m going to my own office.  I don’t expect to find my boss half-naked in our workspace, it’s just not considered ‘office-norm’ ya know?” she joked and walked over to the uniform pants, grabbing them and walking them over to him a huge Cheshire cat grin on her face. He snatched them from his grasp, but didn’t move, not relinquishing for a moment the safety and protection of his desk.   Still laughing and shaking her head, Adrienne turned her back to him and walked over to the door.  

Ok, ok, I won’t look at your bare legs.  I’ll even shut the door.  Where did you put your jeans?”  Adrienne asked and as promised, shut the door, engaging the lock.  Daniel slipped into his BDU’s and turned, buttoning the fly quickly while he answered her over his shoulder.  

“Why do you want to know where my jeans are?”  he asked suspicious.   

“So I can get the stain out of them; the only thing that I could smell laying in that gym was my burned skin and your coffee covered leg” she replied, as if he was an idiot.  Daniel turned and looked at her puzzled, noticing she still had her back to him, as promised, no peeking, no leering, no making fun of him.  

“I’m good,” he said and she turned back around, the smirk from earlier gone, ”and thank you for the offer, but I have been doing my own laundry for quite some time now; I think I can manage a stain.”  

“Suit yourself,” Adrienne shrugged, walking over carefully to sit at her computer.  His thoughts changing course and now wondering why she was down here, working, after almost have a hole ripped into her midsection, Daniel walked over to her, peering down at her over his glasses.  

“Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” he asked confused, but she looked up at him over her shoulder and smiled.

“From my strenuous job as a translator? Or my long hours of filing? Daniel, I think I can handle some boring on-world paperwork with a burn on my side,” Adrienne stated, continuing to cue up her computer.  In his opinion, she really should be resting, but he wasn’t in the mood to argue with her.  

“Suit yourself,” he said, giving her a taste of her own medicine. His stomach now getting the best of him, Daniel opened the lab door and headed down to the commissary intent on satisfying the rumble in his gut.  

It was too late for dinner for most people, but Daniel saw John Sheppard sitting alone in the corner of the commissary, so he grabbed a burger, fries and a coke and headed over to the Atlantis commander.  

“May I join you?” Daniel asked rhetorically.  

“Yeah, of course,” John replied, indicating the empty chair across from him.  Regretting his choice as soon as he sat, Daniel immediately noticed that John was looking at him, the words he knew were to come poised on the tip of his tongue. 

“Heard your assistant had a little incident with a staff weapon today,” John said.  Ahhh Adrienne, Daniel thought to himself, my favorite topic of conversation. 

“Yeah, Teal’c’s weapon misfired and she was hit, but she’s alright. Actually showed up to work, so I think she is going to be just fine,” Daniel replied hoping that would end the conversation and he appeared to be right seeing as John was nodding his head in agreement.  He looked like he was going to say something else, hopefully changing the subject entirely, when sirens went off echoing through the cafeteria, the night announcer’s voice blasting over the loudspeaker. 

“Shots fired in storeroom seven. All available units to storeroom seven!!”  Daniel and John looked at each other, reading the same perplexed expression in one another’s faces, and dashed out of the cafeteria, opting for the stairs rather than wait for the elevator.  By the time they opened the door to the stairwell, they could see Dr. Beckett and Cassie racing down the hallway followed by a flurry of orderlies with stretchers.  Daniel heard the elevator doors behind him and turned to see Adrienne stepping out slowly, her hand to her side.  

“What’s going on?” she asked as she approached them, not letting go of her waist for a second. 

“I have no idea,” Daniel answered, relieved that for once Adrienne was not involved, but also staying her advance as they approached the scene, grabbing her shoulders to keep her upright as Carson pushed by with Sgt. Elliot on board one of the previously empty stretchers, Cassie running alongside holding an IV saline bag in the air.  Looking up, Daniel saw Teal’c exiting the weapons room glancing pitifully over at Sam who must have been one of the first to arrive.  

“Teal’c what happened?” Sam was asking as Daniel and company shoved their way to the front, Adrienne having now gently pulled herself from her boss’s protective grasp. 

“SamanthaO’Neill, I came to the weapons room to secure a new staff weapon as mine is malfunctioning. When I reached the cabinet of P-90’s, Sergeant Elliot asked me to pass him one as he was inspecting the weapons on ColonelMitchell’s orders.  The gun discharged,” Teal’c explained.  

“Discharged? How?” Sam looked at Teal’c totally confused by his description of events, “Those guns have more safeties than any weapon on this base.” 

“That I do not know; the weapon simply fired, Sergeant Elliot was down and I called for help immediately,”  Teal’c stated solemnly, that look of guilt Daniel had been before in the training room with Adrienne creeping back into his face. Placing her hand tenderly on his shoulder Sam silently excused him directing her attention to Elliot’s team members who had been alerted to the scene by the all call as well. 

“I want you all geared up, full kevlar and complete an inspection of those weapons. Now,” Sam ordered.  There were a flurry of yes ma’ams and the rest of the crowd began to disperse, sensing Sam’s displeasure.  Daniel approached Sam cautiously, hoping to get a better grasp on the situation, while Adrienne and John choose to hang back still not quite ready to leave. 

“Is Elliot going to be alright?” Daniel asked carefully, trying to judge how concerned his friend really was by the furrowed look on her face. She barely made eye contact as she answered.  

“God I hope so,” Sam started, letting out a sigh before finally looking up,  “How is Adrienne?” 

“She came to work, so I think she’s fine.  She hasn’t said much,” Daniel replied, realizing that other than scolding her for coming to work that soon after a serious injury, he had yet to really inquire as to her well being. Unsatisfied with Daniel’s answer, Sam walked over to Adrienne to ask for herself, Daniel taking the opportunity to escape them both and try to catch up with Teal’c. 

“Teal’c, wait up!” he shouted down the hall as the Jaffa was headed for the back stairs to go to his quarters, foregoing the elevator as he had before. Hearing his voice, Teal’c slowed to a stop to wait for his friend.  

“Good evening DanielJackson.  How fares AdrienneRowan?” Teal’c asked. 

“She’s good; she’s up and moving.  But wow, you’ve had the worst luck today,” Daniel noted, making an effort to support his old friend. Expressionless, Teal’c simly nodded in agreement.  

“It seems that I have been in the wrong place at the wrong time twice now.  I feel it is best I return to my quarters,” Teal’c stated, not seeking sympathy, but rather feeling the need to remove himself from the situation at hand.  

“Maybe you’re right, but just call down to the lab if you need anything.  With all of the interruptions today I think I am going to work late here and stay on base.  Just let me know alright?” Daniel offered, thinking back to all of the times that Teal’c had been there for him, unconditionally.  Teal’c nodded politely and continued to his quarters so Daniel turned to head down to the elevators himself and back to the lab.  The elevators doors were closing by the time he reached them and he sighed heading for the stairs when he heard the soft bing of the indicator and they began to open again, Adrienne on the other side, smiling, pressing the door open button.

“I take it you are going back to work?” she asked as he entered the elevator.  

“Yeah, thanks for holding it.  I really have some things I need to get finished before I quit for the day,” he said.  She nodded in reply. 

“Well, that section you gave me, how pressing is it? I can put it on hold and help you finish up. I’m the reason you got behind in the first place,” she said, apologetically, he noticed and he saw her reach for her side, wincing and trying to hide the pain.   

“Addy, are you alright to be up and about?” Daniel questioned, reaching for her shoulders and turning her so he could better examine the wound. She didn’t fight, in fact   she let him move her gently and even pull up her clean black shirt, exposing the bandage.  It was a reddish brown, no longer the clean hospital white he had helped affix to her this morning.  

“Yeah, but I could probably use a new bandage. It’s a burn, they ooze, but I’m fine,” she stated, pulling her shirt down carefully and quickly, as if she were embarrassed at this momentary display of weakness, when her eyes lit up suddenly and she began to chuckle.    

“What are you laughing at?” he asked, glaring over at her confused by her abrupt outburst.  

‘You,” she replied,  hitting the button to head back down to the bottom floor, realizing they had been talking and no one bothered to hit the button.  Daniel just rolled his eyes at her.  

“Glad you find me so amusing,” he said irritated but Adrienne was shaking her head.  

“No, not you you. It’s what you said.  You called me Addy,” she smiled and leaned back in the elevator, a look of smugness spreading across her face.  Daniel started to speak and paused, realizing that she was right.  He had called her Addy.  Well that was rather informal, he thought, but decided to play it off, she didn’t need to think this meant that they were all buddy buddy all of a sudden.  

“That’s your name isn’t it?” he responded, attitude in his voice.  

“Uh huh,” she muttered, “so back to what I was trying to say, if my little section is not as important, I’m happy to help you finish up,” she offered a second time. Daniel looked ovr at her, trying to judge if she was setting him up for a fall or being nice.  Nice, he thought to himself, she actually is a really nice person.  Life was easier when he could just lump her in with Vala but now with her being so nice all of the time, he just didn’t know what to make of the entire situation. He decided to respond in the like.  

“I appreciate that, I do, but shouldn’t you be taking it easy?” he asked pointing to her side again, making her raise her eyebrows and smirk. 

‘You think I’m gonna be able to get any relaxing done with this?” she responded smartly and Daniel shook his head, remembering himself how hard it was to sleep with a bad injury.  The elevator came to a stop before he could argue any further and they both stepped out, Adrienne turning to head in the opposite direction. 

“I’m gonna get someone to clean this up and then I’ll be right down, ‘kay Indy?” she said awaiting his response. If he didn’t want to help, she was still going to work, but was considering taking it to her quarters and trying to create some sort of comfortable position in her bed.

“If you insist, but, wait.  What did you just call me?” he asked, making a face at her.  

“Indy, like Indiana Jones....” she clarified, speaking slowly like he was stupid. 

“I know who Indiana Jones is, why did you call me that?” he replied.  

“You remind me of him.  Snotty attitude, obnoxious women, proclivity to get into trouble,” she smiled.  Daniel shook his head.  

“Fine, I’ll be in the lab,” he relented and left. Adrienne giggled to herself, making a mental note that he did not reject the nickname, almost skipping as she went to get a  new bandage.  

The sirens were blaring and Daniel woke to find himself asleep at his desk, his head resting on his arms.  

“Shots fired living quarters level seven. Available units respond.”  

Daniel’s head shot up and his eyes darting across the lab where Adrienne was removing her headphones, a puzzled look on her face, to hear the message repeated.   

“Should we go?” she asked, standing and hanging her headphones on the hook behind her.  

“How long has the siren been going off?” he asked in return, now realizing he must have fallen asleep working, again.  

“They just started; I about to wake you to get you back to your room when they started,” Adrienne said, stepping cautiously over in his direction, her hand instinctively grabbing the wound at her midsection, Daniel rubbing his eyes and reaching for his glasses which were somehow folder nicely beside where he was resting. 

“How long have I been asleep?”  he now asked, replacing his glasses, tuning out the sirens for a brief moment. 

“About two hours, I took your glasses off so you wouldn’t bend them,” she said, “and I’m almost finished here.” She adding pointing at the computer screen. Daniel nodded and stood just as the sirens were shutting off, his ears still ringing from the deafening alarm.   

“Should we go?” Adrienne asked again, pointing at the alarm lights which were no longer flashing.  

“You’re hurt, it’s,” he looked over at the clock,” midnight and we have no weapons.  I think we should stay put for the time being.” However, no sooner than he spoke was the phone ringing.  The red phone.  Daniel made a face knowing this would not be good and picked up the receiver not bothering to say hello.  

“Daniel, I need you to on base quarters, level seven. Now. We have a situation,” it was Sam, ordering, her tone that of the base leader and not of his dear friend. Something was definitely wrong. 

“Ok,” he said, hanging the phone back up quickly and starting for the door. 

“Everything alright?” Adrienne asked, looking a bit nervous. Remembering that he no had a second person to worry about around here when situations like this arose, Daniel turned to face Adrienne, a look of gravity on his face. 

“I don’t know, but I am going to find out.  You’re hurt. Shut the door when I leave.  Don’t answer it unless it’s me, understood?” he said strongly but kindly, hoping that she understood he was looking out for her well-being in her current condition and not trying to patronize her.

“Yeah,” Adrienne nodded, stilling wincing in pain and walking quickly over to the door, doing just as he asked once he was gone.  

By the time Daniel arrived to the level seven housing he saw Sam, hand to her chin looking down into the hallway floor right outside of room 7J at Dr. Beckett finishing up the night shift with an unconscious member of some SG team slumped limply onto the ground, a man he didn’t know, Daniel had a hard time keeping track over everyone’s names, there were so many teams now, but fortunately the man looked alive, just unconscious. Sam glanced over to see Daniel arriving and turned so he could see she had a Zat gun in her other hand, which she promptly passed over.

“What in the world happened?” he asked.  

“Same as this morning and after dinner.  Report of shots fired.  Team arrived to find a man down and Teal’c standing over him with this,” she pointed to the small black weapon he was now holding in his hand. 

“Teal’c? But he went to his quarters,” Daniel replied, looking over the weapon to see how it could have malfunctioned and wondering why in the world Teal’c would be here on level seven considering that his quarters were on the same floor as Daniel’s, level four. Why in the world would he need to come up here?  

“That is where he was, or claims where he was, but he says he decided to take a walk after meditation.  He insists that he heard a commotion in the hallway and went to investigate to find Lt. Keeger here, struggling with his Zat gun, complaining that it would not close.  Teal’c said he offered to try to fix it and, well, there’s Lt. Keeger,” Sam pointed to where Carson was now ordering the man lifted to a stretcher.  It was just one shot, so Keeger would be fine, but he would be out for a few hours and have one hell of a headache.  

“Claims?” Daniel asked confused and unable to believe that Teal’c would come all the way to this floor just to shoot this Lt. Keeger, once, and then call for help. It made no sense whatsoever, “I think Teal’c has just had a rough day, been in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Yet, before Daniel could finish, the expression on Sam’s face had changed and she was shaking her head, reaching out to pull him aside.   

“No, there’s more, I just didn’t pay any attention to it.  I didn’t want to pay any attention to it.  Can you get Adrienne and come down to the briefing room? I’m going to call Jack,” she whispered, her eyes scanning for anyone that may be listening.  

“Adrienne, why?” Daniel inquired, unsure as to why Sam would need his assistant for something that was obviously top secret by the look on her face. Nervous, Sam looked behind her, running her scan again before answering. 

“Because right now, she’s the only person that’s encountered Teal’c and is still standing upright,” Sam replied hastily, and turned, trekking briskly to the elevators, leaving Daniel standing it the hallway, confused, with a possibly broken Zat.  

Adrienne sat in the briefing room recounting once again what happened, starting with three weeks ago, when Teal’c had first given Adrienne a staff weapon.  She looked around the faces at the table, Sam, Vala, Cameron, Daniel, and Jack, decked out in his full Head of HomeWorld command glory, and shuddered, feeling like every eye in the room was piercing her in half.  

“Ok, Adrienne, we need to know everything, take your time,” Sam asked as she sat down at the head of the table, addressing the young woman at the opposite end.  Adrienne breathed in, looking to Cam for reassurance and began.   

“Well, Teal’c and I were talking over dinner, after the mission to P56-0432.  He was scolding me for not getting he and Vala before I confronted the Ori general,” she began.  

And Grayson, and the town, and the solders, and me, Daniel thought, however, did not interrupt, just adjusted himself in his seat, listening to her story.  

“He said that I needed to learn to use a weapon, that I needed to train with a P90, but I’m not a fan of guns,” Adrienne continued but Jack made a face. 

“What’s your problem with a P90?” he asked. Sam touched his arm lightly, cutting her eyes over at him and with her other hand motioned for Adrienne to continue and ignore Jack’s question.  

“Teal’c suggested training me with a staff weapon, since it offers a projectile option and can be lethal with one shot rather than two like a Zat.  He showed up at the gym two days later with a smaller staff weapon that he said he had acquired from Ishta.” 

Sam nodded, having heard this part of the story from Teal’c when he had come asking permission to train Daniel’s assistant with a staff weapon, which she had no problem agreeing to, considering Adrienne's previous experience with martial arts. 

“So we began working, whenever I had the time, starting with aiming and shooting.  I got that pretty good and when Daniel was, uh, injured, I took it off world with me when we rescued SG-7,” Adrienne said, getting quiet on the last part.  Daniel rolled his eyes. Yeah injured, he thought to himself, because of you, but he continued to bite his tongue.  

“When Teal’c was away visiting with Ry’ac for a few days, we didn’t get to train as much.  I did take my staff down to the range with Cam a few times though,” Adrienne said, Sam glancing over at Cameron for confirmation.  

“Yeah, I met Addy down there a few times, made sure she was aiming alright, not that I’m that much better with the damn thing,” Cameron confirmed.  

“And you didn’t notice anything different about the way she was fighting with the staff. Nothing?” Sam asked causing Adrienne to panic  

“Wait, Sam, you don’t think that I have anything to do with this, do you?” Adrienne questioned, her deep brown eyes now darting over toward Daniel who held up his hand to silence her, shaking his head to indicate that he was certain Sam thought nothing of the sort. Or so he hoped. Not answering Adrienne’s inquiry, Sam stared hard at Cameron, awaiting an answer. He seemed to be in deep thought for a moment and then looked up, shaking his finger in the general’s direction, recalling the memory with his hands before his words. 

“Yeah, yeah, I did.  A staff weapon blast pretty much kills regardless of location. But Adrienne kept shooting it at the head. At the mouth.  It was as if Teal’c never even said to aim for the chest, so I kept having to point the damn thing downward. She wasn’t protecting her chest at all, just kept holding it up all funny like,” Cameron explained.  Receiving the answer that she had feared, Sam glanced to the ceiling and back down at a folder in front of her, letting out a deep sigh.  

“Hun, is there something you would like to inform me of.  Now,” Jack interjected, his tone conveying concern but Sam held up a finger and looked back at Adrienne, not ready just yet to respond to her husband. 

“Ok Addy, keep going,” Sam said. Adrienne, looking much more worried now nodded in compliance.  

“That’s about it.  He came down to my quarters last night and said I was ready to do the close combat with a real staff,” Adrienne said, Sam egging her on with her hands. 

“I met him this morning and it was just like I said, a few passes, then the head of the staff opened as he was swinging downward and wouldn’t close. That’s all.” Adrienne looked at Sam once more, her eyes pleading to be finished.  Satisfied with the story, and knowing in her heart that was exactly what the cajun woman was going to say, Sam turned to address her friends. 

“I think Teal’c has been compromised,” Sam stated, pausing to await the backlash. 

“Teal’c!?! You must be out of your mind!!!” Jack stood from the table shouting, “He has been a part of this team for over 15 years!!”  The others just looked at Jack, visibly upset at the conclusion Sam had come to.  Her heart racing, and feeling this was her thought, Adrienne leaned forward, waving her hands in front of her to get the generals’ attention.

“I have to agree with General O’Neill, I haven’t known him as long but I can’t see him trying to hurt anyone,” she offered meekly, “I told you, the gym was an accident.” 

“See, even Daniel Jr. agrees with me!!” Jack slammed his hands on the table.  Sam was looking at her husband waiting for him to finish his fit and satisfied that he had, she opened the folder that had been sitting in front of her, reaching it over to him.  

“Jack, I got this message last week when we received ambassadors from the Jaffa council,” she explained, as he ripped the folder from her hand and read it quickly, tossing it back onto the table.  The rest of the group looked at each other clueless until Vala made a grunting noise, reaching for the folder, opening it and reading it aloud. 

“Internal operative, unaware.  Targets yet unknown.”  She shut the folder and slid it back, “What the hell does that mean?”  Jack whipped his head around to glare at her.  

“Aren’t you supposed to be intelligence now?” he retorted.  

“Lucian intelligence, not barbarian intelligence.  And I know the lingo, who wouldn’t? What I am saying is that doesn’t prove that Teal’c has done anything wrong.  He shot Addy, and no offense hun but Daniel is slightly more important than you are, and then two grunts doing menial labor.  I think it’s just dumb luck,” Vala said as she sat back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest triumphantly. Adrienne was impressed; the woman did do more than just think about sex.  

“Well, I don’t,” Sam replied, “I think that he meant to just injure Adrienne and the others were a distraction. To make us not pay attention.  I think Adrienne is who he, or whomever wants.” 

“God dammit, are you listening to yourself Carter!” Jack screamed.  Wow, he must be really pissed, Daniel thought, he hadn’t heard Jack call her Carter since they got married.  

“Yes I am SIR,” she added emphasis on sir, adding more discomfort to the already uncomfortable room as their friends watched this dispute, not only between boss and employee but between husband and wife, “I’m not saying that Teal’c is doing anything intentional.  I think that he may be unaware as to what he is doing.” That calmed Jack down just a bit.  

“Ok, enlighten us,” he said as he sat once more, slamming himself into the seat, “What exactly is he doing?” 

Sam looked back over at Adrienne.  

“I think he wants to kidnap Adrienne,” she said.  Everyone looked at her in shock. 

“Why? What in the world could anyone want with Adrienne?” Daniel shouted making him the instant recipient of a dirty look from his assistant. 

“Daniel,” Sam started, “she’s been working with you for some time now.  She has access to things, information, codes,  And...” Sam started and stopped, as if she was unable to continue.   

“And, if taken, she wouldn’t be missed. She’s not that important; she’s just an assistant,” Vala finished.  Adrienne looked over at her too now, obviously hurt. 

“Addy, they don’t mean it like that,” Cam finally spoke, “they mean that someone high level like Jackson would attract a lot of attention if he turned up missing.  But not his assistant, not if it was made to look like an accident or that you up and quit,” he tried to explain, but Adrienne didn’t look like that made her feel any better. 

“For the record, Addy, I’d come find you,” Cam quickly added, earning himself a smile of gratitude.  I bet you would, thought Daniel, you and Dex would be knocking each other over to get through the gate.  And she claimed he was surrounded by obnoxious women? Ha! 

“Ok, ok, so someone has fucked with Teal’c’s head, makes him shoot people, train Daniel’s groupie to be a secret Jaffa spy and then he was going to whisk her away into oblivion and make her Daniel’s evil nemesis . And we are basing this entire screwed up theory on some shitty intelligence and a burn in junior’s side over there.  Fine, honey, this is your base to screw up.  Just let me know before you decide to ship my best friend into the great beyond,” Jack stood from the table and walked out, saying not another word to his wife or his friend.  Sam watched her husband leave, her face remaining stoic and professional before turning to face her friends once more.   

“Alright, then first thing is that we need Adrienne off base and out of the way,”  Sam began to lay out her plan, Cameron’s hand shooting up before Sam could even ask for a volunteer. 

“She can come home with me,” he said quickly, making Daniel roll his eyes, obvious enough where he felt Vala kick him, giving him the cut it out look.  

“No,” Sam said, “I want Daniel to take her home.”  

“Me?” Daniel sat forward.  Sure, they had their little truce going and she had been very nice to him lately, but he wasn’t about to invite her over for dinner and cocktails.  She’d just put on that stupid vampire show that he had to endure last weekend and try to explain to him how it was intelligent in some backwards sort of way. 

“Yes, you. That way, if taking you for information is some last ditch move of desperation once Teal’c or whoever is controlling him is cornered,  I have all of my bases covered.  I’ll send a team to watch the apartment and make sure no one gets through,”  Sam ordered and stood.  Daniel glanced over at Adrienne who was frantically looking over at Cameron trying to get him to intervene, Cameron just sitting and appearing shocked at Sam’s suggestion.  Daniel wanted to object again when he felt Vala lean in closer.  

“Remember, it is ungentlemanly to request sex on the first date,” she whispered.  

“Shut up Vala,” he responded and stood, walking over to Adrienne, motioning for her to stand, and speaking as she did. 

“Do you have an off world duffle packed?” he asked, indicating the door.  She walked ahead without argument, still wincing in pain holding her side.  

“No Indy, I prefer to meeting the locals in my birthday suit.  You really have no faith in me,”  she spat, leaving the briefing room without looking back.  Daniel cut his eyes back at Sam. 

“No blood,” she said, “please. You two have been doing so well lately.”  She smiled, but  Daniel just turned to follow Adrienne back to the lab.  

Jack wasn’t going to waste time with Sam’s crazy ideas or worry about whether or not Daniel’s latest female groupie was going to be flown away on a Go’ould ship.  He headed down to the stockade to see what was really going on with Teal’c.  No one questioned him or greeted him for that matter when he arrived, they just got out of his way and Jack used his ID badge to allow himself entry to the secure holding area.  Peering into the door of the cell to see Teal’c sitting on the floor meditating, Jack took a deep breath and swiped himself in.  

“SamanthaO”Neill thinks I am a threat,” Teal’c said as he entered.  

“Yeah, and you’re putting me in a real bind here.  I do have to live with her you know?” Jack responded, taking a seat on the bunk behind him. 

“O’Neill, I do not remember when the shots were fired, only what happened after.  Is everyone alright?” Teal’c said, looking up at Jack, sad and worried.  

“Yeah, as far as I know. But something’s wrong T, and we gotta figure out what it is,” Jack responded,.  

“How O’Neill?” Teal’c asked, his face more distraught than Jack had seen in a long time. Sighing, Jack stood, reaching uncomfortably in his restrictive uniform for his side.  

“First, I have to test a theory,” Jack said and handed Teal’c his sidearm.  

The guard ran as soon as the shot echoed through the detention hall. 

Sam was in her office when she heard the sirens.  

“Shots fired, stockade!” Walter announced over the intercom.  

“How in the hell!” Sam exclaimed to herself, leaping from her desk, tearing out of her office and down the hall.  

Daniel heard the sirens the moment he and Adrienne arrived at the lab.  

“Shot’s fired, stockade!” the intercom was repeating. 

“What in the world?!” Daniel ran to the red phone picking it up as Adrienne watched his face for any sign as to what in the world was going on. 

“What?” she asked, nervously limping towards him.  

“No answer,” he hung up the phone quickly and started to leave the lab, remembering what Sam had said and running back to her, grabbing her hand.  

“Ow!!” she pulled back since he was jerking her arm so hard, only to slam her hand into her burn causing herself further pain. 

“Look, this might be a distraction and apparently I have been assigned to be your babysitter, ok.  Come on or I carry you!” he shouted at her, not meaning to be mean but not having time to explain, he reached out for her arm again, but she smacked him away, rushing to her desk to get her staff weapon.  Adrienne moving as fast as possible, her side still throbbing in pain, they both dashed down the hall, heading for the stockade.  

When Cameron and Vala arrived at the stockade they heard commotion coming from down near the cell where Teal’c was being housed.  Concerned, Cam pushed his way to the front, where Sam was standing on the outside of the door, her face in a mask of sheer horror, holding a pistol pointed at the door. 

“Who’s in there with him?” Cam asked, although he knew the answer already.  

“My idiotic husband,” Sam responded, fear and anger in her voice.  

“Let’s blast the door down then,” Vala said, pointing her P-90 at the door.  

“No, we don’t know what is going on the other side, I just, I don’t know...” Sam was starting to stammer when the door swung open and out stepped Brigadier General Jack O’Neill.  

“Hey, call Carolyn.  I had to rip this out of Teal’c,” he said as he held up a small bloody oval.  

“What is that?” Sam asked.  

“I am not totally sure yet, but someone shoved it into his worm sack, so I think this is what was fucking with him,” Jack answered plainly, walking past Sam, Cameron and Vala.  

“Jack, where are you going?”  Sam shouted, now ordering him rather than requesting.  

“I am going to find that little girl that Daniel’s been paling around with lately,” he answered storming down the hall, headed for the lab. 

Adrienne was having a hard time keeping up as her side hurt badly but Daniel wasn’t slowing down, just pausing from time to time and pull her along.  

“I thought we agreed to be nice to one another,” Adrienne panted out, obviously out of breath forcing him to stop, holding her side tightly.  

“Right now, I’m a little more concerned with one of my friends being shot than your feelings,” he shouted, stopping since she had.  Lifting her shirt to check on her side, he could see the bandage was red and brown again.  

“Dammit,” he swore out loud, stepping closer to her, now feeling bad for causing her further pain. Shaking his head, he turned his back to her, waving his hands at his side. 

“Come on,” he said.  

“Come on where?” Adrienne said confused.  

“On my back or over my shoulder you decide,” Daniel clarified.  Not wanting to see him attempt to lift her over his shoulder or be carried like that for matter, Adrienne wrapped her arms around his neck and hopped onto his back.  Adjusting her up to his waist, Daniel kept moving down the hallway, slower than he would have alone but faster than Adrienne had been limping along.  

Jack saw them coming down the hall, Adrienne on Daniel’s back and he didn’t even want to know why, but he assumed that it was because of the wound Teal’c had given her this morning.  The wound that his brain told him to give her.  The one that he would be compelled to come back to later today.  Jack wasn’t quite sure what made him think of it except for the fact that  Adrienne was the only person not in the infirmary.  Teal’c was not a bad shot.  Why would miss her?  She was a fighter, sure, but no where even close to the caliber Teal’c and would have been as his mercy during a fighting lesson. And of all places, the side, the abdomen?  

“Daniel, put her down and back up!” Jack ordered.  Daniel looked at him strangely, but did as he said, Adrienne looking at Daniel, fearful, as he stepped away.  His face serious, Jack walked up to her, glaring down, his brown eyes piercing through her. 

“Shirt off!” he ordered strongly.  

“Why?” she asked.  Frustrated, Jack seized her arm, ripping her shirt off of her head and reached for the bandage, red and brown and oozing, tearing the gauze, and creating a disgusting wet suction noise as the cotton ripped.  

“Ow!” Adrienne screamed out, reaching for her side, but Jack smacked her hand away, leaning in to closely examine her side.  It hurt, worse than Adrienne had imagined, so Daniel stepped forward and grabbed her arm on her good side, holding her upright and somewhat in his arms to support her. Jack looked at the burn on her torso, turning his head and right, and poked it with his finger, looking for something.

“That fucking hurts,” Adrienne swore at him.  Jack ignored her and reached into his pocket, pulling out the oval and brought it to her body. There was a crack and a pop and the oval jerked to her side quickly, attaching like a magnet, causing Adrienne to shriek in pain and go cascading to the floor. 

“Yep,” he said to himself, ripping the magnet from her raw skin causing her to bleed once more. This time. she fell to her knees in pain and Daniel grabbed her shirt from the floor and pulled her up to him, holding onto her and looking at his friend.  

“Jack what in the hell is going on?” Daniel asked.  

“Where’s her staff weapon?” Jack asked, ignoring Daniel’s question and Adrienne’s pained complaints.  Adrienne pointed to the ground behind her, where she must have relinquished the weapon when Daniel had dropped her from his back.  Grabbing the staff, Jack quickly brought it to her side, Daniel finally registering what was happening and knocking it out of the way.  

“What’s wrong with you, don’t point that thing at her!!” he shouted and held her tighter, defending her, making Adrienne look up, impressed and flattered.  He cared enough about her to defend her against Jack, it kind of warmed her heart. 

“I am not going to shoot your little flunky here, I just need to see something,” Jack spat, holding the staff weapon to her side.  Nothing.  He then reached out to the end, holding the oval to the weapon and again, they stuck like glue. Confused, Jack looked back at Adrienne, trying to figure out exactly what was going on.  

“Where did Teal’c get this?” he demanded, shaking the weapon on front of him.  

“He said that Ishta gave it to him for me,” she replied.  

“When did he give you this?” Jack clarified. 

“Three weeks ago, when he got back from Chulac,” Adrienne replied.  Without comment, Jack straightened his posture, turning to run back to find his wife.  

“Care to share what is going on?” Daniel asked, finally letting go of Adrienne who took her shirt from him and was pulling over her head. 

“Ishta doesn’t live on Chulac,” Jack replied and headed back for Sam.  

*****

“AdrienneRowan,” Teal’c said as he entered the lab, not getting a response from the young woman.  Adrienne was plugged into her computer, music blasting, completely disconnected from the world, but Daniel had heard Teal’c so he balled up a piece of paper, throwing it at her and hitting her square in the head. 

“Dammit Indy, what’s the big idea?!” she shouted at him, but Daniel, smiling, simply pointed at the door.  

“You have a visitor,” he said, returning to his task while Adrienne glanced back over at Teal’c who was still sitting at the doorway. 

“I promise that I am not here to shoot you,” Teal’c joked, receiving the reaction he wanted from his new Taur’i friend, a smile and laughter. 

“I know you’re not. How are you feeling?”  she asked.  

“Much better since O’Neill removed the probe from me.  It was making me very ill, but I was unaware,” Teal’c answered plainly. 

“Do they know who put it in you?”  Adrienne asked, unsure if it was an appropriate question but desiring the answer nonetheless.

“Not yet, but SamanthaO’Neill has sent a team to investigate on Chulac. Rya’c and Bra’tac are assisting.  Rya’c claims that I disappeared for two days on my last visit and came back claiming that I was in deep meditation. No one thought to question,” Teal’c answered calmly.  

Adrienne was not surprised that he did not know more.  Sam had taken apart the probe herself, and confirmed that it was of Go’ould origin, used to control Jaffa when they were between hosts.  But, with none of the smaller leaders showing their heads lately and the last of the system lords executed, Sam had no idea where it came from.  She had sent it to Area 51 for further analysis, but was not hopeful anything would happen.  Regardless, she had requested that Bra’tac organize health checks on all free Jaffa, but with hundreds of thousands of them on dozens of planets, she was not going to have answers any time soon.  

However, she had discovered one thing.  The probe could be used on a non-Jaffa; it just needed to be hooked up to the spinal column.  It hooked like a magnet once a magnetic signal was attached to the human’s spinal column. like the signal attached to Adrienne’s by her wound.  A signal that would not go away.  Adrienne had tried to play it off like it didn’t freak her out, letting Vala use grade school refrigerator magnets to spell funny things on her back, but Sam knew Adrienne was scared, who wouldn’t be scared, her entire spine now a large bar magnet. As a precaution,  she had ordered Adrienne to stay at her on base quarters for the next week week and asked Daniel to continue to keep an eye on her, just in case.  Much to her surprise, Daniel hadn’t complained, in fact, seemed to agree that keeping an eye on his assistant was a good idea. 

“I have brought you another staff weapon,” Teal’c said, offering her the stick and Adrienne took it without hesitation, smiling.  

“Thank you,” she replied, hoping he understood that she did not blame him for one moment for what happened.  

“I had Bra’tac assure me that this has not been tampered with.  I am glad you are not afraid. A true warrior fears nothing but themselves,” he said, making Adrienne smile once more.

“Can we go back to practicing?” she asked, eager to continue her lessons with the one teacher of all of her instructors that she loved the most, that she honored above all others. 

“As soon as you are healed, we will continue out practice,” Teal’c replied, glancing over at Daniel, who was watching them.  Adrienne loved the staff weapon and counted down each day to her practices with Teal’c, so he stayed out of it. It gave her a manner in which to defend herself as well as a hobby on base.  With Daniel’s silent blessing, Teal’c looked once more at his eager student. 

“I shall leave you to your work AdrienneRowan, and we shall practice again very soon,” Teal’c concluded, resting the new staff weapon against the wall and turned to leave.   Shooting a quick glance at Daniel, Adrienne stood and faced the Jaffa, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.  

“Thanks T,” she whispered in his ear and backed away, content to work on the database once more.