Men From the Gate Xover w/SG1, BB, T, drama/action/case/fluff/angst Author: luli27

[g]The Men From the Gate[/g]

[g]Disclaimer:[/g] As much as it pains me, they're not mine.

[g]A/N:[/g] Well, I'm finally posting this here. This is the fic I'm the most proud of. It began as a way to see Booth in a military setting and getting the Bones gang together with the SG1 gang - I mean I love both shows and what better way to get Booth in a military uniform than to have him visit Chayanne mountain? And it somehow evolved into this huge fic that's gotten an amazing response. It really has been a labor of love; I've learned a lot while writing and it just might be the best thing I've written. Please read, enjoy and let me know what you think. It's not complete yet but it's only a few chapters from the end, so it shouldn't be long now. Well, here it is:

[g]Chapter 1[/g]

“Arg,” FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth exclaimed, as he threw his pen down on top of the dozens of folders and papers scattered across his desk. “How did all of these case files get stacked up so high again?”

“How? Need I remind you that we’ve had quite a few back to back cases and not much time to keep up with all the paperwork?” His partner, Dr. Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan answered, without looking up from the table where she was working on her own bunch of files.

“Um,” Booth said, as he leaned back in his chair. “We really shouldn’t let these mount up like this again.”

“We?!” Brennan asked incredulous, still without looking up from her work. “Who was it that said, when we had the one night off between cases, that instead of working on the paperwork like the other partner wanted, insisted there’d be time later on and then we ended up having dinner and a drink?” she asked.

“Ok, ok, that was me,” Booth admitted. “I better not do that again, should I?” he asked sheepishly.

“Don’t worry,” Brennan assured him. “I won’t let you. Now, start working and stop procrastinating.” She ordered and he made a face at her, wondering how she could know he wasn’t working when she hadn’t once looked up from the paperwork in front of her.

Less than an hour later, Booth once again threw his pen on his desk and leaned back in his chair, complaining, “I’m bored. What do you say we go out and get a snack?” He proposed as he looked over at Bones, wearing his charm smile.

That smile, however, was lost on his partner as she once again didn’t look up as she answered, “No, Booth. We’re never going to finish all this paperwork if we keep stopping every time you get bored.”

“Ah, Bones,” he started to whine when a movement by his office door made him take his eyes from Brennan and look towards it, just as a knock sounded.

“Major Booth?” An Army Sergeant stood at the threshold looking at Booth.

At the call, Bones finally looked up from her work, to see who was calling Booth by his Army rank, as Booth slowly pushed back from his desk and stood next to it.

“Yes, that’s me,” he said.

The Sergeant clicked his heels together, came to attention and said, “Sir,” as he sharply saluted.
Deeply ingrained military reflexes meant that he automatically returned the salute, “Sergeant.”

“Sir, Colonel Saunders sent me to give this to you personally.” The sergeant said, as he entered the office in measured steps, holding what looked like an invitation.

At the sight of the envelop Booth relaxed slightly and stepped forward to meet the young sergeant. “Thank you,” he said, with a small nod, as he received the envelope.

The sergeant returned the nod and said, “Colonel Saunders requests that you RSVP by email, sir.”

Booth smiled slightly and said, “I bet he did.” Seeing the look on the young man’s face, he added, “Don’t worry, Sergeant I’ll let the Colonel know you delivered the message.”

“Thank you, sir. Good bye, Sir,” he said, with another salute, before he turned to Brennan and with another nod said, “Ma’am.” He then gave a sharp turnabout and left the office, leaving Booth staring after him and tapping the envelope on the fingers of his left hand.

“Major Booth?” Brennan asked, breaking Booth from his reverie.

“Oh?” he asked, as he turned to look at her. “Ah, that’s my military rank, Bones. You know that.” He answered, as he started to open the invitation, though he was pretty certain he knew what it was for.

“I know,” Brennan conceded, as she saw him reading the invitation, “it’s just that I rarely hear you being called that. It took me by surprise, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well, it happens.” Booth said distractedly, as he finished reading. “And he is an Army Sergeant. – he really wouldn’t call me anything else.” He pointed out.

“I guess,” Brennan said but she too was distracted by the contents of the invitation. Finally, her curiosity won out, “So, what does it say?”

Booth looked up, leaned against the edge of his desk and while crossing his feet, said, “It’s an invitation to the annual Armed Forces Fundraiser Dinner.”

“Fund raiser?” Brennan asked. “What are they collecting funds for, the war?” The last was said, smirking slightly.

“Funny, Bones. Very funny,” Booth said, with a fake smile. “No, it so happens that the proceeds from this dinner go into a fund that helps the families of soldiers that have fallen in action. You know for the stuff that their regular pensions don’t cover: college tuition, house repairs, unexpected medical expenses – things like that.” Booth explained.

“Sounds like a worthy cause,” she commented.
“It is, it’s very worthy,” Booth agreed.

“So, you going?” she asked.

“Nah, I don’t think so,” he answered, as he straightened and walked back to his chair.

“Let me see,” she asked, reaching for the envelope and invitation, when he passed her by. “Why aren’t you going? You just said it’s a worthy cause,” she asked, going back to the original conversation.

“And I will be making my donation like I do every year,” Booth told her. “But this gala is just not my thing, you know. A bunch of big wig military officers, mingling with a bunch of politicians – no, not my thing.” He repeated, shaking his head.

“Well, I think you should go,” she insisted. “It’d be good for you.”

Booth smiled, a bit incredulous, as he sat down and asked, “How is going to a boring gala dinner good for me?”

She just shrugged as she studied the invitation, “hey, this says that the dinner is this Saturday.”

“Yep, that’s when it is,” Booth confirmed, as he picked up his pen and looked at all the paperwork, thinking that it might be a good idea to get back to work.

“That’s just four days away!” she exclaimed. “Isn’t this very short notice?”

“It would be,” Booth agreed, without looking up from the case file he’d just picked up. “If that was the first invitation I had received.”

“You mean that it isn’t?” Brennan asked, for clarification.

“Oh, no, I’ve received the first invitation a couple of months ago and the second a few weeks ago.” He explained.

“And are all third invitations hand delivered?” she asked, curiously.

“What?” He looked up at the question and with a half laugh said, “No, of course not. It’s just that I talked to Colonel Saunders . . .”

“Who’s Col. Saunders?” she interrupted him to ask.

“My old CO,” he answered before going on. “Anyway, I talked to him a few days ago and he asked me why I hadn’t RSVP'ed. I told him that I hadn’t received any invitations, that they must have gotten lost in the mail.” He smiled and shook his head. “I don’t think he believed me and I guess he decided to take away that excuse by having it hand delivered this time.”

“I guess he really wants you to go,” Brennan commented.

“I guess so,” Booth agreed, turning back to the case file.

“Booth, I really think you should go,” Brennan insisted.

Booth stopped reading the file and turned to look at her, as he leaned back in his chair, “You’re not going to let this go, are you?” But he already knew she wouldn’t, she was like a dog with a bone sometimes.

“No,” she agreed with a smile, “I’m not.”

“Ok,” Booth said as he put his hands behind his head. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll go to this thing, if you go with me.” He proposed with a smirk.

Brennan looked at him as she thought about it. This thing that was between them had been slowly but steadily growing since Sully sailed away all those months ago. They had began to spend more and more time together, to the point that now most of their down time was spent in each other’s company. In fact, it had been months since either of them had gone on a date with anyone else. The last one to have a date had been Booth, about four months ago and he had come back saying that it was absolutely the most boring evening he remembered spending – ever. Since then, neither one had even bothered to pretend that they were on the market.

To Brennan’s considerable relief and surprise, Angela, who had always been after her to go out, meet men and date, had not even once pushed her to date in all those months. When Brennan, a few weeks ago, got curious enough to ask about the absence of Angela’s nagging, Angela had said, “Sweetie, I don’t need to bug you about dating, because you’re already dating.” At Brennan’s incredulous look, she had added, “Honey, you’re dating Booth. And no, don’t tell me you’re not, because you are. You may not be sleeping together or even making out, but you two are doing everything else a couple that’s dating does. Ergo, you’re dating. You’re just dating platonically – you know, sort of like our grandparents probably did.” She finished with a shrug, leaving a stunned forensic anthropologist behind as she left Brennan’s office and went back to work.

Brennan had not been convinced by Angela’s reasoning, but it had made her think about it and she had come to the conclusion that Angela hadn’t been altogether wrong. The most surprising part about the whole thing, however, was that she had not panicked at that realization. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do about the situation with Booth but she did know that she wasn’t scared and she wasn’t going to run from it.

From the look in Booth’s eyes, Brennan could see that he half-expected her to turn him down. She could understand why he wasn’t sure of her answer; though, they had accompanied each other on every other social obligation either one had in the past few months, this occasion was different. All the other times had been functions that were somehow related to work and had thus really being obligations. This function was not an obligation but, something to which they would voluntarily go – a real social event. Going together would be another step down the relationship road they were on. And since she had already decided not to run from it, the only thing to do was to go forth.

“Alright, I’ll go with you,” she told him and had the rare pleasure of seeing she had surprised him with her easy acquiesce. “You better e-mail the Colonel and RSVP.”

He smiled and said, “Alright, you’re on. Aren’t you going to complain about how little time you’ll have to find something to wear?” He asked her with another smirk.

Brennan looked at him with the frown that said she didn’t know what he was talking about and said, “No, why would I? I’m sure I have something in my closet that’d work just fine.”

Booth just smiled and shook his head at her atypical feminine response.

“Are you worried about what to wear?” She asked, as she took a closer look at the invitation.

“Me?” Booth asked, as he sent his electronic RSVP to the Colonel. “Nah, I’ll just wear my dress uniform.” He answered.

The thought of Booth in a uniform distracted her for a minute. She was sure that he’d fill his uniform very, very nicely. As she was contemplating what Booth’s physique would do to an Army uniform, she idly turned over the envelope in which the invitation had come. The form of address on it cleared her head of any visions of Booth in uniform.

“Booth?” she called to him, still staring at the envelope.

“Yeah?” he answered vaguely, finishing the email to his former CO.

“This envelope is addressed to Major Booth,” she told him.

“Yeah, Bones, we just established, not five minutes ago, that that’s my rank.” Booth answered, as he hit send on his computer.

“I know,” she replied, in a tight voice, which made him look at her. “And I understand that the sergeant would greet you like that. I don’t know much about military protocol, but isn’t it usual to address correspondence to retired personnel with the word retired before the rank?” She asked, looking directly into his eyes.

“Yeah, that’s how it’s done,” he answered, not liking where this conversation was heading.

“Then, why is this envelope,” she asked waving the envelope at him, “addressed to Major Booth and not Retired. Major Booth?” When he didn’t immediately answer, she pressed, “I mean you are retired, aren’t you Booth?”

“Well,” he started to answer, as he rubbed the back of his neck, “not exactly.”

“Not exactly?” she repeated, in a very tight voice. “How can you, not exactly, be retired? That’s like saying you’re a little bit pregnant – it’s not possible. You either are or you aren’t.” She told him, as she dropped the envelope on the table, and crossed her arms.

“It’s not that simple, Bones,” he tried to explained, “I’m not retired but I’m not in active duty status either.”

“Then what are you?”

With a shrug, he said, “I’m in inactive status, which is basically the same thing as being retired.”

“Basically?” she repeated. “That means that it’s not the same thing. What’s the difference?”

Booth sighed and played with the pen in his hand, he really wished they could avoid this conversation. “It just means that for all intent and purposes, I’m a civilian; I hold a civilian job and have the same duties and privileges as a civilian.” He said with another shrug.

But Brennan knew him too well, “Except?”

He sighed again and decided the hell with it, “Except that they could recall me to active duty at any moment and I have to be ready for it. It’s like being in the reserves except I wouldn’t be attached to a reserves unit but to an active unit, I’d have little to no notice if I was to be recalled and I have to meet all the requirements every few weeks to show them I’m still fit for duty.”

“How?” at his questioning look, she clarified, “how do you meet the requirements and show them you’re fit for duty?”

“I report for five days of training every six weeks,” he told her, looking at her closely.

“All those training sessions you’re always going on . . .?” After he nodded, she said, “I thought they were FBI training sessions.”

“No,” he shook his head, “Army training.”

“And you never thought that this was something you should mention? You know, in case one day I wake up and find out that my partner had been shipped out to God knows where?” She asked him in a cold voice and he could see in his eyes that she was not taking the news well at all. He knew that this conversation was probably bringing back all sorts of unpleasant memories and fears for her.

He sighed yet again and leaned forward on his desk and tried to convey how serious he was by the look in his eyes, “Bones, this is not something that we talk about,” and she knew that by that ‘we’ he didn’t mean the two of them but rather military personnel. “You know I was Ranger, right?” He waited for her nod before going on. “Well, you know that’s Special Forces and most of my missions are classified.” He shrugged and went on, “I don’t talk about the fact that I’m not retired because I’m . . . well, I’m not allowed to talk about it.”

Brennan looked at him more closely and asked, “Why, because you’re what, like a spy or something?”

Booth chuckled at the question, “No, not a spy. Those are civilians,” he answered. “I’m still an Army Major with the 75th Ranger Regiment. It’s just that me and those in my unit, we’re,” he shrugged again; “I guess you could say that we’re the Army’s ace in the hole; a sort of hidden weapon that they’ll use as a last resort.”

“Bones,” he continued, trying to make her understand he hadn’t kept this from her by choice. “I would have told you all about this sooner, but I was . . . I am under orders not to talk about it with anyone. In fact, except for my superiors in the Army, the only other person that knows about it it’s Cullen and that’s only because he’s my supervisor and he has to know about it.”

She nodded her head at the explanation; she still didn’t like the fact that he’d kept this from her for so long but she understood what it was like to be under orders not to talk about something. “Aren’t you going to get in trouble for telling me now?” She asked him with a slight smile, to show him she understood, even if she didn’t like it.

He returned the smile and said, “what’re they going to do, kick me out?” His smile widened when she grinned at that response, but then he sobered up and in his most earnest tone, told her, “I wouldn’t have volunteered the information, Bones, but I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve never lied to you and I won’t start now.”

She nodded her head again and with a small but sincere smile, told him, “I know that and it means a lot. Thank you.”

“No problem. And Temperance,” he added and she was looking at him closely, surprised at his use of her first name. “You would never wake up to find that I’ve gone. I would never leave without talking to you and telling good-bye first – orders be damned. I would never do that to you. I may be forced to leave you, Temperance, but I wouldn’t leave by choice and I wouldn’t leave without you knowing about it.”

At the sincerity in his voice and eyes, Brennan felt her eyes fill with tears and was forced to close them to stop the unshed tears from falling. She then had to take deep breaths to calm down. She knew he would never leave her if he could help it – that he would never hurt her that way. But she still appreciated the fact that he took the time to reassure her yet again; that he knew her enough to do it. And she chose not to dwell on the fact that he could be ordered to leave at any moment, because then she would really break down.

“So, you could be recalled at any moment?” she asked after she calmed down.

Booth relaxed when he saw that she was once again in control and that the news, though upsetting, had not been the disaster that he had feared they’d be if she ever found out. “Technically, I guess so,” he answered, as he leaned back in his chair again. But he must have relaxed a little bit too much, that was the only explanation for the words that came out of his mouth next, “But Cullen assured me after the last time that the chances that a recall order would actually go through were slim to none.”

But Brennan only heard two words out of that explanation, “Last time?” she asked him. “You’ve already been recalled?”

‘Crap! Damn, shit,’ he thought when he realized what he’d let slip. He had had no intention of ever letting her know about that. Well, too late now, “um, yeah, a couple of times.” He answered truthfully because, as he had already told her, he had never lied to her and he wasn’t about to start now – he might have kept some things from her but he had never lied to her.

“A couple of times?” she repeated. “When exactly?” she asked him, with narrowed eyes, as she crossed her arms again.

“Well, the first time was right after our first case and the second was right after Deputy Director Kirby was killed” he answered. “And before you asked why I didn’t mention it, one: I couldn’t, and two: the first time we weren’t really close enough that I would have mentioned it; I mean we were just beginning to know each other. And the second time, well, your father and Russ had left again; you had enough on your plate and I wasn’t about to add more to it – especially when I really wasn’t supposed to talk about it, you wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it and at the end, it came to nothing.”

“Um,” she said, as she leaned back in her chair, and studied him, with her still narrowed eyes. Knowing Booth and his alpha male protective tendencies, it did make sense that he wouldn’t have wanted to tell her about him possibly having to leave when she was still reeling from the fact that her bother and father had left her again. “You know Booth, you don’t always have to protect me.”

“Maybe not,” he agreed, “but, hey, that’s what I do.”

She nodded her head, knowing it was useless to argue with him about it when his instincts wouldn’t let him do anything else and, at the end of the day, she wouldn’t want him to be anything less than what he was.

Booth saw the nod and, smiling, asked her, “So, are we ok?”

“Yeah, we’re ok,” she answered him. And they were ok; she might not have liked what she’d just learned, but she couldn’t really hold it against him. There was no point in being mad at him when he’d done what he had to do – what she would have done in his place and what she knew, if he had to, he would do again. She had a lot of thinking to do, to really assimilate everything she’d learned, but she’d do it when she was alone. “We are ok,” she repeated, to let him know she meant what she said.

“Great,” he said, with a grin and, clapping his hands together, leaned towards his desk and asked her, “How’s about we finish this paperwork so we could go out and have dinner, huh?”

“That sounds fine,” she agreed and, sharing a last smile, she turned back to her paperwork, but just as she picked up her pen, she remembered something. “How can he be sure?” she asked, turning to look at Booth again.

“How can who be sure of what?” Booth asked her, looking up.

“Cullen,” she answered him. “How can Cullen be sure that you won’t be recalled again?”

“Oh, that,” Booth answered, as he started playing with his pen again. “Well, I don’t know all the details but apparently the Attorney General agreed with Cullen that I’m more valuable as an FBI agent than as an Army Ranger and since I had just helped reveal a cover up and freed an innocent man, the Attorney General was able to convince the Joint Chiefs that it would not be a good idea if I were to suddenly disappear on some secret mission. It might look like a punishment or worse: another cover up. And since you’re my partner, I tend to be in the spotlight on and off, so the Chiefs agreed that it would probably be for the best if I was only recalled if there was no other alternative.”

“Then why don’t you just really retire?” she wanted to know.

“Because they reserved the right to recall me at a moment’s notice and I have to be ready and able to go, if and when they do. But, if that happens, it’d probably mean that everything’s gone to hell so . . .”

She nodded her head, understanding that if that were to happen, he’d want to go and do what he could. “I guess it’s a good thing that we’re partners, huh?” She joked.

“Definitely,” he answered, seriously.

“Well, I’m glad that you’re not going anywhere,” she told him simply and sincerely.

“Me too,” he responded, just as sincerely.

“Ok, well, let’s finish this paperwork. I’m getting kind of hungry,” she exclaimed and turned back to the files, effectively ending the moment before it got too awkward.

Booth agreed and both turned their attention to their work, glad that the evening’s revelations had not damaged their relationship, but instead they’d proven once again how strong their bond was.

[g]The Men From the Gate[/g]

[g]Disclaimer: [/g] Nope, not mine. Just like to borrow them and play with them.

[g]Chapter 2[/g]

“Morning, sweetie” Angela said, as she walked into Brennan’s office the following morning. “How did yesterday go?” she asked, as she sat down on the couch. “Did you and Booth finish all your paperwork?”

“Um,” Brennan said, somewhat distractedly, as she looked up from where she had been studying her computer monitor without actually seeing anything. “Oh, Angela, hi, yes, we finally managed to finish all the paperwork.” She then turned back to her computer but once again did nothing more than just stare at it.

“Ok, sweetie,” Angela said, as she noticed how distracted Brennan was. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Brennan answered, but it was obvious she was lying. “Nothing’s going on.”

“Come, sweetie. I can tell something’s going on and I’d bet anything that it has to do with Booth.”

Brennan looked up in surprise and asked, “why would you say that?”

“Because,” Angela answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “there are only two things that put that look on your face: problems with your dad and/or brother or problems with Booth. Now, if it was problems with your dad/brother, I’m pretty sure you’d have told me what happened already. But when it is a problem with Booth, well, then I have to dig a little deeper before you start talking.”

Brennan just stared at Angela for a few minutes before shaking her head and saying, “I don’t know what to be, impressed or frightened by your logic.”

“Oh, impressed,” Angela decided, “definitely impressed. Now, are you going to start talking or do I have to start guessing?” she threatened.

Brennan thought about it and knew the threat was real, but she still wasn’t sure she should talk about it. “I just . . . I don’t know if I can talk about it” she finally admitted.

“What do you mean?” Angela asked, as she shifted on the couch, leaning forward and resting her arms on her legs. “Why can’t you talk about it?”

“Because Booth told me what he told me in confidence,” Brennan explained, as she got up from her seat and started pacing around her office. She hadn’t been able to sleep too much because she had spent most of the night thinking about what she’d learned the day before. She needed to talk about it and, Angela was the perfect person, but she didn’t want to break Booth’s confidence.

“Did he tell you that you couldn’t talk about it with anyone?” Angela asked, to clarify the situation.

Brennan stopped pacing in front of the couch and turned to stare at Angela, “well, no” she admitted. “Not in so many words, it was just understood.”

“Um,” Angela said, as she sat back again “I don’t know, Bren. If he didn’t tell that you couldn’t talk about it, then I’d say you can tell me about it.”

Brennan studied her a minute and then made a decision. She walked to the door and closed it before turning to go sit on the couch, “You have to promise me to not say anything to anyone. That includes Hodgins, Angela. Not a word to anyone,” she repeated.

“Not to anyone,” Angela promised. “Now, what’s the big secret?”

“It’s not a secret, really. But not many people know about it,” Brennan said and then took a deep breath and told Angela everything that had gone on the evening before.

After she finished speaking, there was a long silence as Angela tried to absorb what she’d just learned. “Wow,” she finally said. “I can see why you’re so freaked.”

Brennan thought about saying that she was not freaked but the word worked as good as anything else. So she just settled back on the couch and nodded.

Angela studied Brennan for a minute and then asked, “ok, so, what are you thinking right now?”

“I don’t know, Ang,” Brennan admitted, as she let her head fall on the back of the couch. “I’m so confused. It’s all I thought of last night and I’m still not sure what the hell I’m thinking, much less feeling.”

Angela nodded her head in understanding; she could definitely understand why Brennan would feel confused. “Well, let’s start from the beginning. Are you mad at him?”

“Mad?” Brennan repeated the question.

“Yes, for not telling you this sooner,” Angela clarified what she meant.

“No,” Brennan answered, as she turned her head to look at Angela. “I was when he first told me about. But then he explained how he’d been under orders not to tell anyone and I know what that’s like. Remember that time a few months ago when I had to leave for a couple of weeks?”

“Yes,” Angela answered. “You wouldn’t tell anyone where you were going.”

“That’s because it was classified. And I as soon as I told him that, he stopped asking where I was going, and just supported the decision. He took me to the airport, told me that he’d miss me and to hurry back. How can I be mad at him, when he was so understanding when I couldn’t tell him where I was going?” Brennan asked.

Angela shook her head as she answered, “you can’t.”

“And the fact of the matter is that when I asked him straight out, he told me the truth. He didn’t try to prevaricate or tell me that he couldn’t talk about it; he just plain told me the truth. It’s like he said; he might not have volunteered the information, but he didn’t lie when I asked about it.” Brennan told her and then shook her head. “No, I can’t be mad at him. All of this might be easier if I could be.”

Angela nodded her head and said, “Maybe, but you’re right, you can’t be mad at him. You’re very lucky because I don’t think that man could lie to you. There are not that many men out there that are as honest as he is.”

“I know,” Brennan said, as she thought of all the people in her life that have lied to her in one way or another.

“So, are you scared?” Angela asked, continuing to go through the emotions to determine what Brennan was feeling.

“Scared?” Brennan once again repeated. “Of him having to go at a moment’s notice or him not coming back?”

“Either, both,” Angela answered, with a wave of her hand to indicate that it didn’t matter which she chose.

Brennan took a deep breath, as she turned to study the ceiling and think about her answer. “If I think too much about him leaving, then yes, I get scared. So, I’ve tried not to dwell too much on the possibility. It’s like Booth told me once, you know, why dread something that hasn’t happened yet? Besides, Cullen told him that the chances that he’d be called back to active duty are remote and the reasons he gave make sense. So, outside of a crisis, I’m pretty sure he won’t be going anywhere. And if there happens to be a crisis, then . . .”

“Then it wouldn’t matter wether he was ordered or not, because he’d probably volunteer to go,” Angela finished when Brennan trailed off.

“Yes, he probably would, that’s who he is.” Brennan agreed.

“It’s not easy caring for honorable men, is it?” Angela asked.

The question was rhetoric but Brennan answered it anyway, “No, it’s not.”

“Ok,” Angela said, after a few moments of silence, in which Brennan continued studying the ceiling. “So, if you’re not mad and you’re not scared, what are you feeling?” She asked again, because she just ran out of the emotions that could be logically connected with the situation.

“I’m. . . I guess, I’m surprised,” Brennan started to answer.

“Surprised?” Angela asked, surprised herself. “I know that this came out of the blue, but does it really surprise you that he’d do something like this?”

“No, not that,” Brennan answered, as she shook her head. “After the initial shock wore off, I wasn’t surprised at all. This is just the kind of thing he’d do,” she shrugged and continued, “It’s just who he is.”

“Then what are you surprised at?”

“I’m surprised at my reaction, actually,” Brennan answered, as she sat up and looked at Angela to show she was being serious.

“What do you mean?” Angela asked, as she got comfortable on the couch; she just knew this was going to take a while.

Brennan shrugged and said, “just that I’m surprised at how I’ve reacted. I mean, I just found out that my partner and best friend could be leaving at any moment to go to war and I haven’t panicked. I was angry at the beginning and if I think too much about him leaving, I get really scared but, all in all, I haven’t panicked; I haven’t once thought about ending the relationship before he could leave. Instead, we went to dinner like any other night and I found myself wanting to spend more time with him just in case. If this had happened three years ago . . .” She trailed off and then resumed in a slow voice, “this wouldn’t have happened three years ago, because I wouldn’t have been this close to him three years ago.”

“Sweetie,” Angela said, as she leaned forward to take Brennan’s hand, “this is good. You not running away is very good.”

“I guess,” Brennan said, in a tone of voice that said she didn’t really think so, “it’s just . . . I don’t want him to go, Ang.”

“Of course you don’t, sweetie,” Angela said, in a reassuring voice, “I don’t either.”

“It’s kind of funny, you know,” Brennan said, as she got up and went to lean against the desk, she couldn’t seem to stay still. “I know that he probably won’t have to leave but, just the possibility that he might has made think. I knew that if he wasn’t around I’d miss him; I mean, whenever he or I have to go out of town by ourselves, I’ve missed him. But I hadn’t realized just how much I would miss him if he left and I didn’t know when he would be coming back.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Angela said, when Brennan stopped talking. She had wanted Brennan to come to terms with what she felt for Booth, but she didn’t like seeing her like this.

“I . . .” she trailed off again before saying, in a voice that said she’d just realized something. “I need him, Angela. I hadn’t realized just how much I depend on him – how much I need him to be there to bounce ideas off of, to talk things out, to help guide me through social situations – to just be there. He’s my best friend,” that was the second time Brennan had said that and Angela had to smile at the emotions of her best friend. “He’s the one person that’s always there when I need someone – even when I don’t even know that I need someone, he’s there. What would I do if he wasn’t?

“I’ve always been an independent person, Angela. This sudden need of someone else – I don’t really like it.” She declared. “No, what I don’t like is the vulnerability that comes with it. Because, and this is the most surprising thing, I don’t mind needing him because I know he’ll be there. Except if he has to leave and then that’s where I’m vulnerable and I don’t like it” she said again. “Urgh,” she cried ou,t as she threw her arms into the air, and walked to sit on the couch again. “See, I’m so confused. I don’t know if I’m happy or sad; if I feel secure or vulnerable. God, my life used to be so simple. If I had a question I just had to study it logically and I’d get to the answer but this doesn’t seem to have much logic to it.”

Angela had to swallow her chuckle so as not to offend Brennan. When she felt she could talk normally, she said, “Sweetie, what you’re feeling is perfectly normal.”

“It is?” Brennan asked, with hope in her voice.

“Yes, it is, sweetie,” Angela said, as she leaned over to pat Brennan’s leg, “you’re in love with Booth.”

“No, I’m . . .” Brennan started to deny the charge, but Angela didn’t even let her finish the sentence.

“Yes, you are,” Angela insisted. “That confusion you feel? One minute you’re happy and secure and the next you’re scared and vulnerable? That’s love, honey. You’re happy because he makes you happy, because he understands you; he gets you and gives you what you need. You’re secure because you know that he’ll be there and he’ll take care of you and you’re scared and feel vulnerable because, for the first time in a long time, you’re not in complete control of things. For the first time in a long time, your happiness doesn’t depend solely on you and, though you know Booth would never do anything to purposefully hurt you, the possibility still exists that you could get hurt.”

“I . . . I love him?” Brennan asked, in a surprised and shaky voice.

“Yes,” Angela answered her in a soft voice, that nevertheless, barely covered the laughter Angela felt rising. “I’m afraid you do. And if I’m not mistaken, you’ve loved him for a while now.”

“Um,” Brennan said, as she thought about what Angela had just said, “so what do I do now?” she finally asked.

“I don’t know,” Angela answered. “What do you want to do?”

“I’m not sure; I’m not entirely convinced you’re right, either.” Brennan answered with a hint of defiance.

“Oh, I’m sure,” Angela assured her. “You know, Bren, you’re very lucky.” Angela declared, after a while.

“Why?” Brennan asked, in a suspicious voice.

“Because most people don’t realize what they have until they lose it, but you’ve realized what you can have with Booth without losing it first. You have the chance of reaching out and taking your happiness and you should take it or you’ll likely regret it afterwards.” Angela said, thinking of Kirk and lost opportunities. No matter how happy she was with Hodgins now, she couldn’t forget what Kirk had meant to her or stop regretting how it had ended.

Brennan knew that Angela was probably thinking of Kirk and chose to just nod her head and let her friend get her emotions back under control.

“Bren,” Angela said, after a few minutes of silence, “can I give you some advice?”

“Of course, Angela,” Brennan said, “that’s why we’re talking.”

“Right,” Angela smiled, “well, I know that you’re the kind of person that believes in taking the bull by the horns; who likes to go after what you want until you get it. And usually, that’s a very good attitude but, I think in this case, you should wait.”

“Wait?” Brennan asked, “wait to do what?”

“Wait to go to his house and jump him; I think you should wait to do that,” Angela told her bluntly.

“You’re telling me to wait to ‘jump him’?” Brennan asked incredulous, “you? The person that has been after me to ‘get it on with him’ since practically the day I met him?”

“Yeah,” Angela said, with a small grimace, “I know, ironic, huh? But what you have with Booth is a good thing, Bren, it’s the real thing. And with a little bit of work, it could last a long time. You don’t want to wreck it by acting before you’re ready – really ready.”

“You don’t think I’m ready?” Brennan asked, “you’re the one that said I love him.”

“Yes, and I stand by that.” Angela affirmed, “but you’re just starting to recognize what you’re feelings are, Bren, and while that’s a good thing, I just don’t think you’re ready to act on them. You haven’t really come to terms with them, yet. And until you do, you won’t be ready to take the next step – not if you want the relationship to work out. Or do you think you’re ready?”

“Well, I . . .” Brennan started to answer, but couldn’t finish.

“See, until you can say you’re ready, and mean it, you won’t be ready. Besides, I think Booth is traditional enough that he’ll want to make the first move” Angela told her.

“Who’s to say he’ll want to make a move? We’re talking like we know he’ll want a romantic relationship with me if and when I’m ready. He might not feel the same thing, you know,” Brennan argued, though it was just for argument’s sake, because she was fairly certain that he felt the same way.

Apparently Angela agreed, if her response was any indication, “oh, please, Bren, that man is head over heels in love with you; he’s yours for the taking.”

“Maybe,” Brennan allowed, “though, I’m not sure how right you are about him being a traditionalist. After all, he did tell me to let him know when I’m ready. That implies that I’ll be making the first move, doesn’t it?” She asked, as Angela’s mouth almost hit the floor.

“He what?!!” she shrieked. “When did he ask you that? And how come this is the first I hear about it? Have you guys already talked about this? When? Come on, Bren, give me details” she demanded, without pausing for a breath.

“Angela, calm down” Brennan told her, as she watched her best friend almost jump up and down on the couch, like a little kid that has been told Christmas has come early. “It was during your anniversary dinner,” she had to pause for Angela’s squeal of “I knew it; I knew you two looked so cozy.”

“We weren’t cozy,” Brennan denied. “We just had a talk where we alluded to the fact that there might be more to our relationship and that the time was coming to deal with that. And he asked that I let him know when that time came, that was all.”

“That’s all, she says,” Angela told the ceiling. “Like that’s not much. Bren, sweetie, that’s huge. You guys already had the talk. I can’t believe it; this is great. It’s . . . Wait; my anniversary dinner was a few weeks ago. You had this conversation a few weeks ago?”

“Yes,” Brennan answered, as she went back to sit at her desk. The talk with Angela had helped her and now she felt centered enough to start working, though she knew she probably wouldn’t get much done until Angela went back to her office.

“But, how, why?” Angela asked. “I mean, you just started talking about it – out of the blue? Who started it?” She wanted to know, more surprised that they’d already talked about it, than about what Brennan had learned yesterday.

“Come on, Angela, I’m not as oblivious as everyone thinks I am. I knew that there was something more between Booth and me; just as I knew that we’d have to deal with it soon. So,” she finished with a shrug, “I talked to him about it.”


“Ha,” Angela said, as she sat back on the couch, beyond surprised. “Well, if you knew then, why are you having such a meltdown?”

“I’m not having a meltdown,” Brennan denied, “I was just . . . I don’t know, Ang,” she said, with a huff as she threw the pen she’d picked up, back to the desk and leaned back in her chair. “Realizing that there was something more between us did not mean that I had any idea how much I . . . feel for him. Not until now, that is. I guess, I just,” she shrugged again and concluded, “I guess I didn’t really want to think too much about it before.”

Angela nodded, for someone so intelligent and usually so intent on getting the facts, Brennan had a remarkable ability for denial. Not that Angela could really blame her; she still remembered how she felt when she realized she loved Hodgins, how scared she’d been and she’d been waiting to fall in love her whole life. She couldn’t begin to understand how it must be for Brennan, who had ran from love most of her life.

“Bren, sweetie, I know love is a scary business but it is completely worth it. So, please give yourself the chance to found out, huh?” Angela entreated. “Just don’t over think it but, try and get used to the idea. And when you feel ready go to Booth.”

“How will I know when I’m ready?” Brennan wanted to know.

“You just will,” Angela assured her, “and if you don’t, I’m sure Booth will. He always seems to know whatever’s going on with you, doesn’t he.”

Brennan gave a short laugh and had to agree with that, “that he does.”

“Well,” Angela said, as she pushed up from the couch and got up, “I can see you’re feeling better and are ready to go to work. So, I’ll get out of your head. But don’t forget, we’re leaving early today.”

“What? Why?” Brennan asked, surprised, this was the first she’d heard about it.

Angela paused by the office’s door and informed her, “You think that whole part about you and Booth going to a dinner gala this Saturday slipped by me? Nope, it didn’t. We’re leaving early and going shopping for a knock out dress for you to wear.”

“But,” Brennan started to protest, knowing it was useless, “I don’t need a dress. I’m sure I have something appropriate I can wear.”

“Um, I don’t think so, sweetie. What you have may be appropriate for a job dinner but not for a date with Mr. FBI Hottie, and don’t bother telling me it’s not a date, because it is.”

“Booth said you’d drag me out to buy a new dress,” Brennan commented.

“That’s because our Booth is a very smart man,” Angela said.

“It’s not fair, you know” Brennan complained, “I don’t see why I have to be dragged to the mall when Booth doesn’t have to do anything.”

“Well, that’s because he probably already has a tux,” Angela responded, as she started to walk away.

“No,” Brennan disagreed distractedly, as she turned back to her computer, “he said he’ll be wearing his dress uniform.”

Angela had already crossed the threshold, but that comment brought her back, “Booth is going to be wearing his dress uniform?” she asked, in a voice that sounded like something close to a shriek.

“Yes,” Brennan answered slowly, as she looked up from her computer, “why?”

“Oh, honey, I think that you’re going to need my help getting ready this Saturday,” she announced, with an unholy gleam in her eyes.

“I am?” Brennan asked, curiously.

“Yes, you are. There’s no way I’m going to miss seeing Booth in his uniform,” Angela declared, as she started to walk away again.

“Hey, aren’t you married?” Brennan yelled after her, with a smile.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m blind,” Angela yelled back, making Brennan’s smile grow as she began the day’s work.

[g]The Men From the Gate[/g]

[g]Disclaimer:[/g] Neither the Bones characters nor the SG1 characters are mine.

[g]A/N:[/g] Well, I'm not sure if anyone is reading this, since I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter. But I'll keep posting for a bit to see if I get any response. I hope you guys are reading it and liking it.

[g]Chapter 3[/g]

“Ok, sweetie,” Angela said, as she stepped back and admired her handiwork, “you’re ready.”

Brennan looked in the mirror and asked, “are you sure? I mean, isn’t this a little too revealing?”

She was wearing a pleated style gown in navy chiffon with a V neckline; halter straps that tied behind the neck; an open back; a gathered, banded waist and a full skirt. It was a gorgeous dress and though it was somewhat more revealing and sexier than her usual style, it was still elegant and sophisticated and completely appropriate for the evening.

“No, it is not too revealing. It’s perfect and you look beautiful in it. Actually, you look beautiful period – I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look better” Angela said, with a smile and a wink. “You’re gonna knock Booth’s socks off” she predicted.

Brennan frowned and asked, “Why would I want to knock Booth’s socks off? He’s going to . . .”

“Figure of speech, Bren” Angela interrupted, before Brennan could really get into it. “It’s just a figure of speech.”

“Oh,” Brennan said, but her attention had gone back to the mirror. “You think my hair looks good up?” she asked, as she put a hand up to tuck an invisible strand back into the soft chignon Angela had created.

Angela pulled the hand down and told her, “It looks fine, Bren. Relax, will you? I already told you – you look beautiful.” Angela had never known Brennan to be as uptight and nervous as she was that night.

“Ok, thanks,” Brennan said, as she brushed some of the loose strands that Angela had let curl around her face and nape and then ran a finger across the choker Angela had insisted she buy for the occasion.

Angela looked at her watch and said, “he should be here any minute now.”

Brennan turned to look at the clock on her nightstand and agreed, “yes, he should.”

“Do you have everything you need ready? You purse, wrap, everything?” Angela asked, making sure than Brennan was ready to go.

“Yes, I have everything,” Brennan said, as she picked up her new purse: a small, blue navy satin clutch that only held her wallet, keys and cell phone but which matched her shoes: a pair of sling backs, with round open toe, pleated front, open inner arch and matching satin wrapped 4 inch stiletto heels.

She also picked up her chiffon wrap and after placing it around her shoulders told Angela, “this thing won’t keep me warm at all.”

“Then aren’t you lucky that it’s supposed to be warm tonight? Beside, it’s not supposed to keep you warm,” Angela told her, as she took the wrap from around Brennan’s shoulders and placed it in the crook of her elbow instead. “It’s just supposed to punch up the outfit. And if you do get cold, you always have Booth to warm you up.” She suggested with a leer, which Brennan ignored in favor of making sure her cell was in her purse.

“Ok sweetie, when he gets here I want you to let me answer the door and wait in here until I call you out, ok?” Angela instructed Brennan, as she rubbed her hands and looked as if she was planning to launch a military attack.

Brennan looked up after closing her purse and asked, “why? I’m ready to go, I can answer the door myself and we could be on our way.”

“No, no, no.” Angela shook her head to emphasize the negative, “no, you’re staying here until I call you out, get it?”

“But Angela,” Brennan started to protest but Angela didn’t let her finish.

“No buts, sweetie, it’s called making an entrance and you’re going to do just that, you hear me?” She said in a voice, and with a face, that experience had taught Brennan was useless to fight.

Not really in the mood to fight, she gave in, “ok, Angela, whatever you say.”

Just then the door bell rang, “ok, stay here until I call you,” Angela told her, once again, before leaving the room and going to answer the door.

A few seconds later, she opened the door, and for a moment there, she forgot what she had planned to say. To say that Booth looked good in his dress uniform would be an understatement.

“Hello, Angela,” Booth greeted her, when she just stared at him without saying anything, “you think I can come in?”

“Um,” Angela mumbled, before she shook her head to clear it and said, “of course, come in, come in.” She invited him and opened the door wider to let him enter.

“Thanks,” he walked in and looked around, “is Bones ready?”

“Yes, she’llbe out in a minute,” and as Angela turned to close the door, she found that Hodgins had arrived.

“Hi, honey,” he said as he walked in and kissed Angela.

“Hi,” Angela told him, as she kissed him back.

“Am I early?” he asked, and then turned to greet Booth, who returned the handshake.

“No, you’re just fine. Booth just got here and I was just about to call Bren.” She then walked towards the bedroom and called out, “Bren, are you ready? Booth’s here.”

“Yes, Angela,” Brennan responded, dutifully following Angela’s scrïpt, though she did roll her eyes, as she opened the bedroom door. “I’ll be right out.”

“So, what are you doing here?” Booth was asking them.

“Oh, I was helping Bren get ready and Hodgins is my ride home,” Angela explained. She and Brennan had spent the day together and Angela didn’t have a car with her.

Brennan came into the living room then and said, “Hi, Booth.” While Booth and Hodgins turned toward Brennan to greet her, Angela kept her eyes on Booth and Hodgins wanting to see their reactions. She wasn’t disappointed, when Hodgins got a good look at Brennan, his mouth opened in a silent 'wow'. But it was Booth’s and Brennan’s reactions that thrilled the artist.

As soon as they saw each other, the rest of the room ceased to exist, and they only had eyes for the other. Each was meticulously examined from head to toe by the other and only when they were certain to have made a complete survey of the other’s body, did they lock eyes with one another. Their admiration and approval of the other’s look was visible in their eyes and Angela was sure they would have gone on staring at one another if Hodgins hadn’t broken the silence. “Wow, Brennan, you look h. . .” he started to say hot, but with a quick look at Booth, who looked quite intimidating in his uniform, changed the word to “Beautiful. You look really beautiful.”

“Yes, Bones,” Booth agreed with a small smile that started at his mouth and ended in his eyes. “You look . . .” He shook his head, as he once again looked her up and down, and finished the compliment on a sigh, “Amazing, absolutely breathtaking.”

Angela was amazed to see that Brennan actually blushed at the look in Booth’s eyes, but like always, she recovered fairly quickly and returned the compliment. “You look quite incredible yourself, Booth” she said with a smile. “Very dashing in a heroic kind of way,” she added with a wave at the medals that adorned Booth’s chest.

Angela was surprised to see that Brennan was not the only one to blush that night. She looked at Hodgins to see if he’d noticed anything and, by the look on his face, he had. He turned his head at that moment and they shared a smiled at the behavior of the other couple.

“Thanks, Bones,” Booth said, then he cleared his throat and clapped his hands and added, “We should be going, huh? We don’t want to be late.”

Brennan agreed and after saying good-bye to Angela (who told her to relax and have a good time) and Hodgins, they were off to the gala.

A couple of hours later, Brennan and Booth were finishing dinner. The food had been good and the company had been fairly entertaining. They had been seated at a table with Booth’s ex-CO and a few of his friends from his unit and the stories they’d told had made the time passed painlessly. Even Booth seemed to have had a good time, Brennan thought, as she turned to look at him and found him laughing at something Col. Saunders had said.

A few minutes later, Brennan leaned in and told Booth, “I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Booth nodded to let her know he’d heard her and she got up and left the dinning room. As she left the lady’s room a few moments later, she saw a waiter and an airman deep in discussion a little further down the corridor. She figured the waiter was giving the airman directions and by the time he walked back into the dinning room, she had already forgotten all about it.

After she entered the room, Brennan looked and decided to go get something to drink before returning to the table. She went to the bar, it was an open bar and one of the few good things about these things according to Booth, and asked for a glass of white wine. When she received the glass, she turned around and stood there observing the people milling around the room. It was a rare opportunity for the anthropologist to study this type of ceremony up close and personal and she planned to take advantage of it.

She leaned an elbow on the bar behind her and took a sip of her wine as a tall blonde walked up and asked for a glass of red wine. She was wearing a light blue dress with a V neckline; knotted detail on the front and an asymmetric hem with gathered front and was more than likely the wife of a high ranking officer.

As she waited for her drink, she turned and with a smile, greeted Brennan, “Hi, my name is Sam.”

Brennan, hearing Booth’s voice in her mind, smiled back and said, “Hello, I’m Temperance.”

Sam received her glass and took a sip of her drink and as she noticed Temperance studying the room, asked, “admiring all the men in uniform?”

“Um,” Temperance said, non-committally.

“Impressive, aren’t they?” Sam asked again, as she too turned and started to study the room.

“Um,” Temperance said again; and then she forgot all of Booth’s coaching and said what was on her mind. “Actually, I was thinking that regardless of how advanced a society is there are still some anthropological traits that are shared with the less advanced cultures and even with some in the animal kingdom.”

“Ah,” Sam said, as she studied the other woman more closely, “What do you mean” she asked curious to see what she had in mind?

“Well,” Temperance took another drink of her glass, and prepared to go into lecture mode, “take this gathering, for instance. Though it’s for a good cause, it by its very nature brings together a lot of powerful men – some might arguably say some of the most powerful men in the country. As such, most of them have alpha personalities and, like all alphas, when they come together, they have found ways to differentiate each other – ways to show who’s higher in the hierarchy and who’s at the same level. In the animal kingdom, the males tend to have bigger, more colorful feathers or manes – take for instance the peacock or the lion. And the same is true in less advanced cultures – the chiefs are usually adorned with colorful feathers or skins.

“In more advanced cultures, with the exception of kingdoms where kings and queens are still elaborately decorated, the adornments of leaders are less ornate but are present nonetheless. One example is the insignia and medals that the high ranking officers of the military wear to show their place in the hierarchy and their prowess in battle.”

“Well,” Sam said, as she slowly brought her glass down, when Temperance finished speaking. “I’ve never thought of it that way.”

When she heard the almost bewildered tone in Sam’s voice, Brennan realized that she had once again gone off on an anthropological rant, as Booth called them. She hurried to apologize and maybe salvage the situation so that she could go back and tell Booth that she’d had a pleasant conversation with a stranger, without his help. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to go on about it. It’s just that I’m an anthropologist and I can’t help but see this type of social situation through that perspective, but I didn’t really mean to bore you with a dissertation on the subject.”

“Oh, no, please don’t apologize” Sam said, with a kind smile. “You didn’t bore me, really. In fact, I think that was about the most intelligent comment I’ve heard all night.”

Temperance returned the smile and said, “my partner is always going on about how I can’t maintain a conversation without bringing science into it. He says that I need to get out of the lab more often; that spending too much time cooped up in it is what has atrophied my ability to make normal conversation.”

Sam laughed at that comment and commiserated, “He’s probably always after you to go out and get a life, how there’s more to life than work and how the world won’t end if you take some time off, isn’t he?”

“Have you met Booth?” Temperance asked, surprised at how accurate the other woman summed up Booth’s arguments.

“Booth’s your partner, I take it?” She asked, and at Temperance's nod, she went on, “No, I haven’t met him but I’ve been ran out of my own lab quite often in my day.”

“Oh,” Temperance said, suddenly more interested in the woman than she’d been before, “Are you a scientist too?”

“Yes,” Sam affirmed after she took another sip, “I’m a doctor of theoretical astrophysicist.”

“Then what are you doing here?” Temperance asked bluntly but, at Sam’s chuckle, she amended, “f you don’t mind my asking.”

“No, I don’t,” Sam said with a grin. “My husband is one of those alpha personalities you mentioned.” She explained with a wave of her hand at the men in the room.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Temperance started to apologized. “I hadn't realized . . .” she said, even as she silently berated herself for not listening to Booth.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sam graciously told her. “It’s a fascinating analogy and I just never would have thought about it that way.”

“I’m sure not too many people would have,” Temperance agreed. “It’s one of the hazards of being an anthropologist. I tend to study and analyze these functions and end up being an observer instead of a participant.” She confessed, with a shake of her head. “And that leads to these types of awkward moments.” She added, with a small self-deprecating smile.

“Don’t worry about it, really,” Sam repeated. “I’ve been there myself. Sometimes I get so caught in a thought that I forget who I’m talking to and start babbling techno-babble” she confessed with a small laugh. “It’s certainly easier being in the lab, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.” Temperance agreed, thinking that she liked how the other woman thought.

“I wonder,” Sam said, after a few moments of silence, where both women drank their wine. “If your thesis could be used in any work environment.”

“Um,” Temperance thought about it as she brought her glass down. “I don’t see why not. I guess we’d just have to find out how each environment quantifies success and then . . .”

“Bones, there you are!!” Booth called from behind Brennan.

Brennan turned around, surprised and asked, “Booth, what are you doing here?”

“Bones,” Booth patiently said, as he walked to stand next to her. “You left for the bathroom a while back and I was worried something might have happened . . .”

“Booth, I am perfectly capable of going to the rest room by myself,” Brennan interrupted him.

“I don’t know about that,” Booth disagreed, “but here I am, looking for you and what do I find? I mean, I turn my back for a minute and there you are talking science again. Haven’t we talked about you not doing that so much anymore?” Booth asked with a grin.

Brennan opened her mouth to argue but Sam’s laugh stopped her. “I take it this is Booth, the partner?” She asked Temperance, smiling.

“Yes,” Temperance answered and then realized that they hadn't been introduced. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she turned to Booth and said “Booth, this is Dr. Sam . . .” she trailed off and looked at Sam in question.

“Dr. Sam O’Neill,” Sam responded with a smile, as she extended her hand to Booth.

“Seeley Booth,” Booth said, as he shook her hand and then turned to Bones with a grin, “Bones, only you can come into a room full of military officers and find probably the only other scientist here.”

“Actually,” Sam said, with another soft laugh, “I found her. Tell me, how does an anthropologist end up being partners with an Army Ranger?”

Since Booth had turned to ask for a drink, Temperance answered, “Oh, Booth is not in active duty right now. He’s an FBI special agent and I’m actually a forensic anthropologist. We work identifying bodies that can’t be identified by conventional means.”

Sam nodded her head and then something seemed to click, “You are Dr. Temperance Brennan. You’re the FBI team that discovered that cover up involving Director Kirby.”

“Yes, that was us,” Booth, who had already received his drink and turned back to them, answered.

“You also write books,” Sam continued, looking at Temperance and Temperance nodded. “I just finished reading your second one a few weeks ago. It was very engaging; I really liked it.”

“Thanks,” Temperance said and Booth was amused to find that she could still blush at a compliment.

“One of my best friends is an anthropologist too, well, he’s also an archeologist and linguist, but that’s not here nor there,” Sam dismissed that little fact with a wave of her hand and Booth thought Bones might have just found another team of super squints.

“He says you’re brilliant and at the top of your field and has in fact referenced your work a couple of times,” Sam finished.

“Thank you,” Temperance said, much more comfortable receiving compliments about her academic writings than her novels. “What’s his name? Maybe I’ve heard of him,” she asked, as the academic world wasn’t that big.

“I don’t think so,” Sam denied. “He hasn’t been published in more than ten years but his name is Dr. Daniel Jackson.”

The name rang a bell in Temperance’s mind and it was a few moments before she made the connection, “Oh, wasn’t he the one that had that theory about the Egyptian pyramids being landing sites for spaceships?”

“Umm,” Sam said, as she took another sip of her drink. She hated this part – having to hear the ridicule without being able to tell them that Daniel had it more right than they could ever possibly comprehend.

Thankfully, she was saved from having to make further comment by a voice calling out, “Samantha, I hope you’re not talking science. We agreed that there would be no techno babble this weekend.” Both Sam and Booth grinned at the similarity to Booth’s greeting as a tall, distinguished older man in uniform said with a grin as he walked up to Sam. He was obviously her husband, as he immediately put his arm around her waist, and she relaxed into his embrace. “No, Jack. I haven’t used techno-babble once tonight.” Sam said, with a smile of her own.

“Good,” he nodded and then turned to look at Booth and Brennan. If Booth had looked dashingly heroic in his uniform, this man looked dauntingly heroic in his. He was at least ten years older than Sam, but he was still a handsome man that looked fit enough to take on men half his age. He carried his power and authority as easily as most men carried their briefcases; the row of medals on his chest almost put Booth’s to shame and if Brennan’s theory was right, he was one of the most powerful men in the room.

He was one of the most commanding examples of an alpha male Brennan had ever encountered, including Booth. Though there was something about him, about the way he carried himself, the way he scanned the room and held his body, as if poised for action that reminded Brennan of Booth. In a flash of insight, Brennan realized that that was what Booth would be like in a few years.

“So, Sam, who are your new friends?” He asked.

“Jack,” Sam said, as she waved her hand in Brennan’s direction, “This is Dr. Temperance Brennan.”

“A pleasure,” Jack said, as he shook Brennan’s hand, “a medical doctor?”

“No, forensic anthropologist,” Brennan answered, as they finished their hand shake.

Jack made a small grimace and said, “Ah, another egghead.”

“Jack!” Sam admonished.

“What?” He asked innocently, “I’m just saying.”

Though Booth had straightened as soon as he noticed the other man’s rank, he couldn’t stop the chuckle and comment that followed. “I usually use ‘squint’ myself.”

“Squint?” Jack asked, curious and very interested.

“Yes, you know, because they’re always squinting at books, computer screens, papers.”

“Nice,” Jack said, nodding his head. “I like it. I think that’d work great on Daniel, don’t you Sam?”

“Jack, don’t you think you have enough nicknames for Daniel already?” She asked somewhat exasperatedly.

“Nope,” he answered firmly. “There can never be enough nicknames for space-monkey.”

“Whatever you say, Jack.” Sam said resignedly and then, with a wave of her hand towards Booth, she continued the introductions, “Well, this is Major Booth. Booth, Temperance, this is my husband General Jack O’Neill.”

As soon as he heard the name, Booth snapped to attention and performed a book perfect salute, “General, sir.”

At the instant salute, Jack ‘squinted’ at Booth and studied him closer. His eyes went from Booth’s Ranger insignia to his eyes and in them Jack saw that unlike a lot of men in the room, Booth was a soldier who had seen combat, and who'd had to do things not everyone could do. He could also see that Booth had a very good idea of what Jack had been called to do in the name of duty and because of that he did something he didn’t always do; he returned the salute, “Major.”

The salute was perfectly executed and had Sam’s eyebrows rising in surprised. Booth then extended his hand and said, “It’s an honor to meet you, sir.” The sincerity in his voice had Brennan’s eyebrows rising; she knew that Booth respected every person in uniform but that genuine admiration was something that she had rarely heard before.

“Dr. Brennan is the author of those bones books you liked so much,” Sam told her husband after the introductions had been made.

“The bones books” Jack asked, and then he realized what Sam was talking about, “oh, the books that Daniel recommended?” At Sam’s nod, he continued, “Really? Well they’re pretty good. I really liked them,” he told Brennan who nodded at the compliment. “You must be pretty good at your job for Daniel to admire your work so much.”

Brennan nodded her thanks yet again and if she wondered why a disgraced academic’s opinion mattered so much to an Air Force General, she had learned enough from Booth to keep the question silent.

“Temperance was just telling me,” Sam started to tell her husband, “about the anthropological significance of these type of events.”

“Really,” Jack asked skeptically, as he turned to look around the room, “these things have anthropological significance?”

Booth laughed as he finished his drink, “believe me, General, I don’t think Bones here has encountered a social event that hasn’t had some anthropological significance.”

Jack grinned and said, “well, I really don’t see what significance this shindig can have except be an excuse for all these political types and military bigwigs to stand around hearing themselves talk.”

Booth nodded his agreement and Brennan told Sam, “at least you don’t have to work with them. I find working with the FBI bad enough, but having to deal with military types everyday would be too much. They’d probably have less respect for science and scientists than the FBI does.”

While Booth hissed, “Bones, for God’s sake, he’s a General,” Jack grinned widely and asked an amused looking Sam, “honey, did you forget to introduce yourself?” He then turned to Bones and Booth and said, “Let me properly introduce my wife: Lt Colonel Samantha Carter.”

Booth again snapped to attention and saluted her, “ma’am”, while thinking ‘oh, crap!’

Bones, however, asked her somewhat accusingly, “I though your name was Sam O’Neill?”

“It is,” Sam affirmed, “my civilian name; my full name is Dr. Lt. Colonel Samantha Cater-O’Neill. I just find it easier to go by Sam O’Neill when I’m at this type of event, as Jack’s wife, and not as an Air Force officer.

Before Brennan could respond or Jack make a smart ass remark, a boom was heard throughout the dinning room, paralizing everyone for one second as they all turned their attention to the back of the building and wondered what had happened.

[g]Men From the Gate[/g]

[g]Disclaimer:[/g] No, they're not mine do you

[g]A/N:[/g] Well, since I got comments telling me or screaming that you guys were reading, here's the next chapter. Enjoy and please let me know if you are.

[g]Chapter 4[/g]

In the seconds that followed the explosion, Brennan had a front row seat to see why the men and women in the room were some of the best and brightest of the country. As one, the military personnel in the room adopted defensive stances before the civilians closest to them, the officers closest to the door, on the side from where the sound came, went out to investigate and the Secret Service personnel that had been unobtrusively standing on the edges, hurried to their high profile charges and rushed them to the other exit.

As Brennan swept her gaze through the room, she noticed that a surprising number of officers had guns in their hands, including Booth, General O’Neill and Sam – where she’d kept a gun wearing that dress was anyone’s guess. As Booth was turning to leave, she asked what was probably the most ill-timed question of her life, “Booth, how come she gets a gun?”

Booth turned to look at her with a face that screamed ‘you’re asking that now!’ He, nevertheless, answered her, “Because, Bones, she’s a Lt Colonel in the Air Force! Now, stay here. I’m going to go see what’s going.”

She wanted to protest and ask to go along, but knew it was futile, so she settled for nodding and saying, “Be careful.” He nodded back and as he stepped away, she called him back, “Hey, Booth, should I call the police?”

Booth barely took the time to turn around as he shrugged and said, “Go ahead, but this is a federal building and under FBI jurisdiction.”

She nodded again and she turned back to Sam and Gen. O’Neill, she heard Sam say, “Jack, be careful.” Jack nodded and after giving her a brief kiss, told her, “Always.” With that, he turned away and hurried after Booth. Apparently, he’d won the argument he’d been having with his Secret Service escort; though, as two agents followed him, he’d lost the part about all of the agents staying behind with Sam.

As both women watched the men run out of the room, Sam asked, “Is not easy, is it?”

“Huh?” Brennan asked, as she once again turned toward the other woman.

“Seeing them go off to confront who knows what and not being able to go with them to watch their back.” Sam explained, as she brought her gaze to Brennan’s, after Jack walked out of the doors.

“No, it’s not,” Brennan nodded. “How come you’re not . . .?” She started to ask because, not only did Sam have a gun and was obviously trained for these type of situations, but also because she didn’t look like the type of woman who’d stay behind while her husband went out to fight.

Sam understood the question and with a grimace motioned to the way she was dressed. “This dress and heels are not conducive to running around. I’ll do it if I have to but if I don’t . . .” She trailed off, with a shrug of her shoulders, to show her resignation to the situation.

Brennan nodded as that was one of the reasons why she hadn’t argued to go with Booth. But then she thought of something else: she didn’t know much about the military, but she was sure that a general was more apt to send people out to fight, than to go and do the fighting himself. And since Sam had sounded like she’d had lots of experience seeing her husband go off to fight, she wondered how long Sam and the general had been married. Brennan being Brennan, she went ahead and asked, “How long have you been married?”

Sam looked surprised at the question but answered easily enough, “Six months. Why?”

Brennan shrugged her shoulders and said, “You just seemed to have a lot of experience seeing him go off.”

Sam took a sip of her drink with a thoughtful look on her face and then said, “Jack was my unit CO and I was his 2nd for seven years, then he was the base CO and finally he was promoted to department head. I have been right there with him whenever he’s faced any danger for most of the time we’ve known each other and after his promotion it was him that had to watch me go off without him. But,” as she took another quick sip, “yes, lately I’ve gained some experience in staying behind while he goes off.” Her gaze turned inward and she looked to be reliving some not too pleasant memories.

“But he’s a general,” Brennan couldn’t stop the observation, “don’t they usually stay behind doing paperwork?”

“Yes, usually,” Sam answered with a nod. “But Jack is not your usual general. His experience, willingness and superb physical condition mean that he can have his pick of missions if he wants. And he usually wants,” she concluded with a resigned shrug; she may not like it but like Vala told her, she dealt with it because that was who Jack was.

Sam then shook her head as if to rid herself of bad memories and asked Brennan, “How about you? You must also be used to seeing Booth go off into dangerous situations while you stay behind.”

“Actually, no,” Brennan answered. “In all the time we’ve been partners, I’ve only stayed behind a handful of times.”

“Really” Sam asked, interested, thinking that there was much more to the pretty doctor than met the eye, “how do you manage that without being FBI?”

“It was part of our deal,” Brennan answered simply, “50/50, equal partnership. I didn’t want to do lab work only but also be allowed in the field.”

“And the FBI just acceded to your . . . request?” Sam chose to be diplomatic and use ‘request’, though she had a feeling it had more likely been a demand.

Brennan shrugged and answered matter of factly, “I’m very good at what I do” and then she grinned mischievously, as she brought her glass toward her mouth, “of course, it also helps that the next forensic anthropologist lives in Montreal.”

Sam laughed and raised her own glass in a silent toast. The light moment was interrupted when one of the agents that had followed Jack came back and told Sam, “Ma’am, the general asks that you and the Doctor,” and he motioned to Brennan, “come out.”

Sam nodded, knowing full well that Jack hadn’t so much asked as ordered that they go out. She looked at Brennan and after waving her forward, they both walked out following the agent.

A few moments later, they entered the men’s rest room and Brennan was reminded of the two men she had seen earlier but she saw the damage and the vague memory slipped away. To say that it was a mess would be a vast understatement; the floor was completely flooded from the sink and urinal that had been blown off in the explosion. The stall doors had likewise been blown off and they, like the walls and the ceiling, were charred. There were also two bodies against the wall directly across from where the explosion had apparently thrown them. The remains, like the walls, were charred beyond recognition and it was obvious Brennan’s services would be needed.

Both Sam and Brennan had sighed and picked up their dresses when they saw the water. Before venturing into the restroom, Brennan shook her head and thought ‘there goes the new shoes.’ She was careful to keep her dress beyond the reach of the water because, as hard a time as she gave Angela before buying it, she really did love the dress and the look Booth had given her when he saw her in it. . .

She walked carefully towards the closest body as Booth asked her, “What can you tell me, Bones?”

She observed the body carefully and told Booth, “Male, Caucasian, in his early 30’s. Cause of death could be the explosion, the fire or the impact with the wall – impossible to say before we analyze it at the lab.” She tilted her head to get a different angle and added, “I think he may have been wearing a uniform,” she shook her head and continued. “But again, without further analysis it is impossible to tell.”

Booth steeped closer and leaned over the body, without regard to the damage that it caused to his uniform and Brennan thought that he paid more attention to his suits. “I don’t see any dog tags.”

“What does that mean,” Brennan asked him, “he’s not military?”

Booth sighed as he stood up, “at least not active,” he responded and waved at the other body, “what about him?”

Brennan hiked up her dress a bit more and carefully made her way to the other body. She tilted her head and said, “Male, mixed race, impossible to determine cause of death.” And then she trailed off.

A few seconds later, Booth looked up from where he’d been jotting down the information Brennan had been giving him in a little notebook that he produced from nowhere and asked, “Age?”

Brennan turned back to Booth and in a perplexed voice told him, “I’m not sure.”

Booth let his hand fall down as he asked, “You’re not sure? But age is one of the first things you’re able to determine when you have visual access to the whole body – and you do.” He added with a wave of his hand.

“I know,” Brennan nodded, as she turned back to study the body again, “but all the bone markers indicate that he was over a hundred years old.”

“Over a hundred?!” asked Booth in surprised.

“Well over,” Brennan emphasized.

“But, but he doesn’t look . . .” Booth protested.

“I know,” Brennan nodded again. “His overall musculature and appearance indicate that he was in his thirties. It maybe that he suffered from some genetic disorder. I won’t know more until I get him to the lab,” she concluded.

Jack and Sam, who had been standing by the door observing the doctor work, snapped to attention when they heard Brennan say one of the victims could be over a hundred years old. They shared an alarmed look and Jack started forward to study the body closer and see if he could prove or disprove their disturbing theory.

The partners were so involved in their discussion that they didn’t pay attention to the moving general. However, when they saw the older man nudge the body with his foot and then hunch down and pick up something from beneath the body with a handkerchief, Brennan started forward saying, “Don’t touch . . .”

Booth stopped her by placing a hand on her arm aan squeezing a warning. Brennan turned to him with eyes blazing and hissed, “Booth, he’s touching my bones.”

“I know, Bones, but let me, ok?” He squeezed her arm again and with a final warning in his eyes, he stepped towards the bent general and said, “Sir, with respect, this is a crime scene and you shouldn’t be picking up evidence.”

Jack sighed and as he stood up, he turned his head and met Sam’s eyes, whose own eyes widened when she saw what Jack held. He closed his fist and the handkerchief completely hid the object from sight. With another sigh, he then turned to look at Booth. He didn’t like what he was going to have to do, but he had no choice. “Major,” he began.

But Booth interrupted him, “Special Agent.” He corrected him.

The interruption made Jack pause for a minute. He was not used to being interrupted; with the exception of the original SG1, no one dared anymore. “Special Agent,” Jack amended, looking closer into the younger man’s eyes and confirming his earlier opinion – this was not a man to take lightly. “I’m sorry to tell you, but this has now become an Air Force matter.”

“With all due respect, sir” Booth said again and Brennan rolled her eyes at Booth’s continued courtesy; the man was messing with their crime scene, if it was up to her, she would have already taken away whatever it was he’d picked up. “This is a civilian matter and a federal building – that means this is an FBI matter” Booth argued.

But Jack was shaking his head before Booth had finished talking. “I’m sorry, Ma . . . Special Agent. I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist.”

“Sir,” Booth continued and by his tone, Brennan could tell his patience and courtesy were beginning to be strained – ‘about time,’ she thought. “I understand that . . .”

“No, I very much doubt you do,” Jack interrupted him.

Booth sighed and bluntly said, “I can call the director.” He knew that wasn’t much of a threat, the other man was a two star general after all.

“Yes, you could do that,” Jack agreed. “But it wouldn’t get you anywhere.”

Booth knew that, but he wasn’t ready to give up, “Sir,”

“Major,” Jack snapped using his general voice; he didn’t want to do it but he didn’t have time to stand around discussing jurisdiction. The soldier in Booth couldn’t help but respond to the command in Jack’s voice and he promptly shut up and snapped to attention. “This is now a matter of national security, which makes it my jurisdiction. Any information from this point on is on a need to know basis and since you don’t need to know,” Jack trailed off, but Booth got the point. He was being asked to clear the scene.
“Yes, sir,” Booth grudgingly acknowledged. With a curt nod, he clicked his heels and turned about. He walked towards Brennan, who had been watching the exchange silently but who looked more than ready to make a comment, took her arm and before she could say whatever was on her mind, told her, “Come on, Bones, let’s go.”

“But, Booth, my bones,” she started to protest, but Booth wouldn’t let her talk, and using his hold on her arm, propelled her towards the door. As they were leaving, Booth heard the general order his wife, “Carter, call the SGC and tell them we’re going to need medical transport and someone to process the scene.”

Sam nodded and asked as she took her cell phone out, “Jack, is that . . .?”

“Yeah,” Jack answered with a tire sigh.

“What is that doing here?” she wanted to know, as she waited to be connected.

“I don’t know, Sam. That’s what we have to find out.” Jack answered. He started to say something else but Booth and Brennan were already outside and Booth couldn’t make out what it was.

A few feet from the rest room, Brennan finally freed her self and letting her dress fall down, she turned to Booth and with her hands on her hips, demanded, “What the hell are you doing? Why did you leave them alone with the bones? They could seriously compromise our crime scene, Booth!! We need to go back in there and . . .”

“Bones,” Booth interrupted her before she could get into the rant, “didn’t you hear the general? That is no longer our crime scene.” He sounded tired and resigned, but also pissed off.

“Yes, I heard him,” Brennan answered, “but what I don’t understand is why you’re letting him order you about. You’re no longer in the military, Booth,” she informed him.

“I know that, Bones,” he told her exasperatedly.

“Well, then. This is a civilian matter and you’re the civilian policy – he has no authority to order either you or me. I don’t understand why you just meekly left him there with my bones . . .”

“I didn’t meekly leave,” Booth protested through his teeth as he raked his fingers through his hair. He was already beyond frustrated and Brennan’s attitude wasn’t helping.

“Yes, you did.” Brennan argued, nodding her head for emphasis, “and anyway, he’s Air Force, isn’t he? You were Army; I don’t see why you have to listen to him.”

“When a two star general tells you something,” Booth explained in an overly patient tone, “it doesn’t really matter wether he’s from your branch of the service or not. You just do what he tells you.”

“I don’t see why,” she insisted, “and why can’t you call Cullen and tell him to talk to someone and get them to give us back the case?” She wanted to know.

Booth sighed again and said, “It wouldn’t matter, Bones.”

“Why not” she asked?

“Because it wouldn’t,” he answered, but seeing her face, he decided to elaborate. “Look, say I call Cullen and Cullen calls his supervisor and that supervisor talks to the Attorney General and say the Attorney General decides to go to bat for us, which by the way is a huge if, he would go to the Joint Chiefs, of which I’m pretty sure General O’Neill is one of, and the Chiefs would tell him it’s a matter of national security. They might even get the President’s backing and we would be right where we are right now: nowhere.”

He paused and took several deep breaths to calm down and then said, “Bones, when a two star general who happens to be one of the Joint Chiefs tells you that a crime is a matter of national security and that it no longer falls under your jurisdiction but rather his, you listen to him. We wouldn’t gain anything trying to fight this because at the end of the day, he’s the one that would make any type of final decision on this case, anyway. We just have to let it go.”

“But, Booth, those bones . . . I . . .” she trailed off, frustrated. She turned to look back at the rest room door and with a sigh that ruffled her hair, told Booth, “I don’t like this.” She then turned back to him and repeated, just in case he hadn’t gotten it the first time, “I really don’t like this, Booth.”

“I know, Bones, neither do I.” He agreed, as he threw an arm over her shoulders, and gave her a half hug. “But there’s really nothing we can do. What do you say we skip the rest of this party.”

She snorted and said, “I don’t think that many people stayed, Booth.”

“You’re probably right.” He agreed, as he started guiding her back to the dinning room to retrieve her purse and wrap. “I don’t know about you but I’m still hungry. Why don’t we pick up something and go to your place to eat?”

Brennan gave a last look at the rest room and then forced her self to let it go. She turned to look at him and with a grin asked, “Thai?”

-----------------------------

Sunday morning dawned beautiful in Colorado Springs. It was crisp, bright, the birds were signing; unfortunately Jack O’Neill (with two l’s) could not enjoy it as he was stuck in the bowels of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex instead of spending it with his wife, so he would rather think that it was storming outside. No, on second thought he would rather not think that either, as that made him think about a lazy weekend spent in bed with his wife. Jack scrubbed his hands through his hair, as he fought to bring his thoughts back to his job, and out of the gutter.

Then he heard steps coming up the metal stairs towards the conference room and he turned his gaze that way, hoping for a distraction. He grinned when he saw Vala strut into the room.

“General Jack!” she called, with her arms open, as she walked toward the conference table. “Good morning,” she told him, as she took a seat to Jack’s left, knowing Sam would sit at his right.

“Morning, Vala. How’re you doing? Jack asked with a grin.

“I’m fine,” Vala answered, as she leaned back in the chair and crossed her hands across her stomach. “So, I heard that you had a very boring time, last night, absolutely tame.” She said ironicly and added a nod for emphasis.

Jack gave a sardonic smile. “Yes, an incredible tedious time. It was all I could do to stay awake.” He gave a small nod and a sad sigh at the end.

“That wouldn’t have happened if you had invited me. I would have made sure you were entertained.” She assured him in her most earnest voice.

“Oh, I know, believe me.” Jack agreed. “And I was going to invite you guys to come along.”

“Why didn’t you?” Vala asked, as she leaned forward and put her elbows on the table. She had started it as a joke, but the truth was that she would have liked to go; even though she now lived outside the base with Daniel, she still didn’t get many chances to go out, especially to a gala because, even though Daniel was the love of her life, there was no denying that the life of the party he wasn’t.

Jack shrugged and said, “Sam said that I just wanted everyone to make him miserable because I was going to be.”

“Hum,” Vala said, with a small pout. “Well, I wouldn’t have been miserable.”

Jack laughed, “I don’t doubt it. I’ll make sure to ask you next time. You know, spread the good fortune.”

“Good,” she nodded again and leaned back into the chair.

“SG1 should be here in a minute,” General Landry informed them as he entered the room. He had seen Vala come into the conference room from his office and had hurried out because experience had taught him that it was not a good idea to leave those two alone for any length of time. They were too much alike in their delight of pranks and general mischievousness for anyone to feel comfortable leaving them unsupervised.

“Vala,” Landry said as he took his seat next to Jack. “I’m surprised to see you here so early. I thought you’d come in later.”

Vala shrugged and answered, “I came in last night with Daniel; didn’t really want to stay home alone and thought maybe I could help.”

“And were you able to help?” Landry asked.

“Not really,” she answered with a sigh. “There wasn’t much I could do; it was all Earth science, not much to do with Goa’uld technology.”

Jack and Landry nodded their understanding as Teal’c and Cameron walked in. “Generals,” Cameron nodded his greetings. “Vala,” Cameron added, as he sat down two chairs down from her, leaving the one next to her for Daniel.

“O’Neill,” Teal’c tilted his head in Jack’s direction and then repeated the action towards the other general, “General Landry.” He walked to Jack’s right and sat down across from the empty side on his left as he nodded his head towards Vala. “Vala MalDoran.”

The generals and Vala returned the greetings as Sam and Daniel came into the room. “Good everyone’s here,” Daniel said, as he nodded his greetings and sat down between Vala and Cameron.

Sam greeted everyone and sat down on Jack’s right and beside Teal’c.

“So,” Jack said after they had all settled down. “What have you found out?”

“Not much,” Daniel answered as he pushed his glasses up his nose. “In fact, we haven’t been able to do more than to confirm that the vial did indeed carry tretonin, which would support the thesis that at least one of the bodies is a Jaffa.”

“That’s it?” Jack asked incredulous. “We don’t know anything else? No identification?”

Sam nodded and then shrugged. “I’m sorry, sir. Janet and her team have been working all night and are in fact running more tests right now. But the fact of the matter is that the bodies were pretty badly burned; whatever it was that blew up, must have had some sort of strong accelerant for the bodies to have burned so much, so fast. In fact, most of what’s left are bones, there’s not much meat left – certainly not enough for us to recover any fingerprints.”

“What about dental records?” Landry asked, frowning while Jack started tapping his fingers on the table showing his displeasure with the lack of progress.

“Sorry, sir” Sam answered, shaking her head. “No matches, which again support the theory that they might not have been from Earth – or at least they’re not in the system.”

“So, what do we know?” Jack asked curtly.

“Pretty much what we knew last night,” Daniel answered. “That both victims were male, one Caucasian and in his thirties and the other was mixed race, but we couldn’t tell his age. Which probably means the first victim is human and not Jaffa, though whether he was from Earth . . .” he trailed off with a shrug indicating there was no way to know.

“So, what you guys are telling me is that two men, one who was a Jaffa, blew up in a bathroom a few yards away from a room that contained most of this country’s military brass and we know nothing about it? That all that we basically know is what that Dr. told us yesterday?” Jack asked once again showing his annoyance.

“Dr. Brennan,” Daniel corrected him, but Jack waved it away; he didn’t have anything against the good doctor, he in fact had found her nice enough, but he was so annoyed he couldn’t be bothered to think of her name.

“Sorry, sir,” Sam said. “But we haven’t had much time. It’s possible the tests Janet is running could tell us something new,” she didn’t sound too hopeful, though, and Daniel was looking pretty skeptical.

Before Jack commented, Cameron raised an issue he thought needed to be addressed, even if it was far-fetched. “And we’re sure it wasn’t terrorism? As General O’Neill said, some of the highest ranking military officers were present last night, if the bomb had gone off inside the dinning room, our military would have been dealt a crushing blow.”

Landry looked thoughtful at the suggestion, as did Vala, but Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal’c all shook their heads. “It wouldn’t really make sense,” Sam answered. “I mean we can’t be completely sure right now, but why would a Jaffa be working with terrorists. I guess it’s possible, but not really probable. Most terrorists don’t know about the existence of aliens and I don’t really see a Jaffa involving himself with those tactics. They’re much more likely to work within the government to destabilize it and then rise to power – pretty much what they learned from the Goa’uld.”

Teal’c nodded his agreement with her reasoning, while Jack returned to the topic, “but the only way we’re going to know for certain is to find out who those men were. How are we going to do that?”

“Well,” Daniel spoke up. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Big surprise there, Danny-boy,” Jack said sarcastically.

Daniel grimaced at the nickname, but chose to pick his battles, and ignored him. “I think we should invite Dr. Brennan and her team to help us with the investigation.”

g]The Men From the Gate[/g]

[g]Disclaimer:[/g] No, not mine. I'm getting tire of repeating that!!

[g]A/N:[/g] Thank you for all your reviews!! Please keep reading and reviewing.

[g]Chapter 5[/g]


“What?” Jack asked, disbelievingly, “you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“No, I’m not Jack.” Daniel denied, “it makes sense.”

“Oh, bringing in more civilians always makes sense!” Jack said, sarcastically.

“Jack,” Daniel began to speak, but Jack wouldn’t let him continue.

“No, Daniel.” Jack replied, shaking his head.

“Jack, just hear me out, ok.” Jack sighed exasperatedly, but after closing his eyes for a minute, he waved his hand telling him to go on.

Daniel took a deep breath and, after shooting a glance to Sam, and receiving a nod, he pushed his glasses up his nose and started to speak. “Jack, we have a couple of bodies, one of which is a Jaffa, that have been burned beyond recognition and that are basically only bones. We need to find out who they are, and what they were doing in that bathroom, and we need to do it fast. Unfortunately, we’re not really equipped to do that here. But Booth, Dr. Brennan and their team are - that’s what they do.”

“We have some of the best minds in the country, if not the world in this facility, as well as cutting edge technology and you’re telling me we can’t figure this out?”

“No,” Daniel answered slowly. “I’m telling you that while we would eventually find the answers, it would take us too long and we need to find them soon. And for that we need to call in specialists because, as many experts as we have here, we don’t have a forensic anthropologist.”

“You’re an anthropologist,” Jack interrupted, to point out.

“Yes, Jack,” Daniel agreed, very slowly. “I am an anthropologist, not a forensic anthropologist. If what we had were some remnants of a culture and you wanted to know how they developed, then I’d be your man. But, what we have are two sets of bodies and unfortunately all I can tell when I see them is that they burned to death. We need someone that can tell much more from them: like where they were born, where they’ve spent the last few years – even the last few days.”

“Dr. Brennan can tell all that just from those burned bones?” Jack asked, somewhat skeptically, he had read her books, but he wasn’t completely convinced that they hadn’t had some fiction thrown in.

“Yes,” Daniel answered firmly, “she and her team can tell that and more from those bones.” He paused for a minute before he continued. “Jack, this facility does have some of the best minds in the world; however, none of those minds are trained in this field. They’re all brilliant and I have no doubt that they’ll find the answers sooner or later but I don’t know that we can wait. Not when we can call on an expert and get those answers in a fraction of that time.”

Jack sighed and rubbed his face, “Ok, let’s say that I agree that calling in Dr. Brennan makes sense. Why do we need to bring Booth too? He’s not a forensic anthropologist. For what you’ve just said, we just need her not him.”

“Well, for one thing they’re partners and I don’t think she’ll be happy to come without him. From what I’ve been able to gather, she’s made it very clear that she’ll only work with him. For another, he’s an FBI agent and trained for this type of investigation. This is what they do; she dissects the bones and he finds who’s killed them. He’s the logical choice to lead the investigation.”

“You want him to lead the investigation?” Jack asked astonished, he hadn’t seen that coming. It was one thing to ask for an expert to come and consult, and quite another to ask for someone else to take over the investigation. “Oh, come on, Daniel. We don’t need someone else to come and run the investigation. We’ve conducted investigations before.”

“Not like this we haven’t,” Daniel insisted. “We haven’t conducted a real murder investigation, and the truth is, we don’t exactly have the best record when it comes to investigations conducted on-world. We’re great off-world, but when it comes to investigation on Earth, well, we’re not as good. We’ve always had help. This time we’d be asking the FBI instead of the NID, that’s all.”

Jack shook his head as Cameron spoke up, “He’s right, sir.” At Jack’s surprised glare, he paled a little, but stood his ground. He didn’t like the idea of bringing in someone else to be in charge of the investigation, but if that would help them find answers fast, then that’s what they had to do. “SG1 and all the SG teams are great at what we do; unfortunately, a murder investigation of this type is not what we do. It wouldn’t be the worst idea to request help from someone who knows how to do it.”

“They’re right, sir.” Sam confirmed, when Jack turned to look at her. “Like Daniel said, we could probably find the answers in the end but there’s no telling how long it’d take us to get there and we need those answers as soon as possible. Bringing in Major Booth, Dr. Brennan and their team makes sense.”

“But bringing in more civilians,” Jack protested.

“To be fair,” Sam intervened. “Major Booth is not really a civilian; he’s inactive.”

“Yeah,” Jack agreed with a sigh, not surprised that she had noticed. “I noticed the emblem.” He said referring to the insignia Booth had wore among his others ribbons indicating his status and which only would have been recognized by high ranking military personnel or by someone assigned to a top-secret program.

“He’s a Ranger; he knows how to keep a secret and how to conduct himself in military settings.” Sam argued.

“Yes, there is that,” Jack agreed again. “Ok, I guess it makes sense. Why don’t you guys begin doing a background check and . . .” He trailed off when he saw Sam and Daniel’s faces. “You’ve already done it, haven’t you?” At their sheepish nods, he sighed and asked rhetorically, “Why am I not surprised? Ok, well, let me see.” He requested with a give me gesture towards the folders Daniel had.

Daniel handed them over and asked, “What did you mean Booth’s inactive? I thought he was retired, is that the same?”

Jack looked up from where he had started to study the folders, and after meeting Sam’s and Hank’s eyes, answered, “No, it’s not.” He paused and then went on and explained when he saw from Daniel’s face that he wouldn’t let it rest. “It basically means that he could be call back to action at any moment and he’d have to report within twenty-four –at most forty-eight – hours. He has to be as physically fit and have all of his requirements met as if he was in active duty.”

Daniel stared at Jack and then at the other military officers and noticed that not one of them was surprised at the answer. “That wasn’t in his file. How come I didn’t find it when I did the background check? I have one of the highest clearances there are.”

“You do,” Jack agreed, as he turned the page on the file he was reading, “but that it is a civilian clearance because you are after all, a civilian – as in not in the military and as such there are certain military related things that you are not cleared to know.”

“But, but,” Daniel started to protest and then shut up when he noticed that Sam and Vala were exchanging smirks, Cam was trying to hide his and Jack was making no effort to hide his as he continued to puruse the files.

A few minutes later, during which Jack and Hank had studied the files, and SG1 had talked amongst themselves, Jack said, “ok, they’ve both been checked out and have security clearances with the federal government. It shouldn't be too hard to . . .” He looked up and noticed the glances that Daniel and Sam were trading, as well as the files that Daniel still had in front of him and he remembered something they’d said before. “It’s not just the two of them you want to bring in on this, is it?”

“No,” Daniel answered. “There’s also their team: Dr. Jack Hodgins, entomologist and all around slime and bug guy; Dr. Zack Addy, Forensic Anthropologist; Mrs. Angela Montenegro-Hodgins, Forensic Artist and Dr. Camille Saroyan, pathologist.”

“And why do we need all of them?” Jack asked, exasperated. “That Dr. Zaddy,”

“Dr. Zack Addy,” Daniel corrected him with a sigh. He had forgotten how exasperating Jack could be; he really didn’t know how Sam put up with him.

“Yeah, him,” Jack said with a wave of his hand. “Why do we need him? He’s a forensic anthropologist – the same as Brennan. We don’t need two of them, do we? And why do we need an artist? What’s she going to draw – the Gate?”

“Jack,” Daniel said, trying to keep his patience, something not easily done when Jack was in one of his moods. “We need them all because they’re a team. Yes, some of their discipline may overlap or you may think that they don’t contribute much – but they’ve been working together for almost four years now and they’ve always had positive results. Why break up a team that obviously works well together? Besides, I don’t think neither Booth nor Brennan would like it very much if the rest of the team is not included.”

“What makes you say that?” Jack asked, as he leaned back on his chair.
Daniel shrugged and answered, “They’ve worked together for a long time now; they’ve become more than just friends and are now a family. They seem to spend most of their off time together; in fact, Booth and Brennan were best man and maid of honor at the Hodgins-Montenegro wedding. When Brennan and Hodgins were kidnapped a couple of years ago, Booth was ready to disobey FBI policy and pay the ransom with the rest of the team behind him. And when he was suspended because of that mess with Director Kirby, they kept working to solve the case and get him his job back. They take care of each other and obviously depend on each other. Jack, they’re the FBI, civilian version of SG1.” Daniel finished with a nod of his head to emphasize his point.

Jack looked at him and then noticed that Sam was nodding her agreement with Daniel’s assessment. “Okay,” Jack said. “So? What does that mean?”

“So? Jack, that means that Booth and Brennan will not leave their team behind. And it is their team now; he’s as protective of the rest of the team as Brennan is. And frankly, from reading his file, Booth reminds me a lot of you: ex-special ops, duty-bound, honorable, devoted father, honest and loyal. He even uses humor to deflect uncomfortable subjects and likes to pretend he understands less than he does.”

“He sounds like a great man,” Jack commented. “But what does that have to do with . . .?”

Daniel shook his head, took a deep breath and counted to ten in his head. He didn’t know if Jack was being this dense on purpose to annoy him, or if he really was this dense – knowing Jack, Daniel would go with the first. “If he’s like you in other areas, it stands to reason that like you, he won’t leave his team behind or keep pertinent information from them. I mean how many times did you insist on having every one of us included when the higher ups didn’t like it? And how many times have you told us things that we shouldn’t have known?” He asked.

“Not that many,” Jack denied, but at Daniel and Sam’s knowing looks, he sighed and gave in. “Ok, ok. I’ll talk to the president and chiefs and see if they will go along with bringing all of them in on this.”

Daniel snorted and asked, “Weren’t you the one that was going on and on about how you were ‘the man’ a few months back? And how if you decided to tell someone about the Gate, the president and chiefs had to go along with it?”

“Yeah, well,” Jack said without answering, as he pushed back from the table and started to get up. “I’ll just go make those calls, shall I?”

“One more thing, sir,” Sam said, as Jack was standing up. She continued when he turned to look down at her to show she had his attention. “It might be best if Janet doesn’t continue with any other tests. We wouldn’t want to compromise any evidence by doing something we shouldn’t.”

Jack thought about it for a minute and with sigh accepted it, “Ok, have Janet stand down . . . And you already told her, didn’t you?” Jack asked, when he saw Sam’s face. Sam nodded and Jack turned around muttering about how they never wait for permission anymore, where the respect for generals was nowadays, and why they even bothered asking in the first place.

Daniel, Sam and Vala exchanged grins, while Landry got up thinking that he felt a bit superfluous whenever the original SG1 was together.

“You guys might as well go home,” Jack said from the doorway to Landry’s office. “Apparently, there’s not much you can do here until these people,” he held up the files Daniel had given him, “get here. Go and enjoy what you can of your Sunday.”

He didn’t need to tell them twice, as a group, SG1 got up and started to leave after saying their goodbyes. Sam looked at Jack and in one glance, he let her know to go home and he’d meet her there as soon as he could. With a warm smile, she turned away and followed the rest of her team out of the conference room. Now all they had to do was wait for Booth, Brennan and their team to get there.

--------------------------

“Good, you’re all here,” Booth said as he walked into Brennan’s office and found the whole squint squad waiting for him.

“What’s this about, Booth?” Hodgins asked, from where he was seated on the couch next to Angela. “Some of us had plans for the rest of the evening. And they did not include coming to the office.”

“This wasn’t my idea,” Booth argued, as he sat down on the chair facing Brennan’s desk. “I was having a perfectly nice Sunday myself.” He leaned back as he thought how he’d been able to drag Brennan out for brunch, claiming it was too nice a day to spend indoors. Then they’d gone for a walk at the Mall and he had just convinced her to go to a movie when Cullen had called.

“Booth,” Brennan intervened, “what did Cullen want? Do we have a new case?”

“Yes, well no. I guess technically it’s not a new case,” was Booth’s answer.

“Which is it, Booth?” Brennan asked.

“How much do you guys know about what happened last night?” He asked the squints seated on and by the sofa.

Angela got a gleam in her eyes as she answered, “well, we know that you and Bren went on a date to the military fundraiser. Why, did something else happen?” Angela asked, eager for every detail. She had meant to call Brennan last night, but she had fallen asleep and this morning Jack had wanted to go out and she hadn’t had time to call her and get all the details from her yet.

Both Brennan and Booth decided to ignore the mention of date. “Yes, we found two bodies,” Booth answered.

“And someone,” Brennan intervened giving Booth the evil eye, “just blithely let someone else take over the investigation and take our bones away.”

“Bones,” Booth said with a sigh, “I told you already when a two star general tells you that something is a matter of national security and no longer your jurisdiction, there’s not much you can do.”

“Yes, so you told me,” Brennan said in a placating tone that wasn’t placating at all and had Booth grinding his teeth and Brennan turning her head to hide her grin.

“Hold on, hold on,” Angela called out, “you mean to tell me that you two went out to a nice dinner and found two bodies?” At their nods, she muttered, “Why I am not surprised?” with a shake of her head.

“Anyway,” Booth said, bringing the conversation back on track. “There was some sort of an explosion in one of the bathrooms. When we got there we found it a mess. The sinks, toilets and urinals were blown apart and there was water everywhere,”

“Oh, sweetie,” Angela interrupted, “your beautiful dress!!”

Brennan answered with a small grin, “don’t worry. I remembered you and hiked it up, but the shoes were ruined.”

Angela sighed sadly, but was glad the dress was saved.

Booth rolled his eyes, though he too was glad the dress was saved because Bones looked really good in it. “Anyway,” he said bringing an end to the fashion hour, “Bones gave them a preliminary exam.” He looked at her and she gave them her findings, ending with the baffling fact that the second body’s markers put him at well over a hundred years old.

“But how can that be?” asked Zack, sounding as perplexed as Bones had last night. “Could generic defects have that affect?” he asked Brennan.

“I don’t know,” Brennan answered, “we need more exams to form any kind of conclusion.” She then turned to Booth excited, as the reason for this meeting presented itself. “Are they giving us the case after all?”

“Yes,” Booth answered and was immediately drowned out by the squints excited planning. “Wait,” he said but no one paid any attention. “Wait!” he said louder and everyone stopped talking and looked at him. “It’s not that easy. First of all, the bones aren’t coming here. We have to go to them.”

“What?” Brennan started to argue, but quieted down when Booth raised his hand, and gave her a look that said he wasn’t done.

“That is non-negotiable. As is the fact that we all have to sign confidentiality agreements before anything else can happen.” And he raised a handful of folders, presumably a folder for each containing said agreement.

That little announcement brought a silence to the group that was broken by Hodgins’, “I’m not signing anything!” declaration.

“You are,” Booth said firmly, “if you want to be a part of this investigation.”

“Conspiracy,” he cried, “it’s a conspiracy to keep me out.”

“How can that be, if we’re all asked to sign?” Brennan wanted to know. She had no problem signing any such document. She had done so before and will probably do so again.

“Hodgins, it’s not a conspiracy to keep you out,” Booth assured him and then said, “though it might well be that we’re asking to keep one.”

“What do you mean?” Brennan asked, curious.

“Just that all of this smells very fishy,” he said and Brennan got that ‘I don’t know what that means’ face. “I just mean that there’s something going on. The order to call us to the case came from General O’Neill himself.”

“The same general who sent us away yesterday?” Brennan asked.

Booth nodded and Hodgins asked, “General Jack O’Neill?” Booth seemed surprised but nodded. “And where exactly are we going?” Hodgins asked.

“Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs,” Booth answered. Hodgins nodded and sat back with a thoughtful face. “What do you know, Hodgins?” Booth asked; he really shouldn’t be surprised about what the other man knew.

“Nothing much,” Hodgins answered. “There has always been talk about what really goes on down that mountain. And General O’Neill’s name has been linked with it for over ten years. A few years ago he was promoted and put in charge of one of the most secret departments in the military, The Department of HomeWorld Security.”

“Homeworld Security?” Angela repeated. “I’ve never heard of that department.”

“Exactly,” Hodgins answered. “No one has and no one I’ve talked to can find out just what is it that they do. In fact, I only found out about it completely by accident and haven’t been able to find out anything else since.”

“Um,” Booth said as he nodded. “I couldn’t find anything about his post either.”

That took Brennan back for a moment. “I thought you knew who he was.” She commented. “Yesterday when you were introduced to him, you responded as if you’d known him.”

“I know of him,” Booth corrected. “I heard of him first when I was in Ranger training. He was already a legend back then. The special-ops community is small and when someone is as an exceptional an officer as he is, everyone knows about it.”

“What made him so good?” Brennan asked, curious as to what Booth considered an exceptional officer.

Booth shrugged and said, “He was a POW in Iraq for a few months and somehow was able to crawl through the desert until he got to friendly territory; he’s tough and as far as I know has never broken under enemy torture – and as a POW, he was tortured. He’s never left a man behind, even if he had to disobey orders to go and bring him back. He’s loyal, honorable, and cares more about the men under his command than following orders for the sake of following.”

Brennan heard him talk and realized something, “You really respect him, don’t you?” She was surprised to hear him talk so highly of someone that he’d never met before.

Booth thought about it and then nodded, “Yes, I respect what he’s done and gone through for his country. He’s the type of man that you follow to hell and back without question because you know he’d never lead you there without a damn good reason and never leave you behind.” Brennan nodded, thinking that his retreat last night made sense now. He wouldn’t have left so easily if some other officer had been in charge.

“How can you know all that?” asked Hodgins, skeptically. As close as he and Booth may have gotten, he still didn’t understand the other man’s respect and dedication to the military.

Booth shrugged again and simply answered, “I’ve met men that have served under him. But back to the topic at hand, we all need to agree to sign these,” he said waving the folders again, “or we won’t be given access to the bones and the investigation.”

He looked around and everyone nodded their agreement while Hodgins nodded and said, ‘yeah, yeah,’ sounding like he was humoring them. “I’m serious, Hodgins. This is not a joke but a very serious matter. Breaking this agreement is treason and the penalty is steep.”

Hodgins snorted, “Come on. What can they do to me? Kill me? I’m not military and they don’t kill civilians for treason. And I really doubt they want to take me on in a public trial.”

Both just stared at him and said, “You’d be surprised, Hodgins. They’re not kidding and I don’t think you’re millions would help you. They sure as hell wouldn’t help me.”

“You?” Brennan and Hodgins asked at the same time. “What do you have to with Hodgins breaking his agreement?” She asked even as Hodgins asked, “Why would they do anything to you?”

“Because I’m the team leader and as such I’m responsible for you guys. I got the impression that General O’Neill wasn’t really happy with bringing in so many civilians and one of the reasons he did was because I’m in charge and I am military – even if you’re not.”

“Dude,” Hodgins said, as he leaned forward with an awed look on his face. “That is totally messed up. They’d hold you and your career over us to keep us quiet. That’s,” he shook his head, apparently at a loss of words to describe the government’s actions. “so messed up. Oh, whatever they’re hiding must be good!”

“Yes, I’m sure it is.” Booth agreed. “It’s huge and frankly I’m not even sure I want to know what it is. But,” he shrugged again, “it doesn’t seem as if I’m allowed the option. You, however,” he said looking at Hodgins, “are. If you can’t keep quiet after you learn whatever it is, don’t sign this and stay out of it. I mean it, Hodgins, this is not one of your theories but the real stuff. Whether you agree with them or not, the government has its reasons to keep quiet and if you can’t do the same . . .”

Hodgins looked like he wanted to argue, but after looking at Angela and Brennan, he sighed and as he sat back, he earnestly told Booth, “Relax, man. I’ll sign the damn papers and keep quiet – if only to find out what it is that they’re hiding.” When he noticed that neither Booth nor Brennan looked that reassured, he said firmly, “I would never do something that would hurt your career, Booth or you guys,” he added looking at all the squints. “It’s one thing to risk my own but I’d never risk yours.”

Booth nodded and leaned forward to distribute the folders, “Ok, then. We have to read them and sign them. But first we have to go pack; we leave for CO in three hours.” He ignored everyone’s protest and continued, “That gives you enough time to go home, pack and come back here. We’ll take my SUV and leave it at Andrews Air Force Base, where we’ll be catching a military transport.” With that, he got up and clapped his hands.

Everyone else also got up and hurried out, talking about what they should pack and wondering what the government could possibly be hiding.

“Bones,” Booth said as Brennan started to walk around her desk. “Can you stay a minute?”

“Sure,” she answered and walked to stand by Booth, who was looking a bit nervous. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“No, not really, but I don’t think you’re going to like my news too much,” he answered.

“Well, just tell me and we’ll know,” she replied, starting to feel a bit apprehensive.

“I’ve been recalled to active duty,” he said, looking into her eyes. “I told you you’d be the first to know if something like this happens.”

She stood staring at him for a few moments without saying anything, like she couldn’t understand what he was saying. “What? I thought you were going with us on this . . .”

“I am,” Booth hastened to reassure her, “I am. I’ve only been called back for the duration of this investigation.”

“Why?” Brennan asked, still confused.

“Like I said, General O’Neill isn’t happy with bringing in outsiders to take care of the investigation and he feels better if I’m under his command for the duration.”

“Why? So that he can control you?” she asked, not bothering to mask her incredulity.

“Not control me,” Booth denied. “Maybe control or guide the investigation, though.” At the outraged face that comment drew from Brennan, he laughed. “Relax, Bones. They’re not going to make us lie for them because we can’t even talk about it with anyone; in fact, as far as the rest of the world knows, there’s no investigation.”

“Oh, that makes me feel better,” she said sarcastically.

Booth shrugged and added, “But, Bones, we will be working in a military environment. I don’t think they’ll get in our way too much because they want answers, but there will be protocol and rules to follow. You may not be able to do just like you want them done or how you’ve become used to doing them.” He warned her.

“I know, Booth,” she said with exaggerated patience. “I’ve worked with the military before.”

“Ok, good.” He clapped his hands again and said, “Well, shall we? We still have to pack.”

Brennan nodded and they left to go pack, both wondering what the heck they were getting themselves into.

The Men From the Gate

Disclaimer: Still not mine, no matter how much I wish.

A/N: I'm sorry it's taken so long to update but with the trip and then getting sick and everything, I haven't really have time. Hope you like this as much as the ones before. Please let me know!!

Chapter 6

“Hey, sweetie,” Angela said as she walked into Brennan’s office. She was going to ask for the details of the night before but she changed her mind when she saw how Brennan was going around her office, picking up books, and folders and muttering to herself. “What are you doing? Did you lose something?”

“No, no.” Brennan answered, as she picked up a book and flipped through its pages before putting it down again. “I haven’t lost anything; I’m just trying to decide what to take with me on this trip.” She moved from the bookcase and went to her desk. “How do they expect me to do my job if I don’t have the equipment I need? And with all of us going, who the heck will be here to run the tests if we need to send something back?” She asked as picked up a bunch of folders and started to go through them.

“Ah,” Angela said, as she walked in and perched on the arm of the sofa. “Hodgins and Zack had the same thought. They’re in the lab now, trying to see if they can take some of the smallest microscopes.”

“Not a bad idea but I don’t know if a few microscopes will be of much help,” Brennan replied as she turned to her computer.

“Have you talked to Booth about it?” Angela asked.

“Talked to Booth about what?” The man himself asked as he walked into the room.

Both women turned toward the door and lost their train of thought when they saw him. Booth was standing there wearing his military uniform and carrying a military duffel bag. From the top of his Ranger beret to the bottom of his polished boots, he looked every inch the soldier. The uniform emphasized his broad shoulders and long legs; in a word, he looked magnificent and both women were momentarily speechless.

Angela was the first to recover, “Booth, why are you wearing your uniform? Not that you don’t look great,” she added with a small smile and a wink. “Really great but why?” She then remembered what Brennan had told her a few days before and she lost her smile as she asked, “you’re not going . . .?”

“No, I’m not.” Booth answered and he knew by the look on Angela’s face that Bones must have said something about his military status. “I’m going with you guys to Colorado. But I’ve been recalled to active duty for the duration of this mission. Hence,” he added with a wave to the uniform, “the uniform.”

“So, what should we call you? Major Booth?” Angela asked with grin.

“Sure or you can just keep calling me Booth,” he answered with a grin of his own. “Now, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

Brennan was recovered enough by that time to speak, “Booth, this is just not going to work. All of the equipment I need to run the tests is here. How am I going to run a complete examination on the remains if I don’t have access to the tools I need?”

“Don’t worry about it, Bones,” Booth reassured her, as he put down his bag and came further into the office. “I was told that you’ll have access to any and all equipment you might need.”

“Huh,” Brennan said, as she dropped some folders back onto her desk and rose with some others, walked to her evidence kit and put them away inside. “We’re going to a military base inside a mountain in Colorado; I somehow doubt that they’ll have what I need. This would just be easier if they sent the bodies back here.”

“Forget it, Bones. They are not letting those bones out of the mountain. Whatever it is they do over there, it’s top secret, and those bodies are somehow part of it.” Booth told her, as he checked his watch. “Where are the rest of squints? We need to leave soon.”

“Jack and Zack are in the lab and Cam is in her office finishing some paperwork.” Angela said.

Booth took out his cell phone and told Angela, as he started to dial, “can you call those two and tell them we’re leaving?” Angela nodded and left the office.

After calling Cam and telling her that they were leaving, Booth closed his phone and turned to Brennan. “So, Bones, ready to go?”

“Yes,” she said with a sigh, as she stepped back from her desk and looked around her office. “There’s no way I can pack everything I could possibly need. I’m just going to have to hope they’ll have the equipment I’ll need.”

Booth nodded in sympathy and motioned towards the door. “Let’s go, then. I see the rest of the squints are ready.”

“Yes, let’s go. The faster we get there, the faster we can get back.” She said, as she picked up her purse, while Booth reached for his bag and hers. “I just hope they haven’t messed with the bones.” She added, as she closed and locked the door.

--------------------------------

Less than hour later, they arrived at Andrews Air Force Base. After parking in the long term parking lot, they walked toward the airfield where they were met by an Air Force officer.

“Major Booth,” the officer acknowledged, as they stopped in front of each other.

Booth saluted him, “Colonel Davis, sir.”

The Colonel returned the salute and then offered his hand. “Good to see you again.”

Booth then turned to Brennan and the squints and started the introductions. “Bones, this is Colonel Davis. Colonel, this is Dr. Temperance Brennan.”

“Dr, a pleasure,” the Colonel said, as they shook hands.

Brennan nodded and said, “Nice to meet you.” He looked familiar and it took her a few moments to place his face. “You were at the dinner last night, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” he answered with a smile, “but with all the commotion, there was not time for introductions.” He turned when Booth continued with the introductions.

After everyone had shaken hands, Davis waved them towards a waiting airplane and said, “Shall we?”

As they walked towards the plane, Hodgins asked, “So, what is your role in this conspiracy?”

Davis turned to look at Hodgins and smiled, he’d been warned about the good doctor. “I work with General O’Neill at the Pentagon. I used to be the liaison between the Pentagon and the SGC but once Homeworld Security was created, that position was superfluous and I was integrated into that department.”

“What’s the SGC? And what does the Homeworld Security do? I’ve never been able to get any information on that department” Hodgins commented.

“That’s because it’s confidential, but you’ll hear all about it when we get to Colorado and you’re debriefed.” The Colonel answered, neatly evading answering the question.

“Are you going to be the one that will debrief us?” Zack wanted to know.

“No,” Davis answered, with a small laugh, “I wouldn’t know where to start or have the answers to the all the questions you’re bound to have. No,” he repeated, “you’ll be debriefed by Dr. Daniel Jackson. He’s the one in charge of debriefs – if he’s available.”

“Dr. Jackson?” Zack repeated, “isn’t he the archeologist that had that theory about the Egyptian pyramids being landing sites for spaceships?”

“One and the same,” Davis answered, with a small smile.

“He hasn’t been heard from in more than ten years” Zack said in a confused voice.

“That’s because he’s being working for us” Davis answered.

“What’s a disgraced archeologist . . .” Zack started to ask, but a nudge from Booth shut him up. Brennan may have learned when to keep quiet but Zack hadn’t.

“He has been with the program since its inception.” Davis explained, as if he had not heard the comment. He had heard like comments before and he was sure he’d hear them again; won’t they be surprised when they find out about the Gate? “In fact, Jackson, General O’Neill and a handful of others are the only ones that have been with it since the very beginning. With the exception of the original SG1, there’s no one that knows more about the Stargate and the SGC than Jackson.”

“SG1?” Asked Booth.

“The Stargate?” Asked Brennan.

Davis shook his head and said, “SG1’s General O’Neill’s team. The rest you’ll need to wait until we get to the mountain.”

“I didn’t know that the General had teams,” Booth commented. As he looked around at the team, he noticed that all the squints had bewildered faces and were biting their tongues to keep from asking questions that would not be answered.

Davis laughed and said, “If any general would, it would be General O’Neill. SG1 was his team before he was promoted but they’ve gone so through so much over the years that they’ve become family and though it’s no longer technically true, SG1 will always be General O’Neill’s team. But they’re so tight, that the two new additions had been added to the family.”

They had reached the plane by this time and any further questioning was tabled as they boarded. Once they were seated, there was no opportunity for any more questions as Davis didn’t sit close by.

Six hours later, the group walked towards the Cheyenne Mountain entrance where a couple seemed to be waiting for them. The man was slightly taller than Booth and was wearing green BDUs and combat boots. His brown hair was cut military-short and he was wearing glasses. The green shirt was open and the sleeves were pushed up. His hands were in his pockets and his wrists and forearms pushed the shirt tails back, showing a black t-shirt that was tight enough to showcase a nicely defined torso. Brennan, Angela and Cam looked at him with admiring glances. If it wasn’t for the glasses and the intense blue eyes behind them, the man could pass for another soldier.

The woman was also wearing green BDUs and combat boots but she did not look like any soldier Booth, Zack or Hodgins had ever seen. She had her dark hair in two messy pigtails and a bunch of glittering hair clips were scattered through her hair. Her black t-shirt was almost skin tight and ended before her pants began. One of her hands was also in her pocket but the other was around the man’s arm and she was leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Davis!” she called when they got close enough to be heard. “It’s been a while since you’ve come to visit.” She reproached with a pout. “You know how boring it gets here; I need new faces and gossip.”

Davis laughed and said, “Hello, Vala. How are you?” When she smiled back and said fine, he turned to the man. “Dr. Jackson,” he said as he nodded his head, “how are you?”

“Fine, thank you,” Jackson said, as they shook hands.

“Dr. Daniel Jackson, Vala Mal Doran,” Davis said, as he waved to each. “This is Dr. Brennan, Major Booth, Dr. Hodgins, Dr. Addy, Dr. Soroyan and Mrs. Montenegro-Hodgins.”

Daniel took a step forward and shook everyone’s hands. When he shook Brennan’s, he said, “Dr. Brennan, I’ve followed your work. It’s brilliant. I’ve actually used it as a reference a few times.”

“Thank you,” she smiled, and had to stop herself from saying she’d heard of his work; she couldn’t actually say that it was brilliant and Booth had repeatedly told her that if she can’t say something nice, it’s better to say nothing at all.

Angela, who was a student of body language, noticed that Vala stiffened when Daniel expressed his admiration for Brennan. That and the fact that the two had been so close, told Angela that they were definitely a couple.

When all the greetings had been finished, Daniel said, “Well, shall we? I’m sure you’re anxious to know why you’ve come so far.”

They all nodded and followed him, Vala and Davis into the mountain. As they entered the first elevator, Angela noticed that Daniel and Vala were holding hands. She smiled and nudged Cam to show her. Cam followed her gaze and returned the knowing smile.

They went down about twenty floors, got out, went through another check point and entered another elevator. As Zack saw the numbers go up, he couldn’t help but remember the last time he’d been so far down – when they’d gone down into the DC tunnels and recovered the remains of the journalist. At least this time they were going down in an elevator and not being held by a single rope; it was a vast improvement in his opinion.

Finally, after they’d gone who knew how many feet underground, they left the elevator and starting walking down a hallway. Despite being so far down, it was apparent that this was a busy base as they passed quite a number of personnel going about their business and most seemed to know both Daniel and Vala.

After a few twists and turns, not many, but enough that the newcomers were helplessly lost, they entered what appeared to be a conference room: to their right, there was a metal staircase that went down; to the far left, there was a door leading to another hallway, a glass window that had some sort of star charts on it, that looked into an office, and a door leading into that office; in the middle of the room, there was a long, oblong conference table, which was right in front of another, large glass window, but this one was covered by a metal blast door.

When Booth entered the room, he saw that there were five persons around the table. General O’Neill was at the head of the table, seated next to another two-star general. To his right was Lt Colonel Carter and to the left of the other general was another Lt Colonel and a big, black man with a gold tattoo on his forehead, who was only wearing a tight, black t-shirt with no over shirt, thus Booth couldn’t see his rank.

Davis walked directly to the head of the table and greeted the two generals. Booth followed him and after the others finished their greeting, he saluted General O’Neill and said, “General O’Neil, sir, Major Booth, reporting for duty.”

The general returned the salute and accepted the orders that Booth gave him, “at ease, Major.”

Booth nodded and stood down. Cam and Angela watched Booth go military with open mouths and even Brennan, who had already seen him go military, was impressed by him. There was something yummy about Booth wearing a military uniform and being all majory.

As Booth turned and saluted Sam, Daniel walked further and started the introductions. “Some of you already know, Jack – General O’Neill, the head of Homeworld Security.” He then waved to the other general and the other two men in turn, “this is General Landry, CO of the SGC. Lt Colonel Cameron Mitchell, co-CO of SG1. Teal’c.” He then turned to Sam and said, “This is Lt Colonel Sam O’Neill, the other co-CO of SG1. Vala and myself are the other SG1 members.”

He turned to Booth and the squints and introduced them, “This is Major Seeley Booth, Dr. Temperance Brennan, Dr. Zack Addy, Dr. Jack Hodgins, Dr. Camille Soroyan and Mrs. Angela Montenegro-Hodgins.”

They all nodded greetings and Sam and Cameron told the squints to call them by their first names, like Daniel and Vala had done earlier. After all the greetings were done, Daniel suggested that everyone take a seat. Vala took a seat next to Teal’c, as no one else seemed inclined to go next to the intimidating man. Brennan sat next to Sam, Booth next to Brennan, Zack next to him, Camille next to him and Jack and Angela next to her.

At a look from Daniel, Davis turned off the light and Daniel turned on the overhead. “In
1928, Dr. Langford found, in a dig near Giza, an artifact made of material not found on Earth. It had been covered with stones that had inscrïptions not found on any other Egyptian artifact. The US government has had it since then, studying it and trying to find out what it was and what it did. They did all sort of experiments but were met only with limited results.

In 1994, Katherine Langford, Dr. Langford’s daughter, attended one of my lectures. Afterwards she offered me the choice to prove my theories right.” He stopped as Brennan, Hodgins and Zach, obviously the only ones that knew what his theories were, all straightened and looked at each other, but though it was obvious they wanted to question him, they decided to wait for him to continue.

“I came to the mountain and we were able to determine that the artifact was called ‘Stargate’. After much research and a bit of luck, we were also able to conclude that the seven symbols on the middle of the cover stones were not hieroglyphics but actually star constellations.

“Now, as you probably know, to find a destination within any three dimensional-space you need six points and to chart a course you need seven – the last being the point of origin. The seven symbols found on the cover stones were laid out in a particular pattern as in a map or an address. Once we verified that those symbols were also present on the ‘Gate itself, we theorized that if they were dialed in that order we would be able to establish a stable wormhole between our ‘Gate and wherever the other point was.”

Brennan could no longer keep quiet and asked in a disbelieving tone, “a stable wormhole?”

“That’s impossible,” Zack commented, “do you have any idea what would be needed to accomplish such a feat?” Zack’s second PhD was in applied aeronautics and he was pretty sure what the older man was proposing was impossible.

Daniel smiled and said, “Well, no, not really. But Sam, here, knows all about it. Sam?” He said, giving her a chance to answer.

Sam leaned forward on the table and started to give a very scientific explanation as to how the ‘Gate worked and how the artificial wormholes were established. The explanation was so detailed and specific that within five minutes anyone in the room without at least two PhD’s had glazed eyes. Actually, even Daniel who had three PhD’s was a bit glazy eyed and he had heard the explanation countless times in the past ten plus years.

Finally, Angela couldn’t take it anymore and stopped Sam, “I’m sorry, and I know I can’t speak for any one else, but you lost me with the second sentence. And I’m sure it’s fascinating, but I’m more interested in what happened after the wormhole was formed than in how it was formed. So, if anyone wants to know all of the technical details, how about they ask after we’re finished here and let Daniel go on with his story?” She looked around and the others reluctantly nodded their heads, all except Camille who nodded enthusiastically. Angela then turned to Sam and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, nothing personal, but all this stuff is way over my head.”

Sam smiled kindly and waved away the apology while Jack hid a smirk and Vala thought ‘I knew I’d liked her.’

“Ok,” Daniel said, as he started talking again, “once we found all the symbols on the ‘Gate, we dialed them in the correct sequence and we were able to establish the wormhole. After sending through a probe and determining that there was a breathable atmosphere on the other side, we went through.”

Booth, who up to that point had been quietly listening, asked,“we?”.

Daniel nodded and said, “Jack and I were part of the original team that went through.”

“And what did you find on the other side?” Angela, who was completely captivated by the story, asked.

Daniel smiled, as he once again changed the picture on the overhead, “what did we find? We found that we are not alone in this galaxy; we found that we are not even the only humans in the galaxy.”

“You found humans?” Brennan asked.

“Yes, we found a primitive but thriving civilization of humans. We suspected that they had been abducted from Earth by the same people who had left the ‘Gate on Earth all those millennia ago. We verified that when Ra arrived while we were there.”

“Ra?” Hodgins asked, who up to that point had been quiet and looking like a kid that had been told Christmas had come early, “as in the Egyptian god?”

“The one and the same, he belonged to a parasitic race that needed hosts to survive. Somehow, they had come to Earth and had taken human hosts from the early Egyptian population. They had also taken advantage of the Egyptian religion and had taken the roles of gods, enslaving the population until the population rebelled, expelled them from Earth and buried the ‘Gate.” He didn’t mentioned how it was entirely possible that SG1 had had a pivotal role in that rebellion; there really was no need to confuse them any more than necessary. “But before going, they somehow took a number of humans and deposited them on Abydos – the planet we visited.”

“Wait,” Brennan interrupted him, “you’re saying that you traveled to another planet via this . . . Stargate and that there you found a group of humans that had been transplanted by a parasitic alien that had been impersonating an Egyptian god?”

“Exactly,” Daniel answered, not noticing or ignoring the sarcasm in Brennan’s tone. “Once we found out that the Abydonians were in fact being enslaved by Ra, we helped them get their freedom.”

“And how did you help them?” Booth asked, curiously.

“Well,” Daniel answered, as he pushed his glasses up his nose, “Jack had brought a nuclear device with him and we were able to get it to Ra’s ship and blow it and Ra into a million little pieces.” He explained with satisfaction. It maybe small of him, but after everything he’d gone through at the hands of the Goa’ulds, Daniel found that he relished the memory of every Goa’uld they’d killed.

Booth just nodded his head, not bothering to ask why the general had taken a nuclear bomb with him, on what should have been a recon mission.

“So,” Angela asked, eager to hear all the details, “what happened after you blew up Ra?”

“Jack and the surviving members of the team came back to Earth and we buried the ‘Gate.”

“The general and surviving members, you didn’t come back with them?” Booth asked. “That ‘Gate you buried wasn’t the one on Earth, was it?”

“No, it wasn’t,” Daniel answered, as he got a distant look in his eyes, “I stayed back on Abydos.” He stayed silent a few moments, remembering, however good his life was at the moment, memories of his time on Abydos and how it had ended, always made him a bit nostalgic.

Jack knew how talking about Abydos affected Daniel and surprisingly took up the telling. “We didn’t bury our ‘Gate. As far as we knew the threat had been neutralized when Ra had been killed. Less than two years later, we found out differently when aliens came through, killed four airmen and kidnapped another.”

“Wait,” Brennan interrupted the telling once again, but this time Booth tried to stop her as she was interrupting a general. “If coming through is that easy, what’s stopping anyone from coming and invading Earth?” She asked, what to her was, a very reasonable question and judging by the faces of the squints, they thought so too.

“After the aliens came through,” Daniel answered, once again being the spokesman, “we installed a titanium iris inches from the event horizon which prevents any matter from rematerializing.”

Brennan nodded and sat back in her chair. She still wasn’t sure she believed what she was being told, but she was still comforted hearing that all precautions had been taken.

After he saw that Brennan had accepted the explanation, Daniel continued, “since we had all assumed that the ‘Gate only worked between Earth and Abydos, Jack, Sam and a team were sent back to find out what had happened. When they got there, I took them to a chamber where I had found hundreds of other ‘Gate addresses – mapping a vast network of ‘Gates. Due to stellar drift, none of the combinations that had been tried from Earth had worked but Sam figured that based on the map, she could correct for the Doppler shift.”

“And I’m assuming that she did?” Hodgins asked.

“Yes,” Daniel answered, as he shifted on his feet.

“But if that map gave you hundreds of addresses, how were you able to determine where those aliens had come from?” always the investigator, Booth asked.

“Well,” Daniel answered, as he pushed his glasses back up his nose again, “while we had been studying the other chamber, the aliens arrived at Abydos and abducted my wife and her brother.”

Angela gasped at the news and had to ask, “were you able to rescue her?”

Daniel shook his head and said, “One of the soldiers that had been in the ‘Gate room was able to see the address as it was dialed. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, Sha’re had already been made into a Goa’uld queen – the wife of Apophis, who had been behind the kidnappings.” Daniel paused a minute before continuing, “though we had been captured and the Jaffas had been ordered to kill us, something in Jack made Teal’c go against centuries of traditions and he helped us escape, saving our lives, earning our gratitude and trust and becoming the fourth member of SG1.” Of course, it hadn’t been as easy as that but there was no need to go into all the details.

“Whoa,” Hodgins said, when it seemed as if Daniel was going to continue, “Jaffas? What are those, aliens?”

“Yes,” Daniel said simply. “Jaffas were once humans but were genetically altered by the Goa’ulds to serve them as their armies and, well, basically as their incubators.” Daniel explained.

“As incubators?” Zack asked.

Daniel nodded but it was Teal’c who answered. “The Jaffa were bred to serve so that the Goa’uld may live.” Teal’c repeated what he had told them when they first met him. “In return for carrying an infant Goa’uld until maturity, a Jaffa received perfect health and long life.” He explained in his deep and even voice.

“And you’re,” Hodgins ventured to ask what they were all thinking but weren’t asking. “You’re one of those?” And then he decided to go for it and also asked, “And what is that tattoo on your forehead?”

“Indeed,” Teal’c answered, titling his head in the affirmative. “Until I followed O’Neill and joined in the Tauri fight against the Goa’uld, I was Apophis’s First Prime. The tattoo,” he hesitated on the word, but knew it was the best way to explain, “is the mark of the First Prime.”

“Tauri?” Zack asked as Hodgins asked, “First Prime?”

It was Daniel, once again, who answered, “Tauri is how the people from other worlds refer to Earth. And First Prime basically means that he was the general in charge of all of Apophis’s armies.”

“So, you’re an alien?” Hodgins asked again just to be sure. Teal’c looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but it was Vala who answered.

“Yep, muscles here,” she said as she patted Teal’c on his muscled shoulder, “is an alien but then so am I.” When Daniel just looked at her, she amended, “What? I’m human but I wasn’t born on this lovely planet that means I’m an alien, doesn’t it? And besides, don’t forget that I was host to Qetesh for a while. I think that definitely makes me an alien.”

Cameron shook his head at Vala’s insistence on being categorized an alien, most people would want to blend in but Vala always wanted to be different. Still, he couldn’t resist saying, “If the criteria was that something weird happened to you, all of SG1, with the exception of yours truly, would be considered alien.”

At that pronouncement, six pairs of eyes turned to the remaining three members of SG1. Sam sighed but answered easily enough, “for a brief time, I was host to the Tok’ra symbiote Jolinar of Malkshur.” Before any one could ask, she explained. “The Tok’ra are Goa’uld who have a radically different ideology from the System Lords – that’s what the Goa’uld in power were called. They don’t believe in taking a host by force,” at Jack’s snort, she amended, “when they have a choice, and they don’t want everyone to worship them as gods. They’ve been our allies for a long time now.”

After she finished explaining, everyone turned to Jack to see what he would say. It was clear by his expression, though, that he would not be as forthcoming as Sam was. Daniel knew how different the subject was for Jack and was just about to talk about his experiences with ascension when Brennan, unintentionally, brought them back on track.

She had been following the exchange with half of her attention because something Teal’c had said earlier had caught her attention. Finally, she couldn’t keep quiet any more and looking at him and asked, “How long?” At the curious glances that question garnered, she clarified it, “Just how long does your kind live?”

Teal’c looked at her and thought that Daniel Jackson was right, she was a very bright woman. “A long time,” was his simple answer.

“Over a hundred years?” she insisted and Teal’c answered with another tilt of his head, “at least.”

Brennan then turned to look at Jack and said, “That’s why we’re here. The second man, the one whose bone markers said he was over a hundred but whose musculature was of someone of thirty . . . you think he’s one of these . . . these Jaffas, don’t you?”

Jack nodded while Cam, who up to that point had been quiet, asked her, “You believe them, then?”

Brennan turned to look at her and answered slowly, as if she was deciding as she was speaking, “I’m not sure. It sounds too fantastic to be real but they seemed to have a very coherent story and it would answer my questions about that body. Though it would be nice to see some proof,” she added as she turned to look, almost demandingly, at Jack.

Teal’c gave a silent sigh, as he prepared to show his pouch once more, when the klaxon alerts went off. “Incoming wormhole!” could be heard throughout the base. With a private smile, he decided that a wormhole was much better proof.

Daniel, who had known Brennan would require proof and had turned with an ‘I told you so’ smile towards Jack, received a nod to open the blast doors. He did so and called Booth, Brennan and the rest of the squints over to the window so they could see the ‘Gate. They went over just in time to see the last two chevrons locking on. After the final chevron locked on and the light turned red, a great whoosh of a water-like substance rushed out of the middle of the ‘Gate; it then immediately went back in and the center of the ring-like artifact was covered in what appeared to be a rippling wall of water. A few seconds later, a man appeared and then another and another, until all four members of SG3 were back on base.

Booth and Brennan turned to look at each other and then back at the men who had appeared from a place where moments before had been nothing. They then looked back at the ‘Gate, as the wall of water disappeared, as rapidly as it had appeared, and they could once again look through it to verify that there was, in fact, nothing behind it.

The Men From the Gate

Disclaimer: No, they are not. If they were . . . well, lets just said that what will be happening in the following chapters, would have already happened on the show!!

A/N: Here's the next one!! Hope you enjoy it too and please let me know!! The more reviews I get, the faster I want to post. Is that enough of an incentive??

Chapter 7

“Proof enough?” Jack asked.

Brennan stared at the ‘Gate for another second, then she looked at Booth before turning to look at Jack and said, “Yes.” But then she got a glimmer in her eye, “But it would be even better if we could go through.”

Jack smiled and said, “Maybe later. Right now, I think we should talk about the mission.”

Brennan looked like she’d liked to argue but Booth took her arm and steered her towards their chairs.

Hodgins was the last one to turn away from the window and as he met Daniel’s eye, he asked, “So, where are the little grey men?” He asked in the tone of a man that had expected to find gold, but only found a rock that glittered. “Don’t tell me there are no little grey men.”

Booth and Cam rolled their eyes and Angela hissed, “Jack!”

Jack smiled and said, “the Asgards, they’re not around right now.”

The squints and Booth started to chuckle at the answer but Angela stopped when she saw the look on Jack’s face. “You’re not kidding?” She asked, as she stopped midway through sitting down. “There really are little grey men?” She asked incredulous.

“Yes,” Jack answered in a ‘didn’t I just say so’ tone. “The Asgards are one of the oldest races out there. In fact, since the Ancients are gone (the guys that build the ‘Gates) and the Furlings who knows where, the Asgards and the Nox are the oldest races. But unlike the Nox, the Asgards are our allies and have helped us with some kicking technology.”

“That’s probably because we helped them with their little replicator problem,” Daniel said, as he too took a seat next to Vala, after Angela scooted over.

“Replicator problem?” Brennan asked Booth, who just shrugged – he had no idea what they were talking about.

“Maybe, but they’re not the only allies we’ve helped, and yet they’re the only ones that have come to our aid, without a hidden agenda, not like some others. Besides, Thor is cool; he’s my little buddy.”

“You’re just saying that because he named a ship after you,” Sam said, with a smile.

“And who was it that blew it up, huh?” he asked, with something close to a pout.

“It was necessary and you know it,” Sam said, with a fake frown.

“Likely story, you just blew it up because it wasn’t named after you,” Jack accused and Sam just laughed.

Booth just shook his head, marveling at how they could joke about aliens and blowing up ships. His mind, however, brought him back to the investigation and he asked, “how did you the that the man was this Joffu?”

“Jaffa,” Daniel corrected.

Booth nodded and repeated, “Jaffa? Was Bones’ examination enough?” Bones’ conclusions were always enough for him, he knew that for most others (especially those in the military) they weren’t enough and usually required something more. “After all, the middle of a DC ball room is not where you’d expect to find an alien, is it?”

“No, it’s not.” Jack agreed, “but I’ve been with the SGC too long to ignore anything. Dr. Brennan’s findings were enough for me to take a closer look and when I did, I found a vial that the Jaffa usually used to carry their tretonin. That’s when I decided to classify the investigation and had the bodies brought to the SGC.”

Brennan shook her head and said, “I hope that they didn’t compromise the bones by moving them.”

Booth hissed, ‘Bones.’ But Brennan, like always, ignored him and kept her accusing gaze on the general.

The glare Jack gave her had sent grown marines running for cover, but Brennan just glared right back, not at all cowed by the powerful general. Jack had to hide his smile, impressed by the anthropologist. Maybe it was because he himself had never known when to shut up, but he had a soft spot for people who had the courage to stand by their convictions and he respected anyone that stood up to him. Unfortunately, less and less people dared to do that since his promotion. That was one of the reasons he liked to hang out with SG1 so much, the promotions didn’t change anything and they had no problem with telling him exactly what they thought about any given subject. Apparently, the stars on his lapels didn’t mean much to Dr. Brennan either, she didn’t seem to have a problem speaking her mind. She actually reminded Jack of Sam, though Sam had been more respectful in her insubordinations.

Sam smiled, knowing that despite the glare, Dr. Brennan had just gone up in Jack’s estimation. “We took every care, Temperance. We followed established procedures.”

“Um,” Brennan said, clearly not convinced and Booth wanted to groan at her constant challenge of the other officers’ word. “Have you run any tests on the bones yet?”

“Yes, we needed to establish that he was in fact Jaffa” Sam answered. “Janet has also done a DNA test but that’s about it.”

Brennan nodded and Booth took the opportunity to change the subject by asking, “what’s tretonin?”

“Right,” Jack said, as he realized that they would have to know more about the background. “Daniel,” he said, as an order for the explanations to continue.

“Ok,” Daniel said, as he shifted forward and put his elbows on the table. “One of the main reasons Teal’c joined us was that he wanted to free his people from Goa’uld oppression. To do that, we needed to find a way to stop their dependence on the infant symbiotes. As long as they needed symbiotes to have healthy lives, they wouldn’t ever really be free. Not to mention the fact that they would be helping the Goa’uld reproduce.”

“Why didn’t they just stop carrying them around?” Camille wanted to know.

“They had been depending on them for so many centuries,” Daniel started explaining, “that their physiology couldn't work with them anymore. If they didn't receive a symbiote in their adolescence, they'd die. Fortunately, a few years ago we were able to synthesize a new drug that gave them all the same benefits of the symbiote without having to carry one around.”

“But, didn’t that just change one dependence for another?” Cam wanted to know.

“Yes,” Sam acknowledged, “we know it’s not a perfect solution but it’s a step forward. At least this way, they’re not helping them reproduce. We’re still looking for a better solution and have hopes we’ll get it sooner or later.”

Cam nodded and said, “I assume that this new drug is this tretonin?”

“Yes,” Daniel answered, “when we finally defeated the System Lords a few years ago, most Jaffas were freed and started to use the tretonin.”

“Most?” Booth interrupted to ask.

“Yes, every System Lord had its own armies of Jaffas, when they were defeated, the Jaffa gained their freedom. But not every Goa’uld was a System Lord – some of the lesser Goa’ulds took advantage of the power vacuum and consolidated smaller power bases with Jaffa loyal to them. They’re so small that for the most part we don’t bother with them. But if one of them was behind this attempt to blow up most of the top-ranking US military officers, we need to know. And there’s also Ba’al.” Daniel finished with a grimace.

“Ba’al?” Brennan asked, when Daniel paused.

Daniel took a deep breath and decided on to go with the short answer, “The only System Lord that we’ve never really managed to defeat.” The others nodded with grim faces; no one wanted Ba’al to be the one behind this.

“Daniel here told me that you guys can tell where a person was born, where they’ve lived and other interesting info like that,” Jack said, making it sound like a question and bringing the discussion back to the matter at hand and away from Ba’al.

Brennan nodded, “If you guys haven’t messed up too much with the bones, yes, we should be able to find mineral traces that will tell us where he was born and lived. Though,” she added, looking thoughtful, “if he’s an alien, we’ll probably find traces of minerals not found on Earth.” She looked at Hodgins, who nodded.

“Dr. Brennan is right,” he said. “We can run the standard tests but the results won’t mean much if we don’t have anything to compare them to.”

Sam nodded and said, “yes, I thought about that. We’ve been exploring different planets for the last ten years and we have quite a lot of data about the flora and fauna of most of them. We can compile lists of the planets where different Goa’ulds have bases and go from there.”

Hodgins nodded, “that could work. Though, it might not bad idea if we could go and take some samples ourselves.” At the knowing looks on the faces of SG1, he added, “I’m not saying it just because I want to go through that thing.” He stopped and gave a huge smile, “though God knows I do. But, and with all due respect to your scientist, there’s no guarantee that they’d have collected the samples I’ll need.”

“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. If you need to go off-world, then you will.” Jack said. “We need to find who these guys were and who they were working for. If they were working for a Goa’uld or if they’ve gone rogue and what was their purpose. And we can’t discount Cameron’s question if this was terrorism. I know it seems unlikely but a Goa’uld wanting to blow up a meeting of military personnel is just as unlikely – that’s not how they work.”

While all the SGC personnel acknowledged the point, Booth pointed out something that had been bothering him. “Couldn’t you have been the target?” The question brought silence to the room, as everyone turned to look at him. Booth shrugged and said, “It’d make sense. You’re the head of the whole operation, right?” He asked and Jack nodded his assent. “And I’m assuming everyone knows?” Again, another nod. “Then maybe the object wasn’t to take out every top-ranking military officer, but just you. I’m sure that you’re death would seriously affect the program.”

“I’m not indispensable,” Jack argued. “There are procedures in place in case something was to happen.” But it was obvious from his face that he had already considered the possibility.

“You’ve already thought of this, haven’t you?” Sam asked, in a tight voice.

Jack sighed and gave a slight nod. “Why didn’t you say anything?” she asked softly, when she actually wanted to yell it.

“Because there was no point, not until we have something more concrete. The odds that I was the target are even slimmer than if it was terrorism.”

“You still should have said something,” Sam argued, but left it there. This was something they would discuss later when they were alone.

As a small, not so comfortable silence once again descended on the room, Angela took the opportunity to ask what had been on her mind. “What I want to know is how there are two aliens running around on Earth and you don’t know about it? If this is the only way to come to Earth and you’re guarding it, how did these people get here?”

“Because, unfortunately,” Sam answered, “the ‘Gate is not the only way to get to Earth. People can also get here in spaceships. And though we try to have at least one of our ships up there, most races have cloaking technology and can thus land undetected. We’ve been working on the technology to detect them; and once it’s finished we plan to put a grid up in orbit.”

Angela nodded while Zack and Hodgins exchanged amazed glances at the ambition of the project.

“Well,” Jack said, as he started to push back from the table. “I think that’s all for now.” He looked at Daniel, who nodded. “I’m sure you’ll like to get started. Why don’t Sam, Daniel and Vala take all the Drs and Mrs. Hodgins to tour the labs and Mitchell and Teal’c take Major Booth on a tour of the armory and gym?” He then turned to Booth and asked him with a knowing grin, “unless you’d like to go with the Drs to the labs?”

“No,” Booth said, with an answering grin, “Bones and the rest of the squints can take the labs and I’ll go with Col. Mitchell.”

Jack nodded and finished pushing from the table, as he rose he said, “Dismissed.”

Every military officer in the room rose at the same time and nodded at the dismissal. General Landry, who hadn’t have much to contribute, rose to go to his office with Col. Davis.

Jack meant to follow them but Sam put her hand on his arm and stepped closer to him, delaying him.

Vala, who had also gotten up, saw the action and nodded towards them, silently telling Daniel, “Jack’s in trouble.”

Daniel frowned and followed her gaze and said, “Um, he shouldn’t have kept it from her.”

Vala nodded and said, “Maybe he just didn’t want to worry her.”

“Probably, but he should know better than to try hide something like that from her,” Daniel commented.

“I’m surprised she didn’t think of it herself,” Vala observed.

Daniel nodded, but something in her voice made him ask, “did you know?”

Vala shrugged and admitted, “It had occurred to me, yes.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“I didn’t think it was my place and there hasn’t really been time. Besides, I really did think that she would have thought of it herself.” Vala said, with another shrug.

“Well, she didn’t and now he’s going to get it,” Daniel predicted, as they continued to observed the couple.

“Yep,” she agreed with a smile. “I hope she doesn’t hurt him to bad.” He grinned and shook his head.

Angela, who was standing close to the couple, had heard the exchange and couldn’t resist asking, “Excuse me, but isn’t he the general in charge of everything? Why are you so worried about what the colonel can do to him?”

Vala and Daniel turned to her and realized that she didn’t know about Jack and Sam’s relationship. “He might be the general but she’s his wife. She doesn’t like it when there are threats to his life she doesn’t know about.” Vala explained.

“They’re married?” Angela asked, surprised as she again turned to study the other couple. “I thought Col. Davis said that General O’Neill led SG1 for a lot of years?” She said it as a question as Hodgins and Cam, who were next to her, looked at her wondering what she was thinking.

“Yes,” Daniel answered. “Jack led SG1 for seven years before he was promoted to general.”

“And Sam was part of SG1 during that time?” She asked and Daniel nodded. “And they’re married?” She repeated and then shook her head, as she turned and looked at Daniel with a puzzled face. “Doesn’t the military have rules about officers in the same chain of command being involved in romantic relationships?” She asked, aware that Hodgins was looking at her surprised, but she had dated a JAG officer a few years ago and knew more about military law than she cared to think about.

“Yes,” Daniel answered simply. “That’s why they’ve only been married for six months and together for about a couple of years. Though they’ve had feelings for each other for years, they didn’t do anything about them until they were no longer in the same chain of command.” He explained as he remembered what his friends had had to go through before they could be together.

“Um,” Angela said, as she turned from studying the military couple, to studying Brennan and Booth and thought that there were some parallels there and wondered if she could get Bren to see them.

----------------

When the general stood up, Booth automatically stood up too and Brennan had to marvel at how fast the military training had come back to him. He saw that Mitchell had stopped to have a word with Landry and sat back down. “So,” he said, as he turned towards Brennan, “what do you think?”

Brennan looked at him and said, “I think Hodgins is in heaven, not only is this confirmation that there is life out there but also that they have been visiting us.”

Booth grinned and nodded, remembering the case a year ago when they made fun of Hodgins because of his beliefs. “I guess he was right, huh?”

“Apparently,” she said softly, and then added, “can you believe all this?” she asked in an amazed tone of voice.

Booth took a deep breath and said, “I think it’s going to take a while for it to really sink in, you know?”

“Yeah,” Brennan agreed, as Colonel Mitchell walked up to them and asked if Booth was ready to go.

Booth stood up and said, “Yes, sir.” Mitchell nodded and led the way. Booth leaned down towards Brennan and told her, “Bones, try and behave, will you?”

She looked up at him and scrunched up her nose. He chuckled and turned to leave. As he left, she called him back and said, “Hey, Booth, pay attention to the way because I’m going to want a tour to the armory myself later.” Booth grinned back and left.

Brennan smiled and turning saw the wonderment on Zack's face. “Zack, are you ok?” she asked him.

“I’m not sure, Dr. Brennan.” He answered in a lost voice. “This is . . .” he trailed, shaking his head, frustrated at not having the words.

“Unbelievable?” she supplied, “yeah, I know. It is pretty unbelievable. But it is true so I guess we’re just going to have to believe it.”

“I know,” he replied. “It’s just . . .” He trailed off again and then asked, “Do you think they’ll let us go through it?”

Brennan laughed and said, “I’ll make sure of it.”

-----------------------------

“You knew,” Sam said simply, staring at Jack.

“Sam,” Jack said, as he sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t know, but I . . . suspected.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” she asked.

“There was nothing to say,” he began to explain, but she cut him off.

“Nothing to say?” she asked, disbelievingly. “Someone could have been trying to get you killed and you think there’s nothing to say?”

“First of all,” he responded, “calm down. Second, I said I suspected, not that I knew the attempt was against me personally. So, there really was nothing to say – except speculation.”

“You could have told me what you suspected, Jack. This is not the type of information one keeps to oneself,” she argued forcibly. Jack knew that if they had been anywhere else but the conference room at the SGC surrounded by SGC personnel, she would be yelling her head off.

“I’m sorry, Sam.” He apologized, to try and contain things before they got out of control. “It just never occurred to me. It wasn’t like there were discussions about this or a memo or like I deliberately kept it from you. It was just something that crossed my mind a time or two, you know.” He finished with a shrug.

“You still could have mentioned it,” she said, but with less heat.

“Yeah, probably” he agreed “I just, well, honestly, I guess I just thought you’d have thought of it yourself.”

Sam nodded, the fact that she hadn’t was the real reason she’d had been so upset.

“I just thought you were safe working in DC and I only had to worry when you went on a mission,” she confessed.

Jack looked surprised and debated whether he should break her illusions or not, in the end he decided to be truthful.

“Sam, I’m a two-star general in charge of the most secret program in the world. Yeah, most days, the most I have to worry about are paper cuts and falling into a coma out of sheer boredom. But,” he paused and sighed deeply, “I can’t discount the possibility that someone may try to get to me, and it’s not just because of the SGC either. A general is a powerful person, Sam, and powerful persons tend to attract attention and enemies.”
At her worried face, he took her hand and squeezed it.

“Don’t worry, Sam. The chances that something can happen are slim,” he started, only to be interrupted.

“Like the chances of a Jaffa trying to blow up a room full of military officers?” She asked.

He glared at her for throwing his words back in his face, and then sighed again at the worry on her face.

“Sam, please don’t worry. I can’t ignore the possibility, but it’s not like I worry about it all the time. It’s just something to keep in mind. It’s not that different from when I was in SG1 – people were always wanting to kill me remember?” He joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Sam smiled a little but wasn’t really relieved. She then looked around and noticed something for the first time.

“Jack?” She asked. “Where’s you protective detail?”

Jack grimaced; he had been hoping she wouldn’t notice.

“They are around,” he answered vaguely. Having a couple of secret service agents following him around was not something he liked, enjoyed or appreciated.

“Jack,” she reprimanded, “they’re not supposed to be ‘around’. They’re supposed to be wherever you are.” She paused at the look on his face. “You sent them someplace, didn’t you?”

“I might have said that they should be upside guarding the entrance to the mountain because no one could get to me in here.” He explained with a shrug.

“Jack!” she protested, exasperated, “that’s not true and you know it. They should be here next to you, guarding you.” He grimaced at that. “I know you don’t like the idea that you need protection but, like you just said, you’re a general now. So, start acting like one and call them back, Jack.” She said in her ‘don’t mess with me’ tone.

“Ok,” he gave in, “but, if I’m going to have a couple of goons following me around, so are you and the rest of SG1.” He declared.

“Really?” She asked, as her eyebrows went up. “And why is that? I’m assuming you do have a reason other than just wanting everyone to suffer with you?”

“Yes, I have a reason,” he answered seriously. “If someone did try to kill me, it was probably to disrupt the SGC. What better way to accomplish that than to try for SG1? Yes, they might try for me again, but they might also try to get to one of you. So, if we’re going to assume disrupting the SGC was the motive, all of you are going to have a couple of guards from now on.” He declared.

“All of us?”

“Yep, all of you: You, Vala, Danny-boy, Mitchell and Teal’c.”

“Oh, they’re going to love that, especially Mitchell and Teal’c.” she said sarcastically.

“I don’t care; they’ll just have to deal with it.” Jack said, in full general mode. “Now, go and play with the other scientists. I’m sure you’re going to have a blast.” He added with a smirk. “I have to go and see about those guards.”

“Jack,” she said softly, as he was turning to leave.

“Sam, don’t worry.” He said, reassuringly. “I’ll be fine; we’ll be fine.” He smiled and she smiled back; she just couldn’t resist that smile. “Go on and have fun being all scientisty.”

“I love you,” she mouthed before he turned. He mouthed it back and she smiled as she saw him turn and walked away. With a deep breath, she turned and walked towards where everyone was waiting for her. Jack might be exasperating at times, but he knew her better than anyone and he was right when he said she’d have a blast working with these new scientists.

The Men From Gate

Disclaimer: No, they're not mine!! How many times do I have to say it??

A/N: Here's the next chapter!! Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 8

“Ok,” Sam said, as she clapped her hands. “Shall we go?”

“Yes,” Brennan said, as she pushed back from the table and stood up. “Let’s go. The sooner I can examine the bones, the sooner we can get answers.”

Sam smiled at the other woman’s enthusiasm and nodded, “well, then, this way,” she said, as she waved Brennan and Zack ahead of her. She turned and smiled at Daniel and Vala before following the two scientists out the door.

“I bet you guys have some pretty sweet equipment here, huh? And to think I was so worried about not having the right equipment to work with that I even brought a couple of my smaller microscopes,” Hodgins commented, as he turned to look at Daniel.

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll need them,” Daniel said, as he escorted Hodgins from the room.

“So, do you want to join them in the boring lab tour or would you rather go on a fun tour of the most interesting part of the SGC?” Vala asked Angela, as Sam was talking to Brennan.

“Interesting,” Angela smiled and nodded, “and what would this tour include?”

“Well,” Vala answered, as she wound her arm through Angela’s and started leading her out of the conference room, following Daniel and Hodgins. “It won’t be a long tour. This is, after all, a military base, so there’s a built-in limit to how much fun we can have.”

“Of course,” Angela replied, agreeing with the disclaimer.

“Hey Daniel, Angela and I are taking a different tour, ok?” Vala called out to him, as she and Angela crossed the door’s threshold.

Daniel and Hodgins looked back and Daniel said, “Ok,” as he waved and turned back. He knew that Vala would have been bored following them around, and a bored Vala was an unpredictable Vala, well, more so than usual. It was probably better if she was somewhere else. Hodgins looked at his wife, and with a wink and a wave, headed out behind Daniel. He knew Angela would not have enjoyed the lab tour either.

After waving at the men, Vala turned and continued their conversation. “Still, there is some fun to be had. We can start with the gym – always a good place. You can always find a few young, strapping marines or air force men working out and even practicing some karate or boxing and at least half the time, they’re not wearing t-shirts,” she finished with a light leer.

“That does sound like fun, but what does that hunky Daniel say about you ogling half-dressed young men?” Angela asked with a laugh.

“Oh, Daniel knows that I love him,” Vala answered airily, “but that doesn’t mean that I’m blind or that I can’t appreciate the beauty of the human body, does it?”

“No,” Angela agreed, with a smile as she remembered that she had said almost the same thing to Brennan earlier on in the week. “It doesn’t, and as an artist, I’m always open to the study of the human body.”

“Good,” Vala nodded, “then that’ll be our first stop. We can also go to the mess hall; the food isn’t the best, but it’s not bad either, and they have pretty good desserts, especially when Jack comes to visit – he’s well known for his sweet tooth.”

“That sounds like the perfect place to end the tour,” Angela commented.

“It is,” Vala nodded, “ok, we have our last stop. In between, we can go to the firing range, have you ever fired a gun?” she asked Angela.

“No,” Angela shook her head, “I haven’t ever even picked one up.”

“Well, maybe it’s time you did,” Vala told her. “It can pretty therapeutic, you know, and if you don’t want to try it, well, we can always just continue our study of the beauty of the human body. It’s amazing how sexy a man can look when he’s firing a weapon, don’t you think?” she asked.

“Um,” Angela said with a small smile, “don’t tell Hodgins I said this, but yeah, I totally know what you mean. I think Bren would say that the image appeals to our primal instincts or something.”

Vala just looked at her a moment and then said, “Okay? Well, anyway, we could also stop by the security office and check out the security monitors. You wouldn’t believe some of the things people do when they forget someone’s watching.”

“That sounds like fun,” Angela admitted, “but isn’t it a bit of invasion of privacy?”

“Why would it be? The cameras are not in any quarters, bathrooms or locker rooms, and everyone knows that every corridor, lab or common room has cameras. It’s not my fault if they forget about them, is it?”

“No, I guess not,” Angela had to agree, with a bemused smile.

“It’s not,” Vala said firmly, as she pressed the button to call for the elevator. She turned back to face Angela and continued, “We should also stop by the infirmary at some point.”

“The infirmary?” Angela asked, dubiously, that would not be a stop she’d associate with a fun tour.

“Yes, not only is Janet a great person, but the infirmary is gossip central in this place. The nurses always know the latest gossip; I try to stop by at least once a day to keep up.”

Angela laughed again and was about to respond when they heard a shout.

“Ms. Mal Doran! Please, wait.” Both women turned towards the sound and saw a young marine hurrying to catch up to them.

“Thank you for waiting, ma’am,” he said, once he reached them.

“Sergeant, do you need anything?” Vala asked, with a nod. Angela was impressed by the ease with which the other woman recognized the man’s rank.

“General O’Neill sent me to find you,” he said.

“Is everything ok? Does he need me for anything?” Vala asked.

“No, ma’am,” the sergeant answered, “everything’s fine as far as I know, I’m to be your escort for the remainder of the day.”

“Escort” Vala asked,, “since when do I need an escort, especially when I’m inside the SGC?”

The sergeant shrugged and said, “All I know is that my orders are ‘to stick to you like glue and not to let you out of my sight.’”

“That sounds like a direct quote from Jack,” Vala commented, with a smile.

The sergeant returned the smile and confirmed the suspicion. “It is.”

“And he didn’t say anything else that might explain this?” she asked.

“No,” the sergeant shook his head, “he just told us that you and the rest of SG1 are to be guarded at all times from now on, until further notice. If we should lose sight of any of you for even a second and something were to happen in that second, our careers wouldn't be worth the paper our reprimand will be written on.”

Vala nodded her head and sighed in acceptance, “ok, well, come on, but try and keep up, will you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the seargeant agreed and followed the two women into the elevator.

Angela looked at the young man., who had taken his place at the side of the elevator, and then back at Vala.

“This is not because of us, is it?” she asked Vala.

“What?” Vala looked back at Angela and then followed her gaze to the sergeant. “Oh, him following me around?” At Angela’s nod, she answered. “No, I don’t think so. I think it’s probably related to last night’s explosion.”

“Last night’s explosion,” Angela repeated, “what makes say that?”

“Well, I noticed this morning that Jack’s protective detail wasn’t around,” she began. “That’s nothing new because he usually manages to leave them somewhere else whenever he comes to visit. And Sam usually lets him get away with it because she agrees there’s no threat here, but I’m sure last night’s explosion and the speculation that he might have been the target changed that. I’m sure that part of the discussion they had a bit ago included him calling his protective detail back.”

“Ok,” Angela said, slowly, in a confused tone, “but what does that have to do with you having an escort?” She asked and then went on, “Unless you’re saying that because he has to have them following him around, he wants you all to suffer with him.”

“Wellll,” Vala said, with a laugh.

“But he’s a general!” Angela protested, “he can’t be that childish, can he?”

“Where is it written that a general can’t be childish?” Vala asked and Angela nodded, conceding the point. “But you’re right; he wouldn’t do that. He may enjoy annoying others -- especially Daniel -- and the entertainment value of something like this would be high, but he wouldn’t play around like this when we’re in the middle of a crisis. No, he must have a good reason for ordering escorts for all of us.”

The elevator stopped at their floor and Vala stepped out, followed by Angela and the sergeant.

“And that’s it, he must have a good reason is good enough for you?” Angela asked after a few seconds.

“Yes,” Vala answered, as if it was the most obvious answer, “of course. He’s the general and however childish he might sometimes be, he’s still a heck of a leader and great at tactics. If he thinks we need an escort, then that’s enough for me.”

“And for the rest of SG1?” Angela wanted to know.

“Well, it’ll be enough for Sam and Mitchell, for Teal’c and Daniel . . . probably not. But then, Jack is perverse enough that he’s probably looking forward to their objections. Oh,” she said, as she reached forward to open a door. “Here we are! Come on,” she called to Angela as she entered the gym.

Angela followed the other woman, wondering about the weird dynamics that seemed to exist in the SGC.


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“Well, here we are.” Mitchell said as he opened a steel door and preceded Booth and Teal’c inside, “this is the armory.”

Booth looked around and said, “it’s big.”

“Yes, it is.” Mitchell answered. “We have other smaller armories throughout the facility, in case we have a foothold situation, but this is the main one where most of the weaponry is kept.”

“How accurate is it?” Booth asked as picked up a P90, a compact submachine gun, to inspect it.

“Pretty accurate,” Mitchell answered. “Though, probably no where near as accurate as a sniper rifle.”

“No,” Booth agreed, almost absentmindedly “probably not. They seemed pretty light.”

“Yes,” it was Mitchell’s turn to agree, as he too picked one up. “They are, but then we carry them with us during all our missions and sometimes we even have to run with them. We need them to be light.”

Booth nodded,“Nice, easy reload. I imagine it doesn’t usually stick?” Booth asked Mitchell as he expertly pulled the P90 apart and put it back together again.

“It would defeat the purpose otherwise,” Mitchell replied, shaking his head.

“Right,” Booth agreed, as he put the weapon back. “Well, you’re right,” he said as he moved towards another display. “They’re not a rifle but they seem pretty good.” He picked up a black serpent-like weapon and looking back at Mitchell and Teal’c, asked, “This must be an alien weapon, right?”

“Right,” Mitchell answered. “That’s a ‘zat’ gun.”

“A ‘zat’ gun?” Booth asked. “That doesn’t sound very alien-y.”

“No,” Mitchell replied with a chuckle. “I guess it doesn’t, but that may be because that’s not its real name. The real name is zat’kin. . . zat’kit . . . Teal’c,” he finally gave in and asked the other man, who had been silent up to that point.

“The real name for that weapon is zat'ni'katel,” Teal’c informed Booth.

“Zat’nik. . . zat’nika. . . well, that’s a mouthful. I can see why you call it a ‘zat’ gun,” Booth commented as he examined the alien weapon.

“O’Neill was the one to shorten its name when he too had problems pronouncing the full name,” Teal’c informed him, from his position by the door. He was standing with his hands behind his back, his feet apart and his face expressionless as always. Booth looked back at him and then turned to Mitchell.

“Is it me or is he always this . . . terse?” Booth asked Mitchell, in a low voice.

“Don’t worry,” Mitchell answered, with another chuckle. “It’s not you. He’s always like that.”

“Good.” Booth nodded. “So, how does this work, exactly?”

“Well,” Mitchell began; as he paused to pick up another ‘zat’ and showed Booth the right way of holding it. “You hold it like this and you activate it like this.” He pressed a button and the snake-like top of the weapon shot up, like a serpent uncoiling. “If you want to shoot someone, you press the button again.”

“And if I shoot someone, what would happen?” Booth asked, as he activated his weapon.

“The ‘zat’ uses some form of energy that will render anyone you aim at unconscious with the first shot. A second shot will kill most everybody and a third will disintegrate not only a person but also inanimate objects.” Mitchell explained.

“Oh,” Booth looked at the weapon in his hand with greater respect. “Does it make any sound?” He wanted to know as he put it back down, carefully.

“Nope,” Mitchell answered. “Not a peep.”

“That must come in handy,” Booth murmured and Mitchell agreed. Then, thinking what Bones’ reaction to a non-lethal weapon would be, he asked, “You guys think we could keep this weapon and what it does from my partner?”

“Sure,” Mitchell answered, with a shrug, after sharing a look with Teal’c. “I don’t see why not. It’s not like they’re going to have much contact with the weapons, anyway.”

“You don’t know, Bones.” Booth said shaking his head. “She already told me she wants a tour of the armory and she always finds a way to do what she wants. If I don’t bring her, she’ll get someone else to do it; and I just know that she’s going to want one of these as soon as she finds out what they are.” He finished with a worried frown.

“She’s an anthropologist, what would she want with a weapon?” Mitchell asked, intrigued by Booth’s frown and worried tone.

“You don’t know Bones.” Booth repeated with a deep sigh. “Dr. Brennan isn't your 'normal' anthropologist. She knows countless types of martial arts, has hunting licenses in at least four states and has been after me to give her a gun since we started working together.” He paused and shook his head before continuing, “I’ve resisted so far because, well, frankly, she’s trigger happy and my boss is not about to expose the FBI to all the litigation she’ll bring. But if she finds there’s a weapon that she could shoot at whomever she wants without killing them, well, let’s just say she’s really going to want one.”

“She can want it all she likes,” Mitchell said, amused at how worried the other man seemed to be about his partner’s reaction. “But this is a top-secret facility and none of the technology you see here is cleared for the civilian world.”

“Yes, there is that,” Booth said slowly, wondering if that’ll be enough to curb Bones’ enthusiasm. He walked to another display and saw a really long weapon. “Is this another alien weapon?”

“Yes, that’s a staff weapon,” Mitchell answered, motioning towards the several foot long weapon. “It’s the primary weapon of the Jaffa.”

“How does it work?” Booth asked, as he picked it up and tried to get a feel for it.

“It is powered by liquid naquadah and when activated, it releases a strong bolt of plasma energy,” was the answer.

“I don’t think you can be very accurate with this weapon,” Booth commented, as he turned the weapon over in his hands.

“No, accuracy is not really the point of the staff weapon, terror and intimidation are,” Mitchell explained, but was stopped from saying anything else by Teal’c’s glare.

“You may have a problem with accuracy when using a staff weapon, Colonel Mitchell,” Teal’c admonished, and though he used his usual tone, even Booth, who didn’t really know him, could tell that he was upset. “But for those that have trained for years with it, the staff weapon is a most efficient weapon. Not only is it as accurate as you could wish, but it can also be quite useful in hand to hand combat.”

“You’re right, Teal’c,” Mitchell said, after looking at Teal’c for a few moments, “a staff weapon can be a deadly accurate weapon in the hands of a trained Jaffa.”

Booth shook his head, amused at how a subtle change in tone from the big man was enough to bring down the cocky Air Force colonel. “Do you have a firing range close by?” He inquired, because he was itching to try out some of these weapons.

“Sure,” Mitchell answered, happy to change the subject. “Do you want to try them?”

“Yes, could we? There’s not much I can do until Bones and the squints run some of their tests and that could take hours, if not days,” Booth said.

“Ok,” Mitchell nodded, as he started to pick up ammunition and weapons for them to try, “but you’re going to have to tell me why you call her Bones and the rest of the team, squints.”

Before Booth could respond, the door was opened, and a couple of marine sergeants walked in.

“Colonel Mitchell, sir?” One of them said.

“Yes, sergeant, is something wrong?” Mitchell asked, as he and Booth finished grabbing what they wanted.

“No, sir,” the sergeant answered “General O’Neill sent us with orders to be yours and Teal’c’s escorts for the remaining part of the day.”

Both Teal’c and Mitchell turned slowly to look at the marine and then just stared at him for a minute, while the young man squirmed, wishing it had been anyone else that had gotten this detail – but then thinking that he could have gotten Dr. Jackson and that would have been worse.

“Excuse me?” Mitchell finally said, “escorts, we don’t need escorts!”

“I’m sorry, sir.” The marine was apologetic but he made no effort to leave. “But the general ordered us to stick to you like glue and if you don’t mind, that is exactly what we’re going to do. If we don’t . . .” The two marines exchanged looks before the second one spoke up.

“You know how the general is, sir,” he appealed to Mitchell, “and he didn’t look like he was kidding.”

“You talked to General O’Neill directly?”

“Yes, sir, and he said . . .” the marine trailed off and again shared a look with his companion.

“What did he say? Finish what you were going to say,” urged Mitchell.

“Well, sir, he said to tell you ‘the guards are going to follow you around whether you like it or not. And that’s an order,’ if you were difficult, sir” the marine finally said.

It was obvious that whatever was going on, the marines didn’t know anything about it. There was no point in making things difficult for them. They were just following orders and doing their jobs, which was what Mitchell was going to have to do. Besides, if the general had ordered guards, he must have a good reason.

“It seems I have no choice then,” he said with a shrug and the two marines relaxed. “We’re taking the major here to the firing range to show him how these babies work,” he said, patting the zat gun he’d taken. “You might as well come and do some shooting yourselves.” The marines smiled and nodded, there wasn’t much they enjoyed more than target practice. As they moved to picked up some weapons, Mitchell said, “The major here is a sniper, you think we can keep up with him?”

“Yes, sir,” one of them said, as both grinned wider.

“We’ll see, won’t we?” Booth said, amused at the marines enthusiasm and confidence. He couldn’t help sounding smug himself; there weren’t many people that could best him in shooting – whatever the marines thought. With laughs and good natured joking, they left the armory and Booth marveled at how easy it was to fall back into the military rhythm.


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“When do you think we’ll get some answers?” Sam asked Brennan as they walked toward the labs. Brennan was looking around her, trying to familiarize herself with her new surroundings, but all of the hallways looked the same to her, and she couldn’t quite get her bearings.

“I’m not sure,” she responded with a shrug, “it’d depend on what kind of equipment you have, but I don’t think we’d have anything before tomorrow evening at the earliest.”

“Yes, Janet mentioned some of the tests you might do and they all sound very complex and lengthy.” Sam replied with a nod.

“Yes, they are,” Brennan agreed. “Who’s Janet? That’s the second time you have mentioned her.”

“Janet is our CMO,” and at Brennan’s blank look, she explained, “Chief Medical Officer, she’s also one of my best friends.”

Brennan nodded, but the mention of best friends had her turning around to look for Angela.

“Where’s Angela?” She asked, as she turned her head, this way and that, trying to find her.

Sam also turned around at the question and noticed that they were also missing Vala, “She’s probably with Vala.” she replied.

“You think?” Brennan asked, as she turned to look at Sam.

“Um,” Sam nodded. “I should have known that Vala would find a way to get out of this tour. She finds these type of things boring.”

“Yes,” Brennan chuckled, “Angela doesn’t much care for these kinds of thing either. So, you think they’re together?”

“Yes,” Sam answered, “and I’m sure Daniel would know.” She then turned around and shouted, “Hey, Daniel, where are Vala and Angela?”

“Vala said something about taking Angela on a different tour,” Daniel called back.

“Ok,” Sam said and turned back to Brennan, “see, they’re together. I bet you one of their stops is the gym; Vala likes to look at sweaty men.”

“So does Angela,” Brennan agreed with a grin.

“Do you think their tour is more interesting than ours?” Sam asked seriously.

Brennan turned to look at her, "you mean that a few sweating men could be more interesting than the bones of two dead men and the technology to find out who they were?” Brennan asked, just as seriously.

“Nah, not possible,” they said in unison, before they started laughing.

“They seemed to be getting along pretty well,” Daniel told Hodgins, who was walking next to him, when he heard the laughter.

“Yeah,” Hodgins answered, somewhat surprised. “It must be because Sam is a scientist and they speak the same language, because let me tell you, it usually takes a lot longer for the doc to warm up to somebody – and for the other person to warm up to the doc.”

“Really?” Daniel asked, “she seems pretty nice.”

“Oh, she is,” Hodgins agreed. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s a great person, it’s just that well . . . she can be somewhat abrupt, has almost no tact, and is clueless when it comes to pop culture. Though, to be fair, she’s changed since she started working with Booth – she’s become more accessible. She’s no longer lost in her own science world all the time.”

They had arrived at the lab and were about to enter, when they heard a shout.

“Colonel Carter!”

Sam stopped and turned to see a couple of marines hurrying to catch up to them.

“Oh, boy,” she said under her breath, “here they come.”

“What? Who comes?” asked Brennan, as she too turned to look at who had called.

“Colonel Carter, sir,” the first marine said, as both came to a stop before the group.

“Sergeant, may I help you?” she asked, but she didn’t really sound too surprised to see them there.

“Ma’am, General O’Neill sent us.” The first marine started explaining, “we were sent to be your escorts for the rest of the day.”

Sam sighed and nodded, she had hoped Jack had been bluffing, but she had known better.

“Ok, well. We’re going to be here so,” she waved around to the lab and trailed off.

“Wait,” Daniel said, as he moved closer to Sam, while looking closely at the marines. He tilted his head and he pushed his glasses up his nose before repeating, “Wait a minute. What is this about, having escorts?” He then turned to Sam and asked her, “And why don’t you sound surprised about it?”

“Because I’m not,” Sam answered with a shrug. “Jack told me that he was going to assign guards to all of SG1.”

“Why?” Daniel asked again. “Just because he has to have a couple of guys following him around doesn’t mean we have to have them too. Why are you ok with? He’s just messing with us.”

“He’s not messing with us Daniel,” Sam sighed. “You know he wouldn’t do that.” At Daniel’s snort and disbelieving look, she allowed, “Ok, he would, but not during a crisis.”

“Ok, you’re right.” Daniel said, grudgingly nodding at the caveat. “Why is he doing it, then?”

“He thinks that if the explosion was for him and it was done to destabilize the SGC, whoever is behind it might decide to go after one us; he says that would have the same effect on the SGC.” Sam explained.

“And you agreed with him?” Daniel wanted to know.

“I don’t know, Daniel.” Sam answered with a shrug. “I wouldn’t think so, but then I didn’t think that Jack would have been the target last night – so, what do I know?” She said sounding upset with herself.

“Sam,” Daniel said in a softer tone, “don’t beat yourself up. There’s no reason why you would have thought of that.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” she said with another shrug. “But the fact is that this is what he does and what he’s best at. And whether we agree or not, he’s the general, so we have to do what he says.”

“I don’t understand how you can live with him and just accept that he can order you to do stuff you don’t want to do.” Daniel said, after he snorted again.

“I can live with him quite easily actually,” Sam said with a laugh. “And he doesn’t just order me to do anything. This is a special case because it involves our safety. You know that normally we’re not in the same chain of command. My orders come directly from Landry, who receives them from the Joint Chiefs.”

“Yeah, yeah” Daniel said, as they entered the lab, followed by the squints and the marines. “I know, but I still don’t know how you can stand him when he can be such a pain.”

“He just likes to annoy you, Daniel. Besides, he more than makes up for it in other ways, believe me. Well, to me anyways.” Sam said, with a laugh and a smirk.

“Ugh, Sam! Too much information,” Daniel complained as Sam, Camille and Hodgins laughed. Brennan and Zack just looked at each other.

“Ok,” Sam said after a moment “let’s get to work.” And with that, everyone turned serious and got down to work.

The Men From the Gate

Disclaimer: Well, let's see I called my lawyer and . . . wait, I am the lawyer here! hehe. And as one I can categorically state that no, they're not mine.

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one. Please let me know what you think!!!

Chapter 9

“Well, that was way more interesting than a tour of the lab would have been,” Angela said, as she and Vala sat down with cake, in the mess hall a couple of hours later.

“Wasn’t it though?” Vala asked with a big grin. She took a big bite of her cake and continued, “I told you my tour would be more fun. And it was also more informative. I mean, would you have known that sergeants Michaels and Lopes are an item if you had gone on that boring tour?”

“No,” Angela agreed seriously. “I wouldn’t; just as I wouldn’t know that Lieutenant Reynolds beat Sergeant Johnson for the first time in hand to hand.”

“See,” Vala said, as she pointed her spoon at Angela in emphasis, “and those are two very important pieces of information, aren’t they?”

“Oh, I know, I know,” Angela agreed, again in all seriousness. Then they looked at each other and burst out laughing. A few moments later, after they quieted down, she asked, “so, tell me about you and Daniel.”

“Oh,” Vala said with a knowing grin, “that’s a rather long story. What would you like to know?”

“Well,” Angela began, as she took a bit of cake, “oh, this is really good,” she said and then stopped to savor another bite.

“I told you,” Vala agreed, as she too savored her dessert, “the cooks really pull out all the stops when Jack comes to visit.”

“I’m glad” Angela said, “but back to the topic. How did you two meet?” She asked. “I mean you’re . . .” she hesitated and settled for, “well, you’re not from around here,” she waved around to indicate everything from the SGC to Earth. “And you don’t seem the military type, so how come you’re working for the US Air Force in the most secret facility in the world?”

“Ah, well, that’s another long story,” Vala answered coyly.

“You mentioned something about being a host,” Angela commented.

“Yeah, I was host to Qetesh,” Vala agreed.

“Did they help you to well, get rid of it?” Angela asked, not quite sure how to phrase the question.

“No,” Vala answered, as she stared off into space, and played with her spoon. “I was able to get rid of her by myself.”

Angela wanted to ask how she’d done it but Vala’s body language made it clear it wasn’t a comfortable subject for her.

“So how did you meet Daniel?” She went back to the first question.

“Well, I was in business by myself. You know doing some free-lancing,” Vala began, as she licked the last of the fudge from her spoon.

“Free-lancing?” Angela repeated, as she leaned back in her seat and took a sip of water.

“Yeah, selling and . . . buying artifacts.” Vala answered, with a twinkle in her eyes. “Anyway, I had a job that required a large vessel and I’d heard that the SGC was taking the ‘Prometheus’ over to the Pegasus Galaxy.”

“The Prometheus?” Angela asked, interrupting Vala’s story. “Going to another galaxy?” She didn’t know why that was so surprising after everything she’d learn that day.

“Um,” Vala nodded, “the Prometheus was Earth’s first ship capable of interstellar travel. They were on their way to Pegasus to check on the team that had gone over to Atlantis.”

“Atlantis?” Angela asked, incredulous. “You mean the Lost City of Atlantis? They found it and it’s on another galaxy?”

“Ah, yes,” Vala answered slowly. “But you know what, you’re probably not cleared to know this so why don’t we just forget it?”

“Oh, come on,” Angela cajoled. “No one will know if you tell me. I promise I won’t tell a soul,” she promised solemnly.

“It’s not that,” Vala began, not knowing how to get out of the predicament. She’d been in the SGC too long and knew better than to tell confidential information to non-authorized personnel. Before she had time to say anything else, though, Zack stopped by their table.

“Angela,” Zack said, surprising both women.

“Zack!” Angela said, “what are you doing here?”

“Getting a snack,” was the simple answer, “you?”

“The same,” Angela answered with a smile, “did you enjoy the tour of the lab?”

“Oh, yes,” Zack answered enthusiastically, with a face that Vala knew well, because Daniel got it every time he found a new artifact.

“I’m going to go get some coffee,” Vala said, taking the opportunity Zack presented, “do you want some?” she asked Angela.

“Yes please,” Angela said, as she turned briefly towards Vala with a small smile. She too knew the face Zack was wearing, having seen it numerous times on Zack, Jack and Brennan’s faces. She knew she was in for a mini lecture.

“Sugar, milk?” Vala asked.

“Sugar, please,” Angela answered, before she turned back to Zack.

A few minutes later, Vala returned with coffee for both her and Angela. Angela had managed to wind-down Zack and was telling him she’d see him in a while. Vala sat down and put down the coffee as Zack said his good-byes.

“So, did you hear about all the wonders of our labs?” Vala asked with a grin.

“Yeah,” Angela answered, as she prepared her coffee, “in more detail than was necessary.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Vala agreed with a laugh. “Ok, so back to the story,” she said and skipped the part about Atlantis and Pegasus galaxy, before Angela had time to think about it, “I heard of the ‘Prometheus’ and thought that it was ideal for my job. So, I’d tried to borrow it.”

“Borrowed it? You wanted to borrow the spaceship?” Angela asked, as she leaned forward on her chair, completely interested in the story.

“Yes, but Daniel wasn’t very keen on letting me have it,” Vala said, with a pout and a hurt expression, completely nonchalantly, as if she was talking about borrowing an eraser and not a ship. “We . . . argued a while but in the end he won and I was able to esca . . . I mean, I left.”

“Umm,” Angela said, as she studied the other women closely. She had a feeling the story she’d just heard had been severely edited but decided to take it at face value. “Ok, that’s how you met. But how did you end up here?”

“A few months later I came across a table that described a great treasure.” Vala answered, after putting her coffee down. “The only problem was that it was on Earth and I didn’t know enough about it to come and look for it. So, I came to the SGC and convinced them to help me look for it.”

“And that’s it? You looked for the treasure and then you just stayed?” Angela shifted to put an elbow on the table and leaned her head on her hand.

“Well, no.” Vala conceded. “It wasn’t that easy. First I had to convince Daniel to stay and look for the treasure instead of going to Atlantis. And after I did and we found the treasure, we ended up in the Ori galaxy; and in trying to stop them from coming here, I ended up stranded over there and it was almost a year before I could come back. But I was finally able to make it back and I’ve just been here ever since.”

By the time Vala finished her story, Angela was looking at her with her mouth hanging open. She again had the feeling that the version she’d just heard was highly condensed, but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t get the full version no matter how she asked. So, she went back to her original question once again.

“And that’s when you two got together?”

“Oh no.” Vala answered, with a laugh. “Heavens, it was at least two years before he even took me seriously. See, I was a bit of a flirt when I first came here,” she confessed, in a low voice, and in all seriousness. Angela had to stifle her laughter because she had observed the other woman the past few hours and she was still quite the flirt.

“He didn’t think I was serious in my advances. To tell you the truth,” Vala admitted, with a sly smile, “at first, I only wanted to get under his skin. He was always so correct and proper that I just wanted to annoy him. But as I got to know him and I learned what an incredible man he really is, I fell for him. Though it took him longer to notice my considerable charms, he eventually got there.” Vala took a sip of coffee before she continued. “It wasn’t easy; it actually took a near death experience before he admitted it.”

When she stopped there, Angela leaned further in and said, “Oh, no. You can’t stop there. You have to tell me that story.”

Vala laughed before she sighed and in a reflecting tone began to tell the story.

“It was towards the end of the Ori war. We were in PX something or other for a recon mission and walked into an ambush.” She stopped for a minute, as she wet her lips, and stared off into space. “It was bad,” she smiled a little as she looked back at Angela. “We’ve been in bad situations before; you can’t be on an SG team, especially if you’re in SG1, and not be in bad situations. But that was as bad as bad can get. We were all injured; I was injured pretty early on so I don’t remember much of it. Apparently, Daniel and Teal’c, who were the least injured, got us all back and collapsed as soon as they were through the Gate.” She paused a minute and took a few sips of water to wet her throat before continuing.

“But you were all fine right?” Angela asked, a bit apprehensive, even though the fight happened years ago. “Of course you were,” she answered her own question and continued with her ‘interrogation’. “Did he declare his love when you woke up?” She asked half jokingly, hoping it was that easy but knowing it wasn’t.

“Yeah, right,” Vala snorted. “I was the last to wake up; and though he was there he only waited long enough for the doctor to tell him I was out of danger before he went running back to his lab.” She paused and with a rueful smile continued, “I was ready to give up, you know. After all, I’d just been at death’s door and if he couldn’t bother to stick around then why bother, right?” Vala asked with a shrug, that didn’t quite hide the hurt she’d felt back then.

“You obviously didn’t give up,” Angela commented.

“No, I didn’t,” Vala answered with a laugh. “Thank God. Though, I guess I really should thank Jack. He came to see me after he saw what was going on.” She paused again as she thought of the best way to continue. “Daniel is a very private person and though I’d known him for over two years, I didn’t really know much about his past. And though Jack knew Daniel wouldn’t like it, he decided it was time I knew a bit more.” She paused again, not sure whether she should continue or not. Daniel would probably not like it if he found out she was talking about his past. But then it was her past too and there was something about Angela that encouraged confidences.

“Daniel lost his parents when he was very young and his grandfather, his only family, is on some planet getting to know giant aliens.” Angela started to laugh, but stopped as she realized Vala was not kidding. “And you know that he lost his wife to the Goa’uld.” It wasn’t said as a question, but Angela nodded anyway.

“Daniel considers SG1 family; he’s known Sam and Teal’c for over ten years and Cameron and I for over two. To see us injured like that and not know whether we would recuperate . . . well, it took him to a bad place. He’d already lost everyone else he’s ever cared for and there was no one to help him through it. Jack was there but it was all he could do to keep it together, not knowing if Sam would wake up or not. Jack made me see that Daniel running back to his lab was indisputable evidence that Daniel cared for me. He wouldn’t have needed to run and hide in his translations and books if he hadn’t been truly scared,” Vala said and Angela nodded in understanding.

“Jack also told me that if I really wanted to have more than a friendship with Daniel, then I had to be ready to fight for it. Because Daniel was in full retreat and he wouldn’t even consider the possibility of something more, much less actually do something about it. And he told me to be very sure before I did anything because Daniel was not an easy man to live with.”

“I gathered you did fight to be with him?” Angela said with a smile, as she took a sip of her coffee.

“Oh, yes.” Vala said with a laugh. “I had to fight him, and it wasn’t easy because he can be a very stubborn man when he wants to. But in the end I got my man,” she ended, saluting with her coffee cup.

“I’m glad,” Angela said with a laugh. “I like a woman that goes after what she wants.”

“It’s the only way to make sure you actually get what you want,” Vala said.

“True,” Angela agreed, and after a few moments of silence she said, “Well, it seems that Brennan and Daniel have more in common that just their academic interests.”

“Oh, really?” Vala asked with a tight smile.

“Um,” Angela agreed. “Bren also lost her parents at an early age and has used science and the lab as a refuge against getting hurt.”

“I guess they do have a lot in common,” Vala agreed grudgingly; it didn’t take someone with Angela’s power of observation to notice she wasn’t happy about it.

“You’re not jealous, are you?” Angela asked, remembering little things from earlier in the day.

“Me jealous?” Vala asked, in a scoffing tone. “Please! What do I have to be jealous about? I mean, she doesn’t have anything I don’t.” She protested.

“Me thinks the lady doth protest too much,” Angela murmured, slightly amused. Vala just looked at her with a ‘huh’ expression on her face. Angela laughed and waved it away, “Nothing, sorry. Bren is very nice, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Vala said, with a pout. “I’ve heard all about how nice and brilliant she is.”

“Oh, honey,” Angela said, as she leaned forward and touched Vala’s hand. “You have nothing to worry about; I’ve seen the way Daniel looks at you. He loves you; what he feels for Bren is just professional admiration. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Vala said, with a light frown. “He’s just such a hunk and innocent, that it’s very easy to take advantage of him.” Vala said and Angela had a feeling she was talking from experience.

“Oh, Vala,” Angela added with a laugh, as she sat back in her chair. “You have nothing to worry about there, either. Brennan is so preoccupied working with Booth, fighting with Booth, worrying about Booth and flirting with Booth that she doesn’t notice anything or anyone else around her.”

“Booth and Brennan, huh?” Vala asked, as she leaned forward, sure that there was an interesting story there. “So what’s the story? Are they an item?”

“Well, that’s a far more complicated answer than you’d think,” Angela answered.

“Oh, come on,” Vala wheedled. “We have time and I love complicated stories. Besides, I told you mine now I want to hear yours.”

Angela had to laugh at the way she phrased that and wondered whether she had known the common use of that phrase. She seemed to have a very good grasp of American slang but she was an alien, so one never knew. She hesitated before she started talking, well aware that neither Booth nor Brennan would appreciate knowing she was talking about their relationship. But after a while she decided to go for it; it wasn’t like she was telling some big secret after all.

“Ok, well I guess the answer of whether they are a couple or not would depend on your definition of what a couple is.”

“What do you mean?” Vala asked. “A couple is a couple, isn’t it?”

“Not when it comes to Booth and Bren,” Angela answered with a smile. “Nothing is that simple with those two.”

“Maybe you should start at the beginning,” Vala prompted.

“They started working together about three ago when the FBI requested Bren’s assistance in a case where the body was mostly bones,” Angela began.

“And were there sparks from the moment they met?” Vala wanted to know.

“Oh yes,” Angela answered with a laugh. “Though they were not the sparks you’re talking about. Or maybe they were,” she added thoughtfully and when she noticed Vala’s confused face, she clarified. “They fought like cats and dogs all through the first case. Booth didn’t believe Brennan could really add anything useful to the investigation, besides the victim’s identity. He didn’t have much patience with all the science and seemed uncomfortable with how smart Bren is.”

“Really?” Vala asked somewhat surprised, as she finished her coffee. “That’s kind of surprising, isn’t it?”

“Why?” Angela asked. “Because he doesn’t seem the type to let those kinds of things get to him?”

“No, well, yes that too,” Vala answered. “But I mean he’s quite smart himself so why should he be uncomfortable around smart people?”

“Well, of course he’s smart,” Angela answered a bit puzzled at Vala’s reaction. “But it’s a different kind of smart, you know. It’s not the kind when you go to school and get a degree.”

“But don’t you have to go to school to become a lawyer?” Vala asked, quite confused.

“Of course,” Angela answered automatically before she stopped to think what that question might mean. “Wait, are you saying that Booth is a lawyer?”

“Yes,” Vala said simply, and at the dumbfounded look on Angela’s face, she asked. “You didn’t know?”

“No,” Angela answered faintly, as her mind seemed to go blank for a few moments. “Are you sure? How do you know in the first place?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Vala answered. “I know because it came up in the background check Daniel did on all of you guys.”

“Then you are sure,” Angela said in a low voice, putting the fact that they’d ran background checks on the side for the moment. “I can’t believe he’s a lawyer. That means he has a JD – a Juris Doctor; that’s the equivalent of a PhD!” She concluded in an excited voice, as the realization sank in. “He basically has a doctorate,” Angela said in an amazed tone of voice looking right at Vala as if waiting for a response.

“Yeah, ok,” Vala said slowly, she might have a good grasp of American slang but she had almost no knowledge of the American education system. She had no idea what Angela was going on and on about.

“I can’t believe he’s never said anything.” Angela marveled. “And how he’s always harping on the other’s PhDs when he has one of his own. Oh, wait until I tell the others!” She laughed as she imagined the reactions of everyone when she dropped this little bomb. “This is going to be fun! I just have to find the right moment to let it slip.”

“You have something in mind?” Vala asked, she wasn’t quite sure what had happened, but she recognized the gleam in the other woman’s eyes. She was intrigued and more than willing to help out. “Because, if you need help, I volunteer.”

“Um,” Angela said “No, no plan yet. It has to be just right to get the reaction I want from everyone: surprise and chagrin from Booth and surprise, disbelief and amazement from everyone else. And don’t worry; I’ll let you know what I come up with.”

“Good,” Vala said, satisfied with the promise. “Now, why don’t you finish telling me about whether they’re an item or not?”

“Oh right,” Angela said, in her excitement she’d forgotten all about that. “Where was I? Oh yes, Brennan was a great help to Booth in the first case; so much so, that he requested her help with other cases. But the only way she’d work with him was if she got to go out in the field with him. He wasn’t happy about it, but he needed her help so he gave in. At first, they still had some problems getting along. They’re very different people with very different ways of doing things, so there was a period of, well, adjustment. But they soon found their rhythm and they’ve become a great crime fighting team. And I’ve been after them to realize that they’d also make a great romantic team, almost as long as they’ve known each other.”

“But they haven’t listened to you, huh?” Vala asked with a sympathetic smile.

“No, they’ve always gone on about how they’re only partners. And they’ve had other relationships but . . .” she trailed off with a deep sigh. “It’s just so frustrating when you see two people who are just perfect for each other but who refused to see it, you know? They’re best friends; they tell each other practically everything and whenever one is in trouble or preoccupied or even just happy, the other is the first person they call. I was Brennan’s best friend and had been for years until Booth came along; now, I know I’m still her best friend, but he comes first – there are things he knows that she won’t tell me.”

“Sounds like they’re in a relationship already,” Vala commented, scraping the last of the chocolate from her plate.

“Exactly!” Angela cried out, slapping her palm down on the table. “And I’ve been telling them that for months – especially since they’ve stopped dating other people. But they’ve always denied everything – well, up to this week, anyway.”

“What happened this week?” Vala asked, as she leaned forward, thinking that the gossip might just get juicer. “Did they hook up?”

“No, at least I don’t think so,” Angela answered and then she stared off, thinking about the possibility. “No,” She said more firmly. “Bren would have told me about it. But I did find out that my friend is not as oblivious as we thought. It turns out they’ve already talk about how their relationship is changing and how soon they’ll be ready for the next step.”

“That’s good,” Vala said with a smile. “At least they’ve already acknowledged the reality and discussed what they’re going to do about it.”

“Yes,” Angela said. “I just wished it hadn’t taken them so long.”

“Do you want to give them a push to hurry them along?” Vala asked, with a mischievous smile.

“No,” Angela answered with a small smile. “We better not; I’ve thought about it but Brennan has some issues she needs to come to terms with. Rushing her at this juncture would be counter-productive. I’m just glad she finally woke up – even if it did take her three years.”

“It could be worse you know,” Vala said. “They could have taken ten years before they did anything about it – like Jack and Sam.”

“Ten years?” Angela had known the couple had waited years before they could be together but she hadn’t known how many exactly. Somehow knowing the exact number made it all the more remarkable. “You’re right ten years would have been worse.” She then remembered something she’d thought of earlier and asked Vala, “Hey, do you think Sam regrets waiting ten years?”

“Regrets?” Vala repeated. “No, I don’t think so. She might wish they could have gotten together sooner but regretting those years? No, she knows that there was nothing she could have done – except leave the SGC and that was something neither was willing to do.”

“Um,” Angela nodded. There were similarities but there were also differences between the situations of the two couples. But still, “You think Sam might talk to Bren?”

“Sure,” Vala said easily, “about what specifically?”

“About falling in love with someone you work with, especially when it’s a dangerous job. About waiting years before acting; about trust, loyalty and respect and about how love can work despite big obstacles.” Angela answered and Vala just looked at her for a few moments, as she realized what Angela meant.

“I think we could work something out,” Vala answered slowly, as the two new friends shared a smile. They then put their heads together and started planning how they could give Brennan the push she needed without actually giving it.

The Men From the Gate

Disclaimer: Sadly, no, they're not mine.

A/N: Well, here's the next chapter. Hope you like it!!

Chapter 10

“You did good,” Cameron told Booth. as he closed his locker. After an hour on the firing range, where Booth had proven why he was a sniper, they had gone to the gym. After watching a few sparring matches, they had decided to join in the fun. Booth had fought a Sergeant before going against Mitchell and lastly he had faced Teal’c. Booth had won the match against the Sergeant; the match against Cameron had been a draw but, though he’d tried his best, Booth had lost the match against Teal’c.

“Right,” Booth scoffed. “I barely lasted five minutes against Teal’c.” Booth said, disgruntled. Though they’d used standard military fighting techniques, Teal’c had moves that were, well, out of this world.

“Considering that most people only last two minutes and the rest barely make it to three the first time they go up against Teal’c, you did better than good,” Cameron told him as they left the locker room where they had changed back into their uniforms. Teal’c had changed and left already and Cameron was pretty sure the other man had gone to talk to General O’Neill about the guards following them.

“You lasted a lot longer than that,” Booth commented, as they made their way to the elevators.

“I’ve been practicing with him more than three years now; you can’t really compare,” Cameron said with a shrug.

“You think he’d be willing to practice with me?” Booth asked.

“I’m sure he will,” Cameron answered with a grin. “You impressed him, you know?”

“You think?” Booth asked and Cameron nodded. “How can you tell? He didn’t say anything.”

“I know him,” was Cameron’s simple answer.

“Has anyone ever beaten him?” Booth wanted to know.

“I think Jackson has come close a few times but as far as I know the only one to beat him has been General O’Neill.”

“General O’Neill?” Booth asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” Cameron answered, as he pressed the button to call the elevator. “They’ve been practicing at least twice a week for the last ten plus years.”

“Huh,” Booth said, as they entered the elevator, followed by the guard. “How old is the general? He must be one of the youngest two-star generals ever.”

“Maybe,” Cameron answered with a shrug. “But his age doesn’t really matter when it comes to physical strength, anyway.” At Booth’s questioning glance, he clarified, “Side benefits of Gate travel.”

“Really?” now Booth was intrigued.

“Well not of the Gate itself but of an artifact that the Goa’uld used.” Cameron explained.

“Sounds like a very good artifact,” Booth said as they got off the elevator.

“Yeah, except that it has some very nasty side effects; in fact, I know for a fact that the general didn’t willingly use it.” Cameron said somberly.

“Ah,” Booth said, as he nodded, realizing that war was war no matter where it was fought.

“Yeah,” Cameron said as the two shared a knowing look. They fell silent until they reached the lab, where Brennan and the rest of the squints where busy with Sam and Daniel, looking for answers.

“Bones!” he said as they walked in. Booth immediately went to stand by where Brennan was sitting. “How is it going?”

“Fine,” Brennan started to answer as she looked up from the computer. When she saw him, she was distracted, “Booth, what are you wearing?”

“Oh, this,” Booth said as he looked down at himself. “These are BDUs,” he answered as he fingered the SGC patch on one of the sleeves. “This is what they normally wear here at the base. I changed into them after my time at the gym.”

“Um,” Brennan said, as she admired how the black t-shirt, underneath the green shirt, lovingly hugged his torso. “You worked out?”

“In a matter of speaking,” Booth answered. “I had a couple of sparring matches.” He told her, as he leaned on the side of the table she was using.

“Really?” Brennan asked, as she leaned closer to him. “How’d you do?”

“Pretty good,” Booth answered with a smirk. “Though I’d only lasted about five minutes against Teal’c. I’m telling you, Bones, that man has some wicked moves. I’m going to ask him if he can teach me some of them.”

“Well, he is from another planet and of a species that was bred for war, according to what I’ve heard. It stands to reason that he’d know some interesting techniques.” She paused and looked at Booth with a glimmer in her eyes, “You think he’d be willing to teach me too?”

“Oh, Bones,” Booth protested. “Don’t you already know enough ways to kick a man’s ass?” At her raised eyebrows, he chuckled, “Right, forgot to whom I was speaking for a minute there. You could never know enough ways to kick someone’s ass.”

“No, I couldn’t.” Brennan agreed. “It’s always a good idea to know how to defend oneself.” She told him seriously and then asked him with a grin, “So, you think he’d teach me?”

“I guess so,” Booth shrugged. “I don’t really know him but I don’t see why he’d say no.”

“Good,” Brennan said, with a nod, before she went back to her computer.

“So any progress?” Booth asked, as he picked up a pen, and started playing with it.

Before she could answer, General O’Neill entered the room and captured everyone’s attention. Booth straightened from his slouched position by Brennan’s side, but relaxed when he noticed that neither Sam, who was seated by the table next to Brennan, nor Cameron, who had sat down next to Sam, straightened from their positions.

“So, kids,” the general said, as he clapped his hands “you have anything useful yet?”

“Well,” Hodgins started to answer but Daniel beat him to the punch.

“Jack!” he said, as he jumped up from his seat, where he had been going through the planet’s database to create some sort of list of the most likely planets to check. “Why did you send those goons to guard us?” Jack just looked at Daniel while Sam and Cameron shared a look – they had known that Daniel would have something to say about the guards.

“They are not goons, Daniel,” Jack finally said with a sigh. “They’re highly trained marines.”

“Whatever,” Daniel said with a wave of his hand. “Why did you send them to follow us?”

“They’re to follow you for your protection,” Jack explained in the tone of voice he would have explained to a five year old why he had to eat all his vegetables.

“Come on, Jack!” Daniel said, as he threw his hands up. “We can protect ourselves. You saw to that, yourself.” Daniel reminded him. “And what could possibly happen to us inside the base?”

“You never know, Daniel,” Jack answered, calmly enough, but Sam could see that he was nearing the end of his patience. She looked behind Jack and saw that Teal’c had come behind Jack. By the look on his face, Sam could tell that it was Teal’c that had strained Jack’s patience – probably arguing about the same subject.

“If you’re so worried about it, Jack, maybe we could just start carrying a gun or a zat gun inside the base,” Daniel said.

“Yeah, right,” Jack scoffed

“Hey,” Daniel protested. “I’m a good shot!”

“Yes, you are,” Jack agreed. “When you’re paying attention to your surroundings, Jack pointed out. “But it takes a Goa’uld attack to make you pay attention when you’re busy studying your rocks. And that’s out in the field; you really expect me to believe you’re going to be aware here on the base? When there’s so much to do?” Jack asked in a disbelieving tone.

“Jack,” Daniel started to protest, but Jack cut him off.

“No, Daniel,” Jack said firmly, in the tone he used when he’d made up his mind and nothing would change it. “The guards stay and that’s final. And I really don’t want to hear another word about it.” His patience was almost snapped and Daniel knew better than to keep pushing Jack at the moment. He sat down, with a muttered ‘fine’, and turned back to the computer.

“So,” Jack said again, after taking a deep breath to calm down. “Any progress?”

“Actually, yes” Hodgins said, after an amused glance Daniel’s way. “I’ve finished analyzing the fabric found with the bodies. The fabric found with the first victim was cotton with synthetic polymers dyed olive green.”

“Right and that means?” Jack asked, with a frown, as he looked from Hodgins to Sam.

“It means that he was wearing a military uniform,” Booth said thoughtfully, before anyone else had a chance to speak. Everyone, especially the squints, turned to look at him with surprise. “What?” he asked with a shrug, “I’ve worked with you guys for almost four years; I’ve picked up a few things,” he said in his defense. He then remembered that Bones had said something about how the victim appeared to have been wearing a uniform. “But he wasn’t wearing any dog-tags, was he?” He turned to the general for confirmation.

“No,” Jack answered, as he raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. “He wasn’t. And there wasn’t a match when we ran his teeth through the database. Why wasn’t there a match?” He looked at Sam while he asked.

“I don’t know,” Sam shook her head. “If he was in the military, even if he was retired, there should have been a match.”

“Maybe he wasn’t in the military,” Hodgins said, more than happy to come up with different theories. “Maybe he just borrowed a uniform for the night.”

“Or,” Brennan said, as she got up and went to examine the bones more closely. Because she had examined both bodies the night before, she hadn’t done more than a cursory examination of the human body that day, preferring instead to concentrate on the body of the alien. “Maybe,” she mused out loud, as she shared a look with Booth, before she picked up the skull and brought it to a microscope.

“You think maybe he had some surgery that would make the dental records useless?” Booth asked as he remembered one of their earliest cases.

“It’s possible,” Brennan said, as she examined the skull under the microscope. “It would certainly explain why there wasn’t a match.”

“But why would a soldier have surgery to alter his dental records?” Zack asked, perplexed.

“Who knows why a soldier does anything, man,” Hodgins said, and was promptly silenced by Booth’s glare.

“Maybe Hodgins is right,” Cameron said, ignoring the by-play. “Maybe he just borrowed a uniform.”

But Jack was already shaking his head.

“No,” he said firmly. “Just putting on a uniform wouldn’t have been enough to gain access to the dinner last night – security was too tight. Everyone was asked for identification and their fingerprints were verified before they were allowed inside.” Jack explained and Booth and Brennan nodded their heads, as they remembered how long the line to get in had been. “The guest list was fairly exclusive and even the guests were vetted beforehand. A military uniform by itself would not have been enough,” he repeated.

“Unless,” Sam said, “they were beamed in.” Jack looked at her for a moment before giving a sharp nod of acceptance.

Booth and Brennan shared a look and Hodgins had to bite his tongue to stop himself from making a Star Trek joke.

“Have you verified that all the military officers in attendance are accounted for?” Booth asked the general.

“Those that had to report for duty,” was the answer. “But there were quite a few that were either retired or on leave; we’ve tried to track them all down but frankly because of all the security measures we had in place, that hasn’t been a priority. We assumed it was more likely the security leak had come from the catering staff and have been focusing our efforts there.” Jack sighed as he crossed his arms and leaned against a table. “But today’s Sunday, so we haven’t really gotten very far yet. And really, given that one of the bodies was a Jaffa, we weren’t really expecting to find anything.” He finished with a shake of his head.

“Well, he definitely had some work done on his teeth, but the technique was so sophisticated that there’s barely any evidence of it. I don’t know of anyone on Earth who is capable of such work.” Brennan said, after she straightened from the microscope.

“But he is human?” Cameron asked, just to be sure.

“Yes,” Brennan answered, as she put the skull back with the rest of the body. “But whether he was born on Earth or not, I can’t tell just yet.”

“So, to recap,” Booth said, as he shifted and crossed his ankles, as well as his arms. “What we have here is a human male that may or may not have been born on Earth; that could be military and that had some alien doctor do work on his teeth. Am I right?” He asked as he looked around the room.

“Yes,” Brennan answered as she sat back down, everyone else just nodded.

“The kind of surgery Dr. Brennan’s talking about would dramatically alter a person’s jaw and facial structure.” Camille commented. “Why would a military officer do that if he was planning to still use his military identity? He’d need his face to be the same so that he’d be recognized.”

“The surgery he had was extremely sophisticated,” Brennan explained. “It altered his teeth enough so that there wouldn’t be a match but not so much that his actual face would not be recognized by those who knew him before.”

“Ok,” Sam said. “But still the only military personnel that go off-world are members of the SGC and they are all thoroughly examined when they come back from a mission.”

“Unless those exams,” Brennan said shaking her head, “included, checking the jaw bone at a microscopic level they wouldn’t have caught this.” That announcement silenced the room as the implications sank in.

“Damn it!” Jack exploded a few moments later, breaking the silence. “Do you know what that means?” He asked Brennan as Cameron, Sam and Daniel shared troubled glances. “Do you know how many persons have been assigned to the SGC over the last ten years? How many have gone off world? And they’re not all still here; some have retired, some have gone on to other assignments. They’re all over the place.”

“And there’s still the question of why.” Sam said. “Why would someone who has worked here do something like this? And when, when would there be time to have such surgery? Every minute that a team is off-world is accounted for.”

“You’re talking about motive and opportunity,” Booth said. “But what we need to concentrate on right now is the ‘who’. We need find to find out exactly who this person was and then look for the other answers” he told them all before he turned to Jack. “Since he more than likely was a member of the SGC, do you know who from the SGC was invited to last night’s dinner?”

“No,” Jack answered. “Not offhand, though I know it wasn’t many. But I like I said, a lot of SGC personnel have either retired or gone on to other posts. I might know a lot of the people that have worked here, but it’s impossible to know them all. And there were a lot of people last night.”

“But you can get a list of the guests and compare it to a list of past and present SGC personnel?” Booth asked, and Brennan could tell by the way he’d straightened and was talking that he was taking control of the investigation.

“Yes,” Jack answered with a nod. “It shouldn’t be a problem, though the comparisons will take some time.”

“That’s ok,” Booth said. “If I can have a copy of both lists as soon as you have them?” he asked and Jack nodded. “I’d also like a copy of everything you’ve gotten from the catering company,” he requested, thinking that he should have been given that information already. As soon as Jack nodded again, he turned to Brennan. “Bones, will Angela be able to create an accurate face from that skull with the alterations?

“I’m not sure,” Brennan said with a shrug. “Though the surgery wouldn’t have dramatically changed his appearance, it might throw off the tissue markers.”

“Ok, well, we’ll see what we get,” he said before he turned to Hodgins. “What about the fabric found with the second victim?”

“Just a standard poly-cotton blend, dyed white,” Hodgins answered and had Brennan looking up from the sample she’d begun to study again.

“Like the kind used for waiter’s uniforms?” Brennan asked Hodgins.

“Yeah,” Hodgins said with a nod.

“General,” she said as she turned to look at Jack. “Do you have the video footage from the corridor outside the restrooms?”

“Yes,” Jack answered. “But there must have been some kind of interference because there’s nothing on them for about twenty minutes before the explosion. Why?”

“I just remembered that when I came out of the bathroom last night, I saw a waiter and a military officer talking down that corridor.” She explained.

Both Booth and Jack straightened at the news. “Can you describe either one?” Booth asked.

“No,” Brennan said after thinking about it for a moment. “Sorry, I just saw them a moment as I was going back to the dining room and they had their backs to me.”

“How long before the explosion was that?” Booth asked.

“Um,” Brennan said as she thought about it. “I guess maybe fifteen minutes or so. It was right before I ran into Sam.” She turned to look at Sam, who agreed it was about ten to fifteen minutes prior to the explosion.

“That sounds about right given that Dr. Brennan does not appear on the recording before the feed was interrupted,” Jack said.

“Was the recording interrupted or erased?” Booth asked.

“We’re not sure,” he said with a shrug, before he turned towards Sam, and said her name in inquiry.

“I’ve studied the recording and I’d say that the feed was interrupted and not erased.” Sam started explaining. “There doesn’t seem to be anything there to be erased. Plus, leaving aside the fact that there really wasn’t time for anyone to get to the disc to erase it, the timing of the disruption is just too perfect. The image is interrupted before anyone can be seen and it comes back on right after the explosion occurred. If I’d have to take a guess, I’d say that one of the victims was carrying some kind of magnetic device that disrupted the feed before they came within the camera’s range but which was destroyed during the explosion thus allowing the recording to begin again. Also,” Sam added as an afterthought, “the time markers are intact.”

“I’d like to see those recording,” Booth told Jack, who again just nodded. “Bones,” he said as he turned back to Brennan, “how long until Angela can start with the sketches?” But then he looked around and asked before Brennan could answer him, “Where is Angela, by the way?”

“She and Vala are in the cafeteria having a snack,” Zack, who had seen them not too long ago, answered.

Booth nodded and turned back to Brennan, “Bones?”

“Well,” Brennan began. “Hodgins and Camille have already taken the samples they needed and are now running their tests. Zack and I have learned what we can from the remains in this state and Zack should be done cleaning the bones shortly. I’d say Angela can begin the sketches first thing tomorrow morning. But,” she added “without the Angelator here, it might take her a bit longer to finish them.”

“That’s fine,” Booth said. “I know she’ll finish them as soon as she can.” He then looked at his watch before saying, “you’ve been at this for a while now and it’s getting late, I think you should call it quits in a couple of hours.”

“What? Booth, no.” Brennan protested while Hodgins and Zack just sat back to see who’d win this battle. “We’ve barely began and we have a lot to do. I can’t just stop now.”

“I’m not telling you to stop now,” Booth argued. “I said you should stop in a couple of hours. I’m going to check out the video and other information and I’ll come back to pick you guys up.” He said as he looked around at the other squints. “It’s been a long day and I know,” he added looking at Brennan, “that you went to bed late last night.”

At that little tidbit, Hodgins had to again bite his tongue as he shared a knowing look with Camille; oh, Angela was going to have a field day with that piece of information.

“But,” Brennan started to protest again but was cut off by Jack.

“Major Booth is right,” he said. He had been impressed by the way Booth had taken over the conversation and hadn’t let the fact the there were three senior officers in the room intimidate him. “It has been a long day and I know that at least you two,” he said looking at Sam and Daniel, “had almost no sleep last night. So in a couple of hours we should all call it a night.”

Cries of ‘but Jack’ and ‘but sir’ came from Daniel and Sam respectively but Jack just looked at his squints and said firmly. “No ‘buts’. You’ve been at this for over twelve hours; it’s time you took a break. This investigation is important,” he added, knowing that’d be their next argument. “But not so dire that you need to pull another all-nighter. You can come and look at all this with fresh eyes tomorrow.” He then looked at them until Sam said, “Yes, sir.” And Daniel reluctantly nodded before turning back to his computer.

“Good,” he said and it was obvious from his attitude that he considered the question settled. “Major,” he told Booth. “I’ll have everything you need set up in the conference room.”

“Thank you, sir,” Booth nodded. “I’ll be there in a minute,” he added, knowing that while the question of when to quit might be settled in the general’s mind, it was far from settled in Brennan’s.

“I’ll come too,” Cameron said, knowing that there was nothing for him to do in the lab. Jack nodded, turned and with one last look at Sam, he left. Teal’c and Cameron followed him out of the lab.

“Bones,” Booth began but Brennan beat him to it.

“Booth, I’m not quitting in two hours,” she said determinedly. “He might think he can tell us what to do . . .”

“He doesn’t think so, Bones,” Booth interrupted her. “He knows he can.”

“He might have the authority to tell you what to do but he has no authority to tell me . . .”

“Bones,” Booth cut her off again. “Remember when I told you that there’d be rules and protocol you’d have to follow? And that you might not be able to do things like you’d want?” He asked, well aware that the rest of the squints were avidly watching them while Sam and Daniel pretended to ignore them.

“Yes, but . . .” Brennan started to answer.

“No, no ‘buts’” Booth told her firmly. “We have to do what he tells us; there’s no way around it.” When he saw her frustrated face, he added, “Look at it this way you still have two hours to do all manner of squinty things.” He tried a charm smile to calm her but had only marginal results. Deciding to get out while he was ahead, he told her “I’ll be back in two hours. Have fun playing with your bones.” And with a final glance, he was gone.

“Arg,” Brennan said, after Booth left, as she moved some samples rather forcefully on the table. “He can be so exasperating!”

Hodgins, Zack and Camille shared amused glances before they turned back to their test, knowing that in two hours they’d be calling it quits for the night.

“How do you stand it?” Brennan asked Sam after a few minutes of silence.

“Um,” Sam said, as she turned to look at the irritated woman. “How do I stand what?”

“How do you stand being married to someone that can order you around?” Brennan clarified.

“Oh,” Sam said with a laugh. “Jack doesn’t order me around,” she denied. At Brennan’s skeptical, “it sure looked like that to me,” she added, “these are not normal circumstances, you know. Sure, Jack is a superior officer but we’re not usually in the same chain of command. So, he doesn’t have a reason to tell me what to do.”

“But that’s now that you’re married,” Brennan said, remembering what the other woman had told her the night before. “What about before you became involved? When you were in the same chain, he told you what to do then, right?” At Sam’s nod, Brennan asked, “How did you stand it? Didn’t it drive you crazy to have the man you cared about, order you around?”

“Well,” Sam answered, as she sat back in her chair and turned more fully towards Brennan. “You have to understand that back then, he wasn’t just he man I cared for; that wasn’t even the first thing he was. First and foremost, he was my commanding officer and I was duty bound to do what he ordered. I’m career military, Temperance; hell, I was even an Air Force brat. The military, with its rules and hierarchy, is all I know; if I had a problem with someone else telling me what to do, then, I’d be in the wrong line of work.”

“See, that’s what I don’t understand,” Brennan said. “That willingness to follow orders; Booth also has it and I just don’t understand it,” she finished with a shake of her head.

“I guess we just believe in something bigger than us,” Sam said. “And we’re willing to sacrifice some things to be a part of it. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s always better to be the one giving the orders than to be the one receiving them,” she added, with a laugh, and Brennan chuckled too. “But before we’re ready to be the ones giving the orders we have to pay our dues. And the truth of the matter is, that while I’ve been ordered to do some hard things, things I wouldn’t have done on my own initiative, there were things that needed to be done. And that’s why I was the one following orders instead of giving them. That’s why Jack was the CO and I was the 2IC. That’s why he and Landry and Hammond made general; because they are ready, willing and able to make those tough decisions – the decisions no one else wants to make.” She paused for a minute and then added.

“It’s not an easy job and it takes a great toll on a person; not everyone can do it. And we know that; we know that at the end of the day, they’re doing their jobs – protecting and caring, not only for those under their command, but for the whole country, hell, even the planet. That’s why we follow them, why we obey their orders, because we believe that they’re doing what needs to be done to ensure everyone’s safety.”

Brennan nodded slowly, trying to take in everything the other woman had said. She understood the concept in principle but in practice . . .

“I don’t know,” Brennan said, shaking her head. “I don’t think I’d like having my boyfriend or husband, tell me what to do.”

“Like I said,” Sam said with a laugh, “he doesn’t really tell me what to do outside of extraordinary circumstances, and then it’s usually just to make sure I take care of myself. And sometimes, I get so wrapped up in my work that if it wasn’t for him I would forget to take care of myself.” Sam paused again and added thoughtfully, “I guess, in the end, it all comes down to respect and trust. I respect Jack and trust him to make the right decisions for everyone. And he’s never let me down. I imagine it’s the same with you and Booth; the same reason why you listen to him when you’d rather not.”

Brennan nodded again and they both turned back to their jobs.

The Men From the Gate

Disclaimer: No, not mine - really, do we have to keep going over this?

A/N: Well, here's the next chapter. I hope you're still reading it cause last chapter only garner on review. Thank you, to Pup as always for her help with the beta and to fab for taking the time to let me she likes it!!

Chapter 11

Two and a half hours later, Booth walked into the lab to find all the squints (his and O’Neill’s) still engrossed in their work. He just knew they’d lost track of time. He stood by the threshold and waited to see if anyone noticed him; and after a few minutes of silence, he coughed and still nothing. He moved towards Brennan’s table and leaned against its side.

“Ok, Bones, come on; let’s go,” he said.

“What?” Brennan said with a distracted air. “Booth, what are you doing here? I’m busy, go away,” she said without looking up from her work.

“Bones,” Booth said, as he pulled Brennan’s chair from the table. “It’s been two and a half hours; half an hour more than what we agreed on . . .”

“We didn’t agree on anything,” Brennan interrupted, as she finally turned to look at him. “You decreed and expected me to just go along with it.”

“Bones,” Booth said again, ignoring her outburst. “Come on, it’s time to call it quits. You had an extra half hour to run all manner of tests and now it’s time to stop for the night.”

He then turned to look at the others in the room and said, “That goes for all of you. The general,” he added, looking at Sam and Daniel, “was finishing a phone call and couldn’t come down. But he told me to tell you that he expects to see you up top in ten minutes and you better not make him come down to get you.”

Sam nodded and with a small smile started to shut everything down. It had been a long day and a good night’s sleep wouldn’t be the worst thing. Daniel too started to shut down everything, but he did so mumbling about how he wasn’t a child and didn’t need a keeper telling him when to go to bed.

Hodgins, who was sitting close to the archeologist and grinning widely at his mutterings, closed down his computer and asked, “Booth, do you know where Angela is? She hasn’t been by all afternoon. We can’t leave without her.”

“Don’t worry,” Booth answered, as he was pulling Brennan up and she was batting his hands away. “She’s on her way up. She came by the conference room about half an hour ago, saying she was hungry and wanted to go to dinner.”

“That sounds like a good idea, actually,” Hodgins agreed, as he walked towards the door. “I’m hungry too.”

“Good,” Booth answered, he had succeeded in making Brennan shut down her computer and was now pushing her towards the door where the rest of the squints were waiting. “She and Vala have decided that we’re all going to O’Malley’s,” Booth explained, as they walked towards the elevator.

Forty minutes later, they were all settled down at their tables and were studying the menus. When Brennan had decided what she wanted, she put the menu down and looked around the table.

“This is a typical division,” Brennan commented to Booth who was sitting next to her.

“Hum?” Booth said, as he too put down his menu. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that anthropologically speaking whenever a large group like this gets together, there tends to be a division along gender lines. It has to . . .”

“Ugh,” Booth interrupted Brennan’s anthropological lecture, “I really don’t want to hear the reasons, Bones. That’s just the way things are,” he said with a shrug, as he looked down the table where sure enough all the women were on one side and all the men were on the other. All the couples were seated directly across from each other. Booth, who was sitting at the head of the table, was the only man to be seated next to a woman: Brennan. “Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure,” Brennan said, as she put down her glass of water. “You can tell me how come he gets to have a gun and I don’t.”

“Who is he?” Booth asked in a resigned tone.

“Dr. Jackson,” was Brennan’s answer. She paused, while the waiter took their order, before she continued. “Last night, you told me that the reason Sam had a gun was because she was military. Well, Dr. Jackson is not military; in fact, he’s a scientist, just like I am. Well, ok, his PhDs are in archeology, linguistics and anthropology and not forensic anthropology but still I think . . .”

“Ok, ok,” Booth interrupted her once again. “He’s a squint just like you; I get it.” He said withfrustration as he raked his fingers through his hair. “But that’s where the similarities end.”

“What are talking about?” Brennan asked, indignantly. “We both go out into the field.”

“Yeah, ok,” Booth agreed. “But there are two big differences between the two of you.”

“Yes, what are they?” Brennan asked, as she sat back and crossed her arms.

“Well, number one,” Booth said, as he held up one finger, “he’s never shot an unarmed man without any warning,”

“That wasn’t my fault,” now it was Brennan who interrupted Booth. “If I hadn’t stopped him, he would have destroyed the evidence – and killed me.

“And that’s why the case didn’t go to trial,” Booth responded, thinking that only Bones would put destroying the evidence before her safety, “But the fact remains, that you were charged and have a record. Dr. Jackson doesn’t.”

“What’s the second one?” She asked after a few moments of sulking.

“The second one what?” Booth asked, as he shifted in his chair.

“You said there were two big differences between Dr. Jackson and I. What’s the second difference?”

“Ah,” Booth said, as he nodded and sat down his glass. “Well, Dr. Jackson works for the military and you don’t. And the military has its own rules governing who they give weapons to. Don’t,” he said, when he saw Brennan opening her mouth.

“What?” she asked with an innocent smile, “I didn’t say anything.”

“Maybe not, but I can tell what you’re thinking,” he said and continued talking over Brennan’s protests that he wasn’t a mind reader. “You wouldn’t like being in the military, Bones, trust me. You don’t have the discipline.”

“What?!” she asked, once again indignant. “What do you mean I don’t have discipline? How do you think I got to where I am without discipline?”

“Yes, Bones,” Booth said before she could really get started. “I know that you have great discipline, but it’s a discipline that you impose. You have no use for any discipline that’s imposed by someone else nor do you have much patience with authority figures. You wouldn’t last two days in the military before you were kick out for insubordination.”

Brennan opened her mouth to argue but Booth just looked at her, daring her to disagree. She reconsidered and then closed her mouth. She really couldn’t disagree – he was right after all and she’d said something very similar to Sam not too long ago. Booth smirked and they fell silent for a few moments until Brennan gave a deep sigh and sat back in her chair.

“It’s not fair,” she said. “I didn’t really hurt him and the evidence I saved, sent him to jail. But do they think about that? No, of course not, and I still can’t get a gun. It’s not fair,” she repeated.

“No, it’s not,” Booth agreed and took a sip of water to hide his smile. It was a rare thing to see Brennan pouting or sulking, but it did happen from time to time. Booth was happy that he was one of the few that got to experience the phenomenon because it meant that she really trusted him. “But look at the bright side.”

“What bright side?” she asked, doubtfully.

“Well, you don’t really need a gun because I’m always there to protect you and be your gun, however,” he added quickly, when he saw that she was opening her mouth to protest, “whenever there is a particularly dangerous situation that I think merits you carrying a gun, I always give you my side piece, don’t I?” He waited for her nod and then added, “So, you see, if you need a gun you have a gun and, this is the bright side, you don’t have to deal with all the paper work that comes when you’re assigned a gun. You get to have the gun, discharge it if needed and then go home while I have to go back to the Hoover building and fill out all the paper work to explain the shooting.”

“Hmm,” Brennan said, as she thought about it. It was true that he was always there to protect her and that he didn’t make a big deal of giving her a gun when the situation warranted it. And a gun wouldn’t have made much difference those times she’d been in danger when he wasn’t around. In fact, the one time he was kidnapped, his gun didn’t do him much good. And the last thing she needed was more paperwork. “Ok, maybe you’re right. Maybe there is a bright side.”

“Of course there is,” Booth said firmly. “See, Bones, if you’d just listen to me more often, life would be much easier all around.”

“Yeah, right,” she scoffed. “Like that’s going to happen,” she said with a smile. One he happily returned.

“So,” he said after the waiter had left their dinner. “What have you found so far?”

Brennan started on her plate at the same time she started to relate the few discoveries they’d made so far. They were unaware that they were the subject of the intense discussion that was taking place a few seats down.

“They look so intense, I wonder what they’re talking about,” Vala said, as she studied Booth and Brennan from the corner of her eye. She was sitting halfway down the side with Angela on one side and Sam on the other. Cam was at Angela’s side and Janet at Sam’s. Though Cam was next to Brennan, the space between their chairs was larger than the space between the other chairs, as Brennan had pushed her chair closer to Booth’s, as well as turned her body in his direction.

“Well,” Angela said from Vala’s side, as she started her meal without bothering to look at the couple in question. “It is Booth and Brennan we’re talking about, so they’re either bickering about the most trivial thing or they’re discussing the case.”

“Really?” Dr. Janet Frasier, who had been waiting with Vala and Angela by the cars, asked from her seat. “They seem too . . . passionate for them to be merely bickering or discussing work.”

“Oh, I know,” Angela said with a wave of her fork. “They’re very passionate people and most of their interactions are very . . . lively. But trust me, usually the more passionate they’re being, the more they’re disagreeing.”

“And you said that they’re not a couple?” Janet asked for confirmation of a fact that she didn’t really believe.

“No, they’re not,” Angela said, as she too turned and studied the couple, who was still oblivious to the attention they were attracting. “Sad, isn’t it?” She asked. “It seems like everyone, but them, can see it.”

“You did say,” Vala said, “that they’ve had the talk. So, they do see it.”

“I guess,” Angela said, doubtfully. “But I don’t want to get my hopes up, you know. They may have had a talk and Brennan may not be as clueless as I thought, but she still has a long way to go.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Sam said, speaking up for the first time. “I don’t think she has as far to go as you might think.” As she stopped talking, all the women (sans Brennan) turned to look at her.

“What?” Angela squealed, but quieted down quickly when she saw Daniel and Jack, as well as Hodgins, turning to look at her. She waved at them and then turned to see if Booth or Brennan had noticed it, but they were so into each other, they hadn’t noticed anything. “What do you mean?” she asked much more quietly.

“Well,” Sam said, as she put down her fork, aware that all four of the women were again looking at her. “Nothing, it’s just a feeling I got when we were talking earlier today. It seems to me that she’s already thinking about what it would be like if they were in a relationship.”

“But what did she say?” Angela asked, as she turned her whole attention to Sam and almost forgot her dinner. Sam chuckled and started to recount the conversation she’d had with Temperance a few hours ago.

“But, you know,” Sam added after she’d finished the story and after Angela had finished squealing (quietly), “she’s not the only one that has issues.” Janet nodded her head in agreement with the statement while Camille and Vala looked thoughtful and Angela looked surprised.

“What do you mean?” unsurprisingly, it was Angela who asked.

“Well,” Sam began slowly, as she put her drink down. “How much do you know about his past?”

Angela looked at Camille before she turned back to Sam and answered, “We know that he was an Army Ranger and a sniper. And that he’s been in the FBI for a few years but not much more than that. He’s very private.” Angela paused and Sam nodded. “I do know that Brennan knows more about it; though, she’s never spoken about it because she’d never break his confidence.”

“Of course she wouldn’t,” Sam agreed and took a few seconds before continuing. “Well, you know that I barely know Booth, but he reminds me of Jack. And, well, let’s just say that their military careers are . . . similar. Giving that, I have a feeling that he has as far to go as she does. But, I have no doubt that they’ll get there eventually. Look at Jack and I; it took us a while but we got here.”

“Yeah,” Angela answered slowly, it was obvious she was thinking about what Sam had said. “I just hope it doesn’t take them as long. No offense,” she added quickly.

“No offense taken,” Sam said with a laugh. They then started to guess how long it would take Brennan and Booth to ‘wake up’ and who’d ‘wake up’ first.

Because of the proximity to the couple, they hadn’t been able to speak very loudly and they’d all pushed their chairs closer together until they were almost touching. The men in front of them had noticed this and were making their own speculations about what could be so interesting.

“So, what do you think they’re talking about so intensely?” Jack asked Cameron and Teal’c who were to his left. He’d ask Daniel except that he was occupied with the scientists from the Jeffersonian. Besides, the space monkey didn’t know much about women.

“Well, General,” Cameron answered, as he put down his glass, and picked up his fork again. “Usually when a group of women congregate like that,” he said as he waved towards the now giggling group of women, “and acts like that, they’re engaging in one type of conversation: men.”

“Indeed, O’Neill,” Teal’c agreed with a nod of his head, as he paused his eating. “I have observed that when women act like that they are either talking of men or romance. Though,” he added thoughtfully, “I have rarely seen Col. Carter act thusly.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Cameron asked, incredulous as he looked over at Teal’c. “Haven’t you seen how she acts whenever she and Vala get together? It’s like ‘Invasions of the Cheerleaders from Hell.’” He finished with a mock shudder. Teal’c looked at Cameron for a moment before he inclined his head again in agreement.

“But in his defense,” Jack said, pointing at Teal’c. “Sam had never acted like that before she met Vala. But,” he continued as he turned once more to look at the women. “Who do you think they’re talking about?”

“If I had to take a guess,” Cameron said slowly, “I’d say that they’re talking about Booth and his lady doctor. From what I gathered, whether they’re involved or not, seems to be a highly discussed question.”

“Yeah,” Jack said as he picked up his beer. “That’s what I thought.” He added with a nod and then he started to talk about the latest hockey scores.

Less than an hour later, the gender division had once more made its appearance. The men had gone to play billiards and the women had stayed behind. Sam would usually have joined the men and would have also beaten them, but this time she decided to stay and just observe them. It was a very nice way to pass the time.

“They sure look great, don’t they?” Angela asked, as she observed the men from where she was relaxing in her chair, drinking wine.

“Yeah, they’re all very hot,” Vala agreed, with a naughty grin.

“You know,” Sam began, in a contemplative tone, “not because he’s my husband, but I think Jack is one of the best looking men here. There’s just something about his white hair, tanned skin, those muscles and that great smile,” and then because she’d had a few glasses of wine, she added with a saucy smile, “not to mention that very nice behind.”

Janet looked at her friend with an amused smile while Cam, Angela and Brennan checked out the ‘nice behind’.

“I don’t know, Sam,” Vala said, sounding surprisingly serious. “Jack does have a great behind, I agree,” she had, after all, she'd already checked out everyone’s behinds. “And all you mentioned is true enough, but, personally and objectively, I think Daniel is better looking. I mean take those blue eyes of his – a woman can just get lost in them. And he has as many muscles as Jack and his behind is twice as good.” Vala was going to continued expanding on Daniel’s attributes but was stopped by Angela’s snort.

“Please, like either of you are being objective,” Angela said with a roll of her eyes. “I mean, your guys are good looking and all, but they’re not any better looking than Hodgins. You want to talk blue eyes; Hodgie has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. And though he’s a bit shorter than the rest, I can assure you that he’s lacking in nothing else. He might not look it, but that man has as much muscle as the next man. As for his behind, well, we can all see for ourselves.” And they all turned around and stared at Hodgins, who had just bent down to take a shot. After a few moments of silent contemplation, Brennan spoke up.

“I don’t think any one of you can be objective,” Brennan observed and had Sam, Vala and Angela turning to look at her.

“And you can, sweetie?” Angela asked very sweetly.

“Yes,” Brennan answered matter of fact. “I think, objectively speaking, that Booth has the best structure of the group.” She ignored the laughs and ‘of course’ scoffs of the other women and continued in an analytical manner. “His musculature is ideal for his size, his features are symmetrical, his eyes may not be blue but his shade of brown is not only beautiful but also stronger than the lighter colors. His height is above average and is a source of comfort for those around him, he has a quick brain allowing him to act quickly in dangerous situations, he also has great wit and sense of humor and his alpha male qualities, while annoying, also make him a most reliable person. All in all, he is a great candidate for mating.” This clinical analysis of her partner was received by complete silence by her tablemates. She looked around at the stunned faces and innocently asked, “What?”

“Well,” Vala spoke up, after sharing amused looks with the rest of the women. “If you think that way, why haven’t you snapped that man up yourself?”

“Snapped up?” Brennan asked. “I don’t know what . . .”

“She means, sweetie,” Angela answered, before Brennan finished her question. “That if you think Booth is so hot, why haven’t you done something about it by now? You know snatch him up, jump him, take him out of circulation.”

Brennan stared at her for a minute before saying with a frown, “Angela, Booth is not an object that I can just take if I want. Besides, we’re just partners and friends, why would I want to ‘snatch him up’?”

“Oh, Bren,” Angela said, almost in despair, as she shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you. If you really don’t know what to do with a man like that,” she shook her head again and then added with a smirk, “though, I can give you some ideas, if you want. You can always . . .”

“Ange!!” Brennan exclaimed, stopping Angela before she could say anything. Angela chuckled and subsided with a wicked grin that the other women shared.

“Seriously, though Dr. Brennan,” Camille said suddenly. “If you don’t hurry up and stake your claim, some one else may come along that won’t hesitate and you might lose your chance.”

“Booth,” Brennan began, almost through clenched teeth, “is not a piece of land that I can just stake a claim on. How am I supposed to do that, anyway? Stick a label on him that says ‘Temperance Brennan’s property?’” She asked sarcastically to mask the fear Camille’s prediction had produced. The fact was that the idea that Booth could fall for someone else hadn’t really entered her mind in months.

“No, sweetie,” Angela said with a laugh that was shared by everyone else. “You don’t need a label; there are a variety of ways to claim ownership of a man. You can go from the blatant ring on his finger to the subtler hickey on his neck to . . .”

“How is a hickey subtle?” Brennan asked, incredulously but then thought better of it. “No, you know what? Forget it, I don’t want to know. And could we please change the subject?”

“Fine,” Angela said, knowing she’d pushed her luck far enough. “You know no one has commented on Cameron, Teal’c or Zack. Doesn’t anyone want to comment on their looks?” And she added with a grin and a glance at Brennan, “Or their structures?” When Brennan glared at her, Angela put her hands up in surrender and with another chuckle she stopped baiting Brennan, as the talk turned to the remaining guys and funny stories that the guys would have preferred remain secret.

Men From the Gate

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

A/N: Well, here's the next chap. Dedicated to Fab, who asked for it. Thanks to those that are reading and Puppet who always helps me so much!!! Enjoy!!!!

Chapter 12

Two days later, Brennan was once again immersed in her tests when Booth came into the lab.

“Bones!” he said, as he walked directly to her table. “How you doing?” She murmured ‘fine’ without looking up. “Hey, where’s everyone?” Booth asked after he looked around the room.

“Hmmm? What?” she asked distractedly, as she finally looked up. “Booth? What are you doing here?” Booth shook his head at her inattentiveness; he thought that if he didn’t have such a healthy ego, she’d have crushed it beyond repair by now.

“I came by to see you, Bones,” he answered patiently. “I thought it was time you took a break.”

“No, Booth. I still have a lot of work to do,” she protested.

“Bones, its past lunchtime and I bet you haven’t eaten anything since dawn, have you?”

“Well, no,” Brennan answered, slowly. “But . . .”

“No buts,” he said firmly. “You’re going to stop for a while and we’re going to go have lunch.”

“Booth,” she started to talk, but he ignored her.

“Come on, Bones. Chop, chop,” he said, clapping his hands. “Save and close whatever you’re working on and let’s go. I’m hungry.” Brennan stared at him defiantly and he stared back determinedly. In the end she gave in, muttering about how she didn’t need a keeper telling her when to eat. She couldn’t help but remember the conversation she’d had with Sam a couple of days ago. Sam had been right; in the end Brennan did what Booth asked because she trusted him to know what’s best for her, just like Sam and Jack. Booth and General O’Neill really were a lot alike.

“Bones, where’s everybody else?” Booth asked again, as Brennan finished putting everything away.

“Um,” she said, as she looked around the room, as if noticing for the first time that there was no one there. “Well, Sam,” she began, obviously trying to remember where they were all supposed to be. “She’s back in her lab; there’s not much she can help us with and she has her own projects. Hodgins and Zack left with Dr. Jackson a while ago. I think they were going to check on something in his office. As for Angela, I haven’t really seen her since early this morning.”

“How’re the sketches coming?” he asked, as she got up and he led her to the door.

“Not much different since this morning, Booth,” she said with a look. “I told you it’d take longer without the Angelator, especially with all the surgery the soldier had. What’s that?” she asked, as he paused by the door and picked up a basket.

“This,” he said, as he held it aloft, “is our lunch. We’re having a picnic.” He said with a grin, as he put his hand back on the small of her back.

“A picnic?” she asked, bemused, as he guided her through the corridors of the mountain.

“Yep, a picnic,” he affirmed with another grin. “You’ve been stuck in this mountain for two days now. You need to go out and have some sun and fresh air; and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go out onto the mountain on top of us, we’re going to sit in the shade and enjoy some fine food.”

“Fine food?” she asked with a grimace. “From the mess hall?” she sounded very doubtful.

“No,” he answered with a laugh. “I went to a nearby deli and got us some good stuff.”

Forty five minutes later, they were finishing a very nice lunch underneath the shade of a big tree overlooking Colorado Springs, just as he’d said. The conversation had been light and relaxed. And though Brennan would not admit it, it had been just what she had needed.

“So,” Booth said, once they’d finished. “How do you like working for the military?” He asked, as he laid down and put his arms under his head.

“Booth,” Brennan answered, as she pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. “I’ve worked for the military before, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, as he pushed his sunglasses in place. “I know you’ve worked with the military before but this is different, Bones; you gotta admit that.”

“Ok, yes. This case has been a little different than any other,” that was the understatement of the year. “How about you?”

“Me?” Booth asked, genuinely surprised. “What do you mean me? Bones, I was military, remember?” At her look, he grinned and repeated, “Ok, so it’s a little different. But not as much as I’m sure your end of things must be.”

“I guess,” Brennan nodded. “You’ve liked it, huh?” She asked him after a pause.

“Hmmm,” he asked, as he turned back to look at her. “I’ve liked what?”

“This,” she said as she waved her arms to encompass the whole place, “being back in the military.”

“What makes you say that?” he asked, as he pushed his glasses to the top of his head and lifted himself on his elbows.

“I may not be great at getting people, but I’ve gotten pretty good at getting you,” she explained with a shrug. At his still confused look, she continued, “I’ve seen you, Booth. I’ve seen you with them: Mitchell, Teal’c, the general and even Sam. You relate to them on a whole different level; they ‘get’ a part of you that I don’t think too many other people do.”

“You ‘get’ me, Bones,” Booth protested. “Sometimes I think you get me more than anyone else.”

“Maybe,” she conceded. “I probably do know you better than most anyone else, just like you know me better than anyone. And still, I know there’s a part of you I just don’t understand; but they do, because whatever that is, they have it too. Sam said it was that you believed in something bigger than you and were willing to sacrifice what you needed to be a part of it. And she was right, but I think it’s more than that. You’re not only willing to sacrifice part of yourself to be a part of it; you’re also willing to sacrifice yourself to protect it. And that’s something that can only be understood by those that, like you, are willing to die to defend the innocent, those you perceive as weaker than you or those you see as your responsibility.”

“But so are you,” Booth argued. “Or are you telling me you wouldn’t do everything you could if someone were threatening Angela?”

“Of course I would,” Brennan answered with a feral grin. “I’d make him or her wish he’d never been born, but that’s because Angela is my best friend. It’s an anthropological inevitably that we protect those we care for; but you don’t just protect your family, you protect society at large. And that’s what you guys are: protectors.”

“I . . . I don’t know what to say, Bones.”

“You don’t have to say anything, Booth. I’m just calling it as I see it,” he grinned at her correct use of the slang. “Just as I see that you joined the FBI so that you could still protect the innocents; I know that you like your job and that you find it rewarding. But I can’t help thinking that you miss the military.” She paused and waited to see if he’d say anything; but he was busy studying the sky, so she continued. “Like I’ve said, I’ve seen how you act around the military personnel. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so at ease around anyone else, with the exception of Parker, myself and the ‘squints’ – but only once we became your friends. When we were just co-workers you were so uptight,” she reminisced, with a shake of her head. Booth thought that that was like the pot calling the kettle black but said nothing.

“Just as you still are around your FBI colleagues. And that’s all they are, aren’t they? Just colleagues. I’ve known you for over three years; we’ve been best friends for over two and the only other friends of yours I know, aside from the ‘squints’, are ex-military. You don’t see any of the people from the FBI outside of work except for social obligations. It’s almost like you don’t really fit in with them,” she said slowly, working things out as she said them. “And you didn’t have a partner before me, did you? Why? I thought all FBI agents had to work with partners.” She turned to him and saw him nod.

“Most have to, yes,” he acknowledged.

“But you didn’t,” she concluded. “I know you believe in the FBI, Booth, and that you are dedicated to it. But . . .” she trailed off and turned to him expectantly.

“It’s complicated, Bones,” Booth said, as he sat up and took off his glasses. He played with the sidepieces of his glasses, while he tried to gather his thoughts. “You’re right. I do miss the military. But you have to understand, for a long time, the military was all I knew. And for an even longer time, that’s all I thought I’d be.”

“So why did you quit?” she asked. “And why did you join the FBI? If you liked it so much . . . Was it because of your experiences as a sniper? Because you could have requested a transfer, couldn’t you? Why did you quit all together?” She was sincerely curious, had been for some time and thought that it was the right time to ask.

Booth looked at her for a moment before he turned to study the sky again. She could tell that he was trying to decide whether to tell her or not. She didn’t say anything; the decision whether to trust her with his past was his. A few minutes later, he sighed and started talking and she listened attentively, knowing that he was sharing with her what he probably hadn’t ever shared before.

“You know my dad was in the military, right?” He turned to look at her and saw her nod. “I grew up hearing his stories and knew from a young age that I wanted to join and serve my country – although I don’t think that was his intent. But whether it was or not, I had made up my mind. I would have enlisted as soon as I graduated from high school but I wasn’t old enough. And since I’d been admitted to Penn State, I decided to go. My plan was to go for a year, drop out and then join the Army. But I joined ROTC and found out that I could work towards a degree and at the same time begin my Army training. So, I stayed and after graduation went straight into officer training. By the end of my first assignment, I’d heard of the Rangers and I knew that was what I wanted. I volunteered and was accepted.” He paused again, seemingly lost in memories only he could see.

“I became a sniper because it was obvious I had a natural ‘talent’ for it. A year after I joined, we began Operation Desert Storm, and I was sent to the Middle East and after Desert Storm, I was sent on different missions all over the world. They were never easy, and emotionally they kept getting harder and harder.” He pulled his knees up and rested his arms on them. He continued to play with his glasses and alternated from looking at them, to looking at her.

“That’s a good thing,” She couldn’t stop herself from saying. “Taking someone else’s life should never be easy – even if it is done for the greater good. Booth, if you had found it easy, then you would have had a problem. The fact that you felt guilty, even though you’d been doing your duty means . . . well, it means that despite everything you were asked to do, you still kept your humanity; you still kept that intangible thing that makes you, you.”

“I know,” he agreed. “The shrinks explained it all to me; but it doesn’t make it any easier, you know. And then I was sent to Kosovo for the Radick mission and I ended up shooting him in front of his kid,” he stopped and shook his head. “That made it ten times worse. That was my last mission, though I didn’t know it at the time. A few weeks later, my unit was sent back to the Middle East and we were ambushed while we were doing a routine patrol. My buddy Hank was injured and in helping him get away, I was captured.” He paused and took a drink of water before continuing, “I was a POW for a few weeks; when I was finally rescued, I wasn’t in very good shape – you’ve seen my X-rays, you know” he said and she nodded; there was no reason for him to go into details.