SERIES/UNIVERSE: SG-7
DISCLAIMERS: M7 characters belong to Trilogy, et al, SG-1 characters belong to Gekko, MGM, and Showtime. Adriana, Carly, and the Tanner sisters are all mine ... don't mind if you borrow them, just ask first, give them back intact and give credit where credit is due. Mindy belongs to herself and my neighbors, though she still thinks my family and I belong to her.
SPOILERS: For Mag7, primarily both parts of Wagon Train, my previous stories, especially More than Friends, but also A Light in the Distance, Under the Sun, Days of Yearning, and Sun, Fun, and Ezra on the Run, also all five seasons of Stargate SG-1.
WARNING: The usual, violence and language. Some h/c and possibly even a little smarm later on, but I'll be trying to get the smarm limited.
He would be so handsome when he grew up. She could see the promise of the man to come in his five year old face. In the smile which was already breaking hearts, unknown to that sweet little boy. She prayed that he would always been that unaware. She knew from her own heartbreak that sometimes it was best that a man be unaware of his good looks. Knew that his own lack of awareness would serve to make him even more appealing to young girls.
She looked down at the letter in her hand. She had been expecting the contents, but had wished she would be wrong. It wasn't that she blamed her younger sister ... Josie, while something of a wild child, was also sensible. Wild and sensible. You could only find that particular combination in a Tanner. She smiled faintly, remembering her father's pride when he said that. His girls were Tanners ... wild and sensible.
Most of them at least. The two oldest girls, Julia and Josephine, had been blessed with both that wildness that their father had spoken of, as well as being sensible. They were free spirits, charged with finding their own place in the world, and never mind what was expected of them. Josie, the middle sister, was particularly determined. At the moment, she was clear across the world in Southeast Asia, a communications specialist for the military.
It was dangerous work, a dangerous time, a dangerous place, and it was no place for a five year old boy. Josie was needed where she was, and couldn't justify taking care of her nephew, when she might end up dying in the line of duty. She had pleaded with Julia to forgive her. There was nothing to forgive. If Josie had been stateside, somewhere a little safer, Julia knew her younger sister would have taken her son, without question. But because her twenty-three year old sister was responsible, she would not put that beautiful child into danger. And Julia loved Josie all the more for being that responsible. If only Julia had other options.
She would work something out ... she had at least a few more months. But she was painfully aware that time was running out. Julia pushed herself to her feet and walked to the front porch. It wasn't much of a house, but Julia had done her best with it. She had good neighbors, that was a plus. And they watched out for her son while she was at work. The trouble was, most of them had several children of their own. It wasn't fair to ask them to take care of another.
"Vin ... time for you to come in, honey," she called, cringing at the pain that shot through her chest. Dammit! She didn't want him to know yet. And once more she raged against the sickness which was stealing her strength, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. She was only twenty-five years old! She had a child to raise, she had so much to teach him, it wasn't fair! Julia shook herself. Whining wouldn't do any good. She had to find a way to take care of her son. Her son, with that smile, and those eyes shining up at her.
"What did Aunt Josie say, Mama? Is she comin' back? I worry about her," Vin said as he bounded up the stairs. Julia smiled down at her son, lightly stroking his dark honey hair. He squirmed away from her, giggling ... giggles which grew more pronounced as she swept him into her arms, pretending to gnaw on the side of his neck. He was a good boy. Willful, but sweet. He had been known to bring her flowers ... dandelions. Supposed weeds, but her little boy thought they were pretty. And Julia didn't have the heart to throw them out.
"She won't be able to come back for a while, but she said to tell you that she loves you very much, and that she can't wait to see you again. She also said to tell you that you're a big boy now, and should start using your real name. Do you know, you're the only little boy whom she knows whose name is abbreviated to 'Vin,' instead of 'Kev,' like most other boys named Kevin?" Julia teased. Vin rolled his eyes, making Julia laugh.
"But Ma ... Kevin's a sissy name!" the little boy protested. It was an old argument between mother and son. Julia shifted him so that he was resting on her hip, and Vin continued, "I like 'Vin' better." Julia almost laughed at her son's defiant face, but restrained herself. He was only five, but he was already very proud. Instead, she hugged him again, ignoring the squeal from her son. God, she wanted to hold him forever!
"Then I'm the only one who can call you Kevin, until you meet the girl you want to marry. I can call you Kevin, because I'm your mother," Julia said, sitting down in the rocker with her son cradled across her lap. Vin thought about that, then gave a short, quick nod of agreement. Julia continued, "So, Aunt Josie won't be back for a while. Because of that, she wanted to know if she could bring anything back with her for you."
Vin shrugged his thin shoulders and said, "Dunno. And you're the only one who can call me 'Kevin,' cause I ain't never gonna get married. Don't like girls." At this, his lower lip got pushed out in a pout, and again, Julia tried to keep from laughing. She could still remember the fights she, Josie, and Jessica got into when they were his age. Always with little boys. And inevitably, because the Tanner sisters stuck together, the little boys got their tails kicked. Oh, the Tanner girls were just as inevitably punished, but word did get around not to mess with even one of them ... because if you did, you had to answer to the other two.
"But I'm a girl," she pointed out, "Aunt Josie is a girl. Aunt Jess is a girl. Your cousin Carly is a girl." Your aunt Jessica is twenty-one and has never grown up, even with a child, Julia thought to herself, but didn't say it aloud. It was looking more and more likely that Vin would end up living with Jessica after Julia's death, and Julia didn't want to turn her son against his aunt. She would only end up making his life miserable if she did that.
"But that's different. You're my ma," Vin argued. Julia couldn't help herself this time ... she burst out laughing, and hugged her son again. No, Josie hadn't panned out, but she had been expecting that. Julia had written her sister, in order to cover all her bases. That left Jessica. True, her youngest sister wasn't particularly responsible, but she had been taking care of Carly all this time ... surely she would be able to take care of Vin as well, especially since she had the help of their parents?
And Julia knew her parents would have gladly raised Vin. They loved the little boy to distraction, but they were getting old. It wasn't fair to them, to be raising an active little boy at their age. Julia's parents were in their fifties. By the time Vin was a grown man, they would be in their seventies, and would lose out on that time of their lives when they were supposed to relax. No ... no, she would just call Jessica and tell her there was no one else to take Vin.
In the meantime, she had to take care of her son, to the best of her ability. She hadn't told him how sick she was, but Vin wasn't stupid. He knew something was wrong. She could tell, the way he allowed her to hug him when he might not have. And in the way he would just nestle in her arms Vin was a very affectionate child, because she had always been affectionate with him, but he was also very independent. He didn't like being carried when he could walk. And he didn't want to be held when there were things for him to do, explorations to be made.
Julia did call Jessica that night. While Vin was changing into his nightclothes, after his bath. Her youngest sister had just tucked in Carly for the night, after her own ritual. And the two sisters ... two mothers ... discussed the future. Julia told her youngest sister that she had exhausted all other possibilities ... Josie couldn't take Vin, because of her work. Their parents weren't old, but they deserve to rest, after raising their own children. There was only Jessica.
If someone had told Julia Tanner that day, three months before her death, that her youngest sister would never come for Vin, she would not have believed them. Jessica, for all her flighty ways, was a Tanner. And when the word of one Tanner was given to another, that was the most sacred oath of all, because it was about family. One of the first things which Paris Tanner had taught all three of his daughters was the importance of family ... blood or not.
Jessica had promised to take care of Vin. Yet ... after Julia's death, her son was given into the care of strangers. Jessica didn't even appear for her sister's funeral. Never saw the shocked, tearstained face of her small nephew. Never saw the shock, or the fury, of Julia Tanner's many neighbors when they realized that the child was alone in the world. Josie Tanner couldn't be reached. And their mother had fallen dangerously ill the day before Julia's death. By the time Josie was free to come home, Vin had slipped through the cracks. That betrayal on Jessica's part led to a rift between the two sisters which promised never to heal.
"Goddamn piece of shit!"
The door of the car was slammed, and the figure stalked around to the now smoking engine. Hands seemed permanently attached to hips ... at least until a braid fell across a shoulder, which was quickly tossed back. Dr. Caroline Tucker hissed in frustration, and kicked the tires. She had just gotten this damn thing looked at before she had left. She was due in Colorado in three days, and at the rate she was going, she would be lucky to reach her objective by the following week.
It had been Murphy's Law, brought to life. Everything that could possibly go wrong, had. Even before the goddamn engine blew. Starting with the confrontation between her mother and her aunt, right before Carly was scheduled to leave Texas. No ... she wouldn't think about that, or she would get even madder. She had been staying with Aunt Josie in the last few weeks, trying to get her head together. Aunt Josie was good for that. Carly often thought her aunt was the only sane one left in the family over the age of forty. Josie Tanner had stayed in Texas after leaving the service in '78, trying to find her nephew, Carly's twin brother Vin. Aunt Josie was, in fact, one of the reasons Carly had decided to go to college in Texas. She hadn't spoken to Carly's mother Jessica in years, and Carly had been curious about her aunt. Much to her surprise, Carly found herself becoming very close to her aunt.
Early in her sophomore year, Carly had accomplished what her aunt had been trying to do for the past fourteen years. And it wasn't even an accomplishment on her part, either. But Carly had found her twin brother. Oh, she hadn't known at first that Vin was her brother. However, the evidence had piled up, until Carly had been forced to ask her mother. That revelation had served to strengthen Carly's bond with her aunt Josie, even as she grew more distant from her mother.
Once Vin's life had settled down, Carly had wanted Aunt Josie to meet him, but Aunt Josie had advised caution. No matter when they did it, Vin would be hurt and angry. Aunt Josie understood that, even if Carly hadn't. Aunt Josie had come for him as soon as she could, but Vin had slipped through the cracks. Eight years later, she did understand ... and hated that bastard Eli Joe for interfering.
She and Aunt Josie had been on the verge of approaching Vin, telling him that they were related, when Jess Kincaid was murdered. Carly hadn't known about it at the time, but Aunt Josie had several friends in the police force, and right before Carly had returned East for medical school, her aunt had told her the truth. She had told her about Eli Joe, and about Jess Kincaid, and the hit against her twin.
That had been five years earlier. In the last five years, Carly had become a doctor. She had maintained contact with her closest friend, Adriana Wilmington. She knew that two years earlier, Adriana had reconnected with Vin. Vin was in Colorado. Both he and Adriana were at Cheyenne Mountain, where Carly was now bound. They were involved in the same project she had been recruited for. If Carly could ever get her goddamn car working.
She rubbed her face, sighing. Okay. She could do this. First, however, she had to get help. Carly pulled out her cell phone. First things first. Contact General Hammond, tell him that she was stranded and unlikely to reach Colorado before her team got underway. She knew she had a back-up ... Dr. Richard O'Shea, but she also knew why sending him in her place wasn't such a great idea. The 'leader,' for lack of a better word, of their team was Dr. Will Richmond.
Will wasn't the easiest person to work with. She had known him, and his wife Charlotte, in Texas. Carly didn't have a problem with Charlotte ... she did, in fact, like her a lot. Especially after she developed a spine, instead of letting Will treat her like dirt. However, Will could be rather ... abrasive. While Carly had been accused of being abrasive as well, she had also been informed that she was far less likely to do permanent damage to Will's person than O'Shea was. She would do more or less permanent damage to his psyche, but not to his person.
That had been Charlotte Richmond's input. From what Carly had been given to understand, neither Vin or Adriana had been told about her part in the upcoming 'wagon train.' There was one other leader on the expedition, Gerard Whitman. He was a geologist, and would be taking his daughter Katie with him. Carly really didn't know much about him, and geology made her head hurt ... then again, just think about crossing swords with Will ... again ... was enough to make her head hurt.
From what Carly had been told, there were three group leaders. The biologists, now led by O'Shea; the archaeologists, led by both Richmonds; and the geologists, led by Gerard Whitman. That may have been an oversimplification, because she didn't have all the details. But at the time, she hadn't cared about the details. She just cared about seeing her best friend and her brother again. And she couldn't get a hold of General Hammond. Dammit!
Okay, Carly, think. Aunt Josie. Call Aunt Josie. She still has contacts, she can find a way to contact General Hammond, without getting that piece of squick, Kinsey, or his lapdog Yates, involved. And didn't she serve with General Travis? Yeah, that's right, she did. She used to joke about how she wanted to introduce me to his son Stephen. Okay. We can do this.
She punched in the numbers of her aunt's home, reflecting that while she had gotten all the formal education in the family, her brother had received all the patience.
Her aunt answered on the third ring, and Carly said in a rush, "Aunt Josie, thank God I got you! Listen, my car broke down. Yeah, tell me about it! You know me ... I have no problem when it comes to dissecting a cadaver, but ask me anything about an engine, and I'm hopeless. Yeah. I can't raise General Hammond, and I'm supposed to be there in three days. It ain't happening. Oh, you are such a mind reader! Yeah, looks like O'Shea gets his big shot after all. Yeah. I know, there will be others, but ... I still feel like I've let the General down. Okay. I love you, too, Aunt Josie. Thanks. Bye."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: After seeing Kathryn Morris (Charlotte) in other projects, I decided to alter Charlotte's appearance slightly. In her 1995 movie Sleepstalker, Ms. Morris sported the look described here.
"You know, I really have to agree with JD and Ezra. And you, too, of course, Mary. That is a really good picture of you, Bucklin. I'd dearly love to know how you came up with that expression, though. What do you think, Chris? It doesn't look like he swallowed a lemon whole, but that's not the Buck Wilmington smile I'm used to."
Major Buck Wilmington groaned, sinking lower into his chair. The base paper, the Clarion, had been passed around the cafeteria table currently inhabited by the entire SG-7 team, plus Captain Mary Travis and Buck's younger sister, Dr. Adriana Wilmington. It was the latter who had just spoken, her dark hazel eyes twinkling with mischief. Buck wadded up a paper napkin and threw it at his sister, who caught it with her free hand.
The picture Adriana meant was visible to the entire table. It had been taken at Busch Garden the previous week, while SG-1 and SG-7 had been on vacation. It had taken only one look by the team cartographer, JD Dunne, for Buck to realize that he was in deep ca-ca. That also explained the whispering which had gone on between JD and his small companion for half the day they had spent at Busch Gardens, Olivia Greer, as well as between JD and Ezra Standish, the team negotiator.
It seemed that as retaliation for keeping him off the rides for the morning, while Buck was flirting with ladies (including Olivia's lovely mother Terry), JD had joined forces with first Olivia, then Ezra. It was a simple plan. Get Buck into one of the cutouts at the Gardens, take a picture, and give it to Ezra. Ezra had friends on the seedier side of life, who touched up the picture, so that it actually looked like Buck had been injured in a skiing accident.
The picture had then been given to Mary Travis, she of the angelic face and devilish sense of humor. And she had put the picture in the Clarion. All day long, ever since the paper had been passed around, Buck had found himself being teased nonstop about that damn picture. Ezra hadn't stopped smirking. And JD, back in Casey's good graces after buying a gift she desperately wanted, kept falling out of his chair, laughing. Of course, his recent promotion may have had something to do with his good spirits. And the rest of his team ... well, suffice to say, Buck Wilmington had to come up with something good to get them back.
"Reckon he thought 'bout what Chris would do to him when Mary showed that video of ya singin' with him," rasped out Adriana's companion, SG-7's guide, tracker, and general pain in the ass, Vin Tanner. He was slouched in his seat, a baseball cap covering his eyes. Vin had just arrived a few minutes earlier, just in time to get breakfast with the rest of the team. He looked tired. Like he hadn't slept in days, and likely, that was true. He had left on a mission almost as soon as they got back to Cheyenne Mountain, and had only returned the day before.
Just call him the bouncing tracker, Buck thought, bouncing from one team to another. However, the major was soon distracted from his teammate's exhaustion when Adriana almost spit out her orange juice, giggling, "Yeah, but it was worth it. Just to see the look on his face. Chris, you outdid yourself." Chris Larabee, colonel of SG-7, growled at her ... not that he fooled anyone at the table, anyone who had bothered looking at him. His green eyes were twinkling with amusement ... and he was blushing. Chris Larabee never blushed.
"No, my dear girl, I venture to say you outdid yourself. Imagine the shock of everyone in attendance when the dignified Dr. Wilmington arose from her seat, drunk as a skunk, and sang 'Friends in Low Places' with our cuddly and lovable Colonel Larabee," Ezra Standish put in, grinning wickedly. Everyone howled at this description of Chris, and not even the glare from the colonel made anyone back down. The trouble was, he was one hundred percent correct. If Buck hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have never believed it.
And speaking of seeing something with his own eyes, just who was that lovely creature now heading for their table? Buck had never seen her before, but they were getting new people into the SGC all the time. Her attention was focused on the back of Adriana's head ... she wasn't looking anywhere else. Buck would have tried to get her attention, but he was too curious about the beauty and how she seemed to know his little sister.
She stopped right behind Adriana as Ezra finished speaking, a decidedly impish grin appearing on her lovely face. She caught sight of Buck staring at her, and raised a slim finger to her lips in the classical 'shhhh' gesture. The lovely lady seemed to be about four or five years older than Buck's sister ... tall and slender, with wavy strawberry blonde hair. It was about the same length as JD's ... not as long as Vin's, and not as short as Sam Carter's.
"Now that's a picture I would love to see ... Adriana Wilmington, drunk off her ass, and singing Garth Brooks. Which is better than Vin singing anything, because Vin never could carry a tune in a bucket," the strange woman said, the smile growing ever more impish. She had a nice voice, too. Buck rather liked it ... and he knew a moment's disappointment as she put her hands on the back of Adriana's chair, and a wedding ring was visible. Then again ...
Adriana froze in her seat, then a slow smile crossed her face. She retorted, "Well, you know, he might not be able to carry a tune in a bucket, but he could always carry you when you got drunk, dear heart." She pushed back her chair, and the young woman backed away. Adriana's back was to Buck, so he couldn't see her face. However, Vin's head had come up when the young woman first spoke ... and Buck could see his surprise. Damn, the boy looks like he's been poleaxed, Buck thought, what the hell is going on?
Before anyone could make any sort of comment, however, Adriana had flown into the arms of the woman, who was returning the embrace with interest. The pair spun around, giggling like a pair of kids, and Buck just watched in astonishment. He looked around the table, and found several matching looks of astonishment. And one impish grin. Finally, his sister pulled back and laughed, "Charlotte Richmond, as I live and breathe! I didn't recognize you at first! You look great, what did you do with your hair?"
"I had it trimmed, and let it go back to its natural shade. After ... well ... you know. I darkened my hair and let it grow out, to make myself more attractive to Will. And once we patched things up, after you had left Texas, I decided it was time for a new beginning ... and it was a quick way to start over. You like it?" the young woman asked, releasing Adriana to self-consciously run her hand through her wavy hair.
"It looks great ... you look great! What are you doing here? I mean ... I know what you're doing here, but ... oh, never mind!" Adriana said, shaking her head in apparent self-disgust. The young woman named 'Charlotte' just laughed and hugged her again. Adriana seemed to remember her manners at that point, saying, "I guess I should introduce you to everyone, huh? The blond guy glowering at me is Chris Larabee. He's the reason none of Will's glares ever had any effect on me."
"I can understand why. That always amazed Will, I can tell you, but I think he'll understand once he meets Colonel Larabee as well. It's a pleasure, Colonel, I've heard a lot about you from both Adriana and General Hammond. To save Adriana some breath, I'll introduce myself. I'm Dr. Charlotte Richmond, one of the archaeologists whom you'll be escorting to that planet with all of the numbers and letters," Charlotte said.
"Charlotte was a grad student when I was studying at U of T, along with her husband Will. They were on the dig that turned into a rescue mission, the one where I first met Vin," Adriana explained. She went around the table, explaining, "The black-haired young man sitting beside Vin is Corporal JD Dunne ... see, JD, I remembered! Beside him is my brother, Buck. I've already introduced Chris. The pretty blonde is Captain Mary Travis. Then it's Dr. Josiah Sanchez, an anthropologist ... Nathan Jackson, medic. And Ezra Standish, negotiator and card-player. I'm sure you'll hear about him. That reminds me, where is Will?"
She was looking around with a puzzled expression, giving Buck a few minutes to remember her stories about college. Yes, now that she mentioned it, he did remember hearing about Charlotte Richmond and her husband Will, usually referring to them when discussing movie night at the apartment. Wow. She hadn't mentioned how pretty Charlotte was, but then again, after seeing pictures of her roommate Carly, maybe Buck shouldn't be surprised. Adriana had described Carly as pretty ... 'drop dead gorgeous' was a better way of putting it.
"Don't gotta look for him, just gotta listen for him, Drina," Vin advised. Buck frowned. Now what the hell was that supposed to mean? Adriana looked over her shoulder with a rueful nod. Charlotte just looked embarrassed, but didn't contradict Vin. The young man turned in his seat and said softly as he rose to his feet, "It's good to see you again, Charlotte."
She smiled at him, her face filled with a sad tenderness as she replied, "It's good to be seen, Vin. I'm glad you're okay. You had us all worried when you disappeared." Vin dipped his head, and Charlotte reached out to put her hand on his shoulder. She said softly, "You look wonderful, Vin. It's good to see you, too." Her hand left his shoulder to cup the side of his face, and Buck immediately realized there was a history of some kind here.
"Dammit, General, we don't need two escorts! I've dealt with O'Shea in the past, the man is nothing but a blow hard. You send two escorts with us, that's an invitations for those freaks of nature to attack us!" an unfamiliar voice ranted. Buck's attention was drawn away from the reunion of friends, to General Travis approaching the table with a man. He was gesturing wildly with his hands as he spoke. Now just what the hell was this?
It was like he had just said. Didn't need to look for Will Richmond, just listen for him. The man's voice carried clear across the cafeteria, silencing everyone there. Vin looked past Charlotte Richmond as General Travis approached with the archaeologist. He remembered what he had once heard, about time putting honey on the memory. That was definitely true this time, because in the last five years, he had forgotten what a loudmouth Will was.
"You're making the assumption that this is a suggestion, Dr. Richmond. It isn't. Both SG-1 and SG-7 will be accompanying you. They have a far better idea of what to expect than you do. Colonel, I see you've already met the more rational member of this archaeology team," General Travis said. He smiled at Charlotte, and a glance over his shoulder told Vin that Chris was watching the entire drama with caution. Probably tryin' to figure out what the hell we're gettin' ourselves into, Vin thought.
His eyes returned to Will. The man hadn't changed a bit. Will's eyes narrowed at Charlotte's hand resting against Vin's cheek, and he snarled, "Tryin' to make a move on my wife again, Tanner?" Vin stiffened ... now where the hell had that come from? He was aware of Adriana shifting her weight ever so slightly, as if she planned to physically put herself between himself and Will. It wouldn't have been the first time for that.
Vin stayed the motion by putting his hand on her shoulder, and replied calmly, "Reckon that depends on ya, Richmond. If ya plan on treatin' yer wife with the respect she deserves, don't imagine ya got anythin' to worry about. But she was my friend, just as much as Dawn, and Carly, and Drina were." Richmond's eyes cut to Adriana, who was glaring at him. Vin held his breath as the tension mounted. He wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with the big man, but he didn't like his attitude. Not one bit.
Finally, Richmond growled, "Just stay away from my wife, Tanner, if you know what's good for you. Come on, Charlotte." He started to stalk past a stunned General Travis, until he realized his wife wasn't moving. A quick glance told him that Charlotte was fuming, her eyes shooting flames at her husband. Vin backed up a little, Adriana following suit. The pair had learned the hard way that when the fiery couple got into it, it was best to stay out of the line of fire. General Travis followed the pair, stepping to Vin's side.
"I will do no such thing, Will Richmond! Either you apologize to Vin and Adriana, or you can count on sleeping on the floor tonight!" Charlotte fired back. She glared at her husband, a far cry from the miserable young woman whom Vin had first met, all those years ago. Even if Will hadn't changed a lick in the last eight years, Charlotte had. It was equally obvious that Will was having a hard time coming to terms with that. He stared at the three, then stormed away.
"I'm taking a number to kick his ass," Adriana announced, turning to face the others. She said with a sigh, "Charlotte, what happened to him? The last time I saw him ... well, never mind. I'm just glad to see that you're standing up to him. General Travis, I don't know if you knew ... " The general waved his hand, making it clear that he had indeed known about both Adriana and Vin's connection to the Richmonds.
"You can be number three, hon. I can't believe he did that! I'm sorry, Adriana, he has been so excited about this project, especially after General Travis told us that we would be working with you and Vin. Colonel Larabee, I do apologize for my husband's boorish behavior. I should probably go make sure he doesn't do any more damage before we even get started. Adriana, we'll talk later? We have so much catching up to do!"
"You got a deal. I still haven't heard if I'm going along. I probably won't, since you guys have enough archaeologists, but do you want to get together tonight, after you get the Sour Puss under control?" Adriana asked. Charlotte nodded firmly, and leaned forward to embrace the smaller young woman again. She released Adriana to hug Vin, adding a defiant kiss to his cheek, before following her husband from the cafeteria.
"What just happened there?" Ezra asked, sounding totally baffled. Vin and Adriana turned to look at the negotiator, who continued, "Obviously, the Gou'ald have found a way to infect people without their normal charming mating habits, because that miscreant bears absolutely no resemblance to the 'big brother' whom you've described in the past, Adriana!" Vin bit back a smile at this description of Will's behavior.
"I don't know what happened, Ezra. And I'm sorry, too, that you had to see that. All of you. That's just not like Will, not the man whom I knew when I left Texas five years ago," Drina said, shaking her head with some confusion. Vin didn't speak ... he was already running through the confrontation in his mind. There was something very strange going on here. He couldn't quite put his finger on it ... but something felt out of whack about Will's reaction.
He was acting like a jealous husband. Again. But Charlotte had been touching him, and Will hadn't said word one about that to her. Strange.
"Well, as disgraceful as Dr. Richmond's behavior was, it settled my mind about one thing. I'm glad I found all of you together. Mary, General Hammond and I have decided that you should accompany SG-1 and SG-7. And Dr. Wilmington, I want you to go along as well. After what I just witnessed, I think Charlotte Richmond will need all the help she can get from the support of an old friend. I'll make that recommendation to General Hammond," General Travis said. Drina blinked, but didn't argue.
Instead, she said, "Okay, General. I guess I should head to my quarters and start packing. How long will we be there, should I take any of my equipment with me ... " General Travis immediately shook his head. Drina added, "Okay, didn't think so, just wanted to check. I'll see you guys later. Vin, would you mind walking with me to the door?" Vin glanced at Chris ... be right back, cowboy. Then he accompanied his friend.
"Did you notice that Charlotte didn't mention the child? She was in the last trimester of her pregnancy when I left Texas, Vin," Drina said quietly. Vin nodded. He had noticed that as well. Neither Richmond had spoken of a child. Drina continued, "I don't know what to think. That's so unlike Will ... and even if the baby died, I would have thought he had learned something from the last time. I don't know. I don't know what to think."
"Don't try to figure it out, Drina," Vin advised as they reached the door. She merely looked at him, her dark hazel eyes filled with worry, and Vin continued, "I know Charlotte's yer friend. She's mine, too. But we got a job ahead of us, and I got a gut feelin' that there's a lot more to this whole escort duty than what they're tellin' us. Will was right about one thing. He don't need eleven people watchin' his back, unless he's gotta worry about somethin' more than the Gou'ald. It don't make no sense."
"Watching his back is your job, Kevin," Adriana pointed out, "watching your back, and Charlotte's, is mine. That's what the general was saying back there. Chris and Jack will have their hands full, and I'm willing to bet you'll be doing more scouting than anything else. Just ... be careful, okay?" Vin smiled at her. Damn if she wasn't worrying about everyone. And whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was worried about Will, too.
"Always am, Drina, always am. I'll catch up with ya later. If ya run into Claire, let her know that Charlotte's here. She was always playin' mediator 'tween Claire and Carly, reckon Claire would be glad to see her," Vin observed. Adriana nodded, still looking worried. Vin brushed a kiss against her forehead, then returned to the table where the others gathered. A backward glance as he eased into his chair told him that Adriana had headed out of the cafeteria. And hopefully, not to a confrontation with Will.
"There gonna be a problem, Vin?" Chris asked. Vin looked at his best friend, who was eyeing him steadily. There gonna be a problem with the lady Dr. Richmond? Vin shook his head, and Chris continued, "Good. General Travis was just telling us about what's going on. General, would you like to explain, or should I?" Hell, what crawled up his ass, Vin thought, the whole damn compound is goin' weird here! However, it wasn't General Travis who answered Larabee, but the man's daughter-in-law.
"It seems there's a traitor within the ranks. Things have been going wrong, ever since General Hammond got a call yesterday from Dr. Tucker. She won't be able to make it, so Dr. O'Shea was put in charge of the biological team instead. Ever since, freak accidents have been happening, and neither Orrin nor General Hammond think any of the accidents were really accidents. The two teams are going along, not just to guard the civilians against the Gou'ald, but from the traitor," Mary explained. Vin's eyes narrowed. A traitor. Just after Carly had called in.
He had been told upon his return that Carly had been scheduled to arrive at the SGC shortly, as one of the new biologists. She would be heading up the biology team assigned to PK9950, a heady responsibility for a young woman of twenty-seven. So. However, her car had broken down on the way from Texas, and she wouldn't be arriving until after the teams left. The timing was real interesting. Real interesting, yep.
He only said, "I'll keep my eyes open. General, Mary ... boys." He nodded to each of them, then headed out of the cafeteria. He needed to get some answers of his own, and rather than start with either of the Richmonds or Dr. O'Shea, Vin would go straight to the top. General Hammond. Vin didn't think his fellow Texan would lie to him ... assuming Hammond would even have a chance to talk to him. But Vin had to try.
"Dammit, Will, what is wrong with you!"
Will Richmond stopped and lowered his head as his wife caught up with him. He had known there would be hell to pay for his stunt in the cafeteria. But he had to keep Charlotte in the dark, to protect her. And he knew the best way to do that was to push her toward Vin Tanner and Adriana Wilmington. Vin was damn predictable when it came to looking out for women, and that hadn't changed in the last five years.
Adriana hadn't changed either ... she was still a little spitfire, especially when it came to protecting Vin. God, it was good to see her. Will remembered how she had been when she left for Germany, five years earlier. How worried she had been for Vin, and how worried both Will and Charlotte had been about her. Will more so ... Charlotte had a lot more faith in their young friend and her ability to take care of herself.
Then again, that wasn't anything new. Charlotte had always had more faith in Adriana, making Will wonder what his wife had heard during that fateful dig, after the rescue. Or if she had heard anything ... Charlotte based most of what she knew about Adriana on guesses, and acted accordingly. And damn if she didn't guess right more times than not.
The footsteps told him that Charlotte was almost at his side, and Will turned to face her. She was furious with him, and rightfully so. But the act in the cafeteria had been needed to arouse Tanner's suspicions, and protectiveness. He said gruffly, "Sorry, Charlotte. Don't know what came over me. Guess I just got a little jealous when I saw him touching you like that." Which was an outright lie, because Charlotte had been touching Vin, not the other way around.
What was more, Charlotte knew that. She said angrily, "I was touching his cheek, Will. God! Don't the last five years mean anything to you? I chose you, remember? And you're still getting jealous because I was being affectionate with a friend? Someone I haven't seen in five years, someone whom I didn't even know was still alive until General Hammond briefed us about our escort? I was worried about him, Will!"
Will remembered. He remembered her quiet sobs when Adriana had called them, nearly hysterical. Something has happened to Vin, she had said, and Will had felt it in his bones. It wasn't until after Adriana had left for Germany, and Carly for the East, that Will had found out the rest of the truth. He learned about Jess and Lily Kincaid, about Eli Joe, and the hit on Vin Tanner's head. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened ... what decision the young bounty hunter had made.
Remain where he was, and possibly lead trouble to his small circle of friends, or disappear, before Eli Joe could hurt either woman. There was no choice to be made, and in his place, Will would have made the same choice. Yes. He had known how worried his wife was, and Will Richmond hadn't known who to hate for causing his heavily pregnant wife to worry. Vin Tanner, for disappearing as he had, or Eli Joe, for causing that disappearance.
He repeated now, "I'm sorry." Will looked up at his wife. God, she was beautiful when she was angry! He said again, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being jealous ... sorry for doubting you." And he was jealous. Had always been jealous of Vin Tanner. Vin was young and handsome, with a tender heart and a soul which made women want to take care of him. Will had seen that with his own wife, with the late Priscilla Meadows, with Adriana. And the ex bounty hunter was capable in ways that Will never would be.
Charlotte shook her head, running her fingers through her strawberry blonde hair. She looked tired. But if Will knew his wife, she would be out tonight, catching up with Adriana and possibly Vin. She had been so excited when General Hammond had told her that the pair were at the SGC ... Vin was the guide and unofficial second in command of SG-7, while Adriana was what he called a floating archaeologist.
She had been at the SGC for a little over two years, and in those two years, had become Daniel Jackson's second in command during archaeology expeditions. Will was proud of her. She was not brilliant ... she never had been. But she worked damn hard, and what she lacked in genius, she made up in pure determination. Charlotte said quietly, "Well, you'll have your chance to apologize to both of them. General Travis was singularly unimpressed with your performance just now, and asked Adriana to accompany us. He thinks I'll need her support to deal with you."
Ouch. Then again, he should have expected that.
He answered, "I'm glad she'll be going with us. We have a lot of catching up to do." Charlotte nodded, and kept walking to their quarters. Will knew better than to bring up her threat to make him sleep on the floor. It hadn't been an idle threat. At least I brought my sleeping bag, he thought, even if I intended to use it to clobber Dickie O'Shea if he pushed me too far. What god did I piss off this time to have him end up in my outfit! Will shook his head, remembering the last go-round he had with O'Shea. It wasn't a pleasant memory.
And now the sumbitch was trying to blackmail him. If not with information, then threats against those dearest to him. That was one reason why Will and Charlotte's five year old daughter Tansy was staying here. And why Will had forced Charlotte to promise not to mention their baby to Vin and Adriana. The less those two knew about what was going on, the safer they would be. Charlotte hadn't wanted to keep that from them ... she didn't like keeping anything from her friends. And Will knew he had made a mistake keeping things from his wife, he just didn't see any other way out of it.
Not for the first time, Will regretted the turn of events that had prevented Carly Tucker from joining them. Or, he thought a bit darkly, remembering the confrontation in the hospital eight years earlier, should I say Carly Tanner? True to his word, Will had never told Vin the truth about his relationship to the lovely blonde. And as the years passed, Carly had taken to confiding in Will when she needed to talk about her family.
It was a tangled web. Because of her kinship to Vin, Carly had never told Adriana about the rest of her family. In order to protect her friend from going through a situation similar to the one Adriana found herself in during the situation with Claire Moseley, Carly had simply kept that from her as well. She never talked about her aunt Josie, which was hard on the girl. Like her twin, Carly tended to be brutally honest. But it wasn't time for Vin to know the truth.
More to the point, Carly had explained to Will once, while they were setting up in the kitchen, it wasn't her story to tell. She couldn't tell Vin, because that was for their aunt Jessica to do. It seemed that Vin and Carly's mother Julia had known she was dying, and asked her youngest sister Jessica, who had informally adopted Carly, to take the five year old boy. Jessica agreed ... but never went to Texas to collect her nephew after her sister's death.
Will had been shocked and sickened by this. And, he learned, so had Josie Tanner, newly returned from Southeast Asia. Carly had been vague about what her aunt was doing there ... she was in the military, in Southeast Asia, and it was the late seventies. Will could figure it out, and doubted that Josie Tanner was free to tell her niece, even now. In any event, by the time Josie had returned and learned that of her youngest sister's abandonment of her nephew, the little boy had slipped through the cracks and disappeared.
This, in turn, caused a shattering rift within the Tanner family. Carly had been almost six years old by this time, and she vaguely remembered the argument between her aunts. She had been home, which had been rare. Her grandmother had been in the hospital, fighting for her life, and Paris Tanner hadn't left his wife's side through her illness and recovery. He didn't find out about his youngest daughter's betrayal until Carly was ten, further shattering Carly's family.
Carly believed, and Josie agreed, that it wasn't for her to tell Vin the truth. In the first place, she had only been a child while this was going on, and she didn't have the answers they knew he would want. In the second place, Paris Tanner (who was, amazingly enough, still alive) had been working on his youngest daughter the last few years to tell the boy the whole truth. Carly had admitted to Will, during one of their last conversations, that she suspected it would fall to her aunt Josie to tell Vin.
That was part of the reason for Carly's 'car trouble.' O'Shea had threatened to tell General Hammond that Will was responsible for the young woman's plight. Will had nothing to do with it, however, he had a pretty good idea who was. Someone who didn't want Carly to get to the SGC, and rock the boat. However, Will had decided to play along and force the real traitor to expose himself. Or, he thought grimly, remembering what General Travis had said about Stacy McPherson, who had met the same fate as Richard Boudreau in prison, herself.
He was doing what was necessary to protect his wife and child, and everyone whom they cared about. But as Will Richmond trudged to the quarters he would be sharing with his wife over the next day and a half, as they got ready to head out, he had the uneasy sense that he had taken the wrong path. That he was in way over his head ... and that there was no one who could stand with him.
Daniel Jackson could barely believe what he was hearing as he approached the office/quarters of his nominal second in command. Usually, Adriana Wilmington was one of the steadiest, most stable people he knew. Even if she did love bad archaeology movies like The Mummy, Indiana Jones, and Gladiator. But right now, it sounded like she was throwing things and that most definitely was not like her.
He peeked in through the open door as the sounds stopped, to find her sitting on the desk, face buried in her hands. Daniel asked softly, "Anything I can do to help?" Adriana raised her head, and Daniel flinched at the misery in her eyes. He left the doorway and walked to her side, wrapping his arm around her waist. She leaned against him, her small body trembling. What the hell had happened?
"I don't know. I just ... hell, I don't even know why I'm reacting like this. Will's being an ass, and that's not exactly something that's new for him," Adriana replied with a sigh. Daniel frowned. Will? Oh. Will Richmond, the new archaeologist, who was heading up the expedition to PK9950. That's right, Adriana had known him in Texas ... him and his wife both. Daniel remembered hearing about that during the flight back to Colorado.
"What did he do this time?" Daniel asked, not knowing what else to say. Adriana sighed again, rubbing her hand over her face. All the good which had been done during their week's vacation seemed to have vanished. For that week's time, he had gotten a glimpse of the young girl Adriana could have been, if things had been different while she was growing up. It made him appreciate Nick all the more for it. They hadn't always gotten along, but Nick had loved him, had never hurt him.
Daniel had heard a few conversations between Buck Wilmington and Chris Larabee about what they would do to the major's father. The two men seemed to think a confrontation was imminent, and they were worried about Adriana. She had changed so much during the last two years ... her shyness melting away as she grew more comfortable with the people around her. But she always retreated when her father was mentioned.
In the months since her revelation to Chris and Jack, Adriana had finally broken down and started seeing a therapist recommended by Janet Frasier. She had dealt with her wounds alone as long as she could. But there was still something there ... and Daniel's gut told him that Adriana had never fully dealt with the rage which remained in her soul. His gut also told him that some of that rage was being expressed now, in her rants about Will Richmond.
"You know a little about Texas, and Vin, and all that, right? About Boudreau, and how he and some of his buddies beat up Vin, to keep Vin away from Will's wife Charlotte?" Adriana asked, and Daniel nodded. After he had remembered Vin Tanner's part in the Boudreau affair, the Egyptologist had done a fair amount of research into the sharpshooter, learning as much as he could about the young man.
What he had learned had helped to persuade Jack to trust a former bounty hunter, combined with the instincts of Jack and Teal'c. He actually knew the entire story after a call to Priscilla Meadows' widower. However, he kept silent as his friend continued, "Will has always been jealous of Vin. I suppose I can understand why ... that was always the reason for him calling me 'Vin's girl,' no matter how many times the two of us said we weren't an item. As long as he considered me Vin's girl, then Vin wasn't a threat to his marriage."
Daniel nodded in understanding, and Adriana continued, "That was Chanu's take on it, at least, and I have to agree. Anyhow, this is what happened in the cafeteria, just a few minutes ago." She proceeded to outline the confrontation with Will Richmond in the SGC cafeteria, as well as the reunion with his wife Charlotte. Daniel shook his head as he listened carefully. Adriana concluded, "I came in here to start packing, because I thought I left something here, but instead ... " She waved her hand and sat back, looking miserable.
Daniel tightened his arm around her. That was something good that had definitely come out of her sessions with her therapist ... she was having a much easier time accepting the touch of others. However, there was still the matter of her anger, and Daniel was afraid of incurring her wrath with what he was about to say. However again, it needed to be said. He asked quietly, "So why aren't you Vin's girl, Adriana? You know practically the entire base believes you two are involved with each other."
She pulled away to glare at him, hissing, "Dammit, Daniel! I just got into therapy! Even if I felt that way about him, and I'm not saying I do, he deserves better. He deserves a woman who is intact, instead of one who is still putting herself back together!" Daniel took heed of her words, as well as what she didn't say. She hadn't said that she wasn't with Vin because she didn't love him.
"You aren't putting yourself back together, Drina," Daniel answered, using Vin's pet name for her, "you're already back together. You're just smoothing out some rough edges. You aren't broken. You were, once upon a time." Adriana slid out from his embrace and stalked across the room. Daniel knew he had no business telling her these things, but it had to be said. Chris Larabee refused to get involved. Major Wilmington was still somewhat tentative in his dealings with his sister. And he didn't know about the others.
That left him. He went on, "You say that Vin deserves better. What about you? What do you deserve, Adriana? Someone whom you consider broken? Don't you see? By hiding like this, you're letting that bastard win! You're letting him beat you, and your mother died for nothing!" Adriana whipped around to meeting his eyes, her face set in feral lines. Dammit, he should have never brought her mother into this.
But it was in for a penny, in for a pound, and he couldn't take the words back. She hissed, "Leave her out of this. There was no reason for my mother to die!" She didn't see it, then. Daniel had brought it up with Josiah once, and his former teacher had agreed. Despite his terrible abuse of her, Adriana wasn't willing to acknowledge the possibility, the very real possibility that her father had killed her mother.
"You're still letting your father win. He taught you that you weren't worthy of love, that you deserved what he did to you. If you think you're not good enough for someone like Vin Tanner, then he's still doing it to you," Daniel replied, pulling away from the subject of her mother, at least for the moment. Besides, that was only part of the problem. A very real part of the problem, but one that they could deal with later.
"I didn't say I wasn't good enough for him, I said I didn't think I was intact enough. Vin needs a woman who is a lot stronger than I am. Besides, he doesn't feel that way about me. Have you seen my pistol? I'm going on this expedition as a soldier, of sort, rather than an archaeologist. I'll pick up a staff weapon before we go, I need to find that pistol which Chris bought for me after Ella Gaines died," Adriana said.
The subject had been dropped, and rather than get into an argument he couldn't win, Daniel replied, "Did you check your desk?" She stopped what she was doing and closed her eyes, as if it had never even occurred to her. Daniel slipped out of the way and Adriana checked the top drawer of her desk ... yup, there it was, along with the ammunition she would need. She opened the gun and began loading it with bullets. Just as Chris had presumably taught her.
"Thanks, I would have spent the next month trying to find the damn thing. I really need to clean up this disaster area," Adriana said. Daniel nodded as she slipped the pistol into her purse.
She always told security about it. It wasn't necessary. They knew. But she told them anyhow. Trying to make their lives a little easier, he supposed. Adriana looked up at him, her eyes still filled with that terrible expression of grief and rage, guilt and despair. She smiled weakly and said, "Sorry for snapping, Danny. It's just not something I was ready to deal with. Still not ready to deal with it. And this is something that I have to do on my terms."
Daniel understood that. He gently squeezed her hand, then released it. She would be going home to pack, then coming back. Probably to catch up with Charlotte Richmond. The older archaeologist wondered if she would still be making dinner at her place the following night. She had invited Nettie and Casey Wells to her cottage for dinner, as well as Vin. He didn't know if the mission had screwed that up.
What he did know, however, was that the return of Charlotte and Will Richmond was forcing his friend to deal with feelings she didn't want to acknowledge, before she was ready. Daniel had merely brought it out into the open. Yup, he thought, watching the small, departing body, Will Richmond has just opened a can of worms, and I bet he doesn't even realize he's done it. Which means we should be ready to pick up the pieces.