Adventures

**Cheyenne Mountains – three months after Edora***

General Hammond, Teal’c and Sam Carter were discussing the possibility of dialing the Edora Stargate address when Thor appeared in the conference room.

“Thor, is everything okay?” General Hammond asked worried. The creature only ever showed up if it was important.

“Greetings General,” Thor said, before sitting on one of the chairs nearby. “I have come to tell you something about Jack O’Neill, Daniel Jackson, Alexander Harris and Spike.”

“What is it? Are they okay?” Sam asked anxiously.

“They are fine. After they realised they couldn’t come back, they built their home on that planet. Time has moved differently there; they have spent five years on Edora while here only three months have gone by. They are no longer planning to come back,” Thor explained.

General Hammond, Teal’c and Sam didn’t know what to say. They had unsuccesfully tried to find a solution for the Stargate problem during the past three months. It was hard to accept that the four men had already spent five years on that planet without hope of rescue.

“Can you help us retrieve them?” General Hammond asked.

“Yes, I will retrieve them for you. Spike and Alexander have to join SG-1 for one more mission before they can go home. I want O’Neill and Dr. Jackson to accompany them on this mission. But be warned; they will return to the Edora planet at the end of their mission,” Thor continued his story.

“Agreed”, General Hammond replied without further questioning the alien. He wasn’t going to waste what might be their only chance to get his best soldiers back from the remote planet. He could ask the men his questions when Thor wasn’t around.

“What? That is unacceptable, sir! They have to stay with us, on our planet. What about our team, their jobs? We can’t just...”, Sam protested, too shocked to worry about military protocol.

“They have rebuilt their lives there. They will wish to return to the planet whether you like it or not,” Thor interrupted calmly, ending his story by disappearing.

“Sir, are you going to let them go back after they return?” Sam questioned, worried about her friends. She was sure Thor was wrong. She knew Spike and Xander easily adapted to a new lifestyle, they had proven that before. But Daniel and Jack were too involved with their careers; they wouldn’t give them up no matter how agreeable their life on that planet was. Would they?

“Major, we are going to deal with that after they return,” General Hammond replied, unhappy about the situation as well.

“General Hammond, are you going to keep them here against their will?” Teal’c asked bluntly. He didn’t like the way his friends were talking about their missing friends.


*****


Jack and Daniel were chasing each other playfully when suddenly Thor appeared in front of them. Jack halted causing Daniel to run into him.

“Thor!?!” Jack exclaimed surprised.

“O’Neill. Dr. Jackson,” Thor greeted.

“Daniel, get Xander and Spike,” Jack instructed, watching Daniel run for their mates.

It wasn’t much later when all four men stood before Thor. Xander wasn’t too happy to see the alien again. Whenever he showed up, his life was turned upside down. They had a good life on this planet, he wasn’t willing to give it up so soon.

“It’s time for you to go back to Earth for Xander and Spike’s last mission,” Thor explained his presence.

“Can we come back here if we want to?” Daniel asked softly, terrified of hearing a negative reply.

The four friends had discussed the possibilities many times. If they could return, would they want to? After much discussion, they had reached an agreement. Daniel and Jack wanted to continue living on Edora where they could be together forever. Xander had grudgingly accepted their decision. He wasn’t too happy about having to part from two of his mates but Spike and he would have to go back to Sunnydale some day.

“You can if you wish to do so,” Thor replied.

“Do you need to take us back now or do we have time to collect our things?” Xander asked curiously.

“You may collect your things,” Thor said and watched the four men walk back to their home. He waited patiently for them to return and wasn’t surprised to see two of them had cried. Eyes red but still bravely facing their return to Cheyenne Mountain.

Thor stepped closer and made them disappear from Edora and appear in Thor’s ship. The small alien flew his ship back to earth at hyperspeed and transported them in front of General Hammond.

The General looked startled when the four men stood in front of them, angry from being torn from their home. “Colonel O’Neill, Dr. Jackson, Mr. Harris and Mr. Spike, welcome back!”

The men looked changed. Jack’s hair was longer, his face tanned by the Edoran suns. Daniel had tanned as well and looked stronger. His body was more toned. Spike’s hair had returned to his honey blond colour and he was now wearing it in a ponytail. The general was most surprised about Xander, the young man was ripped; his body was tanned as well as strongly toned. They must have worked out.

“Thank you, sir. When will our last mission be?” Jack asked bluntly. He was angry at the whole situation. He wanted to go back to Edora together with Daniel. They had made a new life there.

“That will be tomorrow, Colonel,” General Hammond answered, surprised by the Colonel’s harsh tone. “I’m sure you want to return home.”

“Yes, we do. But our home isn’t here anymore!” Daniel replied irritated.

“Daniel, calm down. You’ll return when tomorrow’s mission is finished.” Xander said, calming his lover down by taking the taller man into his arms. His touch always had a soothing effect on Daniel.

That was the moment the General realised Thor had been telling him the truth. Daniel and Jack weren’t happy to be back. They had been forcefully taken away from their new life and had only agreed to return because of the mission.

“C’mon, guys, ‘nuff of this. Let’s find Einstein Girl and Snakeboy. Can’t wait to see how far his eyebrows can go when we tell what we’ve been up to,” Spike said, teasing his lovers to hide his fear.

The vampire’s comment brought a sad smile to Xander’s lips. The vampire always tried to hide his true feelings. But he knew it was only a façade. Spike didn’t want to go back to Sunnydale and leave Daniel and Jack behind. Xander knew the vampire admired Jack’s strength and loved Daniel’s gentle nature. Sunnydale had only meant pain and loss to the vampire, he was only willing to go back because of his mate.

As the four men walked away from his office, General Hammond sighed. It was painfully clear to see that he would soon lose two very good men for good.


***Alien planet, Forest***


“What’s your reading, Major?” Jack asked, while looking around examining the area.

“It should be around here somewhere,” Sam answered, looking for the UAV.

“Teal’c, you said the UAV must have been shot down by the Jaffa, yet we’ve seen no signs of Goa’uld civilisation,” Daniel answered, while continuing to walk next Xander.

“It was hard to tell, the sensors went off-line as soon it was hit,” Sam replied.

Teal’c stopped when he found the damaged UAV. “Over here!”

As the others stood around the UAV, Daniel and Xander continued to walk further.

“Looks like it’s been hit by a staff blast,” Sam mentioned after seeing the damage.

“It doesn’t make any sense. When the Goa’uld occupy a planet, they usually control the Stargate and this Gate had no markings of any…” Daniel replied, only to be interrupted when Xander walked face first into an energy barrier, which flared red at the site where Xander had contacted it.

“Found something!” Xander exclaimed while rubbing his face. He heard snickering behind him and turned around to see Spike snicker behind his hand. “You think that was funny?”

Spike nodded before he heard Jack’s order.

“Fall back!” Jack ordered, ignoring his lover’s words.

Carter headed into another direction, but also encountered the barrier. “Uhm, sir?”

“Alright, heads up!” Jack warned, before he fired into the air.

Everybody ducked down and covered their heads as they heard the firing. Jack saw the shield flare red, but the bullets didn’t penetrate the barrier; they just dropped onto the ground after hitting the barrier.

“You weapons will not penetrate the shield!” a voice called out from the woods.

“However, mine will!” a man said when he stepped away from a tree, a helmet covering his face. He fired his weapon and a bolt of energy passed through the shield and hit a tree close to where Teal’c was standing.

“Who are you?” Jack asked.

“Aris Boch,” the stranger said, introducing himself. “Perhaps you’ve heard of me?”

“Uh, not me. Teal’c?” Jack replied.

“I have not,” Teal’c said calmly.

“Well, that’s disappointing. I’m one of the galaxy’s greatest hunters,” Aris explained.

“Not ringing a bell. Sorry,” Jack replied while glancing towards his lovers. He saw Spike standing protectively in front of Xander and Daniel.

“Well, I know you. Captain Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson, the Jaffa traitor Teal’c, Colonel Jack O’Neill and the two strangers Alexander Harris and Spike,” Aris said.

“Well, fancy that. We’re famous,” Jack joked.


*****


SG-1 walked towards a clearing. Aris was still holding them at gunpoint.

“Everybody stop. Drop your gear!” he ordered.

Jack nodded to his mates and friends before removing their backpacks and radios.

“I don’t suppose we could…talk about his,” Daniel tried to reason.

“Inside!” Aris ordered. He stared at Spike. The young man looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember from where.

“Inside what?” Jack asked curiously. He didn’t see anything for them to step into.

“Barokna,” Aris spoke.

A door suddenly slid open behind them, revealing a corridor and the interior of a Goa’uld ship.

“Hey!” Jack said startled.

“Inside!” Aris ordered again.

SG-1 entered the ship and headed down the corridor, Aris Boch following behind.

“It’s a Goa’uld cargo transport. The ship’s of an older design. I have never before seen the cloaking technology used on a ship of this design,” Teal’c explained as he explored the ship.

“It’s an upgrade,” Aris mentioned. He stood by a door and entered a code into a panel. The door slid open, revealing a cargo room beyond.

“Let’s go,” Aris said, gesturing with his gun for them to enter the room, then closed the door behind them.

“Sir, he’s not a Goa’uld,” Sam said the moment Aris left them behind.

“And? So? But? Therefore?” Jack replied sarcastically.

They heard a sound similar to a sliding door. “It sounds as though Aris Boch has left the vessel,” Teal’c announced.

“Well, what do you say we use the time to find a way out of this, huh?” Jack said.

“Well, even if we could find a way out of this, he said he had disabled the Stargate,” Xander replied

“Teal’c? How fast will this unit fly?” Jack asked Teal’c who was already exploring the room they were in.

“I believe it is capable of travelling twice the speed of light,” Teal’c said after a few moments.

“Nice. Home for dinner,” Jack said ironically.

“Uhm, sir. If you’re thinking of trying to steal the ship and fly it back to Earth, even at 372,000 miles per second, it would still take us at least ten years to get that far,” Sam explained.

“Should have let the dog out,” Jack joked.