by Cindy Combs
"Jim, we don't know for sure that it's the same woman."
"Simon, it's Sandburg."
"Okay, so the odds are good."
Jim grabbed his cell and punched a button.
* * *
Highway out of Cascade, Blair's Mustang
Diana was thinking fast. The drug she had given Blair should keep him asleep for at least three more hours. She had to be ready to transfer him by then, and take him to the remote location she had set up.
She certainly was off her game plan. Originally, she wanted to take Blair on a romantic getaway, then spring her trap once they were in the mountains. That way, she could have drawn his father to her without attracting the interest of his cop buddies. That plan bombed the minute she realized that Blair and his roommate had found the bugs. She frowned to herself. It didn't make sense that they found them. She'd have to pump Blair for information on how later.
But her plan could still work. She just had to make a few adjustments.
A muffled sound rang from Blair. She leaned over, reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone. She glanced at the display. It was the roommate. An evil grin stretched across her face. It was time to play.
She tapped the appropriate button as she drove one handed, bringing the phone to her face. "Yes?"
"Who's this? Diana?" A suspicious voice asked.
"Of course."
"Is Sandburg there?"
"Oh, he can't come to the phone right now. He's sleeping."
"Wake him."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Jim. This is Jim, right? Well, he's not going to be awake for a while."
The voice turned colder and more dangerous. "What did you do to him?"
"Oh, don't worry. We're just having fun for now."
"What do you want?"
"Lots of things, but all in good time. For now, you can give his father a message: I wonder if I'll be Blair's sight for sore eyes." She clicked the phone off, chuckling to herself. It was time to get off the highway.
* * *
Hammond's vacation home, CO
Jack placed the coffee pot into its slot and turned on the machine. He glanced across the cabin where Cory and MacGyver were set up on the coffee table. He had caught enough of the conversation to know both were worried about the sophistication of the bugs.
Hammond set the mugs on the counter. "Those young men appear anxious."
Jack spared another glance towards his double. "Sounds like they have reason to be."
George frowned. "I can understand Malloy's worry about Sandburg and Ellison, but you should have seen the look Buchanan gave Teal'c at the rest area. You'd have thought he was seeing a rattlesnake."
Teal'c tilted his head in acknowledgement. "It was the same reaction I have received from other weardians. Apparently, the scent of a symbiote is unpleasant to them."
Hammond blinked. "What?"
Jack turned to the cupboard. "You guys want cookies with your coffee?"
"Colonel." The General glared at his second-in-command. "Is that true?"
"About symbiotes smelling bad to weardians? I wouldn't know, sir."
Hammond's eyes grew more heated. "No," his voice rumbling low. "That Buchanan over there is a weardian."
Jack dipped his head down a moment. "Yes, sir."
"Why wasn't I informed? Mr. Sandburg was supposed to report any new weardian/witan pairs to the SGC. I'm assuming he knew about his brother's friend."
Jack shifted his feet to stand straighter, but not quite to attention. "He did, sir. He informed Daniel soon after Malloy and Buchanan met." Jack looked his commander in the eye. "About a year ago, the Buchanan kid was seriously injured in Colombia during a DXS assignment. He was in a coma for a week. Gus says he still gets bad migraines that knock him out for 12 to 24 hours."
Teal'c inserted, "It would be detrimental if one were to occur during a mission."
"Exactly. Besides, he and Sam just met last August. Sandburg felt they needed some time to bond before they'd be ready for anything like the SGC."
Hammond stared at the young man in the dining room. "Malloy is the witan?"
"Yes, sir. Who, I may point out, was a journalist up until last August."
"A reporter? But he's not one now?"
"No, he's working for Phoenix. But I'm sure he's got the connections if he gets mad enough to use them."
"I still want them on our team."
Jack sighed. He was afraid of that. "I'm just suggesting we tread lightly, sir."
* * *
Sam trotted down the stairs after settling Ian for a nap. As he stepped onto the first floor, he spied his father and partner pouring over the information on Cory's laptop. From the frown on Mac's face, he was taking the bugs as seriously as Sam and Cory. That only increased Sam's own uneasiness. His dad didn't sweat the small stuff.
He could also tell that O'Neill was casually listening in. That didn't bother him. He'd always liked the Colonel, perhaps due to the amazing resemblance to his father. However, the same respect was not so easily transferred to the Colonel's co-workers. Every one of Sam's journalistic instincts were awakening from hibernation, screaming that he was on the edge of a huge story. The question was, did the deep, dark secret have anything to do with Jim and Blair's current problem?
His cell phone rang. Sam quickly jerked it out of his pocket and answered.
"Sam, it's Jim. Are you with Mac?"
Sam could almost feel the tension in Jim's voice. "We're all here. What's wrong?"
On the word 'wrong', both Cory and Mac's head's popped up. He had also attracted the attention of Jack and his people. Sam wasn't sure that was good or not.
"Sam, I've got bad news."
Eyes growing wide, Sam softly asked, "What?"
"Blair's been abducted by his new girlfriend."
Sam felt his stomach twist into a knot, but tried to keep most of the fear off his face. He knew he was failing when Mac rose to his feet. "Is she the one responsible for the bugs?"
"We think so. Sam, is there any way to get this on speaker phone? I'd like to say it just once. And could you get your Dad to sit down?"
"Sam?" MacGyver asked, worried.
Taking a deep breath, Sam shifted the phone away from his mouth. "Cory, could you get this set up on a speaker, so we can all hear it?"
"No prob," Cory replied, holding out his hand for the phone.
Once the transfer was complete, Sam stepped towards his father. "Sam, is that Blair?" Mac asked.
"No, it's Jim. Dad..." Sam sighed before he gently laid his hands on his father's shoulders. "Blair's been abducted."
"What?" Mac exclaimed, resisting Sam's pressure to sit down. "Who? Why?"
"Apparently by that new girl he's been so excited about." At his father's blank look, Sam ran a hand through his hair. "Blair met some 'beauty' last week that really had him going."
Suddenly, Jack was there by their side. "Come on, Gus. Sit down so we can hear what Ellison has to say." As Mac sank into a chair, Jack gently squeezed Sam's shoulder. Feeling slightly better, Sam sat in a chair next to his father.
"Can you hear me, Jim?" Cory called out.
"Yeah, you?"
"Yep, all set to go. I'll have the email running in a minute."
"Email?" Sam asked.
"I'm sending some pictures I got from New York. They came up in a homicide investigation. The detectives on the case were in Cascade a few months ago, and recognized you from the picture Blair keeps on his desk."
"Pictures? Of Sam?" Mac questioned.
"Yes. Ian and Cory show up in a couple of shots, but the main subject's Sam."
A chill ran down Sam's spine. "Why?"
Jim quickly explained the New York case. Sam felt his shoulders tighten. He could deal with being a target. However, there was one thing he didn't understand. "Jim, if the pictures were of me, then why did she bug your place and abduct Blair?"
"Pezzini thinks she was debating between two targets: You or Blair. She just took the p
ictures of Blair with her."
"She decided to go after Blair," Cory interjected. "Makes sense. Blair's more stationary and has less people running in and out of his home."
"But why go after either of us?" Sam asked.
Jim's sigh was audible over the phone line. "I've got an idea."
"Which is?" Mac urged when Jim paused.
"Right after I talked with Pez, I called Blair. I knew he was at lunch with Diana, and suspected she might be the perp Pez and McCartey are looking for. But instead of Blair answering the phone, she did."
"She already had Blair," Cory softly guessed.
"Yes. She said Blair was 'asleep' at the moment and she would contact me later. And that she wanted me to give his father a message."
"What's the message?" Mac asked bleakly. Sam's chill grew when he realized the whole thing was to get to his father.
"She said to tell you, 'I wonder if I'll be Blair's sight for sore eyes.'"
Mac's face turned deathly pale. For a moment, Sam feared it was too much for his father. "Dad?"
Mac whispered, "Deborah. But she's dead."
"Who's Deborah?" Jack asked.
Mac ran his hands over his face and took a deep breath. "A few years back, I was heading up an environmental impact assessment for Phoenix. We were examining how a proposed marina would affect a nearby wetland. The people behind the marina already knew the results wouldn't be in their favor, so they tried a couple of heavy-handed attempts to 'persuade' me to their way of thinking. When that didn't work, they hired a woman called 'The Negotiator'.
"Deborah studied me, then set herself up as my perfect woman. I fell for it hook, line and sinker." Mac rubbed his forehead above his nose. "When her persuasion and terrorizing tactics didn't work, she set a bomb on my boat. I just surprised her by surviving the explosion."
"How bad were you hurt?" Sam asked softly.
"My eyes took the brunt of it."
"Flash burn," Jack guessed.
"Yeah. So Deborah drove me to a 'getaway' so I could recuperate. She confessed later that her original plan was to send me and the jeep off a curve and to disappear. But Nikki and Pete had figured her out and tried to reach me on the car phone. Deborah managed to cut off the call, but Nikki's tone alerted me that there was a problem. I insisted that I needed to call her back. So she pulled into this abandoned storage shed and told me it was a gas station. With my eyes bandaged, she didn't think I'd know the difference. Yet things weren't adding up, and I managed to get away from her."
Mac paused again. Sam could tell the memories were hard on him. "I yanked the bandages off my eyes so I could see a little. Then I managed to disable her."
"How?" Cory asked.
"Let's just say that water and car battery cables are useful things."
"The reference to sore eyes?" Jim queried.
"When Deborah found my bandages, she asked if she was my sight for sore eyes."
"So she's the one after Blair?" Jack asked.
"No. Deborah's dead."
"Sure?" Sam prodded.
"Positive."
Sam had never heard such a dead tone in his father's voice. A sliver of fear pierced his soul. Obviously, there was a lot more to the story, but he didn't dare press it. He changed the subject. "So who's this 'Diana'?"
"I don't know. But Nikki can probably pull the Phoenix files and see if there's any mention of another woman."
"We'll contact her immediately," Jim responded. "And Mac, we'll do everything we can to get Blair back."
"I know," Mac replied. "But she wants me."
* * *
Blair was aware of his nausea even before he realized he was sitting up and his face was hot. Blinking, it became apparent the heat was from the sun shining through the window. It took a while longer to realize he was on the passenger's side of his Cobra and that his hands were tied. Groggily, he raised them to wipe away the sweat trickling from his hairline.
"You're awake!"
Diana. Sharp jab. Tied up. So much for it's-only-lunch-Jim. Blair forced himself not to flinch as Diana flung the door open. That in itself wasn't too hard, considering the rebellion in his stomach. Then he discovered that there was a gun pointed at him.
"Get up. We need to move to another vehicle."
Fighting back his sickness, Blair asked, "Why? My car too hot for you?"
Diana simply smiled. Blair decided it wasn't one of her familiar sweet smiles. "Move."
"I don't know if I..."
"Oh, the nausea will pass eventually. Now move before I decide to make a hole in you."
Her voice was sliding into a New Jersey accent. It worried Blair. He'd never heard it in her voice before. Struggling, he managed to slide out of the low seat and onto his feet. Then he was leaning over his knees, throwing up.
Diana simply shook her head. "Now if you had told me that you found my listening devices before we ate, you wouldn't have this problem."
His mind scrambled to connect the dots as he retched. He was barely finished when Diana pushed him again. "The bugs are yours? Why?"
"Because I wanted more information before springing my trap for your father."
Blair stopped a foot from the open van. "A trap for Mac? Why?"
For the first time, Blair saw pure malice in Diana's face. "He killed my sister!" Then she shoved him into the van.
* * *
There were definite advantages in dealing with the military, Sam reflected as he followed his father onto a C21. There was no way they could have gotten the Phoenix jet so quickly, and with commercial they'd still be trying to get a ticket. All General Hammond had to do was pick up a phone, then hustle them over to the airport. Sam just wished he could shake the feeling that there was a reason the General was being so accommodating, and that it wasn't because Blair was in danger.
However, it was an indication of his concern level that he was willing to accept the ride without asking about the strings.
"Daddy," Ian whined as Sam sat him in the seat he was directed to.
"It's okay, Buddy. Go back to sleep."
Unfortunately, all the sleep during the car ride meant the toddler wasn't ready to continue his nap. "We on pane 'gain?"
"Yeah, Buddy, we're back on a plane."
Ian studied his father with big eyes. "Why?"
Sam held back a sigh. He had tried to keep his fear under wraps, but his young son was often more perceptive than he liked. He couldn't remember what he was like at Ian's age, but he could easily imagine his brother having a similar temperament. How had Naomi handled it? Sam was gaining a lot of respect for her and his own mom.
However, it wasn't in his nature to avoid the question. "Because Uncle Blair's lost, so Grandpa, Uncle Cory and I are going to help Uncle Jim find him."
"Gampa Mac and Gampa Neill?"
"Yep, Grandpa Mac and Grandpa O'Neill." Sam sat down in his seat and gently ran a hand through his son's curls. He then quickly secured the seatbelt around him.
Ian was still looking at him. "Unca Bear have an owie?"
Sam felt like he'd been kicked in the gut, hearing his son voice his main fear. Then a hand squeezed his shoulder. "Nah, Squirrel. Your Uncle Blair's tough. He'll take care of himself until we can get there."
Taking Cory's reassurances to heart, Sam shot him a faint smile then resumed fastening his seat belt. "You hungry, Buddy?"
Shaking his head, Ian kicked his feet against the carrier. "I wanna story."
"What do you say?"
"Pease."
* * *
Sitting across from and behind his family, MacGyver was also struggling with his thoughts. As O'Neill sat next to him, Mac quietly asked, "Why the nice ride, Jack?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Ja-ack."
"Let me worry about it. You concentrate on Blair."
The reminder of his son's danger removed all other concerns. Mac stared at the cargo compartment above him. "It's all my fault."
"Mac, you don't even know who's doing this.
"
"It's connected to Deborah, so that means it's my fault."
Jack shifted so he could see his double's face. "How did she die?"
Mac was silent for a moment. "I was her only failure. She decided it was because of her feelings for me. When she got out of prison, she thought she had to kill me to vindicate herself. Only, she knew the best way to get at me was through my friends. Pete, Jack and I were on vacation in a remote spot trying our hands at panning for gold."
"Pete," Jack repeated. "You've mentioned him before."
"Yeah, my boss, Pete Thornton. We've been friends for years. This was back before Pete lost his eyesight."
"And Jack?"
"Jack Dalton and I were in high school and college together." A tiny smirk lifted a corner of Mac's mouth. "He's always got some 'get rich' scheme, and drags me and sometimes Pete into it. Working a gold claim was rather tame for him. But then Deborah abducted them to draw me into her trap." Mac sighed. "One thing led to another, and she fell over a cliff. I tried to save her, but she used the opportunity to try to knife me. Never understood that. I could have easily pulled her to safety. But because of the knife, I lost my grip and she fell."
Jack softly commented, "Sounds like it was her choice."
"That's what Pete told me. That, like a scorpion, it was her nature. But she was so beautiful, intelligent and creative. I thought I loved her at one point. I keep thinking there should have been a way to save her. To show her a better way of life."
"You saw what she wanted you to see, Mac. Like your friend said, what happened on the cliff revealed her true nature. I deal with it all the time with my job. One, ah, culture I deal with can look exactly like us, but have something pretty rotten inside. Another culture looks nothing like us, yet they're our greatest allies. You can't always tell just from the outside."
"There should have been a way."
"Sometimes there's not. And the bottom line is that none of this guilt trip helps Blair."
Mac stared ahead. Jack followed his line of sight to the back of Sam's head. The low mumble in a rhythmic pace hinted that Sam was telling Ian a story.
