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Posted by: Teri 28 November 2007 - 08:59 PM
Diplomatic Mission
A Stargate: SG-1 / MacGyver Crossover
By Teri

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Summary: A delicate negotiation requires MacGyver’s special touch. Unfortunately, MacGyver is out of touch and the parties won’t proceed without him. If the negotiations fail, it will lead to war. Is there another option? Can Jack fill-in for MacGyver? (MacGyver-Stargate Crossover)

Disclaimer: As always, I am in no way associated with the owners or creators of either show

The first part of this story was previously posted here a long, long, long, time ago, but thanks to comments from Thyla it has been largely rewritten and is much longer.
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Man’s greatest achievement is his ability to adapt to new and different situations. To accomplish today, what yesterday he would never have dreamed of trying. It is the kind of adventure I’ve enjoyed most of my life, but sometimes life has other plans and it tends to involve other people . . .

“This is unacceptable!”

“This, I am afraid, is the one thing for which I will agree,” the second person affirmed.

“Gentlemen,” Pete Thornton, special negotiator and former director of the Phoenix Foundation, tried to calm down the participants of a special peace negotiation. The peace of an entire region was at stake, “if we can just sit down, I know we can work this out.”

“No, Mr. Thornton, I will not proceed with these negotiations without MacGyver,” the first delegate declared as he pushed his chair away from table and began to stand. “These talks will progress no further.” The delegate ignored the attempts of the Phoenix Foundation representatives to convince him to stay and left the room.

Pete slumped down into his chair, turning his head to where he knew the other delegate was seated, “I’m sorry.”

“It is not your fault, Mr. Thornton, but I would recommend if you want these discussions to make progress you make every effort to find MacGyver,” the second delegate nodded towards Pete and stood.

“Please, Sir,” one of the other Phoenix representatives implored.

“No, Mr. Bannister. We are wasting our time,” he left the room as well.

Pete could only close his eyes and lean back into his chair. He knew that something needed to be done. Perhaps he could get a hold of MacGyver, but then he knew that Mac was doing important work and it wouldn’t be easy to get him here. Did he have any other choice but to contact Mac?

“Pete, I just don’t see how we can find MacGyver in time. Last I heard, he was somewhere in Ecuador working with a group on rain forest preservation,” Craig Bannister, current acting director of the Phoenix Foundation, did not bother to hide his exasperation.

“Hasn’t he ever heard of leaving an emergency contact number?” Another voice complained, “I mean really Dad, what if you needed him? He should have left a number.”

Pete sigh he really hated this; he really did, “he did leave one, Michael. The problem is that they don’t know where he is and he isn’t expected back to base camp for another week.”

“So what are we going to do,” Craig wondered.

“I don’t know it seems that without MacGyver’s presence neither party is willing to even make an effort,” Michael stated. “We have to find him.”

“I’ve asked Sam to go down to see if he could pick-up his father’s trail.”

Michael heard in Craig’s tone what he didn’t seem willing to say aloud, “but you don’t think it will be in time, do you Craig?”

“No.”

“Well,” Pete hesitated coming to a decision, “there might be a way.”

Both his son and Bannister looked at him wondering what on Earth he could mean.

“I knew a guy once who looked a heck of a lot like Mac. Maybe . . .”

“Maybe, he could fill in for Mac?” Craig wondered if it could work. “Neither of the delegates have seen him in the last 15 years since the last negotiation in Geneva. Right?”

“So Dad, who is this guy and where do we find him?”

“Well, I haven’t seen him in years. Last I heard about him, was during Proven Force. He was running an Air Wing out of Incerlik. At the time he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force.”

“You expect an Air Force Officer to be able to fill in for Mac?”

“Do we have a choice?”

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“ ” My Grandpa Harry always said that ‘our lives are full of choices,
but it’s our decisions that make things interesting . . . “”

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Jack was sitting at home, beer in hand, with Daniel next to him on the couch. Carter was seated in her own chair and all were watching the hockey game. They were on stand down while Teal’c was visiting his son. Things didn’t get much better than this. It should have been his first clue that something was about to happen, but it wasn’t; so, when the phone rang, he was merely annoyed not worried.

“O’Neill,” he barked into the phone irritated at the interruption as he and Daniel watched as his team prepared to make the penalty shot. It was an important shot not only for his team, but because he and Carter had a large bet riding on the outcome of this game and he had this annoying habit of being right.

“Jack O’Neill, please.”

“Speaking.”

“My name is Michael Thornton, I am the deputy director of the Phoenix Foundation and we need your help.”

“Not interested,” he mumbled as he groaned when the goalie caught the puck.

“You should know this is a personal request from my father, Pete Thornton.”

Pete? That name finally brought Jack’s attention to the conversation and away from the hockey game, “Colonel Thornton?”

“Yes,” Michael answered after a moment not use to hearing his father addressed by his former rank. To Michael it seemed like his Dad had been with the Foundation forever, it was hard to remember that he started his career in the Air Force and the DXS.

Jack took a deep breath. There was no way he could say no. You don’t say no to a man like Pete, especially considering how much he owed and respected the man. Too, much has passed between them for Jack to deny him, besides he knew damn well that he wouldn’t have called unless it was important, “tell me what you need.”

Jack listened and he felt his heart drop into his stomach. This was so not going to be good. Not good at all.

Jack listened to the details and catalogued the things he needed to know still very unhappy with the whole situation. After only a brief conversation, Jack hung-up the phone.

“Jack? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, Sir. It didn’t look like it was good news.”

Jack didn’t want to lie to his team-his family, but he couldn’t exactly tell them the truth now could he? So, he settled for vague, “an old friend is calling in a favor. Shouldn’t take long, but I do have to fly out tonight.“

“I can be ready to go in a half-of-an-hour, Sir.”

“Ah, yeah me too, Jack.”

“Thanks kids,” Jack couldn’t help but smile slightly. He was a fortunate man to have such good friends, “but it isn’t needed.

“But, you could use back-up, Sir.”

“Or moral support?”

“Not that kind of favor, but thanks.”

“If you need us, Sir . . . .” Carter let the sentence go, but the thought was implied. If you need us, Sir, we’ll be there.

“Just call us, Jack,” Daniel added.

Within the hour, Jack had arranged leave, packed his gear, and was on his way to Los Angeles. The whole time he traveled he couldn’t escape the thought that this whole trip was going to be a mistake. He just knew it.

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""I’ve always believed that life is measured by the friends we keep and the people we help.
Problem is: sometimes it is our friends that lead us in to trouble . . . ""

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Craig Bannister still had a hard time not staring at the man in the car next to him. He would have sworn the man was Mac if it weren’t for the hair and the small scar in his left eyebrow. He hadn’t seem MacGyver in a few years, so he could have even believed that he was Mac if the man had tried to pass himself off as such, the appearance was that close.

Even the accent was similar. O’Neill had a slightly more bland American-general accent, harder to identify his place of origin but he still thought it was close enough to Mac’s Minnesota accent that no one would notice the difference if they weren’t paying attention.

“Oh for crying out loud, Bannister, would you stop staring at me?” Jack was getting tired of being stared at. He only hoped that traffic would let up soon so they could get to the Foundation building and out of this car

“Sorry,” he mumbled. No, the attitude on this man certainly would prevent him from mistaking him for Mac. He had been sarcastic and grouchy since they met at the airport. Mac was capable of sarcasm, but not usually so biting or so snarky. “Have you read the material on MacGyver’s background we sent for you to read on the plane?”

Jack just rolled his eyes, “that was for me to read? I thought it was supplies for paper airplanes.”

“You know once we arrive at the Foundation, you needed to pretend to be Mac until we get to my office. No one can know you aren’t MacGyver. Just pretend you are tired or have the flu or something, that way people won’t expect you to stop and make small talk.”

Jack didn’t even dignify the reminder with a response. Why bother it was only the fifth time Bannister had reminded him of his role in as many minutes.

A few minutes later, Craig pulled his car in front of the Foundation. Craig got out of the car and headed to get Jack’s gear from the trunk while Jack took advantage of the few moments to himself. He reached into his bag and pulled out a Minnesota Twins baseball cap, which he plopped on his head. He fluffed the exposed hair; grateful he hadn’t made it to the barber this week as it helped with the look. It wasn’t what people would expect from MacGyver, but he could claim it was cut because of the weather in the African jungle where he was supposed to have been. No, it wasn’t the African jungle; it was the South American Rain Forrest. He’d have to make a point to remember that. He grabbed a small eyebrow pencil and filled in his scar, so it wasn’t noticeable anymore. He also took off his boots and exchanged them for tennis shoes. Okay, he was as ready as he was going to get. Just in time too as Craig came around and opened his door.

Jack got out of the car and noticed with a perverse pleasure that Craig had noticed the subtle changes. Good. In fact, Craig looked almost startled when he first took in the changes.

They walked into the building and past the reception desk.

“Mac?”

Showtime.

He turned and saw that it was one of the security guards who had called out to him. “Hey,“ he read the nametag quickly, “Stokes. Whatcha-been up to?”

Out of his peripheral vision, he noticed Craig staring at him. He had probably noticed the slight shift in his accent. Well, MacGyver wasn’t the only Minnesota boy around, even if Jack usually played down his accent.

“We haven’t seen you around here in a while. How was the latest Crusade?” Stokes asked with a smile.

“Lots of trees,” he said softly almost conspiratorially as if it were a big secret.

“Right,” he barely managed with a straight face, “welcome home, MacGyver.”

“Thanks,” Jack smiled wide and openly at the man as he followed Craig onto the elevator.

As the doors shut, Jack looked over at Craig and saw that he was staring again, “you’re staring again. I know I am good looking, but you really aren’t my type.”

“For a minute, I thought you were Mac.”

“That is the point, isn’t it?"

“Yeah, I just didn’t think you could do it, but you might just pull it off.”

“Yeahsureyoubetcha.”

“Okay, the only people who can know about this is me, you, Pete, and his son Michael, so be careful when we get off the elevator. Helen, my secretary, used to be Pete’s secretary and has known Mac for nearly 20 years.”

“Is she married? Kids? Anything important to know?”

“Nope, married to the job.”

The elevator door opened and two men walked off towards Craig’s office.

Helen caught sight of the them quickly, “oh, Mac, they were able to find you.”

“There’s my favorite lady,” Jack smiled in full Mac mode.

Helen stood and gave him a hug, then gave him the once over and took notice of one thing,“ are your knees bothering you more?”

“Yes ma’am, a bit,” he ducked his head a little, slightly embarrassed that she noticed.

“How is Sam?” Helen asked.

That stopped Jack for a second as the image of a certain beautiful blonde-haired, genius-type second-in-command flashed through his mind, “ah . . . oh, fine. You know Sam,” he replied vaguely.

“Like someone else I know.”

Jack just smiled at her and decided to change the subject, “so how is Pete really doing?”

“You can ask Pete yourself,” a voice came from the doorway to the office. “I am glad to see you, Mac.” There was a slight emphasis on the name ‘Mac’, but only if you were paying attention, as Jack always was even if most people didn’t realize it.

Jack looked up at Pete. All things considered he looked good. Well, he was still playing to the audience so he walked over and gave the man a hug, “it’s been too long.”

“Yes, it has been.”

“Why don’t we go sit down and discuss why we had to track you down, Mac,” Craig suggested as he ushered Jack and Pete into his office closing the door behind them.

Once the door was shut, Pete spoke again, “I know this is the last thing you expected and I assume it is inconvenient, but thank you for coming when I asked.”

Jack shrugged still using his Minnesota accent he answered, “happy to help.”

Craig spun around to look at Jack, “don’t do that. You sound too much like Mac and it’s creepy.”

Jack smiled slightly and Pete tried to cover his smile.

“That is the point, as you kept reminding me,” Jack answered once more sounding more like the Air Force officer rather than the troubleshooter. "Isn't it?"

Jack started to answer back, but Pete cut him off, “boys stop. We are here for a reason, not to bicker.”

“Yes, Papa Thornton,” Jack responded with a grin causing Pete to chuckle as he thought of another Jack who use to call him that.

“How do you two know each other anyway?” Craig had to know. This man was annoying and certainly not typical for Pete’s usual circle of friends.

“We go way back to a lot of funny places,” Jack answered.

Pete just shook his head, “first time I met this guy he pulled me out of the quicksand in the Wadi Nefud, deep-desert. I was sure I was done for, but he saved my life. After that he put me on a camel and he gave it this gigantic swat. Ha!”

“Then, what happened?”

“Oh,” Jack grinned, “we just rode on out.”

“Took us 6 days to ride out, but we made it. I couldn’t sit easy for a week. I am glad you came.”

“Yeah, well,” Jack laughed as he put his hand on Pete’s shoulder.

“Right,” Craig decided to refocus the group, “so to the reason you are here . . .“

“The Phoenix Foundation is sponsoring Peace Negotiations right here in Los Angeles,” Jack interrupted Craig, “between two countries that are poised for war. Peter and MacGyver negotiated their last peace treaty over 15 years ago and this time they aren’t getting anywhere and are convinced that nothing will happen without MacGyver’s help. Of course, MacGyver is nowhere to be found right now and you need a stand-in, about right?”

“Precisely,” Pete answered.

“You actually read the material I sent for the plane ride?” Craig was surprised. He didn’t think this man would have bothered.

“No, I told you I made paper airplanes,” Jack smirked before he turned and addressed Pete, “he doesn’t listen well does he?”

Pete could no longer hide his amusement. This man always managed to make him laugh.

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“” Have you ever noticed that more often than not if there is one thing that
will make a situation worse, it will happen? For me, it never fails . . . “”

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“Major Carter, Dr. Jackson, thank you for coming-in on such short notice,” General Hammond motioned for them to sit as they entered his office.

“As you know both know Colonel O’Neill and Teal’c have been granted personal leave; however, new information has come to my attention. I do not believe their presence is necessary, but I believe that the both of you would be well-suited to the task. We have received information that there maybe a vein of Naquada running through several of our smaller Eastern European countries.”

“Sir, we have never found any evidence of Naquada on Earth before,” Carter was shocked. Could it be possible?

“I am well aware of that, Major; however, the testing seems to be pretty conclusive,” he handed her folder with various test results and mineralogy reports, as well as geographic and geological surveys. “We are hoping to negotiate for the rights, which is where you both come in. As it turns out, the leaders of two of those countries are in Los Angeles for a peace summit sponsored by the Phoenix Foundation. I want you both to travel to Los Angeles and acquire the rights.”

“Ah, how much is the government willing to bargain with?” Daniel asked.

“We are well aware of the strategic importance of this metal. They are willing to go pretty far,” General Hammond handed him a list that would answer his questions. He took a quick glanced at it and noticed that about the only thing not on the list, “I’m not authorized to negotiate away the kitchen sink?”

The General shook his head wondering if Dr. Jackson had been spending way too much time with a certain Colonel. “I am sure, son, that if you needed to negotiate with the sink that it could be made available to you. Now are there any other questions?”

“No, Sir,” Sam replied as Daniel only shock his head negatively.

“Good luck both of you. Your flight leaves at 13:30”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“Yeah, thanks, General.”

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“” See what I mean? It never fails. “”

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Jack, Craig, and Pete arrived at the secluded setting on the outskirts of Los Angeles where the peace submit was being held.
As their car pulled-up to the gate, Craig took one more opportunity to remind Jack of the mission, “now remember, you are MacGyver and he believes in peace not guns, you got it?”

“Pete, make him stop,” Jack whined as he put his head in his hands.

“Do you have it?” Craig reiterated one more time.

“Yes! For crying out loud, I have it!

“I just want to make sure you don’t blow this whole operation.”

“Look Bannister, I was probably running ops when you were still dunking little girl’s ponytails in the inkwells. ‘Sides, if this operation gets blown it will be because you don’t supply a good enough dossier. When your secretary asked about Sam, I had not clue – still don’t. What if it were one of these diplomats we are coming to meet? So, get off your high horse and let me do my part. OK?”

“Sam is Mac’s son. You’d have known that if you had read what I gave you,” Craig shot back.

“His son? Your paperwork said his son’s name was Sean Angus. Not Sam,” Jack was clearly irritated, but as Carter and Daniel could easily attest that the Colonel’s moods could easily turn-on-a-dime. So when he turned to talk to Pete without missing a beat and allowed a smile into his voice, it wasn’t out of character at all, “I mean, Pete, really what’s up with your friend? What kind of name is Angus? To saddle a kid with that moniker, it’s just cruel.”

Pete was trying not to laugh at the comment, because he knew how his friend truly felt about that name.

“SAM is his initials, Sean Angus Malloy,” Craig repeated slowly so, he hoped, that Jack would be able to catch-on.

“Brilliant, that wasn’t in the paperwork,” Jack pointed out.

“Pete, there is no way this man will pull-off being Mac.”

“Well, if you had been able to handle the negotiations yourself, I wouldn’t even be here. I’d be doing something immensely more fun like watching ice melt.” Jack turned to look Craig in the eye, “besides what other choice have you got, Bannister? Of course, if you don’t want my help I would be more than happy to leave.”

“You . . . “

Pete cut-off Craig’s reply as they reached their final check point, “Showtime, boys.”

Jack turned to face forward, pressed his lips together, before exhaling slightly. He had to get Bannister out of his head. He exhaled again slowly as flexed the muscles in his back and shoulders to let go of the tension. Everyone told him that MacGyver wasn’t a tense guy. Yeah, you bet. Living with the risks he did, it couldn’t be entirely true. No, ‘Mac’ simply kept his tension under-control and to himself. Still he had to appear tension free because that is what people would expect. He took one last deep breath. He could do this. He could do this. He chanted to himself as he exhaled, trying to prepare himself. He really wasn’t use to all of this skullduggery anymore. The direct approach was fine with him.

“Ready, Mac?” Pete asked.

“Yeah, let’s hit it,” Jack sounded sure of himself.

Craig frowned, “here goes nothing.”

With that the three men left the car and Jack felt deep down that his first instincts were right. This trip was going to be a huge honkin’ mistake.

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"Typical. Just when you're getting ahead, someone changes the odds."
– MacGyver (Thief of Budapest)

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Pete cut-off Craig’s reply as they reached their final check point, “Showtime, boys. Ready, Mac?”

“Yeah, let’s hit it,” Jack sounded sure of himself.

Craig frowned, “here goes nothing.”

With that the three men left the car and Jack felt deep down that his first instincts were right. This trip was going to be a huge honkin’ mistake.

Jack looked up at the castle, a converted house, nearly palatial that had once belonged to the DXS that Pete had acquired for the Foundation and was often used for events like this. Although he never understood why Pete had wanted the place after what Quayle had put him through there, Pete still talked about that “adventure” often. Still, it seemed as if it had taken months to get this point (surely readers could sympathize about long waits). Sure it was only a matter of seconds, but it did feel like forever. Could he do it? When had his life gotten so complicated?

“MacGyver?”

Jack looked up to see Craig standing in front of him, staring, his tone had been a barely restrained hiss. It was then that Jack realized that he had just stopped walking and had been lost in his own thoughts.

“Now is not the time, Jackie-boy,” he thought silently to himself before responding out-loud. “Yeah, coming Ban-ah-Craig,” he smiled at the man his most MacGyver-ly smile. When had MacGyver-ly become an adjective? Probably about the time Carter made it a verb.

They proceeded into the castle.

“Why don’t you go settle in and meet us in the conference room in about an hour?” Craig clearly ordered despite the format of the sentence before he started to walk off.

Jack stopped him. “Nope, we’re here for a reason. I’ll head-up now.”

“But . . . “

Jack ignored him and headed in what he hoped was the correct direction.

“Hey, look here,” Craig started after him only to be stopped as he felt Pete’s cane tap him across the chest, blocking his path.

“No, Craig, he’s right.” Pete paused for a moment as if picturing some other time in his mind. “Trust him. I do.”

Jack stopped, not having heard the exchange, “um, which way – which conference room?”

“Down the hallway at 3 o’clock, up two flights, turn right, first door on your left, near the old control room,” Pete replied.

“Thanks,” Jack smiled and turned the opposite direction from where he was going.

“Trust him, huh?” Craig asked when Jack was gone.

“With my life Craig, with my life.”

Within a few minutes, Jack was standing in front of the conference room door. He couldn’t hear a thing inside. Were they being that quiet or was the door that thick? Only one way to find out, Jack pushed the door open.

Everyone in the room looked over at him. He was able to identify four of the six people in the room quickly. In between the two arguing men was Michael Thorton, Pete’s son. The two arguing men were Samadian President Habad and Prime Minister Josef Rossovich of the Republic of Azmir. The two unidentified men, who he really couldn’t see well from where he was standing, were obviously their aids and the final person was a foundation operative named Katherine Houlihan who was acting as the service staff during this negotiation. He had seen her picture in the file Bannister had given him.

One of the arguing men broke of the verbal sparring match and smiled as he began to walk over to Jack. “MacGyver, my friend, so indeed they were able to find you. This is a good thing. It has been nearly a score of years since you saved my life.”

“As-salaam alaykum (Greeting - Peace Be With You), President Habad,” Jack answered returning the smile.

“Wa alaykum as-salaam (And With You Peace), MacGyver. An appropriate greeting, for now that you are here at last, we will discuss peace.”

“Mac?” Michael smiled and came over and shook Jack’s hand. Jack noted that Michael was giving him a look, probably trying to decided if he were indeed MacGyver or just the stand-in. He nodded for a moment and his grin grew. Jack decided he passed the Mac-test.

“It’s good to see you. I am so glad they were able to get you here,” he turned towards the other dignitary in the room. “Please allow me to present, Prime Minister Josef Rossovich of the Republic of Azmir.”

“Zdravstvuyte, Rad s amee poznakomit’ sya (Greetings, I am glad to meet you),” Jack said easily which surprised Craig who had finally joined them in the conference room.

“Privyet (hello), there is no need for formal speech, I feel as though we are already old friends. My aid has spoken of you often,” the Prime Minister returned in greeting. “It is why I refused to negotiate with any one else once we reached the impasse.”

“Oh?” Jack questioned as he turned towards the Prime Minister’s aid to see a smiling open face, the face of a man he was obviously suppose to know. Now, who was it? Jack smiled as he had his answer, “Yuri?”

Craig was shocked, how had that man known his name? Was it in one of the files he had prepared about Mac? It had to have been. Didn’t it?

“Yuri Demetri is I,” he smiled as he gave Jack a hug. He pulled back, “will the lovely Penny Parker be here as well?” He looked extremely hopeful.

“Not this time, Yuri,” Jack smiled.

“Oh,” Yuri said crestfallen, a look which caused Jack to start to almost snicker, which he covered with a not so subtle cough.

“Allow me to present my aide as well, this is Rajiv Skinner,” President Habad presented.

“Your bravery on Mont Salève is well known, it is my pleasure,” the aid shook Jack’s hand.

“Twern’t nuthin’,” he blushed hoping that would be the right reaction given the circumstances.

“Mac, you never could take a compliment,” Michael laughed before motioning the men to their chairs, “shall we try again?”

“With pleasure.”

“Indeed.”

Jack gave the man a surprised look as he matched Teal’c tone for tone. He shook it off. It was a good thing Teal’c and the rest of his team wasn’t here.

“Okay, gentleman, let’s get down to work . . . “

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“” I’ve never believed the old aphorism that ‘no good deed goes unpunished.’
I think maybe it is time to rethink that position. “” - Clare Boothe Luce

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Several hours later Jack and the delegates were still deep in discussion, while Craig was meeting some guests at the front gate. - - - Three guess as to who it is. . .

“Major Carter? Doctor Jackson, I presume?” Craig greeted as the two were shown in the front gate.

“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Mr. Bannister,” Daniel replied.

“Well, Paul Davis called and said that it was important. I’ve known him since the Academy and that man isn’t known for hyperbole.”

“You’re an Academy graduate?” Carter asked.

“You’ll find that many of us here are ex-DXS agents and . . . “

“and most DXS agents are recruited from the Air Force.” Sam laughed slightly, “they even tried to recruit me at one time.”

‘Really?” Daniel asked turning towards Sam in surprise.

“Yes, but I was more interested in flying.”

“Now my understanding is you wish to speak to both delegates?” Craig asked to be clear.

“Ah, yes,” Daniel replied.

Craig nodded. “I’ve decided that you can speak to them, but you must speak to them at the same time. These negotiations are very delicate and we don’t want one side to think the other side is getting a better offer.

“Understood.”

Craig, Carter, and Daniel began walking towards the staircase.

“Good, now I will take you upstairs. I just got word that MacGyver is going to make them take a break in a few minutes and you can talk to them then.”

“MacGyver? THE MacGyver?” Sam was surprised and stopped in her tracks.

Craig hesitated, he wanted to say – nope we’ve got a cheap imitation, but restraint learned over years of experience lead him to answer, “yes, but I wouldn’t say that to him. He is rather modest when it comes to his reputation.” He began walking again not allowing them to respond.

Daniel followed for a moment before stopping, realizing that Sam wasn’t with him. He turned. “Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“You coming?”

“Oh, yeah,” she started after Daniel, “it’s just that it is MacGyver.”

Daniel just shook his head slightly, he hadn’t seen her this excited since she met Stephen Hawkings and before that when she met Igor Dmitrievich Novikov and Freeman Dyson. He couldn’t help snickering, Sam could be such a science nerd sometimes and Jack said that he was the only geek on the team – yeah, right! Not that he blamed her, not in the least. He realized he’d feel the same way if he has the opportunity to meet Karl Richard Lepsius or Francois Auguste Mariette. Of course they were dead, so it wasn’t a likely occurrence, but then again he did work with the SGC so anything’s possible

Daniel and Sam continued to talk as they followed Craig around through all of the corridors.

Within a few minutes, Craig was showing them into the conference room.

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Typical. Just when you're getting ahead, someone changes the odds.

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Daniel and Sam continued to talk as they followed Craig around through all of the corridors. Within a few minutes, Craig was showing them into the conference room. Sam and Daniel walked in the room and found that the room was empty, no MacGyver, no delegates, no anyone.

Craig looked around, "I thought they were suppose to be in here. Just what had the faker done with the delegates?"

"Ah, you said they were taking a lunch break?" Daniel asked.

Craig nodded.

"Perhaps they moved to the dinning room?"

"Or maybe they went out on the terrace?" Sam smiled as she pointed out the door where there was obviously some people on the other side.

"I have always heard that MacGyver prefers to be outside," Daniel observed.

Craig just wanted to roll his eyes. While it was true that taking them outside would have been a very Mac-like thing to do, Mac was not here.

The three walked out on to the terrace. Craig looked around and saw the imposter chatting with President Habad and Prime Minister Rossovich as if they were old poker buddies.

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See? If it can go wrong, it will.

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Jack was standing talking with the delegates informally. He wanted to get an idea of what they really wanted from these negotiations. He had learned over the years that very few people are entirely up front about what their true goals are. He hoped that by getting them to talk casually he would learn more.
He heard the door to the terrace open and saw Craig come through the door. Dismissing it as unimportant, he turned back to his companions. It was not long however before he heard Craigs voice, "I'll introduce you to MacGyver."

Jack turned around to see what Craig wanted. When he did it took ever ounce of control that he had learned over the years not to show his shock and amazement at who stood before him. Of course, he thought idly he shouldnt be surprised. Things were going all too well. In front of him were Carter and Daniel. He thought that Daniel was looking at him oddly, or maybe not so oddly given the circumstances, but for once he wasn't reading him well. His own anxiety was making the task harder. Carter looked oddly excited, sort of like a kid in a candy store or perhaps like an astrophsycisist with a new Ancient toy. What was that about?

It only look a moment for Jack to decide what to do. He would "be" MacGyver not Jack and Mac didn't know these two. He plastered on his friendly "Mac" smile and walked forward away from the men he was speaking with hoping that leaving them alone would not cause further problems. "Hey Craig, what brings you up here? You come up for lunch? The veggie dog is excellent."

"No, MacGyver. I wanted to introduce you to Major Carter and Dr. Jackson." Craig indicated the people standing behind him.

Jack noted instantly that Carter was not in uniform, rather in a dark skirt/suit combo, the way Air Force officers would dress when they did not want the fact that they were Air Force to be the forefront of their mission. This would work for him since Bannister wasnt specific about who was who. So this could come across as a little sexist, but MacGyvers image could take it if helped him stay in role. A little confusion always helped keep people on their toes.

"Major Carter," he said as he reached out to shake Daniels hand, secretly amused at the idea of Daniel being in the Air Force. Major Daniel Jackson, what a thought?

"Um, actually, I am Major Carter, Samantha Carter."

Jack looked over to Sam. "Major, my apologies," Jack smiled openly. "It is not so often that the Uniformed Services sends someone so pretty. Pleased to meet you, Ma'am." Flirtation is a good distraction as well, not to mention fun, Jack thought to himself.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. MacGyver. You were a bit of a legend when I was in graduate school," Sam smiled brightly.

"Mostly rumors I am afraid," Jack continued to smile at her trying to decide if she figured him out already? Was she was that good of an actress or had he really caught her off guard?

Jack turned back to Daniel. "Dr. Jackson?

Daniel nodded. Jack shook Daniel's hand and tried not to notice Daniel's appraising look. Unseen by Craig or Sam, Daniel silently mouthed the question, "Jack?"

Jack wanted to ignore it, but figured that would be worse. So instead he hit it head on. "That's right Dr. Jackson, I'm Mac." Jack smiled at him emphasizing the name Mac which interestingly rhymed with ‘Jack’ while playing up his Minnesota accent and his friendly nature. "Do we know each other?"

Jack could tell he now had Craig's full attention.

"Probably just by reputation, MacGyver," Craig asserted, "Dr. Jackson is an Archeologist and has probably read about some of your exploits." Craig smiled at Daniel before moving the conversation ahead, "Major Carter and Dr. Jackson represent the United States Air Force. They are hoping to negotiate trade rights for a mineral that is found primarily in the territory of Samadia and the Republic of Azmir. I've given them permission to talk to the delegates, but only if they approach them together. I don't want to give them something else to fight over."

Jack looked seriously at Craig, affecting a look of serious consideration, AI would agree. We dont want to take the chance that Habad or Rossovich think we are playing favorites.

"When can we speak with the President and the Prime Minister?" Sam asked.

"I think if we waited until tomorrow, after we have come to a few basic agreements between the parties would be better," Craig answered.

Jack contradicted him, "actually Craig, we have actually already made some good progress. Besides the delegates," he paused and motioned to Habad and Rossovich who were watching the four converse, "have already noticed our guests. I think it is better to just handle this now when lunch is finished."

"Okay," Craig conceded and Jack just bet that it steamed the man that he had not agreed with him. Too bad. They brought him in to do the negotiations and he would do them to the best of his ability.

Now Jack looked at his team and Bannister standing there. He realized he needed to reinforce his image as MacGyver with his team if for no other reason than to make Daniel stop looking at him like he was some sort of alien. Of course, he acknowledged given their time at the SGC, it would be a reasonable, even expected, assumption. Still he couldn’t have anyone noticing anything odd about him, now could he?

"Well, I am going to give everyone about one half hour more to enjoy lunch and continue to mix informally. Why don't you grab some food. We were trying to have a cookout feel for lunch and they have some great veggie dogs and veggie burgers over there and the lemonade is fresh." Jack smiled, knowing that Carter loved her meat.

"Is one of the delegates a vegetarian?" Sam asked.

"Well, no, there is also real hotdogs and burgers over there."

"Mac is a vegetarian," Craig added.

"Not strictly speaking, but I do tend to prefer dishes that are healthy and that tends to be more vegetarian oriented dishes." Jack shrugged, "just a personal preference."

Jack wanted to smile to himself. Eating healthy? Definitely not what Carter or Daniel would give him credit for doing. He was left wondering what Daniel and Carter were thinking now.

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

Edward R. Murrow once said that "anyone who isn't confused really
doesn't understand the situation." - I think he makes a very good point.

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

I really hope someone enjoyed this story.
~Teri


Posted by: trtlsoup 2 December 2007 - 12:44 PM
Ahh... I thought this story seemed familiar... GREAT story! biggrin.gif

Sooo... Have you decided to write another chapter yet?

Posted by: thyla 3 December 2007 - 08:16 AM
More story! More story! clapup.gif dancemachine.gif

Posted by: Teri 6 December 2007 - 12:12 PM
QUOTE (trtlsoup @ 2 December 2007 - 04:44 PM)
Ahh... I thought this story seemed familiar... GREAT story!  biggrin.gif

Sooo... Have you decided to write another chapter yet?

Thanks. Glad you liked it.

Actually, the end (the last 20%) is brand new. It is one of the first things I have written in a year. I am hoping there will be more in a few weeks.

Posted by: Teri 6 December 2007 - 12:13 PM
QUOTE (thyla @ 3 December 2007 - 12:16 PM)
More story! More story! clapup.gif dancemachine.gif

Thanks smile.gif

Posted by: Bubber 17 August 2011 - 04:52 PM
QUOTE (Teri @ 7 December 2007 - 08:16 AM)
You have shed a ray of snsuhine into the forum. Thanks!

You have shed a ray of snsuhine into the forum. Thanks!

Posted by: Karenskatz 24 March 2021 - 05:17 PM
[SIZE=14]

PLEASE! More!!!!

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