Secrets No More

By Leesa Perrie and Jayne Perry

(Season Three, set after 'Common Ground' – but before 'McKay and Mrs Miller')

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Oh no I see,
A spider web and it's me in the middle,
So I twist and turn…

Lyrics from 'Trouble' by Coldplay

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Chapter One: Back on Earth

It was late when McKay entered his apartment. He could have stayed on base, but after Atlantis, the corridors of the SGC seemed drab and even a little claustrophobic, so he had elected to stay over at his apartment. He and Sheppard had returned to Earth a couple of weeks ago. Sheppard to take some down time, and himself to help Carter out on a project, that with his extensive knowledge and expertise was now completed. Apart from the paperwork that was, and he felt Carter was more than capable to deal with that on her own.

As good as it had been to work with Sam again, he was looking forward to returning to Atlantis. Sheppard would be back from his vacation tomorrow, and he just had a few loose ends to tie up, and then the day after they would head back on the Daedalus.

There was a package in his letter box, which surprised him, he rarely got mail at this address. Closer inspection showed that it had been hand delivered. Curious, he opened it as soon as he was through his front door.

It was a CD-ROM, with a typed note that simply read 'watch this' on it. Beginning to get a bad feeling about this, he opened his laptop and popped the CD in, running a virus scan before opening the video message. And his bad feeling suddenly got a whole lot worse.

McKay spent the following day at the SGC, pretending to do some research, and doing his best to avoid people, especially Sheppard. Fortunately, he was left mostly alone, even Sheppard realising he was too caught up in whatever he was doing to be disturbed. Or at least, that was what he wanted people to think.

What he was really doing was hacking into the SGC computers and accessing information about the F302's, and the security measures at the base they were being built at, covering his tracks well. Or as well as he could within the time limit he had on this.

That evening found him outside Colonel Carter's home, seriously debating with himself about his next moves. He really didn't like the idea of trying to lure Sam into, well, who knew what he was about to get them into. He had a story ready. He just hoped she didn't see through his lies. He'd never been good at lying, but this was too important to mess up. A life was depending on him getting this right. Two lives, in fact.

He took a deep breath. Sam would never forgive him. And when this was all over, the best he could probably hope for would be a cell in a nice secure military prison. Or maybe they'd lock him up in the bowels of Area 51, and let him work on supervised projects. After all, he was a genius, and it would be a terrible thing to waste his intellect, and with the right security measures...

But probably he would be dead before this was over. He could only hope that Sam and his friends would get out of this alive, preferably unharmed.

He headed to her front door, pausing a moment before knocking. He needed to do this right. Needed to convince her to come with him. The door opened to a surprised looking Carter.

"McKay? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Oh, well, I need to talk to you. I think I may have found a security leak. Look, can I come in? I promise to behave," he smiled, trying to hide his nervousness.

"Sure."

They made their way into her living room.

"You think you've found a security leak? Why are you telling me, not General Landry?"

"Oh, I'd like for you to check my findings, I'm not one hundred percent positive. Besides, I think the General would take more notice if it came from you than me. I get the feeling he doesn't really like me all that much, can't imagine why."

Sam shook her head at that.

"Look, if I was certain then I'd go to him, but I'm not. A second opinion would be useful. I was thinking we could head back now, you could check my findings, and then if you agreed with me we could take the necessary action."

"Uh huh," Sam looked at him carefully. "No, I don't think I'll be going anywhere with you right now."

"What?" He looked confused, but Sam continued before he could respond further.

"You're right about there being a security leak. Someone hacked into the SGC computer system today, downloading everything we have about the F302's."

As Sam was saying this, Mitchell and Teal'c entered from the kitchen, both with Zats, and Jackson entered from the hallway, also with a Zat, though Mitchell and Teal'c were the only ones who had them pointed at him.

"You're good, McKay," Sam said quietly. "But not that good."

"Oh crap," he looked at them, panic starting to set in. This wasn't good, not good at all.

"We know why you're doing this." Mitchell said. "We checked out your apartment. Just out of curiosity, why did you leave the CD in your laptop?"

"I was…I don't know. I wasn't thinking straight."

"McKay," Sam started, then changed tactics. "Rodney, we want to help you."

"Oh right, help me betray your country, the SGC, oh, and not to mention yourself," he said scornfully. "Sure you do."

"This Blair Sandburg, we checked him and Jim Ellison out. Sandburg's on old friend. We can understand your actions, though you should have reported this instead; gone through the proper channels."

"Right. They said they had people watching me. And if I didn't do what they said…" he trailed off, looking away from them. "They were going to torture Blair. Kill him, eventually," he looked at Sam, willing her to understand. "I couldn't let that happen. Couldn't risk it. Blair… he's like a… a brother to me. I couldn't…" he wrapped his arms around himself, trying to keep himself together. "You can't let them do that to him," he pleaded.

"And we don't intend to let them," Mitchell said. "But you need to work with us, not against us, McKay. We'll do everything we can to get your friends out of this mess."

"I…" he sighed in defeat. "I don't have any choice, do I?"

"Not really," Daniel agreed.

Rodney was quiet, emotions warring with intellect.

"But you can't guarantee his safety, or that of Ellison, can you?"

"No, but can you? How do you know they won't just kill them anyway, once you've done what they want?" Mitchell asked.

"I don't. And I know, one or two lives compared to who knows how many if these people, whoever they are, get what they want? I can do the math. I know what the answer should be. But…Blair's the only friend I had for a long, long time," he laughed, hollowly. "The only person who could put up with me. The only one I allowed to be my friend, if I'm being honest, for a long time. You see, I've always known the truth about friendship. It makes you weak. Makes you do things you wouldn't normally consider," he looked at Sam. "Like take crazy risks to get a friend out of the stargate buffers," his eyes flicked to Teal'c briefly.

"Do you really believe that, McKay? That friendship makes a person weaker?" Sam said in surprise.

"Of course it does. Just look at this situation. You think I want to steal information and pass it on to who knows what organisation? It could be the Trust for all I know, though I doubt the Goa'uld would be interested in our F302's. You think I want to lead you into an ambush, get you kidnapped? That's the last thing I'd want to do to you, Sam. But because of 'friendship', I would have.

"I nearly lost one of my friends due to that Genii bastard, Kolya, and his pet wraith. And I can tell you now, if I had been in charge, then Ladon would have been handed over, and to hell with any alliance with the Genii. That's what friendship does, it makes you want to do things you shouldn't, to save your friend's life. Or lives."

"I believe you are wrong, Dr McKay," Teal'c stated.

"Yeah, maybe," Rodney snorted. "It's not like I have much experience with this sort of thing."

"Friendship makes a person stronger," Jackson said. "There have been times when the only thing helping me to hold on in times of trouble is the thought that my friends would be looking for me and that they would never give up on me. It made me stronger, able to endure until someone found me."

"Not to mention the support friends give you when you're going through a tough time," Carter continued. "I know that I would probably be a basket case if it wasn't for that support."

"And friends get their friends into trouble, without even realising it," McKay grated out. "Blair, let alone Jim, wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for me. My friendship hasn't helped them much, has it? Blair would be better off if he had never met me, or at least hadn't taken the time to befriend me. So much for that friendship, it's really worked out good for him, hasn't it? I should have pushed him away, just like everyone else."

And then he made his move. Jackson had drifted closer to him, close enough for him to make a grab for the Zat. He didn't make it though. Teal'c zatted him, and he fell into darkness.

"Damn it, why'd you have to go and do that?" Mitchell said to the still form on the floor. He sighed. "Let's get him onto the couch. I need to report back to General Landry."

Earlier that morning…

Jim groaned as he came to on a crude bed.

"Hey, Jim, welcome back. How do you feel?"

"I'll let you know when the rollercoaster has stopped and the rock band shuts up. How long have I been out?"

"Nearly a full day. You must have had a reaction to the knock out drugs they shot us with."

"Oh, yeah, I remember. We were just about to get into the truck when we were darted. Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine, no problem," Blair said unconvincingly.

"Sandburg?" Jim asked worriedly.

"I'm not too happy about a recording they made yesterday. They didn't hurt me, just put a gun to my head," Blair sighed. "And threatened to cut me up if McKay doesn't do what they want. He's got two days to comply."

"McKay?" Jim said in surprise. "What has he got to do with this, and what the hell do they want?"

"They want all the information and the base security details on something they referred to as F302's, and for him to persuade a Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter to come with him for some reason, and rendezvous with them with the information and her. And to hand himself over at that point as well. If he doesn't…"

"Then they'll torture you?" Jim growled.

"Yeah. He'll get another video message with the whole thing on it for him to watch and then another two days to comply. Then they'll kill me, slowly."

"Shit."

"Exactly. And…" Blair paused.

"There's more?"

"They mentioned your enhanced senses, making it clear that they were going to use you to get past the security. Of course, if he doesn't do what they want and they end up killing me, they'll cut their losses and kill you as well."

"This just gets better," Jim growled. "Will McKay go along with them?"

"Maybe. Probably. They say they've got him under surveillance, even when he is at the SGC, which I presume is the name of the place he's working at right now. I don't know if he'll be able to tip off his employers whilst playing along or not," Blair looked both worried and pissed off. "This totally sucks."

"Yeah," Jim said, looking around the room they were in. "Any idea where we are? Did you see anything that might give any clues?"

"Nope. I think all crooks must have their own private underground complexes," Blair grimaced.

Jim nodded. The walls were plain, and there were no windows. In the room were two cots, a couple of rickety looking chairs, and a bucket. He sighed.

"Okay, so we have to get out the hard way."

"The hard way?"

"Yep. Cunning and brute strength."

"Well, between the two of us, we should be able to figure something out," Blair grinned slightly, before looking serious again. "Can you hear anything? And can you tell if there are hidden bugs or cameras or whatever in here?"

Jim cocked his head very slightly to one side and concentrated, with Blair putting one hand on his arm to help ground him. After all these years, it was second nature to both of them.

"Okay, no electronic equipment in this room, so we're not under surveillance."

"Huh, mistake number one for the bad guys," Blair muttered, careful not to interrupt Jim's concentration.

"And…no white noise generator. I can hear a couple of people outside this door. They're not talking, but pacing. Guards, presumably."

"Doing good, Jim," Blair encouraged.

"Okay, there's…four more people about two hundred yards away. No conversation at the moment…in fact, I'd say there were sleeping. And another two about five hundred feet or so away, though it sounds like they're above us. Just general chat. Talking about a football game."

"So, eight people so far."

"Yes. Wherever we are, we're out in the countryside. I can't hear anything but a few birds and animals outside. No sounds that suggest we're near a town or city."

"So, we need to get past eight people, get out of here and find help?"

"Basically," Jim agreed. "Will you be able to contact McKay when we get out of here?"

Blair grinned to himself at Jim's 'when' not 'if' they got out of there.

"I don't know. My contact details for him go via the Air Force. But when he sent that letter to me to let me know he was better just after his last visit, he also said that if we ever got into trouble with government agents, whether rogue or not, due to your senses or whatever, to contact a General Landry at Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs," Blair shook his head. "Of course, he didn't say it blatantly, but couched his words carefully, knowing I'd read between the lines."

"Any idea who this General Landry is?"

"No, but I know NORAD is at Cheyenne Mountain, so presumably he's part of that. Either way, if Rodney trusts this guy to help us, then I'm willing to do so as well. And I'm assuming he will know how to contact Rodney to let him know we're okay."

"Good."

"So," Blair said. "What's the plan?"

The present…

Back at the SGC, Mitchell stood in General Landry's office and gave him a run down of events.

"Sir, I believe it would be a good idea to inform Colonel Sheppard about what is going on. McKay is a member of his team, and he knows the man far better than any of us here."

"I agree. It sounds like Dr McKay isn't handling things too well and we need him focused if our plan stands a chance of working," General Landry activated his intercom and requested that Colonel Sheppard be asked to see him as soon as possible.

Several minutes later, Sheppard entered the General's office.

"You asked to see me, sir?"

"Yes, Colonel," The General brought Sheppard up to speed on McKay and what they knew so far.

"And I'm only just finding out now, sir?" Sheppard asked angrily.

"We needed to act to contain the situation. We also needed to be certain whether the surveillance referred to on the video message was actual or not. It would appear that that threat, at least, was false, as we have found no evidence of surveillance of any kind. However, we decided to confront him at Colonel Carter's just to be on the safe side."

"Okay," Sheppard still wasn't happy, but he let it go, for now at least. "So what's the plan? I'm assuming you have a plan, and I'm also assuming it's not to put McKay in a cell and throw away the key? As tempting as that may be sometimes, he's only trying to protect his friends. I know for a fact that Sandburg is more like family to McKay than his own family ever have been."

"We have no intention of locking him up, but we do need his cooperation."

"And as you know him better than us…" Mitchell started.

"…I'm more likely to get through to him. Okay, I get that. So, tell me the plan, and then let's go see him."

Noon, earlier that day…

Blair watched Jim, who'd finally recovered from the effects of the drug, as he carefully examined the room. He was watching in case Jim zoned out, or even better, found something to help them escape.

The mattress was thin and spongy, not a spring in sight, but Jim checked it anyway. Dropping it, a cloud of dust rose into the air and irritated Blair's nose.

Though their captors had emptied their pockets and also removed their belts and watches, Blair knew the hole in his pocket often allowed tissues to escape into the lining of his beige jacket. He was thankful that that hadn't been removed as well, as the room had no heat and the walls kept the air cold.

Feeling a sneeze threatening to explode, he quickly drove his hand in the pocket and through the small hole, splitting the material and making the hole even bigger. Grabbing a wad it took several tries to pull it through and out. He vaguely heard a clatter as his sneeze could no longer be contained.

"Sorry, Jim, dust," Blair apologised.

But Jim was staring at the floor by his feet.

"You been holding out on me, Sandburg?"

Blair looked down.

"So that's where you went. I thought I'd lost you," looking up, Blair grinned. "Still want to chuck out my tatty old jacket now?"

Almost reverently, Jim picked up Blair's Swiss army knife.

"I think we're back in business. What else have you got in there? A wonder burger by any chance?"

"No," Blair said with a shake of his head. "And even if I did, I wouldn't give you it. All that fat," he shuddered.

Using the penknife, Jim quickly and quietly took a couple of legs off one of the chairs. He handed one of the chair legs to Blair and kept the other for himself.

Indicating quiet, and giving hand instructions to Blair, Jim went to their prison door and set to work, using the tools on the penknife along with his sentinel hearing to pick the lock on the door and ensure they had no surprise visitors. The click of the door unlocking seemed very loud to Jim. Carefully placing the penknife in his pocket, he picked up the chair leg.

Slowly, Jim turned the handle and opened the door inward, just a crack. Enough to see that the guards were positioned facing away from them. Checking that Sandburg was ready, he swung the door open, surprising the guards. Giving the guards no time to call for help, he and Sandburg used the chair legs to render the guards unconscious, and then dragged them into the room.

"Which way now, Jim?" Blair whispered, looking up and down the corridor.

"I can feel fresh air coming from this way," Jim replied, handing Blair one of the guards' guns and keeping the other for himself.

Quietly, they walked in the direction Jim had indicated.

The corridor they walked down was a dingy grey, with paint peeling off, and doors on each side of it. Jim tried a couple, but they only led into empty disused rooms, so he didn't bother checking any more of them.

Half way down the corridor, Jim paused outside a door. Listening carefully he could hear the four occupants within, sleeping.

He indicated to Blair that it was safe to move on.

At the end of the corridor there was a flight of stairs which they slowly ascended. Their nerves felt stretched; if either the men above or below were to hear them, there was nowhere to hide. With relief they got to the top without incident.

Jim was considering whether it was worth just making a run for it when he heard, from further along the corridor, two guards approaching, their voices slightly muted by a closed door. Turning his hearing up a fraction he could hear that they were getting ready to relieve the men below.

Blair knew something was happening by the intense concentration on Jim's face and just knew it had to mean trouble. So as not to disturb Jim, he quietly tried the door handles. The first was locked, but the second opened into an empty room, identical to those they had seen below.

Hearing that the two guards were about to leave, Jim looked around, to see Blair holding the door open for him. Smiling, he quickly followed his partner in and closed the door behind himself.

Allowing Blair to listen in at the keyhole, Jim stood by the wall so that he could listen as well, and be in a good attack position if it became necessary. The guards were chatting as they went past.

"You think this McKay guy can get this alien tech to work for us?"

"From what I heard the boss saying, him and this Carter woman are considered the best. They've been working with this stuff for years."

"Hope he's right."

"Just think about the fame, the fortune and the girls we'll get when we save this planet from the Goa'uld that infiltrated The Trust," shuddering the guard continued, "The way their eyes glow freaks me out. Only saw it once, but that was enough for me. And from what I hear of the Wraith, I wouldn't want to meet one of them on a dark night."

"Yeah, real life suckers, them guys."

"Yeah, a good reason never to step foot through one of those stargates. Don't trust travelling by wormhole, it can't be good for you."

"But what if..." their voices faded once they reach the lower level.

"Run. Before they find we're gone," Jim whispered urgently, now wasn't the time to think about what they had overheard.

Blair didn't need telling twice. They sprinted along the corridor to the door at the end which was thankfully unlocked.

"Amateurs," Jim muttered under his breath.

Opening the door they found themselves in an enclosure that contained the building they had just left and little else. It was surrounded by a wire fence, with barbed wire on top, and the gate was locked with a padlock. However, the barbed wire stopped short of the gate.

"Start climbing, Sandburg," Jim ordered. Blair paled slightly. He hated heights, even if the gate was only about one and a half that of his own height. He was also worried that when the guards came out they would be sitting targets, but he knew it was their only way out, so he started climbing as fast as he could.

It was just as he was going over the top that the guards ran into the compound, guns blazing.

With no alternative, he threw himself off the top. Jim tried to break his fall and as he caught him, rolled them both into a ditch that was next to the track that led to the gate. Both were winded, but had little time to recover. Crawling, they kept to the protection of the ditch, until they were near to the trees.

Behind him, Jim could hear one of the guards yelling at the other to get the keys to the gate. Knowing they would only have a couple of minutes grace, Jim grabbed Blair and hauled him off into the thickest wood he could find.

Blair was surprised to find that they were slowly heading upwards, instead of downwards. Downhill usually meant a stream. Which in turn, meant that they could hide their tracks and not have to worry about dehydration. He voiced his concern.

"We need to find a high point, so I can get my bearings and see if there is anywhere we can get help," Jim answered. "Now don't talk, save your energy for walking." Though Jim wondered how long the 'don't talk' bit would last.