Salute

Max was ready for an up-and-away right then and there, but Nudge was still lying prone on the bed and she wouldn't be ready for flying for a while yet. And there was no way they could just abandon her. So they would have to wait another hour or so, and then two of them, probably Max and Iggy, as Fang's sprained wrist would still be healing, would fly her away.

But that left an hour for four people to ask a lot of uncomfortable questions, ones none of them were going to answer.

"Max," Came Angel's soft voice, right beside her. She wondered when the little girl had flown closer. "I know what you're thinking. It will work, but I think I have a better idea...."

Jack watched the bird-kids descending, landing easily on the grass before the pond. Wings folded loosely, comfortably, around their shoulders. Walking towards SG-1.

They stopped at a safe distance away. And then Max said, "What is the SGC?"

Angel closely monitored the minds of all four when those words were said. They triggered images and memories in the four people's brains, and between them Angel put most of it together.

"It's a base in Cheyenne Mountain containing a ring called a Stargate made by an alien race called the Ancients, used every day to travel to other planets with Stargates on them. It is run by the military, as Earth's first defense against another race, the Goa'uld. They're--Max, they're parasites who take control of your body and memories. It's horrible. She's had one in her, and him too--" Angel pointed with a shaky finger at the talkative one. "And that man used to carry the larval form involuntarily in his stomach, but it's gone now. They're afraid what will happen if we become hosts, because we're the sort of thing a Goa'uld scientist Nirrti was trying to create, a Hok'taur, an advanced host. And we're dangerous already but the Goa'uld are pure evil. There are some on Earth and they're called the Trust.

"I remember now--hearing whitecoat thoughts. They hate the Trust, they think they're better, and they are, because we humans did what Nirrti couldn't.

"Now they're just starting to realize I can read minds, and Jack--that one--is trying to block me by humming show tunes, and the others are afraid."

They should be, Max thought. There was a little girl who could control their minds standing in front of them.

"It's okay," Angel assured the group. "I won't control your mind unless you try to hurt us. And you won't."

Jack struggled to wrap his mind around all of this, and while it was a pretty flexible things after all these years, this time things just weren't going well. A mind-reading, mind-controlling six-year-old with wings was spilling all their thoughts out to her friends. That was when he started humming something in his mind. And then he felt oh so reassured when she said she wouldn't mind-control him.

"You don't want us to be captured by the Trust," Angel said again. "So why not take us to a secure military base, with an instant escape hole?"

It was probably mind-control, but Jack thought that sounded like an excellent idea. Dump all this mess onto Hammond's lap. In fact, yes, that's what he would do.

If he thought driving with his team was bad, Jack was in hell on the way back. Nudge, who couldn't fly yet, was yammering their ears off their heads from her place squished between Daniel and Teal'c. The rest of the Flock, as he'd learned they called themselves, was flying above them, keeping pace with little trouble. They'd have to land outside the mountain, because if anything not bird-shaped and bird-size violated their airspace, there would be armed men everywhere.

But first they were going to Sam's place in town, to call in their little predicament. Jack would have preferred to just walk in, dump the kids on his commander, and walk out, but he doubted they make it past security with six minors and a dog.

One that talked, as he found out.

Shit, if this day could get any weirder, Jack didn't know how.

Max could tell right away that this portly, bald man didn't really believe their story. But he hadn't seen the proof yet, so that was okay.

"I'm sorry but I find this all rather hard to believe." Well, at least he was honest.

"Let us show you." Said Angel, their liaison. Max really had to take back leadership soon, or Angel was going to get them in trouble.

And at that signal the Flock's wings emerged from the slits on the back of their wind-breakers. Hammond's eyes went wide, and Max felt very proud of her beautiful wings. She just loved these reactions. Eyes went wide and gasps all around, shock and surprise. Max fanned her wings for the full effect.

"Amazing...." Hammond breathed.

Max noticed a loose feather. "About this Stargate...." She started, plucking it.

"Don't forget to call." Jack said, twirling a tawny feather between his fingers.

Max saluted the man she had come to know, and turned to face the blue wormhole. Her hand reached up, went through the insubstantial liquid-like stuff. She grinned, reached for her Flock's hands, and stepped through.

"Think they'll be safe now?" Daniel asked.

"They're at the Alpha site, they'd better be." Hammond said, turning to go back to his office.

"Yeah, and since when has a secure base stopped us from getting in trouble?" Came Jack's sarcastic answer.

It's short, and I wimped out on the explanations because I just can't control that many characters at once. Seriously, my limit is at like, three or four. And even then I get sloppy. So this is the end. By the time Max and Flock are cleared to go to the Alpha site, they were on the base for a couple of weeks, staying mostly around SG-1. Max and Jack became a sarcastic duo through their love of annoying the shit out of people they hate.

I'm thinking about a sequel, of one adventure on the Alpha site, likely involving death, a murderer, Flock member as suspect or attempted victim. Or it could be the Trust/Itex trying to get them back. But I still won't write it, probably. I'm lazy like that.