You Get What You Need 18

by Glenda

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asg/glenda/youget18.php
Summary: Tony's first trip through the gate

Daniel used the excuse of untangling Tony's straps on his backpack to reach out and touch his lover. It had only been a couple of hours since they'd shared a hug in the conference room, but it felt like a day, and who knew how long it was going to be before they got to touch again.

He had known the day would come when they would be taking Tony out on his first mission but he never expected it to be Tony's first day at the SGC. Was Tony ready to face the reality of what happens in outer space? Maybe they should have stayed in DC. He had a bad feeling about this trip.

"This is all my fault," Daniel muttered at Tony's chest.

"What are you talking about?"

"If I had just kept my mouth shut you wouldn't be about to step through the gate as an intergalactic Sergeant Friday."

Tony took Daniel's hand. "This is what I do, no matter what state, country or planet. I'm a cop. I like to solve mysteries."

"All those damn Agatha Christie novels I packed might have given that away."

Daniel knew it wasn't a great joke but he was hoping for a smile, instead Tony stared at their boots.

"What is it?" Daniel asked, leading Tony to a quiet corner of the locker room.

"Nothing."

"Hey, don't start that." Daniel took Tony's chin in his hand, forcing green eyes to look at him. "If you're scared about going through the gate-"

"What? Of course, I want to go. I'm just not sure if you really want me with you."

"Why would you think that?"

"I know about Carter and Doctor Lam."

"So? I assume we both know enough about don't ask don't tell to keep it ourselves."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Oh, give it up, would you? We both know what this means for you and O'Neill."

Daniel couldn't get over the anger in Tony's voice. Why would Sam's dating Carolyn affect him or Jack? Unless...

"Oh wait, I've got it. You think now that I know he doesn't have a chance with Carter, I'll be heading back to DC to try to be a shoulder for him to cry on?"

"Pretty much."

"I'm going to say this as simply as I can. Anthony DiNozzo, you are an idiot."

"Thanks."

"I wouldn't have dragged you across the country if I wasn't sure about us." Daniel put his hands on Tony's shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "Believe me, I thought long and hard before we started this. I considered all the angles and, yes, one was what would happen if Jack called me up tomorrow and said he'd made a terrible mistake and that he wanted me. You know what I decided?"

"What?" Tony asked, his voice a whisper.

"That I would always choose you." Daniel brought their foreheads together. "Because I love you and if we weren't in the change room of the SGC, I would be showing you just how much."

Daniel loved the blush he saw in Tony's cheeks.

"You two done with the sweet nothings?" Mitchell asked. "We've got three minutes to be downstairs, and we still need to hit the armoury."

"You bet, Mitchell. I was just fixing Tony's straps."

Mitchell wandered over, nodding his approval. "Good work. We've all got to look after each other, right, team?"

"Right," Sam said where she was helping Lam with her pack.

"Indeed," Teal'c said.

"Then let's move out, people."

~~\\~~

Tony watched in awe as the large ring flushed a blue waterspout sideways, and then settled down into a shimmering pool.

"Whoa, glad I'm not the Tidy Bowl man."

Carter came over carrying a big ass P-90. Tony felt a little ashamed of his little .9 mm.

"I know it looks like water but really the flush you saw is the event horizon-"

"Sam," Daniel said.

"Sorry, I'll tell you some other time."

Tony watched as Carter, Lam and Teal'c disappeared into the water.

"They are now on the other side of the galaxy?" Tony asked.

"Well, P2D 871 isn't that far, at least not in astronomical terms," Daniel said.

"Right."

"Can I give you some advice?" Daniel asked as they approached the ring.

"Sure."

"Breathe out just as you step through. Your first reaction when you get through is to breathe in."

"Gotcha."

"Don't worry, Tony," Mitchell said, following them up the ramp. "It'll be the biggest rush you've ever had."

"I'm not worried. Well, not much," he said to Daniel.

"Woohoo," Mitchell shouted, stepping into the ring.

"Ready?"

Tony touched the blue. It felt a little like jelly. Tony smiled. "Hell, yeah." He made sure he had a tight grip on the forensic kit, let his breath out, and walked through.

~~\\~~

"Holy shit! That was better than any rollercoaster," Tony said, breathless. He loved the smiles of understanding he saw on his teammates' faces.

He took a step forward; the warm moist air reminded him of his quick trip to Puerto Rico. There was a dark green tropical forest surrounding the clearing where small bamboo-looking huts decorated the area near the gate.

There were carts full of fruit and vegetables being sold by the locals. He wondered if the fruit was safe to eat.

"Better than it was our first time through, eh, Doc?"

Tony recognized the balding Colonel Ferretti standing next to Mitchell and Carter.

"Thanks to Sam and her scientists, Lou, we no longer freeze, or worry about losing our lunch when we go through," Daniel said.

"Used to be rougher?" Tony asked.

"You have no idea. I thought flight simulations were bad," Carter moaned.

"I'm sure we'd all love to tell DiNozzo about out first time through once we've got Delfino back home. Where do you want to start with your investigation, Tony?" Mitchell asked.

It felt weird to have everyone's eyes on him. With his old team, he seemed to have the role of comic relief with occasional moments of brilliance. Here he was being asked to save a kid from certain death. He wasn't going to let Eddie or Daniel down.

"Doctor Lam and I will go look at the body. We'll need to move fast, since as I understand it, time is a factor?"

Ferretti nodded. "Sundown, and not a moment past."

"Daniel, talk to The Khan and if you can, get an audience with the Lami. See if you can find out anymore about the social and political unrest going on around here."

"You got it, Tony."

"Teal'c, you go with Daniel. Keep an eye on him."

"Tony, I don't need a babysitter."

"If our theory is right; they are killing their own citizens. Do you think they would worry about killing a troublemaking off-worlder?"

"Indeed. You are most wise, Anthony DiNozzo."

"You won't ever call me Tony, will you?"

"No."

"I told you," Daniel said.

Mitchell asked, "Ferretti, is Delfino safe?"

"Yeah, for now."

"What do you mean?"

"The locals are getting pretty pissed off about Delfino, and more of us off-worlders being here is not setting well. They're convinced that we're here to take him back by force, kill off The People, and take what we want."

"Folsom suggested it. Thankfully, cooler heads have prevailed, for now."

Tony got the message. They weren't leaving one of their own behind, no matter what.

"I can't blame Harry. I know I wouldn't leave one of my guys behind."

"Colonel Mitchell, do you think you and Colonel Carter could look around? Try to get to know some of The People. There must be a few reasonable ones in the group. Doctor Stivers mentioned a Joh. He's a healer, he might have an idea about what happened to Delfino," Tony said.

"Do you have a theory?" Mitchell asked.

"This planet is famous for its drugs, perhaps there's one that causes the kind of amnesia that Delfino experienced," Tony explained.

Carter nodded. "It makes sense to me."

"It's going to be sundown in a few hours," Ferretti said. "I'll take DiNozzo and Lam to where the body is being kept until the ceremony."

"Sounds good, Colonel. When we're done there, I'll want to speak with Delfino."

"Of course."

"Okay, people, work fast, and be careful. Keep in radio contact every twenty minutes. Meet back here in two hours," Mitchell said, taking Carter and heading for a group of villagers.

Tony picked up his case, and Ferretti offered to carry some of Lam's equipment.

"Oh, Tony, wait," Daniel said, taking a 35 mm camera with what looked like a telephoto lens out of his rucksack.

"What's this? I brought a camera."

"Doctor Lee's been working on this camera. The gist of it was that it was supposed to be able to take a picture, and see if there was a Goa'uld in you. Since we aren't going to be able to take x-rays, or do any deep exploration of the victim, I thought this might help."

"Thanks." As Tony took the camera, he caressed Daniel fingers with his. "Please, be careful, Danny."

"I will, and you do the same."

Tony gave his lover a smile and watched Teal'c and Daniel go on their way. They looked to be headed for a large stone white building. He grabbed his stuff, and headed after Ferretti and Lam.

"It's not going to be easy to do an autopsy if I can't take samples from the victim," Lam said.

"I know, but we can't disturb the body anymore than has already been done. But we can get a blood sample from the crime scene, right?" Tony asked Ferretti.

"Yep. I've had two of my guys watching it since we arrived."

Tony followed behind Ferretti and Lam, well aware that someone was following him. He turned to look, expecting their shadow to hide, but the man just stood there. He wasn't very tall, but he was wide. He was wearing what everyone else seemed to wear, a long white flowing robe. Tony didn't think he'd have much luck trying to get through him.

"Colonel?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's the guy following us?"

"Peewee."

"Peewee?" Tony asked.

"Well, that's what I call him. We've never been properly introduced. He's keeping an eye on us. The Khan said it was for our own protection, but I'm inclined to think he's to make sure we don't go nuts like Delfino and hurt someone else. I've tried talking to him, but he never answers. I wonder if he can talk?"

Great, thought Tony, just what they needed a royal babysitter.

Ferretti led them to a small hut that was set apart from all the others. Tony figured it would make it an easy place to murder someone.

The small building looked like all the other ones he'd seen earlier. It consisted of a single round room, with a hole to allow cooking smoke to escape. They pushed open the curtain that served as a door.

The smell almost knocked Tony out. The decomposing body was bad enough, but the locals had tried to mask it with piles of sweet smelling flowers. They had completely covered the body with them.

"This seems familiar," Tony said, trying to take shallow breaths. "I worked in Baltimore before joining NCIS. We had a week where it was over 100 every day. We were called to pick up a DB in a closed up apartment without AC. The ME figured he'd been dead the whole week. I don't think they were ever able to get the smell out of the building."

"Yuck," Lam said, putting down her equipment.

"Just be grateful there aren't any flies," Ferretti said. "Apparently, the plants keep them away."

Lam pushed off some of the flowers. "Well, in some cases, flies and the bugs that come with the body can help give the time line for death, but since we know all that, it's not really important. I'll just be happy I won't be coming upon any maggots." She grabbed a small recording device and hung it around her ear.

"This is Doctor Carolyn Lam, on Planet P2D 871. Even though the victim is long since removed from Earth I will be using Earth medical technology to best describe what I am seeing."

Tony started to push off the rest of the flowers. He had no idea if Daniel's super-camera could see through them or not, but why take the chance? Besides, Carolyn would need them out of the way.

The victim was wearing a long robe, but instead of white, it was red.

Tony quickly snapped pictures of the victim with both his camera and the special one.

"Okay, Doc, do your thing," Tony said.

Lam began to undo the girl's top.

"Stop!"

Next: You Get What You Need 19