Chapter Text
“I know you’re awake, General O’Neill.”
Jack opened his eyes, blinking rapidly to adjust to the light. He briefly considered going for the gun he still kept in the drawer of his bedside table. He focused on the young woman sitting across from his bed and taking in her injuries, decided against the gun, for now.
“You better not be dripping blood on my carpet. It takes forever to get the stains out,” he grumbled, leaning up on his elbows.
“I’m not. But I owe you a clean towel.”
Jack swung his feet over the side of the bed, sitting up completely.
“I thought people were done breaking into my house. Security system, my Aunt Fanny,” he mumbled almost to himself, "I'm getting a damn dog. A really big one."
“Now," he continued at a normal volume, "would you like to tell me what a nice young woman, such as yourself, is doing sitting in my bedroom in the middle of the night, with a spectacular looking bruise on her face and bloody gash in her arm, bleeding all over my nice, clean towel? Also, why shouldn’t I shoot you and call the police?”
“Because…” the woman uttered slowly, “…I need help.”
That simple statement combined with the broken look on the young woman’s face made Jack relax marginally.
“What do you need my help for? I’m just an old general counting the days until retirement and fishing.”
“General O’Neill, while that may be true, you are also in the unique position of being one of the very few people who can help me. I need you to listen to my story, without interruption. After that, if you agree to help me, all I need is a signature and an introduction. If you don’t agree, I’ll leave and you will never hear from me again, sir.”
“I believe women who break into my bedroom at…” he glanced at the clock by his bed, “Oh, for crying out loud, at 2:23 am, can call me Jack.”
The woman smiled very briefly at his exclamation, “You can call me EJ.”
“Well, EJ, tell me a bedtime story. And it better be a good one. I’m missing out on some very valuable sleep for this,” he settled back against the headboard, crossing one ankle over the other.
The young woman used her uninjured arm to pull a slim, black tablet from the space between her and the side of the chair. She tapped a code onto the screen and tossed it onto the bed. Jack reached over and picked it up.
“It began 23 years ago, with a geneticist named Dr. David James and a project codenamed ‘Shadow’…”
*ChaosChaosChaosChaosChaosChaosChaos*
“…which brings us here. Me, breaking into your house with a cracked jaw, a slice in my arm, using what appears to be one of your last clean towels. I'm still hoping that you won’t decide to shoot me. I’d rather not lose any more blood tonight.”
Jack flipped through the final screens on the tablet and set it down beside him.
“Why me?” he asked seriously, crossing his arms across his chest.
“Because I’ve read your file, the real, unedited version. I know your history, all of it, the good, the bad, and every gray area in between. I figured if anyone would help me, it would be you.”
The young woman shifted in the chair, sitting up a little straighter, schooling her features into a practiced mask of calm, “I am out of options. I’m no longer safe anywhere on Earth. I am placing my trust in you. Help me…please.”
Jack swiped a tired hand down his face.
“I should have stayed retired the first time,” he sighed, “The IOA isn’t going to like this. And Woolsey is going to send me several days’ worth of memos about it. It’d be easier all around just to shoot you.”
“I can take care of the IOA matter with a quick phone call. And we both know you don’t actually read those memos, sir.”
Jack snorted, “I have no doubt you can take care of the IOA, EJ.”
“So…does this mean you’re going to help me?” EJ inquired hopefully.
“Yes, it does. I must be out of my damn mind.”
EJ breathed a heavy sigh of relief and slumped back into the chair.
“They leave in two days,” Jack said thoughtfully, “I can take you there later today, at a more reasonable hour to give you that introduction. I’ll have to allow Woolsey at least partial access to your file. And that doctor woman, Keller? She’ll need to have your medical file on record. She’ll want to do a complete physical before they leave. It’s SOP and there is no way to get around it.”
“Hmmm…” EJ tilted her head to one side and deliberated, “Woolsey can have partial access, but nothing to do with Project Shadow and the subsequent actions. As far as he knows, I am a linguist who occasionally works for the government. I’ll have to brief Keller personally about the medical file, with a few obvious omissions. There are certain procedures that I cannot allow for security reasons. But no one other than those two can know unless I choose to tell them or it becomes absolutely necessary.”
“And you will behave yourself while you’re there,” Jack shook his finger at the young woman, “Keep a low profile. The first time I hear about you stepping out of line or causing problems, I will tell Colonel Sheppard to have his marines shoot you. Multiple times. In the legs. Both of them.”
EJ tried to keep the smirk off her face, “I will try my utmost to be on my best behavior.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll see about that,” Jack huffed. He picked up the tablet beside him and leaned forward to hand it back to EJ. She held up her hand to stop him.
“Keep it,” she said, “That is one of only two existing copies of my unrestricted, un-redacted file. Everything about Project Shadow, everything about my life. I am trusting you with it. Keep it safe; destroy it; use it for blackmail, whatever. It’s yours.”
“Gee thanks, just what I’ve always wanted. Something else that could get me killed,” Jack said, rolling his eyes. He cocked his head to the side, taking in the young woman’s drooping eyelids and pale skin, “You have a place to sleep? Or, you know, get that arm taken care of? Perhaps instead of using my towels as bandages…I might be able to help you patch it up, if you need.”
“I…ummm…” she hesitated, “Well, actually, everything I need to take with me is in your living room at the moment. I was really counting on you not shooting me,” she glanced at the watch on her wrist, “My arm can wait until we get to the City later today. It’s mostly done bleeding at this point, and I haven’t lost enough blood for it to be detrimental. I can have the doctor there stitch it up while I fill her in on my medical file. Two birds with one stone, as they say. If you don’t mind terribly, can I borrow your shower and your couch until it’s time to leave?”
Jack smiled for the first time since he discovered the broken, bleeding woman sitting in his room, “I get a choice in the matter? Just clean up after yourself and don’t drink all the coffee in the morning. I’m going back to sleep.”
EJ smiled and stood, “Of course, Jack. I can’t make any promises about the coffee though. Get your beauty rest, old man. Busy day of paperwork and bureaucracy tomorrow.”
“Keep it up, smartass,” he grumbled as he flicked off the bedside lamp, “I can still change my mind.”
She closed the door behind her quietly as he settled comfortably into the bed.