Rumours, Part 2
by Bryn & Nike
E-MAIL: buddygirl19@yahoo.com or nikejohnston@yahoo.co.uk
STATUS: WiP
RATING: PG
SEASON: 7
SPOILERS: None
CATEGORY: D/J romance, humour
SUMMARY: “Sometimes I wonder if there’s not more going
on these days than everyone thinks there is…”
DISCLAIMER: "All publicly recognisable characters and
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. This
piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or
trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognised characters and places, and this story,
are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and
not intended by the author."
AUTHOR'S NOTES: So here it is, the long awaited
(ahem) second part of our ‘Rumours’ series! We hope you have as much fun reading it as we did writing it, only without the bickering and spelling mistakes. Enjoy!
Janet wandered casually into the Biology labs, nodding
and smiling at a few scientists who greeted her. As
C.M.O, they were mostly used to her dropping in
unannounced and peering over their shoulders. Glancing
surreptitiously around, she spotted Captain Moser on
the far side of the laboratory, absorbed in some
experiment or the other. Drifting over in the most
non-committal manner she could, she watched the
younger woman for a few moments before inquiring,
“Hey! How’s it going?”
Moser looked up and grinned. “Doctor Frasier! Hi! It’s
going pretty well actually. The DNA comparisons of
those bovine hybrids back on P3X-478 are fascinating!”
Janet chuckled to herself over the captain’s
enthusiasm, which, when it came to xenobiology, could
almost rival Daniel’s over his artefacts. “Good, I’m
glad,” Janet replied. “It’s been a slow day in the
infirmary, so I thought I’d come down here and see how
everyone’s doing.”
Moser shrugged. “Oh, you know, it’s the same old.”
Janet sighed. “Yeah, tell me about it! Honestly, some
days it’s absolute chaos round here, others, nothing
new happens at all.”
Moser did her best to hide a smirk. “You think?
Sometimes I wonder if there’s not more going on these
days than everyone thinks there is.”
“How do you mean?” Janet asked, nonchalantly, trying
to disguise her triumphant expression. It was easier
to get this girl to spill than she would’ve thought!
“Oh, you know,” Moser commented off-handedly, “You
just hear things…”
“Like?” Janet asked, excitedly.
Moser leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, “Well,
the other day, someone told me…”
Janet nodded her encouragement.
“…that Lieutenant Tyler had somehow managed to
download ‘Solitaire’ onto the control room computers
so the night-shift could amuse themselves when nothing
interesting was going on!” Moser finished with a wink.
Janet fought the urge to groan. Was that *really* the
only exciting thing happening on the base? Or was hat
all the junior officers were willing to tell *her*?”
“Oh. Wow.” She offered anyway. The Captain nodded.
“Yeah,” she continued. “You never know what goes on
under the general’s nose.”
Janet searched Moser’s face, but her expression was
open and innocent. She wasn’t going to get anything
further out of her. Disappointed, she faked an amused
smile.
“Well, I’d better go and let you get back to your
bovines. See you!”
Beating a hasty retreat, Janet never noticed the sly
grin the flickered across Moser’s face. Exiting the
labs and heading back to the infirmary, she hoped
Daniel was faring better in his little quest that she
had.
*~*~*
Daniel hesitated at the foot of the stairs leading up
into the control room. He had spent the whole time
from his lab to here trying to come up with a casual,
witty, endearing way to strike up a conversation with
Captain Johnston. Some way to get her to open up,
without seeming too suspicious.
So far, he had nothing.
Giving in to the inevitable, Daniel mounted the
stairs, knowing that if he didn’t at least make an
attempt at this he’d have Janet to deal with
tomorrow…and that wasn’t something he was willing to
risk. Capt. Johnston was working diligently at one of
the computers at the other end of the room, completely
unaware of the man regarding her with near-terror.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take Daniel long to cross the
room and come up next to her.
“Hi,” he said.
Capt. Johnston looked up and regarded him with a
smile. “Hi, Dr. Jackson!” she replied.
Daniel smiled back. That was it; he had already run
out of things to say. Capt. Johnston continued to
watch him with a growing air of puzzlement, as the
silence stretched on and on….and on. Janet was going
to kill him, he thought with increasing panic. He had
to say something. Anything. Now.
“So…”
Inspired.
“So…” Johnston echoed, her brows furrowed. After
another deathly silence, she asked, “Is…is there
something I can do for you?”
“Ummmm….” Daniel replied. This was not going to go
well, he could tell. “…How’s the Stargate doing
today?”
Capt. Johnston just stared at him for a moment and
Daniel winced internally. Yes, he was a *smooth*
talker. Finally coming to the conclusion that he might
actually be serious, Capt. Johnston replied, “Well,
rather quiet, actually. No-one’s scheduled in or out
today.”
Daniel nodded absently as she spoke. Then it was his
turn again, and he was back at square one. “And how
are you?” he ventured.
Johnston’s eye’s widened. “Me? I…I’m fine…” she
trailed off. Daniel nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah? Good…good…ummm…”
A thought seemed to strike Johnston as she looked at
him. “I mean…I’m good! I’m enjoying my job! Really!
I’m fine….why? Has someone said something?!”
“No! No…I just -” Daniel stammered.
“Does General Hammond think I’m *not* fine? I mean I
know it gets a little hectic at times….”
“No! The general -”
“…but it’s not like I can’t *cope*! I mean I’m
not…stressed or anything!” Johnston continued wildly,
as Daniel got more and more flustered.
This was *not* going well.
“That’s really not why -” Daniel began again.
“I’m good, great in fact, and the Stargate’s fine,
nothing’s wrong. See for yourself!” She gestured out
the window at the ‘Gate below. “Nothing out of the
ordinary, no aliens, no strange devices…”
Daniel looked around in panic. What had he done? He
had to stop this. Right now. “Great! Yes, everything
looks fine, wonderfully really. I will make sure the
General knows that, don’t worry!”
And with that, Daniel ran away.
*~*~*
Daniel walked in to the commissary very reluctantly
the next morning. He’d tried, he’d really *tried*,
Janet couldn’t blame him for failing miserably, could
she? Glancing around he noticed she wasn’t there yet,
so he grabbed some food and took a seat. He was
playing with his waffles absently when Janet sat down,
placing her toast and coffee in front of her. Looking
up at her, Daniel knew immediately that she hadn’t had
any more luck than him.
“I take it Capt. Moser was as difficult as Johnston,
then,” he began.
Janet raised her eyebrows. “You too?” At Daniel’s nod
she continued, “I really thought I was getting
somewhere! I managed to get her talking about the
base’s most recent gossip, but all I got was some
story about Lt. Tyler putting ‘Solitaire’ on the
control computers.”
“Really?” Daniel said, looking up quickly, syrup
dripping onto his fingers. Catching Janet’s
expression, he cleared his throat, embarrassed.
“Could we focus a little?” she chided, handing him a
napkin. “What about Johnston? I suppose you didn’t get
anything important from her?”
“No,” Daniel admitted, “but I definitely encouraged
her to keep up the good work.” Choosing to ignore her
inquisitive expression, he bit into his waffle,
squirting syrup in all directions. Casting him a
mildly disgusted look, Janet delicately picked up her
coffee cup.
“So, what are we going to do now?”
“Now?” Daniel repeated, mouth full.
“Well, we can’t just give up! We have an obligation to
our friends! No, we have to approach this from…a fresh
angle.” She smiled mischievously and sipped her
coffee.
“Any ideas?”
“Somehow, we’ve got to work our way into the rumour
network – gain their confidence so they’ll open up to
us,” Janet mused. She took a bite of her toast,
staring off into the middle distance, deep in thought.
Daniel’s brow furrowed, in that characteristic
expression he got when he was sceptical about
something. “So what do we do, share some rumours with
them to bribe our way into the club?”
Janet’s gaze snapped back to him and a look of
interest flashed across her face, frightening Daniel.
“That’s not a half bad idea,” she commented.
“I was just kidd -”
“In fact, it’s a *great* idea!” Janet enthused.
“But -”
“So, all we need to do is think up a really, *really*
juicy rumour, and then one of us can drop it by one of
the captains…”
Daniel closed his eyes and sighed. This was not going
to be good for him, he could tell.
*~*~*
“I think she knows we know something,” Moser declared
adamantly. “She was *totally* fishing for information,
all that stuff about ‘Nothing happening’…she knows
we’re on to her!”
“I think General Hammond is thinking of replacing me
in the ‘Gate room,” Johnston said in a small voice.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Major Halcyon replied gently.
“Now what else did Frasier say?”
“That was it,” Moser answered. “I just told her about
Allison and her computer games and then she left.”
“She definitely suspects something, though,” Sergeant
Ottley said. “We’ll have to be more careful.”
“I’m serious guys, what if someone’s said something to
him about me?” Johnston pressed, holding her own,
entirely different conversation.
Nurse Elmer sighed and turned to her friend, realising
this obsession was not going to stop. “Nike, no-one
would have said anything about you. Everyone thinks
you’re great. What exactly did Daniel say to you?”
Johnston pulled a face, thinking back. “He asked me
how the Stargate was and how I was doing. And he
seemed real nervous.”
“Wait a second, he just randomly came to you, for no
reason?” Moser asked, finally paying attention to her
rambling friend. “And just started talking?”
Johnston nodded. “Yeah, seemed weird at first, but I
realised it had to be because he was checking up on me
– what other reason would *he* have to talk to me?”
The others all exchanged glances, having the same
thought, which obviously Johnston wasn’t sharing.
“What?” she asked in confusion. “Oh, no! He *is*
replacing me!”
Ottley rolled her eyes dramatically. “No!” she scoffed
lightly. “Daniel was doing the same thing as Janet!
Don’t you see? They must be in it together!”
Johnston’s eyebrows shot up nearly to her hair and her
jaw dropped. She was about to reply, but just then
Lieutenant Colonel Nichols approached the table with
an excited expression on her face. “Hey guys! Have you
heard the latest?” she asked.
Immediately, all attention was fixed on her. Lt. Col.
Vanessa Nichols *was* the rumour mill in Cheyenne
Mountain. Nothing happened on the base without her
finding out about it, and she always had the latest,
up-to-the-minute gossip.
“What?” Moser asked, eagerly.
Nichols smiled slowly. “A certain two people with whom
we are all acquainted were spotted having *breakfast*
together this morning! And they were engaged in a
*very* intimate conversation, too.”
The group squealed excitedly. “I knew it!” Moser
cried. “I knew she knew we knew!”
“They’re getting so…public about it,” Ottley
commented.
“They’re getting careless,” Halcyon added. “Which is
good for us! We need to find out more.”
Nichols nodded. “You know what to do, then,” she said.
“Keep a close eye on our doctors, and don’t let them
get anything past us. We have a responsibility to this
base to let no piece of gossip go unreported.”
The rest of the group nodded in assent, and Nichols
turned away, heading for the door. As she reached the
threshold she turned back, directing her parting words
to Johnston.
“And don’t worry about the general – he thinks you’re
doing a fine job, Captain.” With that, she strolled
away.
“Oh. Good.” Johnston breathed, with a sigh of relief.
“Ness has never been wrong, we don’t have anything to
worry about.”
“Exactly,” Moser agreed. “They are definitely together
- no more suspicions.”
Johnston scowled slightly. “I was talking about my job
security!”
“Nike! Focus!” Moser admonished. “We have work to do!”
“What work?” Elmer asked. “If Ness knows, then
everyone will know shortly. I don’t think we have to
do any rumour spreading.”
“No,” Moser agreed, “but we *do* have to do something
about Daniel and Janet’s suspicions. Throw them off
the scent, as it were.”
“How?” Halcyon asked, intrigued.
“We start feeding them misinformation,” Moser replied,
a slow smile forming on her face. “They want rumours,
we give ‘em rumours.”
“What rumours?” Johnston inquired with trepidation.
Moser’s expression was worrying.
She grinned. “We tell them, and *only* them mind you,
rumours pertaining to another *very* interesting
couple on base.”
“Who?”
“Colonel O’Neill…and Major Carter.”
The group had to admit, they were impressed.
TBC…
Copyright(c) June 2004, Bryn and Nike
Johnston
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