marbleglove | Plot-bunny: Highlander / Stargate (2 of 3)

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Plot-bunny: Highlander / Stargate (2 of 3)

When I wrote A Square Peg in a Round Hole, I had a whole set of ideas for how to get Methos in contact with the SGC crew. At request, I’m posting what ideas I had at the time that I didn’t go forward with. Of them all, this was the closest second. I almost went with it a number of times and it wound up being more random chance than any particular reason that I went with Square Peg instead. .

The second of three Methos/Stargate plot-bunnies:

The bar was closed to the public but full of Watchers. They were all trading stories and just generally debreifing each other as they did every couple of weeks. When you had a secret life it was important to find some time to speak freely.

When teh phone rang, Joe Dawson, bar owner and area supervisor, delegated the task of answering it to one of his subordinates both in watcher training and in bar tending. He didn’t even think much of it until the young watcher put his hand over the mouthpiece and called out, “Guys? It’s someone calling for Methos.”

Dead silence.

Joe gave an agonized look at Adam Pierson whom he alone, of all the watchers, knew to be both immortal and that most elusive of the immortals, Methos. But everyone was looking around, confused and worried. Was Methos here? Did someone know they were watchers? Were they in danger? What should they do?

Finally Adam stood up. “Unless someone here is going to admit to being immortal, being my immortal...?” He paused and looked at each person in turn, studying them for some sign. “I’m going to answer and see what I can learn.”

There were nods of comprehension and approval and a few mouthed “good idea”s but everyone sat silent as he took the phone. “Yes?”

The Watchers watched and listened, straining to hear every word.

----------------

The Watchers milled around the bar quietly unhappy. The fact that Adam Pierson was fluent in multiple otherwise-dead languages had never before been so frustrating. Only two watchers, who had had previous assignments in Egypt, stayed still and focused near the bar, trying to understand a language that was like and yet unlike that which they knew.

But everyone perked up again when ADam spoek loudly in English. “If you harm him in any way before I get there I will personally skin you alive with a red hot spoon!”

The Watchers were pretty evenly split between looking appalled at the normally mild and gentle researcher’s threat and looking greatly impressed by it.

The phone back in its cradle, Adam slumped on a stool with his head in his hands. One of the more impatient of the Watchers finally said, “Well?”

Adam’s eyes were tired and his smile weak. “False alarm as far as Methos goes. A contact of mine wanted to get through to me without giving away my name. He doesn’t know who or what Methos is, just that its a word I keep track of, that I would respond to. He’s been arrested by the US military and is slated for execution.”

“I’m sorry, Adam.”

“Harsh.”

“But due process!”

“Who was your contact?”

“Why does a researcher have a contact?”

The responses came more or less at the same time, but the last one had a few of them puzzled. Active watchers might have “contacts” to get them past security checkpoints or into places they couldn’t get on their own but researchers stayed in libraries, right? Occasionally traveled to see the sights but not following dangerous individuals.

“Black market antique rings and tomb raiders. Smuggling weapons on the side. Occasional forgery.”

Adam rubbed his eyes again and they all remembered that it was late at night (or early in the morning, as the case may be) and they'd all been drinking. “The military was almost certainly monitoring that line so the security of this bar has been compromised. I’m sorry, Joe.”

“Don’t worry. It’s not the first time I’ve been investigated and I doubt it’ll be the last.”

“Be careful. That goes for all of you. Something screwy is going on. He had some of the best security I’ve seen but they caught him anyway. And they were just waiting to shoot.”

“Uh-huh,” Joe agreed warily. “And what about you?”

“The name Methos is used in a mysterious situation... I’ll investigate it, of course,” Adam spoke in mock surprise.

“You said it had nothing to do with Methos.”

“Yeah. But it does have to do with my friends and its still a mysterious situation.”

----------------

The SGC agents looked up from Daniels translation of what their most recent prisoner had said on the phone before they had managed to subdue him.

“Seriously?”

“That’s the translation.” Daniel shrugged with some bemusement of his own. “That’s what was said.”

“He is a goa’uld, isn’t he?” Jack asked.

It was a serious question. Sure, their prisoner had the goa’uld voice and the flashing eyes, but still… “the host called his dad?”

-------------------

The plot is that Methos had a son some two or three thousand years ago. He did not want him to die. And he was friends with a goa’uld. So for the last couple of thousand of years Methos has had a friend and a son who are immortal but not part of The Game. He loves having an immortal family and now someone is threatening that.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

maybe that is why the goa'uld is so wary of the father in law...

besides he gets someone to discuss the old days with him, no competition... not to mention tastebuds which are all very much in synch with his... which is why they own a brewery... that makes Jack's favourite beer

Jack isn't sure what to do:

On the one hand, it's supporting the finances of a goa'uld.

On the other hand, it's his favorite beer.

Heh.

and it is a very good one...

asking the goa'uld why beer:

looking blankly at his captors "I like beer"

"Goa'uld can't get drunk" ( maybe I think)

"Yes, hence why I own a brewery and not a vodka still"
seing the confused looks on his captors

"I am doing what I can to help humanity and myself at the same time, keeping good beer and myself alive... besides it is something tto fallback on... what other ancient egypcian skills are still profitable these days?"

Ha! Awesome!

Daniel would argue that linguistics could be fun... and the host would awnser that "no he had to agree with his tennant, beer is still more fun and more profitable than reading old stuff"

cue to scandalized Linguist

And it scandalizes everyone else that the host and the tenant not only are different people but apparently agree and potentially disagree about various subjects.

And both host and tenant explain that they lived through the European Middle Ages, and given the state of literature at the time, the only way they survived with their sanity intact was the ability to talk with each other and drink copious amounts of beer.

Even Daniel has to agree with that.

Methos was smart enough to get himself to China or some more civilized area for that time period.

he followed the opposite flow of goods and went where hot baths and culture were valued...

the host and snake wanting to show up his dad as a "wuss" decided to stay for a while... and then regreted it once it became apparent that the comforts of Rome were going to take a while before returning...

and he wanted to see how his decendents were doing... (the host can still have kids right?)

Ooh. Good point. Yes, the host can still have kids. So there's these multiple family lines that has a family guardian of a goa'uld, whenever the host and the goa'uld could agree on marrying someone (or at least having a kid by someone.) Ooh. That could be more than a little interesting.

he looks after those lines, and in return they make sure to, every generation, send a kid to study in a foreign counrty giving him new identities

and this way even if the goa'uld can't take over the planet he can help his decendants to take over a couple of countries and also play family politics
(like Nanny Ogg does) in order to get his power trips

And it turns out that he's the patriarch for this whole mafia family, but it's a really wonderful loving family. Sure, they're into all the illegals, most especially weapons running, smuggling and human trafficking, but it's still a really great family environment! Kids and grandparents everywhere. And they're all really excited when dear Great-Grandfather Goa'uld comes to visit. (Sometimes, even HIS father, Great-Great-Grandfather Methos will visit. But Methos is more solitary and the Goa'uld is much more of a social person. You wouldn't kill someone's beloved grandfather, would you, Colonel O'Neill?)

especially not so close to easter... I must get the little ones chocolate!

Check out the pretty kids *pulls out one of those wallet/fold away albuns* see this little Sarah, John, Wendsday, Morticia...

Hammond carefully puts down the phone. "Colonel O'Neill, how do you get us into these situations?"

"What? I didn't do anything. Who said I did what?"

"I just got off the phone with the head of the FBI."

Now O'Neill is genuinely curious. "The FBI?"

"Yes. Apparently your most recent prisoner is a mafia don."

"Huh. So they want to arrest him?"

"No, they want us to release him, because he keeps very tight control over his organizations and keeps down the violence. And I'm inclined to agree to release him, because as long as we have him, we're going to have both the FBI and the Mafia investigating us!!!"

and we are dealing with enough problems without adding those two!
The newly organized Trust and NID's recent competence are consuming our resources as it is.

"So a Goa'uld is The Godfather?"
"It would appear to be so O'Neil, the Host however is The Grandfather"

"And I am not the only one who thinks that's really really creepy?"

Ha! Creepy, yes, but also wonderful. The Godfather and The Grandfather sharing a body and both of them with families unhappy with the SGC. Hee!

yeah, and somehow through it all Methos is listening thinking he should be called the Greatfather and not grand... though Goa'uld father would work too... hummm

And when the SGC finally track down the secret hiding place where someone has been spying on them, all the important notes are gone and all that's left are doodles of various rude limericks and one quite beautiful sonnet about Grandfathers, Godfathers, Greatfathers and Goa'uldfathers.

Daniel is half-tempted to send it to a newspaper for publication on father's day, because it really would be perfect for that, except for that bit about the Goa'uld.

Teal'c is more than tempted and does wind up sending it back to his people through the Stargate. It's years before anyone notices and that's only when the linguistics are driving themselves insane trying to figure out why the new form of jaffa poetry is the same as classical sonnets.

Methos barely remembers writing it at all. Surveillance is boring and he entertains himself with writing.

Jack had been pleased though when a new planet they visited had seemed to get his Godfather references... but he'd just chalked it up to some of duties on the delta site trading dvds... there was a whole pirate trade going on with dvds and series among the terrans amd the jaffa...

all because Teal'c couldn't resist talking about the wonders of Star Wars

Who would have thought that Teal'c was such a chatterbox? Jack had always thought he was downright stoic, but it turns out that back among the jaffa, he really opens up and is constantly telling stories. All the local storytellers go to Teal'c for new ideas.

he just saves his words for when he is back home... the Tok'ra aren't sure how the Jaffa culture has been changing so much and nobody has any idea that Teal'c is so influential...

he *is* their TV, and a hero to boot

Oooh. And you just know there's going to be jaffa-written fanfic about Teal'c and his adventures!

"Teal'c." Jack spoke with rare and utter seriousness.

"Yes, Jack O'Neill?"

"Have we been having a torrid affair of which I am unaware?"

"No, Jack O'Neill."

"Then why do the Jaffa have reports of such? Quite graphic reports."

Teal'c manages to convey surprise by twitching an eyebrow. "Those are not formal reports, Jack O'Neill. Your planet also has military and celebrity style pornography."

Jack is silent, contemplating how he's supposed to explain this to the General and if there's any chance he can get out of it.

Daniel pipes up, "That's actually a fairly universal phenomenon. The ambassadors here will need to be informed of it, though."

Jack's impassivity finally broke in order to glare properly at Daniel. Apparently it would not be able get out of explaining that a whole society had detailed reports of him having a homosexual affair that hadn't actually happened!

Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one

lita-of-jupiter.livejournal.com - 2010-03-04 01:15 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one

lita-of-jupiter.livejournal.com - 2010-03-04 02:09 (UTC) - Expand

Sorry for interrupting, but I have to wonder what Methos is going to do now. He could have had a hand in the FBI's request, but it seems like that would have happened anyway. It just seems like he's going to get all revved up to save his son, and then his son ends up released without him doing anything. I have this image in my head of the SGC grudgingly letting the Goauld and host go and then turning around and finding that the StarGate has disappeared. Methos has decided to "borrow" it for a bit to learn more about it. Of course, it's probably an unlikely scenario, as he wouldn't want to endanger the Earth, but all the energy, initiative, and planning has to go somewhere, right?

Welcome to the discussion. Feel free to pipe in whenever. And that is a fabulous idea. Methos thinks he has to rescue his son and then relearns the age old lesson of, when in doubt, do nothing. His son (and son-in-law) gets himself out of his own problem, and then Methos finds himself suddenly with a whole lot of minions ready to stage a rescue and no one to rescue.

What if Methos decides that the SGC is just endangering Earth. Maybe the Russians are doing better. And since he has the minions anyway...

Suddenly Methos has a Stargate.

Hah!

Maybe this forces the US and Russia to work together, possibly with the mafia as well. Having released the goa'uld, they then need to track him down again in the hopes that he can talk his host's father into returning the Stargate. Talk about uneasy alliances.

Yay more people to talk with! One of my favourite online hobbies is trying to goad Marble into expanding plotbunnies so help is always welcome...

he might stal the gate as a distraction... in order to get a ship with beaming capability and some staff weapons... which would be a great help in disposing of challenger's bodies... just disintegrate them!

besides it would be nice to be able to hide his journals somewhere the watchers wouldnt accidentally discover... not to mention it is always a good idea to give the family a goal to word towards, left to their own devices things like the illuminatu tended to spring up, and there is no need for a mess like that to begin again

Who had the bright idea of arranging yearly family reunions of all the many and powerful branches of the family should have been stopped, now even the crest was conspiracy fodder because of the idiots.

and to think it had been all about food, drinks and whose child was cuter, or smarter...

Hah! There's an awesome side-story waiting in there of some intrepid investigative reporter who somehow managed to finagle his way into an Illuminati meeting. Hah! Just wait until his editor gets a load of this. He's sure there's going to be plotting and conspiracies and maybe he'll finally learn what happened to Amelia Earhart... but once he's actually at the meeting it's this huge family reunion with people tracing their genealogies and bragging about their kids. Sure there's some illegal activities but it's all about doing family a favor rather than any big conspiracy. And it probably turned out that he didn't manage to steal an invitation after all, he was set-up because someone was sure he would be the perfect boyfriend for their cousin's daughter. Then they really do fall in love and suddenly he finds that he really is part of the family and what's he going to do now? What in the world will he tell his editor?

Methos, meanwhile, has hidden all of his journals on a distant planet and thinks that they're perfectly safe. Of course, the planet isn't quite deserted enough, because SGC stumble upon the cache, Daniel is ecstatic about this amazing historical find, and the entire sociology department of the SGC reads them, which leaks to the Watchers, and Methos does a complete headplant when some Watcher very excitedly tells Adam Pierson all about this new discover!

Methos would be all, I knew I should have gone somewhere with no breathable atmosphere... dammit!

I can just imagine what the reporter would do when he got home... practicing his speech in the mirror

"hey boss, you know how we managed to track the alias and flightplans of these really powerful figures, famus and otherwise and we figured out they were all going to be in the same city... and remember how I was able to get an invitation to the event trough a contact of mine? Turns out it was all big mess up and that the Hapsburgs aren't the only dinasty who was in highplaces everywhere..."

"man... he really won't believe, you if you say that"

Turning around, he sees a guy in an expensive suit on his couch, drinking his beer and his dog by the side.

"Who are you?"
"That's not important, I know you really don't need the speech as to what would happen if broke my little cousin's heart, you are smart and met some of the family. I am sure the dots have connected in your mind already. But I do have make sure you keep quiet about names, and learn to like proper beer"

"what?"

"Write what you want, just don't mention names. Part one done. phase two is harder, beer matters a lot in the family, if you are going to be joining our side of it you need to learn much about the drink the G's favour..."

"Gees?
"All in good time, first to the bar!"