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marblegloveWhen 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.
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.
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Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-09 09:02 pm (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-10 12:11 am (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-10 02:51 am (UTC)he can use his minions to do that... I am firm beliver in Methos having minions,
Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-10 12:59 pm (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-10 03:21 pm (UTC)I have this idea that there's some apparently-60-year-old matronly woman who's a librarian in the same small town she grew up in. It's just that she's been the librarian there for as long as anyone can remember, and she's training in sword-fighting of all things with that nice young man who comes through once a month.
And maybe there's this one large mafia family that the police are always investigating in one way or another. But there are a couple of oddities. One of them is that they do weapons smuggling, but it's almost all small-scale. And odd weapons, like swords and daggers and things. And one branch of the family is almost always fostering a preteen girl. There's always some girl, somewhere in the family, who didn't grow up from an infant and doesn't go on to grow up into an adult. Why is this mafia family always opening themselves up to strangers in the house? And her "tutor" is someone no one has been able to track.
Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-10 10:33 pm (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-10 11:29 pm (UTC)On the other hand: I've never actually watched Gundam Wing but the fandom at least shows these kids being huge military assets because they can be in place and running missions at night while no one suspects the transfer kid at the local high school.
The kid could actually make a good living in industrial espionage, and no one would ever know. (After all, the only contact his employers have is with some kid. The FBI is having a really hard time finding how the kid contacts the criminal.)
Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-11 02:29 am (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-11 02:07 pm (UTC)i like the idea Methos would only take on very challenging and
smart students that in some way pr another impressed him and intrigued
him enough for him to devote himself and become a true teacher.
such as Byron's genius for example
Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-11 03:27 pm (UTC)Vathara wrote a wonderful fic sometime back: Hearts on Barbed Wire
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2013341/1/Hearts_on_Barbed_Wire
It points out that, yes, the SGC are good guys; yes, they save the world, but unfortunately, yes, they are committing treason. They are running a private war without the knowledge of the people. The President is committing treason by ordering them to do so, they are committing treason by following those orders. There are checks and balances in place for a reason.
Actually, it's part of a series, Urban Legends, which is really fabulous in a whole variety of ways and which I definitely recommend.
Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-11 05:49 pm (UTC)I am so going to read that... and don't we know some guy with Lawyer credentials who could attempt to try the SGC or threaten to for treason... especially since they have his son there imprisioned without due process just out of prejudice for his origins and race...
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Date: 2010-03-11 10:10 pm (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
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Date: 2010-03-11 03:32 pm (UTC)I have this idea for a crossover with Buffy. The scoobie gang really doesn't like the US military after the whole Initiative thing. Various stargate-buffy crossovers have made use of this dislike by saying the Initiative was run by the NID and thus the scoobie gang and the SGC are natural allies in fighting the NID.
But the NID don't run military projects like that. They do oversight. So what if the Scoobies don't like the military because the military does secret projects, and supports the NID, because they do oversee those projects and tries to stop them. Sure, it didn't work on the Initiative, but maybe this time the NID can stop things, before the SGC gets completely out of control? After all, Colonel O'Neill is already half-way to making a personal alliance with the Asguard that would essentially make him the planetary ruler.
Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-11 05:52 pm (UTC)I confess to not knowing much about the NID jus what i read in x-over mostly and that is basically the NID trying to study and dissect people.
but it could really work, especially since it is mostly the US alone in the SGC with some of its allies at least Atlantis was more UN distributed...
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Date: 2010-03-11 10:18 pm (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
From:Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-11 03:20 pm (UTC)There's a reason why immortals don't gang up very often. They are each other's natural and mortal enemies. Maybe the horseman managed to stay together but it was only four people and they had plenty of others to kill. You're not going to get anything like a regular chain of command when it's all immortals.
Plus, I don't like blanket statements of: everyone in some organization is evil and deserves to die; they and their families.
Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-11 09:48 pm (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-12 12:16 am (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-10 03:25 pm (UTC)I also waiver or whether or not the Watchers are in fact Methos' minions. What are your thoughts?
Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-10 05:45 pm (UTC)minion wise i think the Students would be the one with immortal plans but he also has safeguards in place within other organizations...
have your ever seen La femme nikita?
there is a great x-over which kind of has my point of methos in it
http://www.thesplitpersonality.net/lfn/writers/stories/rita009.htm
by Rita
though he kind of is a terciary character there
Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-10 08:12 pm (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-11 01:56 pm (UTC)or when he needs to reestructure management
Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-10 10:46 pm (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-10 11:22 pm (UTC)Re: Oh I do wish you would write this one
Date: 2010-03-11 02:06 pm (UTC)