Not Quite the Lord of the Rings by Lothithil

Not Quite the Lord of the Rings

by Lothithil

Not Quite The Lord Of The Rings
an SG-1/LotR crossover guest starring the DarkElf

part Eleven, Golden Child

As Jack O'Neill climbed out of the cockpit, his cellular phone began to ring. While Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c piled out of the passenger compartment of the helicopter, he snapped the phone open and put it to his ear.

"O'Neill." He listened impassively as the rest of his team looked on. The call was most likely from the SGC, and none of them particularly wanted their little vacation to be cut short. None of them had noticed yet that their Elven guest had stumbled to her knees on the other side of the craft.

Morlothiel put on hand to her throbbing forehead uncertainly. She was disoriented by the exhilarating flight, as well as the penetrating and painful noise of the engines. How the others could endure it, she could not understand. Maybe they could not hear it, the same way that they couldn't hear the voices in the rocks and wind around them, nor understand the languages of the animals and water.

Two small feet appeared in her narrowed vision. A soft voice asked, "Lady, you okay?"

Morlothiel looked up in surprise. A child, a mere waif of a girl, stood next to her. She was holding out a bottle of water.

"G'won... have a drink. I ain't got cooties!"

Morlothiel accepted the bottle and lifted it to her lips. "My thanks, little one."

The child shrugged. "Sometimes ridin' in th'opters makes me wanna toss my cookies, too." She squinted into Morlothiel's face as if looking for something. "You gonna be sick."

"I do hope that I am not." Morlothiel folded her legs beneath her and regarded her visitor squarely. "By what name are you called?"

The little girl stuck a finger into her mouth, becoming suddenly shy. "I'm not suppose t'talk t'strangers," she mumbled.

Morlothiel smiled. "It was you that first spoke to me."

The child stared at her for a moment. "Laurie."

"Làurië." On Morlothiel's tongue, the name became musical. "Among my people, that word means 'golden'. You must be very precious to your parents for them to name you so. Where are they?"

Laurie turned and pointed toward a group of people. They were standing some distance away, some of them huddled together while a slender woman stood aside and held a silvery box in the air before her eyes. "Mom's holdin' the camera." Laurie turned back to 'Loth and added, "M' dada's a pilot! He flies the tour th'opter."

"Will your mother not miss you when she sees that you are not at her side?"

"You talk funny."

"As do you."

"No, I don't! I talk normal." Laurie looked closely at Morlothiel again. "You don't look like you should, neither."

Morlothiel reached up and touched one of her slightly tapered ears, and then smoothed her long hair to conceal it. "You are not easily deceived, Laurie."

"Nope. My mom says I'm smart like a whip." The girl held herself proudly.

"Hey, there!" Jack O'Neill said, startling both elf and child. He dropped down onto one knee so as not to frighten the little one. "Who's your new friend?"

Laurie looked up at Jack, fearless and innocent. "My daddy's taller than you!"

"That's good," O'Neill said equably. "I'm not really all that tall... my legs are only long enough to reach the ground."

The child stared at him for a moment more then burst into giggles and fled, running back to her mother to hide behind her legs. Jack laughed and stood up, offering a hand to assist Morlothiel to her feet. She accepted his help because she wasn't sure she could have risen without it.

This fact had not entirely escaped O'Neill's notice. "Look, I hate to cut the fun short, but I just got a call from the General. We need to get back to the mountain right away."

"Very well, Jack." Morlothiel nodded. "I hope we can continue this exploration soon, yet I must confess that I feel the need for solid earth beneath my feet for a while!"

"Ah," Jack said, somewhat embarrassed. "That's a catch... we have to get back quick... Hammond is sending a jet to pick us up." Morlothiel frowned, uncomprehending. "It's another flying machine. It will bring us back home faster than the truck."

Morlothiel sighed. "I will accompany thee, Jack O'Neill, but I must be honest; it would be my preference to walk the long leagues back to your fortress!"

Jack frowned. Maybe she was more than just tired. He thought that it was a trick of the light on the pale yellow stones, but he could now see that something was wrong with the elven woman. The shimmering light that had played about her during her infirmary was again dancing about her, making her skin seem more luminescent. "Hey... are you okay?"

"What's wrong, Sir?" Carter asked as she, Daniel, and Teal'c joined them.

"Not a thing," O'Neill announced, unconsciously stepping between them and Morlothiel. "Our plane will be at the Angel Pass Airfield in forty-five minutes. Let's go, kids. Danny, catch!" Jack tossed him the keys to the vehicle

Daniel snatched the key ring out of the air deftly, making no effort to conceal his surprise, "You want me to drive?"

"I'm just curious to see if you can handle a truck with some muscle." Jack answered smoothly.

Daniel snorted. "I've driven your gas-guzzler before, Jack-- I'm sure I can handle this one. And I'll have you know I drove a Hummer across the Giza Plateau once." Daniel climbed eagerly in the front seat.

"Carter, you ride shotgun," O'Neill said, resettling his Chicago Cubs cap on his head. "Me and Teal'c'll take the cheap seats."

"Okay, but if we have to forego our picnic, then pass the cooler up so we can snack on the way to the airfield," Carter said. "And keep your thumbs out of the potato salad!"

~~~

Southeast of the plateau from where the helicopters took of and landed, a ridge of stone rose from the ground. Between that ridge and the helipad a tall stand of trees were clustered thickly. Among those trees, lost in the shadow cast by the ridge of stone, stood two men. One held binoculars to his eyes while the other watched him, occasionally speaking softly into the microphone on his headset.

They watched as the five people got into the SUV, waiting until the vehicle pulled out of parking and turned sedately down the road. The binocular lenses followed their movements until nothing could be seen but a plume of dust. The man lowered his binoculars and nodded at the other man.

"They are in route. Repeat... they are in route." The man glanced at his wristwatch. "ETA, thirty-five minutes. Sandman is driving."

"Affirmative. Use extreme caution. Daedalus may suspect. Proceed."

"Affirmative."

The man with the binoculars scoffed at the message as it was relayed to him. "How can O'Neill suspect anything? We've kept completely out of sight!"

"Use the code words, dummy," growled the other man. "And shut up. We've got to be somewhere." Without another word, he began picking his way down the steep hill, hanging onto tree trunks to avoid slipping. Grumbling, his companion followed him.

When they reached the parking area, the walked immediately to a dark van with heavily tinted windows. The side door rolled open as they approached. As both men climbed inside, the engine roared to life. The vehicle pulled away sharply before the door was fully closed.

A little girl with golden blonde hair, hiding behind her mother's legs, watched as the van disappeared down the same dusty road that Daniel had taken.