Branching Out (Criminal Minds/Stargate) PG

[mhalachai]

Branching Out
A Criminal Minds/Stargate crossover

Summary: Jennifer Jareau's first day as liaison for the Department of Defense really wasn't what she expected.
Characters: Jennifer JJ Jareau, General Jack O'Neill. Cameos by the original SG1 team.
Rating: a very mild PG.
Spoilers: Please Note that this story is one giant spoiler for Criminal Minds 6x02, JJ.
Disclaimer: As will surprise no one, I own nothing related to Criminal Minds or Stargate. I borrow from existing characters and storylines, and mashed things up to make something new and shiny and totally for my own entertainment and not a profit.

Author's note: I wasn't a fan of what happened with JJ on Criminal Minds. While I know that in real life, feds get promoted and move between departments, the RL reasoning behind the ouster of AJ Cook annoyed me. So I watched the episode in a-glower, grumpy and annoyed, until I heard that one line from Strauss and immediately, I thought: I WILL FIX THIS. WITH FANFIC. MAKE IT BETTER YES. tl;dr there I fixed it.

~~~

The past is but the beginning of a beginning, and all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn.
- H.G. Wells

~~~

She didn't want this.

JJ waited, eyes ahead as she stood in the line to clear security at her first day at the Pentagon, and the only thought in her head was that she didn't want any of this. She wanted to be back at the BAU, with the people she trusted most in the world, who for more than six years had been closer than family.

She didn't want to walk into the Pentagon and be a communications liaison for the Department of Defense.

More than that, she had no idea why the Department of Defense wanted her. She had no military background, no affinity with that department of the Executive Branch. True, she'd managed to end up on the phone with the Secretary of Homeland Security a few weeks earlier in order to access the Los Angeles Emergency Alert System, but that still wasn't enough of a connection to make any sense.

JJ took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. That phone call with the Secretary had gotten JJ on the air, and had helped her save a young girl's life, and had helped stop a killer. That was what she had to focus on. Ellie was alive and Billy Flynn was dead.

The suit in front of JJ finally stepped through the metal detector, and it was JJ's turn.

"State your name," said the alert and armed guard as he held out his hand for her ID.

And this was it. "I'm Jennifer Jareau."

~~~

Security was tighter at the Pentagon than at Quantico. JJ had been met on the other side of security by an Air Force guide, a Lt. Henderson, who walked her to a briefing room, where JJ was informed on the current status of this emergency and of that crisis. Thankfully, her security clearance at the FBI had been high enough to get her in the door with the DoD.

Or, she realized when the first briefing ended and she was ushered into another room, during the weeks-long delay between the initial job offer and her forced acceptance, someone somewhere had seen fit to raise her security clearance. Really high.

The second briefing was populated by a handful of people, some in uniform and others in civilian attire, and JJ kept her mouth shut and her eyes open and paid close attention. The topics of discussion focused less on the United States' current overseas military engagements, and more on obscure developments, even spending a few minutes on a purely civilian archeological dig in Egypt.

The mix of topics didn't make any sense, and that made JJ uneasy, because there was no way she could know what was going on. She wasn't a profiler and didn't know how to gauge who meant what.

At the end of the briefing, JJ knew even less than she had when she walked into the room. The lieutenant directed her to the food court and mercifully left her alone. JJ sat in the midst of a quiet crowd and picked at her sandwich in a state of anxiety she couldn't quite place.

What was her team doing at that moment? she wondered. Had Hotch assigned someone to sort through the files on her desk? Had someone organized the team for their morning briefing? Had someone stopped by Garcia's office to say hi and offer her a morning coffee?

JJ put down her sandwich as the full impact of what she'd lost caught up with her. The BAU could function just fine without her. They'd done it when she'd left to give birth to Henry. They were all amazing at their jobs, and they adapted. They'd be fine without her.

If only she could be sure she'd be okay without them.

~~~

It was 2:14 p.m. when JJ finally snapped.

Yet another briefing, an "information session" in which a very upright Marine Captain tossed information into a semi-crowded room, and JJ had no idea why she was there. Still, she listened, looked at the slides, and fundamentally disagreed with the conclusions the Captain had drawn about the target of the intelligence investigation. JJ might not be a profiler, but she knew a bit about human motivation at this point. What the Captain was saying didn't mesh with the background intel he presented.

Five minutes, JJ seethed. Give my team five minutes with this case and I'll deliver your answers all wrapped up in a bow.

The briefing finished late, causing most of the personnel in the room to leave in a hurry. JJ stayed in her seat, staring at the last slide on the screen. She was aware that a few others were still in the room -- her Air Force guide, a slightly rumpled civilian in glasses who had been in the morning's archeological meeting, and a high-ranking Air Force officer sitting directly behind JJ. The officer had come into the room in the middle of the briefing and JJ hadn't gotten a good look at his uniform to identify his rank.

So, JJ was irritated, confused, and totally out of her depth with Lt. Henderson asked how she was enjoying her first day at the Pentagon.

"Enjoying?" JJ retorted. "Enjoy what? You pulled me out of a job where I was needed, you won't tell me what I'm doing here and you keep throwing me into meetings without telling me why I'm here. What's to enjoy?"

Her guide kept his mouth shut and didn't back away from her tirade, even though he looked as if he wouldn't mind a strategic retreat. He glanced over JJ's head at the Air Force officer at the back of the room.

"Head out, lieutenant, I'll take over," came a male voice.

The lieutenant snapped to attention, gave JJ a curt nod, and swept out of the room.

JJ let out a controlled breath. Not good. Not good at all. She'd lost her temper on her first day in a new job. Not that she wanted to be here, but an uncontrolled outburst was just amateurish. Above all, JJ valued her professionalism.

Footsteps sounded behind her as the Air Force officer clattered down the steps, to stop by the podium at the front of the cramped room.

Only it wasn't just any Air Force officer, it was a three-star general and the air froze in JJ's lungs. She'd just mouthed off in front of a war-time general.

"Sorry I wasn't here this morning," the General said, a half-smile on his face. "I wanted to say hi to you when you got in, but you know. Work."

"Yes," JJ said, her mouth dry. "Yes sir." She stood up and walked down to the General. "Jennifer Jareau, sir."

The General's eyes were unexpectedly sharp, and she was strongly reminded of Hotch. As they shook hands, JJ could feel the gun calluses on his palm and wondered at them. She expected a General would have more to do than stay up-to-date on the firing range. "Jack O'Neill," the man was saying. "It's good to meet you." He shifted his gaze from JJ's face to the civilian sitting in the second row. "And this is Daniel Jackson," he added, raising his voice.

Daniel Jackson looked up, startled, from the papers in front of him. It occurred to JJ that the man hadn't paid attention in either briefing, instead focusing on a sheaf of his own papers. "Jack?"

General O'Neill inclined his head at JJ. "Come say hi to the new kid."

Daniel Jackson blinked a couple of times, then shoveled his papers into a worn leather briefcase and clattered down the steps with alacrity. "Dr. Daniel Jackson," he said, smiling as he shook JJ's hand. "It's good to meet you, Jack's been talking about you for days."

"Daniel--" said the General in a warning tone, but JJ was so surprised that she interrupted the General.

"He has?" she asked, looking between general and civilian. "What about?"

The smile on Jackson's face faltered. "About what you did in Los Angeles."

JJ swung around to stare at the General. "About getting on the phone with the Secretary of Homeland Security?" she asked. Why would that impress a man like Jackson?

Now the General was serious, his expression somber. "I told him about what you said. On the radio."

A faint echo of the panic of that day beat in JJ's heart. I'm not a hostage negotiator, she had told Hotch, and all he had said was, I'm sorry, you are today.

"The little girl's going to be okay, right?" Jackson asked, voice soft and understanding, and JJ knew he wasn't just asking about the trauma of losing her father and aunt.

"Yes," JJ said after a moment. "Ellie is going to be okay. She's a brave little girl."

"Good." The General straightened up. "Miss Jareau, I know you didn't want this job--"

JJ thought about protesting, but they would both know she was lying.

"--And I'm pretty sure that Henderson didn't explain much."

"Not really, no."

"But you're here for a reason."

JJ was nearing the end of her rope. "And what reason would that be?" She didn't call him sir. After the initial pleasantries, in her world, that was a title that needed to be earned.

To his credit, General O'Neill didn't react to her tone. "It's... big."

Jackson raised his eyebrows at the General. "That's what you've got? 'It's big'?"

General O'Neill shrugged. "I'm not much on speeches."

"Or exposition, apparently." Jackson turned back to JJ. "Miss Jareau, we're involved in a project that has the potential to change everything, and we're trying to make sure we have some... strategies in place, in case the project is exposed prematurely."

"Like that's any better?" the General asked.

"I'm trying to lead up to it," Jackson said in an aside.

JJ was reminded of watching Emily Prentiss and Derek Morgan back-and-forthing in front of a suspect. "Lead up to what?" she demanded, bringing the men's attention back to front. "What sort of project are you talking about?"

Jackson and O'Neill exchanged a glance, communicating silently as only long-time partners could. The General turned to JJ. "Your security clearance has been raised, and what I'm about to say is classified."

"Highly classified," Jackson added.

"Very classified," the General agreed.

JJ's head danced with images of George Foyet, Frank Breitkopf, even Jind Allah. Be it stemming from ideology or insanity, evil could exist behind the mildest of demeanors. Could these men be talking about anything as horrible as she had seen during her years at the BAU?

"So we should probably just show you," General O'Neill finished.

"Just like that?" Jackson asked.

General O'Neill shrugged. "She wouldn't believe me if I told her," he said to Jackson. To JJ, he added, "Seriously. I've seen your file. You wouldn't believe me."

JJ wanted to ask them what the hell they were talking about, what this convoluted nothing could mean, but then the General pulled a small round device out of his pocket and spoke into it.

"We're ready, Carter."

And with those three words, everything changed.

~~~

When the rush of lights faded, JJ's hand was on her hip, reaching for the gun she couldn't carry into the Pentagon. The wood and plaster briefing room was gone, replaced with grey metal consoles and the stale smell of recycled air.

General O'Neill and Jackson stood where they had before, only now there were so many more people in the new room, and JJ couldn't catch her breath to think.

One of the people in the group walked across the room to the General. She was tall, blonde, about Prentiss's age, and completely in control. "General," the woman said. "Daniel."

"Hey Sam," Jackson said cheerfully.

"Colonel Carter, this is Jennifer Jareau," said the General, making a grand sweep of his hand for the introduction. "Communications liaison extraordinaire. Maybe."

Colonel Carter turned her attention on JJ. "Let me welcome you to the George Hammond, Miss Jareau," she said with a smile.

She gestured for JJ to turn around, and so JJ did, befuddled from the sudden change in setting, wondering if this was a secret room in the Pentagon... and then JJ saw what lay behind her, and everything in her worldview shifted to the left.

A huge viewscreen filled the entire wall, and on that viewscreen, was Earth.

JJ took two steps towards the screen, generals and colonels the last thing in her mind. She wanted to believe this was all a trick, some sort of military slight-of-hand, but nothing she'd ever experienced could explain the sight she saw below her.

On the screen, the planet spun silently in space, surrounded by a trillion tiny stars in the blackness.

As she watched, the sun peeked over the horizon, illuminating the planet in a sudden flash and bringing daylight to the world.

JJ was dimly aware of someone at her side, Air Force blue and suddenly comforting in all this strange newness. She breathed a few times, hoping to avoid passing out. "Where are we?" she asked weakly.

"In orbit," General O'Neill said. "We're on board the USS George Hammond, a Daedalus-class battlecruiser. We're really in space and that's really Earth down there."

And because JJ was very smart indeed, she suddenly realized why she was on board this crazy, impossible ship. "You're worried that someone's going to find out that the US Military has a spaceship. And artificial gravity," she added, realizing that they should have been floating around. "Wait, how does the US Military have a spaceship with artificial gravity?"

Jackson came over, propping his shoulder against the edge of the viewscreen. "The Hammond is only one of many ships, not all of them under American control," he said. "Sam's the commanding officer in charge of the Hammond."

JJ blinked. Reason was reasserting itself, and if she could accept that she was on a spaceship orbiting the Earth, then it was even more startling to realize that this US military spaceship orbiting the planet was commanded by a woman.

Times are changing indeed, JJ thought.

Jackson cleared his throat. "We're not alone in the universe," he told her. "There are alien races, other livable planets, millions of other people out there on planets in this galaxy and others. We've been there, seen it all."

"Other planets?" JJ demanded. "How long has this been going on? How long has the US military been going to other planets?"

O'Neill and Jackson exchanged a glance, and Carter sighed. "It's been almost fifteen years since humans from Earth first traveled across the galaxy," she said. "We've come a long way and have been able to keep most of this knowledge from the public, but it's getting harder and harder as more people and more countries are brought into the program."

"There's only so much that talk of gas leaks and chemical spills can hold off the press," said General O'Neill. "We need a back-up plan in case of an information leak. And then a back-up plan to that plan."

JJ stepped away from the viewscreen. "You want me to be your communications liaison about the fact that science fiction is real?"

General O'Neill made a face. "When you put it that way... Yeah."

"About the fact that there are aliens in the universe."

"In the room, in fact," Jackson interrupted, looking over JJ's shoulder.

JJ spun around, not sure what she was expecting. Maybe a little green man out of Area 51. But the man in the doorway looked human. Or almost human. He was black, tall, muscular. He wouldn't have been too out of place in any number of fitness gyms in DC.

Except for the brilliant gold mark on his forehead.

The man stepped forward, and when he smiled down at JJ, she felt a passing sensation that this man was far older than he looked.

"Miss Jennifer Jareau," he said, his voice lower than JJ had expected. "O'Neill speaks very highly of your accomplishments."

Anything JJ would have said was knocked out of her mouth by that line. "He does?"

"Indeed. He tells of your battles against the monsters that walk your planet and would do evil to others."

JJ blinked. She hadn't ever thought of it like that, but she could see how an alien (an alien! Reid would never believe it!) might draw that conclusion. "It wasn't just me, I was part of a team..." Her voice faded when the man's smile grew.

"As are all the battles won against evil." He put his hand on his chest. "I am Teal'c."

There was something in the way he said his name that finally made everything come home to JJ. She was talking to an alien who looked human, who seemed to know about fighting evil, who was real in a way that the planet below her was not.

Years later, JJ would pick that as the moment where her choice became clear.

"Call me JJ," she blurted out. "Everyone I work with does."

Teal'c bowed his head. "I look forward to working with you, JJ."

"Um, Teal'c," Jackson interrupted. "Where's Vala?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that she was with you."

Jackson sighed. "Great," he muttered. "I'm going to go..." He made a vague gesture with his hand, then took off toward the door like a shot.

Carter rolled her eyes. "I have to get back up to the bridge," she said. "Miss Jareau, it was a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to the program. General O'Neill will explain everything else."

With a smile, the woman left, followed closely by Teal'c. That left JJ alone with General O'Neill.

Well, as alone as one could be with the whole wide world laid out at one's feet and a gaggle of techs at their posts, all studiously hard at work and not missing a word of the exchange.

JJ drifted back over to the viewscreen, staring down at the planet and trying very hard to think. It might have been a minute later or ten, when JJ finally came back to herself enough to ask, "Why me?"

The General joined her by the viewscreen. Below them, the Earth turned, clouds swirled, and humanity went on its way, ignorant of what floated was in their skies. "Because I've read your file."

It was too much. "This isn't talking down a deranged spree killer to save one little girl--" JJ started, but the General cut her off.

"Because I've read your entire file. I don't think you get how big this is going to be." He tugged on the sleeve of his jacket. "There are people down there," and he pointed at the Earth, "Who can't have a civil conversation with someone who votes differently from them, and we're going to have to ask them to understand that there are aliens out there, and that those aliens are our allies. We're going to be changing everything. History, religion, our place in the universe. People are going to be freaked out."

"But you have to have people to talk to the media already," JJ said, still not understanding why the General wanted her in this job.

"I don't want those people for this," O'Neill said. "Washington is full of people who lie to the American people every day. I need someone who can tell people the truth, can understand why they're angry or scared, and get them to accept what's really happening."

"And you think I can do that."

The General didn't speak, didn't nod, just looked at JJ. "I know you can do that," he said at last. "Look, I know you didn't want this job. But I need someone like you with the program."

"But..." JJ stopped. She had no idea what she wanted to ask.

Somewhere down there, on that planet below them, Will was waking Henry up from his nap, and then they would go to the park. They would play on the slides and the swings, and they would go home, and Will would make a celebratory dinner for JJ's first day at the Pentagon, and Henry would watch and babble and be his adorable toddler self, and all the while above them in the skies, there was a spaceship and aliens and so many opportunities.

"My son's going to grow up in a world where aliens and space travel is real, isn't he?" JJ asked quietly.

"Probably. Given the rate things are going, we'll probably have to disclose the program within the next five years."

Five years. Henry would be almost seven, playing ball and superheroes and spaceships, and he would grow up in a world where there were aliens and life on other planets. In other galaxies.

JJ pressed her palms against her legs, trying to centre herself. Her head spun with too much information and too many possibilities ahead. Only unlike the last seven years, it wasn't the possibility of failure and death that pressed in on her, it was the chance of new opportunities, new hopes.

She didn't get a day like that very often.

She tried to imagine what the other members of her team would say if they were standing there with her. Garcia would be over the moon, ecstatic about the thought of aliens and spaceships and traveling to other worlds.

Rossi would shake his head and say he was too old for this, all the while taking everything in and meeting everyone and trying to figure out how aliens thought and behaved and acted. He would be the best one to tell this story, to take what he saw and make it real for other people, like he did in his books, that old Rossi pragmatism mixed with a deep faith in humanity.

Morgan wouldn't believe at first, would need to see proof with his own eyes, need to step onto a spaceship with his own two feet before he would finally accept that this was all real, and then it would become his new normal.

Emily would get that little smile on her face, would get into everything and go everywhere and ask every question she could think of, figure out quirks and focus on the community behavior, and keep an eye over everyone to make sure no one else let the idea of aliens go to their heads.

Reid would spend hours reading everything he could get his hands on, probably memorize the schematics of this spaceship, learn all the higher math he'd need to build his own spaceship in the basement. Only later would his carefully hidden paranoia creep out, wondering how much of the common alien abduction stories were real and how much were the results of misfiring brain chemistry, and it would take him a while to come back from that.

And Hotch... Hotch wouldn't have let anything show, of course, but of all the BAU members, he was the one in the same boat as JJ. How would this affect their kids? How would his son Jack grow up? Would this make the world a better place for Jack? Hell, instead of just a world for Jack and Henry to experience, they'd have a whole universe.

Deep down, JJ knew what Hotch would say to her if he had been standing beside her. He would push her into doing what was best for everyone, and that might mean that she dealt with aliens and spaceships.

JJ would still have given anything to be back with her BAU family, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. If she couldn't be with them, helping them make the world a better place, then maybe she could do some good up here in the meantime.

In outer space.

Thinking about the BAU, a horrible thought suddenly hit her. Humans, even normal humans, had a tendency to aggression when faced with the unfamiliar. Almost every movie about aliens ever made involved humans versus aliens, and not in a good way. "General?"

"Miss Jareau?"

"We're not... at war, with any of these aliens out there, are we?"

"Of course not," O'Neill said, brushing that suggestion away.

"Oh. Good."

"Not anymore," he added. JJ narrowed her eyes at him. "Look, it totally wasn't our fault. Ask Teal'c, he'll tell you."

"What does not our fault mean?"

The General gave her an innocent expression, which JJ didn't buy for an instant. "They started it?"

JJ looked around the room. The technicians over by the wall were giving each other knowing looks, a silent communication that spoke of long teamwork and trust in their abilities. JJ might not know General O'Neill like they did, but she could infer a few things on her own about the man.

They started it.

We ended it.

JJ wasn't really sure how she felt about that.

"Tell you what," General O'Neill said. "Give it a week. I'll show you everything, let you talk to the others, give you a feel for the program, and if at the end of one week you really want to walk away from all this, I'll cut you loose."

"One week," JJ repeated.

"One week," the General agreed. "But on one more condition."

"What's that?"

"You have to check out another planet. Say hi to some folks. See the sights."

JJ felt her eyes bulge. "Another planet?" she repeated, her voice going up in a squeak. Somehow, she hadn't made that connection. There were other planets, and she was on a spaceship, and it hadn't occurred to her that she herself, Jennifer Jareau, might be able to go to one of those planets.

And just this morning you were worrying about what shoes to wear to work, JJ. Nothing like finding out aliens are real to reset the priority list.

"That's the deal. Take it or..." O'Neill tilted his head. "Actually, there's really only 'take' at this point. What do you say?"

Damn it, the man was enjoying this, JJ thought. She placed her hand on the viewscreen, finding it cool and comforting beneath her fingers. "What part of the Department of Defense does this project fall into?"

"We're not under the DoD. It's part of the Department of Homeworld Security."

"Homeworld Security," JJ repeated, feeling a bubble of mirth rising in her chest. "Nice one."

"Yeah, well, it grows on you."

"And the program you want to show me, what's it called?"

And in that one question, was her maybe. Not yes, not yet. But at least it wasn't a no.

With North American passing beneath their feet, the General cleared his throat. "Miss Jareau, I'd like to welcome you to the Stargate program."

~~~

The Earth is a cradle of the mind, but we cannot live forever in a cradle.
- Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, Father of Russian Astronautics

End