No Envy No Fear

Reading Time: 10 Minutes

Title: No Envy No Fear
Author: Keira Marcos
Series: Nature Provides
Series Order: 5
Fandom: NCIS, Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate: SG1, The Sentinel, 9-1-1
Relationship: Tony DiNozzo/OMC, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Lou Ransone/Cristobal Salas
Genre:  Science Fiction, Sentinel Fusion, Established Relationship
Warnings: Ambiguous Ending, No Beta
Author Note: I still believe in happy endings. I won’t answer questions, but I intend to continue this series in July on Rough Trade.
Word Count: 2,420
Summary:  Randolph Rampart, the new Alpha Sentinel Prime of North America, has a meeting about the declassification of the Project Giza.

* * * *

“Regrets?”

Tony hummed under his breath and shifted closer to his Sentinel. “What is there to regret?” Though he certainly knew what Randolph was talking about. “It’s not your fault we got the call.”

“No, apparently, it was yours,” Randolph said and laughed when Tony poked him in the chest. “It certainly didn’t cross my mind that coming online late in life would equal a shaman Guide, who would become the Alpha Guide Prime of North America. I should be retired and fishing in the Gulf of Mexico like my father before me. I have a boat.”

“It’s a nice boat,” Tony said in amusement and hooked one leg over his Sentinel’s thigh. “Maybe we can go for a trip in the fall.”

“During hurricane season?” his Sentinel asked with a laugh. “No, but maybe after that.” He cupped the back of Tony’s head. “Do you have any idea what the briefing is going to be about today?”

Tony hesitated because while they had similar security clearances and sometimes worked together within Homeland Security, there were parts of his job that Randolph wasn’t privy to. The older man had never pushed it, and they functioned well as a pair just being in the same building. But things had changed since they’d been elevated in the pride hierarchy system.

The President had also been a bit of an issue as he’d made a serious misstep with Randolph by calling Tony his boy toy during a White House briefing. And honestly, Tony could’ve done without that scrutiny. The term itself hadn’t insulted him all that much, but it had infuriated Guides all over the country—three different regional primes had shown up in DC to tell the President of the United States about himself, and he’d taken every single meeting demanded of him by the Burton Foundation.

They’d been the Alpha Prime pair for the country for well over six months, so the upcoming briefing had to be related to the declassification of certain projects with the DOM and DOD, respectively. His Sentinel had officially retired from the Marine Corps shortly after coming online as he hadn’t felt he could be the commandant of the Corps in the state that he was in. Still, Tony rarely met anyone that dared call the man anything but General Rampart, even if they’d known him for decades.

“Maybe,” Tony admitted. “There are a couple of projects that are teetering on the edge of being exposed in an uncontrolled fashion. It would have far-reaching ramifications and cause a lot of panic.”

“You mean projects like the ones in Colorado Springs,” Randolph said, and Tony relaxed. “Yeah, I figured you might be in the know about that. You don’t think I sent them my Marines for all of those years without being informed, right? A lot of my men died defending the gate in some fashion or another.” He rubbed Tony’s back. “It’s never sat right that their families were lied to about where and why they died. I hope that declassification changes that. Do you know who’s in charge these days?”

“General John Sheppard, Alpha Sentinel. He’s bonded with a civilian scientist.”

“Rodney McKay,” Randolph supplied, and Tony nodded. “I didn’t think they’d ever get those two out of their long-distance posting.”

“He got promoted right out of it three months ago,” Tony said, and Randolph huffed. “Right? I can imagine he was furious. Regardless, there came the point when he had to choose between that place and the planet. He picked the planet. I kind of figured he always would since he has family here. I don’t have a guest list for this meeting, but if General Cameron Mitchell is on the list, then we can assume it’s about Colorado, as he’s the current director of the secret department within Homeland that runs that show. Apparently, he and Sheppard played rock, paper, scissors over who’d have to take the job. Mitchell lost.”

“We need better security in this house if we’re going to have conversations like this,” Randolph murmured.

“We can move to a Burton Foundation property, but you’ve been opposed to that. It would take major reconstruction to make this house less of a security problem,” Tony said.

“Then I guess arrange it,” Randolph said reluctantly. “We’ll keep this for R&R and arrange for the construction to happen while we aren’t living in it. Will I meet Sheppard today?”

“It depends entirely on his Guide,” Tony said with a laugh. “No one interferes in his research, so we might have to go to them if McKay’s neck deep in something.”

“I wouldn’t mind a plane ride.”

“Well, if we go there, we won’t need a plane,” Tony pointed out, and Randolph huffed a little. “Have you done that?”

“No. Have you?”

“A bunch of times. I did some investigative work in Colorado when I was still with NCIS.”

“Speaking of, I heard that Gibbs finally retired.”

“He should’ve been forced to retire a decade ago,” Tony said. “He was too old to be in the field. I haven’t spoken to him in ages if you’re concerned.”

“No,” Randolph said. “Gibbs never concerned me, not even when he tried to be a problem. His control issues and unhealthy attachment issues are rooted in grief. I understand it, even if I can’t ever condone it. He blames me for the fact that you don’t speak to him anymore.”

“That’s his fault,” Tony muttered and sat up. “He tried to make me choose. I don’t know why he thought I’d pick him over you. Breakfast?”

“Just coffee and toast,” Randolph said. “But I expect a big steak for lunch.”

Tony made a face at him but slid out of bed. “Maybe.”

“No maybes.”

“Your blood pressure was elevated at your last doctor’s appointment.”

“If I want to have my food micromanaged, I’ll call one of my ex-wives,” Randolph muttered, and Tony laughed as he shrugged on a robe. He rolled over and hugged his pillow to him. “Well, that asshole in the White House was right about one thing—you’re really pretty.”

Tony made a face at him. “I’m going to make my overt disapproval of him so clear that he won’t even be welcome to run for reelection.”

* * * *

Sentinels aged well and remained fit well into their seventies unless they took a serious injury, so it was no surprise to Tony to find John Sheppard looking fit and younger than he was. Some Sentinels were allowed to serve in the field, in various professions, past the age when most would be retired. He knew the man had recently turned fifty years old. General Mitchell, who was three years younger than Sheppard and a mundane, looked ten years older.

“Dr. McKay couldn’t make it?” Randolph asked as they all got seated.

“He’s in Pegasus,” General Sheppard said as he got seated. “The city had some issues that required his attention. Or, more to the point, he used a minor emergency to take himself off the planet to avoid coming to DC.”

Tony grinned. “Who can blame him?”

“I blame him for not having a significant enough reason to include me in the trip,” Sheppard said and shrugged when Mitchell laughed. “Neither of you needs a full briefing on the Stargate program itself. Cameron and I have had several meetings with POTUS and the NATO commission that is currently providing oversight. It’s been agreed that declassification is on the map within the next year. It’s been an expensive and stressful endeavor to keep it a secret as long as we have.

“NATO wants to build an advanced warning system in the solar system,” he continued. “That means that NASA will either have an unbelievable leap in technological advancement or Project Giza will come out of the closet. Either way, we can expect Area 51 to become a tourist attraction on the level of Disneyland.”

“So security for it will have to increase three-fold. Are you staying in Cheyenne Mountain?”

“It’s highly defensible, and we’ve taken over the entire complex at this point,” Sheppard said. “NORAD was moved five years back, and that caused some gossip at the time, but nothing we couldn’t spin.”

“For many in the Sentinel-Guide community, the Stargate is an unspoken secret,” Tony said, and Sheppard nodded. “You’ve relied on honor and patriotism over the years to maintain the secret as a whole. It’s worked, but I do see that changing as big secrets don’t hold forever.”

“No, and I’d prefer a controlled release of information over a political bomb going off. The current President is, frankly, a tool in the true sense of the word. He’s run wholesale by his team and party. I don’t expect him to get more than one term in office, and fortunately, he seems to think it would be fun to tell the American public that the government has been lying to them about their actual survival for over two decades,” General Mitchell just inclined his head when they all stared at him. “What? He’s a puppet at best and doesn’t see the long-term consequences of any of this. He thinks it’ll be fun to tell the whole damn planet that the greys were real, Roswell really did happen, there are aliens who want to enslave us and worse aliens who want to eat us, and we’ve thwarted four potential alien invasions in the last decade alone.”

“The president does seem to think that he’ll be viewed as some sort of hero for all of it,” Sheppard admitted reluctantly. “And that he’ll get credit for the whole thing despite the fact that he’s been in office for six months, never served in the military or even in Congress.”

Rampart huffed. “Christ.” He unbuttoned his jacket.

“And that brings up the religious angle,” Sheppard said roughly. “The Vatican is prepared to come out in full support of the program. We can expect some unrest and protests from some of the more fundamental religions. We’ll set up a committee of our own to prepare various religious leaders all over the world in an effort to keep rioting and protests to a minimum. We can’t wholesale prevent it, and I’m already sorry for the loss of life that will result.”

“We should contact various medical organizations as well and start preparing them for crisis—mental and otherwise,” Tony said and pulled a legal pad from the stack in the middle of the table to him. “I can assume that NATO has a planning commission in the works.”

“Yes, but they’re waiting on a plan from POTUS,” Sheppard said. “And he dropped it in my lap. His advisors have convinced him that a Sentinel-led declassification process will be well received by the public in a general sense. I can’t say they’re wrong, and that’s why I’m here to speak with you, General Rampart. Clearly, the best choice we can make is to bring regional alpha’s completely into the know all over the world and prepare them for what is to come.”

“I think we should start with spaceships,” Tony suggested. “They’re righteous.”

John Sheppard smiled then, for the first time since entering the room, and nodded. “Yeah, probably so.”

* * * *

He honestly didn’t want to front declassification of the biggest military secret in the history of the world, but Rampart knew and accepted his duty to the whole thing. He took a sip of coffee as he listened to his Guide of ten years speak with the Alpha Guide Prime of the Pacific West. Dr. Cristobal Salas wasn’t unknown to either of them, as the man had been setting the tone for the Burton Foundation’s agenda since he’d bonded with a Sentinel. Many had assumed that Salas and Ransone would ascend to the Prime pair for the entire country, and most had looked forward to it. At least, most mundanes seemed to have been comforted by the thought.

The conversation was going well, but they weren’t discussing anything specific. Tony was arranging a meeting with the regional primes for North America currently. They’d be electing a pair to represent them internationally. Randolph knew that such plans and conversations were taking place all over the world. He let the duty settle on his bones as Tony ended the conversation.

Tony joined him and sat down on the sofa next to him with a cup of his own. “He asked me if we’d ever gone to the Temple of the Sentinels. I said no. He offered to arrange it.”

Randolph exhaled slowly and wished he’d actually paid attention to the content of the phone call. “What did you say?”

“I said I would ask you. It would deepen our connection, and you’ve been wary of that from the start.”

“I’m fifteen years older than you,” Rampart said roughly. “And it matters more every single year, Tony. The deeper our bond, the more likely I am to take you with me when I go.” He cleared his throat and focused on his Guide, only to find him openly devastated. “Tony.”

“I….” Tony exhaled slowly and shook his head. “Our bond won’t kill me, Rand. Losing you might, but it won’t be because of our bond.” He slouched back on the sofa, tucked up against the arm and threw his legs across Randolph’s lap. “But don’t talk about dying; it hurts my feelings.”

Randolph started to respond, but his cell phone started vibrating on the coffee table, so he reached out and picked it up. It was John Sheppard.

“Rampart.”

“Turn on your TV—any news station. A Sentinel just ascended on live fucking television.”

Randolph closed his eyes briefly as the call ended abruptly and picked up the remote. “Tony, get my plane ready.” He turned on the TV, browsed to CNN, and took a deep breath as he stared. “We’re going to California.”

The End