No copyright infringement intentions, blah blah blah.... you all know the drill
"I'll take her from here Captain" Jack said motioning towards the girl sleeping in Carters arms.
"It's alright Colonel, I've got it" she said, her eyes locking on his, pleading for permission.
Not entirely sure he took his time in answering. She had become attached to this girl and he knew it, but the look of desperation in her eyes was more then he could take, and he was simply unable to refuse her.
"This lift takes three minutes to get down to level 30, that gives you four minutes to get back in." he told her, with a look that clearly said he was allowing her down there under the impression that she would not dawdle.
"Got it" she said sadly.
Getting into the lift she could feel the tears starting to form in her eyes even before the doors had fully closed and she knew that he had seen them to. She had only known this poor little girl for a few days and yet she felt as though she was about to lose her own child.
Cassie began to stir and as Carter looked down she saw her open her eyes.
"where are we?" she asked, her voice still weak
"Don't worry" Sam said, tears starting to fall freely from her eyes
"Are you crying?" Cassie asked, concerned
Unable to stop the flow of tears Sam looked away "Everything's fine, just go back to sleep"
"I'm not tired anymore" she replied, sliding from Sam's arms in order to stand beside her.
Sam wrapped her arm around the little girl and as the doors to the lift opened, she led her down and into the underground chamber. The full force of what she was doing started to hit her.
She had promised that she wouldn't leave her. She had promised to show her the wonders that Earth had to offer, and yet here she was kneeling in front of that same child 4oo feet underground in a room she knew would be the last thing Cassie ever saw.
"I have to leave" Sam said her voice thick with emotion.
Cassie simply nodded
"I have to close the door" Sam continued
Again the child simply nodded. Sam made her way toward the door, pausing one last time to look at her before she pulled the door closed, locking the innocent child inside, terrified and calling out for the closest thing she had to a mother.
Making her way back into the elevator Sam lost control. It was so unfair. How could they do this to such an innocent little girl? What had she done to deserve this fate?
More then that, how could she simply walk away and leave her to die? She loved Cassie as her own, and she was so terrified. It just wasn't right, she had to do something.
Then it hit her, like a ton of bricks. Quickly she hit the button and began to head back down toward the bottom
0-0-0-0
Daniel, who was watching Sam's ascent, looked quickly at O'Neill "Jack, she's going back down"
Those four words scared him more than anything he could think of at the moment. This was his fault. He knew how she felt about the girl and yet he had let his feelings for her manipulate his actions, and had let her go.
Pressing the button on the speaker he said, in what he hoped was a commanding voice that masked his fear "Captain?"
No answer. His heart was in his throat "Captain Carter?"
Still nothing. This was nothing short of torture. "Sam…?" he said, almost pleadingly
"Sir, I'm going back down. I can't leave her there." Came her voice, thick with tears, through the speaker
"Captain, get back up here. That's an order" he said, a million emotions playing in his voice, anger at the forefront.
"I can't do that Sir. She's awake."
Damn it. It would have been hard enough for her to do it while the girl was unconscious, but awake was an entirely different story, and he knew it. But right now there was only one thing on his mind and that was Carter. She was an important part of his team and he felt as though by allowing her to go down there, he had left her behind. Nothing that anyone could say would change his mind. Whatever happened to her was his fault, and no one else.
He told Daniel and Teal'C to clear out, knowing before the words had left his mouth that they would never leave. They were like a family, even after only a few short months together, and though Daniel never agreed with anything military there was one thing that they all silently agreed upon. Never leave a man behind, and though it was out of their control, they would never leave this building while Sam was still alive.
As the countdown neared it's end they all waited in tense silence. They knew that there was no way that Sam would survive the explosion that was approaching and yet not one of them moved an inch. As Jack's watch beeped, alerting them that they were out of time, they waited.
But the explosion never came. Jack was frozen in place, either they had been wrong about the timing, or the blast had indeed happened and it was simply not as strong as they thought it might be. Either way, he had to know.
Slowly, not entirely sure he wanted the conformation, Jack stepped up to the speaker, pressed the little white button and spoke with a shaky voice "Captain?"
They waited, the seconds ticking by like hours
"I'm fine sir. We're both fine" Came the calm voice of Captain Carter through the speaker.
A/N: So??? whatcha think? Reviews are MUCH appreciated....
Luv to all
Nichole