Straight on 'til Morning
Rating: NC17 for salty language, blood, and a smidge of Jolly Rogering
Category: Angst, insanity, death and questionable beverages on the starboard bow.
Shipmates: Sam/Teal'c. Janet/Daniel.
Warning: Some well loved crew are already in Davy Jones' locker as this story starts; more will follow. Abandon ship if that's not your cup of rum
Note: In this story, none of the events after 'Grace' happened. No Pete; no Lost City; nothing. We've ditched the compass in the briny and we're sailing blind.
'To die will be an awfully big adventure'
- Peter Pan by J.M Barrie
oOo
"If you are fucking with me, little man, I will rip off your sorry excuse for balls and wear them as earrings. Do you understand me?"
"Jan, you have to take your gun out of his mouth so he can answer." Sam leaned casually against the door frame; her hand lightly resting on her hip where her own weapon was jammed into her belt. She watched as Janet slowly removed the barrel of her gun from the white-faced man's mouth. "Answer the lady. You really don't want to piss her off." Sam added helpfully.
The overweight and balding man took a deep gulp of air. His hands trembled as he raised them in a placatory gesture.
"Please, it's good. Haktar made up the order himself. He just couldn't make the meeting. Something came up." The man was sweating and panting with fear.
"It better be." Janet loomed over the man who was on his knees. Janet had become very good at looming these last four years. "Tell Haktar that next time I deal with him, not his lab boy. You got that?"
"Yes…yes. Can I go now?"
Janet made a dismissive gesture with her gun "Run away little man…run away."
The man staggered to his feet and dashed passed Sam and out of the door.
"Judging from the smell, I think you made that guy have a bit of an accident." Sam pushed herself off the doorframe and sauntered over to her friend.
"I hope so, or else I'm losing my touch." Janet scowled and thrust her gun into its holster. "I don't like dealing with people we don't know, that's all." She put the bag containing the Tretonin into a pouch on her belt. "Too much depends on it."
Sam sighed. "Yeah, I know." She patted Janet's shoulder and pretended not to notice her flinch. "Fancy a drink? Daniel's buying." Sam waggled her eyebrows.
"I'd kill for a Marguerita."
"Well, you might get to maim someone for a glass of the local hooch. I think it's made out of turnips."
"Turnips, yum." Janet grinned toothily at Sam. "Come on then, shipmate. Let's get hammered."
oOo
Daniel peered at the cloudy grey liquid in his glass. It looked like old dishwater. He picked up the glass and took a sniff. It smelled like it too. He mentally braced himself, and downed the contents. The universe exploded in his brain, and, for a second, he thought he'd died and gone to a particularly unpleasant hell reserved only for those who imbibed untested alcoholic beverages.
"Are you quite well, Daniel Jackson?"
He heard Teal'c through the roaring of the air in his lungs, which seemed to have spontaneously combusted.
"Fuck me!" he gasped, finally drawing a breath of none flammable air. "It's an interesting little vintage." Daniel glanced at Teal'c, who had one eyebrow raised as he took a swig of his water.
"Indeed."
Daniel felt a warm hand on his chest. He looked up to see the barmaid leaning over him. Her ample bosom threatened to spill from her low cut blouse.
"Can I get you gentlemen another drink?" She smiled and licked her lips.
"No, you can't, and if you don't get your hand off him, right now, I'll cut it off."
Janet stood behind the woman, her hand resting on a very large knife.
"All right, I was only being nice." The woman quickly removed her hand and backed away, eyeing Janet warily."
"Go and be nice somewhere else."
Daniel tried not to smile. He did so love it when Janet got possessive.
"Hello, dear." He smiled up at her. He suddenly had a lap full of woman as she straddled his thighs and planted a kiss solidly on his lips.
"I can't leave you alone for a minute." She kissed him again, more slowly this time.
"What can I say, I'm irresistible," he said, once he'd got his breath back.
"It's the eye-patch. No woman can resist a man in leather with an eye-patch."
He felt her fingers gently trace the leather patch over the hole where his eye used to be. A Kull warrior had hit him so hard his left eye had been crushed. That was long ago now, and he'd become adept at using just the one eye. On the plus side, it made him a better shot which, considering what they did these days, came in very handy. He took her hand off his face and kissed it.
"You okay?" He was suddenly serious
"I'm fine. We got the stuff."
"Good. No trouble?"
"No. Haktar couldn't make it, so he sent one of his lab boys."
"You didn't scare him too much, did you?"
"What, little old me?"
The sound of a bottle being plonked on the table, and a low chuckle signalled Sam's return from the bar.
"She made the poor man wet himself," Sam said with a grin.
Daniel patted Janet's bottom affectionately. "That's my girl."
Sam poured out the drink into three glasses. She pushed two toward Janet and Daniel.
"Let's drink to a successful mission." Sam raised her glass and downed the murky contents in one.
Daniel waited for the respiratory distress to start, but she just calmly poured herself another. He watched Janet down hers with equal aplomb. He looked to Teal'c who was being inscrutable as always, but his dark eyes laughed at him.
"Are you not joining the toast, Daniel Jackson?"
Teal'c could be a complete bastard sometimes.
Daniel took a manful swig and began to cough violently. "Christ, this stuff is like gasoline, but it doesn't taste quite as good."
Janet wiped his spittle off her jerkin. "You are such a girl when it comes to drink."
Raucous laughter erupted from the next table. "Hey, little one. I'd be happy to drink with you, if you'd like someone with some balls." The booming voice belonged to a big man with a shaven head who looked like he ate babies for breakfast. "Unless you like women, of course," he said with a smirk to his equally burly companions.
Daniel's mood shifted as he felt Janet tense. He shifted her off his lap and she sat down on the empty chair beside him.
He felt Sam's hand on his forearm; he looked across at her.
"Take it easy, Daniel, they're just drunk, that's all."
Daniel nodded and tried to relax.
"Come on over here little one. I'll give you something to sit on." The big man grabbed his crotch and grinned.
Daniel moved so quickly the shaven headed goon didn't have time to react. He pressed the barrel of his gun against the man's groin. He felt one of the man's companions behind him and he snapped his arm back catching the guy's nose with the point of his elbow. There was a clatter of tables and chairs as the man fell back with a howl. He turned his attention back to Prince Charming in front of him.
"Listen very carefully. If you don't want to have a hole where your dick used to be then I suggest you shut the fuck up." He jammed the gun hard against the tender flesh.
"Fine…fine." The man was sweating now. "By the gods, I was only having a little fun with the lady."
"Okay, you've had it. Now go away."
Daniel eased up on the pressure and backed away, his gun still trained on the man's groin. He took his seat at the table and looked at his companions. They all had their hands on their weapons. They watched as the men left the bar.
"There's going to be trouble on the way back to the ship," Sam said as she poured herself another drink.
Daniel shrugged and put his arm around Janet. Her face was pale and her eyes were dark with the stain of memory.
"It's okay, you're okay." He kissed her hair.
"I'm fine." She looked up at him and smiled then kissed him gently. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Daniel sighed. "So, do we want to kick the shit out of them now, or have another drink of turnip juice and let them set up their ambush first?"
"I vote for another drink." Sam raised her glass with a grin.
"This water is most refreshing," Teal'c added.
"Really?" Daniel looked longingly at the glass. "Honey, would it be too girly of me to have what Teal'c's having?"
Janet cupped his face in her hands. He felt her fingers brush over the stubble on his jaw. "I could ask the barman if he has any milk, if you like."
"Okay, but it has to have come out of something that at least has a passing resemblance to a cow."
Daniel watched Janet's hips sway as she sauntered to the bar.
"That woman's far too good to you, Daniel," Sam said, as she knocked back another drink.
"I know." Daniel grinned and waited for his milk.
oOo
Rhythmic grunts from the cabin next door awoke Sam. Janet was obviously giving Daniel a damn good seeing to. Sam tried holding a pillow over her head, but she couldn't block out the steadily rising crescendo of moans and wails coming from her friend's quarters.
She sat up, wincing a little at the pain in her ribs. On the way back to the ship the men from the bar had jumped them, as she'd known they would. There had been a brief but bloody scuffle and while she'd been trying to stop Janet from gutting one of the men, Sam had been kneed in the ribs. The man who'd done it soon realised his error when she crushed his balls with a swift kick to the crotch. She'd not managed to prevent Janet from making free with her knife. The smell of hot blood and stomach contents still lingered in Sam's nostrils.
She got up from the bed and put on her robe. The silk felt cool against her skin. Out of habit Sam stood for a moment and listened to the hum of the engines. She was alert for any sound that might indicate that they were not running at peak efficiency.
There had been some debate between the four of them about what to name the pilfered Melosian cargo vessel. Daniel had wanted to call it the 'Cheyenne' but Sam thought that the name held too many memories and Janet had agreed. Teal'c had suggested some completely unpronounceable Chulakian folk hero. The rest of them argued that anything requiring more than three apostrophes and two glottal stops was impractical.
Eventually they'd fallen back on literature and agreed on the name 'Hispaniola'. Even Teal'c had read Treasure Island.
Sam had a sudden flashback to when Jack had rented 'A Muppet Treasure Island' one movie night, because he'd reckoned miss Piggy looked hot in a hoola skirt. She winced as her traitorous memory opened the door on her last sight of Jack.
"It's SG-16's IDC, sir," Sergeant Harriman said, his hand hovering over the iris control pad.
"Open the iris, Sergeant." Hammond ordered.
"They're early," Sam said, looking up from her console.
"It's Colonel Reynolds kid's birthday," Jack whispered to her conspiratorially. "He'll be wanting to get home in time for the cake."
Sam smiled at him. She was still smiling when the blast from a Kull warrior's weapon blew half of Jack's face away. Sam felt the warm spray of his blood hit her. She tasted its coppery sweetness on her teeth.
"Goddammit." Sam scrubbed her hands over her face, trying to rub out the memory, but it would never leave her. There had been no tearful deathbed farewell for them; no heroic last stand; just death, swift and final. It had been four years ago, and the memory of the day everything changed had lost none of its power to hurt her.
She needed to be out of this small room, she could hardly breathe. Sam pressed the door control, and almost ran out of the cabin. She headed toward the ladder that would take her to the bridge.
oOo
Daniel lay contentedly in the wet spot. He bumped his fingers along Janet's spine, counting the vertebrae, while Janet traced a lazy finger around one of his nipples. That he loved this woman, his insane little doctor, came as no surprise. He'd always been drawn to the damaged and after what Ba'al's Jaffa had done to her she was certainly that. For such a long time no one had been able to touch her, not even Sam. She still flinched even now; except with him.
This evening, when they'd got back to the ship, after the attempted ambush. He'd taken her straight to their cabin for a shower. She'd been covered in blood, so much blood, none of it hers. Janet was a little difficult to predict when faced with a stressful situation. She might withdraw to become a pitiful, cowering wreck or she might become Nemesis herself, justified and fearless in her bloody retribution. The level of violence would have appalled him at one time, but not anymore. The old Daniel had the luxury of a more subtle palate of colours with which to paint the universe. Now his tones were black and white. Fight or surrender, live or die. Simple, and so much easier to live with.
After their escape from Cheyenne Mountain, Sam had to almost carry the smaller woman to the stolen Tel'tac. She'd come around enough to clean what remained of his eye from the broken socket. Ever the Doctor, even after watching the Jaffa play with, and then slaughter Cassie; even after they'd turned their attentions on her. She'd still managed to fix him. When he'd recovered he'd found new purpose in trying to return the favour. It was a hopeless task, but she trusted him, and sometimes he even thought she might love him, if what was left of her mind was capable of such things. When she lay quiet in his arms like this; her muscles soft, and her breath warm on his skin, he liked to imagine that she did.
"You're thinking too much. Go to sleep now."
Daniel smiled at her. "I thought you liked me for my brains."
"I like other parts of you better."
Daniel jumped as she squeezed his dick possessively.
"Whoa there, lady. I think you've tired him out."
Janet propped her head up on his chest and looked at him quizzically. "Why is it that men insist on referring to their penis as a separate organism from themselves? I mean, I don't talk about my vagina as if it was a separate entity…well, actually I don't talk about my vagina at all, not since my gynaecologist probably got snaked, but that's not the point."
Daniel thought for a moment. In matters of linguistics, he was never one to be rushed. "I suppose it's because we really have no control over it. Therefore, we abdicate responsibility for its sometimes, embarrassing behaviour, by giving it a separate personality.
"Hmmm, on second thoughts, your brains are pretty damn sexy."
"What, you mean you don't just love me because I'm pretty?
Janet lifted her hand to his scarred face. Her fingers gently touched the empty eye socket. She gave him a look of such sadness; it almost broke his heart.
"You're beautiful."
He found himself blinking back tears. "If you say so."
"I do." She patted his chest affectionately "Now, go to sleep."
"Yes, dear." He pulled her tight to his side.
"G'night."
"'Night, Jan"
"G'night, Cassie love." Janet waved towards the corner of the room
Daniel felt her tense up a little and remembered to say "Goodnight," to his lover's dead daughter.
oOo
"I sometimes forget what beauty there is in the stars."
Sam smiled as she approached the Jaffa. His back to her as he gazed out at the deep dark, spattered with flecks of light.
"I suppose there is." Sam whispered against his shoulder as she wrapped her arms about him.
The Sam who had once thought the Universe to be a place of wonder was long gone. Now she pretty much thought it was full of assholes, but she knew Teal'c wanted her to still have that innocence about her, and the part of her that wanted to please him made her a liar.
"You are not on watch for another two hours, Samantha."
She slipped a hand down the front of his pants. The leather felt soft and warm. "I know."
Sam brushed her lips over his naked back and gently pressed the heel of her hand over his crotch.
She felt Teal'c take hold of her wrist and he turned in her arms.
"Did you dream?"
His voice rumbled in his chest, and she moved her mouth to his throat, nipping and licking at the brown skin."
"No." Sam murmured against his throat.
"Then you were remembering," Teal'c said as he grasped her chin and made her look at him.
Sam couldn't hold his gaze and her eyes skittered away.
Teal'c nodded and stepped back. His hand went to the sash of her robe and he released the knot.
"Samantha," he said, her name like a caress
Sam felt her skin flush. Each cell suffused with heat.
Teal'c's fingers gently touched her throat. He slowly ran them down the centreline of exposed flesh between the opened robe.
Sam closed her eyes as nerve endings sparked along the path his fingers took.
"Who do you see, Samantha?"
Fingers travelled between her breasts.
"I see you."
Her stomach muscles jittered as he continued his journey south.
"Who do you see?"
Sam gasped as his large hand gently covered her sex.
Teal'c…you, I see you."
He pushed her back until her shoulders hit the bulkhead. She could feel the gentle vibrations of the ship against her spine.
She opened her eyes as Teal'c's mouth met hers. They watched each other as she let him in. She curled her tongue around his and tasted him. He was the bad coffee and macaroni cheese from dinner, and something dark and slightly bitter that was just him.
He pushed the robe off her shoulders and it slid to the floor in a puddle of silk. Teal'c dropped to his knees, and Sam hooked her leg over his shoulder pulling him to her, and Teal'c did a little tasting of his own.
When they had first become lovers, he had surprised Sam. She knew he'd be powerful, he could never be anything less, but she hadn't expected his sweetness; it had caught her off guard. It was something she had never expected to feel again. That first time, he had made her weep like a child, but then their first time had been something of a catharsis for them both.
Sam had spent the first year after leaving Earth, trying to kill herself. Not directly of course. No gun in the mouth for her, that would have been a dereliction of duty, and if there was anything Sam knew about it was duty. Instead she'd been reckless, ridiculously cavalier with her safety. Lone missions to Goa'uld outposts to blow the crap out of as many Jaffa and minor Goa'uld she could find. She never put her shipmates at risk. She'd just sneak away with a backpack full of homemade C4, and the secret hope never to return.
On the very last occasion, she'd casually sauntered back through the Gate of the planet on which they'd chosen to make some repairs to the Hispaniola. Teal'c had marched up to her, his eyes black and so angry. He'd backhanded her, and she'd fallen on her ass in the dust. He'd thrust his gun at her grip first.
"Take it," he'd said. His voice dripping with some emotion she couldn't decipher.
She'd been dazed from the blow and slow to understand. He'd knelt down in front of her, and wrapped her hand around the butt of the gun.
"If you are so set on ending your life, Samantha Carter, here is your opportunity."
Teal'c had sat back on his heels and glared at her. She'd been surprised to see him trembling.
"Do it. Do it now!"
Sam had looked at the gun in her hand for long moments. How easy it would be to stop, to end, to be nothing. She was a scientist; she harboured no belief that there was anything after death. She didn't see herself in some paradise, meeting up with her Mom, Dad, Cassie or Jack…but how she'd wanted to. She'd longed for it, tried her best to make it happen, but the Universe, as usual, had the last laugh.
"No." She'd said, and held the weapon out to Teal'c.
"Are you quite certain, Samantha Carter?" He'd asked.
"Yes."
Teal'c had holstered the weapon, pulled her to her feet, and marched her back to the ship. He'd taken her to his cabin and sat her on the bed.
"In here," he'd said, "We will not think of the past. We will not think of those who are gone." He'd touched her face then, cupping her bruised cheek. "We will think only of now, of the moment."
Teal'c had sat down next to her and kissed her, gently.
"I want you to live, Samantha Carter. I want you to want to live." He'd sighed, and pulled her to him. His big arms wrapped around her. "I want you."
He'd loved her, and she'd let him. She'd been so lonely for such a long time. Not just since the Goa'uld invasion, but for so many years before that. Much of it self-imposed, but then there had been Jack. There's nothing like romanticising the one thing you can't have, but she had loved him for so long. She'd been afraid she would think of Jack, but as Teal'c pushed inside her with such tenderness; she'd found she wasn't thinking at all. Just for once her mind had shut up, and let her body take over. She'd felt the ebb and flow of his movements. The touch of his hands on her breasts, the warmth of his mouth; the rush of his heat inside her as he came, and she'd wept, for what, she wasn't sure. She'd thought it might have been for all the wasted time, but whatever it was, it was a release.
When she'd finished, she'd found herself gathered up in his arms, her cheek rested on his shoulder, and a lightness in her heart she hadn't felt for the longest time.
"I'm sorry," she'd said.
"You are forgiven, Samantha Carter." He'd kissed the top of her head and told her to go to sleep, and she had.
Now, his warm, wet tongue roamed over her slippery flesh, making her toes curl, and her back arch against the bulkhead. Her hands gripped his skull, trying to guide him to where she wanted him, but he was taking his own sweet time. He had grown his hair a little, and the prickly covering made the palms of her hands itch.
She looked down to see him watching her face. His eyes smiled at her. She suddenly found herself turned around and she braced her arms against the metal wall to stop herself falling. Teal'c rose up behind her smoothing his big hands over her ass and hips. She leaned forwards slightly, inviting him in, and waited, while he unhurriedly undid his pants. She sighed with relief as he folded himself over her back and slowly entered her while nipping at the tendon in her shoulder with his lips and teeth. His movements were languorous; his hands caressed her breasts and stomach before one slipped down to touch her sex, to lightly stroke her. Nothing he did was enough. He was teasing her and she hated to be teased.
"Who do you see now, Samantha?" He whispered in her ear.
"I see you, dead on the floor, if you don't pick up the pace." Sam dropped a hand to his wrist to try and push his fingers against her.
Teal'c laughed; she felt the vibrations of it through her body as he relented and moved with more purpose.
Her stomach muscles tightened, and she gritted her teeth as she felt him bite her shoulder. Then she was there. Skin flushed pink, synapses fizzed and popped, and for a few seconds she was light and air itself. She felt a warmth inside her and Teal'c groaned as he found his own release. He kissed her neck and she held his weight on her back as he recovered.
They both straightened up, and as Teal'c tucked himself back in his pants, Sam picked up her robe and slipped it on. She turned to face him and they smiled at each other. There was a quiet ease between them that she'd never managed to achieve with any of her previous lovers. For a second she wondered if she and Jack could have reached such a level of comfort, but she quickly abandoned that particular train of thought. Teal'c gently took her arm and drew her to him for a slow kiss. They relaxed against each other, enjoying the post-coital buzz.
Teal'c gestured to the stars that shone through the window on the foredeck.
"Are you able to see Earth from here, Samantha?"
Sam looked carefully for a few moments. "Second star on the right."
Teal'c smiled as he recognised the reference. "Then are we the lost boys?"
She looked at him and shook her head. "No. You are Peter and I guess I'm Wendy. Daniel is Michael and Ba'al is Captain Hook. Which means that Anubis is the crocodile." She grinned.
"I think that perhaps you have given this rather more thought than the subject warrants."
"You're probably right." Sam kissed his chest.
"Who is Janet?"
She sighed. "She's Tinkerbelle of course." That fairy had always seemed a little unhinged to Sam.
oOo
Janet opened the hatch to the recycling unit, swiftly ducking as a spanner came flying past her right ear, to clatter noisily in the corner.
"If you don't want coffee, you only have to say."
"Jesus, Jan. I didn't get you, did I?"
Janet smiled at a dirty and sweaty Sam. "Nope. Things not going so well I take it?" She passed the mug of coffee to Sam.
"Thanks." Sam took a sip and sighed. "These replacement parts are crap. That little creep on Darian 4 screwed us over."
Janet remembered the slimy man. He'd made her skin crawl. "You want me to castrate him for you?"
"Yes, would you?"
"Consider it done."
Janet tried very hard not to flinch as Sam slapped her on the back. She looked to her left where Cassie stood; the girl gave her the thumbs up. She was always happy when Janet let herself be touched.
"I'm sorry about yesterday." Janet knew she should offer an apology for her over enthusiasm during yesterdays' ambush, although she actually felt no guilt at all.
"No need, Jan."
Janet realised that Sam couldn't meet her gaze. "You wanted to stop me, didn't you?"
Sam looked at her then. "Janet, it's okay. Don't worry about it."
Janet nodded. She knew that Sam missed her old friend, but she couldn't find the person she used to be, she could barely remember her. She didn't look too hard inside herself anymore, because what she saw in there was terrifying; a deep, dark well of grief, fear and unstoppable rage.
"Cassie wasn't very happy with me."
"She's a good kid."
Sam was the only one who never forgot to speak of her daughter in the present tense, Daniel would often slip up for some reason, and Teal'c very rarely acknowledged her child at all, but Cassie never seemed to mind.
"She loves you Sam." Janet looked toward her daughter.
"I love you too, Cass"
Janet smiled as Sam blew a kiss in Cassie's direction. "I'd better get going. I need to attempt to make lunch out of that dried crap that Daniel bartered for on our last drop." She shuddered at the thought of it. "Remind me never to leave Daniel alone at a market again. He always comes back with food that smells like wet camel hair.
Sam grimaced "Yeah, all these worlds and not one of them has any decent chocolate."
"Don't, Sam. I'd give Anubis a blow job for one sniff of a Belgian truffle."
"Jan, you are so bad." Sam laughed
"I know." Janet grinned. "I'll see you later 'kay?"
"Yeah, I'd hate to miss lunch."
"Damp dromedary a la mode, coming up."
Jan left Sam to her repairs, and followed her daughter to the galley.
oOo
Teal'c carefully piloted the Hispaniola through the flight lane buoys that floated around the small planet of Trion. Daniel was on coms while Janet womanned the weapons console. Sam beavered away three decks down in the engine room. If trouble broke out, then Teal'c needed her there to squeeze every drop of juice out of their engines.
"Teal'c, customs are on the horn." Daniel piped up
"The usual report will suffice, Daniel Jackson."
Daniel keyed a switch. "This is the cargo vessel 'Hispaniola'. We request a docking lane."
There was a brief burst of white noise then a nasal voice came over the speakers.
"Hispaniola, this is customs control. State the nature of your cargo?"
"We're carrying medical supplies for the East Colony."
Again the white noise, until a distinctly snooty voice came over.
"Follow the yellow markers for the East Colony dock. Understand that this area is designated non-contact with Trion high cast. Any attempts at physical contact will result in termination.
Daniel grinned. Ah, the wonders of a strict social hierarchy. "Understood, Customs Control. The Hispaniola is proceeding to the East Colony dock."
"Medical supplies my ass," muttered Janet.
"I'm pretty sure the East Colonists will find the five hundred cases of whisky very medicinal." Daniel reached over and squeezed her thigh affectionately.
"Brace for landing," Teal'c announced.
The ship touched down on the landing pad with a metallic groan and an alarming creaking noise. The whole ship shuddered vigorously to a standstill.
"Sam, are you ever going to fix the suspension on this thing?"
Sam's voice came through the internal coms. "No, Daniel I love being thrown about the engine room every time we land."
"You're being sarcastic, aren't you?"
"I am? Gosh, I didn't realise."
"If you would both cease your prattling. We must disembark and unload our cargo. I do not wish to prolong our stay."
Daniel and Sam both shut up at the tone in Teal'c's voice.
They emerged from the main cargo hatch blinking at the harsh sterile lighting. In the distance they could see Trion customs officials walking towards the ship.
Teal'c looked about the dock.
Sam noticed his frown. "Is something up?" She trusted his instinct for trouble, he was rarely wrong. Her hand crept to her weapon.
"I am not sure, Samantha. Does it not seem very quiet for a busy dock?"
Sam looked around at the other ships. Most were Trion registered. "Trion is never as chaotic as other planets, you know what neat freaks they are."
Teal'c nodded slowly and she knew he was not happy.
"Heads up, guys, we may have trouble."
Daniel put a reassuring hand on Janet's arm. The muscles were so tense they quivered.
"Take it easy, Jan. It might be nothing," he whispered, as the Customs officers drew near.
"Greetings, Outlanders." One of the white robed men offered.
"Greetings." Teal'c moved forward.
"We would inspect your cargo." The chatty officer pointed to the open hatch of the Hispaniola.
"As you wish." Teal'c walked them into the ship.
Sam turned to Daniel and Janet. "Keep a watch."
Daniel nodded picking up on the tense atmosphere. He watched Sam board the ship, then turned to Janet.
"Those two are making me nervous."
"Yeah." Janet could feel the adrenalin rushing through her veins; she looked to Cassie. "Go back onboard, Cass, love."
Daniel frowned, he needed Jan focused. "She'll be fine. We…"
"No! I want her safe." Janet didn't mean to speak so harshly to him, but she was frightened for her child.
"Okay, Jan." Daniel spoke softly to her, trying to keep her grounded.
Jan watched as Cassie walked through the cargo hatch and disappeared inside. Her tension level dropped and she could breathe again.
oOo
"Open this." The Officer pointed to one of the large white containers.
"Sure." Sam entered a combination on the keypad on top of the box. It opened to reveal rows and rows of small vials.
The robed officer moved forward to inspect the contents. Sam stepped into his personal space, while careful not to actually touch him. Doing a creditable, if heavily armed, impression of Vana White, Sam ran her hands over the rows of medicines, knowing the man would be supremely reluctant to touch them after her filthy, outlander paws had been all over them. This ploy worked every time. These men were so disgusted by anybody not in their social cast, that it was no wonder that the East Colony was one of their best customers for contraband.
If the customs officers had been a little less precious, they might have discovered that the vials of medicine were only three rows deep. Beyond that there were cases of what passed for whiskey in these parts, and any number of things the East Colonists felt they were lacking due to the strict rules of conduct on Trion.
Sam looked to Teal'c, who was standing by the open hatch.
To anybody else he would have looked totally calm, even a little bored. However, she knew his body language by heart, and she could tell he was getting impatient.
"So, guys, are we done here?" She moved her body a millimetre closer to the nearest officer, and almost grinned as he backed away with a look of distaste on his pinched features.
"Yes, all is in order. You may commence unloading."
The three officials left the ship without another word.
Sam let out a sigh of relief. "That was easy." She grinned at Teal'c, hoping his worries had been eased with the departure of the Trion officers.
"You did well, Samantha, as always." Teal'c inclined his head and gave her a small smile in return.
He still seemed a little uneasy to Sam. "Come on, let's get this stuff unloaded and get out of here."
The two of them picked up remotes for the palette trucks and with practised efficiency soon had the first lot of containers loaded and headed down the ramp.
Sam walked over to Daniel and Janet.
"Have you notice anything odd?" she asked.
Daniel shrugged. "Nope, nothing, all's quiet."
Sam nodded and passed him the remote for the palette. Can you and Janet take this lot over to the East Colony gate?"
"Sure," Daniel said.
Teal'c handed his remote to Janet and she and Daniel headed off to the East gate at the far end of the customs hanger.
The East Colony Gate was exactly what it sounded like, a twenty foot high metal gate with a human height inspection hatch off centred. Janet manoeuvred the palette in front of the barrier and Daniel touched a communication panel set off to one side.
"East Colony, we have the shipment of medical supplies as requested by your council."
"Please key in your ship's ident." A vaguely mechanical voice came through the small speaker.
Daniel did as requested and heard the locking mechanism of the gate release. The doors slowly opened, creaking mightily.
Sam steered the truck loaded with contraband down the Hispaniola's ramp. She felt a sharp twinge low in her abdomen. She looked over her shoulder expecting to see Teal'c but he was deep in the cargo hold getting another palette ready. She heard the gate at the far end of the hanger grinding slowly open. The twinge became more pronounced.
Sam looked back at Janet and Daniel. "Oh, god."
oOo
Daniel moved from the communication consol and walked over to Janet. They watched the huge gates laboriously open.
"I don't know about you, but I fancy a bit of a rest after this run." Daniel put his arm around Janet's shoulders "How about we take a trip to Frelim?"
Janet smiled. Frelim was a beautiful planet full of crystal lakes, flower speckled meadows, and not too daunting mountains. "Mmm, sounds good. I think we could all use some downtime."
Daniel kissed her forehead.
The staff blast caught him low in the abdomen. It plucked him from Janet's side and he hit the ground. It took a second for the pain to hit, when it did he screamed in agony.
To Janet it seemed as though her nightmares had come to life. Striding through the gate was a troop of Jaffa all bearing the mark of Ba'al on their foreheads. She saw Daniel fall and before she even understood what was happening she was firing her sidearm at the approaching menace.
"Janet, get down!"
She heard Sam's shout but she was in the zone. All she could do was aim and fire, aim and fire, aim and fire…
Sam ran towards her comrades, she could see Daniel writhing on the floor. A large pool of blood all ready forming underneath him.
"Goddammit," she cursed through gritted teeth. She reached for one of her little homemade grenades she kept clipped to her belt. They were small but they packed a hell of a punch.
"Jan, fire in the hole!"
Janet finally registered Sam's voice. She dropped to the floor and threw herself over Daniel's body.
Blast was incredibly loud and Janet flinched as debris hit her back and something that felt like warm rain ran down the back of her neck and bare arms.
When Janet looked up she grinned as she saw the Jaffa lying on the ground, some dying and some extremely dead. Her arms were covered in a fine sheen of blood. It felt good and righteous. She felt like howling.
Sam skidded to a halt beside them. It was hard to keep her feet as they slipped in the lake of blood that surrounded them.
"Jan, come on. We've got to move," Sam said, urgently.
Janet's eyes were fixed on the mutilated Jaffa, a rictus grin fixed on her face. She felt a sharp slap. Her hand touched her burning cheek. She turned to see Sam looking worriedly at her. Beneath her Daniel was quite and still. She gently touched his grey, sweaty cheek.
"Daniel?" she whispered.
"Jan, help me get Daniel back on board."
Janet heard the unmistakable sound of more Jaffa; their armour rang like a bell.
Teal'c suddenly appeared next to her. It occurred to her that only about forty seconds had past between Daniel getting hit and now. Somehow it felt much longer.
"I will carry Daniel Jackson. We must hurry." Teal'c bent down and lifted Daniel across his shoulders.
Sam was pretty sure Daniel was dead. She filed that thought away because she didn't think she could function anymore in a Universe without him in it. She grabbed Janet's arm.
"Come on, Jan."
They'd got half way back to the ship when the new troop of Jaffa arrived. Staff blasts whooshed passed them. Sam and Janet returned fire and Sam pitched another grenade, which fell slightly short. They were too far away to do much damage with only sidearms so they gave up and just ran.
Jan ran, her heart thumping almost light-headed with the adrenalin rushing through her veins. She didn't look at Daniel, flopping like a life-sized rag doll across Teal'c broad shoulders, she couldn't. She saw Sam stumble and nearly fall and realized that her friend had been hit. She grabbed her arm and pulled her along and up the Hispaniola's ramp.
Teal'c slapped the hatch control as he ran past and they all sped to the Bridge.
Teal'c laid Daniel's body on the deck. Janet knew she should be helping but she couldn't just leave him there on the cold, metal deck plates. She knelt down and with great effort pulled his upper body on to her lap. He was limp and cold. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed the top of his head, her lips caressed his soft hair. She felt Cassie's gentle hand stroking her back.
"Daniels been hurt, Cass." She looked at her daughter who smiled at her.
"Everything will be all right, mom."
She rocked Daniel as if he were a small child. "Yes, love. Everything will be all right."
oOo
Sam stumbled to a chair by the weapons consol. Her left shoulder was a bloody mess. She could smell her own cooked flesh, it made her want to throw up.
"Teal'c we need to get this bucket off the ground, right now." She was surprised at how weak her voice sounded.
"I am attempting to do that."
Teal'c shot her a glance. He kept his expression neutral. Sam knew she was in trouble.
"You are injured." Teal'c said, stating the obvious in an unusually surprised tone. He quickly looked back at the controls and the ship began its juddering ascent.
Sam could hear staff blasts hitting the hull. Her ship might have been a bucket but it was a tough old bird. She needed to get to the engine room but she couldn't seem to muster the energy to get up. Sweat ran into her eyes making the Bridge shimmer in a dizzying fashion. She could feel blood running down her back in hot little pulses. Sam began to count them, they came with such a regular beat.
"Samantha, kree!"
Sam head jerked up. "Teal'c?"
"Samantha, you must stay awake. We have reached the upper atmosphere of this planet. Death gliders will be coming, we must be prepared."
"Oookay, Teal…that's the bad news. Do we 'ave any good?" Sam thought she sounded drunk, she couldn't seem to make her mouth work properly.
"Not as yet."
As if to confirm the lack of glad tidings, Teal'c spotted three gliders as harmless looking little blips on the scanner. "They are here."
"Y'know, T'. The Trions must have sold out the East Colonists to Ba'al. Think 'bout it. Ba'al gets a shit load of slaves and hosts and the Trions get rid of their smelly underclass." Sam chuckled. "I'd love to see those uptight little twits faces when Ba'al sells them down the river."
Teal'c seemed uninterested in Sam's examination of Ba'al's motives. He was busy trying to avoid the Death Gliders.
"Doctor Frasier!" Teal'c called, his eyes on the Gliders. "Samantha is bleeding you must help her."
Sam heard a note of helplessness in his voice. With great effort she turned her head to look at Janet. She was still cradling Daniel. Her forearms smeared crimson with his blood. Sam realized that her old friend was quietly singing. As far as Sam could make out it was "Row, row, row your boat."
"Don' bother her, T. It's too late anyway."
The ship shuddered as a blast hit it.
"I am going to leave the upper atmosphere. The turbulence is making this vessel difficult to pilot."
The ship lurched once again, another hit.
"Our shields are failing."
Sam could barely hear Teal'c's soliloquy of misfortune. Her heart was thumping so loud. She felt the ship's flight smooth and settle. She lifted her eyes to the starboard viewing panel. She held her breath as she gazed at the stars.
"Beautiful," she whispered, suddenly awed by the incomprehensible wonder of it all. She remembered a time, stargazing with Jack and, just for once, she was able to think of him without it hurting.
"Samantha…Samantha?"
Teal'c's voice, surprisingly gentle, nudged her back to the present. "Look to the Port bow."
With almost the last of her energy she slowly turned her head to do as he asked.
Ba'al's Mothership loomed large. They were very close.
Another hit from the Death Gliders and the comms panel exploded in a shower of sparks.
"Let's go home."
Both Sam and Teal'c turned to look at Janet. She was smiling at them.
"Let's go home." Janet said. She gently brushed her fingers through Daniel's hair. Her eyes lost their focus as she returned to her rowing boat.
Teal'c nodded and looked at Sam. All his love for her was in his dark eyes. "Straight on'til morning, then."
Sam tried very hard to hold his gaze but she was so tired.
Teal'c turned his attention back to the helm. "Ramming speed," he announced. Then he set the engines for overload.
Sam felt a large warm hand take hold of her own cold one. She opened her eyes to see Teal'c kneeling by her chair. She wanted to say so many things to him but she neither had the words nor the breath.
"I believe it is your turn to purchase the Pizza, Major Carter."
Sam smiled.
The end.