Title: Ark of Truth- Missing Scenes

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not making any money, yada, yada, yada

Rating: K+

This is a missing scene/add on for Ark of Truth that I wrote quite awhile ago. There's more in my head involving the rest of the team but nothing on paper yet, so I thought I'd post this portion and see if people thought it was worth continuing. Let me know.


"Why'd they stop?"

Cameron's voice came brokenly through the small speaker on the console, "I don't know… but I'm glad they did."

Sam and Marks shared a confused look when the transmission cut off abruptly. Cam's replies had been off since she'd told him the replicators had begun attacking the core and it was time to take out the queen; he'd taken his damn sweet time doing it too. Something was up with him. "Me too, Cam. Hey, I'm going to re-route navigation and hyperdrive back to command so we can shut down the Asgard Core. You'll be able to set a course back to Celestus in a minute."

She began working, not really needing a response to her statement, but stopped nearly a full minute later when Mitchell's "right" came through.

Sam could already hear the marines cutting through the door and figured whatever was bothering Cam could wait until she and Marks were released from the Core. After the few minutes it took to make sure the Core was properly shut down, they slid down side by side with their backs against the console; there was nothing left to do now but wait.

STARGATE: SG-1

Mitchell's head dropped back against the chair as the last remnants of his adrenaline rush quickly drained away; his body's natural stimulant was the only thing that had kept him moving despite his injuries. He hurt in parts of his body that he'd hadn't even known existed.

And now Sam wanted him to move.

Rriiiiight, good luck with that one.

Cam let out another small moan as he sat forward in the chair, stars instantly exploding before his eyes. He choked back the bile churning in his gut and looked toward the navigation station; it might as well have been a million miles away for all he could move right now. But he had to try; they'd left Teal'c, Daniel and Vala on that planet without any backup and it was tearing him up inside.

Stealing himself against the pain he knew was coming, Cameron pushed himself into a semi-standing position still leaning heavily on the chair's armrest; his vision grayed and the world tilted crazily but he managed to remain conscious.

So far so good.

The first step was his undoing; his right leg buckled beneath him the instant it was forced to take his full weight. Thankfully he was unconscious before he hit the cold steel floor.

STARGATE: SG-1

Major Marks stared at the P-90 still in his hands- you never knew when those little buggers were going to re-animate without warning, "how much of the ship do you think they ate?"

"Enough that we're going to have some major repairs to do when we get home, but we should be able to make it back without any serious problems. Although, I bet that C4 Cam set off to take out the Queen did a fair bit of damage too;" she shrugged, "I guess we'll have to wait for a full damage report before we know for sure."

They lapsed into silence again; each listening to the sound of the cutting torch as it slowly worked its way through the solid steel door. Sam's thoughts drifted to Daniel, Vala and Teal'c left back on the planet; it'd been nearly eight hours since there had been any contact with them. Considering the Ori ships had stopped firing on them, she could only assume that they'd been able to find and use the Ark, which hopefully meant that they were alive and well. Sam simply couldn't allow herself to think any other way. She'd hated the fact that they'd been forced to abandon them on the planet with no way out if things should go wrong, but they wouldn't exactly have been able to render any assistance if they'd stayed and let the Ori destroy the Odyssey either.

Carter could feel the younger Major twitching beside her, obviously eager to get back to his station, back to something familiar. "So any big plans for 4th of July?"

Marks stared at her in shock, evidently surprised she would be thinking about the upcoming holiday considering the situation they had just come out of. "Actually I do," he gave a small, shy smile, "I'm proposing to my girlfriend."

"That's great!" Sam wrapped him in a quick one armed hug. "Any chance I know her?"

He nodded, "she's in your department at the SGC in fact, Dr. Helen Miso."

Sam let out a small laugh, "so that's why she's been so distracted the last few months. Well congratulations Major-" She stopped abruptly as the door to the Core was finally pried open. Sam stood and dusted some imaginary dirt off her pants before turning to offer Marks a hand up. "I certainly hope you're planning to invite me to the wedding, Major."

"She has to say yes first, Colonel."

Sam gave him a sly smirk, "oh she will, trust me on that one." She turned back to the Captain who had sprung them from captivity, "Any change in the situation Captain?"

"No ma'am, I still have personnel trapped all over the ship. The replicators did a fair bit of damage; it's going to take awhile to gain access to all levels again."

"Right, we'll join Colonel Mitchell on the bridge; see if we can do anything to help you out with that." They quickly made their way up to the bridge, eager to be able to do something productive.

Marks stopped suddenly as the big windows of the Command deck came into view down the hallway, "Why aren't we in hyperspace?"

Carter stared at him for a fraction of a second before turning and sprinting for the Bridge. "CAM?"

She found him face down on the floor in the small expanse of floor between the command chair and the navigation station, several small pools of blood seeping from beneath his prone form. She dropped to her knees beside him, grabbing for the pulse point on his wrist. Sam sighed in relief at the pulse that beat against her finger tips, even if it was entirely too fast, "Cam?" Receiving no response, she shook harder, "damn it Cameron, wake up!" But Mitchell remained unnervingly still in response to her heart felt plea. Sam allowed herself a brief moment of condemnation as she ran a hand through his blood soaked hair- she'd known something was wrong, had felt it nagging at the back of her mind the entire 45 minutes they'd been stuck in the Core, she should have sent someone to check on him. Forcing those thoughts away, she settled into the mindset of the soldier and field medic that she was. She reached for her radio, "any available medical personnel to the bridge."

Marks knelt beside her, taking in the Colonel's condition, "what happened to him?"

"He got stung… the question is by what?" She let out another sigh of relief after running a quick hand down his spine; he'd been able to make it to the bridge so she wasn't too worried but it was nice to know for sure. "Help me roll him over, but keep an eye on that hunk of metal in his right leg."

Marks's face paled at the sight of a six inch triangular piece of steel embedded in the side of Mitchell's thigh; his sharp, analytical brain quickly calculated the angles and realized that there was at least four inches of the metal that wasn't visible. There were several other smaller shards decorating the back of the Colonel's arms and tack vest; Marks kept a close eye on them as he and Carter rolled Cameron onto his back.

Sam winced at the damage done to her friend's face, she quickly grabbed a couple pieces of gauze from her own tack vest and held them to the heavily bleeding laceration on his forehead. Trading places with Marks she unzipped Cam's vest, then his field jacket before quickly ripping open his black t-shirt. The bruising was beyond spectacular; deep blues and purples ranged over his entire torso, disappearing around his back and down his lower body. There was a jagged slice just above his left hip where something had found its way between the waist band of his pants and the protection of his tack vest. Carter pulled the remaining gauze pads from her vest and applied them to the area.

Sam's hand shook slightly as she pressed firmly against the tear in his side. There was no doubt in her mind the Cam was bleeding internally; badly if the bruising was any indication.

Cameron shifted and moaned quietly as Sam increased the pressure on his wound. "Anybody get that tag number," he asked without opening his eyes.

Carter and Marks shared a quick look of mixed relief and confusion. "Tag number?"

Mitchell flicked his tongue out over split and swollen lips, "you know, the plate number of the truck that hit me."

"Sorry, we were kinda busy saving the ship." Sam let a soft chuckle seep into her voice, happy to know that her friend was still able to joke despite the nature of his injuries. "Cam, what happened to you?"

"Had a little… a little run in with the new and improved- Cyborg Merrick." Cameron could feel himself slipping back into the blackness, his voice softer and weaker with each word that passed his lips.

"Oh no you don't Cameron, stay with me," but her efforts were futile. She turned to Marks, "Major, there's a first aid kit against the back wall; we need to get this shard stabilized before we can move him to the infirmary."

Marks had just made it to his feet when two medics from the security detail burst onto the bridge. Carter immediately stepped back, allowing the two men space to work. They moved quickly and efficiently to stabilize Mitchell for his trip to the infirmary before whisking him away and leaving Sam to stare at her teammate's blood smeared on the Bridge floor.

Sam flinched when a hand dropped lightly onto her shoulder.

"Colonel, we need to set a course for Celestus."

Carter nodded numbly, moving across the bridge to ensure the hyperdrive was back online while the Major entered in the coordinates for the City of the Ori.

Cameron was strong, he would be fine.

To Be Continued?