Chapter 1: Unwilling Host
Sam had once heard a phrase uttered one time at the SGC. She herself thought it was quite ridiculous, until perhaps her second year at the SGC. Now, in her fifth year, she adamantly argued that it was Stargate Command's motto.
"The universe is our playground."
The phrase was small, short, and seemingly childish, but she had grown to like it. Every week Sam ventured out into the universe, unknowing, oblivious, and with an almost childlike curiosity. The universe was where she worked. It was her job, but instead of dreading going to work, she loved it. It was a simply incredible place. They learned, grew, and even scraped their knees an inordinate amount of times while in it. The universe was her playground.
Still, every playground had bullies.
And Sam was being chased by approximately twenty of them at the moment.
"Sir! We're at a dead end! The Jaffa have the entrance covered. The only way out is to shoot our way out!" Sam dove behind one of the golden pillars that lined the wall, narrowly avoiding a staff blast.
"Worst day EVER!" The colonel broke cover from his own pillar to fire on the Jaffa.
"Maybe if-" Sam was drowned out by the distorted cry of a dying Goa'uld. Sam risked a look back and was met with the sight of the female Goa'uld falling off her throne that was sitting at the back of the room, having been hit with an errant staff blast. Friendly fire's a bitch. Danielle, who was nearest, started to crawl back toward her.
"Cover me!"
The remaining members of the team turned and fired on the Jaffa all at once, forcing them to retreat to the cover of the hallway. With the colonel and Teal'c covering the entrance, Sam turned to watch Dani reach a hand out to check the host's pulse. As she pressed two fingers gently on her neck, the host's eyes snapped open and stared widely at Danielle.
"Please," She croaked weakly, her voice missing the telltale vibration of a Goa'uld, "take-" Her words were choked off when her mouth opened wide and, after a short moment of silence, Sam's memory kicked in, but too late.
"NO!" Sam lunged forward, ignoring the battle raging on behind her. She felt something suddenly ram into her arm and Sam was shoved into the wall, fire raging up her arm. She managed to prop herself up, desperately ignoring her singing nerves, and was just in time to watch the Goa'uld fling itself out of it's previous host's mouth, and force it's way into Dani's. She stumbled back, her mouth opening and closing helplessly, until her jaw snapped shut. Her eyes flared golden.
"DANIELLE! No, no! Dani please!" Sam begged as she vaguely heard the colonel fire behind her and saw out of the corner of her eye him scrambling over. The colonel did a quick scan, and, as Danielle did not seem outwardly injured, came straight to Sam.
"Carter! Hey, you alright? Carter!"
Sam blinked, coming out of her shock enough to spot the zat strapped to her leg. She plunged her arm down, crying out as the fire reignited in her arm. Sam's fingers closed around the zat and found the hidden button. The zat activated with a familiar metallic noise and sent a blue net of electricity flying Danielle, or the Goa'uld's, way. Colonel O'Neill, unaware of Dani's current state, yelled an explicative as the Goa'uld crumpled to the ground.
"Shit, Carter! What was that for?"
"She…" Her voice came out hoarse and quiet. She cleared her throat roughly, "She, she's a Goa'uld. Dani's a Goa'uld, sir." The air temperature seemed to drop ten degrees with Sam's statement. Still, they were in battle mode, and nobody could afford to stop now. Sam and the Colonel retook their places, but this time favoring the fact that Danielle was… incapacitated.
"T, Dani's been taken by a snake. Grab her, and let's get the hell out of dodge!"
Teal'c, although he seemed a little shocked, nodded his compliance and quickly made his way to Dani as the colonel and Sam laid down cover fire. Colonel O'Neill signaled to move forward, and she stealthily slipped out of her niche in the wall and slid along the chamber, pressing herself against the area where the doorframe would be. She gave Colonel O'Neill a nod and raised her gun. Sam's CO supplied a burst from his P90, and she stuck the muzzle of her gun out the door, firing off a long string of bullets. As a staff blast flung right by her, she jerked back from the opening of the door and saw that the colonel had come up to the other side of the door, still firing. As the wining of zats and staff blasts ceased, Colonel O'Neill stopped his steady stream of bullets, clicking in another magazine. For a moment, the team all enjoyed the blessed sound of silence. However, they could not stop for long. With Teal'c carrying their unconscious archaeologist, they made their way quickly and silently through the seemingly endless complex until they happened across the rings. The guard Jaffa were easy to eliminate, only requiring two shots from Sam's zat. As the colonel and Teal'c crowded inside the rings, she pressed the correct sequence of buttons and dove into the rings just as they whooshed upward, capturing the four of them and depositing them in a temple on the surface.
"Sir, the gate is about 5 minutes away from here." Sam quickly reloaded her weapon, and they headed out at a sprint, Sam hearing the familiar sound of rings activating behind her. She risked a glance behind and saw that there was a sizable armada of Jaffa sprinting after the team, steadily firing their weapons. She brought her gun up and fired at them, quickly having to stop and face forward to avoid tripping. The colonel and Sam traded off, each of them firing for a brief time and then letting the other shoot. Sam glanced over at Teal'c and Dani- or the Goa'uld- and saw that she was stirring. Sam quickly ripped into her pack and brought out a shot of sedative. Pushing herself to catch up to Teal'c, she pulled up next to him and held out the sedative.
"Teal'c!" He grabbed the sedative and pushed it into Dani's arm, forcing her to again fall into unconsciousness. Sam lost her balance just after handing him the sedative and tumbled forward, hitting the ground on her bad arm. She bit her lip to keep from crying out and she rolled into a standing position. They raced for the DHD and Sam dialed home faster than she ever thought she could. With the colonel firing on the approaching mob of Jaffa, Sam punched in the iris code into the GDO, signaling that they were under fire.
"GO!" The colonel screamed over at her. She sprinted into the event horizon, barreling out on the other side and tumbling ungracefully down the ramp. Sam was helped up by Janet and watched as Teal'c ran out of the stargate with Danielle in his arms. After about 2 seconds, the colonel was flung out of the gate, yelling at the gate technicians to close the iris. The trinium barrier grated shut, and multiple thuds were heard following the action. Sam turned her attention to Janet, who was trying to get her on a gurney.
"Janet." Her voice barely came out, so she tried again, "Janet!"
"Sam?" she glanced at her in concern, "What is it?"
Sam swallowed the sudden lump in her throat, "Um, Dani… Danielle's been taken by a Goa'uld. I zatted her, then gave her a 150 milligram sedative."
"What?" Janet froze for a moment, and so did everyone else who heard. But only for a second. Quickly, Janet went into full Dr. Fraiser mode, yelling orders and having them strap Danielle onto a gurney. They quickly carted her out of the gate room, followed by Teal'c, the colonel, and Sam. The trip down to the infirmary was almost silent, everybody pondering what to do, when to do it, and how to process it. Janet was probably thinking back to Kawalsky, and hoping to contact the Tok'ra. Teal'c was probably wishing he could rip the Goa'uld of of Dani himself, and then rip it into tiny pieces. The colonel was probably thinking along the same lines as Teal'c, but also worrying about Dani's safety. As for Sam, she was shocked. Sam always thought of her team, her family, as untouchable. The Goa'uld couldn't catch them, and they couldn't hurt them (much). But, now Dani was taken. Dr. Danielle Jackson, her closest friend in the entire universe, was destroyed by a small, good for nothing, egotistical, narcissistic, back-stabbing snake. There was still hope, but, even if they could get to the Tok'ra, what about the IOA, NID, and the Trust? The IOA would want to interrogate the Goa'uld to get information. The NID would torture her and try to experiment on her, and the Trust would torture her to get information. Sam knew that it was the snake that would go through this, but Danielle would to. As the host, she experienced all the pain of the symbiote (parasite was a more appropriate description), and would suffer greatly with any of these options. No, Sam would not let Dani be taken by any of those cold-hearted bastards. She was her best friend, and Sam would protect Danielle with her life. And Sam had a feeling that Teal'c and the colonel would too. Nobody wouldn't get anywhere near her, Sam was sure of it.
"Major Carter? Follow me, please." Sam was jerked out of her reverie, and nodded her compliance, silently following the nurse. As she sat down on an empty bed and the nurse started to clean up her arm, Sam cleared her throat.
"Um, nurse? What is going to happen to Dani?" Sam was too tired to correct the nickname into the ore professional "Dr. Jackson".
The nurse smiled reassuringly and gently began to bandage her arm, "Well, she will have her blood taken and an MRI done. Dr. Fraiser will check for injuries, and then they will, with her still restrained, take her down to the cells. She will be locked securely in, and will have guards stationed outside. The new cells have a plastic front so the Goa'uld cannot switch hosts, and speakers so the person inside and the visitor can speak safely. She won't be harmed throughout any of this."
Sam sighed, her mind supplying the words, Depends on your definition of harmed, but she just thanked the nurse as she slid her arm into the standard blue sling and waited for her full post mission exam. After a few minutes, one colonel plopped himself down on the bed next to her's. Sam looked around, instinctively searching for her other teammates. Her head berated her quietly for scanning the area for Dani, but that didn't explain the absence of Teal'c.
"Sir, where's Teal'c?" Sam saw him startle slightly, a barely noticeable twitch, but almost 5 years of being on the same team had allowed her to see it for what it was.
"Oh, T? He's being allowed to stay with Dani-" His fists tightened on the bed sheet, "the Goa'uld for security."
Sam flinched and ducked her head, sucking in a shaky breath, feeling tears began to threaten. Oh, Dani… She felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced up to see the colonel sitting beside her now, his hand resting on her good shoulder. It was probably quite inappropriate work behavior, but her best friend and the person he (secretly) loved was just taken by a Goa'uld. They both needed a little comfort. So they sat like that for a while, not talking, just sitting in quiet companionship. The gossips were probably buzzing (SG-1 was quite a closely knit team after all, and people wondered), but Sam didn't care. It was just two people, who were like family, giving comfort to each other. A sudden burst of movement by the door caught her attention, and she glanced up, breaking the spell. The colonel followed suit, and they both stood up. His hand momentarily tightened on her shoulder, and he let go, taking a few steps forward to better analyze the situation. A still unconscious Dani was being wheeled out of the infirmary, soon to be placed into one of the newly modified holding cells. Sam saw his shoulders rise as he took in a sharp breath, and he turned away from the scene, missing the regal nod that Teal'c sent their way. It was her turn to comfort, and she put a hand gently on her CO's arm.
"Sir, we have to get checked out by Janet, then we're off to the debriefing."
He nodded and she removed her hand. They made our way over to where Janet was waiting, and Sam sighed.
If the universe was her playground, then she had lost her playmate.
! #$%^&*
NOTE: So, there is the first chapter! Hope you enjoyed it and, even if you didn't, please review and tell me why. Until next time