A/N - Thanks so much for your support so far! It's great to hear you are enjoying the story, and I truly appreciate every review, favorite and follow I get. :)
Chapter 2
As soon as she'd sent the MALP back through the 'gate, Sam took a moment to study their surroundings. The 'gate was located in a dense evergreen forest. Tall pines obstructed all but a small patch of cloudy sky directly overhead, giving the space a dark, closed-in feel. A well worn path winding in opposite directions lay directly in front of the 'gate, but other than the occasional birdsong, the forest was completely still.
The remainder of her team had already spread out and were carefully scanning the nearby foliage. Although the MALP had not indicated the presence of any life forms larger than a squirrel, she knew they couldn't be too careful. When Jack finally gave the all clear, they gathered again in front of the 'gate to determine their next course of action.
"The warrior from Maybourne's planet believed he sought the treasure in a nearby village," said Teal'c.
"Right," agreed Jack. He turned in a circle. "The only problem is that I have no idea which way that is."
"Well," Daniel began in his best professorial voice, "I would say that the village lies in that direction." He pointed to the right of the Stargate.
Jack stopped spinning and faced the archeologist. "And how do you know that, Sherlock?"
"Elementary, my dear General. This path is more worn. Logic dictates that most people who exit the 'gate travel toward the village."
Sam grinned at the smug look on Daniel's face, while Jack just grunted. Nevertheless, their leader started down the path to the right without hesitation. He took point and was trailed by Sam, then Daniel, with Teal'c on their six.
As they walked, the view hardly changed, and though she could usually adequately entertain herself simply by staring at her commanding officer's six, it was currently covered by his cloak. So, Sam soon found her mind wandering back to the events of the past several days.
Two weeks after her father's funeral and the announcement that she had broken her engagement, Jack had invited her up to his cabin for some much needed R&R. Sam had been quite sure when he'd asked her to go fishing with that lopsided grin of his that they were finally on the same page.
She was equal parts giddy anticipation and barely restrained nerves as they made the long drive to Minnesota together. Even when she'd found out that the boys were coming along, she still believed the purpose of their trip was to obtain some resolution to their long repressed, unspoken attraction. She should have known better.
The memory of what happened still made her cringe. In the wee hours of their first morning there, he had woken her from a deep sleep and whispered in her ear that it was finally time, causing her heart to leap into her throat and desire to pool deep and low. But she had never been more shocked or disappointed when he simply pulled her out of bed, only to hand her a rod and reel with instructions to meet him at the dock. She'd spent the rest of the morning sitting beside him in a folding chair by the pond, waiting futilely for a nibble. Of any sort.
Things had gone rapidly downhill from there. Later that same day, Jack had received an emergency call from the Pentagon, and by that evening he was in Washington, leaving Sam alone with Teal'c and Daniel, wondering what the hell had happened and whether she was crazy for having believed the term "fishing" was really code for something else for the last eight years.
She was suddenly startled from her thoughts by the man himself when he dropped back to walk beside her. "Whatcha thinkin'?" Jack asked casually.
She swore he could read her mind sometimes. She glanced sideways at him and couldn't help but notice the twinkle in his eyes. For all her frustration with her commanding officer, he did have his charms. She gave him a small smile. "Nothing."
"Come on Carter, you were practically thinking a hole into the back of my head."
She was just about to reply when a woman's scream from somewhere down the trail tore through the otherwise quiet forest. Instantly, Jack signaled for the group to take cover in the trees, with Jack and Sam on one side and Teal'c and Daniel on the other. Quietly, they crept through the forest until they came upon the source of the disturbance.
In the middle of the trail sat a rather shabby cart and horse. The contents of the cart, mostly food items and clothing, were strewn upon the ground. Beside the mess, a large and formidable looking man was holding a short, portly woman at knifepoint while his partner rifled through a rucksack he'd grabbed from the clutches of a balding man, as two frightened girls looked on.
"Please! Please good sir! Do not harm us," plead the bald man desperately. "I beg of you!"
The thief continued poking through the bag. "Silence!" he demanded. He looked up his partner. "They have nothing," he spat.
"Kill them and take the horse."
The woman and girls all screamed. "No!" yelled the bald man.
The thug with the knife looked over his shoulder at his partner. "There is no honor in this."
"Our lord commands it!" the other replied through gritted teeth.
The exchange struck Jack as odd yet vaguely familiar, but he didn't have time to dwell on it, as the thief with the bag threw it to the ground and pulled his own knife on the bald man. "Why didn't we bring our P90s again?" he muttered to Sam as she readied her bow, though he knew full well the importance of maintaining their cover. Jack glanced across the trail to where Teal'c and Daniel were hidden in the trees and gave them a quick nod.
Several things happened at once. The thief lunged toward the bald man but suddenly cried out in pain and dropped his knife as Sam's arrow pierced his shoulder. In an instant, Teal'c was behind him, taking out his knees with a swing of his staff. Surprisingly, he roared back up to a standing position, dodging Teal'c's next swing and landing a punch in the Jaffa's stomach.
At the same time, Jack charged the second thief, grabbing him around the waist and bending his arm painfully behind him. Without warning, the thief twisted around and struck a blow to Jack's jaw, sending him reeling. Momentarily stunned, Jack looked up just in time to block his attempt to stab him, and for several seconds, they struggled as Jack maintained a death grip on the man's arm with the point of a blade mere inches from his face.
It wasn't until Daniel drew a sword across man's back that he reared backwards in pain, allowing Jack to shove him away and kick his feet out from under him. At the same time, Sam shot two more arrows into the side of Teal'c's attacker, distracting him enough to cause him to abandon his fistfight with the Jaffa.
With one last look at the four teammates, the thieves turned tail and ran for their horses, which were hidden further up the trail. They quickly mounted them and rode off in the direction of the village, leaving two large packs on the ground behind them.
Daniel wiped the blade of his sword on the grass. "Is it just me, or were they a little tougher than expected?"
"They were surprisingly well trained," agreed Teal'c.
"Should we pursue, sir?" Sam asked Jack.
He shook his head. "Nah, we'll never catch 'em on foot. But we will need to keep an eye out for them along the trail."
Sam approached the family huddled together by the wagon. "Are you all right?" she asked. They simply stared at her wide-eyed and nodded.
"Jack." Daniel had retrieved the packs left by the thieves. He opened one and discovered that is was filled with coins and jewelry. He showed it to the military man.
Jack grabbed the packs and handed them to the bald man. "Can you see that this gets back to the people from whom it was taken? Or at least to those who could use it?"
The man gaped at him, then seemed to recover himself somewhat, and reached out to take the packs. "The people of Nottingham will be grateful, sire."
Daniel stepped forward. "Wait. Did you say Nottingham?"
"Aye. You are from another shire?"
"Uh, you could say that," Daniel replied. He was starting to get a nagging sense of deja vu and decided to play a hunch. "Would you remind me of the name of this forest?"
The bald man looked at the archeologist as though he had lost his marbles. "Why, Sherwood, of course!"
Daniel's eyes got big as saucers. "As in the Sherwood Forest?"
He chuckled. "None other, sire. You are familiar with the stories, then. It is a very dangerous forest indeed, and if my brother weren't sick in the shire opposite, we never would have chanced a crossing."
Jack, Daniel, and Sam exchanged startled glances, while the woman and girls began talking in earnest amongst themselves. The younger girl stared at Sam and Jack with blatant adoration while the older ogled Daniel and Teal'c. The woman approached the bald man and whispered something in his ear.
His eyebrows shot to the top of his head, and he looked at the group with renewed interest. "My lord," he addressed Jack, "I cannot thank you enough for your valor and your kindness."
The woman approached Sam and took her hand in hers. "You are as beautiful as the legend says, m'lady." She faced Jack. "And you, so good and brave, just as it has been told." She looked back and forth between the two of them. "Tell me, have you yet wed?"
Jack and Sam looked at each other with surprise, then immediately turned away. "We're, uh, not even engaged..." Jack stammered.
"But your love for each other is renown!" squealed the younger girl. Sam cursed her fair coloring as she felt her cheeks flush. Jack simply stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded.
The man, oblivious to their reaction, leaned conspiratorially toward Jack. "Aye, and you don't want to be waitin' too long to claim her maidenhood..."
The General let out something akin to a nervous laugh. "But she's no-"
Sam whipped her head around to glare at her commanding officer for the second time that day. Daniel, ever the diplomat and sensing imminent disaster, deftly cut off his friend in an attempt to save him from himself.
"Pardon me, but who do you think we are, exactly?" he asked the bald man.
The man drew himself up and smiled. "You, young sir, being the smooth talker, not to mention a charmer of the ladies, must be Will Scarlet." He walked up to Teal'c. "And this large gentlemen here with his wooden staff and large stature is certainly Little John." He turned to address Sam. "The lovely Maid Marian, whose skill with the bow gives her away, if not her beauty that, might I add, could never be hidden 'neath men's clothing." He winked at her.
"Told you," Jack whispered to her smugly. "And I suppose that would make me...?"
"And you, sir, are none other than Robin Hood - Master of Disguise, Lord of the Wood, King of Outlaws!" he concluded with a flourish.
Daniel blew out a large breath. "Woo boy."
TBC...