Final Destination
Episode#2: Taken and Returned

By Osiris-Ra

It was almost dusk. She should be getting to the hatch. Sure, she'd be safer down there, but then who would watch for intruders from the outdoors? That woman had been too close for comfort to the camp. She'd been at a reliable water source. She might come back...with friends.

Ana contemplated. Her shoulder was throbbing something awful. She checked her bandage. Blood was seeping through it. Not tonight. Couldn't do it tonight.

"Ana Lucia."

Eko came up behind her. He made a commencing gesture.

"It is time. We should go."

Ana glanced into the forest. they were out there. The Others. They were close. Eko could see the worry in her face.

"They won't find us in the bunker, Ana. If they did, they wouldn't be able to take anyone without a fight. We have guns. Good guns."

Ana glanced over her shoulder. Good guns. She liked the sound of that. She rose slowly, wincing a bit.

"I'll take your word for it."

Major Carlisle tapped his compass.

"What's wrong with this thing? Was working fine awhile ago."

"That tends to happen around here." Carter replied complacently. "A lot of weird things happen around here. Just try to keep it in the present."

"So, when exactly did all these things start happening to your team?"

"A while after we came here." Carter didn't feel much like reminiscing. Carlisle was curious. It could be a premonition to their own fate...god forbid...

"You couldn't figure out how to stop it?"

"No. It was sudden, that's all. Quite sudden."

"Sudden." Carlisle didn't like sudden. He liked to have some warning.

"Let's stop here." Carter ordered. "Rest a bit. 10 minutes. I'm exhausted."

The team found seats on suitable rocks or logs and relaxed with canteens and granola bars. Carter lay down on the bank of a stream and closed her eyes.

It wasn't 5 minutes before she was rudely awakened by screaming.

Then gun fire.

SG2 had gone into hysterics, firing blindly into the forest. Carter jolted up, P90 at the ready. Carlisle was pointing his gun about frantically, shooting off rounds like there was no tomorrow.

"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" Carter commanded, trying to make heads or tails of the situation.

The gunshots came to a sporadic halt.

Carter ran over and shook the Major back to his sense. His eyes were popped like he'd seen Bigfoot.

"There was something...it just went flitting by. Looked like a bear or a bird or something – it's just taken one of my men!"

"Where did you see it?"

"Everywhere!"

Carter looked to the rest of SG2. The other 2 men were crouched on the ground behind cover, tense, cautious, guns aimed to the forest. Carter pulled Carlisle to cover.

"We've gotta move. NOW."

Carlisle concurred with a rapid nod.

"Get your men in formation. I'll go ahead, you cover me and they cover you, move."

Carlisle complied and set to sharply whispering orders to them over his radio. Carter made her way stealthily to some more cover at the edge of the forest. P90 at the ready, she peeked into the forest, scanning quickly for signs of anything hostile.

That Thing was back. She wouldn't freeze like last time.

Carter checked to see Carlisle and SG2 were on her back. She crept out behind her cover and moved swiftly.

Carlisle's heart was pounding in his chest. Sudden. He hated sudden more than ever. A soldier was supposed to be like stone, unmoved by anything, but he was losing it. Sweat clouded and stung his eyes. His teeth chattered, his trigger finger felt like it was on automatic. He prayed he didn't shoot a friendly.

Carter crouched to a stop. She whispered sharply into her radio:

"All units hold your position. Radio silence from here on out unless I say so."

"Copy that Major" replied Carlisle.

Carter scanned her surroundings. Nothing. Nothing wasn't comforting. She could feel something off. Her trigger finger tightened. They weren't alone.

Carlisle felt alone. His whole body was tense with terror. It couldn't get any worse than this...

Someone behind him began screaming. Carlisle spun around.

Brody. Where was Captain Brody?

Carlisle swallowed hard. Another one. Another man was down. They were going like sitting freaking ducks! He did a 180, then a 360, then another 180, whipping around frantically, praying to be the first to shoot The Thing.

"Major, report!" Carter's voice crackled over his radio, startling him. He took hold of his radio with a shaking hand.

"Uh – Captain Brody! He's disappeared! That Thing took him!"

Carter thought quickly.

"Both of you, rendezvous with me. Hurry!"

Carlisle yelled to his comrade to join him. Captain Astor quickly made his way to the Major, then both headed towards Carter's position. When they arrived, there was a Berretta Pistol and camoflage cap on the ground, but no Carter.

Kate looked up, startled. Were those gun shots she'd heard? Presently, Eko and Ana emerged from the forest. Kate hadn't yet seen the two tailies. Rather imposing, she thought. An oddassortment that plane had been carrying. The Hispanic woman looked back into the forest, mentioned something to her companion about gunshots. He nodded quietly and told her to continue on to the bunker. He turned to Kate.

"We may have some company tonight. It might be best for everyone if they came to the bunker soon."

"What's going on?"

"Others."

Kate reacted. She nodded. "Ok, thanks for the heads up."

Eko nodded and left. Kate glanced into the forest. Others.

Sam came to groggily. Darkness and stink. She blinked hard. Let her eyes adjust to the light. Where was she? A dark room, frigid, hollow. She looked down. Crap. She had no clothes on. Her arms. They were outstretched. Her wrists clamped into shackles attached to some cold, clammy stretcher that she was lying on. Her feet were bound the same way. She started to struggle. Thousands of needles suddenly pricked at her body. She winced. Then warmth washed over her body. There was a sound of air being let out of something, then footsteps. Sam's eyes darted about, straining to see. There was someone behind her. She craned her neck. A dark figure, tall, lanky. Holding something. A box? Clipboard? A pen rapidly scribbled on paper. The figure set the clipboard down.

"Dr. Hanso, you're wanted in observation 3." A female voice crackled over an intercom.

A male voice replied from behind Carter's head:

"Thank you Midge, be right there."

The footsteps started again. Then stopped. Carter waited in terrified anticipation. Abruptly, a florescent white/blue light blasted on above her head. Carter saw her body. Tiny dots of blood oozed out from the areas needles had pricked her. They had her strung up vertically like some kind of...some kind of...specimen.

Good god, what are they doing to me?

"What is this?"

No answer.

"I don't intend to harm you! I'm just a visitor, I was looking for help! What are you doing?"

Still nothing.

"I'm of the Tau'ri! Of Earth! Human! Are you getting any of this?"

As much help as that would do. Breathing heavily, Carter started struggling again. The whirring of machinery directed her attention towards an ugly looking device with a scalpel blade on its edge coming down from the ceiling, towards her stomach. It kept coming...and coming...and coming...

"Hey! Stop! No! Shut it off! Hey, whoever's back there, you hear me? Shut it off! No! Stop! Stooooooooop!"

Dr. Hanso blinked, checked his watch. He was running late for a dinner flight.

Carlisle and Captain Astor leaned against tree trunks, fiddling with their lighters and knives.

"You think Major Carter's ok?"

Carlisle flicked his lighter off.

"I don't know, Captain."

"What do you think took her...and Brody...and Lansing...?"

Carlisle repeated in the same distant manner: "I don't know, Captain."

Astor exhaled. "Well what DO you know?"

Carlisle flicked his lighter on.

"The Major said we should stick together. So that's what we have to do. That...thing...is out for our blood...it takes us by surprise...preferably when we're separated. That's how it hunts."

He gave Astor a pale, cold stare. "It's gonna get us, Astor. There's no stoppin' it. It's wild. Rabid."

"Major, we've gotta find the others."

"They're GONE!" Carlisle suddenly roared. "Don't you see, they're GONE, all of them, GONE. We're the only one's left!"

He exhaled. Continued calmly. "We're the only ones left."

Astor went back to reclining reluctantly.

Sawyer shoved aside an annoying lock of hair that kept dangling into his eyes. The sun was almost gone now. Just a faint sliver on the edge of the sea. The sea was dark, the beach, cold and listless. He rose with a grunt. Time to mosey on back to the bunker. Thank the Lord for air conditioning. As he turned around, he realized someone was coming towards him, hunched in a weird way. He squinted.

"Who is that?"

The figure became motionless. The two stared each other off, even though they couldn't see each other too clearly.

"Who is that, identify yourself." Sawyer repeated, glaring.

The figure came slowly towards him. It was a woman, pretty, a scared, intelligent face, short, dirty hair that used to be blonde, a green T shirt and cargo jeans with lots of pockets. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she was hugging herself, half in pain, half shivering. He thought he saw blood on her arms. She stopped short of him, staring cautiously.

Either waited for the other to say a word.

Then someone clobbered the woman from behind.

Kate stared down the incapacitated stranger, shot a look at Sawyer who was glaring at her, stunned. He came over to the woman and lifted her face gently.

"Kate, what'd you have to go and do that for?"

"Didn't you hear? We have company. Someone shot one of the tail enders in the forest."

"That don't mean you go and knock the brains out of the first person you see!"

Sawyer handled the woman delicately, gently patting her face to try to get her to come to.

"She might have tried to attack you."

"No she wasn't."

"And how can you be sure of that?"

Sawyer shot her a look. Kate received it nonchalantly. You couldn't be too careful in this place.

In his inspections of the woman, Sawyer made an interesting find.

"Dog tags?"