Sam finally broke eye contact with her CO when she heard the word sold. Allowing the guards to lead her away without fighting, she breathed a sigh of relief. They led her to a richly appointed room, lined with colorful fabrics. On the floor were piles of large pillows, draped with soft furs. As she sat down on the floor away from the pillows, Sam shuddered as she thought about all the women who had been dragged to this room after being sold.

After waiting for felt like hours, but she knew was no more than twenty minutes, the door opened and Zabar walked in. Sam immediately jumped to her feet ready to defend herself, but Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c walked in behind him.

"At ease, Major," Jack told her.

"Sir," she nodded, fighting back tears. Her team was here; for the moment, she was safe.

"You have ten minutes to inspect the merchandise," Zabar said before leaving the four of them alone.

The emotions Sam thought she had locked away came flooding to the her will, tears filled her eyes, a few spilling onto her cheeks. Unable to stop, she threw herself into Jack's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest. She felt his arms wrap around her, crushing her against him.

"Fellas," she heard him say and felt movement as Daniel and Teal'c exited the room. Thankful that only her CO would witness her breakdown, she mumbled thank you against his chest.

"You're safe," he told her, his hand stroking her hair. "I'm not going to let anyone near you," he promised.

After a few minutes, her emotions back under control, Sam removed her arms from Jack's neck and leaned back.

"One-hundred gold pieces, sir?"

-/-/-/-/-/-

Jack let out a bark of laughter at his second-in-command's resilience. Even with everything she'd been through, she could still give him a hard time.

"I wanted to make a statement," he shrugged. It hadn't escaped him that he still had his arms around her waist. After thinking he'd been too late, he couldn't quite let go.

"I think fifty would have made a statement," she chuckled.

He shrugged at her, finally dropping his arms when she stepped back. Glancing at his watch, he told her, "our old friend Zabar should be back any minute."

As if on cue, the door sprang open. "Out of my way," Zabar shoved Daniel aside, but Teal'c refused to budge.

"This man wishes entrance, O'Neil," Teal'c called to them.

"Let him in," Jack told him, nudging Sam behind him. The look she gave him let him know what she thought about hiding behind a man, but she did it nonetheless.

Zabar burst past Teal'c. "Your ten minutes were up a while ago," he sneered. "She's not undressed," he said in disbelief. "If you change your mind after the funds are transferred, there will be no refunds."

"I'm satisfied," Jack told him, "but I would like to know who struck her and marred the merchandise." He felt Sam shove his back when he called her merchandise.

Zabar bristled, before turning to leave. "Payment is due in full," he demanded.

"Daniel, go pay the man," Jack ordered. "Teal'c," he nodded.

"I will watch him," Teal'c bowed his head and left.

Sam stepped around him, her hands on her hips. "Merchandise, sir?"

"When in Rome," he teased.

Sam shook her head at him and started pacing the room. For the first time, he actually noticed what she was wearing. Her lithe body was on full display, the outfit leaving little to the imagination. While he'd often wondered what she'd look like naked, this reality was so much better than what his mind had created. His eyes lingered on her breasts, her cleavage more ample than he'd imagined. She stopped pacing and turned to look at him.

"Sir!" She protested covering her chest.

"Sorry," he felt himself actually blush at being caught staring. "You gotta admit, that outfit is very—"

"Very what. Sir." her tone warning.

Clearing his throat, he turned away. "Won't happen again," he told her.

As tension filled the air between them a loud boom shook the entire room. Sam struggled to remain standing as Jack reached for her.

"Watch out," he called, pulling her down and tucking her underneath him as large stone fragments rained down from the ceiling. He covered her with his body, taking the brunt of the impacts. Luckily nothing that struck them was larger than a baseball. Pulling out his walkie-talkie, he tried to reach the rest of the team.

"Daniel, Teal'c, come in, over," he released the button.

"We are here, O'Neil," Teal'c answered on the walkie.

"What's going on out there?" Jack wanted to rush outside, but he couldn't leave until the transaction was complete. The slave cuff was still attached to Carter's wrist and he wasn't willing to risk her getting shocked again. And he absolutely wasn't leaving this room without her.

Daniel and Teal'c burst into the room, but something wasn't right. Daniel's hand covered his stomach, blood coating his fingers.

"Daniel Jackson has been shot," Teal'c informed them.

"It's just a flesh wound," Daniel ground out.

Jack scoffed, "Really Daniel? That looks a little more serious than a flesh wound." His tone projected irritation, but that wasn't what he felt. Even though he was extremely worried about his friend, Jack would never let on how much. "Teal'c, take Daniel back to the SGC, I'll finish the transaction," Jack cringed at inferring Carter was a commodity. They'd been on this damn planet too long. "Once the cuff is removed, we'll come through, too."

"I would argue, but I think I'm going to pass out soon," Daniel tried to joke.

"It's okay, Daniel," Sam squeezed his shoulder, "I'll be fine. The Colonel has already accepted the merchandise, he's stuck with me," she gave Daniel a wink.

Jack shook his head at her. Here he'd been worried that she'd be emotionally distraught, but he should have known better. It was one of the reasons he admired her so much; she was tough as nails, definitely tougher than him.

"I do believe the auction is under attack, O'Neil," Teal'c said drawing his attention. "Perhaps from the resistance to which Omar eluded. I saw Zabar flee."

"It may not be so easy to get Sam's cuff removed," Daniel warned.

"Did you pay him the one-hundred gold pieces?" Jack asked, suddenly wary.

"We did," Teal'c confirmed and Jack let out the breath he was holding. "Here are the ownership papers," Teal'c handed him an official-looking document.

"So we'll just find someone to remove the cuff," Jack tried to sound confident, but he felt sick instead. The first time they'd tried to rescue Carter, they had attempted to find someone to unlock the cuff. Apparently, the only people with the key were Zabar and his priests, and according to Teal'c, they'd just fled. They'd also discovered a zat blast did not damage the cuff, something they found on the hard way; or rather Carter had found out the hard way. The cuff had amplified the shock and almost stopped her heart.

Jack glanced at Carter and read her face, knowing that she was having the same thoughts as him.

"We'll figure it out," Sam told Daniel, but Jack knew her smile was forced.

"Jack," Daniel's voice was becoming severely strained. "You got a plan B?"

"I'm working on it," Jack told him, but had absolutely no clue what his next play was.

"Marry her," Daniel erupted into a fit of coughing.

"Excuse me?" Jack was incredulous.

"Married women are protected," Daniel explained once his coughing subsided.

"General Hammond did say by any means necessary," Teal'c reminded him, the Jaffa's eyebrow raised impossibly high.

"Do I get any say in this, sir?" Sam asked, her voice indicating displeasure at being excluded from the discussion; especially considering she was the topic of the conversation.

"Not in this culture," Daniel ground out. "Jack, it might be the only way."

Jack glanced at Sam and noticed the slight panic in her eyes that mirrored his own. "We'll cross that bridge if it comes to it," he told everyone, but more so he was trying to convince himself. The idea of marrying Carter struck a little too close to home. Over the past several years, he'd kept the idea of him and Carter carefully locked away. He knew she shared his feelings on some level; the za'tarc tests had made that abundantly clear.

"Let's go kids," Jack ordered. "Teal'c get Daniel back to the SGC, fill Hammond in. If we aren't back in twenty-four hours, I expect you to bring the hammer down." Jack simultaneously removed his side arm and handed it to Carter. She accepted it, checked the chamber and tucked it into the small of her back. Jack's mind slipped for a minute as he once again noticed her outfit and wondered if the waist band was strong enough to hold the pistol in place.

The movement of Teal'c, half carrying Daniel regained his attention. The duo exited; their ultimate destination the stargate. Jack knew the two men had a good five mile hike ahead of them, but also knew Teal's would ensure they made it. Just as they knew Jack would fight like hell to make sure Carter made it home.