Disclaimer: Oh for crying out loud! You know, I'm only gonna say this once more, coz I figure y'all cottoned on by this point: OC, plot, never-before-seen stuff - mine. Canon - not mine. Oh! And Jackson appears courtesy of Phoenix-Cry.

Warning: Violence and death.

Rating: T

Author's Note: This is longer than any other chapter simply because I couldn't cut it down. After you've read it, I hope you don't give up on the story!

Chapter Seven

The men spread out in front of the Stargate.

"Sir! Shell casings!"

"Count 'em up, Captain. Make sure they tally with what we know."

O'Neill was watching for any sign of where Teal'c or Carter could be. Beside him Daniel had a rope on Jackson, more for his own concern than his Partner's safety, and was nervously fingering his zat on his thigh.

"They have to be here…we've only been gone an hour and a half. If they were that intent on killing us, as they were…"

"Then they won't have gone far." O'Neill took a step forward to catch the eye of the team leaders. The two men quickly stepped forward.

"Okay, I want two man teams, in radio contact at all times. They only changed after they had been off on their own so don't loose sight of your buddy for anything, clear?"

"Clear."

"Yessir."

"Right. We'll spread out, no more than ten metres apart as we go into the tree line. I want a count off at regular intervals too – I want no risks on this. We're all aware of the capabilities of both Colonel Carter and Teal'c and right now they seem to have the added benefit of an adrenaline rush. I want no mistakes. This is a search and rescue."

"Copy that."

"Aye sir."

O'Neill looked over the men, grim faced.

"Okay, move out. Daniel, you're with me." He didn't need to check that Daniel was with him – he could feel Jackson's breath on his hand as they moved forward, sense the presence of the younger man at his shoulder. He had no idea what was going on here but he was damn well going to find out, one way or another.

As luck would have it, they were the first pair to reach the ruins they had visited earlier that day. Jackson was sniffing around madly, finding their scents from earlier, even digging out the piece of chalk Daniel hadn't even realised he had dropped. He received it graciously although he still had to wipe it off. O'Neill couldn't help but laugh.

"Our dog used to do that all the time, bringing in toys or balls or even my baseball bat one time. She just got it in her head we'd lost it and she had to bring it back."

Jackson was watching the game trail they had traversed previously but one ear twitched back to catch what O'Neill was saying. Daniel just looked at the older man.

"It's true." O'Neill slowly turned in a circle, eyeing all possible points of cover. "She just loved to bring things back for us."

As he moved he flicked his glance over to one side. Daniel frowned until he did it a second time, just as O'Neill said 'back' Getting the hint, Daniel slowly moved to cover and be covered by O'Neill.

"So, aside from baseball bats, she bring in anything bigger?" He crept his hand down to his zat, hoping to go unnoticed.

"Oh, the usual." O'Neill kept moving, always keeping the area he suspected in sight but looking as laid-back as he could. "You know, bottles, cans…she even dragged in an open umbrella one time. We figured she thought Mom needed a new one."

"Really? How did you work that out?" Daniel slowly brought the zat up to sit comfortably in his palm, his free hand resting on Jackson's' head to keep him calm.

"Well…Mom's had holes in it…so she just didn't have enough shade…" As he spoke the last word, O'Neill dropped to one knee and swept his dart gun up to his shoulder just as Carter burst through the undergrowth. His shot caught her in the upper thigh and she dropped. The two men stared at her a moment.

"Well…that was easy." His brow furrowed, Daniel eyed the fallen form.

"Let's just restrain her now before anything turns up." O'Neill thumbed his radio. "Status report."

"General, Captain Jenks. We've caught sight of Teal'c and are in pursuit, four men."

"Copy that…just to affirm, Carter has been found and is now napping. Concentrate on Teal'c for now."

"Copy that, sir. Will update you as and when."

O'Neill turned to find Daniel had all ready put zip-locks around the wrists and ankles. He studied Carter's face, trying to see any marks or lines…anything at all that would show as her being different.

"If this isn't her, Jack, then we'll only know through a DNA screen."

"Ok…let's get her back to the Gate." O'Neill froze. "Did you hear that?"

Daniel looked round. "Hear what?"

At his side, Jackson whimpered and shot a glance back along the trail just as the sound of pounding feet grew loud enough to be a problem.

"Get back!"

As the three figures dived for cover, Teal'c burst into view, racing madly through the clearing, dodging round the ruins. SG-4 was in hot pursuit, their aim with the dart guns made folly simply by the speed with which their prey moved. One of the men spotted the general.

"Sorry sir…but he doesn't want to come in!"

"No kidding?" O'Neill shook his head. "Just get after him!"

The chase disappeared down a trail. Daniel crawled out from under a bush, shaking pollen from his hair.

"Oh, that's not good." On cue, he sneezed. O'Neill rolled his eyes.

"You gonna be ok here for five minutes?"

"Sure. Go." Daniel waved him off after Teal'c. As O'Neill took off after SG-4, he saw Jackson take up a watch on the sleeping Carter.

O'Neill ran into a mini war zone. He couldn't believe his eyes and was almost tempted to rub them to see if the picture made any more sense.

Teal'c was bristling with darts but still fighting. He had dropped his staff somewhere along the way and was now tossing people over his shoulder as if they were rag dolls. On a swift head count, three men were down, one was dazed and the other four were trying to keep him occupied and tire him out. O'Neill took one look then he planted his feet and leapt forward.

Wrapping his arms around Teal'c's upper body, he yelled in his ear.

"Teal'c, it's me!"

The only response was for Teal'c to tense up, pushing his arms outwards despite O'Neill's attempts to hold them down. As soon as he had a little leeway, Teal'c grabbed a wrist and hauled O'Neill over his shoulder, throwing him to the floor. He raised a foot to stamp down but one of the other men tackled him, knocking him off balance. Rolling to his feet, O'Neill pulled his zat and aimed. A shout stopped him.

"We've all ready shot him once, sir!"

And a second would kill him. O'Neill hesitated.

"Dammit."

He leapt back in, adding his weight to that of the four men as they wrestled the raging Jaffa to the floor. In the midst of the struggling bodies, Teal'c suddenly went still. Everyone froze. One of the men, Jenks, checked for a pulse. His horrified look told O'Neill everything. He closed his eyes, his teeth grinding together.

"Okay, let's get him back to the SGC…at least we might find out what happened. We'll have to call Bra'tac."

"Yes sir." The men rose, each one staring at the body before them. O'Neill bent down, just to check for himself, to try and break the reality. But the flesh beneath his fingers was real and the artery he traced was still. With a pained sigh, he straightened and signalled for the team to carry on. The frantic barking barely registered on his brain at first then he was on the move.

"Stay here! Secure the area!"

He pounded back the way he had come, the special ops soldier in him flaring to life. He didn't hesitate as he burst from the undergrowth, yanking his sidearm from its holster, taking aim even as he pulled up and letting off three shots.

Daniel watched O'Neill go after Teal'c. Turning, he looked down at the now peaceful features of Carter and shook his head.

"What happened, Sam?"

He took the opportunity to check her face, neck and arms for insect bites or scratches, hushing Jackson's warning growl. When he found nothing but the same marks from the brush as he had, he sat back and sighed.

"I don't get it. This makes no sense." He reached out and patted his Partner, looking for some solidarity. "Unless it's an airborne particle but then Jack and I weren't affected."

He rose, thoughtfully pawing his way through his bag, looking for some antiseptic wipes for Carter's scratches. He heard the yelp behind him and spun so fast he fell. It was all that saved him.

Carter was standing over him, her face a mask of fury and hatred. The rock she had thrown was lying by his head. Daniel tried to look for Jackson but Carter blocked his view. She raised her hands, a stone in each, and he rolled away, scrambling to his feet. He looked into those aqua eyes and tried to get through.

"Sam, come on Sam, it's me, Daniel. You've gotta be in there somewhere."

She snarled and ran at him. Without thinking, Daniel dropped to the floor, his foot coming up to plant itself in her stomach and help toss her over his head. As he rolled to his feet he had a brief moment to be amazed that he'd actually done what O'Neill, Carter and Teal'c had all been trying to get him to do for years. Then she was back, desperately trying to land a blow.

Jackson appeared from nowhere, a gold and grey blur that landed on Carter's back, shoving her to the floor. The pair of them began to roll, she trying to knock the Wulf off and Jackson barking madly, his jaws snapping but not connecting on flesh. Daniel went for his zat but his hand found an empty holster. Looking round frantically, he spotted it a few feet away. As he dived for it, he felt something clip the back of his head. Hitting the dirt he rolled again, one hand reaching to find a trace of blood. As his vision started blurring, he heard another yelp then a dark shadow slowly came into view.

"Jackson…Sam, no."

That's when he heard the shots.

O'Neill watched as his bullets took Carter in the thigh and shoulder. He'd flinched at the third shot, the bullet zipping past her ear as she fell to her knees, giving Jackson a chance to wriggle away from her.

"Carter. Stay down."

She looked at him. He had never seen such naked hatred on her face before, not even when faced with Niirti or Hathor or Ba'al. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Carter? Sam?"

There was a flicker in her eyes, something that briefly gave rise to hope. Then her arm swung up and O'Neill fell back, yelling as the first blast from the zat arced round him. He didn't even feel the rock that smacked into his hip. He heard Jackson snarl, heard the pained cry from Daniel as the zat spat a second time and assumed that the Wulf had been hit. He snarled, dragging himself up. His P90 was just out of reach, thrown aside as he had convulsed. He wasn't sure where his semi-automatic had gone and his zat wasn't an option as he knew that one shot would be useless. His tranquiliser gun had been lost in the scuffle with Teal'c.

Carter was standing over Daniel, an easy target as she fired once. The blow to his head coupled with the zat blast was enough to knock the archaeologist out. She smiled as she drew her foot back to land a solid kick on the ribs he knew were all ready bruised. There was a cracking sound and O'Neill's gut went cold.

"Hey! Carter!"

He tried to drag himself up but his legs didn't want to work yet. He could hear shouts in the distance and knew that if he could just distract her for a few more moments, they might yet be able to overwhelm her. Even as he thought it, she took the option from him.

He hadn't realised he'd moved until he was staring into those beautiful aqua eyes. She was standing three feet from him, where she had begun to run at him. Her face, smudged with dirt and small bloody scratches, slowly softened. They both looked down to the hilt that was in her hand. Then they both slowly looked up, his dark eyes meeting her light. In that moment, he saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes. It was only a second before it was replaced again by rolling fury but it was there. Slowly, she crumpled to the floor, the zat falling from her hand to tumble and rest near his.

O'Neill stared at the three fallen forms. Carefully, his legs still a little shaky, he got to his feet. Carefully, he shuffled over to where Daniel lay, dropping to his knees to shake the younger man. A low moan reassured him and a cracked voice asked,

"Jack?"

"Yup."

Blue eyes fluttered open and Daniel hissed as he gingerly sat up, yelping as his ribs protested.

"Where's Jackson? I heard him…"

"He's ok. One shot…he'll be fine."

Daniel blinked rapidly, his focus slowly zeroing in on O'Neill's face. What he saw made him frown.

"Jack, what is it?"

In answer, O'Neill leaned to his side. Behind him, Carter lay on her side, her face peaceful, her eyes closed, one bloody hand draped over her stomach. Daniel's face paled and he stared at Jack in shock.

"She…I…" O'Neill swallowed. "I had no choice."

Suddenly, O'Neill slumped forwards. Daniel tried to catch him only for his ribs to scream in protest. His head swimming, he tried to focus on his friend's face. O'Neill managed to mumble, "Ya know, injuries plus zat plus shock…not a good thing."

Then he was out cold. Before Daniel could say anything, two airmen raced into the area and stopped, jaws dropping at the scene. At that point, after allowing the generals body to gently fall to the floor, Daniel's concussion and cracked ribs joined forces and he too slipped into oblivion.