A/N - I'm back! Thanks so much for all of your kind words on the previous chapter. Believe it or not, your feedback really does make me write faster. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Jack woke the following morning with a stiff back and no small amount of consternation over the fact that all of SG-1 had slept in the same treehouse room, which, unfortunately, left little opportunity for him to finish the conversation he had started with Sam the night before.

As they went about their business preparing for the new day, it became apparent that things between him and his former Second were back to the status quo, with Sam acting as though nothing had happened. And, he supposed, it really hadn't. After all, their almost kiss had never actually materialized, thanks to Daniel.

Jack shot the archeologist a pointed glare, causing the younger man to look over his shoulder and upon finding no one else there ask, "What?" But Jack just shook his head. He was starting to wonder if the Fates really were against him.

At least he hadn't woken up snuggled next to Harry, whom he just realized hadn't been seen since the night before. As if on cue, the would-be friar entered the room with a cat-who-ate-the-canary look and a cheeky "Miss me?" thrown casually in Jack's direction. Fortunately for Daniel, this provided an alternate outlet for Jack's irritation, with the military man spending the rest of breakfast staring at Harry through narrowed lids.

As the group was packing up to leave, Elsa entered the room, trailed closely by Arden. Though she couldn't have been more than five feet tall and ninety pounds soaking wet, she stood ramrod straight, her silver head held high and her eyes steely. "Have you made a decision then?" she asked Jack without any attempt at pretense, something he could definitely appreciate.

He faced the tiny but formidable woman. "I'm sorry, Elsa, but I don't think it would be appropriate for us to get involved in your affairs right now." Jack didn't miss the way Daniel and Sam shifted uncomfortably at this pronouncement.

"I understand," Elsa replied, though her disappointment was reflected on her face. "My men will guide you to the edge of the forest."

Jack gave her a nod. "Thank you," he said, before making his way toward the door.

"And Robin?" Elsa called after him. The military man turned around to look at her, followed quickly by all the others. "I hope you find what you are looking for." The last statement was spoken in a much softer tone of voice, and Jack could have sworn she glanced at Sam as she made it. He was suddenly quite certain she was referring to something other than the device at the monastery.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably and began the long climb down from the trees. Several people in the village watched them from the various platforms, and Jack couldn't shake the niggling sense of guilt that tickled the back of his mind. He tried, without much success, to remind himself that their mission was to secure useful technology for the good of their own planet, not to do battle on behalf of others not of their world.

Once they had climbed half way down the tall oak, they entered the crude wooden elevator, which slowly began to lower them the rest of the way to the forest floor. Jack noticed two young women watching from an adjacent platform, both of whom were unmistakably blushing and smiling at Harry. When one gave the the former NID agent a little wave, Jack turned to Harry with a questioning look.

Harry shrugged. "I, uh, may have told them I'd make them my queens." He glanced over at the two women. "I will come for you upon my return, my dears!" he shouted to them.

"Aren't your other wives going to be a little miffed?" asked Sam, in an acerbic tone.

Harry gave her a broad grin and leered at her suggestively. "The more, the merrier, I always say." Sam turned away in a huff, while Jack desperately tried to hide a small grin of his own.

From the upper platform, Arden stood next to Elsa as they watched the five strangers, led by two of their best men, disappear into the forest. "You're just letting them go?" he asked her.

Elsa smiled slightly. "They'll be back." After a moment of contemplation, she continued. "They are the ones, Arden. I'm sure of it. Even if they do not know it yet."

oOoOoOo

The group was led back to the main trail by Elsa's men, who seemingly melted into the forest without a word upon depositing them at the edge of the path. For the better part of the morning and early afternoon, they continued to travel toward the town in virtual silence, each team member lost in his or her own thoughts. Jack knew that the rest of SG-1 was not pleased with his refusal to help the people of Nottingham, and even he was beginning to rethink the wisdom of that decision.

Daniel jogged to catch up to Jack. He was surprised it had taken the archeologist this long. "Jack..."

"Daniel." He kept walking, his eyes on the trail.

"You know we have to help them."

Jack sighed. "Look, it's really none of our business. How do we even know that what they are saying is true? Maybe this Sheriff is the rightful ruler and these tree people are the bad guys. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened." Jack shuddered as he recalled his run in with Alar and the Eurondans. That situation still haunted him.

"You don't really believe that," Daniel replied.

He was right, Jack didn't believe it, but he wasn't about to admit to that fact. The truth was he was actually feeling strangely compelled to do something for Elsa and her people, yet he had no idea why. And that bothered him. A lot. "I'll think about it," he said finally.

"But Jack..." Daniel began, then stopped short. He was more than a little surprised to find that he had actually made some headway with their irascible leader. He hadn't been prepared for that and wondered, briefly, if Jack was feeling all right. "Okay," he said cautiously, still not quite believing that he had won even that small concession from the single most stubborn man in the universe.

Finally, the trees began to thin somewhat, and Harry announced that they were coming to the edge of the forest. Jack was just about to ask him how far it was to the monastery when they rounded a large bend in the trail and ran right into four men dressed in what appeared to be some sort of uniform, though with black tights this time, instead of green.

One of the men, presumably the leader, stepped forward with his sword drawn. "Stop in the name of the Sheriff of Nottingham!"

"This is getting a little old," Jack muttered under his breath.

"These are the Sheriff's deputies," whispered Harry. "I suspect they have no intention of letting us go."

The leader drew himself up tall. "State your business!" he demanded.

"Think we should tell him we're here to look for treasure?" Jack asked quietly.

"I do not," replied Teal'c.

Before Jack could stop him, Harry began walking toward the men, his arms outstretched in a beseeching manner. The military man groaned inwardly fearful of what was coming next.

"Please sirs," Harry began, "we have travelled through the great forest on a mission of mercy. My parishioner here," he said, indicating Jack, "has come to see his sister, whom we've been told has a terrible pox-" Without warning, one of the men struck him across the face, and Harry dropped like a sack of potatoes.

"Hey!" yelled Jack, unsheathing his sword. "Nobody hits my friar!"

In the next instant, the Sheriff's deputies attacked, and SG-1 found themselves in the midst of a heated battle. Not surprisingly, though, Jack and the others soon gained the upper hand, with Sam handily disarming one of the men, and Teal'c knocking another unconscious with his staff. Just as Jack landed a blow to the stomach of his opponent, he heard the unmistakable sound of a staff blast coming from somewhere close behind him. Too close.

He spun around to locate the source of the unexpected sound. "What the...?"

"Sir!" Sam shouted, as she hurled herself at his torso, knocking him backwards and causing them both to fall over the side of a steep ravine. Jack felt a wave a heat pass just overhead, so close he swore his eyebrows were singed. But he had little time to dwell on that, as he and his former Second tumbled down the steep and verdant incline, finally coming to a stop with Jack landing face up at the bottom and Sam falling hard, face down, directly on top of him.

For a moment, neither moved, too stunned by the turn of events to do anything other than lie there, breathing heavily, legs and arms entwined, with their bodies pressed closely together. Ultimately, though, the intimate nature of their positioning suddenly dawned on both them. Jack returned the shocked look Sam gave him with a wry grin. "Jeez, Carter. I'm flattered, but I'm not sure this is the time or place..."

She flushed, first with embarrassment, then anger, and it occurred to Jack just a little too late that perhaps it would have been wiser to hold his tongue. She stood quickly, pushing off of his prone body with more force than was really necessary, causing him to let out an involuntary "Oomph!"

"Those were staff blasts, sir," Sam said, her demeanor completely professional now. "We need to get back up there. Daniel and Teal'c may be in trouble."

She extended her hand to pull him up, and he grasped it thankfully. After a quick look around, they located their swords and began to search in earnest for the fastest way out of the ravine. Unfortunately, the only thing they found were several of the Sheriff's biggest deputies filing into the narrow space from either side, effectively trapping them there.

Worse yet, upon closer examination, Jack realized that it wasn't just their large stature and staff weapons that made these deputies different from the rest. One look at the mark on their foreheads and Jack knew instantly they were Jaffa - as well as which Goa'uld they served. "Daniel and Teal'c aren't the only ones in trouble," he muttered to Sam with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Out of nowhere, someone yelled, "Make way for the Sheriff!" and the Jaffa at one end of the ravine parted down the middle. A caped figure with a black goatee and an all too familiar face emerged, his zat trained on the two officers. Jack clenched his fists, as his worst fear was realized.

"Baal!" He raised his sword.

"Well, well, well, General O'Neill. Or should I call you 'Robin Hood?'" The Goa'uld smirked. "No matter. Either way, it would appear that you have brought a knife to a zat fight."

With that, he zatted Sam, and she fell in a heap to the ground. Blinded by fury, Jack lunged for Baal. "You son of a b-" But something hard, most likely the blunt end of a staff weapon, hit him in the back of the head before he could reach the snake.

His last thought before he blacked out was of Sam.

TBC...

A/N - You saw that coming, right? ;)