Things were going on too fast for him: he would had stayed this way forever, lying on the back, distractedly watching the giant vehicle over him, breathing slowly as he was going to fall asleep and trying faintly to get rid of the demonic blue spike drove through his chest in a so nightmare-like way that he still had hard time believing it. But his team was still in danger and the extremely cold weather after a little swim in nearly freezing water wouldn't allow him to stay motionless like this for too long…yet hypothermia was always driving the victims sleepy. Cameron felt the stabbing feeling of that damned locked spike every time he would fill his lungs then breathe out and, in addition, the continuous healing was actually dizzying, stunning and was doing something on his mood; just as this thing was slowly getting rid of his will to fight.

"Colonel Mitchell! Are you well?" A deep voice said with concern at his side; as a tall silhouette was approaching in a jogging.

"Teal'c." Cam began, sounding more like an expecting statement, but with something confuse in his tone.

At this moment, something came to his mind: if he announced to every of his friends that he was still impaled with some alien bones; they would be so worried that they would lose their concentration on their work and will only harass him to make sure he won't fight but only spare himself and get some rest. If that happen, he would be very useless, would be a dead weight and would endangered the complete SG1 team and their escape. Cameron couldn't allow that at all and anymore. The colonel turned his head toward his friend: none of them had fetters, the guards outside the ship were all out of order and the ship was motionless… Cam had to pull himself together, fight his faintness and act like the leader he use to be, even if he had to lie until they'll be back at SGC.

"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts… yeah I'm fine, thanks big fella. And thanks for… well… risking your life in that wicked bungee jump 15 minutes ago." Cameron said, taking hold of the hand the Jaffa was holding out to help him getting up.

"I have failed to rescue you." Teal'c answered, slightly sullenly. He had to pull up the colonel that seemed a little bit too shaken to stand up steadily all by himself.

"Hey, come on; you're too hard on yourself, 't wasn't your fault at all and you did great…" Cam sympathized with a slight comforting grin. Once on his feet, Mitchell was hiding the best he could his vertigo and his shortness of breath, causing him to stay stunned and staring blankly for a second or two.

"Mitchell? Is it the Letelk that healed you after your fall?" The Jaffa asked, noticing the incredibly pale look and the alarming wheezing of his lt. colonel, but also realizing that he didn't seem affected by his injured shoulder and knee or any new damages after hitting the ice that hard.

"Yep… but I really hate to admit it…"Cam began gloomily as well, before changing the subject while looking at the two roped attached together: one was linked to the ship and ended on the hanging Mayka and the other was attached to the first and ended by the Teal'c harness, only less than 2 meters (6.56 feet) over the ground. "Now we gotta find a way back to the top; we're not done yet."

"Indeed." Acknowledged simply the Jaffa, in his so typical way.

"The restorative power of the creature is simply amazing! But why does it have to be that hostile? It's kind of disappointing thinking of what we could do with such a gift..." Daniel said to the three that came back on the catwalk, mostly talking to Mitchell actually.

He managed to find a hoist near the entrance door and to lift Mitchell and Teal'c once they were readied at the very end of the link, unfortunately dragging up the woman at the same time. Mayka was still too shocked and shameful to harm them in any way for now: she was just staring at the snowy horizon, dodging their look by turning her face the opposite way when one of the men looked for her. And of course she was not talking at all.

"But none of you guys saw it, right?" Asked the frowning Cam, yet already knowing their answers, while being helped by Teal'c to get rid of the harness they attached to themselves. Without waiting for the answer after all, feeling them hesitating and then knowing it would be a "no", he kept on: "Anyway… now we grab our Miss Moody Captain M and move in the ship to get Sam and Vala: as long as we aren't crept up on our sides like what happened, we can walk freely only by threatening her with the tip of a gun…" On this, he was already moving in her back and looked for another weapon than the dart gun that he probably dropped in his fall.

"I doubt that will work…" A voice said loud in their back, a shifty and crafty one that could easily send shiver down your spine. It was another team of armed French Canadians grinning evilly, heavily armed and dressed with bright red punky clothes instead of their usual ones.

"How many doors are leading bad guys to the catwalk again anyway…" Muttered Cam with frustration, slowly turning around to face the enemies. Seeing the team and their new look, he knew that something was going on after all within the crew; slightly teasing but still concerned, Cam asked while staring at them and frowning : "'kay, you're in your right to doubt, but what makes you think that won't work after all?"

"Simply because we don't care about her well-being anymore… It's the Revolution!!!! We're taking her down before she destroys us!" Roared another guard, immediately supported by the loud cheers of the others dressed in red, raising their fist and their weapons as well and shouting some French watchwords.

"Gosh…the plan Vala and I set up worked perfectly!" Whispered Jackson with astonishment to Mitchell and Teal'c –that were also amazed -.

"You mean that you manipulated them to…" Began Mitchell in a low voice as well, not needing to say more when he saw the look on Daniel's face. "Great idea Jackson!" He added with pleased surprise.

"But, just to warn all of you, we planned keeping the hostages and completing the trade with the Army as it should be… So do not expect us to free you!" Interrupted a woman within the guards dressed in red. So it seemed there wasn't any leader in those small divisions and they were easier to recognize since they wore bright colors in a ship painted in grey and black…

"So we keep our first plan: fight the crew to flee away, whoever the captain is?…" Daniel asked to Cam, whispering. To that, the colonel answered with a helpless shrug, already thinking of something that could work.

"You bunch of dirty traitor of hell!!! Who's the asshole that started all this?!!" Mayka roared, coming out of her sheepish silent now that she realised what was going on. "Tell me 'cause I know you're too stupid to do anything like that!" She added, walking toward the rebels with a killer look and the fists clenched.

However, surprised by this outburst, the red dressed guards aimed their guns at her and she stopped on place, staring at them and breathing deeply, clearly angry. Then they began to insult each other and to argue violently, but not in English at all. Cam, Jackson and Teal'c glared at each other, knowing the time was right to try something in fact. And Mitchell had a plan: he just saw the knocked off body of the drunken man that nearly killed him twice since they were on this foreign Earth… the man still had many weapons attached to his belt that he didn't use before since he was an idiot. Mitchell only had to find a way to get closer and to lower himself to grab the objects since the body was really close without being too close of the hole left by the fallen piece of the catwalk. But the rebels could still catch a shot of what he would be trying and that was the problem. It was when another wave of dizziness stroked him that he had the idea… Cam gave a look at his friend, telling with no words to simply follow his play, that he had a plan. The others, used to that kind of action, subtlety nodded in acknowledgement, hiding the best they could a content smile.

With a muffled groan, Cam dropped to his knees, and then collapsed flat on the metal floor, on the stomach and face on the side. He tried to ignore the pain it caused when the round edge of the Letelk spike through his chest knocked on the floor and shook up to his back: he had to look unconscious… Before the guards and Mayka turned toward him to check out what was going on in their back, the colonel subtlety stretched his hands to grab handguns for Teal'c, Daniel and him and kept them hidden the best he could. And before the enemies could notice what he was holding, the Jaffa and Jackson rushed to their leader and helped him to get back up to his feet, each of them on one of Cam's sides, holding his arm to do so. In a perfect synchronisation and still acting as he was nearly fainting, Cameron slid a weapon in the sleeve of their winter coat and hanged one on his belt in his back without being noticed; the pirates eyed them angrily, probably irritated by this interruption, before turning back to their little arguing in French. It worked wonderfully: they were lucky those people preferred fighting each other than watch their hostages…

Cameron took back his normal carriage –or at least the best he could do with his vertigo and his burning lungs- and hand signalled his two friends, silently readying their weapon. The second after, they got cover on the balcony just beside them and, crouched behind the low wall so only their handguns would stick out, they surprised thoroughly the rebels and killed them down with nearly no gun shot back at them. Few minutes after, they had shot down all their enemies that were carrying a gun, leaving a startled Royer standing alone near a pile of a few bodies. She wide eyed them with the mouth gaped and with disbelieve, shocked by how effective and deadly the three men were, thinking that her end was coming. Yet, something she didn't expect happened: the good looking leader slowly stood from behind their hiding place, a very determined look on his face and lowering his pistol.

"Royer… There's still something you can do: they're rebelling, they won't listen to you anymore… Just give up on your kidnapper job for once and help us out of here…" Cam asked seriously, hoping she would listen to him.

"Ha! You idiot! Don't even count on that: you can kill me on place; I'll never give up on keeping you and others as hostages… And it's not because a few of them are trying to overthrow me that it means the loyalty of my entire crew is weakened so screw off!" She answered with a sardonic and stubborn tone, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Fine, talk about a sensible way of thinkin', Miss Moody M…" Cam grumbled with sarcasm to Teal'c and Daniel that were now standing up as well, before trying something else: "Whatever… I'm sure there's something else you could give a try then: you know the nice critter I complained about… the one I said it could terminate your men? Well the fact that I'm still on my feet to kick the ass of your pals over there is the proof the thing is prowlin' around and probably already aboard. Find it… that's all. We'll let you go without harm if you say you can even just spot it on your radar or any of your security thingies." He looked sincere and ready to do so, maybe even pleading.

The captain frowned at his, her eyes squinting and scheming as she was looking for any ambush or anything like this, staying silent for a few seconds. In his back, Cam heard Teal'c and Daniel approaching as they were eager to know if it their leader is doing the right thing. But Mayka couldn't, in fact, explain how did the so appealing man survived to the fall and to icy water; maybe he was shivering, pale with really slightly blue lips and looked a little bit worn out and maybe garbled sometime, but he was still walking and dangerous… Yet she was beginning to believe him and knew there wasn't many option left right now than obeying.

"What should I look for then?" She asked abruptly, as the surrender was very unpleasing.

"Any kind of unusual motion. Plus the alien's crawling and very cold blooded since it isn't alive…" Mitchell began, a little bit cheered to see the woman was accepting.

"Fine…" She interrupted hastily before bending down to grab the gun of one of the rebels and to leave by the door they took in jogging, not listening anymore to Cam.

She left so suddenly that the men stayed somewhat transfixed for a few seconds as well, they were looking at the spot where she stood not so long ago. Then Jackson expressed his concerns to Mitchell:

"You think it's wise to let her go with a gun and knowing we escaped? What if she just gets some reinforcement to hunt us down then?"

"She won't." Mitchell answered seriously, not looking at his friend but at the door with a thoughtful look while reloading his weapon.

"Wand what makes you sure of that?" Jackson asked.

"B'cause she knows she owns us one after we saved her from the angry mob, she still feels guilty for dumping me in a way… and she's just a kid: give her a chance…" Mitchell answered gravely with a vaguely uncomfortable smile. To that, the others didn't argue in any way: he seemed to trust her and to be really confident with it… they know their lt. colonel: he had a good sense of intuition most of the time.

Cameron felt a pinch in the heart only by setting his pure blue eyes on the alien and repelling thing that was now part of his body. It was worst than knowing a foreign body was still in a cut since this Letelk piece of crap was a loss against the monster, a disgusting parasite. He only wanted to tear it off right now, with any tool he could find, to throw away and far away the thing, the part of the so hated bloodsucking vicious monster. It was sickening, maybe as much as those alarming vertigos and the really too short breath that slowed him down. Mitchell tore his look away from this spike and the thin trickle of blood coming from under the stopper of it, lowering the bottom of his shirt he lifted to check on the foreign object. In fact, he and his two friends decided to separate and to look for the women of their team each in their own direction: it would be quicker and, alone more than in a group, it would be harder to detect them. They had a meeting point and the schedule for that next gathering, they had weapons and a great rebellion as a smoke screen. Mitchell had took his own way and realized that he could probably encounter large groups of their captors: with his green battle uniform, he would be really easy to target. So he broke into an empty room, grabbed some better and bigger guns and found some clothes to wear to be unnoticed…

He tried on some black army pants quite similar to those he wore sometime to the missions, got a dry and warmer black t-shirt and putted on a kind of black leather coat he founded. At least Cam now looked a lot more like the Canadian crew and it was well enough for sneaking unseen around in the ship. The colonel was still weakened by the unforeseen effects of the Letelk thing he hated so much and by the state of hypothermia he was in, but he tried for a jogging, hoping finding Vala or Sam would not be too hard. In a ship corridor, he thought his little exploring would be over when two men and a woman ran toward him, but it was a relief when they passed by him without taking care of the colonel: there was something more important going on and dragging their attention and armed force and it was bigger than the little group dressed in red Cam met outside…

Yet that place was like a maze: a lot of corridors were blocked by some pieces of furniture and junks, a lot of light bulbs were out so some rooms were totally dark, some walls were pierced open and every sign or evacuation map were vandalized: it could look like one of those bad zombie movie in a devastated area… And it was taking longer than he thought to find anything but some rushed guards dressed in black that wouldn't take care of him. He had stopped jogging for a while: his breathing was way too laboured with the thing across his lungs and the more he tried to take some deep breath, the more aching and alarming it was getting; it would painfully shred his skin and muscles around the spike and the healing power would then burn his chest as hell to repair that… And there was those so annoying seizures of giddiness that plagued him and stunned him in a displeasing way. So he was trying to walk the faster he could without winding himself, the hand clasped on the end of the spike, impatient to ask Dr Lam to cut it off once for all…

At some point, Cameron could hear some distant gunshots that were announcing some fights. At first he was worrying for his friends until he realised that how it sounded made it clear that there wasn't one or two people fighting many enemies, but some large groups shooting at each other: was it the rebellion that grew up? And later, he passed in front of a passageway he hasn't noticed because of all the junk across it without looking in it, something he would regret then… At the moment he erupted, three loud, deafening and sharp backfires sounded just beside Cam with some slight flashes of light and without delay, he received the three bullets in his side in an utterly stabbing and cold pain, stunned and shocked by the immediate aching and impact… but also by the instinctive dread of dying… They got him…Mitchell collapsed to his knees with the arms clutching tightly on his profusely bleeding side before falling to his side and curling a little bit because of the pain… He turned his head, his sight and his mind quickly filled with cobwebs, vaguely seeing the dark feminine shape rushing to him… She?!... Why her?!...

To be continued!

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Author note: First of all Happy New Year to every of you, o dear readers that take the time to get through my texts. I am kind of quite happy to find so many people doing so even if it is my very first fiction. For that, I thank you all a lot.

I am as well sorry if there is some traits of the SG1 team that I didn't portrayed too well, if the fictive characters are not that good and/or original, if the cliff-hangers are just too unfair :P (but don't you worry: there is not major character death...) and if my english sucks sometime. More to come very soon, we'll see that Cam is still a hero after all his misfortunes :)