11 – Capture

Minnesota

Colonel Mitchell and Teal'c were at the ready, crouched down behind a log, the rest of their team doing the same a few feet away. Teal'c made a gesture slightly forward and to their right and the two stealthily moved in that direction. After pausing to listen, Cam faintly heard a movement and his eyes swung to Teal'c in confirmation.

Mitchell looked toward his team mates, signaling Daniel and Vala to swing to the right, Hailey to follow him to the left. Once in position he gave Teal'c a nod and the team slowly advanced.

Mitchell wondered why Jennifer had stopped running away from them. Was she injured? Had she returned to this reality and been confused to find herself in the woods, rather than in his arms were she'd been. Cam hoped for the confused part, but was pretty sure she wouldn't be this quiet if that were the case.

Mitchell saw Teal'c give the signal for stop and then indicated to Cam that he had a visual. Each of the team members lifted their Zat weapons and waited for Mitchell's signal. Opening the weapon would make noise and would alert Jenn that she'd been found.

He held up his hand with three fingers in the air and counted it down. The noise from arming the Zats seemed unusually loud in Mitchell's ears and they all quickly stood. He caught sight of Jennifer a few yards in front of them, her gun pointed in their direction.

Mitchell hesitated for a split second, looking for recognition from Jennifer. Anything to let him know they were no longer dealing with the entity that'd ambushed him in the cabin.

"We don't have a shot from here, Cameron," Vala urgently relayed.

"Nor I," Teal'c quickly added.

Hailey gave Mitchell a sideways glance, catching the look of hope and dread on his face, before firing her Zat.

Jennifer ducked in time to evade the energy blast.

Mitchell fired his Zat when she peeked back up from her cover. She ducked back down, but immediately rose up again and fired her weapon sending his advancing team all ducking for cover.

"Jennifer, we won't hurt you, we just need to get you to the infirmary," Cameron called out, lifting his head up to watch and wait. The silence was suddenly broken when their radios sprang to life.

"Colonel Mitchell, this is Colonel Carter."

Cameron heard the commotion in front of him as Jennifer sprang up and began to run. His team began to pursue, "Mitchell here," he called into his radio as he followed, "damn I'm glad to hear your voice."

"Yeah, sorry for the delay. When General Landry informed us of the situation we pushed the engines. Are you ready to be beamed out?"

Cameron leapt over a stump before cueing his radio, "She's armed and running, Sam."

"I see that, Cam," she responded. "I'll beam her first, then the team."

Cam watched a bright light in the distance and stopped running. He bent at the waist and looked at the ground, catching his breath, relieved. They had his girl... now they'd begin the task of finding a way to put things right. He had to believe it was possible and would make himself believe it until it was so.

Several pairs of regulations boots came into view. He straightened and found himself surrounded by his team and he smiled gratefully at them all.

"We'll figure this out," Jackson encouraged, just before a white light enveloped them and they were transported to the infirmary on the General Hammond

Mitchell quickly looked around the room until his eyes landed on the still form of Jennifer. She looked so peaceful, lying upon the bed, as if asleep. He wanted nothing more than to slip behind her, pull her body toward his and go back to sleep, hoping that when he woke he'd find this all to be nothing but a nightmare.

"We'll beam you all straight into the infirmary at the SGC when you're ready." Carter looked expectantly at Cam, "Dr. Lam is standing by."

Cameron pulled his gaze from Jennifer and nodded at Sam.

"Colonel Carter to the control room, they're ready to be beamed to the SGC."

A moment later he was standing in the infirmary and couldn't help but feel a bit of hope as he saw Dr. Lam already beginning an examination. He walked over to her bed and stood across from Lam. "They stunned her the minute she beamed aboard the General Hammond."

"I can see that, Colonel," the doctor replied without hesitating in her exam. "I need you and your team to step back a bit and give my team room to work."

"Yes ma'am," Cam agreed. "Carolyn," he spoke, using her first name to get her attention. Dr. Lam looked up and met his troubled eyes. "Jennifer should be restrained."

Carolyn saw the pain in his expression as he uttered the words and nodded her head, first at the Colonel, then at her team, indicating for them to proceed. "I'll let you know as soon as I know anything."

Cameron nodded his head and turned his gaze back to Jennifer, while allowing his team to gently pull him out of the way of the medical teams.

M5R-491 – Pegasus

Major Evan Lorne walked with his team as they covered Sheppard's team's six. They'd been following the dark skinned man who'd come through the gate for just under ten minutes when they heard yelling. It was faint, but growing louder as they moved.

"He's running, don't lose him," Sheppard called into the radios.

Lorne's team double-timed it as they followed Shep's team down the path. The sound of the river muffled the words, but they were definitely getting closer to the source of the argument.

Sheppard called them all to a halt just short of a clearing and signaled for everyone to spread out and around the obvious camp just in front of them. Lorne and his team mate Lt. Jeffries flanked the left of the camp and hunkered down out of site as they took in the sight in front of them.

One woman was screaming at another that she had pinned to the ground with a foot on her upper back and the end of a large branch at the back of her neck. There was a little girl yelling at the woman who stood, pulling at her free arm. With all three people yelling it was impossible to make out the words that any of them were saying.

The man they'd followed from the gate was creeping into the camp with his gun pulled and his head swinging from side to side, obviously trying to gage what was going on too.

"Looks like a domestic disturbance," Jeffries whispered to Lorne.

"Wife discovered the 'other' woman's identity," Evan smirked with a nod back to his team mate.

Jennifer was in a panic as she lay face down in the dirt. The heel of the woman's shoe was digging into her back, but more worrisome was the ragged edge of the branch cutting roughly into her skin at the base of her neck.

"Let me go," Jenn yelled over and over at Karin, but the woman was too caught up in her own anger and fear to hear what Jennifer was saying.

"No one is leaving until Jannick gets here and can sort this out," Jennifer heard Karin screamed back, her tirade of words not slowing despite Jennifer's words or those of her daughter.

Jenn could hear the little girl crying, yelling through her tears, "Mama stop, please stop," pulling at her mom's free arm, but her words were lost amongst all the other yelling and nothing was being accomplished.

Jennifer became silent, hoping the woman would calm down so she could again try again to reason with her. After a moment Karin's yelling quieted.

"Darah, shush," the woman commanded her daughter while trying to dislodge her from her arm.

"Karin, if you will just listen to me," Jennifer began again, but it only caused the older woman to begin her tirade anew.

"What is going on here," Jennifer heard bellowed from a few feet away. The voice obviously caused Karin to startle from either surprise or fear because the stick pinched a bit harder against her neck and the weight on her back increased.

"She was trying to leave before you returned," Karin explained defensively to the man. Jennifer could only see his shoes from her position, but the voice sent chills down her spine. Jenn still didn't think she could fool Jannick, but she had to try.

"Make her get off me," Jenn demanded, knowing Neeva wouldn't stand for this treatment.

"Now," she heard Jannick sneer just before the stick was removed from her neck.

As Jennifer stood she gingerly ran her hand across the back of her neck and felt the moist stickiness, her eyes confirming her suspicions when she looked at her hand. "Are you crazy, you stupid woman?" she yelled at Karin for good measure before turning to look at the dark skinned man before her. She hoped her eyes didn't betray her fear.

Sheppard remained hidden from site in the bushes surrounding the camp with the rest of his and Lorne's teams. The little squabble unfolding in front of them was interesting he would admit, but he was beginning to think it didn't have anything to do with their s.o.s. call to the planet.

"Ronon," John whispered into the radio, "did you track to this location as well?"

"Yep," the Satedan absently answered, hunched down with Teyla several yards to the right of Sheppard. The woman who raised herself up off the ground was facing away from him, but his senses were telling him there was something familiar about her. He wanted to get closer, and was focused intently on the scene hoping for an opportunity to make a move.

The argument before them continued and John watched the younger woman turn in what appeared to be exasperation. Immediately he heard Ronon growl his name into the radio grabbing at his attention, but Lorne interrupted before he could ask Ronon what was up.

"Sir, the younger woman is Neeva Casol," Lorne dropped the name like a bomb.

"Are you sure?" Sheppard asked, not believing what he'd heard.

"Yes," Ronon growled again, clearly upset by the situation.

"Hold your positions. We don't yet know that the s.o.s. originated with these people." Sheppard knew they'd take her into custody regardless and hand her over to the Coalition. She'd committed several thefts and even murder on more than one planet and the Coalition wanted her and her partners brought to justice.

"Rodney," Sheppard started as a thought hit him and he turned toward the physicist, "what do you think the odds are that we'd just happen upon Neeva right after you start messing with that damn communications device?"

McKay didn't miss the 'I told you so' tone in Sheppard's voice and he tried not to make eye contact with the military leader. "Well, it's not like she'd risk showing her face on any of the Coalition planets or those of our allies, so the fact that we're on a deserted planet and with her having been on Atlantis…" Rodney rambled, not liking the accusation he could see in Sheppard's face. "I'm just saying that it really narrows down the number of planets she could be on and the fact we came to a planet where someone used an s.o.s factors in to make it not as improbable as you'd think, especially if you also factor in…"

"McKay," the Colonel growled to stem the scientists babbling.

"What?" Rodney asked, his voice defensive, his eyes glaring, "You asked me the odds of…"

"Sheppard," Lorne's voice came across the radio hushed, but definitely holding a warning. John looked back to the domestic squabble and found the dark skinned man was now holding a gun to Neeva's head.

"Chewie, move closer," the Colonel commanded. "Intervene if you have to."

"Ronon has already moved in closer," Teyla informed Sheppard.

"That gun better be on stun, big guy," John warned as he tried to slide in closer as well.

"Something's not right with you," the man holding the gun to Neeva's head accused. With Neeva's back to Sheppard, he had a clear view of the man, his eyes and voice reminding John of the snake in the Disney movie Jungle Book… eyes wild and hypnotic, while his voice was low and almost came out in a sneer or hiss.

"First you claim to be sick all last week," the man continued, clearly not believing that was the case. "I come back today and find you being held to the ground and accused of trying to leave." The sound of him cocking the gun emphasized how serious he was.

"Please Jannick," Neeva was heard pleading, "please just calm down for a moment and listen to me."

Jannick didn't seem to be moved by her pleas and John saw the step back he took and the arm holding the gun grow steady and lift slightly to be level with her forehead. Sheppard knew the man was about to shoot.