So, this is the final chapter. I would like to thank you all for leaving nice reviews and reading this story of mine. A big thank you to my Beta Bettie who gave some ideas and encouraged me to still post the story after the first chapter. I learned a lot and it was an honor for me to have you as my readers. It would be fantastic if you can leave a review by pressing the little button at the end...
I am working already on a new Story so stay tuned. Take care and God bless you all...
A few more yards and Jack were hiding behind another container and he peeked sideways. He saw a car drive past which briefly shown some light on the dark area, and he had seen two men standing near there. If he could take them out that would mean, there were only two left. `Wow, O`Neill you can count. ` He grimaced at his own sarcastic joke. He aimed at the figures whom he could not see any more but hoped they were still standing at the same spot. Two silent shots and he could hear bodies drop; this must be his lucky day. All went well so far and only two more clowns to go. Hiding in the darkness and using this to his advantage, he moved further. Now he could see under a streetlight not just two men, no, that was a group of ten. He mumbled something under his breath. Right now, his mind was racing to come up with a solution.
He could ring Carter. She would come. But that would mean putting her in harm's way. Jack didn't know if he was even prepared to do so. This was his revenge and no one else's.
He had not seen the man who was standing a few yards away from him behind another container. But he could feel it. A screaming pain hit his right thigh. He dropped to the ground and his breathing increased erratically. He blinked a few times to get rid of the overwhelming feeling to just let go, drifting into the darkness which surrounded his heart for the last few days.
Steps came closer and he could feel the presence of a man standing next to him. Jack had closed his eyes and held his breath. His best chance was to play dead. It didn't take long and the shooter left Jack alone believing that he had shot the Colonel dead. Sweat dripped off of Jack's face and he was now panting heavily. He fumbled around in his pockets and got his cell phone out. He didn't want to, but he needed the help of his Major.
The button was pushed, and the ringtone already was ringing in his ears. "Carter…" for Jack the best and sweetest voice just answered him.
"Carter…" a raspy voice answered.
"Jack?" Sam managed to hold herself together. She knew her CO wasn't ok.
"Need… help, sorry…" Jack swallowed hard against the pain and tried to concentrate to tell her where he was.
"Jack, where are you. I am on my way, hang in there Colonel!" All alarm buttons were pushed at once. Sam got a rough idea of where to look for him after he described the area. He had said something about too many bad guys. She packed a few extra clips in her pockets and left the house.
Fortunately, it did not take her to long to find the described area. Turning the lights off, she parked her car. Not bothering to lock it, she made her way to find her CO. She hoped that he was still alive. Why did he always have to get himself in so much trouble?
Jack could hear the soft noise of some heavy footsteps. He knew help was coming in the form of one Major Carter.
Soon Sam had found him. He was leaning against a wall behind a dumpster. When she saw him, Jack recognized her, and he smiled at her. She was melting away already. But the feeling had to wait. Her CO was in trouble. He needed medical attention and needed it very soon. Sam checked him over and found that he already had wrapped his leg. At this point in time, there was nothing she could do.
"Sir, we need to go. My car isn't far from here. Can you walk?" She wanted to make sure both of them were on the same level of the immediate action they should take.
"Negative, Major. I've still got something to do first. This maybe sounds very selfish. But there is no other way. Are you with me?" Jack looked her in her eyes. She knew from the look on his face, he would do it no matter what. With her help, he had better chances to stay alive.
"Ok, Sir. What's the plan?" She sat next to him and listened very carefully to the words he said. Her ears are strained already from his very soft voice. She was not even sure that this was not a suicide mission after all.
After a few minutes, Sam was sure she got him right. At his request, she helped him up. He wanted her to take cover and he would play the bait. When the eyes would be fixed on him, she had time to take them out. Sam was not a sniper, but she was very good with all firearms so he had no doubt that this risky plan would work.
Jack stepped out and walked in the direction where he had last seen the group of men standing. He swallowed hard. His gun was ready to draw, in his belt behind his back. Slowly he limped along, a small grimace on his face just before he was in shouting distance to the group.
"Hey, guys. Sorry to be interrupting your meeting. Just got a question." Jack shouted as loud as he could, drawing the attention towards him.
All twenty eyes were focused on him. Nobody took any notice of the small figure in the shadows behind him. One guy recognized the Colonel and in the same second, he pointed his gun in Jacks' face. Jack admitted to himself that this reaction was pretty quick. He saw the barrel shaking in front of his eyes. `This could become a bit dangerous. ` Sam aimed at the man with the gun. A shot, a drop, and Jack let him fall to the side. He got his gun out while the guy fell, and he aimed now at the men. At that, the chaos broke loose. Bullets were flying around and hitting their targets. Screams ripped the cool night air apart and after it was all finished Jack counted another ten dead bodies on the ground.
He turned himself around to look for Sam. She was amazing the whole time, so he wanted to thank her for staying by him and to tell her that it was time to go home. "Sam?" he called her name, but there was no answer. "Sam?" he called her again. He started to panic. She came to help him and to save his sorry ass. If she was injured, he would have trouble forgiving himself. He was standing now next to the dumpster where he knew she was hiding in the first place. As Jack looked down, he could see a blond woman lying on the floor. The colonel let himself drop to the tarmac and scooped her into his arms. He felt for her pulse, his finger shaking. He wanted to cry and to scream. Where was her pulse?
He had seen where she had been hit, a big red stain already covered her left shoulder not too far away from her heart. How was that even possible? He made sure she was well hidden, so she wouldn't get shot. Why was she here in his arms fighting for her life? If he could he would have slapped himself right across his face. This was his fault. He called her. He wanted revenge. Sam had nothing to do with that. Jack felt how the guilt crawled more and more up in him and started to eat him alive.
He felt again for her pulse. Now he found one, Sam was breathing the whole time and he was ever so happy to find her pulse even if it was weak. Jack knew what he had to do. Get Sam to the car and to the SGC. The Doc would fix her. She always knew what to do. Hell, she fixed him all the time.
The Colonel summoned all his strength and scooped his Major off the floor. Biting back his own sharp intense pain he just had one goal: getting help for Sam.
Slowly he made his way to her car and slid her as good as possible in the passenger seat. Hopping around he slumped himself behind the wheel and after taking a deep breath he started the engine.
The ride up the mountain seemed for him as if it took forever. As he saw the lights, he released a deep sigh. "Sam, hang in there. We are nearly there. Stay with me." He pleaded to her. If he would lose her, God helps him. He would not know what to do. After his son's death, he wanted to kill himself so many times but always found a reason to carry on. Daniel had helped him in so many ways and he never had told him that. Jack made himself a mental note to sort this out with him. Daniel was a man who deserved Jack's thanks.
As he arrived at the front gate, he shouted at the young airmen to get help. He needed a medical team here as soon as possible. `Jack you are stupid. Why did you not phone ahead so they would be ready and waiting for you? ` he could not believe he forgot such simple things like that.
The airmen called and then went over to the car. O`Neill had killed the engine and waited. There was no energy left in him to do anything. He told the arriving medical team to take care of Carter. He gave as much information as possible about where the Major had been hit. Another young airman wanted to check him over as he waved him away. Carter was more important. He told them that he himself was ok. He saw how Sam was taken out of the car and a medical team started immediately working on her after she was carefully placed on a gurney. Jack sighed in relief. His job was done. Relaxed he drifted into oblivion.
In the infirmary, all hands fussed around the Major when Janet realized that someone was missing. "Has someone checked on the Colonel?" she shouted over the noise in the infirmary. Lots of blank looks faced her. In all that drama she really had forgotten the Colonel himself.
After giving some more orders on how to treat the wound of her friend, the doctor gathered a team together and went to the surface again. Reaching the car in no time she saw Jack still sitting behind the wheel. As she reached him, she could see in the dim light how pale he looked. `Colonel, what have you done this time to yourself? Why didn't you say something? ` As she was thinking, she realized that she knew the answer already. `Because that is what you do - always putting the safety of your team in front of your own. Oh, Colonel`. Janet barked some orders around and in no time, Jack was on a gurney himself. As she checked him over briefly, she could see the infection that had spread now quite severely and the wound in his leg. She hurried to get him into the mountain to give him proper treatment.
Daniel and Teal`c now had been standing in front of the infirmary. They had heard that Sam had been in surgery already when the Colonel was brought in. A quick glance to their leader and both men stood like they were in shock. More personnel gathered around and none of the people present would forget the sight of the Colonel lying on the infirmary gurney about to be wheeled into the operating room.
The time moved ever so slowly. Daniel was pacing and Teal`c sat on the floor meditating. None of them would go to their quarters. Too important and too deep was the bond around and in between the teammates of SG1. Daniel did ask himself what was going on. He knew Jack had a week's leave and now his best friends were here in the infirmary. His answers had to wait as right now no one could or would answer them anyway.
By now Daniel sat next to Teal'c his face buried in his hands waiting. Nothing of this had made any sense to him. He hated it when he had to wait. In some areas, he was ever so patient and in some not so much at all.
The door swung open and one very tired looking Doctor stepped outside. "Both will survive. The Wound on Major Carter looked worse than it was in the end. She will be sleeping until tomorrow morning. However, the Colonel was playing with his life on the extreme side. He had a bullet wound on his arm, on the side of his abdomen, and one in his leg. The wound at his belly area was infected. It took a while to patch him up. The area is cleaned, and he will get treated with antibiotics right now to help his weakened body. I also gave him a sedative so he will sleep till tomorrow morning. I suggest you both get some rest. Right now, there is nothing you can do for either of them. Goodnight, gentlemen." With this, she turned around and entered the medical area again. Rhythmic beeping came from the monitors which observed the vital signs of her patients.
As she had checked them over one more time and had been satisfied with what she saw, Janet returned to her office. The next morning would come sooner than she wanted to. She informed the General about the exciting story happening in her infirmary and told him she would have the report ready first thing in the morning.
Three weeks later
"Come in" General Hammond looked up from his desk.
"You wanted to see me?" Colonel O`Neill stuck his head through the door of his CO.
"Jack, come on in and have a seat." Hammond waited patiently for Jack to make himself a bit more comfortable. He knew that Jack still had trouble walking and, according to Doctor Frasier, it would still take a while till his 2IC was up and running again.
"General?" Jack faced his friend. He didn't have any idea what this was about. After he had woken up three weeks ago, he had spoken with his CO. Thanks to the General he didn't have to worry about any trouble with the police. Jack had no idea how he had done it or which strings he had pulled for him, but he knew the matter was sorted.
"I just received a phone call from the Police chief himself. He said he wanted to talk to you in person." The General could see how Jack straightened himself up in the chair.
"Why?" he asked, irritated.
"That's for you to find out. If you like, you can phone him right now from here. Use my phone. I will leave the office for so long." With a smile, he stood up behind his desk and walked to the door. As he turned around, he looked at the younger man whom he could easily have adopted as his son, smiled and left.
Jack picked up the phone and dialed the number which Hammond had left for him on his desk. As the phone rang, he wondered himself briefly what this was all about as he heard a female voice answer. In short sentences, he explained why he called and waited now for the Chief himself to pick up the phone.
Several minutes later, Jack put the phone down and swallowed hard. He had just been invited to a gala evening where he was to be recognized for his actions against the local mafia. He was told that this was an invitation to bring someone with him and he had just the right person in mind.
A few minutes later he was standing in front of her lab. He remembered that it took them both a while to get over what happened. Carter had been a bit on the cold side towards him and he tried to make it up to her. He knew he never should have brought her into his personal vendetta. They got it finally sorted out and now everything was back to normal. He visited her from time to time, making some bad jokes and she would laugh.
Now he was standing in her doorway watching her work on another doohickey. He stepped in and cleared his throat.
"Hey Carter, whatcha doing?" He came a bit closer and pretended to be interested.
"Oh, hello, Sir. SG6 had brought an alien device back from PX5…" Sam stopped as she realized that her CO was not really interested in this scientific stuff anyway. Sometimes she forgot that part about him.
"Any plans for next Wednesday?" he asked, casual as possible.
"Not that I know of. Why?" she studied him but had not gotten any wiser.
"OK, you've got plans now. I pick you up at 1800. Get yourself dressed up. I am taking you out." He had a huge grin on his face.
"What's with the rules and regulations?" she asked with concern.
"Hammond knows about it. It's all sorted." He smiled and left her good knowing it will circle in her mind.
Wednesday evening – a few days later
It was exactly 1800 when Jack was standing in tuxedo and black tie in front of his Major's front door. She opened the second he rang. Jack smiled. He knew she was standing behind the door waiting like a child. The woman he saw now in front of him blew his mind away.
Sam was dressed in a ruby red evening dress, and she had a touch of makeup on her face. The neckless and earrings fitted that picture so well.
"Carter, I don't know what to say. You look absolutely astonishing." Jack clearly had trouble finding some words for the woman he could not have.
"You are not looking bad yourself, Sir." Sam grinned, took her purse and locked the door. "So, are you telling me now where we are going? You avoided me for the last few days. Not nice at all." But she chuckled while saying that and remembered how childish he had behaved the last few days.
"You will see." Was all he would give her as an answer. It didn't take them long to get to the mess hall where the whole police force was joined together to award their own. For the first time ever, it would be a Colonel there among them.
THE END
