Col Reynolds stepped through the gate and quickly dropped down behind the platform as he scanned the area for Vala and Teal'c. The Jaffa had assured him that it was safe to come through, but Reynolds had to wonder at his definition of "safe" as he watched a contingent of Ori soldiers approach. He jumped when a light hand dropped onto his shoulders.

Vala grinned at the surprised Col, "welcome to the jungle Col, this way." She headed away from the soldiers at a crouched run without bothering to make sure he was following her.

They met up with Teal'c just outside of the village outline; all three were grateful for the moonless night cloaking their movements from the Ori.

Reynolds tapped the cables against his his leg in a strange mixture of boredom and anxiety, "so… we just wait?"

"I don't not believe it will take long for Col Carter to receive the message that the cables have arrived." Teal'c didn't even bother to ask if Mitchell had gotten caught and sent to the infirmary. He was having trouble deciding if he approved of Carter's trap or not; on one hand, he knew that the Col needed medical attention, on the other, he could understand Mitchell's need to keep an eye on his team.

As usual Teal'c was right, they had less than a minute to wait before the village flashed around them. They instantly felt a shifting sensation rush through them as Sam took the village back into the other dimension. They could just make out the outlines of the soldiers racing toward the village, only to stop in confusion as it once again disappearred.

"Kinda entertaining isn't it?" Daniel watched the soldiers turn to the Prior for an explanation; he grinned, knowing that the mystical man would have nothing to offer. He turned to the newly-arrived Col, "I'll take you to Sam; we don't have a lot of time left."

Sam looked up from her work as the two men entered the main chamber; she wasn't at all surprised that it was Reynolds delivering the cable. "Did Carolyn bite his head off?"

"Oh, I think he'll be lucky if she stops there."

Sam and Daniel winced in sympathy; Carolyn tended to get just slightly pissed when someone didn't come in for treatment right away. Carter squared her shoulders, "it was for his own good," she stated, trying to sound confident in her decision. She grabbed the new cables and began hooking them up to cover her unease.

Jackson and Reynolds were silent as they waited for Sam's pronouncement that the change had worked; both knowing how meticulous she was in her work, they settled in for the long wait.

Surprisingly, Carter let out a small squeal of excitement after only five minutes. "I love being right." She glanced at the two men with a smug smile, "now the only question is whether we should wait for the Ori to leave before we head to the gate."

"I believe that question has been answered for us as well; the Ori have departed for their ship."

"Does that seem just a little too easy to anyone else?" Daniel's raised eyebrow accompanied his question.

Vala spoke up as she plopped herself into Jackson's lap, "oh, they'll be back; but if I know them as well as I think I do, they'll wait a day or two and try to surprise the villagers."

"She's got a point." Reynolds held up his hands in mock surrender when SG-1 cocked a collective eyebrow in his direction, "what? It sounded like something Mitchell would have said."

Everyone just shook their heads as they began packing the gear.

"Hey, someone want to go grab Kitchny and Mattus so I can show them the activation sequence?"

Vala hopped to her feet to comply with the request; she would much rather spend her time searching for a couple of good looking men then packing equipment.

STARGATE: SG-1

Cam winced, but kept his mouth shut as Dr Lam prodded his rib cage in an especially tender spot. He'd already gotten a small indication of how irate she was when she'd cleaned and stitched his wounds without her usual gentle touch. She'd worn a tight frown throughout the entire process; continually grumbling about stubborn military officers and the like, but that only seemed to put her in a worse mood.

He couldn't help a sharp gasp as she poked at the same spot, "you know this isn't about you right?" He put on his most winning smile, but still only barely managed to intercept the ice pack that was practically thrown at his face.

"Oh, I know that. This is about stupid male egos, and military officers being too stubborn for their own good, and a dozen other things. I never should have let you go on this mission; your original injuries were nowhere near healed." Carolyn fairly spat out the statements, her anger evident.

It took Cameron a couple of minutes to realize that only a part of her fury was directed at him. "Doc, I would've ended up like this even if I'd been completely healthy to begin with; you letting me outta here a little early had nothing to do with it." He saw her start to object, "Carolyn, we have dangerous jobs, we're going to get hurt, there is nothing you can do to prevent that. The thing is, we know that we have you to patch us up, and you're one of the best at what you do. That's all any of us can ask for."

She paused in the process of covering the stitches on his forearm and hung her head, "you would think I would be used to all of this after two years." Her moment of vulnerability lasted all of three seconds, "but I do wish you'd all take better care of yourselves; which includes coming to see me as soon as you get hurt." She prodded his injured side just hard enough to get her point across.

"See Cam, I'm not the only one."

He looked up to see Sam leaning in the door frame with her arms crossed. "You know it's not fair to gang up on an injured man, right? How'd it go?"

"We'll leave the village out of phase for another month, but from the looks of things, we were successful." Carter moved into the room and lay a hand on his lower leg, "Carolyn, can I talk to him alone for a minute?"

"Well, I was going to do a bit more poking and prodding to get my point across, but I suppose that can wait till later. Just give me a heads up when you leave."

Cam scooted to his right and patted the bed next to him for her to sit down.

"I see you haven't gained any modesty when it comes to losing your pants yet," Sam chuckled.

It was then that Mitchell realized he was lying there in nothing but his boxer briefs; Carolyn had needed his chest and upper leg exposed for stitching and hadn't offered him any scrubs. He hurriedly pulled the blankets up to his waist, "this one doesn't count. Besides, you owe me at least one after that little set up earlier today."

Carter glanced down at her fidgeting hands before meeting his eyes again; he only looked about half as angry as she'd expected him to be. "Cam, I stand by my decision. I know you always want to be there to protect us, but we can take care of ourselves you know."

"God Sam, you think I don't know that?" Even he was surprised by the volume of his voice, but he was pissed damn it.

"Well then start acting like it, and lose that damn stubborn streak of yours!" If Cam could be mad then so could she; she was sick and tired of him endangering his life for them. Sam waited for him to yell again, but was surprised when he closed his eyes in resignation instead.

Mitchell dragged a hand through his hair, "Sam, do you know where I'd be right now if I didn't have this 'stubborn streak' of mine?" He forced his eyes open and met her bright blue ones; he continued without waiting for her to come up with an answer, "I'd be dead. I'd be six feet under and pushin' up daisies at the Wheatland Cemetery. Or at the very least, I'd been confined to a wheelchair, pushin' papers behind some desk."

Carter stopped listening the second he growled out the word 'wheelchair'; her mind's eye instantly filled with the image of dull, lifeless blue eyes partially obscured by greasy and disheveled brown hair. The other Cameron Mitchell, the one that Sam wished with all her heart that she could forget, the one who had given up on everything and everyone.

He may have had the principals to privately stand up to his so-called government, but there had been no fight, no life in him. The encounter had scared Sam more than she'd even admitted to herself. It wasn't the first time she'd met those from an alternate reality; but it was the first time that things had been so horribly wrong, people so incredibly changed, without the basics being all that different.

Her Cam would have found a way to fight the government, he would have found a way to walk again, he would have found a way to live. Her Cam would have kept fighting.

Mitchell watched Sam's eyes carefully and he really didn't like that haunted look that had settled into them. "Sam, yo, Earth to Sam?" He laid a soft hand on her forearm but withdrew it when she flinched. "Sam, what's wrong," he asked with concern, their earlier yelling completely forgotten.

It only took one look at him for Sam to realize what she'd asked of him only a minute ago; her Cam could no more give up his tenacity than she could stop being intelligent, it was who he was. "I'm fine really, its just- I shouldn't have told you to stop being stubborn, I'm sorry."

Cameron wasn't buying it, "no Sam, you're not fine. What's up?"

"Talk about being stubborn," she gave him a small smile. Mitchell had asked about himself in the alternate reality, but Sam couldn't bring herself to tell him the whole truth. "Just something you said hit a little close to home. I shouldn't have yelled at you, but I do wish you'd take better care of yourself."

Cameron had no doubt that there was something she wasn't telling him, something that scared her, but he'd leave it alone for now. "Fine, I'll try."

Carter couldn't help but laugh at his cute little pout. She scooted around and leaned back against the head of the bed next to him, "so, you know Lt Marsh over there has been staring at you since I came in. I would say she was mentally undressing you, but since you're already in your skivvies…" The bright shade of pink creeping up his bruised face only made her laugh all the harder.