A/N - Finally! Sorry for the delay. I plead real life. Hope it's worth the wait. Special thanks to narellew68 for the cross dressing idea. ;)
Chapter 12
Sam could only catch a glimpse of the crowd that had gathered to watch her procession from the castle to the abbey for her wedding to Baal. She was flanked by at least a dozen Jaffa, not counting the four who were seated in the wagon next to her. Still, she knew by the dull roar that grew increasingly louder as she approached that the entire town and most of the surrounding villages must have turned out to watch the spectacle.
Thankfully she'd been left alone after Jack had vanished the night before. Despite the fact that she'd remained undisturbed, she had found it impossible to sleep, less because she was worried about Baal and more because she couldn't stop thinking about the kiss she'd shared with Jack. Even now the memory of it caused her heart to skip a beat, and she had to remind herself that she needed to keep her focus in order to be ready for the inevitable battle ahead.
As they approached the abbey, she tried once again to see past the bulky Jaffa in a futile attempt to locate a member - any member - of her team. She was somewhat irritated that Jack hadn't shared the details of his plan with her, but at least she had managed to hide the zat he'd left for her in a slit she'd made in the skirt of her gown. Though she would have preferred for it to sit closer to her body, the maids had stuffed her into yet another form fitting bodice that morning, leaving hardly any room for her breasts, much less anything else.
Once the Jaffa had deposited her at the altar inside the abbey, she was finally able to take stock of her surroundings. Unfortunately, the new view did nothing to encourage her. The interior of the church was small and dark and heavily guarded by even more Jaffa, who lined the side aisles and stood menacingly at the entrance.
She saw no sign of Jack or her team and wondered how in the world they were going to get in. After all, Baal had clearly anticipated some sort of attack. His Jaffa, all heavily armed even inside the abbey, were on high alert and were apparently only letting women though the door. Despite their intimidating glares, however, the pews were packed.
Sam shifted uncomfortably when she realized that all eyes were on her, several of the women whispering and pointing in her direction. A disturbing thought occurred to her, and she wondered if she had popped out of her dress. That, she thought, would be just her luck. She glanced down quickly and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized everything was still where it was supposed to be, though she knew the wedding guests might get more of a show than they bargained for if she actually had to fight.
However, she had little time to dwell further on her attire, as the elderly Abbot arrived surrounded by several hooded friars. He cleared his throat to capture her attention, and she took one last sidelong glance at the crowd, searching in vain for her team. With a sigh she turned toward the officiant, trying her best to tamp down on her nerves when she realized she was going to have to go through with at least part of the wedding.
Somewhere a trumpet sounded, and Baal sauntered in from a side door with a smirk. Behind him, one of the friars raised his head slightly, and Sam was stunned when she recognized Harry. He gave her a quick wink, and Sam gasped then shifted uncomfortably, trying to hide her slip.
Baal's grin widened, clearly having misinterpreted her reaction. "No need to be so nervous, my dear," he said to her in a low tone. "Though I must admit that I find the 'blushing bride' act rather appealing."
"Bite me," she replied acerbically, and she was gratified to see his face darken.
He grasped her firmly by her upper arm and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "You will learn humility before your god soon enough," he hissed, "though I relish the thought of breaking you." He stood upright and gave her a chilling smile. "Perhaps we shall begin tonight when we share our wedding bed."
Sam paled and turned back toward the Abbot, who had already begun the ceremony, and tried her best not to think about what a night with Baal might entail. But as the Abbot continued to drone through the wedding service, she grew increasingly anxious. The time to exchange their vows approached, and still there was no sign of Jack or SG-1. She risked a glance at Harry, but his head was hidden beneath the cowl of his robe.
Tired of waiting for something to happen, Sam decided she would have to take matters into her own hands. Slowly and carefully, she moved her fingers through the folds in her skirt, seeking the slit in which she'd hidden the zat. Though she didn't really have a specific plan and knew her chances of escape were slim, there was no way she was going to allow Baal to kiss her, much less do anything else he had implied.
It took several seconds before she finally felt the familiar serpentine shape of the gun, and Sam had momentarily panicked, thinking it had fallen out of her dress sometime during the ride to the abbey. Just as her fingertips brushed up against the smooth, cool metal, the Abbot raised his head and addressed the crowd.
"Does anyone have any objections?" he asked in a warbling voice.
Sam's hand wrapped around the base of the weapon, her fingers tensing in anticipation. But before she could pull it out from the folds of her skirt, Jack suddenly appeared from nowhere, standing beside the Abbot with his own zat trained on Baal.
"I have a few," he said with a lopsided grin.
In the space of a nanosecond, several things happened at once. Faster than Sam thought possible, Baal pulled the Abbot between him and Jack, leaving the elderly cleric on the receiving end of the zat blast that Jack had just fired. As the Abbot collapsed onto the floor, the Goa'uld grabbed Sam around her waist and erected his personal shield around them both.
At the same time, the abbey erupted in utter chaos, as several of the women in the pews shed their wigs, revealing themselves to be men, among them Daniel and Arden, who began firing their zats at the guards. Instantly, the remaining rebels freed their swords from their skirts and began attacking the rapidly faltering Jaffa with help from a handful of archers, who had hidden themselves in the rafters. Harry likewise acted instantly, taking out a few friars presumably loyal to the Abbot with his own zat and sending the rest fleeing.
Pressing a knife to Sam's throat, Baal took in the chaos and cast a disdainful look at Jack. His eyes flashed. "If you follow, she dies," he growled, dragging Sam toward the side door through which he'd entered.
oOoOoOo
Outside the abbey, Teal'c was leading Elsa's people in an attack on the remainder of Baal's Jaffa, but they were greatly outnumbered and were in serious danger of being overwhelmed. The archers were good, but they were no match for the staff blasts that seemed to come from all directions, and everywhere he looked Teal'c saw archers and swordsmen falling.
He was doing what he could to incapacitate Baal's Jaffa, but before long Teal'c found himself surrounded by at least a dozen of the heavily armored men. Seeing no other option, he lowered his weapon. Surprisingly, rather than accept his surrender, the largest of Jaffa primed his staff and aimed it at his chest.
"Now you will die, Sholva!" he spat.
Teal'c watched the latent energy run over head of the staff, then spread his arms to welcome death as a warrior. But the blast never came, and when he looked closely at the Jaffa who had threatened to shoot him, he was stunned to see the bloody point of a spear poking through his chest.
The Jaffa slid off the spear and fell to the ground with a thud, revealing a stunned looking villager half his size still grasping his makeshift weapon. Emboldened by the man's courage, his fellow villagers let out roar, and within moments a hundred commoners set upon the remaining Jaffa. Soon all of the villagers had taken up whatever arms they could find and were joining with the people of the forest in the fight to oust their oppressors.
oOoOoOo
Jack wasted no time pursuing Baal. Closing his eyes, he simply pictured where he wanted to go, and in the next moment he was standing in front of the snake, who still had his personal shield up and a knife pressed to Sam's throat. Baal came to an abrupt halt, clearly startled to see the military man appear before him for the second time that day. His attention, however, was quickly drawn to the doorway behind him as Daniel and Arden and Harry emerged, effectively trapping the Goa'uld between them and Jack.
Baal spun around to face Jack once more. "I will kill her, O'Neill."
"Give it up, Baal," Jack replied. "You've got nowhere to go."
"Then I'm sure you can appreciate that I have nothing to lose." With that, he pressed the point of his blade deeper into Sam's throat, causing a drop of blood to run down the long column of her neck. Jack fired his zat at him, but the energy ran harmlessly over the exterior of his shield.
Sam cocked her head at Jack, drawing his attention. Quickly, she glanced down at her skirt where her right hand rested in the folds. She lifted the zat, still hidden underneath her dress, ever so slightly in his direction. His eyes widened a bit, and he inclined his head almost imperceptibly before looking once again at Baal.
"It seems we have a bit of a standoff." Baal smirked, oblivious to the exchange. "Perhaps I could interest you in a trade." Jack's eyes were steely as he stared down the Goa'uld, but Baal was undeterred. "The Chariot for Colonel Carter."
"Deal," Jack replied without hesitation.
Sam wondered if Jack had misunderstood their unspoken conversation. "Sir, if he has the Chariot, he can go anywhere."
Jack continued to stare at Baal as he spoke. "It's okay, Carter."
With his eyes still trained on the Goa'uld, Jack removed the ring and tossed it to him, the slow moving projectile easily piercing his personal shield. Baal released his hold on Sam in order to catch it, and she immediately tried to move away from him, only to find herself still trapped by the shield.
Baal's eyes flashed triumphantly as he examined the ring. "Fool! Now I've got the Chariot and your woman!" he sneered. "We'll be taking our leave now."
He placed the ring on his finger and waited, but nothing happened. His smarmy smile faded a bit. "The castle!" he commanded, and still he remained rooted to the spot. His expression grew increasingly stricken as he focused all of his attention on the ring, muttering while he moved it from one finger to another. He was so caught up in his actions, he failed to notice Sam pull out the zat she'd had hidden in her skirt and point it at him from inside the shield.
"Now who's the fool?" Jack asked quietly.
Baal looked up then and finally noticed the weapon aimed directly at him. Startled, he gaped at Sam and raised his knife in a defensive posture.
A faint smile played at the corners of Sam's mouth. "Sorry, Baal, but it looks like you've brought a knife to a zat fight," she said, as she zatted him not once, but twice. Once incapacitated, Sam pulled the ring from his finger then zatted him a third time, causing both Baal and the shield to disappear.
Jack grinned at Sam as she handed him the ring. "Sweet!"
oOoOoOo
Harry, Arden, Daniel, Jack and Sam filed out of the abbey, unsure of what they would find. But to their great relief, they saw that most of Baal's Jaffa had been killed, and the few who remained were held captive.
An air of excitement permeated the courtyard outside the church. As the five individuals walked into the open area, the villagers turned and looked expectantly at the group. Arden gave a nod to Jack and stepped up onto a nearby platform to address the crowd. The others followed him.
"Good people of Nottingham!" he began. "It gives me great pleasure to announce that, thanks to Robin Hood and the Lady Marian, the Sheriff is dead!" At that, the crowd let out a deafening cheer.
Jack took advantage of the noise to lean over and whisper in Sam's ear. "What else do you have underneath that dress?" he asked, with a mischievous grin.
Sam feigned offense. "I assume you're talking to Daniel," she said haughtily, casting a sideways glance at the archeologist, who was still wearing his skirt.
"Hey!" Daniel protested.
Jack shrugged. "Guess I'll just have to find out for myself," he said. Without warning, he grabbed Sam around the waist and dipped her backwards. To her utter shock - and the crowd's great delight - he kissed her.
Once again, Sam was stunned, especially considering Jack had only just recently expressed his affection for her, and then only in the privacy of her room at the castle. Within seconds, though, she was responding to him in kind, their increasingly rowdy audience long forgotten. Several minutes and a few uncomfortable coughs later, they finally broke apart.
"You know, Jack," said Harry. "I'm really very happy for you. Though I would highly recommend that you not to limit yourself to just one woman."
But Jack never took his eyes off Sam, who was smiling at him like crazy. For her part, Sam simply shoved the would-be friar off the platform, then pulled Jack back in for another kiss.
"This is a historic day," Arden said to Daniel over the din, "one that will no doubt be celebrated throughout the ages. Yet it is unfortunate that we do not know the fate of our king."
Sam finally tore herself away from Jack and turned to address Arden. "I think I may know where he is..."
TBC...
