Sam sighed as she looked around her at the Genii mining office. She really hated getting trapped, and getting trapped with McKay was one of the more grating parts of the experience.

"Hey, I got some files here. Can anyone read Genii?" Keller asked, looking up from where she was leafing through some files.

Keller was a smart girl, she thought to herself. A little easily distracted and a more than a little naive about what she'd gotten herself into, but a smart and capable base physician nonetheless.

"Hello, hello." McKay said, holding up a file from another closet.

Sam looked over at him. "What have you got?" She asked, trying not to show her persistent annoyance with the over-confident, bumbling physicist.

"Grappling hook. Or at least, something we can use as a grappling hook."

Sam's eyes widened. That could get them home.

"Great! Now all we need is some rope." Keller said with a grin.

"Okay, just a sec—the ceiling is like, what, twenty feet?" He said, looking up.

"Twenty-five?" Sam countered.

"All right, twenty-five." He said, giving in.

Sam instantly began looking for some rope as McKay continued. "So, our jackets end to end are five or six feet…tie those to our shirts, maybe even our pants together…that should be able to get us up there and support our weight."

"Great." Keller said, looking over McKay as she began taking off her jacket.

"Found rope!" Sam said, holding up her find as she noticed Keller's shirt was halfway up.

She was somewhat happy to see the disappointment in McKay's eyes as Jennifer pulled her shirt down again with a triumphant smile.

"Rope and lanterns." Sam said eagerly.

"Oh good." He murmured, unenthusiastically.

"More than enough for what we need." She said with grin.

"Well, nice work."

"Thank you." She said with a smirk.

Maybe there were some perks to this particular entrapment after all.

-

Sam kept knotting the rope with a small sigh. Keller was babbling on and on about something. She'd stopped paying attention a few minutes earlier.

"...just the fact that we could fall into a giant...abyss...has me a little freaked right now...and I'm willing to do just about anything to keep my mind off it."

Sam looked up at the doctor. "Well," she began slowly. "Uh, the employee evaluations are coming up. How are you finding your new team?"

"Uh, they're great. Everyone's super smart, and we all get along pretty wonderfully, actually."

"Good." She said, focusing on her knotting. "Good."

Jennifer looked over at her, somewhat nervously. "How am I doing? I mean, are you happy with..."

"Oh, yeah." She assured, recognizing the awkwardness of her question. "You're going to get a great evaluation."

"Well, good." She said, nodding as she returned to her work. "That's good to hear."

Sam sighed as she looked at Jennifer. She was trying to make conversation. She didn't need to make it so hard. "I'm sorry." She finally apologized. "My default is always work, uh...I..."

"Oh, that's okay." She said, shaking her head.

What was a relatively safe topic, she asked herself. What could she ask that wouldn't make her seem cold, distant...heartless...

"Are you seeing anyone?" She finally blurted.

Jennifer's eyes widened. "What?"

Sam looked over at McKay discreetly. "On the base. Are you seeing anyone?"

"Well, I...kinda had a moment with, uh...this guy. But he's kind of hard to read, so, I guess the short answer is "no"." Jennifer paused before she looked back up at Sam. "You?"

"Well, I'm the boss, so I can't actually..." She said, shaking her head.

"Right." She said, nodding. "Of course. Anyone back home?"

Sam remembered the ring around her neck. "Uh..."

"Yeah. Thought so." She smirked. "Spill it."

She laughed mirthlessly. "Well, it's complicated..."

"Show me a relationship that isn't." She chuckled.

"He's in Washington." Sam explained, thinking of her fiance. "I'm here..."

Keller nodded. "Long distance relationship, huh?"

"Uh..." Sam stammered, uncomfortably before she shrugged. "He's going to retire soon, so...who knows?"

"Really?" She asked, surprised. "Retire? Older man, huh?"

Sam looked in surprise. Jack was less than fifteen years older than she was, but...that really wasn't that much older in the scheme of things. "Well, he's not that much older..."

"Let's see...older man...Washington...is he a senator? Somebody famous? Would I know him?"

"Probably not." She said with a shaky smile as she remembered hearing what the nurses had said about the General when he'd twisted his knee this past Christmas and been escorted to the infirmary to get it checked out.

"Wait...you're not seeing..." Keller began.

Sam looked up, somewhat concerned.

"General O'Neill?!"

Sam tensed. "I think we should go back to that..."would you rather" game..."

"You're having an affair with General O'Neill!" She cried, excitedly.

Sam looked back somewhat worriedly at Rodney, who was still busy with his files. "Uh..."

Jennifer caught on, and looked back at her. "How did we not know? I mean, he was here just a few months ago."

Sam swallowed. "Well, we are trying to be discreet...given the fact that...well, it's not against regulations for us to be in a relationship now, but...we used to be in the same chain of command and some people..."

"Your secret's safe with me." Jen interrupted.

"Are you guys done yet?" Rodney asked, walking over somewhat irritatedly.

Sam turned a look to the scientist. "Uh..." She coughed. "Still working." She looked over at him. "We could use your help..."

"Fine." He said, walking over as he tucked the files under his arm.

She rolled her eyes as he sat down and continued to read the files where they sat.

"So..." Keller began. "Steve Carrell or Stephen Colbert?"

-

"I'm almost there." She murmured as she began to stand on the bridge they'd created.

Another tremor struck, shifting the boards and crates out from under her. She closed her eyes as she braced for another impact against the cold, cement floor.

Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, she heard Keller's voice. "Oh no!"

She fell to the ground, getting the wind knocked out of her as she heard a snap in her leg. "Whoa!"

"Sam!" Keller cried.

Sam grimaced as she tried to touch her injured leg.

"Don't move! Don't move!" McKay cried, reaching her before the doctor.

She groaned in pain as Keller arrived. Sam tried to breathe deeply until Keller's preliminary examination reached her right leg. "GAH!" She screamed.

"Your leg is broken." Jennifer said, matter-of-factly.

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she tried to breathe against the pain. "Oh! We're in trouble now, aren't we?"

McKay's voice was somewhat shaky. "No, we'll be fine. We just, uh…we'll be fine."

"Now I know how Jack felt," she murmured, touching a hand to her forehead in agony as she remembered splinting Jack's leg in the ice of Antarctica in her first year with the Stargate Program.

Just desserts...and all that, she thought to herself.

"Rodney, roll up her pant leg." Jennifer ordered as she went to retrieve her pack.

"Okay. Can you help me?" Jennifer said, returning with the pack. "Okay. One hand here, on her knee."

"Ow!" Sam cried in protest.

"One hand down here, on her ankle. Keep it nice and straight." Jennifer continued, looking at McKay. She turned back to Sam as Rodney did as he was instructed. "You're not going to like this, but I gotta take your boot off."

"Yeah, I thought you might." She said with a groan.

The doctor carefully unlaced the boot before she looked up at Sam. "Okay. Here it comes."

Sam braced herself as the doctor gently tugged on the boot. "Agh!" She cried as she winced.

Keller gently pulled off Sam's sock, and suddenly, Sam was grateful that she'd taken the time to paint her toenails the night before. It was going to be a while before she was able to reach them again.

"Okay. Tell me when you can feel my finger on the bottom of your foot."

"Okay." She said as Keller began to gently touch Sam's foot.

"Yep…Yeah."

"Here?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." She said as she reached around to find a small piece of wood from the broken crate. She looked over at McKay. "We need to find another one of these - make a splint."

"Okay." He said, nodding.

Sam closed her eyes as she pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead. She'd bruised something internally, she was pretty sure. She needed to get them out of here. She couldn't afford to be the patient. Not as the only trained military escort for these two civilians...

Her mind was working quickly as she thought about her leg. That was the most likely place for internal bleeding. She was pretty sure it was the only broken bone in her body. That gave them...an hour...before they really needed to panic.

Keller and McKay returned after a moment with another board, and Sam looked over at them. "So, what? Hour before internal bleeding becomes a problem?"

They both looked stunned.

"How did you..?" Rodney asked, surprised.

"It's not my first rodeo, Rodney." She sighed. Let's see, there'd been Jack, Daniel more than a few times, Cam once, and though Vala had never broken a bone, Sam was almost positive that it might not be too long before Daniel wanted to change that. Those two had issues on both fronts.

"Here's some ibuprofen." Jennifer said, offering her a couple of pills as she interrupted her wandering train of thought.

"Ibuprofen?!" Rodney asked in shock. "That's the strongest thing you've got?!"

"It's all I have in this basic kit." Keller defended. "Although, from this point on, I think I'm making morphine mandatory…as well as maybe a grappling gun."

"I wouldn't take the morphine." Sam interrupted. She'd done that once before too, and with Cam, she'd been okay. She'd only had to go without the pain meds once in order to do her part to get them home. "Got to keep a clear head. We still have to figure a way out of here…" She let out a low hiss in pain. "At least one of us does. Chances are pretty slim that I'm going to…climb out." She winced as Keller set her leg. "Ow."

"Yeah, well the crates are out."

"Yep." Sam agreed.

"Hey, if you got an idea," Rodney said, turning to Jennifer. "Feel free."

"Hey, I came up with the bar trick thing, okay?" She protested. "And that didn't work out so well, so I think I'll just…leave it to the pros."

"Yeah."

Sam felt the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She couldn't afford this right now. She couldn't do this right now. She needed to stay strong.

Rodney looked at her and she shot him an annoyed look. "Sorry. All my energy's focused on not screaming in agony."

"Wonderful." He sighed.

Jennifer left for a moment, and Sam tried to focus on what Rodney was saying, though her mind went back in time to another time he'd been the reason for one of her injuries. That man owed her. She still didn't have feeling in part of her hand.

"Okay." He said, thinking out loud. "Well, the grappling hook because the hook wouldn't hold our weight in the soil. The crates didn't work because Sam was too heavy, uh…"

She glared at him.

"Oh…" He said, noticing her look. "We all would've been. I mean…our weight in general. It had nothing to do with you. It just…you…I mean, you're in very good shape. Seriously, you have, like the perfect body."

Keller returned with some blankets which she'd rolled up to pillow Sam's head. She gave the physicist her own glare.

"Oh!" He said, looking at the other woman he was stuck with. "Not that you don't! Oh, no, no, no. I realize that your bodies are different, and-and-and, uh maybe-maybe that that would mean that I think that your body is imperfect, but that is not the case. No, no, no. Far, far-far from it—that—that is, a sweet…uh, which is to say…I mean, it would be impossible for me to choose which of you—"

"Rest assured," Sam interrupted, irritatedly. "You're never gonna have to."

"Aw, if we'd kept quiet, I bet he would've gone on like that forever." Keller said, dryly.

"Okay, I'm sorry." He said, seriously. "What I mean is-is that you have—"

"Rodney." She snapped. "Stay on topic."

"Right." He said, nodding soberly. "Okay, uh, right…where was I?"

Sam sighed. It was going to be a long trip home...

-

Sam sat up in the infirmary, looking somewhat forlornly at her leg. Oh that she could just...will it healed and return to duty.

"Colonel Carter?" John Sheppard called.

She touched her headset gently. "This is Colonel Carter..."

"We're receiving a message from Earth from General O'Neill. He stated that it is for your eyes only."

"I don't have my laptop."

Jennifer looked over at her. "Because you're recovering..."

"Ask Dr. Keller if you can use hers. The General seemed rather adamant about getting through to you."

Sam looked over at the physician who sighed and turned over one of the tablets.

"One hour. Tops." Keller said, raising an eyebrow.

Sam managed a grateful smile as she accessed the telemetry. "General O'Neill," she greeted. "It's good to see you."

"Only wish it was in person," Jack admitted. "How are you?"

"Fine. Another day or two in the infirmary, and then I'm on crutches."

He studied her closely, and she wished she'd had access to a shower or at least a little makeup to make herself a little more presentable. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yes." She assured.

"I got your report. What about these people? Have you tried to get in touch with them again?"

"I sent Major Lorne's team to handle the negotiations." She said, nodding. "They were unwilling to budge on any of their requirements, and we're just not capable of paying them back for the Genii's misconduct." She sighed. "We, uh...we failed."

"It was their choice, Carter. You have to remember that."

"Yes, sir." She said, wishing once again that they were in a more private place so that she could say the things that were on her mind.

"I sent you a data file with this message." He admitted. "Knowing we have a...thirty-eight minute window and all that..."

"Actually, sir, with some sort of matter or energy travelling back through the Gate, it can stay open...well, almost indefinitely..." She corrected.

"Right..." He sighed. "There's a letter from Cassie. A few from Mark, Cindy and the kids..."

"One from Daniel, Teal'c, Vala, and Cam?" She asked, hopefully.

He nodded again. "As well as one from me."

She managed a small smile. "Thank you...sir...that means a lot."

"Maybe when you come for your review, we can have...lunch...or something."

It was the "or something" she was most looking forward to. "You got it...sir."

"Well, I gotta go. Landry's complaining about how I'm tying up the phone line."

She grinned. "It was good to hear your voice," she admitted after a moment.

"And yours." He said, nodding. "Get well soon."

"Do my best." She promised.

He looked around him and then back at the screen as he opened his mouth.

"Me too, sir." She interrupted before he could jeopardize their discretion.

His features softened as he smiled affectionately. "See you in a few months, then."

"Undomestiquated equines, sir..." She said, referencing Teal'c's beloved phrase.

He grinned. "Take care."

"Backatcha."

"O'Neill out."

The transmission was ended, and Sam sighed. It was never long enough.

"Long-distance relationships...they're the worst..." Keller admitted from beside her.

Sam managed a faltering smile. "I would have to agree with you..."