A/N: Well, shippers, I hate to break it to you, but this is the beginning of the end for Torment. I'd say one more chapter after this, plus an epilogue, and she'll be officially "in the can." Muse and I have enjoyed this story immensely - probably more than any of the others I've written. Not sure why, but it was an absolute thrill to write. Thanks for hanging in there through my snail-paced updates.

Hope you enjoy the ending Muse has cooked up!


Chapter 28

Eyes locked on the front of the temple, Sam couldn't figure out what was making the room vibrate slightly. Only after Jack's weary figure rose from behind the stone altar did she finally realize that it was not a geologic phenomenon making the earth move, but rather the violent trembling in her knees. The instant his blazing, dark brown eyes met her own, she felt the hot rush of relieved tears spring up in her chest.

"You do realize, if I wasn't so glad to see you in one piece, I'd be wringing your gorgeous little neck right now." Jack's words, filled with his usual dry sarcasm, held a note of something intense and powerful.

Trying to find some sort of appropriate comeback, she opened her mouth, but found herself unable to do more than choke back a violent sob. Staring into the eyes of the man she loved more than life itself, she found every emotion she'd suppressed in the last hour crashing down on her mercilessly. Terror, guilt, and self-doubt flooded her heart with overwhelming force, tempered only by the sweetest sense of relief she'd ever experienced.

Staring into her tormented blue eyes, Jack felt every one of her emotions as though it was his own. Knowing that Lee and two marines were standing by, but completely unable to care, he found himself bearing down on her trembling figure with the force of a locomotive.

Despite force of his arrival, Jack found himself sweeping her into his arms with infinite tenderness. "It's okay," he murmured quietly. "I've got you now." As if to reinforce those words, he pulled her tightly against his chest, brushing a tender kiss on the crown of her blond head.

Sam pulled a deep, shuddering breath into her lungs, relishing the familiar scent of him. "I was so scared," she choked out between sobs. "I've never been so scared in my whole life." Looking up into his eyes, she found one of her hands reaching up to cradle his rugged jaw. Like him, she discovered she didn't care who was watching at this moment.

Finding his own knees a little weak at the moment, Jack stared intensely into her eyes. "That makes two of us," he rasped, shuddering slightly at how close he'd come to losing everything precious to him. When a flash of guilt darkened her blue eyes, he squeezed her gently. "But you're okay now," he whispered solemnly. Slowly, a smile tugged on the corner of his mouth. "Both of you."

For the first time since she'd discovered her condition, Sam found herself looking into the eyes of her baby's father with complete, unbridled honesty. Reflected in his warm, brown gaze was the most perfect expression of –

"STOP!"

Jerking in surprise, Sam found herself yanked violently from the tender moment by Daniel's frantic – not to mention loud – exclamation. Pulling away from Jack slightly, she turned her head toward her friend in confusion.

Daniel's face was the picture of apologetic regret. "I really hate to interrupt your happy reunion," he said sincerely, "but I think you guys might be forgetting something kind-of important."

Jack stared at the archaeologist darkly. He was clearly unhappy to have his important emotional moment cut short. "And that would be?" The impatience in his voice was audible.

Daniel cleared his throat. "We haven't reversed the effects of the device yet," he replied quietly. "And, from my perspective at least, it sure looked like some 'deepest desires' were just about to be fulfilled." He shrugged contritely. "I'm sure I don't need to remind either of you what would happen in that event."

The effect of Daniel's words was instant. Jack's arms dropped at the exact moment Sam stepped backwards. The pair stood regarding each other warily, uncertain of how close they dared be to each other.

Seeing his friends so unnerved, Daniel felt himself bite his lip to keep from smiling. "The good news," he interjected, "is that Dr. Lee is ready to perform the reversal anytime."

As one, Sam and Jack turned their attention on the slightly-rumpled scientist.

Clearing his throat, Lee held the device in his hand aloft. "I'd tell you to stand in the gilded circle," he stated with a smile, "but you're already there."

Looking down, Jack was surprised to discover that Lee was right. After his initial run-in with the device, he'd sworn he'd never set foot in this circle again. However, in his rush to get to Sam, he hadn't even noticed that he was once more standing in the place where this whole mess had begun. "Well how about that?" he mumbled.

Sam smiled. "Gives new meaning to the phrase, 'full circle,' doesn't it?"

Unwilling to look at her, lest he fall back into her bottomless blue eyes, Jack turned his attention back to Lee. "So, what do we have to do?"

Lee pointed to the puddle on the floor. "If you'll both just step in the water I brought from the reflecting pool, I can get started."

Sam shook her head, dipping one toe in the puddle. "If you'd told me that this was the key to making the damn device work, I'd never have believed it."

Following her lead, Jack dropped his boot unceremoniously into the water. "That makes two of us," he agreed. Then, still not daring to meet her eyes, he smiled faintly. "I guess that just proves that sometimes what we're looking for is right under our noses."

Hearing more than one truth in those words, Sam found her own lips tugged into a smile.

Totally unaware of the tender mood emanating from the circle, Lee began punching buttons on the device. "It did actually did occur to me that the pond might be involved," he remarked brightly. "In fact, when we first arrived here, I took samples of the water for further analysis. However, since there were so many other things to examine, I haven't had time to test them yet." His eyes shone with eager excitement as he worked. "I have to say, I can't wait to find out exactly what is in the water which makes it–"

Lee's words were cut off abruptly as the distinct sound of staff weapons erupted outside the temple.

Jerking to attention, Jack's hands reflexively pulled his P-90 into a ready position. "What the hell is that?" he barked, starting to move toward the temple's door.

Sam's hand shot out and gripped his bicep firmly. "I don't care if it's God outside," she muttered, "we're not moving out of this circle until Lee finishes the reversal."

Turning to her with a look of surprised disbelief, Jack clearly thought she was a little unbalanced. "Carter, we're under attack." He flicked a glance at the myopic scientist who was now frantically punching buttons on the device's controller. "Don't you think Lee can finish this after we take care of whoever's outside?"

Considering what she was about to say, Sam found her voice to be surprisingly calm. "Actually, no," she replied simply. "You see, Ba'al really did call a full contingent of Jaffa down here when he was hauling me over from the holding cell." She sighed. "I'd imagine we have about fifteen minutes to get the procedure done and retreat back to the gate before we're completely overrun."

Jack gaped at her. "And you're just telling us this now?"

She shrugged apologetically. "It slipped my mind," she replied. Seeing his look of utter disbelief, she held up her hands in a gesture of defensiveness. "I was a little distracted!" she retorted hotly.

Rolling his eyes, Jack turned to Lee impatiently. "Are you almost done?"

Clearly unnerved by the turn of events, the scientist was now tapping on the device's control panel with unbridled panic. "Yes, though I really can't be one-hundred-percent sure this will work the first time!" he exclaimed in distress. "I was hoping we would have more time to–"

Jack cut him off mercilessly. "Well, we don't. So, do your thing, and let's get a move on."

Swallowing, the doctor nodded. After a few more adjustments, he looked up slowly, appearing somewhat unsteady. "I think that's it," he said timidly.

Looking first at Daniel – who was gripping a pistol and looking grimly at the front entrance – and then at Lee, Jack took a deep breath and turned to Sam. "All right then," he said quietly, "I guess it's now or never."

As his words hung in the air, Sam felt her stomach quiver with fearful anticipation. She knew with absolute certainty that this moment would define the path she'd walk for the rest of her life – which, if she was lucky, might last more than the next few minutes. She was about to turn toward Dr. Lee in order to watch him activate the device, when she found herself unceremoniously hauled into Jack's arms and kissed soundly.

An unmistakable feeling of electricity jolted through her body, though for a moment, Sam almost interpreted it as the familiar feeling of Jack's lips on hers. Only after the smell of ozone filtered into her consciousness did she realize that the device had been activated. As Jack's mouth slowly pulled away from her own, Sam felt a sense of muddled surrealism fill her senses.

Looking into his dark eyes, she blinked uncertainly. "Is that it? Did it work?" Her words were little more than a whisper.

Jack inhaled slowly. "One way to find out," he murmured. He paused for the space of a heartbeat, gazing at her with blazing intensity. "Marry me?"

For a moment, Sam's conscious brain was simply unable to register the question. It was, after all, the one thing she'd dreamed of hearing from him for the better part of seven years. Now, with a small audience of military personnel looking on and the sound of angry Jaffa warriors echoing in the background, Sam realized that there would be no candlelight and romance in the proposal from the man she loved.

And, quite frankly, it didn't matter in the slightest.

Smiling with the radiance of a type I-A supernova, Sam felt tears spill uncontrollably down her cheeks. "Yes!" she gasped. Laughing in spite of the dire circumstances, she reached up and pulled his lips down to hers for a swift, passionate kiss. In one blistering caress, she managed to communicate every heartfelt emotion which sang in her veins.

Locked in her embrace, Jack felt the future open up before him. Where not so long ago, nothing but endless work and half-realized longings had existed, now lay a path to perfect happiness. He'd long since given up on ever having his own family again, and yet by some miracle, he now found himself holding his future wife and child securely in his arms.

Slowly pulling her mouth away, Sam found herself gazing into his eyes with a sense of sheer wonder. "We're alive," she whispered.

Grinning in spite of himself, Jack couldn't stop the reply which flew from his lips. "Surviving the proposal was half the battle." Before he could get anything else out, a particularly violent staff blast shook the doors of the temple, pulling a shadow across his features. "Unfortunately, it appears the other half is demanding to be fought immediately." Pulling away from Sam, he gripped his P-90 firmly and turned to the rest of his team. "Branson, get on the radio and let Davidson and Miller know we'll be arriving at the gate with company. Lee," he barked, ignoring the scientist's obvious panic, "keep your head down, and don't drop that damn controller again." Flicking a quick glance at Daniel, he smiled. "You know what to do." Then, with the grim confidence built in a hundred different battles, he lifted his weapon and jogged toward the door. "Let's move!"


By what could only have been divine intervention, they'd managed to get across the wide, open clearing surrounding the temple and back into the thick forest without taking any injuries. They were now less than two hundred heavily-wooded feet from the gate, which was extremely fortunate, as Ba'al's Jaffa had nearly caught up with them.

Breathing heavily, Jack fired his P-90 through the trees as one of the armed warriors peeked out from behind a large, ancient tree. They were close, he knew, to reaching safety. If they could just hold out for a few more minutes–

As always seemed to be the case in situations like these, the dark hand of Fate reached down and made her presence known, this time in the sound of Jack's radio crackling to life. "Colonel!" Davidson's frantic voice was punctuated by the sound of more staff weapon fire – this time, coming from the direction of the gate. "Miller and I have had to fall back to the tree-line! Looks like Ba'al has summoned more warriors, this time using the stargate! I can see several dozen armed Jaffa coming through now!"

Swearing violently, Jack cast a dark look in Sam's direction. As he fired into the trees again, he tried to formulate a plan. "How did the rest of these bozos get here?" he asked, gesturing toward the party of Jaffa who'd followed them from the temple clearing.

Sam squinted into the trees, trying to find a target to shoot at. "Ba'al has a ring platform just outside the holding cell where I was transported to," she reported quickly. "I imagine this contingent was brought down from an orbiting ship."

Jack exhaled sharply. "Wouldn't it just be our luck that everyone's favorite snake-head had his ship directly overhead when we dropped by?"

Firing at a warrior who stepped into her line of sight, Sam smiled in satisfaction as the Jaffa dropped like a stone. "Actually, sir, it seems likely that Ba'al kept a ship in this system for strategic reasons." She shrugged. "He probably had a gate onboard just in case he needed to get here in a hurry. I'm pretty sure that when I was zapped into his holding cell, I activated some kind of communication beacon and let the overhead ship know something was going on down here. They probably contacted Ba'al immediately, and he just gated over to investigate." She shrugged. "So really, there wasn't much luck involved at all."

Jack eyed her wryly. "Gee, I feel so much better now," he muttered. Suddenly, something seemed to occur to him. "Lee!" he barked, glancing around for the cowering scientist. When he finally caught sight of the man, he wasn't surprised to see him huddled between Branson and Daily. "Where the hell did we send Ba'al, anyway?"

Lee winced as another staff blast struck a nearby tree. "I didn't have time to recalibrate the device," he responded defensively.

Firing his P-90 at another charging Jaffa, Jack didn't miss a beat. "What the hell does that mean?"

The scientist shrugged. "It means I probably sent him to the same holding cell where Dr. Carter ended up."

Jack sighed, firing at the oncoming figure with grim determination. Finally, the Jaffa fell. "Great," he muttered. "So good ol' Skippy was probably close enough to get back to his ship via the ring platform and summon reinforcements."

Sam winced as she processed his words. "And, knowing where we were heading, he was smart enough to send them through the gate, effectively cutting us off."

Swearing loudly, Jack's mind started ticking off strategic options for getting his team back home safely. Unfortunately, none of his options were especially appealing. He was completely outnumbered and effectively sandwiched between two units of well-trained Jaffa warriors. Looking at Sam, he could see she was thinking the same thing.

They were pretty well screwed.

Seconds later, the sound of weapons fire intensified two-fold from the direction of the gate. Jack swallowed down a wave of dread. He knew that Ba'al could keep sending reinforcements through the gate indefinitely, making their chances of retreating in that direction laughable. And, unless Davidson and Miller could somehow reach the DHD to contact the SGC, they were pretty much on their own.

Though the sounds of combat rang heavily in his ears, Jack found himself gazing at Sam with an ironic half-smile. "We just can't catch a break, can we?" His words, though intended to be lighthearted, were weighted down by the understanding of their impending doom.

Sam felt angry tears rush into her throat. Here they were, almost within sight of their salvation, only to find any chance of escape ripped away unceremoniously. Naturally, just when she had something unbelievably precious to live for, it seemed her life was going to be cut tragically short.

As if proving her thoughts correct, a large contingent of the Jaffa who'd chased them from the temple suddenly became visible through the trees. It was clear to Sam and everyone else huddled on the path that there was little hope in overcoming them this time, especially with violent weapons fire starting to erupt from behind them. Just as she was ready to pick up her weapon and charge the oncoming warriors – hoping, at least, to go down fighting – Sam was startled to see one of the Jaffa struck square in the chest by a staff blast.

Turning around, she felt her heart take flight at the sight before her. Instead of another band of Ba'al's Jaffa, she could see Teal'c, Bra'tac, and a few dozen of their allies marching through the trees toward their teammates' position. Emitting a sound that was half-laugh and half-sob, Sam turned to Jack with a smile. "So, Colonel," she called out giddily, "what happens if we manage to survive the other half of the battle?"

Grinning at her reference to his earlier words, Jack followed the rest of his team to the safety of Teal'c's line. "Damned if I know," he called back. Then, with a playful wink in her general direction, he shrugged. "But I'm betting it's gotta be better than eight hours of cribbage."