"Quite so Colonel Carter," the man still wearing the mask said, voice distorted through it. "I am impressed, however, that you were able to identify us." Several of the other intruders moved to stand around them, effectively fencing them all in.
Sam gave a small shrug that was limited by having her arms bound behind her back. "Wasn't that hard," she said lightly.
He chuckled. "No need to pretend, Colonel. The house is bugged, we know how long it took you to figure it out."
Sam winced inwardly. How much had they heard?
"Perhaps you would have had better luck if you hadn't been so… distracted," he continued, voice laced with insinuation.
She refused to give him the satisfaction of offering any reaction to his statement. "So, are you going to introduce yourself?" she asked, trying to change the topic while keeping her voice even.
"Not just yet," he said, beginning to pace back and forth. "It's hardly necessary."
"Ah, actually I'd really like to know." Daniel spoke up. "You know who we are and you've obviously spent quite a bit of effort trying to get the four of us up here, so why don't you tell us what you want?" One of the gunmen standing behind them pushed the muzzle of his weapon into Daniel's shoulder in warning.
"I'm the one asking questions here Doctor Jackson," the man in front of them said. "And right now I have a problem. We know General O'Neill was here. Where is he now?"
Daniel and Sam looked at each other. "Do we know a General O'Neill?" He asked her.
"Don't think I've ever heard that name before," she answered. "But does it have one L or two?"
"I would think one."
"Oh, well definitely not then." She looked at Teal'c. "Teal'c you ever hear of this O'Neil?"
"The name does not set any bells ringing," Teal'c said stoically, but Sam heard the faint note of amusement in his voice.
"Anyway, sorry, who?" Daniel asked looking back up at the figure in front of them.
"Do I look like I am in the mood for playing games?" The man asked, examining his gloved hand.
"Uh yes? Wait no.." Daniel said hesitantly. "Is it no? Guys, what do you think?" he looked back at Sam and Teal'c.
"It's just so hard to tell when we can't see your face," Sam said.
In a blink of an eye he stepped forward and smacked her across the face. The force of the blow knocked her off balance into the legs of another assailant standing behind her. Stars exploded behind her eyes as the other man pushed her back forward and onto her knees again. The leather of his glove had set her cheek on fire and she worked her jaw back and forth in an effort to quell the stinging.
She felt both Daniel and Teal'c tense on either side of her. "I'm okay guys," she said in a low voice.
"Now," the voice floated back down to her, "do you need more convincing that I am serious, or are you ready to tell me where General O'Neill is?"
It has been two minutes since Jack had last seen anyone pass by his hiding spot. His view through the boards was extremely limited. He couldn't be sure they were actually gone. They might have disappeared into the woods, gone back inside, or they could be standing on the bank silently waiting for him.
He couldn't stay in the water any longer though. Drowsiness was beginning to sweep over him and there had been a second when he couldn't remember where he was. In his mind he was back with Sam, trapped in a room that was rapidly flooding with frigid water on a sunken Ha'tak. Panic threatened to overtake him as he realized there was no way out and that he couldn't save her. He was going to watch her die and there was nothing he could do.
He stood up suddenly and slammed his head against the dock which brutally dragged him out of the past. Cursing silently he rubbed his head and prayed that no one had heard the sound. He was grateful for the shock back to reality though. Sam was still in the cabin. This time there was something he could do. This time he could save her.
He submerged himself and slid out from underneath the dock. Slowly he raised his head out of the water just enough so that he could see the edge of the pond. There was no one in sight and with a couple quicks stroke he had reached the bank. There was no cover from the pond to the woods but there was nothing he could for it.
Feeling weighed down by his soaking wet clothes he made a mad dash for the tree line. Once he was several hundred feet into the denser part of the forest he stopped to listen. There were no shouts, no signs of weapons fire or the crash of footsteps through the underbrush. He let out a silent sigh of relief and started to make his way through the trees to circle around to the front of the cabin. He needed to know what was going on in there.
Sam tried not to shrink back as the gloved fist impacted her jaw. Not that there was anywhere to pull back to, one of the assailants held her firmly by the shoulders keeping her upright while the one in front of her shook out his hand. The man in the gas mask stood to the side watching, arms crossed. After backhanding Sam he had stepped back and let one of the other men take over.
"We can keep this up all day," he said. "Or one of you can tell me where General O'Neill is and we can end this now."
Sam's head was ringing. She could feel a large welt forming in her cheek where he'd hit her. The room had started to go a bit fuzzy around the edges and she wasn't sure if she could keep herself upright without the man's insistent grip on her shoulders.
On her left side Daniel was sporting a spectacular black eye and on her right Teal'c's lip had split and was slowly dripping blood down his jaw. They both looked wary but defiant; a look she hoped she was projecting as well.
"We told you already he's in Washington, it was just the three of us here," Daniel said.
"And I told you that we had the house bugged," the masked man said impatiently. "We know he arrived yesterday afternoon with Colonel Carter and has been here ever since."
"Huh, that's news to me," Daniel quipped. He was rewarded with a blow to the jaw. Sam winced inwardly, but damn, she admired his audacity.
Daniel's eyelids started drifting shut and his head briefly rolled to one side.
"So what is this?" she said to the masked man, desperate to get their attention off Daniel for a minute. "Can't do the dirty work yourself? Have to get someone else to do it for you?"
It was a dangerous play and she knew it. "Look, we don't know where he is! And you haven't even told us what you want." She said, raising her voice slightly.
The masked man had stopped right in front of her forcing her to tip her head back to look up at his blank eyes and covered face. "They may not know, but I know you were the last one with him, and I have a hard time believing he would just leave without telling you," his sneer was evident, even through the mask. He took a step back. "Bring her," he commanded, with a flick of his finger over his shoulder.