A/N - This is a rewrite of one of my more popular stories that I did a while ago. I just felt it needed a bit of revamping, and while I don't have the time right now to start new fanfiction, I found this to be a good compromise :)
Chapter 1: The Breaking Storm
The roar of another meteor nearly deafened Sam as she ran back down the path through the village, leaving the Stargate and the rest of her team behind her. The only thought in her mind was to find Colonel O'Neill and she prayed silently that he was alright and not crushed somewhere beneath a superheated piece of rock. A sudden explosion to her left caused her to fall to the ground, tumbling down the hill a little ways and she swore when she looked down to see the fabric of her pants torn and the skin below bloodied.
"Sam!" Daniel's voice came in over the radio, panicked. "You need to get back here now! We can't stay much longer."
Sam coughed out the dust from the explosion. "Daniel I haven't found him yet! You and Teal'c head back, we'll be on your six."
She got back to her feet and continued running, heading past the village, past the fields and to the caves where Jack and gone to look for the children with Laira. Standing in the shelter of an overhanging rock ledge she pulled out her radio once again. "Colonel? Colonel please respond."
"Carter?" his voice was barely discernable above the static and sounds of explosions.
"Sir, where are you?"
Static obscured most of his words, but she did make out "caves." She took off running towards the entrance, which wasn't more than a few hundred feet away. When she was nearly there another meteor struck and Sam was once again thrown off her feet. This time, however, a hand closed around her forearm, pulling her back up and into the shelter of the caves.
"Carter, what the hell are you doing?! I told you to go back to the gate!"
She stood, brushing dust off her clothes and wincing as her scraped leg began to throb painfully. "Sir, you weren't responding, I thought maybe…"
"You thought maybe what?"
"Nothing."
"Shit…" Jack wrapped an arm around her, pulling her back deeper into the caves as yet another meteor struck nearby. He pulled her along into a small inner cave with torches burning on the walls. Huddled together nervously in one corner were Garren, Naitha and Laira, all three looking up with expressions of relief when Jack and Sam entered.
Laira's eyes widened slightly. "Major Carter you're injured…" She moved over as Jack helped Sam into a sitting position, then gently examined the wound on Sam's leg.
"I'm fine, really…" Sam tried without success to wave the other woman off. She looked up at Jack desperately. "Sir I told Teal'c and Daniel that we'd be –"
"Carter," Jack interrupted. "Have you seen it out there? There's no way we'd make it back to the gate in time. Hell, I don't know how you even made it here without getting hurt. I thought I ordered you to go back to Earth."
"I wasn't going to leave you behind." She drew herself up as she said it, trying to look like she was just being a good soldier and not that she was yet again letting her personal feelings get in the way. "I thought that's what we did."
"Drawing a fine line between that and disobeying orders," Jack replied, trying to give her what was ultimately not a stern look. Sam could see the faint glimmer of relief in his eyes, and she nodded before fumbling in her vest pocket for something Laira could use to bandage her leg.
Jack let out a long, loud sigh as he looked back towards the entrance to the caves. Shaking his head he sat down, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes.
**
Night came, finally, and with it sheets and sheets of rain cascading down from the sky. The frequency of the meteor hits dwindled to almost nothing, but still the five remained in their rocky shelter. Jack took a few minutes to try to go survey the situation outside and returned with a grim look on his face.
"It's raining, which is a good thing, but it's still too hot to try and leave. Our best bet is to stick it out here until things have cleared up. You kids brought supplies, right?"
Garren nodded, hugging Naitha close and trembling slightly. The boy was trying his best not to show how afraid he was, to protect the young girl he obviously cared so much about, but his wide eyes gave him away as he looked to Sam and Jack, obviously hoping one of them could provide some sort of reassurance
Sam, easing her bandaged leg along, scooted closer to Jack. "Did you try to radio for the others?"
"Yeah, Danny and T weren't responding. They probably headed back to the SGC." Jack cast a long look in her direction. "Don't worry, Carter, once they get the chance they'll send someone through."
"I know," she said, nodding. She chewed her lip and gave Jack an apprehensive look, wanting to know what they would do in the thousand and one possible scenarios that were playing out in her mind.
Jack looked at her and could see the wheels turning in her mind. He couldn't begin to imagine what his second in command was thinking, so he just gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "It's going to be alright."
They all fell into silence then. Sam leaned back against the wall of the cave, and before long she realized she was drifting in and out of an uncomfortable and light sleep. And one point she opened her eyes and saw that Jack was the only one awake, the light from the torches glittering in his eyes as he sat with his arms on his knees, chewing his lip thoughtfully. He glanced up at her and she managed a weak smile before closing her eyes again.
**
Daniel stood shoulder to shoulder with Janet and Teal'c, just behind Walter's chair in the control room. All present were waiting with baited breath as the gate dialed up, and collectively let out a relieved sigh when the final chevron locked.
"Thank God…" Daniel muttered under his breath, exchanging a look with Teal'c. The large Jaffa bowed his head slightly in agreement.
Behind them, General Hammond ordered the crew in the gate room to send the MALP through. They all watched as the machine trundled up the gate and slipped through the event horizon. For a split second the screens in the gate room flashed to life, showing a brief image of rock, and then only static.
"We've lost the signal," Walter said, glancing back over his shoulder at Hammond. The other techs agreed, reporting that their telemetry had failed as well. With a heavy sigh, the general ordered them to shut the gate down.
Janet frowned, looking at Daniel and Teal'c. "What does that mean?"
"Looks almost like the MALP was destroyed as soon as it went through…" Daniel scowled, folding his arms over his chest.
"But what about that brief image we saw?" Janet asked raising her eyebrows.
"General Hammond, just as I was preparing to pass through there was a meteor headed towards the Stargate," Teal'c said solemnly.
Hammond frowned. "So you're saying the gate could have been hit? Would that have been enough to destroy it?"
"No but it could have been buried, which would explain the fact that we did see something from the MALP," Daniel said, thinking back to everything Sam had told him about how durable the gates were. "If it got knocked over and buried, then the MALP would have slid backwards into the event horizon. And what with the naquadah in the soil…." He left his words hanging in the suddenly quiet and still air of the control room. Someone in the corner coughed awkwardly.
"Well, if that's the case," Hammond said after a few moments. "Then any rescue mission is scrubbed until we can get more information. Dr. Fraiser, please inform our guests that they'll be staying a little while longer." Janet nodded reluctantly before turning to walk out of the control room.
Daniel looked up at Teal'c, and while the Jaffa's face remained as impassive as ever, Daniel could have sworn he saw a glimmer of worry in his friend's eyes.
**
Finally Jack deemed it safe to leave the caves. Sam's leg was still a little sore, but she found herself able to walk on it without any trouble. She and Jack led the way back up and towards the village, with Laira and the children following close and timid behind. None of them knew what to expect, though they certainly all imagined the worst.
Those thoughts only made it even more horrible, perhaps, when they rounded the final bend to find in place of the village nothing more than a pile of burnt out, smoking ruins. Laira let out a faint gasp and Sam turned to put a comforting hand on the other woman's shoulder.
Jack pointed off in one direction. "I see some buildings still mostly standing over there, maybe – "
Before he could finish his sentence Garren had taken off. They followed him, finding one of the larger houses indeed still intact and standing. Garren led the way inside where a good crowd of villagers were crammed, all looking tired and frightened.
Haynan, the man who had been less than pleasant to Jack on the bridge only a few days earlier was sitting on a stool in the corner with a shocked expression on his face. His skin was streaked with dirt and ash and every so often he'd run a shaking hand through his hair. Laira quickly rushed over to him, kneeling down and speaking with him in low murmurs.
Jack leaned closer to Sam. "This doesn't look good at all."
"And Daniel had the medical supplies in his pack…" Sam looked around at the villagers, brow furrowed as she tried to assess how much damage had been done to them. "I mean, I don't see anything more serious than a few minor burns, but still…"
"We'll get them through the gate," Jack said, nodding decisively. "Doc Fraiser can patch 'em up." Trying to seem reassuring, he cracked a grin at Sam then headed over to Laira and Haynan. Sam followed slowly, looking around at the others as she passed.
"We couldn't take it anymore," Haynan was saying, his voice shaking as much as his hands. He glanced up at Jack, then back down at Laira. "We tried to flee to the stone ring…or at least where it used to be…"
"Where it used to be?" Sam asked, her eyes widening slightly. She could feel an unpleasant twisting in her gut and turned to Jack, but her commanding officer was already nearly out the door. "Sir!" As quickly as she could Sam bolted after him with Laira trailing behind her.
Up the road, around a bend, Sam found Jack standing in the middle of a desolate, dusty crater. She walked to his side, following his line of sight to the spot where the Stargate had been. The wind rushing over the decimated landscape made an empty, whistling sound, and all Jack seemed to be able to do was stand there, slack jawed.
"Oh my God…" Sam muttered as she looked around.
"What happened to it?" Jack asked, turning to her. "Did it get blown up…?"
Sam shook her head, knowing that a meteor wouldn't have the force to destroy a Stargate and if it had, they sure as hell wouldn't still be standing here. "It's probably just buried…" she looked down and scuffed at the sand with the toe of her boot, as though hoping to uncover some sign of the gate. The way she said just buried made it sound so simple, like all they had to do was dig a bit and they would be on their way home. But who knew what 'buried' meant? The gate and the DHD could be under miles of rock and soil and hardened naquadah for all she knew.
"Crap," Jack growled, throwing his hat to the ground.
Laira approached, holding her skirts so they wouldn't trail in the dirt. Her face held an expression of shock that fairly accurately mirrored what both Jack and Sam were feeling. "It's gone…"
"Yeah," Sam breathed, letting her hands hang limply at her sides. She squinted up at the sky, her mind racing as always to find a solution as she felt Jack's eyes watching her expectantly.
"I can never see my people again," Laira's voice trembled. "They can never come home."
Jack was obviously holding himself back from screaming obscenities at the decidedly Stargate-less scene. He slowly turned to face the two women, picking his cap up and dusting it off. "Nope."
Laira glanced at both of them. "And the two of you…"
"Nope," Jack said again, sticking the cap back on his head.
"We'll find a way back," Sam said, but her heart sank even as she spoke, knowing she had no idea where to begin. "We'll find a way to get your people home."
**
Sam and Jack spent the remaining daylight hours searching desperately for any sign of the gate. They managed to round up some tools but even after spending all their energy digging, they still found nothing. Sam spent a good deal of time lamenting her lack of a scanner to speed up the process, and stopped only when Jack snapped rather snidely that they didn't have one. Finally, as night closed dark and fast around them ,they gave up and headed back to the village for the evening.
The lights were on in one of the standing houses and voices floated out to them, so they headed in that direction. When they entered, however, it was quite plain that they'd walked in to the middle of something, as everyone fell silent, turning to look at them as the door banged closed. Candles were glowing, giving the villagers' faces an almost menacing lighty. Cups and loaves of bread were set out on the table, but it was apparent that they hadn't started eating yet.
"This is all that remains of our people," Haynan said, standing, his voice no longer shaking. His eyes darted accusingly between Sam and Jack. "There are perhaps a hundred of us left, and all because of you! You convinced them to go away through that thing and now they're gone!"
It seemed to be the tipping point for Jack. Sam recognized all too well the hard look that suddenly came over his eyes. "Hey! That thing probably saved their goddamn lives!"
"Colonel," Sam said, reaching out to grasp his arm, but Jack shrugged her hand away.
"If you all had just listened to me in the first place, we all wouldn't be in this situation!" Jack snapped, glaring around at the villagers gathered before him.
An awkward silence fell over the room, and Haynan appeared to have momentarily been frightened into silence by the outburst. Realizing no one was going to fight him on this, Jack looked down at Sam, his eyes pleading for something, though she wasn't sure what. Then he turned and headed for the door.
"This is my home," Laira said sternly and Jack stopped, turning to look back. "And you are welcome here, both of you. Now sit, you need to eat." She gestured for Sam and Jack to take a couple of the empty chairs.
Jack looked to Sam again and nodded ever so slightly. He returned to her side, shoulders hunched as they slid into their seats. Sam murmured a quiet thanks to Laira, then glanced across the table. Haynan was still fixing them with a harsh gaze, but after a moment he turned away, moving to slice the bread.
**
Daniel sighed as he walked down the hallway towards his office. It had been four long days since Edora and still they had heard nothing. What was worse is he felt like they hadn't really figured anything out beyond that they couldn't through the gate, and he couldn't stop himself from thinking about how Jack and Sam could be stuck somewhere, injured without supplies or help.
"Daniel?"
He jumped slightly, turning to see Janet walking down the hall towards him. He managed a weak smile. "Hey."
"How's it going?" Janet put a hand on his arm, turning to face him. She could clearly see the fatigue showing in his face and the doctor in her was instantly on alert.
"We, uhm…" Daniel rubbed his hand beneath his glasses and over his eyes. "We're still waiting to hear back from the Tollan and Tok'ra. We were hoping they could lend us a hand, fly a ship over there or something, but we'll have to wait and see."
Janet nodded slowly. "Well that's something."
"But I just can't stop myself from thinking there should be something else we can do!" Daniel cried, sounding frustrated. "Instead of just sitting here and waiting for something to happen, I mean. I keep trying to think what Sam would do."
"Who knows," Janet shook her head slowly. "But what I do know is that you need to get some sleep, Daniel. You're not going to help them by wearing yourself out completely. Go rest, and maybe you'll think of something in the morning."
Daniel shook his head, running his hand over his face again and muttering something under his breath.
"Doctor's orders," Janet said sternly, then smiled lightly when Daniel looked at her. He nodded finally in resignation and said goodnight before walking slowly back towards the elevators.
Janet watched him go, her arms folded over her chest. This was perhaps one of the hardest things about working at the SGC and befriending people like Sam Carter. Each time they went through the gate she was terrified that they'd come back injured or dead, or not at all. Despite her worried and fears, however, all Janet could do was remind herself that she'd seen them pull out of situations far worse than this one, and that with any luck at all they would be back home in no time.
With a sigh Janet turned to head back to the infirmary and the injured Edorans, deciding for the moment to forgo her own advice about sleep.