Sam followed Jack as they rounded the corner, trying to locate what might have served as Zabar's office. Teal'c had given them directions to where they had been taken for the transfer of funds. Unfortunately, once they'd located the room, it was empty.

Loud blasts boomed around them every few minutes, as whomever had attacked the auction set off more bombs. As they passed the stage Sam had stood on less than an hour ago, she took pleasure in seeing it had been blown to bits.

"What now, sir?" Sam asked, wariness evident in her voice.

"Freeze!" A male shouted to their left.

She and Jack both turned; their arms raised. "Easy," Jack said.

"What do you want!" The man swung his firearm around wildly. Sam held her protest as Jack stepped forward and partially in front of her—again.

"I purchased this woman at the auction," Jack's voice was calm, "all hell broke loose after I paid, but before ownership was completely transferred. I have her papers right here," Sam could see Jack make a small gesture toward his vest.

"Let me see them!" The man ordered, thrusting out his hand.

Sam held her breath as Jack slowly reached into his vest pocket and extracted the document Teal'c had given him; the document that legally made her property. Blood boiled in her veins and she wanted to lash out, but she wisely stayed still and silent.

The man seemed to calm down as he realized Jack was one of the buyers and not part of the group trying to liberate the slaves. At least they wern't trying to liberate them yet. Sam had already decided if she survived this, she'd do everything she could to convince General Hammond to let her come back here and rescue the women.

"Her slave cuff was not transferred to you?" The man asked, sounding more in control.

"That's correct," Jack told him.

"I can do that," the man said, "give me your controller cuff."

"Controller cuff?" Jack sounded confused.

"Sir, he means—" Sam automatically started to explain as she stepped forward and touched Jack's forearm.

"Silence!" The man started toward her, his raised hand ready to strike.

"Whoa!" Jack roared as he shoved Sam back behind him and raised his P90 at the man. "Don't you dare touch her!"

The man had the good sense to take a step back looking confused. "But she spoke out of turn and touched you uninvited?" If Sam wasn't so enraged by this man and his society, she'd have found his look of total confusion comical.

"And if she does anything I don't like, I'll be the one to punish her, not you. Got it?" Jack's tone was laced with authority, and the man instinctively reacted to it. Sam however, rolled her eyes. She'd like to see him try and punish her.

"Now," Jack continued, "do I need a controller cuff, or can you just remove her cuff?"

"Why would you want to remove it?"

The sigh Jack released at the man's question could have blown down a building. "Look, son," Jack was using his exasperated, I'm-about-ready-to-hurt-you voice. "Can you remove it or not?"

"No," the man said, "Only Zabar or one of his priests can do that. But," he rushed as Jack took a step forward. "I can switch her cuff over to this controller cuff. That way, she can go anywhere you go."

"Do it," Jack ordered as he turned to Sam. The look in his eyes was one of resignation. "Can you enter the stargate with the cuff on if we have the controller?"

"I don't know, sir," she answered truthfully. "The cuffs and controllers were not intended to work off planet. The Creetions neither use the stargate system nor have star ships. I have no clue what the frequencies of the wormhole would do."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Jack said sadly.

"Sir, I'd rather take the chance than stay here," she told him honestly. The idea of him having to leave her behind was repulsive. She wasn't willing to risk his life, so him staying with her wasn't an option either. He looked at her for a few moments before nodding, accepting her choice.

"Here," the man approached cautiously with a controller cuff in his hands. The color on hers turned from white to the same green as on the controller. "She's under your control now; anytime she's more than five feet away from you, she'll get a warning." The man moved away and a sharp audible vibration shook Sam's wrist. "Any more than ten feet and she'll get shocked." As the man took another step back, Jack grabbed him.

"No need to shock her," he said pulling the man back within five feet.

"You can also shock her for disobeying by pushing this button," he pointed to a small red orb, but didn't make any move to push it. His fear of Jack outweighing the desire to shock Sam; although the look in his eyes told her he was seriously considering it anyway.

"Got it," Jack said grabbing the controller and turning toward her. Lightly grabbing her arm, Jack ushered her out of the room and down the hall as another loud boom shook the area. Once they were out of sight he offered her the controller.

"Sir, I can't take it," she shook her head, backing up slightly. "Having both of them at the same time would create a closed circuit resulting in a severe electrical shock. It's a failsafe to prevent slaves from escaping."

A look a sympathy filled his features as he snapped the controller cuff onto his own wrist. Sam breathed a bit easier knowing the controller was now in Jack's possession; however, she still felt weird knowing she was unwillingly bound to him. Another thought suddenly crossed her mind.

"Sir, if you're wearing the controller cuff when we enter the stargate, there's a chance you could be killed."

"I'm willing to take that risk," he said as he turned and walked away from her. A sharp warning vibration shook her arm.

"Sir!" She yelled rushing after him, running into his chest with an oomph as he stopped and turned.

"Dammit," his breath woodshed out as he caught her. "I completely forgot, sorry Carter." Instead of letting her step away from him, he reached down and grabbed her hand.

"Sir?" She asked unsure of what he was going to do.

"If we're holding hands, we're within five feet of each other," he explained.

"Good idea, sir," she said looking at their joined hands, but she was anything but fine. Her stomach fluttered at the feel of her hand enveloped by his. She knew they shared feelings for one another, but had never acted on it. This small intimacy was more than she'd ever allowed herself to feel.

"Let's get to the stargate," he gave her a hand a gentle squeeze.

Sam sighed. She had no choice except to follow behind.