Chapter 21
"Gun!" O'Neill shouted needlessly as shots were fired haphazardly at the SG-1 team.
Jack threw himself down to the ground as he let loose a volley of zat blasts at the
armed Goa'ulds. There was something fundamentally wrong with a snake-head
using Earth weaponry. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw that Sam had also
dropped to the ground and was shooting non-stop at Temur. Unfortunately the
bastard was good at ducking. Speaking of which..
Daniel was continuing to keep his zat pointed at the two khans without visible
weapons, while, thankfully, keeping quite low to the ground. Jack could hear what
sounded like Chinese coming from Daniel's mouth and made a mental note to ask
him exactly what he was saying later. Apparently, Daniel had NOT been happy with
his inability to help the team out through translation (as if that would have helped)
and had taken SG-1's week of downtime to learn yet ANOTHER foreign language.
The man was an animal! Jack thought to himself. Whatever Daniel was shouting, it
seemed to be doing the trick; the unarmed khans continued to keep their hands up
as they watched the firefight between their leaders and the tau'ri.
Suddenly Daniel stumbled and dropped his zat.
"Dammit!" Daniel cursed as he dropped to the ground. He'd been hit in the
shoulder by one of Oghul's bullets. A bullet that most likely Daniel himself had
loaded into the gun the week before. The irony of the situation was not lost on him.
Looking around wildly for a place that afforded a modicum of shelter, Daniel picked
up his zat with his right hand while attempting to staunch the flow of blood with his
left. It stung like the blazes, but Daniel was pretty certain he had just been grazed.
He continued to point the weapon at the goa'ulds while backing away towards a pillar
on the left wall. He needed to take himself out of the equation or else one of his
teammates would feel the need to come to his rescue. Again.
"Daniel!" Jack roared as somersaulted across the floor towards the archaeologist's
location. *I can't believe I just did that. My god, a somersault?! Jackson you are so
going to be all right.*
"Flesh wound Jack!" Daniel shouted back. "I'm fine!" To prove his point Daniel
successfully fired on one of the unarmed goa'ulds. Not really a nice thing to do to a
prisoner who had obviously given himself up, but considering what these guys had
put him through the last time he was here- Daniel didn't beat himself up over it.
Jack eyed the rapidly growing crimson stain on Daniel's arm and frowned. It was
time to finish this.
"Jacob!" He shouted over the melee of the battle. "We could use a little help here!"
Jack was hoping for an instantaneous Tok'ra ring-down, but was content to watch as
Teal'c silently approached Oghul from behind. The head Khan seemed to have found
himself with an empty handgun and was looking at the weapon in disdain
contemplating his next move while trying not to be struck by Jack's continual zat
blasts. Suddenly his body jerked with the shock of being hit and he collapsed
bonelessly to the ground.
"Way to go T!" Jack yelled as he continued to move towards Daniel's location. It
might only be a flesh wound, but Daniel was still out in the open and Jack wanted to
remedy that as quickly as possible. Temur was still going nuts with Sam's
commandeered P30 but Jack was confident those bullets would be running out any
moment now. Thank god the snake didn't know a thing about compensating for
recoil.
Simultaneously three things happened at once.
Temur's bullets did indeed run out.
The telltale hum of transportation rings engaging could be heard.
And the quiet goa'uld standing with his hands up in the corner suddenly reached
beneath his robes and brought out the final missing P90 and began spraying the
bullets in the direction of Jack and Daniel.
"Jack!" Daniel shouted as he slammed his body into Jack's and forced the older man
down on the ground. Daniel bit back a cry as he landed hard on his injured
shoulder. The bullets shattered on impact with the descending rings from the Tok'ra
ship and caused the armed Goa'uld to scream Chinese obscenities into the air and
throw his weapon angrily across the throne room.
The split second as the rings were descending back up into the sky was all the time
Temur needed. Lightening fast he grabbed the discarded P90, activated a switch
underneath his chair and began running towards a rapidly emerging passageway
behind him.
"No!" Samantha Carter screamed as she fired her weapon continually at the
escaping Temur. Zat guns are wonderful devices for disabling (and disintegrating)
your opponent, but they tended to be more exacting than the more powerful
submachine weaponry used by the United States Air force. Had Sam been armed
with a P30 or P90, Temur would already be dead. Or at least down for the count.
Sam processed these thoughts bitterly as she run after the escaping Goa'uld. There
was no way he was getting out of here. None.
"Carter, wait!" Jack shouted across the room as he watched helplessly as Sam
followed Temur through a door and disappear from sight.
"Shit." Jack muttered under his breath as he shakily rose to his feet and offered
Daniel a hand up.
"Teal'c, follow Carter and make sure she doesn't kill the guy would ya?" Jack asked
wishing more than anything that he could be the one to follow her. But Teal'c was
closer and Daniel was injured and he knew Sam could take care of herself.
"Sorry we were a little late Jack." Jacob Carter said apologetically eyeing Daniel's
wounded arm.
"Actually you had great timing there Jake." Jack said honestly. "Those rings
prevented me and Danny here from becoming swiss cheese."
"My operatives are rounding up all the goa'ulds you guys so nicely disabled for us."
Jacob paused and eyed the newly opened passageway with apprehension. "Think I
should go after her Jack?"
Jack rubbed his face with the back of his hand and briefly closed his eyes. *Hell
yes!*
"I think this is one battle Carter should probably face on her own Jacob. Why don't
we get Daniel here patched up and then go after her, eh?" Jacob understood the
wisdom of the decision and nodded.
"Daniel?" Jack said turning his attention back to the wounded archaeologist. "How
ya doing?"
"I've been shot Jack, how do you THINK I'm doing?" Daniel answered peevishly. His
shoulder throbbed with every beat of his heart and he wasn't too keen on the feeling
of blood trickling down his arm.
"Well now I KNOW you're going to be ok!" Jack said as he gave his friend a gentle
squeeze on his uninjured shoulder. With a grin he shrugged off his backpack and
hunted around for the med kit. Daniel just glared at him.
"How do you figure Jack?" Jacob asked more than a little confused. Commanding
officers usually don't smile when one of their charges are injured.
"Smart-ass comments are usually only heard from a slightly wounded Dr. Jackson."
Jack declared as he helped Daniel off with his shirt and got a good look at the
damage. Yep- Daniel had been right; the bullet only grazed him. Painful but not
life-threatening. Jack quickly cleaned the wound and applied pressure until the
bleeding had stopped. (Daniel wasn't too keen on that part.) He applied several
butterfly bandages to the surrounding area and gently covered the wound with a
large band-aid. He handed Daniel two painkillers along with a general antibiotic.
He'd live. Now it was time to find Sam.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam quickly and quietly made her way through the tunnels following the faint
shuffling footsteps of Temur. Was he injured? God, she hoped so. Sam knew she
should have waited for backup, but was afraid the son of a bitch might actually
escape through the underground labyrinth and that was just not something she was
prepared to let happen. She traveled in silence for close to ten minutes before
acknowledging that she should at least check in with the Colonel and see how the
rest of SG-1 were doing. Plus she knew Jack would be worried as hell about her.
"Colonel, do you hear me?" Sam whispered into her radio.
"I'm here Major." Came Jack's terse reply. Oops. He was pissed.
"Everything ok out there? How's Daniel?" Sam asked nervously as she continued
down the dim hallways. Her scientific mind refused to stop thinking and Sam idly
wondered if it was naquada or solar energy supplying power to the caverns.
"Daniel's fine." Jack said as he watched the last of the captured Goa'ulds disappear
via transport rings. Ten down only one to go. He wanted to be angry with Sam but
knew he would have done the same thing had their positions been reversed. Hell,
Daniel would have run after the guy had he been the closest. SG-1 was nothing if
not predictable.
"You really should have waited Carter." Jack said curtly into the radio. "But what's
done is done. I sent Teal'c after you and plan on heading out to meet you two
shortly."
"Looking forward to backup Sir." Sam said honestly. Oh she knew she could take
that perverted old worm, but it might be a good idea to have witnesses on hand.
"I just need to tie Daniel to a post or something and I'm on my way." Jack's voice
softened slightly. "Be safe Sam."
"Always Sir."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teal'c was conflicted. He had been aware of MajorCarter's location for some time
now but was uncertain how to proceed. He knew she was pursuing the man, the
Goa'uld who had personally hurt and humiliated her. From his own experience,
Teal'c knew how important it was for SamanthaCarter to face her foe. Without
consulting O'Neill, Teal'c took it upon himself to be within earshot if she needed him,
but to give her a chance to resolve this situation on her own. He hoped he was
making the right decision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Five minutes later Sam rounded a corner only to discover Temur fumbling with a
switch in the wall. Apparently it was stuck.
"Problems?" Sam asked tightening her grip on her zat. Faster than Sam thought
possible, Temur whirled about and sprayed the area around her with bullets. One
struck the zat in her right hand causing it to fall to the ground. Sam cursed her
complacency. At least he still had her gun. A very big sturdy gun at that.
"I wouldn't try that again if I were you." Sam said angrily tightening her finger on
the gun's trigger.
"Major Samantha Carter."
"Nice to know I'm remembered." Sam rolled her eyes even as she spoke the words.
She had SO been hanging around Jack too long.
"Oh I remember you." Sam resisted shuddering at the look Temur gave her.
"I need you to come with me." Sam said forcibly pointing her gun at the Goa'uld.
"I don't think so." Temur said smugly pointing his own weapon at the woman.
Standoff.
"You're a very desirable woman Samantha Carter." Temur said licking his lips and
reaching into one of the pockets of his gown.
"Hands where I can see them buster." Sam yelled taking a small step forward.
"Do you know what this is Samantha Carter?" Temur said opening up his hand to
reveal a small metal disk. Sam felt the gore rising in her stomach as she recognized
the familiar design. *Oh God, Please don't let that be what I think it is.*
Sam kept her weapon leveled at him and continued to stare at him in silence. *Just
one reason asshole. Just give me one little reason and you are so dead.*
"I missed you after you left." He took a small step forward and Sam tightened her
grip on her weapon never once taking her eyes off his face.
"I might have had my trophies..." Temur again licked his lips libidinously (sp) raking
his eyes up and down her body. "But it wasn't enough." He smiled at her as a
predator does to his prey as he pressed down on the small object. Instantly
a crystal clear color image of her and Jack appeared. Unfortunately it was not a still
image. Nor was it without sound.
Sam watched mesmerized as the 3D image of she and Jack began to undress one
another. Her eyes instantly filled with tears as she witnessed the love and concern
in Jack's face. She saw how he was desperately trying to take her eyes off of the
khans and onto himself. Whispering terms of endearment and love as he tenderly
removed her clothing.
"That of course is one of the more mundane scenes." Temur said with disdain.
"Let's go to one of my favorites shall we?" His index figure shifted slightly and
suddenly Sam was given a very graphic view of the two of them in a scene the
rivaled anything the porn industry had ever produced. Both she and Jack had been
nearly silent in their explorations and caresses but in the heat of passion one tends
to forget things. And apparently Sam could not keep her desire to herself and she
began to shake with rage and humiliation as she heard herself moan loudly as she
sought her release.
"Turn it off." Sam said shaking her head slowly and taking another step forward.
"Turn it the hell off you little fuck!"
"And if I don't?" The Goa'uld said arrogantly.
"I'll shoot you where you stand."
"I have a weapon Samantha Carter."
"And so do I you perverted piece of shit." Sam snarled through clenched teeth.
"Ahh, but it is a Tau'ri weapon. And I do believe you want me alive."
"Not really." *One reason. Just one reason. You attack me and I will kill you. Jack
will understand. Hell, dad and Hammond will as well.*
"Is your skin soft Samantha Carter? If I touch you will your face flush with pleasure
like it did in these images?"
"Why don't you find out?" Sam growled as she took yet another step forward. Her
gun was now only inches away from Temur's heart. She watched in utter disgust as
he attempted to do just that.
"I want to touch you Samantha Carter." Temur said in an arrogant, dulcet tone.
"The others have long since forgotten how to control their host bodies but I have
not." He reached down and parted his robes to reveal black woolen trousers and an
unmistakable erection.
Sam didn't need to wait any longer; the khan had given her an opening. Like a tiger
Sam sprung viciously using her P30 as a club as she first thrust it into his stomach
and again at the goa'ulds head. Sam grinned madly as she heard the satisfying
crack of the weapon against his skull. Temur staggered backwards and dropped his
own weapon.
"Soft enough for you?!" Sam yelled letting her own weapon fall back against her
chest as she lunged forward and hit him again with her open palm. Not letting up for
a moment Sam whirled around and kicked him viciously in the groin. The Goa'uld
sunk to his knees in pain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack had caught up with Teal'c just a few minutes before and together they listened
as Sam beat the shit out of the weakened khan. They had been unable to hear the
quieter portions of the conversation, but Sam's shouting left little to the imagination.
She was beating the stuffing out of the khan.
"Shit Teal'c!" Jack hissed impatiently. "We need to stop her."
"I believe we should not O'Neill." The Jaffa said solemnly restraining his friend with
one arm.
"She's going to kill the guy!" Jack said tightening his fists impotently against his
side. "Don't get me wrong- I'd like to spend many hours making the snake scream,
but we have our orders."
"MajorCarter will do the right thing O'Neill."
"Yeah, but right for her or right for the SGC?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam stood panting loudly above the still form of Temur. It would be so easy Sam
thought to herself. So easy to pull a trigger or give him another kick in the head.
"But I won't." Sam muttered almost silently to herself. "See, I'm better than you
Temur." She bent down and retrieved both the weapon and the small disk. She
gripped it tightly in her hand as she stood up and took a step away from the
unconscious man in front of her.
As a scientist, Sam recognized the technological marvel that must have created the
recording device. Under any other circumstance, she'd be the first to insist on
studying it- deciphering how it worked. But not this time. Sam closed her hand
tightly on the quarter-sized object and vowed that it would be destroyed if at all
possible. No one had the right to record her against her will. Least of all, the
perverted figure lying supine at her feet. Sam took another step away from the khan
until she felt the cool rough cavern walls beneath her back. Slowly she lowered
herself to the ground; it was over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sam?" Jack said cautiously as he approached the weary woman. Teal'c headed for
Temur while Jack concentrated on Sam. She was obviously in shock, the weight of
the last few minutes' events finally catching up to her.
"It's me and Teal'c ok?" Jack said lowering himself to the ground. Carefully he took
the weapon from her slack arms.
"It's over Jack." Sam whispered looking into his eyes. "It's really over."
"Yeah Sam it is." Jack said softly enveloping her in a warm embrace. "It really is."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They remained that way for several long minutes. Teal'c had silently removed the
unconscious body of Temur and would undoubtedly be waiting for the pair in the
main chamber.
"As much as I enjoy having you in my arms Major, we should probably be getting
back to dad and the guys."
"Daniel!" Sam said with a start. She had totally forgotten that he had been injured!
Here she was feeling.. well, whatever the hell it was she was feeling, and Daniel was
back in the throne room bleeding to death!
Jack chuckled as he helped Sam to her feet. He knew exactly what she was
thinking.
"He's not in any danger Carter."
"Really?" Sam asked dusting herself off. "But he was shot, right?"
"Just a nick. I doubt the doc will even keep him overnight." He gave her hand a
brief squeeze as he handed back her weapon. It was time to leave.
The walked in companionable silence through the muted hallways, each lost in
his/her own thoughts. Sam's fist kept curling and uncurling on the small metal disk.
She longed to throw it into oblivion, but realized she couldn't do so here. There was
still naquada to be found and additional SG teams would be flooding these hallways
in the very near future. She couldn't risk someone else finding the device. Sam
blinked as they entered the brighter area of the throne room.
"Hey Sam." Daniel called from the far side of the room walking over to her. One of
the Tok'ra had done a neat job of immobilizing his shoulder and combined with the
always-lovely percocet- Daniel wasn't in any pain at all. Well not much anyhow.
"Teal'c brought Temur out a few minutes ago. The Tok'ra have already transferred
him to their ship." Sam nodded mutely; she really didn't want to talk about him
right now.
"Sam!" Sam turned around to see her dad. Jacob warmly embraced his daughter
and was truly glad this ordeal had ended on a positive note.
"You good to go Jacob?" Jack asked doing a final sweep of the room with his eyes.
"We have everything we need Jack." Jacob dipped his head briefly. "On behalf of
the Tok'ra I thank you Colonel O'Neill. And you my dear Samantha. Your father has
been most distressed over recent events and is very gladdened to see you well
again."
"Thanks Selmak." Sam said leaning over and giving her father, but not her father, a
small kiss. Selmak again lowered his head as Jacob returned.
"We're going to get going now." Jacob turned to face Daniel and Teal'c. "We
couldn't have done it without you two." Daniel gave a small smile and Teal'c a short
nod.
"Be good kids." And with that Jacob was gone.
"How DO they know exactly where to stand?" Jack wondered allowed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The walk back to the Stargate was done in contemplative silence. Not the troubled,
nerve-wracking silence they experienced in the past, but the comfortable silence
found only with good friends and family. Definitely a happy ending.
They topped a sand dune and saw the large Stargate beckoning them home. Daniel
entered the sequence of symbols and transmitted the iris code through the glistening
blue wall of water. Jack gave him a small nod and both Teal'c and Daniel stepped
through the event horizon. Together Sam and Jack approached the shimmering wall
when suddenly Sam stopped.
"Carter?"
Sam gave Jack an indiscernible look as she reached into her trousers' pocket and
pulled out the metal disk. She worried it between her fingers twice before throwing
it hard out onto the blowing sands. Sam stood for several long moments staring at
the far-reaching desert. She was finished here.
"Ready." Sam said releasing a large smile and giving Jack a small nod. Together
they climbed the stairs leading up to the stargate.
At the very edge of the event horizon, Sam turned and gave her commanding officer
one of those looks that most definitely did not belong on the battlefield.
"Colonel?" Sam asked coquettishly.
"Yeah?" Jack answered in a tone slightly higher than normal.
"Wanna come over tonight?" Before Jack could fully comprehend the meaning of the
invitation she was gone. Grinning like an idiot Jack followed her home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finished December 8, 2002
--Cue theme music from the movie Rocky and the image of a woman running
triumphantly up the Stargate steps.--
Done! Done! Done! I can't tell you how grateful I am to all who supplied words of
encouragement along the way. Especially Kathy, my beta reader. (And yes, I know
that sentence is indeed a fragment.) -sticks tongue out- Although separated from
one another by a mere ocean or two, Ms. Nixon added just the right flourishes (not
to mention corrective spelling) to shape this story into exactly what my imagination
first envisioned all those months ago.
I got something special planned in the not so far future. But first a series of
vignettes are in order. I can do funny y'know.
"Gun!" O'Neill shouted needlessly as shots were fired haphazardly at the SG-1 team.
Jack threw himself down to the ground as he let loose a volley of zat blasts at the
armed Goa'ulds. There was something fundamentally wrong with a snake-head
using Earth weaponry. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw that Sam had also
dropped to the ground and was shooting non-stop at Temur. Unfortunately the
bastard was good at ducking. Speaking of which..
Daniel was continuing to keep his zat pointed at the two khans without visible
weapons, while, thankfully, keeping quite low to the ground. Jack could hear what
sounded like Chinese coming from Daniel's mouth and made a mental note to ask
him exactly what he was saying later. Apparently, Daniel had NOT been happy with
his inability to help the team out through translation (as if that would have helped)
and had taken SG-1's week of downtime to learn yet ANOTHER foreign language.
The man was an animal! Jack thought to himself. Whatever Daniel was shouting, it
seemed to be doing the trick; the unarmed khans continued to keep their hands up
as they watched the firefight between their leaders and the tau'ri.
Suddenly Daniel stumbled and dropped his zat.
"Dammit!" Daniel cursed as he dropped to the ground. He'd been hit in the
shoulder by one of Oghul's bullets. A bullet that most likely Daniel himself had
loaded into the gun the week before. The irony of the situation was not lost on him.
Looking around wildly for a place that afforded a modicum of shelter, Daniel picked
up his zat with his right hand while attempting to staunch the flow of blood with his
left. It stung like the blazes, but Daniel was pretty certain he had just been grazed.
He continued to point the weapon at the goa'ulds while backing away towards a pillar
on the left wall. He needed to take himself out of the equation or else one of his
teammates would feel the need to come to his rescue. Again.
"Daniel!" Jack roared as somersaulted across the floor towards the archaeologist's
location. *I can't believe I just did that. My god, a somersault?! Jackson you are so
going to be all right.*
"Flesh wound Jack!" Daniel shouted back. "I'm fine!" To prove his point Daniel
successfully fired on one of the unarmed goa'ulds. Not really a nice thing to do to a
prisoner who had obviously given himself up, but considering what these guys had
put him through the last time he was here- Daniel didn't beat himself up over it.
Jack eyed the rapidly growing crimson stain on Daniel's arm and frowned. It was
time to finish this.
"Jacob!" He shouted over the melee of the battle. "We could use a little help here!"
Jack was hoping for an instantaneous Tok'ra ring-down, but was content to watch as
Teal'c silently approached Oghul from behind. The head Khan seemed to have found
himself with an empty handgun and was looking at the weapon in disdain
contemplating his next move while trying not to be struck by Jack's continual zat
blasts. Suddenly his body jerked with the shock of being hit and he collapsed
bonelessly to the ground.
"Way to go T!" Jack yelled as he continued to move towards Daniel's location. It
might only be a flesh wound, but Daniel was still out in the open and Jack wanted to
remedy that as quickly as possible. Temur was still going nuts with Sam's
commandeered P30 but Jack was confident those bullets would be running out any
moment now. Thank god the snake didn't know a thing about compensating for
recoil.
Simultaneously three things happened at once.
Temur's bullets did indeed run out.
The telltale hum of transportation rings engaging could be heard.
And the quiet goa'uld standing with his hands up in the corner suddenly reached
beneath his robes and brought out the final missing P90 and began spraying the
bullets in the direction of Jack and Daniel.
"Jack!" Daniel shouted as he slammed his body into Jack's and forced the older man
down on the ground. Daniel bit back a cry as he landed hard on his injured
shoulder. The bullets shattered on impact with the descending rings from the Tok'ra
ship and caused the armed Goa'uld to scream Chinese obscenities into the air and
throw his weapon angrily across the throne room.
The split second as the rings were descending back up into the sky was all the time
Temur needed. Lightening fast he grabbed the discarded P90, activated a switch
underneath his chair and began running towards a rapidly emerging passageway
behind him.
"No!" Samantha Carter screamed as she fired her weapon continually at the
escaping Temur. Zat guns are wonderful devices for disabling (and disintegrating)
your opponent, but they tended to be more exacting than the more powerful
submachine weaponry used by the United States Air force. Had Sam been armed
with a P30 or P90, Temur would already be dead. Or at least down for the count.
Sam processed these thoughts bitterly as she run after the escaping Goa'uld. There
was no way he was getting out of here. None.
"Carter, wait!" Jack shouted across the room as he watched helplessly as Sam
followed Temur through a door and disappear from sight.
"Shit." Jack muttered under his breath as he shakily rose to his feet and offered
Daniel a hand up.
"Teal'c, follow Carter and make sure she doesn't kill the guy would ya?" Jack asked
wishing more than anything that he could be the one to follow her. But Teal'c was
closer and Daniel was injured and he knew Sam could take care of herself.
"Sorry we were a little late Jack." Jacob Carter said apologetically eyeing Daniel's
wounded arm.
"Actually you had great timing there Jake." Jack said honestly. "Those rings
prevented me and Danny here from becoming swiss cheese."
"My operatives are rounding up all the goa'ulds you guys so nicely disabled for us."
Jacob paused and eyed the newly opened passageway with apprehension. "Think I
should go after her Jack?"
Jack rubbed his face with the back of his hand and briefly closed his eyes. *Hell
yes!*
"I think this is one battle Carter should probably face on her own Jacob. Why don't
we get Daniel here patched up and then go after her, eh?" Jacob understood the
wisdom of the decision and nodded.
"Daniel?" Jack said turning his attention back to the wounded archaeologist. "How
ya doing?"
"I've been shot Jack, how do you THINK I'm doing?" Daniel answered peevishly. His
shoulder throbbed with every beat of his heart and he wasn't too keen on the feeling
of blood trickling down his arm.
"Well now I KNOW you're going to be ok!" Jack said as he gave his friend a gentle
squeeze on his uninjured shoulder. With a grin he shrugged off his backpack and
hunted around for the med kit. Daniel just glared at him.
"How do you figure Jack?" Jacob asked more than a little confused. Commanding
officers usually don't smile when one of their charges are injured.
"Smart-ass comments are usually only heard from a slightly wounded Dr. Jackson."
Jack declared as he helped Daniel off with his shirt and got a good look at the
damage. Yep- Daniel had been right; the bullet only grazed him. Painful but not
life-threatening. Jack quickly cleaned the wound and applied pressure until the
bleeding had stopped. (Daniel wasn't too keen on that part.) He applied several
butterfly bandages to the surrounding area and gently covered the wound with a
large band-aid. He handed Daniel two painkillers along with a general antibiotic.
He'd live. Now it was time to find Sam.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam quickly and quietly made her way through the tunnels following the faint
shuffling footsteps of Temur. Was he injured? God, she hoped so. Sam knew she
should have waited for backup, but was afraid the son of a bitch might actually
escape through the underground labyrinth and that was just not something she was
prepared to let happen. She traveled in silence for close to ten minutes before
acknowledging that she should at least check in with the Colonel and see how the
rest of SG-1 were doing. Plus she knew Jack would be worried as hell about her.
"Colonel, do you hear me?" Sam whispered into her radio.
"I'm here Major." Came Jack's terse reply. Oops. He was pissed.
"Everything ok out there? How's Daniel?" Sam asked nervously as she continued
down the dim hallways. Her scientific mind refused to stop thinking and Sam idly
wondered if it was naquada or solar energy supplying power to the caverns.
"Daniel's fine." Jack said as he watched the last of the captured Goa'ulds disappear
via transport rings. Ten down only one to go. He wanted to be angry with Sam but
knew he would have done the same thing had their positions been reversed. Hell,
Daniel would have run after the guy had he been the closest. SG-1 was nothing if
not predictable.
"You really should have waited Carter." Jack said curtly into the radio. "But what's
done is done. I sent Teal'c after you and plan on heading out to meet you two
shortly."
"Looking forward to backup Sir." Sam said honestly. Oh she knew she could take
that perverted old worm, but it might be a good idea to have witnesses on hand.
"I just need to tie Daniel to a post or something and I'm on my way." Jack's voice
softened slightly. "Be safe Sam."
"Always Sir."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teal'c was conflicted. He had been aware of MajorCarter's location for some time
now but was uncertain how to proceed. He knew she was pursuing the man, the
Goa'uld who had personally hurt and humiliated her. From his own experience,
Teal'c knew how important it was for SamanthaCarter to face her foe. Without
consulting O'Neill, Teal'c took it upon himself to be within earshot if she needed him,
but to give her a chance to resolve this situation on her own. He hoped he was
making the right decision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Five minutes later Sam rounded a corner only to discover Temur fumbling with a
switch in the wall. Apparently it was stuck.
"Problems?" Sam asked tightening her grip on her zat. Faster than Sam thought
possible, Temur whirled about and sprayed the area around her with bullets. One
struck the zat in her right hand causing it to fall to the ground. Sam cursed her
complacency. At least he still had her gun. A very big sturdy gun at that.
"I wouldn't try that again if I were you." Sam said angrily tightening her finger on
the gun's trigger.
"Major Samantha Carter."
"Nice to know I'm remembered." Sam rolled her eyes even as she spoke the words.
She had SO been hanging around Jack too long.
"Oh I remember you." Sam resisted shuddering at the look Temur gave her.
"I need you to come with me." Sam said forcibly pointing her gun at the Goa'uld.
"I don't think so." Temur said smugly pointing his own weapon at the woman.
Standoff.
"You're a very desirable woman Samantha Carter." Temur said licking his lips and
reaching into one of the pockets of his gown.
"Hands where I can see them buster." Sam yelled taking a small step forward.
"Do you know what this is Samantha Carter?" Temur said opening up his hand to
reveal a small metal disk. Sam felt the gore rising in her stomach as she recognized
the familiar design. *Oh God, Please don't let that be what I think it is.*
Sam kept her weapon leveled at him and continued to stare at him in silence. *Just
one reason asshole. Just give me one little reason and you are so dead.*
"I missed you after you left." He took a small step forward and Sam tightened her
grip on her weapon never once taking her eyes off his face.
"I might have had my trophies..." Temur again licked his lips libidinously (sp) raking
his eyes up and down her body. "But it wasn't enough." He smiled at her as a
predator does to his prey as he pressed down on the small object. Instantly
a crystal clear color image of her and Jack appeared. Unfortunately it was not a still
image. Nor was it without sound.
Sam watched mesmerized as the 3D image of she and Jack began to undress one
another. Her eyes instantly filled with tears as she witnessed the love and concern
in Jack's face. She saw how he was desperately trying to take her eyes off of the
khans and onto himself. Whispering terms of endearment and love as he tenderly
removed her clothing.
"That of course is one of the more mundane scenes." Temur said with disdain.
"Let's go to one of my favorites shall we?" His index figure shifted slightly and
suddenly Sam was given a very graphic view of the two of them in a scene the
rivaled anything the porn industry had ever produced. Both she and Jack had been
nearly silent in their explorations and caresses but in the heat of passion one tends
to forget things. And apparently Sam could not keep her desire to herself and she
began to shake with rage and humiliation as she heard herself moan loudly as she
sought her release.
"Turn it off." Sam said shaking her head slowly and taking another step forward.
"Turn it the hell off you little fuck!"
"And if I don't?" The Goa'uld said arrogantly.
"I'll shoot you where you stand."
"I have a weapon Samantha Carter."
"And so do I you perverted piece of shit." Sam snarled through clenched teeth.
"Ahh, but it is a Tau'ri weapon. And I do believe you want me alive."
"Not really." *One reason. Just one reason. You attack me and I will kill you. Jack
will understand. Hell, dad and Hammond will as well.*
"Is your skin soft Samantha Carter? If I touch you will your face flush with pleasure
like it did in these images?"
"Why don't you find out?" Sam growled as she took yet another step forward. Her
gun was now only inches away from Temur's heart. She watched in utter disgust as
he attempted to do just that.
"I want to touch you Samantha Carter." Temur said in an arrogant, dulcet tone.
"The others have long since forgotten how to control their host bodies but I have
not." He reached down and parted his robes to reveal black woolen trousers and an
unmistakable erection.
Sam didn't need to wait any longer; the khan had given her an opening. Like a tiger
Sam sprung viciously using her P30 as a club as she first thrust it into his stomach
and again at the goa'ulds head. Sam grinned madly as she heard the satisfying
crack of the weapon against his skull. Temur staggered backwards and dropped his
own weapon.
"Soft enough for you?!" Sam yelled letting her own weapon fall back against her
chest as she lunged forward and hit him again with her open palm. Not letting up for
a moment Sam whirled around and kicked him viciously in the groin. The Goa'uld
sunk to his knees in pain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack had caught up with Teal'c just a few minutes before and together they listened
as Sam beat the shit out of the weakened khan. They had been unable to hear the
quieter portions of the conversation, but Sam's shouting left little to the imagination.
She was beating the stuffing out of the khan.
"Shit Teal'c!" Jack hissed impatiently. "We need to stop her."
"I believe we should not O'Neill." The Jaffa said solemnly restraining his friend with
one arm.
"She's going to kill the guy!" Jack said tightening his fists impotently against his
side. "Don't get me wrong- I'd like to spend many hours making the snake scream,
but we have our orders."
"MajorCarter will do the right thing O'Neill."
"Yeah, but right for her or right for the SGC?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam stood panting loudly above the still form of Temur. It would be so easy Sam
thought to herself. So easy to pull a trigger or give him another kick in the head.
"But I won't." Sam muttered almost silently to herself. "See, I'm better than you
Temur." She bent down and retrieved both the weapon and the small disk. She
gripped it tightly in her hand as she stood up and took a step away from the
unconscious man in front of her.
As a scientist, Sam recognized the technological marvel that must have created the
recording device. Under any other circumstance, she'd be the first to insist on
studying it- deciphering how it worked. But not this time. Sam closed her hand
tightly on the quarter-sized object and vowed that it would be destroyed if at all
possible. No one had the right to record her against her will. Least of all, the
perverted figure lying supine at her feet. Sam took another step away from the khan
until she felt the cool rough cavern walls beneath her back. Slowly she lowered
herself to the ground; it was over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sam?" Jack said cautiously as he approached the weary woman. Teal'c headed for
Temur while Jack concentrated on Sam. She was obviously in shock, the weight of
the last few minutes' events finally catching up to her.
"It's me and Teal'c ok?" Jack said lowering himself to the ground. Carefully he took
the weapon from her slack arms.
"It's over Jack." Sam whispered looking into his eyes. "It's really over."
"Yeah Sam it is." Jack said softly enveloping her in a warm embrace. "It really is."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They remained that way for several long minutes. Teal'c had silently removed the
unconscious body of Temur and would undoubtedly be waiting for the pair in the
main chamber.
"As much as I enjoy having you in my arms Major, we should probably be getting
back to dad and the guys."
"Daniel!" Sam said with a start. She had totally forgotten that he had been injured!
Here she was feeling.. well, whatever the hell it was she was feeling, and Daniel was
back in the throne room bleeding to death!
Jack chuckled as he helped Sam to her feet. He knew exactly what she was
thinking.
"He's not in any danger Carter."
"Really?" Sam asked dusting herself off. "But he was shot, right?"
"Just a nick. I doubt the doc will even keep him overnight." He gave her hand a
brief squeeze as he handed back her weapon. It was time to leave.
The walked in companionable silence through the muted hallways, each lost in
his/her own thoughts. Sam's fist kept curling and uncurling on the small metal disk.
She longed to throw it into oblivion, but realized she couldn't do so here. There was
still naquada to be found and additional SG teams would be flooding these hallways
in the very near future. She couldn't risk someone else finding the device. Sam
blinked as they entered the brighter area of the throne room.
"Hey Sam." Daniel called from the far side of the room walking over to her. One of
the Tok'ra had done a neat job of immobilizing his shoulder and combined with the
always-lovely percocet- Daniel wasn't in any pain at all. Well not much anyhow.
"Teal'c brought Temur out a few minutes ago. The Tok'ra have already transferred
him to their ship." Sam nodded mutely; she really didn't want to talk about him
right now.
"Sam!" Sam turned around to see her dad. Jacob warmly embraced his daughter
and was truly glad this ordeal had ended on a positive note.
"You good to go Jacob?" Jack asked doing a final sweep of the room with his eyes.
"We have everything we need Jack." Jacob dipped his head briefly. "On behalf of
the Tok'ra I thank you Colonel O'Neill. And you my dear Samantha. Your father has
been most distressed over recent events and is very gladdened to see you well
again."
"Thanks Selmak." Sam said leaning over and giving her father, but not her father, a
small kiss. Selmak again lowered his head as Jacob returned.
"We're going to get going now." Jacob turned to face Daniel and Teal'c. "We
couldn't have done it without you two." Daniel gave a small smile and Teal'c a short
nod.
"Be good kids." And with that Jacob was gone.
"How DO they know exactly where to stand?" Jack wondered allowed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The walk back to the Stargate was done in contemplative silence. Not the troubled,
nerve-wracking silence they experienced in the past, but the comfortable silence
found only with good friends and family. Definitely a happy ending.
They topped a sand dune and saw the large Stargate beckoning them home. Daniel
entered the sequence of symbols and transmitted the iris code through the glistening
blue wall of water. Jack gave him a small nod and both Teal'c and Daniel stepped
through the event horizon. Together Sam and Jack approached the shimmering wall
when suddenly Sam stopped.
"Carter?"
Sam gave Jack an indiscernible look as she reached into her trousers' pocket and
pulled out the metal disk. She worried it between her fingers twice before throwing
it hard out onto the blowing sands. Sam stood for several long moments staring at
the far-reaching desert. She was finished here.
"Ready." Sam said releasing a large smile and giving Jack a small nod. Together
they climbed the stairs leading up to the stargate.
At the very edge of the event horizon, Sam turned and gave her commanding officer
one of those looks that most definitely did not belong on the battlefield.
"Colonel?" Sam asked coquettishly.
"Yeah?" Jack answered in a tone slightly higher than normal.
"Wanna come over tonight?" Before Jack could fully comprehend the meaning of the
invitation she was gone. Grinning like an idiot Jack followed her home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finished December 8, 2002
--Cue theme music from the movie Rocky and the image of a woman running
triumphantly up the Stargate steps.--
Done! Done! Done! I can't tell you how grateful I am to all who supplied words of
encouragement along the way. Especially Kathy, my beta reader. (And yes, I know
that sentence is indeed a fragment.) -sticks tongue out- Although separated from
one another by a mere ocean or two, Ms. Nixon added just the right flourishes (not
to mention corrective spelling) to shape this story into exactly what my imagination
first envisioned all those months ago.
I got something special planned in the not so far future. But first a series of
vignettes are in order. I can do funny y'know.