Title: Heroes (7/10)
Author: Karen
Rating: R (for violence and some non-graphic sexual scenes. Whoo hoo!)
Pairing: D/J
Disclaimer: Not mine, not a one.
Category: Angst, Romance, Light Humour.did I mention the angst?
Spoilers: YES! Up to and including 'Heroes' and then we swerve merrily off
into my own little world.
Distribution: Ask and ye shall receive. If you want to.
A/N: This is an episode 'fixer' or 'what if'. I haven't seen the ep or read
a transcript, so it may be a little out of whack when the episode airs. In
my head, everything is hunky-dory and certain events never happen. Period.
Oh, and I'm working on the supposition that Cassie is a senior in high
school.
Dedications: This is completely and totally inspired by the wonderful D/J
vids at www.gypsy-gateway.com, specifically 'Words He Doesn't Say' and
'I'll Be Good To You'. Go check out the final one in the trilogy 'It Is You
(I Have Loved)' that's just been released! Wonderful, wonderful vids,
thanks for the inspiration and all your kindness to a D/J newbie, Amy.
Special Note: Oh dear, the words I've been dreading typing ::deep breath:: WARNING: Character death!!
Part 7.
Janet led her medical team into the gateroom half an hour later and returned O'Neill's nod. "Reporting as ordered, Colonel." She adjusted the straps of her field medical kit on her shoulders and turned to her team. "Just follow orders and do what you can, please. Our priority is to stabilise our people and get them back through the gate, anything else can wait until we're back in the Infirmary. Is that clear?" She smiled bracingly at the nervous nods she received. "We'll be fine."
Sam walked over to join her friend, almost clanking with the amount of heavy weaponry she had hung around her person. "You ok?"
"Yeah." Janet tensed as Daniel and Teal'c ran into the room and then forced herself to focus on the job at hand and not Daniel's declaration in her office. "Do we know how many Jaffa are out there or how badly wounded our people are?"
"Nope." Sam glanced down at her friend soberly. "Just keep your head down, Janet, ok? Leave the rough stuff to us." She turned and narrowed her eyes at the control room where Senator Kinsey stood talking to a grim faced General Hammond. "Kinsey showing up couldn't have happened at a worse time, the last thing we need is to screw up when he's here."
Janet followed Sam's eyes and then flashed a smile. "Hey, you never know, we might get lucky and accidentally bring a stray Jaffa back with us. It'd be a darn shame if it got lose and zatted the man into oblivion."
"I knew there was a reason I always liked you, Frasier." Jack O'Neill smirked at the two women as they jumped guiltily and nodded towards the gate as the chevrons began to engage. "But do you think we can save the planned assassination of our own side until we get back from kicking the crap out of our official enemies?"
"Yes, sir." Sam grinned sheepishly and then her face sobered as the establishing wormhole whooshed outwards. "See you on the other side, Janet."
"Watch yourself, Sam." Janet waited until SG1 had grouped together with the other SG units and then nodded at her staff. "Ok, fall in." They followed her to range themselves behind the frontline teams and stood poised waiting for Colonel O'Neill's order.
"GO!" Jack sprinted up the ramp with his team hard on his heels. "Go, go, go!" The gate room echoed with the sound of pounding feet on metal as the rescue teams sprinted after their CO and then the wormhole was rippling as one by one people hurled themselves through it.
Silence reigned as the ripples calmed from the last person jumping through the gate and then General Hammond nodded. "Close the iris." He watched as the gate shut down and then turned to Senator Kinsey. "Shall we wait in my office?" He walked out without waiting for a reply and wondered if there was any way he could possibly get a zat from the armoury and shoot the Senator without any witnesses.
"While we wait, General, there are a few things I'd like to discuss, namely why two members of SG 1 attacked members of the documentary team sent here to interview them." Senator Kinsey followed closely behind and didn't try and mask the smugness of his tone. "I'm sure the President will be very interested in hearing your explanation."
Hammond grunted and led the way down the steps. Screw the witnesses, he ran this facility; he could just order them to keep their mouth shut. "Senator, have you seen the new weapons that SG 6 brought back from their latest mission? The armoury is this way if you'd like to follow me."
**************************
The noise was incredible. In every direction screams and the thunderous fire of guns sounded as humans and Jaffas battled for their lives. Janet stumbled down the steps on the other side of the gate and followed Perkins and Childs from SG 7 as they took cover behind a pile of boulders. She kept her head down as she turned to her team and yelled over the fire of weapons and shouts of men. "Go to your assigned units and get to the wounded. Be careful!" A swell of pride flowered in her breast as her people nodded and ran through the madness to reach their assigned teams with no thought but to do their jobs and get their colleagues to safety.
"Doctor, we're moving forward, be ready!" Perkins fired at a Jaffa that ran screaming towards them and then fired again as another popped up to take his place. "Stay behind us!" Janet took a deep breath and then sprinted after the two men as they raced forwards, clearing a path for her to get to an unmoving body some twenty feet away. As soon as she dropped to her knees beside the figure she knew it was too late. Blank eyes stared sightlessly up at the sky and the wound in the man's chest still smoked from the staff blast that killed him.
"I can't do anything here." Janet rose into a crouch and ducked her head as a group of Jaffas fired at them. Perkins and Childs stood their ground and fired back, spraying the Jaffa with round after round of bullets until they fell. "Move on." She followed the two men to the next body a few feet away and breathed a sigh of relief as she looked into a pair of frightened, but very much alive, eyes. "Moss isn't it?" The airman on the floor nodded and cried out as Janet ripped the material of his pants and exposed a gaping wound on his thigh. "Ok, marine, you're going to be ok. Just try to keep calm and let me help you." The sounds of battle and the screams of the dying faded as her training took over and Janet was oblivious to everything but her patient. "You're going to be ok."
********************************
Daniel had managed to get himself separated from the rest of his team in a worryingly short space of time and had somehow in the melee managed to trip over Wells from SG 13. The airman lay gasping on the ground from a vicious looking stomach wound and could do more than give a muffled cry as Daniel's body landed on top of his. "Oh God, I'm sorry." Daniel scrambled up and then covered Wells with his own body again as a Jaffa fired at them. "Hold on, hold on!" He looked up at a bust of gunfire and saw the Jaffa fall as a member of SG 5 took him down. Daniel looked down at the man beneath him. "It's ok, we're here to get you out of here." He glanced at Wells' stomach and blanched as he saw the glistening of internal muscle through the blood. "You'll be ok."
"I.I.dying." Wells gripped Daniel's jacket like a lifeline as he lay helpless on the floor. "Ba.baby."
"You're not dying." Daniel raised his gun and fired as a Jaffa came out of nowhere and blasted the alien of his feet. "Trust me, I know these things." He stared desperately around for Sam or Jack and caught a glimpse of Carter as she took out two Jaffa that had her pinned down behind a nearby rock. "Just hang on."
"N.No. Dying." Wells lifted his head with a groan of pain. "Tell.my wife.I'm sorry."
"Tell her yourself." Daniel's heart leapt into his throat as he saw Jack and Teal'c erupt from the ground about a hundred feet from his position and run bellowing defiance at a group of at least eight Jaffa. He led out the breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding as they cut through the men like a knife through butter and kept running towards a group of pinned down marines. "You'll see her soon."
"She's having a.baby. Won't see her." Wells head fell back and tears trickled helplessly from his eyes. "Can't tell.her that I love.her."
Daniel thought for a moment he'd been hit the stab of pain in his heart was so strong but when he looked down it was just to see the unmarred material of his jacket. "She knows, I promise you." He crouched lower over Wells and tried to smile. "Women know these things." The look of desolate pain in the man's eyes was enough to take his breath away and Daniel could see his own agony of losing the woman he loved mirrored in the man's face. "Look, you're going to see her again, I swear." He remembered something and fumbled his pack off to rummage in it before pulling out a small camcorder with a grunt of triumph. "But if something stops you seeing your baby born then I'll make sure she still gets to see your face, ok?" Daniel flipped open the screen and focused it on the man's face. "It'll be ok."
"What have we got?" Both men jumped as Janet Fraiser appeared out of nowhere and fell to her knees. Her hair had escaped from its tight knot and was falling in straggly waves from under her helmet as she bent over Wells. "Ok, let's have a look at you."
Daniel felt a stab of something to his heart again, but this time it was unadulterated terror. "Janet, get out of here, it's too dangerous." He stared wildly around them and then looked back at Janet as she pressed a sterile dressing to Wells' stomach. "We could be overrun at any minute."
"Colonel O'Neill's ordering the retreat through the gate with the wounded, we're winning, Daniel." Janet scraped away a trickle of someone else's blood from her cheek and grabbed his hand. "Press down here." She turned back to her pack and then suddenly jerked, flying backwards through the air to land with a crash several metres away.
"JANET!" The camera fell unnoticed from Daniel's hand as he lunged after her and left Wells bleeding forgotten behind him. "Janet, oh no, God no." He scrambled desperately over the blood soaked floor and grabbed for her limp body. "Janet, don't do this."
"Daniel?" Janet gasped with pain as he hauled her into his arms and clutched her against him. "It hurts.."
"I know, I know." Daniel looked away from her face for a brief second. "JACK, SAM, HELP ME!" He looked down at the woman in his arms again and time stopped when he saw her empty eyes. "Janet? Oh God, Janet, don't do this to me. Janet, come on." He pulled her into a sitting position and then saw the charred and bleeding mess that had been her back. "No, God, no. JACK, PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!" Daniel felt his hand slip and then had to fight back the urge to gag as he touched Janet's exposed spine. "Somebody help me."
"DANIEL!" Sam Carter sprinted towards her screaming friend and then almost fell when she saw what he held in his arms. "Oh no.." She forgot all her training and dropped her weapon as she threw herself down at Daniel's side. "Janet, come on.." Shaking fingers fumbled for the pulse in Janet's neck and then tears sprung to Sam's eyes as she realised there was no pulse to find. "No, no, no, no." She met Daniel's wild blue eyes for a moment and then snatched up her weapon again. "I'll go for help." Unable to look at Daniel's devastated face any longer she stood up and stared helplessly around at the last remaining Jaffa as they were forced back by the SGC teams. "Colonel! Colonel O'Neill!" At last locating Jack and Teal'c, still fighting side by side as they led the victorious marines, Sam began to run. "COLONEL!"
Daniel began to sob as Sam left him and he began to rock Janet tightly against him. "Don't leave, don't leave me." The shouts of another medical team finding Wells went unnoticed as he buried his face in the nape of her neck. "Janet, please don't go, please." He felt like he couldn't breathe and began to sob in earnest as he imagined he could feel the warmth of her body already start to fade. "Please, please."
"Daniel!" Jack O'Neill pelted towards his friend with Sam and Teal'c hot on his heels. "Christ, Daniel. Teal'c hold him." Jack wasted no time in trying to be gentle as he yanked Daniel back and Janet fell out of his arms to flop lifelessly onto the floor. "Oh, hell no. Janet? Janet?" Jack ignored the screaming Daniel as he tried to fight off Teal'c to get back to Janet and bellowed. "I need a medic here!" He undid Janet's helmet, flinging it carelessly aside as he bent to listen at her mouth for any signs of her breathing. "Dammit, Doc, not like this. Carter, help me here." He fastened his mouth over Janet's and began to breath into her as Sam dropped and prepared to start pumping her chest. "Come on, Doc."
Teal'c held onto Daniel with all his considerable strength and watched his teammates battle for Janet's life. Blood began to seep out from under her still body and into the mud around them and the Jaffa swallowed. "O'Neill. O'Neill!" Teal'c's face was as filled with emotion as Jack had ever seen it when he looked up. "She is gone, there is nothing you can do for her."
"NO!" Daniel's scream had tears springing to Sam's eyes. "Jack, please, you have to help her. You have to save her."
"Danny." Helplessly Jack stared up at his friend writhing in Teal'c's arms. "Danny, I'm sorry."
"We've got to get her back to the SGC, the healing device." Daniel stopped fighting and stared pleadingly at Sam. "You can help her, Sam. You can make it work."
"Daniel..I.." Sam looked down at her friend, dead in the mud of an alien planet and started to cry in earnest. "It won't work, I can't help her. This is.there's too much damage."
"Her injuries are too severe." Teal'c shook his head and tightened his hold on Daniel as he began to shake. "We would need a sarcophagus to stand a chance."
"The Tok'ra." Daniel's face was suddenly alive with pitiful hope. "Jack, the Tok'ra could help us."
"Daniel, you know they don't use them. They know what they do to someone remember?" Jack stood up and placed his hands on Daniel's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Danny.."
"Sir." Sam scrambled to her feet and grabbed Jack's arm. "They don't use them but they have them. Or one at least. Selmak and my father were studying it, trying to find a way to alleviate their addictive side effects."
Jack blinked. "What? And no one thought to mention this before, because?" He shook his head. "Scratch that, I don't care. Teal'c, how long have we got?"
"With each moment that passes chances grow slimmer for revival, O'Neill. We do not have time to return to base and send a signal for help." Teal'c looked towards the stargate where medical teams and marines were evacuating. "And we have no way of asking for help from here."
"I wasn't gonna ask." Jack bent and scooped Janet's body into his arms. "Carter, get our people through the gate on the double, Daniel get ready to dial us to the last place we knew they were hidin' out the minute the wormhole to Earth shuts down. Teal'c, take Janet and get ready to move as soon as I give the order." He bundled Janet into Teal'c's arms as the Jaffa released Daniel. "I'm gonna go let someone know we're gonna be late. Let's go, people!"
***************************************
To say the Tok'ra were surprised to see a manic and bloodstained SG1 suddenly in their midst clutching two Tok'ra guards, one moaning weakly and one unconscious, would have been a slight understatement. To then have the human members of SG1 immediately bunch together around their alien team- mate and the limp bundle cradled in his arms and raise their weapons with the clear intention of shooting anyone that tried to come close was downright astonishing.
"Its ok, we come in peace!" O'Neill stepped forward and swung his gun slowly backwards and forth trying to cover twelve trigger happy Tok'ra all at the same time. "Just lookin' for a little help here!"
"Colonel O'Neill?" The Tok'ra scientist Malek, pushed past his tense comrades and stared at the grim faced Jack. "Is that you?"
"Malek, tell your men to lower their weapons, we're not here to fight." Jack relaxed slightly at the sight of a familiar face and his gun barrel dropped a notch. "We need help."
"Certainly. If you will tell your men to lower theirs?" Malek waited until Jack nodded and signalled to Daniel and Sam before gesturing to the Tok'ra. "Put down your weapons. How can we help you, Colonel?"
Jack stepped aside and gestured to Janet in Teal'c's arms. "Our friend's been hurt, our doctors won't be able to help her." He followed Malek as he hurried forwards and assisted Sam in holding Daniel back as the Tok'ra carefully helped Teal'c shift Janet's body so he could examine her. "She needs your help."
Malek straightened and glanced eloquently down at the blood that dripped from Janet's wound onto the floor. "I am truly sorry, there is nothing that we can do for your her. She is dead."
"No!" Daniel broke free of his friends' hold and grabbed at the Tok'ra's tunic. "You help her, get her to your sarcophagus." He stared pleadingly into the alien face. "Please, help her."
"I am sorry for your loss." Malek tried to gently disengage his clothing from Daniel's fierce grip. "I'm sorry, there is nothing we can do."
"Malek, what have you done with the sarcophagus?" Sam pushed past Jack and joined Daniel in snatching frantically at the captive alien. "I know you had one, what have you done with it?"
"Samantha, you know we do not use the sarcophagus like our enemies. It is there to be studied, not to be used. We are not Gods." Malek's eyes pleaded for understanding. "We would become no better than those we fight if we used that technology to further our own aims."
"You sanctimonious bastard!" Daniel's fist smashed into Malek's face and he followed the man down onto the floor. "You can help her! Goddamn it, help us save her!"
Jack lifted his gun again as Daniel pummelled ruthlessly at Malek and Sam tried to drag him off. "Nobody move." The Tok'ra guards froze as he swept his weapon along their ranks. "I won't get all of you but I will get some, we've got nothin' to lose here." He kept his eyes on the Tok'ra as the sounds of Malek having the stuffing beaten out of him ceased and dry wracking sobs filled the chamber. "Carter, everything under control?"
Sam gasped for breath as she held Daniel's arm pinned against the small of his back and glanced at the bloodied Malek. "Yessir, Colonel." She stood and pulled Daniel up beside her. "We're good."
"Samantha." The familiar distorted voice had all heads turning as someone pushed their way into the tense room. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Selmak." Sam bowed her head as she saw the familiar golden eyes of her father staring in bewilderment at her. "I'm sorry, we need your help. Janet's been wounded very badly and we need to use your sarcophagus, it's her only chance."
"And you believe that coming here and assaulting my people is a good way to ask for my help?" Selmak's head shook reprovingly. "This is no way to treat respected friends."
"Selmak, we're not exactly awash with time to spare here." Jack still hadn't lowered his weapon but he managed to keep his voice fairly neutral. "We'll chat about old times as soon as you fix Janet, ok?"
"That cannot be, O'Neill." Selmak's face was awash with pity. "I am sorry, but we cannot allow that."
"Wrong answer." Daniel had his gun in his hands and trained on Selmak before he realised what he was doing. He advanced past Jack, ignoring the sane, rational part of his mind that was screaming at him to stop, and focused on the burning knot of white-hot terror in his gut. "Help her or I will shoot you where you stand."
"Daniel, no!" Sam darted forward and gasped as Jack shot out a hand to grip her arm. "Please, that's my father."
"Carter, fall back." Jack's eyes were darting everywhere at once as he tried to watch the assembled Tok'ra. "Fall back and cover us, Carter, that's an order!"
"Sir." Sam flinched as Jack's hand tightened on her wrist to grind the bones together and she gave a sob. "Yessir." Unable to tear her eyes away from Daniel holding her father and his symbiote at gun point she backed away and bent to retrieve her weapon, moving to cover Teal'c's left flank.
"Wait." Selmak held up his hands and appeared to listen intently for a moment before sighing. "Jacob would like to talk to you." He stared without fear into Daniel's fear crazed eyes. "Please, listen to him."
Sam started and lowered her weapon as she looked round. "Dad?"
Jacob's eyes glowed as Selmak retreated and then Jacob Carter was staring down the barrel of Daniel's gun. He flicked a glance to either side at the tense Tok'ra and then stared for long moments at the limp body of Janet held in Teal'c's arms. "Sam, Jack, I want you all to listen to me very carefully. I'm not only speaking to you as a father and as a friend, but also as a senior officer, is that clear?" He paused and then took a deep breath. "I want you to do what ever you have to do to ensure that Janet goes back to the SGC alive." Jacob jerked as Selmak tried to reassert his control over their body and he hissed through gritted teeth. "Daniel, don't put down your weapon, do whatever you have to do." He staggered. "Sam, do you understand me? Sam!"
Sam raised her gun and pointed it with tear blurred eyes at the massed ranks of the Tok'ra. "Yes sir, General Carter." She backed up until her shoulder blades touched Teal'c's side and kept her weapon steadily pointed at their allies. "Yes, sir."
"NO!" Selmak roared as he pushed Jacob down and took control. "I will not allow this."
"You don't have a choice, Selmak." Jack's eyes were flat and hard as he watched the Tok'ra surrounding his team. "If you don't give us access to the sarcophagus then we will open fire on your people."
"You fool, you have no idea of what you are doing." Selmak's eyes glowed with fury as he glared impotently at the team. "We have offered you nothing but friendship and."
"Bullshit!" Jack's voice cracked like a whip. "That's bullshit and you know it. You use us for your own ends and make use of the contacts we bring you because you're too damn chicken to go out and make them yourselves. Well now it's time for a little payback, Wormy. Our friend needs your help and if you won't give it then we're just gonna have to take it. Sam, Daniel, I'm ordering you to shoot the next person that tries to stop us. Teal'c, stay between us."
"You will destroy everything we have worked for these past years, the trust we have built!" Selmak raised his hands pleadingly as Daniel began to advance on him, eyes desperate and without pity over the top of his gun. "Is the life of one woman, however loved, worth jeopardising that for?"
"Yes. She's worth everything." The barrel of Daniel's gun slammed into Selmek's breastbone. "Now take us to the sarcophagus or I will shoot you." He jabbed the Tok'ra with the weapon hard once more. "Now."
"You heard the man, Selmak." Jack's eyes narrowed as he saw a guard make a move for his weapon. "Don't do it, kid, we're prepared to die over this, are you?" The Tok'ra froze and Jack raised his voice. "Cm'on, Selmak, you know me, I don't do empty threats. Either all my team goes back to Earth alive or none of us do."
Daniel jabbed with the gun again. "And we'll take as many of you as we can with us."
"Samantha." Selmak looked towards his host's daughter, trying to plead with the sanest member of the team. "Please, don't do this."
"I have my orders, Selmak." Sam refused to look away from the Tok'ra in before them. "And Janet's my friend, I won't let her die if I can prevent it."
Jack smiled coldly. "Let's go, people, we have a miracle to perform."
********************************
SG 1 stood with weapons drawn around the sarcophagus, watching the Tok'ra surrounding them as the machine worked silently on Janet. Selmak stood before Jack, eyes blazing with fury as they waited for the lid to part and reveal whether SG 1's desperate gamble had worked. "You will pay dearly for this, O'Neill. You have made a very powerful enemy for your world."
"Get in line, Selmak." Jack blinked cold sweat out of his eyes and wished his arms would stop aching. "Take a number right after Annubis. Sam, how much longer?"
"I don't know, sir." Sam tried to think past the fact that she had probably just kissed goodbye to any chance she had of seeing her father ever again. "Another few minutes at most."
"See? The nasty humans will be out of your thinning hair before you can blink, Selmak." Jack forced his arms to hold steady, not easy when he'd been holding a heavy machine gun in the same position for the last forty minutes. "Once we get Janet safely back to Earth we'll come right back here and let you do whatever you want to us, ok? The alliance between our peoples won't have to suffer."
"How can we trust you again?" Selmak gestured to Malek and scowled. "You've abused our relationship and everything we have built together. How can we ever trust you again?"
"The Tau'ri are an honourable people, Selmak." Teal'c's deep voice echoed through the room as he half turned from his position at the foot of the sarcophagus to look at the Tok'ra leader. "And we have been victorious so many times against our common enemy because of the very behaviour that we exhibit here today. The Tok'ra have benefited many times from our help."
Jack bared his teeth. "What he's tryin' to say is it looks pretty funny when we're happening to the System Lords, not quite such a hoot when we come knockin' on your door, is it?"
"Sir." Sam tensed as the pitch of the humming machine changed almost imperceptibly. "Sir, I think it's ready."
"Sweet." Jack felt his heart rate pick up as the sound of the sarcophagus lid opening sounded behind him. "Nobody move, we'll know in a minute."
That minute was the longest of Daniel's life as he forced himself to keep his weapon aimed at the Tok'ra before him. His muscles were straining to turn around and see if they had succeeded in bringing Janet back, whilst his heart and mind were screaming in fear that they had been too late and rebelling at the thought of losing the last seconds of hope that she could live again. Endless seconds ticked by when the lid had fully opened and with each passing one, Daniel felt a little bit more of his heart whither and die. She should have said something, made a sound, anything by now but the only sound in the room was the harsh breathing of SG1 the slight scuffle of feet against the floor.
"Janet? Doc?" Jack cleared his throat and prayed like he'd never prayed before. "You in there?" More long moments passed. "Oh crap. Janet, if you're in there now would be a *really* good time to say something." Jack could feel the blood pumping in his ears as he ordered hoarsely. "Carter, report."
Sam edged back until she felt the sarcophagus press against the backs of her legs and transferred her gun into one hand as she groped back with the other. Her eyes stayed firmly before her as she found Janet's head and skimmed her hand down to her friend's neck.and then yelped as a small hand gripped her wrist and yanked her off balance. "Oh my god!" Sam turned awkwardly and found herself looking into the confused, pissed off and very alive eyes of Janet Frasier. "Jack, it worked, she's ok! She's ok!"
"That's a matter of opinion." Janet fought to sit up and stared in bewilderment over the top of the sarcophagus at the massed ranks of aliens held at bay by Jack, Daniel and Teal'c. "Oh my God, what have you done this time?"
End Part 7.
Ok, so I just want to point out that I've been doing everything I can to put off writing this ep for the last 48 hours, hence 'Danny's Beads'. This was not fun. I am, by nature, a happy, fluff kinda gal and it took me two years of writing in the Buffy fandom before I could bring myself to write any angst or character deaths and considering how completely in love I am with the D/J 'ship I think I was very brave in getting to this point in under three weeks. I left as much out as I could concerning the why's and wherefores of why they were on the planet in the first place so as not to spoil you too much, so if you're a bit confused as to that then I suggest you go to www.savedanieljackson.com and read the notes there if you want to know more. I know there were at least two points in this ep where I could have broken off and started a new chapter (ie CLIFFHANGER) but I couldn't do it and just had to bring her back after I gritted my teeth and started the ep. I am a HUGE fan of Stargate but I know next to nothing about the rules of the fandom so if I have it wrong about the Tok'ra and other stuff can I just plead artistic license and leave it there? Ok ::deep breath:: That's it. Hope you enjoyed. ::reaches shakily for a large whisky:: I'm going to lay down now. Oh, and from what I can work out British TV will be screening 'Heroes' either on or directly after Xmas week. Thank you Sky One, can't tell you how much I appreciate that. Happy bloody Holidays to you too!
Special Note: Oh dear, the words I've been dreading typing ::deep breath:: WARNING: Character death!!
Part 7.
Janet led her medical team into the gateroom half an hour later and returned O'Neill's nod. "Reporting as ordered, Colonel." She adjusted the straps of her field medical kit on her shoulders and turned to her team. "Just follow orders and do what you can, please. Our priority is to stabilise our people and get them back through the gate, anything else can wait until we're back in the Infirmary. Is that clear?" She smiled bracingly at the nervous nods she received. "We'll be fine."
Sam walked over to join her friend, almost clanking with the amount of heavy weaponry she had hung around her person. "You ok?"
"Yeah." Janet tensed as Daniel and Teal'c ran into the room and then forced herself to focus on the job at hand and not Daniel's declaration in her office. "Do we know how many Jaffa are out there or how badly wounded our people are?"
"Nope." Sam glanced down at her friend soberly. "Just keep your head down, Janet, ok? Leave the rough stuff to us." She turned and narrowed her eyes at the control room where Senator Kinsey stood talking to a grim faced General Hammond. "Kinsey showing up couldn't have happened at a worse time, the last thing we need is to screw up when he's here."
Janet followed Sam's eyes and then flashed a smile. "Hey, you never know, we might get lucky and accidentally bring a stray Jaffa back with us. It'd be a darn shame if it got lose and zatted the man into oblivion."
"I knew there was a reason I always liked you, Frasier." Jack O'Neill smirked at the two women as they jumped guiltily and nodded towards the gate as the chevrons began to engage. "But do you think we can save the planned assassination of our own side until we get back from kicking the crap out of our official enemies?"
"Yes, sir." Sam grinned sheepishly and then her face sobered as the establishing wormhole whooshed outwards. "See you on the other side, Janet."
"Watch yourself, Sam." Janet waited until SG1 had grouped together with the other SG units and then nodded at her staff. "Ok, fall in." They followed her to range themselves behind the frontline teams and stood poised waiting for Colonel O'Neill's order.
"GO!" Jack sprinted up the ramp with his team hard on his heels. "Go, go, go!" The gate room echoed with the sound of pounding feet on metal as the rescue teams sprinted after their CO and then the wormhole was rippling as one by one people hurled themselves through it.
Silence reigned as the ripples calmed from the last person jumping through the gate and then General Hammond nodded. "Close the iris." He watched as the gate shut down and then turned to Senator Kinsey. "Shall we wait in my office?" He walked out without waiting for a reply and wondered if there was any way he could possibly get a zat from the armoury and shoot the Senator without any witnesses.
"While we wait, General, there are a few things I'd like to discuss, namely why two members of SG 1 attacked members of the documentary team sent here to interview them." Senator Kinsey followed closely behind and didn't try and mask the smugness of his tone. "I'm sure the President will be very interested in hearing your explanation."
Hammond grunted and led the way down the steps. Screw the witnesses, he ran this facility; he could just order them to keep their mouth shut. "Senator, have you seen the new weapons that SG 6 brought back from their latest mission? The armoury is this way if you'd like to follow me."
**************************
The noise was incredible. In every direction screams and the thunderous fire of guns sounded as humans and Jaffas battled for their lives. Janet stumbled down the steps on the other side of the gate and followed Perkins and Childs from SG 7 as they took cover behind a pile of boulders. She kept her head down as she turned to her team and yelled over the fire of weapons and shouts of men. "Go to your assigned units and get to the wounded. Be careful!" A swell of pride flowered in her breast as her people nodded and ran through the madness to reach their assigned teams with no thought but to do their jobs and get their colleagues to safety.
"Doctor, we're moving forward, be ready!" Perkins fired at a Jaffa that ran screaming towards them and then fired again as another popped up to take his place. "Stay behind us!" Janet took a deep breath and then sprinted after the two men as they raced forwards, clearing a path for her to get to an unmoving body some twenty feet away. As soon as she dropped to her knees beside the figure she knew it was too late. Blank eyes stared sightlessly up at the sky and the wound in the man's chest still smoked from the staff blast that killed him.
"I can't do anything here." Janet rose into a crouch and ducked her head as a group of Jaffas fired at them. Perkins and Childs stood their ground and fired back, spraying the Jaffa with round after round of bullets until they fell. "Move on." She followed the two men to the next body a few feet away and breathed a sigh of relief as she looked into a pair of frightened, but very much alive, eyes. "Moss isn't it?" The airman on the floor nodded and cried out as Janet ripped the material of his pants and exposed a gaping wound on his thigh. "Ok, marine, you're going to be ok. Just try to keep calm and let me help you." The sounds of battle and the screams of the dying faded as her training took over and Janet was oblivious to everything but her patient. "You're going to be ok."
********************************
Daniel had managed to get himself separated from the rest of his team in a worryingly short space of time and had somehow in the melee managed to trip over Wells from SG 13. The airman lay gasping on the ground from a vicious looking stomach wound and could do more than give a muffled cry as Daniel's body landed on top of his. "Oh God, I'm sorry." Daniel scrambled up and then covered Wells with his own body again as a Jaffa fired at them. "Hold on, hold on!" He looked up at a bust of gunfire and saw the Jaffa fall as a member of SG 5 took him down. Daniel looked down at the man beneath him. "It's ok, we're here to get you out of here." He glanced at Wells' stomach and blanched as he saw the glistening of internal muscle through the blood. "You'll be ok."
"I.I.dying." Wells gripped Daniel's jacket like a lifeline as he lay helpless on the floor. "Ba.baby."
"You're not dying." Daniel raised his gun and fired as a Jaffa came out of nowhere and blasted the alien of his feet. "Trust me, I know these things." He stared desperately around for Sam or Jack and caught a glimpse of Carter as she took out two Jaffa that had her pinned down behind a nearby rock. "Just hang on."
"N.No. Dying." Wells lifted his head with a groan of pain. "Tell.my wife.I'm sorry."
"Tell her yourself." Daniel's heart leapt into his throat as he saw Jack and Teal'c erupt from the ground about a hundred feet from his position and run bellowing defiance at a group of at least eight Jaffa. He led out the breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding as they cut through the men like a knife through butter and kept running towards a group of pinned down marines. "You'll see her soon."
"She's having a.baby. Won't see her." Wells head fell back and tears trickled helplessly from his eyes. "Can't tell.her that I love.her."
Daniel thought for a moment he'd been hit the stab of pain in his heart was so strong but when he looked down it was just to see the unmarred material of his jacket. "She knows, I promise you." He crouched lower over Wells and tried to smile. "Women know these things." The look of desolate pain in the man's eyes was enough to take his breath away and Daniel could see his own agony of losing the woman he loved mirrored in the man's face. "Look, you're going to see her again, I swear." He remembered something and fumbled his pack off to rummage in it before pulling out a small camcorder with a grunt of triumph. "But if something stops you seeing your baby born then I'll make sure she still gets to see your face, ok?" Daniel flipped open the screen and focused it on the man's face. "It'll be ok."
"What have we got?" Both men jumped as Janet Fraiser appeared out of nowhere and fell to her knees. Her hair had escaped from its tight knot and was falling in straggly waves from under her helmet as she bent over Wells. "Ok, let's have a look at you."
Daniel felt a stab of something to his heart again, but this time it was unadulterated terror. "Janet, get out of here, it's too dangerous." He stared wildly around them and then looked back at Janet as she pressed a sterile dressing to Wells' stomach. "We could be overrun at any minute."
"Colonel O'Neill's ordering the retreat through the gate with the wounded, we're winning, Daniel." Janet scraped away a trickle of someone else's blood from her cheek and grabbed his hand. "Press down here." She turned back to her pack and then suddenly jerked, flying backwards through the air to land with a crash several metres away.
"JANET!" The camera fell unnoticed from Daniel's hand as he lunged after her and left Wells bleeding forgotten behind him. "Janet, oh no, God no." He scrambled desperately over the blood soaked floor and grabbed for her limp body. "Janet, don't do this."
"Daniel?" Janet gasped with pain as he hauled her into his arms and clutched her against him. "It hurts.."
"I know, I know." Daniel looked away from her face for a brief second. "JACK, SAM, HELP ME!" He looked down at the woman in his arms again and time stopped when he saw her empty eyes. "Janet? Oh God, Janet, don't do this to me. Janet, come on." He pulled her into a sitting position and then saw the charred and bleeding mess that had been her back. "No, God, no. JACK, PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!" Daniel felt his hand slip and then had to fight back the urge to gag as he touched Janet's exposed spine. "Somebody help me."
"DANIEL!" Sam Carter sprinted towards her screaming friend and then almost fell when she saw what he held in his arms. "Oh no.." She forgot all her training and dropped her weapon as she threw herself down at Daniel's side. "Janet, come on.." Shaking fingers fumbled for the pulse in Janet's neck and then tears sprung to Sam's eyes as she realised there was no pulse to find. "No, no, no, no." She met Daniel's wild blue eyes for a moment and then snatched up her weapon again. "I'll go for help." Unable to look at Daniel's devastated face any longer she stood up and stared helplessly around at the last remaining Jaffa as they were forced back by the SGC teams. "Colonel! Colonel O'Neill!" At last locating Jack and Teal'c, still fighting side by side as they led the victorious marines, Sam began to run. "COLONEL!"
Daniel began to sob as Sam left him and he began to rock Janet tightly against him. "Don't leave, don't leave me." The shouts of another medical team finding Wells went unnoticed as he buried his face in the nape of her neck. "Janet, please don't go, please." He felt like he couldn't breathe and began to sob in earnest as he imagined he could feel the warmth of her body already start to fade. "Please, please."
"Daniel!" Jack O'Neill pelted towards his friend with Sam and Teal'c hot on his heels. "Christ, Daniel. Teal'c hold him." Jack wasted no time in trying to be gentle as he yanked Daniel back and Janet fell out of his arms to flop lifelessly onto the floor. "Oh, hell no. Janet? Janet?" Jack ignored the screaming Daniel as he tried to fight off Teal'c to get back to Janet and bellowed. "I need a medic here!" He undid Janet's helmet, flinging it carelessly aside as he bent to listen at her mouth for any signs of her breathing. "Dammit, Doc, not like this. Carter, help me here." He fastened his mouth over Janet's and began to breath into her as Sam dropped and prepared to start pumping her chest. "Come on, Doc."
Teal'c held onto Daniel with all his considerable strength and watched his teammates battle for Janet's life. Blood began to seep out from under her still body and into the mud around them and the Jaffa swallowed. "O'Neill. O'Neill!" Teal'c's face was as filled with emotion as Jack had ever seen it when he looked up. "She is gone, there is nothing you can do for her."
"NO!" Daniel's scream had tears springing to Sam's eyes. "Jack, please, you have to help her. You have to save her."
"Danny." Helplessly Jack stared up at his friend writhing in Teal'c's arms. "Danny, I'm sorry."
"We've got to get her back to the SGC, the healing device." Daniel stopped fighting and stared pleadingly at Sam. "You can help her, Sam. You can make it work."
"Daniel..I.." Sam looked down at her friend, dead in the mud of an alien planet and started to cry in earnest. "It won't work, I can't help her. This is.there's too much damage."
"Her injuries are too severe." Teal'c shook his head and tightened his hold on Daniel as he began to shake. "We would need a sarcophagus to stand a chance."
"The Tok'ra." Daniel's face was suddenly alive with pitiful hope. "Jack, the Tok'ra could help us."
"Daniel, you know they don't use them. They know what they do to someone remember?" Jack stood up and placed his hands on Daniel's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Danny.."
"Sir." Sam scrambled to her feet and grabbed Jack's arm. "They don't use them but they have them. Or one at least. Selmak and my father were studying it, trying to find a way to alleviate their addictive side effects."
Jack blinked. "What? And no one thought to mention this before, because?" He shook his head. "Scratch that, I don't care. Teal'c, how long have we got?"
"With each moment that passes chances grow slimmer for revival, O'Neill. We do not have time to return to base and send a signal for help." Teal'c looked towards the stargate where medical teams and marines were evacuating. "And we have no way of asking for help from here."
"I wasn't gonna ask." Jack bent and scooped Janet's body into his arms. "Carter, get our people through the gate on the double, Daniel get ready to dial us to the last place we knew they were hidin' out the minute the wormhole to Earth shuts down. Teal'c, take Janet and get ready to move as soon as I give the order." He bundled Janet into Teal'c's arms as the Jaffa released Daniel. "I'm gonna go let someone know we're gonna be late. Let's go, people!"
***************************************
To say the Tok'ra were surprised to see a manic and bloodstained SG1 suddenly in their midst clutching two Tok'ra guards, one moaning weakly and one unconscious, would have been a slight understatement. To then have the human members of SG1 immediately bunch together around their alien team- mate and the limp bundle cradled in his arms and raise their weapons with the clear intention of shooting anyone that tried to come close was downright astonishing.
"Its ok, we come in peace!" O'Neill stepped forward and swung his gun slowly backwards and forth trying to cover twelve trigger happy Tok'ra all at the same time. "Just lookin' for a little help here!"
"Colonel O'Neill?" The Tok'ra scientist Malek, pushed past his tense comrades and stared at the grim faced Jack. "Is that you?"
"Malek, tell your men to lower their weapons, we're not here to fight." Jack relaxed slightly at the sight of a familiar face and his gun barrel dropped a notch. "We need help."
"Certainly. If you will tell your men to lower theirs?" Malek waited until Jack nodded and signalled to Daniel and Sam before gesturing to the Tok'ra. "Put down your weapons. How can we help you, Colonel?"
Jack stepped aside and gestured to Janet in Teal'c's arms. "Our friend's been hurt, our doctors won't be able to help her." He followed Malek as he hurried forwards and assisted Sam in holding Daniel back as the Tok'ra carefully helped Teal'c shift Janet's body so he could examine her. "She needs your help."
Malek straightened and glanced eloquently down at the blood that dripped from Janet's wound onto the floor. "I am truly sorry, there is nothing that we can do for your her. She is dead."
"No!" Daniel broke free of his friends' hold and grabbed at the Tok'ra's tunic. "You help her, get her to your sarcophagus." He stared pleadingly into the alien face. "Please, help her."
"I am sorry for your loss." Malek tried to gently disengage his clothing from Daniel's fierce grip. "I'm sorry, there is nothing we can do."
"Malek, what have you done with the sarcophagus?" Sam pushed past Jack and joined Daniel in snatching frantically at the captive alien. "I know you had one, what have you done with it?"
"Samantha, you know we do not use the sarcophagus like our enemies. It is there to be studied, not to be used. We are not Gods." Malek's eyes pleaded for understanding. "We would become no better than those we fight if we used that technology to further our own aims."
"You sanctimonious bastard!" Daniel's fist smashed into Malek's face and he followed the man down onto the floor. "You can help her! Goddamn it, help us save her!"
Jack lifted his gun again as Daniel pummelled ruthlessly at Malek and Sam tried to drag him off. "Nobody move." The Tok'ra guards froze as he swept his weapon along their ranks. "I won't get all of you but I will get some, we've got nothin' to lose here." He kept his eyes on the Tok'ra as the sounds of Malek having the stuffing beaten out of him ceased and dry wracking sobs filled the chamber. "Carter, everything under control?"
Sam gasped for breath as she held Daniel's arm pinned against the small of his back and glanced at the bloodied Malek. "Yessir, Colonel." She stood and pulled Daniel up beside her. "We're good."
"Samantha." The familiar distorted voice had all heads turning as someone pushed their way into the tense room. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Selmak." Sam bowed her head as she saw the familiar golden eyes of her father staring in bewilderment at her. "I'm sorry, we need your help. Janet's been wounded very badly and we need to use your sarcophagus, it's her only chance."
"And you believe that coming here and assaulting my people is a good way to ask for my help?" Selmak's head shook reprovingly. "This is no way to treat respected friends."
"Selmak, we're not exactly awash with time to spare here." Jack still hadn't lowered his weapon but he managed to keep his voice fairly neutral. "We'll chat about old times as soon as you fix Janet, ok?"
"That cannot be, O'Neill." Selmak's face was awash with pity. "I am sorry, but we cannot allow that."
"Wrong answer." Daniel had his gun in his hands and trained on Selmak before he realised what he was doing. He advanced past Jack, ignoring the sane, rational part of his mind that was screaming at him to stop, and focused on the burning knot of white-hot terror in his gut. "Help her or I will shoot you where you stand."
"Daniel, no!" Sam darted forward and gasped as Jack shot out a hand to grip her arm. "Please, that's my father."
"Carter, fall back." Jack's eyes were darting everywhere at once as he tried to watch the assembled Tok'ra. "Fall back and cover us, Carter, that's an order!"
"Sir." Sam flinched as Jack's hand tightened on her wrist to grind the bones together and she gave a sob. "Yessir." Unable to tear her eyes away from Daniel holding her father and his symbiote at gun point she backed away and bent to retrieve her weapon, moving to cover Teal'c's left flank.
"Wait." Selmak held up his hands and appeared to listen intently for a moment before sighing. "Jacob would like to talk to you." He stared without fear into Daniel's fear crazed eyes. "Please, listen to him."
Sam started and lowered her weapon as she looked round. "Dad?"
Jacob's eyes glowed as Selmak retreated and then Jacob Carter was staring down the barrel of Daniel's gun. He flicked a glance to either side at the tense Tok'ra and then stared for long moments at the limp body of Janet held in Teal'c's arms. "Sam, Jack, I want you all to listen to me very carefully. I'm not only speaking to you as a father and as a friend, but also as a senior officer, is that clear?" He paused and then took a deep breath. "I want you to do what ever you have to do to ensure that Janet goes back to the SGC alive." Jacob jerked as Selmak tried to reassert his control over their body and he hissed through gritted teeth. "Daniel, don't put down your weapon, do whatever you have to do." He staggered. "Sam, do you understand me? Sam!"
Sam raised her gun and pointed it with tear blurred eyes at the massed ranks of the Tok'ra. "Yes sir, General Carter." She backed up until her shoulder blades touched Teal'c's side and kept her weapon steadily pointed at their allies. "Yes, sir."
"NO!" Selmak roared as he pushed Jacob down and took control. "I will not allow this."
"You don't have a choice, Selmak." Jack's eyes were flat and hard as he watched the Tok'ra surrounding his team. "If you don't give us access to the sarcophagus then we will open fire on your people."
"You fool, you have no idea of what you are doing." Selmak's eyes glowed with fury as he glared impotently at the team. "We have offered you nothing but friendship and."
"Bullshit!" Jack's voice cracked like a whip. "That's bullshit and you know it. You use us for your own ends and make use of the contacts we bring you because you're too damn chicken to go out and make them yourselves. Well now it's time for a little payback, Wormy. Our friend needs your help and if you won't give it then we're just gonna have to take it. Sam, Daniel, I'm ordering you to shoot the next person that tries to stop us. Teal'c, stay between us."
"You will destroy everything we have worked for these past years, the trust we have built!" Selmak raised his hands pleadingly as Daniel began to advance on him, eyes desperate and without pity over the top of his gun. "Is the life of one woman, however loved, worth jeopardising that for?"
"Yes. She's worth everything." The barrel of Daniel's gun slammed into Selmek's breastbone. "Now take us to the sarcophagus or I will shoot you." He jabbed the Tok'ra with the weapon hard once more. "Now."
"You heard the man, Selmak." Jack's eyes narrowed as he saw a guard make a move for his weapon. "Don't do it, kid, we're prepared to die over this, are you?" The Tok'ra froze and Jack raised his voice. "Cm'on, Selmak, you know me, I don't do empty threats. Either all my team goes back to Earth alive or none of us do."
Daniel jabbed with the gun again. "And we'll take as many of you as we can with us."
"Samantha." Selmak looked towards his host's daughter, trying to plead with the sanest member of the team. "Please, don't do this."
"I have my orders, Selmak." Sam refused to look away from the Tok'ra in before them. "And Janet's my friend, I won't let her die if I can prevent it."
Jack smiled coldly. "Let's go, people, we have a miracle to perform."
********************************
SG 1 stood with weapons drawn around the sarcophagus, watching the Tok'ra surrounding them as the machine worked silently on Janet. Selmak stood before Jack, eyes blazing with fury as they waited for the lid to part and reveal whether SG 1's desperate gamble had worked. "You will pay dearly for this, O'Neill. You have made a very powerful enemy for your world."
"Get in line, Selmak." Jack blinked cold sweat out of his eyes and wished his arms would stop aching. "Take a number right after Annubis. Sam, how much longer?"
"I don't know, sir." Sam tried to think past the fact that she had probably just kissed goodbye to any chance she had of seeing her father ever again. "Another few minutes at most."
"See? The nasty humans will be out of your thinning hair before you can blink, Selmak." Jack forced his arms to hold steady, not easy when he'd been holding a heavy machine gun in the same position for the last forty minutes. "Once we get Janet safely back to Earth we'll come right back here and let you do whatever you want to us, ok? The alliance between our peoples won't have to suffer."
"How can we trust you again?" Selmak gestured to Malek and scowled. "You've abused our relationship and everything we have built together. How can we ever trust you again?"
"The Tau'ri are an honourable people, Selmak." Teal'c's deep voice echoed through the room as he half turned from his position at the foot of the sarcophagus to look at the Tok'ra leader. "And we have been victorious so many times against our common enemy because of the very behaviour that we exhibit here today. The Tok'ra have benefited many times from our help."
Jack bared his teeth. "What he's tryin' to say is it looks pretty funny when we're happening to the System Lords, not quite such a hoot when we come knockin' on your door, is it?"
"Sir." Sam tensed as the pitch of the humming machine changed almost imperceptibly. "Sir, I think it's ready."
"Sweet." Jack felt his heart rate pick up as the sound of the sarcophagus lid opening sounded behind him. "Nobody move, we'll know in a minute."
That minute was the longest of Daniel's life as he forced himself to keep his weapon aimed at the Tok'ra before him. His muscles were straining to turn around and see if they had succeeded in bringing Janet back, whilst his heart and mind were screaming in fear that they had been too late and rebelling at the thought of losing the last seconds of hope that she could live again. Endless seconds ticked by when the lid had fully opened and with each passing one, Daniel felt a little bit more of his heart whither and die. She should have said something, made a sound, anything by now but the only sound in the room was the harsh breathing of SG1 the slight scuffle of feet against the floor.
"Janet? Doc?" Jack cleared his throat and prayed like he'd never prayed before. "You in there?" More long moments passed. "Oh crap. Janet, if you're in there now would be a *really* good time to say something." Jack could feel the blood pumping in his ears as he ordered hoarsely. "Carter, report."
Sam edged back until she felt the sarcophagus press against the backs of her legs and transferred her gun into one hand as she groped back with the other. Her eyes stayed firmly before her as she found Janet's head and skimmed her hand down to her friend's neck.and then yelped as a small hand gripped her wrist and yanked her off balance. "Oh my god!" Sam turned awkwardly and found herself looking into the confused, pissed off and very alive eyes of Janet Frasier. "Jack, it worked, she's ok! She's ok!"
"That's a matter of opinion." Janet fought to sit up and stared in bewilderment over the top of the sarcophagus at the massed ranks of aliens held at bay by Jack, Daniel and Teal'c. "Oh my God, what have you done this time?"
End Part 7.
Ok, so I just want to point out that I've been doing everything I can to put off writing this ep for the last 48 hours, hence 'Danny's Beads'. This was not fun. I am, by nature, a happy, fluff kinda gal and it took me two years of writing in the Buffy fandom before I could bring myself to write any angst or character deaths and considering how completely in love I am with the D/J 'ship I think I was very brave in getting to this point in under three weeks. I left as much out as I could concerning the why's and wherefores of why they were on the planet in the first place so as not to spoil you too much, so if you're a bit confused as to that then I suggest you go to www.savedanieljackson.com and read the notes there if you want to know more. I know there were at least two points in this ep where I could have broken off and started a new chapter (ie CLIFFHANGER) but I couldn't do it and just had to bring her back after I gritted my teeth and started the ep. I am a HUGE fan of Stargate but I know next to nothing about the rules of the fandom so if I have it wrong about the Tok'ra and other stuff can I just plead artistic license and leave it there? Ok ::deep breath:: That's it. Hope you enjoyed. ::reaches shakily for a large whisky:: I'm going to lay down now. Oh, and from what I can work out British TV will be screening 'Heroes' either on or directly after Xmas week. Thank you Sky One, can't tell you how much I appreciate that. Happy bloody Holidays to you too!