O'Neill clicked his pen, not listening to the early morning briefing, still tired after watching the late night horror movie with Cassie. His young not-quite-niece had laughed through most of the jump-out-of-your-seat-scare-'em film, the name eluded O'Neill at the moment; but he had been too busy brooding over the party he had left behind. The whole of SG1, bar Teal'c, had dark circles under their eyes and stifled yawns periodically. Perhaps for this reason Hammond had assigned them a mission to a fairly primitive, peaceful world. A farming nation, the planet had deposits of several rare minerals and seemingly welcoming natives; willing to trade anything for knowledge of their Stargate.
"SG1, you have a go!" Hammond said, making O'Neill smile somewhat savagely at the pad of paper he was doodling on, then he stood up.
"Sir," said Carter, the palest of the team around the table, "I didn't get to say goodbye last night. Where did you go? Was Cassie with you?"
O'Neill felt a momentary pang of guilt, but he brushed it aside with an angry remembrance of Carter's betrayal, and of Grant. "Yeah, Cassie was with me," he said vaguely, frowning slightly, "Sorry if you were worried..." He left the sentence hanging in the air.
Carter frowned too. "No, Daniel said something... see you later..." She hurried away, apparently distracted; if anything O'Neill thought she looked a little upset. He shrugged his shoulders.
Daniel, watching the two of them from behind, looked troubled. He shot Teal'c a concerned look which the Jaffa returned calmly. "Such things will resolve themselves, DoctorJackson," he said quietly.
"I hope you're right, Teal'c, I hope you're right."
*
The 'Gate shimmered in front of O'Neill. Normally he would turn to Carter, smile at her, make a joke. Not today. He stepped through the event horizon without a word, relishing the feeling of his body being pulled this way and that, the welcome cold biting into his bones and chilling his fingers, numbing the pain.
He stumbled out of the 'Gate on the other side into bright sunlight. He pulled out his sunglasses almost automatically as the sound of the other three members of SG1 arriving through the gate preceded the 'scwhomp' of the closing wormhole. "Hi folks!" he called to the hesitant welcoming committee assembled a few feet away. "Jack O'Neill, Earth. This is Teal'c, Doctor Jackson... and Major Carter."
Carter registered the pause before her name and the slight sneer that was playing around O'Neill's mouth; she blushed faintly, her own guilt preventing her from feeling annoyed.
"I-I am Jason," said the apparent leader of the group; certainly the broadest. "W-we welcome p-peaceful travellers to our world. We h-have prepared a feast in your honour. Harvests are g-good and we are willing to share our food with you."
Daniel smiled comfortingly at the clearly nervous man. "Thank you Jason. We would be happy to share information with your people, and we accept your invitation to this feast." He stepped down from the plinth on which the 'Gate was mounted and Jason lead him away, Teal'c keeping close to the scientist.
O'Neill rolled his eyes behind his glasses; any excuse for Daniel not to eat their MREs. He followed the farmer and his companions down the dirt track away from the 'Gate. Carter shifted the weight of her pack and set off behind him, last in line, largely ignored on their journey.
*
"You shouldn't play with your food," Carter said, smiling as she took a seat next to him at the feast.
O'Neill blinked at her in surprise; he had been lost in his own thoughts, turning a gnawed chicken bone over and over as he sat. Carter had been talking with the blacksmith for the last hour with Daniel. Full enough with the food provided for them by Jason's people he had become lost in his own dark thoughts. Outside the night was drawing in, sunset arriving to streak the sky with bloody red light, companion of which was spilling out of the hearth being created by the smoky fire burning merrily therein.
He put down the chicken bone. "Interesting conversation?" he asked.
Carter laughed. "Unparalleled. I never knew Daniel knew so much about ironmongery!"
"He's a man of many talents, our Space Monkey."
For a moment the old air of camaraderie returned. "Jason says we can sleep in here tonight. It gets quite cold outside," she added.
"Excellent. We can build the fire up and have a nice warm night for once."
She smiled at him, the special grin reserved only for those who Carter really cared about. Himself mostly, Daniel and Teal'c sometimes. And Grant now, he supposed.
Insidious as the creeping shadows outside Grant had slunk once more into the Colonel's consciousness. O'Neill stiffened, his own grin draining. "I'm going to get some more chicken. Want some?"
He stood up quickly, not giving her time to answer and strode back over to the table, leaving Carter hurt, confused and alone. Daniel, still talking with the blacksmith, saw the red faced Colonel walking away from Sam, who on closer inspection looked near to tears
"Excuse me for one moment..." Daniel said, intending to make his way over to Sam, who was looking at her hands now, clenched tightly to prevent the shaking in her limbs from becoming noticeable. She didn't know why the Colonel's attitude was affecting her so much. She was marrying Grant, for goodness sake. What should the old soldiers view on her engagement matter...?
At that moment there was a scream from outside. Heads around the room snapped round as a young man, face blanched with terror, came tearing into the room. "Jason!" he said, voice hoarse with panic, "They're here Jason. They've come again."
More screams erupted around the room. O'Neill grabbed the table to stop himself from being drawn along with the general tide of people, streaming for the exits.
"What the hell...?" Daniel asked, compulsively reaching for his P-90.
"I have no idea," said the Colonel, his features suddenly sharp as he slid off the safety of his gun with a practised ease, "But I don't think it's good."
Teal'c raced into the room, almost looking fearful. Carter leapt to her feet and slid the safety off her own gun. "O'Neill!" the Jaffa said, "There are alien ships in the sky. I do not recognise them but I do not think they are frien-"
He was cut off by the unmistakable sound of energy weapon fire. "Let's get out of here," O'Neill said, heading for the door.
The darkness outside was complete, no street lights or torches shed any light as they ran back towards the gate. The screams continued all around them; Carter's heart was hammering madly as they pounded across the fields, slipping and sliding over crops indistinguishable in the pitch-blackness. There was a flash of light. She glanced over her shoulder, the silhouette of O'Neill was visible running behind her. Behind him the night sky looked like it was on fire, a huge orange fireball was apparently plummeting towards the earth. There was another crackle and brighter light suddenly flared, lighting up the cabbages crushed beneath her boots. Energy discharge sent soil a few feet away to the left flying into the air in a damp column which showered the team.
Now there were moving shadows all around them in the dim light of the landing spaceship and the braka-braka of apparent machine gun fire. Another shock wave of energy weapon impact knocked Carter to her feet. Daniel and Teal'c, oblivious, ran on. O'Neill, taking the rear as always to ensure the safety of all his team, grabbed her collar and pulled her to her feet. "Run!" he shouted, "Grant'll never forgive me if you don't get back in one piece."
Carter opened her mouth to say something as she started to run again, gasping for breath but there was another splutter of machine-gun fire, very close. She put her head down and started to run faster, O'Neill sprinting beside her.
His knee was paining him; he had slipped on one of the cabbages earlier and twisted it. Ahead he could see the Stargate starting to spin as Daniel frantically dialled home. Three chevrons were glowing as more earth showered down on them.
There was another close burst of machine gun fire. Carter heard a scream, an explosion of agony behind her; she wheeled around to see O'Neill cartwheel into the air, landing heavily on the ground.
Carter was beside him in an instant, all worries for her personal safety forgotten. There was the familiar sound of the Stargate connecting; a shimmering blue light illuminated the landscape. O'Neill had been shot in the leg. His face was deathly pale, screwed up in hurt, mouth opening and shutting soundlessly. "Jesus! Carter, get out of here!" His voice was thick with pain.
"Not without you, sir."
"Carter!" he coughed, spitting blood to the floor.
"We don't leave our people behind."
"Go!! Please," he begged, voice becoming fainter, "Please, you're supposed to be getting married soon. Please... don't die here..."
"I-I can't," Carter whispered in reply, trying to staunch the flow of blood with her hands as she spoke, "Sir.. Jack.. I can't."
"Go.." It was a mere whisper now, almost swallowed by pain.
"I can't," she repeated more clearly, "I love you... I can't leave you."
"I know." His hands sought hers, gripping them fiercely as she faded from his red-mist speckled vision. "I know."
She held his hand tightly. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "So sorry." Over and over like a mantra, her apologies rained down on O'Neill until he felt he was floating on a sea of them.
"Don't be... you had a right... to be... happy. Grant makes... you happy..."
"Not as happy as you," she replied, voice now choked with tears.
He felt her lips brush his own blue ones, felt her hands clasping his firmly and the wetness of her falling tears on his face. It shouldn't be like this, he thought vaguely. Not here, in a muddy alien field with an attack going on around us. It should be bright and sunny, no clouds, friends around to hear us. I shouldn't be about to die.
He slipped into unconsciousness.
*
O'Neill didn't dare open his eyes when he finally returned to the world of the waking, afraid of what he might see. There was noise all around him, a whispering like that of the sea beating on the shore of the eardrum. A low thrum was audible beneath the whispers, a thrum that vibrated his body, his leg. A worm of pain shivered from his toes to make him wince as the vibrations suddenly rose and then fell in intensity. He risked opening one eye.
The ceiling above him was unfamiliar, black and shining like marble. He opened another eye. More shiny black ceiling. His nose reported the smell of stale sweat and other less pleasant human bodily fluids nearby, a strange contrast to the sleek newness of the apparent roof. It was pleasantly warm wherever he was, with a light breeze. Hopefully not hell then, at any rate.
He raised himself onto his elbows, wincing again as his leg complained at the movement. Major Carter, sporting a cut across her cheek and a black eye, was sitting on a floor as dark as the ceiling, looking away from him and through bars which formed one wall of their new surroundings. It was quite light in their cell but the corridors beyond were dark. He realised the whispering was other voices around him, talking quietly.
"Hey," he whispered, throat strangely constricted and voice rough.
Carter's head snapped round. "Sir!" Her blue eyes showed concern.
"What happened?"
"You passed out sir, and we were captured by the enemy," she explained, a quick appraisal true to her military training. "We're on the enemy ship now, along with some other captives. I've been talking to Jason. Apparently these aliens take people quite regularly from his world. That's why they were so interested in getting the 'Gate to work. They wanted to escape."
O'Neill nodded slowly, trying to absorb all the information into a head pounding at the mere effort of being held upright. Carter gave him a pitiful look.
"You were shot in the leg, sir. They sent someone to look at it a while ago. They removed the bullet and dressed the wound. The... doctor or whatever she was said it'll heal quickly."
"An alien?" O'Neill asked.
"I don't think so sir. She looked human, and I can't sense any Goa'uld presence," Carter replied.
"So, are we dealing with a new species then?" O'Neill said, almost hopefully.
"It looks that way, sir. None of their weapons were Goa'uld, or their ship. I haven't actually seen any aliens... the ground troops were all human, and all the prison warders. Jason assures me that they're just slaves. He even knows some of them."
O'Neill lay back again. "Did Daniel and Teal'c make it back?"
"I think so sir," Carter answered, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
"How long was I unconscious?" the Colonel asked, deciding that revealing how much he could remember after he was shot would probably not the best thing he could do at the moment.
"Nearly eighteen hours sir. I was worried." She gave him a thin smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Hmm," he sighed, trying to make mental space for all of this. "Any food?" he added, as his stomach gave a rumble.
"We've got three days worth of rations between us sir, and they've provided us with food ever since we were put in the cells. And water."
"Oh good," he replied. He realised that Carter's jacket was the pillow beneath his head and he gave her a weak grin. "Thanks, Major," he said, indicating the pillow.
"Least I could do, sir."
The ship moved on through the star speckled blackness of space as one by one the prisoners fell asleep, O'Neill and Carter included.