Author's note: Yeah, I know it's not really a rifle, but I didn't want to say 'machine gun' because I thought it sounded a little mobster-ish.
..................
"What was that?"
Daniel's head came up at the sound of the single gunshot, just like Sam and Teal'c's did. All three of them knew instantly what it was, and they were all on their feet instantly, Teal'c reaching for his staff weapon, and Sam and Daniel reaching down for their sidearms, looking in the direction of the shot as though expecting a Jaffa army to come rushing out of the trees at them with a running O'Neill in the front being chased.
It didn't happen.
"O'Neill is in trouble," Teal'c decided, setting off in the general direction of the sound of the shot – although unless there were more, he'd have trouble locating it exactly, considering the distance it had sounded from. Sam and Daniel were right behind him, and it was a credit to Daniel's concern that he didn't even turn around for a final look at the bark chips that were tumbled to the ground when he'd stood up. Those were just glyphs, after all, and that was nothing when compared to one of his friends needing him.
They stopped just long enough to grab up a first aid kit – just in case! – and to get more firepower for Sam and Daniel, then took off into the forest at a run.
.....................
Like Jack, Jaffer had felt the attack coming right before it actually hit. An instinct in the black lab that was long buried over generations of domestication suddenly emerged in that instant, and he turned, just in time to see the large creature coming down out of the trees on him. He met the attack with a snarl of his own that was far deeper than the piercing cry of the cat, and the two creatures – one tawny and one black – tumbled to the ground in a noisy, vicious ball of fur, teeth and claws.
Jaffer yelped when the initial attack brought a claw into his side, but he was far from out of things, and his teeth flashed as he raked the feline's neck, instinctively going for a killing bite. The cat dodged before Jaffer could get the killing bite, but his sharp teeth scored, and blood flowed freely.
The feline was out of its own comfort zone. On this planet, she and the ones in her pack (and others like them) were the premier hunters. Sitting at the top of the food chain with no natural enemies, they'd grown accustomed to things dying when they attacked them, or things running from them. This large black creature wasn't doing either, and it had just caused her pain on her neck, which she definitely didn't like. She rolled to the side, away from the sharp teeth, and came to her feet, facing Jaffer, who had taken the opportunity to regain his own feet, his head low, his hackles up and making him look even larger and more impressive than he already was.
The cat yowled, trying to scare him off, but she was between him and the pile of struggling bodies that included Jack, and there was no way Jaffer was going to go anywhere but through her. He heard O'Neill give a sharp cry of pain, and Jaffer snarled, desperate to get to Jack's side, but knowing instinctively he couldn't get past the cat without killing her so she wouldn't come up behind him.
He launched himself at her, and at the same time, she launched herself at him, her claws extended and his teeth flashing.
"De'hedrial Ja-fer!"
A spear came hurtling past him and struck the cat even before Jaffer did. He crashed into the creature, his jaws locking on her throat, but she was already dying, run through by a spear that had come out of nowhere.
"Jaffer!"
Jack's cry was filled with pain, and worse, hopelessness. He'd lost his gun when he'd been bowled over by the remaining two felines, and he couldn't get to his Beretta or his knife. He had his arms wrapped firmly around the neck of one of the creatures attacking him and was trying to dodge its claws and teeth and at the same time use it as shield against the other attacking cat. He knew he wasn't going to get out of this one, though. It was only a matter of time before one of the two cats landed a telling blow and knocked him free of the one he had hold of. Then it'd be pretty quick, and he'd probably look like that deer Jaffer had found.
"Run, Jaffer!"
He wasn't thinking of sending Jaffer for help, he knew better. He was just hoping to get his baby clear of the fight where he'd be safe. He knew, though, even as he yelled it, that Jaffer wouldn't run away from Jack any more than Jack would have run away from Jaffer. They were both going to be killed.
Jack felt claws rake across his back, blocked mostly by the vest he wore, although one went a little low and what felt like a razor scored across his lower back, causing him to yelp once more, and he jerked hard on the creature he was holding, hoping to unbalance it.
Then Jaffer was there, diving into the fray completely to land on the back of the cat that was trying to get to Jack through its pack-mate, his weight combining with Jack's motion and sending all four of them – human, felines and dog – all to the ground once more.
"Ja-fer! Whij'lish ahf alehid!"
Jack heard the voice, but didn't understand it. He thought he heard Jaffer's name, but he was a little too busy to go back over what had been said, and he certainly didn't have time to take a look to see where it was coming from.
Out of nowhere, a spear came thrusting into the middle of the fight, expertly jabbed by a tanned hand and nothing else, and caught one of the felines in the right flank. The cat screamed, and turned on the stick that dared poke it, claws raking out to lash at the hand, but the hand vanished in an instant and the claws went whistling through the air. A moment later the hand was solid once more – the spear had never been anything but – and again the pointed end of the stick jabbed at the cat, although this time there was more than one, and there was a babble of angry, excited voices accompanying it. The cat screamed again, and this time so did its pack- mate. Both had been hit by the spears, and one had had its side slashed open by Jaffer's sharp teeth.
Again the cats lashed out at the hands that held the spears, and again the hands vanished before any damage could be done and reappeared moments later. If they'd only been fighting Jaffer and Jack, it would have been no contest. The cats would have won in minutes. As it was, though, even the angry felines knew they were in a battle they couldn't win, and they screamed once more in anger and fear and broke off the attack, bolting to the safety of the thick brush.
Bleeding and dazed, Jack forced his head around to watch the cats run, then lay still where he was sprawled, unable to move. He turned his head once more to look for Jaffer, had a glimpse of the black lab standing – thank God! – and was positive he saw five or six floating hands around him and the black lab, some holding spears, some reaching out to touch him, or Jaffer. He felt one rolling him over, and thought he heard a voice mutter something in some language he didn't understand, but he didn't hear anymore.
He passed out.
..................
"What was that?"
Daniel's head came up at the sound of the single gunshot, just like Sam and Teal'c's did. All three of them knew instantly what it was, and they were all on their feet instantly, Teal'c reaching for his staff weapon, and Sam and Daniel reaching down for their sidearms, looking in the direction of the shot as though expecting a Jaffa army to come rushing out of the trees at them with a running O'Neill in the front being chased.
It didn't happen.
"O'Neill is in trouble," Teal'c decided, setting off in the general direction of the sound of the shot – although unless there were more, he'd have trouble locating it exactly, considering the distance it had sounded from. Sam and Daniel were right behind him, and it was a credit to Daniel's concern that he didn't even turn around for a final look at the bark chips that were tumbled to the ground when he'd stood up. Those were just glyphs, after all, and that was nothing when compared to one of his friends needing him.
They stopped just long enough to grab up a first aid kit – just in case! – and to get more firepower for Sam and Daniel, then took off into the forest at a run.
.....................
Like Jack, Jaffer had felt the attack coming right before it actually hit. An instinct in the black lab that was long buried over generations of domestication suddenly emerged in that instant, and he turned, just in time to see the large creature coming down out of the trees on him. He met the attack with a snarl of his own that was far deeper than the piercing cry of the cat, and the two creatures – one tawny and one black – tumbled to the ground in a noisy, vicious ball of fur, teeth and claws.
Jaffer yelped when the initial attack brought a claw into his side, but he was far from out of things, and his teeth flashed as he raked the feline's neck, instinctively going for a killing bite. The cat dodged before Jaffer could get the killing bite, but his sharp teeth scored, and blood flowed freely.
The feline was out of its own comfort zone. On this planet, she and the ones in her pack (and others like them) were the premier hunters. Sitting at the top of the food chain with no natural enemies, they'd grown accustomed to things dying when they attacked them, or things running from them. This large black creature wasn't doing either, and it had just caused her pain on her neck, which she definitely didn't like. She rolled to the side, away from the sharp teeth, and came to her feet, facing Jaffer, who had taken the opportunity to regain his own feet, his head low, his hackles up and making him look even larger and more impressive than he already was.
The cat yowled, trying to scare him off, but she was between him and the pile of struggling bodies that included Jack, and there was no way Jaffer was going to go anywhere but through her. He heard O'Neill give a sharp cry of pain, and Jaffer snarled, desperate to get to Jack's side, but knowing instinctively he couldn't get past the cat without killing her so she wouldn't come up behind him.
He launched himself at her, and at the same time, she launched herself at him, her claws extended and his teeth flashing.
"De'hedrial Ja-fer!"
A spear came hurtling past him and struck the cat even before Jaffer did. He crashed into the creature, his jaws locking on her throat, but she was already dying, run through by a spear that had come out of nowhere.
"Jaffer!"
Jack's cry was filled with pain, and worse, hopelessness. He'd lost his gun when he'd been bowled over by the remaining two felines, and he couldn't get to his Beretta or his knife. He had his arms wrapped firmly around the neck of one of the creatures attacking him and was trying to dodge its claws and teeth and at the same time use it as shield against the other attacking cat. He knew he wasn't going to get out of this one, though. It was only a matter of time before one of the two cats landed a telling blow and knocked him free of the one he had hold of. Then it'd be pretty quick, and he'd probably look like that deer Jaffer had found.
"Run, Jaffer!"
He wasn't thinking of sending Jaffer for help, he knew better. He was just hoping to get his baby clear of the fight where he'd be safe. He knew, though, even as he yelled it, that Jaffer wouldn't run away from Jack any more than Jack would have run away from Jaffer. They were both going to be killed.
Jack felt claws rake across his back, blocked mostly by the vest he wore, although one went a little low and what felt like a razor scored across his lower back, causing him to yelp once more, and he jerked hard on the creature he was holding, hoping to unbalance it.
Then Jaffer was there, diving into the fray completely to land on the back of the cat that was trying to get to Jack through its pack-mate, his weight combining with Jack's motion and sending all four of them – human, felines and dog – all to the ground once more.
"Ja-fer! Whij'lish ahf alehid!"
Jack heard the voice, but didn't understand it. He thought he heard Jaffer's name, but he was a little too busy to go back over what had been said, and he certainly didn't have time to take a look to see where it was coming from.
Out of nowhere, a spear came thrusting into the middle of the fight, expertly jabbed by a tanned hand and nothing else, and caught one of the felines in the right flank. The cat screamed, and turned on the stick that dared poke it, claws raking out to lash at the hand, but the hand vanished in an instant and the claws went whistling through the air. A moment later the hand was solid once more – the spear had never been anything but – and again the pointed end of the stick jabbed at the cat, although this time there was more than one, and there was a babble of angry, excited voices accompanying it. The cat screamed again, and this time so did its pack- mate. Both had been hit by the spears, and one had had its side slashed open by Jaffer's sharp teeth.
Again the cats lashed out at the hands that held the spears, and again the hands vanished before any damage could be done and reappeared moments later. If they'd only been fighting Jaffer and Jack, it would have been no contest. The cats would have won in minutes. As it was, though, even the angry felines knew they were in a battle they couldn't win, and they screamed once more in anger and fear and broke off the attack, bolting to the safety of the thick brush.
Bleeding and dazed, Jack forced his head around to watch the cats run, then lay still where he was sprawled, unable to move. He turned his head once more to look for Jaffer, had a glimpse of the black lab standing – thank God! – and was positive he saw five or six floating hands around him and the black lab, some holding spears, some reaching out to touch him, or Jaffer. He felt one rolling him over, and thought he heard a voice mutter something in some language he didn't understand, but he didn't hear anymore.
He passed out.