Part Fifteen:

The klaxons began to ring around the control room, and General Hammond sighed. Not another problem, he hoped. "Receiving SG-1's signal, sir." Sergeant Davis said after a minute.

General Hammond sighed inwardly with relief. SG-1 was back, and hopefully with Jacob, not that Hammond really doubted it – because SG-1 always managed to succeed. As the General watched, Major Carter walked through the gate, followed by Doctor Jackson, Doctor Fraiser, Jacob and Teal'c. Hammond frowned slightly when he didn't see Colonel O'Neill or Lady Croft with them.

Hammond quickly made his way downstairs in the gateroom, wanting the questions in his mind answered. "Major Carter," General Hammond said as soon as he entered the room. "Where are the Colonel and Lady Croft?"

Sam took a deep breath before answering the General. "We ran into a few problems, sir." She said. "Svarog took us to his ship before we could trade and we were captured. It turns out he was working with Kali." She paused for a second. "The Colonel and Lara are still on the ship. He ordered us to leave, sir. I had no choice."

Hammond nodded. That sounded like the Colonel, and he could see from her anguish, that Carter had not been happy about the whole idea.

"Permission to mount a rescue, sir?" she asked.

"Permission granted." Hammond said without hesitation. "But I want you checked out by medical and debriefed before you leave."

Just over an hour later they were ready to leave. Assembled in the gateroom and now dressed in their usual BDU's were Sam, Daniel, Teal'c and SG-3 under the command of Major Blake. All were armed. Janet stood next to General Hammond, with Anise and Jacob on his other side, waiting to see them off.

"Good luck." General Hammond said.

"Thank you, sir." Sam replied as the gate engaged behind her.

With a nod to Teal'c, Sam walked up the metal ramp and into the event horizon. Daniel, Teal'c and SG-3 followed.

They stepped out onto the same planet that they had gated from an hour before. SG-3 quickly secured the site and made sure they were alone. Even the gliders were still there.

The idea had been for Teal'c and Sam to rake a glider and scout out the situation before a more detailed plan was made.

"It appears we do not have to find the mothership." Teal'c said, looking towards the horizon.

Sam followed his gaze and noticed the shimmering shape of a mothership just beyond the atmosphere. "What are they doing this close to the planet?" Sam asked.

"I do not know." Teal'c replied.

As the group watched in horror, the mothership exploded. The sky around it was streaked with red as the debris fell towards the planets surface and was burned up in the atmosphere.

"Jack!" Daniel cried in anguish.

Everyone stood in shocked silence for a long minute, unable to accept the evidence before their own eyes. "Maybe they got off the ship before it blew." Major Blake suggested finally.

"That is indeed a possibility." Teal'c agreed. "Perhaps we should check."

"Good idea." Sam replied softly, still dazed. "They're probably waiting for us." She tried to smile, but everyone could still see the worry in her blue eyes.

Lara groaned and blinked up at the pale sky. She was tired, sore and hungry. So much so, that she couldn't be bothered moving from where she lay. "Where the hell are we?" she asked Jack, who was sitting slumped beside her.

"I have no idea." He replied.

The pair continued staring up at the sky for a moment, watching the red streaks from the debris of the mothership die out. "We should probably find out." Lara sighed.

"Yeah." Jack agreed.

Lara turned her head to see Jack and started to laugh. Jack raised an eyebrow. "What?" he asked.

"What a pair we make." Lara said.

Jack smiled. "I guess this would look pretty funny."

The two of them were sprawled in the middle of a grassy meadow. Lara still wore her torn and bloody disguise and Jack only wore the stained pants and T-shirt of his usual uniform. They seemed rather out of place amongst the bright flowers. The sun shone down on them gently, warming Lara's skin. She sighed in pleasure. It was a nice sensation after the chilling cold of space.

Lara sat up slowly, her muscles weak and aching. She moved slightly, until she was leaning against Jack. Jack hooked an arm around her waist, before dragging her down onto the ground to lie beside him. "I hope there are no arrow-shooting natives on this planet." He muttered in her ear.

Lara chuckled as she remembered their previous adventure. "Definitely." She agreed.

They lay like that for a while, partially hidden by the grass. "I know it would be a bad idea, but I think I could fall asleep right here." Lara said.

Jack chuckled. "I know what you mean." He replied.

Then the pair tensed, having heard the unmistakable sound of someone approaching. "Not again." Lara whispered.

Suddenly Jack grinned, hearing a familiar voice cursing softly. "It's just Danny." He said.

Lara smiled and shut her eyes. "Wake me when he gets here." She said.

Jack smiled. "No problem."

Daniel cursed as he stumbled along through the grassy meadow. Both Teal'c and Sam had been sceptical when he had started to search in this direction, but instinct was telling him something was here. Spotting something amongst the grass and flowers, Daniel walked forward and burst into a grin. Lara and Jack lay curled together in the grass, giving every impression of being asleep. As he watched, though, Jack slitted open an eye and looked up at him. "Hey Danny boy." He said.

"Hey Jack." Daniel greeted.

Daniel pulled out his radio. "Sam, this is Daniel." He said.

"Hey Daniel." Sam replied through the radio. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Daniel said. "I just found Jack and Lara."

"Really?" Sam couldn't keep the joy from her voice. "We'll be there in a minute. Stay where you are."

Around a minute later, Sam, Teal'c and SG-3 all walked up. By now, Jack and Lara had gotten to their feet, but they were still standing close to each other. "Hello." Lara greeted them all.

"Hey Croft." Major Blake greeted cheerfully. "Jack."

Sam looked from one of them to the other. She grinned. "I want to hear this story." She said.

Around two hours later the team had returned to the SGC and had told everyone what had happened. AS soon as that was over, Lara headed straight for the showers and then the mess hall. Jack found her sitting behind a mountain of food, which was disappearing rapidly.

"Hungry, aren't you?" he asked as he set down his own, remarkably smaller tray.

Lara grinned around a mouthful of food. "Oh, yeah." She said after she had swallowed.

At that moment, Daniel and Sam also walked up. "Gee, Lara." Daniel said. "Not even Teal'c eats that much!"

Lara shrugged. "Blowing up a mothership takes a lot out of a girl." She said, and took another mouthful.

"I'll bet." Sam said, sitting down beside her.

The four of them sat in companionable silence while they ate, and it didn't take long until they'd finished. Lara sighed contentedly. "That feels good."

Jack chuckled. "That is does, I have to admit."

Daniel turned to Lara, curiosity clear in his eyes. "Lara, why aren't you working for the SGC?"

The question surprised Lara. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You know," Daniel explained. "Exploring the Universe and all that."

Lara gave a small smile. "I guess that's because I haven't finished exploring this planet yet."

"You're not curious at all?" Sam asked.

"Oh, I'm curious." Lara said. "But I'm curious about the lost civilisations on this planet too. Maybe when I've found them all..."

Sam grinned. "Well, you'll always have a place here." She said.

Lara grinned back. "I just might take you up on that soon, too."