Underground, the blasts from above were more like tremors than mortar fire.
The Tokra were running through the halls frantically trying to group the survivors together for an escape.
Carter remained calm; amazingly the events of the last hours had yet to off set her focus from the mission at hand.
"Cauthen! Are the rings operational yet?" She screamed over the gunfire and mortar fire.
"No Colonel, Farinah said there's another route in the south corridor! We can get these people out of here if we move now!"
"Alright, move quickly! We've got no time! No time! The Gouled are going to break through the shield any minute!"
ON THE SURFACE...
Despite being a desk jockey for the last six months, O'Neill returned to his combat minded ways of thinking without a second thought.
Leading the team through the underbrush to where the Airman had said there was a ring transporter to the tunnels below.
It was too quiet, he knew it, something was wrong—they were close and it was too quiet.
All at once the ambush took out four of the Marines before a single shot was fired in retaliation.
The rest of the team took to the trees for cover.
A few grenades and well aimed shots later and the enemy was eliminated, and they were moving toward the clearing once again.
O'Neill was on point and saw the Jaffa standing guard first. With the raise of his fist the Marines halted and flanked him as he relayed the situation.
--Two targets
--Surround and take aim
--MOVE OUT
They moved with out a word spoken, within seconds the two Jaffa were oblivious to their impending doom.
With the raise of his hand the Marines opened fire and the two Jaffa were motionless on the deck before they had a chance to return fire.
The team moved in and O'Neill looked to the sky as the men secured the area.
"They must have attacked from the air...there aren't enough ground forces to take this place alone..." He said looking over to the Major at his side. "Alright, ready the transporter, Morgan take three and secure the site."
"Yes Sir." He said pointing out three others to stand guard.
The remaining men stood center as the rings activated and took them below. As the rings disappeared they drew their weapons—expecting the enemy to be waiting—only to find the Tokra rushing about.
"General?!" One of the Airmen called out from the first team. He pushed through the crowd and approached the rescue team. "Sir, how did you-"
"No time Sergeant, where's the rest of your people?" He said trying to look past them to spot Carter.
"They are headed for the south corridor, there's an alternate exit..."
"That's were they're waiting-"he said to the to the Major again. "Alright, the way above is clear, start getting these people out of here...we'll get the others..." He said running off down to the sough corridor.
Carter led the group of injured Tokra as they headed for the secondary exit in the south corridor. As they set down the stretchers to access the exit, the end of the tunnel suddenly exploded and knocked them to their knees...
O'Neill felt the blast as he ran, his heart pounding in his chest as the thought of being too late sunk in...he ran faster...
The thick layer of dust in the air prevented anyone from seeing more than a few inches in front of them.
Carter stood nevertheless and padded her self down for injuries. With no sign of anything more than a few bumps and scratches she felt around for the others...
"Colonel?" a weak voice called out through the dust.
"I'm here...Christian—is that you?" She asked feeling around and finding a foot.
"Yeah, it's me Mam'am—what was that?" He asked standing up and almost colliding with Carter.
"It sounded like an explosion to me..." she said stating the obvious, in the past O'Neill's use of this kind of behavior had kept her calm in rough situations like these and now it was the only thing she could do to keep herself calm.
With each passing second more of the people in their group began to move around, and continued to head for the exit.
All but Christian and Carter had made it top side when O'Neill came running up from behind. The dust had settled and Carter saw his figure approaching a good 20 feet away.
"General?" She called out, considering for a moment that she might have hit her head a little harder than she thought.
"Yeah, it's me Carter...everyone alright down here?" He asked stopping at her side and looking up as Christian began the climb out. "No, don't go out that way—"He said trying to grab the man's leg, but as he tried to pull him back a second explosion caved in the exit and knocked Carter and O'Neill against the wall. They fell to the ground unconscious.
On the surface, The Marines hurried the Tokra back to the gate as Teal'c surfaced and noticed all were headed for the gate except Carter and O'Neill.
"Where are General O'Neill and Colonel Carter?" He questioned pulling back one of the Marines by his shoulder.
"I haven't seen them Teal'c, maybe they're already at the gate."
He ran back to the rings without a second thought and disappeared below as the rings activated.
O'Neill woke with a pounding headache.
He padded the area around him trying to remember just where the hell he was...
Then it came rushing back...
"Carter? Where are you?" He asked reaching for her in the pitch-black tunnel.
"Sir..." She called out in the darkness.
"You alright?" He said already moving in the direction of her voice. Still padding the ground before him to feel for her, he came in contact with her legs first. "There you are, can you stand?" He asked standing over her and taking her hand in his to help her stand.
"I think so Sir." She said pulling on his hand to stand up.
"Alright, that was lucky—now how do we get outta here?" He said reaching around to his pack for his flashlight. As he turned it on he saw the exit had completely fallen in on itself. "Of course..." He said turning around to the other end of the tunnel that was also caved in. "Okay, that's bad..." He said walking over and testing the solidity of the cave in...it didn't budge. "Yeah...that's not good at all."
"Sir-"she said catching her breathe. "We have to find a way out...the Gouled will be back to make sure this place is demolished." She said falling against the wall of the tunnel.
"WOAH!" He said rushing over and helping her sit down. "Guess you got it worse than you thought huh?" He said standing over her.
"Guess so, Sir." She said leaning her head back against the dirt wall behind her and closing her eyes for a moment.
He sat by her and looked at the gash on her forehead he hadn't seen earlier. "Okay, this is something." He said whipping the blood from her forehead.
"I didn't realize..." she said reaching up to touch the wound.
"No don't—"He said pushing her hand aside. "Let me get a bandage on it."
He took off his pack and rummaged around for the first aid kit. Pulling the alcohol and bandages he cleaned the gash on her forehead and covered it up before leaning against the wall.
"Don't worry." He said reassuringly. "Teal'c will find us..."
"How?" she said, her eyes still closed as she leaned against the wall.
"Hey he found me on Edora—he can find me anywhere." He said suddenly regretting the mention of the time when he almost never saw her again.
"True...Teal'c is cool that way." She said letting out a deep breath.
"You gonna be okay?" He asked, looking over to her.
"Just a little dizzy..." She said scrunching her forehead up.
"Here," he said pulling her over to him. "Lay down a little while."
She rested her head on his shoulder and the tunnel fell silent as she tried to relax...but O'Neill couldn't keep quite.
"I shouldn't have let you come here..." he said absentmindedly...not really realizing that it slipped out.
"What?' Carter asked suddenly lucid.
"Every time..." He began before drifting off.
"What? Every time what?" She asked sitting up.
"Nothing."
"Sir—Jack, please..." She said pulling his chin over so he had to look at her.
"You should be with Pete." He said looking her over.
"Why would you say that?"
"Look what happens when you're around me..."
"It's the job—not you."
"Sam..."
"Look, I know this isn't going to be easy...actually I know it going to be pretty damn frustrating at times...but...I would rather have one moment of this..." she said slipping her hand into his. "Than nothing at all."
He looked down at their hands entwined between them and then back up into her eyes.
"I want this." She said pulling his hand up to her chest.
He let out a deep breath and smiled, knowing there was no going back ...not that he would...
He reached up and touched her face now hidden under a layer of dirt—she never looked more beautiful.
He pulled her closer and kissed her softly.
"This I can do." He said smiling as she leaned into his shoulder once again.