She shrugged, "It's been awhile since I've doled out a good ass-kicking..."
"Who and why?" he prompted.
"Ah-ah, that's a story for another time," she smiled and turned her attention to the zatted alien rabbits.
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Ch 34: RAPTOR 2
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--
"Aw c'mon, I'm bored!" he wheedled.
"Why don't you play a little solitaire?" she suggested.
"Played that. Bored with it," he decreed.
"How are you feeling?" she changed the topic.
"Better," he admitted.
"How so?" she prompted for more information.
"I can take deeper breaths, so I think the lungs have cleared at bit... and I can think more clearly...," he elaborated.
"You look like you're feeling better," she agreed. "Why don't you take your temperature while I finish preparing lunch and then we can play some cards," she suggested.
"Poker?" he asked hopefully.
She glanced over at him and rolled her eyes, "Fine, Poker," she agreed. "but none of that boring 5-Card Draw... something like 7-card Texas Hold-'Em... or Omaha... And we'll need something for chips...," and she immediately saw a small project that would occupy him for awhile.
Narrowing his eyes at her knowingly, he raised his eyebrows, "Trying to find something for me to do?"
"D'oh!" she sent back with just the right accent on the right syllable.
And that just caused his eyebrows to climb higher and his grin to spread wider.
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"Jack, I never asked you what your nightmare was about... do you want to talk about it?... Do you still remember it?" she interrupted his dismemberment of a fallen leaf. Lunch was long since over. Sam had spread their bedrolls and sleeping bags on tree branches for them to air out. They'd played cards for a couple of hours and were now simply lying out in the late afternoon sun.
"It wasn't a nightmare," he corrected. "It was a memory... I... remembered something."
"What did you remember?" she asked curiously.
"You said you'd kick my ass if I died and left you alone," he said softly and she winced.
"I thought you were asleep," she admitted and he nodded understandingly.
"You said No One Gets Left Behind and that dying was not an excuse... that you'd kick my ass across the galaxy and back," he expanded.
Grimacing, "Ouch! You really weren't asleep, were you?"
"Actually, I just about was... pretty much anyways," he qualified.
"So... the threat of a galaxy-wide, after-death ass-kicking got through the fever and gave you a nightmare?"
A small smile tickled the edges of his mouth, "Sort of."
"Sort of... what?"
"I remembered," he repeated vaguely.
She waited but when he didn't continue, "Remembered...?"
"Raptor 2."
She waited silently again.
"All that talk about my special ops days... it was all mishmashed in my dreams. Mixed in with weird pieces of our SGC missions. Weird missions that had all of us... you, me, Danny, Teal'c, Kawalsky, Ferretti, Cromwell, Maybourne..."
She winced, "I should never have asked you to tell me about why you went into Special Ops, I'm sorry, I-,"
"No, no, it was my choice to talk about it... and if we hadn't, I never would have put it together," and he met her gaze and held it. "All those dreams... or nightmares... with a different mix of players each time... a mix of old missions, recent missions and missions I've never been on. Teal'c was in Iraq... Kawalsky was with us when we fought Anubis... Jonas was on my team in Iran...My old life and my new one all mixed into one tossed salad of distorted memories."
"And then, one mission came back, clear as a bell. Without any distortions," and he was gazing off into the trees with a faraway look. "Kawalksy and I had been caught behind enemy lines in the Gulf War. I had taken a bullet in the side and another in the leg and could hardly walk. Charlie refused to leave me behind. I kept ordering him to leave me... and he kept shouting at me 'No One Gets Left Behind! And That Even Means Even You Asshole!'," and he grinned at the memory.
"And then Charlie started screaming that he saw a flight of American F-117 stealth fighters fly low just south of us. We were on strict radio silence, but Charlie knew that I wasn't going to make it. We'd already achieved our main objective and now all we had to do was get out. He took a chance... he dialed into an emergency frequency and called for help."
"We didn't hear anything in response, and Charlie just set the radio to the emergency beacon and started dragging my ass across that desert. We still had a 3-4 day walk, assuming that no one discovered us, before we reached the scheduled pick-up site. Charlie knew I wasn't going to make it, but he kept dragging me... calling me every name in the book while I kept ordering him to go on without me and bring help back."
"I finally convinced him that I stood a better chance if he went ahead and brought back help. He didn't want to do it, but he finally left me there. Hidden under some meager brush, with almost all of the water and food that we had. When he left, I figured that I was never going to see him, or anyone back home, again. I figured I was as good as dead."
"And then, I don't know how much time passed... but it was pitch black... and cold... and the radio started squawking. Seems that flight of 117's had reported the call for help they'd received. They'd been on a planned mission and couldn't break off just to check out what could be nothing more than a hoax. But they had reported it. And the right information got back to the folks in charge of our operations. They knew it was us. And they dispatched a squad of jets to see if they could pinpoint our location."
He glanced over at her and she didn't say anything to break up his discourse, so he continued, "I was never so grateful to answer a radio call in my life. They had just pinpointed my location when they were engaged by enemy MIGs. I couldn't hear the pilots' frequency... I could just hear the sounds of the jet engines screaming back and forth above me. I saw three planes get hit and I had no idea if they were our guys or the enemies. Finally, the squad leader came back on the emergency frequency. They'd either downed or chased away the enemy ships. For now the sky over me was clear of all but friendlies."
"They stayed above me while we waited for the rescue chopper. Finally, the squad leader informed me that they were approaching Bingo Fuel and that they were going to have to RTB (Return To Base). The ETA on the chopper was sometime in the next hour."
"A few minutes after the air cover left, artillery shells started landing down around me. Apparently, the enemy had zeroed in on my location. And then salvation screamed down out of the sky in the form of one of our jets. It shot over just to the side of my position and dropped a load right on the enemy artillery battery. Took it out in one go."
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Flashback
"Grounder 1, this is Raptor 2, are you still with us?" I'd never heard a sweeter sound.
"Abso-freakin-lutely, Raptor 2! I'm still here and I can't tell you how glad I am to hear you!"
"Glad to be of service, Grounder 1,"
"I thought you guys were Bingo fuel and had to RTB?" I asked my savior.
"My ship sips its fuel, so I decided to stick around a bit longer," came back at him.
"You decided? You're not going to get in trouble on my account are you?"
"Only if we don't haul your sorry ass out of there while you're still breathing, Grounder 1," came back the flippant reply and then there was a pause... and then, "Tally Ho, Grounder 1, I'm going to be busy for a few minutes with another of our MIG visitors... just sit tight - that chopper is on its way."
"Roger that, Raptor 2," he sent his best wishes chasing after that pilot up in the night sky.
A few minutes passed and then, "Still there Grounder 1?"
"Still here," he replied thickly, finding it harder and harder to think straight.
"Grounder 1, you're not going to have the audacity to up and die on me are you?"
"Trying not to," he mumbled into the radio.
"Listen up soldier, if you die on my now, I'll follow you into your afterlife just for the pleasure of kicking your ass for giving up on us!"
Silence.
"Grounder 1, do you copy?"
Silence again.
"Grounder 1, acknowledge!"
"Grounder 1 copies, Raptor 2," he managed to mumble while struggling for breath and fighting for consciousness.
"That's more like it, Grounder. Now stay with me. I don't want to have to kick your ass, but I will if you give up on me now, copy that?"
"Roger, Raptor 2... one ass-kicking if I die on you," he got that out fairly clearly.
"That's better, Grounder 1... and here's your ride, just in time..., so I'll just be moseying back in the direction of home base."
"Copy Raptor 2. Safe journey home - and thanks," he sent gratefully.
"Just don't up and die on the ride home or something equally stupid, Grounder 1. I'll find out about it and I'll still come and deliver that ass-kicking – I'm not one to renege on a threat – or a promise."
"Understood, Raptor 2," he sent back.
"See you stateside soldier, Raptor 2 out."
"Raptor 2, the beer's on me, Grounder 1 out."
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"Grounder 1, this is Rescue Bird, come in,"
End Flashback
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"They pulled my ass onto that chopper and we hauled out of there. Kawalsky was already on board. I passed out and I don't remember most of the flight. They shipped me home as soon as they had me stable and I didn't have several conscious hours in a row until several days had passed. When I was finally released from the infirmary, they allowed me to return home to spend time with Sarah and Charlie while I worked through rehab. Sarah and I had so much to talk about. She tried hard to get me to quit, but I just couldn't let go of it. We spent my leave working hard on our marriage."
"When I was finally declared fit for duty, I got orders to head back overseas and I thought Sarah was going to leave me right then and there. But she didn't. It was close, but she didn't. It wasn't the most pleasant of send-offs," he admitted regretfully.
"Once I was back overseas, I tried to find out where Raptor squad was stationed, but I couldn't get any information. I tried to find out the names of the pilots that night I was rescued, but I got nowhere. And then they kept us busy with a full mission schedule for the next couple of months."
"I never did have a chance to buy Raptor 2 that beer," and he let his voice trail off.
"Pretty detailed dream," she commented.
"It wasn't a dream, it was a memory," he stated with certainty. "I can't believe that I didn't put the pieces together before now," and his tone was one of disbelief. "I've stared at that 'Classified' notation in your file countless times – and the dates... but I never connected the dots..."
"There were no dots to connect," she stated.
"OK, it was a classified mission, we were all in enemy territory... but I was on that mission – why couldn't you tell me?" he demanded.
She didn't answer, so he continued, "Sam, you saved my life and yet... you're acting like you did something wrong... Hell! A little over 8-years ago, I was your new CO... and you'd already saved my life...," and then he it hit him. That young Sam Carter had still felt the need to prove herself amongst the men. To stand on her own two feet, not on her father's shoulders... and not on her new CO's feeling of debt. He could still see her standing there in that briefing room in her immaculate dress blues.
"OK, so maybe you couldn't tell the Colonel that you met in that briefing room so many years ago... but why not after we got to know each other? I've asked you about that mission at least a half a dozen times!"
"More," she sighed but that was all she offered.
Deciding to try a new tack, he asked, "OK, just tell me why you were taken off active flight status and sent to some remote research lab in Podunk Indiana."
Nothing. She just stared into the forest.
"Sam, it doesn't make any sense, I figure that you disobeyed orders to stay behind and fly air cover for me, but there were mitigating circumstances... taking out that artillery battery undoubtedly saved my life. And both Kawalsky and I came home alive... I could see them giving you a formal reprimand for disobeying orders... maybe making it hard for you to get the next promotion... but they didn't do that... just a weird transfer to Remotesville, USA."
Silence answered him again.
"I'm not going to let this go," he warned her.
She looked over at him and then a small smile escaped, "Nah!"
"Hey, sarcasm is my shtick!" he complained with a small answering grin.
"I'm just a neophyte, you are still the master," she mockingly placated.
"Hmph!" he snorted in a very undignified manner. "And don't think I didn't notice that you are trying to change the subject," he warned.
"Sarcasm?" she asked with careful innocence.
"No. The subject is-,"
But she cut him off, "I know, I know...," and she sighed. "Quite a day this had turned out to be, hasn't it?" she asked rhetorically and he just waited. "First the nightmare... then a little soul-searching... and now...," and she gestured vaguely at him.
"Sam, if you don't want to tell me now, I'll understand... as long as you're going to tell me someday... I mean, c'mon, I've been trying to figure this out for years!" he stated with feeling.
She looked over at him briefly and then looked away. "After dinner?"
Nonplussed by her acquiescence, he just nodded and then added, "Sure, after dinner."
"Right then, I'm going to go and fetch some water and get some boiling," and she stood up to collect the pots and canteens. "Why don't you take your temperature again?" she suggested and he rolled his eyes, but then complied without further complaint. He couldn't believe that he was going to finally hear what really happened...
Laying back against a log with the too-familiar thermometer in his mouth, his thoughts drifted back to the words that had reached him in his dreams ... the words that had triggered his memories of Raptor 2, "Jack O'Neill if you up and die on me here, I'm going to be so pissed at you. I'll find you on whatever plane of existence you go to... Ascended... or whatever... and then I'll proceed to kick your ass from one end of the galaxy to the other... with maybe a little inter-galactic ass-kicking thrown in for good measure! It's one thing to wake up stranded here, just the two of us... it would be quite another for you to abandon me here... No One Gets Left Behind, Airman. No One. Just you try and leave me- I'll follow you just to kick your ass!"
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TBC
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Author's Note: As I noted in Chapter 31, I referenced Gateworld's Omnipedia for information regarding Jack O'Neill's backstory. Please see that chapter for more information.
Gateworld's Omnipedia timeline for Sam Carter includes: "Carter graduated at the top of her class from the U.S. Air Force Academy. As a pilot, she logged over 100 hours in enemy air space during the Persian Gulf War. She spent two years at the Pentagon trying to make the Stargate program a reality from about 1994 to 1996"
The fanfic '1991' by Starbuck92 is a great Carterfic of some of Sam's time in the Gulf War. wwwdotshahrazaddotnet/sgnovels/stories1/1991.txt (just replace the dots with periods)
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