Title: Moonshadow (will be explained later in the fic)

Author: Arathi

Rating: PG-13 for later chapters

Archive: Nowhere yet.

Category: Supernatural/General

Summary: Some very strange things have been happening to Sam. Better summary later.

Disclaimers: I don't own SG-1 etc. and I'm not getting money for this.

Spoilers: Various small spoilers will be scattered through the story.

Warnings: There will be some violence in later chapters, also some swearing.

Status: Work in progress. I am a college student so it may be a while between updates.

Authors Notes: Thanks to Matt, Terri, Julie, and Josh for the feedback while editing and for encouragement.

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The four members of SG-1 looked out of the cave mouth over the arid moonlit landscape that lay between them and the Gate. Although the scene no longer shimmered with heat, it remained quite hot.

"I still believe we should wait for first light," said Keathu, a local man who had been a great help to them and was acting as a guide. "It's nearly moonset. After that, it gets very cold very quickly. We'll have no shelter once we leave these caves and you insist on not building a fire."

"I don't wanna be seen, caught, and thrown back in that cage the Goa'uld had us in," O'Neill replied. "Fire would give us away, that's why I had you put out the torches. They were needed in the caves, but out here, they're a liability."

"The Jaffa that're after us don't have to worry about being seen," Sam explained. "They'll beat us to the Gate if we don't get moving."

"I understand the reasons, but I still believe we should wait here until morning," Keathu said. Seeing his last plea had no effect, he sighed and shook his head before starting out. O'Neill fell in behind him followed by Sam and then Daniel with Teal'c acting as rearguard.

"Just one question before we go too far," Daniel began. "Once the moon sets, how're we gonna see where we're going?"

"We'll worry about that when it happens," O'Neill told him.

They continued their journey in silence, careful to give a camp of nomads a wide berth. As they walked, Sam thought over the past hours that had brought them to this nocturnal hike.

The team had come to the planet to examine ruins seen near the Gate, not knowing that the plateau the MALP camera saw in the distance had a small Goa'uld encampment on it. They'd been caught off guard when the Gate opened for a team of Jaffa to come through. Somewhere in the ensuing fight, they'd been hit with a stun grenade. Waking up temporarily blind and locked in a cage under the sweltering heat of the sun had not been pleasant.

Being forced to help build a temple to a minor Goa'uld alongside several dozen enslaved locals hadn't been their idea of fun either. Although it wouldn't have been quite so bad if they'd been allowed a drink of water like the other workers. As it happened, they hadn't gotten a drink until a rebel group attacked and freed a number of people. Even then it hadn't been nearly enough to quench Sam's thirst.

Keathu, who'd been among the rebels, had managed to retrieve a GDO. It was the only piece of their original equipment they had and its retrieval was part of why they were following Keathu rather than someone else. They also had a staff weapon and three zats, while their guide carried an additional zat and a pair of scimitars, among other things.

Sam looked past O'Neill at the figure leading them, trying to guess what his backpack contained. At least it was something to think about other than the slowly increasing chill in the air and the fact that her jacket was gone. She really had no idea what was in the pack he carried and didn't matter much. She could tell he wasn't Goa'uld, but it did make her slightly nervous that she didn't know why he was helping them.

As it got darker, and colder, their pace slowed and Sam started to shiver a little. Then, suddenly, she froze and Daniel walked into her with a slight "oomph."

"Why'd you stop?" he asked.

"Shh," she whispered, readying her zat. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" O'Neill asked quietly as he and the others stopped to look at her.

Sam was starting to get an odd feeling she sometimes had, one she associated with one or sometimes two of her senses getting abnormally keen. It wasn't a feeling she could describe or that she enjoyed, although it did have a knack for coming when she needed it most.

She closed her eyes and listened intently for a moment before answering. "Jaffa, sir. I'm not sure how far off, but if I can hear them it's not far enough." The sounds of the men arming their weapons seemed too loud in her ears.

"Great," O'Neill said sarcastically. "How're we gonna fight our way past Jaffa in the dark?"

The moon chose that moment to finish setting and just as Keathu said, the temperature began to drop more rapidly. No one could see more than a few feet with only the starlight. No one except Sam.

"I can't lead you any further without light," Keathu told them, stating the obvious.

Sam looked around for a moment, and spotted something. "I think I can get us to the Gate from here," she told the others. "I can just make out that statue that was at the edge of the ruins over there."

"I can't see a damn thing," O'Neill said. "But if you can then by all means, lead on. Just go slow so we don't get separated."

As they started off, Sam was careful not to turn to look at them, knowing from past experience that when this particular thing happened, her eyes changed. She'd caught a glimpse of it in a mirror once; they just didn't look human when her nightvision improved. She didn't want them to see, didn't want them to know.

While they followed her through the ruins, Sam kept an ear out for the Jaffa, but heard only the footsteps of the men behind her. She was starting to doubt what she'd heard when she spotted them in the worst possible place.

"Get down," she whispered over her shoulder.

"Wha'd'ya see?" O'Neill asked as he came up beside her.

"There are six serpent guards at the Gate, sir," she told him.

"Teal'c, would those serpent helmets do anything to help their nightvision?"

"They would," was his response.

"Crap," O'Neill muttered. "So they could see us but most of us can't see them. Looks like this one's up to you Carter. Give Teal'c your zat and you take the staff."

"Yes sir."

"Try to get as close as you can while staying covered before you shoot."

Sam nodded, not knowing or caring if he saw the gesture as she moved to carry out his orders. The strange feeling was getting stronger as some instinct for moving silently that she didn't know she had started to kick in. She was beginning to shiver a lot now, her fingers starting to go numb from the cold. She hated that indescribable odd feeling. It might be helpful, but it was also very distracting. And right now she needed all her concentration to keep her frigid hands from shaking while she dealt with the serpent guards.

Sam quietly moved forward until she found a good spot where she could fire the staff weapon from behind a crumbling wall. She paused a moment and tried to force back the odd feeling as much as she could. When she felt back in control, she fired.

Within minutes, she was dialing the coordinates for Earth. Daniel used the light of the open Stargate to enter their IDC before he went through.

"I'm coming with you," Keathu stated as Teal'c disappeared into the Gate's shimmering surface.

"No you're not," O'Neill said flatly. "You've been a great help but you have to stay here."

"I wasn't asking permission," he responded.

"You can't-"

"Sir, there's no time to argue," Sam cut in abruptly, her statement punctuated by a staff blast flying past them. They ran for the gate.

"Close the iris!" O'Neill shouted as soon as they were on the other side.

Everything sounded to loud to Sam, and the lights of the gate room hurt her eyes. She blinked and tried to shield them with her hand. A quick look around assured her everyone was okay, but she accidentally met O'Neill's eyes for a second before he looked away.

Oh shit, Sam thought, covering her eyes as he looked back at her.

"You okay Carter?" he asked.

"Yea, it's just taking a minute for my eyes to adjust." The strange feeling was fading fast and she chanced a look at him when he asked if she was sure she was all right, but she didn't meet his gaze. She was not all right. She could tell by the worried look on her commanding officers face that he'd noticed.

As she headed out of the gate room she hoped that no one else had noticed and he wouldn't tell anyone what he'd seen. She'd made a mistake, a big one, and she couldn't let it happen again.

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I have the rest of the story mapped out and a bit more than this written, so the first update should be fairly soon. After that, how often I'll update will depend on how much free time I have.

By the way, does anyone know how to keep a document indented properly when you convert it to html format? Not something I necessarily need to know, just something I'd like to know.

One question I MUST have answered before I can post ch 1.

Is Selmak a 'he' or a 'she'?