She had asked him to leave and he did. Without a word and without breaking his eyes from hers—he left.

All she wanted to do was fall into his arms and stay there for all of eternity. But after eight years of trying to talk herself into not being in love with Jack O'Neill she had almost succeeded—and then he pulled this. She could marry Pete—could have married Pete. Somehow Pete saw past all her efforts at covering up her true feelings and now she was alone.

It broke her heart to tell him to leave but she had to think about things. She had to let this settle in her mind and let the fog lift.

It took her ten minutes of sitting on the couch to realize she was being stupid—and only ten seconds for her to throw on her coat and run to her car and speed down the road after the love of her life.

As she drove down the highway it began to rain and then her gas light blinked on--Damn it!

She pulled over to the nearest gas station and jumped out to fill her tank—only to see a hand written sign that said—PREPAY FOR GAS.

Digging into her car she found her wallet and headed into the station.

Running through the rain—she pushed through the door and nearly ran into the two men standing at the counter.

"Oh—sorry." She said walking around the two men to stand in line.

The fresh coffee brewing behind her caught her attention and she walked away from the line to pour a cup. As she picked up the coffee pot—she noticed something was wrong.

The woman to her left was standing at the end of the counter and not moving a muscle—in fact she looked terrified. A man stood to her left and he wasn't moving either.

As she felt the reality of the situation closing on her—she looked to the convex mirror above and saw the end of a weapon pointed at the woman at the counter.

Before she could move or take a breath—there was a gun pressing into the base of her neck.

"You should've kept driving lady…"

The barrel of the gun was cold on her neck and Sam's eyes darted around as he spoke. Two men approached from her left and right, both holding handguns aimed right her in a particular amateur fashion—it reminded her of a rap video she had watched with Teal'c a few days before…

"What do you want?" Trying to keep her voice soft and not harsh or commanding—Sam watched as the young man at her left. A mesh mask covered his face. Without a word he began to feel under her coat and around her waist.

"Oh lookie here…" pulling out her wallet from her coat pocket the young man opened it and began to thumb through the contents.

As he walked away with her wallet in hand—All Sam could think was "Please don't let him find my military ID."

"Alright lady! Over here!" The man behind her took swung her around by her coat and slammed her down to the floor beside the two other people.

The younger man was aiming his weapon at the three of them and Sam looked over at the old woman and saw that her hands were shaking. Placing her hands over the woman's, Sam smiled at her and held her hand.

"What do you want?" Sam called out to the older man by the front counter.

"NO TALKING!" The younger man yelled as he jammed the barrel of his weapon into Sam's throat.

"Okay! Okay, I'm sorry—look, I'm just trying to figure out what you want."

"Why so you can help!?" He thrust the gun deeper in her throat. "SHUT UP! Talk again and I'll blow your head off lady!"

As the young man stood back from her, Sam had to see the irony of the situation—how many times had she taken out twice as many Jaffa? How many times had she been held at gunpoint and easily taken the upper hand—what was different here? Oh yeah—she wasn't armed.

"DANNY!!!!" The younger man instantly became hysterical as a car pulled up outside the station—a police car.

"Alright—shut up!" The older man, Danny, snatched up the younger boy and put his weapon in the back of his pants as the policeman walked into the station…

Jack had began driving home from Sam's house but took a de-tour to the base. Being alone in his house was the last thing he needed right now.

Walter brought him a cup of coffee when he noticed his office door was open—that was almost an hour ago and Jack was still leaning back in his chair staring up at the ceiling.

Tilting his head to the side he looked at the clock on the wall—0345, Daniel should be here soon…

The policeman paid for gas and walked back out to his car.

There had to be a way to get his attention—there had to be a way she could do something.

Then something happened. The older man, Danny, ran out the front door and fired three shots. Seconds later he ran back into the station.

"We gotta get out of here! He was on his radio!"

The four men began running around rapidly and the clerk was fumbling for something behind the counter—then the sirens came.

The police station was only two blocks from here—guess the bad guys didn't know that.

Before they could get out the front door the parking lot outside was filled with police cars.

Danny grabbed the broom from behind the counter and shoved it through the door handles before he looked back to his hostages, "Looks like we're staying people."

Jack was still in his civilian clothes when Daniel walked into his office and noticed that he had fallen asleep in his chair. Walking to his side Jack touched his shoulder.

"Jack?"

In an instant Jack was jumping out of his seat and looking at Daniel as though he'd been shot.

"Daniel—what are you doing here?"

"It's uh—8 o'clock Jack, did you spend the night here?"

"For the most part."

"Hmm—Have you seen Sam? We were supposed to meet this morning to go over some things…"

Rubbing his eyes Jack headed out into the hall as Daniel followed him. "No—haven't seen her since…nope—haven't seen her."

Daniel stopped and watched Jack a moment—something was different.

"Jack?"

Looking to his side, Jack noticed Daniel wasn't there and turned back. "Daniel."

"Has something happened?"

"Like what?"

"Nothing—just uh…never mind. You hungry?"

"Nah—I'm going to go change and I'll meet you for the morning briefing."

Jack walked straight to the locker room and his cell phone was already ringing in his locker.

"O'Neill."

The voice that came back was not the one he was expecting.

"Jack? It's Cassie—have you talked to Sam today?"

"No I haven't."

"I called the house and her cell phone and there was no answer—I even called her office line that I'm not supposed to use and there was no answer."

"Okay Cass—we're about to meet for out morning…thing—I'll tell her to call you." He wasn't about to tell Cassie—but now he was worried, it wasn't like Sam to be unreachable.

It was official—Sam was in the middle of a stand off.

Why was it times like this that she didn't carry her side arm? Where were her instincts now? How had she been caught like this? IT WAS JACK'S FAULT.

The police had been outside for almost half an hour now—this should be on the news soon…then they would know.

Jack was still in his office when Daniel came running in.

"JACK!"

"What?"

"It's Sam—come on." Waiving his hand for Jack to follow—Jack dropped the paper in his hand and followed Daniel.

In the briefing room, Teal'c was already watching the broadcast.

The reporter said it all.

Four armed men.

Three hostages.

One policeman dead.

And Sam's car still parked at the pump.

Jack ran from the briefing room without a word.

He was changed and running for the elevator as Daniel came running up behind him.

"Jack! Jack what are you going to do!?" Daniel asked as he walked into the elevator with him. As the doors began to close Teal'c pulled back the doors and stood beside Daniel. Without a word, Teal'c pulled a beanie out of his pocket and pulled it down tight over the emblem on his forehead.

Two hours later.

The sun was hidden behind think clouds as Jack flew down the interstate. Ignoring the speed limit and any surrounding vehicles, Jack pulled off onto the exit that led to the gas station.

The road was blocked for a mile in every direction from the station—and Jack had to pull out the "national security" card to get pass the police line.

The entire station was surrounded.

Jack stopped the truck behind all the police cars and headed for the man in charge before Daniel and Teal'c could open their doors.

Turning back to Teal'c, Daniel pulled on his hat and pushed up his glasses.

"This is going to be bad."

"O'Neill is conflicted DanielJackson."

"Yeah—that's putting it lightly. Come on, let's go make sure he doesn't hit anyone."

"I need to speak to the man in charge." Jack moved through the crowd and tried to avoid maiming any of the young officers that attempted to block his path.

"Who are you?" The chief pulled Jack back by his shoulder and pushed him up against the car.

"General Jack O'Neill, U.S. Air Force, one of my people is in there." Pulling out his ID Jack tried to pull himself together enough to spill out his credentials.

"Who is it?"

"Colonel Samantha Carter."

"Look, General, I can't have you here. You need to get back behind the line—these guys are unpredictable at best and I can't risk—"

"I can help you—"

"Sir—I appreciate it really--and I understand that you are concerned for her—but if you don't leave I'll have you escorted out of the area."

Danny paced back and forth in front of Sam and the other two hostages as the other three men stood father to the back to the store.

The phone rang at the counter and Danny slammed his hand over it.

"Talk to them!" The younger boy yelled out.

"No, all they want is a vantage point so they can take a shot. I'm not giving them an edge."

"If you don't talk to them—they will storm this place." Sam was trying to lend information—but Danny only responded by shoving the barrel of his gun into her chest.

"Another word—and I'll put a bullet in you chest."

Jack walked behind the police cars and met Daniel and Teal'c as they stood…waiting.

"Anything?" Daniel asked as he leaned against a near by police car.

There was no answer.

"O'Neill, Colonel Carter is experienced in situations such as these. There should be no doubt the she will prevail."

Jack was still looking down at the ground. The voices in his head drowned out the voice of his friends. Voices that were blaming him. Telling him that if she died here it would be on his shoulders.

"Jack—maybe we should just head back to—"

"I'm not leaving Daniel." He voice was like thunder and silenced Daniel before he could finish. "I'm not leaving her here."

Jack pushed from the car and began walking back to the front—Daniel took his arm and tried to pull him back, only to have Jack shove him against the car by his throat.

"Jack!" Daniel fought back as much as he could until Teal'c took Jack's arm and pulled him back.

"You don't understand." Jack said after a moment.

"Don't understand what?" Daniel stood from the car and rubbed his throat that was now red.

"It's my fault. She was coming after me." He pulled his coat up on his shoulders and headed back to the front of the police cars.

At the front of the cars, Chief Harper spoke into the bullhorn as he tried to talk with the gunmen.

The deputy saw Jack first and headed him off—but he only had to say one thing to keep the policemen at bay and assure his spot on the front line.

"Gentlemen—you can argue all you want but in the end I'll just go call the president and he'll tell you the same thing I'm telling you—I NEED TO BE HERE."

After trying to contact them for 30 minutes when the door opened and a man in his late twenties came half way out the door—holding a gun to Carter's head as he used her as a shield.

Jack's heart jumped into his throat when he saw the fear in Carter's eyes—his first instinct was to rush the gunman and try to get Carter away from him, but the distance was too far.

"NO—TAKE ME."

The gunman tried to pull the old woman to her feet but Carter stood and took her place. She had to get a look outside and see what she was really up against.

The door opened and she felt the cold barrel of the gun against her neck, "Try to run and I'll shoot."

The door opened and after searching through the crowd of policemen before her—her eyes locked with his. Those eyes, those familiar eyes she had seen everyday for the last eight years were now her only hope.

She could feel his strength the moment their eyes locked and all the anger and fear that paralyzed her only and hour before suddenly drained from her and before she knew it Danny was pulling her back into the station.

As the door closed, Jack leaned against the car before him and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.

"Is that your girl?" The young deputy asked.

"What?" Jack asked as he cleared from his own thoughts.

"The woman that was with the guy—is she yours?"

"Yeah…that was Sam."

She was still lost in his eyes when Danny threw her back to the floor.

"Well little lady you seem to be pretty calm—let me guess you're one of those chicks that don't like men to take charge…"

The look in his eyes sent chills down her spine as he walked away.

She couldn't help but look back to the door—he was just on the other side…he would save her.

Two hours had passed.

Still three hostages.

Three gunmen.

57 trigger fingers aimed at the station.

And one Jack O'Neill that was just about to his breaking point.

"They're sending out the hostages." The chief spoke clearly as he turned to Jack and rested his hand on his shoulder. "Maybe this won't end as bad as I thought is would."

He dare not speak—the next few moments could be her end—and his.

The doors opened and an old woman and man walked out slowly—then the door shut.

"OH NO."

"He's keeping her." Jack said as he looked over to the chief.

"Okay—two down, one to go."

"I want a helicopter!" Danny screamed into the phone before slamming it down.

Ten minutes of negotiating only showed that Danny and his group truly hadn't done this before.

The four gunmen continued in an on going screaming match and left Carter leaning by the counter.

She was close to the door.

They were a good five feet from her now.

If she ran.

If she ran fast.

She could make it to the door.

Jack kneeled behind the squad car as the Sheriff spoke over the bullhorn for the men to pick up the phone once again.

But all Jack could see was Sam's eyes—she was terrified.

There had to be something he could do.

All his years in black ops weren't for nothing.

There had to be a way to get in there.

There had to be a way to save her.

"I know what you're thinking—don't." The deputy's voice broke Jack from his thoughts and snapped his attention to him.

"What?"

"Just let us handle this—doing something stupid won't help her any."

"I know."

The young deputy walked back to his car and left Jack staring at the station…

She moved slowly across the tile and kept her eyes locked on the men as they screamed.

The door was a foot away.

She could make it.

Danny grabbed one of the younger men and pushed him back into a shelf.

As they stood around him—she jumped to her feet and ran for the door.

He had been staring at the door for what seemed an eternity when he saw the flash of blonde hair through the glass door.

He blinked.

Was this real?

She's running for the door.

The door opened and there she was.

Time had slowed to a heartbeat.

As she cleared the door Jack jumped over the hood of the car and was running toward her.

He could hear the policemen yelling behind him but their voices mixed together.

All he could see was Sam.

All he could hear was her heartbeat.

The gunshots rang out and echoed through his ears before he saw their impact.

Sam fell to the ground as though she were a marionette whose strings had been cut.

Jack fell to the ground at her side and turned her over to her back.

His back to the station now, all he could see was the policemen as they ran towards him with their weapons drawn.

As they raised their weapons, Jack surrounded Sam with his arms as he covered her with his body.

Gunfire rang out all around him.

Bullets flying pass him as they connected with the gunmen behind him.

What seemed like an eternity passed in a few seconds.

Jack pulled Sam into his arms again.

Blood covered her entire shoulder and stomach.

The two wounds in her shoulder and abdomen was enough to render Sam unconscious.

The crowd of men surrounded them as the gunmen were secured. Jack held Sam steady as the EMT's strapped her into a backboard.

Daniel and Teal'c parted the crowed as they ran to Jack side. As the EMT's picked up Sam on the stretcher, Daniel pulled Jack to his feet. "Is she alright?"

Jack didn't answer. He only ran to the ambulance as they loaded Sam.

"Whoa!" One of the EMT's yelled as he pushed Jack back from the door. "WHO ARE YOU?"

"I'm with her!" Jack yelled back.

"Are you the husband!?"

Daniel and Teal'c ran up behind him as he looked away for a moment and then back up to the EMT. "YES I AM!"