When All Else Fails

Chapter Twenty Five

Disclaimer: Nah, not mine.

A/N: Yes, in this story Sam and Jack are together. However, in such situations they have to remain professional, they can't let their personal feelings get in the way of their mission.

I'm glad you guys don't all out hate the idea of Fehr, but I think that I'm going to slow him down a bit... spend more time dwelling on the situation on 785. So, I think the next time he comes in will be when SG-1 returns.

Oh... the idea about Cassie and Fehr was a good one. Only, Cassie is engaged in this story. In John Doe she's single, but not this one. Sorry. I liked the idea, though.

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Exiting the compound wasn't nearly as hard as entering it was. It was pitch dark and most of the Jaffa were busy with kelnoreem, and Jack and his team were sure to be as quiet as possible. In the end, they only had to zat three Jaffa who had been guarding the front doors.

Jennings did end up carrying Craig, although it was no problem for him, the man was tall, but fairly skinny. He didn't turn out to be the problem. Sanchez... or rather the Goa'uld wrapped around his spinal cord, was.

They had been walking for approximately ten minutes when the man began to move on Teal'c's shoulder, presumably waking up from the shock of the zat gun. Only seconds later was he thrashing about, yelling in Goa'uld. When he finally realized that doing so wasn't going to get him anywhere he began to yell in English.

"I demanded that I be released!" he barked. "This instant."

Jack shrugged, "Give the man what he wants, Teal'c."

The Jaffa looked at his leader with a raised eyebrow, but followed his orders all the same, although not at all gently. Sanchez was thrown to the ground, which produced a nice 'thud' and a painful moan. Before the Goa'uld could do anything further Jack pulled out his zat gun and fired. It had been plenty of time since he had been zated last, so doing so again would only stun the man, not kill him. Teal'c once again picked him up, slung him over his shoulder, and continued walking. With any luck, Sanchez would remain in that state until they reached the 'gate.

"Cater," he whispered into his radio. "What's your position?"

"We're currently hiding among the trees northeast of the 'gate," came her reply, causing Jack to wince at the hidden strain in it.

"Is it in your view?"

"Yes, sir, it is."

Good, now they knew what to expect. "How many Jaffa?"

"At least fifteen, sir. Maybe ten." A large number for most, but not SG-1, and certainly not O'Neill.

"We're on our way..." he told her. "We're about a half hour walk from the 'gate."

"Make sure to stay close to the trees, sir." As if he didn't already know. Under other circumstances he might have been annoyed by one of his officers being worried about him, but not when it was Sam.

"We will, Colonel." he promised. "O'Neill, out."

He clipped his radio back to his vest, looked to Jennings and Teal'c, and began walking once more.

XXXX

It had been maybe twenty minutes since her last conversation with him when the radio sparked up once more. "Carter, come in."

"Yes, sir." she replied, her eyes shifting around the area, searching for signs of him.

"We're coming up behind you," he informed her. "Don't shoot us, alright?"

She grinned despite herself, "I won't shoot you sir," she assured him. "How far away are you?"

"From what we can tell, five minutes."

"Daniel and I are waiting," she replied. "Carter, out."

A deep, ragged sigh escaped her lips. They were close by. This mission was finally going to be over.

Daniel, too, sighed with the realization. This had certainly been the worst possible starting over mission for Sam, in so many ways. First, they were captured, one of her men was taken, and killed (no matter that he was revived in the end), then she, herself was shot. Which, was still something he was deeply concerned about. She had torn the wound while climbing up the trees, and although she hadn't spoken of any discomfort he knew she was in a ton of pain. The bleeding had stopped, with much coaxing, but, nonetheless, she still needed medical attention.

"Are you ok, Sam?" he questioned, throwing her a worried look that he knew she wouldn't see in the darkness. The tone is his voice was enough, however, to get his point across.

"I'm fine, Daniel."

Damn that stupid word, fine. Did anybody really mean it when they said that they were fine? He knew that he never did.

"What about you?"

Daniel shrugged to himself, "I'm fine..."

A snort was her only reply. Sure he was. She had seen him limping when they got out of the tree. She knew he had done something to his ankle. Nonetheless, she accepted his answer, at least for the time being.

A crunch from behind caught their attention, and both twirled around, guns raised. Of course, they knew O'Neill was close by, but that didn't mean they could automatically assume safety.

"Hey," Jack said, holding his weapon up. "I thought I asked you not to shoot us."

Sam smiled slightly, but it was because he was there and not a byproduct of his joke. Jack took in her appearance and frowned, she looked worse now than she had before.

"There still fifteen of them?" he asked, pushing his worry aside temporarily. He would pick up on it later, right then they needed to get off that damn planet.

She nodded, "The same as before, sir."

The sound of her voice deepened his frown, the pain could be clearly heard, even though she was doing a wonderful job of hiding it otherwise. To the untrained eye Samantha Carter was perfectly fine, to those who knew her she was in a great deal of pain, just ignoring it the best she could.

"Are they in range?"

"Yes, sir. They are."

"Alright... everybody, get into position."

XXXX

Sam dug her fingernails into the dirt, wincing at the pain in her shoulder, and waited. To her left, Jack and Teal'c stood behind large trees, and to her right Jennings stood behind a tree as well. Daniel was also to her right, but lying in the ground as well, and Craig was still far too disorientated to brandish a weapon. Sanchez was directly behind her, being watched by Craig, bound and gaged, and still passed out. The Goa'uld within him was apparently very weak, because each time the zat had put him down for hours.

A slight rustling noise from her left caught her attention and she turned her eyes towards her CO. With a wave of his right hand he told them that it was time, and she aimed her weapon at the Jaffa guarding the 'Gate. The next noise, a quick clicking, told her to fire. And she did. Straight at the Jaffa that was standing next to the DHD. He went down in a crumpled heap, as did a few others with him. Those still standing looked around alert, trying to see where the gunfire was coming from.

It was too late for them though. As soon as the first group had gone down, so did the second, and then finally the third. Within minutes the threat had been eliminated, and SG-1 and those with them started running for the 'Gate. Now or never. They had to get home. This was it. Their last chance.

Daniel ran ahead, under the watchful eyes of the general, and dialed the 'Gate. With one swift motion the blue water jumped forward then snapped back, and Jennings quickly entered his code.

The last few seconds they spent on the planet were used giving each other worried looks. Did the code go through? Were there Jaffa on their way... close enough to pose a threat to their return home?

Jennings was the first to go through, accompanied by Doctor Craig, then followed by Teal'c, and a very much awake, but still bound and gaged, Sanchez. Daniel walked up to the Stargate, turned to look at the two still behind him, gave a sigh of relief, and went through. Leaving Jack and Sam as the last two Tau'ri on the planet. With her good arm she reached out for his hand, and held it in her own, intertwining their fingers. He looked over at her lovingly and then they too walked through the 'Gate.

She was finally home... again.

XXXX

He had only been asleep for the lighter part of half an hour when the alarms sounded off. "Unauthorized off world activation," Davis' called out frantically. "Unauthorized off world activation."

The same thing that was running through the minds of every base personnel crossed his, SG-1 and the General were coming through. Glancing around the infirmary first, to make sure Brightman was no where around, he threw the blankets off of his body, and slid out of the bed. Thankfully, he was wearing pants, so he didn't have to worry about his attire as he limped down the halls of the SGC. People dunked out of his way, and some even followed him to the Control room, thinking the same thing he was.

Fehr got to the room just as the iris swirled, revealing the crystal blue liquid of the event horizon. As Colonel Jennings of SG-5 stepped through the 'Gate Captain Bridges walked up beside Fehr, and a gasp of surprise could be heard from the man as he realized who was with him.

"How...?" he stopped mid-sentence, his jaw dropped open.

Lieutenant Fehr was too preoccupied to worry about the amazement in his friends voice, but when the next person walked through his own gasp filled the air. "What the fu-" he stopped himself before he could finish his phrase, and stared out at the large Jaffa who was currently carrying a thrashing Goa'uld on his shoulder.

With the initial shock still hanging in the air, Daniel stepped through the 'Gate, then turned, waiting for his friends. A few seconds later General O'Neill and Colonel Carter stepped through the event horizon, hand in hand, and then the Stargate shut itself down. Upon seeing the Colonel, Davis called for the medics, and Fehr and Bridges began their descent to the embarkation room.

They entered amongst a gaggle of medical staff, unnoticed by the worried doctors and nurses, but not so by the others. General O'Neill gave the man a concerned look, obviously wondering what he was doing out of bed, but Fehr didn't pay him any mind, although the man was his boss and he should do everything he said. Matthew was too concerned with the man Teal'c hand slung over his shoulder. His former CO, Major Sanchez.

"He's a Goa'uld..." Fehr stated plain as day. Yeah, like they hadn't already know that.

"Indeed," Teal'c said with a nod. "He is."

"He's a Goa'uld." Fehr repeated, and Teal'c picked up on the underlying question.

"The Tok'ra have the technology to remove the Goa'uld without causing harm to the host."

Of course, Fehr had already known that. It just hadn't occurred to him until that exact moment. "And, Sanchez will return to normal?"

"As normal as he will be able to be, in the situation," Daniel informed him. The archeologist knew what kind of emotional and mental strain having a symbiote could do to a person because of Sarah, who he still kept regular contact with. It was something even the strongest minds would have a tough time getting over. Speaking of which...

"He'll be ok, eventually," Carter added, wincing when a medic touched her shoulder.

That was good enough for Fehr, Carter had been host to a Goa'uld before. Of course, it had been a Tok'ra, in all truths, but she still had to go through the ordeal of having a snake wrapped around her spinal cord, taking control of her body at will. Samantha Carter was an extremely strong person, as was Sanchez, so Fehr didn't have any worries.

The Goa'uld on Teal'c's shoulder didn't seem to thrilled by the notion of being removed by a bunch of Tok'ra, and showed his disdain for the idea by trashing about violently. Teal'c scowled and set the man down on the floor. Since he was still bound he couldn't do much besides tug at his ropes and flash his eyes.

Seconds later, Doctor Brightman walked into the 'Gate room, causing groans from more than one person. Fehr, because he was supposed to still be in the infirmary, Sam because she knew once the doctor got a look at her shoulder she would be holed up in the infirmary, and Jack because whenever a doctor was near him it usually meant he was going to be poked and prodded with some sort of big needle.

Fortunately for Jack and Sam, Fehr was the one she was searching for. "Lieutenant Fehr," she barked. "What are you doing out of bed?"

Matthew Eugene Fehr was normally quick on his toes, but around Doctor Brightman he never knew what to say. Whatever he would have normally come up with would just end up making her even more upset than she already was. Finally, he settled with an apology. "I'm sorry, ma'am."

She gave him an incredulous look, like she didn't believe he was truly sorry. "Back into the infirmary, Lieutenant. And, since this is the second time I have caught you out of bed, you will not be cleared to leave the infirmary for three days."

Fehr wanted to argue, but he knew better. "Yes, ma'am."

And with that he left the infirmary, chuckling slightly when he heard the good doctor make her way over to Colonel Carter, and demand that the medic who had been checking the wound move so that she could do it personally.

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A/N: Sorry it took so long, but here it is!