AN: I've been trying to get this uploaded for two days... finally!Please read and review!

Chapter Five

The options out the window weren't the best, but it was better than sitting there and waiting for Loh'ran to return. It was only the second floor and there was a ledge jutting out from the side of the building about halfway down. The outside of the building was textured as well. No, it was a far cry from the optimum situation, but I hadn't really expected there would be a fire escape.

"This'll have to do, guys." I looked back at Daniel and Teal'c. They nodded in agreement. Then my eyes fell on Carter. She was still in Daniel's arms, amusing herself by trying on his glasses. I squeezed my eyes closed. There was no way I could expect her to scale the side of the building. I pulled her away from Daniel and handed his glasses back to him. It wasn't that I didn't trust Daniel, it was just that if anyone was going to take responsibility for getting Carter down safely, it was going to be me.

"Ok, Teal'c, you go first. Then you can help guide Daniel down. That way you're both down there in case she needs a net."

Teal'c painstakingly made his way down. Although he moved slowly, he still made it look easy. I hoped Daniel realized that it wasn't as easy as it looked - Teal'c was just incredibly strong. Daniel looked at me as he backed over the edge of the window.

"Here goes nothing."

Carter and I leaned out to watch him carefully pick his way down. He lost his grip towards the bottom, but Teal'c was waiting to help him. That left Carter and I. My instincts told me that it would be better for her to be behind me so I could have better use of my arms, but I couldn't trust a three-year-old to hold on. I knew I couldn't trust myself to hold her while I was trying to climb either. I zipped her inside my jacket. It was a tight fit with both of us in it, but I hoped that would keep her more secure.

I looked at her and prayed my fear wasn't showing; I didn't want to terrify the poor thing. "Ready, Sam?" She nodded. "Ok, you know what to do?"

She nodded again and I felt her arms and legs wind around me inside my jacket. "Hold on tight."

"Good girl." I smiled at Teal'c and Daniel, trying to appear every bit as cool and confident as I would have been had I not been carrying precious cargo. Then I started my descent.

It was very slow going. I felt like I was barely hanging on, but I couldn't get a better grip without crushing Carter. For her part, she was very good. She didn't move a muscle or make a sound, not even when I did actually lose the grip I had with one hand which left us hanging precariously ten feet from the ground. I was shaking when I managed to get back on track and fairly certain I was having a heart attack.

When my feet finally touched the ground, I wanted to kneel down and thank God. I looked down, checking to see why Carter had been so well behaved. Amazingly enough, she was sound asleep. Her arms and legs had loosened slightly, but she was still tucked close inside my jacket. I figured it was the best place for her at the time as we crept around to the front of the building.

Noises ahead of us caught my attention. There was a patrol of hole-punch wielding aliens marching past. We ducked around the corner and took a moment to regroup.

Teal'c spoke first. "Perhaps they have been alerted to our escape."

I shook my head. "They weren't looking for anything. They were just patrolling."

"Maybe that's why they don't have crime. They're under martial law." Daniel looked sickened by the idea. "They seemed like such a wonderful society."

I glared at him. "Why are you more disappointed that they're liars than you are about the fact that Carter has been reduced to this?" I motioned toward the lump in my jacket which had shifted around to suck her thumb in her sleep.

Daniel was charmed by the sight and forgot about the question I'd asked. "At least you know she really does trust you."

"It doesn't take much to win a kid's trust. I didn't leave her alone in the dark hallway. That's all it means." I thought I was doing an admirable job of blowing off how important it was to me that, even as a child, Carter gravitated to me rather than Daniel.

Daniel was my friend and I knew there was nothing between he and Carter, but there were always things that made me nervous. They had so much in common. They had that same sunny outlook on life that irritated me to no end. They had way too many years of education between them. They always knew how to be tactful and diplomatic no matter how angry they got. They both allowed themselves to feel the emotions that I tamped down within myself. And the one thing that drove me absolutely crazy - he wasn't in the military so there were no rules that kept them from expressing their affection for one another. Thankfully, the only vibe I'd ever seen them express toward one another was like that of brother and sister. Even so, I liked that baby Carter picked me.

I watched as a second patrol passed in front of us. It was going to be very difficult to get through the city undetected if we'd already seen two patrols less than five minutes apart. I wondered if Daniel would gloat if he knew that I'd just thought of it as a city. "Ok, we'll time until the next patrol. Then once we know how long we have, we'll make a run for it."

Teal'c nodded and glanced at his watch. "Perhaps this area is more heavily guarded to protect the sleeping quarters of the townspeople."

We counted three minutes before the next patrol went passed. As soon as they were out of sight, I stood up and began creeping along the building, set on reaching the road before anyone caught us. Daniel and Teal'c followed. They both had their weapons drawn. I was holding mine as well, but it would be awkward if I needed to fire it. We ducked down on the other side of the road to wait for the next patrol.

Daniel put his gun in the holster. "Jack, you should give Sam to me. You're more useful in a firefight than I am."

He had a point. Even after so many years of getting shot at, there was only so much Daniel could do with a gun and most of it involved a great deal of luck. But I was reluctant to give up Carter. I shook my head. "She's sleeping. Let her be. It's easier to move without her talking."

"She's awake, Jack."

Sure enough, when I glanced down, I met Carter's blue eyes. She was playing with my dogtags, winding them around her fingers and wrist and generally amusing herself quietly. So she was awake. I still wasn't about to let her go. "She's fine, Daniel."

"Jack, if someone shoots at you, you won't be able to fire back."

"And you'll be able to fire if you're holding her?"

"I can't aim anyway. You'll do better shooting for both of us than I will."

Teal'c's eyes moved between us. "This is not the time for such a discussion."

Daniel nodded. "Exactly. Hand her over, Jack."

"No!" I couldn't believe Daniel and I were fighting over who got to carry Carter. It would have been hysterical, had I not been so damn obsessed with carrying her myself.

"Jack?" Carter was evidently through with the dogtags.

"Ha! So you do know my name!" I grinned at poor little confused Carter. "What?"

"What about them?"

I turned around to follow where she was pointing past me. Loh'ran's three friends were approaching us. We had our weapons trained on them, but they didn't seem to care. Probably because they didn't know our weapons were more effective than their office supplies. "I wonder what happened to Loh'ran."

Daniel nodded at the group of three. "He's right there."

I looked back and realized there was a fourth - a small child held in the arms of one of the others. I shook my head. "Dumbass was so busy trying to shrink Carter that he accidentally shrunk himself."

Daniel shook his head. "I don't think it was an accident."

"Huh?" Sometimes I could swear that man was on a different page than I was.

"I think he intended for himself and Carter to grow up together."

Carter's arms tightened around my neck and I could feel her shaking. I rubbed her back with one hand and steadied my weapon with the other. "It's ok, Sam. You'll be fine."

She only whimpered in response. She was more open to displaying her feelings at three, so it was obvious that she felt the same way about the men as the grown up Carter had. I felt guilty for not realizing just how scared Carter had been of them. But then I remembered that I had known it - I'd seen it in the way she inexplicably cowered behind me and that was why I'd been outside her door and ready to shoot. I'd let her down. I was responsible for what had happened to her; she never would have taken food from Loh'ran if I hadn't told her it was ok.

I dropped my P-90 and held my 9mm instead. I could fire it one-handed. My other hand curled protectively around Carter. I aimed my gun right at the face of the man who took the lead. I would die before I let them have her. "Stay back or we'll shoot."

"We have come for Samantha. We have no business with the rest of you. You are free to go." He took another step forward.

"Back off." My hand smoothed Carter's hair, trying to calm her. Her quiet whimpers were killing me. I could feel her shaking against me and I hated them for doing that to her.

"Loh'ran has chosen Samantha as his mate. She must come with us now."

"Like hell." I fired a warning shot into the air, probably alerting every single patrol in the place that something was amiss. Carter's tiny hands gripped my shirt in fear. I moved my face down next to hers. "It's ok. I'll protect you." I didn't know if she believed me or not, but she tucked her cheek against my neck. I could feel her tears on my skin and I felt the strongest urge to kill that I ever had.

Teal'c must have sensed it. "You will tell us how to undo what you have done to Major Carter."

The leader ignored Teal'c demand. "The change is permanent. She will age normally from this point on." He looked back at his friends for a moment. "Samantha Carter will come with us now. She is no use to you in her current state. Leave her."

I could hear the patrols approaching. We were out of time. Carter's only hope was Dr. Frasier and that was only if we could get her back home. I aimed carefully at the leader's shoulder. "Over my dead body."

The leader smiled. "That can be arranged."