Morning came very quickly for Daniel, after Sam fell asleep he and Jack both tried to get some more sleep. Daniel was in his sleeping bag on the floor next to Anika. Jack in the bed next to Sam. Daniel being uncomfortable was unable to sleep any longer. He thought that he shouldn't have argued with Jack, and taken the bed next to Sam; but now that he was awake, he thought he might as well get breakfast started. He went to the fireplace and started a fire and put some water on to boil, at least they would have a hot breakfast and coffee. Who knows how long it would be until they had another hot meal. Daniel heard Teal'c enter. "Hey Teal'c how is everything?"
"Everything is fine Daniel Jackson; there is no sign of anyone out there." Teal'c went to the table and took a seat. "What about Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter, should we not wake them?"
"Give them a little longer Teal'c, breakfast is not ready yet. The MRE's are over there, why don't you choose one for breakfast." Daniel said as he stared at the pot waiting for the water to boil.
Jack heard voices as he groggily returned to the land of the conscious; he opened his eyes to see blonde hair in front of him. He was lying on his side and found himself spooning up against Carter's back. Then he realized his arm had snaked over her waist and his hand rested on her stomach. 'Oh shit, what the hell am I doing?' He asked himself then rolled himself onto his back and a little further away from Carter. He decided to stay in bed a little longer and contemplate on making a plan to get his team home.
"Hey Jack what do you want for breakfast?" Daniel asked as he realized Jack was now awake.
"Toss in some oatmeal for me and for Carter."
"What if she wants something else?"
"No the oatmeal will be best for her, won't upset her stomach.'
"I'm right here, why don't you ask me?" Sam said a little angrily, as she slowly rolled onto her back.
Jack turned on his side, lifted himself onto his elbow, and looked down at Carter. "So Carter how are you feeling this morning?" Jack asked as he placed his hand on her forehead.
"Actually I'm feeling a lot better, thank you Sir." She said with some annoyance from having O'Neill's hand on her forehead. She felt she could take care of herself, and didn't need everyone fussing over her.
Jack sat up and got out of the bed, "Yea well you still feel warm, you're going to take aspirins, antibiotics and most likely some pain killers, all of which can be hard on the stomach; it's best if you take them on a full stomach before we head out." He headed towards the table where Daniel, Teal'c and Anika were sitting. He looked over and saw Carter trying, very painfully, to extract herself from the bed. 'Boy she's one stubborn woman' Jack thought to himself. He could see the pained expression with every move she made. He finally had enough and went over to help her. "Can I lend you a hand Captain?"
Sam couldn't believe how much pain moving had caused. All she was trying to do was sit up; it shouldn't be this difficult. Then she heard the colonel offer to help, she had to think about it for a split second, but then decided she might as well accept. "Ah, thank you Sir, I think I could use one." She watched as O'Neill came and bent down next to her, he slid his arm behind her shoulders and helped ease her up in a sitting position, then put his other hand at the bend of her knees and helped her swing her legs over the side of the bed. Sam pushed off the side of the bed with her good arm to rise to a standing position. The sudden change in position caused her to sway a little, but O'Neill was there to lend a steadying hand.
"You okay?" He asked still keeping his arm around her shoulders.
"Yea just a little light headed from lying down so long." Sam answered as she headed towards the table. Teal'c got up and offered his chair to her. She nodded her thanks and gratefully accepted the chair.
Daniel handed her an MRE of oatmeal and gave her a slight smile. "Sorry I didn't ask your opinion, but I thought you were asleep."
"I think I've slept long enough, now it's time to try and get out of here. No offence Anika." Sam said as she dug into the oatmeal package, hoping it would help settle her stomach. She had to admit she was a little hungry, and any food would taste good right now. "So Colonel any plans?"
"Well I thought we'd have a nice leisurely breakfast and discuss options." O'Neill said reaching for his own package of oatmeal.
"Here Anika, why don't you try this?" Daniel said as he handed her an MRE.
She took the package and looked at it oddly, then sniffed what was inside. To her surprise, it smelled pretty good. She took the fork that came with the package and carefully tasted it. "This is pretty good; do you eat this well all the time?"
Daniel and Jack both suppressed a laugh, how could MRE's be considered good food. "Ah these are just used when we go on missions; when at home we eat the good food." Daniel said with a smile, as he watched her enjoy the meal.
"So Colonel, has General Hammond tried to contact us yet?" Sam asked as she started to put down her half-eaten MRE.
"You know we haven't heard a word, geez Carter where have you been?" Jack said a little too quickly, sounding annoyed; when he knew most of the time, she had been unconscious. She stared up at him with a look of disbelief. "Sorry Carter, I didn't mean that."
"Well Sir, we must be out of range." She answered back putting an emphasis on the sir.
"Yea, I kinda figured that. We have two objectives then; one is to get close enough to the gate so we can receive communications from home, and the other is to get close enough to the gate so we can see if it's safe to get home." He said not liking his options.
"So then Jack what ever we do, we have to get to the gate." Daniel said feeling a little anxious.
Anika sensed Daniel's nervousness, "You know Daniel…" she said as she place her hand on his arm, "You could always stay here, if you don't want to go. My husband has been gone for a long time, and it does get lonely here all by myself." She said looking into his blue eyes.
Jack and Sam looked at each other smirking, trying not to laugh at Daniel's predicament. 'Boy that Space monkey has a way with women' Jack thought.
"Ah I appreciate the offer, Anika." Daniel stammered. "But I have a wife, and I love her very much."
Anika shook her head, feeling a little embarrassed at her offer. Jack thought this would be a good time to change the subject. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few bottles of pills and he took out the required amounts. "Here Carter, you'll need these." he said as he filled the palm of her hand with pills.
Sam looked at all the pills and looked up to O'Neill with disbelief. "That's a lot of pills Sir."
"Yes, but you need all of them." He insisted, closing her palm around the pills, then handed her a cup of water. Sam just sighed and just took the pills. "So anyone know the way to the gate, I kinda got turned around out there." Jack asked
"I have an instrument in my pack that will point out the direction the gate is in Sir."
"Well that's one problem solved, now for the others. We should get going while it's still early." Jack and the others started to pack their things up, he stilled Carter to remain seated until they were ready to go. He then handed her the medications and watched as she put them in her pocket then assisted her in putting the sling back on. He turned to Anika, "Well thank you Mam for all your help, I wish there was more we could do for you."
Anika looked at the group with sad eyes. "It's been nice having you all here; I wish you a safe journey home." She then went over to Daniel and kissed him on the cheek. Teal'c lifted Sam's pack and slung it over his shoulder; Sam slowly got up from the chair and moved to the group, following them as they headed out.
Once they reached the forest and were out of Anika's sight, Jack couldn't stifle his comment any longer. "So Daniel, you seem to have a way with the women on other planets; do you have as much luck at home?" Sam gave a small laugh at O'Neill's comment, while Teal'c just raised an eyebrow.
Daniel just looked at Jack, letting his annoyance show. "So which way Sam?"
Sam looked at her instrument moved in a circle and then pointed out the right direction. The group moved out in that direction, with O'Neill taking point and Teal'c bringing up the rear.
They tried to be as quiet as possible as they moved closer to the gate, but the trip was taking longer than O'Neill liked, they had to slow down, to make sure Carter could keep up. It was getting hotter out side, and Sam was glad that she left her jacket in her pack, but didn't think the white shirt she was wearing was very stealthy. She had to suck it up and do what was best for the team. "Sir I think I should put my jacket on."
O'Neill looked at her with concern. "You're not cold are you?"
"Ah no Sir, but I think the white may make us easier to spot." She said as she wiped her forehead with her sleeve.
Jack didn't think it was good for her health, but did agree about the colour of her shirt. "Here." Daniel said as he took off his jacket and handed it to Sam; then realized he should help her into it. Sam let Daniel help her, then noticed some large dark spots on the jacket and realized it must be her blood; then she noticed the colonel also had some stains on his jacket. 'Great I guess I've marked my teammates with my own blood,' she thought to herself.
They had been travelling another few hours in the forest; they realized it must be midday on the planet since it was so hot, even though they were shaded by the trees. Then Jack spotted the gate through the trees and couldn't help but grin. He signalled for the others to get down and take cover; and he saw Carter ease herself down behind a large tree. "You three stay here; I'm going to check out the area around the gate for unexpected guests. Keep your eyes open." He whispered as he headed out. The others stayed alert with their guns at the ready. Ten minutes later O'Neill returned. "Well there were two Jaffa there and about five villagers.
"We could go in with guns blazing, I don't mind killing the Jaffa Sir, but the villagers only have swords and I don't think it would be right shooting them or having them get caught in the cross fire." Sam told O'Neill with Daniel and Teal'c agreeing with her.
"Well then I think we need a diversion, maybe the villagers will go running and we can take out the Jaffa."
"Sounds good to me Sir." Sam said as she started to get up.
"No Carter, you stay where you are. Teal'c you and I are going to go plant some of Carter's favourite pyrotechnics to draw the villagers out."
"Sir, I think maybe you should leave some bullet magazines, the burning fire will explode them, making it sound like a fire fight."
"Good idea Carter, in the meantime I want you and Daniel to stay here and wait for our return."
"Sir I think Daniel should go with you and Teal'c, I can wait here for word from the SGC."
"Ah Carter, I don't like leaving my team members alone, it's hard enough to split the group, but I will not leave anyone by themselves." Jack said with a puzzled look on his face.
"Sir given my condition, I don't know if I will be able to provide Daniel with proper back up, if the need arise." Sam said almost pleading with the colonel.
"Look Carter, Teal'c and I will move quicker if it's just the two of us, and anyway Daniel's also here to be your back-up. Enough said, let's move out." With that said, O'Neill and Teal'c headed out leaving the two scientists to dig in and wait for them.
Sam and Daniel watched with baited breath as a group of villagers approached their position. Sam knew in no time they would be caught; but Daniel had a chance if he could quickly sneak away. "Daniel." She whispered, "You have to get out of here now, go deeper into the forest and try to find a good hiding place."
"What about you? I can't leave you alone to be captured." Daniel said his worry was very obvious.
"Daniel I can't move fast enough to sneak away, you can. If I fire my gun, it will bring the Jaffa running to the area, we don't need that. Besides someone has to tell the colonel what happened." Sam slipped off Daniel's jacket and handed it to him, along with her weapons; if she was going to be caught, there was no way she was going to give them superior weapons. "Now go."
Daniel took the items, his face was full of fear, he knew she was right but couldn't bring himself to leave her there. With her last order, he turned away and started to move off, he couldn't look her in the face as he left. He only hoped she would be all right.
Sam tried to stay hidden behind the tree; she gave Daniel his jacket so that if one of them were to be caught it would be her. She silently prayed as the group drew closer, but she knew her luck was running out. Moments later she found herself surrounded by four large men all pointing their swords at her.
Chapter 8 should be coming up soon, please review.
Thought I'd let you see how Daniel got his reputation with the women.