Just thought I'd try and get this out tonight. It's late, I'm tired, and I'm off to bed before my head hits the keyboard! LOL.

Thanks for all your comments and reviews. Keep 'em coming, I live for them...pretty please!

I hope you are all enjoying this still!

UNITED WE STAND

By Lingren.

Previously:

They walked together to the elevator, where they parted company. He to the Locker room, and her to the commissary to wait for him.

Chapter 4

A week later and they were back to the starting point again. The second of the candidates stood before the Colonel stiffly, trying to look taller than his 5' 9" frame allowed. He was totally the opposite from the last contender for the vacant position of 2IC on the best team the SGC had to offer. His soft blonde hair fell into flawless gentle waves, which framed his healthy pink face, his green eyes bright and shiny, full of expected excitement to come. He was young, much younger than Jack was comfortable with. Younger even than Daniel had been, for cryin' out loud! His BDU's were immaculate, spotlessly clean and pressed with particular care, his name tag attached to his chest with pin point precision against the Velcro beneath it.

Jack had to wonder at such a turn out. Was it because the guy was out to impress? Or because he was so fastidious that one splash of dirt on his uniform from the first fire-fight they encountered, would probably send him over the edge and into fits of anxiety and depression.

"Okay, Lt. Bradley Friedman, report to the briefing room at 08:00hrs sharp tomorrow for our mission briefing."

"Sir! Yes Sir!" Friedman yelled, smartly saluting Jack who cringed under the onslaught of his loudly pitched voice, then reluctantly returned the gesture with an easy salute of his own.

"Easy does it Lieutenant, we don't stand on ceremony here."

"Sir! Yes Sir!" he yelled once more, until Jack held up his hands to fend the noise off, and he realised he'd done exactly the opposite of what his new CO had requested. "Sorry Sir," he apologised, his voice at a much more reasonable tone.

"That's much better. Dismissed Lieutenant."

Jack watched as the youngster exited his office and he let out a sigh of relief, rolling his eyes in mock horror at the thought of what that forthcoming mission would bring.

OoOoOoOoO

As far as Sam Carter was concerned, this mission had been a bust right from the start. From the moment they'd stepped from the Stargate, things had most definitely gone down the drain. Not one to back away from a slight hiccup Sam had carried on in the hope that things couldn't get any worse. Could they? Murphy had a lot to answer for that Law of his.

With every footfall she cursed her luck. With every mile they walked she swore she hated the planet. Her wrist throbbed in a merciless fiery agony with any movement she made. It hadn't seemed so bad to start with, but now it was aching with a vengeance. It all started when they'd been hurled from the gate. She'd collided with Captain Cortese, and had fallen over his kneeling profile, landing heavily on her hand, spraining her wrist in the process. She didn't think it was broken, but ordered Lt. Moody to strap it up for her to be safe. Cortese was uninjured, just slightly dizzy, and Lieutenants Moody and Brolin were just fine. There was just no way she was going to return to the SGC injured from only her second mission as a CO, just five minutes into it. She'd be laughed out of the mountain. Besides, she mused, it's not really that bad, certainly not bad enough to warrant their return, and they were only here to retrieve the UAV and it's data after all.

It was too late to back out now anyway. They were miles from the gate and more than half way to their objective. Gritting her teeth she ploughed on, her team beside her all the way. There was no solicitous CO to order their retreat, she was the commanding officer now, 'So suck it up Major and get on with the job!" she told herself sternly.

The farce that was supposedly an overnight stay, would be something they remembered long after they'd willingly ever want to. Sometime during the night, a storm front had moved in, and their camping ground had been awash, but that was after one of the tents had blown away, flying away high into the darkness to disappear for ever in the hurricane force winds that had sprung up from nowhere. The four of them were frantically hauling their equipment to safety in the howling gale and lashing rain; constantly blinded by the vivid flashes of lightening which rent the sky every few seconds, and deafened by the painfully loud thunder which echoed all around them.

When they had managed to rescue everything from the muddy water cascading through their camp site, they finally grabbed some much needed sleep, albeit somewhat damp and bedraggled. The final straw to their charade was that the person responsible for their wake up call had discovered half their rations had disappeared and there was no coffee with which to wake the others up. Sam had a fleeting moment of near hysteria when she thanked her lucky stars that Daniel hadn't been with them. There was no way he'd have been totally bearable without his coffee in the morning.

It was on the way back that things took a turn for the worse, that is, as if they could possibly get any more so!

Sam carried the all important data from the UAV in her back-pack, hopefully protected by the thick plastic bag in which it was encased, as the rain had begun in earnest again now. One minute the sky was relatively clear, then from out of nowhere the clouds quickly covered the sun and by the time they had retrieved their ponchos from their packs, the heavens had opened up and suddenly they were soaked to the skin; for the second time in as many days!

It was a very soggy, bedraggled quartet that trudged homewards, and they still had several miles to cover before they reached the Stargate. It was as they crossed a small clearing through the straggly forest that their thoughts were shattered by a staff blast as it exploded against a tree trunk merely inches from Moody's face. They scattered beneath the bushes and behind the other trees. Sam saw the Jaffa approaching from the south about 50 metres ahead of them. They opened fire and Sam took a couple down with her first volley. Moody soon recovered from the shock of almost getting his head blown off and took another one down. Cortese took out two and Brolin the last one.

They sat in the relative silence of the aftermath and let things settle before making another move. Sam wanted to be sure that there were no more Jaffa around. When she deemed it safe, she signalled the others to make a run for it, keeping a close eye out for any more patrols. She had no idea where they had come from, but took them to be a small scouting party who'd arrived by Tel'tak and not by the Stargate. With any luck the gate would still be safe. The worst case scenario would be for another group of Jaffa to be there guarding it. Though now she thought about it, even worse would be if they found the Goa'uld there as well.

Sam knew she should have kept her thoughts hidden. They reached the gate only to find it guarded by a dozen Jaffa; and parading around the area, as proud and haughty as a peacock, was none other than the Goa'uld himself. Sam was certain that it was only a minor Goa'uld, and one that wouldn't know of her in particular. She gathered her team together and formulated a plan.

Minutes later Cortese scooted off into the trees to return in 15 minutes. Moody and Brolin took a wide arc, sneaking round to cover the right flank. A two pronged attack, with a decoy down the middle of their positions. All was set. Cortese volunteered to be the decoy and approached the Stargate from the centre of operations. It worked. He was spotted and several of the Jaffa were ordered to follow him. Sam waited until they had reached the tree line then let the claymores loose, taking the enemy out in one foul swoop.

The Goa'uld ordered the rest of his men into the fray and another round of explosions resounded in the atmosphere. That's when Sam and her team opened fire with everything they had. The fight was brief and bloody, with the Goa'uld himself taking the easy way out and opened the gate to escape with only one or two of his men left. Neither did the SG team escape scot-free either. Moody had a bad staff blast to his shoulder, and Brolin had sustained a glancing blow to his leg.

Cortese dialled the DHD and sent the iris code as soon as the fluid matter had settled. Sam then led her weary, bedraggled team home.

OoOoOoOoO

Jack took his place beside General Hammond, eager to see who was returning from off-world. They had both responded to the alarms echoing throughout the base. He hoped to see Sam returning; a good mission under her belt would do wonders for her promotion prospects.

"Still here Colonel?" Hammond asked, regardless of the fact he knew the reason why Jack was hanging around.

"Yes Sir. You know me...always restless before a mission. Carter's overdue isn't she?"

"Not by much Jack. I'm sure she'll be just fine,"

Hammond looked sideways at Jack, it was easy to spot why the man was restless and it had nothing to do with his forthcoming mission, and all to do with Major Carter out there on her own. The General smiled, Jack had been restless all day, even during the mission briefing he'd been somewhat terse and edgy, especially towards his newest team-member. Hammond turned his attention back to the Sergeant, about to ask the obvious question.

"It's SG-7 Sir," Davis responded to the unspoken enquiry hanging thickly in the air.

"Open the iris," barked Hammond, turning to follow Jack, who'd already leapt down the steps in his eagerness to reach the gate room in time to see Sam come home from her mission.

The watery flux shimmered as the first ones to step through were Sam and Brolin. She emerged supporting her subordinate, as he limped down the ramp. They were quickly followed by Cortese half carrying Moody. As soon as their feet hit the metal with a resounding thud, Sam yelled for the iris to be closed as Cortese gently laid his burden onto the metal grating beneath them.

Both Hammond and Jack ran to assist them; Hammond was concerned by their obvious distress.

Jack relieved Sam of Brolin's weight and lowered him to sit on the steps. He gently latched onto Sam's arm and looked into her tired, bloodshot eyes. She looked dead on her feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, his voice full of apprehension.

"I'm fine Sir. Really! Just…very tired." She glanced round at her team. Only one of her men was left standing and guilt flooded her thoughts, and sank her heart. She looked down, ashamed; tears smarting behind her eyes. She clenched her fists against the overwhelming desire of wanting to cry. She'd let her team down, but not only them. She'd let the General down too, but worst of all, she had in all probability, lost the trust and faith that Jack had in her abilities as a leader.

In the background, were the sounds of a medical team bustling about, treating the injured. Janet was kneeling beside Moody, barking orders at her staff. Sam let the all too familiar scene wash over her, as her misery swamped her.

TBC