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Not so welcome was the army of hungry knee-high lizards that darted through the open door.

"Look out!" Daniel shouted, scrambling to his feet.

Sam dropped the pliers and spun on her knees, grabbing for her MP-5. Staff blasts scorched the air as Teal'c opened fire.

Unfortunately, the lizards moved fast, and Sam was directly in their line of site. The first reached her as her hand clamped around her weapon, sharp teeth sinking into her arm. With her free hand she punched it in the snout, sending it flying towards Daniel who promptly dropkicked it into the on-coming rush of its companions. Somewhere behind her, the Colonel shouted at Daniel to get out of his line of fire.

A staff blast exploded inches in front of her taking out two more lizards and allowing her enough time to whip her weapon into position. As she opened fire on the incoming reptilian tide, she didn't stop to think what would have happened if she had decided to lean forward as Teal'c shot, trusting that the Jaffa must have been able to read her body language well enough to know that she wouldn't have. Either that, or he'd decided she would rather die of a staff blast than get torn to shreds by a swarm of hungry lizards with razor sharp teeth.

She'd have to remember to thank him later.

With a sense of semi-numb satisfaction, she proceeded to mow down the lizards pouring through the open door. Later, she knew, she'd be horrified by the sheer gore of it all… the flying blood, the shrieks of pain, the mangled bodies twitching in death. Now, she was just glad to be able to defend herself from an enemy that would show her no mercy, that would kill her without contemplation, eat her without remorse.

She emptied two magazines into the doorway, and it came as a physical shock when her bullets finally ran out after the second.

The silence was deafening.

Nothing moved.

She swallowed, watching the blood pool on the floor in front of her from a pile of eviscerated bodies.

"Well, Captain, I'd say you killed those lizards three or four times over," the Colonel eventually said somewhere behind her.

The lizards were all dead. There were twenty or thirty of them, she calculated. Maybe as many as forty. She'd wasted ammo. A lot of ammo. "S-sorry, sir," she stammered. With a shaking hand, she popped the empty magazine and tried to remember where her other replacements were. Pocket? Pack? Oh god, why couldn't she think? Good thing they were all dead.

"And Daniel," the Colonel said, "When I say get out of the line of fire, you don't do some kind of goddamn dance across the floor in front of me. Drop where you are or throw yourself behind cover - like the nearest control console – so I don't have to worry about shooting you in the back!"

"Sorry, Jack," Daniel said directly behind her, "I was trying to get into position to give Sam some support."

"She was doing just fine on her own!"

"But…"

"No buts! When I say drop, you drop!"

"You didn't say 'drop,' Jack. You said…"

"I don't give a damn! From now on you'll know what I mean and do as I say!"

Sam was still trying to find another spare magazine, only dimly aware of the heated argument taking place behind her.

"And you, Carter," the Colonel said, starting in on her.

Uh-oh. "Yes, sir?"

"What the hell do you think you were doing?"

"Shooting lizards, sir?" Oh god, she didn't mean to sound flippant. She'd just answered, but it sounded flippant.

"Before that, Captain!"

For the life of her, Sam had no idea what he was talking about.

"Did I or did I not give you a direct order not to open that goddamn control panel?" the Colonel roared.

Oh god. She was very glad that she didn't have to look him in the face. "Yes, sir, you did, sir. But it was the only way, sir…"

She heard him hopping towards her.

"Don't you dare ever disobey my direct command again, Captain, or I'll bust you down to airman so fast it'll make your head spin. Do you understand?"

She heard the fury in his voice. He was seriously pissed at her. "Yes, sir!" she said, vowing to do her best to never disobey him again. Not if she wanted to keep going through the Stargate. Not if she wanted to stay on his team. Finally, her groping fingers found the pocket with the rest of her spare magazines. "Sorry, sir!" She pulled one out and loaded it, hoping he wouldn't notice how badly she was still shaking. Adrenaline. It had to be the adrenaline.

"Right," he said, sounding somewhat mollified.

"O'Neill," Teal'c said. "There do not appear to be any more reptiles in the immediate vicinity. Now would be a good time to make our escape."

"This is a defensible position, Teal'c, and we've got three injured. Do you think you can make it back to the gate safely by yourself to get reinforcements?"

"Assuming I do not run into another band of reptiles of this nature, O'Neill. However, I do not think it would be wise to divide our forces at this time, or to stay here. The smell of blood will most surely attract other predators and scavengers to this location. There may be far more dangerous animals on this planet than these creatures, and it is doubtful that I would be able to return with reinforcements before nightfall."

The Colonel considered the Jaffa's advice for a moment. Finally, he nodded. "Right. Okay, campers, I've already gone through a couple of magazines, and so has Carter. God only knows what will come around at night, and I don't like the idea of splitting up the team either. Looks like the best option is to head back to the gate, ASAP, as a group."

Hands grabbed her jacket collar and pulled her to her feet. She swayed as the ground tilted beneath her, but a strong arm held her steady.

"Hang in there, Sam," Daniel's voice said in her ear, and she realized that the archeologist was holding her up with his bandaged arms.

"I'm okay," she said, finding her feet. Sort of. God, she'd thought the fresh air would help, but she still felt like she'd just been run over by a truck. Like maybe a cement mixer. Or a Greyhound bus.

Daniel relaxed his grip, and she felt her knees buckle.

Daniel grunted in pain as he tried to catch her, but Sam slid through his grip. She tried to stay upright as her knees slammed to the floor but she pitched forward anyway, ribs screaming in protest… too much momentum…an equation flew through her mind calculating the angle and degree of force… hands and arms tangled in her MP-5. In a distant sort of way she wondered if she looked as stupid as she felt sprawling face-first on the floor in front of her teammates and CO… drunk, drugged, sick, oxygen deprived, something… but definitely not her normal self, and dammit, why was she so dizzy now? It would be ever so nice if the floor would just stop spinning.

"Carter?" Colonel O'Neill asked, now beside her.

Oh god, she prayed. Just please don't let me throw up on his boots. Somehow she made it to her hands and knees before the smell of blood overcame what little control she had over her stomach. She missed his boots by inches but her P-90 was not so lucky, getting a lovely shower of regurgitated oatmeal and orange juice from her breakfast in the commissary that morning. She couldn't contain a quiet moan, partly from humiliation (what must Colonel O'Neill think of his female 2IC puking her guts out a minute after combat…?) and partly from the agony of vomiting with what she was now starting to suspect were bruised or busted ribs. And how the hell had she managed to hurt her ribs in all this?

"Ah yuck," the Colonel swore, half hopping, half stepping back out of the line of fire. "The boys in the armory are going to looove that…"

"Sorry, sir," Sam gasped. "I don't know what's come over me…" She struggled to stand, but failed miserably as another round of nausea threatened to overwhelm her. Finally Teal'c's strong hands pulled her back to her feet. She felt like a rag-doll in his grasp, and she clung to him while he held her steady for a moment.

Sam was acutely aware that her three teammates were staring at her as she desperately tried to find her balance. She was still shaking like a leaf, but she didn't want them to think it was from fear or cowardice.

Finally, she was able to stand without Teal'c's assistance. She met her CO's eyes. "I'm sorry, sir," she said. "It's my ribs…I think… I don't know, but it feels like I may have cracked one or something…" Even to her own ears, it sounded like a feeble excuse for her weakness.

"Can you breathe?" the Colonel asked, his face betraying no emotion.

"Yes, sir," she nodded, wilting under his piercing gaze. She looked away, willing the tears out of her eyes. She would not cry in front of her commanding officer. She would not cry in front of her team.

"Are you coughing up blood?"

"No, sir," she said.

"Then you're just going to have buck up, Captain. Daniel's hurt, my leg is busted, and we don't have time to sit around waiting for Hammond to send a rescue party. That leaves you to cover our six."

"Jack," Daniel started to protest.

The Colonel turned on him. "I don't want to hear it, Daniel," he snapped. "She's going to carry her own weight back to the gate, and she's going to guard our butts while she does it, aren't you Captain?"

Sam swallowed, feeling like a green cadet in front of a hostile drill sergeant. "Yes, sir." He was in pain, too, she reminded herself. She had to pull herself together.

She felt Teal'c's eyes on her, measuring her. She thought the former First Prime probably doubted her ability to carry through. She'd often wondered what he thought of having to serve with a woman on his team. It wasn't like there appeared to be any female Jaffa warriors. That he hadn't openly questioned her presence on the team was probably something of a marvel. Although, after her performance today, perhaps that would change.

She nodded again, gripping her weapon tighter, realizing that she wanted to prove herself to Teal'c as much as to her commanding officer. Colonel O'Neill was military. She understood what he expected of her. But Teal'c… Teal'c was intimidating to her in a way that no military officer would ever be, given that her father was a general. He was enigmatic, a true warrior, the epitome of strength and self-control in the face of danger. If she could prove herself to Teal'c… well, that would be a real accomplishment. "I've got our sixes, sir," she said, trying to sound more confident than she really felt.

"Right," the Colonel nodded. "Let's move out."

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TBC