Sorry another cliff-hanger for you, but the good news is that this is nearing the end, and you all know that it will end up sappy and happy ever after, so bear with me on this. Thanks for all your reviews guys. Hope you all had a great Christmas or whatever it was you celebrated.

A CHRISTMAS NIGHTMARE.

By Lingren.

Previously:-

Landry snapped out of his thoughts and gave his permission.

"Do it!" he ordered without hesitation.

Chapter 6 – Risks

General Landry stepped up to the microphone and took a deep breath, steeling himself for the action to come, yet trying not to look as if something ominous was about to happen.

"What is it you want?" he asked the Goa'uld, despite knowing full well what was happening down there. Walter had kept him up to date, but he wanted to keep what was Major Jefferson busy so he wouldn't notice anything unusual until it was too late.

Jefferson looked up at the General, his lips curling into a sneer.

"Colonel Carter here, has agreed to become my queen. You will dial up the gate immediately so that we can return to my home-world where she will undergo the implantation. Do not delay me or he will die," he spat, pointing his weapon down at Jack once more.

Sam gasped in horror.

"You promised not to kill him!" she cried whirling round to face the Goa'uld who now made another grab for her.

His grip was strong; much stronger than Sam had estimated and she dropped to her knees as he crushed her wrist and twisted her arm backwards. She cried out in pain, silently pleading with the Goa'uld to release her.

Daniel was not happy with events, and looked up at Landry to see if he was about to do anything to rescue them, before turning back to watch Sam struggle to keep from screaming out in her agony.

"Why?" Sam yelped through the tears, holding them at bay for as long as she could. How could he treat his would be new queen with such contempt?

"I would remind you that you are mine, and if you defy me, I will kill him and everyone here."

"I'm not..." Sam began but her words cut off when she spotted movement behind a grill half way up the wall out of the corner of her eye. "I'm not going to defy you. Please, let go!"

Mim looked down his nose at her, his eyes studying her closely, then relaxed his fingers, allowing Sam's arm to fall away. She cradled her sore wrist to her chest, protecting it with the other hand. Surreptitiously she fell back onto her side and lay curled up, pretending to cry softly. Anything to keep his attention from where she saw the damning evidence of movement.

A moment later when all eyes were on her, the room was suddenly filled with smoke; tear gas canisters were releasing their toxic fumes into the room. She closed her eyes and held her breath for as long as she could, listening for the tell-tale signs of the expected rescue.

Keeping low, the SGC personnel filed through the opening doors yelling for the hostages to stay close to the floor. Gunfire and zat blasts split the air and grunts of pain echoed loudly in the mayhem that followed.

Someone forced Sam to her feet and pulled her through the blast doors along with others. She couldn't see a thing through the tears streaming from her eyes or feel much through the pain of burning, irritated skin. She felt herself pushed into someone's arms and a blanket was wrapped round her trembling shoulders.

"Where's General O'Neill?" she gasped through the burning in her throat and the runny nose, desperate to know if he'd been rescued too.

"I don't know as yet Ma'am," the voice beside her said, as they hurried her along towards the elevator.

"We need to get you checked over Colonel," another voice said as she was passed on to another person. "your wrist is bruised and swollen and you'll need to get showered and changed. Dr. Carmichael will see to you as soon as he can."

This time she recognised the voice of one of the nurses from the infirmary.

"I'm fine. I don't need... I want to see if General O'Neill is..." she insisted, but whichever nurse it was gave her no choice. The next thing she knew she could feel the slight disorientation as the elevator car rose to the infirmary level. She had no idea if any of her friends made it out of the gate-room alive, like she had.

OoOoOoOoO

"Sam!"

Daniel's strangled cry forced Sam to stop and peer through sore eyes, but all she could see was a blur of someone standing in front of her.

"Daniel? Where's Jack?"

"I don't know Sam. It was chaos down there. I can't really see much yet. You're just a blur." He coughed, spitting the chemical laced mucous into a tissue he was clutching. Sneezing for the umpteenth time, he wheezed then blew his nose.

"You too," she sympathised. "I need to know where he is Daniel," she whispered softly, almost giving in to her tumultuous emotions. She took a tissue from the box he offered her and she blew her own nose, trying hard to ignore the tears running freely down her face as a result of the irritation. She ignored the itching skin on her face too, opting to cradle her wrist again as she had been instead. The soldier inside her prevented her from breaking down completely, but Daniel knew her almost as well as Jack did after eight years of working closely together, and pulled her into an awkward hug; it didn't matter that they were both contaminated.

"I know Sam. I just don't know what's happening as yet."

He beckoned to a passing nurse, barely resisting grabbing her arm as she was hurrying by on some unknown errand.

"Please," he begged. "could you find out what happened to General O'Neill for us?"

She registered Dr. Jackson and Colonel Carter, and nodded.

"If you would take a seat Dr. Jackson, Colonel Carter, I'll find out for you," she replied, taking pity on them. She hadn't known what had happened down in the gate-room, but judging by the casualties coming in she had a rough idea it hadn't been a pleasant experience for any of the hostages.

She hurried away as Daniel and Sam stumbled over to the nearest gurney and sat down, side by side, still holding on to each other.

"Daniel?" Sam asked. "Are you okay? You're wheezing pretty badly!"

"Yeah, well, CS gas isn't exactly my idea of fun Sam. You know me and allergies..." He sneezed and coughed again, lamenting his misfortune.

"Nurse!" Sam called out blindly, as Daniel's wheezy breath worsened. "Dr. Jackson needs help now. He has allergies."

The young nurse gave Daniel a quick appraisal and with a word of reassurance, hurried off to fetch some water and the doctor.

The room was filling up rapidly and orders for medical attention were yelled to be heard above the din.

"Colonel Carter!"

Sam couldn't see who had called her, but she knew that voice anywhere.

"Teal'c?" she answered peering myopically at the shape in front of her.

"Indeed Colonel Carter. Michael O'Neill and I were concerned for your welfare along with that of General O'Neill and Daniel Jackson."

"Mike?" she gasped appalled at herself for having forgotten all about him in her worry over Jack and Daniel. "Are you two okay?" she asked, struggling against the symptoms of burning eyes to see them.

"We are well Colonel Carter," Teal'c responded. His own symptoms had been quickly dealt with, while Mike barely suffered any; his symbiote working hard to dispel the chemicals before any damage was caused.

"You were wounded Mike!" Daniel remembered.

"Maldek has already dealt with my wound Daniel. It's nothing. Have you seen Jack?"

"No, we don't know what happened to him. No-one seems to know where he is."

"Then we will endeavour to discover his whereabouts Colonel Carter, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c assured them. "We shall return as soon as we have learned of his welfare."

"Don't worry Sam. I'll find him and use the healing device on him. He'll be fine," Mike assured her, resisting the urge to take her in his arms while she was still covered in the chemicals.

Sam nodded, too caught up in her fear for Jack and feeling too uncomfortably sore to add anything further.

It was then, Sam recognised Dr. Carmichael's voice as she called for assistance. A blur of white rushed by; the soft noise of cushioned wheels sped over the floor towards the OR, and Sam wondered who it was that needed help so urgently. Perhaps it was Jack, but they had gone before she could find enough voice to call out after them.

The nurse was back in a few moments, handing Daniel some water and ordering him to rinse and spit. She also gave Sam a small bottle of water too, telling her to do the same. A medic approached Daniel and was helping to clean him up.

Sam forced her head back and slightly sideways while the nurse tipped a little of the Maalox and warm water into the corner of her eye, rinsing out the toxic chemicals. It stung at first, almost as badly as the irritant, but afterwards it felt better, much to her immense relief.

Once she could see clearer, and the nurse had finished gently bathing her face and exposed skin with Canola oil followed by a little alcohol, she headed for the shower, rinsing off all the chemicals from her skin, making her feel human again.

She was still worried about Jack, only hearing that he had been taken into surgery some minutes after the rescue, but she hadn't heard how he was doing, nor had she seen or heard anything from Mike or Teal'c since.

She did bump into Carolyn Lam on her way into the shower and asked her if she knew how Jack was.

"You haven't heard?" Carolyn gasped in surprise. She'd thought that SG-1, and Colonel Carter in particular had been notified.

"No? What?"

"He's doing fine Colonel. Better than we expected."

"Can I see him?"

"Wait for me to finish up here and I'll get someone to take you to him."

"Okay," Sam sighed with a tired smile. "Thanks!" she whispered close to tears with relief.

"I won't be long Colonel," Dr. Lam said over her shoulder as she disappeared into the shower cubical.

Sam walked back to where Daniel was lying propped up on one of the infirmary beds. An oxygen mask sitting over his mouth, and Teal'c was standing by keeping him company, having completed his cleansing shower some minutes before.

"Teal'c...where's Mike?" she asked.

"I believe he is with General Landry, Colonel Carter."

Sam nodded with a sigh. She thought he'd be with Jack.

"You okay now Daniel?" she asked, sitting on the seat by his bed.

"Yeah. I guess this is better than being taken through the gate and turned into a Jaffa. No offence Teal'c," Daniel's muffled voice sounded rough around his unexpected yawn.

"I have taken none Daniel Jackson," Teal'c replied with a dip of his head. He understood perfectly what his young team-mate had meant.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Daniel asked.

"Dr. Lam says he's doing okay and she's letting me go see him when she's finished up in the shower," Sam sighed, closing her eyes in relief. Not knowing what had been going on with Jack had had them all worried sick.

General Landry chose that moment to enter the infirmary. He spotted the trio of SG-1 and made a bee-line straight for them.

"Colonel Carter, Dr. Jackson, Teal'c..." he said in greeting, then paused, not knowing how to follow it with his news

"General?" Sam asked in puzzlement. Her frown of concern deepened when her CO's pause dragged on for too long. "Is there something wrong sir?"

"You could say that Colonel. It's about Jack...em...General O'Neill."

TBC