A/N: Well, here we are once again, surrounding our individual computer screens for some enlightening fanfiction! I want to thank everyone that reviewed – especially those who hadn't done the last chapter… great to have your little contribution there!
This might be the last chap I get to write for a little while, what with the holidays and all, so I tried to make it good and comprehensive… I really hope you like it!
PS. I haven't had time to proof this as I'm running late for work. Sorry! If there are any major grammar mistakes or things that don't make sense, please email me and I'll fix them.
Part 10 – The tale of a hero
Military base, north of Toulouse
Jack looked across to the five people lying flat on their stomachs next to him and sighed inwardly. If they managed to remain undetected for the next five minutes, let alone the next fifteen, it would be a small miracle. He'd impressed upon Sam and Daniel the importance of keeping a tight reign on Philippe – and they had taken him at his word, trapping him between them as they all lay in wait. Still, it would only take the smallest of sounds at a particularly inopportune moment to foil all their plans.
Nervously, he checked his watch again. It was almost 8pm – nearly time for action. Catching Sam's eye, he saw her nod to him just as the familiar siren sounded and he saw the numerous figures under the glowing spotlight at the base converge on the left-most building.
"Carter, you and Daniel bring them once I give you the signal." Jack hissed quickly, raising himself off the ground slightly in preparation to move forward. "T, let's move out."
Sam waited anxiously as she watched first Jack, then Teal'c, move across the worryingly barren terrain between her position and the airbase. They were moving in stages; finding shadows and crevices where most people wouldn't think they existed. Sam was inwardly shocked to find she was holding her breath as she watched Jack's swift, lithe movements towards the base. Her fists clenched on the ground next to her, dirt getting into her fingernails as she concentrated all her thoughts on their safe passage to the airbase and, later on, out of the south of France.
She was concentrating so hard on the scene in front of her that she almost missed the signal. With a jolt she pulled herself a couple of inches off the ground and issued hurried instructions in French for the group to move. She trained her gun on the few guards who were now facing the other direction as first Daniel, then Élodie, then Philippe crawled out from behind the rocks and started moving haphazardly across the clearing. Both the French civilians looked to be scared out of their wits, and it was all Daniel could do to keep them moving. As soon as they had moved a certain distance, Sam also made her move. Still watching the skeleton crew of guards, she skillfully moved across the ground, her attention equally divided between the staggering civilians and the hostile guards in the distance – a distance that was slowly coming closer as she made progress.
A couple of minutes later, she rounded the corner of the edge-most building of the airbase to find the others all waiting, Jack, Teal'c and Daniel's weapons trained in her direction – just in case. They lowered their weapons instantly, of course, but not before both Philippe and Élodie elicited loud gasps followed by equally audible sighs of relief. Jack instantly glowered in their direction and Sam was forced to reassure and quiet them.
"Je vous le répète, I'm telling you again," she hissed at them in what she hoped was still a cordial tone. "No noise – no matter what happens, ok?" She held both their gazes until they nodded both that they had understood. Satisfied for the moment she straightened up and looked back to Jack, who hadn't softened his stance in the slightest.
"We're good sir." She said quickly, nodding as she moved next to him, getting ready for the next stage of their plan.
"I still don't like this…" Jack grumbled under his breath as he stepped back to allow everyone to move in front of him. No matter how much he didn't approve of these people, he wasn't going to do anything to unduly endanger their lives. They didn't have the training to protect themselves, and as much as he found their presence odious, he wasn't going to sentence them to death through negligence.
As Jack and Sam had done earlier that day the group of them edged to the corner of the building. This time they waited while Teal'c looked cautiously around the corner to check that the coast was clear.
Their attention was collectively focussed on the task ahead of them. Even if SG1 should have been prepared for an attack from behind, the reality of the situation was that with two civilians under their protection, certain details were missed. A combination of factors meant that none of them heard the approaching guards. None of them had realised that Jack's signal to Sam had been seen; that they had been tracked in their approach; and that the skeleton crew was now approaching from behind.
"Les mains en l'air! Hands up!" A now familiar phrase caused Jack to freeze, cursing his failure to do his duty. The alarm would now surely be out and it would not be long before more than the mere skeleton crew were after them.
He didn't move as he saw Sam turning slowly, her face ashen. She looked to Jack before directing her attention over his shoulder to face the guards who had discovered them. He saw her raise her hands slowly, somehow dispensing of her weapon in the process. With impressive courage, he watched her as she took a step back towards the guards, speaking in slow and deliberate French.
Whatever she was saying didn't appear to be impressing the guards. Jack's reflexes only just got him out of the way as one of them abruptly moved forward and tried to tackle him from behind. As he ducked away quickly and rolled on the ground, facing upwards with his weapon trained on one of the guards, he saw that the movement had had the effect of flicking a switch in their group. Suddenly everyone was moving and shouting. Élodie was cowering against a wall; Teal'c had another pinned up right against the wall. Daniel and Sam were both busy in combat but the most surprising was Philippe. He had moved back in the direction they had come from, brandishing a handgun.
Suddenly Jack understood how Sam had managed to raise her hands without revealing her weapon – she'd slipped it to him. Although the scene before him had seemed to unfold with a chilling silence and slowness, in reality only a couple of seconds had passed – clearly less than a second.
Jack snapped himself out of his moment of shock and quickly fired his weapon in the direction of the two guards at the back of the group. At the same time, he saw Sam and Daniel effectively disposed of their foes, as had Teal'c. Jack and Philippe had both fired their weapons, resulting in the instant death of one of the guards. The other, however, had turned and was now limping back in the direction they had come from. He disappeared around the corner as the two men continued firing. Although hit, he was still mobile and Jack supposed it would only be a matter of minutes – if that – before the general alarm sounded.
Jack quickly leapt back fully to his feet, issuing fast instruction. "Let's move!" he hissed. "Teal'c – you and Daniel get the truck and secure it in the plane." He shouted over his shoulder as he ran and crashed through the locked door to the warehouse that held the stargate. "Carter, you and the frogs are with me – we've gotta get this prehistoric baby off the ground and fast!"
Sam nodded quickly to Sam before quickly repeating the basic instruction to Philippe. She saw him nod with understanding as he set off to follow Jack. Hurriedly, she then moved towards Élodie, who seemed to be frozen in fear.
"Allez, on n'a pas le temps, come on, we don't have any time!" she said urgently, gently pulling the shaking French woman to her feet. "You're with Philippe, the Colonel and I – we'll keep you safe and get out of here, but we have to move!"
Having finally set Élodie in motion, Sam and the others were now running at full tilt across the warehouse floor. Jack had been way ahead of them, and activated the mechanical doors that would allow the plane to exit. He waved at Sam to go into the plane with their two French civilians as he did this.
None of them were ready for what came next. Although there had been no sirens, apparently the alarm had been sounded – either that or the personnel at the base had been waiting for – as Jack was instantly faced with at least a dozen gun barrels as the doors opened slowly. He ducked quickly to the left of the door and shouted back to Sam.
"GET THEM IN THE PLANE AND TAKE OFF!" he roared. "Don't wait – just GO!"
Sam hesitated at these words, torn between the necessity to recapture the 'gate and the absolute unacceptability of leaving a man behind – the personal unacceptability of leaving this man behind.
"Goddammit Carter, GO!" Jack roared again, his voice cracking on the last word as he saw the despair in her eyes. "Get OUTTA here!"
Sam didn't need to be told again, she shoved Élodie in front of her as the guards opened fire on the plane and the truck. She saw Élodie scuttle into the plane towards the cockpit and went to follow when she noticed Philippe still hadn't moved.
"Allez!" She shouted with urgency. "On n'a pas de temps à perdre! Come on! We haven't got any time to lose!"
"Allez-y, go on!" Philippe shouted back, raising his weapon and beginning to fire. "I'll hold them off so your leader can get here!" He turned back to Jack and shouted in halting English "RUN 'ERE! I PROTECT YOU!"
Jack didn't need to be told twice. Silently admonishing himself for not having trusted the French man he moved low and fast across the warehouse floor. Keeping his eyes on Philippe and the entrance to the plane, he tried to ignore the sound of bullets whizzing quickly passed him, definitely too close for comfort.
Just 10 feet away from finally reaching his target, time seemed to slow down again for Jack. He felt the white-hot pain of being hit sear through his arm and watched in horror as the bullet continued. Faltering in his step with the shock his expression was matched by Philippe, who had stood in reaction to Jack being hit. He had chosen the wrong moment to move out of the cover of the side of the plane and his face was now fixed in an expression of shock as the bullet that had passed through the flesh in Jack's upper arm now lodged itself in the Frenchman's chest.
Jack accelerated after the momentary shock of being hit and lunged at Philippe just as the man stumbled forward. Roughly, he dragged the Frenchman up the ramp just as Daniel and Teal'c revved the motor of the truck holding the gate. He quickly lay Philippe's now still body on the edge of the cargo space in the plane and rushed towards the cockpit, brushing passed Élodie who was howling with horror as she ran towards Philippe.
Glancing behind him as he sat in the seat next to Sam, he quickly reassured her that she was alright with a curt nod before looking to the controls. What he saw was oddly familiar but still foreign enough for him to hesitate before touching anything.
"Sam we're in!" Daniel's voice rang out behind them. "Close the door and let's go!"
"You know how to work this thing Carter?" Jack asked as he instinctively fired the engines up and prepared to taxi out to the runway.
"I think so sir," Sam answered quickly as she flicked a couple of switches. She was satisfied by the sound of the rear cargo door closing behind them just as Jack put the plane in motion.
Each and every one in the plane now held their breath as the proceeded interminably slowly out of the warehouse and through the now multiplying French soldiers who were firing at them without pause. The bullet-proof qualities of the plane were completely unknown for them, and Sam and Jack found themselves ducking slightly as they manoeuvred the plane towards the runway, lest a bullet break through the glass windows. The sound of rapid fire was relentless and was still clearly audible over the admittedly loud engines of the plane. Jack taxied the plane at a borderline dangerous speed before setting up on the runway. Hoping the wind hadn't changed direction since he was outside before, he pushed the old bird to full throttle and hollered for everyone to hold on as the plane lurched forward under the weight of the stargate.
Looking out to the side Sam saw the soldiers hadn't given up and were now driving alongside the plane in trucks, still firing at them. She silently urged the plane on, praying it would become airborne before the end of the runway. Though it was a large plane, she doubted it had ever transported anything as heavy as a stargate. She looked over to Jack who was straining at the controls, pulling them toward him in an effort to coax the plane off the ground. Pain was stricken across his face and he was covered in sweat. She imagined the bleeding wound in his left arm was causing him pain and she placed her hands on the stick under his, adding her strength to their take-off. Finally, just as the loose scrub seemed worryingly close to them the old vessel finally lifted off the ground, and after a terrifying moment where they thought it was going to touch back onto the ground, lifted sharply into the air.
Watching the altimeter carefully, Jack and Sam continued their pull on the joystick until they had cleared an acceptable height before steadying the plane, retracting the flaps and other movable parts of the plane for long-distance travel, and locking the joystick into position. Before doing anything, both pilots of the plane looked at each other and grinned with relief – they were finally on their way.
In the air over France, moving north
Élodie sat dejectedly against the vibrating wall of the now airbone cargo plane with silent tears streaming down her face. Philippe's still and lifeless body was cradled in her lap as she slowly stroked his hair, willing him to come back to life.
"C'était un héros. He was a hero." A quiet, calm voice broke through into Élodie's foggy mind. She didn't move a muscle, but halted her breath for just a moment, indicating that she had heard Daniel's words.
"He risked everything to save us – even though we didn't fully trust him." Daniel continued quietly, sitting down carefully next to the grieving woman, not yet physically reaching out to her – he recognized her fragile state and was determined to let her call the shots. "He will be fully honoured when we return; I can promise this to you."
Élodie slowly turned to look at Daniel, although she continued to stroke Philippe's hair distractedly. "Mais pour l'instant, but for now," she said in a thick, shaky voice, "he will be regarded as a traitor. No one will know what he did or the significance of his actions."
"Je sais, I know." Daniel said simply, holding her gaze. "But in your heart, you will always know – and you should pass that on to people you meet… without the full details of course. He will be properly remembered in us."
Élodie finally let herself succumb to the pain that had slowly been taking over her whole body and sunk into Daniel's body, welcoming the strong arms that enveloped her in a protective embrace. She continued to allow the tears to fall freely, wetting Daniel's dusty jacket as she felt him place a soft, chaste kiss on the top of her head.
They sat like that for several minutes as the others approached to pay their respects to Philippe. Élodie allowed Teal'c to gently remove Philippe's body from her lap and she turned her head slightly while still resting against Daniel's chest as the Jaffa respectfully wrapped the dead Frenchman in a large sheet he had found in the cargo hold.
Teal'c muttered a couple of words in a language Élodie didn't know before bowing slowly in front of the now wrapped body and moving to the side as Sam and Jack also approached.
"Je ne sais pas si j'aurais pu subir cette histoire sans vous, Daniel, I don't know if I could have dealt with all this without you, Daniel." She said meekly through her tears. "Merci."
Daniel just squeezed Élodie tighter to his chest at these words, whispering words of consolation until she fell into an exhausted, but no less troubled slumber.
Jack had assured himself that they were in no danger of crashing before moving towards the back of the plane to face Élodie and the now dead Philippe. He nodded to her and to Daniel grimly but Élodie was pressed tight against Daniel, crying quietly with grief. Catching Daniel's eye, he reassured himself that she was going to be alright before finally sitting down on the ground and removing his jacket to investigate the gunshot wound that had afflicted him during their escape from Toulouse.
Sam had moved passed him, stopping briefly to speak quietly to Élodie before disappearing into the truck that was in the hold. She re-emerged a couple of moments later, just as Jack was fingering the oozing hole in his arm, and moved to sit next to him, holding the vest of her original BDUs and some materials from one of their packs.
"You're lucky it just went through the flesh." She said quietly, so as not to disturb Élodie who was now asleep. "I can clean and bandage it with our supplies," she said while fishing the necessary materials out of various pockets, "but you should take these antibiotics as well." She passed him a couple of pills along with a bottle of water.
"Yes ma'am." Jack said dryly, obeying her orders as she carefully dressed the wound. He tried not to show the discomfort as she swabbed alcohol over it, causing his entire arm to feel like it was on fire.
"So where are we going?" He asked when she had finished and they were now sitting facing Daniel and Teal'c. "I don't feel comfortable leaving the controls much longer – this is a pretty old plane."
"Well sir," Sam said, brushing her hand through her hair, trying to sweep away the weariness that had overcome her following their adrenaline-fuelled take-off from the airbase. "We're heading north for the moment – which is exactly what we wanted. The problem," she continued, "Is going to be finding a suitable place to land and to leave the stargate for the Germans to find in a couple of years time. It has to be hidden, but then found once the occupying force arrives in 1940."
"And here I was thinking we were more or less home and hosed…" Jack said, rolling his eyes and leaning back against a crate that was conveniently behind him.
"Actually sir, I think I know pretty much where we should go." Sam said, straightening her shoulders slightly as the familiar sensation of making a plan reinvigorated her resolve. "There's an airforce base near the Belgian border which, I think, is more or less deserted now, what with most of the armed forces massing near the Spanish border in case the civil war should spill into France." There won't be anyone in the vicinity of this base until the end of the Spanish conflict – in 1939. By then, the German army will be in full preparation for war and the French will have most of their forces on the German border."
"Hang on Sam," Daniel interrupted her quietly, so as not to disturb Élodie. "I thought we needed to leave the gate somewhere near the German border so Hitler's forces would find it?"
"Daniel the entire northern half of France is going to be occupied," Jack emphasized. "I don't really think it's going to matter if the gate's a 100 miles or so to the west…"
"Exactly," Sam nodded in agreement. "Besides, the German army actually comes down initially from the north and the facility I'm thinking of should fall into their first wave of attack – the last thing we want is for the French to find it with enough time to then move it and hide it, right?"
The small group all nodded and considered this before Jack quietly raised his right hand with a polite question. "Uhhh… just one problem Carter." He said sheepishly, not wanting to be the one who ruined her plan. "How do we find this place? It's not as if we've got a control tower to talk us down…"
"No…" Sam agreed somewhat hesitantly. "But all airforce bases in France have a standing emergency transmission for aircraft in distress – it's a throwback from the first world war where air travel was precarious at best," she explained to everyone. "I think I know how to work our receiver and we should be able to track it as soon as we're close enough. I put us on the correct heading to be in the general vicinity… we should get there in under two hours from now."
Jack looked at her with admiration. "You think you can land this thing in the dead of night, with no lights?" He raised his eyebrows with concern.
"I think we can try." Sam shrugged simply. "We can't exactly fly around til dawn – having this much cargo's too much of a drain on the engines."
Teal'c seemed to be contemplating the plan and suddenly looked up – his abrupt movement causing them all to jolt slightly. "How are we to activate the stargate without a DHD, Major Carter?" The simplicity of his question took them all by surprise, but was nonetheless pertinent.
"Ah… Carter?" Jack looked expectantly at his 2IC.
"Well, we could use the engines to create a current and dial manually…" she said slowly, her expression becoming lighter as she completed the sentence. "It's worked before…"
"And Élodie?" Daniel said quietly, absentmindedly stroking the Frenchwoman's arm as she lay comfortably against his chest still. "What happens to her?"
This question gave them all moment for pause. Each member of SG1 knew that she couldn't come with them – she needed to live out her life to come and warn them in the future; their present. The problem was going to be ensuring that she safely made it back to the south of France.
"She should take the truck." Jack said suddenly, his eyes opening wide with realization. "Just take it and drive as far south as she can." He looked directly at Sam: "You said most of the French forces are currently in the south near the Spanish border?" He waited for Sam to nod before continuing. "Then she could head to the Mediterranean - closer to the Italian border – and stay in hiding there."
"How do we know she'll make it?" Daniel persisted as he looked at the delicate woman nestled against his body.
"We can't." Sam said with sorrow. "But we can't exactly escort her there – with half the country looking for all of us, she'll stand a much greater chance alone… we just have to believe that she'll get there."
Daniel absorbed Sam's words before squinting his eyes shut in a silent prayer that Sam was right. "Ok." He said weakly, shrinking back into the side of the plane in silent thought. He didn't look up as the others stood before moving away – Sam and Jack to the front of the plane and Teal'c to another corner to Kel'nor'eem.
"So," Jack said quietly as he and Sam settled back into the cockpit and he took control of the plane again. "We've got a plan."
"Yes sir we do." Sam said quietly, a myriad of thoughts and concerns still flying for her mind. "Sir?" she asked quietly, keeping her eyes fixed doggedly on the dim instruments in front of her.
"Carter?" Jack said testily, wondering what she was so afraid of saying.
"I- I-" Sam faltered slightly before forcing herself to look at the man sitting next to her, revealing the tears that were welling in her eyes. "Thankgodyou'reok." She gushed in one breath, almost too fast for Jack to understand. She nearly stopped breathing after saying those words. Although by now she knew she should be able to show her emotions and feeling towards him without fear, the inherent impropriety that they had demonstrated over the passed couple of days continued to agonize her. Her frozen fear was broken by a strong arm that extended out from Jack and pulled her towards him again.
"Hey Sam?" Jack whispered carefully, testing the use of her first name again. "Ditto." His thumb moved rhythmically up and down against her shoulder as they both sat in silence, monitoring their progress north.
To be continued…
A/N: Ok now I'm really sorry, but I'm not entirely confident that I'm going to be able to finish this before the weekend. If that's indeed the case, then it's unlikely I'll be able to post before mid to late January. It's now the summer break here in Oz and I will have sporadic at best computer (let alone internet) access until Australia Day, which is the 26th Jan. I swear I'm going to try my hardest to finish in the next couple of days (I really think I can do it in two chapters – famous last words…) but I just wanted to warn you all. I hope if I have to leave it for a hiatus you'll all remember it in 6 weeks' time!
Anyhoo… I purposefully didn't engineer a cliff-hanger for just that reason, and I hope you liked the chapter – please review and let me know! I find it a bit of a chore to write action sequences so I hope the effort I put into this shows!