A/N: It's so late my eyes are blurry and I'm working AGAIN first thing in the morning. Now that I've said I'm not going to be able to finish the fic, I've been inspired to do it before Saturday! I really hope it doesn't seem rushed… I am writing quickly, but I'm trying to make sure the standard doesn't slip. Quite nervous (read: panicky) about this, so please give me an indication!
Thank you to my generous reviewers. Again you have all made my day, and my only hope is that I can live up to your expectations!
Before I fall asleep on the keyboard and you end up with ten lines of "a;ldfkj;", I'd better wrap it up and just say: enjoy!
Part 11 – Two landings, two shocks
In the air over France, approaching the Belgian border
Sam sat down wearily next to Élodie's exhausted form as the plane's engines buzzed away in the background. She cast her gaze back towards the cockpit, shaking her head slowly to herself. Jack had insisted she get some rest – never mind the fact that he was the one who had been shot, and not her. She wasn't going to deny to herself that she was exhausted, but that didn't mean she could just switch off mid-mission – they couldn't afford any mistakes.
As she had arrived towards the rear of the aircraft, she'd indicated to Daniel that he should take the opportunity to move around. Despite his reluctance to leave Élodie, he had agreed, stretching his cramped muscles at length as he moved slowly – only a couple of metres away.
Élodie had stirred as Daniel moved, but the sound of Sam's voice reassuring her had eased her apparent anguish. She had opened her eyes and they had stayed this way, now locked in their gaze on Sam. The constant audience caused Sam to become somewhat uncomfortable.
"Ç… ça va? You ok?" Sam asked quietly, unnerved by the constant gaze. "You know, I can't express my sorrow enough about Philippe." She waited with bated breath as she saw Élodie processing the information. "Without him, Jack wouldn't be with us…" she looked down, suddenly overcome by the hypothetical grief of that outcome they had so nearly been forced to accept. "We'll never be able to do enough to honour his memory… or to thank you for all your help…"
"C'était pas mon amant, he wasn't my lover." Élodie said quietly, her voice oddly devoid of emotion. She had averted her gaze from Sam and now seemed to be far away. "But at the same time, he represented all that I knew before stepping through that ring… before you came…" she looked down into her lap, unable to speak any more. "I just want everything to be easy again."
Sam placed a sympathetic arm on Élodie's shoulder trying to take any pain she could away. "Moi, je voudrais tout simplement que les choises soient simple, point. Me, I'd just like everything to be simple, period."
"Et pourquoi ne serait-ce le cas? And why isn't that the case?" Élodie's voice suddenly regained some of its previous force, and her eyes flashed with anger. "You have this life – as crazy as it may be – and this man who clearly loves you while you clearly love him… and yet you claim it's complicated!" She threw her hands into the air in disbelief. "You nearly lost him today and still you can't accept what has to be! I can't believe you two! You love him. He loves you. It's simple – how much more simple can you want it to be!"
Sam was speechless as she listened to this outburst. Whether it was the undeniable elements of truth in the frenchwoman's words, or simply the shock of her eruption, she felt completely destabilized. Glancing again towards the cockpit, she felt tears stubbornly forming and threatening to fall down her cheeks. Looking away from Élodie and towards the wall, she managed to whisper a small plea: "Please, don't."
"Don't what?" Élodie whispered back in English. "Pour moi, c'est foutu, for me, it's all screwed up. The man I didn't love but who loved me is dead; and the man who I think I could love is from another time, due to leave me within the next few hours." She paused, letting the words sink in to Sam's psyche. "Mais pour vous, but for you…" she looked up to the ceiling gesturing wildly with her arms that the sky was the limit.
"You may be right…" Sam spoke slowly and deliberately in English; she'd had enough of French for the moment and was trying desperately to keep her resolve. "… but none of that changes the fact that it's just not possible – he is my commanding officer."
Élodie looked at Sam carefully as the latter focused intently on a spot in the wall, seemingly not taking in any of her surroundings. "On verra, we'll see." She said quietly, before settling back against the wall.
Jack sat looking at the controls, zoning in and out of what was going on. It could never be said that flying an aircraft was simple… but on this night they had been blessed with steady conditions and the simplicity of the ancient design meant that for the moment all he needed to do was keep the joystick steady. It was now just a waiting game… waiting for the beacon to be picked up by the plane's rudimentary radio receiver. As if on cue, a sonorous blip caused Jack to jump in his seat. Wherever they were, they were near an airforce base somewhere.
Sam must have heard the blip as the next thing Jack heard was her approaching steps. She sat down next to him and started fiddling with the dials and controls. He couldn't help noticing that she looked frazzled and distraught. He ached to reach out and hold her, ask her what was wrong, comfort her… but years of experience reminded him that for the moment she need to be allowed to work. Whatever her state of mind, she had never let him down; and wasn't going to now.
Suddenly, she looked up, her face brightening slightly. Pointing to what Jack thought looked like yet another nondescript knob on the control panel of the plane, she gave him the news they had both been praying to hear.
"It's the signature for the base on the Belgian border." She said triumphantly. "There won't be any lights, but it's a clear night – I think I can take us down."
Jack nodded quickly, confident in her and his combined ability to safely land the aircraft. Nonetheless, he felt it prudent to re-attach the seatbelt in his seat (no matter how ineffective it would probably be in the case of an accident). And turned towards the back of the plane where the others were looking on expectantly.
"Brace yourselves against something back there!" he ordered. "We don't know how rough this is going to be!"
Sam distractedly fastened her seatbelt as she concentrated intently on the task at hand. No matter how clear the night was, there was no denying the fact that the ground seemed to be a largely homogenous grey mass a long way below them. She could master their descent safely using the radar blips as a guide of their distance from the field, and she knew that the runway should be on a WNW axis from their approach… but these were approximations. The danger of touching the ground too early or too late was very real.
She needed to look for any cues on the ground. Buildings, trees, forests, anything. As the blips on the radar increased in their frequency, she craned her neck to see out of the frankly inadequate cockpit windows to try and get her bearings. Jack was keeping the plane level on their descent, and she thanked every God that may or may not exist again that we was alive, well, and with her to help with this landing.
"Ok sir, I think we should only be a couple of miles away now," she said curtly, not looking away from the dark scene ahead and below them. "We need to slow down and get the nose up."
"Easier… said… than… done…" Jack grunted as he struggled with the jerky controls. "We're way too heavy with the gate in the back…"
"I know." Sam said simply, glancing quickly at Jack's strained expression as he wrangled with the prehistoric plane. "But we got her off the ground – we'll get..." Sam trailed off as something caught her eye in the distance. "There it is!" She exclaimed, rising herself up out of the seat slightly to get a better view. "Shit we're going to hit the runway way too fast… get ready guys!" She added over her shoulder while flicking a multitude of switches controlling the flaps and landing gear.
Everyone held their breath as the Earth came up towards them with alarming speed. They were only just above the tree-line of the forest to the south of the airstrip now, and it was all Jack could do to keep them from brushing the top of the pines below them. Abruptly, there were no longer any trees underneath them and a clearing opened up, a wide dirt strip running diagonally through its centre. The plane continued to glide for a couple of moments before roughly touching to the ground, shuddering with the force of the impact and causing the truck holding the stargate to lurch forward, thankfully not as far as the cockpit.
As soon as they were steadily on the ground, Jack and Sam both grasped the controls in an effort to bring the plane to a halt before they careered into the trees at the other end. There wasn't a great deal of fuel on the plane, so the danger of explosion was minimal… but a crash in the forest would attract attention – something they knew they could not afford. They pulled with all their might on the controls and Jack started roaring with exasperation as the plane stubbornly kept moving forwards at speed. The trees were now only a hundred metres away and Sam took rash action; at the risk of touching one of the wings to the ground and flipping the plane, she sharply turned the plane to avoid hitting the forest. Yet again the plane started shaking violently as the right wing grazed along the ground, digging into the now unkempt grassland that bordered the now exhausted runway.
Thankfully, the extra friction served its purpose and eventually the plane came to a halt – in one piece. As Jack powered the engines down, Sam looked out the window to the wing with concern. The heat of rubbing against the ground had caused its tip to smoulder slowly; they needed to get out of there and fast.
"Sir!" She pointed frantically out the window while getting up at the same time, flicking the switch to open the cargo door at the same time. "Teal'c! She yelled as she ran to the back of the plane. Get everyone in the truck! We need to get out – NOW!" As she ran towards the truck, Jack right behind her. She stopped and raised her hands up in disbelief and frustration. The angle of the plane had caused the rear door to malfunction and now it had only opened halfway. In any event, its full descent would still leave it on a precarious angle.
"GodDAMMIT!" Jack yelled to no one in particular as he saw the problem. Thinking fast, he made a decision. "Everyone jump out and move as far away as you can – I'll get it outta here." He saw Sam hesitate as she realized what he was thinking of doing. "Carter we don't have a choice!" He exclaimed. "We need to get it out of here and that's what I'm gunna do – it's not like the stargate's gunna break – it's practically indestructible.
Sam though of retorting that it was the stargate she was worried about, but she realized that one of them had to get the truck out of there, and if there was someone who could handle a truck in curious circumstances, it was Jack. Nodding to him quickly she continued running, herding Élodie out of the door in front of her to Daniel's waiting arms. They all ran out and away from the plane for about a 100 feet before turning to watch Jack's attempt at a near-impossible feat.
They mouths collectively gaped in horror as an almighty roar in coming from within the plane soon translated to the frightening image of the truck reversing out of the plane at speed, landing briefly on its rear before flipping to its roof and crashing down the ground upside down.
Sam hadn't waited for the truck to crash to the ground was already towards it, her chest threatening to explode with the agony of having watched the disaster unfold.
Jack didn't know if he the truck was spinning, or if it was just his head. He didn't know how many ways he was hurting, only that if he moved at that moment, he would only do himself more injury while throwing up at the same time. A persistent whooshing sound wouldn't go away from his ears, even though he felt almost certain that he wasn't physically spinning. It made it difficult to perceive anything outside his own pain. He didn't know if his eyes were open, and it was some time before he heard Sam's frantic calls to him as she came closer.
"Jack! Jack!" Sam was now only inches away from him, on the other side of the open window of the front of the truck. Her voice sounded hysterical with fear as she forgot every rule or regulation which would usually temper her actions. Her breath was ragged as she heaved at the door to get it open. She nearly collapsed with relief as he groggily slumped out of the seat and only the ground, landing awkwardly on his shoulder before flopping onto his back.
Jack raised his hand slowly to his head, pressing down on his forehead – trying to make the pain go away. His eyes slowly focused on Sam's face as the light of the moon made her hair seem to glow against the back carpet of the sky. "Oy," was all he managed to say, letting her bring him to a sitting position slowly. "Oy…" he repeated, smiling weakly.
Deserted French airbase, near the Belgian border
Sam was sitting next to Jack, supporting him slightly as he wavered still against her side. She was looking nervously from Élodie to the truck and back. The others had approached to check that Jack was ok but they were now faced with a serious problem. There was no way they were going to be able to move the stargate, let alone the plane. In one fell swoop, their plan was now severely compromised and Élodie's future infinitely uncertain.
"Well, we've just gotta get it upright again." Daniel said with a quiet resolve, looking intently at the truck.
"I do not think that either possible or wise, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c said gravely, also regarding the truck carefully. "We have neither the man-power nor the machinery to perform such a task. This vehicle cannot be moved in the immediate future."
"And how do we dial the stargate?" Daniel challenged angrily, initially skirting around the issue. "And what about Élodie! How's she supposed to escape to the south?" He placed a protective arm against the French woman, his eyes flashing at the others. "It's not like we're gunna run out of time – we've got time to figure this out before anyone comes back here!"
"Uh, actually Daniel," Sam tentatively spoke, knowing that what she was going to say would not go over well with anyone present. "I don't have any of the solar flare data unless we go very soon."
Everyone suddenly stopped still and looked at her with surprise. In all the excitement it hadn't occurred to them that their return to the future would be more complicated than simply dialing the gate.
"When we left I knew it was possible that we'd miss our target date by up to a year or so," Sam began apologetically, ignoring the incensed expression on Jack and Daniel's faces. "So I looked up the solar flare data up to the end of 1937…" She trailed off, looking down to the ground in preparation for what was going to come next.
"And?" Jack prompted softly, his voice tender as he realized how hopeless their situation probably was.
"And, the last event that I'm sure of is going to be shortly after sunrise." Sam almost whispered the words. "If we stay any longer, we'd have to gate off-world to try our chances with one of our allies in finding a way back to our time."
Élodie listened intently to what Sam was saying, and although she only understood about half of the words, the meaning was clear. Despite Daniel's obvious objections, she knew it would be irresponsible to jeopardize SG1s return to their time. There were other ways to escape than by using the truck.
"Daniel, vous devriez y aller, you should go." She placed her hand on Daniel's, draped as it was over he shoulder. "I will be fine; and you belong in the next century."
"But-" Daniel stopped himself short as he saw the expression on Élodie's face. Regaining confidence, he turned to the others again. "But what about the stargate? How can we power it up by then?"
"We are in close proximity to the aeroplane." Teal'c's voice filled the still night. "It would appear the vessel is no longer in danger of bursting into flames – we should have no problem re-activating the engines as a power source."
Sam looked anxiously at Daniel. "He's right Daniel," she said meekly. "Even upside down the gate will work."
"I can't believe you're even CONSIDERING THIS!" Daniel ignored Élodie's arm squeezing his as he stood to shout at Sam. "I expect this kind of crap from Jack but not from you!" His eyes were wide as he tried to appeal for her to change her mind. "Sam we can't just-"
"Yes we can Daniel." Jack spoke for the first time, his voice still sounding distant in his fazed stated. "If Carter's not sure she can get us back after this last window, you can pretty much assume it's impossible – we need to go."
"Daniel." Sam stood and moved towards the archaeologist, looking him straight in the eye. "The older Élodie would have told us if we weren't coming back – remember how amazed she was to see you again? Does that sound like someone who had spent the last 50 odd years with you in the same timeline?" She clasped both his hands to try and make him understand. "We're not meant to stay here – if we do we could do way more harm than good."
Daniel realised with a flutter of sorrow that Sam was right. He slowly moved back and lowered himself to the ground next to Élodie. The entire group waited silently as he processed everything through his mind and he silently thanked them for their support. Turning to the woman next to him, he saw she looked just as worried as he felt.
"Que ferez-vous? What are you going to do?" He asked quietly, clasping her hands in his, interlacing his fingers with hers.
"Je trouverai le moyen de m'échapper, I'll find a way to escape." Élodie answered with unexpected firmness. "I must."
Sam sighed in relief as she realized Daniel had got the point and, much as the idea of leaving Élodie pained her, she turned to Teal'c in readiness to start work. "Teal'c, we're going to need to find any and all material that can conduct the power of the plane's engines to the gate…"
"Uh, Carter?" Jack's voice interrupted Sam's busy train of thought and caused her to pause on the spot before turning to look at him. "Isn't the gate upside down?" He raised his eyebrows meekly as he asked the question.
"That particular orientation of the stargate will have no bearing on its correct function, O'Neill." Teal'c replied promptly.
"Well, except it might be a bumpy landing back at the SGC…" Sam added, dipping her head in admission.
"Ah." Jack gave the standard response he usually came up with when a situation was largely taken out of his hands. "Well, if you don't mind, I might rest my bruised body for a while…" He smiled weakly at Sam who nodded vigourously at this suggestion before turning back to Teal'c. He went to sleep to the sound of his team industriously brainstorming and planning for the next stage of their mission.
Deserted airbase, dawn
Élodie had wiled away the wee hours of the morning before dawn trying to both think and not think of what would happen when the sun rose. She needed a plan of attack for when SG1 would be gone, and such a plan was slowly forming in her mind… but then every time she thought of what awaited her, she was cruelly reminded of the fact that she would have to say goodbye to the man still sitting next to her.
She sighed again as this realization hit her with renewed force, causing Daniel to furrow his brow in concern. Waving his concern away with resignation she was about to settle into his side, head leaning on his shoulder, when she spied Sam and Teal'c approaching from the back of the overturned truck.
"Everything's set up as best as we can manage." Sam said quietly, not wanting to disturb the solemn three sitting on the ground. Mostly she was worried about Élodie and Daniel; Jack, for his part, looked all-too ready to leave. "I still don't know for sure that it's going to work – but it's our best shot."
Daniel merely nodded, huffing silently and looking away before Élodie's hand brought him back into the group.
"Je vous remercie de tout mon cœur. I thank you with all my heart." She said sincerely, looking deep into Daniel's eyes. "I thank you all." She added, looking around at the group. With renewed force and confidence in herself, she sat up slightly and continued. "I know that hard times are ahead, and that unbridled tragedy awaits not only my nation but most of the world." She paused to look at each an every one of them. Teal'c had remained standing stoically over the group, forever on patrol; Sam, on the other hand, had slowly sunk into the ground next to the Colonel and was now subconsciously leaning in to him; as he was to her. She smiled knowingly at them both before continuing. "At the same time, I know that in the future there are to be greater things – accompanied by the threat of a fate much worse than world war – and I know that the future has you." She turned back to Daniel and moved in close, speaking so only he could hear. "You have to go back – I will be fine. Without you back where you belong, our time together will have been wasted."
Élodie had made her decision. She moved her head closer to Daniel's, touching her lips briefly to his. He closed his eyes and welcomed the kiss, willing it to go on forever, before Élodie abruptly broke the contact, stood, and started walking off to the south.
Daniel snapped his eyes open as soon as Élodie had pulled away from him, and now leapt to his feet as she moved away. He went in pursuit of her but was stopped dead as she turned around. Her face was lined with tears as she held her hands out, telling him to stop.
"Daniel, je peux pas… je voudrais tant… I can't… I would so like to…" she choked on the words, letting down her guard as Daniel closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around her. "Adieu." She whispered through his jacket, once again pulling away and turning to leave the group.
"Pas 'adieu', not 'adieu'." Daniel corrected, grasping at her hand in one final moment of connection between the two. "Au revoir."
Élodie smiled weakly through her tears and nodded quickly before drawing her hand away from Daniel's hold. She touched her palm to her cheek and finally set out clear from SG1, not allowing herself the luxury of looking back until she had reached the tree-line on the opposite side of the airbase. After one brief look over her shoulder, she then moved into the dense forestation and she was gone.
Sam sat completely still while Élodie's departure played out in front of them. She wanted to do something – anything – but Jack had placed a gentle yet firm hand on her arm. Upon reflection she knew that the best course of action would be to do nothing; at some point Élodie would have to leave, and it was probably better that she left before the stargate activation – lest Daniel do anything rash.
Still, seeing Daniel drop to his knees, his eyes fixed on the receding human form that was getting progressively smaller as it passed through the long fingers of shadow stretching across the field in the dawn sunlight… seeing the utter despair in his drooping posture was more than difficult, it was heart-wrenching.
"How much time do we have?" Jack's voice wafted into her ear as she kept her eyes on Daniel.
"Just under 15 minutes," Sam sighed, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her head in her hands. She looked at Jack as something else occurred to her, hitting her with such force she thought she was going to cry out. "15 minutes…" she whispered hoarsely, her eyes searching his to see if he was thinking of the same thing as her.
"Shh Sam," Jack moved to cup her face in his hand. "Whatever happens in 15 minutes time, it's not the end." He paused, waiting for her to acknowledge his words, and then nodded in Daniel's direction. "For the time being, we've got a catatonic archaeologist to worry about."
"Daniel?"
Sam hadn't made any attempt to approach Daniel quietly, but he was so lost in his own world that he hadn't even noticed when she sat down direction in front of him.
"Daniel it's time to move." Sam persisted quietly, insistent but still soft in tone. "We can't stay here."
Sam was suddenly shocked as the still man suddenly leapt back into life, hope springing from where there had been none.
"But we can't leave!" He exclaimed, suddenly ecstatic with joy. "We haven't hidden the truck – the plane – nothing! If we leave now they'll surely find it before the Germans do!" He was now shouting at Sam even though she was less than three feet away from him.
"Daniel," Sam persisted calmly but firmly. "We can't do anything about that now. Either we go back now or we never get back." She looked around her anxiously. "I don't like leaving it all like this any more than you do, but I have to believe that somehow this ends up in the Germans' hands… one way or the other."
Both of them were interrupted by the sound of the aeroplane's engines. They both turned to see Jack emerge from the back of the plane, making a thumbs up gesture to Teal'c before the jaffa entered the back of the upturned truck. Sam looked down to her watch and realized they only had 3 minutes to make the transfer.
Drawing herself upright she held a hand out for Daniel, not saying a word, but locking eyes with his and following his gaze wherever he went; keeping him focused on the task at hand. Slowly, they walked towards the stargate, hearing each chevron lock into place as the time of departure drew nearer.
"Carter?" Jack shouted to her above the noise of the aeroplane engines; they were about to move lock the final chevron in place and the timing had to be right. Sam checked her watch and nodded vigourously, giving Jack and Teal'c the signal they needed to activate the wormhole.
Daniel flinched as the wormhole engaged, and almost looked like he would escape. Before he could make any such attempt, Teal'c appeared at his side, having moved away from the stargate. "It is now time Daniel Jackson." He stood supportively next to Daniel until Sam gave them all the signal while punching in the access code to the GDO. All four jumped through the gate, Teal'c and Daniel followed directly by Sam and Jack.
Stargate Command, 4 hours after SG1 and young Élodie's departure
"Receiving IDC sir!" The welcome phrase filled the control room as General Hammond leaned over the console expectantly. "It's SG1!"
The words he had been waiting for were pronounced and the General smiled with triumph as he instructed that the iris be opened. Moving quickly down the stairs he came through the door to the gate room just as SG1 seemed to fall from the top of the stargate, upside down, onto the gate-ramp.
"Dr Fraser to the gate room!" He bellowed in the direction of those observing from the control room before indicating for the personnel present to help him. These precautions proved unnecessary, however, as all four members of his best team sat up, somewhat bruised and worse for wear, but generally in good health. He noticed a wound on Jack's arm, but wasn't concerned for the moment.
"SG1, welcome home." He beamed at the still dazed bodies sitting on the gate ramp. "Since we're all still here, I imagine your mission was a success."
"Overall sir, I guess you could say that…" Jack winced as he rubbed the back of his neck – the fall to the metal ramp had not been kind to him. "But next time, send SG3."
"Duly noted Colonel." General Hammond chuckled at thejoint-CO's dry sense of humour. "Sergeant!" He barked at one of the men near the door. "Escort Teal'c, Dr Jackson and both Colonels O'Neill to the infirmary." He winked at Jack. "No complaints Colonel – you're going to the infirmary and that's an order."
Jack hadn't even heard the playful comment from General Hammond – nor indeed had any other member of SG1. One phrase was playing over and over in their heads: 'both Colonels O'Neill.' Slowly they looked to each other before turning back to General Hammond, still mouths still gaping. Apparently all was not as they had left it…
To be continued…
A/N: Now this time I really really REALLY want reviews… I really really REALLY want to know what you think about how I've got them coming back to the SGC andhow you think what ever has happened came about!
Now I know there are way more people reading this than there are reviewing… but this time please take a moment to reflect on what's been going on and give me some feedback!
Oh, just in case anyone doesn't know, "adieu" actually means "until we meet god" and "au revoir" means "until we meet again." Just in case it wasn't clear.