A/N Few days since I updated. Blame my beta. I had it ready but she was slow. She says I must be nice to her though, or she won't beta anymore.

Regarding Tixylix's comment, corseted; sure, puffy; dunno! As you have probably already noticed, I don't like to get bogged down with detail. :)

If you are reading this but haven't reviewed yet, why not? I don't bite, and am interested to know your opinions. What do you like / dislike etc?

Anyway, upwards and onwards…

Chapter 5

A while later, standing in front of a large mirror, Sam had to admit the dress was quite nice. Very nice in fact. She fingered the simple pattern on the bodice and her mind drifted over to her two team mates. She knew what their reaction would be; she had seen it with the Mongolian Chieftain. She wondered specifically what Daniel would think. After all, Jack wasn't too hard to guess. He would think she was hot. Daniel had a bit more depth than that.
She hoped the two of them were ok. The sheriff had referred to a band of outlaws and she didn't have to be a genius to realise he was referring to Daniel and Jack. It took even less skill to join the dots together and realise that it would be them dying tomorrow.
What she needed was a plan. Colonel O'Neill was usually quite good at these things – plans B and C nearly always worked.

The maid started smoothing patches of material, interrupting Sam's train of thoughts. She swatted the hand away impatiently, before realising she could use this woman to her advantage.
"What's happening tomorrow?" She asked, carefully keeping her voice devoid of emotion.
The maid looked at her before diverting her eyes and continuing to place pins at various points in the dress. "The sheriff is having the two outlaws he caught hung. In the square. Then he is going to announce his upcoming marriage to you, ma'am."
Sam wondered how best to reply and forged ahead. "We aren't outlaws. We came through the Stargate," She thought hurriedly. "The Chappa'ai."
The maid looked at her with confusion etched on her face. "Please ma'am, don't speak like that. The sheriff will think you are crazy, and he will have you banished. Or killed. And me." She added as an afterthought.
'Right, so the direct approach isn't going to work' Sam thought to herself. She proceeded with caution as she replied; "Fine. Ok. Why is it going to be a public hanging? I mean, why not just kill them now?"
The maid studied her stitching, puzzled by Sam's question. "It's Robin Hood ma'am. The sheriff is very proud that his men finally caught him. He wants to show the people of Nott'am what happens if you betray him."

The maid started placing stitches in Sam's dress, but Sam barely noticed. Her mind was reeling from this new piece of information. 'Ok, this is weird' she thought to herself. Of course, it all made sense now. Why they kept calling her ma'am, and Marian, why they hadn't been interviewed or tortured. She wondered who they thought was Robin – Daniel or Jack. She was willing to bet it was Daniel. He was always so caring and considerate of other people; it made sense that he would play the generous outlaw. She vaguely remembered watching the film once, the one with the Bodyguard guy in it.
Sam wondered vaguely what the chances of finding a community living out a tale from English history were. She knew it was going to be incredibly small. If Daniel had realised this yet, he would be in his element. She tried to remember what had happened at the end of the film. History had never been her strong point, let alone history from another country. She again did some silent thanking, this time to filmmakers for providing her with ideas in the absence of Daniel. She remembered the sword fights and smirked. First thing she was going to do when she escaped was get her hands on a zat. She could just imagine the look of horror on Jack's face if she turned up at their cell door and presented him with a sword. Or worse, a bow and arrows.

A voice broke through Sam's thoughts and she realised the maid was speaking to her again, asking her a question.
"I'm sorry?"
The maid finished sewing and stepped back to admire her handiwork.
"What colour dress would you like to wear tomorrow, ma'am? A blue one or a green one?" She said, repeating the question.
Sam couldn't really careless, but she would need something practical to move around in. "Can I see them?" she replied.
"Yes ma'am. I'll just go and fetch them." The maid put away her sewing materials and walked out from behind the screen, towards a large wardrobe. Sam turned and looked at herself in the mirror again.
Her mind went back over what she could remember of the film. Maid Marian had been Robin's love interest, she remembered suddenly. She really, really hoped Daniel was Robin Hood. Then she realised what she was doing and chided herself. "You're being ridiculous Sam. First you entertain the idea that you are a character in a film. Then you actively hope that one of your team members is your lover!" She shook herself briskly as the maid returned with the two dresses. Both were beautiful, but highly impractical for fighting in. 'I bet they were both designed by men' the voice in her head bitched.

In the end, Sam let the maid choose. She walked off saying something about wearing blue to match the colour of her eyes, and Sam cringed, hoping desperately that Teal'c would have got help by time morning came.