"T--Murray, this Sam."
Teal'C answered the call.
"We're at the detour sign. Daniel's out in front of the truck. There is a dark colored vehicle approaching slowly. Is it you?"
"We remain behind the van. Perhaps it is the van you see."
"It's stopping," Liz pointed out, breathless. "Here we go."
With that, she opened her door, climbed out, closed the door quietly and moved to the front passenger side tire of the truck. Teal'C jumped out the truck, concerned for what actions she might take and how they might endanger his team. He moved quietly to her side. "You must wait here," he admonished.
She frowned at him and shook her head. "Give me one of those fancy weapons and tell me which side you're taking."
Teal'C moved very close to her, so close that their bodies were almost touching. Her back was against the truck, so she could not move away and had to crane her neck to look at him since he was almost a foot taller than she.
"Hear me." His voice was low and commanding. "You will stay with the truck. I will give you a weapon only for the purpose of protecting yourself here and taking out anyone who may approach from the rear. You will not go to the van."
Liz swallowed. "He's my son," she said, softly, but firmly back to him.
Teal'C gentled, just slightly. "Indeed. You must not prevent us from recovering him for you."
She looked down at his chest and sighed. "Okay. I'll watch your back."
Teal'C nodded. He then stepped away from her and handed her a zat'ni'katel. He quickly showed her how to fire it and warned her to not shoot anything twice. Then, he moved quietly toward the van, but far enough to the side of the road to not be noticed by anyone who maybe looking behind.
A mere moment later, Liz could barely see him in the dark. She then narrowed her eyes as a grim frown of determination touched her lips.
"Sorry, Teal'C," she murmured. "Can't watch your six, if I can't see it." Then she slowly and quietly followed his footsteps.
Daniel could see someone emerge from the side of the van. In the darkness, it was very difficult to tell if it was male or female. Then the figure bent in and retrieved something, turned and started toward the front, where Daniel could see better. It was a man carrying the limp form of a boy in his arms.
Daniel's heart leapt to his throat. "He must be sleeping," he assured himself. "He's a little boy and it's very late."
"You kept your end of the bargain, Dr. Jackson. We're keeping ours," the man said. "After I give you the boy, you stay where you are until we drive away. Remember we got to him once, we can do it again."
Daniel frowned. "I won't come after you," he promised, hoping there would be no need. "Can you just hand him to me? Don't put him on the ground, please?"
The man frowned, but then nodded. He came closer and handed Chase to Daniel.
The van behind him lit up twice and the man spun around.
Daniel was so busy checking Chase that he didn't notice what was going on anywhere else as he turned back toward the truck. As he neared the hood of the truck, he confirmed that Chase was truly alive, as all hell broke loose.
Teal'C had approached the van from the driver's side. When he reached the driver's side window, he spun around and fired his zat, then he aimed inside the van and fired again at the figure moving inside. The percussive sound of gunfire ripped through the night and Teal'C felt the wind of the projectile whiz past his head. Before he could turn, a zat sounded from behind him.
When the shot rang out, from the vicinity of behind the truck, Daniel curled himself around Chase and ducked down, almost beneath the front of the truck. He heard the truck door open and the sound of another zat being fired.
Jack had arrived as the gunfire started. Like an outlaw who roamed these lands 150 years ago, he fired the zat at an unseen gunman to his right, as he rode closer on the steel horse. As he got closer, he zatted a man he saw in the open space between the van and the truck who had turned and fired his weapon at the ground at the front of the truck. He pulled the bike to a skidding halt and quickly dismounted. Sam continued to fire over the top of the cab from her perch in the driver's side door, while Jack ran to the front of the truck. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach because he knew that this is where Daniel had been. If either he or the boy had been shot…Jack quickly pushed the thought from his mind.
Liz had seen the man hand over her son to Daniel, then fire his gun at them. "Oh, my God, Chase!" she exclaimed in a hushed voice of fear. Disregarding the danger, she ran toward to them as their assailant fell to the ground from Jack's zat blast. She arrived at Daniel's side as Jack did.
Jack and Liz exchanged looks of fear and desperation as the night suddenly fell silent.
"Daniel?" Jack placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.
The younger man turned and looked at Jack. "He's alive. He slept through the whole thing."
Liz reached for Chase and Daniel handed the sleeping boy to his mother. Liz's eyes narrowed. "Who's bleeding?" she asked, steeling herself. "Oh, my god, Daniel, it's you!"
Daniel looked down at his arm, where she was gently moving the fabric. "I am?"
Jack moved to Daniel's injured side as Liz took Chase. She clutched her son and moved her hands from his legs to his back and his stomach, to double-check that he was not injured as well.
"Chase, honey. It's Mommy. Wake up, baby."
Jack looked at Daniel's arm. "It looks like it's just a scratch. Carter, call Janet and have some SFs escort her out here."
"Jack," Daniel frowned. "I don't need Janet ---"
"Are you sure you're not hit anywhere else?" Jack interrupted with frown, looking his friend over.
"I'm fine, Jack." Daniel insisted. "I didn't even know I'd been hit."
Jack nodded, tightly. "My point exactly."
"Daniel!" Liz's voice was laced with panic. "I can't get him to wake up!"
Daniel's eyes locked with Jack's for a brief instant and they both moved to her.
"We have a doctor on the way. Let's put him on the bed of the truck." Jack supplied. He stopped to get a small medic bag from the back of the truck as Liz carried Chase to the bed of the truck, where Teal'C lowered the tailgate for her to lay him. Daniel found a blanket and covered him as Jack began a field examination.
"Don't worry," Daniel spoke softly, putting his uninjured arm around Liz. "They probably gave him a sedative to keep him from resisting."
"There aren't any visible injuries or broken bones," Jack confirmed. "Daniel's probably right. Dr. Frasier will have him fixed up in no time."
"Janet's on her way," Sam said, putting her phone away.
Jack smiled at Daniel, then looked at Sam.
"Carter."
"Yes, sir?"
"Were you using my truck as cover? Did you get my truck shot?"
Sam smiled, sensing that he was teasing her. "Yes, sir." Then she frowned, as if doubting her earlier assessment. "Uh, I don't know, sir. If your truck got shot, that is. I did use it as cover, but I don't know if…"
Jack smiled. "Relax, Carter."
He turned to Teal'C who was standing looking at Liz with a frown. He looked at Liz and then back at Teal'C. "What's wrong, T?"
"I told her to wait by her vehicle. Yet, when the first shot was fired, she was behind me."
Jack tilted his head back. "Ah," he nodded. "I see. The civilian didn't follow your orders."
Teal'C inclined his head.
"Welcome to my world."
Daniel shot Jack a look over the rim of his glasses.
Dr. Janet Frazier arrived and went to work immediately. Daniel insisted that she look at Chase first and Liz smiled gratefully at him for it. Janet's big brown eyes smiled up at Liz when she finished examining the boy. "He's fine. Apparently, they gave him a mild sedative. He'll sleep it off in a few hours. If he's groggy or irritable at all tomorrow, take him to see his pediatrician. If you can't get in, call me and I'll come see him."
Tears sprang, unbidden, to Liz's eyes and she hugged the doctor. "Thank you!" she breathed, through her tears. "Thank you."
Janet pulled back and smiled at her. "You're welcome. Now let me check Daniel."
Liz nodded, emphatically. "Oh, please, do." She, then climbed up into the bed of the truck to hold Chase, while Daniel got the once over and a bandage on his arm.
Jack sent a couple of the SFs back to retrieve the man at the ATV, as well as the ATV itself. He also assigned a couple of them to gather up the rest of the downed kidnappers as he moved away to look down at the nearest man, the one he shot. When Carter arrived next to him with a plastic bag tie, he asked, softly. "Carter, does he look familiar?"
"Medrona, the Touchstone," she said, in a voice equally hushed. "He's one of the men who escaped."
Jack's lips set in a thin line. "I thought we got all these guys, already."
Sam frowned. "It could be that some of the rogue NID operatives were here when you captured Neumann and his team. This one is definitely one of the operatives from the Touchstone incident."
Jack frowned. "So, the NID was behind this. Sonofa…"
He looked back as Janet finished with Daniel's arm. "Carter, you go with these guys and Teal'C back to SGC. I'll be there shortly. Make sure no one, and I mean NO ONE goes near these guys until I get there."
Sam nodded. "Yes, sir."
Daniel insisted on driving Liz and Chase squeezed Jack's hand when he helped her into her SUV while she held Chase. "Thank you, Jack."
Jack nodded. "You're welcome," he said after a moment. "Take care."
She sniffled. "Daniel was right, you know. You are a good man."
Jack looked down and waved off the compliment. "Aw, Pah-shaw…" Then he smiled at her and closed the door. He turned and walked away from the SUV with his hands in his jacket pockets, walking with a purpose to Sam's motorcycle.
