Teal'c looked up as Carolyn approached their table, "Dr Lam, please join us." He pushed out a chair for her.
"Hey Carolyn, movie at Mitchell's tonight at eight. You can car pool with me if you'd like."
"Thanks Sam, that sounds like a plan." She cocked her head questioningly, "I'm surprised he's up for that, I wouldn't have figured he'd want more company after not being alone at all for the last week."
"I figured as long as I was stuck with ya'll, we might as well have some fun." Cam dropped his tray at the end of the table before slumping into the accompanying chair. "So, you coming?"
"Yeah, I think Sam, Teal'c and I are going to be a few minutes behind you guys though; my shift doesn't end till 2030 hours. You guys headed off world today?"
Daniel glanced at his watch, "in about fifteen minutes, in fact." He couldn't help but join Sam and Carolyn in laughing when Cameron and Teal'c tucked into their food with even more gusto.
Mitchell looked up, "what, I'm a growing boy."
"Right."
Teal'c, always the voice of reason, piped up, "perhaps it is time we proceed to the gate room."
Carolyn watched Cam shovel the last few bites into his mouth as the rest of the team took care of their trays. "How's your knee feeling?"
"Great, unless I do something stupid."
"So you're telling me it hurts every second of the day then?"
Cam just shot her an amused glare as he hurried after his teammates. "Everyone's a comedian," he muttered to a young Lt on his way past. He caught up with the team at the entrance to the gate room. They received a couple more quick instructions from the General before stepping through the puddle.
Emerging into the sunlight on the other side, Cameron was happy to see that their welcoming party at least appeared to be un-armed.
Three hours into the banquet, Sam's ass was numb; the portrayal of this culture's history was very interesting, but did it have to be this long? She glanced over at Daniel who was listening to the historian with rapt attention- typical, then over to Teal'c and Cameron who appeared to be listening intently but also looked like they desperately needed a break. She caught Cam's attention and gave him a sympathetic look which he returned.
Mitchell was just itching to stand up and stretch- he could feel the stiffness settling into his recently injured body- but he'd been on this job long enough to know that just wasn't done.
This banquet was only the first step in establishing relations with this new civilization; although they were nearly as technologically advanced as earth, this planet rigidly adhered to many of their old traditions. One of which turned out to be a retelling of their entire history before any major decisions were made; ostensibly to remind the leaders where they came from.
Just as Sam was contemplating the merits of rigging her radio to sound the emergency signal, the High Chancellor stood, signaling the end of the retelling.
He turned to face the team, "Now that you know of our history, we can begin the negotiations of technological trade and mutual defense. However, you must allow us time to determine our stipulations; thus, we will contact you in one days time."
Cam stood and returned the Chancellor's slight bow, "That sounds good, your honor, but there is a slight chance that we will be unavailable and another delegation will be sent. If that happens, we'll bring them up to speed on everything and they will have the full backing of our government."
"I'm afraid that is unacceptable, Col," the elderly man shook his head emphatically. "Only you have first hand knowledge of our history; therefore, only your team is qualified to represent Earth in these negotiations."
"Ok, then I guess we'll be here."
The team said their good-byes and headed for the gate. As they walked, Daniel placed his hands on his hips and stretched his back out, "well that was fun." His sarcasm was not lost on the rest of the team.
"It appeared that you were enjoying yourself immensely, DanielJackson."
Jackson gave a sly grin, "only because I figured out the P48-297 translation; I'd already read their entire history when the sent it through the gate last week."
No one could think of a suitable response.
STARGATE: SG-1
"Jackson, hurry your ass up! We've gotta pick up the pizza and beer before the others get there."
Daniel muttered something in ancient as he flipped his laptop shut; "fine, but I'm driving."
"That makes two of us then; I have a bunch of junk in the back of my truck that needs to go home. So you ready or not?" His relaxed pose against the door frame completely contradicted the urgency in his voice.
They rode to the surface in a comfortable silence and separated in the direction of their cars. "Hey, where's this place we're going to again?"
Cam looked over the hood of his truck at Jackson's Subaru three cars down the line from him. "Its about a block from my place; just follow me there."
Daniel nodded as he got into the small SUV; he opened the sunroof to let the crisp October night air in as he waited for Cameron to pull out. He opted for silence over the radio as he ran through his latest progress on the translation. His revelations during the retelling had brought up some interesting references to the Grail once he'd gotten back to his lab. He was vaguely aware of the guard waving him through the gate as he continued to only divert ten percent of his brain to driving.
And since ten percent of his brain was focused on keeping the car on the road, and the other ninety percent devoted to the translation, there was none left to notice the blazer moving rapidly towards his back bumper. Until it was on his bumper.
Jackson swiveled the steering wheel, trying to keep the car on the road after the force of the collision knocked it sideways. When his brain finally caught up with reality, he couldn't believe what was happening, but that barely had time to register as he was hit again from behind. Unable to react fast enough, Daniel could only brace himself as his Forrester was forced down the ditch and into a tree.
Cam's brow furrowed in confusion when Jackson's headlight beams began waving erratically across the road and finally disappeared; he immediately made a U-turn to see what the problem was.
His heart jumped into his throat when his high beams revealed Daniel's car crumpled at the base of a large Lodge Pole pine tree. Cameron's feet hit the ground running the second he slammed the truck into park; he wrenched open the driver's side door and shoved the deflated airbag out of the way, "Jackson!"
When there was no response, Mitchell began checking the other man for any obvious injuries, all the while continuing to call his name.
Daniel could hear someone beckoning him back to the land of the living; his eyes snapped open as the events of the last few minutes overpowered his consciousness. He blinked owlishly and slowly turned his head toward his team leader, "Mit-ll?"
Cameron sighed with relief, "yeah Jackson, I'm here, just stay still ok." He was grateful that the interior light was still working, as it allowed him to see that other than the obvious concussion, Daniel appeared unhurt.
It also allowed him to see the archeologist's eyes widen in warning a split second before he caught the movement out of the corner of his eye.
He dropped to the ground even as he felt the whoosh of air of the baseball bat that missed his head by the barest of margins and smashed through the diver's side window of the Subaru. Cam kicked back and smiled as his effort was rewarded with a loud woof from his attacker; there was no doubt in his mind that this was the same man that had locked him in his room, slashed his tires, pushed him down the stairs, and now, had run Jackson off the road.
Mitchell spun, staying low to the ground incase his assailant had managed to maintain his hold on the bat. His eyes widened as he recognized one of the newly transferred members of SG-19, "Wilks!?"
Sgt. Ethan Wilks ignored Cam's disbelieving whisper as he swung the bat in a wide arc where he knew the Col's injured ribs to be. Cameron turned, diminishing the force of the blow, and lunged at the marine, landing a telling blow to the man's chest. Unfortunately, Wilks recovered quickly and brought the bat down onto Mitchell's bum knee.
The Sgt had studied his nemesis extensively in the last few days; not only had he paid attention to what moves Mitchell used most often, he knew exactly where the man was still hurting. He used that knowledge to parry Cameron's skilled attacks and land several debilitating blows on the Col. It took a number of minutes, but Wilks was finally able to gain the upper hand.
Daniel watched helplessly and only partially comprehending, unable to force his body to move, as the massive marine literally threw Cam into the side of his car. He knew there was no way the Col would be getting up from that anytime soon. It took his rattled brain several seconds to come to the natural conclusion that he could not allow the unknown man to get away with this; he forced himself to look down to unlatch his seat belt. Jackson immediately knew it was a mistake as the movement sent his head spinning and allowed the darkness to claim him.
STARGATE: SG-1
Carolyn couldn't help but chuckle at Teal'c's beanie; the florescent pink was definitely a new statement for him. "Sorry I'm late; never thought I'd get my paperwork finished."
"No problem, Cam and Daniel left about half an hour ago, so they should have had plenty of time to pick up the pizza and beer by now." Sam ushered the other two to her Cherokee.
They made small talk as they left the base and headed down the deserted road toward Cam's house. Carolyn was starting to thoroughly enjoy spending time with the team. Early on she had been afraid that they would be too much of a reminder of the tragedy she saw on a daily basis; but now she knew better, hanging out with them was a way to honor her work while still getting on with her life.
Teal'c listened to the two women chat as he watched the on-coming head lights, "I believe that vehicle is on the wrong side of the road."
Carter quieted as she focused on the lights, "you're right Teal'c, but it's not moving."
"That's Cameron's truck!"
"And Daniel's car!" Sam whipped her jeep to the side of the road; she barely had the vehicle stopped before Teal'c and Carolyn had bailed out, headed for Jackson's open car door.
Lam's fingers quickly found their way to Daniel's neck even as she yelled back to Carter, "Sam, call the base, get an ambulance up here!" She crawled into the back seat and used the driver's seat head rest t o stabilize Jackson's cervical spine; the last thing they needed was to hurt him anymore by not taking proper precautions.
Sam clicked her phone shut after giving the airman their location. Freezing when she sensed movement behind her, she turned to find a very worried Jaffa.
"I can not locate Col Mitchell."