Chapter Three

Out of the Frying Pan

Hours passed by in a timeless blur. With no indication of day or night, life was simply defined by periods of consciousness and unconsciousness. Meals came at odd, irregular intervals from uncommunicative guards who were seen so briefly it was futile to even attempt questioning them.

Jack's recovery from the interrogation was slow at best, and his periods of rest seemed to stretch on into infinity. Sam, on the other hand, had reached the 'back to normal' stage shortly after Jack was returned to her. Amazing what a boost to one's morale can do for one's health, she mused. While Jack rested, Sam thought. Contemplated. Exercised. Meditated. Exercised some more. Even tried a little prayer. Still, no opportunity for escape manifested. This mysterious Etep that Jack had mentioned had yet to show any indication of assisting them; in fact, Sam had yet to meet him.

As time dragged on, her mind inevitably wandered. She spent a good long while pondering the fate of her other teammates. Chaela had told her that the gate had been activated once while the battle for its control waged on. There was a chance, a small chance, that it could have been Daniel and Teal'c escaping. If they made it home, they would have told General Hammond… what? That they saw Jack go down then saw her going back to his aid, and then, the explosion. God, they must believe us dead, she realized in horror. If they think we're dead, the chances of rescue are… not good. She swore out loud.

"What's wrong?"

Jack's voice startled her out of her reverie, and she turned to face him. There was fear in her eyes, the tendrils of despair etched in the corners of her mouth. "They probably think we're dead… there's not going to be any rescue, is there?"

Jack sat up, his movement slow and cautious. He nodded towards the empty space beside him on the cot. Tentative and surprisingly nervous, Sam crossed to him and sat down. He turned to face her, and she moved likewise. Jack smiled, his eyes full of compassion, as his hand moved to cup her neck. "You know why they revived me?" Sam shook her head. "This 'Grand Marshall' is trying to negotiate with Earth. Thinks Hammond will hand over some weapons in trade for us."

Sam blinked, a small gasp of surprise escaping her lips. "Really?"

"Well, that's what Etep told me. If it's true, Hammond knows we're out here. He's probably already sent word out to the Tok'ra, the Asgard, and every other race we know with a capable ship. It's just a matter of time before we get busted out, beamed out, or otherwise removed from this little hellhole."

She moved back, and Jack allowed his hands to drop back into his lap. "We've been here so long… don't you think that we'd have been out of here by now if it was that easy?" She was afraid to hope. For so long, the certainty of her fate had been the only constant; now, she found it difficult to let go for something as fickle and capricious as hope.

He reached out to her again. "Hey, we've been in tougher jams than this!" He let one hand drop onto her folded hands resting across her lap.

Sam eyed him skeptically. "Such as…?"

Jack's brow furrowed as he dug through his mental files, the lines grooving his face sinking deeper as his concentration increased. Suddenly, his brow arched up, his whole head snapped up and he locked eyes with her. "Nirrti's genetic experiment." Sam winced. Jack continued in a gentler voice. "Getting stuck in a mother ship on the bottom of the ocean. Or lost in Antarctica. Jolinar. Kanan. Or how 'bout that time those rogue-NID guys took you to experiment on your ex-symbiote-hosting body."

Sam's eyes clouded in memory. "So many times we've cheated death. How much longer could our luck really hold out, Sir?"

Jack tipped his head to one side and regarded her with a soft expression. He gave her hands a gentle tug and murmured softly, "Come here." As she leaned into his chest, he wrapped his arms tightly around her. She buried her face in against his neck and wrapped her arms just as tightly around him. His mouth was so close to her ear, his soft, warm breath tickled the delicate hairs inside. He spoke again in such a hushed voice that only the slightest vibrations of sound escaped his lips to float down to her eardrums. "The night I sat beside your lifeless body after zatting you. Twice. When that… thing stuck you into that computer…thing it built."

Sam pulled back to look into Jack's eyes. She said nothing as she watched a kaleidoscope of emotions dancing behind his steady gaze. Regret, guilt, shame, even a touch of self-loathing, along with a thousand other things she couldn't quite name, flickered past in the span of a heartbeat. A deep, dry ache settled in the back of her throat as she blinked hard to keep tears from forming. When at last she spoke, it was with a voice hoarse with unspent emotion. "We were never the same after that… we never talked about it… we just…retreated. Hid behind the walls of duty… regulation."

"Seemed a safe bet. All things considered."

"What?" Sam's eyes grew wide, her mouth hanging slightly open.

Jack shrugged, only slightly uncomfortable with the direction their conversation was taking. "You know… following the rules, doing the 'right' thing… Kept us close… but not too close."

"Why?"

This time Jack was the one taken aback. "Why… what?"

"Why did we keep sacrificing… this? What I mean is… I know our jobs are important, to us, to the world… And I know that there's the risk of… of feelings getting in the way, especially in the heat of battle, when we most need to be objective…. And all those other nice logical reasons the whole set of frat regs exists… but… I think if we really…. If we wanted to make it work, we could find a way. Besides, it's not like burying and suppressing all those—" she swallowed hard before continuing, "—feelings… have made them go away. If anything, they've only grown stronger and deeper during seven years of working side by side through one extreme life and death situation after the next. I would even dare say that those very feelings, the close bonds we've forged have been the very saving grace of our missions on more than a few occasions. So… why did we continue to keep each other at arms length?"

Jack was slow to answer; his eyes revealed a myriad of conflicting emotions as her gave serious consideration to her query. "I think… maybe you're the one who should be answering that."

Sam was surprised, to say the least. "Me?" She asked with eyes wide and mouth agape.

"Samantha…" The way he spoke her name sent shivers down her spine, his voice low and soft and sexy as he drawled out her name.

"You know, it's not like I haven't thought about it. I've asked myself the same question for… well, for almost four years, to be honest. And…"

"And…?" Jack prompted.

"And… I think… it's simply… fear. It scares the hell out of me. I mean, everything I already feel for you is just so… big, so much more than I know is appropriate, more than I've ever felt for anyone… and that's with me fighting to keep everything at bay, so what's it going to be like if I just… let go?" Sam laughed into Jack's chest. "That doesn't make any sense, does it?"

"Makes perfect sense." He ran his long fingers through her hair, taking a moment to enjoy the simple sensations of her soft tresses sliding along his skin. "Guess seven years of listening to Carter-babble is finally paying off."

"You call that listening?"

"Hey, now!" Jack pulled her head back by the hair he'd just been caressing. "A little respect for your commanding officer," he chided with a smile.

Sam's expression turned wistful. "And then there's that… If we do get out of here--"

"When."

"When we get out of here, we still have to go back to that. Rank. Regulation. Duty. How… how do we do that? How can we do what we do when such powerful emotions get involved?"

"That's a good question." Jack regarded her thoughtfully for a moment. "I think all we can do is burn that bridge when we cross it. You said it yourself; we've already been doing this for years. Do you think having things out in the open is going to be any more difficult than fighting and suppressing everything has been?"

Sam reached up and touched his brow, smoothing the lines of worry and stress. "Probably not. And… we won't be alone. Whatever happens… we can deal with it… together." She pressed a soft kiss on him. "It's been hard for you?" Her voice held a tinge of wonder.

"What? You think it's been easy having the hots for my second in command? Knowing its patently obvious to the entire galaxy? Not that anyone can blame me… Hell, at least half the galaxy has the hots for my second in command. I'm really considered to be a fairly lucky man—Mmmphhh…" Sam abruptly silenced him with a firm kiss. After a long moment, she pulled away with a rather satisfied grin. "Very lucky man," Jack concluded.

The first blast knocked them out of the cot and sent them tumbling across the small cell. The cot also flew across the cell and landed, inverted, on top of them, pinning them to the floor as the second shock wave ripped through. A slight groan was the only warning before the ceiling began to crumble and collapse.

Still pinned between the mattress and the hard ground, Jack rolled over Sam to help shield her as huge chunks of the ceiling showered down on them. The weight was incredible, crushing them together like a grilled cheese sandwich. It was growing harder to breathe with every passing moment. Unable to hold himself up under the mass of rock, he sunk down onto Sam, burying his head in the crook of her neck. The pressure forced the air out of Sam's lungs; he felt her warm breath whoosh past his ear. He tried in vain to relieve some of the pressure, but the weight was too much.

"Can't….breathe…" Her weak voice was the last thing he heard before he succumbed to unconsciousness.

Sam realized Jack had passed out, and she felt herself fading fast. Summoning up every bit of strength she had, she gave an almighty heave against the mattress with all four extremities. The cot frame shifted just slightly, and with as great a roar as they had crashed down with in the first place, the pile of rubble cascaded away from the heap. It was enough for Sam to relieve the terrible pressure keeping the air from her lungs. She gulped in air and lifted Jack's head to free his airways. After several minutes, Sam gave another shove against the mattress. Most of the remaining rubble tumbled off, and she was able to kick the cot off of them entirely.

She then gave Jack a gentle push and he rolled off of her to lean against the mattress beside them. She checked his pulse, confirming his heart still beat steady and strong. Only then did she allow herself a sigh of relief. For a long moment she lay there, her hand resting against Jack's neck as several smaller explosions continued to sound off throughout the devastated facility. After several minutes, Jack's eyes started fluttering open.

"Sir?" Her hand still cupped his neck, her thumb absently stroking the soft skin just below his ear.

"Carter? What the hell happened?"

"Explosion, sir. The ceiling collapsed on top of us. Fortunately, the cot tumbled over and shielded us from the worst. Were you hit?"

"No… don't think so." Jack took a mental inventory and confirmed all eyes, legs, arms, hands, feet, and various other body parts seemed to be in working order. "Just that whole lack of oxygen thing. Tends to get to me after a while." He lifted his head cautiously, just enough to peer beyond the pile of rubble. "I'm guessing maybe this is our opportunity to get the hell out of here?"

"Talk about a convenient distraction. Even gave us a way out. We're lucky it didn't kill us!" Sam sat up slowly, keeping a wary eye out for the guards, though there were no signs of life in their immediate vicinity. Or what little immediate vicinity they could see through the thick dust and debris the explosions left in their wake.

Jack rose to his feet first, his eyes ceaselessly scanning and every nerve on the alert. He offered his hand to Sam; she clasped his wrist and levered herself up to her feet. She, too, was on high alert, taking in every detail of their surroundings. They heard the approaching footsteps simultaneously and dropped back down behind the shield of the overturned cot.

"Colonel O'Neill? Major Carter? Are you unharmed?"

The voice was slightly familiar to Jack, so he cautiously poked his head up over the cot and spotted Etep standing in the midst of the rubble in what had been a solid wall before the blast.

"You! Did you do this?" The Colonel demanded.

"Come, we haven't much time. I will explain everything when we are free of this place." The Colonel's stare remained skeptical. The alien's hair rose on high on his head, and a low growl rumbled from somewhere deep in his chest. He spoke again in a voice that broke no room for argument. "Please, hurry! If you want to escape with your lives, the time is NOW!"

Colonel O'Neill nodded down to his second in command and she rose slowly. As they made their way across the rubble, her now tattered gown kept catching on the rubble. With a small growl of frustration, she reached down and tore off half the skirt, leaving her legs unencumbered from the knees down. As she turned back to follow her commander, she caught a small smile of appreciation gracing his face before he turned away.

They made their way through the devastated facility with painstaking caution. Every few steps, more debris rained down all around them as smaller distant blasts continued to roar through the structure. Every now and then one was strong enough to shake the unstable flooring beneath them, and more than once, Jack and Sam found themselves clinging to one another in desperate, often feeble attempts to keep on their feet.

The trio found themselves stumbling through a large chamber just as a powerful blast knocked them to the ground. Windows around the high perimeter of the room shattered, sharp and jagged shards of glass rained down in the mix of rock and dust as the walls began to crumble.

"Sir!" Sam called out, and Jack belatedly realized she had fallen back just beyond the entrance of the room; he'd plundered on unaware. Sam lifted a leg and pointed to her bare foot, blood seeping out of a jagged wound along the arch. He ran back to her as quickly as he could, blood rushing in his ears drowning out the roar of the collapsing building. He swallowed hard against the irrational wave of panic that bubbled up in his throat.

"How bad is it?" Jack grabbed a section of her torn skirt and ripped it free. The wound wasn't gushing, and the flow wasn't to heavy. Jack let out a breath of relief.

"Bad…" She winced as he tied the makeshift bandage around the wound. "Muscle damage. I don't think I can walk on it, sir, never mind climbing through the rubble… You should go—"

"Not gonna leave you behind, Major. Don't even think it!" He scooped her up and flung her over his shoulder into a fireman's carry. He turned to find their "guide" waiting where Jack had left him to come back for Sam. Jack scrambled as quickly as he could manage between the weight of his lovely second on his shoulders and the none-too-steady ground beneath his feet. Just as he reached Etep, another powerful blast knocked them all off their feet into a wild jumble of arms and legs.

Apparently Etep was the first to recover, as Jack heard him ordering them to hurry. Jack, however, couldn't quite summon the willpower to hurry for a long, breathless moment, as his face was buried in Sam's full cleavage. Then he realized that something was keeping his head there. He reached up, then realized up was down, and what was holding him there was gravity, as his fingers hit the debris beneath his head. Then Sam managed to drag herself up off of him, and Jack heaved in a hearty gulp of air.

"Hurry! We only have another level to pass!" Etep shouted as he lifted Sam off the ground. Jack picked himself up and followed Etep out of the remains of the hall. They were running now, through another seemingly endless tunnel that wasn't yet affected by the blasts.

They reached an opening and Etep passed Sam back to Jack. He rushed to a control panel at the far end of the room. The chamber appeared to be some sort of command station. A variety of technical stations, computer-like consoles and other alien technology filled the room, leaving only narrow walk ways around the perimeter.

Jack shifted Sam in his arms as she wound hers around his neck. Jack scanned the room, keeping one eye on the corridor entrance. It seemed odd to his military sense that no one had followed them, nor had anyone appeared to stop them. In fact, except for their rescuer, they hadn't seen another living soul.

"Come. We will transport out to the rendezvous coordinates from here." Etep pointed to a small hexagon pad beside the controls. Jack regarded the alien with a wary eye as he stepped onto the pad. Etep's hands moved across the panel one more time before he stepped onto the pad close behind Jack. Jack heard a loud hum, but then just as the world around them began to fade out, one last violent blast ripped through them.