Inescapable Chapter 14

AN: Disclaimer and all in Chapter 1. Sorry this took so long, college has been crazy lately. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed actually have a few moments to myself to write it!

Daniel whipped around; reacting to a sound he had heard so many times before, a sound that still made his blood run cold. More echoes of that same sound joined it like an obedient army. And an army it was, an army of Jaffa boots resounding off the ground and advancing on him. His heart stilled for a moment, he froze in terror and his hand shot up, pointing his gun and glancing around realising instantly that his team was nowhere in sight. He was in trouble, big trouble. If he got out of this alive, Jack would probably kill him for being so stupid. He would have to get in line though, behind Sam no doubt.

He blinked and felt heat pass his ears. He was soon reminded of that heat as another staff blast zipped past his waist. He screamed in panic and hunched down as he tore at the ground with his own frantic boots. His eyes kept glancing over his shoulder as more rounds of blasts missed him and somewhere inside, a little voice that sounded a hell of a lot like Jack, was telling him to find cover and to stop looking behind him before he tripped over himself. Just as he was about to dive behind a rock formation a fire erupted in his thigh and he cried out in pain, his right leg buckling beneath him. Daniel gripped the leg with his hands, gritting his teeth at the pain. He hadn't missed that particular feeling. Jack's voice was sounding again, Get up Spacemonkey, pump those crazy legs! Despite the grave situation Daniel's grimace was broken momentarily.

He had to keep going, the boots were getting closer. He heaved his body upright and began to run again, trying to ignore the smell of his own burned flesh and the pain tearing up his leg. He knew the Stargate wasn't far and that Sam and Teal'c couldn't be far behind. Sam! Teal'c! He was abruptly reminded that he might not be the only one running for his life. He slowed a little as he fondled for his radio and just as he did it crackled to life.

"Daniel!" It was Sam's frantic voice. "Come in, Daniel!"

He hit a button, "Sam. Jaffa! They're behind me."

"We're on our way, Daniel. Hang in there, head for the Stargate and dial home."

Daniel felt the heat of another four blasts whipping past him and he hunched his shoulders as he ran.

"I don't know if I can make-" The radio went flying from Daniel's grasp as he felt something solid connect with his back.

As soon as he had doubled over and opened his eyes from the pain he saw it coming. The end of a staff weapon. His eyes grew wide as it was swung towards his head and made a resounding crack as it impacted with the side of his skull. Another cry passed his lips as he flew backwards onto the ground in reaction. A moment of dizziness overcame him and then he saw the boots getting closer. He grabbed his gun, which he still had grasped loosely in his left hand and swung it in the general direction of those boots. His vision was blurry and he wasn't sure he would hit anything but he fired anyway.

Another sound filled his ears, the sound of someone dying. For a moment, he wasn't sure if it was him or the Jaffa. Then his vision cleared a little and he saw the limp, armoured body of a Jaffa beside him. He needed to get up despite the pain in his back, his leg and his skull. He pulled himself to his knees with great effort and swayed a moment before his legs thrust him upwards and seemed to carry him further ahead all by themselves.

He was sure he could see the Stargate up just ahead but he was far to distracted by the blasts now coming from his left and right. He kept running, grunting in pain. A new sound reached his ears and it sounded like a choir of angels, singing just for him.

Gunfire.

He glanced over his shoulder as spotted bursts of gunfire ignite inside the trees he had just ran through. Sam and Teal'c were there! He hesitated a second, wondering if he should go back and help, or follow Sam's order and head to the 'gate. His hesitation made the decision for him. He would do neither.

He would simply lie there, in his own blood and wait for the blackness to take him.

He knew he had been hit and could hear the boots again, but they were no longer something that worried him, nor he them. He could still hear gunfire and knew it was getting closer. Perhaps at the very least, Sam and Teal'c could get out alive. Then he heard her.

"Daniel!" Her voice was terrified, and his eyes flew open at it and settled on a Jaffa standing close-by, with a staff weapon trained on him. He watched, disinterested, until bullets started ripping through the Jaffa's armour, tearing flesh and splattering blood, his body convulsing with each hit until the bullets relented and he crumpled to the ground, fear flashing in his eyes before growing dark. Then she was beside him.

"Daniel!" He felt her hands on him and he was insanely comforted by it. He ignored the impending blackness and drew a breath, just for her. "Daniel, it's okay. I'm here." He looked at her as her head whipped up and she raised her gun, firing again.

"Colonel Carter!" It was Teal'c's voice and Daniel lost sight of Sam's face a moment as she fired off in another direction.

Cursing when she found respite for another moment, she shouted to Teal'c. "Teal'c, we need to get him out of here. You'll have to carry him." Teal'c was already advancing on them with speed. "I'll hold them off while you dial home." Her head bobbed back into his view and he found it hard to focus on her. Blue pools were all he could make out as she spoke to him again. "It's gonna be okay, Daniel. I'll get you back."

Then the pools of brilliant blue were fading and a sick blackness was bleeding into them. Daniel felt panic rise and then… nothing.

The next thing Daniel knew he opened his eyes startled at a blinding light. He was in the infirmary, back in the safety of the SGC and Jack was filling him in. Sam had indeed gotten him home and he was alive, yet she was lying across from him, fighting to hold onto her own life. Jack had been honest with him. Sam might not make it.

Daniel could see the horrible dread in his friend's eyes and knew that he too, behind his unflinching mask, was horrified at the prospect of losing his own friend. The woman he loves, Daniel amended. Jack would never admit any of the feelings raging inside him but Daniels didn't need to hear it to actually know it. He could see it in the way he frequently found his eyes drifting to the other bed, the way he hung his head, the way he was fiddling with the piece of medical equipment he had grasped between white fingers, even in the way Jack walked as he left the room. He could tell he didn't want to leave her side and yet didn't want to stay and see her like this, helpless to do anything but wait.

He turned his head from the empty space Jack had left to look upon Sam. He had nothing to do but wait either and he hadn't the luxury of being able to leave like Jack. The only place he could go was into his head. So he welcomed the darkness once again.

Jaffa were advancing on him again, that sound haunting him as he cowered in a corner with nowhere to go. He could only sit and wait for the inevitable and then it came, the weapon opened just inches from his nose, it glowed and he screamed as a blinding light engulfed him...

Danielawoke to an empty infirmary. Dreaming, he had been dreaming. He tried to sit up and coughed instead. He needed water. His eyes shot to his left as he reached to the locker for the jug that had been there. It was then he realised that the infirmary really was…empty.

"Sam!" He shouted. Where had she gone? Her bed was empty, all the machines were gone and the sheets were pristinely folded as if she had never been there. "Somebody!" He cried out in panic as he sat up quickly, paying no heed to the pain it caused.

"What is it, Daniel?" Jack was in the doorway with an irritated expression, leaning against the frame, his arms folded and his legs crossed at the ankle.

"Where's Sam?" He asked panicked, dividing frantic eyes between Jack and the bed as if Sam was just going to appear there.

"She's gone, Daniel," Jack replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. Daniel narrowed his eyes. Gone? Jack was walking towards him, looking sadly at the empty bed for a brief moment then back to Daniel. His eyes hardened and brown almost became black. "She's dead."

"No!" She couldn't be! She was just here!

"Sam's dead, Daniel," Jack repeated coldly and Daniel shivered at the way Jack spoke her name. Jack never used her name. Daniel felt tears burning in his eyes. She couldn't be dead. Not Sam!

"It should've been me," Daniel rasped. Jack raised an eyebrow as he parted his lips and just… shrugged.

"It should've been anybody but her," Jack said. Daniel looked at him through tears that were freely tumbling down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Jack." Jack turned hot, dark eyes upon him and Daniel felt their hatred like a physical blow. Jack abruptly tore his eyes away.

"So am I, Daniel," he said as he turned away, bowing his head and began wandering out of the room, pausing in the doorway again to say, "…but that doesn't bring her back."

Daniel's tears had soaked him in his own grief and as they trailed on relentlessly he wondered if he would drown in them, in a slow, agonising and painful death he would almost welcome, as long as it promised release from this hell. His sobs turned suddenly into screams and his eyes were blinded by the light behind his lids.

Let me know what you thought, pretty please?