The General looked up and saw that Barrett had sights on Carolyn and was about to fire. Instincts took over and he moved so quick, no one could see what was happening. Gen Landry had moved to put himself between Carolyn and Barrett. A shot rang out and Carolyn was pushed out of the way. Barrett was still firing and Vala turned to see Carolyn fall to the ground.
Vala without hesitation started shooting a volley of rounds at Barrett until her gun was empty. Barrett went down hard, several bullets hitting him in the arm, shoulder and leg. Vala threw her gun down and noticed that Gen Landry was lying next to where Carolyn fell. SG1 had witnessed Vala firing her weapon before they could understand why. Teal'c had rushed over to Barrett and kicked the gun away from his reach. Barrett was still alive. They were all confused as to why Barrett was even in the building. Mitchell, Carter, and Daniel rushed over to assist with their friends. As soon as they reached where the General had fallen, they saw he had been shot in the arm. Carolyn was also hit in the leg and Vala tore her shirt to use it to tie off Carolyn's bleeding leg. Both were conscious and the General was desperately trying to move to get to his daughter.
"Carolyn? How's Caro- ow, Caroline?"
"I'm alright dad, ow." As she winced at Vala's administrations.
Mitchell radioed the other teams. "This is Col Mitchell; get me a medic vac ASAP. The General's down as well as Dr. Lam."
Col Mitchell tried not showing how worried he was for Carolyn and moved closer to see if he could assist Vala."
"Colonel; am I glad to see you, said Vala."
"Same here." Mitchell retorted.
"Hold Barrett for questioning and keep him alive, Col Mitchell. Gen Landry managed to get out. "He was the one that kidnapped Vala and Carolyn. I want to deal with him myself."
"Yes Sir." Teal'c had heard the General's orders and had the other teams use a medical kit on Barrett until they moved him to the SGC infirmary under guard.
"Dad? Are you alright." Said Carolyn with a definite worry in her voice. Carolyn had finally realized that her father had saved her life by throwing his body in front of her and could have been possibly dead by now if he had not thrown her aside with Barrett's wild shooting.
General Landry finally had gathered his thoughts wincing through the pain. He was scared to death that Barrett was going to kill his only daughter. "Yeah, I'm just getting to old for this stuff. I'm just glad that you're alright Carolyn." He smiled pushing himself up after Col Carter had did a patch up job on his arm.
"Vala, I- I want to thank you for saving Carolyn and me."
"Ah, it was nothing General. I'm just returning the favor. Don't forget your daughter saved me." Stated Vala smiling.
Just then Carolyn remembered the Medic. She winced looking for him and found him unmoving a couple of feet away. Carolyn touched Vala's sleeve and pointed towards where he lay still, not moving. Vala immediately understood and moved towards the unmoving body. Carolyn was trying to get up to go over to see if the Medic needed her medical attention, but Mitchell held onto her to make sure she didn't move around too much.
"Dr. Lam, who is that? "Pointing towards Vala and the man lying on the floor.
"He's a Medic that was helping us escape. Barrett shot him when he saw us escaping. We owe him our lives. I need to see if he needs medical attention Colonel. Please; let me go to him."
Col Mitchell and his team realized that Carolyn was a Doctor first and foremost and it was her job to make sure anyone injured was taken care of if she could help it. It's the one thing that Mitchell respected most of all about Dr. Lam. Carolyn had always made sure his team was well taken care of no matter who they were. Carolyn looked over at her father to make sure he was alright and gave her a nod to assure her he was ok. Mitchell helped Carolyn up and surprisingly picked her up and carried her over to the unknown stranger. Vala had seen the wounds and knew it was too late. They were severe and the Medic did not have long to live. Mitchell placed Carolyn down next to the man. She pulled back his shirt to see what Vala had already known. It was too late, the wound was fatal. The Medic was trying to speak. Carolyn leaned down close to hear his final words.
"So….sorry. Gla…..d fou….nd you." The Medic rose up from Vala's lap slightly and heaved his last breath. Vala and Carolyn both had tears streaming down their faces. This unknown Medic had risked his life to save all of them and paid the price by Barrett's hand. Vala quietly closed the Medic eyes and laid his head down gently on the floor. Vala reached over to Caroline to help her up and return to Gen Landry's side. Vala sat down next to Carolyn and the General and no words were spoken. Daniel, Sam, Mitchell and now Teal'c watched in silence as they knew that these three people had formed a special bond during their ordeal and nothing would ever break it. They had made a friend, ally and now, Carolyn knew, looking towards her father that he would make sure this brave stranger would be honored at SGC for his bravery.
Mitchell spoke first. " General Landry, I'm sorry, but we need to go. The other teams will sweep the building and find out all they can about this secret organization. We need to get you all back to SGC. The Med Vac is here."
"Understandable Col Mitchell." Teal'c and Daniel helped the General up and Vala was holding onto Carolyn along with Mitchell. Mitchell had been worried about his friends and especially Carolyn. He gave Sam a look of relief now that they had found their friends and headed back to SGC.
Both Carolyn and General Landry were recovering from their wounds nicely in the infirmary. Vala had a brief stay in the infirmary due to her having a slight fever and still recovering from her gun shot and head injury. Gen Landry kept a promise to Vala and his daughter to honor the fallen Medic. He received a private hero's burial and HERO was engraved on his tombstone. SG1 never found out his real name. SG1 had remained off any missions due to personally making sure Dr. Lam, General Landry and Vala were well taken care of and had a full recovery. Carolyn and her father had time to reacquaint themselves as father and daughter and Vala had a new appreciation for Gen Landry as a Commander and friend. The General had thanked Vala for saving their lives and she had become like a second daughter to the General. Barrett was found out to be a hidden Replicator, held in area 51 and questioned by NID on how he was able to infiltrate and compromise one of their agents. Somehow the Barrett Replicator overcame a guard and shot himself. NID never retrieved any answers to who was after the Asgard technology or who the Replicator was working with to obtain backing for their hidden organization. Mitchell finally, with a little coaching from Vala and Sam, garnered enough spirit to ask Carolyn out on a real date.
Mitchell and Carolyn had hit it off quite nice and the General was pleased that SG1 thought of her now and as an honorary SG1 member. Mitchell made sure he took special care of Carolyn while her leg healed and waited on her hand and foot. Pizza parties and Star War movies were introduced in her home by all the gang and Carolyn had a real appreciation for having friends in Colorado. Landry had made special note to make time for Carolyn and since both of them were recovering from their injuries, they both had a new opportunity to simply just talk about everything and anything. Vala, Sam and Carolyn finally had a girls night out, once Carolyn was able to get around more, and spent couple or restful days just getting facials, messages and Curry Chicken. Finally healed and recovered, Carolyn now was seeing Mitchell on regular bases, the team was going on off world missions and Carolyn once in awhile joined them. Vala, Caroline and the General would go out and see the sights in Colorado. He was like a proud father with two gown daughters. They remembered how close they all came to death and how pulling together with a friend had made them feel like family. Carolyn had finally begun to feel like her life had meaning. With five new friends and a better relationship with her father, she finally realized that SGC was now her home too.
A/N: Finally finished. I hope everyone enjoyed this one. I'm sorry it took so long. Let me know what you think and should I do a sequal? Thanks for all the reviews, Zeiton, Dawn, Myosotis 13, Agent 1332, Milena D, loozy, rygelrocks, bluface1, landjforever, and livestar. You guys are my inspiration. Review as you like.