A/N – Ack, my many apologies for the long wait on this chapter! jaffa bow I've just been having a slightly crazy time with school and family and stuff…But anyway, here's the next chapter….finally….oh and there's a bit of Dan/Jan in this one, so I hope no one's morally against that :P

And I feel that I may need to note Teal'c's sacrifice because I'm anticipating someone complaining about it...if you think it's slightly out of character...just remember that this is supposed to be a slightly surrealistic journey and it's only gonna get worse...bwhahahah...

Chapter 4: One for all, and all for one

"Tal'bet, Tauri!" The leader of the jaffa growled, advancing towards them.

"I guess fighting back at this point might be a bad idea," Jack said, slowly lowering his P90 to set it on the ground. Jaffa were coming out of the forest all around them, all bristling and pointing staff weapons in the direction of SG-1.

"Jack, we're so close…" Daniel murmured. "All we have to do is dial and –"

"Hey, fellas, look…here's the thing…" Jack said, taking a step forward. "I know you're probably not to happy to see us, but give us two seconds and we'll be outta your hair. We've just got to dial out."

"Do you take us for fools?" the leader asked, sneering. "You are SG-1. Out goddess will be most pleased when she hears that we have captured you."

"So that's a no, then…" Jack grumbled, turning to shoot an apologetic look at Sam.

Abruptly the Jaffa lifted their weapons, moving in to form a tight circle around SG-1. With a shout of 'kree' from the leader, they began marching forward, down a path and away from the Stargate. Sam cast a desperate glance behind them, and Janet reached up to put a comforting hand on her arm.

Ten minutes later they rounded a bend and found themselves in a huge clearing where a goa'uld mother ship was parked.

"You know what's going to happen now, Doc?" Jack said, turning to Janet with an overly cheerful grin.

"Oh enlighten me."

"They're going to drag us into the ship and force us to kneel before some chick in gold robes. She'll then inform us that we belong to her and throw us in a cell. Then we'll escape, run back to the gate, and we'll have the last laugh."

Next to him, Sam made a soft whimpering noise. "I don't know about you, sir, but I don't really feel much like laughing right now…"

"Carter?" Jack glanced at her, his expression worried. "What's wrong?"

"I don't…" Sam gripped Jack's arm. "I don't feel right…"

"Sam, did you remember to take your medication this morning?" Janet asked, slowing to turn and look at Sam. "I might have to increase your dosage, with these medications we can't….Sam!"

For Sam had abruptly collapsed, crumbling to a limp heap on the ground. Janet immediately dropped to her knees, feeling for a pulse.

"Keep moving!" One of the jaffa bellowed, not noticing that something was wrong as he prodded Janet with the end of his staff weapon.

"Hey!" Jack shouted. "Can't you see she's sick?!" He too knelt to assist Janet in whatever way he could.

"She's probably having another seizure…" Janet's voice was laced with a bit of panic as she pulled off her jacket, rolling it up and sticking it under Sam's head. Sam was twitching ever so slightly, not full convulsions but enough to be obvious.

"What is wrong with her?" The leader of the jaffa asked, looking confused.

Jack glared up at him. "She's sick, can't you see that?! We need to get her help!"

"Our goddess has a sarcophagus."

"That will not be of use." Teal'c said, speaking up for the first time. "We are on a mission to help Major Carter in the only way possible. Your goddess will be able to do nothing for her."

"She is a goddess." The Jaffa replied, scowling.

Jack looked down at Sam, who had fallen into a still unconsciousness by now. Janet was gently stroking Sam's hair, a faint frown on her face. Jack looked back up at the Jaffa.

"Just let us go, she doesn't even need to know about it." If Jack O'Neill had even had the briefest thought that he'd ever be pleading with some Jaffa, he would have laughed himself silly. And yet here he was.

The Jaffa glanced at each other, the leader wearing a confused frown on his face as he tried to decide what to do.

"Please." Jack sneered, feeling disgusted with himself.

Teal'c stepped forward suddenly, tilting his chin up. To the leader of the other Jaffa he said, "Take me to your goddess, and let my friends continue their journey."

"T, we're not going to leave you behind!" Jack protested.

"O'Neill," Teal'c turned, frowning. "Major Carter's life is far more important than my safety." He lowered his voice. "I will escape and return to Earth, as I have done countless times before."

Jack heaved a heavy sigh, looking down at Janet who was smoothing her hand over Sam's forehead. Sam now lay still and unconscious, sprawled on the ground.

"Sir…" Janet whispered, looking up at him with a worried expression. "We have to keep moving…if we want any hope of saving her…"

"Are these terms not acceptable?" Teal'c demanded of the Jaffa. "I am offering myself willingly."

"You are in no position to bargain, shol'va," the Jaffa replied, but nodded his head. "However, we accept your noble self sacrifice." He motioned for the others who quickly moved around Teal'c, leaving the others behind in the middle of the road as they continued. Teal'c shot his friends one last look over his shoulder, bowing his head ever so slightly.

"You're just going to let him go off like that?" Daniel demanded, rounding on Jack.

"We don't really have any other choice, Danny," Jack said, kneeling down and slipping his arms underneath Sam's limp form. He glanced at Janet. "It's ok to pick her up, right, Doc?"

Janet nodded, getting to her feet and retrieving her medical kit from where the Jaffa had dropped it. "Yeah, we just have to get her out of here."

It was night on the next planet when they arrived, which was good because Janet declared that they should rest and give Sam, at least, a chance to recover a little.

"Two gates down," Daniel murmured. He and Jack were sitting by a small campfire while Janet got Sam settled in one of the tents. "Seven more to go."

"One team member down, three more to go." Jack had a worried frown on his face. "What if in the end Carter's the only one left, and she's too weak to get there?"

"Jack, we need to be optimistic here," Daniel said. "I don't think we're going to make it otherwise."

They both glanced over towards the shadowy form of Janet as she came out of the tent, moving to sit next to Daniel.

"Carter all tucked in?" Jack asked.

Janet nodded. "She was awake for a bit. She's pretty confused but I think she's asleep now."

"God, I'm so…" Jack poked at the fire vehemently with a stick. "…worried about her…"

Daniel and Janet exchanged a look and Janet nodded. "I know, Colonel, we all are." She glanced at Jack, then spoke daringly. "And I know that you would rather die yourself than lose her."

Jack glanced up at her, a faint smile flickering across his face.

Daniel frowned. "What?"

"The zatarc testing," Jack replied, giving the fire one last poke before tossing his stick into the flames. "Remember."

"Oh, right…they thought you and Sam were zatarc's then when they re-tested you…"

"…we found that we'd just left something out." Jack murmured.

"Yeah, no one ever told me what that was, exactly."

Jack was staring at the ground, debating whether or not he felt like going any further with this conversation or if he just wanted to tell them he was too tired. "We left out the fact that we lo…well, that we had certain feelings."

"Feelings?" Daniel raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, feelings. For each other." Jack hunched his shoulders, wanting to shut out his friends and bring them closer at the same time. "I'd do anything for her."

"And you're doing everything you can," Janet said gently.

"It doesn't feel like I am," Jack replied a little snappily. "What if this doesn't work? What if all we end up doing is dragging Carter around the galaxy until she dies?"

"Jack, we've seen some pretty amazing things in these past seven years…" Daniel murmured. "I think this is going to work. We just have to keep going and not give up."

"Oh how philosophical of you. You're starting to sound like that Oma chick. Again." Jack stood up, stretching. "I'm gonna hit the sack, one of you two can take first watch. I'll take second." He slouched off in the direction of the tents.

In the firelight Janet raised her eyebrows at Daniel. "I don't understand that man."

"Not many do," Daniel said with a chuckle. "I think Sam does, though, for the most part."

"What if we all do have to end up sacrificing ourselves to save her?" Janet asked timidly.

Daniel shrugged. "Then that's what we'll have to do. We never know…." He noticed the worried expression on Janet's face and said, "Janet…in the book the author said that no one ever died because of the journey."

"I thought you said many had failed."

"Failed isn't the same as killed," Daniel said. "Failed means they just weren't able to make it to the tree."

Janet nodded, then made an exasperated, angry noise. "I hate terminal illnesses."

"Is there anyone who doesn't?"

"I mean…As a doctor…I'm so used to being able to help people. I've removed alien entities from people's bodies before, for god's sake!" Janet cried. "And yet here my friend is with a 'simple' Earth illness and there's nothing I can do to save her with all the medicine and technology that I have at my disposal."

"That's why we're doing this," Daniel reached out and put an arm around Janet's shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "Because it's our last hope."

Janet sighed. "She means a lot to all of us."

"Yeah." Daniel was gazing absently into the dying fire. "I don't know of many other's that I'd do this for."

"Oh…I can think of a few…" Janet said, glancing up at him out of the corner of her eye.

Daniel didn't notice. "Do you suppose that we're all a bit in love with her?" he said quietly. "I mean, not the same way Jack is but…I don't know…"

"Like she's our sister?"

"No…more than that…I don't really know. It's just…we've been through a lot together. All of us have, really."

"Mmm." Janet nodded. "Sam's like the sister I never had…well, alright I had sisters. But Sam's like the sister that actually cares about me."

"Yeah," Daniel's eyes sparkled slightly. "And she's like, one of the few attractive women I've met who didn't write me off as a book-wormy, possibly gay nerd."

"Possibly gay?" Janet spluttered, trying hard not to laugh. "Oh I hope not…"

"What?" Daniel blinked at her.

"Nothing, forget it." Janet shook her head and gave him a friendly little push. "Off to bed with you, nerd, doctor's orders. I'll take the first watch."

"You sure?" Daniel said, half rising.

The doctor nodded, grabbing a long stick to try and urge some life back into the fire with. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Go get some sleep. I'll be in to get Col. O'Neill in an hour."

"Ok." Daniel shot her a faint smile. "G'night, Janet."

"Night, Daniel," she replied, not fully trusting herself to look back at him.

That night they all dreamed of a lone Jaffa defeating many and returning safely home. None knew what it meant, but they all awoke with a sense of calm the next morning.