Hi All, sorry for the late update - enjoy!

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Sam was the first to step through the gate, materialising on M32-2XJ, she immediately scanned the vicinity for any signs of danger whilst she waited for Cameron and Rodney

Sam was the first to step through the gate, materialising on M32-2XJ, she immediately scanned the vicinity for any signs of danger whilst she waited for Cameron and Rodney. Seeing no imminent threat, she glanced behind her at the rippling blue event horizon and watched as first Rodney and then her husband emerged.

Jennifer Keller had strongly opposed Cameron's participation in the mission, she argued that he needed to rest as his injuries were only now beginning to heal and any aggravation could result in permanent muscle damage. Nevertheless, eventually, though reluctantly, she relented for the simple reason that he was needed on the mission, there were no SGA teams available and both Sam and Cameron were still on active duty.

Before allowing him to go through the gate Dr Keller had given Cameron strict instructions, firstly he was not to get his wounds wet nor to over exert himself or put too much pressure on either his arm or leg. She also gave him a pain relieving cold spray, telling him it was fast acting and a single spray would last a couple of hours should he need it.

"All set?" Cameron asked her as he approached.

"Yeah...their last known position was 4 clicks SSW," Sam replied as they walked down the steps with Rodney walking just behind them.

"Okay let's get moving we've got a long walk ahead of us. Stay alert."

Cameron reached for his radio, "Captain Davis, Dr Hendrickson, this is Col. Mitchell, please respond?"

Hearing nothing but static he tried again.

"Captain Davis, Dr Hendrickson, this is Col. Mitchell from Atlantis, please respond?"

Again they heard only static.

"Nothing." Cameron stated shaking his head.

They walked in relative silence with Cameron leading, Sam, and Rodney on either side of him.

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Rodney watched them from the corner of his eye and a pang of jealousy hit him like a bullet to the heart. The way they would occasionally look at each other and slowly drift closer together as they walked made him feel like a third wheel on the mission. He continued to observe them noticing the way Mitchell would rub Sam's back reassuring her he was fine when she started to worry about him. He couldn't stand the adoring way she would look at him, her eyes brimming with love and worry for a man that wasn't him.

Why can't she look at me like that? Who does she have more in common with, me or him? Who can she talk to about the finer points of wormhole theory or how they can increase the efficiency and the speed of the hyper-drive engines other than him or come up with new ways to save the world again and again against whoever or whatever was out there? Who else besides me can understand her; truly understand the woman and the scientist she is?

The two of us are in all likelihood the best scientific minds on Earth and we're certainly amongst the best in both galaxies, so who is more right for her? Definitely not Mitchell! He probably can't tell the difference between one end of a wormhole from the other! Sure, he's good looking and physically fitter than me but looks aren't everything, the mind has to count for something and I have been training with Ronan twice a week for the last two months – she hasn't even noticed! She's too wrapped up in him – Ugghh get a room!! He thought watching Sam wrap an arm around Mitchell giving him a quick hug.

"Do me a favour will you," Rodney said stopping them in their tracks and looking at them squarely in the eyes, "Save the romance for the bedroom. We're out here to do a job, people's lives depend on us not to mention our own so I suggest that the two of you start behaving like the professionals you're supposed to be instead of making goo-goo eyes at each other like you have been since we got here!" McKay emphasised his last point by stabbing a finger into the air just above Cameron's chest before turning and walking away, leaving them staring at his retreating back.

"Now hold on just a minute! If you've got a problem with me McKay…" Cameron shouted back, when he went to go after him, his wife held him back. "No Sam! If he's got a problem I want to hear it!"

Rodney stopped walking, turned round and headed back towards them, "I don't have a problem with you Mitchell. My issue with you is that you're here on a mission, not a date!"

"Oh no, that's not the issue McKay! Your issue is that you're jealous of my relationship with Sam. You can't stand the fact that she's with me and not you!" Cameron rubbed his face with anger and tried to restrain himself from punching him. "You know what? We don't have time for this; you're right McKay we are here to do a job." When Rodney smirked at his admission, Cameron responded with his temper barely held in check, his voice a harsh whisper, "if you ever compromise a mission again with your personal problems your issues with my private life will be the least of your worries. Is that understood Dr McKay?" Cameron accentuated that last sentence by jabbing his finger in Rodney's chest.

Not waiting for an answer Cameron walked away leaving Rodney to face his wife's wrath.

Rodney looked at Sam ashamed for his outburst but he didn't regret it, not when he felt as if they were deliberately rubbing their relationship in his face.

"Sam I…" Whatever Rodney was about to say became stuck in his throat when he saw the anger brimming in Sam's eyes.

Shaking her head Sam looked past him and at Cameron who stood waiting for them a few steps away, "Save it Rodney. We don't have time for this now but be certain we will discuss what just happened as soon we get back to Atlantis." Then she would deal with his jealousy for the last time. Moving past him she said almost as an after thought, "You coming?"

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"How much further?" Cam asked feeling a twinge in his injured leg.

"Less than a click away." Sam replied checking the hand held navigator.

Damn! Cameron thought as his leg began to throb he was going to have to stop and rest for a minute. He tried walking a little slower but the pain was getting worse, he couldn't go on for much longer, he'd pushed himself to the limit, he had hoped he would have been able to make it to the coordinates but…

"Shit!" Stopping Cam cursed and grabbed his injured thigh in both hands.

"Cam?" Sam went over to him concern and worry etched all over her face.

"I've gotta stop for a second Sam, leg's killing me…" His voice came out raspy as he tried to ride the latest wave of pain.

Sam and Rodney helped Cameron ease himself down to the ground. Sam kneaded his thigh as he stretched his leg in front of him and supported himself on his elbows as he leaned back.

"Here drink this," Rodney passed Cameron his bottle of water. Dr Keller was right, Mitchell shouldn't be out here, if anyone was compromising the mission it was him.

"Thanks."

Sam watched him take big swallows of water before handing the bottle back to Rodney and nodding his appreciation. His colour was returning she noticed and his breathing was back to normal, she knew he had pushed himself to get even this far.

"Feelin' better?" Sam asked reaching out and caressing his cheek.

Rodney looked the other way.

Cameron knew he had her worried he could see the concern in her gorgeous eyes and he tried his best to alleviate it, "yeah much, thanks." Cameron pushed a stray lock of golden hair behind her ear and murmured, "I'm fine honey, just pushed myself too hard that's all."

"You never were good at following doctor's orders." Sam chuckled as she helped him up.

Cameron held onto Sam as he cautiously put some weight on his leg testing it, the pain had reverted to a dull ache as he took a couple of steps forward.

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They finally arrived at the coordinates and what they saw had them staring with their mouths hanging open.

The view before them was the complete opposite of the sparsely vegetated sandy ground they had walked upon to arrive here. There was greenery and colour of every kind imaginable in the flowers that bloomed freely around three towering thick columns placed equilaterally from each other. Birds and small creatures alike roamed unperturbed by the invasion of their home.

As they approached the strange architecture, they could see scripture wrapped around the stone of each column from top to bottom.

"It's emitting some kind of energy, I can barely detect it's presence." Rodney commented walking around and in between them.

"What do you make of the writing? I don't recognise it." Sam remarked peering at the curves and lines strung together, some she could make out but most of it seemed to have eroded away.

Cameron scrutinised their surroundings, he found no evidence of their missing people. He could make out four sets of footprints, three large and one small. He found a few pencils and a sketchbook lying on the floor besides the furthest of the three columns. Cam picked up the notebook and flicked through it. There were drawings of the plants and animals with detailed notes beside each sketch. As he turned the pages, a handful of Polaroid's fell out of the book. Picking them up, Cam looked at the pictures of the group documenting their find. They looked to be a happy bunch and he hoped to God that they would find them unharmed.

"Well they were definitely here." Cameron told them as he held the book and pictures up for them to see.

"Where are they then?" Rodney asked himself more than them. He looked around baffled, as far as he could tell there was nothing else of interest as far as the eye could see. They would have hardly wondered off alone on a strange planet, he thought to himself.

"I can't see any signs of a fire fight or an attack, they're just gone." Sam stated as she approached Cameron.

"What're you thinking Cam?"

"I don't know…let's break it down. Think it could be the Wraith?"

Rodney considered it for a moment but dismissed the idea, "Unlikely, they've got no reason to be here. There aren't any settlements or people here; I doubt they would have come on the off chance of a feed."

"Okay, so they could still be here, somewhere, or they could have left through the gate or…" Cameron trailed off as a sudden thought occurred to him.

"What?"

"McKay, Sam come here a second," he instructed as he walked towards the area where Rodney had detected the energy field, "Think this energy could have something to do with it?"

"I don't know? Sam looked at the readings they had recorded earlier. The energy output was far too low to have been responsible for the disappearances but she wasn't going to discount the possibility entirely.

"What do you think?" Sam asked Rodney whilst taking further readings in case they had missed something in the original sweep.

"Well I suppose there is a remote chance but it would take a considerable amount of power to do something like this, there would be some indication of an energy release but there isn't any…"

"So what would cause this energy we're detecting?"

"Well…" Sam looked at him thoughtfully, "the energy could be the residual effect of an electrical storm, the energy could have somehow been absorbed by the columns and stored or could be we're looking at a naturally occurring phenomenon."

"She's right," Rodney pitched in as he took up her train of thought, "It could explain why we're standing in the middle of the Garden of Eden whilst the rest of the planet is a sandy beach."

"I don't think so, I mean I don't have even a hint of a green thumb but even I know that you can't grow plants with electrical energy."

"I said it could explain not that it did." Rodney defended his statement, his arms crossed, his chin thrust out slightly, his gaze challenging him.

Great Round two! Cameron decided to back off before they found themselves wrestling to prove who the better man was. "It could also be that we're looking at some sort of advanced weapons system/platform," Cameron added changing the subject as he took a closer look at the columns.

"I hate to state the obvious, but we could stand here all day discussing theories." Rodney said looking at the both of them, still miffed at Cameron's comment.

"We should document this writing, maybe there's something in the Atlantis database that could tell us what we're dealing with here. Then we'll conduct a thorough search before heading back to the gate." Cameron decided.

"The DHD should tell us the last dialled address…" Sam told him.

"I thought we couldn't tell when it was last dialled." Cameron looked questioningly at his wife.

"We can't not exactly but seeing as this planet is hardly buzzing with activity we could make an educated guess."

"Okay, let's get on with it."

They each took a column and used the remaining paper in the drawing book and the pencils to get an imprint of the script.

When they were finished both Cameron and Sam gave their pages to McKay who put them in his backpack.

Rodney wanted to take further readings of the energy surrounding the columns so Sam and Cam searched the area but came up empty.

"Let's go McKay." Cameron ordered as they joined him.

"Hang on a second…" Rodney mumbled dismissing him as he concentrated on the computer.

"You got something?" Sam asked looking over his shoulder at the computer.

"Yeah…there's a minute fluctuation in the energy field. At first I thought it was just random but it could be something."

Cameron stood on the other side of him, bracing himself against the column, trying to make heads or tails out of the readings that were dancing across the miniature screen.

As he was looking over Rodney's shoulder, he felt his left hand sink slightly into the column. Turning his head towards his hand, he noticed that a small section of the column beneath his palm had retreated a couple of millimetres inside the stone. It was then that he became distracted by a blinking light that seemed to be hovering mid air right in the centre of the triangle of columns. Leaving his wife and Rodney to look over the readings he walked towards the light.

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After looking at the screen for several minutes and not picking up anything Rodney decided he must have imagined it, "I could have sworn there was something. I'm gonna double check these when we get back."

Just when he was about to switch the hand held computer off there was a sudden spike in the energy readings.

"Sam take a look at this." Rodney motioned for her to come back.

However, by the time she reached him the energy spike was gone.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's gone." Rodney sighed.

Sam looked up at the darkening sky, "Let's go guys, it's getting dark." She said leading the way.

"Where's Mitchell?" Rodney asked when he realised he wasn't with them.

"He's right…" Sam said turning round; there was no sign of her husband. Panic and dread fell like a tonne of bricks in the pit of her stomach.

"Cameron?!" She shouted out to him. Pushing Rodney aside she ran to the last place she'd seen him, he wasn't there.

"He couldn't have just disappeared, could he?" Rodney asked disbelievingly.

"I don't know. Don't just stand there, help me find him!" her eyes pleaded with him as she radioed out to him.

"Cameron, it's Sam come in." Closing her eyes, she prayed he would answer.

"Cam come in please!" She pleaded as her voice shook with worry.

She tried repeatedly but she was met with the same response, nothing but static.

"Where is he?!" She demanded.

Rodney pivoted slowly on the spot seeing nothing but sand, "Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm sure he's fine Sam. Absolutely fine. " Rodney whispered, hoping against hope that he was telling her the truth.

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Sam felt a sudden tightness in her chest, her throat closed up and her head spun a full 360 degrees so fast that the dizziness had her falling to the hard sandy ground.

Rodney wasn't quick enough to react as Sam slipped through his outreached arms. Her eyes, normally so expressive and alive, had gone completely blank as she stared into empty air.

"Sam…" Rodney managed to croak not knowing how to comfort her.

"No…No!" Sam shouted determinedly as she scrambled to her feet.

Rodney grabbed her, his hold strong. She was in no state to even begin thinking clearly, he thought, it was up to him to step up.

"Sam we have to go, there's nothing we can do here. Come on!" He tried pulling her along with him as he moved in the opposite direction towards the gate.

Defiantly, she yanked her arm free, "No!! We are not leaving. I can find him. I need to think!" Sam yelled at him, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms she made an effort to clear her head.

"Sam you're not thinking straight!" Rodney regretted raising his voice when pain and hurt flashed across her face. He moved a little closer to her and cupped her elbow, speaking gently he tried to coax her round, "Sam the best thing we can do for Mitchell now is to go back to Atlantis and try and figure this thing out. We will come back for him…I promise." He said hesitantly, he didn't know if he should have made that promise but he had a feeling it was what she needed to hear.

"No! You don't understand McKay. He's alive, I feel it," She said faith giving her strength as she placed her free hand above her heart.

For a moment, all he could do was stare at her. He hadn't known, "This thing between the two of you…you're not messing are you? It's the real thing isn't it?" He asked already knowing the answer. He felt like kicking himself, God I can be so dense sometimes! There was no way he could compete with true love. Guilt crept in as he recalled the last words he had exchanged with Cameron Mitchell.

He hoped she was right but now was the time to be practical, "Sam, we have no idea where they are or…if they are…"

Uncontrollable anger at his words had her raising her hand and striking him before she could stop herself. The force of the impact had Rodney staggering as his head snapped back.

Sheer shock at her actions had Rodney rooted to the spot. His cheek was bright pink where she had connected and the sting of pain made his eyes water.

"Oh you would just love that wouldn't you Rodney McKay, convince me that he's gone so that you can wiggle your way in! Forget it. I love Cameron Mitchell, you hear me!? I LOVE HIM." All of a sudden she became freakily composed as she pulled out her dog tags and jangled them in front of his face, "You see these McKay? He promised forever… 'Till the sun grows cold and the stars grow old,' so who the hell are you to tell me that my husband is dead!"

"Husband?" He croaked in a strangled whisper, gaping at the twinkling diamond and the matching gold band.

Not hearing him, she continued her tirade, "You want to go? Then go but I'm staying." Ripping the pack off his back, she turned round and walked towards the columns like a woman possessed.

This can't be happening, he thought with a pained grimace as he rubbed his cheek and flexed his jaw. Man, she packed one hell of a punch. He wasn't going to hold it against her, maybe he had deserved it…he'd been too rough with her. She was facing the loss of her husband, wow; Mitchell was her husband…that would make Sam his wife. Great deduction skills McKay, he chided himself, you're a regular Sherlock Holmes, shaking his head he wondered what else would go wrong for him.

Still rubbing his cheek he watched her work furiously, her fingers flying over the computer console as her eyes darted back and forth over the screen. Cautiously he approached her and knelt down beside her.

"What can I do to help?"

A small smile appeared on her lips but it never reached her eyes as she returned the console to him.

"We need to retrace our steps…" She was calmer he noticed as she wiped her hands on her pants, "I was standing here next to you," She indicated for him to join her.

Rodney nodded trying to remember what had happened, "Right so we were here, looking over the readings… and Mitchell, I think was standing on this side," He indicated to his right.

"Yeah, he was leaning against the column…"

The idea occurred to Rodney at the same time; hurriedly they felt the column for any buttons or leavers of some kind.

"There's nothing here…" Sam muttered to herself trying to keep a lid on her emotions, "Wait a minute…he was leaning like this…" She commented, mimicking his stance, "And his hand was about here…so maybe if a lean in…" Applying pressure, she felt her hand move.

"Hey look!" Rodney exclaimed as he noticed the little bright light flickering in mid air.

It shone brightly, blinding them, before splitting up into many tiny bounces of light.

Sam moved away from the column and stood next to Rodney within the ring of light, watching and waiting.

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"Sam!"

Sam turned around slowly, not daring to believe her ears. One second she was surrounded by light and the next she was looking into her husband's eyes.

A huge smile lit her face as she launched herself into his arms.

Grabbing his head in her hands, she gave him a long hard kiss, relief pouring through her in abundance.

"Oh, Thank God!!" Laughing she gave him the once over, checking to see if everything was in it's rightful place and no limbs were missing or blood pouring out of him.

Caught up in the moment Sam didn't notice the people standing close by watching the two of them.

"Uhhmm…!"

Turning towards the sound Sam came face to face with…herself?! Her perfectly groomed eyebrows shot up as she looked at each of their faces one by one.

Her face and the faces of Cameron, O'Neil, Daniel, and Jonah stood before her, looking at them intently.

"What the…?" Was all Sam could manage looking totally dumbfounded, she glanced at her husband then at Rodney and then at the others.

"Don't worry about it," Her Cameron chuckled as he put an arm around her and gave her a squeeze, "I had the same look on my face."

"What's going on?" They asked him in unison while eyeing the others.

"Look I don't mean to interrupt this little reunion," O'Neill said not looking best pleased as he gestured towards them, "Actually I do but that's a discussion for another time, we need to get out of here. Now!"

It was only when Sam saw the P60's in their hands did she realize that her own weapons had gone.

Before she could form any more questions, they found themselves herded towards a spot a couple of meters away. At the touch of a button a modified Tel'tak declaoked and they were pushed inside.

"Hey!" Cameron took exception to the move but a look from Mitchell silenced him.

"There'll be time for explanations later, just trust us, okay." Jonah gave them a quick reassuring smile before he joined O'Neill at the front.

Daniel stood just outside of the Goa'uld cargo ship. He watched their Carter try desperately to switch the energy field off before…

"Shit, they're here! Carter get in here!" Mitchell shouted out to her from the rear door of the ship whilst looking at the cloud of dust not too far from her position.

As soon as they were in, Daniel closed the door and Jonah activated the cloak.

"Did you do it?" Mitchell asked her without taking his eyes off the scanner.

"Yeah, I did it." Carter replied standing behind him, her hands resting on his shoulders in a familiar gesture as she too watched the screen.

"Carter standby with the ED!" Sam looked at the back of O'Neill's head confused, it took her a second to realise he wasn't talking to her.

"Ready."

"Hit it!"

"Don't move a muscle, stay exactly where you are, all of you!" O'Neill ordered his voice barely audible.

Eight sets of eyes waited anxiously looking out through the main viewer. A sound the three of them recognized edged closer and closer to their position, a sound that was all too recognisable.

McKay gulped as those around him were poised like coiled springs.

Please don't let it be them! Please don't let it be them! Even as he sent the silent prayer to the heavens, he saw them – all of them.

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