Triumph and Relief

Sam quickly but carefully worked her way to the downed UAV. She knew that the drone would most likely be on his way as well. She was faster, even with her leg injury, but couldn't waste any time. When she spotted the crashed vehicle, she moved closer, constantly scanning for the drone. She reached the broken heap, and examined it, looking for anything that might be of use. She had hoped that the onboard camera would be functional, but it was crushed underneath the wreckage.

"I guess I couldn't expect it to be that easy. Wait – is that a missile? Finally, a weapon! Now I just need to hot-wire it to the UAV's firing mechanism. My Leatherman is going to come in handy after all."

As she worked to set up the missile, she continued to watch for the drone. When it was ready, she lodged the UAV into the rocks, with the missile mounted on a wing, and aimed it the spot where she calculated the drone would exit the trees. Her choice of trajectory was based on his path when she last saw him, and the assumption that he was headed here.

"It's a gamble, but these damn drones seem to be fairly predictable. Not much imagination or initiative. I just have to give it a shot. If nothing else, the explosion should be big enough to alert anyone searching, so if it doesn't destroy the drone, they'll know where to find my body."

Shaking her head at that thought, she made a mental correction.

"No – gotta think positive."

In a few minutes, she spotted the drone stalking out of the trees right where she wanted him. Unfortunately, he saw her as well, stopped, and started firing at her. She ducked down behind the rocks near the UAV, and connected the wires to fire the missile. It slammed into the dirt just next to the drone, setting off an enormous blast. Rocks and dirt showered down on her, and when it seemed safe, Sam carefully peeked over the top of the rocks.

It was gone.

Sam slowly moved to the impact site. No sign whatsoever of the drone.

"Thank God. It's over."

Now that the danger was past, she let herself relax. She leaned back on a bank of dirt, and recalled something that Pam told her about her months of captivity, and finally their rescue.

"I didn't realize how truly exhausted I was until it was all over. While I was still captive, I had to keep going – not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. It was a massive strain. I had to be on alert at all times, watching out for whatever abuse or attack might come next, and was constantly trying to figure out a way to escape. I couldn't lose my temper or react emotionally at all, because they would take advantage of that. At SERE, I talked to guys who were prisoners at one time or another, and from what they told me, locking down your emotions was a typical reaction. It's common sense in a way; don't give your captors any ammunition to use against you. But it also came about because you had to focus your thoughts on survival, and that left no room for anything else.

Anyway, once the rescuers showed up and got us to a base hospital where we knew that we were safe, I just collapsed. It was as if my entire body had been clenched tight for the entire time, and I could finally let go. I think I slept for three days straight."

Right now, Sam fully understood that feeling. She'd been running on adrenaline for hours, and now the drone was finally out of the picture. She was exhausted, and could feel the energy draining out of her body.

"I'll give myself a couple more minutes, and then if I can actually summon the strength to move, I better start looking for…"

A movement from the ground nearby caught her eye, and her head whipped around in astonishment as an arm shot up out of the ground.

Her thought processes were as sluggish as her body, and she could only look on in horror as the drone rose up out of the ground, dirt pouring off his armor.

"That...can't…be. He was…gone."

The drone's arm slowly came up, and he took aim at Sam, dead center, and too close to miss this time.

She gulped and tried to move, knowing that it was too late, that she was about to die, wishing….

Suddenly, amazingly, a shot struck near the drone. Distracted, he turned away from Sam as several shots followed the first. The drone returned fire, and his inattention to Sam allowed her to escape.

Limping back to the UAV, she crouched behind the rocks again, and saw Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill firing at the drone.

"God, I love those guys."

She heard the colonel approaching and anticipated his request.

"Carter, I need the …"

She held out the power unit, and then watched as he snapped it into the new weapon.

Two shots later, the drone was down.

She was afraid to hope that it was down for good this time. He'd fooled her once, and she needed reassurance.

She asked the colonel "Is it…"

Jack responded confidently. "Yeah, he's dead."

Then, less confidently, "Right, Teal'c, he's dead?"

Apparently convinced by Teal'c that the drone was indeed gone, Jack turned to Sam, who was now slumped against the rocks.

"Yeah, he's dead."

Then after a moment, "You wanna get up?"

Sam's fatigue had returned in force. She wasn't sure if she could get up, but she couldn't tell him that. Showing weakness to anyone, especially the colonel was simply unacceptable in her mind. So she compromised.

"I just need to rest a minute."

Jack looked down at the wounded, clearly wrung-out officer next to him. It was unusual for Sam to even ask for that much and it spoke volumes about her physical state.

He quietly said, "Come here."

Jack was not a man who was averse to touching others. He knew that a pat on the back or a hand on the shoulder could often mean more than words could express. So now, he did what was natural to him, comforted Sam by putting his arm around her.

She surprised him by not just leaning into his arm but also resting her head on his shoulder.

Jack considered her reaction. "She must be almost out of it. She usually doesn't let any of us comfort her like this."

Not wanting to disturb her by reaching for his radio, he called to Teal'c.

"Contact the base camp, and let them know that we found Carter and neutralized the drone at the UAV crash site. Tell them that we need medics, but it's not an emergency situation. They should notify General Hammond as well."

Sam was vaguely aware of the colonel's instructions to Teal'c, but everything seemed remote. She couldn't focus and didn't really care to. It felt good to just let her mind drift for a while.

Then her head snapped up as she was reminded of the beginning of this whole nightmare.

"My dad! Is he…?"

She couldn't finish the question, suddenly fearful of the answer.

Jack quickly responded. "Jacob's fine. He broke a leg, but Selmak already took care of that. He's been more concerned about you than anything else."

Her worry relieved, Sam allowed herself to relax against the colonel's supporting form. Now that he and Teal'c were here, she finally felt safe. Her team had come, just as she knew they would.

Author's note: I can't quit now, can I?