Mitchell squeezed his eyes shut in an effort to ride out the waves of pain coursing through his body. "Jackson, ya dead mon?"

Daniel didn't miss the decidedly Jamaican cadence of Cam's voice and instantly caught the movie reference. "Ya mon," he answered through gritted teeth.

Cool Runnings had been the pick for the latest team movie night. Vala had sworn that Teal'c bore a passing resemblance to the Yul Brenner character and had been trying to get him to use a Jamaican accent ever since.

Carter and Vala had dropped to their knees beside the two men, the council and tribe all but forgotten. Sam knew that if they were trading quips they would live and they would move when they were ready.

"Personally, I'm wishing I were dead because you know we're never going to live this down."

"You said that about the snares."

"Yeah, I've started a list and its getting kinda long."

"Really, what have you got so far?" Daniel could feel Vala hovering at his back. Deciding it was time to move, he held his breath and slowly rolled onto his back to face her.

"Well, so far on this trip alone we have the snares, being captured by a tribe of women, and being shanghaied for breeding purposes by said tribe." Cam was starting to relax a bit as the pain subsided. The cool ground felt great on his fevered body and he wondered if they'd let him stay there all night.

Sam threw a wink in Vala's direction. "Don't forget losing your pants, AGAIN."

Mitchell gritted his teeth and rolled onto his back. "Fine," he ground out, "getting stripped to our underwear and getting chained to posts in the middle of said tribe's village. Better?" His attempt at a glare was in full force.

"Much. You guys ready to get back up?"

Daniel and Cameron locked baby blues and shrugged. One at a time Sam and Vala helped them back to the chairs facing the council's table.

When they were settled, the council member that had announced their decision spoke up. "You disagree with our ruling?"

"Well, Ma'am-" he stopped when the tribe let out a collective gasp. Mitchell swiveled his head from the outraged council member to his teammates. "What'd I do?"

"How dare you speak to me in such a manner! For that, I order you to be put to death immediately; we shall make an example out of you."

As one, every team members' jaw dropped in absolute shock. Poor Cameron had no idea what he had said to provoke such a reaction. He held up his hands in a placating manner and tried again. "Ma'am, I-" when another gasp was heard, Cam hung his head and decided he was not going to say another word until they got off this planet.

"Again! I can only put you to death once Col. Mitchell, but if you continue to insult me in such a fashion I will ensure that your death is as slow and painful as possible."

Insult, the light finally clicking on in his head, Jackson spoke up. "On our planet, women are called ma'am as a sign of respect and deference. I believe that Col. Mitchell was trying to relay his respect for your position while politely informing you that yes, we do have a problem with your ruling." Cam nodded to show his agreement, he was not about to open his mouth again.

"No matter, that insult is not tolerated on this planet. However, I will stay your sentence until the morning so that you may say goodbye to your friends. Dr Jackson, you will begin your duties in the morning. Council is adjourned."

"Leave it to those good southern manners of mine to get me executed. Grandma will love that," Cam muttered under his breath.

The team sat in stunned silence while the tribe dispersed to their huts. "General Landry is going to love these mission reports." Sam smiled as another thought hit her, "I wonder what Jack will say."

"Ah hell," Jackson looked at Mitchell, "NOW we'll never live this down."

"Ok, apparently talking our way out of this isn't going to work. So unless my Daniel would like to stay and live out every man's fantasy, we have to get both of you out of here. Anyone got a plan?"

"We'll go back to the gate, let the SGC know what's up, and find out when the Odyssey will be in range. We'll be back long before morning."

"Sam, you know as well as I do, right now may be our best chance for getting out of here. We don't know how close the Odyssey is and I for one am not sticking around to be executed."

Sam watched with concern as Cameron shifted in the chair. "Cam, you guys can hardly move." She looked into both he and Daniel's eyes and saw none of the humor that had been there a few minutes before. Both sets of beautiful blue eyes held only pure determination. "I know, I know, you'll make it work."

"You'll need a diversion." No one had heard Daphne approach the group. "There are many of the tribe who do not agree with the rulings. We wouldn't mind keeping you around," she ran a hand down Cam's face, "Anna is quite smitten with you. But no one should be put to death for what is a compliment on their world, and no one should be kept against their will."

After a quick conference, it was decided that Daphne would create the diversion while two of the other women from the tribe would help move Mitchell and Jackson to a safe place. Knowing that the guys wouldn't be able to make it very far, Daphne arranged for some of the other women to create a false trail leading in the opposite direction.

"How do I make these work?" She held up two small, round objects.

Cam laughed tiredly as he took the objects from her hand. "Genius, got these from my vest?" Daphne nodded, and watched as he showed her how to pull the pin and set the grenades for optimal effect.

Just before Daphne's preparation time was up, Anna and one of the other women came and sat by the small group. Anna gave Cam a small, shy smile before she slipped his good arm over her shoulders. Sam moved to his other side and repeated the motion. Vala and the other woman, Constance, flanked Daniel and prepared for action.

They were the only people not to look to the north as two explosions ripped through the trees. Twin grunts were heard as the girls hoisted Cameron and Daniel to their feet and headed east out of the village.

Daniel's hip and ribs were on fire. Thanks to Vala and Constance he was able to keep all the weight off that leg, but every hop still sent bolts of pain all the way down his right side. He was starting to question the wisdom of this move, it probably wouldn't have been that bad for him, but he wasn't about to stay and let them execute Mitchell. One look at the other group told him that he was definitely tolerating this little jaunt through the woods better than Cam was.

Cameron's face and upper body were bathed in sweat and the girls were having a difficult time keeping a good grip on him. His bright blue eyes were vibrant with pain and fever but still held the steely stubbornness that he was famous for. He was pretty darn sure that if he looked over his should he would find a knife sticking out of his shoulder blade and that the splint was the only thing keeping his foot attached to his leg. He could feel the women on either side watching him carefully.

Sam and Anna knew they were causing Mitchell more pain with each step. Carter watched as his eyes began to roll back up into his head. They had been traveling for roughly fifteen minutes. She hoped that they were far enough away to take a short break, Cam would last much longer without one. "Hey guys, we need to stop."

"No, we keep going."

"Cam…"

"No Sam, we're not stopping on my account. If we get caught now, you and Vala will be in hot water too, and they have no reason to keep you around. I'm not going to let that happen because I slowed us down. Jackson, how are you doing?"

"Oh, just dandy. Let's keep going."

"You heard the man."

Carter shook her head, why did she have to work with two of the most stubborn men in the galaxy, well three if you included Jack. Vala and the other women were awed by the determination of the two men.

It would have been next to impossible for the team to find their way in the dark without the tribe's women and their knowledge of the area. "We are close to a rather large ravine, so we must be careful." The words were barely out of Anna's mouth when Vala, Jackson and Constance vanished from in front of her. She, Cameron, and Sam barely had time to register their disappearance when the ground gave way beneath their feet.

Their trip down the hill was thankfully short, but everybody felt its effects. Vala could feel the blood running down her face and a dozen new bruises forming on her arms and legs. She quickly searched in her pack for a flashlight; they hadn't been using them up until now to avoid detection but she figured that didn't matter much now. She switched it on to see Sam and Anna looking slightly worse for wear. Carter had just found her flashlight and both were hovering over Mitchell who looked to be out cold. She turned in a quick circle looking for Constance and her Daniel. What she found was not a comforting sight. Constance was slowly making her way toward Jackson who lay on his injured side taking short, ragged breaths.

He opened his eyes when Vala dropped to her knees beside him. "Vala.. –can't breath," was all he managed to gasp out before losing consciousness.