AN. OK, so Sam's gone to do what she can to help our Danny-boy. Hope it's exciting...
Picks up from before Teal'c woke Jack at the end of chapter 10.
Chapter 11 – A Broken, Vulnerable Woman.
Sam sat up silently in her pipe. The was no sound in the hall other than muffled snoring from the occupants of the various pipes around her. She slid out of the foot-end of the pipe, bracing her feet on the ladder below her and began moving across the row. The next pipe along was Daniel's. She could hear his breathing was still shallow and labored and it strengthened her determination to do what she had to to help him.
After five minutes, she had traversed the length of the hall on the tops of pipes and the spindly ladders. Several times she had been convinced that she had woken one of the other testers, but nobody made any indication that they had seen her. Reaching the last column of pipes, which were a mere half foot away from the front wall of the hall, she reached out and pressed the emergency button, sending an electrical signal through the walls of the institute until it reached the head marshal's office.
Marshal Reddall had been sat, half asleep in his chair with his feet on the desk and a line of drool slowly working it's way down his stubbly chin, when the light above his computer station lit and the speaker began squawking an alarm. Sitting up, he wiped a hand across his mouth before peering at the surveillance monitors. It was incredibly rare that the emergency button was pushed, because of the punishment dealt out to any tester who wasted his time. He made an example every few years to make sure it didn't happen, he needed his sleep after all.
The camera pointed at the button mounted on the wall in the residence hall showed a row of dark, still figures in pipes, but hanging onto one of the wires nearest to the camera was the female member of the military team who had arrived a few weeks ago. His lip curled. The governor had given specific instructions that any event concerning this woman should be reported to him immediately.
The whole team was under particular scrutiny from the guards, though they didn't know it. Their military training made them a flight risk and a dangerous one at that. Several times, Reddall had been forced to discipline some of his men for their lewd attitudes toward the attractive female of the group. She was not to be touched, Hyden's orders. There were very few women in the institute as it was, but this one stood out more than most, blond hair and blue eyes. A stunning combination never seen by the locals.
Reddall opened the door of his office and delivered a swift kick the the guard slumped asleep on the floor outside.
"Get up, emergency call from the residence hall."
"What is it boss?"
"It's the woman, we'd better hop to it and see what her majesty wants."
SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1
Having reached the hall and found out that 'her majesty' wanted to see the boss, Reddall put the call through and was told snappily by the governor to bring her to him as quickly as possible. The power to the floor was shut of temporarily in order to get Sam down. All this was done as quickly and quietly as possible. The last thing Reddall wanted was the other testers being aware of her departure too soon.
Sam was lead through the corridors of the institute with a guard on either side of her. She paid more attention to the direction they were taking than she had on her previous trip through these halls, when she had been seething with anger and wincing at the fresh pain from the cut on her cheek where Hyden had hit her. She tried desperately to memorise the route and to take notice of any rooms along the way which may contain weapons or food.
When she was eventually brought before Hyden's door at the top of the flight of steps, she took a deep breath and tried to arrange her face into one of a broken, vulnerable woman, who was in need of the governors 'generosity' as he'd called it. She thought about Daniel and sent a silent prayer to whoever might listen that he was OK, as the guard on her left knocked and footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door.
SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1
Sam's day had not been a pleasant one. She had spent the first half hour in Hyden's quarters after the marshals had left her, groveling and begging forgiveness from him. She had never been a good liar, despite the times during her service when it had been necessary, and she was secretly amazed that her trembling lip and apparent humility had convinced the governor.
Since then, she had mostly been left alone while Hyden saw to 'state business' and when he was there he was sickeningly sweet and affectionate. Sam had to fight the urge to shudder each time he reached out to touch her hair. If she was going to be here long enough to be able to help Daniel she had to play to his attention for another few hours.
She was kneeling on the long couch by the door, studying the locking mechanism. She thought she could figure out a way to unlock it from this side, without Hyden's command code and to lock it again from the other side. Although this particular measure would only buy her a few precious seconds, it would be worth it.
She had spent the afternoon, since Hyden had left her after lunch, investigating his computer. It seemed that in fact, the only technology these people possessed, that was really superior was the transport device. This lead her to think that maybe they had not engineered it themselves and that perhaps they were not the first or only inhabitants of this planet.
She abruptly froze when the sound of somebody climbing the steps outside filtered through the door. She hurried to replace the covering over the now slightly modified door lock. Once it was in place, she proceeded to bend her arms around her back in acrobatic ways, in order to tuck the long piece of tough metal she had pulled from the window lining to use as a screwdriver, into the bra strap across her back. Moving quickly across the room, she sat on the small stool and pretended to be impressed by the view of the city, from the window.
She closed her eyes for a second in order to regroup as she listened to Hyden cross the room towards her. Shifting slightly, she felt the corner of the 'screwdriver' dig deep into the skin of her back. Shit, that hurts. Daniel had better be grateful. As Hyden arrived behind her she felt her stomach involuntarily clench at the feel of his long fingers brushing her hair off her neck in a gesture that spoke of of a non-existent intimacy. Very grateful.
"Did you have a pleasant afternoon?" Sam took a quick breath.
"Yes, Thank you. The city is beautiful."
"It is. This is one of the best views there is. I hope you are feeling slightly recovered from your time in the institute."
"I am." She swallowed. The rest of her team were still stuck down there.
"I understand that you are worried for your friends. But they will be happy, will they not, to know that you will not have to suffer any longer."
"Yes, they will." It was difficult to keep her voice neutral around her grinding teeth. " I am grateful for what you have done for me Hyden." She turned to him, smiling. He looked down on her, brushing her cheek again with the back of his hand. She continued, "I hope in time, I can make it up to you." she whispered, with just enough suggestion for him to think he had a chance. It was obvious in his expression that he caught onto the subtext. His smile turned smug and he reached for her hand pulling her to her feet in front of him.
"I'm sure you will." Hyden leaned forward, pulling her closer to him as he did so, until their lips met. Sam wrestled past the gag reflex enough to kiss him back. She closed her eyes tightly, desperately hoping that she could open them to find it had all been a dream or to find a very different pair of dark eyes gazing at her.
After several moments, she pulled back. Hyden released her hands and moved away in the direction of the intercom to order dinner.
They ate quietly. Hyden making trifling conversation and Sam responding in single sentences. His demeanor had changed. He seemed utterly at ease, seemed to think that he had complete control over her and her situation, which scared her. As they finished desert, he explained to her that he didn't want to pressure her. Getting up, he showed her to an adjoining room with a luxurious bed and an armoire. Sam excused herself, claiming exhaustion and after enduring another swift goodnight kiss she shut the door and collapsed onto the bed.
Her face buried in the pillows, she finally allowed herself to cry silently. She missed her team and the constant sense of security they afforded her, in any circumstance. She hated being at Hyden's mercy and feeling so out of control. She was afraid of what would happen to her should her rudimentary plan fail. She was afraid that when she got back to help Daniel it would be too late. She felt more alone than ever and wished more than ever that she had someone to hold her.
Pulling herself together enough to sit up, she managed to pull off the strange native clothes Hyden had given her and pull on the familiar SGC fatigues she had been wearing to sleep in for the past weeks, which had been placed on the chair in the corner of her room. Lastly she set the alarm on her watch and curled into a tight ball beneath the thick covers on the bed. She fell asleep, convincing herself that she could feel strong, safe arms around her and feel three weeks of adorable beard growth against her cheek and smell the delicious scent that was in her mind, simply him.
SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1
Three hours later, an annoying beeping from her wrist broke into her wonderful dreams and pulled her back to reality with a jolt. Jabbing at the button to shut the damned thing off, she pulled her aching body off of the bed and to the doorway. After listening carefully and hearing no movement from the other side, she slipped into the main living chamber of Hyden's quarters and, removing the strip of metal from beneath her clothing proceeded to 'pick' the electronic lock. Relief washed over her when, after a few minutes the door slid almost silently open.
The stairway was always unguarded but the door at the bottom was not. Gripping her only tool tightly in her hand and running over a rough 'take out the guard ' plan and the mental map of the complex in her head; Sam took another deep breath before plunging down the stairway to rescue her friends.
AN I put a lot more humanity in Sam than I had planned to, in this chapter. I was going to have her be a hard-ass all the way through her ordeal with Hyden but that's just not who she is, I don't think. This is how it ended up and I quite like it but let me know what you think...please. Tell me what your favourite bit of the story is so far and what your favourite bit of this chapter is.
It's January exams now, so I won't be updating any of my stories until the 25th at least. Good luck to anyone else who's taking modules atm.
prometheus246