0400 Sunday

Cam was no less surprised when SG-5 melted from the trees at the rendezvous point. They were every bit as silent as SG-13 had been, moving around the dry branches without a sound. The pilot had never worked in such terrain, and he envied them their ease of movement. Every muscle in his body ached from the amount of ground he'd covered – and his attempt had been nowhere near as graceful.

"Greer," Dixon greeted.

"Sir. I expected to be carrying you out of here," the Marine answered.

The gruff older man stuffed another piece of protein bar in his mouth and spoke around it. "So I've heard."

"I'm glad we're not."

"Aww. You care. I'm touched."

Greer cleared his throat and continued, "Because the Ori have more than tripled their guard at the Gate. We're not going to get out as easily as we got in. They're too spread out for our three shock grenades to be particularly effective. I'm afraid it'll be bloody."

"That's a shame, but as long as it ain't our blood," he answered dryly. "Sunrise is in about two hours. They know we're coming, so the darkness is the best advantage we're gonna get. Unless, of course, we just decide to send Mitchell in as a scout, then toss the grenades when they all go running after him."

SG-12 just shook their heads, but the Marines and the rest of SG-13 snickered. And Teal'c had that wacky knowing smile again, white teeth the only visible part of him in the darkness. "What?" Cam defended indignantly. "What's so funny?"

It was in the silence and knowing glances that followed that it all finally clicked, sending his jaw straight to the dirt for a long moment. "That was the plan," he managed, one angry finger in the Jaffa's chest. "You had no intention of finding them because you wanted them to find us. You dragged me through this forest at break-neck speed just so that I would make a mess of things!"

"As I said," Teal'c answered evenly, "I believe you will come to understand me very soon."

The snickers grew louder.

"You... You..."

"Your lack of stealth was not the sole reason for our speed," he continued. "It was likely their camp was deeply hidden between the village and the Stargate. We had much ground to cover."

"If it makes you feel better, Mitchell, it wasn't just the tornado you left behind you," Dixon spoke up. "It was the breadcrumbs that really caught our interest."

He blinked. "The what?"

The colonel dug briefly in a pocket before tossing a small object at him. He could only follow its trajectory through the occasional glint from the moonlight, but Dixon's aim was true, and he caught it against his stomach. Around him, though he couldn't tell what they were holding, the members of SG-13 each displayed a few.

"We were trying our damndest to figure out who they belonged to. And not a one of us got it right. The colors sure did stick out in the leaves, though."

So Teal'c had been dropping things, which brought Mitchell a mild sense of relief that he wasn't losing his mind. Squinting, he held the tiny object close to his face in the darkness.

And growled at the tiny blue bar with white stars, then turned his menace to his teammate. "Are these my ribbons? Did you go through my pack?"

"Your pack?" Bosworth laughed so hard he choked, leaving Wells to pound him on the back. "You keep them with you? We were sure you'd brought them from home for this!"

Greer crossed his arms. "Just why are you carrying your commendation ribbons offworld in a combat zone?"

"Well, that's an easy one, sir," Russell piped up, all too eager. "You never know when you'll find some hot girl to impress."

The raised-brow look shifted to his young sergeant. "Oh, yeah? You carry yours, too, do you?"

"Hell, no, sir." Raising one arm, he struck his best bodybuilding pose, flexing his bicep. "I get girls with the guns. Then again, I'm not a pilot."

Much to Mitchell's chagrin, that led to laughter again. Irked, he snatched the rest of his commendations from the remaining members of SG-13. "This better be all of them."

"I am certain it is not," Teal'c said. "O'Neill will replace them."

"Oh. So, he was in on this plan. That's... that's great."

"Calm down, Colonel," Dixon chided gently. "Let the boys have their fun. The next two hours are gonna suck."

It was true. They were heading into battle on the ground – yet another thing Mitchell wasn't so good at. He'd gotten his dream post, but it was nothing like flying.

"I think this is a good time to point out, sir, that if at least one member of SG-13 doesn't make it back to the SGC alive, this whole mission is for naught," Airman Wells spoke up. "If it comes to it, I volunteer to be that guy."

His CO grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "Such a burden to carry. Let's get this thing figured out, and maybe we can all get back in one piece."