Note: Takes place between Ch. 18 and 19 in Language of Love.
-Year 2 of Settlement-
Jack swerves in time to avoid a tree branch from smacking him in the face. "I don't know why these guys are so upset. Sure it isn't your fault, Danny?"
"Me, Jack? I'm not the one who touched something I wasn't supposed to this time."
"Daniel's right, sir," Carter says. "You did stand up in the middle of negotiations and pick up their most sacred artifacts without permission."
"Hey, I was getting bored and the talks were going nowhere fast. What's the big deal anyway? You guys are always saying I should be more curious."
"Which doesn't mean hitting the artifact across the floor with the ceremonial staff in the direction of the altar," Daniel retorts.
"Dunno why you're so upset either. Looked a lot like hockey gear to me, figured they were Ancient versions of sports equipment. Wasn't it cool the way the goal lit up when the puck slid in?"
Daniel's cry of exasperation is almost drowned out by the villagers' collective roar of displeasure in the near distance.
"See, that's exactly what I'm talking about. They're clearly overreacting!"
Not exactly the most peachy of missions so far. Five of them versus about forty villagers armed with pitchforks, spears and arrows. Carter and Danny steadily keeping pace right behind him, Becky a bit further back while Teal'c brings up the rear. Their pursuers have been driving them in the opposite direction of the Gate as far as Jack can reckon.
And to think they left their weapons at the temple door to be polite. Really, this is the last time he listens to Daniel's advice about anything.
When missions go severely south like this- which is often- the one-in-a-million chance to come out alive happens nine times out of ten so Jack 's not overly concerned. Witness the fact they're able to have this conversation while running for their lives.
His left foot almost lands on nothing but air. He flails a bit but manages to right himself in time. Breathing heavily, he peers over the edge of the cliff at the river below. Long way down.
Carter almost crashes into him, his arms automatically encircling her waist before she can tumble over herself.
"Thanks, sir."
"No problem." Reaching and grabbing hold of Daniel's tac vest, halting his momentum. "Whoa there, Spacemonkey."
Whose eyes widen, registering their location. "Huh. We take a wrong turn somewhere?"
Becky skids to a halt, panting. "Why have we stopped?" Daniel points and she groans. "Heights. Why does it have to be heights?"
Teal'c isn't even winded as he slows. "Our pursuers are fast approaching, O'Neill. We must either turn and face them or resume our retreat to the chappa'ai by another path."
"I hear ya, T. Options, anyone?"
"It's not too far down to the river bank from here, sir," Carter observes. "We can probably free climb if we had to. I've done worse in SERE training before Project Giza."
Becky gapes at her. "Seriously? Without a rope? You're kidding, right?"
"Nope," Jack says, "unless you'd rather take your chances with the friendly folks back there."
She glances behind them and swallows. "On second thought climbing's not a bad idea."
"Atta girl. Okay campers, let's-"
One arrow whizzes above them in a deliberate warning shot. They turn and face the threatening crowd.
Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. Or is it between a rock and a hard place? Either way, both clichés apply.
Teal'c stands firm, stalwart warrior that he is. "O'Neill, Major Carter, Daniel Jackson, Becky Grahme. We have fought well together. I am proud to remain here with you until the very end."
"Feeling's mutual, T," Jack replies. "All the same I'd rather get home in one piece, ya know?"
The village headman steps forward. "Strangers, you are guilty of blasphemy against our great and terrible Horned One. Surrender now and face your punishment."
"Which is?" Jack inquires innocently.
"You will be put to death, followed by perpetual torment in the afterlife at the hands of our mighty god."
Not exactly incentive to stick around.
"Hey, much as we'd love to stay and chat we gotta split, so see ya," throwing him a mock salute. "Now, campers!"
As one they quickly and carefully lower themselves onto the cliff face while more arrows sail over their heads. Strangely enough the villagers remain where they are on the edge of the cliff, making no further move to stop them as they descend. Guess they also have an issue with heights.
Becky yelps as she abruptly loses her footing and starts sliding down the cliff. Jack barely has time to register the panic in her eyes as he makes a grab for her, cursing as his hand closes over empty air.
Carter tries to stop her with the same lack of success. "Daniel!"
"I see her." He manages to snag a corner of Becky's pack, intending to halt her descent. But he misjudges her weight and the strength in his arm to swing her back against the cliff. Overbalanced, he loses his own precarious hold on the rock face and together they splash into the river.
Without Jack having to ask Teal'c immediately pushes himself away from the cliff in a more controlled drop, landing in the water near their entry point. Jack sighs in relief as he soon surfaces holding onto Danny and Becky a few yards later, both gasping for air but otherwise alive. All three fight the current as they head for the river bank. When safely on dry land Teal'c waves to indicate they're all right.
A rope snakes down the cliff. "Come back up here!" the headman demands. "Face your inevitable destiny."
Like that's gonna happen anytime soon.
"You thinking what I'm thinking, Carter?"
"Yes, sir. Ready when you are."
"Then let's do it."
They grab for each other's hand instead of the rope, letting go of the cliff at the same time.
Everyone sports bruises and scrapes but no concussions, bones broken or other severe injuries. Thank goodness.
Could've been a lot worse, all things considered.
It takes about a half hour of searching along the river bank to find a cave suitable for hiding. Carter examines and organizes whatever's immediately usable, Daniel tends to Becky's skinned hands, Teal'c sharpens a long branch to investigate their immediate surroundings and Jack gathers enough wood for a fire. There's a natural chimney further back in the cave so they have good air circulation and no danger of suffocating from the smoke.
As the village is between them and the Gate and everyone's still recovering from their descent- not to mention how much of their gear's still soaking wet- it makes sense to rest overnight. The summer evening's warm enough to lounge around in t-shirt and boxers while their clothes steam propped up on poles by the campfire and a kettle heats up purified water for dinner and klah.
Jack gingerly lowers himself onto his sleeping pad, knees aching in protest. Definitely getting too old to be running through forests and climbing down cliffs. "Danny, when we get back home I'm putting blame on you for the whole mess on the official report."
Daniel snorts. "When don't you?"
Carter bites her lip to prevent an insubordinate remark from escaping. Teal'c raises his usual eyebrow of reproach.
Becky shivers, clutching her blanket together with one bandaged hand while gingerly holding the handle of her mug with the other. "I'm still cold," she complains.
"That's what you get for wanting to take a dip in the river, kiddo."
"No, that's what I get for climbing without a rope," she dryly counters. "Mac always claims it's not the fall that's the problem, it's the sudden stop at the end."
Jack can't help but chuckle. Sounds like his brother alright, inheriting Mom's aversion to heights. Good thing he picked up his biological father's love of flying instead. "You'll get used to it. Hey Daniel, warm her up, willya? Don't wanna hear my niece's teeth chattering like castanets all night." Who glares back but slips an arm around her anyway, his blanket draped around them both as an extra layer.
"Sorry for pulling you in with me," she tells him sheepishly.
His annoyed expression softens into a smile."It's okay. I fell for you already long before today." He drops a kiss into her hair and she smiles, nestling closer to his body .
Jack has to admit they're adorable together but for form's sake rolls his eyes. "Aw c'mon, kids. Save the mushy stuff for when we're back home, okay?"
A blush tints Becky's cheeks. Daniel shoots him a sharp look.
To be honest he doesn't mind her accompanying them offworld from time to time, heights aversion and the occasional public displays of affection aside. She keeps Daniel on an even keel and they're certainly having their share of interesting missions with her around, which for their track record is saying something.
"O'Neill," Teal'c pipes up, diverting Jack's attention away from the tender moment. "Should we not be devising a plan to retrieve our weapons from the village and return to New Earth?"
"Sure, T. But can't it wait 'til morning? Don't know about you but I've had a hell of a day."
"As you wish. I do not require sleep like you Tau'ri yet I am sure to find the rest beneficial nonetheless."
"That's the spirit." The welcome coffee-chocolate-cinnamon aroma of steeping klah wafts to his nose and he smiles up at his 2IC, accepting the mug. "Much appreciated, Carter. Sit down, take a load off."
She complies, though not without first casting a look in the direction of the cave entrance.
"Hey, relax," in answer to her unspoken concerns. "Teal'c didn't find anything out there to worry about and no one can see in here from the river, so we're safe enough right now. Besides, we're not likely be assaulted with torches and pitchforks overnight."
She nods, the tension leaving her body with his words. "I'm just disappointed the mission turn ed out to be a failure. Even with the other mines in operation by our allies we need all the naquadah we can get for the ships built at Alpha Base."
"Can't win 'em all, ya know."
"Statistically speaking you're right, sir. Every mission's likely to contain unknown variables. The Ancients built the Stargate network in order to colonize worlds with even the slightest potential for habitation and the Goa'uld relocated humans from Old Earth all over the galaxy. The database of Huy-Braesealis fills some of the gaps in our knowledge but even so it's several millennia out of date."
"Which means we have to go through the Gate and find out what's going on for ourselves."
"Exactly. Because sometimes the only way to explore the galaxy," she shrugs, "is to explore the galaxy. Therefore it's no surprise we've encountered such a wide variety of divergent cultures and temperaments-" She frowns. "Huh."
"What is it?"
"It just occurred to me, about the negotiations. The village headman was reluctant to talk with us until the priest whispered in his ear. Even then it seemed he was just waiting for an excuse to kill us, before you did what you did. I wonder why."
"Really? You didn't recognize the horned symbol hanging over their altar?"
Her brow furrows. "Well, now that you mention it I thought it resembled the one signifying Ba'al, a minor System Lord-" Her eyes widen. "Colonel, does that mean you were already anticipating trouble? Deliberately derailing the negotiations by jumping the gun?"
"Who, me?" with his most innocent expression. "Why Major, it's like you don't know me at all." He sobers. "This world's on the fringes of his domain. Weiss in Intelligence heard a rumor that the snake sent out standing orders for his worshipers to deal with us if we ever came knocking. The major wanted confirmation and we were in the neighborhood."
"So that's why you didn't abort the mission soon as we stepped out of the wormhole. We couldn't tip our hands to the fact we already knew."
"That's about the size of it."
"Makes sense, but all the same I have a nasty feeling Ba'al will cause serious trouble for us one of these days if we let him."
"You and me both. But let's not dwell, okay? Best thing to do with snakes like him is to keep outta their way until they get in ours." Harry taught him a version of that back in the day though he meant literal ones, not alien symbiotes. "Reaching that cliff turned out to be a lucky break, didn't it. Guess we have a guardian angel watching out for us or something."
"To tell the truth I don't believe in angels."
"Really? Not even the ones dancing on the head of a pin?"
"Interestingly enough, while in a philosophical sense it implies the futility of debating something that cannot be tested or observed, it's also been examined literally in terms of modern information physics, quantum gravity and relativity theory."
He turns to study her, enjoying the way her eyes sparkle when talking science. "Carter, are you telling me there's nothing sacred in physics anymore?"
"Oh, I wouldn't call myself religious, sir. Before my mom died and whenever Dad was on leave my family attended church but it never made sense to me. Especially not after seeing how the Goa'uld trick people into worshiping them as living gods with so-called miracles that are actually higher technology at work. And considering how often we've beaten what seems like impossible odds to survive I'm not sure I believe in the possibility of divine intervention anyway."
"So what do you believe in?"
"Science," firmly and without hesitation. "And us. And that we make our own luck. So did your grandfather, according to Mac."
"Wasn't wrong, in his way." Smiles faintly at the memories. Sometimes Jack feels like he's becoming more like Harry every day, not necessarily bad thing in his opinion. The original curmudgeon with a heart of gold.
Silence falls, the comfortable sort that has grown between the two of them over the years, punctuated by the crackling of the fire and the faint sounds of the river and nocturnal life outside the cave.
He sips at his mug, the klah warming him from the inside out, glad the sachets for brewing had been packed in a waterproof pouch so they hadn't gotten prematurely soaked in the river. Took some time getting used to the taste, but that can be said for most everything about their new homeworld.
Carter stifles a yawn. "Sorry, sir. Guess today's excitement has caught up with me."
"You aren't the only one," nodding at Danny and Becky across the way in a cozy-looking slump against the cave wall, her head pillowed on his chest, his cheek resting against her hair. Teal'c sits serenely in his own corner, eyes closed and legs crossed, deep in kel'no'reem. "Go ahead and get some shut-eye. I'll take first watch."
"Okay," already half-asleep, leaning more and more against him. "Night, Jack."
"Sweet dreams, Sam." Letting protocol slide in the face of exhaustion he allows himself the luxury of holding her close.
He likes watching over his team, keen-eyed and alert despite the late hour and the diminishing fire. It makes him feel secure.
Tomorrow's soon enough to figure out how to deal with the villagers, retrieve their weapons and get back to New Earth in one piece. For now it's pleasant to recuperate by the fire after their ordeal, breathing in scented evergreen smoke while four of the six people he's closest to in the entire universe are sleeping right here in this cave.
Family as well as team. He'd do anything for them.
Realistically Jack reckons the chance of their survival this time lies somewhere between slim and none. Which he finds very comforting in a wacko kind of way. He's a man of action for crying out loud, not complacency.
Coming out of retirement when the Gate activated for the second time has turned out to be loads more fun than just hanging around home twiddling his thumbs back in Colorado Springs. Not that he would admit it to anyone out loud, though.
Anyway, he's not worried. They've beaten impossible odds before as Sam said, and they'll do it again. Hell, they've already defeated two big-time System Lords, faced the literal end of the world and survived a ton of other wacko stuff to get where they are now, haven't they? Piece of cake.
The impossible has a way of becoming possible, with the people he loves at his side.
Notes:
SERE= Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape.
A scientific, quantum-based treatment of the (in)famous angels-dancing-on-a-pin problem can be found in the Annals of Improbable Research. Just the kind of publication Sam might've read and delighted in, between missions.