Title: Old Debts 4: Too
Easy
Author: MajelB
E-Mail: majelitab@lycos.com
Status: WIP
Category:
action/adventure, h/c, angst, drama
Spoilers: Fair Game,
Tok’ra
Season: 3, after FIAD, but
before A Hundred Days
Series: Old Debts
Rating: PG
Content Warnings: mild
language
Summary: The team is
reunited, but their problems are far from over...
Jack thought he heard
something. He could barely make out the sounds of shuffling and rustling leaves,
then silence. Jack shook his head, trying to fend off what must be audio
hallucinations.
Jack looked over at
Teal’c and Daniel, once more attempting to gauge their states of mind. Daniel
had his eyes closed and was leaning heavily on his post, but Jack knew he
wasn’t asleep. Teal’c also had his eyes closed, and was having considerably
more luck in the resting department. His symbiote had been seriously injured by
Cronos and Teal’c had needed to start kel’no’reeming so Junior could start
healing.
Jack sighed and directed
his attention back toward the courtyard’s gate, some fifty yards away from
him. To his surprise, the stocky form of the guard who had been there a few
minutes before had taken on a new, much slighter shape and had started walking
toward them.
Even upon his first, fuzzy
glance, Jack knew without a doubt that it was Carter. As she neared, her
features became more discernable and he could make out the dirty brown color of
her hair and face. Her gaze was trained unwaveringly on the ground in front of
her so he couldn’t see her eyes. Something shiny on her arm glinted in the
moonlight.
Something wasn’t right
and Jack was worried. Sure, she’d probably had quite a time of it in the
woods, warranting her disheveled appearance, but something told him that
underneath the dried and hardened mud still adorning her face, she was white as
a sheet.
Then Jack saw why. The
shiny glint he had seen on her arm had been produced by the gold ornamentation
on the handle of a Jaffa’s dagger. There was a light, but steady, stream of
blood flowing out from under the sleeve of her black tee-shirt and her left arm
was hanging limply at her side. She looked like she didn’t even know it was
there.
“Sam?” Jack heard
Daniel question softly, trying to get her attention. He sounded as worried as
Jack felt. Carter didn’t look up and Jack and Daniel exchanged concerned
glances.
“Carter?” Jack asked,
a bit louder, when she stopped a few steps away from him. She started patting
down the pockets of her BDU’s, like she was looking for something. She still
hadn’t acknowledged the presence of the rest of her team.
“Sam,” Jack said
softly, followed by a quick glance around the compound to make sure they
didn’t have any company. The place was still deserted. Must be past their
bedtime…
“Where is it? It was
right here…” Sam murmured. Jack wasn’t sure if she was responding to him
or just talking to herself. The way she was acting, he wouldn’t put it past
her.
Sam glanced lazily around
the courtyard, as though she might have just dropped whatever it was she had
been looking for. When she did, she caught sight of the knife embedded in her
arm. At first, she ignored it, but did a double take when she realized what it
was.
“Oh, here it is…”
she mumbled almost inaudibly, and she reached up with her right hand and pulled
it out. She didn’t even flinch. Blood was now practically pouring down her arm
and she didn’t seem to notice.
She walked past Jack and
around the post, starting to saw into the ropes on his wrists with the
blood-soaked blade.
“Jack, is she okay?”
Daniel hissed, straining his neck to see her. Jack shook his head.
“I don’t know,” he
replied as the ropes snapped apart. “I think she might be in shock or
something.” Jack let his stiff arms drop to his sides and flexed his hands
once before turning and snagging Carter’s uninjured arm as she started walking
over to Daniel.
He felt her muscles
tighten under his hand in the instant before her reflexes kicked in. Before he
knew it, Carter had twisted free of his grip and was shoving him hard, with her
bloodied arm, into the post behind him, her right hand coming up to angle her
knife against his throat. Was that his blood or hers dripping down his chest?
Jack didn’t move.
Something had happened to her out there and the last thing he wanted to do was
traumatize her more by taking her down. He slowed his breathing, trying to get
over the initial shock of being attacked by his 2IC. He stared into her empty
blue eyes as she tightened her grip on the weapon and thrust it upward slightly,
forcing Jack onto his toes. It didn’t look to him like anybody was home.
“Carter,” he said in a
soft but authoritative tone. She shifted her grip again. “Sam, it’s okay,”
he whispered, as though to a child. “It’s just me, it’s Jack, Sam. I’m
not gonna hurt you.” She blinked, and Jack slowly started snaking his hands up
to reach hers. “You’re okay, Sam, we’re all okay. Just give me the
knife.”
She relaxed a bit and
blinked again as his hands closed around her wrists. “Sir-,” she rasped. She
looked like she was going to be sick.
“Yeah, Carter, it’s
me. Here, let me take that for you.” He nudged her away lightly, and when she
didn’t fight him, he took her right hand in his and used his other hand to
pull the knife gently out of her clenched fist. Still holding her hand, he
directed her to turn around and lean on the post.
“Sit down, Carter. I can
take it from here,” Jack said softly. She nodded and slid her back down the
length of the pole, coming to a rest in a heap on the ground. She was still
clinging to Jack’s hand.
“Sam, I need you to let
go for a minute.” She shook her head and held tighter. “Major, let go of my
hand,” Jack demanded, emphasizing her rank. Her head snapped up and her
fingers opened immediately, accompanied by a slurred “Yessir.”
“I’ll be right back,
Sam,” he said as he stood up. She nodded her head. “Yessir.”
Jack headed over to
Daniel, who was waiting very patiently for his turn. Jack gripped his shoulder
briefly as he moved behind Daniel, knife in hand. Daniel gave a weak smile in
reply. Jack wiped the knife off on his pants and proceeded to cut through
Daniel’s ropes as Carter had for him, glancing around every few seconds just
to make sure they had no unwelcome guests.
The ropes abruptly snapped
loose and Daniel shook his arms out and rubbed his wrists as he turned around to
face Jack.
“Go check her arm. See
if you can bandage it up or something,” Jack ordered, and Daniel went to do as
he was told with little more than a nod. Jack sighed, a wave of exhaustion
coming over him as he moved on to Teal’c, feeling slightly envious of his
friend. He was still deep in meditation.
“Teal’c!” Jack
whispered softly, trying to wake him before he got to work on the ropes.
Teal’c’s eyes snapped open and his body tensed with readiness. Guess
he’s feeling better, Jack thought absently.
“O’Neill,” he
greeted as Jack approached.
“Yeah. Hold still a
minute.” Within seconds, Jack had cut through that last set of ropes and he
and Teal’c walked over to where Daniel and Carter were whispering quietly.
*
*
*
*
“Hey, Sam,” Daniel
cooed, kneeling down to his friend’s level on the ground. “How ya’ doin’?”
He gave her a cursory inspection, noting with a cringe the injury on her arm. He
reached out his hand to apply pressure to the wound.
“-m cold,” she
murmured. “An’ hungry. Where’s your chocolate pocket?” Daniel smiled and
gave a short laugh.
“Sorry, Sam. No more
chocolate,” he replied, rubbing her shoulder with his free hand in an effort
to warm her up some. It was chilly out in the night air and he wished he had his
jacket to give her, but at the moment, he didn’t even have a tee-shirt from
which to tear bandages for her arm.
Bandages. He had to do
something to stop her bleeding.
“Sam, I can’t hold my
hand here forever. I need to tear some of your shirt off so I can wrap your arm
up. Okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. Go ahead.” Sam
reached her hand up to her injury as Daniel nodded and slipped his hand away.
She covered the wound quickly and Daniel reached his hand around her back to
tear off the bottom of her black tee-shirt. He cringed slightly as he felt her
bare back where the fabric had been burned away by the staff blast she had
received… when? Yesterday? He shook off his uneasy feeling and began to rip a
strip of fabric. When he finished, Sam moved her hand away from the bleeding
hole in her arm and allowed her friend to tend it.
Daniel was concerned by
her silence. It just didn’t seem right… Sam and quiet. He kept glancing up
at her, hoping she’d start talking. About anything. She kept silent, but
Daniel got the feeling that she was starting to relax. He decided to get the
ball rolling.
“You, uh, look like you
had quite an adventure. Want to tell me about it?” he whispered.
“Adventure?” she
hissed in a tone that made Daniel freeze. Way to go, Jackson. He winced
at her reply as she huffed her disapproval of his ice-breaking technique.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t
mean—,”
“How’re we doin’,
kids?” Daniel jumped when Jack made his presence known. Apparently he had,
quite stealthily, snuck up on the pair while they were otherwise engaged. He and
Teal’c were standing behind him, watching as he finished bandaging Sam’s
wound.
“Jesus, Jack! Don’t do
that!” Daniel whispered emphatically as he recovered from a mild heart
attack. He nearly had another one when Sam started giggling faintly.
“Oh, and you think this
is funny, do you? Sure, let’s all laugh at the blind archeologist. Last
time I do anything nice for you,” Daniel quipped, smiling brightly at
Sam. She was still chuckling. Daniel gave a sideways look to Jack, who shrugged,
and Daniel pulled the bandage tight as he tied it around her arm.
Sam winced and let a
muffled “Ouch!” escape as she brought herself under control. Daniel
couldn’t stop smiling. Yeah, it is so good to all be together again.
“So, Carter. What’s
the plan?” Leave it to Jack to ruin the moment. Daniel reached out and pulled
Sam to her feet so she could face him.
“Sir?”
“Well, you seem to know
your way around. Are you up for continuing our little field trip?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Uh… no, not really,
no. Look, Carter-,” Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath before cutting
him off.
“Yes, Sir,” She said
quietly, seeming to have resigned to her fate. Daniel watched Jack out of the
corner of his eye. He could see him studying Sam, searching her for anything
that could tell him what was going on inside her head. Daniel glanced back at
Sam, who never broke her CO’s stare, standing stock straight, refusing to let
him see one more moment of weakness. Daniel couldn’t help but marvel at the
collective stubbornness of the two.
“O’Neill, should we
not move to another location?” And leave it to Teal’c to state the obvious.
Jack’s eyes broke from Sam’s and wandered around the courtyard again. Even
Daniel knew that out in the open was not the best place to be just then.
“Yeah. Carter, which way
to the ‘Gate?” he asked, turning back to Sam. She didn’t hesitate a bit
before answering.
“Actually, Sir, I
don’t think that’s such a great idea.” Jack gave her an inquisitive look,
and she continued to explain herself. “The forest probably isn’t the safest
place. First, it’s dark and we’re unfamiliar with the territory. Second, by
now, Jaffa are probably combing the area for me.”
Jack wasn’t satisfied
with her response.
“Well, unless you’ve
got some transport rings up your sleeve, I don’t really see any other
options.”
“There is another
option, Sir, although I don’t know how much better it would be than risking it
in the woods…” she kind-of trailed off, loosing herself in thought. Jack
cleared his throat to regain her attention.
“And…?”
“Well, Sir, if we can
get to the throne room, we can take a tunnel all the way to the clearing where
the ‘Gate is. And on our way, we might be able to get our hands on one of the
GDO’s and some weapons.”
Realization hit Daniel
like a brick wall. “Tunnel?” He asked. “As in, the Tok’ra kind?”
“Uh-huh. Jolinar must
have grown it. It was how she escaped. There’s a panel in the wall behind the
throne that can be opened by remote control. The tunnel leads all the way to the
‘Gate. I don’t think Cronos even knows it’s there.” Sam looked to Jack
for approval of her plan.
Jack ran a hand through
his hair in mild frustration, his expression mirroring the one Daniel knew he
must be displaying himself. Daniel really didn’t like the idea of going back
into the fortress. They were free and outside. They could get to the ‘Gate
just fine! Why bother going back inside and risk being recaptured?
“And you know for a fact
that this tunnel is there and empty?” Jack asked.
“Yes, Sir,” Sam
nodded. “I found the remote and the tunnel myself. It’s how I got out.”
Apparently, Jack saw merit
in Sam’s logic that Daniel had missed. His jaw dropped when Jack nodded his
head in Sam’s direction. “Okay, Carter. Lead the way.”
“But, Jack-,” Daniel
protested, fully expecting the exasperated sigh that Jack released as he
prepared for the impending argument.
“Daniel. Carter’s
right. I know it really sucks going back in there, but given the choice between
the forest, being unarmed and without a GDO, and a hidden tunnel with weapons
and a GDO, I pick the tunnel.”
The two men just stood,
looking at each other impassively, for a moment, each considering the other’s
viewpoint against his own. Daniel broke the silence with a small whisper.
“I can see that, Jack, I
just… I have a funny feeling. Like this has all been just a little too easy,
or something. I mean, all things considered, we’re in pretty fair shape. And
just look around- not a Jaffa in sight. Don’t you think that something is a
little off here? Like we should just cut our losses and run for the ‘Gate as
fast as we can? I mean, I know we’re good, but…”
Jack blinked and tapped
his fingers nervously on his pant leg as Daniel spoke. Daniel knew that Jack
knew that he was making a valid point. He hadn’t missed Jack’s watchful
glances around the compound every thirty seconds and he waited breathlessly for
Jack’s response.
“You’re right
Daniel,” Jack replied softly.
“Uh, what?” Daniel
answered, stunned by his friend’s candid admission.
“I said, you’re right.
I don’t like this either. We could head straight for the ‘Gate, but
what then? That’s probably where all the Jaffa are. What’re we gonna do?
Just glare at them and hope they just… fall over like dominos?”
“He’s right, Daniel.
The gate is heavily guarded. We can’t just walk up and ask them to
please step away from the DHD,” interjected Sam, who had been half following
the conversation and half scanning the compound. Daniel opened his mouth to
argue again, but he had to admit the truth of their statements. He closed his
mouth and nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
“Well, now that we have
Daniel’s approval, let’s get going. Major, ladies first,” Jack said,
gesturing for Sam to lead the way. Daniel shook his head in defeat as Sam gave
him an understanding glance. She pulled out the Zat she had stuffed in her pants
and handed it to Jack, before turning and cautiously heading for the large,
gold, pyramid-esque building a few yards away.
*
*
*
*
Teal’c was uneasy and
had been for quite some time. He and his friends were still alive, still
breathing and upright, and, most importantly, they were free. Yes, Teal’c was
very uneasy. He kept his eyes open and his mind alert as he guarded Daniel
Jackson, having placed a hand on his shoulder to make sure he did not stumble
over some unseen obstacle on the ground.
By all rights, the group
should not be in so fair a condition.
Teal’c turned his
attention back toward the two officers approaching a side door of the
compound’s primary structure. O’Neill, wielding a Zat’nik’atel, waved
Major Carter forward. She nodded and signaled O’Neill to cover her and jogged
to the control panel next to the entryway. Silently and stealthily, O’Neill
made his way to join her, taking up a position on the opposite side of the door
from Major Carter.
O’Neill searched out
Teal’c and Daniel Jackson’s location, hidden among some bushes, and turned
back to Major Carter’s activities once he was satisfied that his companions
were still well and concealed.
Major Carter drew a small
device from her pocket, then, and O’Neill gave her a quizzical look. She
shrugged and proceeded to finger the device, glancing from it to the door’s
control panel, and back again. After a few more deft movements, the door slid
silently open, without even the slightest of alarms to speak of.
Yes, Teal’c was very
uneasy.
O’Neill motioned to
Teal’c to bring Daniel and enter the building behind Major Carter and himself
before disappearing into the darkness inside. Major Carter hesitated a moment,
rapt by her teammates’ progress, then followed O’Neill. Teal’c guided
Daniel Jackson through the door and it slid closed behind them.
The interior of the
building was dimly lit and Teal’c had difficulty even seeing Major Carter
walking through the corridor ahead of he and Daniel Jackson. The team moved
slowly and quietly until their eyes better adjusted to the light, or lack
thereof.
“Teal’c!” Came a
sharp whisper from O’Neill. “Where do you think they would stash our
stuff?”
They stopped at an
intersection of corridors and Teal’c stepped ahead of O’Neill and Major
Carter, attempting to get his bearings and assess his familiarity with the
layout of such a building. It was, in fact, very similar to some of the
planetary bases Apophis had used while he was First Prime.
Creative, the Goa’uld were not.
“The armory should be on
this level in this direction, O’Neill,” he replied, sure of himself.
O’Neill nodded.
“Right. And even if our
stuff isn’t there, we can at least pick up a few Zats or something. I don’t
want to spend more time in here than we absolutely have to,” he replied.
“Let’s go.”
Teal’c looked back to
where he had left Daniel Jackson and was pleased to find that Major Carter had
assumed his former position, having placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. She
nodded to Teal’c, encouraging him to take the lead.
They made a right and
headed down the indicated hall.
*
*
*
*
Sam gripped Daniel’s
shoulder tightly, more for her own security than his. The Colonel had given her
back the knife she had… uh… been stabbed with. The metal handle was hot in
her hand, and she trembled when she started thinking about it. Daniel could feel
it through his shoulder, no doubt. He kept glancing over at her, giving her
little smiles. She was so glad he understood, that he was okay with the
deathgrip she had on his shoulder.
She and Daniel followed
the Colonel through the halls. Sam couldn’t relax. She kept thinking about
what Daniel had said—about this whole thing being just a little too easy. He
was absolutely right.
Then again, maybe not.
The corridor behind them
lit up as if by lightning. The four people spun around in unison, ducking away
from the staff blast that had seemed to come blazing out of nowhere.
“Get down!” The
Colonel yelled as he jumped behind a pillar. Sam reacted to the sound of the
blast with surprising agility. She pulled Daniel harshly out of the line of fire
behind a pylon and the pair glued their backs to the wall, helpless to do much
else.
Sam could suddenly hear
the clanging of Jaffa boots on the metal floor over the firing of weapons. The
Colonel was peeking out from behind his pillar to fire the only Zat they had,
trying to stave off the advance of the approaching Jaffa contingent. She
tightened her grip on her knife, as if it would do any good in a firefight, and
squeezed the life out of Daniel’s shoulder. It made her own injured arm hurt,
but just then, she didn’t really care.
The noise was deafening
and all she could do was stand there and watch as blast after blast just barely
missed the Colonel. He just kept firing, despite the fact that the Jaffa were
still out of the range of the less-powerful weapon. Teal’c was standing next
to him, aching to do something to help.
Sam poked her head out for just a second, trying to asses their enemies’ advance. In that moment she simultaneously heard two things over the sound of the staff blasts—Daniel shouting the Colonel’s name, and a cry of pain…
Back to Old Debts 3: Search and Rescue
On to Old Debts 5: Nothing's Permanent