Title: Old Debts 1: Worth
It
Author: MajelB
E-Mail: majelitab@lycos.com
Status: WIP
Category:
action/adventure, drama, angst, h/c
Spoilers: COTG, ITLOD,
Tok'ra 1&2, Bloodlines, Fair Game, minor Solitudes
Season: Three, after FIAD,
but before A Hundred Days
Series: Old Debts
Rating: PG-13
Content Warnings:
violence, language, angst
Summary: A Goa'uld who
repays his debts? Yeah, I didn't think so either.
__________________________________________________________________
“Dammit! Daniel, get over to the gate and dial us home! We’ll cover you.” Jack shouted over the deafening sounds of staff weapons firing rapidly in SG-1’s direction.
They were making their way back to the gate as fast as they could while still trying to stay hidden in the brush flanking the wide path through the trees. Finally, they had gotten close enough to make a try for the DHD. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw Daniel’s head poke out from behind a large bush a bit behind him and to his left. Daniel crouched on the balls of his feet and strapped his gun across his chest and shoulders, out of the way. He readied himself like a sprinter at the starting line and with a quick nod from Jack, bolted out from behind the bush. Jack noticed that Carter and Teal’c, situated just in front of Daniel’s hiding spot across the path, saw him too, as they noticeably stepped-up their firing to better cover their friend.
Suddenly, a shot blazed past Jack’s head… but it hadn’t come from in front of him.
“Sir! They’re surrounding us! They’re closing too fast!” Carter shouted over the din. Jack glanced over his shoulder to check Daniel’s progress. Almost there. Good. He looked back over at Carter and Teal’c and stopped firing his P-90 for a moment.
“Carter, head for the gate and cover Daniel. Teal’c, giver her a ten-count, then follow her.” Both nodded and Carter turned around in her crouch, jumped to her feet, and started running towards the gate. Jack sprayed bullets in the direction of their unseen Jaffa assailants as Teal’c fired his staff.
The next ten seconds felt like an eternity for Jack. He couldn’t stop shooting to look over and check on Carter and Daniel, he couldn’t help but try and will Teal’c into starting his dash for the gate, and he tried really hard not to think about how he was going to get there. Finally, Jack saw Teal’c stand up and start running. He was really pretty graceful for such a big guy.
* * * *
Teal’c ran as fast as he could toward the Stargate, unable to fire his staff. He could still hear O’Neill firing behind him and staff blasts hitting trees on either side of him. As he neared the gate, he could see Daniel Jackson crouched behind the DHD, zat drawn, waiting for an opening to dial. Major Carter was still running, but Teal’c was catching up with her fast. It took him a moment to understand why she was moving so slowly. There was a burn through the right calf of her BDU’s, but she was still running. Teal’c hefted his staff, intending to defend Major Carter if they were overtaken and increased his speed to catch up with her faster. He reached her just as she began to stumble and grabbed her forearm to steady her. She looked up in surprise, her eyes flashing an instant of fear before she recognized her friend.
“Teal’c,” she breathed with relief.
“You are injured?” he queried, taking some of her weight by moving his arm down around her waist and half carrying her.
“Ya’ think?” she grunted. “It’s not bad. Just grazed me.”
She relaxed a bit, trusting Teal’c to get her to safety, and risked a glance over her shoulder. She could see the colonel running, waving them on as he broke the tree-line. She watched him for a second, morbidly curious as to how many Jaffa were following him. Just then, a glint of gold caught her eye, much closer to her and Teal’c. She gasped slightly and Teal’c tightened his grip around her, urging her to speed up. He didn’t see the Jaffa poking his staff weapon out from behind a tree to their right. How did he get so close?
Time slowed down as Sam saw, with remarkable sharpness, the end of the staff open, preparing to fire. Her mind was racing, much faster than her mouth could move, anyway. Instead of warning Teal’c, she pulled out of his grip and tried to turn him around, to pull them both out of the line of fire, but she was too slow. She was facing him now, clawing at his shoulders, trying to get him to move in another direction, trying to tell him what was going to happen. He saw the Jaffa over Sam’s head just before she slammed into him with the force of a staff blast to her back.
Teal’c stumbled as he tried to catch her, cursing himself. He could not hang onto her as he tried to keep running. In the back of his mind, he thought he heard Daniel Jackson and O’Neill shouting as he knelt, laying Major Carter on the ground. Teal’c finally got a good look at her face. Her eyes were clouded over in a combination of panic and pain. There was a slight drizzle of blood at the corner of her mouth, starkly contrasting the paleness of her skin, and her hands were white as she clutched at the sleeves of his jacket.
“Run,” she breathed, pleading with him to go. Teal’c was grief-stricken. His eyes were wide as he looked around uncertainly, his mouth dropping open to offer some explanation to O’Neill as he ran up to them.
“Teal’c, go! Now!” O’Neill shouted as he heard the wormhole open. Daniel was yelling.
“O’Neill-,” Teal’c began, but Jack cut him off.
“Get the hell outa here, for cryin’ out loud!” he said, kneeling down to pick up Carter. “We’ll be right behind you,” he added, a bit softer, but without looking up.
Jack saw the large man rise and bow his head. Teal’c looked over to where the blast had come from, aiming his staff, but the coward was nowhere to be seen. He turned and cautiously made his way to the gate, wary of the sudden silence around him.
“Jesus, Carter,” Jack breathed, as he surveyed the scene before him. He had seen what she did, how she had saved Teal’c’s life. He couldn’t decide between being proud of her or pissed as hell at her.
“C’mon, Carter. Stay with me. Ya’ gotta help me out a little here,” he whispered, leaning down to pick her up. Her eyes got very wide.
“Sir-,” she choked.
“Shut up, Carter,” he said as he curled his arms under her knees and shoulders.
“No- Sir-. B’hind you,” she whispered.
“What?” he said. The hairs on the back of his neck tingled as he swung his head around to find the business end of a zat six inches from his face.
As the charge from the weapon coursed through him, he thought he saw Carter’s eyes close.
* * * *
“Jack. JACK! C’mon, wake up! Jack!”
Someone was talking to him. Not just talking… someone was shaking him. Hard. That’s not right…
Jack gasped, sitting up fast and nearly knocking Daniel over in the process. Man, he hurt. Jack winced at the sharp ache in his head and scooted back to lean against the coarse, damp wall of the… cell. Shit.
“Okay, hang on.” Jack rubbed his eyes and shook his head, trying to get a grasp on reality. “Me, captured, I can understand, but… why are you two here? And if we’re all here, where’s Carter?” he asked, his eyes still squinting as the pain started to subside. “Did she at least make it?”
Daniel blinked and the color drained from his face. Unsettled by Daniel’s lengthy hesitation, Jack turned to Teal’c.
“O’Neill-,” he started. Jack closed his eyes. Teal’c. She had been with with Teal’c, and then-
“Shit. Shit!” Jack hammered his fist onto the hard dirt floor as the memory flooded back to him. He looked around the cell for a second and, feeling totally helpless, he proceeded to massage his eyes with the heels of his hands.
“She’s dead, isn’t she, Jack? She couldn’t have survived,” Daniel said, slowly and softly. Jack nodded his head, peeling his hands from his face.
“O’Neill, I cannot express to you the depth of my regret that I did not defend Major Carter. She is dead because of me, and I can only beg your forgiveness for my error,” Teal’c said slowly and carefully, chin up, prepared to face well deserved punishment. Jack just sat there for a moment. At first, he stared at Teal’c’s face, considering his words, contemplating their truth. His first instinct was to blame Teal’c. He should have taken care of her. Jack closed his eyes then, trying desperately to escape reality for even the briefest of moments. Thankfully, Daniel and Teal’c chose to leave him alone. Daniel, for one, was quite certain that his best friend was finally losing it.
It wasn’t Teal’c’s fault at all, Jack mused. It was his. The CO. He was responsible for the people under his command. But he had been so far away—too far to help her. Why hadn’t he run faster? Left sooner? Sent Teal’c first? Then Teal’c might be dead instead. Or both of them. Why hadn’t he seen that Jaffa? Why hadn’t Teal’c? Why is the sky blue, Jack? What if the world was a checkerboard? Why did she have to be so brave? Why her?
“It’s not your fault, Teal’c, so stop beating yourself up about it,” Jack said finally, eyes still closed. He startled the other two men, who had followed Jack’s example and retreated into surreal little worlds of their own. “She… she wouldn’t have done what she did if she didn’t think you were worth it, Teal’c. She’s- was- a smart kid, ya’ know,” he continued.
They sat in silence, then, each reflecting on the events of the day in his own mind. They had gated to P7C-448 early this morning- just after dawn. Daniel had some old caves he wanted to poke around in, Carter— Carter wandered around taking samples of stuff. Wonder what happened to those samples, anyway? Teal’c stood around looking ominous, and Jack… had had a bad feeling about the place from the start, but had ignored it, thinking he was just being paranoid.
It wasn’t until Carter had run up to him, mouth moving a mile a minute, going on about the place being familiar, about Jolinar having been there and having been afraid, that Jack ordered the team to pack up and head back to the gate. Now, Jack wished he hadn’t zoned her out while they were walking, before the Jaffa attacked. She had been telling him about what she remembered. That information might be kinda useful now. He was a total dumbass. He always zoned her out, even though he knew he should be listening. She was, after all, way smarter than him, but she had always been willing to patiently go through things a second time with him, making sure he understood.
He could see her face so clearly. She had smiled a lot that morning. She had always been able to laugh at his stupid jokes, so why couldn’t he have just paid more attention to her for five lousy minutes? He would do anything to have those five minutes back now. What had happened to her, anyway? Was she still lying out there in the middle of the clearing? When the SGC sent a MALP to see what happened to them, would his Major’s rotting body be the first thing it saw?
“Okay,” Jack started, taking a deep breath. “Aside from the obvious, what’s our status?”
“Well, Jack, we’re in a dark, dank little cell, hundred of millions of miles from home, on a planet with lots and lots of Jaffa, we don’t have any weapons, and-,”
“I said aside from the obvious, Daniel,” Jack cut him off. “Do we know who’s Jaffa those were? What happened after I got zatted? Why didn’t you guys go through the gate?” Jack asked, suddenly very aware of how little he really knew. “Daniel. I heard the gate open. Why didn’t you go through?” he demanded.
“No one gets left behind, Jack,” Daniel whispered, his eyes boring through Jack’s so intensely that Jack couldn’t argue.
“Right,” he said, reluctantly. “So, what happened?”
“Well, I got as far as sending the IDC, but when I looked back— I saw Sam get shot. I started yelling for Teal’c to pick her up, to drag her if he had to. Then you got there and Teal’c started heading over to me. I turned around for a minute to radio base to have a medical team in the gateroom, and then… well, uh, I think I must’ve gotten zatted too,” Daniel finished. Jack breathed a sigh of relief. At least Hammond knew they were in trouble. We’re in trouble, Sir. She’d said that to him once. She’d saved him then… Focus, Jack!
“Teal’c? How ‘bout you?”
“Much the same, O’Neill. I, too, was rendered unconscious by a zat’nik’atel.”
“So, uh… how come nobody fired second shots?” Daniel asked.
“Huh?” Jack was now halfway between surprised and confused. “What’dya mean?”
“I mean, why aren’t we dead, too? We were each only zatted once.”
“Good question,” Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair. He hadn’t even noticed there was dried blood all over it. Whose? Oh. Yeah.
“Daniel, did you hear any of what Carter was going on about just before we were attacked? It was something about Jolinar-,”
“What, weren’t you listening, Jack? She was talking to you!” Daniel interjected, his voice positively dripping with accusation. Jack’s jaw dropped. If it had been any other man who had said that to him… any other man, and Jack would have broken his neck.
“No, Daniel,” Jack said, trying to keep his tone level. “No, I wasn’t listening. I never listened, okay? Shoulda’, but didn’t, Daniel!” So much for keeping his voice level. “And it’s just a little late now!” he shouted, standing now, and wanting badly for a nice, heavy punching bag. Better yet, a keg of beer, maybe some whisky…
“I’m sorry,” whispered Daniel, almost inaudibly. He was staring intently at the floor.
“What?!” Jack snapped, closing the distance between them in an instant, to hover over the younger man, seething.
“I said, I’m sorry, Jack. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not your fault.” His voice cracked slightly on the last word.
“God, Daniel,” Jack said softly. He pulled Daniel toward him in a fatherly embrace.
“God, Jack. She’s gone. We watched her die,” Daniel whispered, slowly pulling away from his friend. Jack squeezed his shoulders.
“I know, Daniel. I know. But we can’t afford to think about it now, or we’ll be the next to go, okay? You know Sam would want us to get out of here.”
“Yeah.”
* * * *
She was shot by a staff. She could feel the fire from the blast burning through her back, seeping into her lungs, through her ribs, her spine… God, it HURT! She wanted to scream, to cry out in agony, but she couldn’t. Her chest contracted painfully as she tried madly to breathe. You can’t scream if there’s no air in your lungs. Teal’c was there. She could see her hands on his sleeves. He was peering down at her. Sam had never seen him look so helpless… not since he had seen the burned-out remains of his home on Chulak. It scared her. She heard sharp thunder in the background-- a staff weapon discharging. The Jaffa were still firing. She told Teal’c to run. His mouth dropped open, but before he could answer her, someone else came running up to them. Another Jaffa? God, she was so scared. She didn’t want to die. Don’t want to die…
Colonel! Thank God, the colonel told him to leave. The colonel knelt over her. He was saying something. She could see his lips moving… Who was he talking to? Wasting time! Didn’t he understand that he needed to go? God, she didn’t want him to. She was dying. He couldn’t help her. But she didn’t want to die alone…
“Sir-,” she said. He cut her off. Did he just tell her to shut up? Creep. He was so busy looking at her, trying to pick her up, too, she guessed, that he was oblivious to all else going on around him. Someone was coming. Shit. Sam saw the Jaffa creeping up behind the colonel. He had a zat in his hand. Shit, Colonel. You waited too long!
“No- Sir-. Behind you,” she struggled to say. His eyes narrowed. Oh, God. This was it. He swung around. God, she couldn’t move, couldn’t run, couldn’t watch. In her mind’s eye, she saw the Jaffa pull the trigger—
Sam sat up fast, gasping desperately for air, incredibly surprised that it didn’t hurt to breathe. Ah, but it did hurt to sit up like that! She leaned forward and cradled her pounding head in her hands.
“Holy Hannah, what a nightmare,” she said aloud. Her voice echoed a bit in the room. The sound of it was almost tangible, grounding her and pulling her back into reality. She lifted her head and looked around. The Air Force Major in her memorized every detail of what she saw. The Sam Carter in her was profoundly afraid.
There was no doubt in her mind that the room was of Goa’uld design. The walls were plated in gold and covered with hieroglyphics, just like Apophis’ ships and Hathor’s base. There was a soft yellow light emanating from somewhere above her. Beneath her, though, there was a very bright, white light, just like… in a sarcophagus. She was sitting in a sarcophagus.
Panicked, she reached behind her and felt the gaping hole burnt through her jacket and tee shirt. She could feel the smooth, unbroken skin of her back.
“Shit, it was real!” she breathed. She scrambled over the side of the sarcophagus and jumped down. She ran to one of the walls and began running her hands over it, searching frantically for a seam, a raised symbol, a doorknob, anything.
Sam nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the wall behind her begin to slide open. She swung around and pressed herself up against the wall behind her, feeling the cold metal on the bare skin of her back. Her mind raced as her eyes darted around the room, looking for something she could use as a weapon. Her right hand dropped to her hip, hoping to find her Beretta, but it wasn’t there. She wiggled her ankle in her boot. Her knife was gone too. The room was totally empty, save the sarcophagus.
Well, she could hide behind it, she supposed. What, and be found in half a second anyway, sitting there on the floor cowering like a scared puppy? Hell, no. The least she could do was face what was coming standing up, head held high. Like a soldier.
The colonel would be so proud.
The clanging footsteps of the Jaffa making their way down the corridor outside the room was deafening. Sam stiffened in apprehension and resolution and strode to the middle of the room, facing the door. To her infinite surprise, the footfalls stopped, all except for one, slightly softer sounding set. Something in the back of Sam’s mind tingled. Goa’uld were all over this place. One walked in through the open door.
It was Cronos. He stepped just inside the threshold, staring her down for a moment, before casually walking up to within a few feet of her. Sam stood her ground. He ran his eyes up and down her form, inspecting her. She lifted her chin slightly in defiance but, deep down, she wanted nothing more than to run away, screaming for the guys to come and save her- not something that would be happening anyway, if they were all dead, as she had been.
Sam shuddered almost imperceptibly at the thought. Now’s not exactly the time for pessimism, Sam. Cronos’ gaze fell to her hand and stayed there as he started speaking.
“You are Major Samantha Carter of the Tau’ri,” he said. He looked at her face, then, eyes demanding a response. She didn’t oblige. She could tell that his just being in the same room with her disgusted him. Sam could relate.
“Where is my team?” She finally found her voice.
“I was not indebted to your team, Tau’ri, as I am now no longer indebted to you,” he replied, typically Goa’uld in tone. Okay, now Sam was thoroughly confused. Indebted?
“You didn’t answer my question,” she said, taking a small step forward for emphasis. “Where is my team?”
He laughed smugly upon hearing the insolence of his prisoner and, in one fluid motion, raised his arm and threw her hard into the wall behind her with a ribbon device. She was dazed by the impact and so dizzy, she could barely move, let alone stand.
“You saved my life once and I have saved yours. I owe you nothing, Tau’ri. You would do well to remember that,” Cronos said and walked out.
Sam’s head lolled as she fought to keep her eyes open. Yup, definitely got a concussion, there. Four Jaffa marched in at that point. Two of the burly men grabbed her upper arms and dragged her out into the corridor.
* * * *
“Anybody else hungry? I’m hungry.” Daniel broke the silence in the small cell. Jack looked at his watch again. Almost twelve hours since they’d set foot on this stupid planet, seven hours and 46 minutes since they were first attacked, seven hours and 28 minutes since Carter had… What the hell was he gonna tell Jacob? Six hours since he had woken up in this pit, three hours since-
“Jack? I just asked you if you were hungry,” Daniel probed softly, holding out a few squares from a Hershey bar. Jack looked up at him in amazement and Daniel returned his gaze with a small grin.
“Daniel, where did you get that?” Jack asked. He couldn’t help but smile back. He was pretty hungry after all.
“I, uh, sewed a secret pocket into my BDU’s. I always bring a couple of bars with me on missions. When talking fails, try food, right? Worked on Abydos.”
At that, Jack actually started laughing. It was just a slight, nervous chuckle at first but, when Daniel joined in, he had to wipe the tears from his eyes, he was laughing so hard. They both were, thinking back to how they met Kasouf and Skaara, about how Daniel had been dragged at high speeds by his ankle behind that big, hairy, drooling… thing, about the pure insanity of their current situation. Maybe he was losing it. Teal’c, who had no idea what was going on, simply raised an eyebrow at them.
When they managed to calm themselves down, Jack took the chocolate from his friend and began to munch.
“So. Jack.”
“Yes, Daniel.”
“Think of a way to get us out of here yet?”
Jack took another bite of candy and leaned his head back against the wall. This day just kept getting better and better.
“Well,” he replied. “Unless this is some new Goa’uld game we get to play, whoever’s in charge here woulda’ probably killed us already if they didn’t want something from us. And, seeing as we’re still here…”
“They probably want something from us,” Daniel offered, nodding.
“Yup. And if they want us for something, they’re gonna have to open that door to get it.”
“Soooo…”
“So, when that door opens, we rush whoever’s on the other side and make a mad dash for the exit.”
“That great military mind of yours and the best you can come up with is ‘make a mad dash for the exit?’ Really, Jack, I’m disappointed.” Daniel smiled so that Jack would know for sure that he was joking. Jack chuckled a bit.
“Yeah, well. Workin’ with what I’ve got, here, Danny-boy. Teal’c? Do you have anything to add?”
Teal’c considered the idea before replying.
“Your plan has merit, O’Neill. However, it is likely that this Goa’uld is aware of our tactics. It is possible that he would expect that course of action from us and that the contingent of Jaffa present will be too large for the three of us to defeat.”
“Sure, Teal’c, just go ahead and rain on my parade. It’s a big risk, I know, but right now, I think it’s the best we’ve got,” Jack replied. “So the second we hear that lock disengage, we’re outa’ here.” Daniel and Teal’c nodded their agreement and they lapsed into silence again.
“Oh!” Daniel exclaimed, making Jack jump.
“Dammit, Daniel! What is it?”
“I never answered your question. You know, whether or not I remembered what Sam was saying about the planet.”
“Go on,” Jack prompted.
“Well, I think the guy we’re dealing with is Cronos.” Teal’c looked up suddenly upon hearing the name of his father’s killer. “Sam said that this planet is one of his bases of operations. One of the more minor ones, granted, but important enough. It’s close enough to the action to make a good listening post and garrison, yet backwater enough not to be perceived as too great a threat by the other system lords. Jolinar was sent here on a reconnaissance mission. The Tok’ra expected to find a very small base with a relatively small group of Jaffa guarding it, but Jolinar barely got back to the stargate. She found out that this place was a lot better defended than was originally thought. Probably because Cronos spends so much time here himself.”
“So, he could be here right now,” Jack added.
“It’s possible,” Daniel replied.
“That could make things a little more difficult,” Jack said.
“Well, yeah.”
“Man, I really wish Carter were here. At the very least, her snake detector would really come in handy right now,” Jack mused, leaning back against the wall again and stretching his arms over his head to work out the kinks in his back.
His head snapped to the door as he heard the lock click loudly…
To be continued...