Running The Risk
Running The Risk
by Rufusbabufus
TITLE: Running The Risk
AUTHOR: Rufusbabufus
EMAIL: rufusbabufus@yahoo.com
CATEGORY: Action/Adventure
PAIRING: none
SPOILERS: None
SEASON / SEQUEL: 2
RATING: PG
CONTENT WARNINGS: violence
SUMMARY: A walk in the woods turns into a nightmare for O'Neill and Carter
STATUS: Complete
ARCHIVE: Heliopolis
DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions; all the powers that be, not me; This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement intended. The story is the property of the author and may not be posted elsewhere without the author's consent.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story was specifically written for BadgerGater's birthday, I would like to thank her for all the entertainment that she has provided with her wonderful stories, she is the queen of Jack whumping. I only hope that one day I may write as well and as often as she does. I would also like to thank Spyro down in the land of Oz for beta-reading this for me, I do appreciate it.
"For god's sake Daniel, will you pick yourself up and run!" O'Neill shouted at Daniel Jackson who was lying sprawled out on the floor after tripping up over a divet in the grass. The Stargate was so close and yet still so far. O'Neill fired another volley at the natives that were chasing them, it was hopeless there was hundreds of them. Teal'c was firing his staff weapon but none of the natives showed any fear as they surged forward. Jackson reached the DHD and started dialling.
"Come on Daniel! "
"Nearly there!" Daniel shouted back as the last of the symbols was pushed, the wormhole engaged. "It's open, come on!"
"Daniel go now." O'Neill ordered.
"Not without the rest of you."
"Go now we'll be right behind you. " the Colonel shouted as he fired off another round. "Teal'c go!" He pulled a hand grenade from his pocket and pulled the pin. He shouted orders to Captain Carter who had been pinned down behind a cluster of rocks. "Captain when this goes off start running, head straight for the gate, I'll cover you. " he knew that it would be a miracle if they ever got out of here given the size of the angry mob that was after them this time. He threw the grenade and started firing again. 3…2…1. The grenade exploded. Carter started running as fast as she could. Teal'c who had ignored Colonel O'Neill's orders to return to Earth fired from the side of the gate. It was a battlefield and the natives were closing in fast, the ones that were gunned down were replaced by others straight away. Carter had almost reached O'Neill when she was hit in the leg by an arrow and fell down.
"Carter!" yelled O'Neill as he ran to help her. He fired again and then click…..the gun was empty and he had no more clips. He pulled the Beretta from it's holster as he reached Carter and yanked her up. She cried in pain as she struggled to stand upright. As O'Neill fired his side arm he knew they weren't going to make it. He turned to Teal'c. "Teal'c! Get the hell out of here now. That's an order!" He could see the indecision in Teal'c's face, "please Teal'c go before it's too late."
As reluctant as he was to go Teal'c knew that staying would be futile, his capture or death would not serve O'Neill right now; he fired a few more blasts and then dived through the wormhole. O'Neill dragged Carter as fast as he could but he knew that they were getting no where fast he could almost feel the natives on them. He took a look to see where they were, one was just about to hit him with an axe of sorts. He fired the last of the bullets into the oncoming native then dropped Carter as more were within touching distance. He had no ammo, no grenades so he unclipped the P90 from it's harness and swung it hard into the face of the first native that he came across; he heard the sound of crunching bone under the impact and saw the native fall. He hit another in the stomach, following it up with a knee to the head. He didn't have as much luck with the next ones as they were rushing him as one although he tried his best. The first one he rolled over his shoulder, throwing him as hard as he could; the next one ran straight into his outstretched arm crushing his larynx and then it all started going terribly wrong as it always tends to do when you are seriously outnumbered. As he was tackling a particularly large individual he knew the moment the tide was turning as he felt a blow to the kidneys, a painful blow at that. He staggered forward only to meet a fist in his gut, he didn't have chance to catch his breath before a knee met his nose. As it broke his vision blurred and as he struggled to get out of the way the blows rained in; as his world blackened he heard Carter cry out to him.
"Colonel! Colonel!" Sam yelled as she saw her CO overwhelmed with an onslaught of fists and kicks. She tried desperately to help him but she couldn't break free of the two natives that held her firmly. They only stopped when he was no longer conscious and then they all gave a victory cry; it reminded Sam of the western movies she saw when she was a kid, when the Apaches killed all the people in the wagon trail. They lifted O'Neill high in the air, spinning him round for everyone to see. She caught site of his bruised and battered face the blood still pouring from his broken nose. The next site she saw was the face of one of the natives, he wasn't one of the better looking aliens that she had come across and he stunk. A filthy hand grabbed hold of her chin, "now we will have some fun." He looked down at the arrow sticking out of her left thigh, he flicked it gently and saw her wince, he smiled as he watched her face and he grabbed the arrow and yanked hard pulling it free. She couldn't help but scream and then she too joined O'Neill in the land of the unconscious.
"Incoming wormhole! Incoming wormhole!" the technician shouted above the sound of the alarm.
"Who is it?" General Hammond asked knowing that no one was due back.
Waiting for the computer to recognise an ID signal the technician said, "it's SG-1, Sir!"
"But they only went a couple of hours ago. Get a medical team down there. " he ordered.
The iris opened and Daniel Jackson was the first to come through out of breath, he immediately turned towards the gate, waiting for the rest of SG-1 to follow him through. No one came immediately and then after a few minutes Teal'c backed through. Teal'c turned to face Daniel Jackson, his eyes told Daniel everything he needed to know.
"The iris must be closed General Hammond. " said Teal'c stoically.
"Teal'c?" Daniel whispered.
"I am sorry DanielJackson, there was nothing I could do. " he replied seeing the pain written on his face.
"Teal'c where are Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter?" the General asked almost afraid to do so.
"I regret to inform you General that they have been taken by the enemy."
"Taken? Are they dead?"
"Of that I do not know. Captain Carter was injured and the Colonel went back to help her ordering me to retreat through the gate when it became obvious that they would not be able to reach it." Teal'c told him.
"So you didn't see what happened to them?"
"I did not General Hammond, however, there were many natives that were descending upon their position. I suggest we send a probe there to determine their fate."
"We'll do that right after you two get checked out. " The General turned to the technician, "Sergeant, have another MALP ready to go within 15 minutes."
The first thing that the Colonel saw when he managed to pry open his eyes was that he was in a cage suspended in the air, his hands bound in front of him tightly. He took a deep breath and did a quick mental check on his health. A cracked rib or two, definitely a broken nose and plenty of bruising but on the whole nothing serious. Next order of business was Carter, he gently turned his body so that he could sit up at bit better and he saw her in the next cage. She looked at little too pale for his liking, he could see the bloody wound on her thigh but at least she was conscious.
"Hey Carter, you picked a nice spot for us here. " he shouted across at her, he could see that she too had her hands tied.
"Sorry Sir, it was the best I could do at short notice. How are you feeling Sir? I hate to say this Colonel but your good looks have seen better days."
"That bad, uh?"
She nodded. "Yeah well thankfully it doesn't feel that bad. How about you? How's the leg?" he asked her in a concerned tone.
"I'll be good to go once we get out of these cages. "
He knew that the leg must be painful and that an infection had almost likely started to set in.
"Good Captain because despite this nice little holiday spot, I don't think we'll stay. The first chance we get we're out of here. Right first things first…..the nose. " He placed his hands on either side of his nose and in one quick motion straightened it as best he could. Carter watched him and winced in sympathy.
"God, that hurt. " he said as it brought tears to his eyes, he then went about cleaning the dried blood away from his face. "How long was I out for Captain?"
"From what I can work out I was out for about 30 minutes and you for about an hour." she replied
"Any ideas as to why they attacked us or what they plan to do with us?"
"None. A couple of them have walked passed and had a good look but nobody has said anything yet. Perhaps they're waiting for you to wake up."
"Well why don't we get this show on the road then? Given that they didn't kill us out there must mean they want us for something so let's find out what. " He could see the look of worry on her face, "it's alright Captain, we've been in worse situations than this. "
"Yes Sir. It's just that if I can't run you have to go without me ."
"We're both getting out of here even if I have to carry you all the way back to the gate, Captain. " The tone of his voice and the look on his severely bruised face told her that there was no way in hell that he was going to leave her behind. They would both get out of here or they would both die here. "Is that clear, Captain?"
"Yes Sir!"
"Good. Now let's see if anyone wants to come visit us. " He kneeled up against the door of the wooden cage. "Hey!" he shouted, "hey! Is someone going to let us out of here? Come on guys, my knees are aching in here."
He saw a small group of men coming towards them; one of them, the leader by the looks of him was smiling. 'Not a good sign' O'Neill thought.
"Hey, how ya doing?" he tried to sound cheerful and optimistic but he had been in these situations too many times before so he had a feel for how things went.
"Silence!" the leader said. "You will not speak unless I ask you a question." The man looked across at Carter and then back to O'Neill. "You killed many of my warriors today."
"You attacked us first…"O'Neill began to say.
"I said silence!" barked the leader. "Now that you have woken, the hunt will begin."
Jack couldn't help himself, " 'scuse me?" he asked, "what hunt?"
The leader glared at him but continued with his instructions, "you will be taken deep into the forest, if you make it to the chapper'ai you will be allowed to leave with your lives." He laughed, "not as though anybody ever has."
O'Neill definitely didn't like the sound of this, he didn't know what to say to get out of this mess because he didn't know how they had got into it in the first place. As far as he was concerned they had gated to M28-01B, one of three moons orbiting a gas giant met these natives and before Daniel could get his spiel out the natives had got angry, O'Neill had ordered their retreat and now here they were, Daniel and Teal'c back home, him and Carter stuck here with some guy prattling on about a hunt. He thought about asking what they were going to hunt but it was a wasted question, he already knew….it was them.
"Do this often then?" he asked ignoring the fact that he wasn't supposed to speak.
"Whenever the Gods see fit to send us their leftovers for a bit of sport. " the leader said as he motioned to his men to unlock the cages. Both Carter and O'Neill were dragged roughly from their cages. O'Neill got a closer look at Carter as they were brought together. He gave her a smile to try to reassure her that everything would be OK but deep down he knew that it was easier said than done particularly with the injury to her leg that was causing her to limp badly.
"Look I think there has been some misunderstanding, gods didn't send us here. We just came here exploring. It was our mistake, we're sorry for intruding and all that and if you just let us go back home we'll forget this ever happened. "
The leader back handed O'Neill across the face causing more pain to flair up his nose.
"Do you not understand the meaning of silence?"
"Guess not. " O'Neill muttered to himself.
"Take them to the equines and ride them out into the forest. " the leader ordered, "hopefully you will put up a bit more of a challenge than the last lot that came, they were found within a few hours. You are not only here for our amusement but to use as training for our new warriors so try not to make the killing easy for them. " he laughed as they were led away.
As they were led away from the cages through the encampment Carter spotted their weapons and geared piled up. The only thing they had on them was their clothes, even if they made it back to the gate they couldn't go through without their GDO's. O'Neill knew what she was getting at and he had to risk it. As they got closer he made a dash for the pile grabbing at the GDO that was thrown on top he shoved it down his jacket. He then grabbed for one of the two knives, he knew that they would be on him by then but he hoped that they thought the knife was his goal; not as though that wouldn't have come in handy. He was rewarded for his efforts by a severe kick in the side from one of the natives, it was hard enough to lift him off of his knees and at first he thought he was going to pass out as he struggled for breath. He didn't have chance to because they were dragging him up and shoved him towards the waiting equines. As he regained some degree of control to his breathing he gave a quick smile to Captain Carter to let her know that he had it. Once at the equines, which did look just like horses, they both had bags placed over their heads. He was told to get on one while a couple of men helped Carter onto hers.
"This isn't exactly fair now is it? We don't get to see where we're going and I bet you're not going to give us any weapons either, are ya?" he said as he balanced precariously on his mount, it had been a good few years since he had last ridden a horse and he had never ridden one bareback and blindfolded with nothing to hold onto but it's mane. His only reply was the beast moving forward.
"You OK, Carter?" he asked, "You're pretty quiet there."
"I'm fine Sir, just concentrating on staying on this thing. " she replied as they moved out into the forest to wherever they were taking them to.
Daniel and Teal'c stood shoulder to shoulder beside General Hammond as the MALP began it's journey to M28-01B to determine the fate of O'Neill and Carter. Once on the other side of the gate the sight that was in front of them caused Daniel to drop his head. There were at least a hundred warriors surrounding the gate. Hammond surveyed the scene on the screen and turned to Jackson and Teal'c, "I'm sorry I can't send anyone through the gate while there are that many armed men there."
"I understand, General. " said Daniel, and he did understand but it didn't mean it was the right thing to do, to leave them there. "At least the chances of them being dead has been reduced. "
"What has drawn you to that conclusion DanielJackson?" Teal'c asked, he too was feeling that they should not leave their team members behind.
"If they were dead, I doubt the gate would be so heavily guarded for one and if they were dead then their bodies would probably have been left where they were." Daniel didn't want to believe that they were dead and he probably was clutching at straws but it did make some sort of sense, at least to him. Teal'c raised his eyebrow as only Teal'c does as if in agreement. General Hammond thought about what Jackson said then made his decision.
"We'll open the gate every 8 hours and see if it is safe to send in a team, OK?"
They knew it was the best that they could hope for, sending a team through now would result in a mass slaughter. Daniel nodded and went back to his office to wait for the next 8 hours to come up.
O'Neill had the mother of all headaches, his butt was sore and his ribs ached. They had been riding for hours and despite him asking questions along the way their hosts had not said a word to them. He could tell by the responses that he was getting from Carter that she wasn't doing too well. After what felt like 5 hours the ride stopped, he could hear someone coming towards him and before he could say anything he was roughly dragged off his mount. He crashed to the floor and as he manoeuvred himself into a kneeling position he heard Carter stifle back a cry as she too was pulled to the ground. The hood that covered his head was pulled off, the sudden brightness causing him to squint; Carter too had had her hood removed, she had a flushed look about her. One of the warriors approached them both and cut the bindings on their wrists and then got back on their equines, he sneered at them as they rode away leaving them there without saying a word. O'Neill got up gingerly and went to Carter's side.
"How you doing Captain?" he asked as he felt her forehead, she was developing a fever. He looked at the wound on her leg, it was still bleeding although thankfully not profusely. He ripped a strip off his t-shirt and tied it around her leg.
"We have to find some water to get this cleaned up a bit. Do you think you can walk?"
She nodded, "I think so. How are you feeling, Colonel?"
"Don't worry about me Captain, I'm just fine. Now come let's get moving, I don't know how much time we've got before they start looking for us."
"How do we know what direction to go in? I mean we have no idea where we are or where the Stargate is in relation to us."
"Well we're just gonna have to guess and hope that we guessed right. We can follow the tracks that we made in coming here and then just head in that direction."
"But surely they would know that's what we would do and be looking for us on that trail."
"I wasn't thinking that we would walk out in the open Captain, just get a general direction and then bear to one side of it. Now come on, let's get you up on your feet. " he said as he heaved her up and wrapped his arm around her and took the weight. "Are we all set to go on our little jaunt back home?" he asked her as cheerfully as he could.
She took a deep breath and nodded, smiling weakly, "just promise not to drop me Sir."
"Wouldn't dream of it Captain. Wouldn't dream of it. Now let's get moving. I've got somewhere to go when we get back"
"Where?" she asked.
"There's this birthday party I've got to go to. " he replied.
"Anyone I know?"
"No, it's just a special friend, someone that's known me a long time. She knows me inside out in fact and I wouldn't want to miss it. So let's get a move on."
It was hard going, the undergrowth in the forest was thick and awkward to walk in even more so when you were virtually carrying someone. O'Neill's headache wasn't getting any better and he was thirsty again. They had managed to find some water although it wasn't clean but they had to risk drinking a little of it but O'Neill didn't use it to clean Carter's leg. It was already badly infected and there was no need to make it any worse by using the dirty water. As they made their way back to the Stargate Carter had got progressively worse, a raging fever had taken hold of her and O'Neill had resorted to carrying her over his shoulder, something that made his back and his knee protest to. There were quite a few occasions when he had almost stumbled but he had some how managed to stay upright. He wasn't really sure if they were walking in the right direction, at one point their path was blocked and he had to head deep into the forest away from the path, the only problem with that was that he was surrounded completely by trees and he had become slightly disorientated but he felt sure the this was the right way. He decided to take a break, he needed 5 minutes rest and he needed to think about how to get to the gate undetected. He gently eased Carter down and laid her against a fallen tree, she groaned and muttered something.
"What was that Captain?" he asked.
She opened her eyes. "I hope you weren't complaining about your ride. " he said as he knelt in front of her.
"How far, Colonel?"
"How far have we come or how far to go? I've no idea, the undergrowth is hard going. Maybe another 5 hours probably 6. We may have to lie low for a while and wait until it gets darker when we get near the gate, they're bound to be guarding the area around it."
"It won't get darker, at least not any time soon, this moon has days that are equivalent to 48 hours. What about those that are hunting us?"
"Haven't heard anything of them yet. We did have to take quite a detour at one point but assuming they set off from the village we should be running into them soon."
"What are we going to do Sir, we have no weapons and we'll be seriously outnumbered. " she told him.
"I know but I've been in worse situations than this."
"Sir, you've got to leave me and get to the gate on your own."
"Forget it Captain."
"Sir, I can't let you sacrifice your life for me."
It was time to get tough with her, "listen Captain, I'm your commanding officer and as such I get to make the decisions and give the orders. I am not leaving you behind, we are both getting out of here. Now the rest is over with." He pulled her up and went to pick her up again.
"I think I can walk a while."
"It's OK, you're in no fit state to walk. Your leg is badly infected and you've lost a lot of blood."
She couldn't argue with him because he was right, she was sure she had felt worse but she couldn't remember when. She gave in and allowed him to pick her up and begin their journey again.
O'Neill felt dog tired, they had gone on for a couple more hours before he needed to rest again. In that walking time Jack had come to a decision, he needed to check out what might lay ahead of them and he couldn't do that while he was carrying Carter around. He sat her down on the floor, she was semi-conscious.
"Sam. Sam, can you hear me? I need you to wake up." He gently shook her and then saw her eyes open. "Glad to have you back, Captain."
"Ow, not really glad to be back. " she said as she struggled to find a more comfortable position. "How are we doing Sir?"
"Oh so-so, Captain but I'm going to change the plan slightly."
"To what?"
"We need to know the layout ahead and we need some weapons."
"So what are you suggesting?"
"I want you to hide and stay hidden. I'll go scout the way ahead and hopefully come across a couple of them and liberate them of their weapons."
"Are you sure that's wise?"
"No but we don't have any choice. It won't be long before we come across them and when we do get to the gate they probably will be guarding it so we'll need some weapons. This is the only way that I can think of. You remain hidden I'll give you a two whistle signal when I'm approaching. I'd get you something to drink before I go but there isn't anything around. Come on I'll give you a hand." He knew that it was risky to leave her particularly in her current state but what choice did he really have. He could hide her really well so that no one would ever find her but she had to remain silent. "Captain, do you think you'll be able to stay quiet until I get back?"
"Colonel, just make sure you come back, I'll be here waiting. " It wasn't just an answer it was an order.
"Yeahsureyabetcha. " he answered and then began the process of hiding her. There were a number of fallen trees that she could fit under, he covered her pale face in dirt and started applying mud to her blond hair. "Don't worry Captain, I'm sure this will come out when we get back.."
She pushed herself as far back as she could and then O'Neill covered her with as much debris that he could find. He then kicked up the leaves where they had been flattened by their heavy feet.
"Are you OK in there Captain?" he asked.
"Yes Sir, I'm fine."
"OK then I'll go have a look around. I won't be too long, try and get some rest." He took one final look at her hiding place, the only way they would find her is if they had dogs and he didn't even want to entertain that idea, but certainly just by looking you couldn't see that anyone was there. He set off at a quick pace doubling back a couple of times on himself just to confuse that trail that he was leaving behind him.
As he jogged through the forest he thought he had heard voices but he couldn't see anyone; he did manage to find a small stream though. The water was pretty still although it looked relatively clean, he knelt down to take a drink and saw his reflection in the surface. His face was a mess even by his standards, his nose was swollen but the bruising surrounding it was severe, his right cheek bone also had a cut on it as did his left eyebrow….again. Dr Fraiser was going to have a field day with him when they got back, if they got back he corrected himself. As he was finishing up with the water, he heard the voices again and they were closer this time. He crouched perfectly still trying to locate the source of the voices, from what he could tell there was two of them. Silently he crawled to a large tree and using it as cover eased himself up along side of it to gain a better look. Yep there was two of them, carrying bows, probably the first part of the hunting party O'Neill thought. He was hoping that they were still some distance off but it was obvious that they weren't, he had to get a weapon and these two were the best chance he had to get one. Now he just had to decide how to deal with these two without alerting anyone else. He looked around to find something that he could use, he eventually found what he was looking for, a branch that he could use as a staff. Now all he had to do was get close without being detected, something that he used to do a lot of when he was with Special Forces. He might not have used his skills in sometime but they were the kind of skills that you never lost.
It didn't take him long to get within striking distance, he released the breath that he didn't realise he was holding as the two men walked past the place he was hidden. They were walking in single file looking for a trail, any sign of O'Neill and Carter. As they passed O'Neill reached out from behind the tree that he was hiding, in one quick movement he grabbed the man at the back by the head twisting and snapping his neck in one swift, effortless motion. As the other hunter turned O'Neill went to hit him with the staff but he was quick and jumped to the side grabbing the staff as he did so pulling O'Neill closer to him. He kicked out at O'Neill making contact with his already bruised ribs, O'Neill managed to stay upright and letting go of the staff swung his fist round at the hunter hitting him squarely on the jaw. The hunter staggered back letting go of his end of the staff but not falling to the ground. O'Neill followed up with a kick in the stomach forcing the hunter back, although tired O'Neill couldn't let up, he needed to end this. As the young hunter was bent over O'Neill kneed him in the face causing the hunter to fall backwards. O'Neill jumped on him, hands around his throat, he didn't really want to kill the man but he didn't want him running around either so that he could alert his friends. He could see the young man beginning to lose consciousness as he clawed at the Colonel's hands, he was losing the battle and in one final act of defiance the young man reached down to his side and quickly withdrew his knife that he had sheathed there. O'Neill didn't see it until it was too late, the knife stuck in him just below his arm pit. He cried out in pain but he couldn't let go, instead he used that pain against the hunter, he slammed the heel of his palm into his nose, shattering it and forcing the bone up into his brain. The hunter died instantly and his hand immediately fell from the knife that was sticking out of O'Neill's right side. Sitting back and breathing hard O'Neill tried to look at his latest injury, he grimaced as he wrapped his hand around the knife handle and taking as deep a breath as he could he pulled the knife out. Experience had told him that removing the knife was not the best thing that he could have done but like so many things on this mission he didn't have a choice, he couldn't go running around with a knife sticking in him and the weapon would come in handy. He looked down at the hunter and began to cut cloth off of his tunic, he needed to somehow bandage the knife wound and try and stem the bleeding. When he was satisfied that the bleeding had slowed to a workable level, he removed all the weapons that the two hunters were carrying and then dragged them into the undergrowth. It had been hard work and a sweat had formed on his face, breathing hard he decided to keep going forward for another half an hour following the trail that the two hunters had made. The hunters must have gone out in pairs as he came across another two, he waited again for a while, making sure that there were no more with them, he could deal with these two at a distance now that he had the bow and arrows. He let them let them pass his position, these two tracking in a horizontal line. He knelt up quietly from behind the bush and drew back the bow, the arrow pointing at it's first target. He blinked as the sweat ran into his eyes, his hands shaking with the effort. 'Come on O'Neill, concentrate. Breathe nice and easy. Take it slow and concentrate on the target. ' he told himself. He took a deep breath and mustered up all his powers of concentration in order to keep himself steady. Blinking once more he released the arrow and before he had chance to see if it had hit it's target he had the next arrow in position. He could see that the second warrior had turned to see his comrade fall but by the time he had realised what was going on the second arrow was on it's way, it embedded itself square in the warrior's chest. He fell first to his knees and then forward pushing the arrow further in. O'Neill placed another arrow in the bow as he slowly walked up to where the two men had fallen. There was no need for the weapon, the two men were dead; he took what he needed and hid the two bodies. He decided that it was time to go back and one of the warriors was carrying a skin of water, he took a mouthful of the liquid and realised how thirsty he was. It took a great deal of self-control not to drink it all, Carter had been without water longer than he had and he didn't really want to give her the dirty stuff if he could help it. He placed a bow over his head and carried another together with four quivers full of arrows and he headed back to where he had left Carter.
When he got there the area was still clear, he gave the signal that he had told her he would and then began to remove the branches from the hiding. Thankfully she was still there but she was asleep or unconscious O'Neill couldn't really tell. He got his answer when he tried to wake her, she was burning up with the fever and was unconscious, thankfully her leg had not started bleeding again. He pulled her out from the hiding and heard her groan but she didn't wake. As tired and hurt as he was he knew that he had to get moving again, he had taken four of the hunters out but he had no idea how many there were. His scout around had told him that they were closer to the village and, therefore, closer to the Stargate than he originally thought. He wanted to take a nap himself but if he did he knew he wouldn't wake up for a very long time. The knife wound was still bleeding not that he expected anything else but right now it wasn't hurting too much. He focussed on the one thing, and that was getting Carter home, his mind was all confused and he could no longer think straight except for the notion that he must get Carter home and out of this mess. He had no idea how long they had been on this planet, it felt like a lifetime, but one thing for sure was that time was running out for Carter, she needed medical attention and soon. Wincing as he bent down to pick her up he hauled her up over his shoulder and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other in the direction that he had just come from.
As he trudged on every step becoming harder and harder his mind began to wander. For the first time he was beginning to think that they may not get out of this one; it was the fact that a rescue party had not come for them that made him think that the gate must be heavily guarded. If that was the case then he had no idea what he was going to do, neither of them were in any fit state to make a run for it. He had to come up with a way of luring the warriors away from the gate. As he was deep in thought he heard Carter stir, he stopped and placed her down on the ground. He unscrewed the top on the skin of water and held it to her mouth, she tried to gulp the water down.
"Easy Captain, not all at once you'll be sick. " he told her as he pulled the skin away.
"You came back for me Colonel. " she whispered.
"I said I would, didn't I?" he said as he gave her another drink. "Well I've got good news and bad news." He saw that she was trying to stay awake, "the good news is that I've got us a few weapons and that I think we're closer to the gate than we first thought."
"The bad news?"
"The bad news is that I think the gate might be surrounded and we'll have to come up with a way of luring them away. " He coughed and Carter could see the pain written on his face.
"Colonel, are you alright?"
He didn't answer at first, he was too busy trying to get his breathing back under control and the pain back to an acceptable level. "I'm just a bit tired….I'll be OK when we back and I can have a long soak in the bath."
She knew he was lying but she had known him long enough to know that if he didn't want to tell her the truth then he wouldn't. "We'd better get going then. "I think I can walk for a bit."
"No, we will be quicker if I carry you. I know it's not the most comfortable ride but it's better than you passing out and falling flat on your face. " he told her and picked her up again. As they walked on she tried talking to him in an attempt to keep him alert but before too long she was unconscious again.
He felt his legs sway, threatening to give way as Carter felt like she was getting heavier by the minute. He had no idea how he had managed to come this far, he'd have to put it down to the fact that he never knew when to quit. Lost in his thoughts he didn't see the tree root jutting up from the ground, his foot snagged on it and his already weakened legs didn't have the strength to keep him upright. He began tumbling forward putting out his arm to try to cushion the fall. He cried out in pain first as he hit the ground and then as Carter, who was still on his shoulder, landed on top of him. The darkness was closing in on him as the pain in his side flared from the double impact.
"Colonel, come on stay with me. " she begged as she rolled him over, the fall had brought her back round and she had heard his cry. Unfortunately she wasn't the only one, she had heard the shouts of a hunting party in the distance. "Come on Colonel, they're coming. We have to get moving, they'll be here soon. I know you're hurting but you have to get up otherwise we won't get home. " She could see that he was fighting to stay with her, he shook his head, trying to clear it. He had heard her say that the hunters were heading their way, if they found them, they'd both be dead. He rolled to his knees and waited for the world to stop moving and then slowly stood up, he swayed grabbing for a tree to stop him falling to the ground again.
"Where are they?" he managed to get out while he stood there with his eyes shut trying to fight off the wave of nausea and dizziness.
"Not far, I heard them shouting our position."
"How are you fairing Captain? Do you think you could fire a bow?"
"We don't have any choice. I don't think there are that many of them." She sounded confident although she didn't feel it, she had never felt so ill but seeing Colonel O'Neill struggling on made her fight on. He wasn't giving up and neither would she. He looked at her, full of pride at being her CO; he could tell that she was fighting the desire to fall down and go to sleep and he must do the same.
"Pass me a bow and a quiver. I'll go on ahead and try and cut them off. " he told her breathing heavily.
"I don't think you should. If we wait here they'll come to us and then we can both deal with them. " she replied.
He could see the logic in it but he really didn't want Sam anywhere near the fighting, that way if anything happened to him she still had a chance of surviving. The look on her face told him this was one argument he wasn't going to win. He nodded his agreement to the plan and so they waited, hidden within the undergrowth.
The hunting party consisted of five men, O'Neill fired first hitting the warrior in the back; Carter's arrow hit one of them in the stomach, he went down clutching at it. Both Carter and O'Neill were still hidden but the warriors were now alerted to their presence and started firing their bows into the bushes wildly. O'Neill fired again the arrow penetrating the shoulder of the hunter he was aiming at. The other hunters saw where the arrow had come from and were quickly running towards the position firing arrows as they went. O'Neill in the meantime had seen that they had made his position and was scrambling away. Unfortunately they heard the noise that he was making and one of them jumped in and grabbed him by the hair yanking him upright.
"Aarrgghh. " he screamed as a fist hit his jaw, he fell backwards and then felt the impact of a boot in his stomach. He couldn't get away from the onslaught or the pain and then it suddenly stopped. He looked up to the warrior to see a contorted face of pain and then the warrior fell forward, narrowly missing landing on O'Neill, an arrow protruding from his back. The remaining hunter ran at Carter as she was putting another arrow in her bow, she didn't make it before hunter backhanded hard, she went down, already weakened from the fever and she was unconscious before she hit the ground. The hunter unsheathed his knife and knelt down over the prone body of Samantha Carter as he raised his weapon to stab Carter O'Neill came up from behind him and twisted the hunters arm forcing the knife up and into the warriors chest. O'Neill pulled the dying man off of Carter and knelt down beside her. She was out cold and no amount of coaxing was going to bring her round. Before moving all the bodies into the brush he searched them looking for something in particular. He was beginning to think that none of the hunters were carrying what he wanted but then he found it, a flint. A plan had formed in his mind for moving the guards away from the gate and to do that he needed something to start a fire with; he could have done it with a stick but this would make life a lot easier. He collected his bows and picked Carter up and set off again. He was hoping that they weren't that far away now, he didn't know how much longer he could keep upright. His plan was to leave Carter close to the gate and then double back to the village in an attempt to draw the others away from the gate.
There a group of about 30 warriors stood around the vicinity of the Stargate. Carter was still unconscious as he hid her once more, he just hoped that she wouldn't wake up before he got back; he didn't want her walking around in a confused state. He headed back to the village and once there quickly did a recon of the area. Making sure he was well hidden he lit a small fire and then tore his jacket up into strips and tightly wrapped them around the arrow heads. Lighting them he fired them two at a time aiming for the roofs of the straw covered huts. Even without any kind of flammable substance on the cloths they caused the huts to catch fire relatively quickly. He could see the women running and screaming, calling for the men. When he had run out of arrows he stamped his small fire out and ran as quick as he could to the gate staying within the forest and clear of the main trail. He could hear the men that had been guarding the gate rushing to the village, clearly hearing the screams but also seeing the smoke rising from the burning buildings. When he reached the place where he'd left Carter he was relieved to find her still there, she hadn't regained consciousness. There were still two guards at the gate and he didn't have any arrows left, he just had the knife. He moved Carter closer to the gate but still within the tree line of the forest. The two guards were looking in the direction of the village but stood next to the DHD. He had no option he had to break from the forest and deal with the two guards, the only problem being he was dog tired, ready to drop at any moment. He took a final look at Carter and then began to walk out towards the two men. At first they did not see him and then one of them turned to him, they weren't carrying bows but did have a couple of vicious looking spears.
"Hi guys. " he shouted hoping that he sounded confident and hoping that he didn't look like he was ready to collapse to them. Behind his back he held the knife by the tip getting ready to throw as soon as he was a little bit closer. "Don't suppose you want to let me use the Stargate do you?"
The way that they were moving towards him told him the answer, "guess not then." He threw the knife at the one that was closest to him, he couldn't afford to make any mistakes now and the knife stuck in the warriors throat killing him outright. The other one initially shocked at the death of his friend swung his spear round hitting O'Neill on the top of the arm. As far as O'Neill was concerned it was now or never and ignoring the excruciating pain his body was now in. He ran at the warrior his shoulder hitting the man in the mid-drift knocking the wind out of the guard, O'Neill then lifted him up over his shoulder so that he landed flat on his back grabbing the spear he rammed it into his stomach before he had chance to recover. Struggling for breath O'Neill went over to the DHD and dialled Earth, he looked over his shoulder making sure there was no one else coming and when the wormhole established he sent the GDO signal without waiting for it's response he jogged back to the forest and picked Carter up. He could feel the adrenaline rush wearing off as he climbed the steps leading up to the Stargate. As he was almost at the event horizon he heard the shouts of the warriors returning, he'd been too pre-occupied in getting Carter to the gate that he didn't hear them approaching until it was too late. The leader of the group was incensed that they had made it to the gate and drawing back an arrow on his bow he aimed it at O'Neill. O'Neill with Carter in his arms stepped through without looking back, he had no idea that the arrow had entered the wormhole behind him.
In the depths of Cheyenne Mountain the Stargate started spinning, the alarms started wailing immediately.
"We have an incoming wormhole!" the technician shouted as he watched the monitor trying to determine who it might be.
"Who is it Sergeant? " asked General Hammond as Daniel Jackson and Teal'c entered the control room.
"It's the SG-1 code that we've just changed Sir."
"It's Jack and Sam!" Daniel shouted excitedly.
"We don't know that son. " the General said.
"You've got to open the iris General. " Daniel said as he could see the look of indecision in the General's eyes.
The General thought about it for a few more seconds and then ordered the sergeant to open the iris. "Get a medical team down there as well. "
They all watched from the control room as the SF's pointed their weapons at the Stargate. They relaxed a bit when they saw Colonel O'Neill step through carrying Captain Carter. Daniel and Teal'c ran out of the control room nearly knocking over a couple of people on their way out.
The first thing that O'Neill thought as they stepped through into the SGC was that they had made it, despite everything they had made it and as he saw Dr Fraiser running up the ramp to meet them he knew that Sam would be OK. And then he felt it, a thump in his back followed by the pain. He almost dropped Sam but he told himself to just to stay upright for a few more seconds until the medical staff took her from his arms.
"It's OK Colonel we've got her. " Fraiser said not trying to show the shocked look on her face as she got a closer look at the damage to his. A couple of nurses took Carter from his arms and placed her on a gurney. Fraiser taking a quick glance at her before turning back to the Colonel. "Are you injured Sir? " she asked.
"See to Carter, " he managed to say, "fever." His priority was Carter not himself.
"Yes we'll get her down to the infirmary straight away. You look like you could do with going there yourself Sir. " said Dr Fraiser, there was something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on when she looked at him. Her attention was momentarily taken away as Daniel came rushing up the ramp.
"Jack!" he shouted as he approached. Fraiser had noticed that the Colonel had not moved from the spot since he had come through and even with Daniel approaching the Colonel didn't move towards him. Daniel also noticed that something wasn't quite right.
"Jack, what's wrong?" he asked as he slowed his pace.
O'Neill was about to speak when he coughed and blood began to trickle from the corner of his mouth.
"Colonel!" shouted Fraiser as she saw him sway forward, between her and Jackson they broke his fall to the ramp. "Get me another gurney, quick. " she shouted to her medical team. As soon as he had started falling they saw the arrow protruding from his back. "Page Dr Warner and get OR 2 ready. " she ordered as O'Neill was lifted to the gurney. They raced him to the infirmary Daniel and Teal'c following closely behind.
"I'm sorry you can't come in here. " Fraiser told them as they tried to follow her in.
"Is he going to be OK? What about Sam?" Daniel asked, his mind racing.
"I don't know yet Daniel. Dr Ruiz is seeing to Sam right now, it looked like she had a wound to the thigh that has become badly infected, other than that I don't know. Now I have to go see to the Colonel." When she went through the Colonel's clothes had already been removed revealing the true extent of his injuries. There were multiple bruises covering his ribs and abdomen; she could see some kind of bleeding wound on his side that looked like it was infected and of course there was the arrow sticking out of his back. From the blood that came from his mouth she knew that it had punctured a lung. Both wounds were bleeding quite heavily now.
"Get the lines in and tell them to send eight units of blood. Put a tube in and then we'll move him into theatre and get this arrow out." She went to get scrubbed and joined Dr Warner who was already waiting.
"What have we got then, Janet? " Dr Warner asked as O'Neill was wheeled in.
"Two deep penetration wounds to begin with; knife wound to the side, arrow in his back that looks like it's punctured his lung."
"We'll deal with the arrow first. Let's get him on his front and get to work."
Daniel and Teal'c waited at Sam's bedside, Dr Ruiz had cleaned and sutured the wound on her thigh and an IV line was running antibiotics and fluids into her. After about 2 hours a nurse came out of surgery. Daniel saw her and went to see how Jack was doing.
"Nurse, how is the Colonel? " he asked.
"They're still working on him Dr Jackson. I've only come out to arrange more blood, we're running out and need donations. I'm just about to organise it. I'm sorry I don't have further news. " she told him and left.
"It doesn't sound too good in there, Teal'c." he said as he sat back down next to Carter' bedside. "Why did we leave them?"
"We had no choice. Our intentions were to bring back reinforcements; it would have served no purpose to have stayed with them when we were seriously outnumbered. Colonel O'Neill is a strong warrior he has managed to survive so far and I am sure he will survive the surgery."
All personnel within the base that were AB negative all made donations and more units were sent from the airforce academy hospital as requested. Daniel was getting more and more frustrated as the hours dragged on and only calmed down when Sam began to stir.
"Sam. Sam, it's OK you're back at the SGC." Daniel reassured her.
She blinked a few times to focus her eyes and then focussed on Daniel. "The Colonel?" she croaked.
"He's still in surgery but he's going to be alright. I'm sorry we left you both. " he told her clearly feeling guilty at leaving them behind.
"It wasn't your fault, Daniel. You were following the Colonel's orders and there wasn't anything you could have done."
"What happened there?" he asked although given the state that the two of them came back in he wasn't sure he really wanted to know.
"The Gou'ald send slaves there to act as game for up and coming young warriors."
"You mean you were hunted?" Despite everything they had seen in the universe Daniel was still amazed that humans could treat other human beings in such horrendous ways.
"If it wasn't for the Colonel I'd be dead right now, he carried me practically everywhere. I didn't think his nose was that badly broken that it would require surgery though. " said Carter as she just remembered that Daniel had said the Colonel was in the operating theatre.
Daniel looked at Teal'c unsure of whether to tell Sam the condition that O'Neill had come back in.
"Daniel?" she asked, "Daniel, what is it?"
"Sam, it's not his nose they are operating on. Jack was stabbed, Janet thinks it happened well before you came back and then when he carried you through they must have been firing arrows at you. One came through the gate and hit him as soon as he stepped on the ramp."
"Oh my god. He is going to be OK, isn't he?"
"I am sure Colonel O'Neill will be fine." Teal'c said trying to calm the now agitated Captain Carter.
"He never said anything other than he was tired. We were both tired and he had been carrying me around for ages so I didn't really think there was anything that serious with him. Why does he always do it?"
"Do what?" Daniel asked.
"Sacrifice himself. He was injured and he didn't tell me."
"It's what he does, Sam. I think it's something to do with him being a commanding officer, puts everybody else before himself, whatever the cost." Daniel was telling Sam at the same time as telling himself. They had been in countless situations where Jack had put himself at risk to save the rest of the team and Daniel was sure that he would do it and time and time again. One day that O'Neill luck would run out, Daniel was just hoping that today wasn't the day. "It will be OK Sam, he'll pull through, he always does."
Janet came through into the infirmary feeling absolutely drained, she went to see how Sam was doing and found both her and Daniel asleep, Teal'c had his eyes closed but she knew he was not asleep. She gently placed her hand on Teal'c's shoulder, his eyes opened and she smiled at him.
"How long has he been asleep?" she asked.
"No more than an hour. Captain Carter woke up but then fell asleep again. How is Colonel O'Neill?"
"He will be alright, he's in ICU right now but I expect him to make a full recovery. You can see him if you want."
"Shall I wake DanielJackson?" Teal'c asked.
"No, leave him a while. He'll wake up on his own, Jack's not going anywhere."
Three days later Jack regained consciousness and found Carter laying in the next bed to him. He smiled to himself, he had done his job and brought her home.
"Hey Sir, glad to see you're awake. " said Sam as she saw he had woken up. "How are you feeling?"
"Been better. " he croaked. "How long? "
"It's been about 5 days, Colonel." She could see what he was thinking, " don't worry Sir, Janet will have you all fixed up and ready in time for your friend's birthday party."
"Good, I wouldn't want to miss it, she's a very special friend. " he told her as he drifted off to sleep.
"Goodnight, Sir. " she said smiling, glad that everything would be back to normal soon.
The End.
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