Sam's world was disintegrating.
Again.
Everything had seemed to be fine. All the earth-shattering events and confusing revelations of the past months had finally been put behind her. She had been able to settle down again. Secure in the knowledge that her world was safe and stable once more.
Now the foundations of her existence were rocking once again.
It had started with an unscheduled activation of the Stargate. An activation from outside.
Two hours ago the symbols on the gate had suddenly begun to spin, had locked and, of course, the iris had closed, as was to be expected. Then the code had come through. A code that had caused eyebrows to rise in the control room. A code that should not have been accepted by the system. But the computers had declared it valid.
The iris had opened and the broken, bloodied figure of a man had come stumbling through the big ring, only to collapse on the ramp as soon as he had passed the shimmering curtain of the event horizon.
Now that same man was in the infirmary, had been there from the minute a hurriedly summoned Janet Fraiser had laid her eyes on him. Squashing all the speculations and other reactions to his astounding presence, Janet had roughly assessed the possibility of broken bones and inner bleeding, apart from the all too apparent cuts and bruises and burn wounds, and had had him whisked away for surgery and treatment immediately.
"No questions!" She had ordered brusquely, fending off a deeply concerned General Hammond, who had followed the gurney, hoping for the man to regain consciousness and answer the questions which were burning on his lips. "With luck you will be able to get some answers from him ... later. With a lot of luck. ... And before you ask, ...." She had shot him a caustic look. "No, I don't know yet whether he'll make it or what his chances are."
The door of the operating room had closed in his face.
The general wasn't the only one whose questions were left unanswered.
Sam, like almost everybody else on the base, was waiting for Janet to come out again and explain what was happening. Explain the sudden, unexpected appearance of a man she had thought she'd never see again. A man who had once been her friend, at one time even her lover.
Robert F. Makepeace.
The traitor.
*****
Seven months earlier Sam's world had collapsed for the first time.
She had worked herself into exhaustion to find a way to get Colonel Jack O'Neill back home again, only to find him strangely reluctant to leave when they had finally reached Edora. It had hurt. Very much so. So much so, that she had sought comfort from a man she previously would have considered a most unlikely source, Colonel Robert Makepeace, the leader of SG3.
Their affair had only lasted for a short time. Until she had realized what her heart really wanted. Who it really wanted. And in the ensuing weeks she and Jack O'Neill had slowly built something that had been more than mere friendship.
They had stayed friends, she and Robert, very good friends. A fact that had had Jack break out in small, unreasonable bouts of jealousy from time to time. Despite her repeated assurances that there was absolutely no reason for him to be jealous of Robert Makepeace, Jack still hadn't quite been able to simply accept her friendship with the Marine.
Sometimes Sam had even thought that it was rather sweet that Jack wasn't just taking her for granted, that he was treating their new relationship as something very fragile and precious.
She had been happy.
Then another 'bomb' had exploded and had turned her world upside down again.
On a diplomatic mission to Tollana, Jack had stolen a technical device.
Confronted with his theft back home on Earth, he had shown them all a side to his character that they hadn't thought existed. Bitter, and determined that what he had done was right, that the Asgard, the Nox and the Tollans *owed* it to them to provide Earth with their technology, and if they wouldn't, that they, the humans, had the *right* to *take* what wasn't given.
This *new* Jack O'Neill hadn't been the man she had been in love with.
Sam had tried to find a reason for his behaviour, had tried to understand him, but he hadn't even wanted to see her. He had told her in no uncertain terms that he considered their *little fling* a mistake. That he wanted her out of his life.
One week after General Hammond had assigned Robert Makepeace as the new leader of SG1, Jack had asked to be sent to Edora, to spend the rest of his life there, with Laira.
Sam had been devastated.
What had made things worse was that, even before these events, Robert had seemed to have changed in some strange, inexplicable way, too. Nothing big or very noticeable. Most of the time he had just appeared to be distant and preoccupied, no longer the friend she could easily take her worries to. To anybody but Sam the change would probably not have been apparent at all.
If it hadn't been for Daniel and Teal'c, who had been feeling her loss too, Sam would not only have been very unhappy, but also very, very lonely.
Then, in the space of a few days, the tables had been turned again.
Jack had been returned to her, to them, ... but, for her, the price had been the loss of a good friend. Robert had been arrested for high treason.
Jack's actions had been nothing but a ruse to ferret out the *mole* in the SGC. The man who really had been stealing from their allies.
Colonel Robert F. Makepeace, USMC.
*****
For a while Sam hadn't known who to trust anymore. Too much had happened in too little time.
Jack had devoted a lot of his time and effort to rebuilding their relationship. In a thousand and one ways he had tried to convince her that what he had told her had all been a necessary part of his act, a part of deceiving Maybourne. It hadn't been easy, but finally Sam had allowed herself to believe in him, in *them*, again.
Her world had stopped rocking. Her life had become normal again - well, if life with Jack O'Neill could ever be called normal. But she had slowly started to enjoy herself again. To feel safe.
Until two hours ago, when she had recognized the bloodied features of the man lying in the embarkation room, close to death.
Until she had observed Colonel Jack O'Neill unobtrusively take the general aside and overheard him whispering, "He must have put up one hell of a fight from the look of things. Seems like they have found him out. What do you think happened, sir?"
Yes, what had happened?
More still, what *was* happening?
*****
After Robert's arrest and subsequent court martial, which had led to his being summarily stripped of his rank and dishonorably discharged from the Service, she had tried to find him, had wanted to talk to him, to offer her help. But he had been gone without a trace. It had seemed as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth.
Now she wasn't so sure if that hadn't been exactly what had happened.
How had he come to be off-world?
What had he been doing wherever he had been?
How was it possible that he had a working GDO?
And a valid code?
So many questions!
Did all the answers really lie with the unconscious man in the infirmary only, the man who at the moment was kept alive by blinking and beeping machines and by the skills of a woman who refused to give one of her patients up to death?
What was going on?
More lies? More deceptions?
Was there anybody she could really trust?
Which way were the tables turning now?
*****
"Sam?" Daniel's face swam into her vision and disrupted her confused thoughts. "Do you know what's going on?"
Sam needed a moment to concentrate on his question. "What?"
"Someone said that Makepeace came through the Stargate. That he's wounded and Janet's treating him." Daniel was clearly puzzled. He looked at her for answers. Answers that she would like to hear herself.
"Yes, Daniel. He came through and Janet has him in the infirmary. But that's all I know. ... I think you're asking the wrong person."
Daniel's eyes opened wide at the bitterness that was reflected in Sam's voice. She sounded hurt.
"Sam?" Concerned, he stepped closer and lightly touched her arm.
"It seems Dr. Fraiser has finished," Teal'c observed.
As one they turned and watched a tired Janet Fraiser walk into General Hammond's office.
"Where's Jack?" Daniel looked around him, noting the absence of their team leader and friend for the first time.
"Closeted in there with the general." Sam indicated the general's office with a curt nod of her head.
"Why ... " Daniel broke off when Sam raised her hand warningly. She was straining to catch the faint voices issuing from General Hammond's office. Janet had forgotten to close the door. She really had to be very exhausted.
"We have taken care of most of his injuries, sir. It isn't quite as bad as it looked at first sight. All the blood made it seem worse than it really was. ... To sum it up, apart from a mass of cuts, bruises and burn wounds, most of them minor though, and a slight concussion, we had to reduce his left shoulder. He has also probably torn a ligament in there. ... But the worst at the moment is the loss of blood, which has caused a severe shock to his system. From his obvious exhaustion and the dehydration of his body I'd say he must have walked ... or run a considerable distance in his wounded state."
Janet had seemingly finished her report on the extent of Makepeace's injuries.
"When can we talk to him?" That was the general.
"For the moment he is stable, though still unconscious. We have him on IV, replacing the lost blood, minerals and body fluids to help rebuild his strength. ... I think his overall excellent physical condition will help to see him through this without any major problems and you will probably be able to talk to him as soon as he wakes up. Given proper medical care and sufficient rest, his chances for a full and speedy recovery are very good."
"Thank you, Dr. Fraiser. I know you have done all you can for Colonel Makepeace. ... What do you think happened to him?"
"Sir, I'm only a doctor. I don't know. ... From the extent and nature of his injuries I'd assume he was in a fight with several other people. Some of whom didn't just use knives or their fists on him, but staff weapons or something similar. And one wound looked suspiciously as if it had been caused by a gun. ... For more information you'll have to wait for him to wake up. He's the only one right now who can tell you exactly what happened. ... If you don't mind, sir, I'd like to catch some rest now."
"Of course. Thank you, Doctor. Please, notify me as soon as Colonel Makepeace wakes up."
"Yes, sir."
Janet turned to go, but before she had left the office and could close the door, the three people in the briefing room clearly heard Jack O'Neill's voice stating, "Gods, what is it about those stupid Marines, that they always think they have to save the world single-handedly? Doesn't anybody teach them common sense? Why, the hell, didn't he contact us and .... " The door closed on the rest of Jack's exasperated ranting.
With a shrug and a tired smile for Sam, Teal'c and Daniel, Janet left.
Daniel turned to Sam, his eyes mirroring disbelief. "*Colonel* Makepeace?"
When Sam didn't react to the unmistakable question, he added, "Didn't somebody say that Makepeace had been demoted and kicked out of the Marine Corps? What gives?"
"It would seem that we must ask O'Neill, if we want to obtain that information."
'Teal'c's face stayed expressionless, as usual, but his voice was definitely showing a hint of annoyance', Sam thought detachedly. The same kind of annoyance she was feeling. Though, annoyance wasn't exactly the right word for what she was feeling. ... What *was* it she was feeling?
Betrayed?
Again?
So, what else was new!
*****
About an hour later
"Hi, folks, so this is where you got to." Jack O'Neill's lanky frame was lounging against the door of the lab. He surveyed the three people inside the room. His best friends.
The guarded, almost expressionless looks with which they returned his scrutiny caused a whole string of warning bells to start a cacophonous ringing in his head. Uh, uh. He had done it again. They were mad at him.
"What's wrong, people?" He thought he knew, but maybe it wasn't *that*. 'Fat chance' he silently admonished himself ironically, 'but a man can hope, can't he?'
"Why don't *you* tell us?"
'Oops, Daniel really sounds pissed off this time.' Jack winced inwardly.
"Hey, come on, give me a break. I may be good, but even I can't read thoughts, now, can I?" Maybe the good ol' stalling technique would help.
Not this time. "Yes, Jack, I think you should tell us what is going on." Sam sounded more tired and disappointed than mad. He had to tread carefully with her. She had been through too much already. He wasn't sure she could take much more. But, damn, he *couldn't* tell them, he wasn't *allowed* to.
He sighed and stepped into the lab, closing the door behind him.
"Listen, Sam, Daniel, ... Teal'c," he added with a sidelong glance at the stoic face of the Jaffa, "I would tell you, if I could, but I can't, ... really I can't."
He swallowed, the open disbelief and hurt in Sam's eyes were almost more than he could take.
"Sam, .. please, you've got to understand,..." he tried to plead with her. She was military. She just had to understand that there were some things which simply couldn't be disclosed, no matter how much he might want to do it.
"Why is Robert here?"
Robert!? Did she still have feelings for the Marine? Jack had to suppress a twinge of jealousy.
"Uhm, Makepeace, I ... ahem, ... yeah, ... " This definitely wasn't one of his better days. Even if he wasn't as eloquent as Daniel or Sam, he still usually managed more than this helpless stuttering.
"I can't tell you."
"You can't *trust* us, you mean, don't you?" Daniel accused him.
"Daniel, that's not it. Truly. Please, ... Sam, you know I trust you. All of you."
"Do you?" Sam's voice was full of pain.
Suddenly Jack couldn't stand it anymore. Damn the regulations, damn the general and his secrets. They weren't worth losing his best friends over. They deserved better from him. *Sam* deserved better from him. It would be out soon enough anyway. So, they got the knowledge a bit earlier, that was all, no harm done, right?
He sighed again. "Okay, I know I shouldn't and the general will probably have my ass for it, but I'll tell you what I know."
Nervously, he licked his lips. 'Where should he start?'
"You all remember the incident with the Tollans, Nox and Asgard and what happened afterwards, don't you?"
They did.
"Yeah, well, it seems Makepeace wasn't quite the culprit. Not really, anyway. ... Ahem, ... I mean he did take that device and he took others before that. " Jack gestured vaguely. "But, ... he did it on orders."
"Yeah, from Maybourne." Occasionally even Daniel could be sarcastic.
"Hm,.. no ... or at least, hm ... his orders didn't originate from Maybourne only." If he hadn't had it before, now he certainly had their full attention.
"Maybourne had approached Makepeace some weeks earlier. He obviously thought Makepeace would make a good candidate for his illegal 'acquisitions' operation. Unfortunately, .. for Maybourne .., he was wrong. Makepeace reported the whole thing to General Hammond. And some cunning guys in the Pentagon saw this as a god-sent opportunity to finally get a line on the bastard and whoever was behind him. They decided that Makepeace should go along with Maybourne. So he happily joined Maybourne's ring of busy, little beavers. Then they got a little too busy and the shit hit the fan."
"The Asgard, the Tollans and the Nox complained," Daniel translated. He remembered the time only too well.
"And threatened to sever all ties with us," Jack added.
"So why didn't Makepeace just blow the whistle on the whole operation? Why the bad-bad-Jack-the-disgruntled-thief act?" Sometimes Daniel still seemed to be smarting a bit from that episode at Jack's house.
"From what the general told me, at that time Makepeace only knew about this one group, ... apart from one other thing. But they were certain that Maybourne had several groups operating independently from each other. They didn't know how and who. And they still didn't know who was sanctioning and protecting Maybourne's activities. On the other hand, the Asgard and the other races wanted to see results. So they dealt me in."
"Then the whole thing was a scam? Put on just to keep Makepeace in the game and placate our allies at the same time?"
"Yeah, sort of."
"Then he isn't a traitor?" It was said so softly that Jack had almost missed it, almost that is, if he hadn't been watching Sam's face. She had listened to his story and he had seen disbelief, surprise and finally hope and joy pass through those beautiful eyes of hers. ... And the first thing she said, referred to Makepeace.
"No, he isn't," he admitted, careful to keep his voice devoid of any expression that might betray his feelings.
Jack could see that she was far away. Right now miles were separating them instead of the few feet that they stood from each other. Desperately he sought for something to draw her back to him.
But Daniel wasn't finished with analysing his tale. "You knew all along that Makepeace wasn't a traitor? I mean, it looked so real when you cuffed him and all."
Jack blinked and turned back to Daniel. "No, that was real. I didn't know about it at the time. The general didn't tell me until much later. He must have thought my reactions to discovering the traitor to be Makepeace would be much more convincing that way."
Silently he had to admit that the general hadn't been far off in his assessment. In a way Jack had been glad when he had seen the big Marine pocket the Asgard device. Glad because it hadn't been any of his team. Glad that it had been the man he still considered a rival when it came to Sam.
"What about the Tollans and the Asgard?" Daniel wasn't satisfied yet. "Do they know?"
"General Hammond told them. They agreed to play along. Foremost in their reasoning was, that - no matter what - they'd get those gadgets back. Newman and his folks must have grabbed some pretty sensitive stuff. As long as they got that back, they wouldn't squeak. They'd leave the mopping up to us." What he didn't say was that there was still another reason for the alien races to go along with the humans' plans. He'd come to that later, ... if he had to.
"Since when have you known?" Sam was back with them, her eyes unreadable.
Now came the hard part. "Since about a week after Makepeace suddenly disappeared."
He met her eyes.
Saw the realization dawning in them.
And he couldn't help noticing the pain that suddenly clouded them.
What could he say? How could he justify what he'd done? What he *hadn't* done?
'Dammit, Sam, I wanted to tell you, but I wasn't allowed to. ... Fool! ... Since when has *that* ever stopped you? ... Admit it, you were glad he was gone, and *gone* was what you wanted him to remain.' Jack wasn't sure Sam had ever realized the extent of his jealousy of Makepeace.
"O'Neill?" Teal'c's deep voice interrupted his self-castigation. "You said Colonel Makepeace had discovered one other thing."
Yeah, you could always count on the Jaffa to hit the jackpot. This was one of the two things Jack would rather not have mentioned right now, but he obviously had no choice.
"Listen, folks, this has to stay between us, understood? You don't talk about it. Not among yourselves, not to anybody. Got that?" Jack felt like he was playing a part in a bad melodrama.
With three pairs of eyes upon him, - unreadable, expectant, detached - , he continued, sure he was about to give them ample food for thought with this little bombshell. "Makepeace discovered that there are at least three people in the SGC working for Maybourne currently. Two inside the teams, one from staff."
"Colonel O'Neill, report to the infirmary, please." The blaring of the overhead speakers saved O'Neill from any further discussions.
With the memory of Sam's eyes burning into his, he left the lab.
*****
There were certainly places he'd rather be. The infirmary had seen him as a patient too often, and it held far too many unpleasant memories for him to ever be really comfortable in there. Even though, this time, it wasn't he or any of his friends who was occupying the hospital bed.
Jack O'Neill hardly recognized the man before him. The former leader of SG3 was swathed in bandages. What could be seen of his face was swollen and discoloured by bruises. The rest of him didn't look much better. Yet, he was arguing with Janet Fraiser. It had started the moment the general had left the room to report Makepeace's findings to the President.
"Doc, I'll be fine. I need to go there. You can't stop me. I've got to go back. So, get those things off me."
"No way, Makepeace. You can forget about that. In fact, you can forget about going anywhere the next few days. You'll stay put. If necessary I'll have one of my nurses sit on you."
Janet didn't even notice how funny her statement sounded, she was so angry at the rebellious Marine. Jack thought that she still had to be very exhausted. She seldom lost her calm this way.
Giving up on courtesy, Makepeace retorted through clenched teeth, "Doc, there are two ways we can do this. With your help or without it. You decide, which it is going to be, BUT I'M GOING!"
"Damn! ... Oh, I know you Marines constantly have to prove how tough you are, but if you think I spent all that time patching you up just to have you ... "
Before the shouting match could evolve any further, the calm, authoritative voice of General Hammond halted the combatants.
"Colonel Makepeace, Doctor Fraiser, ... " They both looked at the general who was standing in the doorway, his disapproving frown clearly indicating what he thought of their behaviour. "*I* will be the one to decide who goes where and when. Please, bear that in mind."
He turned to O'Neill. "Colonel O'Neill, the President has given us the go-ahead on the operation. In about two and a half hours you will lead three SG teams through the Stargate and apprehend the people you'll find at the location Colonel Makepeace will take you to. I want all three teams in the briefing room in half an hour and I expect SG1 to be present as well."
"Yes, sir." With a nod at Makepeace and a shrug and a smile for Janet, Jack left the infirmary.
"Dr. Fraiser, unfortunately, we can't dispense with Colonel Makepeace's help in this matter. So, I suggest, you make sure he is in the best possible condition to carry out the mission." He raised a hand to forestall her arguments. "This is an order, Dr. Fraiser." ... Acknowledging her honest concern for her patient, he added on a softer note, "I'm sorry, doctor, but this is really necessary. Please, believe me. Colonel Makepeace and other people have put too much into the matter already to let this opportunity pass. We do need him out there. There *is* no other choice."
With that, he left.
Janet turned to her patient.
In a silent request to have her disconnect the drip feeds, Robert Makepeace simply raised a bandaged arm to her.
With a sigh, Janet complied.
She'd have him back here soon enough.
If he was lucky.
*****
Ninety minutes later
"Ladies and gentlemen, you all know the score. I expect to see you geared up and ready to deploy in an hour in the gate room. Dismissed." General Hammond concluded the briefing and turned to the small group of people on his left, while the members of the SG teams filed out of the briefing room. They were only slowly getting over the surprise of what the general had just disclosed to them. And they had a mission to prepare for.
"Jacob, Narrim, Colgar, I'd like another word with you, if you please." With a swing of his hand Hammond motioned for them to precede him into his office.
The Tok'ra and the two Tollans disengaged themselves from the rest of the group, - they had been conferring with SG1 and a seated Colonel Makepeace - and acceded to the general's wish.
"Yeah," Jack clapped his hands, lightly rocking on his feet, "we should be going, too. Getting ready for the show."
Teal'c was already at the door. With an uneasy glance at Sam - and Makepeace - Daniel followed him.
"Ahem, yeah, ... hm ... Sam, see you in the gate room. Right? ... Makepeace." Jack didn't like leaving them alone, but he really had no choice. Sam obviously wanted to talk to the Marine. She certainly hadn't spoken to Jack yet.
"I'm glad you're back, Robert." The tender tone of her words followed Jack O'Neill out of the briefing room.
"I'm glad I managed to get back in one piece - sort of." With a wry smile Robert motioned to the visible bruises and Band-Aids and to the bandages that were strapped around his left shoulder and arm, rendering it virtually immobile.
Then he looked at her, noticing her confusion, and pushed himself up from his chair to go up to her side.
"I'm sorry, Sam."
She looked up questioningly.
"I wish I could have told you. But I couldn't. If anybody had had an inkling that I wasn't what I pretended to be, this whole thing would have blown sky high right away."
"And you'd probably be dead," she added softly.
"Probably," he conceded with a dry laugh. "As it is, they had to wait for a while to have a go at me. Until I made a mistake and they found me out. Guess I'm just no spy material."
"Why do you have to go back, Robert? Look at you! You're in no condition to go anywhere, let alone on a dangerous mission like this." She was afraid for him, he realized with a start.
"Hey, lighten up." Gently he raised her face and kissed her lips. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You heard the general, I'm needed to get our people on site. Besides, I've got a score to settle with those murdering bastards."
"But you're hurt!"
'She must have talked to Janet Fraiser,' he thought grimly. "Kiddo, you know me. I'm tough." He grinned at her. "Remember, I'm a Marine."
"Even Marines can die," she whispered. "And I don't want to lose you. Not again."
Suddenly she put her arms around him and buried her head against his chest. Surprised, and wincing slightly, - she wasn't only leaning against one of his bruised ribs, but also putting pressure on his wounded shoulder - he put his good arm around her and held her in a tight hug.
"What's wrong, Sam?"
She just shook her head and tightened her grip on him.
"O'Neill, I suppose. Hm? What's he done this time?" That flyboy had a talent of messing up his relationship with Sam that was unparalleled. Makepeace stroked her hair, trying to think of a way to defuse the situation. The last thing Sam needed now was this kind of emotional baggage to hinder her on a serious mission like the one before them.
"Sam, can you put whatever it is behind you for the moment? When we've passed the gate, you will need a clear head. You know, we can't do without you there. Who knows what Maybourne and his idiots have done with the stuff they've stolen. You've got to check things out for us before we move them. The Asgard won't be there to help us this time."
He gripped her arm and forced a hard tone into his voice. "Can you do it, Sam? Because if you can't, I'll have to tell the general you can't go."
Shocked out of her misery, she looked up at him, unshed tears clinging to her lashes.
She saw the determination in his eyes and knew this wasn't an empty threat. For a second she felt hurt by his attitude, but then she realized that he meant well. He was right. It might prove to be very dangerous for her, if she couldn't keep her mind on the job. And she mustn't jeopardize the mission with her troubles. After all, she was a soldier first. Her personal problems would just have to stand in line.
Steadying herself, she took a shaky, but deep breath and looked him straight in the eyes. "Don't worry, Robert. I can manage. I'll be okay." She even scrounged up a weak smile.
He relaxed and returned the smile, gently stroking her cheek. "We'll talk about it when we're back, okay?"
"Okay. ... Thank you, Robert. ... And, ... Robert, I'm sorry, ... for not having had more faith in you, for believing the things I did about you."
"It's alright, honey. That's another thing we can leave for later, okay? ... Hey, how about you help me get my gear and I'll help you get changed and all?" He affected a mock leer that made her laugh.
"Sure thing." Still grinning they left the briefing room together.
Strangely, Sam felt a lot better already. Robert was still her friend. She had him back and with his help she'd sort out things, later.
Maybe for once the tables were turning in her favour.
*****
An hour later
With the usual 'whoosh' the wormhole closed behind them. SG1 and the three other SG teams had reached the planet of their destination.
"Normally we would use those Goa'uld transportation rings to get us to their base, but I lost my control bracelet and those things don't work without the right code. Besides, I think, I might have put a bolt in this one's innards. So, we'll just have to hike it." Colonel Makepeace briskly set out in the direction of the village that was looming ahead, about half an hour's march away.
'He's holding up quite well.' Jack grudgingly admitted to himself. Before they had left, Janet Fraiser had taken him aside and told him to keep an eye on the Marine. "He isn't as strong as he pretends to be, he has lost too much blood. And as soon as the painkillers wear off, he'll be in considerable pain. But I have given him as much as I dare already. Another dose might do more harm than good."
When Jack had replied that Makepeace was old enough to know what he was doing, Janet had snapped at him, "You're the leader of this mission. So it's your job to take care that everybody makes it back." And he knew that she was right. If it had been anybody but Makepeace, Jack would have been the first to agree with her, but he still had very mixed feelings where the other man was concerned.
Jack checked his little assault group and signalled them to follow Makepeace, making sure once more that SG1 stayed in the rear. He was still uncomfortable about having Sam and, especially, Daniel here, but Makepeace and the general had insisted their skills would be needed in identifying and appraising the stolen items.
It was his job not to let any harm come to them.
"Tell me again why we need the help of these natives, Makepeace." He had caught up with the former leader of SG3.
"Oh, come on, Jack, you were at the briefing." Makepeace sounded a little out of breath already ... and a lot annoyed.
"I'm just a dumb flyboy. Spell it out again for me, will ya?" Jack told himself that he wasn't needling the other man, he was just making sure he had his facts right. Right? Yeah, and Santa was real, too.
Makepeace stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face him. His glare told Jack that the Marine knew exactly what Jack was doing or trying to do.
"Okay, once again, just for you, and I'll try not to use words of more than two syllables." Their eyes locked. "That village sits at the entrance of a short cut that ends up directly inside the base and unless you wanna walk the whole 6-hour trip around the mountain, we'd better sweet-talk the village elders into letting us use that passage, ... which is part of their temple, by the way. So they won't exactly be thrilled to let us defile it."
"What makes you think you can do it?" It was out before Jack had a chance to check the thought. He *knew* the answer to that one, too.
"Oh, for cryin' out loud! You heard me tell the general that I think they'll listen to me, cause they owe me. I saved the chief's daughter when some hairy monster was going to add her to its menu. ... Any more things you didn't understand, O'Neill, and want me to clarify for you? Or can we go on now?"
Jack could tell that Makepeace was pissed off with him. Great, another one. He could stand right there in line with the rest of his friends.
It was NOT one of his better days.
He followed Makepeace, oblivious to the puzzled looks their little by-play had elicited from the others.
*****
Makepeace had been right. On the strength of the debt owed to him, he had been able to *convince* the village elders that their use of the 'holy passage' wasn't a violation of the temple's sanctity.
And he had been right about being needed for another reason, too. Without him they'd have never found the way through the maze of tunnels that were riddling the mountain.
"Remnants of the mines that those Goa'uld had their slaves dig for years to search for Na'quada," Makepeace had explained. "They run all through the mountain. It's a wonder it hasn't collapsed yet."
"Did you ever find out what happened to the Goa'uld and why they left?" Daniel's natural curiosity wasn't even dimmed by their march through the narrow, poorly lit passages. This was much more his world than what was about to happen soon.
"The natives say, that one day they simply disappeared, leaving most of their stuff behind. Maybourne and his people took over the stronghold and got a few of the things working, those transportation rings among them."
"Yes, but ..."
"Shh! Hold it!" Makepeace dropped his voice, stopping them with a raised hand. "We're almost there. If we don't keep quiet from now on, they'll hear us coming." He glanced at O'Neill for further orders.
"Alright, people, this is it." Jack looked at the other team leaders. "You all know the plan. We move in, grab them and secure the stronghold. Then Carter and Dr. Jackson will take a look at the gadgets in there, pack them up and we move out again. Understood?"
Nods of agreement all around him.
"Makepeace, you, Carter and Daniel stay right here. You'll wait until we've secured the area. Then, and only then will you come after us. ... Peters, you stay with them." One of the Marines moved to their side.
Jack stifled the protests coming from Sam and Makepeace with a shake of his head and a raised finger.
"No! ... No arguments. That was an order. You know you'll only hinder us." He turned to the other teams. "Let's go."
As silently as possible they moved out.
*****
"Is it okay, if we talk in here?" Daniel whispered.
"Should be," Makepeace answered softly. "The access tunnel begins on the other side of that rock formation, so we ought to be pretty much protected here. Just don't start yodelling, Doc, okay?"
Sam had to suppress a smile at the perplexed look on Daniel's face.
"Oh? ... Yeah." He smiled too, as usual getting the joke a bit belatedly. It had been feeble anyway.
Sam flopped down next to Robert Makepeace. He was on the floor, sitting with his back against the rocks, his eyes closed, panting slightly. Anxiously she scrutinized his face. He looked exhausted and deep lines of pain were engraved in his face.
"Robert?" Recognizing the concern in her voice, he looked up at her.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." He patted her hand.
"You don't look it."
"Looks can be deceiving."
Daniel wasn't done getting to the bottom of the secrets of this new planet. During the briefing he had stopped listening to the general after his astonishing revelation of Makepeace's real role and of his intention to return to the place where he had almost been killed. Now there were things he wanted to know.
"How did Maybourne ever find this place?"
"He was shown it."
This curt answer caught not only Daniel's attention. Sam threw Robert a puzzled glance, too.
"Yes," she said slowly, remembering the briefing. "Come to think of it, the general never mentioned it ... or how *you* got to be here, either."
Both looked at Makepeace, waiting for an answer to the mystery.
All they got was a deep, exasperated sigh.
"Oh, come on. We're bound to find out soon enough. So, why don't you tell us?" Daniel thought there'd be no harm in trying his innocent-little-boy look on the Marine.
He was the most surprised when the other man chuckled and sat up straighter, obviously about to answer their questions.
But first he threw them another mystery.
"Haven't you wondered why the Tollans and Jacob Carter were present at the briefing?"
"Ye-es?"
"Well, this part of the story concerns them directly, that's why General Hammond called them in. After my court martial, Maybourne arranged for me to be transported off-world, to continue my 'work' for his group. You can imagine how surprised I was to find myself a passenger on a Tollan ship."
Gasps of surprise interrupted his report.
"What?"
Makepeace shrugged, hissing with pain when his injured shoulder protested the movement.
"The Tollans?"
"Yep, the Tollans. Seems like there are some folks out there in the galaxy who don't agree with the general conception that we humans aren't to be trusted with advanced weapons and technology. They aren't many, though, all I ever saw were three Tollans ... and a Tok'ra."
Makepeace had to stop as another wave of pain washed over him.
"Robert!"
"It's alright," he groaned. "There's nothing you can do about it."
Sam knew he was right. He had known about his condition and that it wouldn't be easy for him. It had been his decision to come.
"That Tok'ra and the Tollans, how did Maybourne meet them?" Daniel again.
"From what I could gather, *they* contacted *him*, offering to help him find what he was looking for, instead of letting his people stumble from one planet to the next. They wouldn't *give* him any stuff, but they pointed out planets to visit and occasionally they ferried things or people for him. ... The general said the other races suspected someone was helping Maybourne's guys. They knew too much about where to raid and what to find. Someone had to give them the info."
"So, they went along with the general's scheme to flush out not only the traitors in the SGC, but also among themselves?"
"Yeah."
"And you suffered for it."
"Hey, cut it out, Sam. I'm gonna be fine. As soon as this little skirmish is over and done with, I'll get my rank and my command back. No sweat."
Suddenly Daniel snickered softly. When the others looked at him inquiringly, he explained his strange bout of mirth. "I just remembered that scene in the gate room. You really had me fooled. I never would have thought ..., ahem, I mean I didn't think you'd ... " Embarrassed, he stopped speaking.
"You didn't think I had it in me, huh?" Makepeace grinned at the archaeologist's discomfort. "I was quite impressed with my performance myself. Though, truth to tell, I didn't know what was coming. General Hammond had just told me to play along, whatever might happen. ... So I did."
"You had me convinced, too. I fell for it like everybody else." Sam bit her lip. She still felt bad about not trusting him enough.
Robert took her hand, gently squeezing it. "You were meant to. ... Sam, stop feeling guilty. It wasn't your fault."
"Maybe, ... but Jack could have told me, ... afterwards. He has known for almost three months and he never said a word. When I think of all the things I believed about you. I really thought you had betrayed us and everything we'd been working for. Jack knew the truth, but he let me go on believing you were a traitor. Either he didn't want me to know or he didn't trust me to keep my mouth shut."
Brooding, she looked straight ahead at her outstretched feet, her expression mirroring how hurt she felt.
'So that's the problem.' Makepeace thought. O'Neill had probably been glad to be rid of him. Makepeace harboured no delusions as to how Jack O'Neill felt about him when it came to Sam.
"How do you think Jack's doing?" In an attempt to change the subject Daniel looked the way the others had disappeared. "Shouldn't we have heard from him by now?"
*****
Colonel Jack O'Neill was almost happy at the moment, thank you. For once, things were going rather well. At least as far as the mission was concerned.
They had been able to surprise Maybourne's 'acquisitors'. Makepeace had been right, his fiddling with the transportation rings had rendered the things useless, thus preventing the group from disappearing through the Stargate. And the Tollans and the Tok'ra had taken care of the ship belonging to their errant friends, now that they knew names.
Unfortunately - for Maybourne's people - they hadn't known about their taxi being out of business, so to speak. They had still been waiting for the promised ride to a new location, when the SGC forces had come over them.
They hadn't expected an attack from inside the base, either. They were only covering the access road that lead around the mountain. That was the way Makepeace had made his escape, and that was where they expected any opposing forces to arrive from.
So the SG teams didn't meet any serious resistance. They had secured their prisoners and had taken over the stronghold in next to no time. A couple of hand-to-hand fights, some shots fired into the air, nobody hurt. A picnic, really.
Jack had already sent one man back, to fetch Peters, Makepeace, Daniel and Sam. The stuff they were to look over was even bundled or packed up already, ready for transport - courtesy of their prisoners.
An all around success.
By rights he should be feeling elated.
Then why wasn't he?
*****
Three hours later
The last of the packing crates had just cleared the event horizon and so had most of the SGC people and their unwilling company.
The stolen items were carried to the side by the SG personnel, to be redistributed to their rightful owners at a later time. The prisoners would soon be on their way to a far less accommodating location than their last 'home'.
Sam and Daniel were walking down from the Stargate, towards a beaming General Hammond who was standing at the foot of the ramp, watching the fluctuating surface of the wormhole. He was still waiting for the rest of his people to pass through the ring structure - O'Neill, Makepeace, Teal'c and the last three of their prisoners had yet to come through - when suddenly the iris slammed shut with a screech.
"NO!" Sam screamed.
Everybody, prisoners and soldiers alike, could only stare at the shining titanium shield, shocked into immobility by the enormity of the tragedy that was playing out before their eyes.
Waiting for the dull thuds that would signal the deaths of three of his best people, General Hammond's first reaction had been denial. For a milli-second he held his breath, before swivelling around to face the control room. "Open that damned iris," he bellowed in a voice few had heard before, nor ever wanted to hear again.
Daniel had grabbed for Sam's arm, holding her, keeping her from running up the ramp.
"It's too late," she whimpered. "They were coming through right behind us."
And the iris stayed shut.
The thud nobody had wanted to hear, shook the silver-blue metal, signalling death.
"Harriman, damn! What the devil do you think you're doing? I told you to open the iris! ... Harriman!"
The general's roar drew most eyes away from the closed iris to the big window overlooking the gate room.
To the control room where several people seemed to be fighting.
"Captain, security detail to the control room, at once!" General Hammond's normally calm, drawling voice, was cracking. After another, stricken, disbelieving glance at the still locked iris, he hurriedly followed the soldiers up to the control room, where chaos was still reigning.
Down in the gate room, Sam was sobbing uncontrollably in Daniel's arms. Daniel was still staring fixedly at the Stargate, as if he could change what had happened by the force of his will alone.
Fate had turned the tables again.
Permanently, this time?
*****
On the planet the wormhole had disengaged when nobody had tried to enter it for a minute or more.
On the grass in front of the big portal a vicious, two-sided struggle was drawing to its end.
One side saw a burly prisoner trying to overpower Teal'c - not very successfully, however. The Jaffa had lost his staff weapon at the beginning of the fight, when the man had suddenly jumped him - but Teal'c took care of his opponent effortlessly without it. Satisfied, he looked down on the man who had folded at the Jaffa's feet after a well-placed hook to his chin. This one would be out of it for some time.
Jack O'Neill on the other hand wasn't faring quite as well. He was lying sprawled in front of the gate, raising his aching head, and could only helplessly look on as the second prisoner held a weapon at Makepeace's temple. O'Neill's sidearm.
Makepeace himself was slumped on the grass. Grey-faced from exhaustion and with some of his wounds broken open and bleeding again, he had reached the end of his strength moments before they were about to enter the wormhole. Clinging to consciousness by the simple force of his will only, he, nevertheless, couldn't help sinking to his knees with a groan of pain.
That had been the opening the last of the remaining prisoners had silently been waiting for. Ignoring the fallen Marine, two of them had jumped O'Neill and Teal'c, who had both been distracted by Makepeace's collapse. O'Neill had managed to shove the third of the thugs into the wormhole, before he himself was attacked, struck down and relieved of his gun.
Weaponless and too far away to do anything, Jack was forced to watch as the injured Marine looked down the barrel of the weapon that was pointed at him.
"Okay, Makepeace, you traitorous scum! Now you're finally gonna get yours." The NID man snarled. He kicked the kneeling man.
Makepeace groaned again, biting his lip with pain. "Go to hell, Cleary," he gasped.
"After you, you bastard!" Cleary hissed and raised the gun, his finger curled around the trigger, a cruel smile playing around his mouth. It died the same time as the man did. With an incredulous expression Cleary looked at the knife that had suddenly appeared in his chest. The gun dropped from his fingers as he died right there next to the man he had wanted to kill.
Stunned, Makepeace looked at the knife as well. Then he glanced at O'Neill, who seemed to be equally surprised.
"This man was a fool. He wouldn't have survived one day in the army of Apophis," Teal'c's deep voice stated. "You don't disregard an enemy just because he has lost one weapon."
He walked to the fallen man and calmly retrieved his knife, cleaning and then sheathing it again.
Next he extended a hand to the Marine. Still dazed, Makepeace let the Jaffa help him up. "I believe it is necessary to open the gate again, O'Neill," Teal'c addressed his commanding officer.
Jack raised himself to a sitting position and gazed first at the gate, then at his comrades.
He winced, knowing they wouldn't like what he was going to tell them.. "There is a slight problem, guys."
"Come on, Jack, don't play coy. Dial us home. And don't tell me you have forgotten the chevrons for Earth." Makepeace was leaning heavily on the Jaffa's arm.
"Ahem, ... yeah, ... No, I haven't forgotten them. ... It's just, .... I gave my GDO to Daniel, just in case. I figured he'd need it more than me. Sam and Major Parker had the other two." He grimaced apologetically.
His statement was met with silence.
Teal'c and Makepeace both looked at him as if he had suddenly sprouted two heads.
Jack spread his arms wide, shrugged and tried a crooked smile.
Makepeace was the first to find his voice again. "Great, so what do we do now?"
"We wait."
*****
The control room was a shambles. General Hammond stood amid the spilled files and papers, the overthrown chairs and shelves and the smashed consoles. Bemused, he looked at Sergeant Siler, who looked back at his CO with a helpless, deeply troubled expression.
"What?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but we can't open the iris." Siler squared his shoulders, aware that his news might mean the death of more of his comrades." He hasn't just smashed the consoles, the computer program that controls the iris has been wiped. He must have set an eraser some time ago and activated it after he had closed the iris. ... I'm sorry, sir."
"Isn't there anything we can do? We have people out there. They don't know we can't deactivate the iris."
Nobody had to say it out loud. They all knew what would happen if one of the teams out on a mission decided to dial home right now.
"When is the next team due back?" the general demanded of Harriman, the technician who normally operated the computers controls.
"Not until tomorrow, ... if they keep to the schedule, sir." In addition to sporting a black eye, Harriman was cradling a bleeding arm. He had tried to stop the tragedy, but had been too late.
"We need to load the back-up files and reroute the program through another system." Sam's voice broke into their discussion.
She looked terrible. Her eyes were red-rimmed and incredibly sad. Her whole posture spoke of defeat, yet, she was still trying to give the SGC her best. The men in the control room couldn't help but admire her. They were well aware that she had suffered more than anybody else when the iris had closed on the rest of SG1 and Colonel Makepeace.
"Major Carter, you don't have to ... . If you don't feel up to it, I'd understand ..."
"No, sir, you need me if we want to have the system back online soon," Sam interrupted the general, looking him squarely in the eyes. "Thank you, sir," she added as an afterthought.
Hammond nodded, understanding her need for work. "Very well, Major. Get to work immediately. ... Sergeant." He motioned Siler to accompany Sam. He hoped to God they'd get control back before anybody else decided to come home.
*****
"You really have an exceptional talent for messing things up, Jack, haven't you?" Makepeace was more exasperated than really angry. After all, they'd just have to wait for the SGC to notice that they hadn't followed the others. Then Hammond would open the gate from their side and send somebody to come looking for them. Couldn't be long.
"Shut up, Makepeace."
"Hey, you used to call me Bob, remember? Haven't heard that in a long time from you." In fact, not since Jack had found out about Sam seeing him. Way back, after the Edora debacle.
"Yeah, so what?"
"Why are you so mad at me, Jack? What have I done?" Suppressing a smile, Makepeace thought that he knew the answer perfectly well, but he wanted to hear the other man admit it.
"Nothing! ... Leave it, Makepeace. ... Bob," he amended belatedly.
The two of them were sitting with their backs propped against the DHD, their last prisoner bound and gagged, lying at the foot of the steps to the gate. They had soon got tired of listening to the stream of abuse he had thrown at them when he had seen his dead partner. So, now he was fuming silently.
Teal'c stood with his back to the Stargate, keeping watch.
Makepeace's wounds had been treated and rebound. His headache was slowly abating, now that he was getting some kind of rest.
The Marine decided to change the subject." Do you think we'll be able to nail Maybourne and whoever is behind him?"
"Don't know."
"Well, I do know some names now, but I've got the feeling we've still only scratched the surface of this particular iceberg," Makepeace said thoughtfully.
"Did you ever find out the name of the third man who's working for Maybourne, the one from the general's staff?"
"Nope, no such luck. I only met those two guys from the teams that I told the general about. We'll just have to wait, until he gives himself away, I guess."
"Yeah, and Maybourne will happily go his way again. Seems we keep closing down parts of his operation only to watch him open up new ones somewhere else. ... Like that scaly monster with the many heads, what's its name?" Jack had decided it was useless to pretend the other man wasn't there.
"Hydra, I believe."
"Yep, ... a female, of course." Oops, now he was back *there*.
"Hm."
Silence ensued for a while.
"Tell me, ... when you were working for them, did you never, not once, think it might be *right* what they were doing?" That was something Jack had asked himself many times during the past. What if Makepeace had suddenly decided to change sides?
Makepeace, ... ahem , Bob, Jack silently reminded himself, sighed. "It's funny, but sometimes, like deep in the night, when I thought of all the people we have lost to those damned Goa'uld, I have asked myself the same question. Those NID guys weren't doing it for personal profit or anything, they honestly wanted to help Earth. Well, most of them, anyway. People like Cleary simply did it for the thrill of it." He stopped, lost in thought.
"Then one of those jerks would do something, bully a native, set off an explosion without regard as to who they'd hurt or kill - those other folks were either only *primitives* to them or alien monsters - ," he laughed scornfully, "and I'd know that whatever their motives, their way was wrong. And I just couldn't cross the line."
"Yeah."
Silence again.
"Jack?"
"Hm?"
"You're a fool."
"Huh?" Eyebrows raised, Jack turned to Makepeace, ... Bob.
"A complete and utter idiot and I don't think anybody is gonna argue the case." It was delivered quite calmly, as a simple statement of facts.
At Jack's speechless, stunned scowl Makepeace went in, right for the jugular this time. "I mean what other guy do you know who, on a regular basis, manages to reduce a normally self-assured and competent woman like Sam to a soggy, confused heap of conflicting emotions? ... You're the only one I know."
"Cut it out, Makepeace, you don't wanna go there," Jack warned the Marine.
"Why not? Cause I'm right?" he challenged.
He got a dirty glare in return.
"Yeah, right, Jack, ignore the problem. That'll certainly solve it."
"YOU'RE the problem!" Jack suddenly shouted, causing Teal'c to turn around, puzzled. "Everything was going just fine, until *you* showed up again."
"Sure, what a pity those thugs didn't manage to kill me. Problem gone, huh?" Makepeace snapped.
"Not a bad idea at all," Jack retorted heatedly.
That dumb Marine really was a pain in the ass and Jack couldn't even beat him up. The guy was wounded, for God's sake. You simply didn't beat up wounded 'heroes'. Wasn't done. ... More's the pity!
What Jack really needed, in his opinion, was a boot up his ass, Makepeace thought. A good, swift kick might shake that stubborn bastard to his senses.
Jack wasn't finished, though. "How come, that every time I turn around I find Sam in your arms? Since you're so very good at explaining things, got an explanation for *that*, too?"
"Matter of fact, I have. ... I'm her friend. Someone she can turn to when she's in trouble. Someone who'll listen when you've succeeded in messing up her life once again."
"I take it that means every time she's angry with me, I can come looking for her in your bed?" Jack was fast losing it.
"Dammit , Jack, for that stupid remark alone you deserve to get a good beating," Makepeace said dangerously quiet. "You *know* Sam would never do that. If I thought for a second that I'd have the slightest chance, any chance at all, I'd go in full speed. Unfortunately, she *loves* you. Not that I have any idea what she might see in you." He sounded really angry now.
Silence.
Then, a bit later. "I guess I really blew it this time, huh?" Jack looked at the man next to him with a sheepish half-smile.
"Yeah, you seldom do things halfway."
"She's mad at me because I didn't tell her about you, ... about you not being a traitor," Jack finally admitted quietly.
"I think she's not sure if you didn't tell her, because you didn't trust her to keep the secret or because you simply wanted to keep me out of her life," Makepeace,... no, Bob, added.
"I was jealous. I was glad you were gone and I didn't have to compete against you anymore." Jack sighed.
"Well, I don't know about the competition thing, but I'm back. And I wanna stay her friend ... and yours, too, ... if you'll let me." Bob looked at him.
"Does that mean we're gonna have to exchange rings now, you and me?" Jack drew back in mock dismay.
"You're a fool, O'Neill!"
Teal'c was silently shaking his head. Humans! But he was glad that those two had resolved their problems - for the moment at least. Who knew about the future? They were both good men and that was all that mattered. He was proud to be their friend.
"What are those guys back home doing? What the heck's taking them so long? Doesn't need a genius to open that damn gate, now does it?"
"Apparently not, since even *you* can do it, Jack."
*****
"An hour, sir, then we can give it a try. Everything should be up and running by then." Sam had told General Hammond.
That had been fifty minutes ago. For the last ten minutes the general had been pacing like a caged tiger in the hurriedly restored control room. He was deeply worried. It just *had* to work. They needed that damn iris gone.
Two technicians were still installing new computer consoles to replace the broken ones. The files and papers had been put back into the shelves and cabinets, the chairs righted and the shards cleaned away, but the feeling of helpnessless was still in the air. They all couldn't get the sound of that thud out of their minds. It would remain with them for a long time, the general suspected.
He looked up when Sam and Sergeant Siler entered the room, trailing a connecting cable.
"Sir, we have rerouted the control programs. The back-up is still intact and should be working without any problems. Sergeant Siler has installed an independent system to operate everything from, so the eraser or virus can't affect it. All we've still got to do is rig it up to the gate. We can try it out now." Sam looked at him questioningly.
"What if you're wrong, Major?"
"Then the iris will stay closed and we will have to try another way."
"Well, then this had better work. Somehow I don't think we have all that much time," the general muttered. He heaved a sigh. "Alright, Major Carter, give it a try," he ordered.
Siler connected the trailing cable to a console that stood apart from the other work places. He gave Sam a thumbs-up and she punched a key.
The screen lit up and she typed in several commands and passwords. Then she watched the signs and numbers roll up on the screen and checked them against what should normally be there.
"Sir, the system is working again."
"Okay, Harriman, see if you can open the iris."
The technician sat down in front of the console and typed in the relevant commands.
Every eye turned to the Stargate and to the iris that was still blocking it.
For a moment nothing happened. Then, with the usual groan, the iris opened and the metal spikes disappeared behind the gate structure.
A ragged cheer went up from the soldiers and technicians in the gate room and upstairs in the control room faces were beaming.
A big, relieved smile lit up General Hammond's round face, until he turned around and caught sight of the lost look in Sam's eyes. He swallowed.
"Major Carter," he started gently. "thank you very much. ... Now I want you to go down to the infirmary and get some rest."
"NO!"
They all understood her outburst. Working would keep her from having to think about what had happened. But she couldn't work forever.
"Major Carter," Hammond insisted. "There is nothing you can do at the moment and I really think ..."
He was interrupted.
"There is something we can do. Something we've *got* to do." Daniel stood in the door to the control room.
He looked as if he'd been crying, too. "We've got to go back to that planet and see if ... " He stopped, unable to go on. His eyes didn't leave the general's face, pleading.
Next to him Janet Fraiser had appeared. She silently nodded when the general glanced at her.
"Alright. Tell Major Parker to accompany you with one of his men, Dr. Jackson."
"I want to go, too." Sam was biting her lower lip. A look of determination had crept into her eyes, shoving desperation aside for the moment.
"Do you really think that wise, Major Carter?"
"Please, sir."
Recognizing her need to see for herself, General Hammond finally nodded.
"Activate the gate."
*****
The three men on the planet were starting to feel distinctly uneasy by now. It had been almost two hours and no sign of any Stargate activity yet.
"What do think is keeping them?"
"No idea." Jack was slowly getting seriously worried. Bob Makepeace really had to have more than the patch-up job Jack had been doing on his injuries. The rest was helping, but the man needed proper medical attention, damn. Where *were* they?
"Something pretty serious must have happened to prevent them from coming for us," Bob remarked. He had started shivering from time to time, a sure sign that his body was still trying to cope with the blood loss and general exhaustion.
"Yeah." Jack was scowling at the big ring in front of them. Come on, one big whooosh, please, that's all I ask! ... Open up! Dammit! ... Sam, Daniel, where the hell are you?
As if on cue, the Stargate sprang into activity. Whoosh! The wormhole formed, blew out and settled to its normal watery blue shimmer.
Teal'c instantly went into fighting stance, watching the surface of the gate, ready to take on anything, or anybody who might come through.
O'Neill and Makepeace drew their sidearms and took cover behind the DHD. Better to be prepared than to get fried by a Goa'uld weapon.
They all three relaxed again, when the gate spewed out four familiar figures.
Slowly Jack O'Neill drew himself up to his full height. "How nice of you guys to come visiting. What took you so long?"
"JACK!" He almost fell backwards when Sam threw herself at him with a cry of joy. Perplexed he caught and held her.
"Whoa!"
"Jack! Teal'c! You're alive!" A radiant Daniel was gripping the Jaffa's arm, beaming at them. Sam still clung to Jack's neck, almost throttling him. She was sobbing.
Bewildered, the three men looked about them.
With a big smile lighting up his face, Major Parker joined the tableau.
"Glad to see you Colonel O'Neill, Colonel Makepeace, Teal'c."
"Well, I'm glad somebody's noticing that I'm alive, too," Makepeace remarked dryly.
"Any particular reason why we shouldn't be?" Jack inquired of the group at large.
"We thought you were dead," Sam sobbed into his neck.
"Dead? ... As in ... 'dead'?" His disbelief was almost palpable.
"Dead, as in splattered against the closed iris," Daniel explained.
"WHAT?"
A bit later, after Daniel and Parker had finished their brief explanation of what had transpired, O'Neill and Makepeace exchanged a look.
"I'd have never thought that it was a good thing that those thugs jumped us when they did." Jack could hardly believe what he had heard.
"Yeah, that was a close one," Makepeace agreed. If possible, he was even paler now than before.
Teal'c simply nodded his agreement.
Something finally occurred to Daniel. "If it wasn't you, then who was it? Who died when Simmons closed the iris?"
"One of the NID guys." Jack thought of how he had shoved the man into the wormhole to avoid a three-sided fight, thus condemning him to his death.
Makepeace was shaking his head over something else. "Simmons! Who'd have thought it? So *he* was Maybourne's man."
"Yes, it seems he was afraid you'd point your finger at him," Sam said. She was still hugging Jack, holding on tight, though she had stretched out a hand to Robert, too, smiling in relief at seeing him there.
"I don't know what he hoped to achieve." Daniel was still trying to figure out Simmons' motive. "I mean, what he did gave him away more than anything else. So why did he do it?"
"Human nature, ... mindless panic, ... who knows. He definitely wanted to make sure that Colonel Makepeace didn't come back," Parker put in.
"Speaking of Makepeace." Jack shot the Marine a look. "It's high time we got you back into Janet's capable hands. She must be eagerly awaiting you already ... with her needles and a cute little, open-backed hospital gown."
"Shove it, Jack." Colonel Robert Makepeace grinned, belying his rough words. Matching the grin with one of his own, Jack turned to the Stargate and looked down at Sam. He hugged her to him.
"Let's go home, kids."
*****
Several hours later
"It's so beautiful." With a contented sigh Sam snuggled closer into Jack's embrace. He followed her eyes, admiring the velvety sheen of the starry sky above them for a moment, before his glance fell to the woman in his arms.
"So are you," he whispered tenderly.
They were sitting on the roof of his house, star gazing, or at least that was the pretense Jack had used to lure her up.
"Why, thank you, Colonel O'Neill." The silvery light of the moon illuminated Sam's face. She looked happy. All the bitterness was gone. She smiled into his eyes, a promise of things to come.
He gently stroked a finger along her cheek, resting his hand at her jaw. "Then you're no longer mad at me, Sam?" He had to hear her say it. He had to know she had forgiven him.
For a moment her eyes grew thoughtful. Then the smile returned and she entwined her fingers with his, placing a fleeting kiss on them. "No, Jack. I'm no longer mad at you. I don't even think I was ever really mad. I was so very disappointed and I thought you didn't trust me. It hurt so much."
When he didn't say anything, she looked up at him, a silent question in her eyes.
"Maybe I really didn't trust you," he finally admitted. At her bewildered look he amended. "Oh, not with the secret. I knew you wouldn't have let on about that. No, it's rather that I didn't trust you with Makepeace,... uh, Bob."
Sam had to suppress a smile. He obviously had a hard time getting used to calling Robert by his first name again. Ever since they had got back and whenever the Marine's name had come up, Jack had felt the need to correct himself. Sam was glad that the wait had given them the chance to finally make up their differences. "Why?"
"I don't know. I guess I felt threatened as long as he was still around. And when he was gone and you thought he was a traitor, the threat was gone as well. So I kept quiet."
Still holding his hand, she was gazing up at the stars for so long that he grew worried by her silence.
"Sam?"
"Hm?"
"*Is* he a threat?"
She turned back to him, raising his hand to her cheek again, leaning into it.
"No, Jack. No, he is no threat to you. Once, after Edora, for a short time, he might have been, but I soon came to my senses. ... No, ... Robert is just a very good friend, nothing more and nothing less. ... Can you live with that?"
Before he could say the words, the light in his eyes already gave her the answer she needed. "I think I can." His kiss only confirmed it.
"I love you, Colonel."
"And I love you, Major."
Maybe those blasted tables would finally stop turning now.
At least for a while.
Please?
THE END
Story Notes: Email: BruRa99@aol.com
SPOILERS: 100 Days, Shades of Grey
SEASON/SEQUEL: Third season / sort of a sequel to "Revenge?", my other SG1 story, which followed right after "100 Days" (the 'affair' Sam is referring to in this story occurred in "Revenge?")
CATEGORY: a bit of it all I suppose: Adventure, Betrayal, Romance, Angst...
ARCHIVE: S/JA, Heliopolis, yes; all others ask first, please
AUTHORS NOTES: I know I said "Shades of Grey" would never happen in this universe, but I changed my mind (hey, I'm female, I can do that *G*). This story is set about three months after "Shades of Grey" and it is my attempt to explain what happened in this episode and to make a believable shot at redeeming a certain colonel.
FEEDBACK: Yes, please. I like to know how I'm doing with my stories, so don't hesitate to tell me.
SPOILERS: 100 Days, Shades of Grey
SEASON/SEQUEL: Third season / sort of a sequel to "Revenge?", my other SG1 story, which followed right after "100 Days" (the 'affair' Sam is referring to in this story occurred in "Revenge?")
CATEGORY: a bit of it all I suppose: Adventure, Betrayal, Romance, Angst...
ARCHIVE: S/JA, Heliopolis, yes; all others ask first, please
AUTHORS NOTES: I know I said "Shades of Grey" would never happen in this universe, but I changed my mind (hey, I'm female, I can do that *G*). This story is set about three months after "Shades of Grey" and it is my attempt to explain what happened in this episode and to make a believable shot at redeeming a certain colonel.
FEEDBACK: Yes, please. I like to know how I'm doing with my stories, so don't hesitate to tell me.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]