By Biltong

· Sometimes one can overdo the Sir Galahad bit.

 

"Hey girlie."

Samantha Carter’s heart froze at the harsh whisper echoing from somewhere in the alley’s darkness.

She knew she was in trouble as soon as she heard it.

Stupid, stupid idiot.

She above all people should know that every female was vulnerable when walking alone at night, especially in a large city.

She had forgotten. After three days of totally traumatic hardship on P7H L5D, all she wanted to do was totally disassociate herself from anything remotely military.

So she had come here, to her favourite health club, where she could be pampered, primped and preened, where the total manicure could remove the mud stuck deep under the cuticles and most importantly, she could feel like a woman again.

As expected, it had taken hours, and then she had stayed to take part in one of the modern dancing classes that she secretly loved, dancing with abandon and forgetting for a brief while the look on Daniel’s face when that savage had shoved that spear through his chest.

But they had persevered. The Colonel had kept them together and she had kept Daniel alive and now they were home, back on Earth.

Safe.

Or so she had thought.

" Hey Chickie, what ya got for me?"

Shit. No female walks alone in the city late at night. What was she thinking? She may as well have had a sign stapled to her back that said, " Mug me."

Damn

Or even worse a sign stating, " Rape me."

On the other hand, she was Samantha Carter, fearless 2IC of SG 1, and she had friends.

Slowly her hand reached into her pocket, her fingers searching for her cell phone.

Aha, now press a familiar combination * 1.

" Ooh check this out. A blondie."

There were three of them, all young dirty and smug, armed with knives.

" I like blondes, they’re tasty."

They were trying to surround her, forcing her deeper into the dark alley, where she would be entirely at their mercy.

Suddenly a tinny voice spoke from her pocket.

It was time to act.

" Colonel," she roared." I’m being attacked. Behind my health club and…no you don’t…" One of the creatures had picked up what looked like a long piece of wood and taken a swing at her, something she easily parried.

" Who’s she talking to, Stu?" one asked.

The biggest of the trio answered his companion with a leer.

" No one Carl, she just tryin’ to psyche us out. Ain’t no one here, ain’t no one to hear her scream. She’ll tire out soon, an’ then I get first dibs."

Sam’s blood went cold at the leader’s flat statement of declaration.

Now it was up to her. All she needed to do was hold them off until either the Colonel showed up, or they got bored with her, which didn’t seem very likely.

How events would flow tonight depended solely on her.

She hoped the Colonel would hurry.

==========================================================

Colonel Jack O’Neill was in the middle of making supper.

A man alone either sank or swam when it came to cooking for himself, and Jack was pleased to be able to tread water nicely.

Okay, so he wasn’t brilliant, and most things he bought came with a label attached saying ‘ fry for five minutes each side and serve hot’, but nevertheless, anything he cooked was 100% better than the MRE’s on P7H planet LSD, or whatever Carter called it.

He watched his crumbled fish bubble in the oil with a distracted expression on his face.

Man, that had been a close one. It had been dirty and dangerous, and almost lethal to poor Danny boy. He hated missions like that. He and Teal’c had killed the Gou’ald infested natives and they had made haste back to the Stargate seemingly via every muddy hole they could find. Carter definitely had not been charmed to see her neat bandages she had used on Daniel become soaked, but really, it was either get muddy or die.

So they had got very muddy, made it home and lived. All of them.

Man, it had been close. He could still see the look on Danny boy’s face as he struggled for breath.

He really hated missions like that. At least Danny was going to be okay. He was due to relieve Teal’c in the infirmary in a couple of hours, maybe then he could talk to General Hammond about putting a hell of a lot more sensors on the MALP before sending it out again. He was getting sick of SG 1 walking straight into hostile natives that that doohickey hadn’t seen.

He had just turned the fish over when his cell phone rang.

" O’Neill."

For a moment there was nothing but a soft rustling, making him wonder if Carter had pressed the speed dial by mistake, and then he heard her voice, faint but audible.

" Colonel, I’m being attacked. Behind my health club and…no you don’t…"

" Carter?" There was no reply, just the sound of indistinct talking.

Colonel O’Neill was a man of action, had been for years, so he acted.

Carter needed his help, something he could supply. It took ten seconds to switch off the stove, grab his gun and keys and reach his truck, his front door slamming so hard behind his retreating back that he feared for his windows. Then he was off in a squeal of tyres, his agile brain figuring out the quickest route to her club.

Then a thought occurred. He was doing way over the speed limit. If he was stopped…

Leaning forwards he dialled the base from the car phone.

" This is Colonel O’Neill. I want four armed SF’s to meet me at the back of…Macys Health Spa. " He listened to the reply, his arms like cords as he sent his truck skidding around corners faster than he’d ever usually drive.

" No I don’t know what street it’s in, use a map," he snapped, disconnecting the call.

He needed all his attention focussed on keeping the truck on the road, not on a dumb sergeant who should know better.

Dear God, he hoped that she was all right.

The traffic this close to the city was beginning to crawl in places, forcing him to take to the pavements occasionally, earning him more attention than he wanted.

And then he heard a sound he had been dreading. Sirens.

Shit. He wasn’t going to stop before reaching Carter, no matter what they did. He smiled grimly to himself. He had been in far worse situations than being chased by a couple of ‘Springs cops. As long as they didn’t fire, he was okay.

His hands clutched the steering wheel convulsively.

" Carter ", he thought, " hold on, I’m coming."

=============================================================

Carter was indeed holding on, but only just.

She had managed to disable one of the men with a well-aimed groin kick, smiling in satisfaction as he began to keen in a high-pitched voice.

One less to worry about. When he went down she had used the opportunity to run towards the open street where the lights were brighter and maybe someone would see her, but as luck would have it, there was no one to be seen. Even screaming got no response, the beat coming from the club drowning out any noise from the street.

One thug had managed to grab her arm. Luckily she had managed to spin out of his grip, but not before he had swung wildly with his knife, slicing open a large gash from elbow to wrist before she had made him back off.

Sensing she was beginning to tire, they had taken to taunting her in soft vicious whispers, telling her in graphic detail what they intended to do with her once they had her, making her heart beat faster and her blood to run cold. It seemed that she had been fighting them off for hours, jabbing with a foot or well-aimed elbow whenever they got too close, but now she could feel herself beginning to weaken, her breath harsh in her throat, making her feel like a gazelle facing a group of lions, they just patiently waiting for her to drop so they could swarm all over her.

Far in the distance she could hear sirens, getting closer with every heartbeat, making her wish with every fibre of her being that they were on their way to rescue her.

Fat chance. Dammit Colonel, where are you?

============================================================

Colonel O’Neill was less than a minute away, leaning over the wheel, his face set in an impassive mask. His rear view mirror was filled with flashing blue lights as seemingly every police car in Colorado Springs decided that he was worth chasing. They had tried to cut him off once, luckily he sat high enough to see what they were trying to do and had easily avoided their trap, but at considerable expense of paint, something he was pretty sure that his insurance would refuse to pay for.

He grinned humourlessly when he saw his side mirror suddenly disintegrate. They had upped the stakes somewhat. Goodness knows what they thought he was guilty of; surely they had run his plates by now?

Then he saw the front of her club. Thank God, not long now.

Dreading what he might find, he tore round the corner, just as the steering wheel wrenched itself from his hands. Somehow someone had managed to shoot out one of his tyres.

For a brief moment he saw three men struggling with a blonde haired woman who was pressed flat against a wall, and then his uncontrollable vehicle was upon them.

Despairingly, he pulled hard on the steering wheel, trying desperately to avoid them. Somehow he managed, just for a moment, and then he was rolling in a crash of shattering glass.

Shit, the insurance is never going to pay for this, was his last thought before blackness claimed him.

============================================================

They had her. Sam Carter had no energy left to defend herself with, exhaustion and blood loss had taken their toll. She watched, panting, her hands hanging limply by her sides, in horrified detachment as the three men closed in on her when suddenly they all became aware of a racing engine bearing down on them.

At first the buildings had muffled the sound, making it seem to be further away than it actually was. There first real inkling of immediate danger was a screeching silver monstrosity veering directly towards them, before the man inside managed to almost straighten it out almost, but not quite.

Sam watched in horror as one shredded tyre caught the curb, causing the Colonel’s truck to roll over twice before ending in a heap of twisted metal and steam. Then the entire area was full of vehicles, all flashing red and blue lights, freezing everyone on the spot.

" Shit, lets go." Her head snapped back to her would be rapists as they desperately looked for a way out.

" Stop them."

Her shriek had the desired effect. Two officers somehow managed throw all three to them to the ground where they were quickly handcuffed, before they walked slowly towards her.

She only had eyes for the truck.

Another pair of officers had managed to break open the drivers side window, only to hesitate, peering inside.

Slowly she sank to the ground her hands covering her mouth.

" Oh God, Jack."

One of the officers, a female sat next to her.

" What happened here, dear? She asked gently.

Sam couldn’t look at the officer. She couldn’t drag her eyes away from the twisted metal that contained Jack O’Neill. This was all her fault.

A warm hand on her arm bought her back to the here and now.

" Dear, please tell me what happened."

" They were going to rape me. They had me cornered, but I managed to activate my cell phone and call my C.O, Colonel O’Neill."

Slowly and falteringly, holding her bleeding arm, she told the sympathetic officer what had transpired between calling Jack and him crashing in the alley, aware that not one of the officers had reached into the mangled truck and pulled him out.

Eventually the inactivity became unbearable.

" Is he…?" She gestured mutely at the truck.

Squeezing her shoulder the officer rose and went to find out, leaving Sam sitting on the curb, shaking. When the kind figure of a paramedic leaned over her, she started wildly.

" Hey, just try to relax, okay?" She looked up gratefully into warm eyes as the man deftly bound her arm.

" Thanks, but shouldn’t you…" she gestured vaguely towards Jack’s smashed truck, surrounded by police, paramedics …and Special Forces soldiers?

" Unnecessary, my dear." The man gave her a searching look. " Are you hurt elsewhere? Did they…"

She shook her head slowly. " No, the Colonel managed to arrive in time."

They watched together as a contraption looking like a huge pair of nail clippers was shoved towards the truck, where four burly SF’s helped the police position where they wanted it.

Shaking her head slightly at the sight, she watched as they used the Jaws of Life on the bucked metal, peeling the side of the truck open, exposing the crumpled form of Colonel O’Neill for the first time.

" Oh God." Sam couldn’t help the tears. She had asked for his help, not for his life. Sniffling quietly she watched as he was carefully manoeuvred onto a backboard and loaded into a waiting ambulance.

" Come dear." She looked up vaguely as both the woman police officer and the paramedic pulled her to her feet and supported her to the back of another ambulance.

" Where?" She gestured vaguely, hoping they understood. They did.

" The same place you’re going," the paramedic replied, making her lie back on the narrow cot. For a moment she was staring at the recessed lights of the ambulance ceiling, then a wave of blackness claimed her.

=============================================================

Jack O’Neill awoke feeling totally disoriented.

" Where, what…?"

Then he became aware of the sweet voice of Doc Fraiser.

" …And check on him hourly, he has a habit of not using the call button unless he’s dying, okay?

" Yes Doctor," a dutiful voice answered.

He felt a small hand brush back his hair, making him open his eyes.

" Hi Doc," he whispered.

" Hi yourself." She was silhouetted against a brilliant white window, making it obvious that wherever he was wasn’t Cheyenne Mountain. " Do you remember what happened?"

He squinted up at her, frowning as his brain grappled with the question.

Carter. Something happened to Sam.

" Carter!" He struggled to sit up, only to freeze with an anguished gasp, causing Fraiser and the nurse to push him back gently.

" She’s going to be okay, thanks to you."

He subsided with a gasp. " And me?"

She smiled. " Concussion, broken leg, and a sprained back, all of which are going to keep you horizontal for a while."

He frowned ferociously. " Peachy. Where am I?"

" Your favourite place after the infirmary, Academy General Hospital. Not that you’re going to stay here…" She gave him a bright-eyed look that he found decidedly unsettling.

" Home?" he asked hopefully.

" In your dreams Colonel. The infirmary"

She grinned at his ferocious expression. " Hey, sometimes playing the guy in the white hat has it’s drawbacks."

He snorted derisively. " So I’ve noticed." He shifted painfully in bed, making her scowl. " So, is the damsel still here?"

She nodded. " Yep along with two serious looking police people who would like to ask you a few questions."

He groaned. " Tell them I’m still unconscious and spirit her in the back way."

Janet smiled at him. " There’s no back way, but I’m sure we’ll think of something."

=============================================================

Samantha Carter had spent a traumatic twenty-four hours.

She had awoken to find herself in a hospital bed, feeling stiff and sore but otherwise okay. A nurse immediately told her where she was, but not what had happened with the Colonel. Despite repeated queries, she was ignored until she had the bright idea of phoning the base. Janet probably didn’t know what had happened.

This had proven to be the case, and Sam had found herself sobbing out what had happened to her and O’Neill to a shocked Doctor and friend, who promised to be there ASAP.

She was as good as her promise. She was there within half an hour to comfort her still shaking friend and secure Colonel O’Neill.

Personnel working on something as black as the Stargate Program were not allowed to be put in a general ward with nurses with no or a low security rating. Not that the Colonel was in any danger of that happening with his exalted rank, nevertheless, wherever he was, he needed to be found and secured fast.

When this was eventually accomplished, she once more went to comfort her traumatised friend.

=============================================================

" You okay?" Janet asked concernedly. She had  seen Sam Carter lose it before, but never this completely.

She stiffened. " Did they touch you?"

A shaking Sam shook her head in mute denial. " No Janet," she said shakily. " Sorry I’m being such a wimp. It’s just when I saw the Colonel’s truck roll like that and then no one went to help him, well I thought that my stupidity had gotten him killed. Then when I woke up here and nobody would tell me anything, then I thought the worst had really happened, and I couldn’t stand it if anything…"

Janet held Sam tight, choking off her words lest anybody overheard. She didn’t need Sam to lose control, not now, and definitely not like that.

" Hey, he’s fine. As for not moving him, that was because they didn’t know what his injuries were. They were waiting for a specialist unit to assess the situation. As it was, they were right. The Colonel has a sprained back, which would have been a whole lot worse if they had moved him without a back support."

Sam sniffed, slowly putting away her naked emotions and allowing the soldier to take over once more.

" So he’s gonna be okay?"

Janet gave her friend a squeeze. "Eventually." She turned Sam towards the door. " He wants to see you." Sam’s brilliant smile made her frown slightly.

=============================================================

" Colonel?" The voice was soft and timid, definitely not how he was used to hearing his second. He shut his eyes for a second; an irrational thought flying through his brain. If those bastards had hurt her, he was going to hunt them down and kill them himself, and to hell with the law.

" I’m okay," she said, coming into view in the gloomy room. He must have slept for a while, because night was fast approaching.

He reached out a hand, snagging hers, just wanting to make sure.

" I’m okay, she said again, sinking into one of those plastic chairs that all hospitals seem to have the world over. " You managed to arrive in time."

" Albeit not in the method you were expecting," he said wryly.

She burst out laughing, gripping his hand tightly. " That’s for sure." Her expression suddenly darkened. " I thought you were dead. They, everybody, just stood there and looked at you in that crumpled wreck and did nothing for a long while before moving you." The tears were running freely now, the shock coming out. " And here at the hospital, no one would tell me anything, and I thought for sure you were dead, so I called Janet, wanting to know, and she…"

" Hey." He cupped her face, allowing her to lean into him, oblivious to the fact that if anyone had come through the door at that moment, the intimate scene they portrayed would have them up on report instantly.

" Hey, it’s okay. I’m gonna be okay, and if you’re okay, then we’re all okay." He gave another wry smile. " I wanted some more time off anyway, we have been on too many back to back … assignments recently for our own good anyway, so maybe this is…Karma."

She looked at him incredulously.

" Karma?"

He smiled, reclaiming his hand. " Sure. What will be will be." He took a flying guess. " You have your experiments to finish, and now I can keep Daniel from going insane in the infirmary."

He looked at her from under his lashes. " It takes two to play checkers, you know."

He was pleased to see a small smile. " He prefers chess."

Jack scowled at her. " Don’t remind me."

He continued. " Teal’c would have been the only one prepared to go to P7 whatever and what’s the bet he will by far prefer to take a little trip to Chulac instead?" He grinned up at her, aware that he had committed a couple of security breaches for an unsecured location but more than willing to take the consequences if they were overheard, which he doubted.

She gave him another small smile; a bit of the Samantha Carter he knew beginning to shine through.

" So you think this was all part of some sort of cosmic plan."

He gave her a heavy lidded glance, deciding to play it thick. " Huh?"

Her full smile was like sunshine after rain.

" You idiot," she said lightly rising to her feet and punching him lightly on the shoulder. Then she did something totally unexpected. " She leaned forwards and gave him a swift kiss.

" Thanks."

He lay there dumbfounded as she made her way towards the door, then felt compelled to stop her.

" Carter?"

She froze, the door half open. " Sir?"

He sighed, a deep soul weary sigh he made sure she heard.

" Carter, cosmic plan or no, just do me one favour? "

She nodded, aware of Dr Fraiser making her way towards her, two nurses and a gurney in tow.

" Sure sir, anything."

" Buy pepper spray. Now. Immediately. Don’t delay." His eyes were twinkling. " That's a direct order."

Laughing aloud, she skipped out into the hallway.

Things were gonna be okay.

* EINDE*

Beta tested by CiGiK

home