• Barb
• Carrie - new 9/21
• Lady Anne

 Title: The Way the Ball Bounces, Part IV
Author: Barb (barbwire@sprintmail.com – 
feedback & constructive criticisms welcome)

Category: Gen
Spoilers: None
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Summary: Overheard in a hallway deep below Cheyenne Mountain.
Disclaimer: Here’s the legalese: Any original scenes and characters are mine. Regrettably SG-1 aren’t: they belong to MGM, Bridge, Double Secret, Gekko, SciFi, et al. However, what Sam, Jack, Teal’c, and Daniel do when they’re off-duty isn’t up to MGM, Bridge, Double Secret, Gekko, SciFi, et al, now is it? J There was no financial profit on my part from this work of fiction. All writing is mine: mine, mine, mine! Please do not copy or reproduce it without asking me first.
Author's Notes: Reply to thegengate’s Wordfic Challenge #5. The acrostic key is REALLYSOCKITTOSAMANTHA. I don’t go in for whumping, but sometimes the laws of physics must be obeyed.

~~~

"Really shouldn’t surprise any of us, I guess. After all, Jack is Jack: he’s never gonna change."

"Exactly how did we wind up at this stage, Guys?"

"As I recall, O’Neill insisted that the best way to instruct me in the nuances of the sport of ice hockey was not to attend a contest, as we have done previously in our attendance at Coors Stadium. Rather, he insisted that he demonstrate the fundamentals of the sport himself."

"‘Like on-the-job training,’ I think is the phrase he used, wasn’t it, Teal’c? I tried to talk him out of it, Sam, but he wasn’t listening."

"Listen? To somebody trying to dissuade him? C’mon, Daniel: when was the last time that happened?"

"Yeah, my point exactly."

"So let me guess. The three of you went to the local rink, got your skates laced up, stepped out on the ice, and then...?"

"O’Neill effortlessly skated to the middle of the rink. DanielJackson and I were not as successful in our efforts to join him."

"Can’t blame either of us, really: I grew up in the desert; Teal’c grew up…on a different planet. Ice skating never figured into our childhoods as much as it did Jack’s."

"Kinda put you guys at a disadvantage, huh?"

"Indeed it did, ColonelCarter. It serves little purpose in teaching defensive strategy when one’s student has not yet mastered the staff weapon. Luckily, or so we thought at the time, a local club team had just arrived for their twice-weekly practice."

"Teal’c, tell me he didn’t."

"Tell you he didn’t what, ColonelCarter?"

"One of you, please tell me he didn’t twist their arms into letting him play with them."

"Sam, do you really need – or want – an answer to that question?"

"Ah, no. So, something happened…?"

"Most regrettably, O’Neill was tripped by one of the opposition’s defensemen as he rushed down the ice with the puck. He slid with great speed into the boards, where DanielJackson and I successfully retrieved him from the ice. He complained of great discomfort in his left knee, at which point we brought him here for diagnosis. I suspect that if he had not previously high-sticked the player in question, this unpleasantness would not have transpired."

"Amazing, Teal’c: and Jack thought he needed to teach you about hockey! Anyway, it sounds like his ACL’s a mess: if Doctor Lam’s initial diagnosis holds, Jack could be on crutches for a few weeks."

"No chance of dropping in now to see how he’s doing, I guess?"

"The doctor was quite clear, ColonelCarter. She said that she would seek us out when O’Neill had calmed down enough for us to visit him."

"Helluva shot to Jack’s ego, him going down like that to a high school kid…."

"And knowing the General, we’re going to have to listen to it for at least the next month…"

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Something Wicked...(or WordFic challenge: Really Sock it to Samanatha)
by Carrie

Really bad. Jack decided that if he ever managed to open his eyes and on the off chance someone else was around to inquire how he was doing, he'd have to say really bad. He thought he could hear someone else, so that was something. The person was close to him, he thought, but had to admit it was hard to tell because of the fuzz that seemed to clog his brain. He had felt worse in his life, that was true, but he just felt so wasted. That was probably why he couldn't really do anything but sit here and think about his aches and pains. His memory of how he got into this bad shape was sketchy. His mouth, his throat...both were sore with the need for water. Mornings waking like this meant only a handful of things - allergy season had arrived, he'd drunk too much the night before or he was coming down with a cold/flu bug. He was pretty sure none of that applied.

"Everything's going to be fine." Huh. Well there was confirmation he wasn't alone, but it wasn't who he thought it should be. Unless the fuzz in his brain affected his hearing so much that Daniel didn't sound like Daniel. No. It was Carter and she was a terrible liar. He could tell without even seeing her that she was not nearly as assured as her words meant to imply. Fantastic. "Don't try to move."

Ah, was she talking to him? Jack finally had enough oomph to open his eyes. It didn't do much good, really, since he was flat on his back. His head was turned, but apparently away from carter and whomever she was speaking to. All he could see was leaves and branches. And a bloody piece of gauze. He remembered now. Didn't know how he had forgotten, but hen life hadn't exactly been all that fun lately. It was a decent amount of blood, and he assumed it was his. No wonder he felt so drained. No pun.

"Lie still, Teal'c. You know what happened last time you overtaxed yourself," Carter said, giving Jack another surprise. Teal'c was sick? He'd actually anticipated her to be concerned over Daniel - Jack knew Daniel had passed out. The last thing he had seen before he passed out himself was Daniel sagging toward him. But never mind that. Teal'c was out of commission and that was SO not a good thing. It was also alarming that Teal'c wasn't insisting he was fine. 'Really bad' might be an understatement here. "I think the bleeding's stopped. Just rest, I'm going to check on the others."

Lying still wasn't exactly a choice for him. He doubted it was much of a choice for Teal'c, either, or the guy would be right here. Jack wasn't one to be confined to bed, but he wouldn't refuse an overnight stay in the infirmary right now. The lumpy, thin mattresses provided there were far better than the ground, which was becoming more and more unbearable as the minutes passed. There was a rock or a big stick under the small of his back. He'd tell Carter all of that when she got over here. He heard her shuffle over, but she didn't appear at his side. Daniel must be next to him. Jack heard Carter murmur something. He thought there might be some lingering fuzz, because she sounded about a mile away. And just when he thought his condition was improving…

"You're awake." He'd been wrong. Carter wasn't a mile away, she was right there, so why did she sound so muffled? Jack blinked up at her. His vision tunneled. Awake was a generous term. He was pretty sure he was going to pass out again, and for some reason that scared the crap out of him. He thought…maybe if he fainted, he might not wake up. Ah shit, he was still with it enough to see the panic on Carter's face. "Don't. Don't. Don't you do this to me, sir."

Sad to say, neither one of them had much choice in the matter.

"Okay," he said. He thought he said it, but the voice was so weak and raspy. His but not his at all. He was usually a good liar, unlike Carter, but today Jack didn't think he pulled it off. He was going to leave her and Teal'c alone in this mess he didn't even really understand. Okay, he said again, only didn't really…

Crying, someone was crying and it was the saddest thing he'd heard in a long time. This was no Hollywood tearjerker flick sort of cry and it was not hysterical sobbing. It was the sound a person makes when worn down, beaten, crushed by frustration and grief and fear. He knew the sound well. He'd made it himself before, though he suspected no one would suspect that about him. Jack wanted to stop her from making that terrible sound, because it meant someone was dead. He groaned, and a tearing pain ratcheted through his throat. Damn, he was thirsty. He opened his eyes and found watery blue ones only inches away. For a second they blurred together to form one giant eye, then Carter pulled back a bit. Her nose was red and running and she looked like hell.

"Knew you weren't going to leave us, sir," Carter said, lying again. He was going to have to have a discussion with her when they got home. She actually looked embarrassed as she swiped a hand across each cheek to rid them of the tearstains. "Don't try to move. Moving only speeds up the process. I don't know what to do, sir. None of you should move, but I can't leave you."

"Is Daniel okay? Teal'c?" Jack said. He grimaced. If he could move his hand, he'd reach up to caress his abused neck. Something told him that would be a bad idea, something more than Carter telling him not to move. Damned plant had jumped right at him. "Water?"

"Teal'c's over there." Carter probably pointed, not that he could see. She disappeared from sight for a moment, returning with a canteen. She tipped it to his mouth slowly and let a small trickle flow. Jack didn't anticipate getting much to drink, but the small amount that passed over his lips was heaven in itself. "Do you remember?" Jack blinked and hoped she understood that was an affirmative. "Teal'c was doing better but relapsed a bit, probably from running all the way over here. Whatever toxin is in that plant affects the infant Goa'uld as much as it does him. He's been pretty much out of it since we…since we found you and Daniel. I was hoping to cart you two back to the Stargate, but I don't see that happening now.

The night was a bit rough, and like I said, I don't think moving is a good option for any of you. If what happened to Teal'c is any indication, the poison first numbs and almost paralyzes and then prompts heavy, almost unstoppable bleeding," Carter continued. Jack's head spun, but talking seemed to help her get on track so he didn't want to stop her. "With the placement of your injury, you can see why you should stay calm and inactive. I don't know the purpose of it yet, but I can guess that it's not good."

"Ohh, I'd say trap. We could be alien take-out," Jack whispered. He envisioned some big hairy beast coming to collect its easy prey, either dead or weakened by blood loss. If Daniel hadn't been here to apply bandages, and Carter to continue the first aid, he'd be a dead man already. Wait, Daniel. "Daniel?"

"Seems to be okay, sir. He seized longer than you did." Seized? What? Jack followed her gaze. Daniel was indeed right next to him. He regretted moving his head, though. Hot stickiness on his neck. Shit. Carter cursed and pressed her hand against his bandaged wound and he nearly choked. "Don't move, don't move." Yeah, okay, got that, he thought. She wasn't being overly cautious with all her warnings. "Both you and Daniel suffered seizures last night, and Teal'c kind of did. It took a lot out of you. Daniel woke up briefly just before they hit, but since then hasn't roused. He had a nasty cut on his hand that I didn't see right away. There was so much blood and you…and I didn't see. I didn't think it was as important as finishing the job Daniel started on your neck. It…I didn't know it had bled so much."

Ah, crap. That was his fault. This wouldn't have happened to either him or Daniel if he hadn't taken off from the primary site. Daniel looked like ass, pale and still. If he looked bad from a minor cut on his hand, though Jack knew a cut to the heel of a hand could bleed pretty heavily, well, Jack didn't really have to think about how piss-poor he looked. And chances were that even if some big hairy beast did come to collect its dinner, Carter alone couldn't save them. There wasn't much of a choice. She had to go for help, and at least get herself to safety. They were all still alive, and he'd be damned if he was going to let that particular status change.

"Mmmmmph." That was either Teal'c or Daniel, but Jack couldn't tell. He suspected Daniel based on the timbre even though Daniel didn't move at all. Carter did, of course, and that gave him his answer. She was being torn in three different directions. He wished he could help her with that. Hell, he wished he could scoot over to be next to Daniel, and also check on Teal'c. He was trapped in his own body, just waiting for something to happen. "Sam? What happened? You look terrible."

And now he had an overwhelming urge to laugh. Leave it to Daniel. Jack watched Daniel coming to awareness slowly, a bit envious of how freely he could move. Carter cautioned him, too, but Daniel's hand injury didn't preclude movement quite as heftily as his neck wound. Daniel stopped wiggling around when he looked right at Jack. He saw all the dots being connected in rapid order in Daniel's eyes. He tried to lend reassurance with a quick smile. He didn't think it worked, as Daniel just kept staring at him with a horrified expression.

"Not to argue here, Daniel, but I'm the only one not sick," Carter said lightly. Daniel gave her a quick glance, and then his gaze returned to Jack. Jack's gauze-covered neck, actually. "You doing okay? Please don't move too quickly. You've lost a lot of blood…" Daniel sat up, seemingly oblivious to Carter's attempts. There was a
definite wobble in his posture. It reminded Jack of a baby trying to control its limbs, determined to succeed but just as likely to topple right on over. Carter put a hand on his back to help brace him. Yeah, he'd give up insisting on Daniel's cooperation if he were in her situation too. "If you're going to insist on moving, please let me help you."

"Tell it, Carter," Jack said. Things might be looking up. Kind of. At the very least, Daniel seemed more capable than either he or Teal'c were. Damn, he wished he could at least get a visual line on Teal'c. The big guy's silence through all of this was disturbing. Carter kept grip on Daniel until they both knelt at his side. Daniel looked even worse close up, far too pale and shaky. Still, Jack envied his upright state. He was already feeling what little energy he had fade away, so he needed to get this out fast. "You look like shit, Daniel… and, anh, I know I do too so no comment necessary. Carter, you're going to have to go for help. No arguing. I don't see another option. We can't move, but we can't just sit here either. There isn't enough time to wait for the SGC to figure out something's up." Carter looked ready to protest anyway. "We're awake now." Barely. His vision was tunneling again, but she didn't need to know that. "And you're the only one mobile. You should go."

"Hate to say this, but I don't know that's such a great idea," Carter said. She looked grim, pessimistic. "I have no idea what the plants look like. What if I go, but end up in the same condition as you guys?" She had a point. Daniel murmured something to her, and Jack wondered why he hadn't spoken out loud. Carter looked, if possible, even grimmer for a moment before she nodded. "It's risky, but Daniel might be okay to go with me, only to keep an eye out for the plant. He's lost a lot of blood, but his injury isn't as severe as yours or Teal'c's. We'd have to go slowly, but…" Jack didn't like it at all, but he nodded. Whatever it took. Every member of his team knew that. "We'll be back as soon as we can, sir."

As Carter quickly gathered her pack, Jack closed his eyes and hoped they were making the right call. He opened his eyes and looked up at Daniel, having serious doubts that this was the right way to go. Daniel stared at Jack's neck, then looked and moved away. He was replaced with Teal'c, whose appearance was accompanied by tsking from Carter. Teal'c was ashen, but Jack had never been so glad to see the guy as he eased down to lie shoulder to shoulder with him. Carter's parting gift was a handgun pressed into his right palm, just in case, and then she and Daniel moved away slowly. It was only after they were out of hearing range that Jack remembered Daniel didn't really know what the attack plant looked like either.

Continued in part 5...

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Achieving Home
by Lady Anne

WF Challenge #5 – Really Sock it to Samantha

Rising through the layers of pain, Sam struggled to remember what had happened, why she felt like she had been hit by a train. Groping through her memories, she remembered... a village, a sad ruined place. SG-1 had happened upon it in the aftermath of an attack. The smoke rising above the trees had drawn their attention. When they left the road to investigate they found the village in ruins, some of the buildings were still smoldering.

Essians. They were the Essians. They had been so afraid of SG-1 at first. Sam’s heart went out to them when she had first spied the village. The marauders who attacked had burned buildings and destroyed the crops, trampling the new tender green shoots into the earth. Women wandered the ruins crying, sad-eyed children sat in the dirt not making any sound at all. It was a place totally bereft of hope when SG-1 found it.

Almost afraid to approach them, SG-1 stopped to offer what little aid they could. A lone man came forward to challenge them as they approached what little was left of the village. It was clear by the way he brandished the local equivalent of a pitchfork that he thought they were there to finish the job. He spoke a strange guttural language, but Sam didn’t need Daniel to tell them that he was insisting that they leave at once. It would have been comical to see him there thinking he could threaten them if it hadn’t been so sad.

Lifting his hands to show the man that he held no weapons, Daniel took a step forward. Sam knew by the tightening of the colonel’s jaw that he didn’t like Daniel putting himself in harm’s way, but he let Daniel go, trusting him to do his job. Speaking in a slow calm voice, Daniel took one step, then two, towards the man. It seemed to reassure the frightened man, slowly the pitchfork lowered until it touched the ground. Daniel just had that way about him. All he had to do was say, "We come in peace," and most sentient beings believed him. Sam always thought it was because he believed it with his whole heart and soul. Daniel was there in peace, and he wanted nothing more than to help. Most people couldn’t help but respond to that.

Leaving the rest of SG-1 to watch his back, Daniel slowly spoke to the man. He listened intently deciphering what the man was telling him and translating it for his team. A marauding party from another village had attacked the Essians – killing men, taking women and children, and destroying their homes and crops. Listening to the story as it came in bits and pieces as told by Daniel was so hard. Having to tell them that there was nothing they could do was even harder.

Yet that was the only choice that SG-1 could make. They weren’t in the business of fighting other people’s battles, they had their hands full with their own. As heart wrenching as it was to see the plight the people were in, there was little more they could do besides offer what little food and medicines they had with them. Once they found out they had nothing to fear from them the people crowded around the strangers as SG-1 handed out power bars and MREs. They were so pathetically grateful for the little kindnesses that SG-1 could give, it tore at Sam’s heart to not be able to do more.

She wasn’t surprised when the colonel himself suggested that they stick around a couple of days, "just to assess the situation." Sam had to smile. He couldn’t just admit that he wanted to help the people. He had to couch it in military terms that would disguise his true feelings. He suggested that they could help with the replanting and rebuilding. The rest of the team didn’t hesitate in saying yes. There had been too much death and destruction in their lives over the last few years. It felt good to be able to provide aid for a change, to make a difference for the good in people’s lives. When they radioed the SGC, they received immediate permission to stay along with a large shipment of more food and medicine. Then they got down to the business of rebuilding the Essian village.

Over the course of the next week the village came alive again. Not only were the homes and buildings repaired and rebuilt, but the crops were replanted. Sam watched as the people began to smile again and the children ventured out to play in the sunshine once more. Sam loved working in the fields with the people of the village. She had always liked planting flowers in her yard at home, but this was different. She crumbled the dirt between her fingers and realized that they were actually sowing the seeds of the crops that would feed the Essians during their long winter. It was humbling to know that they might very well be responsible for making the difference in whether the Essians made it through the winter months alive.

Colonel O’Neill and Teal’c worried about what would happen if the marauders were to return. With Daniel as their translator, they plied the Essians with questions about the marauders: how often did they marauders come, where did they came from, how well armed were they? But the surviving Essians seemed to have little information about their attackers. Privately Sam thought they were too afraid of the mysterious marauders to talk about them, as if speaking of them would bring them back. Night after night they sat around the fire with Daniel asking questions and they learned nothing, until finally the colonel decided it was time for them to find the answers on their own.

Keeping the villagers occupied was Sam and Daniel’s job, so they wouldn’t notice that the colonel and Teal’c had left. They executed their part of the plan perfectly, no one noticed the missing men until it was time to sit down for the evening meal. That was when everything went to hell in a handbasket.

In a moment, Sam and Daniel found themselves surrounded. The villagers that had been peaceful and friendly a moment before were now suddenly savage and wild. They circled the two team members and began slowly moving in on them. Even though there was no time for Daniel to translate, Sam could see that they were in trouble. She fired a warning shot into the air as the villagers continued to advance on them. They didn’t even pause, they just kept moving forward. Sam desperately looked for an escape route, she didn’t want to hurt anyone, SG-1 had spent the last week trying to help the very same people who were now menacing them. She heard Daniel frantically calling for the colonel and Teal’c. Then she was firing into the crowd as they closed in. She felt herself being buried under a crush of bodies hoping desperately that Daniel had gotten through to their team mates. Then there was just pain and the only escape was into the blackness.

Time seemed to stretch and loop back on itself as Sam rose through the pain toward consciousness. It seemed she lived the whole week again, but then it was only seconds before she opened her eyes to see the wan daylight spilling through a slit of a window to dazzle her eyes, her body awash with pain. There was nothing she could pinpoint, just an all over kind of pain that started with her fingernails and spread all the way to her toes. She struggled to sit up, she needed to find out what the situation was.

"Take it easy, lie still," Daniel’s voice instructed, then he moved into her field of vision, pushing her back down gently. He looked as bad as she left she decided critically. His face was bruised, with one eye almost swollen shut and there was a gash on one side of his head that was still oozing blood. He smiled down at her ruefully, his blue eyes reflecting her sadness and pain, "I guess the locals didn’t take it well that we meddled in their internal affairs," he told her.

"... Only trying to help," she whispered, licking dry, chapped lips. From somewhere he produced a small cup. Supporting her head, he helped her drink. She took small sips, letting the water ease her throat. It felt wonderful. As Daniel helped her drink she assessed his condition. He didn’t have any other obvious injuries, but he moved slowing, carefully. He was working hard to keep his expression neutral, even so she detected the occasional hiss of pain. It was clear to her they weren’t going to be able to escape on their own. Did the colonel and Teal’c even know what had happened to them?

"Sorry, Sam," Daniel answered her query. "I think Jack may have tried to respond, but there were just too many of the Essians. I wish I could give you something for the pain, but they took all of our things before they threw us in here." He lowered her gently. She could tell there was more by the way he kept avoiding her eyes. "Sam, they did this on purpose." Then he met her gaze levelly and she could see the anger and betrayal he felt reflected in his eyes. "These people, they lure in unsuspecting travelers... They beg for help, then they find out everything they can about them before they rob and kill the very people who tried to help them. They were going to do that to us when Jack and Teal’c upset their careful little scheme by leaving. I’m... afraid they’re dead," he confessed, his voice so quiet she had to strain to hear him.

Anger filled her. Anger that they had helped the Essians and this was how they were repaid. It gave her the strength to shove aside the pain and sit up. Daniel protested, but she ignored him. When he saw it was clear she wasn’t going to listen to him, he helped her until she was standing on her feet. Okay, swaying would be a better word, but she was upright. They had to get out, find out what had happened to the rest of their team. SG-1 had done everything they could do. It was time to go home.

Maybe she should have been surprised when an explosion shattered the quiet of the morning, but she wasn’t. She had known the colonel and Teal’c weren’t dead. The Essians might think themselves clever in their sick little game, but they were about to find out that SG-1 wasn’t playing anymore. Shouts and screams could be heard outside their little prison as explosions rocked the village. Sam and Daniel set themselves, supporting one another. She knew that when the door to their prisoner opened, the chances were going to be about even whether it would be their team there to rescue them or their captors come to execute them, but they were ready either way.

Acutely aware that neither of them was in any shape to put up a fight, Sam stood waiting, ready for anything. They heard the footsteps outside their door. She braced herself, noting the tremble in Daniel’s arm where it wrapped around her waist, the catch in his breath. Then the door opened and it was Teal’c standing there, staff weapon leveled. He nodded in satisfaction, as if he had been sure that he would find them ready and waiting for him. They didn’t have to be told, both Sam and Daniel knew it was time to leave. Leaning on one another, they ducked through the door to freedom.

Never had Sam been so glad to see the gate in her life. The Essians gave up the pursuit of them quickly. Maybe they were smart enough to know that they just couldn’t win against a very pissed off colonel and Jaffa warrior. Still it was a long slow trip back to the gate with frequent stops to tend to their injuries and rest. Sam and Daniel were determined to make it through the gate on their own two feet; but she, for one, would be very glad to see Janet and the infirmary for a change. Daniel’s labored breathing and stumbling steps beside her told her that he probably felt the same.

The truth was, she was sad that everything they had done for the Essians was a lie. The connections she had felt, the friendships she had made with the people had all been built on that lie. She had been fooled completely and it saddened her, saddened her that the Essians thought they had to live that way. Sad for the children who knew no other way of life and would grow up to live the same lie.

How could they live like that? Sam just couldn’t fathom it – greeting every word and kind deed with a knife in the back. It was a hell of a way to stay alive. She suspected that the Essians wouldn’t last long. She was sure the colonel and Teal’c would have tried to minimize the damage to the village they had worked so hard to rebuild. Soon enough the Essians would piss off someone who was less compassionate than SG-1. It was such a waste, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Acknowledging that was the hardest thing she had to do. They went through the gate and did the best they could. Sometimes they actually got to help people, make a difference. Some days their only victory was that they made it home walking on their own two feet. She sighed as she stepped up the stairs to the gate, it beckoned to her speaking of rest for weary bones, drugs to soothe the pain away and people that she could be sure of. With one arm around Daniel, followed closely by the colonel and Teal’c, they stepped into the blue pool of the gate, letting the wormhole pull them along, taking them home.

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