CHAPTER FIVE
Very carefully, Sam rinsed Daniel's shoulder wound with cool water from the river. The wound looked awful, but there was no indication of infection yet. The same was true for her own wound, the one in her leg, that is. Her new injury was just a minor flesh wound on her right side under her ribs. Very painful because of the burned skin, but, as long as infection didn't set in, it would be fine.
Daniel had been unconscious for nearly an hour now, and Sam was sick with worry over him. She didn't know how much damage that last use of his abilities had done to him. She was still trying to wrap her mind around what he did. He had quite effectively gotten around the problem of the supersoldier's armor and attacked the drone itself, which, for all its fierceness and resiliency, was still just a mortal, flesh and blood creature.
Aside from the possible physical damage, Sam knew what this was going to do to Daniel emotionally. He might be the man who, since gaining his abilities, had wielded fire and other powers to defeat and destroy the forces of the Goa'uld, but, deep inside, he was still the gentle, caring soul who hated violence and didn't want to kill anyone. It was so ironic that powers capable of such terrible destruction had been given to one who only wanted peace. But then again, that's the way it should be, for only someone like Daniel had the morality to possess such power and not abuse it.
A small sigh drew Sam's eyes to her friend's face. With indescribable relief, she watched his eyelids flutter and open.
"Daniel?"
"Sam? What happened?"
"You passed out. How are you feeling?"
Daniel frowned, his gaze turning inward as he tried to recall what happened. She knew the second that the memory came back to him. What was left of the color in his face drained away.
"Oh, God," he said in a choked whisper, his eyes closing tightly, head turning away.
"Daniel? Daniel, listen to me," Sam said firmly. "You did what you had to. You were protecting us. That drone wasn't going to stop until it killed us. Yes, you could have thrown it again, but it would have just come right back, and, maybe next time, it would have caught us completely by surprise and killed us." She laid her hand on his cheek. "As awful as it was, you did the right thing."
Daniel somehow found the strength to roll onto his side and then sit up, facing away from her. "I know I had no choice but to kill it, Sam," he said, "but the thought of how I did it. . . ."
Sam gently and soothingly rubbed his back. "I know, Daniel. Believe me, I know." She scooted over to his side and put her arms around him. Daniel's good arm wrapped around her waist, and his head came down to rest upon her chest. Sam tilted her head downward and laid it on his.
The two friends stayed like that for a long time, neither one of them in any hurry to move. Sam realized that, just a few short months ago, they would never have been so physically demonstrative and emotionally open to each other as they'd been over the past couple of hours. Yes, they were best friends, but there had still been a level of emotional privacy between them, thoughts and feelings that they would not share. But they were growing closer now, their friendship becoming even deeper, more intimate. Sam decided that she liked it, a lot.
Not even thinking about what she was doing, Sam placed a kiss on the nape of Daniel's neck. She felt a little shudder pass through his body. He lifted his head and looked at her, that same expression of love in his eyes that she'd seen several times since he confessed his love for her.
Giving her time to stop him if she wished, Daniel cupped her cheek, leaned forward and kissed her. The gentle touch lasted only a moment but left Sam feeling somewhat shaken. His kiss had not been one of passion or desire, but of love, a love that Sam could almost physically feel coming from within him.
Smiling to let him know that he'd done nothing wrong by kissing her, Sam pulled back. The archeologist's gaze inadvertently fell upon the place where the supersoldier had died. He was surprised when all he saw was a scorched patch of earth.
"Where is it?" he asked.
Sam followed the direction of his gaze. "I pushed it into the river. The body floated downstream. I didn't think you'd want to see it."
Daniel turned back to her. "Thank you." He then remembered something. "Sam, were you hit by one of those energy bolts?"
"Yes, but it's nothing serious, just a very shallow flesh wound."
"Where?"
"My right side. Like I said, it's not bad, even if it does it hurt like crazy."
Daniel took a look at the wound. The gash was long but not deep, though the burned skin made it look a lot worse than it probably was. Even so, he insisted on doing something about it. Sam, however, was adamant that she was going to finish attending to Daniel's injury first. She got him to lay back down and finished cleaning his wound as best as she could without the proper medical supplies. She was careful not to touch the burned flesh, knowing how painful it would be. Removing her jacket, she used part of it for a bandage, soaking it in the cool water before placing it over Daniel's wound. She felt him flinch, but he didn't make a sound.
"I'm afraid that's the best that I can do," she said. "Hopefully, it will stay in place."
Daniel took care of Sam's wound, though it took longer since he had to do it one-handed.
"How's your leg doing?" he asked.
"Not too bad. I've been resting it as much as I can. I've already taken care of cleaning it."
"I'd still like to take a look at it."
With Sam's help, Daniel unwrapped the makeshift bandage and looked at the wound. Now that it had been cleaned, it looked much better than it did before, and the bleeding had mostly stopped."
"Will you be able to keep walking okay?"
"Yes, I'll be fine. I've made it this far."
As Daniel helped rewrap her leg, Sam noticed that his hand was shaking quite a bit. Looking closely at his face, she saw that he was still very pale and really didn't look at all well.
"How are you feeling?" she asked him.
"Okay," he replied, just a bit too quickly.
Sam kept the suspicion out of her voice. "Are you sure? You know, you really scared me when you passed out like that."
"Well . . . I have a headache," Daniel admitted reluctantly.
"A headache?" Sam's eyes narrowed. "Is that all?"
"Um . . . no."
Daniel's face and the tone of his voice reminded Sam of a little boy who'd done something very wrong and was afraid to tell his mother.
"Okay, Daniel. Level with me. How bad do you feel?"
"I'd really rather not say, Sam."
"How come?"
"Because you'd insist that we stay here for the next couple of hours while I recuperate."
"Well, maybe that's what we should do, then. I don't want you pushing yourself, Daniel, and we don't have to worry about the drone anymore."
"Sam, I really don't want to stay here any longer, and we don't have all that much daylight left. Do you really want to spend the night out here? We can just take it easy, go slow. When I feel like I need to rest, we'll rest. Okay?"
Sam sighed rather loudly. She couldn't blame Daniel for not wanting to stay here, and he was right about them running out of daylight, but he really was being pig-headed about this.
"All right, but if I think it's too much for you, we're going to stop. You got it?" Sam said in a tone of voice that brooked no argument.
"Is that another order, Major?" Daniel asked, the slightest touch of amusement in his voice.
"You bet it is, buster."
"Okay, just wanted to be sure."
The difficulty Daniel had in just getting to his feet almost made Sam put her foot down and demand that they stay there a while longer. But, once he was up, he was determined to get going. So, once again supporting each other, the two friends made their way toward the Stargate.
They'd been walking for perhaps twenty minutes when they heard the very welcome buzz of a UAV engine. Picking up their pace a bit, they got to a place where they could see a large section of the sky. The UAV came into view a moment later.
"Yes!" Sam shouted.
"They must have gotten the gate open," Daniel said in relief.
That relief was instantly transformed into dismay as a white bolt of energy streaked through the air and struck the wing of the UAV. The craft spiraled out of the sky and crashed out of sight.
"Oh my God. There's another drone," Sam said.
The shot had come from a spot off to the southwest. Ducking back into the cover of the trees, Daniel and Sam kicked their senses back into full alert. What was a slow trip to the Stargate had once again turned into a race against death, and both of them knew that, if Daniel was again forced to use his abilities to stop a supersoldier, it might leave him permanently brain damaged or dead.
Jacob had just finished talking to M'zel. As a leader among the Jaffa, M'zel had some influence over his people, and Jacob had been hoping that speaking to him would help put a stop to the hostilities at the Beta Site. He pointed out to M'zel how these years that the Tok'ra, Jaffa and Tau'ri have been fighting together had made a difference. More System Lords had fallen in the past seven years than in the previous seven hundred. Unfortunately, though M'zel recognized the wisdom of Jacob's words, knowing that, together, they were strong, he also knew that Jacob did not speak for all of the Tok'ra. In the end, he said that, until the other Tok'ra felt the same as Jacob, reconciliation between them and the Jaffa might not be possible. Jacob had to admit that the man had a point. The attitude of his fellow Tok'ra was really irritating the former general. They just didn't seem to understand that, by themselves, the Tok'ra could not defeat the Goa'uld.
A meeting would be taking place in a short while about the situation with the Tok'ra, the Jaffa and Earth, and Jacob did not have a good feeling about it. Delek was unwilling to compromise in any way, and he was apparently representing the view of the majority of the High Council. Without compromise, there could be no agreements.
Jacob feared that today would see an end to the alliance that could have defeated the Goa'uld. He did not want to think of what the future would bring if that happened.
Jack was getting pretty concerned, and he knew that Teal'c was, too. There wasn't a whole lot of daylight left. If they didn't find their missing teammates before dark, Daniel and Sam would be forced to spend the night out here with no supplies and no heat. Would the drone stop looking for them when it got dark?
Coming upon a narrow river, Jack and Teal'c looked for the best place to cross it.
"O'Neill, look!" Teal'c exclaimed, pointing at something in the shallows on the opposite bank.
Realizing what it was, Jack waded into the river, Teal'c right behind him. Coming out on the other side, they approached the object they'd seen.
The supersoldier was most definitely dead, lying face-down in the water. But what had killed it? Teal'c pulled the body out of the river. Finding the release mechanisms for the faceplate of the helmet, he removed it.
"Gah!" Jack exclaimed in disgust, stepping back a pace.
It was pretty clear what had killed the drone. The thing was burnt to a crisp, nothing much left of the face except bone and ragged, blackened flesh. It had apparently cooked right inside its own suit.
Realization hit Jack like a physical blow. "Daniel did that."
Teal'c nodded. "Indeed, O'Neill. There can be no other explanation."
Jack grimaced. "God." His attention turned upstream. "That means that he and Carter are still alive."
The colonel's radio crackled to life. The voice of Reynolds told them that the UAV had been shot down about four kilometers from their position.
"Wait a minute. This happened just now?" Jack questioned.
"No more than two minutes ago," Reynolds replied.
Jack's gaze went to the dead supersoldier. This could only mean one thing: there was another drone out there, which meant that Daniel and Sam were still in danger.
"We're on it," Jack told the leader of SG-3.
Their eyes meeting for a moment, Jack and Teal'c hurried off in the direction of the crashed UAV.
Daniel and Sam stared at the wreckage of the UAV from their hiding place a few yards away. They'd gone in search of it, hoping that the video equipment might have survived the crash and still be transmitting. Instead, they'd discovered something else. The craft was carrying two missiles, and Sam believed that she might be able to use them against the supersoldier.
The UAV was lying within a small clearing, which was good in one way, bad in another. If it had crashed into the trees, it might have been too badly damaged for anything to be usable, but the lack of cover would make getting to it dangerous.
"It looks all clear," Daniel said, "and I don't sense anything."
"I say we go for it."
"Me too."
Sam looked at her companion. "Daniel, if that thing comes and you have to . . . do something. . . ."
Daniel looked at her. "I know, Sam. I'll try to use as little force as I can. But you need to understand something. There isn't any sacrifice that I'm not willing to make for you."
Sam gazed into Daniel's eyes, wishing she knew what to say. "I know, Daniel," she finally said. "And I want you to know that, if our situations were reversed, I'd do the same thing."
That having been said, Daniel and Sam cautiously made their way to the UAV. Sam immediately got to work on "hot wiring" one of the missiles so that she could fire it. Daniel divided his time between watching her work and keeping a lookout.
"What are the chances that this is going to work?" he asked.
"I really don't know for sure. That armor may be strong, but the drone can withstand just so much kinetic energy. If I can hit it dead on, or at least within a couple of feet, the force of the blast should literally blow it apart at the seems, regardless of how strong the armor itself may be."
Daniel was quiet for a moment. "Sam, one of us is going to have to act as bait for that thing."
Sam's head jerked around to face him. "What? No, we discussed this already. We figured that the thing would come check out the crash."
"From what direction, Sam? Yes, we know that it was to the southwest of our earlier position, but we have no way of predicting exactly where it's going to come out of those trees. Are you going to be able to adjust the aim of that missile quickly?"
"No," Sam admitted, "not with any accuracy."
Daniel nodded shortly. "Then I need to leave a trail, one the drone is going to follow," his gaze went to the forest, "which means that I'm going to have to go drone hunting."
"No way, Daniel. It's too dangerous. You could run right into it."
"I'll be able to sense its presence, especially if I'm concentrating fully on finding it. That should help me avoid blundering into it."
Sam shook her head emphatically. "No. This is a really bad idea, Daniel. Look. Let's just forget this. We'll make a run for the Stargate. We know it's working, and, if the SGC is operating under standard protocol, there will be someone posted at the gate."
"The drone is too close, Sam. The shot that took out this UAV came from no more than half a mile away. It's closing that distance even as we speak. You know that neither one of us can move very fast. Do you honestly think that we can keep far enough ahead of it as we cross that open area to get to the Stargate? I don't know how many times I'm going to be able to throw it before I pass out again."
Sam knew that Daniel was right, and she hated it. She hated that he was going to have to go out there and put himself in extreme danger to lure the supersoldier into their trap. She hated that he might have to sacrifice his life for hers.
And she hated that, if he died, she will have never taken a chance at loving him.
"Daniel, please be careful," Sam begged, the smallest of tremors in her voice.
Daniel gave her a gentle smile and briefly touched her cheek, then he got to his feet and headed away into the forest.
Wiping away a single tear, Sam got back to work.
Hammond looked at the men assembled around the briefing table. "Gentlemen, we've asked you here together because we need your help to keep the situation at the Beta Site from getting out of hand.
"I'm not sure what you expect the Tok'ra to do, General," Delek said. "We have suffered a number of unprovoked assaults."
"Unprovoked?" M'zel responded. "You refused to help us, and thousands of Jaffa died needlessly."
"Assassinating Olokun was never an option."
"Why not?"
"We had no way of knowing how many Jaffa would join the rebels. We could have been delivering an entire army into the hands of Anubis."
"They deserved the right to choose," M'zel said, outraged. "Instead, they were slaughtered."
"We have been fighting the Goa'uld for thousands of years. You have no right to question our methods," Delek told him angrily. He turned to Hammond. "You wish to keep this alliance, but what good has it done us? In the few short years we have known the Tau'ri, your tendency to provoke direct confrontation with the Goa'uld has resulted in the deaths of more Tok'ra than in the previous one hundred years combined."
"I hate to admit it, George, but he's got a point," Jacob said reluctantly. "When a human or a Jaffa dies in battle, more are born to take their place. The same can't be said for the Tok'ra."
"Our Queen, Egeria, from whom all Tok'ra are spawned, is dead," Delek reminded everyone. "Our numbers are dwindling. This alliance may simply be something we cannot afford."
Sergeant Harriman came into the briefing room. "I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but we just got a report from the Alpha Site. Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c have found proof that Doctor Jackson and Major Carter are still alive. Doctor Jackson has killed the drone that was after them, but, apparently, there's another one out there. The UAV was shot down by it, and the colonel and Teal'c are going to investigate."
"Thank you, Sergeant," the general said. "Please keep me informed."
Hammond turned back to the others. There was an expression of relief on Jacob's face. M'zel's features wore a look of satisfaction.
"I recommend that we put the rest of this discussion on hold for now," Hammond said. "We will pick it back up after everything with Doctor Jackson and Major Carter is resolved."
"I agree," Delek said. "I must speak with the High Council concerning these matters."
The general's gaze focused on M'zel and Delek. "In the meantime, I would like the two of you to do something about declaring a ceasefire at the Beta Site."
The Jaffa nodded. "I will go speak to the Jaffa immediately. They will wish to be told the news about Daniel Jackson."
Delek and M'zel left. Hammond turned to the person remaining in the room.
"Are we going to be able to save the alliance, Jacob?"
"I really don't know, George."
Daniel made his way through the forest, deliberately trampling undergrowth, breaking small twigs on trees, laying down a trail that screamed, "We went this way!"
He'd gotten pretty close to the supersoldier before turning around and beginning the business of making the trail, close enough that, if Sam knew, she'd be seriously pissed off. But he had wanted to be sure the thing found the trail. The problem was that he was having to pick up the pace to stay far enough ahead of it.
Daniel knew that he was in no condition to do this. His whole body was shaking from the effects of both the wound in his shoulder and the physical consequences of using his abilities way more than he should have. He honestly didn't know what was keeping him upright, let alone walking. Once they got home, he was going to sleep for a week.
Breaking from the trees, Daniel saw Sam and the UAV and headed toward them. He'd covered about half the distance when his sixth sense yet again warned him of danger. He spun around and saw the drone come into view.
"Daniel, run!" Sam yelled.
Spinning back around, Daniel ran, dredging up a final reserve of energy from somewhere. Deadly bolts of light whizzed by him, and he was expecting to feel the agonizing burn of one hitting him at any second.
The archeologist glanced over his shoulder and saw that the supersoldier was gaining on him. Realizing that he wasn't going to make it to the UAV in time, Daniel screamed, "Shoot, Sam!" Then he made a dive to the ground, trying his best to protect his injured shoulder from further damage.
Terrified that Daniel was too close to the blast area, Sam fired off the missile, knowing that she had no choice.
The missile flew straight toward the drone and impacted the ground directly in front of it. A huge explosion rocked the clearing, tossing dirt, rocks and other debris high into the air.
As everything settled back to the ground, there was a moment of utter silence. Sam looked at the place where the supersoldier had stood, seeing no sign of it. She then looked at Daniel. He was partly buried in dirt . . . and he wasn't moving.
"Daniel?" Sam called, her heart hammering in her chest. There was no reply.
Almost sick with fear, Sam limped toward him. She went down on her knees beside him.
"Daniel? Daniel, please answer me."
A low moan answered her plea. Daniel stirred beneath her hands.
A wave of relief washed through Sam with such force that it made her feel faint. "Daniel, don't move. There's no telling how badly you're hurt."
"You mean I'm hurt even more than I was before?" came a muffled response, sounding somewhat whiny. "This really isn't my day."
Sam choked back a laugh.
Ignoring her advice to stay still, Daniel turned over onto his back, grimacing in pain. "Ow, ow."
"What hurts?"
The archeologist looked up at her. "You have to ask?"
"Yeah, I guess that is a stupid question. Everything hurts, right?"
"Pretty much, although my hair doesn't feel too bad."
"Any broken bones?"
"No, I don't think so, though I'm guessing I'm going to have a few lovely new bruises from flying rocks to add to my collection."
Sam helped Daniel sit up. "Let's rest for a while. That explosion should attract someone to our location."
The two scientists were getting to their feet when a sound made them freeze. They turned as one and saw an arm emerge from the earth and other debris where the drone had stood. Horrified, they watched the supersoldier slowly stand.
Daniel's eyes met Sam's, and, in them, she saw him saying goodbye to her.
'No,' she said in voiceless denial.
Daniel's attention had turned back to the supersoldier, who was now aiming its weapon at them, and Sam could almost feel him gathering his power, power that would destroy the drone and might leave Daniel dead or irreversibly brain damaged.
At that instant, unexpected salvation arrived in the form of Teal'c. The Jaffa opened fire on the drone, drawing its attention toward him. Sam and Daniel scrambled away as the supersoldier returned fire at Teal'c. They took cover behind a small outcropping of rocks. Jack was at their side a moment later. He fired the prototype weapon at the drone, causing the thing to stagger a little.
"Carter, I need the—"
Sam handed him the upgraded power unit.
Jack took it. "Thanks." He popped it into the prototype weapon and fired two shots. The supersoldier fell and did not get up.
Jack tossed the weapon to Teal'c. "Cover him."
"Nice of you to join us, Jack," Daniel said, leaning back against the rocks wearily.
"Yeah, well, I was in the area." Jack looked at the two youngest members of his team. "You two look awful."
"No. Really?" Daniel responded with a sarcastic bite to his voice.
Sam looked at the drone. "It is dead, isn't it?"
"Yeah, he's dead," Jack replied. "Right, Teal'c? He's dead?"
Teal'c kicked the soldier, then nodded when it didn't move.
"Yeah, he's dead," Jack confirmed. He looked at Daniel and Sam. "So, you ready to get out of here?"
"I think we need a minute, Jack," the archeologist replied tiredly.
Finally letting her exhaustion take hold, Sam dropped her head onto Daniel's chest. His good arm came around her shoulders, and his cheek settled against her hair as his eyes closed.
Jack watched the two of them, seeing that they wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon. He got Reynolds on the radio and told him to send a medical team with stretchers to their location.
"You did good, kids," he murmured softly to Daniel and Sam. "You made it."
