Trust

Chapter One

Disclaimer: They ain't mine.

Paring: Sam/Pete & Sam/Jack ship

Spoilers: Everything up until Reckoning and Threads. So basically that means Jacob and Pete are still here.

Summary: He grabbed her, looked straight into her eyes, and yelled out, "Do you trust me?" She nodded. "Then please," he begged, his eyes pleaded along with him, "do what I said."

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The mission had started out normal enough, it was supposed to be a routine meet and greet, only the inhabitants of P2Q-317 had requested that the leader of (earth's) Stargate program accompany SG-1. They were to discuss a trade, information about the Stargate for a new source of energy, one that could do away with electricity all together. She had been excited, barely able to contain her enthusiasm, since she would be, of course, the one to experiment on this new form of technology. The General had jumped on the opportunity to go off world, even if the chances of him seeing action were slim to none, maybe even less than so.

Things went well for the first hour or so, then the proverbial other shoe dropped. The people of 317 were not as friendly as they appeared to be; an ambush began. Teal'c and Jack had seen it coming when every one of the Croinian council members excused themselves, whispering to each other. The General ordered SG-1 to retreat, or, as he had put it, "haul ass". They managed to slip out undetected, but the Croinian people must have been close behind because in only a few minutes they were running for their lives, the General screaming at Daniel to dial the 'gate as soon as they came up to it, as if Daniel hadn't already known to do so.

Then, things got worse, she was hit. The bullet, or whatever it was, tore past her skin and she went down, crying out in pain. He was immediately by her side, helping her back onto her feet. The council members, or whoever they really were, were starting to catch up. Throwing her arms around his neck he scooped her up and began to run, grunting with each step that he took. It was too late, they were being fired upon, and the shots were coming dangerously close. He let her down, taking a break that they both knew they didn't have time for.

"Come on," she screamed, pulling him and trying to run with just one leg.

"You go!" He yelled, "I'll watch your six."

She shook her head, "No, it's too dangerous." Looking over his shoulder she saw at least fifteen men carrying large, bulky guns getting closer and closer. She trembled, ashamed by the fear that was rising in her stomach. "Hurry, we don't have much time!"

He grabbed her, looked straight into her eyes, and yelled out, "Do you trust me?" She nodded. "Then please," he begged, his eyes pleaded along with him, "do what I said."

"I won't leave you," she defiantly said, shaking her head. "I won't!"

"You have to," he told her, his voice softer and more gentle than it had previously been. "I'll be fine..." he assured her. "Go."

"Jack..." she said, shaking her head, surprised at herself for calling him by his first name even under the circumstances. "Please, don't"

"I'll make it an order!" He yelled, "You have to go... now."

She choked back a sob, fighting the tears that had formed behind her eyes and were threatening to fall. Turning she did her best to run towards the 'gate, glancing behind her briefly to see him running in the other direction. She felt the ground shake and heard an explosion just as she jumped though the shimmering blue puddle. As she crashed into the ramp on the other side she cried out in pain, for the first time realizing just how serious the wound in her lower leg was, not to mention from the fact that she landed with her arm twisted behind her.

She was helped up by two people that she automatically knew were Daniel and Teal'c, they had gone through the 'gate before she had been shot. Pulling away from them she turned to see those in the control room, "He's on his way!" She yelled out; "Keep the iris open."

Davis nodded at her and then they all waited ... nothing happened.

Something else must have gone off on the planet because the event horizon faltered, then returned to normal. Moments later it rippled and Sam held her breath. A man stepped through, his weapon raised. Before he could get a shot out, however, he himself was shot, dead when he hit the metal ramp.

"Colonel?" Davis questioned over the intercom, "Do you want me to close the iris!"

"Leave it open!" She called out, "That's an order!"

They waited again, it seemed like an eternity for Sam, and her mind was buzzing with thousands of possibilities. He had to be close by, she shouldn't have left him, she should have made him come with her, he had to be close ... he had to be.

The Stargate, having nobody else to transport, shut itself down. Sam nearly collapsed, though her weakness had nothing to do with her damaged leg. "Dial 317," she ordered. "Do it now!"

"Sam," Daniel said from beside her, "I don't think that's the smartest thing to do."

"Indeed, Major Carter," Teal'c added, "It does not appear wise."

She glared at them, but ignored their comments all the same and turned around to look at Davis, "Well?" she asked. "Dial out."

He paused, "Colonel, do you think that's the best thing to do. You can barely stand," he pointed out, as if she had yet to notice the blood traveling down the back of her leg.

She turned to one of the SF's in the room. "Give me your shirt," she demanded.

He glanced around, then looked at her with confusion. "Ma'am?"

"That wasn't a request," she growled. "It was an order."

His jacket was off in less than two seconds and his shirt followed immediately thereafter. Sam took it, tied it above the wound on her left leg, then looked back at Davis. "Dial the 'gate ... now."

"Ma'am..."

"I am ordering you to dial 317, Davis!" She yelled, "If you do not dial that 'gate right this instant I'll have you court marshaled for defying a direct order!" Her voice was sharp and fierce; there was no way she was going to leave him behind.

"Yes, Ma'am!" He barked as he began to dial the 'gate, all the color having faded from his face.

It seemed like years before the 'gate whooshed forward. By then SG's 2, 3, and 5 had been called into the 'gate room, already dressed and ready to step through. They weren't going to stop looking until they had found Jack.

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Her leg grew heavier with each step she took and she began to curse herself for not having it checked out before coming back to 317, but she was on a mission and said nothing of the pain that everybody knew she was in. No, she kept moving, kept searching, she wouldn't stop. She wouldn't stop. She couldn't. She had to find him. She wouldn't stop until she knew that he was safe.

It had been over two hours, over two hours of excruciating pain, over two hours of having her heart ripped from her chest and stomped on, two hours of wondering if by leaving she caused his death, two hours of forcing herself not to cry. She hadn't been this determined or devastated since he had been lost on Edora. She hadn't liked the way that had turned out, even if she had found him. She swore to herself that it wouldn't take that long this time, she would find him today. She wouldn't rest until she knew that he was safe, she wouldn't even think about what she would do if he wasn't.

Another step, another stab of pain in her calf, another curse entering her mind. She wouldn't stop. She would keep going. She wouldn't stop. She couldn't. She had to find him. She wouldn't stop. She would find him, alive or ... she would find him alive. Any other way was unacceptable. She wouldn't stop until he was safe.

It was dark, which was probably the only thing that kept them safe and out of the Croinian people's view. Croin was a very hilly planet, with inclines and slopes as far as the eye could see. Not much of the land was flat, at least none around the area that SG-1 was searching.

As the hours passed her leg grew numb, which she knew was not a good sign, but she said nothing of it. She wouldn't quit looking though, no matter what happened she wouldn't quit searching. She would find him.

"Sam," Daniel called out to her, he was a good fifteen feet behind her. "Sam ... we're not going to find him in the pitch dark."

She stopped walking, but didn't turn to face him. "You can quit if you want to Daniel, but I owe him more than that." she growled, starting to walk again, Teal'c not far behind.

"I'm not suggesting that we quit, Sam." He called after her, running to catch up. "What I'm suggesting is that we make camp, sleep for a few hours, until it starts to get brighter. Then we can start to look again."

"What if he doesn't have that much time, Daniel?" She snapped, "What if ... what if he's dying right now?" Her head shook in defiance, "I won't stop looking. I won't."

Another step, then another, and yet another. She couldn't see through the inky blackness of night on Croin, but she wouldn't let that stop her. She was walking blind, they all were, but that wasn't going to keep them from finding him, they would all continue until one group had found him safe. No doubt they were still sending teams through. They would find him. They would find him.

"Colonel Carter, there appears to be caverns in that direction," Teal'c pointed and her eyes followed. He was right, just off to the right there were caves, and when she strained her eyes she could see the makings of an opening. She pulled out her flashlight and started in the direction of the caverns.

It took longer than she expected to get to the caverns; she flicked on her light and shined it into the darkness. She couldn't see far into the darkness but it looked stable enough so she stepped inside. If he was anywhere this would be it; it was the safest place they had come across so far. When she turned a corner the light fell upon him, her heart stopped and her breath escaped her. Oh God, he couldn't be...

Daniel and Teal'c came up behind her, asking why she had stopped. When they saw him lying in a crumpled heap on the floor of the cave a hush fell over them, nobody moved, nobody spoke, she wasn't even sure if any of them breathed. After finally gaining the courage and will to limp over to him she kneeled down, setting her flashlight on the ground beside her. Taking a deep breath she trembled.

Reaching out a shaking hand she gently touched his shoulder and turned him to face her. "Sir?" She asked, fighting the tears that were forming behind her eyes, "Jack ... wake up."

His eyes slowly blinked open and she exhaled, having not even realized she had been holding her breath. He was alive. "Damn you, Jack," she whispered, running a hand over his short hair. "You scared the shit out of me."

He grunted and sat up, looking around the cave. "Where ... what?" He looked at Sam, "Huh?"

Oddly, she found her self laughing, "Come on, Sir. Everybody's looking for you." She started to get up, but her leg disagreed with her, she fell back, landing on her backside. Teal'c helped her up and she thanked him. "Guess I'm not as invincible as I thought, huh?" She joked, limping out of the cave, the other three following her.

"Major Demming," she said into her radio, "SG-1 has located General O'Neill. We're headed back to the 'gate."

"Copy that," the leader of SG-5 replied. "We're headed there now. Demming, out."

She shut off the flashlight just as they exited the cave and the world around her once again plunged into darkness. As she limped back to the Stargate she felt him fall into step with her, but she didn't acknowledge him. Instead, she looked up at the sky above Croin, there were two moons out and the stars cluttered the vast blackness. They walked, step by step, in silence.

Upon returning to the SGC they were both whisked to the infirmary. Sam was chided for walking on her leg, causing more damage than the bullet had.

"It only grazed my calf," she argued. "I'm fine."

Dr. Brightman didn't reply, but started to clean the wound. "You'll still need stitches and you'll have to stay off of it for a few weeks ... no off world missions."

She nodded, "I'm ok with that, there's a lot of stuff I can do in my office."

"Oh," Jack called from the other side of the infirmary, "no there's not. I'm giving you two weeks downtime."

"Sir, that's not necess-" She started, but he cut her off.

"Uh - uh ... that's final, Colonel."

"Yes, sir." She grumbled. Brightman started the stitches and she winced, tightening her grip on the pillow in her hands. "General," she managed through the pain, "what happened on 317?"

He must have been done with his check up because he was suddenly standing by her bed. "I set up a parameter of C4, nothing large, I didn't have much. Took about thirty of 'em out, it gave me enough time to escape." He shrugged, "I got lucky."

Dr. Brightman pulled the stitch through the gash in her leg and she bit down on her lip as hard as she could. Jack noticed her do so and offered his hand, "Here, squeeze."

She took it with a weak smile and when the doctor pulled on the stitches again the grip she had on his hand tightened, she squeezed with all that she had. Jack's eyes grew large but he didn't say anything and in a few minutes it was all over and the doctor left the room. Sam let go of his hand, "Thanks ... that helped." She laid her head against the pillow on the hospital bed, facing the right, where Jack had pulled up a chair. The doctor didn't place her in the most comfortable position; she was lying on her stomach, something that she never did.

"How are you?" She asked, "You didn't get hurt any, did you?"

He shook his head, "A few bangs and bruises, nothing major." A smile spread across his face, "I hear that you made an SF strip and threatened to court marshal Davis."

She laughed, "Pretty much ... yeah. It was just his shirt though ... and he still had his jacket."

"What about Davis?"

"Oh ... what you've heard is probably true, sir," she admitted. "I was pretty nasty, but I had a good excuse." Whatever pain killers the doc had given her were starting to kick in. "I was worried ... the more time I spent here the less time you had there. I didn't want to waste time that we didn't have ... and technically with you away I take over as CO, they had to listen to me." She sighed, "I should apologize to both of them."

"I'm sure that they understand," he said. When he noticed her eyelids getting heavy he decided to let her get some sleep, "I'll drop by some time soon. I'm taking back the power of bossing everybody around ... so get some sleep, that's an order."

"Sir, yes, sir!" She barked, doing her best to salute him while lying on her stomach. "I'll see you later, Sir."

"Right," he agreed. "Sweet dreams, Carter."

He walked away and she smiled to herself, allowing her eyes to finally close. "Goodnight, Jack." She whispered to the empty room, slipping into a drug-endued sleep.

TBC

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A/N: So, what do you think? I was just getting ready for school one morning, it was about 6:30 and the summary line, the "do you trust me?" part popped into my head and it kind of built on from there during the day. I'm very happy with the end result ... even if I'm going to have Pete in this next chapter. Well ... please let me know if you liked it or not.