A/N: A Death Knell episode addition.

Pulse thudding like a drumbeat in her head. The smell of blood and singed flesh. Her mouth sour with fear. Lips cracked, breathing labored.

Something throbs. Pain pounding in her leg. A pressure in her head like the steel jaws of a vise. Nausea swelling in rolling waves. The memory of terror and a relentless monster.

She wants to throw up but she can't move.

A rustle, a scuffle of dirt. Sam feels rather than sees the colonel lower himself to the ground beside her.

A voice somewhere outside the throbbing and pounding.

"C'mere."

His voice. Awakening her. His arm. Settling on her shoulders, pulling her to him.

A moment of surprise at his crossing the line. Then immediate response.

Leaning into his embrace. Reaching over to him, clutching his vest in her fingers. Feeling his hand come to rest atop hers. The comfort of firm muscle and bone. The smell of sweat, dirt, and aftershave. His distinctive, battle-worn scent, which she has come to love and can recognize in her sleep.

Her eyes fluttering shut. The light pressure of his cheek against her hair. Breathing in the sweet pungent odors from his neck, his shoulder, his t-shirt. Feeling the warmth of his arm around her, the sinews of his strong thigh against hers. Hearing the beating of his heart.

Everything right at last.

The thud of her pulse slowing. The fear subsiding. Relief flowing like honey in her veins.

Her colonel has come for her.

She hears birdsong, and sleeps.