The Closest Thing - Part 4
And the final part...woo! There you go Eve
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Sam/Janet
Word Count: 5.626
Category: Action, Established Relationship, Fixit, AU
Season: 9 ish, but it is an AU
Spoilers: Heroes Part 1 & 2, Urgo, CoTG, Fallen, Threads
Warnings: violence
Summary: Over a year after Janet’s death and in a universe in which Qetesh was never freed by the Tok’ra and the Goa’uld were not defeated, SG1, featuring Sam, Cam, Daniel and Teal’c, go to P8X-412.
The title of the series is the title of a song by Juliana Theory and the titles of the individual parts are lines from that song.
Part Four - Because I'm sure you're wonderful
The Tok’ra operatives had confirmed that Qetesh was several days away on her ‘show of force’ tour and it was as safe as it ever was going to be to ‘gate to P8X-412. SG1 was joined by Doctor Fraiser and Bra’tac as planned. While they were arriving on the planet other SG units and groups of the rebel Jaffa were moving in on other planets per a carefully worked out schedule.
Once they were on P8X-412, it was relatively easy to take out the two guards at the stone doorway with zats.
“We’ll head to the nearest town, it’s the biggest,” Janet said with a glanced down at the two unconscious Jaffa.
“Lead on Macduff,” Cam answered her cheerfully.
“This way,” Janet instructed, leading the way into the maze like forest that surrounded the area of the Stargate.
“You know that’s a misquote right?” Daniel asked as they made their way through the trees following Janet’s expert lead.
“It’s Shakespeare,” Cam said, as if that ended the argument.
“A misquote of Shakespeare,” Daniel. “The actual line is ‘lay on Macduff.’”
“Lay on Macduff? That makes even less sense,” Cam told him.
Daniel sighed and muttered, “Never mind.”
The path through the trees was longer than Sam remembered it. Of course she’d only traversed it twice, once while stunned unconscious and once while fleeing for their lives so she’d been a little focussed on other things both times. Eventually they emerged from the trees and Janet led them down a winding path that curled down the hillside away from the palace. It was the first time that most of them had seen the planet. Qetesh’s palace rested on top of a large rocky ridge that protruded from the hillside in front of them. It was an impressive structure and the defensive walls made it look as though the dark grey rocks had been crowned, which was presumably the idea.
The land sloped steeply down on either side of the palace and their path wound down gradually into the valley. Janet walked confidently down the path, focussed on their destination and hardly seeing the world around her, while her team mates couldn’t help but look around them. The town came into view before they had gone too far down the hill. It was a dense sprawl of buildings, with smoke curling from many of them and people moving through the streets. Beyond the Jaffa town Sam could see what looked like farmland and beyond that there was another settlement.
She nodded towards it, “That another Jaffa town beyond this one?”
Janet looked up from the path and shook her head, “No that’s a slave village. They cultivate the land in the valley bottom and are one of the villages responsible for providing food to the Jaffa. If it’s a bad harvest many of them starve. If they refuse to give up the food and goods, Qetesh’s guards beat them or kill them. Beyond the village and to the South you can see the Naquadah mines and refinery, where the lowest of the low are sent. Criminals and disgraced Jaffa mostly, but often orphaned slave children end up there because no one is willing to take them in when they already have too little food for their own family.” Janet’s voice was quiet and solemn as she explained the situation. Sam looked out across the idyllic scene soberly and reinforced her resolve to take down Qetesh.
They passed over a hump in the land and Janet stopped sharply as they caught sight of a mixed group of young Jaffa who were running along a path a little way ahead that crossed the one they were on. They also stopped when they caught sight of the group coming down the hillside towards them. They looked young, but they all had tattoos that stood out dark against their skin and symbiote pouches were clearly visible on the boys that were running shirtless. Both groups stood still for a long moment and then the children were off, running barefoot down the path to the town and shouting loudly at the top of their voices.
Teal’c smiled fondly, “It has been too long since I have seen young Jaffa training in groups.”
“Let’s just hope we don’t get shot before we have a chance to explain ourselves,” Cam said darkly.
As they got closer to the town Janet pulled her BDU cap off her head and tucked it into the pocket of her pants. “I want them to recognise who’re they’re going to shoot,” she explained in response too Sam’s look. She’d braided her hair to keep it out of the way and tucked the long plait down the back of her jacket. The hair style somehow looked more foreign on her than the tattoo did.
As they approached the outlying buildings of the town a patrol of Jaffa appeared, marching towards them with staffs levelled. Janet signalled over her shoulder for the rest of them to stop, which they did. Sam brought her gun up in response to the staffs being pointed at them, but Janet reached out and pushed the muzzle back down with a warning glance towards her.
“Kree Jaffa,” she called out, walking confidently towards the patrol. She seemed to not see their weapons, but Sam could see her fists were tightly clenched at her side. They seemed to recognise her, at least the leader did as he lowered his staff and the others followed suit. They began to converse in rapid Goa’uld. Sam watched them, watching carefully for a sign they needed to intervene in the exchange.
“It appears that Qetesh has not revealed Janet’s escape,” Teal’c said, sounding surprised. “The Jaffa asks what some one of Doctor Fraiser’s status is doing down in the town. He’s asking about the other day when his brother had gone up to the palace. He had been injured in the foolish near rebellion and his wrist wasn’t healing properly. Apparently he was told that Miu wasn’t wasting her time on pitiful cases any more. He is resentful.”
“Uh oh,” muttered Sam.
“I think Janet’s got it covered though,” muttered Daniel. “She’s told them she had been injured herself and it was a miscommunication. She will gladly look at his brother’s wrist now. We have a way in. Oh wait, not quite. He wants to know who we are. Maybe we should have painted tattoos on our foreheads again.”
“I think that would have defeated the overall purpose of our mission Daniel,” Cam said under his breath and shifted his hand slightly on his P90.
Daniel grinned, “I thought she was going to say we were slaves for a minute there. But she just described us as great warriors from another world that they should meet and learn from. She has implied that we’ve been sent by Qetesh, but hasn’t said it outright. That’s clever.”
“Clearly Qetesh prefers her Jaffa to be ignorant,” Bra’tac said with disgust apparent in his voice.
“Well, it is an effective way of maintaining power,” Daniel commented. The Jaffa patrol had all relaxed and Janet beckoned to them to approach. Sam kept her hand close to the trigger on her gun as she approached the suspicious looking patrol.
“Two Jaffa who were once first primes to Apophis and two human males and a woman?” The head of the patrol asked incredulously.
“Looks may deceive Mora’kel. These are all great warriors and wise scholars we should learn from.”
Cam’s eyebrows went questioningly up at the comment about being a great scholar. Mora’kel looked somewhat appeased.
“Come,” he told Janet. “I will take you to my brother.”
Janet nodded slowly and regally before following. Cam shrugged slightly and they all trailed after Janet and the Jaffa. The rest of the patrol walked with them a little way, but gradually dispersed into the town until they were only left with Mora’kel. He led them to a neat but unremarkable looking home within the town.
“Remain here,” Janet commanded them and then ducked inside with Mora’kel. Sam didn’t like that one bit and stood restlessly next to the doorway until Janet reappeared a long twenty minutes later.
“His wrist is healing slowly, but it will be fine. Now we should start at the main square. There is a market there,” She said simply before walking off towards the market without even waiting for agreement.
“Was she always this bossy?” Cam whispered to Daniel.
“Oh yes and she was armed then too, with threats of bed rest, light duties, hospital food and big needles.”
“I think I’m going to work harder at not getting hurt,” Cam declared. “Yup, I’m gonna turn over a new leaf in infirmary avoidance.”
Janet was right about the market. It was bustling with activity. Bra’tac surveyed the scene and looked satisfied.
“This planet is ripe for freedom,” he declared. “Come Teal’c, Doctor Fraiser, we have work to do,” and with that the three of them merged into the bustling market.
“Sure, go stir up civil disobedience. We’ll just wait here,” Cam called after them. He waved at them and then looked around until he saw a crate to sit on. Sam watched the three Jaffa disappear into the crowd, keeping sight of Teal’c’s head the longest. She tapped her fingers against the side of her gun nervously. Daniel peered longingly at whatever was on sale at the stalls nearest them.
Sam eventually took a seat on a crate next to Cam. They received many suspicious looks from the passing residents of the town, but clearly word had spread about who they were because they were given a wide berth. A couple of hours passed. Teal’c checked in with them a few times, but hadn’t really given them much information other than that they were okay.
Shouting started somewhere in the market. Sam jumped up onto the crate she had been sitting on and looked out across the bustle of people. She could see Teal’c shouting at someone she couldn’t see in the crowd and thanked whatever powers there might be that he was so easy to spot in a large crowd.
“C’mon,” she told Cam and Daniel as she jumped back down from the crate. They hurried after her as she plunged into the crowds of the market and worked her way over to where Teal’c, and hopefully Bra’tac and Janet, were.
“You wish more of us to sacrifice our lives in a foolish defiance of our Goddess,” an angry young Jaffa was shouting at Teal’c as Sam finally got close enough to hear specific words.
“I speak the truth,” Teal’c assured him. “Qetesh is no Goddess, she will not stop you.”
“Lies! My Master lost his life only days before this for similar ideas!”
As the two shouted the activity in the market began to slow. More and more of the Jaffa were watching the exchange rather than going about their own business.
“He may have lost his life,” Bra’tac stepped in. “But he died free and honourably.”
“It was not worth his life,” the young Jaffa said viciously and spat into the dirt at their feet. He turned angrily away and Teal’c made to follow him.
“Let him go,” Bra’tac advised.
The crowd that had gathered around the loud exchange watched for a few more moments and then gradually began to move back to their business.
“Listen to me,” Janet called loudly across the departing Jaffa. Her voice had a weight and authority to it that Sam didn’t think she had heard before. It got the attention of most of the Jaffa who turned and looked back towards her. She scrambled up onto a crate so that she could be seen over the crowd.
“Listen,” she repeated and got the attention of the rest. Once the Jaffa had all stopped leaving and settled down again she began to speak to them in Goa’uld. Sam couldn’t understand what she was saying, but it seemed to be going across well as the Jaffa moved closer to her and listened. After a few minutes Daniel began to translate for her and Cam’s benefit.
“She’s reminding them that they are great warriors. She is telling them that they are Qetesh’s strength and that without them, she is nothing. She is saying they should honour those that died by recognising their wisdom. They will be strongest if they all fight together and then they will be free. She is calling out the names of Jaffa who owe her their lives, or the lives of their families and calling on that debt. It’s a risky move,” Daniel reported. “That’s the short version anyway. She’s being a lot wordier really, lots of emphasis on the mighty and the noble strength, all that stuff. I think its working.”
Sam agreed with him as there was still the odd grumble throughout the crowd, but most of it was conversational and there was much less anger being directed at them.
Bra’tac pushed himself up onto the crate next to Janet as she wound down her impromptu speech.
“We will arm you. We will fight beside you and you will win your freedom,” he promised the crowd.
“Freedom,” someone called out loudly in the crowd and first another and then another took up the call until the whole crowd were shouting the word over and over. Bra’tac thrust his staff victoriously into the air and the crowd cheered.
“It’s a start,” Bra’tac declared as he stepped back down off the crate.
“It was a little ‘Braveheart’,” Cam told him.
“One much altered version of an old tale amongst the Tau’ri about a noble warrior who led a resistance force during a war of independence,” Teal’c explained.
“I would hear the tale of this warrior,” Bra’tac told Cam. “However, we have much work to do at this time.”
“Well, you don’t hear it, so much as see it,” Cam tried to explain.
“Humph,” said Bra’tac, clearly implying ‘crazy Tau’ri’. Many of the warriors in the market place had gathered closer around them by now and Bra’tac turned to talk to them.
~~~
They were moving on the Palace within a relatively short space of time. Bra’tac kept the initial moment of the Jaffa going skilfully, tempering it with his advice and galvanising a fierce fighting force out of their anger. The palace guard were the most loyal, most highly trained and best equipped Jaffa left on the planet and the ones they needed to either take out or convince to join the rebellion. The only ones who would be harder to take down than the Palace guard would be Qetesh’s personal guard and they were currently on her flag ship many days away. They could be dealt with later. Taking the palace was an important step.
There weren’t enough staff weapons in the town for all those who wanted to fight. Initially those without staff weapons had been angry when presented with human weapons, but Bra’tac and Teal’c had talked them round. Cam was handing out the last few as their force gathered once again in the market. Sam was busy going through their planned attack once again and answering questions. There was a completely different atmosphere to the town now. Most of the priests, priestesses and children had evacuated the town and those left were all soldiers. There was a disturbance nearby that disturbed the atmosphere of quiet and diligent preparation. Sam looked up from a quick diagram she had drawn in the dust.
“A war is no place for a woman,” Mora’kel was telling a tall Jaffa woman who had just taken a gun from Cam. He’d stopped what he was doing and looked up from the crate. Sam also stood up from her diagram and walked slowly towards the disagreement.
“I have a right to fight against Qetesh,” the woman told Mora’kel fiercely.
“But not to die for it, who will look after our children if our women give their lives away? Who will defend our homes if we’re invaded?”
The woman gestured around them, “This is our home. If we lose today our lives will be forfeit regardless.”
Bra’tac had emerged from wherever he had been amongst the bustle of a preparing army and took in the disagreement. He walked up to the Jaffa woman and tugged the P90 from her hand. A look of satisfaction danced across Mora’kel’s face.
“This is a good weapon,” he told the woman. “It is not a staff weapon, but it is effective.” He looked the P90 over and handed it back to the Jaffa woman. “Remember that it may be operated with either hand just a proficiently.” The woman nodded respectfully to Bra’tac and gave Mora’kel a satisfied look.
“She is right,” Bra’tac told Mora’kel. “If we lose here we have lost everything.”
Sam returned to what she had been working on and slowly, so did everyone else. Bra’tac had merely voiced what Sam already knew, but it had unsettled her nonetheless.
Word appeared to reach the palace of their plans. They heard horns sounding above them and as a group the whole army turned to look towards the Palace.
“It is time,” Bra’tac told them simply.
~~~
The battle with the palace guard didn’t last very long. There were few of them relative to the rebel Jaffa from the town and many of them laid down their weapons rather than fight against their own kin. Their commanders threatened terrible retribution to those that did surrender, but it did little good. They feared the retribution of their own families and their conscience more. Those that fought died or were captured with little loss of life on the side of the rebel Jaffa, mercifully.
They were clearing up after the battle. Janet was in full blown ‘Doctor Mode’ triaging and treating injuries and Sam was assisting her, it felt like old times once again. Teal’c and Bra’tac had taken a force into the palace to root out any last resistance from those in the palace. Janet glanced up to the palace every so often while she worked. Its presence seemed to hang over them oppressively.
“I never really saw it from the outside,” she told Sam while she was cleaning out a head wound on a relatively young Jaffa who wasn’t taking being injured very well. “I didn’t get out of the Palace much.”
Sam frowned slightly, “How’d you know the way through the woods so well?”
Janet laughed and caused the young Jaffa to scowl at her. She turned his head back around and dabbed at the laceration in his scalp. “I have a good memory,” she told Sam, still laughing at herself.
“Remembered that fifty dollars yet?”
Janet opened her mouth to make what was surely going to be a witty reply, but was interrupted by the sound of horns from the woods around the Stargate. They looked at each other in alarm and abandoned what they were doing to stand up and look out towards the woods. One of the scouts they’d sent to keep an eye on the Stargate came running out of the trees towards them.
“More Jaffa, from Qetesh have come through the Chaapa‘ai.”
Janet and Sam looked sharply at each other. The returning forces were early. Clearly when word of the rebellion had reached Qetesh she had decided not to bother sending her fleet back and instead landed her Jaffa on the nearest planet with a Stargate. This was good news as it would mean they wouldn’t have to take down her mother ships, but it also meant that the battle would be much sooner than they’d anticipated.
Cam came running up the hill towards them, “I’m guessing that horn wasn’t one of ours?”
Sam shook her head, “Looks like they’re early.”
“Awe, crap,” Cam commented. “I’ll go retrieve Teal’c and Bra’tac.”
“We’ll get the injured out of the way and rally our forces,” Sam said.
Cam nodded and ran off towards the palace.
Janet looked at Sam, “I’ll go take care of the injured.”
Sam nodded and hurried off, calling out to some of the Jaffa to attempt to gather everyone back together from where they had scattered to eat, sleep or whatever else they needed to do in the wake of battle.
~~~
They had their forces assembled by the time the troops from Qetesh’s mother ships emerged from the trees. They lined themselves up in formation just in front of the trees and Sam caught a glimpse of an unmistakable figure with long black hair.
“Qetesh has come back with them,” she commented as she tucked her binoculars back into her vest.
“We must have scared her more than we thought we would,” Cam said. They were hidden in the ruins of a shepherding hut on the hills above the Jaffa town. The majority of their troops were hidden within the palace’s defensive walls right now, while a smaller force was hidden on the hillside around. The plan was that if Qetesh’s forces headed to the Palace the force up there could use the advantage of the slight slope for momentum while the smaller force could attack from behind. Or if Qetesh’s forces headed down towards the town the smaller force could hold them until their larger force could attack from behind. They wanted to keep the battle out of the town if they could.
As it turned out, they marched towards the Palace. Even from as far away as they were Sam could see the burst of fire from the palace walls as their main force opened fire.
“Time to rock and roll,” she said, climbing out from the ruins of the hut and leading the way up the hillside.
This battle was closer. It was more difficult to convince the Jaffa that Qetesh wasn’t a Goddess when she was stood amongst them deflecting bullets and staff weapon blasts with her personal shield. None of them could get close enough to her to throw a knife at her and show she wasn’t invincible either. The smaller force acted as skirmishers, taking out stragglers or surprising smaller groups of Jaffa. They didn’t have the numbers to get involved in the main battle, but they definitely reduced the numbers of Qetesh’s troops.
Sam was crouched behind a far too small boulder and attempting to dislodge a group of Jaffa who’d been trying to sneak into a side entrance to the Palace when she saw one of their own Jaffa go down to her right with a staff blast to the side. He moved weakly and she altered her angle of fire to try and take out both the Jaffa she’d originally been targeting and the one who’d shot Kea’ac. She saw one of their side get to Kea’ac and attempt to get him out of the way, but the cover wasn’t good enough. Sam had one grenade left. She tugged it from her belt, pulled the pin, threw it and ducked back down behind the boulder when it went off. She shook the debris off herself and used the smoke and confusion as cover to get to Kea’ac’s side. She grabbed hold of him and they both managed to haul him back to the cover of some much larger boulders that had been behind them. They dropped down behind the large rock that Cam was behind. He glanced at them briefly and continued firing. Sam checked Kea’ac’s vitals and reached for her radio.
“Teal’c? Daniel? We’re pinned down a hundred yards from the side entrance and we could do with a medic.”
“Got it Sam,” Daniel yelled back over the radio. Sam changed the clip in her P90. She wasn’t even sure how empty the existing one had been, but she shoved it into her pocket anyway and moved around to the far side of the boulder to Cam to open fire on the Jaffa that had crept up on them in their short retreat.
She heard the medic arrive more than saw them. Anyone willing and able to act as a medic had been up inside the Palace walls with the main force and she wasn’t sure who was amongst them, other than Janet. She heard the sound of armour being pulled open and the hurried whispered conversation in Goa’uld as whomever it was worked.
Eventually Qetesh’s First Prime sounded the retreat, despite the angry Goa’uld’s protests and they began to fall back towards the trees. There was a resounding cheer from the Palace as their main force burst from within the walls and chased Qetesh’s troops.
Sam breathed a sigh of relief, in most battles there was a flip point, at which you could just feel that it was downhill from there and this was it for this one. She breathed a sigh of relief and dropped back behind the boulder as their smaller force waited for their main force to reach them. It was then that she realised the medic who’d braved the dangerous run from the security of the palace walls had been Janet, who was just directing a couple of their side to carry Kea’ac back to the palace. Sam smiled at her and then pushed herself back up to her feet to join the chase. She’d already lost Cam in the melee, and she never saw Bra’tac, Teal’c or Daniel. She allowed most of the Jaffa to over take her in the chase because this was their battle after all. She slowed down so much that Janet and the others who’d been acting as medics behind the Palace wall caught up with her. She was a little surprised to see Janet, she’d expected her to go back to the palace with those who’d been wounded. She also looked a little ridiculous, as she almost always did in the field. It was just that her medic gear was almost as big as her and made her look a little turtle-like.
They caught up with the battle before long. Qetesh’s Jaffa had turned to fight in the scrubland in front of the ‘gate and the rebel troops were taking cover within the trees.
Sam left Janet at the edge of the trees and worked her way closer to the action. She got as close as she could and took cover behind a handily broad tree that looked much like a Beech before opening fire on what remained of Qetesh’s forces. A staff blast flew far too close to her, she could feel it’s heat, and take out a Jaffa not too far behind her. Before too long Janet was back at Sam’s side again, having appeared and dragged the injured Jaffa, who was easily more than twice her size, behind the ample cover of Sam’s tree.
“Junior has his uses I guess,” Janet commented. She went to work on the Jaffa quickly as further staff blasts shot by them.
The battle didn’t last much longer, Qetesh’s remaining Jaffa were vastly outnumbered by the rebels. Qetesh was isolated and vulnerable as the last of her personal guard fell.
“Kree!” she called to her rebelling Jaffa. “I am your Goddess, you will all suffer for this.” The rebel Jaffa looked to each other and slowly stood up from their various places of cover and advanced cautiously on Qetesh, staffs levelled. Qetesh held her hand device up towards them, but couldn’t seem to decide who to focus on. She knocked one group of Jaffa back with a blast wave, but it was only a small fraction of those advancing on her and they picked themselves up after only a few seconds.
“Kree,” Qetesh called again as the mob of angry Jaffa advanced on her and she was obscured from sight. Sam saw a staff weapon rise above the crowd as a club and then heard Qetesh scream, she felt a sense of satisfaction at this turn of events.
“No,” Janet said simply and was scrambling out from behind the tree and running towards the group of Jaffa before Sam realised what she was doing. “Kree’ta, Kree’ta!” Janet yelled as she ran, but her voice was lost in the mass of shouting from the Jaffa who had surrounded Qetesh.
“Crap,” muttered Sam and followed her. She saw, Teal’c, Cam and Daniel emerge from their own places of cover and follow her. Janet had already disappeared into the mass of Jaffa and Sam plunged in after her, losing the guys immediately and entering a world of sharply jabbing elbows from sweaty and bloody Jaffa.
She reached the centre and saw Janet standing over a cowering Qetesh. Her feet were planted wide and her arms were spread as if to hold the Jaffa back, though they had all backed up a couple of feet. Janet’s had lost her cap somewhere in the crowd and some of her hair had been pulled from its braid so that it hung down messily around her face. Sam could see also see a small smear of blood on her cheek. Qetesh looked much worse. She was bleeding heavily from a gash to the forehead and it looked like her wrist has been broken.
“Ne’nai,” Janet told the Jaffa, breathing heavily. “Ne’nai! Let the Tok’ra take her and remove Qetesh. The host is innocent.”
There was grumbling throughout the Jaffa. Sam stepped up to Janet’s side and the guys finally emerged from the crowded of Jaffa, Teal’c first naturally.
“The host is innocent,” Janet repeated. “Do not kill the host for crimes that Qetesh committed. The Tok’ra will remove Qetesh and deal with her.” The Jaffa began to lower their weapons, although the grumbling and complaining continued. SG1 moved to surround Janet.
“If we want to get her out of here, we need to move now,” Sam told Janet quietly, who nodded. Qetesh struggled to her feet, her left arm cradled against her chest and Sam brought her P90 around the bear on the Goa’uld. In a sudden movement Qetesh flung her right hand, with her hand device, up and caused a blast of energy to send Sam flying backwards into the Jaffa behind her. They broke her fall somewhat, but the wind was knocked out of her. She saw Cam, Daniel and Teal’c swing their weapons towards Qetesh, but they weren’t as fast as Janet who had stepped up to the Goa’uld and slugged her across the jaw. As Qetesh went down Sam rolled over and struggled to her feet, holding her side where she had landed on a staff. Janet reached down and wrenched the hand device off Qetesh’s wrist, ignoring the Goa’uld’s frustrated snarl. Cam now had a P90 very close to the Goa’uld’s face, who held her good hand up in the universal signal of surrender. Sam limped up to Janet’s side.
“You okay?” She asked her.
“That hurt,” commented Janet, examining the knuckles of her right hand. “Are you okay?” she said with a nod to where Sam was holding her ribs.
“Landed on someone’s staff weapon, I’m fine.”
“I’ll check you out when we get back to the base,” Janet promised.
Daniel had reached into his pack and produced zip ties, which he used to bind Qetesh while Cam kept her covered. The proud Goa’uld was dishevelled, wounded, and pathetic, and looked about as far from a God as you could get.
“She’s nothing,” Janet muttered as Daniel hauled the fallen god to her feet.
“No,” Sam agreed. “She never was anything.”
“We can contact the Tok’ra from the SGC, I don’t think she’s a danger now.” Cam said, “and I think these folks need some peace to work things out in.”
“I will remain here for now,” Bra’tac announced. He spoke to them, but said it loud enough for the gathered rebel Jaffa to hear.
“We will return shortly,” Teal’c promised and Bra’tac nodded to them. The two grasped each others elbows briefly and separated. Bra’tac turned sharply and walked towards the Jaffa, already speaking loudly to them in Goa’uld.
SG1, Janet and Qetesh walked away from the battleground and towards the ‘gate. A heavily guarded Qetesh was being forced to lead the way, with many a dirty look towards her captors.
“You will all pay for this insolence,” she tried.
“Save it for someone who believes in ya,” suggested Cam.
Daniel walked up to the DHD and began to dial home.
“Hot Showers, a soft bed and food that hasn’t come out of a packet. I can’t wait to get home,” Janet said quietly to Sam.
“We’re going to have to stop by the market on the way then, because all I’ve got in the fridge is beer and old Chinese food.”
Janet shook her head and grinned at that. They were standing behind the rest of their team who were all looking towards the ‘gate as Daniel dialled home and Cam stood poised with the GDO. Sam felt Janet’s good hand on her sleeve tugging her down. Janet pushed herself up onto her tiptoes and kissed Sam softly on the lips.
“I love you,” she said as the ‘gate engaged and kawooshed, the sound covering her words. Out of her peripheral vision Sam could see Qetesh looking back and watching them with a malicious look on her face. She felt unusually satisfied.
“Lets get this Goa’uld delivered so we can all shower,” Cam said loudly, breaking their moment before Sam could reply. She glanced towards him, but thankfully he hadn’t bothered to look back. They all walked up the steps towards the ‘gate and stepped through. Sam grabbed Janet’s sleeve just before the event horizon and made her pause.
“I love you too,” she said, with a grin and they both stepped through the ‘gate and back home.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Sam/Janet
Word Count: 5.626
Category: Action, Established Relationship, Fixit, AU
Season: 9 ish, but it is an AU
Spoilers: Heroes Part 1 & 2, Urgo, CoTG, Fallen, Threads
Warnings: violence
Summary: Over a year after Janet’s death and in a universe in which Qetesh was never freed by the Tok’ra and the Goa’uld were not defeated, SG1, featuring Sam, Cam, Daniel and Teal’c, go to P8X-412.
The title of the series is the title of a song by Juliana Theory and the titles of the individual parts are lines from that song.
Part Four - Because I'm sure you're wonderful
The Tok’ra operatives had confirmed that Qetesh was several days away on her ‘show of force’ tour and it was as safe as it ever was going to be to ‘gate to P8X-412. SG1 was joined by Doctor Fraiser and Bra’tac as planned. While they were arriving on the planet other SG units and groups of the rebel Jaffa were moving in on other planets per a carefully worked out schedule.
Once they were on P8X-412, it was relatively easy to take out the two guards at the stone doorway with zats.
“We’ll head to the nearest town, it’s the biggest,” Janet said with a glanced down at the two unconscious Jaffa.
“Lead on Macduff,” Cam answered her cheerfully.
“This way,” Janet instructed, leading the way into the maze like forest that surrounded the area of the Stargate.
“You know that’s a misquote right?” Daniel asked as they made their way through the trees following Janet’s expert lead.
“It’s Shakespeare,” Cam said, as if that ended the argument.
“A misquote of Shakespeare,” Daniel. “The actual line is ‘lay on Macduff.’”
“Lay on Macduff? That makes even less sense,” Cam told him.
Daniel sighed and muttered, “Never mind.”
The path through the trees was longer than Sam remembered it. Of course she’d only traversed it twice, once while stunned unconscious and once while fleeing for their lives so she’d been a little focussed on other things both times. Eventually they emerged from the trees and Janet led them down a winding path that curled down the hillside away from the palace. It was the first time that most of them had seen the planet. Qetesh’s palace rested on top of a large rocky ridge that protruded from the hillside in front of them. It was an impressive structure and the defensive walls made it look as though the dark grey rocks had been crowned, which was presumably the idea.
The land sloped steeply down on either side of the palace and their path wound down gradually into the valley. Janet walked confidently down the path, focussed on their destination and hardly seeing the world around her, while her team mates couldn’t help but look around them. The town came into view before they had gone too far down the hill. It was a dense sprawl of buildings, with smoke curling from many of them and people moving through the streets. Beyond the Jaffa town Sam could see what looked like farmland and beyond that there was another settlement.
She nodded towards it, “That another Jaffa town beyond this one?”
Janet looked up from the path and shook her head, “No that’s a slave village. They cultivate the land in the valley bottom and are one of the villages responsible for providing food to the Jaffa. If it’s a bad harvest many of them starve. If they refuse to give up the food and goods, Qetesh’s guards beat them or kill them. Beyond the village and to the South you can see the Naquadah mines and refinery, where the lowest of the low are sent. Criminals and disgraced Jaffa mostly, but often orphaned slave children end up there because no one is willing to take them in when they already have too little food for their own family.” Janet’s voice was quiet and solemn as she explained the situation. Sam looked out across the idyllic scene soberly and reinforced her resolve to take down Qetesh.
They passed over a hump in the land and Janet stopped sharply as they caught sight of a mixed group of young Jaffa who were running along a path a little way ahead that crossed the one they were on. They also stopped when they caught sight of the group coming down the hillside towards them. They looked young, but they all had tattoos that stood out dark against their skin and symbiote pouches were clearly visible on the boys that were running shirtless. Both groups stood still for a long moment and then the children were off, running barefoot down the path to the town and shouting loudly at the top of their voices.
Teal’c smiled fondly, “It has been too long since I have seen young Jaffa training in groups.”
“Let’s just hope we don’t get shot before we have a chance to explain ourselves,” Cam said darkly.
As they got closer to the town Janet pulled her BDU cap off her head and tucked it into the pocket of her pants. “I want them to recognise who’re they’re going to shoot,” she explained in response too Sam’s look. She’d braided her hair to keep it out of the way and tucked the long plait down the back of her jacket. The hair style somehow looked more foreign on her than the tattoo did.
As they approached the outlying buildings of the town a patrol of Jaffa appeared, marching towards them with staffs levelled. Janet signalled over her shoulder for the rest of them to stop, which they did. Sam brought her gun up in response to the staffs being pointed at them, but Janet reached out and pushed the muzzle back down with a warning glance towards her.
“Kree Jaffa,” she called out, walking confidently towards the patrol. She seemed to not see their weapons, but Sam could see her fists were tightly clenched at her side. They seemed to recognise her, at least the leader did as he lowered his staff and the others followed suit. They began to converse in rapid Goa’uld. Sam watched them, watching carefully for a sign they needed to intervene in the exchange.
“It appears that Qetesh has not revealed Janet’s escape,” Teal’c said, sounding surprised. “The Jaffa asks what some one of Doctor Fraiser’s status is doing down in the town. He’s asking about the other day when his brother had gone up to the palace. He had been injured in the foolish near rebellion and his wrist wasn’t healing properly. Apparently he was told that Miu wasn’t wasting her time on pitiful cases any more. He is resentful.”
“Uh oh,” muttered Sam.
“I think Janet’s got it covered though,” muttered Daniel. “She’s told them she had been injured herself and it was a miscommunication. She will gladly look at his brother’s wrist now. We have a way in. Oh wait, not quite. He wants to know who we are. Maybe we should have painted tattoos on our foreheads again.”
“I think that would have defeated the overall purpose of our mission Daniel,” Cam said under his breath and shifted his hand slightly on his P90.
Daniel grinned, “I thought she was going to say we were slaves for a minute there. But she just described us as great warriors from another world that they should meet and learn from. She has implied that we’ve been sent by Qetesh, but hasn’t said it outright. That’s clever.”
“Clearly Qetesh prefers her Jaffa to be ignorant,” Bra’tac said with disgust apparent in his voice.
“Well, it is an effective way of maintaining power,” Daniel commented. The Jaffa patrol had all relaxed and Janet beckoned to them to approach. Sam kept her hand close to the trigger on her gun as she approached the suspicious looking patrol.
“Two Jaffa who were once first primes to Apophis and two human males and a woman?” The head of the patrol asked incredulously.
“Looks may deceive Mora’kel. These are all great warriors and wise scholars we should learn from.”
Cam’s eyebrows went questioningly up at the comment about being a great scholar. Mora’kel looked somewhat appeased.
“Come,” he told Janet. “I will take you to my brother.”
Janet nodded slowly and regally before following. Cam shrugged slightly and they all trailed after Janet and the Jaffa. The rest of the patrol walked with them a little way, but gradually dispersed into the town until they were only left with Mora’kel. He led them to a neat but unremarkable looking home within the town.
“Remain here,” Janet commanded them and then ducked inside with Mora’kel. Sam didn’t like that one bit and stood restlessly next to the doorway until Janet reappeared a long twenty minutes later.
“His wrist is healing slowly, but it will be fine. Now we should start at the main square. There is a market there,” She said simply before walking off towards the market without even waiting for agreement.
“Was she always this bossy?” Cam whispered to Daniel.
“Oh yes and she was armed then too, with threats of bed rest, light duties, hospital food and big needles.”
“I think I’m going to work harder at not getting hurt,” Cam declared. “Yup, I’m gonna turn over a new leaf in infirmary avoidance.”
Janet was right about the market. It was bustling with activity. Bra’tac surveyed the scene and looked satisfied.
“This planet is ripe for freedom,” he declared. “Come Teal’c, Doctor Fraiser, we have work to do,” and with that the three of them merged into the bustling market.
“Sure, go stir up civil disobedience. We’ll just wait here,” Cam called after them. He waved at them and then looked around until he saw a crate to sit on. Sam watched the three Jaffa disappear into the crowd, keeping sight of Teal’c’s head the longest. She tapped her fingers against the side of her gun nervously. Daniel peered longingly at whatever was on sale at the stalls nearest them.
Sam eventually took a seat on a crate next to Cam. They received many suspicious looks from the passing residents of the town, but clearly word had spread about who they were because they were given a wide berth. A couple of hours passed. Teal’c checked in with them a few times, but hadn’t really given them much information other than that they were okay.
Shouting started somewhere in the market. Sam jumped up onto the crate she had been sitting on and looked out across the bustle of people. She could see Teal’c shouting at someone she couldn’t see in the crowd and thanked whatever powers there might be that he was so easy to spot in a large crowd.
“C’mon,” she told Cam and Daniel as she jumped back down from the crate. They hurried after her as she plunged into the crowds of the market and worked her way over to where Teal’c, and hopefully Bra’tac and Janet, were.
“You wish more of us to sacrifice our lives in a foolish defiance of our Goddess,” an angry young Jaffa was shouting at Teal’c as Sam finally got close enough to hear specific words.
“I speak the truth,” Teal’c assured him. “Qetesh is no Goddess, she will not stop you.”
“Lies! My Master lost his life only days before this for similar ideas!”
As the two shouted the activity in the market began to slow. More and more of the Jaffa were watching the exchange rather than going about their own business.
“He may have lost his life,” Bra’tac stepped in. “But he died free and honourably.”
“It was not worth his life,” the young Jaffa said viciously and spat into the dirt at their feet. He turned angrily away and Teal’c made to follow him.
“Let him go,” Bra’tac advised.
The crowd that had gathered around the loud exchange watched for a few more moments and then gradually began to move back to their business.
“Listen to me,” Janet called loudly across the departing Jaffa. Her voice had a weight and authority to it that Sam didn’t think she had heard before. It got the attention of most of the Jaffa who turned and looked back towards her. She scrambled up onto a crate so that she could be seen over the crowd.
“Listen,” she repeated and got the attention of the rest. Once the Jaffa had all stopped leaving and settled down again she began to speak to them in Goa’uld. Sam couldn’t understand what she was saying, but it seemed to be going across well as the Jaffa moved closer to her and listened. After a few minutes Daniel began to translate for her and Cam’s benefit.
“She’s reminding them that they are great warriors. She is telling them that they are Qetesh’s strength and that without them, she is nothing. She is saying they should honour those that died by recognising their wisdom. They will be strongest if they all fight together and then they will be free. She is calling out the names of Jaffa who owe her their lives, or the lives of their families and calling on that debt. It’s a risky move,” Daniel reported. “That’s the short version anyway. She’s being a lot wordier really, lots of emphasis on the mighty and the noble strength, all that stuff. I think its working.”
Sam agreed with him as there was still the odd grumble throughout the crowd, but most of it was conversational and there was much less anger being directed at them.
Bra’tac pushed himself up onto the crate next to Janet as she wound down her impromptu speech.
“We will arm you. We will fight beside you and you will win your freedom,” he promised the crowd.
“Freedom,” someone called out loudly in the crowd and first another and then another took up the call until the whole crowd were shouting the word over and over. Bra’tac thrust his staff victoriously into the air and the crowd cheered.
“It’s a start,” Bra’tac declared as he stepped back down off the crate.
“It was a little ‘Braveheart’,” Cam told him.
“One much altered version of an old tale amongst the Tau’ri about a noble warrior who led a resistance force during a war of independence,” Teal’c explained.
“I would hear the tale of this warrior,” Bra’tac told Cam. “However, we have much work to do at this time.”
“Well, you don’t hear it, so much as see it,” Cam tried to explain.
“Humph,” said Bra’tac, clearly implying ‘crazy Tau’ri’. Many of the warriors in the market place had gathered closer around them by now and Bra’tac turned to talk to them.
~~~
They were moving on the Palace within a relatively short space of time. Bra’tac kept the initial moment of the Jaffa going skilfully, tempering it with his advice and galvanising a fierce fighting force out of their anger. The palace guard were the most loyal, most highly trained and best equipped Jaffa left on the planet and the ones they needed to either take out or convince to join the rebellion. The only ones who would be harder to take down than the Palace guard would be Qetesh’s personal guard and they were currently on her flag ship many days away. They could be dealt with later. Taking the palace was an important step.
There weren’t enough staff weapons in the town for all those who wanted to fight. Initially those without staff weapons had been angry when presented with human weapons, but Bra’tac and Teal’c had talked them round. Cam was handing out the last few as their force gathered once again in the market. Sam was busy going through their planned attack once again and answering questions. There was a completely different atmosphere to the town now. Most of the priests, priestesses and children had evacuated the town and those left were all soldiers. There was a disturbance nearby that disturbed the atmosphere of quiet and diligent preparation. Sam looked up from a quick diagram she had drawn in the dust.
“A war is no place for a woman,” Mora’kel was telling a tall Jaffa woman who had just taken a gun from Cam. He’d stopped what he was doing and looked up from the crate. Sam also stood up from her diagram and walked slowly towards the disagreement.
“I have a right to fight against Qetesh,” the woman told Mora’kel fiercely.
“But not to die for it, who will look after our children if our women give their lives away? Who will defend our homes if we’re invaded?”
The woman gestured around them, “This is our home. If we lose today our lives will be forfeit regardless.”
Bra’tac had emerged from wherever he had been amongst the bustle of a preparing army and took in the disagreement. He walked up to the Jaffa woman and tugged the P90 from her hand. A look of satisfaction danced across Mora’kel’s face.
“This is a good weapon,” he told the woman. “It is not a staff weapon, but it is effective.” He looked the P90 over and handed it back to the Jaffa woman. “Remember that it may be operated with either hand just a proficiently.” The woman nodded respectfully to Bra’tac and gave Mora’kel a satisfied look.
“She is right,” Bra’tac told Mora’kel. “If we lose here we have lost everything.”
Sam returned to what she had been working on and slowly, so did everyone else. Bra’tac had merely voiced what Sam already knew, but it had unsettled her nonetheless.
Word appeared to reach the palace of their plans. They heard horns sounding above them and as a group the whole army turned to look towards the Palace.
“It is time,” Bra’tac told them simply.
~~~
The battle with the palace guard didn’t last very long. There were few of them relative to the rebel Jaffa from the town and many of them laid down their weapons rather than fight against their own kin. Their commanders threatened terrible retribution to those that did surrender, but it did little good. They feared the retribution of their own families and their conscience more. Those that fought died or were captured with little loss of life on the side of the rebel Jaffa, mercifully.
They were clearing up after the battle. Janet was in full blown ‘Doctor Mode’ triaging and treating injuries and Sam was assisting her, it felt like old times once again. Teal’c and Bra’tac had taken a force into the palace to root out any last resistance from those in the palace. Janet glanced up to the palace every so often while she worked. Its presence seemed to hang over them oppressively.
“I never really saw it from the outside,” she told Sam while she was cleaning out a head wound on a relatively young Jaffa who wasn’t taking being injured very well. “I didn’t get out of the Palace much.”
Sam frowned slightly, “How’d you know the way through the woods so well?”
Janet laughed and caused the young Jaffa to scowl at her. She turned his head back around and dabbed at the laceration in his scalp. “I have a good memory,” she told Sam, still laughing at herself.
“Remembered that fifty dollars yet?”
Janet opened her mouth to make what was surely going to be a witty reply, but was interrupted by the sound of horns from the woods around the Stargate. They looked at each other in alarm and abandoned what they were doing to stand up and look out towards the woods. One of the scouts they’d sent to keep an eye on the Stargate came running out of the trees towards them.
“More Jaffa, from Qetesh have come through the Chaapa‘ai.”
Janet and Sam looked sharply at each other. The returning forces were early. Clearly when word of the rebellion had reached Qetesh she had decided not to bother sending her fleet back and instead landed her Jaffa on the nearest planet with a Stargate. This was good news as it would mean they wouldn’t have to take down her mother ships, but it also meant that the battle would be much sooner than they’d anticipated.
Cam came running up the hill towards them, “I’m guessing that horn wasn’t one of ours?”
Sam shook her head, “Looks like they’re early.”
“Awe, crap,” Cam commented. “I’ll go retrieve Teal’c and Bra’tac.”
“We’ll get the injured out of the way and rally our forces,” Sam said.
Cam nodded and ran off towards the palace.
Janet looked at Sam, “I’ll go take care of the injured.”
Sam nodded and hurried off, calling out to some of the Jaffa to attempt to gather everyone back together from where they had scattered to eat, sleep or whatever else they needed to do in the wake of battle.
~~~
They had their forces assembled by the time the troops from Qetesh’s mother ships emerged from the trees. They lined themselves up in formation just in front of the trees and Sam caught a glimpse of an unmistakable figure with long black hair.
“Qetesh has come back with them,” she commented as she tucked her binoculars back into her vest.
“We must have scared her more than we thought we would,” Cam said. They were hidden in the ruins of a shepherding hut on the hills above the Jaffa town. The majority of their troops were hidden within the palace’s defensive walls right now, while a smaller force was hidden on the hillside around. The plan was that if Qetesh’s forces headed to the Palace the force up there could use the advantage of the slight slope for momentum while the smaller force could attack from behind. Or if Qetesh’s forces headed down towards the town the smaller force could hold them until their larger force could attack from behind. They wanted to keep the battle out of the town if they could.
As it turned out, they marched towards the Palace. Even from as far away as they were Sam could see the burst of fire from the palace walls as their main force opened fire.
“Time to rock and roll,” she said, climbing out from the ruins of the hut and leading the way up the hillside.
This battle was closer. It was more difficult to convince the Jaffa that Qetesh wasn’t a Goddess when she was stood amongst them deflecting bullets and staff weapon blasts with her personal shield. None of them could get close enough to her to throw a knife at her and show she wasn’t invincible either. The smaller force acted as skirmishers, taking out stragglers or surprising smaller groups of Jaffa. They didn’t have the numbers to get involved in the main battle, but they definitely reduced the numbers of Qetesh’s troops.
Sam was crouched behind a far too small boulder and attempting to dislodge a group of Jaffa who’d been trying to sneak into a side entrance to the Palace when she saw one of their own Jaffa go down to her right with a staff blast to the side. He moved weakly and she altered her angle of fire to try and take out both the Jaffa she’d originally been targeting and the one who’d shot Kea’ac. She saw one of their side get to Kea’ac and attempt to get him out of the way, but the cover wasn’t good enough. Sam had one grenade left. She tugged it from her belt, pulled the pin, threw it and ducked back down behind the boulder when it went off. She shook the debris off herself and used the smoke and confusion as cover to get to Kea’ac’s side. She grabbed hold of him and they both managed to haul him back to the cover of some much larger boulders that had been behind them. They dropped down behind the large rock that Cam was behind. He glanced at them briefly and continued firing. Sam checked Kea’ac’s vitals and reached for her radio.
“Teal’c? Daniel? We’re pinned down a hundred yards from the side entrance and we could do with a medic.”
“Got it Sam,” Daniel yelled back over the radio. Sam changed the clip in her P90. She wasn’t even sure how empty the existing one had been, but she shoved it into her pocket anyway and moved around to the far side of the boulder to Cam to open fire on the Jaffa that had crept up on them in their short retreat.
She heard the medic arrive more than saw them. Anyone willing and able to act as a medic had been up inside the Palace walls with the main force and she wasn’t sure who was amongst them, other than Janet. She heard the sound of armour being pulled open and the hurried whispered conversation in Goa’uld as whomever it was worked.
Eventually Qetesh’s First Prime sounded the retreat, despite the angry Goa’uld’s protests and they began to fall back towards the trees. There was a resounding cheer from the Palace as their main force burst from within the walls and chased Qetesh’s troops.
Sam breathed a sigh of relief, in most battles there was a flip point, at which you could just feel that it was downhill from there and this was it for this one. She breathed a sigh of relief and dropped back behind the boulder as their smaller force waited for their main force to reach them. It was then that she realised the medic who’d braved the dangerous run from the security of the palace walls had been Janet, who was just directing a couple of their side to carry Kea’ac back to the palace. Sam smiled at her and then pushed herself back up to her feet to join the chase. She’d already lost Cam in the melee, and she never saw Bra’tac, Teal’c or Daniel. She allowed most of the Jaffa to over take her in the chase because this was their battle after all. She slowed down so much that Janet and the others who’d been acting as medics behind the Palace wall caught up with her. She was a little surprised to see Janet, she’d expected her to go back to the palace with those who’d been wounded. She also looked a little ridiculous, as she almost always did in the field. It was just that her medic gear was almost as big as her and made her look a little turtle-like.
They caught up with the battle before long. Qetesh’s Jaffa had turned to fight in the scrubland in front of the ‘gate and the rebel troops were taking cover within the trees.
Sam left Janet at the edge of the trees and worked her way closer to the action. She got as close as she could and took cover behind a handily broad tree that looked much like a Beech before opening fire on what remained of Qetesh’s forces. A staff blast flew far too close to her, she could feel it’s heat, and take out a Jaffa not too far behind her. Before too long Janet was back at Sam’s side again, having appeared and dragged the injured Jaffa, who was easily more than twice her size, behind the ample cover of Sam’s tree.
“Junior has his uses I guess,” Janet commented. She went to work on the Jaffa quickly as further staff blasts shot by them.
The battle didn’t last much longer, Qetesh’s remaining Jaffa were vastly outnumbered by the rebels. Qetesh was isolated and vulnerable as the last of her personal guard fell.
“Kree!” she called to her rebelling Jaffa. “I am your Goddess, you will all suffer for this.” The rebel Jaffa looked to each other and slowly stood up from their various places of cover and advanced cautiously on Qetesh, staffs levelled. Qetesh held her hand device up towards them, but couldn’t seem to decide who to focus on. She knocked one group of Jaffa back with a blast wave, but it was only a small fraction of those advancing on her and they picked themselves up after only a few seconds.
“Kree,” Qetesh called again as the mob of angry Jaffa advanced on her and she was obscured from sight. Sam saw a staff weapon rise above the crowd as a club and then heard Qetesh scream, she felt a sense of satisfaction at this turn of events.
“No,” Janet said simply and was scrambling out from behind the tree and running towards the group of Jaffa before Sam realised what she was doing. “Kree’ta, Kree’ta!” Janet yelled as she ran, but her voice was lost in the mass of shouting from the Jaffa who had surrounded Qetesh.
“Crap,” muttered Sam and followed her. She saw, Teal’c, Cam and Daniel emerge from their own places of cover and follow her. Janet had already disappeared into the mass of Jaffa and Sam plunged in after her, losing the guys immediately and entering a world of sharply jabbing elbows from sweaty and bloody Jaffa.
She reached the centre and saw Janet standing over a cowering Qetesh. Her feet were planted wide and her arms were spread as if to hold the Jaffa back, though they had all backed up a couple of feet. Janet’s had lost her cap somewhere in the crowd and some of her hair had been pulled from its braid so that it hung down messily around her face. Sam could see also see a small smear of blood on her cheek. Qetesh looked much worse. She was bleeding heavily from a gash to the forehead and it looked like her wrist has been broken.
“Ne’nai,” Janet told the Jaffa, breathing heavily. “Ne’nai! Let the Tok’ra take her and remove Qetesh. The host is innocent.”
There was grumbling throughout the Jaffa. Sam stepped up to Janet’s side and the guys finally emerged from the crowded of Jaffa, Teal’c first naturally.
“The host is innocent,” Janet repeated. “Do not kill the host for crimes that Qetesh committed. The Tok’ra will remove Qetesh and deal with her.” The Jaffa began to lower their weapons, although the grumbling and complaining continued. SG1 moved to surround Janet.
“If we want to get her out of here, we need to move now,” Sam told Janet quietly, who nodded. Qetesh struggled to her feet, her left arm cradled against her chest and Sam brought her P90 around the bear on the Goa’uld. In a sudden movement Qetesh flung her right hand, with her hand device, up and caused a blast of energy to send Sam flying backwards into the Jaffa behind her. They broke her fall somewhat, but the wind was knocked out of her. She saw Cam, Daniel and Teal’c swing their weapons towards Qetesh, but they weren’t as fast as Janet who had stepped up to the Goa’uld and slugged her across the jaw. As Qetesh went down Sam rolled over and struggled to her feet, holding her side where she had landed on a staff. Janet reached down and wrenched the hand device off Qetesh’s wrist, ignoring the Goa’uld’s frustrated snarl. Cam now had a P90 very close to the Goa’uld’s face, who held her good hand up in the universal signal of surrender. Sam limped up to Janet’s side.
“You okay?” She asked her.
“That hurt,” commented Janet, examining the knuckles of her right hand. “Are you okay?” she said with a nod to where Sam was holding her ribs.
“Landed on someone’s staff weapon, I’m fine.”
“I’ll check you out when we get back to the base,” Janet promised.
Daniel had reached into his pack and produced zip ties, which he used to bind Qetesh while Cam kept her covered. The proud Goa’uld was dishevelled, wounded, and pathetic, and looked about as far from a God as you could get.
“She’s nothing,” Janet muttered as Daniel hauled the fallen god to her feet.
“No,” Sam agreed. “She never was anything.”
“We can contact the Tok’ra from the SGC, I don’t think she’s a danger now.” Cam said, “and I think these folks need some peace to work things out in.”
“I will remain here for now,” Bra’tac announced. He spoke to them, but said it loud enough for the gathered rebel Jaffa to hear.
“We will return shortly,” Teal’c promised and Bra’tac nodded to them. The two grasped each others elbows briefly and separated. Bra’tac turned sharply and walked towards the Jaffa, already speaking loudly to them in Goa’uld.
SG1, Janet and Qetesh walked away from the battleground and towards the ‘gate. A heavily guarded Qetesh was being forced to lead the way, with many a dirty look towards her captors.
“You will all pay for this insolence,” she tried.
“Save it for someone who believes in ya,” suggested Cam.
Daniel walked up to the DHD and began to dial home.
“Hot Showers, a soft bed and food that hasn’t come out of a packet. I can’t wait to get home,” Janet said quietly to Sam.
“We’re going to have to stop by the market on the way then, because all I’ve got in the fridge is beer and old Chinese food.”
Janet shook her head and grinned at that. They were standing behind the rest of their team who were all looking towards the ‘gate as Daniel dialled home and Cam stood poised with the GDO. Sam felt Janet’s good hand on her sleeve tugging her down. Janet pushed herself up onto her tiptoes and kissed Sam softly on the lips.
“I love you,” she said as the ‘gate engaged and kawooshed, the sound covering her words. Out of her peripheral vision Sam could see Qetesh looking back and watching them with a malicious look on her face. She felt unusually satisfied.
“Lets get this Goa’uld delivered so we can all shower,” Cam said loudly, breaking their moment before Sam could reply. She glanced towards him, but thankfully he hadn’t bothered to look back. They all walked up the steps towards the ‘gate and stepped through. Sam grabbed Janet’s sleeve just before the event horizon and made her pause.
“I love you too,” she said, with a grin and they both stepped through the ‘gate and back home.