Chapter Text
A deafening crack reverberated around Sam’s eardrums. Time ground to a halt as she turned back to look for her teammate. Her gaze lingered on a fine red mist that hung in the air around his abdomen. Her eyes flicked up to his face in disbelief. A grunt of pain died on his lips, his face contorted as the force of the bullet threw him to the ground.
“Sir!” Sam screamed through her panting breath. Her panic built as time sped up around her. She stumbled to a halt, nearly tripping over her feet at her abrupt change of direction. Sam raced back the way she had come, going towards him, their pursuers forgotten as she sprinted to where he lay writhing in the grass. “Sir!” She cried again as she threw herself to her knees beside him.
Glassy, wide eyes looked past her as Jack fought for a grip on his agony. Sam’s heart was in her mouth as she scanned his torso searching for the source of the dark stain spreading rapidly across his abdomen.This couldn’t be happening. Her brain tried to reject the reality in front of her. Even as his blood pooled over her hands as she pressed them against the wound on his left side.
“Ahhh! Carter!” The colonel’s voice was tight with pain. He snatched his breath through his teeth.
“Stay still, Sir.” Sam commanded, fighting the waiver in her voice as she tore a bandage from her tac vest. He cried out again as she lifted his shirt and pressed the gauze against him, desperately trying to staunch the rapid flow of blood.
Fighting for focus Jack turned his gaze back the way they had come, searching for their pursuers. Jack looked back at her trying to force the pain from his eyes. “Carter, go!”
Sam’s body twitched, wanting to follow his order. With a force of will she ignored it, instead reaching around his back to find the entry wound. More warm liquid gushed over her hands telling her that she’d found it just below his vest. She hurriedly stuffed more gauze in the wound.
“Carter! Go!” He barked, grasping her hand in his and forcing her to meet his gaze as she finished securing the bandage on his stomach. Sam tore her wild eyes away from his, looking behind them at the angry mob that grew closer by the second. They hadn’t fired again, Sam noted, allowing herself to hope that they aimed to capture not kill them.
She clenched her jaw, torn between following his order and her inability to leave him. Jack’s hold on consciousness was slipping, he grabbed her arm, shaking her slightly, forcing her to meet his eyes once again. He saw understanding reflected in her gaze. She knew exactly what she was giving up by staying.
“Get to the gate!”
“But, Sir…”
“Carter, that’s an order!” Jack knew her window to leave was closing rapidly. There was no way the two of them would make it, even if they didn't have a mob hot on their heels, but if she left now, with a bit of luck, she could get to the gate.
“Carter!” He attempted a growl but a cough cut him off, his face screwed up in pain again. The two seasoned officers both recognised the severity of the wound. If she left, he would die. Jack's tough facade slipped as the two stared at each other. He knew it too.
“No, Sir.” She muttered quietly in response, unable to lie to him. Jack’s body lacked the blood to turn his face red but Sam saw the anger reflected in his gaze, anger mixed with concern.
“Sam, please.” He spluttered, his voice soft as his body weakened from the pain and blood loss. Tears stung in Sam’s eyes as she looked down at his wound again. The bandage had stemmed the bleeding some, but not enough.
Jack’s face had taken on an ashen hue. His eyes grew distant and unfocused. Sam looked back over her shoulder. The men were getting closer and closer. She looked back down at her commanding officer. Tears spilled over her lashes.
“Carter…” Jack started, Sam looked back at his greying face. Fighting his closing eyes Jack desperately willed her to leave.
Sam looked anxiously behind her again. She could see the mob rapidly closing the distance between them. There were more of them than she could take, even with her more sophisticated weapon. If she was going to leave she knew she had to go now. Sam looked back at Jack as his hand slipped from hers. Her sense of despair built as his eyes slipped closed. She looked down at his exposed abdomen. Her pressure on his wound was the only thing stemming the blood loss.
Sam made her decision. Her blood slickened hands fumbled with the clasp on her P90 as she freed it from her vest, flicked on the safety, ejected the magazine, and threw it far away from her. She kept her focus on Jack as she heard the mob approach, pushing down her fear she concentrated only on keeping the pressure on his wound.
Sam kicked and screamed as hands pulled her away from Jack. “No!” Sam was lifted and thrown to the ground behind them. She sprang to her feet, launching herself at the man toeing Jack’s inert form on the ground. Her fingers latched onto his shirt as she pulled him back trying to get past him to get to the colonel. The man growled trying to shake her off, she pulled and clawed at him desperate to get back to Jack.
The man turned and dealt her a dizzying blow that sent her sprawling. Blood filled her mouth as the inside of her cheek split against her teeth. A knee pressed into her back as someone wrenched her arms behind her, keeping her immobile on the floor. Sam twisted her head to the side desperately seeking Jack, legs closed in around them but she managed to make him out. His closed eyes did nothing to alleviate her panic.
“No!” She screamed again into the dirt at her helplessness. Sam felt a cord passed around her wrists binding them tightly together. The alien turned, looking down at her. Amusement shone in his eyes as he took in the anger and determination in her gaze. He barked something at her in a language she didn’t understand.
“Please,” Sam pleaded. “He’s injured.” Sam’s agonized gaze flicked back to the colonel as he lay prone on the ground. The man followed Sam’s gaze. He grunted at another soldier and he knelt beside the colonel. Pressing into the wound, he barked back a response.
The man turned his attention to Sam again. He barked something at the guards and she was hauled to her feet. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jack also forced upright.
“No! Please, you’ve got to help him!” Jack’s limp body was thrown across broad shoulders as Sam was forced to start walking.
“No!” She screamed, he would bleed out before they made it back to the village. Determined to make them understand, Sam twisted and pulled to get to Jack. He wouldn’t survive the journey, not without pressure on his wound.
A warning growl came from the guard pulling her. She kicked out at his knee and he let go with a bark of surprise. Sam sprinted for Jack, hands still bound uselessly behind her back.
She collided with the man carrying him. They toppled heavily to the floor, with another angry growl she was pulled back upright.
Another sharp blow across her face sent Sam spinning back to the ground. Without her hands to catch herself she hit heavily. Sam blinked slowly, trying to shake the fuzz from her brain. Before she could recover she was dragged to her feet again, coming face to face with the angry alien. She forced herself not to flinch at the violence his eyes promised.
“He’s injured.” She shouted, despite her throbbing head, trying to make him understand. The alien looked back at Jack’s still form on the ground. Sam could see the blood continuing to trickle out through the crimson bandage, wetting the ground around him. “He’ll die!”
As the alien barked an order one of his men knelt down pulling at the bandages that Sam had hastily pressed against Jack’s wound. Blood ran afresh. The man barked something back at his commander. He met Sam’s gaze again. “Help him,” Sam pleaded. The man nodded to the men who held her. They spun her around and dragged her away from Jack at a punishing speed. Sam tried twisting, shouting and screaming but found no opportunity to free herself as she was forced further and further away.