Author: BadgerGater
Email: BadgerGater@cs.com
Rating: PG, a couple of adult words
Season: anywhen, after FairGame
Summary: For the Word a Month Challenge: Jump: Jack seeks escape from Jaffa
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions; all the powers that be, not me; This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement intended. The story is the property of the author and may not be posted elsewhere without the author's consent.
Authors Notes: Thanks to TK & Corine for beta-ing. Campers, love feedback. Send me some.
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Jump?
Or die?
How had he gotten himself into this mess?
<><><><><>
They must have been five miles from the gate when it happened. There had been no signs of anyone, much less the better part of a dozen totally pissed off Jaffa who appeared out of nowhere and seemed to have it in for SG-1 in general, and Colonel Jack O'Neill in particular. SG-1 was simply following a well worn trail that, according to the UAV, would lead them to a small village of primitive appearing humans, when the brush had suddenly come alive with an ambush.
Only Teal'c's warning cry had saved them and they'd ducked back behind the scanty shelter of a fallen tree, firing bullets versus energy bolts. 'It won't take long to come out on the losing end of this exchange,' O'Neill thought.
"Back to the gate!" ordered O'Neill. "Teal'c take point. Daniel, Carter, I've got the six," he hollered. He waited, providing covering fire while they jogged back down the trail, giving them as much of a head start as he could, before backing away. He'd only managed about fifty yards or so before the enemy realized the Tau'ri were retreating. The Jaffa got up to follow.
The chase was on, and O'Neill was the quarry.
He ran, then slipped behind the cover of a tree and emptied a clip at his pursuers. The Colonel slapped a fresh clip into his MP-5 as he dashed another hundred yards to the next dense cover. Jack worked his way back through the forest, stalling as long as he could to give the others time enough to get to the gate and get it open. He was depending on that.
His pursuers were gaining and now it was time to simply cut and run.
The Colonel ran, dodging stumps and rocks, following the winding trail. A fork in the trail, and they'd come from the left, he remembered. Just as he started that way, Jack caught a glint of metal there, a Jaffa lying in wait near the path. He cursed, and dodged right, unsure of where this path would take him.
O'Neill needed to catch his breath and to make sure the pursuit followed him, not the others. He had to ensure that, if this detour were to be a fatal mistake for him, he could at least use his own life to buy safety for his team. Jack hunkered down behind another broken tree and starting firing, drawing the Jaffa behind him, down the right-hand trail.
He emptied another clip, pulled one more from his pack. 'At least this will lighten the load I'm carrying,' he thought, finding the one positive thing about his dwindling ammo supply.
Another blast bolt shook the tree he was sheltering behind, sending slivers flying and he flinched as one cut his cheek. He could feel the warm blood trickling down his face. 'This is getting too close for comfort,' he thought, ducking as another bolt tore a bigger chunk from the tree trunk just above his head. 'Time to bug out,' he told himself.
Once again, O'Neill ran, stumbled, picked himself up and ran on. 'Someday, I'm really going to have to get this damned knee fixed,' he vowed, as the old familiar ache flared in the battered joint.
His team should have had enough time to get to the gate, he figured. Now, if only he could get there too. Legs pumping, heart racing, breathing in rhythm, he veered left, back towards the gate, as he outpaced the following Jaffa. He climbed a low hill and nearly catapulted himself head first over the unexpected edge.
He remembered the creek, but it had been only a small trickling stream up where they'd met the Jaffa. It must have merged into another, wider stream because here the water filled the bottom of the eroded draw below him. It was probably 15 feet to the other side, 50 feet down. No way across.
Except to jump.
Oh shit.
He saw movement on the other side of the chasm. It was Major Carter, waving at him. "Sir, come on, you'll have to jump!"
'Yeah, right, nothing to it, just jump this little stream while dodging Jaffa weapons fire,' he thought. Then he saw it, a heavy vine, hanging from a tree near the edge of the draw. He grabbed it, pulled hard. It didn't give. Oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Nothing to lose. Just his life.
He left his rifle there, if he didn't make the jump he wouldn't need the weapon, and if he was successful, well, he could see the gate from here. Hastily he stripped off all his excess gear, leaving behind every ounce of weight he could shed. Then O'Neill stepped as far back as he could from the cliff, paused for a couple of deep braths, and raced toward the edge. He ran, made a leaping grab at the vine, swung out across the chasm with a Tarzan yell, and flung himself toward the far bank.
He hit the lip of the cliff, clawed at the dirt as Teal'c ran towards him, extending his arm. O'Neill's hand missed the lifesaving connection by inches. Jack fought for purchase as staff weapon bolts hit the ground around him and the cliff-edge began to crumble. O'Neill started to slide backwards.
He fell, bouncing down the slope, felt rocks and stumps and tree trunks punish his body, and then, with a final somersault, O'Neill hit the water.
It was cold, ice cold, and racing. It carried him quickly downstream, tumbling him against the rocks, forming bruises on bruises as he fought its icy grasp. The cold was getting to him and Jack knew hypothermia came swiftly in water this frigid. He had to get out quickly.
There, coming up ahead, a tree hung over the stream's edge. He timed his motion, and as the rushing water swept him beneath the overhanging limb, once more the Colonel lunged.
This time, his leap was successful. Jack's hand brushed the tree limb, numb fingers snaring it, grasping it, pulling himself hand over hand toward the shore, until he lay half in, half out of the water, gasping. He pushed himself to his hands and knees. O'Neill knew he needed to get out of the cold water, get out of the open, get away from the eyes of any still pursuing Jaffa. He was shivering already.
Quickly, then, his team was there, by his side. "Colonel?"
"You okay, Jack?"
Through chattering teeth O'Neill answered, "Yeah. Let's get the hell out of here."
Teal'c was wrapping his own jacket around the shivering Colonel, even as they clambered up the side of the draw and ran toward the gate. Jack watched Daniel and Carter disappear into the shimmering blue circle just steps ahead of them.
Ah, one more jump, O'Neill thought, as he staggered up the steps and leaped through the gate, for home.
FINIS
