Hi there! It's been a long time since I posted anything so I feel a bit rusty on the site. Really. I had to go back to write this intro because I forgot to do it the first time. :0S I wasn't going to publish this until it was finished, but I decided that you guys really help light a fire under me to get things done. I know, I know, I've said that before. It's the truth and I've decided to embrace it. :0)

This is the sequel to "Do Not Go Gentle." I would highly recommend you read that one first as it introduces a few original characters that play a HUGE role in the story and lets you in on some baggage Carter holds toward at least one of them.

I loved the characters so much that I couldn't let them go. I also felt the story needed a lot more than a quick ending. That's why I decided to end it where it did and move to a second book. I hope you enjoy this story and keep those reviews coming!

As you know (if you've read my stuff before), I am a huge S/J person. I'm also a huge SG-1 fan, and as such, I won't do anything that messes with cannon. Just be warned that I do paint things in that lovely light. The relationship that never got to be gets to peek through on occasion. I make no apologies. :0)

Disclaimer: Only a couple of these characters are mine. Those that aren't belong to people far older and wiser than me.

Warning! Only people trapped in glass houses should throw stones.

Have fun and here we go again!

Once the Twilight

Chapter One

"Today, Major!"

Major Samantha Carter barely heard her CO's voice over the scream of three death gliders. Staff weapon fire pelted her position from inside the thick jungle that surrounded her. She ducked behind the DHD and glanced to where Jack O'Neill sat hunkered behind a tree ten yards away.

"Almost there, sir!" she yelled.

She popped back up and reached across the top of the mushroom-shaped device for the next symbol. She pressed the chevron and watched it light up before she dropped back into cover.

One of the death gliders swooped low and shot into the dense greenery. The ball of energy slammed into a large tree to her right. Bark and earth exploded toward her.

Sam threw herself to the ground and turned her face away from the heated shrapnel. When she looked again, the damaged tree shook and fell away from her in slow motion with a series of loud cracks. A cluster of trees caught it before it could fall far. They bent under its weight, but held.

Another staff blast brushed past her sleeve and reminded her that she didn't have time to worry about what their battle was doing to the jungle.

The Colonel popped back out of hiding long enough to take out the Jaffa who had shot at her and then ducked away again.

Sam didn't't know where Teal'c and Daniel had taken cover and she didn't have time to look for them. With a deep breath, she stood up again to find the seventh symbol. The gate whooshed to life behind her. She barely cast a glance back to the blue event horizon before she raised her weapon to provide cover fire for her team. "Come on! Come on!" she yelled.

Instantly, Daniel dashed out from a thick cluster of foliage thirty yards to her right. He wound his way through the trees, headed her way – his gun clutched tightly in one hand while the other reached up to keep his boonie on his head. The Jaffa, having found a new target, focused their fire on him. Sam straightened as a Jaffa came into view to her right, his weapon raised toward her friend. She squeezed the hair trigger on her P-90 and watched the enemy fall.

Daniel dropped beside her and turned to take a look back through the trees. Sweat trickled down the sides of his face and he dragged in heavy breaths.

"That was a little too close, Daniel," Sam said.

He nodded. "I think next time I'll dial the gate and you can make a run for it."

Sam chuckled. "I don't have a problem with that." She reached up to the radio attached to her vest and depressed the button. "SGC, this is SG-1. We're at the gate and we're coming in hot!"

Just then, Teal'c broke from his position. He made it about twenty yards before he dove behind another tree and turned to shoot at his Jaffa pursuers.

Jack also chose that moment to make his move. With the Jaffa's attention now divided, Teal'c was able to turn back toward the gate and run.

"Copy that, SG-1," Walter Harriman's voice answered through the radio. Sam leaned out from behind the DHD and peeled off a few more rounds. "Come on home."

Jack slid to a stop behind the DHD and turned to cover Teal'c. "Go, Daniel!" he yelled over the drone of the death gliders. They seemed to be flying lower at each pass.

Daniel nodded and took off for the gate. Sam heard the subtle but familiar change in the hum of the event horizon as her friend stepped through… just before one of the gliders took another dive toward their position, its cannons firing. A huge burst of energy shot through the trees, but this pilot's aim was better than the last. The blast impacted in front of the DHD.

Sam felt the heat of the explosion singe the hairs on her arms. Before she could react she was airborne. She flew backward and crashed through a thick group of bushes. The sharp branches pulled and tore at her clothes. She landed hard on her shoulder and slid on the loose dirt.

Then gravity took hold again and she was tumbling.

Just seconds later, she sprawled to a stop. Sam flipped over to her back and shook her head, trying to bring the tall hillside she'd just rolled down into focus. Her ears rang and the jungle sounds around her were muffled. She heard the battle as if from far away.

Another explosion rattled the trees at the top of the hill and she knew she had to get back up there to help the Colonel and Teal'c.

Sam pushed up to her feet and tested her limbs. Everything seemed to be okay. Sore, but okay. She started up the hill. The dirt beneath her feet shifted under her weight.

"Uh, guys," Daniel's voice came through the radio from the other side of the wormhole. "Were you planning on joining us anytime soon?"

"We've run into some trouble, Daniel," the Colonel's voice answered before Sam could reach her radio. She felt a rush of relief at the sound of his voice. He hadn't been much farther away from that blast than she had. "Took some fire. Teal'c's right here, but I've lost sight of Carter!"

"I'm okay," she called into her radio.

There was a moment of silence and then, "What's your location?"

"I'm coming up on you now!"

Sam crested the hill and peeked through the brush that had hidden her from view. She could see the back side of the stargate a few yards away. The Colonel and Teal'c were crouched down behind it on the side farthest from her. The Jaffa continued to fire at them. Most of the shots ran straight into the blue puddle in the center of the ring. The SGC must be getting pounded.

The Colonel stepped out from cover to squeeze off a shot at a Jaffa who had reached the DHD. The Jaffa fell and Jack's eyes found her.

"I take that back," he said into the radio. "We're coming through." He waved toward her and shouted. "Carter! Through the gate!"

She nodded and pushed through the bushes, ignoring the heat of the blaster fire around her. She watched her teammates round the Stargate, covering her approach. Though they were both now completely vulnerable, she knew neither would go through until she had.

In five more steps she was there. She plunged into the blue pool even as the pack on her back caught a blast. It shoved her into the familiar cold of the wormhole. Less than a second later she landed hard on the metal grate at the foot of the Stargate.

The Colonel and Teal'c followed immediately… one of them airborne as well. He landed with a grunt, half on top of her, half off. They both rolled farther down the ramp. Staff fire flew through the wormhole, impacting around and above them, and turned the air hot.

"Close the iris!" The Colonel's voice shouted into her ear. He rolled off of her and lay on his back, his eyes on the gate.

Sam heard the grinding of metal as the protective iris engaged. She sat up awkwardly, her head on the downward slope of the ramp, and saw a Jaffa step through just before the metal shield sealed over the open wormhole. Instinct kicked in. She found her gun, raised it, and fired off enough rounds to make the man look like a marionette whose strings were being shaken. He fell dead at the foot of the gate. The wormhole winked out behind the closed iris and an eerie silence fell over the gate room.

Sam lifted her head and caught a glimpse of the damage. The walls were riddled with steaming blackened holes and a full combat ready unit still stood in formation facing the gate.

General Hammond's familiar voice came through the intercom. "Welcome home, SG-1. Do you need a medical team?" The blast shield that had been lowered to secure the control room window during the battle began to retract.

Sam met Colonel O'Neill's questioning eyes, took in the blood at his temple, and shook her head. He turned and looked up at the other two members of his team, who stood over them, and then let his head fall back to the grate. "No, sir. We're fine."

There was humor in the General's voice when they heard it again. "That's good. Get down and check in with Frasier then hurry back for debrief. A lot has happened while you were away."

"A lot?" Daniel asked. "We've only been gone for five hours."

"No rest for the wicked, Daniel." The Colonel pushed up from the ramp with a groan and stood, testing his left knee.

"Who's wicked?" Daniel asked. He turned to Teal'c. "Are we wicked?"

"We are not."

Sam swiveled around so her back was to the Stargate and looked up at the now exposed glass that separated the embarkation room from the control room above. She could see the gate staff, including Sergeant Harriman, sitting in front of the panel of electronics that controlled the gate, the iris and a whole slew of other things. Behind him, she could make out the larger shape of General Hammond. Someone stood beside him. The glare reflected off the glass and made it impossible to make out who it was, but for some reason an uneasy feeling filled her.

"Need a hand, Carter?"

Sam's eyes stayed on the figure for another moment before she pulled her gaze back to look up at her team. She shook her head and stood. Her pack was damaged and wanted to hang from one strap, so she let it fall back to the floor. It looked like a charred mess.

The Colonel glanced at it and gave a low whistle. "I'd call that a close one, Major."

Sam nodded absentmindedly. "Yes, sir."

They all walked down the ramp and handed their weapons to the man at arms who waited at the end.

"I do not believe that planet is worth our efforts," Teal'c said.

"I would have to agree with you there."

"Ah, come on, Jack," Daniel said with a smile. "The ruins didn't have what we were looking for, but that doesn't mean there wasn't something worth finding. With more time…"

"Ah…" the Colonel held up his finger. "Don't get started, Daniel, or I might just have to shoot you."

Sam stopped at the end of the grate and looked back up at the large window. The glare was gone at this angle, but she still couldn't get a good view.

The person next to the General was a man, she could tell. The stature was too large and angular to be a female.

"Earth to Carter."

Sam's attention snapped to where the Colonel stood waiting in the doorway. The other two were no longer in sight.

He smiled. "You coming?"

With one last glance up to the control room, Sam met his smile with one of her own and joined him. "Yes, sir," she said.

Chapter two will be posted in the next couple days. :0) Don't forget to tell me what you think.