Jack stepped out onto the planet feeling the knot in his stomach tighten rather than loosen like it usually did after ‘Gate travel. The device of the Ancients was the last thing he wanted to see, especially after the last fiasco, even if the fate of Earth did depend on it. “Reynolds, set up defense perimeters as you see fit. Hold the ‘Gate till we get back”
“Yes, Sir”
Jack led the team to the building Daniel was sure held the repository of the Ancients, all the while being sure to keep his ears and eyes wide open. He had a bad feeling about this mission and an even worse feeling about the building they were slowly approaching.
Once there Daniel opened one of his notebooks and began inspecting the symbols and writings on the walls. After what seemed like forever, Jack finally had had enough. “You know we’ve searched this place up and down.”
“I know.”
“Daniel we are a little exposed here. For all we know we could have Goa’uld on our collective asses any minute now.”
“I know and, according to the text on this column, it’s inside.”
“All I’m seeing is a whole lot of outside.”
“I know.”
While Jack and Daniel bantered about the ins and outs of the structure, Sam walked along the wall looking for energy readings of any kind. When the machine in her hand began to register something she called out the others, “I’m getting some strange readings coming from over here.”
After pressing some symbols, the device suddenly appeared on the wall in front of
Sam. Jumping back from the device, Sam listened as Jack contacted Reynolds and told him to stand by.
“Now, we have to figure out how to get it out of the wall.” Sam said as she slowly approached the device, once again jumping back when it started to glow. Colonel Reynolds’ voice coming over the radio interrupted her train of thought.
“SG-1, we have incoming.”
Suddenly, a death glider fired on the team, with the second shot coming extremely close to Jack and Daniel. After a brief argument about the value of the device, Jack decided to take matters into his own hands and reached into his pack and pulled out some explosives. *Damned Ancients and Goa’uld,* he thought as he readied to rig the device.
“We can’t destroy it. If we do, we lose our only hope to finding the Lost City.” Sam pleaded.
Hearing Sam’s voice, Jack stopped his ministrations and looked towards her. *Don’t do this Carter, not now.* He could see her eyes pleading with him to not blow it up what could be their last chance at defeating Anubis and the Goa’uld for good. Unfortunately he didn’t have much time to think about it because the glider started to come around for a second try. “Alright then, what?” Just as he got the question out of his mouth Daniel tried to make a break for the device. “No, no, no” he repeated as he pinned the archaeologist against the wall behind him.
Daniel opened his mouth to argue when he suddenly saw a flash of blonde hair make a break for the device, seconds before seeing it spring to life.
“O’Neill!”
“Sam!”
“NO!!”
~~~
Sam watched as her commanding officer threw Daniel back from the device. She knew Jack would do anything for his team as well as Earth, even if it meant sticking his head in that damned machine. *Not this time!* She wasn’t sure what brought that thought and she probably never would, because the next thing she knew she was tearing her cap off, striding towards the device, and sticking her head in it.
Feeling the machine reach out and grab hold of her head, she couldn’t help but gasp as the machine knocked her back about two feet. Lifting her hands on instinct, she clung to the mechanical appendages now squeezing her skull. The pain was unimaginable. A bright light and a strong humming sound filled her senses, and she could longer hold back the scream that seemed to be sitting at the back of her throat. After what felt like an eternity, she felt her arms drop heavily to her side and her legs began to give out. At that point, she knew it was over. *I’m sorry,* was all she could think before her world faded into total blackness.
~~~
“NO!”
Jack felt the scream rip through his throat and his blood rush to his ears as he watched the woman, who he cared about more than he was supposed to, do the unthinkable. Cursing himself for not thinking that she would be dumb enough to go and do it all he could do was watch as her small hands clung to the machine and she withered in obvious pain. His stomach churned in anguish when she finally gave in and screamed from the pain being inflicted upon her. It was at that moment, when that cry passed his inner ear, that the realization of her actions hit him.
When she finally crumbled to the ground unceremoniously, he leapt to her side and immediately searched for a pulse. *C’mon, where is it?* Images of holding Charlie’s lifeless body as he and Sara waited for the paramedics to arrive, his funeral, and finally his attempt at eating his own gun before the Air Force walked back into his life, flew through his mind as he waited to feel the flutter of her heart beneath his fingers. *Oh thank God,* he thought as he felt her pulse pumping frantically beneath his fingers.
“SG-1 where the hell are you guys? We can’t hold out for long.”
Tossing the explosive and detonator to Teal’c, Jack and Daniel picked up the unconscious Sam before contacting Reynolds. “Reynolds we’re heading back to the gate.” After gathering up the unconscious woman the group scurried out into the open and towards the gate. Hearing the explosion, Jack felt slightly relieved knowing the device was destroyed but the feeling was squashed when he felt Daniel shift some of Sam’s weight towards him.
“Get down.” Daniel yelled before shifting the rest of Sam’s weight so the three of them fell to the ground, with him landing atop Sam in order to protect her from flying debris. Feeling the woman shift beneath him, Daniel pulled himself up. “Sam, Sam you ok?”
“What happened?” Sam asked accepting a helping hand from Daniel
“Now really isn’t the time for an explanation.” yelled Jack to them as he pushed the two scientists toward the gate.
Feeling the metal ramp of the gate room beneath her feet, Sam moved out of Daniel’s helping grasp being sure to straighten her back as she moved towards General Hammond.
*Ever the solider, Sam.* Daniel thought to himself as he watched his friend move down the ramp.
“Colonel what happened?” Asked the perplexed General.
“Things got a little hairy out there, sir.” Jack replied in his usual sarcastic manner. However, his demeanor was anything but sarcastic.
Hearing the contempt in his voice, Sam was no longer able to keep her solider facade in place and let the trauma of the last half hour wash over her. Seeing Sam become unsteady, Daniel immediately stepped up next to her. “We need to get her to the infirmary”
Seeing the general’s concerned look, Jack chimed in, “Carter did it this time, sir”
TBC…
~~~
Part 2
Sam remained quiet and only spoke when the doctor asked her a direct question. She hadn’t made eye contact with any of the members of her team since they entered the infirmary. Keeping her eyes rooted to a spot on the wall directly across from her, she could feel the steely glare the colonel was giving her from his bed. She didn’t need to look at him to know he was royally pissed at her for doing what she did.
“Sam,” Daniel called
Finally moving her eyes from the spot to meet the concerned gaze of Daniel Jackson, Sam asked, “Huh, what?”
“The General wants to see us in the briefing room.”
“Ok.”
~~~
He didn’t know whether to hug her or kill her. All he knew for sure was that he was very pissed at the moment. Pissed at the Goa’uld, pissed at the Ancients for even thinking up that damned machine, but most of all he was pissed with himself for not be quick enough to stop her.
“You are upset, O’Neill.”
“A little.” Ok, so that was an understatement, but he really didn’t feel like getting into a heart to heart. In fact, if they weren’t waiting on Daniel and Carter to arrive, he would be down in the gym pummeling something. He was sure Teal’c was about to add something he wasn’t in the mood to hear when Daniel, Carter and the General entered the room.
“What in Gods name happened out there?” Asked Hammond
“Carter got her head sucked,” he didn’t try to hide his disgust at the situation and was sure to convey that in the glare he sent her. She met his gaze with a fervent glare of her own in the first eye contact they had made since their return.
“She did it deliberately,” added Daniel.
“In order to access the knowledge of the Ancients,” finished Teal’c.
Feeling the general’s gaze on her, Sam broke eye contact with Jack “We know from experience that the Ancients’ knowledge will eventually overwrite my brain. We’re hoping that during the transformation process I’ll become aware of the information we’re looking for.”
“And then, Major?”
“And then it will override my nervous system, and….”
“What? Send you to meet your maker, Carter?” Jack immediately felt a stab of guilt when he saw the hurt in her eyes at his words.
“Colonel.”
Too tired to argue with her superior she instead decided to address only the general “Sir with your permission, I’d like to take the weekend to get some personal things in order. The last time, it did take a couple of days before we noticed any change in the colonel’s behavior so…”
“Permission granted. You’re all dismissed” George could feel the tension in the room, but he could also see the fatigue on the major’s face, so he decided against probing further.
“Thank you, sir,” Sam replied glancing at the others before quietly exiting the briefing room.
Following Sam into the hall, the three remaining team members watched Sam hurry down the hall and out of view. “Well, you handled that well,” said Daniel as he shoved his hands into his pockets, as he always did when he was a little nervous or irked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Jack, she stuck her head in that machine, she sacrificed herself….”
“Major Carter did what she thought was necessary in order to obtain the knowledge needed to defend this world.”
“Gee, that makes it all the better, Teal’c. Thanks,” Spat Jack.
“Jack…”
“Daniel, it wasn’t her decision to make,” said Jack scornfully, before storming off himself
~~~
Sam couldn’t say what had possessed her to get in her car and start driving. Furthermore, she couldn’t understand why her drive had brought her to her CO’s house. She hadn’t spoken to any of the guys since she left the mountain the day before, nor did she care to; but something in her told her she had to talk to the colonel. *Can’t even call him Jack in your head can you, Sam?* She’d barely slept a wink. Every time she closed her eyes all she saw was the look of anger or maybe it was fear in his eyes during the briefing. Either way, she knew she had to talk to him, but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to get out of her car. After a moment, Sam summoned up the courage and turned off the engine. *Here goes.*
Needless to say, she was the last person he expected to see at his front door. In fact, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she never spoke to him again with the way he had treated her. Just because he was her CO didn’t mean that he could demean her for the enormous sacrifice she was making. Hate it, yes. Demean it, no.
“Hi, sir,”
“Carter.” He could tell she was nervous and hoped his nervousness wasn’t as blatant. In his life, the only person he knew who could knock him off balance on a daily basis was Sam Carter.
“Did I wake you?” she asked as he stepped aside to allow her into his house.
“Sort of,” That was a bit of an understatement. While he hadn’t been asleep he was nursing one hell of a hangover from the night before. He’d turned to the bottle in an effort to quiet the sound of his own screams as he watched her deliberately end her life.
“I couldn’t sleep at all last night.” She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to tell him that, but she felt better telling him the truth.
“You should have called.”
“I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Actually, I was just looking at the sky and thinking.” *Yeah right, Jack if that’s the new euphemism for getting plastered these days.*
“Really?! You were thinking?” She was trying to lighten the mood, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she could tell it was a bad idea.
“So what brings you by?”
“It’s funny actually.” Not that anything lately had been funny, but she was trying to keep from bolting from his house. “I was out driving, you know….in my car, and I um, drove here.”
“Funny.”
“Yeah.”
An uncomfortable silence quickly descended between them. Jack could tell she was thinking about leaving. Normally he would accept that, but now, with everything that had happened and was going to happen, he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible, even if it was spent in uncomfortable silence. “Beer?”
“Sure.” While Jack went to get them some beers, Sam wondered around his house. She had been there a few times over the years for team nights, but never really took the chance to really look at the innards of his home.
“Here ya go.”
“Thank you, sir,” she replied taking the beverage. “So, do you ever talk to her?” she asked motioning to the picture of him, Sara and Charlie on the wall next to them.
“Can we not talk about that?”
“Sorry.” She felt like an idiot for asking such a stupid question, but her curiosity got the better of her.
“So, how are you feeling?”
“Can we not talk about that?” she replied, borrowing his previous phrase.
“Ok,” he replied, sitting down on the couch and stretching out. “What do you want to talk about, then?”
“This was a bad idea….I should go” she muttered as she moved to stand from the couch.
Realizing he had just stuck his big foot in his even bigger mouth, he calmly and politely tried to keep her from leaving. “Finish your beer. And then you have to wait at least an hour before you drive.” He hoped that an hour would be enough time for him to stop being such an ass and get her to tell him why she had shown up on his doorstep.
“Sir?” ‘Here we go Sam, don’t lose it now’
“What,” he replied as he played with the label on his beer bottle
“I need you to know why I did it.”
TBC…
~~~
Part 3
As soon as the words left her mouth, Jack felt his tight hold on his anger give way like a dam with too many cracks. “Good, cuz I’m real interested in knowing why you would do something so stupid!”
“We need to find the Lost City to defend the planet…”
“That supposed to make it worth it?” he yelled.
“I know you’re angry.”
“Damn right I am!”
Now, it was her turn to get pissed. “So, if our positions were reversed it would be ok that you had stuck your head in that thing?”
“Yes!”
The silence between them was deafening. Jack simply stared into her eyes as he had when she was trapped behind the force shield on Apophis’ ship. In fact, if he was going to be honest with himself, he felt now just as he did that day, helpless. Moments went by before his brain kicked back in and told him the point she was trying to make. ‘How would the situation be any different if he was the one who had done it?’
“I’m sorry.” her reply was barely above a whisper, but in the dead silence of his house he heard it loud and clear. She didn’t want to argue with him, nor did she have the energy or resolve to at the moment. She cared too much to let it go that way. Closing her eyes in an attempt to regain her focus she was surprised, yet calmed, when she felt his hand touch her cheek. Feeling the tension in her body slip away, Sam unconsciously found herself leaning into the caress. Opening her eyes, she saw that while his expression hadn’t changed his eyes had a softer look to them.
“Sam…” her name felt like a soft caress from his mouth. Reaching up, she captured it with hers and gently enticed it to open.
The feel of her tongue upon his, as well as the soft touch of her lips, was intoxicating. His brain was telling him to stop because it was wrong, but the electricity elicited by her kiss now coursed through his veins and, as the kiss deepened, started a chain reaction he was not sure he was willing to stop.
He felt her intensify her actions as she wrapped her arms around his neck and let out a moan into his mouth as his hands caressed the expanse of her back.
Jack was lost in the sensation. He was kissing Sam Carter, the woman he had dreamt about for more than seven years, the woman he had more respect for than anyone else, the woman whose dazzling smiled had awakened his heart from the dead.
He felt her hands sneak underneath his shirt and her fingers make contact with the skin of his sides. Before things went out of control, he gently steadied her movements and broke their embrace, resting his forehead against hers and licking his lips.
“Sam…”
“No, Jack. I want you, while I can still remember, while I still know what I’m doing.
He looked into her eyes which were laden with desire, and could only see her love for him and willingness to do this.
“This will change everything,” he said, still trying to talk her out of it, but knowing in his heart that this was what he wanted, too.
“I know. I don’t want to have regrets, especially now, Jack.”
Her statement was his undoing.
His hand reached for the back of her neck and he pulled her head to his, his mouth hungrily seeking hers in a searing kiss.
His arms sneaked underneath her and he carried her to his room, dropping her softly on his bed. He reached for the hem of his sweater and in one swift movement, pulled it over his head.
His toned muscular chest drew her eyes like a moth to a lantern. She ached to touch him, but as she reached for him, he stepped back a little, a teasing look on his face.
She understood the message and crawled backwards up to the headboard, watching him intently as he nonchalantly unbuttoned his trousers and let them drop on the floor. If her eyes were a mouth, it would have devoured him right then. She took her time in detailing every inch of him, her body tingling in anticipation of what their joining would bring.
“Like what you see?” His soft voice pulled her out of her reverie, and she smiled broadly as he knelt on the bed in front of her. He brought his hand to her cheek and caressed her gently. She leant into his hand and softly kissed his palm, then looked him in the eyes.
“Jack?” she asked in a husky voice.
Desire flared and he let his hands fall on the first buttons of her shirt. He pulled the garment gently, then prompted her to lie down as he took care of her skirt and shoes. When their underwear was all that remained, he pulled up the bed spread and covered them with it as he removed the last barriers of clothing, allowing for the next step in their complicated relationship to unfold.
Sam relaxed as his hands memorized her curves and slowly awakened her skin to his touch. His lips traced a sensuous path down her torso as his hands caressed her sides, taking his time, teasing here and there, kneading softly, and arousing.
As she had suspected, his magical fingers knew exactly where to go and the perfect amount of pressure to apply in order to bring her to new levels of arousal. She was discovering a side of Jack O'Neill she had only barely gotten a glimpse of: Jack O'Neill the man, her - now - lover. The level of tenderness that he displayed was in total contrast with his hard assed soldier act, but it didn’t surprise her, having long ago discovered that this man was full of surprises.
Her body on fire from his touch, she gently prodded him to lie on his back, wanting to reply in kind to his ministrations, and she set out to do just that, her lips and teeth playing with the skin and hairs of his chest while her hands explored the rest of his body, much as he had moments ago.
After a while of this foreplay, Jack flipped her on her back and took back his lead.
He paused a moment, staring at her before kissing her, waiting for her acknowledgment of what was coming next.
Her dilated pupils gave him the incentive he needed and he slowly closed the last physical gap between them, looking at her eyes the whole time. Her eyelids closed briefly, but he coaxed them open softly.
“Sam, look at me…” he said in a voice hoarse with desire and self-control.
Sam exhaled a soft sigh and looked at him as he started the age old dance. If she had suspected reality would exceed her fantasies to this point, she would have violated the regs - and the man! - years ago. Jack O'Neill was an experienced lover, and moreover, he was her soul mate, which made their encounter so special.
Before she knew it, she had reached that point and her rapture took her breathe away, making her arch against him, needing to increase the contact between them as much as she could.
When the intensity of her orgasm had subsided a bit, she kissed him softly. He smiled tenderly and resumed his movement, knowing his release would soon follow. When it did, he couldn’t prevent a strangled, ‘I love you, Sam!’ from escaping his lips.
Berating himself as he tried to recover his breath, he rolled on his side, encircled her shoulders and drew her to his chest. When he could speak again, he murmured, “I’m sorry…”
Sam took a while before answering, “For what?”
“I didn’t mean to say…”
“What? That you love me?” she frowned.
“No… I mean, yes… I mean…”
“So, you don’t love me?” she said, a teasing smile making one corner of her mouth raise, although he couldn’t see it.
“No, Yes, of course I… I mean…”
She chuckled. “I love you too, Jack O'Neill,” she murmured, kissing his chest softly.
She felt his arms squeeze her shoulders and he pulled her to face him before kissing her soundly.
TBC….
~~~
Part 4
Jack loved to watch Sam Carter sleep. Over the last seven years, he had become an expert in the sleeping facial features of Samantha Carter. He couldn’t decide if he liked watching her for the sake of watching her or if it was because she reminded him of an angel. He was sure, especially after the last two days, that it was the latter. They hadn’t left the house, much less his bed. They talked about everything, from Charlie to Pete, to when their feelings had first started to grow beyond simple friendship. Jack couldn’t help the smile that crept across his face when she snuggled deeper into the warmth their bodies created under the covers. Unable to watch any longer without touching, he slowly began moving his hand along her inner thigh. Hearing the hitch in her breath, Jack turned his ministrations up a notch. Leaning forward, he began placing kisses along her long slender neckline.
“Good morning,” she purred.
“Good morning to you, too,” he replied, rolling so he was fully on top of her. “Sleep well?”
“The best,” she replied before reaching up and pulling his lips down to meet hers.
Their kisses became heated and hands began to roam, but just as things began to unfold, Jack’s phone rang, “Ignore it,” he breathlessly replied.
“It might be important.”
“Oh for cryin out loud,” he moaned as he rolled off her to pick up the phone. “Hello?”
“Jack”
“What is it, Daniel?” He tried not to sound terse, but he did have a very naked Sam Carter lying next to him.
“Bra’tac just arrived. You better get over here.”
“Bad?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, I’ll be there in an hour.”
“Ok.”
“Bye.” He replied before hanging up the phone and rolling back over to face Sam.
“What is it?” She could see the trepidation all over his face. He was about to answer her when the faint chime of her cell phone echoed from his living room. Realizing it was probably Daniel calling to tell her the same thing he just told Jack, Sam wrapped the sheet around herself and padded down the hall to her phone. “Hello? Hi Daniel…uh huh…ok, I’m on my way” Hanging up the phone, Sam began to feel reality seeping through the walls of Jack’s house. She wasn’t having regrets, she merely began to realize that whatever was happening, or going to happen, to her was bigger than them.
“He has the worst timing,” Jack muttered as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.
“Ya think?” she replied, turning in his arms to face him.
“So, you want to shower here?” He was hoping she would take him up on his offer. He wasn’t ready to go back to the real world just yet.
“I don’t think we will ever get out of here if I do,” she quipped giving him a quick kiss on the lips before moving through the house, collecting her strewn clothes as she went.
~~~
Two hours later found them all sitting around the briefing room table, minus General Hammond, listening to the intel Bra’tac had obtained.
“Anubis’ fleet will arrive in three days,” stated Bra’tac.
“Three days from now is Thursday. Thursday’s not good for us.” Jack was attempting to lighten the mood but it didn’t have the desired effect. *Tough room*
Sam decided to ignore his comment and tried not to think about the hand that had moved from his lap to the top of her knee. “Why now?”
“Anubis believes that we know the location of the Lost City,” replied Teal’c.
“But we don’t.” Sam couldn’t hide the frustration that crept into her voice.
“Not yet,” Jack replied, being sure to give her knee a squeeze, in order to convey his assurance that things were going to work out. This was funny because he wasn’t even sure if things were going to work out in the end. *Don’t think like that, Jack she is going to get through this.*
“Yes, but he doesn’t know that we know…Oh boy,” Daniel said motioning towards the doorway, behind Jack.
“What?” Jack asked as he turned to see what the archaeologist was looking at. “Oh crap,” he spat under his breathe, as he watched Hammond escort none other than the self serving, now Vice President, Kinsey into the briefing room.
After exchanging the usual pleasantries that Jack reserved for Kinsey, the pompous ass had the audacity to accuse them of conjuring up the entire scenario in order to keep the gate open. Finally, Daniel tried, in his usual diplomatic fashion, to explain exactly what they were up against.
“Do you even know what the threat is?” Daniel was trying to remain calm and understand how one person could be so stupid as to overlook the value of what they were trying to do for the planet. “Anubis is a half Goa’uld, half ascended Ancient with the knowledge and technology at his disposal to wipe us all from the face of the Earth.”
“What about negotiating?” asked Kinsey.
“Now, that would be derantis.” There it was, the beginning of her transformation and she hadn’t even noticed it. What she did notice, was the sets of eyes all staring at her in wonderment. “What?”
“You just said derantis,” answered Daniel.
“I did?”
“Yeah”
Quickly making eye contact with her, Jack could tell she was nervous and scared because she had apparently spoken another language and hadn’t even realized it. He, above all people, knew what that felt like. “Derantis, what is that?”
“I think what Sam is trying to say is that trying to negotiate based on our past experiences would be insane…crazy,” added Daniel.
However, Kinsey wasn’t swayed and proceeded to make a mockery of what Sam was going through. He even went so far as to accuse Sam of incurring the wrath of humanity’s worst enemy, as if the entire war with the Goa’uld was her fault.
“Wait a minute. I thought you didn’t buy into the whole invasion thing?” Kinsey merely rolled his eyes at Jack’s comment, but he didn’t let that stop him. “Look, the answer is in here somewhere,” he said pointing to Sam’s head. “Let me make this simple. If Carter can come up with the Lost City, we go find it, yes or no? Sir?”
“No!” yelled Kinsey.
“Who are you really? And why are you here?” asked Jack sarcastically.
Hammond wanted to know that himself, but he decided that would be best discussed with the President. “I’ll talk to the President, Colonel.”
“Thank you, sir,” replied Jack respectfully.
After Hammond dismissed them, Jack and Sam went back to her lab, to discuss the latest turn of events before joining the others in the ‘Gate room to bid Teal’c farewell.
“Hey, you okay?” Jack asked once they were safely inside the confines of her lab.
“Define okay, I just spoke an alien language and didn’t even realize it.”
“There’s that. What I was talking about was what Kinsey said.”
“Well, he’s right isn’t he? I mean what is it up to now? Three times that I my mind has been taken over by an outside force?”
“Doesn’t make what he said right, Carter.”
“I know. I’m just frustrated.”
“Would’ve thought after this past weekend, frustration would be the last thing you were feeling,” he replied, being sure to waggle his eyebrows.
Seeing where he was going and the fact that the door to her lab was securely closed, she decided to play along. “Well, we were interrupted this morning.”
Jack let out a low growl when he thought about what the phone call had interrupted that morning. “Yeah, well, we better get to the ‘Gate room to, uh…”
“Say goodbye to Teal’c?”
“Yeah, that.”
“Well, let’s go then.”
*Oh yeah, that woman is definitely a tease* Jack snickered to himself as he followed her out of her lab.
TBC…
~~~
Part 5
Sam’s lab
Saying goodbye to Teal’c had been tough. She tried hard not to let the solider façade fall in front of everyone in the ‘Gate room as she hugged him and whispered for him to take care of Jack should things not turn out the way they hoped. Now, sitting in her lab across from Jack, she wished she had let that façade fall in order to properly say goodbye to her dear friend. *But being a solider comes first, right Sam?* She knew, above all people, Teal’c understood her need to be the stoic solider. However, the part of her that was Samantha Carter, didn’t understand the need to hide how she felt.
Glancing up at Jack, she couldn’t help the small smirk that came to her lips, when she remembered how Samantha had shown Jack how she truly felt. *He’s so cute when he is thinking,* she thought to herself. She knew that when he bet her he could finish the first puzzle before she finished her second, he was simply trying to keep her busy and her mind off over-thinking her situation. That had been Jack for the past eight years. He made sure she never overworked herself, ate and drank when she was supposed to, and most of all, made her laugh. She hadn’t realized how long she had been staring at him, until he caught her.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she replied.
“You should be doing your puzzle instead of staring at me,” he replied. Sam merely giggled at him. “What did I say about giggling?”
“You didn’t complain yesterday,” she replied before going back to work on her puzzle.
Jack wanted to say something witty in return, but, as usual, Daniel decided to interrupt. Jack sent him a ‘this is becoming a bad habit’ glare, but Daniel never looked at him, he simply walked right up to Sam.
“Does this mean anything to you?” he asked, attempting to show her something from the book he had in his hands.
“No.” Sam hadn’t even glanced at the text she just continued to do her puzzle.
“Could you at least look at it?”
“Daniel, I don’t speak Ancient.”
“You have to try.”
Jack smirked to himself. When it came to Daniel, he loved nothing more than to watch the young man get frustrated because everyone around wasn’t as excited as he was over something. Jack especially loved it when Sam was the one pushing Daniel’s buttons.
“Daniel, when something pops into my fron, you’ll be the first to know”
Jack’s smirk quickly slipped to a frown when he heard the strange the word leave Sam’s mouth. That was twice now she had said an alien word and hadn’t noticed. Looking to Daniel for an explanation, he wasn’t surprised to find he still had his eyes plastered to his book.
“Fron means head,” Daniel translated after several intense moments.
“I knew that,” Jack replied.
“Sure you did, Jack,” Daniel muttered, while Sam tried to stifle her chuckle. “Here Sam look at this…what are you doing?” he asked noticing for the first time she was fervently writing something down.
“She is doing her crossword puzzle, as am I,” retorted Jack.
“I thought you finished it, Sam?”
“She did. We made a new bet.” Jack wasn’t about to tell him that the new bet entailed the loser doing special favors for the winner for a week. No, Jack was definitely going to keep that little tidbit to himself.
Daniel merely gave Jack an odd look as he glanced over Sam’s shoulder to see what had her so engrossed. When he noticed that some of the words she had written down weren’t in the English language, he quickly snatched the puzzle away.
“Hey,” complained Sam.
“Thirteen across, you wrote ‘Taonas’”
“So?” asked Jack, who tried to mask his confusion as Sam just sat there and stared at him with a blank expression.
“Well, I don’t know. Eight down, she wrote, ‘Proklarush’” replied Daniel
“What’s eight down?” Sam asked.
“Umm, ‘label.’ There are empty spaces and I think the answer is supposed to be ‘identification.’ Thirteen across is ‘sphere…’ Sam, I think this is it.” While Daniel was excited at the find, Jack and Sam were simply confused. “Sphere = planet. Label = name.”
“Daniel, breathe slowly and try again,” said Jack, who was still very confused.
“Proklarush Taonas. I think Sam wrote the name of the planet where we’ll find the Lost City in the crossword puzzle.”
“Bit of a jump, don’t you think?” snorted Jack. Daniel had a habit of finding connections between the smallest of things, and most of the time, Jack was convinced he was trying too hard to find the answer.
“It has to mean something, Jack,” Daniel replied as he scanned the rest of the puzzle for possible clues.
“And, while I’m sure it does Daniel, I’m starving,” he replied before turning to Sam. “Hungry?”
“Yeah,” she replied.
“Good,” and without another word he and Sam walked out of her lab, leaving a perplexed Daniel behind.
“Hey, wait for me,” yelled Daniel as he scurried after them.
TBC…
~~~
Part 6
The three SG-1 members sat around the table in the commissary. Jack and Sam were each enjoying their pie while Daniel continued to search through his book for answers.
“According to this, Proklarush Taonas means ‘lost in fire,’ it was lost. This has to be the planet where the Lost City is.”
“Ok, but don’t we need a ‘Gate address to get there?” Jack asked as he shoved a rather large piece of pie into his mouth.
“Wow Jack, hungry?” asked Daniel.
Jack halted his chewing and tried hard not to choke on the food that was sitting somewhere between the front of his mouth and the back of his tongue. When he finally got the remnants of the pie down, he cleared his throat and was about to give Daniel a witty come back when Sam suddenly reached out and ripped the SG-1 patch off Daniel’s sleeve. She further confused the two men when, after dropping it on the table, turned it upside down.
“Umm, Sam?” asked Daniel.
“At,” was all she said.
“What?” both men asked.
“At,” she said again, this time pointing to the symbol for Earth.
“That is At?” asked Daniel.
“I have no idea,” replied Sam.
“Daniel?” questioned Jack.
“I think I know,” he said as he jotted down a stargate symbol. “What’s this?”
“Shh.” Looking from Jack to Daniel all she saw were two confused looks. “Well?”
“You just told us to be quiet, Carter,” replied Jack.
“No sir, when I look at this, I think ‘shh,’” she replied.
“That’s it,” exclaimed Daniel.
“What? What’s it?” Now Jack’s head really started to hurt. He often got confused when his two scientists went off on their rants, but now, watching them excitedly discuss the possibilities of them finding the Lost City, he was downright lost. He was sure he would never understand what they were talking about, although Sam had tried, several times to explain it all to him. In fact, she tried so many times that the next thing he knew he was sitting in the rear of the cargo ship that, Teal’c and Bra’tac had commandeered watching her write in the notebook Daniel had given her.
“What?” she asked when she noticed him staring.
“I would have done it,” it was the first time since the whole saga started that he said the words a loud to anyone.
“I know and that’s why I did it,” she replied, taking his hand in her own and giving it a squeeze before letting go.
“We’ll find a way out of this, I promise,” he replied. Sam gave him that smile which she reserved solely for him before pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “You ok?”
“A bit cruvus; a little fron ache,” they simply stared at each other for a moment before she blurted out, “We need to go faster,” and moved past him to the engine room.
When Jack arrived, she was already pulling the ship’s engine apart. After a few moments she asked him for his zat gun. Skeptical, he hesitated, but when he saw the look of confidence on her face, he handed it over. He was amazed when he felt the ship pick up speed after she discharged the weapon into the engine core.
“Sweet,” he said. Sam gave him a nervous smile as she handed the weapon back to him. “Look Carter…” She quickly quieted him with a finger to his lips and then pulled him into a hug. He was concerned, but returned the embrace anyway. Pulling back, she gave him another smile before silently walking past him out of the room. Jack merely stood there, staring at the wall ahead of him, *Don’t even think about it, Jack. That was so not goodbye*
~~~
She’d done it. She’d saved their collective asses. *That’s my girl,* he thought to himself as he silently celebrated their victory. His feeling of elation quickly dissipated when the lights in the cavern began to go out. Turning around, he saw Sam’s eyes close and her head roll to the side. Rushing to her side, he quickly checked for a pulse and was extremely relieved when he found one. *Don’t you dare take her away from me!*
“Carter? Come on, Carter,” he was begging and he knew he was doing it, but he didn’t care. He just wanted her to open those beautiful blue eyes of hers. “We won,” he said in a last ditch effort to wake her. “Sam, please.” He felt his heart flutter with joy when she partially opened her eyes.
“Dolmata,” she whispered.
“What?” he asked
“The capsule, Jack,” replied Daniel.
Glancing from Sam to the capsule and then back to Sam, Jack carefully lifted her off the chair and rushed across the cavern. The lights to the capsule turned on as he softly placed her inside. His heart sank when he saw how pale she had become since sitting in the chair. Checking to make sure she wouldn’t fall, he took a step back and turned to Daniel. “Now what?”
“Aveo…amacus,” replied Sam.
“Goodbye,” translated Daniel.
As he watched the shield encase the woman he loved, Jack wanted to scream out to her that this was far from over, but instead he remained silent and sighed heavily when the lights to the capsule went out. “Daniel, we can’t and I won’t leave her like this. The damned answer has to be somewhere in this damned ice cube.”
“I’m sorry Jack, I don’t think this is Atlantis the dome is too small”
Daniel’s bombshell hit Jack like a ten ton Mack truck doing fifty down the interstate. *If this wasn’t Atlantis, then where the hell was it? And would they be able to find it without Sam?* Then his greatest fear hit him. If they didn’t find the Lost City, then Sam would forever be lost to him. *God Sam, I’m so sorry.*
TBC…
~~~
Part 7
This part starts off after Jack is captured by Fifth.
Jack paced around the small room in which he was confined. The last two weeks had been pure hell, and this seemed to be the topper. His excitement at finding Thor had quickly disappeared when the Asgard refused to leave in order to help Sam. After everything SG-1 had done for his race, he’d said no. God, he missed her.
The hardest part of the last two weeks had been explaining to Pete where Sam had gone. The young cop just couldn’t seem to accept that all Jack could tell him was that Sam was away and wouldn’t be back for a while. It had gotten so bad that Jack contemplated telling Pete the truth about everything, and that included what happened between him and Sam. He just wanted to shout at Pete that Sam didn’t love him and forget about her but in the end, he decided to keep his mouth shut it wasn’t his place to tell the man the truth, it was Sam’s.
Moving to one of the far walls, Jack noticed for the first time that the room was made up of small replicator blocks. *I always was a little slow,* he thought as he cautiously reached out to touch the wall. When he saw a shape begin to form, he snatched his hand back and backpeddled into the middle of the room. He was further shocked to see the wall morph to take the shape of Fifth.
“Colonel O’Neill,” greeted the machine.
“Fifth, long time no see,” he replied as his back finally came into contact with the far wall.
“I imagine that you never expected to see me again.”
“Well, no. Not really. Although, I can imagine you might be a little upset.”
“Upset?” mocked Fifth.
“Okay, so pissed.” Fifth merely leered at Jack, “Really pissed.”
“You have no idea,” he replied, seconds before plunging his hand into Jack’s forehead.
“Ahh!”
“But you will.”
The pain was intense. Each image he subjected Jack to brought back not only the painful memories of the event, but also the heartache and suffering he had gone through. He could feel Fifth probing for memories to use against him as well as information about Sam. As the flashing images began to slow, Jack could see a room begin to form in front of him. Blinking his eyes several times, Jack immediately recognized the room and his heart sank. *Ba’al*, he thought.
“You have many memories of this place hidden deep within your mind.”
Ignoring the half man, half machine’s empty-hearted statement, Jack concentrated hard on holding back the bile that had risen into his throat. “What do you want?”
“For you to suffer as I have,” Fifth replied looking around the room and watching the memories of Jack’s time with Baal unfold. “And, physically, it seems you have.”
“What?” Jack barely got the question out when he was blinded by bright light. When the light finally receded, Jack blinked his eyes several times once again in order to bring his surroundings into focus. *Now what?* he asked himself as he began to make out the features of a person looking down at him.
“Come on Dad, wake up.”
“Charlie?” Of all the people to torture him with, Fifth just had to choose the figure of his dead son. As if he hadn’t already tortured himself with the fact that his son had killed himself with his gun.
“Yeah Dad come on, you said we’d play catch,” replied the young boy.
“Stop it,” he muttered, pinching his eyes shut, hoping that when he opened them the image of his long lost son would be gone.
“Stop what, Dad?”
“Just stop, alright. This isn’t real,” he yelled as he jumped out of the bed and moved to opposite side of the room. “You’re dead; you shot yourself with my gun.”
“Dad?” the version of his dead son actually looked confused, but Jack wasn’t about to be fooled. Just then, the door to the room opened.
“Charlie, I thought you were getting your father up for breakfast?” asked Sara, as she moved into the room.
“Sara?”
“Breakfast is getting cold, Jack,” she replied with a soft smile.
“This isn’t real,” Jack repeated to the figure of his ex-wife.
“Charlie, honey, go eat your breakfast.” The little boy obediently listened to his mother and left the two adults alone. “The dreams are back, aren’t they?”
“What?”
“The dreams: the one where Charlie shot himself.”
“You know damned well they aren’t dreams and this isn’t real.”
“Jack, I know you feel guilty for not being able to stop your best friend from…It was the reason you left.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked, moving across the room to the window to see exactly where Fifth had decided to put him. “Where the hell are we?”
“Minnesota,” she replied, sighing as though she'd said it many times before.
“No, we’re not. Why are you doing this?” He yelled.
“Jack,” she started but he cut her off.
“No. I want to know why are you doing this?” He yelled again.
Taking a step towards him, the form of his ex-wife eerily morphed into Fifth. “Because I love her,” he replied with a smug smile on his face.
TBC…
~~~
Part 8
Daniel shook off the chill that had run down his spine when he heard Sam’s voice come over the ship’s sound system. “Sam?” he asked.
“Hey,” she yelled. “What’s going on?”
“Major Carter, your mind has been linked with the ship,” replied Thor.
“What?” she asked in shock.
“All the information in the ship’s computer is available to you,” Thor replied, seemingly ignoring the shock in her voice.
“Oh, right. Wow this is amazing. The technology in here is so far beyond…”
*Typical Sam,* thought Daniel.
“Major Carter,” prompted Thor.
“What? Oh, sorry,” she sheepishly replied.
“If you wish, you may appear to us as a hologram.” No sooner had the words left the small alien’s mouth, when a hologram of Sam appeared.
“Whoa,” exclaimed Sam.
“Sam, you okay?” asked Daniel.
“It’s a little weird, but, yeah, I’m okay.”
“There is not much time, Major Carter,” said Thor.
“I know,” she replied. She knew everything, from the moment Teal’c and Jack were transported onto the ship to the moment the replicator ship was destroyed as it exited hyperspace.
“Can you help with the Replicators?”
“Actually, yeah,” was all she said before disappearing.
~~~
“You what?” asked an astonished Jack.
“I love her,” replied Fifth.
“Well you can’t have her,” he stated.
Fifth’s smile disappeared: obviously, this wasn’t what he had wanted to hear. “I was hoping she would be on the ship, but, when I realized it was you, I decided my revenge would best be served by ridding myself of my competition.”
“My, you’ve grown up, haven’t you?” Jack replied sarcastically.
“You patronize me for feeling emotions, you yourself feel. Why?”
“Because I’m human and you’re not,” screamed Jack.
“I am close.”
“No. No, you’re not.” He remembered saying something similar to the entity when it invaded Sam’s body. He wanted to add something else, but he noticed Fifth seemed to be distracted and actually looked panicked. “What is it?”
His frown quickly turned into a small smile. “She’s here.”
“What?” he asked, but Fifth never replied. He simply disappeared, leaving a confused Jack alone. “Fifth!” he screamed into the empty room, but no one answered.
~~~
Sam let all her anger and frustration flow through the device as she used it to destroy any replicator that had gotten in her way. She was determined to not only stop the Replicators once and for all, but to find Jack. *Hang on Jack, I’m coming.*
“Stop,” yelled a voice ahead of her.
“Fifth,” she replied, somewhat surprised to see him.
“I knew you would come,” he replied with a boyish smile.
“Where’s Colonel O’Neill?” she asked, ignoring his comment.
The smile slowly slipped from Fifth’s face. “He is alive, for now.”
“Fifth,” she chided.
“He will not remain that way, if you continue to destroy my brethren,”
Sam wanted to reply, but Thor’s voice coming over her communicator stopped her, “Major Carter, the weapon is almost ready”
To Sam, the little alien’s voice never sounded so annoying. “Thor, Fifth said he will kill the colonel if we don’t stop.”
“Major Carter…” started Thor.
“Yeah, I know,” she replied. And she did know. She knew all too well how this situation would have to play out. She had been in this position once before, albeit, on the other side, but the same nonetheless.
“Uh, Sam,” called Daniel.
“What?” she asked, as she turned in time to see hundreds of Replicator bugs headed in their direction. Hoisting the weapon, Sam made ready to fire, but the bugs simply ran past them.
“What are they doing?” asked an equally confused Daniel.
“They appear to be retreating,” surmised Teal’c.
“You must stop them,” started Thor, “the weapon is not yet fully charged.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Sam said to Daniel and Teal’c before heading the direction as the bugs.
~~~
Jack shielded his eyes against the sun as he emerged from the house. Looking over the landscape, he couldn’t get over how real it all looked, *but it’s not real, Jack* Getting frustrated that he didn’t know what was going in the real world between Fifth and Sam, he began to yell out for the machine, “Fifth, where the hell are you?”
“We must leave,” Fifth said from behind Jack.
Spinning on his heel, Jack looked wearily at the machine, “why?”
“She has found a way to destroy us”
“You’re surprised?” he sarcastically replied.
“They are killing us.”
“Don’t expect sympathy from me.”
“I told her I would kill you if she didn’t stop,” the humanoid Replicator said, taking several steps towards Jack.
“Obviously she isn’t listening.”
“Why?”
“Because they know I would rather die than hang around with you in this imaginary place you’ve created,” he replied, waving arms to indicate their surroundings. Fifth merely stared back at him and Jack could have sworn he saw the formation of tears in the bug’s eyes.
~~~
Sam tightened her gut as she watched the Replicator ship fly away. She had never felt so helpless, than she did at that moment. *I’m sorry, Jack*
“Major Carter, the weapon worked,” said Thor.
“That’s good to know, Thor.” While she was happy the Asgard now had a means of defending themselves against the Replicators, her heart was heavy with the knowledge she might never see Jack again.
“Major Carter, I am detecting a fourth life sign in your immediate vicinity,” added Thor.
Sam’s heart did a flip flop when she heard this. Fanning out she and the others, called out to their leader, “Colonel.”
“Jack”
“O’Neill.”
Sam searched frantically, but found nothing. Thor said the life sign was close so he had to be near. But where? *C’mon Jack where are you?*
“Major Carter,” yelled Teal’c.
Pumping her legs as hard as she could, Sam ran toward Teal’c’s voice. She thought for sure her heart was going to burst out of her chest when she finally reached Jack. Kneeling down beside him, she fought back tears that threatened to spring forth. “Glad to see you sir.” She wanted to say something else, but knew this wasn’t the time or place.
“Likewise,” he replied. He couldn’t believe it, she was alive and speaking English. He wanted so much to pull her into a hug and never let go, but he settled for that megawatt smile he loved so much.
TBC…
~~~
Part 9
Making sure Jack was sleeping comfortably, Sam headed to the bridge to talk with Thor. After they were transported back on board, the alien said he wished to speak with her privately when she got the chance. Slightly confused, but intrigued, Sam agreed. She and Jack would have plenty of alone time, since it would take them a few days to return to Earth. Thor had pretty much burnt out the engines getting the ship to Oreila. Entering the bridge, she caught sight of the small grey alien behind one of the consoles. Being sure to make noise so not to startle him, Sam crossed the room. “Thor, you wanted to see me?”
“Yes, Major Carter. On behalf of the Asguard I wish to thank you, for once again helping us to defeat the Replicators.”
“Oh, well, you’re welcome. If that’s all,” she replied pointing to the door, in indication she was going to leave.
“There is more,” he replied.
“Okay, what’s up?”
“You are aware that when Loki cloned Colonel O’Neill, I mentioned that, while O’Neill was an evolutionary leap for your people, he was only half of the answer?”
“Yeah, I remember. What does that have to do with me?” she asked slightly confused.
“When you were brought on board and linked to the computer, it scanned your DNA. It noticed an anomaly.”
“What type of anomaly?”
He didn’t reply. He merely moved some of the stones on the console so that an image appeared in front of them. Sam had to squint to see what Thor wanted her to understand, but, even after doing that, she couldn’t see it.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I believe you call it a fetus,”
“Oh, my God!”
“May I be the first o congratulate you and O’Neill, Major Carter”
“Wait, how can you be so sure it’s Jack’s?”
“The fetus, as you call it, shares both your and O’Neill’s DNA. You are not happy?”
“No, it’s not that It’s only been two weeks, since we…” she looked at the alien but the notion was obviously lost to him. “How can you tell so soon?”
“Our technology is far more advanced than yours.”
“Right,” she replied. “What does this have to do with what Loki did to the colonel?”
“As I said, O’Neill’s DNA was only half of the solution. After scanning the DNA of the fetus, I have discovered that the addition of your DNA solves the Asgard’s problem. As you can see, Major Carter, you and O’Neill have solved two problems for my race.”
“Wow…You’re welcome,” she replied, still trying to wrap her head around all that Thor had just told her. “I thought that after Jolinar, I couldn’t have children.”
“Because of the naquadah in your blood?”
“Yes.”
“While your child will have naquadah in its blood, that will not affect its development.”
“That’s good to know.”
“I am sure you want to discuss this revelation with O’Neill.”
“Yeah, I’ll just go do that,” Sam said turning around and practically stumbling out of the room.
~~~
Jack rolled over to find that he was alone “Sam?” he called out, but no one answered. Sitting up, he wondered where she could have gone, although the fact that they were on an Asgard ship probably meant she was talking with Thor. Wandering out of his room, he was relieved when he saw her coming down the hall. As he walked toward her, he could see that she was deep in thought and had no idea that he was standing there.
“Carter?” he called out.
“Sir, I didn’t see you there”
“Obviously. I woke up and you were gone,” he said in a hushed tone.
“Sorry. Thor wanted to talk to me about something.”
“Everything okay?” he asked. He began to get nervous when she didn’t answer him, “Sam, is everything okay?”
“Maybe we should go back to your room.” She really didn’t want to have the conversation in the hall but she could tell he was a little nervous.
“Okay.”
Once she felt the door close behind her, Sam took a deep breathe. She wasn’t sure how he was going to react to her news; they hadn’t discussed anything like this in the two days they had been together.
“Sam, what’s going on?”
“I’m pregnant.”
TBC…
~~~
Part 10
Jack wasn’t sure he’d heard her right, so he decided to sit down, “Come again?”
“I’m pregnant,” she repeated.
“That’s what I thought you said, but we only…ya know, two weeks ago, I mean is it mine?”
“Yes. Thor ran DNA scans.” She wasn’t sure if it was the shock or he was really disinterested in what she was telling him.
“So we’re gonna have a baby?”
“Yeah.”
Suddenly and out of nowhere, Jack grabbed her and spun them around, screaming at the top of his lungs, “We’re gonna have a baby! I’m gonna be a father!”
“Jack, keep your voice down” she said as she tried to stop him from spinning her.
“I don’t care who hears me!” he replied, as he put her down.
“So you’re happy?” she asked, taking a step back.
His smile slowly slipped from his face. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I just thought, after Charlie”
“Years ago, I would’ve said no but after meeting you, there is no one else I would want a second chance with.” he replied, wiping away a tear that started to fall down her cheek.
“Oh, I almost forgot; Thor said that the combination of our DNA has solved the Asgard’s cloning problems.”
“So, the kid is special already?” Sam burst out laughing. “God, I’ve missed you,” he added before capturing her lips in a kiss. After several moments, Jack broke the kiss and traced a line down her cheek with his finger. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she replied before kissing him again.
The End
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