True Meanings
True Meanings
by PepsiSlayer
TITLE: True Meanings
AUTHOR: PepsiSlayer
EMAIL: pepsicola@breathemail.net
CATEGORY: Sam and Jack, AU
SPOILERS: The First Commandment
SEASON / SEQUEL:
RATING: PG-13
CONTENT WARNINGS: m/f, violence
SUMMARY: On what was meant to be a routine mission, SG-1 meet some familiar faces.
STATUS: Complete
ARCHIVE: Heliopolis
DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. We have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the authors. Not to be archived without permission of the authors.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Sam blinked back the tears and tried to get behind the table, get the table between her and the source of her pain.
"I'm sorry," she told him miserably, and the tears began to fall.
"I told you, Sam," he replied in a low voice, one that scared her more than she would like to admit.
Sam sobbed quietly. "I told you, please, I'm sorry, I.. I.. I wasn't thinking.." she begged.
"I think you need to be taught again." The same low, unemotional, terrifying voice.
She sobbed again, this time out loud, and mentally yelled at herself. She hated looking weak in front of him. "Please, please, no.."
The man gripped a nearby metal pole, something Sam had been testing on to see if it was naquadah.
Then, in the distance, the sound of the Stargate being dialled up. The man looked up and Sam took advantage of the one-second distraction, bolting our from behind the table and running out of the temporary camp that SG-1 had set up off-world. The man swung the metal pole through Sam's various set up and half-finished experiments, shattering all the glass test tubes and beakers and spilling chemicals onto the table and the floor, before throwing the pole down on the ground and stalking out after her.
Sam ran up to Colonel O'Neill, trying to wipe away the tears with the back of her hand.
"Any idea who they are, sir?"
Jack noticed the tears, the give-away red eyes that Sam always seemed to have. He thought to himself about he could so easily stop it, get the man court-martialled... but he didn't. And he *knew* she was hurting, physically and emotionally, and he didn't try to talk to her, didn't try to make it better, because he knew what went on behind closed doors and that Sam could get beaten for even talking to him alone. But he felt like a rat for not doing it.
"I don't know, Captain," he answered her. "Daniel's taken point behind those bushes over there, I'm staying with the camp, you and Hansen get separate points in the forest," he said, indicating to the left with his head.
Sam nodded and left without saying anything. Jack knew she wouldn't pass on the message to Hansen, she was too scared of him. Hansen seemed to have heard anyway.
Jack headed back to the huge tent-like thing, taking cover behind the canvas wall nearest to the Stargate. He took a second to glance around at the wreck of Sam's experiments. Fifth time in a row, it had to be, or maybe sixth.. Hansen did it, he knew, but Sam took the blame. Various excuses, ranging from lack of care to frustration. It was Jack's opinion that the only thing around suffering from lack of care was Sam.
The Stargate opened, and SG-1 emerged.
Jack stared from his hiding place. No way, it had to be another SG team... the SGC must have got confused. Unless all that stuff Sam had been talking about was true..
**
"The SGC must've got confused," Sam told her CO as she emerged from the Stargate and saw the typical signs of an SG team already set up.
"I thought they had computers to make sure this didn't happen," Jack said.
Sam shot him a look. "Even computers make mistakes, sir," she told him as she started to move down the plateau that the Stargate was set on. Daniel emerged from the wormhole, followed closely by Teal'c.
"Is someone already here?" Daniel asked Jack.
"We don't know," Jack told him. Then, to Sam, "Be careful, Carter."
Sam nodded and headed towards the tent. She gently pushed aside the folds of the entrance, and took in the damage that had happened to someone's experiments.
"Don't move! Hands up," AU Jack yelled at her, readying his gun with an audible click. Sam jumped and turned to see who her attacker was, then put her hands up.
"Not moving," she told him.
>From over by the Stargate, Jack glanced over at the tent and saw Sam half-in and half-out, with both hands up standing very still.
"Okay, that does *not* look good," he muttered to himself, readying his own gun and running towards her. He could just see a shape in the nearest corner, and slowed down so he could creep up quietly to the tent. When he got close, he moved his gun so it pointed at his unknown enemy, then leant forward and very carefully moved the canvas entrance away.
Both Jacks reached for their guns and pointed it at the other before realising who the other one was, lowering them, and saying in time with each other, "What the hell..."
Sam glanced around and decided it was safe to lower her hands again.
"Carter, care to explain this?"
Sam started to answer, but was interrupted by AU Jack making a confused face and doing a 'WHAT!?' type gesture.
"Carter?" he asked.
"Yeah," Sam answered him. "That's me," she added.
"Okay," said Jack. "I think we'd both better call back our teams and try and figure this one out."
AU Jack nodded and headed out of the tent to tell Daniel, Sam and Jonas that there was nothing to worry about, and the other Jack merely leaned out of the tent and beckoned to Daniel and Teal'c.
"Someone really wrecked these things," Sam said to Jack as Daniel and Teal'c came over.
"Looks like it," Jack agreed.
Daniel and Teal'c walked into the tent, followed by AU Jack, AU Daniel, AU Jonas and eventually, AU Sam. She bit her lip when she saw what Hansen had done, and glanced at him before quickly looking away from his steely stare.
Then she noticed the faces of the other team assembled there. Most of all, the other Sam.
"It worked!" she said excitedly.
"What worked?" asked Jack, making a face.
"We were experimenting with the quantum mirror," she explained. "All of the other scientists thought it was a smaller version of the Stargate, like an easier to use form... but I had a theory that it changed time.. universe, if you like, and they granted us permission to do tests with it.. and it actually *worked*!" AU Sam's eyes shone, and she smiled. AU Jack couldn't help thinking to himself that it was the first time he'd seen her smile properly in a long time.
"Wow," Sam commented. "You know, that's-"
"Uh, Carter..s, I think maybe-" Jack interrupted her.
"Hansen," growled Jonas, interrupting Jack.
AU Sam lost the smile and went back to looking jumpy and nervous.
"What?" Jack asked.
"It's Hansen," Jonas told him.
Jack could feel a lot of hostility, and decided it would be a good idea not to comment on the name. "O.. kay, then.. Well anyway, what I was saying was-"
"Colonel O'Neill," Teal'c said, drawing his attention.
"Yeah, Teal'c?"
Teal'c walked over to the table full of smashed instruments and picked up the metal rod on the ground. "This is a warning from the Goa'uld. It indicates that they will return within a set time and that any living, thinking creature living on the planet with surely lose their life if they persist to have a settling here upon their return." Teal'c tilted his head to the AU SG-1. "Where did you find this?" he asked them.
"It was sticking out of the ground when we came here," AU Daniel told him. "Right in front of the Stargate."
Teal'c turned the object over, trying to find dirt marks or anything to indicate how deep it had been. He couldn't find any, and decided that someone must have cleaned it.
"How deep to you believe it was buried, Doctor Jackson?"
AU Daniel shrugged. "It was Sam who picked it up for testing."
Teal'c turned an enquiring face to AU Sam. "I.. I don't know, I didn't know the depth was important.."
Jonas snorted, and AU Sam fell silent.
The other Sam frowned. Apparently, the Jonas she had known and this one weren't much different.
"Captain, would you have looked at the depth if you were the one who picked it up?" Sam challenged him.
All of the AU SG-1 looked shocked.
"That's irrelevant, *Captain*."
"Actually, Sam is a Major in our world, and Carters seem to be universally smart so it really wouldn't surprise me if your Sam was in for a promotion soon.. I mean," Jack went on, starting to get sarcastic, "shock, horror, Jonas! She'll probably end up outranking you."
Jonas was about to reply when Teal'c decided it would be a good idea to stop this argument before it got too far.
"Do you have even a rough idea of how deep it may have been, Captain Carter?"
AU Sam indicated two points on it. "Somewhere between those two, I think."
Teal'c nodded and stared at it, before walking out the tent and seeing where it may have been before it was uprooted. Everyone decided that since Teal'c was busy doing things by himself, that left them to get on with whatever it was they should be doing.
"Okay... anybody who there's two of, work together," Jack said, "and.. uh... Hansen..." He trailed off, not sure what to say.
"Try and find who the native people are," AU Jack told him.
**
Sam passed part of a broken beaker up to AU Sam, who put it in a small box already filling up with broken glass.
It was weird. They were totally identical, but looked nothing like each other... Sam had noticed that AU Sam seemed to have a permanent haunted look, even when she was smiling. There was always a little shadow in her eyes, and little something that said that the smile could disappear in a second if the slightest thing happened.
When they were done, AU Sam started setting up various equipment. Sam helped, and soon they started trying to burn on of the chemicals that AU Sam had found.
"You're gonna burn your sleeves," Sam pointed out as AU Sam reached for something, putting her arm over the flame.
"I'll be fine, it's happened before," AU Sam muttered. Just then, the bottom of her sleeve caught fire. AU Sam cursed loudly and flapped her arm up and down before beating it with a towel. She looked at the big hole in her sleeve.
It revealed mottled purple and blue skin.
Sam stared, then gripped her counterpart's arm as if she couldn't believe it. AU Sam winced and Sam loosened her grip, but didn't let go.
"Who did this to you?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does."
"You couldn't stop him anyway," AU Sam replied, then bit her lip.
There was a nasty silence. "It was Hansen, wasn't it?"
"Maybe."
Sam frowned. "It was, wasn't it?" she asked angrily.
"Alright! Yes, yes it was!"
Sam slammed down a beaker on the table and started to walk outside, a very angry look on her face. She was muttering something under her breath.
"Wait, please, stop!" AU Sam asked her, standing in front with a panicky look on her face.
Sam looked at her double and the frown disappeared. "I'm going out there to help you," she told her.
AU Sam made a dismissive sound and looked away.
"What's that meant to mean?" "People 'helping' me is the story of my life," AU Sam commented.
Sam frowned again. "Didn't you ever stop and wonder why?"
"Yes."
"And what did you decide?"
"Nothing."
Sam was now starting to get very annoyed, at the world in general, Jonas in specific, and a little at her other. "Well, maybe it's because you're too scared to help yourself!" she snapped before storming out.
Samantha stared after her, wide scared eyes. No-one had said that before. Mostly they saw the scared look in her eyes, the one saying that most of the world had abused her and the remainder had turned it's back on her, and they decided against it... thought that saying it would be too cruel.
Ironic that she'd hear the truth from herself.
"Hey, you," said Sam in a terse voice, tapping one of the Jacks on his shoulder.
"Uh.. yeah?" he replied, unsure of what else to say.
"Are you from my universe?"
There was a pause. "That depends in who you are."
Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. "Major Samantha Carter, are you my Jack or not?"
"No, he's over there," AU Jack said, pointing.
"Right. Okay. I'd like to point out that you have a court-martiallable offence in your team."
AU Jack blinked. "What?"
"Sam. She gets beaten by Hansen for no reason and you know it."
AU Jack looked uncomfortable. "I tried to talk to her about it. She said she was fine and that nothing was wrong.. Hansen hit her for talking to me."
Sam stared at him angrily. "That's domestic violence! You have a job as a colonel, and as an american citizen to report cases like that to the officials!"
AU Jack was now looking distinctly guilty, and Sam could tell this was something he'd been arguing with himself about.
"But you won't, will you?" she asked quietly.
"I want to, really I do. There's a lot of things including Sam that I'd like to do. But I *can't*."
"Why not?" asked Sam, starting to get the annoyed tone back.
"Hansen's very powerful in our world.. he could probably bribe all the officials to keep it quiet, and if that didn't work he could hire people to hurt, maybe even kill the members of society who showed a shred of sympathy for Sam."
Sam scowled. She pointed to the large tent structure. "You try going in there. You try telling it to her face."
AU Jack looked over at her. "I just did."
>From the forest, Hansen watched it all with interest. He told her.. he'd shown her what happened when she went against what he told her.. but she persisted? There was only one cure for that.
**
Teal'c was the last to enter the tent. The rest of the SG-1s were assembled.
"The Goa'uld shall return at some time between five hours from now and the end of the next 2 days."
"That's a pretty broad area," Jack commented.
Jonas merely glared at AU Sam. He'd been glaring for a long time before that, and everyone had been making a hushed effort to have at least one person with her at all times.
Teal'c had also noticed the look. "Even if I had known the exact location of the device, I could only have been accurate within two hours," he added.
AU Sam looked slightly happier at that news and Hansen switched his glare from AU Sam to Teal'c. Teal'c ignored it.
"Shouldn't we start making preparations or something?" one of the Daniels asked.
AU Jack nodded. "Everyone pack up the camp, we're moving.. leave this tent, though. It should get their interest, and it'll be easier to get them if they're in one place."
Jack nodded, and by the sound of things they had both figured out this plan beforehand. "We'll set up camp further away, maybe in the forest where it's harder to be seen. We'll be spilt into two so that we've got both sides covered. Captain Jonas and Sam and one of the Daniels are with me-"
"Woah, woah - one of?" the Daniel on the left asked.
"Yeah, what's that about?" the other one asked.
Jack blinked. "You're both doctors, you both wear glasses, and you're both Daniel.. there's no way to tell the difference." He shrugged. "Sort it out amongst yourselves."
"Major Carter, Teal'c and the other Daniel are with me," AU Jack finished off.
This time there was no comment or argument from anyone.
Jack sat by the campfire and stared out towards the Stargate. The tents were behind him, and he was on watch. No sign of any gate activation or Goa'uld invasion yet. He checked his watch,
00:59.. 01:00
He got his torch and flashed it once at the forest across the wide space where the old camp had been. He received an answering flash almost instantly.
There was some rustling sounds behind him, and he turned round to see what was causing it.
AU Sam indicated that she was going to go for a short walk. Jack nodded and turned back to face the Stargate's direction.
When AU Sam decided she had got far enough from the camp, she let out a sigh. She couldn't sleep.. all she could hear were the words of her AU self.
"You're too scared to help yourself.." she muttered absent-mindedly.
This had started with running away. She'd entered this vicious circle by running away, and now running away was the only option.
The cool night air made her shiver, or that's what she wanted to believe..
There was a rustle behind her, and she turned round before letting out a gasp.
"What did you expect, Sam?"
Horror and fear started doing a dance round her mind. A dance that was too familiar.
She was vaguely aware that she was very quietly whimpering.
Jonas seemed to be angry that she hadn't replied.
"What did you expect, huh? Did you hope your colonel would separate us? Put us in different camps? No, you know more than to expect that.. you know that everyone is too scared of me to do anything that might get me angry.."
AU Sam said nothing. A small defiant voice at the back of her mind said that whimpering and begging and pleading would only give him a power rush.
On reflection, the voice was probably the other Sam.
Everything was now totally silent. AU Sam stopped whimpering and stood straighter. She started walking towards Hansen slowly.
"I'm not going to run anymore," she said out loud. "And I'm not going to fight back, not yet, but I can and will one day, and you'll regret ever doing any of this."
Hansen laughed, and then threw AU Sam a very hard punch that caught her left cheek and part of her eye. She staggered back but said nothing.
Jonas frowned. "I'm getting soft, huh? Not as strong as I used to be? HUH? IS THAT IT?"
He beat on her bad arm, then started lashing out at her, hitting her all over her body. Eventually she collapsed, bruised and bleeding.
And she hadn't said a word.
Jack frowned. That sounded like Hansen shouting.. and it was distant, not coming from his tent. Jack reprimanded himself for not being more alert and seeing or hearing him leave, then abandoned his post and started to run to where the sounds were coming from. If the other Sam was out there and Hansen had found her.. Jack didn't want to think about it.
And he really hoped that the clunking sounds he could hear weren't the sounds of a Stargate being dialled up.
"Why kill me?" AU Sam asked quietly, but not in a pleading voice. In a reasonable one that was deliberately chosen because it would make the person on the receiving end of it feel stupid. "If I die, there's going to be a lot of questions. They'll want answers, might even want to see my body. What'll they think when they see a small black eye and a bleeding nose? And that's just the face. You're stupid, Jonas, you don't think, you just act. You-"
"SHUT UP!" he screamed at her.
She ignored him and continued. "You're yelling, Jonas.. you never used to have to yell to try and keep me quiet, you just glared at me and that was enough.. you can't control me anymore, can you? You've lost it, you've lost the ability to control someone by looks alone.. are you going to bribe the forensics, too? You can't bribe cameras, and not General West.. and if he died, there'd be a big fuss, wouldn't there? And General Hammond would take over, he's a good man, you couldn't bribe him either... and another SGC controller dying so soon after the last one would be suspicious. The papers might hear about it, there'd be a huge investigation.. they can tell who's guilty, you know. You could lie all you wanted, but you'd crack under the pressure and you'd spill everything, Jonas, because you're weak. You're weak and you're scared, and-"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" He kicked her, hard.
AU Sam laughed. It wasn't a joyful laugh, more like a relieved one.
"I've managed to get to you, Jonas... when I die, I'll still be inside your head, living in there and making your life hell.. because everything I said was true. You rely on money to make you powerful. Without money, you're nothing.. just a weak, scared, little man in a big tough world. You can't cope without-"
Jonas raised his leg to deliver another hit and Jack burst out of the forest. He glanced once at Sam, taking in her injuries with a deep horror, before glaring at her attacker.
"Hansen!" he hissed, before delivering a punch of his own that knocked Jonas backwards.
He staggered back and was about to give a replying hit when a bright shot of energy hit him full in the chest and he fell down. He wasn't getting up again.
Another two shots zoomed past, missing Jack by a hair's width. He quickly bent down and scooped up AU Sam before running off through the forest. He started to head towards the camp before deciding the better of it. He didn't want to lead them to his comrades.
Soon he found AU Daniel wandering round the forest. Jack glanced down at AU Sam and realised with a shock that she had passed out.
"Daniel!" he hissed.
AU Daniel glanced over, and started running towards him. "Jack, the Goa'uld-"
"Yeah, I know, take Sam back to the camp, but NOT if the snakes start following you. I'm going to try and take them out."
AU Daniel nodded, and Jack passed AU Sam's unconscious body over before finding cover behind a tree. AU Daniel ran in he opposite direction, and soon Jack couldn't hear him crashing through the woods anymore.
Everything became very still. Squinting into the darkness, Jack thought he could see a figure. Then he got a very definite sight of a staff weapon. He did a quick check that it wasn't Teal'c before opening fire.
That was the first one down.
**
Jack glanced into the large tent, still standing in the wide space in front of the Stargate. Apart from a few moved objects, it hadn't been touched at all by the Goa'uld. He was looking in to see if AU Sam was there.
He could see familiar blond hair and blue eyes.
"Hi," he said quietly.
She looked up. "Hi, Colonel."
Jack walked up to her and glanced at the work on the table before deciding that he would understand any of it an that he would just be better off giving her his message and seeing how she reacted.
He wondered vaguely why he felt so nervous, and seized the moment.
He felt her lips on hers and was tempted to deepen the kiss then reminded himself that he had to tell her, had to let her know..
He pulled back, breaking the kiss. He could tell she was about to say something and quickly got in first with, "Look, I know that was unexpected and probably didn't make sense or anything, but.. there's more to your Jack than you think, okay? He loves you, I can tell.. just as much as I love my own Sam but she can't ever know that, because.. just because. I know you probably thought everyone was scared of you, but that was because of Hansen, not you. Not everyone is as jealous as him."
Then he leaned forward and kissed her again, getting a full response. Soon, there was the sound of rustling and someone entered the room.
They quickly jumped apart and glanced up at who'd entered.
"Oh, um.. I'm sorry, I didn't know you guys were.. uh.. together.." she apologised.
Jack opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again. If his Sam had walked in, she wouldn't have said 'I didn't know you were together' because she'd have known they weren't because there wasn't really enough time.. which meant that it was AU Sam standing at the doorway.
Which meant that he'd just kissed his own Sam. And practically told her he loved her.
Oops.
He opened his mouth to explain again, and was this time interrupted by AU Jack entering.
"Hi," he commented to Jack and Sam before touching AU Sam's arm. "You okay?" he asked her.
Sam shook herself and ran out.
"Hey, Sam, wait!" Jack called, and then ran after her.
AU Sam and Jack stared after them.
"Any idea what that was about?" he asked eventually.
AU Sam's expression was somewhere between worried and blank. "Maybe.."
**
Jack chased after Sam. She ran into the woods, brushing aside branches, trying to outrun him. When she thought she might possibly have lost him and she was out of breath, she leaned against a tree. Soon there was some nearby rustling sounds, and Jack emerged a few metres away. Sam started running again, but she was too tired and Jack eventually caught up with her.
"Sam-"
"No, Ja- SIR," she corrected herself, trying to distance herself from him, "Don't."
"Sam, just let me-"
"No! No.." she sighed. "Look, I just need to be alone to think.."
"I meant what I said," Jack told her.
"You said it to the other Sam. Those were words to her, not me."
"But they were ABOUT you," Jack argued.
"It doesn't matter! They were comfort words to a hurt and confused woman, not your 2IC."
Jack grabbed Sam's arms and pulled at her, forcing her to look into his eyes. "But I *meant* it.." he told her.
Sam stared into his eyes. She could tell by the expression that he was telling the truth.
He gently pulled on her arm again and her body met with his. His head slowly leaned down so his mouth was only a few centimetres away from hers. "I meant it." He whispered before his lips captured hers in a earth shattering kiss.
Later, they lay in each other's arms, contented.
**
Daniel ran up to AU Sam and AU Jack.
"Have you seen Jack or Sam anywhere?" he panted to them, thinking to himself how bizarre that sounded.
"I think they ran into the woods a little," said AU Jack, pointing at where they had gone.
Daniel nodded. "Thanks," he said, and started to run again. AU Sam pulled on his arm and he stopped.
"Uh.. I think you should maybe leave them for a bit."
"Why?" Daniel asked, sounding slightly suspicious.
AU Sam thought quickly. "They have a lot to talk about." 'Yeah,' she thought to herself, if talking involves-'
Thankfully, her thought was interrupted by Daniel. "Ah.. yeah. I'll talk to them later. Thanks anyway," he called over his shoulder as he walked away.
AU Sam let out a relieved sigh. Sam would have to pay her back for that.
"So what exactly would they be 'talking' about. Captain?" AU Jack asked her.
She sighed and decided it would be easier to answer the question if she ignored the emphasis he's put on the word 'talking'. "Them.. us. It's pretty much the same."
AU Jack looked worried and guilty. "Look.. I couldn't say anything. You were married AND air force AND my 2IC."
"You knew I had a bad relationship with Hansen."
"Hell, EVERYONE knew you had a bad relationship with Hansen."
AU Sam looked down. "Yeah," she said quietly, "I should have given back the ring when I had the chance."
AU Jack frowned. "What do you mean?"
She sighed and started to tell the background story. "It was the day before me and Hansen were going to move into our own apartment together. I was going to give back the ring and break off the engagement because he'd been really power-obsessive recently. And I got outside his flat, and I had this huge argument in my head about whether I should or not and how angry he'd get and everything... and the scared side won." A lone tear rolled down her cheek, and more were building in her eyes. "And.... if I'd just done it and given back the ring, I could be living the same life as the other Sam, being with you and-"
"Hey, shhh, shhh..." AU Jack whispered to her quietly, hugging her and stroking her hair. "I love you... I've always loved you but I couldn't tell you... shhhhh, it's gonna be alright.."
Sam walked in aimlessly, and hesitated slightly when she saw the couple. Jack walked in after her.
"Woah, what-" he started to say, but was interrupted by Sam elbowing him sharply. She turned him round and pushed him out the doorway.
"We're interrupting a Moment," she told him, walking out behind him.
AU Sam leaned back but stayed in AU Jack's arms. She looked at him and smiled.
**
"Are you going to go back to your own reality?" Sam asked AU Sam when she saw her packing up all her equipment the next morning.
AU Sam put the last piece in the box, then slid it to the side and leaned against the table.
"Probably not, actually... everything seems a lot nicer in this world." She smiled. "Know any friendly planets we might be able to settle down at?"
Sam shrugged and smiled back. "A few. Maybe you could find the natives and settle down here." She thought of something and frowned. "Aren't you gonna miss all your stuff at home?"
AU Sam shook her head firmly. "It'll always remind me of Hansen... I'm leaving all that behind now."
Sam nodded and smiled. "I hope you have a good life."
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