'This is all Carter's fault,' Jack fumed and then felt instantly guilty for blaming his 2IC. She certainly hadn't asked to be swept away by a mudslide and laid up for months. Still, he was in a foul mood after his meeting with Hammond and it all came down to the current and future status of one Major Samantha Carter.
Hammond's first bit of news has been that it was unlikely that Carter would be coming back to SG1. Her name was currently on a short list of officer's to be fast-tracked, meaning a promotion to Lt. Colonel as soon as the proper approvals had been obtained, and another to Colonel two years later assuming she met performance expectations. Which she would of course. There had been some discussion regarding taking her name off the list until her medical status was resolved. Hammond, however, had pointed out that not only was this was the perfect opportunity for SG1 to try out replacements, but that if, God forbid, Carter was discharged for medical reasons, she still deserved to be recognized for the incredible work she had done in the last several years and go out with the higher rank.
So it was 90% certain she was no longer going to be his 2IC. There was a large part of him already making plans for that day. The more sensible side was trying (and failing miserably) to squash any hopes in that direction. Fate and the U.S.A.F. had an uncanny knack for ruining any long-term plans he ever tried to make. Besides, although things had been looking up in the last few weeks, he still wasn't totally sure of where she stood on the whole issue of a non-working relationship between them.
As upset as he was with the thought of having to replace Carter, (or rather having to find a new fourth for SG1 since no one could replace her) his irritation was currently more directed at his latest assignment. With Carter grounded, Hammond had decided to shuffle the mission schedule until they could come up with a short list of candidates for SG1's new member. They had been scheduled to be going out to inspect some promising ruins that might provide some clues to the whereabouts of the 'Lost City'. Instead Hammond had decided to send Daniel out with SG2 on that mission. Since SG2 had originally been due to spend a week breaking in some new recruits, he and Teal'c got to baby-sit the youngsters. Crap.
The only good thing was that they would only need to be taking the kids off-world for a day, so they wouldn't all be abandoning Carter to her own devices for any length of time yet. He had a feeling she needed a bit of breathing room before that happened. Truth was, so did he. Once SG1 was sent off with a new member in tow instead of Carter, he had a feeling he was going to go almost as crazy as she would.
He checked his watch and saw that he had an hour before he had to meet up with the recruits as they were currently busy up at security getting all of the pesky non-disclosures signed, and badges made. He'd already informed Teal'c of the change and had been surprised to see the man actually grimace before his normal stoic mask fell back into place. Feeling the big guy's pain he'd relented and told him he only needed to make an appearance today, but tomorrow would be needed to put the rookies through their paces with the zats and staff weapons before they were allowed off-world. Today he would sic Carter on them and put them through Wormhole theory 101. Poor smucks. Too bad Daniel had already left. He could have had his friend torture them with a rundown of the Ancient Egyptian Gods' family tree. Maybe while Carter had them enthralled with technobabble he'd check to see if anyone else from the 'Rocks and Dead Language' department was available.
Two hours later he was ready to throw himself down a hillside so he could join Carter in the gimp ward. Anything to get him away from the painfully naïve faces that were following him around as he lead them on a tour of the SGC. He was old enough to be any of their fathers he realized with a grimace. He'd led the four wide-eyed young men from the briefing room to the control room, and then since Carter was tied up with some minor dialing glitches that had occurred while she was off, he'd had Teal'c take them to the armory. After they were done there, he'd relieved his teammate as promised and showed the recruits some of the other areas they needed to be able to find. The infirmary had gotten a quick walk-thru, as well as security and a couple of the labs. Now he was headed for Carter's home away from home to introduce her and hopefully lure her to the commissary with him so he didn't have to spend lunch alone with the four.
As he'd hoped, she was there, leg propped up and surrounded by pillows. He raised his eyebrows at the sight. Someone had definitely raided the VIP rooms. He couldn't resist commenting.
"Comfy Major?" he inquired.
She didn't even blink an eye. "Yes, Sir. Thank you," she remarked with a small smile that she extended to the four men behind him as she noticed their presence.
Jack made the formal introductions, watching as each of the four fell under Carter's spell. He couldn't even be jealous, as Carter was totally unaware of her impact. He didn't see her falling for any of these wet behind the ears youngters anyway. Thank heavens she tended to prefer more mature men. It was at least one thing he had going for him. As it was he was able to amuse himself by watching the four fall all over each other assisting Carter with her crutches, files and pillows after she agreed to come to lunch with them. He rolled his eyes when they met hers and delighted in the way her lips twitched as she tried to hide her own amusement. All of his good intentions to keep a lid on his hopes for a future went out the window, and he suddenly knew that the instant Hammond announced Sam's promotion and she was no longer under his command he would be knocking on her door.
Lunch turned out to be less painful than he'd feared. He and Carter had spent the time learning about the backgrounds of each of the four young officers, and then he had left them in the briefing room with the Major and her slide show. They had emerged two hours later looking dazed and O'Neill had decided they could do with some exercise to clear their heads. He'd scheduled time for them to spend with one of Daniel's co-workers in the morning, so he spent that rest of the afternoon running them through maneuvers to test their skills.
Despite his griping to Hammond, Jack thoroughly enjoyed the next two days. He divided his time between scaring the crap out of the newbies, and bothering Carter in her lab. All in all a very satisfying couple of days work. On Thursday he and Teal'c prepared to take the recruits through the gate. While the four young officers changed into their gear in the main shared locker room, the two member of SG1 headed for their private domain. They weren't surprised to see that Sam was waiting for them in there. As the two men geared up she watched them with barely disguised envy.
"Relax, Carter. We'll only be gone for eight hours, and then we'll be back safe and sound and you can pay me the $50 you'll owe me," Jack assured her.
"I believe the bet was that you all had to remain safe the entire time I was out of commission," Sam reminded him.
"Oh, right. I still should get a reward for bringing the kids home in one piece. How about I get to pick out what's for dinner tonight?" he suggested.
Since he was driving her back and forth each day they had fallen into the routine of stopping on the way home for food. Usually Sam picked the cuisine and the Colonel insisted on paying. She considered his proposal now in amusement.
"Sir, you are taking the recruits to Orban. If I know you you'll spend all your time playing with the kids. Even you couldn't get in trouble there!" Sam protested.
"You're just jealous because you can't go along and play with the scientists. How about if I promise to bring you back something fun to play with?" he teased.
"I believe that is the whole purpose of the mission, O'Neill. General Hammond stated in the briefing that we have been offered a prototype of a shield generator that the Orbanian scientists have been working on," Teal'c commented.
"Way to ruin my gesture, T," Jack groaned.
Sam snorted and tried to hide her laughter by turning towards the door, but not before O'Neill had seen the grin. Score. It had taken three weeks, but Sam was smiling again. If nothing else, he was determined to help her rise above the depression he knew she had fallen into, and keep her from thinking about her uncertain future. With any luck this new toy would keep her mind occupied for several weeks.
As they walked slowly towards the Gateroom he continued his previous proposal. "So? Can I pick out dinner? I have a taste for Cajun," he suggested.
Sam sighed. She wasn't a fussy eater, but Cajun wasn't one of her favorites. She knew the Colonel loved it though, and he hadn't whined all week about carting her around, so she figured it was the least she could do to make it up to him.
"Sure. You all come home safe and on time and we can order Cajun food tonight," she relented graciously as they met up with the recruits just outside the blast doors, failing to notice their eyes widen slightly at her statement. Jack did however and decided he had better nip the gossiping in bud.
"T, you going to join us tonight? You can stay in my spare room after we drop off her highness and get her settled for the night," he quipped.
"I would enjoy that O'Neill," he responded even as Sam protested at her CO's choice of words.
As the guards handed them their weapons and O'Neill double checked each of his charges to make sure they were all put together correctly, Sam hobbled over to a spot in front of the ramp where she was out of the way, but would be able to see them depart. She enjoyed the shocked faces of the four recruits as the wormhole formed, and the slight hesitation in their steps as they followed Teal'c through. Then with a quick backward glance and wink to her accompanied by a sloppy salute to Hammond in the Control room, O'Neill followed them through to Orban.
Sam waited for the SF's to clear out before she started to slowly make her way back to her lab. Up above Hammond watched her leave with a sigh. He hadn't missed the sudden slump of her shoulders once she thought she was safe from prying eyes.
*****
Jack O'Neill groaned as he regained consciousness and instantly was confronted by four very worried faces, and one Jaffa who looked… well like he always looked.
"O'Neill, it is good to see you awake," Teal'c greeted calmly.
"What the hell happened?" Jack groaned. "I feel like I've gone several rounds in the ring!"
"You got knocked out, Sir. You were nailed by a line drive hit by one of the kids," Lt. Ash reported.
"Yeah, I remember. Little kid. Jonin. Swings like Sosa. Gonna send the Cubs to recruit him in a few years," Jack commented eyes closed as he tried to get his head to stop spinning.
"Are you alright Colonel?" one of the other recruits inquired. It was too much of an effort for Jack to open his eyes to figure out which one.
"Yeah, but I don't suppose there is any way we can keep this out of the official report is there?" he responded.
"I fear not, O'Neill. You are going to have what I believe you call a 'shiner'," Teal'c noted.
"Damn," Jack swore softly, conscious now of the kids standing just a few feet away, unnaturally quiet. "Give me a hand up T."
Once on his feet, Jack took a second to be sure he was not in any danger of falling over and then scanned the crowd of anxious kids looking for Jonin. He then strode over to him and slapped him on the back.
"Nice hit, kiddo," he told him with a grin.
Jonin raised worried eyes to Jack's. "I'm sorry Colonel Jack. I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered.
"Not your fault Jonin. I'm out of practice. I should have got my mitt up. Next time I'll catch it and get you out," he assured the child.
"Next time I'll hit it over your head," Jonin vowed.
"I bet you will. You've got a great swing. You should be hitting homeruns easily the next time I see you," Jack declared, earning him a bright grin from the boy.
The baseball game having been brought to an abrupt halt, the majority of the kids wandered off to play other games after seeing that the Colonel was ok. Jonin walked back towards the science hall where a medic was waiting having been alerted that one of their visitors had been injured. After insuring herself that he didn't have a concussion, and applying an ointment to the area that was refreshingly cool and was supposed to prevent swelling, she left the men to talk to the scientists who had the shield generator for them.
The Orbanians had been very disappointed when they had learned that Carter hadn't made the trip, and were sorry to hear she had been injured. They tried to explain how the prototype worked but were met with six blank sets of eyes. Instead they pressed volumes of specifications into the hands of the men, and told them to have Major Carter contact them with any questions.
Having already spent time with Merrin when they first arrived, Jack took just a second to say goodbye to the girl before he and the rest of the team left. He marveled at the young woman in front of him. Not unsurprisingly, Merrin had been the poster child for the new schooling developed for the Urrone children after they went through the Averium. In four short years she had not only re-learned how to read and write, but had picked up the basics of complex physics that she had previously spouted with ease, and was working as an apprentice in the labs. Jack had no doubt that in another ten years she would be giving Carter a run for her money once again.
They arrived back at the SGC half an hour early, and Jack steeled himself for the inevitable comments. Jonin's line drive had hit him right in the cheekbone and already the black eye was very noticeable. At least the swelling had been kept to a minimum thanks to the wonder ointment the medic had applied. Jack hoped to redeem himself slightly be giving a sample of the medicine to the Doc's here to study. As expected Hammond had quizzed the Colonel immediately. After being assured that it was just a bruise, Hammond had ordered them all to the infirmary, and then to debrief. They had barely made it through the blast doors when they met up with Carter hobbling to greet them. She stopped in her tracks at the sight of CO.
He saw concern and amusement pass in quick succession through her eyes. With a sigh he pointed to the field generator and specs the recruits were carrying.
"We brought you a new toy," he offered hoping to distract her.
"Sir?" she quizzed still looking him over for any other signs of injury.
"Oh, hell, Carter. Double or nothing?" he suggested.
*****
End Week 3
Story Notes: Eight Weeks Series – Week Three: Season: Season 7, immediately after Resurrection
Spoilers: Learning Curve
Spoilers: Learning Curve
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