samandjack.net

Story Notes: SPOILERS; 100 DAYS? (CONSIDERING I HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET)


DAY 10



Jack woke up, groaning as he stretched his limbs, and felt the pain. 'What the hell did I do to myself this time?' he thought to himself, without opening his eyes. He lay there, trying to listen, and remember. The infirmary was oddly quiet. He couldn't hear any machines beeping, so he wasn't hooked up to anything, which was nice. But neither could he hear Janet's efficient, comforting voice, which made him feel a little lonely. She always seemed to know instinctively when one of her patients was going to wake up, and appeared at their bedside with words of comfort. He tried hard to think back to the last thing he remembered.

A planet. Hot. Not unlike the southern states. Friendly people. Farmer Jack jokes. Gunfire. Gou'alds. Trying to destroy the gate. Running to get help before they were all killed. Running for the gate. Sam hit. Sam falling. Sam bleeding. Sam. Sam.

"Sam!" he shouted, opening his eyes, expecting to see Sam there, as she always was when he was the infirmary, reassuring him, calming him.

No Sam. No Janet. No infirmary.

"What the hell....?" he was in a stone building, cool and breezy, and old-fashioned. Very nice but the infirmary. And the woman walking towards him was no-one he knew.

"Where am I?" he stammered.

"Hospital." she replied.

"Where is the hospital?" he asked, a little impatiently.

She only smiled though. "My home. Benares."

Jack tried to sit up, felt the pain shoot through his back, then sat back again, swearing. "Where are my friends?"

"They went back through the gate."

"No. No way would they leave me behind."

"Please, don't get agitated, you're still very weak."

Jack tried to sit up, argue, but he couldn't. "They wouldn't leave me." he said, quietly, as his eyes started to flutter closed again.

"I'm afraid they did." the woman said. "You see, they thought you were dead."



*****



"Try it again!" Sam yelled at the hapless technician.

"I'm sorry ma'am." he said. "There is no wormhole. We're just not connecting."

"There has to be a way. Some way." she murmured, picking up her pad and going through her calculations yet again. There was no reason why they could connect to Benares before, and now couldn't. She walked down to the gateroom, where Daniel and Teal'c were waiting. "Nothing. Not a thing."

"Sam, maybe you should get some sleep." Daniel said, exchanging worried glances with Teal'c.

"No, no time." she muttered.

"You told me to sleep once. You said I couldn't stay awake forever."

She looked, jerked out of reverie by Daniel's illusion to their second mission.

"Sam, you can't think straight. Go to sleep."

She nodded, acknowledging the bone-deep weariness in her body. "I'll sleep. But brief SG3. I want Makepeace and his team ready to go the minute this gate is opened. I don't want to take any chances."

Daniel nodded as she turned away.

"She has not accepted Colonel O'Neill's death yet." Teal'c said, quietly, as she left.

"I'm not sure I have."

"We saw him fall. We saw him hit. He could not have survived."

"I don't know. Jack tends to survive the unsurvivable.." Daniel looked up at his friend's sorrowful face. "You're right, of course." he sighed in defeat. "It just seems....like it can't be the end, somehow." He swallowed his coffee and moved off. "Ah well, better brief SG3 I suppose."

"You acknowledge the futility of this mission, yet you still continue to try to rescue Colonel O'Neill."

Daniel turned to face Teal'c, his expression bleak. "I know what its like, to lose someone you care for, and refuse to acknowledge it, and to have no-one to help you. She helped me look for Sha're when all hope was gone. I'll do anything and everything she asks me to, if it will help her."

Teal'c looked at Daniel for a moment, then nodded, acknowledging the truth of his statement, and joined him.



*****

Day 20.



"Rosa." jack said to the woman as she approached. She'd been kind, and had cured him, but she would still not tell him what had happened exactly, and wouldn't let him go to the gate.

"Jack." she said cheerfully. "On your feet at last I see. How are you?"

"Fine." he said, trying not to wince as he walked.

"Don't lie to your doctor." she said, smiling. "Sit down, and let me examine you."

He obeyed, watching her as he did so. She was slim, blonde, blue eyes, like Sam. If she cut her hair, and wore uniform and they were in a dark room, and he was drunk, and he squinted, she might look like Sam..a little. He sighed. It was coming to something when he was seeing his friends faces in every stranger he saw. He missed them desperately, more than he could say. He wished they'd come, and he lay awake at night, making up all kinds of reasons why they hadn't come, each one worse than the last. He'd told Carter once that he didn't want to be buried on an alien planet, he wanted to be buried next to Charlie. He knew she would move heaven and earth (probably literally) to carry out his last request. So why hadn't she come? He imagined all kinds of things stopping her. Maybe the Gou'alds had invaded Earth. Maybe she was injured, and couldn't walk, or had lost her memory. The second most worse reason was she had forgotten her promise...thought he was dead, and had forgotten him. He didn't want to even think about the worse reason.

"You're recovering." Rosa said. "Well done."

"Yeah great. Can I go to the gate today?" he said, expecting the usual negative answer.

But Rosa nodded, and said. "I don't see why not. But be prepared for a shock."

"What kind of shock."

"You'll see when we're there. But at the rate you can walk with that wound, it'll be a couple of days travel."

"I'm ready."



*****



"Major Carter!" Makepeace called as he headed down the corridor, calling after he fast disappearing figure.

"Major Makepeace." she said after a moment, turning round slowly, as if she were in quicksand. "What can I do for you."

"Well, we can tell me why we're being briefed on Benares when we can't even open a wormhole to the planet."

"I'll find a way to get us there. I've sent a message to the Tok'ra and..."

"And nothing." Makepeace said, wincing as he said it. The woman looked awful, pale, with huge shadows under her eyes. He sympathized with her, he really did, he knew how terrible losing a fellow soldier was, but she was military and should be able to deal with it. "Look, I'm sorry to tell you, but according to what your friends say, jack O'Neill is de..."

"Don't you dare say it!" she yelled. "Don't you dare! There's no proof of that!"

"This is a waste of time, Major!" he yelled back.

"Major Carter." came a calm voice from behind him. He turned. General Hammond stood there. "I believe they need in the control room."

Sam stood for a moment, as if she wanted to continue to argue. Then she moved off, reluctantly.

"Son, have you got an explanation for your behaviour towards Major Carter?" Hammond said in his deceptively gentle manner.

"Sir, she is chasing ghosts..."

"So let her. May I remind you, Major, that you yourself owe your life to Colonel O'Neill?"

"Yes, but Sir...."

"And that we all know that if the situations were reversed, he would go back for you?"

"Sir." Makepeace agreed, beginning to feel defeated.

"And I would remind you that Colonel O'Neill is officially posted as MIA, not dead. I have known Colonel O'Neill for a long time now,and I will not believe he is dead until I can touch his cold body myself. Major Carter has my full backing in this rescue mission, is that clear?"

Makepeace snapped to attention. "Sir!"

"So what are you going to do know, Makepeace?"

"Go to Major Carter and offer her my full support, Sir!"

"Good."

Hammond moved off past Makepeace, but Makepeace stopped him.

"Sir," he said, "she always did have my full support, I just didn't want to lose more lives on a wild goose chase."

"I know. But we have to keep trying, Makepeace."



*****

Day 22.



Jack couldn't believe it. He'd expected bodies, death. He'd prepared to see the bodies of his friends. But there was no bodies. Not even a sign that there had been a major battle here a few days ago. Well there was one sign. A fairly major one.

The gate and DHD were in ruins. Shattered into tiny pieces. His way home was lost forever.

Jack sat down in the dust, and cried, soft, silent tears.



*****



"Sam?"

Sam looked up from her notes, her vision blurred by tears and hard work. For one moment, she thought it was Jack standing there, then her imagination cleared from her eyes, and she saw who it really was.

"Dad?" she cried, rushing into his arms. He held her close, stroking her hair.

"Daniel met me at the gate. He told me what happened. I'm so sorry."

"I have to get him back Dad. I can't give up."

"I know darling. I know." Jacob said as his daughter finally broke down for the first time since it had happened, and sobbed so hard he thought she would hurt herself.



*****

Day 25.



Jack finally turned from the gate. He had been there for three days, trying to piece fragments together, but it was no good. What he really needed was Sam. Sam could fix the gate, or find another way home, or solve this somehow. Sam would keep his spirits up. Sam would smile when he made a joke, and fight like a tiger to keep the two of them alive. Sam. He needed Sam.

He heard movement behind him, and turned, for one unbelievable, breathless moment seeing Sam there. Then his longing cleared from his eyes, and he saw who really stood there.

"Rosa."

"Jack."

"How long have you been here?"

"All the time. I was afraid to leave in case, in your grief, you did something terrible to yourself."

"It would be better if you had left me." he said, a familiar dark depression he'd not felt in so long sliding over him.

"Not for me." she whispered. "Come, I'll take you home."

"Back to Earth?" he asked, his eyes suddenly brightening at the thought.

"No, back to my home."

"Ah, of course, " he said, limping behind her. "How could I be so stupid."



*****

Day 30



"Rosa, were you there?" Jack asked in a sudden burst of curiosity.

"Was I where?"

"By the gate when it was destroyed."

She took a deep breath, as if a moment she was preparing for had suddenly arrived, and she wasn't quite ready. "Yes, I was."

"Did you see what happened to my friends?"

Rosa looked round, deep into Jack's eyes and saw there something that would not be denied, nor fobbed off with platitudes. She nodded mutely.

"Tell me." he ordered.

So Rosa did. How the Gou'ald had attacked, but it had soon become clear that the Gou'ald were after SG1, not the people of Benares. SG1 had run for the gate, warning the people to destroy the gate once they were through. They had got to the gate, but the woman was hit. As she fell, Jack stopped, ran to her, but he was hit, several times, by weapons fire. The one with glasses had started to go to him, but the Jaffa had called out that Jack was dead. They had gone through the gate, but the Gou'ald had all gone, leaving a weapon behind, which the Benarans had used to destroy the gate. Then, as Rosa had helped clear the battlefield, she had found slight signs of life in Jack and bought him back to life.

"Sam." Jack asked urgently. "What happened to Sam?"

"Sam is the woman?"

"Yes, what happened."

"I am so sorry. They carried her through the gate. I believe...I am sure...she was dead."



*****



"Sam?" Jacob asked, coming into the lab and seeing the tray if food still full. He sighed. "When did you last eat? You have to keep your strength up, or you'll be no good to anyone." There was no answer. He was sure Sam was there, she had barely moved out of her lab for the past few days, researching the surrounding planets of Benares, trying to find one that had a gate. "Sam?" he called again.

Then he saw her. She was lying on the floor, unconscious.



*****

Day 32.



"She's made herself ill." Janet said. "She hasn't eaten, or slept for weeks. Frankly, I'm surprised she's lasted as long has she has."

"So, she's just..worn out." Daniel said, standing by Sam's bed, arms crossed.

"Basically." Janet agreed. "But it's going to take a long time before she's well enough to start work again."

"How long?" Daniel asked.

"I'd say weeks, rather than days."

Daniel sighed, and sat down by his friend's bed.



*****



"Jack?" Rosa called. "Jack, are you there?" she called again. Then she saw him. He was curled up in bed, blankets heaped over him. "Jack, its a lovely day outside."

There was no reply. She tried again.

"Jack, it would do you so much good to be outside, in the fresh air." She could see his face now. He was practically in a catatonic state, his eyes staring in to nothing, his lips opening only to form the word 'Sam' every now and again. Rosa hadn't seen grief this strong since her mother had died, and her father had died of grief. She reached out to touch him. "Jack..." she said softly.

"Sam?" he murmured.

"No." Rosa shook her head as tears slipping down her cheeks as she watched the heart-broken man in front of her.

"Then leave me alone." he said.

"Jack, you can't..." She screamed suddenly as his hand shot out from under the blanket and grabbed her wrist.

"I said, leave me alone." he growled, and just as suddenly, let go of her.

She left.



*****

Day 60.



"Sam? Sam, can you hear me? Janet, I think she's coming around! Sam?"

Janet rushed to Daniel's side as Sam opened her eyes slowly.

"Where am I?" she croaked. Daniel held her head up, and held a glass of water to her lips. She drank thirstily.

"You're in the infirmary." he said gently. "You worked yourself almost to death."

"Jack?" she asked, hope bright in her eyes.

"I'm sorry honey, not yet." Jacob said from the doorway. He came in and sat on the bed. "But we have a way to get there. We can gate to a safe planet, then take a ship to Benares."

"How long?" she asked, her eyes bright and determined.

"Honey, it was difficult to find a safe planet in that area, and Benares is a long way from other planets, that's why the Gou'ald have never really bothered with it."

"How long." she insisted.

"Four weeks."

"And you need a week to rest at least." Janet added, but Sam just lay back, smiling. She'd known there was a way to keep her promise.



*****



"Jack, we need your help." Rosa was insisting. "It's harvest, and we need all the help we can get."

Jack ignored her. Rosa, after weeks off caring for him, looking after him, trying to drag him out from his depression and grief, finally lost her temper.

"Then to hell with you! We've sheltered you, fed you, endured your moods for over two months now, and never once have you said thank you! I'm sorry you lost someone you loved, but life goes on, and so do you! Now, are you coming out to help us, or not!"

Jack watched her, her face flushed, standing there, furious, and something inside her reminded him just a little of Sam. He nodded. "I'll help."



*****

Day 70



"Ready?" Daniel asked the pale, slight figure beside him.

She nodded, and smiled. "Ready."

The four of them, Sam, Daniel, Teal'c and Jacob stepped through the gate on the first step of their journey back to Jack.



*****



"Ready?" Rosa asked, handing Jack the scythe. He'd been using smaller tools all week, but he had decided he was ready for the big one.

"Ready." he said, taking the scythe, and smiling down at Rosa. She watched him walk off, so unlike any man she'd ever know, so different, so caring, so... strange. And he was all alone now.



*****

Day 90



"Almost there." Sam said to Teal'c, sitting beside him in the cockpit.

"What do you hope to find?" Teal'c asked.

"Jack, alive and well." she replied, without hesitation.

"What do you expect to find?"

She thought for a long time, thinking over all the possibilities, before she answered. "Jack, alive and well." she answered slowly.

"May your prayers be answered." Teal'c replied.



*****



"Done." Jack said. "That's the last of it. That is the last of it, isn't it?" he asked Rosa as she handed him the water.

"Yes, it is." she said, laughing. "You did well. You should become a farmer."

He looked at her, and around at the beautiful planet for a moment. "I guess I'm stuck here for a while." he said. He smiled down at the blonde, blue-eyed woman beside him, thinking of another blonde, blue-eyed woman he had loved...still loved. His eyes softened, and he smiled involuntarily as he thought of what she would say if she could see him now.

Rosa, staring up at the stranger she knew she was falling in love with, misunderstood the smile. She took courage, and reached up, and pulled Jack down to kiss her.

For one moment, still lost in his dream of Sam, he responded. Then he came to his senses, and pulled away.

"Rosa, I don't think...."

"I know." she said sadly. "You still love her. But one day, when you're over her, come to me."

He said nothing, just smiled, sadly. She walked away.



*****

Day 99



Jack watched the sunset. In the distance, he could see Rosa, playing with some of the village children. He liked children. And he was stranded here. He'd given up hope of ever getting home. Up in the sky, he saw a shooting star. Half-laughing at himself, he made a wish on it.

"I wish I may go home."

"Sir?"

He stood up. He knew that voice. That unbearably sweet voice, who only ever called him Sir. He was dreaming. He was imagining. He turned slowly, not wanting to shatter the illusion.

"Sir?" She stood there, a little paler, a little thinner than he remembered. She seemed so real. Oh God, such an unbearably sweet hallucination, to seem so real, so tempting. Tears ran down her face, but she smiled, so much.

"Sam?" he said, hesitating.

"Sir, its me." she said.

In a moment he was holding her, hugging her so hard she thought she couldn't breathe, but she wouldn't pull away.

"I thought you were dead." he whispered, still holding on, as if he'd never let go.

"I was told you were, but I knew you weren't." she whispered back. "I'll never leave you again." she said. He only nodded, unable to speak.

Rosa watched in silence. She'd almost had him. But she was glad she'd lost him, to see him so happy. She only wished it didn't hurt so much.



The End.




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