Part one
~Jacob~
I still get a strange feeling when I go through the `gate. I probably always will. I'm still wondering if one of these times it'll be Jack in charge and when the Tok'ra signal comes through he'll not open the iris. But I know that would never happen. Sam wouldn't let him and besides, he never knows if it could be me! I like Jack; he's a honest, genuine guy. He'll let you know what he thinks about you. Believe me *I* know. I've experienced his wacky quirks enough to know.
There she is. My baby girl rushes up the ramp and crushes me to her, her blue eyes wide and shining, letting me know she's happy to see me.
"Hey Sammy. Did ya miss me?" I ask her knowing her answer.
"Always Dad, always. Is there a problem?" She asks straight to business while I take the time to look around at my friends, most new but one old.
"Dr Jackson, Teal'c." I nod to both of them. "George." I smile and shake his hand. I look around. "No Colonel O'Neill?" I ask Sam.
She blinks a few times and looks around as if she just noticed he's not there. "Um, no…" She says slowly and a dark shadow fell over her face.
"Where is he?" I ask, mimicking my daughter but still fearing the worst.
"Where's who?" That familiar - yet ever so welcoming - voice placates me. "Hey, dad! Sorry I wasn't here with the welcome party had some things to do. How are you?" He asks and without waiting for an answer continues. "Good. Now what can we help you with?"
I laugh.
"What am I not allowed to just come and visit my baby girl anymore?" I say exasperated but with a slight smile still on my face.
"Of course it's just that, well, you normally come with a mission for us," Sam says, slightly confused.
"Well not this time, sorry kids. Just came to see my baby girl." I laugh again and look around at the shocked faces of the people who have become my very close friends.
"So I'm not needed?" Jack asks looking anxious to leave: stamping feet; nervous hands; tense smile.
"It appears you are not," Teal'c said to O'Neill with absolutely no emotion in his voice but then again that wasn't unusual.
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some things I have to do." With that he practically ran out the door and I could imagine the dust flying up behind him.
`It appears Colonel O'Neill was in a hurry.'
You could say that.
"What's eating his pants?" I ask anyone who will answer as I finally step off the steel welcoming ramp as the `gate begins spinning indicating another incoming wormhole.
"It's SG-12, sir," the technician announces from the Control Room and Hammond nods up at him and tells him to leave the iris open. Sam is staring at the door Jack just exited through.
"Excuse me." She mutters and leaves, no doubt to follow Jack.
`She is a little late.'
Yeah, I wonder what's going on.
`Indeed.'
I repeat my question.
"I don't know," Daniel finally answers as we move into the briefing room. "Jack has been trying to avoid Sam for weeks now. We don't know what caused the change but something happened and well…you've just witnessed the consequences," Daniel says talking more to himself than anyone else – which, again, was not an uncommon occurrence.
"Well if you'll excuse me I am going to go get checked out and then see my daughter. George is that ok with you?" I ask, a little bewildered by the behaviour of my welcoming party.
"Of course, Jacob, off you go. Janet will be expecting you."
"Thanks," I say as I leave my mind buzzing with the information I had just received. My Tok'ra sand-uniform seemed to become heavier. Or maybe it was my heart.
~~
"So do you know what's going on between Sam and Jack?" I ask Dr Fraiser who is currently sticking a needle in my arm, a small frown of concentration on her forehead.
"No. You noticed too, huh?" She asks and I nod, wincing slightly as she draws blood.
"When did it start?"
"A couple of months ago. Just after her promotion. They were getting on great then one day, poof, this happens. It wasn't always as bad as this." She lays down her needle and picks up a clipboard, not once glancing in my direction. "What happened today that made you realize something was wrong?" She inquires as she writes on my chart.
"Well I came through the gate and Jack wasn't there and when he came in he apologized saying he `had something's to do.' That was the same excuse he used when he left." I pause. "I noticed something was wrong by the way Sam sorta clung to me, she's never done that before."
"Janet! Can I talk to you about that… *thing*?" A male voice asks, intruding in the conversation.
"Sure Colonel be right there. Just finishing up with Jacob." Janet replies, all business.
"What `thing' would that be Janet?" Colonel O'Neill wanted to talk to Janet?
"Sorry, sir that's strictly confidential." She replies.
"I have the highest clearance." I remind her, a crisp edge creeping into my voice.
"Patient confidentiality. No you don't you're free to go."
I jump off the bed and as I walk through the curtain I bump into Jack.
"I want a word with you, Colonel," I say harshly.
"I'm sorta busy right now Jacob," he replies sarcastically, glaring with a half closed eye.
"Later then." I say and stalk off, daring him to question me.
"Later." I hear him say.
~~
I walk towards Sam's lab and find the door closed and when I try to open it I find that it is locked. I knock quietly.
"Daniel go away. Please." She sounds upset.
"Sam, it's me. Open the door."
There is a pause. There us an almost silent click and when the door opens she pulls me into a hug and slams the door shut locking it behind us.
She starts crying again.
"Hey Sammie. Ssh it's okay. It's okay," I whisper – what I hope is - soothingly.
"No! No it's not! You don't even know what's wrong." She yells through tears, her voice cracking.
"Then tell me," I gently prod and push her to arms length.
"I can't, not yet. Please, leave me alone." There is something in the way she says it that makes me do as she asks.
"Okay Sam but I'm coming back. Either that or you come to me. I'll be in my quarters." I lean down and kiss her forehead.
As I walk out the door the over-head intercom crackles.
"Remaining members of SG-1 and Jacob Carter to the briefing room. Repeat remaining members of SG-1 and Jacob Carter to the briefing room." I turn to Sam to see her look to the ceiling.
"Remaining members?" I query knowing full well she has complete knowledge of what is going on.
"This is it." She whispers before wiping her face and moving out to the briefing room not bothering to compose herself: something is definitely wrong.
~~~
I enter the briefing room and look into Hammond's office through the glass starchart. He's talking with Jack, who in turn is nodding his head, his face stony.
I take a seat across from Sam and beside Daniel in one of the comfortable black leather chairs that have been recently replaced I gather from the smell of the room.
"Do you have any idea what this briefing is about?" Daniel asks Sam who is looking at George's office almost in tears.
"Um...no," she says as she turns towards us, her eyes red and puffy. George comes into the room followed by O'Neill. Sam stands out of respect for her superior officers but Hammond waves her down.
"As you were, Major." He says quickly. Once Sam has taken her seat, Hammond prepares to begin to tell us what this briefing is about. "Colonel care to have a seat?"
"No." He states simply looking through the glass window onto the doorway to the galaxy.
"No?" Hammond says angrily, his face flushing a deep red. I can not remember the last time I have seen George this angry.
"I'd rather stand thanks." He says sarcastically, emphasising the thanks and adding a frown for effect.
"Very well. I have called this briefing to inform you of Colonel O'Neill's decision to leave the SGC. He will return to Argos to live out the rest of his life with Kynthia. And his daughter." Hammond finishes and Sam lets out a sob and covers her mouth quickly in an attempt to hide her new found weakness.
I look to Jack to see his reaction. He is still staring out at the Stargate though not really seeing anything: the vacancy of his eyes evidence of that. I can't believe he is doing this to Sam. Of all the pig-headed, Jack-esque things he could do…that is the worst.
"Why?" Sam asks quietly, but he, nor anyone else, answers. "Dammit Jack! Why!?" She shouts. She stands so quickly that her chair falls over clattering loudly. "God Jack. Why?" She asks in a hushed tone. She falls to the floor in tears.
"Sam…it's for the best. Believe me." He says from his place in the corner, his voice echoing on the wall.
"Best for who, Jack!? Best for you!?" She screams through her sobs desperately trying to calm herself but only succeeding in worsening her composure.
"Sam…don't." He says as he leans down and hugs her after moving away from the large expanse of glass.
She hugs him back. "Who, Jack?" She whispers. "Who is it best for?" "For both of us." He says as he buries his face in her hair. They are oblivious to everyone else in the room.
"Don't you mean the *three* of us?" She sighs and pulls away from him as though knowing what his reaction will be.
"What!?" He exclaims, eyes wide, mouth gaping.
"I was going to tell you that night but…"
Oh. My. God! Sam's pregnant!
Jack jumps up from her and slowly walks towards the door, when he reaches it he bolts like lightening.
"Where the hell does he think he's going!?" Daniel and I shout and stand.
"He's going to see Janet." Sam says from the floor.
"Why?" I demand.
"She ran some tests to see if he could have kids. She said he couldn't but this proves it all wrong," Sam answers, her voice thick with emotion that I almost begin to cry myself.
My God, my baby girl is going to have Jack's kid.
Part two
~Sam~
"Sam this may seem like a *really* stupid question but…how did you end up having Jack's child?" Daniel asked me.
I'm gonna take Jack's way out of this.
"The usual way." I reply deadpan, my voice my own again.
"Sam…" Daniel pleads, sighing while shaking his head and glancing away from me.
"Ok, remember my promotion party?" Everyone nodded. "Well…"
~~ Flashback to Sam's promotion party. ~~ (Cliché moment people, ugh!)
Colonel O'Neill and Sam Carter are standing at the drink table when a song comes on that both recognize and like.
"Would you like to dance, Sam?" Jack asks. Her eyes light up. "I'd be honoured." She smiled.
They walked onto the makeshift dance floor and everyone seemed to move to allow them access. The soft female voice came on over the gentle music.
What would you think if I told you
I've always wanted to hold you.
I don't know what we're afraid of,
Nothing would change if we made love.
Sam looked into Jack's eyes and mouthed the words. She could tell he was thinking exactly the same thing as her. She placed her head on his shoulder and he whispered the next verse to her.
So I'll be you're friend
And I'll be your lover
Coz I know in our hearts we agree
We don't have to be one or the other (oh no)
We could belong to each other.
It didn't matter that it was strictly prohibited; they loved one another and could be friends and lovers.
Yes it's a chance that we're taking
And somebody's heart may be breaking
Nobody can stop what's inside us
Our love for each other will guide us
Both of them knew that if they were found out it would be the end of their careers. That didn't matter if they had each other it would work.
So I'll be your friend
And I'll be your lover
Coz I know in our hearts we agree
We don't have to be one or the other (oh no)
I've been through you
You've been fooling me
Sometimes a friend is the hardest to see
We'll always know
When it's laid on the line
Nobody else is as easy to find
They know they will have to fool everyone, even there best friends.
But they were willing to give it a try.
So I'll be your friend
And I'll be your lover
Coz I'll be your friend
And I'll be your lover
Coz we I know in our hearts we agree
We don't have to be one or the other (oh no)
We could be both to each other
~~
"Of course we fooled everyone and it was going great. At least at first." I sigh as I recall that fateful clichéd night where it seemed that the world had ended.
"What happened Sammy?" My dad asks me.
~~
Rain pounded hard down onto the rooftop of Cheyenne Mountain, the lightening ripped the sky apart and the thunder beat like huge drums when Jack got the results of a test he'd asked Janet Fraiser to run on him earlier.
"Sorry, Colonel, but you can't have kids. Hathor's sarcophagus obviously had an adverse reaction on you," she told him, not looking in his eyes in fear of what she might see there.
"Thanks Janet." He said and walked out to tell Sam the news. When he returned home Sam still wasn't there. He moved into their bedroom and grabbed a bag from under the bed and started throwing clothes into it. When he had finished he took a notepad and pen from the study and started writing.
Dear Sam,
I know this is the coward's way out but it's the only way I can say this without backing out. I asked Janet to run a few tests on me to see if I could have children. Sam, I can't. That's why I'm leaving, I know how much you want kids and if you stay with me you can't have that. I can't take that chance away from you. I love you too much to put you through that. I'm going out of town for a while, I don't know when I'll be back if ever, just don't try to find me - you won't be able to. You know how much I love you and I would never mean to hurt you and I know that by doing this I am but Sam, please understand, this is for the best. You'll thank me for it later, believe me.
I love you forever, Sam
Jack xxx
~~
I have tears in my eyes now, I know it but I can't get them to stop falling.
"That must have been the time he went to Egypt for three weeks. When was this Major?" General Hammond asks me with soft eyes.
"Um about five weeks ago, sir. When Jack took three weeks off." I mutter.
"Jack went to Egypt!?" Daniel asks eyes wide his surprise barely hidden and I expel a burst of air that was supposed to be a laugh.
"Yes Dr Jackson. I wouldn't let him leave until he told me where he was going. Sam when did you find out you were pregnant?" Hammond asks gently.
"That day, sir." I begin to tell the story again.
~~
Sam bounded up the stairs to her and Jack's house, not noticing the downpour falling on her head. She had some excellent news for him.
"Jack!" She called as she entered the house. When there was no reply she didn't worry. She noticed a small envelope with her name scribbled on it.
She opened it and read the letter her heart constricting, breathing becoming difficult. By the end of it she was sitting on the floor in tears, lightening the only shadow of light in the dark room.
"Jack you don't understand. You can, you can give me children you've given me a child." She sobbed into the empty darkness. "You have to come back, you have to."
~~
"The next day I came in I asked you if Jack had taken some leave and you, sir, said he had taken three weeks. I had to act normal but I couldn't: I was too happy because at least I knew he was coming back. I knew it would never be the same but then this whole shenanigan started and I couldn't tell him. I was too afraid." I close my eyes and bite my lip.
Everyone looked up as the klaxons sounded. We rush into the control room to find Jack already standing there. He won't look at me and his face is calm and relaxed. That face scares me.
"Who is it?" Hammond barks.
"It's…the Argos IDC, sir." I take a deep breath as Kynthia steps through the wormhole.
Part 3
~Jack~
Standing in the control room I hear the technician say it's the Argos IDC.
Crap.
This is it. I have to go.
No turning back now.
I turn and look at Sam; she looks so white. I can't believe I'm hurting her like this. She's pregnant and I'm leaving her.
No! Jack it's for the best, she has a better chance in life without you. Forget it, she'll find someone… But do you want her to?
Oh shut up conscience!
"Jack?" I turn and look at Daniel. He motions towards the Gateroom, where Bambi – Kynthia I mean, Kynthia – is standing looking rather scared.
I nod and make my way down the stairs to the gateroom, away from the glaring eyes of one very pissed off Jacob Carter and one very pissed off Jaffa Teal'c.
"Stand down!" I tell the SF's standing pointing guns at her.
"Jack!" She exclaims and lunges herself at me. Her lips find my neck and I shiver involuntarily. I push her away and she looks hurt.
"We better get you checked out. I didn't expect you here so soon. I have to pack some stuff!" I smile falsely but she seems not to notice.
"The sooner we can get out of here the sooner we can start our life together." She sounds so enthusiastic and I really don't want to go. But I will.
"General, permission to…"
"Granted. Go get her checked out." Hammond calls from the control room. Sam's not there I notice when I furtively glance in the general direction of the General.
I miss her already.
I take Kynthia to the infirmary and leave her to go and clear out my office. I pick some stuff from my drawer and fling it in a box when I hear a knock on my door.
"Come in!" I call.
Please don't be Sam. If it's Sam I swear to God -
"Jack?"
"Crap," I mutter involuntarily, noticing that I have broken whatever it was that I threw haphazardly into the box.
And also because I recognise the voice as belonging to Sam.
"Sam," I say more calmly than I expected.
"Why are you doing this?" She sounds so upset and I don't dare to look at her.
"Because I have to." I sigh. "Sam please don't try and change my mind." I continue to throw things into a box. I pick up the picture of Sam and I at the park. I stand up and move around my desk still holding the picture. "Here." I put my hand out. "Keep this."
She reaches out and takes the picture and starts to cry. "I already have one, Jack." She reminds me.
"Now you have two," I inform her stonily and walk to the other side of my desk again. There is an awkward silence where I continue to throw things into a box that I'm probably not even going to take to Argos with me.
"Jack please don't go. Please." She pauses. "I love you."
Dammit Sam! Don't say that.
I move towards her and take her face in my hands. "I love you too." I kiss her gently on the lips and pull back quickly before I lose my will power and avoid looking into her eyes. "But I have to go."
She looks at me with eyes bright with tears and nods. She turns and leaves my office and I fall unceremoniously into the chair. Why is life so unfair?
An hour later, Kynthia has been cleared and we're ready to go. I turn and see Daniel and Teal'c standing in the control room. We said our goodbyes earlier. Daniel started crying.
Poor guy.
Teal'c, he pulled me into a bear hug and I thought I was going to suffocate. None of them wished me luck.
Funny that.
I haven't seen Sam since she left my office.
"Chevron 7 locked!" The big splash emits light into the gateroom.
"Colonel O'Neill?" Hammond calls as I begin to walk up the ramp. I turn and am greeted by the site of most of the base personnel saluting me: I hadn't even heard them enter the Gateroom. I smile slowly and return the gesture. I cast one final look at the control room and find myself staring straight into the eyes of Sam Carter. She nods and salutes and I smile sadly at her and nod and lower my hand.
"Jack?" I hear Kynthia say my name so I turn to her. "Are you ready?" I nod and move up the ramp casting one last longing look over my shoulder.
Walking into the familiar village I am greeted by warm sunshine on my face. I see a kid in the distance and Kynthia runs to her and picks her up. She carries her over to me and I am surprised at what I see.
"What the…?" I look at Kynthia.
Part 4
~Daniel~
Well Jack's gone. I still can't believe it.
Sam is pregnant with Jack's child and he's leaving her; leaving us - his *family*. I know how upset I am and I can't even begin to imagine what this is like for Sam. The `gate shuts down letting us know that the travellers have reached their destination.
I miss him already.
I glance over at Sam but find she has already left. I'm not surprised.
"DanielJackson," Teal'c says to me, "should we not see to MajorCarter's needs?" He asks with far more compassion than I would have imagined for such a Jaffa; I berate myself and remind myself that he is Teal'c and no ordinary Jaffa.
"I'll go talk to her Teal'c. You stay here with Jacob," I say and move away.
"JacobCarter in what way can I assist you?" I hear him ask as I descend the staircase.
I follow the blue line, which will take me to Sam's lab. I honestly didn't think Jack was capable of this.
Actually…
I can't believe this was going right under my nose and I had no idea. I look up and find I'm already outside Sam's office. I can't even remember getting in the elevator.
"Hey Sam," I say as I walk in.
She gives me a watery smile and replies: "Hey Daniel."
"You wanna talk about it?" She is quiet for so long and I expect her to say no, but she doesn't.
"God Daniel I can't believe this is happening," She says and let's her head drop onto her hands.
I stand back for a few moments, my face crinkling into a hurt expression and I feel a pressure in my throat, which means only one thing: I'm ready to cry.
"How long were you together?" I ask gently not wanting to push her too much.
"Five months."
Five months! And I didn't even have any idea! I mean I noticed the difference but I thought they'd come to some sort of decision.
Well they had. Of sorts.
"And…oh God they were the best five months of my life! We, um, we decided to try for a kid after 4 but when we didn't, you know?" I nod and let her continue. "We both decided to get checked out. Jack's test results took longer than mine did. I went to a different clinic so no one would suspect. It was the same clinic that told me I was pregnant." The last word came out as a sob. "I was so happy. Then I went home and he was gone." She continued through her tears. I hate seeing her in so much pain but I know that there are no words that could ever possibly comfort her in this situation.
I move around the table and take her in my arms and let her cry. After what seems like an eternity, she pulls back and apologises.
"What for?" I ask.
"Your shirts all wet," she laughs, but it is a futile attempt and the sight causes me great pain.
"That doesn't matter." I look at her drawn features and wish there was more I could do to help her. "What are you gonna do about the baby?" She looks at me incredulously as if I've accused her of some horrible crime. I hurry to correct myself. "I mean are you gonna be able to do this on your own?"
She smiles a ghost of a smile. "I have no choice."
"You know, me and Teal'c will always be here. And so'll your dad. And General Hammond." She sobs and I look at her. "What's wrong?"
"I'm going to be court marshalled. I just know it!" She sounds angry with herself.
"No you're not!" I exclaim. "We'll find a way!"
"Yeah." She sighs. "You know we never did think about the consequences of what we were doing. I mean we were planning on having kids! And not once did we think `Oh wait, what we're doing is against regulations and no one even knows about us.' It was just… right. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah I understand. Just – were you living together?"
She smiles that ghostly smile again. "Yeah. In his house. Did you never suspect anything when I would turn up at your house with him and only one car? And how, when you guys were over, I never left?"
"Now that you mention it…." I trail off as I berate myself. How could I not have known? I mean she would turn up in his car for Christ's sake! Man we've been blind. "You really had us fooled Sam, you really did." I laugh slightly.
"The truth between friends." She smiles sadly.
"Sam, you said Jack left you," I ask and she nods and I can tell from the expression on her face that she is thinking about it. "Well… if you were staying at his house, where did you go when he returned?" I ask the question that had been nagging me since I heard Sam's emotional account of the events of her and Jack's split.
"I had never actually given my place up, so I just moved back in there taking all of my clothes and stuff with me." She is silent again for a long time and I shuffle about on the stool I occupied. "I wonder if we'll ever see him again. You know, if he'll come back for a visit," she says lazily.
I can tell by the tone of her voice that she doesn't think he will. "I hope so." Is all I can think of to say.
Suddenly the klaxons blare, sending a red glow over everything.
"Unscheduled off world activation! This is not a drill! Unscheduled offworld activation!" The tinny voice announces what we already know.
"There's no teams off world," I say as we jog down the corridor towards the control room.
Part five
~Hammond~
"Jacob? You okay?" I ask my old, balding friend.
"Never better George. Never better," he replies bitterly. I turn to see Sam make a hurried exit and I can't say I blame her. "George can I speak to you? In your office?"
"Sure come with me." I lead him to my office and I know where this conversation is going. "Jacob don't worry I'm not going to punish Sam," I say confidently. "Jack isn't here anymore so there's no possible threat to the team."
"That's what I'm worried about," he sighs.
"Jacob?" I question.
He pauses.
"She loved him George. I mean *really* loved him. Not that she ever told me, but you can tell. Why else would they risk their careers on this – thing?"
"I know they did Jacob. I'm not blind you know. There was always some tension between them, until a few months ago when the tension lessened, but the looks and the non-committal touches increased. I just thought they'd come to some sort of agreement." I looked to my friend of too-many-years-to-count. He simply nodded his head glumly.
"I just – I just can't believe he'd leave her like that!" He's getting angry.
"I know. But he must have had his reasons." I state diplomatically.
"I don't *care* what his *reasons* are! His *reasons* are what is making my little girl cry at night! I don't think I have to listen to his *reasons*!" He shouts but calms down quickly.
Well… Selmac takes control of their shared body.
"General Hammond," she says by way of introduction. "Jacob is highly emotional at this point. I must say it is wise that Colonel O'Neill is not here at the moment because Jacob would surely `wring his neck' as I believe you would say."
"Thanks for that Selmac." I chuckle. What an amusing being.
Jacob takes control again.
He let's out a long sigh.
"I just wish I could do more for her that's all." He says and rubs a hand over his practically bald head.
"Daniel's with her now. We shouldn't worry."
"It's my *job* to worry." He rolls his eyes. "Sorry."
My reply is cut off by the sound of the `Gate activating and the technician announcing an incoming wormhole.
"We have no teams off world!" I say as I rush out of my stifling office.
Behind me I hear Jacob say: "God she's thrown him out already?"
"Who is it?" I bark at Simmons who flinches slightly but does not falter.
"It's – Argos, sir!" He exclaims and his fingers fly over the keypad in front of him in a familiar way.
"Well open the iris!" I say as Dr Jackson and Sam enter the gateroom, which becomes more crowded.
"Jack?" Daniel asks and looks up at one of the monitors to see the "Argos" sign flashing across it.
"I think so," Jacob says and focuses his eyes on the spinning ring.
Jacob just finished speaking when the blue watery surface shimmered and then O'Neill appeared obviously in a *very* bad mood.
Hot on his tail is Kynthia.
"Jack please!" She yells looking at him pleadingly.
"Kynthia! Just stop!" He turns his eyes to her and I could have sworn the Stargate actually began to melt. "I have heard enough!" He said with iron calm that belied the rage in his eyes.
"Colonel O'Neill! What in hell is going on!?" I demand over the microphone.
Part six
~Sam~
Argos.
Jack.
Oh God.
I look down to the `gateroom, and see Jack. Wow! Bad mood. Thank God I'm not on the receiving end of that!
Or maybe I am…
"Jack please!" She sounds desperate.
Then again maybe not…
"Kynthia! Just *stop*!" Oooh! Did the Stargate start dripping?
Beside me General Hammond grabbed the neck of the microphone.
"Colonel O'Neill! What in hell is going on!?" He demands, anger *very* evident in his voice.
"Oh well, I might just let Kynthia explain that, sir!" He says and stalks out the room.
"Debriefing room. NOW!" Hammond booms over the intercom and we all rush off.
~~
I walk in the briefing room and find Jack already seated there staring at the table. I'm surprised it's not on fire.
I take my seat next to him.
"Jack?" I ask gently. His head snaps up, but his eyes soften as he sees me.
"Hey, Sam," he says and leans back in his chair, eyes closed. "What have I done?" I don't know if he's talking to himself or me so I opt for quietness. "That bad, huh?" It appears he was talking to me.
Oops.
"Uh… Not that bad. Just, not that good. What happened?" I watch as his jaw clenches and his skin tightens. Must have been bad.
"I'll tell you in the de-brief. Don't want to go over it *too* many times." He says and leans forward and takes my hand. I squeeze his fingers and feel my chest tighten. "Sam – I'm an idiot." He sighs and scratches his head. "I know this isn't really the time or the place but – you have to understand that I thought I was helping you." He looks up as the door opens and Hammond, Daniel, Teal'c and my dad walk in. They look at us but don't say anything, but Daniel has an enigmatic grin on his face.
I roll my eyes. That man has one *hell* of an imagination.
"Colonel care to tell us what happened before we bring Kynthia in?" Hammond asks as they all take their customary seats around the table.
Jack nods and releases my hand.
"Well, it was all fine and jolly when I arrived until…" He trails of and shakes his head a bitter laugh escaping through his half open mouth.
"Until what Colonel?" Hammond presses.
"Until I saw the kid." Ice: that the only way to describe what his voice was.
"Why what was wrong with it?" Daniel asks with his usual subtleties… of a hammer.
"Well- what the?" He stands up as the Stargate begins to spin.
"Offworld activation!" The tech calls.
"Don't worry Colonel it's just SG-3 returning on schedule.
"Right. Anyway – "
"General Hammond and SG-1 to the control room. This is no drill. Receiving no IDC! Receiving no IDC."
"Not SG-3?" Jack asks and I smile as we run towards the control room. We pass Kynthia and she follows us unsure of what is going on.
"Do we know where it's coming from, son?" The General asks.
"Argos, sir. Should I open the iris?"
"Yes!" Kynthia calls.
We turn and look at her.
"Open the iris," Jack says as if he knows who it is. And who's to say he doesn't?
The iris slid open and a few seconds later a young child no more than three came stumbling out.
"Jamron!" Kynthia calls and runs down the stairs that lead to the gateroom.
"See what I mean?" Jack says and motions towards the child.
Daniel starts laughing, and I am struggling to keep my laughter in also.
"*What* are you laughing at Daniel?" He shouts but I can tell he sees the funny side of this.
"Sorry Jack, it's just – well look." We do and I know now why Jack felt like such an idiot.
There's no way that child is his.
Part 7
~Daniel~
"You have *got* to be kidding me!" I laugh at the absurdity of this situation.
"Daniel – just *stop*!" Jack shouts at me as we wait outside the infirmary as Janet runs some DNA tests on `Jack's kid'.
*No way* is that kid Jack's!
"Sorry Jack, but I mean – she doesn't even resemble you." I hear Sam stifle a giggle and Jack shoots a glare at her.
"Don't you think I *noticed* that!" He let's out a hefty sigh and continues. " I mean she has *blonde* hair and *green* eyes. None of us – Kynthia and I – have blonde hair or green eyes… Oh God!" He rubbed a hand over his face and I was suddenly hit by guilt about laughing at him.
"Jack – I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…" He waves me off but I still feel guilty and I try to reach out to touch his arm but he pulls away.
"I'm gonna lie down. Call me when we get the results." He turned abruptly and left.
I watch Sam as she watches him go, sorrow for both of my best friends filling my body.
I slump into my seat and decide to talk to her.
"So… you and Jack looked pretty close in the briefing room earlier." I look at her and see her smiling sadly and I know that what was said was private and feel like a prude for asking.
"Yeah… Daniel I miss him." She leans back in the chair and rubs her still flat tummy. Oh God I forgot! She's pregnant! Oh God! Oh poor Sam. Oh…
"Sam, do you think he'll stay?" I know that my question has a double meaning. Obviously Sam picked up on it as well.
"I hope so," she says and smiles. She rises slowly. "I'm going to get coffee want any?" I nod and she walks off.
As soon as she rounds the corner, Janet comes out of the infirmary holding a folder. She looks dazed and surprised that Sam and Jack aren't there, and looks at me hopefully. I shake my head and she nods.
"Did they leave already?" She asks instead.
"Jack's in his quarters, I'll just go get him, and Sam is in the commissary she'll be back in a minute."
"Go get Jack. And then I'll tell you what the problem is," Janet slips this information and I stare at her.
"There's a problem?" I ask suddenly, fear racking my brain. Jack couldn't handle losing another child, even if it wasn't exactly his.
"Go get him!" I rush off to get Jack.
~~
"Jack!" I pound on his door. He opens it and looks irritated. "Sorry. She has the results."
"Thanks Daniel." He mumbles and looks back into his quarters. "Come on." He says to someone behind him. I look behind him hopefully, but it's only Kynthia. She looks upset. Ouch.
~~
Back at the infirmary we wait impatiently as Janet finishes giving someone a prescription. She finally came over to us and opened a file that was lying on the bed. Could have opened it and found out sooner.
"Well I can confirm that the child is not Colonel O'Neill's, however," she pauses but doesn't look up. "The DNA does match that of someone you know." She looks up at us and sighs. "Daniel – did you?"
"What! No!" I shout.
Janet smiles. "That's what I thought. There seems to be a mixture of every persons DNA from your team."
I look at Jack. `Huh?' is written all over his face.
"What? How is that possible?" Sam asks, ever the scientist.
"I don't know. Did any of you cut yourself, injure yourself in anyway?" Janet eyed us carefully.
"I did not."
"No."
"No."
"No I just…" Jack trailed off not finishing his sentence, glancing at Sam guiltily. I looked at Sam but she was putting her military training to work and didn't even glance in Jack's direction.
"Okay, just give me 48 hours and I'll try and figure this thing out. I am ordering every one of you to go home – well except you Teal'c," she nods towards him and he inclines his head. "I'm sure Daniel won't mind letting you stay at his house for a few days," Janet smiles enigmatically at Daniel before slapping the folder closed and walking off.
"Thanks Doc," Jack said and moved out of the room looking at Sam slightly.
"How you getting home Sam?" I ask her.
"Oh I'm not," she says.
"Why not?" I ask confused.
"I…have some work that I have to do…" She sighed.
Just then Jack popped his head back in. He made a `come on' gesture with his head.
"Sam, you coming?"
I watched her intently as her eyes enlarged, but finally went back to her normal size. She took a hesitant step forward and Jack reached out and took her hand, and then led her away.
I turned to Janet. "Yes!" We both shouted. Maybe there's still a chance for them yet.
Part eight
Janet stretched and rubbed her shoulders. She was missing something: what it was she didn't know; only that she was missing it.
"Forget this." Janet got up from her chair and moved towards the door. She looked back once and decided that it would be there in the morning.
She made her way through the quiet corridors - quiet because of the time - walking close enough to the wall to drag her nails along it. She reached the commissary and opened the door to reveal Daniel sitting alone, head in a book, and a mug of coffee. He looked like hell. She went to the cafeteria and got her coffee then sat down across from Daniel. He finished reading his sentence and looked up from his book.
"Hey Janet, what are you doing here?" Daniel asked her, taking a sip of his drink then squeeming at the taste.
"I have been working on that blood sample for over three hours, I think I deserve a break!" She leaned back placing the cold coffee on the table. Daniel closed his book and looked at her.
"Have you figured anything out?"
"No, not yet. I was going to get some sleep. Then go back in the morning."
Daniel nodded. "Understandable. I can't believe Kynthia would lie like that to Jack. I mean you can tell that her child isn't Jack's." Something in Janet's' head clicked and she got up and the chair fell fast. She barely heard Daniel yell at her. "What!? What did I say!?" She bolted down the stair realising what it was she was missing.
~@~@~
Leaning over the microscope Janet peered closely at something in the kid's blood. There was already an unidentified sample in it but that- something was definitely wrong here.
She went to find Kynthia and ask her some questions.
~~
One hour later Janet came out of Kynthia's quarters with a blood sample. She slid it under the microscope and examined it. She checked and double-checked her findings. This was so not real.
"This can't be real." She said aloud.
"What can't be real?" Janet spun around when she heard Daniel's voice.
"Look at this." Daniel leaned closer and looked into the microphone.
"Oh my God. We should phone Sam and Jack."
"You call them! I'll tell General Hammond!" She called as she ran out of the lab, leaving a dumbfounded Daniel staring at the sample of Jamron's blood. This just wasn't happening! He wasn't a doctor and even he knew that this wasn't right.
Janet rushed down the corridors to General Hammond's office and knocked on the door. When she received no reply she finally understood what was wrong. In her haste to tell Hammond, she forgot about the time.
"Dammit!" She shouted and kicked the door leaving a huge dent in it. "I can't believe this is happening!" She said and rushed to the nearest phone in an attempt to contact General Hammond.
Part 9
Jack took Sam's hand and led her from the infirmary. She looked strangely apprehensive, Jack thought. Probably because I just left her and our child, he conceded.
"Sam?" Jack spoke softly once they were safely in the elevator. She was silent for a few moments and Jack was sure she hadn't heard him.
"Jack - why did you do it?" Now it was Jack's turn to be silent. He knew his reasons but this wasn't the place to talk about it. "Jack?" Sam asked.
"Not here Sam." He replied and she nodded her understanding.
Once they were topside Jack took Sam's hand again and led her to his truck. A thought suddenly struck Jack. Why did I leave it here to begin with?
The drive to Jack's house was made in silence – not an uneasy silence but a thoughtful silence. Jack noted that Sam's hand was still clasped in his on his lap. He looked across at her and noticed that she was staring out the window her free hand clasped across her stomach. Jack smiled slightly and stopped at the traffic lights. He unclasped his hand from hers and placed it over her other hand. She looked at him surprised but then smiled and turned back towards the window.
Jack pulled into his driveway and moved around his vehicle to help Sam out of the car.
"I'm not an invalid you know," Sam protested quietly.
"Sorry," he whispered and offered her his arm.
"It's okay." She stopped once they were at the front door and looked at the house. It hadn't changed. She took a deep breath as the memories came crashing back to her.
"Sam, you okay?" He asked hearing her deep gulp of air.
"It's been so long…I'm just overwhelmed." She whispered and Jack felt suddenly guilty. And so you should his conscience told him.
Once inside Jack took Sam's jacket and hung it up in the closet along with his. He walked back into the living room and found Sam standing in front of the fireplace holding the picture of him and her at the park playing with Cassie. It was one of those unguarded moment pictures, and if it got into the wrong hands they would be in a lot of trouble. Not that they weren't now.
He moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, and took the photo from her hands. To say he was surprised when she leaned back into his arms would have been an understatement. After a few moments she pulled away from him and spoke.
"Jack we have to talk." Jack looked down and nodded his head.
"I know." He flopped down onto the sofa and ran his arms along the back. Sam sat opposite him in the recliner. She leaned forward and looked ready for anything, while Jack looked like he would crack.
"Sam, what I did was wrong, I know but it was also right. Do you understand?" He looked up and she nodded. "Good cause I don't." He gave a bitter laugh.
"Jack, you did what you thought was right. Whether we agree on that or not is a different matter." She was startled when Jack laughed – not a pleasant laugh but a hollow one.
"But you see, that's where you're wrong. I *didn't* think it was right. I was taking the easy way out. Well that backfired, didn't it?" He looked at her expectantly.
Sam was shocked at his words. She never thought him a coward, and she told him. "Jack, I didn't think you were a coward. Of all… Man, Jack. Why?"
He looked at her confused. "Why?" He asked unsure what she meant.
"Yes, why did you leave? Why didn't you talk to me about it?"
"Because I was afraid. I was afraid that you'd leave! And Kynthia was the only way I could get off the planet!" His voice was starting to rise.
"Do you love her?" Sam's voice was contradicting her hurt. The words were calm and calculated while her thoughts and feelings were everywhere.
"No," he answered surely. "No."
"What are you gonna do about the kid?" She noticed his questioning look. "Jamron." She explained.
"She's not mine, if that's what you mean. I don't know what we're going to do. We have to wait for the Doc to finish her tests." He started thinking again; about how he was as stupid as to let this woman who he loved more than anything go.
"What about our child?" Sam asked quietly.
"What do *you* want? Do you want me to?"
"I want you, Jack. God I *need* you. But I'm not sure where I stand with you. Whether there's too much water under the bridge for us to pick up where we left off."
Jack looked at her, studying her every expression.
"What do you mean?" He asked suddenly afraid.
"I don't think we have any chance out there in the real world. Think about it Jack. You're a Colonel in the United States Air Force. I'm a Major under your command. I'm having your child. Hammond knows, as does the President. One or both of us will be court marshalled, and what would we do then? Would you get a job scrubbing toilets at the local primary school? This isn't a fairytale Jack, life isn't a fairytale." She stopped realising Jack had closed his eyes and was leaning back on the sofa, unusually quiet. "Jack?"
He was silent, and for a moment Sam thought he was asleep. He sat upright and faced her.
"You're right. Life *isn't* a fairytale and we may not have a happy ending. But at least we'd have each other and bump here. We don't need the Air Force." He was silent again contemplating.
"Yes we do! We need them. They are who we are. They are us and we are them. This has to end Jack."
"Why are you here?" He asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?"
"You've obviously made up your mind, so why are you here? To rub it in? Huh, Sam? Is that it?" He continued icily.
"You know that's not true." She hissed. "If you hadn't left in the first place this wouldn't have been happening!"
"If I hadn't left it would have made no difference. You'd still be pregnant and we'd still get court marshalled. Fine I left, but it doesn't change the outcome. The only thing it changes is whether our child has one or two parents." He'd thought this through since the day he left. Since he'd found out she was pregnant. God was that only today? So much had happened.
Sam was silent considering his argument, knowing his words were true.
"You're right." She conceded. "I just…"
"You just what?" He prompted.
"I don't know." She broke down then. The pressure of everything catching up with her. She felt Jack's familiar embrace and relished every moment of it.
"Sam…Stay tonight?" She nodded and he picked her up and carried her upstairs to their bedroom. He took off her sweater and her pants and pulled the cover over her. He slipped in beside her after undressing.
She snuggled closer to him and he put his arms around her waist and rested his hands over her abdomen and smiled.
"I love you." He whispered.
"Love you too." She whispered back.
~~
Thirty minutes later the phone woke Sam and, without thinking, she answered it.
"Carter." She sounded half asleep even to her ears.
"Sam?" Daniel voice was loud and he was breathless.
"Daniel do you know what time it is?" She asked glaring at him through the phone.
"Uh...it's 2.30." He said clearly not understanding her question. "Look, Janet found something in Jamron's blood and she wants you and Jack here as soon as." He continued excitedly.
"Okay Daniel. We'll be there in the hour." She was about to hang up when Daniel spoke again.
"Sam- so you and Jack?" She could just imagine him raising his eyebrows and laughed slightly.
"Talk to you later Daniel." This time she ignored Daniel's protests and hung up. She turned to wake Jack and jumped when she seen his eyes looking at her and a smile on his face.
"God I've missed this," he said as he sat up and kissed her.
"So have I." She kissed him back. "But Janet's found something and wants us there ASAP."
"Can't it wait till morning?" He whined.
"Apparently not," she whispered.
"Well, we'll continue this later." He stood up and got dressed leaving Sam in bed grinning like a Cheshire cat. She had her man back.
Part 10
Sam walked into the lab first, followed by Jack. Janet looked up from where she was leaning over a microscope explaining something to Teal'c. Sam noticed a blur whiz past her and turned to see what it was. She saw Kynthia clinging to a resistant Jack.
"Kynthia…Care to let me go? You're kinda…choking me here!" He gasped. Kynthia remained where she was, unmoving.
Teal'c took a step forward and raised his eyebrows in question. Jack nodded – as best as he could – and he continued towards them removing Kynthia with no effort at all. She looked at Jack questioningly and he walked away and sat down on an unoccupied seat near Janet.
Sam looked on as Kynthia planted herself right next to him. Sam looked at Jack who was in turn staring intently at her and took a seat across the desk from Janet and Jack.
Janet cleared her throat and began. "As you know, I would never call you all here at this time of night if it wasn't important. What… Airman?" Janet called to an airman outside the door.
"Ma'am?" He replied as he stuck his head round the door.
"Could you please get Jamron here from her quarters, thanks."
"Yes ma'am." The airman rushed out and down the corridor eager to do as he was bid.
"Doctor? What is this about?" Hammond spoke up for the first time.
"Well, as you may know, or may not know in your case Sam, Jack, I ran some tests on Kynthia and from what I can gather, there is no evidence that Kynthia ever gave birth." Jack's head turned sharply left as he glared at Kynthia who, in turn, looked at the ground. "See," Janet placed an x-ray on the light box, "there is no evidence that there was any outside pressure on her pelvis. And if you look here," she pointed at a large white mark on the screen, "this bone is angled. Now if she had given birth it would be rounded. And you can tell just from looking at her skin."
"She has no stretch marks." Sam finished.
Janet nodded and continued. "Now of course, human and Argosian physiology is different but not that different. I ran several different tests, some a few times, and there is no way possible that Kynthia gave birth." Janet paused letting this sink in.
"But what about the blood samples from Jamron, surely that proves that she is Kynthia's child?" Daniel asked.
"Actually," Janet switched the light box off and removed the x- ray; "we have a problem here." She stopped when the airman returned with Jamron, who immediately ran to her mother.
"Continue Doctor." Hammond prompted.
Janet sat before continuing. "When I ran the samples the first time, to see if she was actually Colonel O'Neill's daughter, there was already an unidentified marker in her blood – besides that of the rest of you."
"What do you mean?" Jack asked looking directly at Janet.
"Well, Colonel, at first I thought it was Kynthia's DNA marker but it's not." She took a deep breath. "I ran another blood test and ran the samples together, the unidentified marker wasn't Kynthia's." She looked around at everyone. This wasn't easy for her to explain, who knew how hard it was for them to take this in? Not her. "I have no idea what it is. No tests I have run so far have told me. I'm going to continue though, until I find out what it is."
Jack looked at Sam for an explanation but she just shrugged. "I don't know," she said aloud. Everyone looked at her and she blushed. "Sorry." She smiled self-consciously.
"I think you have some explaining to do Kynthia," Jack stated harshly.
She smiled at him and he glared right back. She looked back at the ground whilst Jamron struggled in her tightening grip.
"He was a gift from My Lord," she started.
"He's not a God," Daniel said slowly and Kynthia's head snapped up.
"Blasphemy!" She cried and covered Jamron's ears.
"Anyway…" Jack said.
"He was a gift. He told me to bring him up as though he were my own, and after three – years – I had to contact the Tau'ri and let her father know of her existence." Jack glared at her, again. "I was going to contact you sooner but he…he hid the Stargate. We couldn't find it! Please Jack you have to understand. I love you, I would never hurt you!"
Jack stood up and stalked from the room, Sam not far behind him. Daniel and Janet shared a knowing look, whilst Hammond acted as though he hadn't seen anything.
"Jack!" Sam had to run to catch up with him. "Jack, stop! I want to talk to you!" He turned abruptly and Sam almost ran into him. She felt the air rush from her lungs as he clung to her.
"God Sam. I don't understand it!" He sighed. "I mean she's ours, SG- 1's – as weird as that sounds – and yet she's not. Do you understand?"
She nodded and picked up where he left off. "She's our child and we did nothing to get her here. But Jack this one…" She placed his hand over her stomach. "This one needs you. I need you. And at least this time she is *ours* and only ours, and no one can take that away. I love you."
"Love you back." He sighed and let her go. He looked over her shoulder and got the fright of his life. "Uh…Jacob…hi!" Sam burled round.
Jacob Carter stood behind her. He was *not* looking happy.
"Dad! Hi!" Sam said with false cheer.
"Don't start me Sam! What do you think you're doing?" Oh yeah, definitely not happy and Jack bet he was the source of that unhappiness.
Part 11
Sitting in Sam's quarters, I lean against a wall facing Jacob who is continuously glaring at me.
Facing down the end of the barrel of a gun – hell a zat, a staff even! – would be easier to handle than one pissed of Jacob Carter.
I breathe deeply as I realize I'm not getting out of here intact, mentally or physically.
"Don't worry," Sam whispers from her place beside me. I smile tightly at her `As if' written over my features.
"So, Jack, why'd you hurt my little girl?" I bang my head off the wall behind me.
"I didn't mean to," I state.
"We'll come back to that later. Why did you start a relationship with my daughter, knowing full well that it could ruin both of your careers?" Good question, shame I have a better answer.
"Because I love her." I feel Sam look at me as she slips her hand into mine.
"If that's so then why did you leave her?" Damn! This man is good. I feel as though I'm in that movie, `Meet the parents.'
I think about how to phrase this without it sounding too corny.
"We were planning on having kids, I thought I couldn't give her them. So I gave her a way to have children."
"But you did give her a child."
"I realize that now. If I'd found out earlier I wouldn't have left to go to Argos." I state.
"But you did anyway?"
"Yes." I answer wearily wondering where this was going.
"After you found out about your child?" Damn he was too good.
"I'd promised Kynthia I would go." I answer lamely.
"You also promised Sam not to leave her."
"Dad! Stop this right now! I am old enough to look after myself! I don't need you to constantly look after me!" Sam said allowing her frustration to finally bubble over.
"Do you love him?" Jacob asks. I hold my breath even though I know what her answer will be.
"Yes! Can't you see that!? I wouldn't go back to him if I didn't!"
"What makes you think he won't do it again?" Seems like it's Sam's turn for twenty questions.
"Because I trust him." She replies and I smile proudly.
"Like you trusted Jonas?" Sam stiffens and I squeeze her fingers gently.
"Jack wouldn't hurt me like that."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I have never felt frightened by Jack. I've never felt anything other than safe whenever I'm with him!" My heart swells with love for this woman – a cliché I know! I know!
"Even when you've been in the most dangerous positions?" Why doesn't he give us a break?
"Especially when we're in dangerous positions. I trust him with my life!"
"Okay…that's in a working situation. What about at home when it's just the two of you?"
"Dad, you don't understand! Even standing next to him makes me feel safe!"
"Okay. What was your most romantic night?"
"Dad!?" We both shout at the ridiculousness of that question.
"Okay. Okay. Did you ever stop to think that what you were doing was strictly prohibited? That not only were you having a romantic relationship but that you were also lying to a superior officer?"
I look at Sam asking permission to answer the question and she nods.
"Well actually we didn't technically lie to a superior officer." I begin.
"Hammond never asked if we were having a relationship, so we were never put in a position to lie." Sam finishes and I continue.
"Don't ask don't tell."
"I always knew that rule would come in handy for something." Excuse me? What? Did I just hear you right?
"What!?" Sam exclaims.
"You didn't think I didn't know you loved each other?" I laugh at the relief that suddenly rushes through my body.
Sam grins that mega watt smile as she herself feels the rush of relief. The overhead crackles to life.
"SG-1 to the laboratory. Sg-1 to the laboratory. Dr Fraiser's orders."
I jump off the bed and help Sam up. Just as I'm walking out the door I hear Jacob whisper in my ear.
"If you ever hurt her again I will break your kneecaps." Then Jacob takes control again.
"If that's what Selmac will do then imagine what I will do." He smiles and walks away leaving me dumbstruck. Oooh this was worse than I thought. Even Teal'c threatened to dismember me if I hurt her again. And he is my best buddy!
Looks like Janet found something. I'm changing subject I know but I'm too scared to think about Dad right now. I meet up with Sam in the hallway and she smiles at my heart felt sigh.
"I told you not to worry." She said as we walked down the corridor.
We walked into the laboratory and immediately I knew something was wrong.
"Sir, we have a problem." Janet says. Oh crap!
Part 12
"Doc?" Jack asks quietly. "Does this…I mean *is* this?" I could tell he knew he wasn't making sense by the way his eyebrow twitched downward at the end of a sentence.
"Yes, Colonel. Not only is Jamron's blood swimming with Nanites, but we found some sort of…device in her heart." Janet replies knowing that everyone is staring at her.
"Like the one we found in Cassie?" Daniel refers to Janet's adopted alien daughter. I don't think I've said anything since I arrived. Daniel looks at me strangely and then glares at Jack, causing him to turn around and look at me.
"Sam! Are you okay? What's wrong?" Confused I stare at him. "Sam?"
I try to answer him but find I can't breathe properly.
"Jack!" I manage to rasp out as I fall to the floor.
*~*~*~*~*
"-She alright?"
"-Happened?"
I open my eyes drowsily and look around. I'm in the infirmary with my friends gathered around the bottom of my bed conferring with the woman I want to see.
"Janet," I croak. She doesn't seem to hear me, so I try again. "Janet!" This time her head whips around and she comes rushing over to me.
"Sam! How long have you been awake?"
"Not long. Water!" I demand. She places the straw in my mouth and I drink almost half the cup before she pulls it away, the evil woman that she is. "What happened?" I ask as I sit up. Jack takes the opportunity to sit at my side and take the strain off his knee.
"We found out what the device is inside of Jamron." Janet answers. I stare at her so she continues. "Like Cassie's, it was activated when she came through the `Gate. But this seems to give off some sort of radiation through her actual body-"
My hands fly to my still flat tummy. Jack places his hands over mine and moves further up the bed so he is lying alongside me.
"What about the baby?" I asked panicked.
"Don't worry, bump is fine. Your both fine. The radiation isn't harmful to humans, but it is to the protein marker left behind by Jolinar."
"What about Dad?" Jack asks.
"Jacob will be fine. We're keeping him and Teal'c as far away from Jamron as possible."
"Where is she?" Jack asks my questions again. I don't understand why he doesn't know anything because he should have been with them.
"Well, Jack, if you'd actually came with us instead of staying here with Sam, you'd know she was moved to level 15 with Kynthia."
I look at Jack and he has the heart to look sheepish. I grin at the look on his face.
"Why level 15?" I ask and by the look on Jack's face I guess that's what he was going to ask.
"Well we're trying to keep her as far away from the `gate as possible but not too near the surface in case this stuff is harmful to humans." Daniel replied.
"Is it dangerous? To humans I mean." Jack's brow creased after he'd finished his sentence. "Not that you're not human or anything…" he rushed after he'd finished.
"It's okay." I place my hand over Jack's bad knee and he covers it with his own.
Janet removes the smile from her face before she continues. "To be honest, I don't know. As far as I can tell it's not. After all Colonel O'Neill-"
"Jack," he replies automatically, receiving a glare form Janet.
"*Jack* spent a good few hours with her earlier, as did I when I was running the tests."
Jack's silent for a few moments then sighs.
"What if it was `turned on' when it sensed Sam's protein marker and not when it came through the `gate?" He says evenly. Jack really isn't as dumb as he makes himself out to be.
"It's always a possibility but to have something as advanced as that would require a well advanced Goa'uld. I thought Pelops was dead?" She seemed to be thinking more to herself than anyone else.
"He is," Daniel said firmly. "Besides Argos has been deserted, if you will, for over a hundred years."
"But that doesn't mean someone wouldn't take a renewed interest in it," I argued.
"But who?" Janet asks. I look around again and for the first time I realize that my dad and Teal'c aren't here.
"Where's my dad and Teal'c?" I ask suddenly.
"They're downstairs with Hammond," Jack says distractedly.
"Why?" I query.
"To see if they know anyone that could save the child," Janet answers.
"But who would do something like this?" Daniel picks up where we left off earlier.
"There's only one… `Person' I can think of," Jack says darkly.
"Who?" I ask but somehow I already know the answer.
"Apophis."
Part 13
"But he's dead!" I outburst. No way! We killed him!
"Daniel, how many times have we `killed' the snake only to have him come back and bite us in the butt?" Oh great! Now she's talking like Jack!
"Sam…we all watched him die!"
"Actually no we didn't," Jack states.
"Look right now I'm not bothered about `who'. What I want to figure out is `how' he managed to *grow*, for lack of a better word, a human child using all of your DNA marker in her. It's damn right impossible." Janet slaps the folder down on the bed in frustration and runs a hand through her hair.
"Apparently not." Jack and Sam say simultaneously. God they're starting to annoy the hell out of me!
"Look I have work to do! Now can you please leave my infirmary?" She ushers Jack and I out.
I look up and down the almost empty corridors and smile when I hear Jack's stomach growl.
"Hungry?" I ask and he grins.
"You have no idea!" he stomps off purposefully towards the commissary, causing several Lieutenants to jump out the way, Simmons included I notice.
I walk after him not bothering to apologize for his behavior – it's really not that unusual!
I walk into the commissary and find Jack already eating breakfast – if you can call an apple pie and glass of Jell-O breakfast.
I slump down into the seat across from him and raise my eyebrows questioningly.
He looks around with a self-conscious smile on his face and an uncertain crease in his brow.
"What?" He questions.
I raise my eyebrow higher and smile at him. "You and Sam?" I say simply.
He plunges the spoonful of Jell-O into his mouth and mumbles something.
"I'm sorry, Jack, I didn't quite catch that." I grin evilly.
"I said: we're getting things sorted," he repeats shovelling a forkful of pie into his mouth. I wince as he immediately follows it with a spoonful of Jell-O.
"Things looked pretty `sorted' to me," I state knowingly.
His fork clatters to the plate and he leans back to stretch, a contented smile gracing his features.
"I lover her, Daniel," he says and ducks his head blushing slightly.
"Why are you blushing? It's great that you love her." I smile softly, Jack seems to go into a dreamworld when he talks about Sam, he always has.
"I just feel like a big old sap saying it aloud," he laughs.
I decided to tease him. "Who'd have thunk it? Jack O'Neill the closet romantic!" I raise my hands as if in prayer.
"Amen to that," Jacob says from behind Jack and I swear! If I had a camera! He freezes and his eyes bulge. "Don't worry Jack I'm only here to catch something to eat." Jack's face loosens and he lets out a short laugh.
"Come up with anything yet?" Jack asks Jacob.
"Not really. Just one thing that Teal'c said though."
I raise my eyebrows at this cryptic information. "Oh?" I say.
"Yeah. If it's not harmful to humans then why did…whoever, send the child to Earth? Why not send her to the Tok'ra?" receiving our answer – none - he continues. "And why put SG-1's blood, sorry DNA, into her? Could they not have made her look like you?"
"That's all fine and dandy, Jacob, but do you have something that's NOT a question? Like an answer?" Jack says through a mouthful of jelopie.
Jacob shook his head. "Not really."
We fall into a heavy silence, everyone thinking, asking there own questions. Somewhere in my head a light bulb goes off.
"Ry'ac!" At their raised eyebrows I continue. "Remember with Ry'ac? The gas wasn't poisonous by itself but when the both were mixed together they were deadly!" I exclaim.
"Same thing happened to Cassie," Jack remembers.
"But there were – are – no other devices in Jamron, what could possibly give off the second gas?"
Jack and I look at each other and the answer comes to us both at the same time.
"The Nintendo's!" he says.
"We gotta talk to Janet!" I say dismissing his slip of the tongue. We stand up and the chairs clatter backward and we scramble off to tell Janet the break through.
I can't believe this is happening again!
Part 14
I look up from the computer screen as three very out of breath men burst into the lab. I stand instantly getting ready to run to Sam if that's what is wrong.
"We…know what's…wrong!" Daniel pants as his body doubles over.
"What is it?" I ask getting slightly excited.
"We were just in the commissary talking about the different possibilities of how to help Jamron, when Daniel and Jack remembered something," I stare at him telling him to go on. "Well, they seem to think – and I agree with them – that the Nanites are what will make the device deadly to humans."
I think about what Jacob has told me and finally speak. "I don't see how that is possible. The device is in her heart and the Nanites are in her…blood." Finally realisation dawns. "Of course! The heart pumps blood around the body. And we have seen from the Argosians that sometimes Nanites can retrace their steps and go *back* towards the heart." I pause to let this sink in and, surprisingly, it's Jack who clicks on first.
"We have to get Jamron down here and make sure these Nintendo's don't go back to her heart." I dismiss his slip of the tongue and run past him.
"Airman! Can you retrieve Kynthia and Jamron from their rooms please? And bring them here immediately!" I order an airman urgently.
"Yes, ma'am!" He says and rushes off.
"Shouldn't I leave?" Jacob asks. I turn and nod.
"Yes. You will be in too much danger here. Go and sit with Sam and tell her the break through, I'm sure she'd like to know."
"All right but I want updates every half hour," he demands as he turns to go.
Jack nods his head and agrees. "I'll deliver them myself. And tell Sam I…said hi." I smile at his almost slip up and so does Daniel and Jacob.
"Will do." With that he runs off down the corridor.
This is just so unreal! If we humans aren't that much of a threat then why do the Goa'uld insist on killing us off? Seems the Goa'uld are calling our bluff.
I sit down in my seat and bring Jamron's latest blood test results up on the screen. I look for any Nanites that are near her heart or look as though they are moving that way.
I swirl in my seat when I hear the door open and hear excited chatter.
Kynthia smiles warmly at Jack and he smiles tightly back.
"Jack, what appears to be the problem?" She continues to smile at him as she sits down with Jamron on her knee.
"The problem *is* that Jamron is going to destroy Earth." Oh nice sugar-coating Jack, nice.
Kynthia laughs but stops when she realizes no one else is.
"How is that possible? I mean she's just a child, for goodness sake!" She looks around at us in astonishment. Finally her eyes rest upon me. "Dr. Fraiser she is just a child, why would anyone do this?"
I take a deep breath. "Kynthia this isn't the first time the Goa'uld have used a child to try and destroy us. They used Teal'c's son and my daughter. I know this is difficult to believe but your `Gods' are using your child to destroy our planet. You and Jamron are a part of that scam. Now I just have to run a few more tests on Jamron to prove a theory we have." I take a step towards her.
"No! I think you have run enough tests on her already! It's not fair on her! Leave us alone!" Kynthia shouts and stands up causing Jamron to fall to the floor. I look at Jack confused and he looks at Daniel his brow creased.
"Kynthia…it's just a few more tests. It will help all of us," Jack says soothingly.
"You're just as bad as her!" She yells and points at me and I step back involuntarily. "I don't care if your world blows up! All I care about is my daughter!" She grabs Jamron by the wrist and pulls her away. Thankfully Jack grabs onto her before she can go anywhere.
"Oh no you don't," he turns to me still holding on to Kynthia. "Did you get her tested for anything when she came through?" I think back to all the tests I ran on her.
"No," I shake my head to clear it. "No, just the standard post mission physical." I shake my head again at my assumption. "I just assumed that she would be fine. I can't believe that I would assume something like that!" I stare wide-eyed at Kynthia. "Kynthia if you don't mind, I have to run a few tests on you."
"No! I won't have you sticking your…your primitive needles into me! I won't have it!" She attempts to pry herself from Jack's grip and when he doesn't relent she sticks her nails into his arm.
Jack lets out a loud shriek and blood begins running down his arm.
"Kynthia what the hell are you doing?" He says as he lets her go. She doesn't answer him, instead she runs out the door and several airmen try to grab her as she runs full belt down the corridor.
We begin chase and Jack grabs the handgun the airman hands him. I want to tell him to stop because, believe it or not, he has lost a lot of blood but I know he won't listen to me.
It isn't until we are outside the infirmary that I realize what Kynthia was planning.
"Jack! We have to get to Sam!" I call and run to the grey box and hit the circle in the middle of the box setting the alarms off.
The lights flash and I see Kynthia falter but continue on her journey towards the infirmary Jack hot on her tail.
Panic has rendered me immobile and all I can do is hope and pray that Sam is okay. I'm forced to move when I hear the heavy footsteps of the SF's running down the corridor.
Curiosity overpowering my body I run towards the infirmary by heels clipping along the way.
I swerve into the room that has become my second home and see Jack standing gun pointed at Kynthia who is being held in place by Teal'c's strong grip.
"Jack!? What that hell is going on?" I hear Jacob yell.
"I have no idea, Jacob." He looks at Sam who is lying unconscious on the bed.
"Sam…Sam, can you hear me? Sam come on sweetie." Sam turns in the bed and lean into Jack's hand. "Sam, come on wake up. Show me those eyes you know I love so much."
"Jack…lemme sleep. So tired." Her eyes slip closed as I stare at her IV line.
"Kynthia what did you do?" I ask as I lift a syringe from the floor.
Her eyes flash with anger – in a non-Goa'uld way – and she struggles against Teal'c. I glance at the tray of needles looking for a missing needle.
"Oh my god!" I gasp as I spot the empty holder.
"What? What is it?" Jacob asks, as Jack looks shocked. Surely he doesn't know.
"She's…what is this?" I look directly at Kynthia who just smiles smugly from her bear hold.
"Something that the simple Tau'ri can not fully comprehend. I shall finally have what I want." She smiles hollowly at Jack.
"Which is?" I ask knowing the answer.
"The simple Tau'ri?" Jack asks and raises his eyebrow.
"I hate to break up your little conversation but Sam looks…really ill here!" Jacob called as he cradled her head on his lap.
I gasp as I finally notice that Sam's face has paled and her breathing has become laboured.
"Kynthia what the hell did you inject her with?" Jack shouts as he hurries over to Jacob.
"It is a combination of Naquadah and an element found only on Argos… there is no cure." A SF takes hold of her but Teal'c keeps a form grip on her shoulders.
"Except from the healing powers of a Goa'uld Sarcophagus," Daniel announces.
"But we do have the next best thing," I grin as realisation hits.
"The hand device from Cimmeria (If that's wrong do NOT shoot!)." Daniel finishes a smile of his own appearing.
"Then do it!" Jack yells at us. I look to Jacob asking if he will be able to do it.
"Yes," he nods his head to assure himself and us. "Just get her ready."
"Okay." I turn to the guard holding a now silent and gaping Kynthia. "Take her to a holding cell." I smile as Kynthia begins struggling.
"Oh and watch out, she bites," Jack called after them and turned his attention back to Sam. "Will this hurt the baby?"
I shake my head. "No it shouldn't but I'm not exactly an expert, Jacob?"
"No, Bump should be fine." I nod my head silently agreeing.
"Right! I don't want any unnecessary people in here, Jack that includes you." I usher everyone out with a wave of the hand.
"Do-oc!" He complains as I push him out.
"Colonel, in a word, NO!" I watch as his face falls and almost give in. "Go and speak to Kynthia, find out why she did this." He turned and walked away after sending Sam one last glance.
I pivot round to see Jacob brushing hairs off Sam's head. God I hope this works. I really do. If it doesn't…
Oh God, I'm truly sorry Sam; it should never have gotten this far. Never.
Part 15
"So, Kynthia," I began trying desperately not to glare at the woman who could may well have killed my…what is she? Girlfriend? Woman I love more that my life? "Why wouldn't you let us run any tests on Jamron?" I ask slowly.
"You've run enough tests don't you think?" She says from her crouched position on the cell floor in the darkened isolation room. I remember the last time I was in here…well maybe not the last but definitely the time I remember the most. Sam and Jolinar. Sam with Jolinar in her head. I shake my own head to rid it of such memories. She's not Jolinar now and I have to concentrate on the task at hand.
"Um…no, I don't think we have. Anyway a few more wouldn't hurt and I think I have a right in this as well, after all the child *is* mine." I try a different approach to the one I was using seconds ago.
"Ha! That's not what you were saying earlier was it? You refused to believe that she is yours and now that you want to use her in your tests you claim her as your own. Why?" She asks as she grasps onto the bottom of the bars her knuckles turning white.
"Coz Janet run a few tests and they prove that Jamron is actually mine. She isn't yours you do know that, right?" I watch as her face contorts in distaste and she winces.
"Of course I know! He told me!" I cock my head to one side and look at her.
"Who?"
"Lord Apophis of course! He told us that Pelops was no God and that he is the superior one, above everyone else. He gave me a child and all I had to do was give enough time and you would come back. He sees the future, he sees your world through the eyes of one of your own, did you know that?" She grins evilly and I suddenly wish Daniel was here to decipher the way through her ramblings.
"You mean he has a spy here?" I ask grasping at straws, this meeting wasn't supposed to go like this. I was supposed to be asking questions, well not those kinds anyway.
"No, he sees through eyes, he has the power to see into other peoples minds," she says mysteriously her eyes glinting in the darkness.
"I'm sure he does." Okay, where is Daniel anyway? "Why did you inject Sam with…whatever you injected her with?"
"She has what I wish. By eliminating her I could finally have that, it appears I was wrong." She sighs in defeat and leans her head on the bed – hey that rhymes!
"What do you wish?" She looks at me with piercing eyes and I shiver involuntarily. I cleared my throat before continuing. "Who gave you the drug? Because there is no way that you made it on your own." I announce accusingly.
"From Apophis of course. He assured me it would eliminate any threat from the people of the Tau'ri. It appears his certainty was misplaced." She glared heatedly at the floor and I was sure she was trying to escape using some sort of hidden lasers that would burn through concrete and the metal of the bars and she would be free. "Jack? Why do you love her?"
I stare at her unbelievingly. Did she just say that!? "Because she's beautiful and smart and one of the most amazing people I know." Okay and please tell me I didn't just say THAT!
"So it is not only because she carries your child?"
"How did you know that?" I ask her through gritted teeth. Does nothing stay a secret on this base?
"I have my ways." She takes a deep breath and stares steadily at me. "If I gave you a child, would you love me as you love her?"
I think about the question and how to answer her without sending her over the edge.
"No." I state my mind frying from thinking too long. "I don't think I could love anyone as much as I love her." What the hell is wrong with me?
"Not even your previous wife?" I gape at her in a way I have never gaped before.
"How the hell did you know that!?" It comes out as a strangled whisper and I force my eyes to loose their bug look.
She smiles smugly and shakes her head. "I have my ways."
Before I can say anything else the overhead speakers sound calling to me.
"Colonel O'Neill to the infirmary, Colonel O'Neill to the infirmary."
I stand and stretch my back. "Duty calls!" I begin walking from the room and stop as she speaks.
"When she says jump you say?" I scowl and walk out the room but not before I hear her answer her own question. "How high."
Part 16
Poor Jack…poor Sam. I can't believe this is happening to them, the two people who most deserve happiness can't have it because of one person's jealousy.
I sip my cooling coffee and hum to myself a song I heard on the radio. I wish Sha're was here. I wish that my mother and father were still here but they're not and I feel empty. I just wish Jack never has to go through what I'm going through.
It would destroy him I think I saw what he was like before that first Abydos mission – hell I was on that mission! But ever since SG-1 he's…different and I think we have Sam to thank for that. Jack's life has sort of been split up into four categories:
Before Sara and Charlie
After Sara and Charlie
Before SG-1
Before Sam
I hope that none of them actually change because well, Sara is his past and Sam is his future.
I know he loved Sara and Charlie, how could he not? He married Sara and gave life to Charlie. But he has Sam now and no disrespect to Sara but I doubt if he has ever been happier.
I know they tried to keep it a secret and because of that they dug themselves into a lot of trouble…but they seemed happy in those few months where they actually were Jack and Sam, before any of this fiasco started.
I can't believe Kynthia actually tried to pass Jamron off as Jack's. Well I suppose she is in a way, in a way she's mine as well… that thought didn't go down too well – the coffee stain on my shirt is testimony to that.
I lift my arm up to wipe my mouth and suddenly remember I haven't been showered since yesterday morning and I've been running around like a headless chicken all that time – I'm practically living on coffee now.
I remember after we got back from Abydos and Sam told me I couldn't stay awake forever and I'd told her I could try. Well it may not be forever but I'm sure I can last a couple hours more, until Sam wakes up at least…well until Sam is cured. She must be about healed now; Janet wouldn't let any of us inside except for Jacob and a few nurses. That was half an hour ago and still there's no news.
I walk into the shower room and notice Teal'c standing in front of his locker staring into space seeing nothing.
"Hey Teal'c," I call. He turns to me and I notice beginnings of tears in his eyes. Surely Sam isn't…dead. "Teal'c? What's wrong?"
He nods his head. "I am merely contemplating what the repercussions would be if Major Carter is to die. I am not sure if Colonel O'Neill would be able to function as he is now." I smile for the first time in hours.
"But Sam is going to be fine, I know that, you know that and Jack knows that. As long as we believe that we will be fine. And anyway, Jacob is in with her, he won't let his daughter die." I ramble on trying to convince myself rather than Teal'c.
"I do indeed hope you are correct Daniel Jackson." He states and grabs a towel from his locker.
"So do I Teal'c so do I." I grab mine and walk into the shower cubicle. To the right of me, I hear a soft click and music fills the air – Teal'c listening to music.
Oooof! I love this song! The Calling – Wherever you will go.
I rub shampoo into my shorter than normal hair and sing along as the slightly hotter than necessary water cascades down my body.
"DanielJackson, do you enjoy this song?" Teal'c calls from beside me.
"Why Teal'c, yes I do!" I call back and continue to sing loudly.
"As do I." He says before he begins singing along with me his loud voice echoing through the empty shower hall.
I grin and turn the shower off. Grabbing my towel I step out just in time to hear the remnants of a message for Jack.
"-O'Neill to the infirmary." I quickly dry off and throw some fresh clothes on calling to Teal'c all the time.
"Teal'c come on! Jack's just been called to the infirmary!"
I hope everything is all right. I really do.
"Everything will be well DanielJackson." Teal'c reads my mind like an open book and I scoff at the thought thanking all deity's I don't have coffee in my hand.
Part 17
As I stand in the corridor outside the infirmary, I contemplate what Major Carter means to us, to the entire SGC.
Her presence here is well known and she has caught the attention of a great many men - ColonelO'Neill and Lieutenant Simmons amongst them.
I remember the first time I saw her sitting alongside Colonel O'Neill on Chulak. (If wrong do not shoot!) My first thought was `What an amazing host she would be.' Now…now I know what she is.
She is a far better person than all the Goa'uld gathered together. She has her faults, as do we all. I must regretfully admit that I am not the perfect warrior and I do not expect Major Carter to be either - after all, no one is perfect at any one thing.
I understand now that she is the most caring and giving person ever to have walked on this or any other planet. If it were not for the fact I respect her as much as I do, or for Drey'auc and ColonelO'Neill, I would set about making her my partner.
I remember her inability to give up on ColonelO'Neill when he was aging greatly. When all of this kebam started - I believe I may be spending so much time with Colonel O'Neill now that my Kel-no-reem is unable to save my mind from his quotes.
She is a strong warrior and I believe she will be the key in our fight against the Goa'uld. ColonelO'Neill and herself of course.
I was aware that there was a sexual tension between them - even back on Chulak - and I was aware of that shift when they overcame their boundaries and finally admitted loving each other. I would never admit to having seen the change because they are both so proud and I would not wish to harm them in anyway. Let me re-phrase that. I would not wish to harm their egos. They thought they were doing a good job at hiding their relationship but of course certain people noticed - General's Carter and Hammond amongst them.
If MajorCarter is to die then I believe that the fight against the Goa'uld will have lost one of it's greatest warriors…and I will have lost one of my greatest friends.
I am unsure about how ColonelO'Neill would continue without MajorCarter by his side to help him through his worst days. If I am correct in my assumptions then she is the reason he awakens in the morning and without her he is nothing - or he believes himself to be nothing. He has lost many in his life; it would be too much if he lost Sam as well.
"Hey Teal'c." I look around and realise I have managed to walk to the shower room without even thinking about it, and managed to open my door. Getting any further had proved difficult since my body cannot move without the brain telling it to.
I converse with DanielJackson for several moments before turning and walking into my cubicle for the shower I am in need of.
In the cubicle to my right (?) I hear the melodic voice of DanielJackson sing alongside the music on my shower radio I `acquired' from ColonelO'Neill.
I begin singing alongside DanielJackson as the shower water heats my chilled body.
Several minutes later - once the song has finished may I add - I hear Daniel calling to me telling me `Jack' has been called to the infirmary presumably for news on MajorCarter.
Scurrying into several pieces of clothing I follow DanielJackson down the corridor at a steady jog hoping we have news concerning Major Carter.
If we do not, this base would be unable to function properly which is one of the reasons GeneralHammond allowed Jack and Sam to continue in their relationship.
I hope Bump is well for if not I do believe MajorCarter or ColonelO'Neill would be unable to continue for some time.
Part 18
Tired. So tired.
All I want to do is lie down and go to sleep. Whatever was in that drug Kynthia had injected Sam with was strong. It has taken all my energy away and I want to fall onto the bed beside Sam and sleep for a week.
Jack comes bursting through the door just as I take a seat on the stool next to the bed.
"Is she okay!?" He demands looking at me then averting his gaze to Janet seeking the answer.
"She hasn't woken up yet but she should be fine." I feel eyes on me and look up to Janet. "Jacob you should rest." I shake my head negative.
"I'll be fine. I want to be here when she wakes up." I sigh and rub a hand over my face. "I could do with a coffee though." I look at Jack pleadingly.
Just then there was a loud 'thump' and the infirmary doors swung open.
"Daniel! Just the man!" Jack called and patted him on the back plastering a large grin on his face. "How about you jump down to the commissary and grab us some coffee?"
Daniel stares at Jack disbelievingly and looks to me for back up. He obviously recognizes my need for coffee and hurries out of the door yelling that he'll not be a minute.
My head throbs again and I screw my eyes tight shut to stop the pain. When I feel eyes on me I look up and smile - what I hope is reassuringly - at Janet.
Deciding to change the subject I turn to Jack. "Did you find out what was in the drug Kynthia used in Sam? It's very strong."
Jack looks thoughtful for a second then shakes his head. "I think she said something about Naquadah and an element found only on Argos, I can't really remember."
"Yes she did! I completely forgot!" Janet cries and I feel sympathetic towards her.
"The Naquadah wouldn't have been that difficult to heal but...whatever else was in it was pretty strong." I hear a slight grumble from my side and I swear on Sam's life that I have never seen Jack move so fast.
Sam looks pale, really pale and her eyes are cloudy as they open and she stares at the ceiling for a second before closing her eyes again.
"I hurt," she croaks and I smile wanly my fatigue catching up on me.
I never thought it would ever sound so good to actually hear Sam say the words 'I'm hurt' but they just made my heart soar to the sky.
"It's a side effect from using the healing device." Janet states as she shines her pen light into Sam's bright eyes.
Sam licked her white cracked lips and Janet holds a cup of water out for her allowing her to drink most of it before pulling it away leaving Sam gasping.
"Healing device?" She asked finally after clearing her throat several times.
She looks around at each of us and finally Jack answers.
"Kynthia injected you with something, Naquadah and something else found on Argos. Dad had to heal you with the healing device."
He looked across at me as he said this and I nod my head in agreement. I watch as Jack touches her cheek with an affectionate hand and they smile at each other.
"Is…Bump..." Sam's lip trembles and Jack takes her hand in his whilst I reach a lazy arm up and wrap it around her waist my hand resting on her still flat abdomen.
"Bump's fine," I assure her with a small tired smile.
I fight the urge to let my head drop onto the bed and fall asleep even as my mind starts to fog.
"Sam!" I hear Daniel's cheery voice over the haze of my head and can almost imagine him holding the cups of coffee almost spilling the contents over the floor.
"Daniel." She says and smiles tightly. "Teal'c." She acknowledges for the first time.
"MajorCarter I am glad you are back to full fitness." He says inclining his head in a manner no one else can.
"I wouldn't say that," Janet pipes up. "Sam needs her rest as do you Jacob." I feel her eyes burn into me and rub my balding head.
"It's okay Dad I'll stay with her." Jack assures me placing a hand over mine that is still resting on Sam's stomach.
"No you won't! All of you need your rest now get out of my infirmary before I have you escorted by guards." Janet says forcefully and when Jack and Daniel are about to protest she fixes on them with a death glare and they relent.
I stand up warily and grip onto the side of Sam's bed as I see colours fly in front of my eyes. I take a deep breath and steady myself before leaning over and placing a kiss to Sam's forehead.
"Thanks Dad." She says quietly so no one else can hear.
"My pleasure, Angel." I whisper back and move away out of the infirmary.
I walk down the corridor to my on base quarters dragging my feet along the floor scuffing the yellow line as I go.
I reach the door and open it forcefully and tumble in, stumbling over a chair that was conveniently placed there. Bypassing the chair I shuffle over to the bed and flop into it not bothering to take my clothes off as sleep threatens to pull me over the edge into the dark epiphany.
In my sleep filled brain I think about my daughter and the many times I have almost lost her. Not only by death but also because of my own stubbornness. After her mother died, she blamed me and I pushed her so far away I was afraid I would never get her back. And with NASA when she turned down my offer of a job there - little did I know she was doing something far more meaningful and spectacular.
I feel a sense of loss for some strange reason every time I think about her relationship with Jack. It's a selfish reason really. Along the lines of she's my daughter and no one else can have her.
My mind doesn't have any more time to ponder over the reasons or thoughts anymore as sleep pulls me that last nanometer into the abyss. Into the blissful realm of fluffy clouds and fairytale ending...a place where I can escape reality.
Part 19
I feel like crap. Whatever that woman gave me sure as hell wiped me out, God it wiped Dad out, and that takes a lot of work. The look on his face when I woke up was priceless. He looked so relieved. So did Jack.
Janet walks over to me and smiles a small smile as she reads my chart.
"Everything seems fine Sam. You feel okay? No dizziness, headaches?" She looked at me expectantly, as though I was going to keel over if she left me alone.
"No, I'm fine." I reply honestly. Janet has me on so many painkillers how could I not feel fine?
"Do you need anything? Water? More pain meds?" She frowned and looked to the ceiling realizing her plan wasn't going to work on me...this time anyway.
"The thing I want you just hunted out the infirmary!" I joked and she looked at me incredulously. "I'm kidding!" I defended myself.
"Good. Now get some sleep." She said and left me alone, a few minutes later the lights dimmed indicating she meant that I should sleep.
Smiling to myself I close my eyes and hum a simple lullaby to myself and to the child that cost us so much pain.
+++++++++++
"If you don't stop smiling I'm going to have to go and get Janet to make sure your not hurting your jaws," Jack smiles at me and I slowly open my eyes and spread my mouth into a grin.
"Sorry," I smile and sit up looking at him. The dark circles under his eyes have been erased slightly now that he's had some sleep. His blue BDU's are slightly crumpled from him sitting in the seat too long and his hair…let's not even go there.
He must see me smiling as he reaches up and pats his head, an impish smile creeping onto his face. He stands up and motions for me to move over looking around him as though he's about to commit a crime. I shuffle over and he slides in between the covers beside me.
"Hey," he says and kisses my cheek softly before shimmying down and cupping his hands over my slightly swollen belly. "Hey bumpkin, how ya doing in there?" I laugh slightly and he looks up at me. "What?"
I shake my head and smile some more.
"I was talking to Dad before I came here, he wasn't too happy about his sleep being interrupted, but he's fine. I knew you would be worried so I took initiative and checked on him before I came, he looks like hell but he still has sense of humour so he can't be that bad!" He laughs and his chest moves against my side. "He's more worried about you, so am I as a matter of fact. How are you?"
I turn and face him so we are both lying on our sides.
"I'm fine, I think that thirteen hours of sleep should make me feel better don't you?" I smile and he frowns.
"Yeah…I guess. Doc Fraiser said that you'll be out of here in no time. She wants to do some more tests on you to make sure bumpkins will be okay." He slings an arm around my waist and pulls me to him. "I've missed you so much over the past few weeks…months I think."
I smile sadly and bury my head in his chest. "I missed you too."
We lie like that for a few minutes until Janet comes in with her clipboard that Jack had suggested she get welded to her hand…she wasn't best pleased.
"Right, Colonel! You have to get out so I can get this woman out of here and so you can cuddle up on your own sofa and not give my nurses something to talk about." She smiles but I sense the truth behind her words and can't suppress the giggle that forms in my throat.
"Okay, okay I'm going I'm goin'!" He mumbles and stands up placing a kiss on my forehead. "I'll see you later."
Part 20
This is not supposed to happen. Not yet by any means! I screw my eyes tight shut and look back at Jamron.
Surely she isn't supposed to be that colour, is she? At least I hope not, otherwise I would be seriously worried about her health...like I am now.
"Doc…this isn't supposed to be happening, is it?" I ask Janet after looking at Jamron's purple face and blue hair that is emitting a low glow that glints off the pieces of metal in Sam's lab.
I have been standing here for over ten minutes - only a few minutes after I left Sam actually - watching as Jamron, my daughter of sorts, stares at me through a thick plate of glass that separates us.
I think she better watch that, Sam may be using it as one of her experiments.
"No… I don't know what's wrong with her. She won't let us in the room, she starts screeching whenever anyone so much as tries to enter." Janet mumbles as she peers around the doorjamb of Sam's lab.
I nod even though I doubt she can see me - unless she has eyes in the back of her head. Her hair tickles my nose and I wiggle it to rid me of the discomfort of the hair. When that doesn't work I pull my head back but realize I have to put it back forward so I can see what is going on in the room. The hair attacks my nose again and I squirm away form it. Finally giving into my impatience I grab the hair and yank it out.
"Ow! Colonel that *was* attached! Ow!" Janet starts rubbing her head and readjusts the roll of hair on the back of her head.
I roll my eyes at her typical feminine reply and push her hair out of my way ignoring my manners and being rude. She glares at me but I send her a half smirk and she turns her lasers off.
"Oh...kay." I pull my hands from my face and rub them together in front of my chest. "Mind if I have a go?"
Janet nods her head and I smile my gratitude.
I take a step into the room and I hesitate at he door waiting for the expected shreek.
5...
4...
3...
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" Ah there it is!
I pull my lips under my teeth and take another step forward. The noise is like a siren - the closer you get the louder the noise appears to be.
"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!" The siren moves away and is replaced by a low growl instead, like thunder only less noisy.
I take a deep breath and nod my head again wondering what the hell I was doing.
"You must realize that your impersonation of a fire truck is not amusing me...or the rest of the base for that matter."
The constant noise paused then started again only this time louder and higher in pitch - surely she must be breaking records by now. The noise begins high in her chest almost her throat I'd say and she lunges forward breaking the glass that had once separated us but now lies shattered into a million pieces on the floor in front of me.
I stumble backwards from the force of the blow and thump my head on one of the workbenches, I see stars before my vision clears and I push the fiend - you can't call her a girl anymore - off me. She falls backwards and looks at me as though I have caused her great physical pain.
"Now don't look at me like that." I mumble and take another step forwards. What am I trying to accomplish here exactly? Of that I am unsure, all I know is that I have to stop this engine before she reaches her fire and extinguishes her forever...as gruesome a thought as that may be.
"Where is the Shol'va?!"
Words, plain as day. Words that I recognize and can relate to.
"Um...which one? We seem to be harbouring a few," I say clearly before anyone has a chance to do or say anything otherwise.
The green eyes flash with anger and she takes a menacing step forward.
"For such a primitive race you somehow manage to continue to live. No other race has caused so much hassle to the System Lords and survived...if you were not as arrogant we would be impressed. But you are that arrogant and we most certainly are *not* impressed." The eyes flash with anger again and I can almost imagine the symbiotic voice coming over the sweet innocent voice we hear now...but it doesn't and the eyes stay normal.
"And I'm not impressed by you either so you had better watch what your saying...I'm not in a very *pleasant* mood shall we say?" I take a step forward and she takes one with me. Tic-tac-toe. This is a game to her...or him...whoever is controlling this little girl. A game that I am willing to play.
I feel a breath of hot air brush my cheek and fight the urge to wipe away the itch that grows there. Instead I attempt to rub the cheek on my shoulder.
"Have you ever experienced *true* pain...father?"
A dark pain seeps up my face, burns my eye and tears at my nose sending blood rushing from it in all directions. My teeth start to pull against the sockets they are held in and I can almost feel my jawbone being pulled from its sockets.
I fall to the floor but stay looking at Jamron...or the monster that she has become.
"Painful isn't it?" I groan and she smiles in satisfaction. "That is the sort of pain I was subjected to when you gave me back to Sokar."
The pain releases and I fall to the floor trying desperately not to let the tears invade my eyes.
"She doesn't yet realize this yet, but I have taken over her mind."
How can she not notice? She has a snake in her head! How can she not notice?
"We did scans to see if she was a Goa'uld or was harbouring a Goa'uld. Every item that was brought was tested, then and afterwards." Janet chimes in as she lifts me from the floor.
A light shines from within those perfect green eyes and it is then that I realize the echoey voice is coming.
"You missed the only place I could be."
I look at Janet and she looks at me. Could we have missed it? Could it have been so simple that we didn't see it? Were all the clues we thought we had figured out were red herrings set for us to find?
A smirk appears on the once perfect face as he realizes we have realized.
"The device in the chest was not a device of the destructive nature. It was merely a transportation method. And we succeeded."
Part 21
Kynthia sits across from me with a small smile of satisfaction crossing her features. She plays with a strand of hair running it through her fingers, spiralling it around her pinkie then letting it fall to meet the others that fall uncertainly there. Her lips curve into a semi-circle when I shift position trying to escape her gaze. "You think that I was just going to let Jack get away with leaving me? Leaving me for *her*?" She asked quietly but forcefully, breaking the chill air that had settled over us in the small cell room. "Really Daniel, you think I was just going to let him get away?" I snort slightly and purse my lips together, a small nod putting my head into motion. "I don't see *why* you wouldn't let him get away; he was never yours in the first place." I remind her, only feeling slightly remorseful towards her. I hazard a glance towards her and find her on her feet her hands crushed around one of the bars of the cell, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. Letting a smile of satisfaction cross my features only momentarily, I force a steely gaze into my eyes. "He was mine! He made *love* to me, he held me until the Sun arose again!" Kynthia insisted her eyes coming alight with a fire so intense that I have to resist the urge to turn away. "You *drugged* him Kynthia, he did what he did because the cake you gave him increased his hormone level. It was never really a fair deal and you know it," I inform her icily. She glares at me; her eyes never leaving my features, never allowing me to break the contact she craved so much. "He wouldn't have come so willingly-" "If you hadn't drugged him!" I intervened knowing where her thoughts were going. A small smile spread across her features before she closed her eyes and slumped onto the floor with a small sigh. Being quick to respond I reach a hand out to grab her before realising that she's on the other side of a barrier. Watching her carefully I realise that she isn't moving *at all*; no conscious movements; no *un*conscious movements either. "Uh… A little help in here please!" I shout, turning my head slightly towards the door whilst keeping an eye on Kynthia making sure this wasn't another deception. Still no movement whatsoever. Crap. Where the hell are the guards? A few seconds later two SF guards storm into the room guns ready and pointed towards the – hopefully – unconscious Kynthia. "Get Dr. Fraiser down here now!" I yell at one of the young men who just stares at me. "Didn't you hear me?! Get Dr. Fraiser here *now*!" The guard looks at me for a second longer before snapping out of whatever reverie he was in and shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Sir. No can do. Dr. Fraiser is down in Major Carter's lab dealing with an incident with the child and Colonel O'Neill. I'm sure one of the other on-duty-doctors would like to have a look at the prisoner." I pause as his words sink into my head. I nod at the one who spoke. "Go get one of the other Doctors…" He doesn't move. "*Now*!" The boy scurries off down the corridor leaving a trail of dust behind him… almost. "You, open the door ready for the Doc getting here!" The second – slightly older – SF takes a step towards the bars and fishes his card out of his pocket and swipes it through the machine, allowing the door to slide open slightly but jamming his foot against it to prevent it from opening any further. "Good, what happened in Sam's lab? Is Jack ok?" I ask finally allowing myself to become human and care for my friends well being. The guard – Peters I read on his name tag – steps to the left slightly before answering. "The last I heard the child was in the Major's lab doing all kinds of stuff to who knows what. Colonel O'Neill and everyone else were uninjured." I sigh in relief and look past him to the still form of Kynthia. "But that was roughly five minutes ago." I freeze in my journey closer towards Kynthia and look at him. "I'm sure that they'll still be fine," he adds hastily. A few short seconds pass then there is a blast from the Klaxons and the red lights flash across the walls. "Security alert, I repeat security alert! All available security personnel to Major Carter's lab, I repeat: to Major Carter's lab!" Sergeant Davis voice sounds overhead. "I wouldn't be too sure about that," I mumble to the SF who looks ready to bolt as soon as the doctor gets through the door. "About time!" I yell as a trolley is rushed into the room followed by several infirmary nurses and Dr. Warner. I am pushed out of the way as the trolley is rolled past me. Without hesitation the Doc leans down and checks Kynthia's pulse. Everything seems too calm for such a…not calm moment. "There's no pulse," Warner informs and puts a hand up to one of the nurses. A few seconds later four of the nurses are on the ground preparing to lift Kynthia to the trolley and then onwards to the infirmary. After the trolley leaves the cell Warner turns to me. "I don't know what to say, Dr Jackson, there's nothing we can do." I stare at him with a shocked expression – I may have to look for my jaw on the floor later. "What do you mean `nothing you can do'!? You never tried to save her! You just… *left* her!" I shout and my voice reverberates round the room. I can *not* believe I am hearing this! Warner lowers his head before drawing in some air to his lungs. "I am under strictest orders from General Hammond not to supply the visitor's with any medical treatment. I'm sorry, Daniel I'm just following orders." He leaves before I can say anything, probably just as well – I don't think he wants to hear my opinion. I look around the room; I'll deal with this later. I have to get to Sam's lab. I walk down the dull corridors lit only by the green lights and the occasional red flash. As I draw nearer Sam's lab I can hear many different noises, mainly Jack's strangled…scream of pain. Quickening my pace I jog down to the lab and the site that greets me is not one I will forget in a hurry. Jamron using the ribbon device on Jack whilst Janet lies unconscious on the floor. That definitely *isn't* Jamron…
Part 22
~Sam~
For what seemed like an eternity I lay on the bed in the infirmary watching and listening to what was happening in the bustling base. Twenty minutes ago a young fresh-out-the-academy Airman stormed into the room calling for medical assistance in the holding cell. I waited in despair for Daniel to be rolled in on the trolley – dead or alive - so when Kynthia was `dropped off' I was more than a little surprised but intensely relieved.
Now I'm waiting for news on what is happening in my lab several levels below. A few nurses are still floating around the infirmary but none know what is going on. I sigh audibly. I wish someone would come and tell me what was happening. Anyone.
No one does.
I bang my head on the pillow a few times and growl slightly.
"Nurse!" I call to the young woman who walks past the foot of my bed. "Is there any news on what is happening down in the lab?" I ask anxiously.
The young nurse shakes her head and purses her lips and looks thoughtful.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, no news. I'm sure everything's fine… we'd have heard otherwise," she smiles and turns to leave when suddenly the overhead klaxons sound signalling an emergency.
"Speak so soon?" I say to the nurse and raise my eyebrows, flinging the covers off my body and swing my legs over and my feet touch the chill floor.
"Ma'am that really isn't wise! I am ordering you to get back in bed," she says anxiously with no strength of words and walks back towards me and places a hand on my shoulder gently, showing no authority.
"And what do you propose I do? Let who-knows-what to happen to my friends? No I think I'll be going down there!" I shrug her hand away and propel myself upwards from my bed and reach for the robe that it lying across the foot of it.
"And what about the family you have inside you? What is something happens to you? Who knows what will happen to the baby…" Suddenly an onslaught of authority beats down on the girl and there is confidence in her face.
I slink back into my bed and pull the covers up to my chin and watch as several more groups of SF's swarm past the door several feet away from the end of my bed: pregnancy sure has its downsides.
The loud noise from the klaxons has been silenced but the lights still flash like blood seeping from a deep wound.
I need to know what is happening! Thump my fist on the mattress beside me and growl again.
I look up as the door on the left at the bottom of my bed is flung open and a cart is rolled in with Janet on it, masses of medics around her – one sitting astride her giving CPR and the young nurse who was tending to me rushes over. I sit with wide eyes and open mouth not knowing what to do.
I am too busy watching Janet's cart to notice the other one being wheeled in until I hear someone – I think its Daniel – yell:
"I don't think Sam should be in here for this!"
I turn and look at where to voice came from – sure enough it was Daniel – and notice the second cart, which is flooded with medics also and I sit up against the pillow and try to glimpse who it is that is lying on it.
It's Jack.
Much like Janet, there is a male medic sitting astride him giving CPR and another squeezing the air bag attached to the mask over his mouth whenever the other medic tells her to. Her face is deathly pale and his eyes are closed but I can see they are swollen and that his jaw is twisted far to the left.
The nurse from before – Jennings I think she's called – pulls back my covers and attempts to pull me up. I resist until I realize what she is doing and allow her to usher me out the room. She ushers me towards the door and I have to pass Jack to get out them fully. When I am level with his bed I begin to struggle with her and pull myself towards his bed and pull at the shirts of the medics. He is now strapped up to a heart monitor and is being `zapped' by paddles, his body rising several inches off the bed.
The nurse manages to get me out the door and I am halfway down the corridor when I hear the beginnings of a steady beep-beep coming from within. I sigh and a large grin covers my face.
But my other ear picks up the other sound.
"Time of death… 19:03," Dr Warner announces.
Part 23
~Daniel~
Frozen, I turn towards the beds and look at the figure under the swarm of now unmoving medics and nurses and doctors. I walk towards the bed and look down at the motionless body and tears spring instantly into my eyes.
I look up when I hear the soft patter of a woman's bear feet on the floor beside me and I remember Sam. I look at her pale, frozen features and reach out and pull her close to my body. She curls her head into my chest and I can feel my checked shirt begin to dampen under her eyes.
"Sam, I'm so sorry," I mutter but I know that my words are nowhere near enough to comfort her – they are not even enough to comfort me. I had lost one of my best friends and so had she, and the best I could do was `sorry'.
Tears clog my throat and burn my eyes but I try hard not to let them fall, trying to be strong for Sam.
"Dr. Jackson, Colonel O'Neill is ready to be moved out to the Air Force Hospital. Will you be accompanying him, or will Major Carter?" Dr Warner asks of me and I try and ignore him. "Dr Jackson?"
I turn to him with wet eyes and a wet face.
"I'll stay here. Sam can go with Jack." I turn back around and watch as Janet's body is wheeled away, obviously down to the morgue.
"What happened, Daniel?" Sam asks me later, as we sit in her room, as she gets ready to go with Jack.
I look at her in a way that tells her she doesn't want to know.
"Daniel, I have to know."
I continue to look at her and then nod.
"Okay, well, Jamron is Apophis. Kynthia knew this and still allowed it to happen. Apophis approached-"
"Daniel, I know all of this. Get to the point. What happened to Jack and Janet?" She asks with fresh tears in her eyes.
"Well, Jamron is Apophis as I told you. The device in her heart? Yeah, it wasn't a bomb, it was a transport vessel that disintegrated after it went through the `gate releasing the symbiote. Don't ask how because even I know we thought that thing inside her was solid. Anyway, Jack went down to the lab and she was going crazy, screeching and threatening and the usual Goa'uld-y attitude. Then she pulled out a hand device and blasted Janet…" Tears spring into my eyes and I close my eyes to try and encourage them to leave. "Then when I arrived she was using the hand device on Jack. Everyone seemed too shocked to do anything, it seemed as though they were under some sort of spell. It was horrible Sam. I couldn't move, then from nowhere there was a shot from a gun. It was Teal'c." My words are severely disjointed, I know this and I can't seem to fix it. "That's when the klaxons went and everyone seemed to snap out of whatever they were under. That's all I remember until I made it to the infirmary. And Janet…"
Sam is by my side in seconds and we cry for a few emotive minutes until there is a knock on her door.
"Yes?" She asks as she answers it.
"Are you ready ma'am?" A young male airman asks.
"Yes."
With that Sam turns to me and smiles "You can stay here as long as you want." And then she leaves.
I look about and realize there is somewhere else I have to be.
Part 24
~Sam~
There was something about the way that he smiled that made me realise I could do it. Made me realise I could stand up in front of everyone and tell them about Janet's life. About how distraught I was that she was going to miss the birth of my baby. About how angry I was at the Goa'uld for taking my best friend away. I had said everything I could think of and yet it all felt so inadequate.
I laid my head back on the sofa in the recreation room on level twelve. The room – like all the others on base – was grey, a few advertising posters here and there – the "Signs of the Times" poster taking centre stage on the wall behind the pool table. MTV was playing in the background and the lights were dimmed so as not to disturb the few members of staff who were trying to play traditional poker. The atmosphere seemed too jovial for the events that had happened that day: they had just buried one of the bases most valued officers, Janet Fraiser.
I had tried to avoid being around anyone but Jack had caught up with me after leaving the cemetery and told me that there was no way in hell that he was leaving me by myself. I had told him there was some work I needed to do on base and he has said the exact same – though I doubt he had any: he had spent the last week writing up the large pile of paper work that had overtaken his desk in the few short days that he hadn't visited there. There was nothing I could do to keep away from him for any length of time apart from sitting in the darkened room and hoping he was not a normal member of the poker team that were just starting another play.
I slide down the seat and close my eyes and think about Cassie and how she had stared disbelievingly at me when I told her. Daniel was with me but he couldn't muster the courage to tell this young child, who had lost so much in her life already, that she had lost her mother figure and now was going to have to try and fit in with another family. She had pleaded with Daniel to let her stay with him but due to the fact that none of us can ever be sure if we will return from our next mission, he tearfully told her that wasn't possible. She had said to us that it wasn't fair: that I was having a baby and would have to look after it and that the rules still applied. Did we not want her, she asked. Daniel tried, again, to explain it to her but I told him to stop. It wasn't fair. The rules till applied to me as they did to Cassie, and that I would talk to General Hammond. I still haven't.
Sighing, I rise from my sanctuary and wipe the few stray tears from my eyes and leave the room, squinting as I open the door to the harsh light of the corridors. I make my way down the quiet corridors and nod as people wander past, greeting me with "Ma'am" and make my way to General Hammond's office.
"Enter," he commands after I knock quietly and I obey. "Major Carter," he greets me. "What can I do for you?"
I take a seat in front of his desk, knowing that he would have told me to do so anyway and look at him before continuing.
"It's about Cassie, sir." I say at length.
"I see. I was wondering how long it would take you to arrive. Daniel has already been and pleaded his case."
Surprised, I look up at him begging him to continue.
"I told him that all that can possibly be done to ensure that he can care for Cassie is being done. But I can't make any promises. The President may still want for Daniel to work on SG-1 and while he is doing so, I believe it would be highly unfair for Cassie. She has lost too much already, don't you think?"
I knew that this would happen. We were going to have to sacrifice something – whether it be Daniel, or Cassie: both were equally as bad as the other.
"Yes," I respond on a quick outlet of breath. "So much has happened lately. I just… I can't get my head around it." I say without thinking and I drop my head into my hands, feeling that my nose is slightly greasy, reminding me that I need to shower and remove the make up I had applied much earlier in the day.
"You're not the only one. Before Dr Fraiser… died, she made a recommendation that I believe I should follow up on."
I don't look up as I ask my next question.
"What was that, Sir?"
"You are to be taken from SG-1 and not allowed to travel through the `Gate. After your child is born, I believe you may wish to follow the course that Dr Jackson might end up taking and leave SG-1 permanently."
I don't look up because I knew that this is what would happen. Instead I let out a quick laugh and shake my head.
"It's never going to be the same, is it? You should have had us Court Marshalled, sir, but you didn't and I thank you so much for that. But not letting me be a part of what it is that I love so much, I don't think I could do that. I don't want to be the lonely woman who sits at home waiting to see if her partner is going to return from his next mission."
"Major, you will still be working with the Air Force, that is not in question. This… reassignment is not a punishment – it's just the best way to deal with the situation. I'm sorry, but it's the best I could do. I hope you will take the chance that I am offering you and be at peace with it."
I stand up and nod. "Yes, sir." I salute him and he dismisses me.
I try to reach my lab before anyone – namely Jack – sees me, and when I make it there I sit down on the stool in front of my desk and let the tears slide down my face.
Part 25
~Daniel~
I sit on the overstuffed sofa in the overstuffed room and watch as the Sun sets behind the row of trees that line the flaming horizon. The room is dusty, little dustlets floating across my vision, a few miniscule dust particles float up my nose and I twitch it to rid the sneeze feeling. I hold a bottle of beer up to my mouth and the bitter smell matches the bitter taste as it glides down my throat, a few fizz bubbles bursting in my mouth. I close my eyes and let my head rest against the cushion on the back of the sofa.
"Daniel?" Sam asks from behind me and I open my eyes. "Jack just called, he's caught in a traffic jam on the main road, and there was an accident. He'll be here soon.
I lean forward and rest my elbows on my knees, rub my eyes with my fingers then expel a breathe of hot air into my hands.
"I can't believe it's been a year since we left SG-1," I say to Sam as she takes a seat on the armchair across from me.
"I know," she replied with a contemplative tone in her voice. "I never expected it be like this."
She puts her beer down and leans back into the corduroy material of the sofa and I smile slightly.
"I know what you mean." I'm silent for a few minutes then I look up. "My book… it's being published, my work is finally being recognised by the archaeological community."
Sam looks at me with a mixture of shock and `I-told-you-so'. She leans forward and takes one of my hands in her and squeezes.
"I knew you could do it," she smiles as tears begin to form in her eyes. She looks away and then looks back at me. "Remember… after I lost the baby, the doctors said that I might not be able to have children?" She asks, and my heart begins to gain weight as I see the look in her eyes. I nod. "Well… they were wrong. I'm pregnant again."
I sit back, surprised, then a massive grin appears on my face and I reach out and hug her to me.
"Oh congratulations, Sam. I – I don't know what to say!" I say as I find I can't find the right words. "Does Teal'c know?" I ask after holding her for a few moments again.
"Jack tried to get in contact with him a couple of days ago but there was no answer. He was probably off trying to muster up another one of his rebel Jaffa armies, you know how it is with him." She's silent for a few minutes and I can tell that she is thinking about Teal'c and the relationship that we all shared when we all worked with the SGC. "I knew that he would go back to the galaxy after SG-1 split up. There was never really any family here for him, and he could never go back out into the world with his gold tattoo," she says then adds: "I miss him."
I let her cry for a few minutes and then rub away the tears with the back of my hand. After Hammond left the SGC, Jack took over which meant that the only original member of SG-1 was Teal'c who never felt he belonged here anyway. The desk job suited Jack, especially considering that his circumstances had changed and, after Sam left, there was no reason for him to be on a team risking his life.
"I was talking to George before I came over," I tell Sam and she looks at me with a small smile on her lips. "He's invited us all over for thanksgiving dinner."
She smiles and laughs loudly. "Trust old George." Another contemplative look crosses her face again and it is then that I realise how much I miss Janet.
Tears creep into my eyes and I try desperately to hold them back but they pour over. Cassie has caught me on numerous occasions looking over old photos with tears in my eyes, then she would join me in my tearful trip down that old road called Memory Lane.
"I miss her too," Sam says, knowing who my tears were for. "I can't believe that was all a year ago.
A silence falls over us again. Outside the wind is picking up and sprinkles of water appear on the old window of Jack's cabin in Minnesota. The wind chime that is just outside the window hanging in the balcony chimes a musical remedy that only adds to the sombre mood that has taken over the room and I tilt my head to the roof. There is the sound of tyres on gravel and Sam stands up and moves towards the door calling back to me with a muffled voice:
"It's Jack."
I stand and move to the window, the Sun now settled behind the curtain of Firs and I lean my head on the glass.
A few seconds later I hear a deep voice call my name:
"Daniel Jackson, are you well?"
I turn surprised and see Teal'c standing before me, dressed in a black suit and a bowler's hat.
"Teal'c," I smile and move towards him and hug him.
"Daniel Jackson," he says again and I can sense the old familiar bonds of friendship being rekindled in the musty room and I smile.
When I pull back, Jack is standing watching over us like a protective father.
"Hello, Jack," I say with a smile.
"Daniel," he replies and moves towards me with his arms spread wide.
~ ~
In the deep night, I look out the window towards the trees and smile.
Some things you have got to let go. But some things like friends, you have got to hold onto because they are what make a person. They are what make your life. And I have mine all around me, my family – the only person missing is Cassie. And Janet.
I can't let her go.
FIN
Story Notes: Spoilers: Kynthia and Jacob/Selmac
Archive: SJD, yes
Email: gater_101@hotmail.com
Archive: SJD, yes
Email: gater_101@hotmail.com
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]