After having talked himself into a confrontation with Sam over "their situation," Jack was totally deflated when he found out Sam had gone on a mission to the Alpha Site. She was there with her father, the Tok'ra one/two punch combination of Jacob and Selmak, to put the finishing touches on the new weapon to fight Anubis' Super Soldiers. This was like staying up all night to wait for a battle only to find there was no one to fight. However, it was comforting to know that she hadn't taken leave to say home and nurse the wounded Pete Shanahan.
Too fidgety to stay in his office and definitely not wanting to go back home, Jack decided to put the second part of his plan first – to talk to the guys and let them know what may befall the team. It wasn't exactly going to Plan B; more like going to the second part of Plan A first.
Daniel's lab was only halfway down the corridor from his office. Peering inside, Jack observed Teal'c surveying an artifact with hieroglyphics of some sort while Daniel's nose was pressed in very large, very old book. With his hands shoved in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels, Jack announced his presence with a less than hearty, "Mornin' campers."
"O'Neill," Teal'c responded in the way of acknowledgement.
Daniel looked up, his eyebrows knit in confusion. "What tears you away from the fishing hole?"
Jack stepped inside and began to close the door, stopping halfway, "May I . . . ?"
"Sure," Daniel shrugged, and then after the door was soundly closed, "What's up?"
Jack took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He wasn't sure this was a good idea; after all, men didn't talk about these sorts of things often, if ever. Whatever the outcome between Sam and him, it would affect them in one way or another. They had a right to be warned, possibly even to have some say in the matter, he supposed. "I need to talk to you both about something that's both, well, personal and professional."
"Ah," Daniel murmured with a slight nod of his head.
"So . . . " Jack began, scratching the back of his head as he looked in their direction in a sheepish, sideways glance, "Anyone who doesn't know I care more for Major Carter than I'm supposed to raise their hand."
Teal'c raised an eyebrow, but not a hand. Daniel went so far as to lower both of his hands from the desk in an overt gesture.
There was several seconds of silence before Teal'c stated in his trademark cadence, "I have never understood the significance of this regulation that prohibits you and Major Carter from being together."
"Technically, I've been breaking the regs for years," Jack explained, "It's meant to keep me from showing her favoritism over the two of you, to keep me from making decisions based on a bias towards her, lots of other things."
"You would do as much for Daniel Jackson or myself as you would for Major Carter," Teal'c replied, still obviously not sure why these regulations had to be so strictly adhered to.
Pulling up a chair near Daniel's desk, Jack picked up a paperclip from the desk and began to unbend it. "To use an old cliché, I'm a day late and a dollar short, but I'm going to talk to her anyway. This could affect the team."
There was more silence before Teal'c said, "I understand there is a policy in your military for those who prefer to be with those of their own gender. I believe it is something like do not question, do not reply."
"Don't ask, don't tell," Daniel corrected. "I've already considered that. The personal lives of co-workers never stays secret long, and it would eventually get out, if only in rumor. As much as Kinsey hates Jack, he'd love to have that for ammo."
"You've considered it?" Jack asked, still moving the paperclip around in funny shapes as he spoke.
With a slight sigh of exasperation, Daniel countered, "You're both my friends. You don't think this is the first second I've spent trying to think of a way to resolve this, do you?"
Jack nodded a silent thanks before continuing, "I'm ready to retire."
"Sam won't have that," Daniel affirmed. "Especially since Hammond has been talking retirement recently and everyone knows, if he does, you'll make general and take over the SGC."
Jack grimaced, "Why would I want that political nightmare? Can you imagine how Kinsey and I would butt heads? Or how I'd knock his off for him."
"Frankly, I can't see him not trying to block the promotion in Congress unless he thinks it's to his advantage to make you head of the SGC and then try to keep you under his thumb. You know he's bound for a least the VP slot, if he doesn't manage to go all the way for President this term."
Daniel wasn't saying anything Jack didn't already know. "So . . . I should retire."
"Before talking to her or after?" Daniel asked.
"I don't know. No matter how she feels about either of us, she isn't going to kick Pete to the curb just because I finally got the guts to speak up." Jack threw the totally mutilated paperclip in a nearby trashcan and sat back in the swiveled-back chair. "But before I say anything to her, now is the time for you to tell me I shouldn't – for whatever reason, and that includes what you think it will do to the team."
Teal'c and Daniel exchanged glances before Daniel spoke, "We don't want to see SG-1 break up any more than you do. Neither do we want Sam and you to sacrifice your happiness to keep it together. Whatever happens, Jack, no matter what designation we wear or where we are, we're a team."
"Indeed," Teal'c asserted.
Jack was trying to think of some awkward way to thank them when security alarms went off and the phone rang. Daniel picked the receiver up, listened, and then replied, "Right away." All of them hopped to their feet and started out the door while Daniel relayed the phone conversation, "General Hammond heard you were here and wants us in the Control Room now."
***********************
It was the worst possible news Jack could imagine. Goa'uld, probably sent by Anubis, had invaded the Alpha Site, forcing an evacuation and the setting up the self-destruct sequence in one area of the base. Jack picked up fragments of what General Hammond was saying after he learned Sam's fate was unknown. It seemed the MALP was able to go through the Stargate to the Alpha site, but found itself in a hole.
"We'll be fine sir," Jack said firmly, jaw set in that steel-like position that everyone knew brooked no argument, "The gate dug the perfect foxhole." Sam was the woman he loved, but he knew Daniel and Teal'c were as gung ho to get through the gate and start looking for her as he was. If Orlin hadn't talked him into coming here to talk to her; if he had been at home and found out about this later, his life wouldn't have been worth living. He was going to go get her back, whatever it took.
Once through the gate, they found they did have to use a ladder to climb out of a hole. They were met by a group of Air Force soldiers, led by Major Reynolds. When Jack enquired about survivors, the major snipped, "Who could have survived this?"
It was all Jack could do to keep from connecting the butt of his weapon to Reynolds' jaw, but he held it together. Finding Sam was more important than taking his frustrations out on a officer who made a callous remark.
Jack ordered them to go in two different directions. It wasn't long before Reynolds radioed back that they had found survivors, but Major Carter wasn't among them. In due time they found evidence of Anubis' Super Soldiers and a wounded Jacob Carter. Jack felt a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach and Jacob informed him that Sam was out there with no weapon, just the upgraded power source for the one Jacob was now giving him.
Weak and distraught, Jacob said what none of them wanted to hear, "I don't know if she's still alive."
In no mood to debate who should go or stay, Jack radioed for someone in Reynolds' group to meet Daniel at his position and take Jacob back through the gate to Earth for medical attention. He and Teal'c would press on.
They walked through a wooded area to a clearing where Teal'c crouched to point out footprints. Jack was relieved to see they were standard SGC issue, realizing what Teal'c put into words – they were lightly made and smaller in size than a man's shoe. The relief was short lived, however, for just beyond her footprints were a larger footprint; one obviously made by the drone following her. The good news is there was no apparent sign of struggle nearby. The drone hadn't caught up with her at this point. Still, they needed to hurry. Jack had no doubt she could outsmart the drone, if she had the energy and strength to try. That was a very big if.
Word came that General Hammond had sent and armed UAV through the gate to aid in the search, and if it found the drone, they might be able to fire a missile into it. At least they weren't at the mercy of a weapon they didn't know whether it worked or not. The followed Sam's footprints for as long as they could before they led off into another wooded area. They search for another hour when they heard the sound of the missile go off nearby.
Teal'c and he ran toward the blast and Jack was almost giddy at the site of her standing in front of them until he saw the terror in her eyes. Following them downward to what had obviously caused her fright, he saw the up-stretched hand of the drone making it's way out from the sand. "Draw his attention away from her," Jack whispered sharply, pointing to the left of them as the desired place, "I'll get around over there and fire on him."
By the time Teal'c got to where he could start to fire on the drone, it was already up from the sand and was aiming at Sam. Jack prepared a shot, wishing he could call out a reassurance to Carter. If Teal'c couldn't divert his attention in time, he'd hope the weapon had enough juice to slow him down and allow him to get to Sam for the power core she held.
Just as Sam braced herself to die, Teal'c fired at the drone, which quickly turned in the cause of self-preservation and began to return fire in time. Teal'c retreated into the trees, but was still able to fire while Jack moved toward the rock pile that Sam ran to for cover. She collapsed against the rocks as he fired the weapon. It slowed him a little, allowing Jack to duck and start to ask Sam for the core. He no sooner called her name to get her attention than she raised the core up to him. Swiftly he locked it into place and fired another round into the drone. This shot hit home; the new weapon had done its job. He passed the weapon to Teal'c who went to ensure the drone wasn't getting up.
"That's it?" Sam asked weakly.
Standing in front of her from where he took the shot, Jack looked over at the fallen drone, "Yeah, he's dead!" Then to be sure, "Right Teal'c? He's dead?"
Teal'c nodded, keeping guard over the drone just in case he was wrong.
"Yeah, he's dead."
Jack watched her for a few seconds. He'd seen her wounded and in critical condition more times than he could count. Even in the last month, he'd sat by her bed in the infirmary for days. Somehow, this was different. He had never quite seen her awake, alert, and yet so pale and vulnerable. How she had managed as well as she did was a miracle he wanted to remember to be thankful for. "Wanna get up?" he asked lamely, not sure what else to offer other than the assistance to stand.
She sank deeper into the sitting position as if the thought of standing were painful, "I just need to rest for a minute."
Rest she would, Jack determined. Hesitantly, Jack sat down beside her. He wanted to tell her he loved her. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her until she felt safe again. He wanted a lot of things and it wasn't those damned regulations that kept him from it now, but Pete Shanahan. Was she wishing Pete were there to comfort her?
But Pete wasn't there; he was. "Come here," Jack said in a voice that was half order and half plea. Sam fell against him as he draped an arm around her, tentatively at first and then with a show of strength to let her know he was there for her, whether she wanted him or not.
Sam allowed herself to sit next to Jack for about ten minutes before she announced that she could get up now. Teal'c made the first offer to carry her. Trying to make her laugh, Jack chimed in, "I could throw you over my shoulder caveman style. Me Tarzan, you Jane!"
The joke fell flat, but she smiled weakly at his attempt. "I think I can make it, Sir." She looked at Teal'c and then at him, her blue eyes penetrating his soul. "Thank you," she said, her voice hoarse from the physical strain, "both of you."
"Twern't nuthin' Ma'am."
***********************
By the time Jack had finished his debriefing with General Hammond and catching up on the dissolution of the Tok'ra, Jaffa, Tauri alliance, two hours had passed. He was too tired and too mentally drained to concentrate on what that meant at the moment; he just wanted to see Sam. He passed Jacob in the hallway as he came out of the infirmary.
"How is she?"
"Tired, upset but acting stoic, you know Sam."
Jacob, too, looked like there was a stoic act going on. "You're caught between a rock and a hard place," Jack sympathized.
"I may not see her for quite awhile," Jacob sighed. "I've not given up on the alliance, but I've got a lot of damage repair to do, including to Selmak's reputation among the Tok'ra. You'll take care of her for me, won't you Jack?"
"Yeah," he answered. "Should I . . . uh . . . should I find Shanahan? Do you have a phone number?"
Jacob grinned that impatient half-grin of his, "I don't carry a cell phone on me, and phone service stinks back at the Tok'ra base. You'll have to ask Sam."
That was exactly what Jack didn't want to do, although if Pete Shanahan was what she needed now, he'd do whatever.
The two men shook hands and exchanged good-byes. Jacob wasn't two steps away from him when Jack was overcome with an urge to hit the gents. The urge was so overwhelming, he practically ran to get there. Once his mission was accomplished, he began washing his hands and then looking up in the mirror, he saw a reflection staring back at him.
"What? Whoa . . . Damnit Orlin, don't sneak up on me that way!" he cried, turning around to face the alien. "Wait . . . did you, can you . . . make me . . . ?"
"I admit to putting a suggestion in your mind. A rather strong one. This is one of the few rooms without a camera."
It was too bad Daniel couldn't remember particulars like this about his time as an ascended being. "I take it you got a Carter distress signal?"
"Yes," Orlin said in his monotoned style of speaking. "I can usually tell the difference between her being concerned and truly feeling fear. It has a lot to do with whether or not you are there. The feeling of fear was stronger than it has ever been before."
"Have you been to see her?"
"Yes. Samantha is sleeping from the narcotics she was given. It is not a peaceful sleep, but it is a healing one. "
Leaning against the sink, Jack folded his arms in front of him. "I'd tell you what happened, but I don't think I have the energy for it at the moment."
"I know," Orlin acknowledged, although Jack wasn't quite certain whether he was saying he knew what had happened or that Jack was obviously dead on his feet.
"What can I do for you?" He was anxious to sit for awhile with Carter, especially if she was sleeping and wouldn't know he was there. Then he had to try to track down a cop in Denver.
"The number you seek is 555.354.2708. I went to her office first. It was on her desk."
On some level, he guessed it made sense that Orlin was there to see Sam, and then heard him ask Jacob for the phone number and knew he could oblige him with the information. "So after you visit me at home and tell me to come here and talk to her about . . . things, you want me to call Shanahan too?"
Orlin's enigmatic stare softened to show the trace of a smile. "I sense fear."
"Yes," Jack countered, straightening up and walking toward the men's room door, "You do."
***********************
To Jack's great relief, Daniel volunteered to go topside and escort Pete Shanahan down to the infirmary when he arrived a few hours after he made the phone call. Of course, Jack couldn't tell him any more than Sam had been injured at work and the man had the good sense not to ask questions over the phone.
It took two hours for Shanahan to get from where he was in metropolitan Denver to Cheyenne Mountain. During that time, Jack sat in the infirmary by Sam's bed until Daniel let him know Shanahan had arrived. The medical assistants had assured him that she would be fine. Sleep would be possible and welcome when he hid in his room for the rest of the day or however long it took for him to avoid Sam's new boyfriend.
When Jack did wake up several hours later, he was starved – both for food and news of Sam. He threw on his khakis and headed toward the canteen, combing his hair by pushing his fingers through the rakish, gray military cut starting at his forehead and moving backward. It was enough to get him to the cafeteria and then Daniel's quarters. If Sam's *guest* had gone, he'd do better before he checked in with her.
There was no one in the canteen this close to nine o'clock at night other than the one clerk handling the cash register and someone sitting in a dark corner that he couldn't make out. The place would come alive again around eleven-thirty when there would be a shift change for some of the twenty-four-hour crews. Grabbing one of the take-out bags, Jack surveyed the scant selection of sandwiches available to him this time of night and selected a ham-on-rye. He threw in a bag of potato chips and looked for blue jello, Carter's favorite desert. It wasn't there – probably wasn't a good idea anyway.
"Colonel O'Neill?"
Jack hadn't considered the possibility that the shadow in the corner belonged to Pete Shanahan until it was too late. "Shanahan," he acknowledged, walking toward the shadow, wondering where Daniel was and why he had allowed him to go anywhere in the facility unescorted. "How's Major Carter?" he inquired, more by way of something to say. Jack would try to see for himself as soon as he could.
Shanahan leaned forward, his long jawline becoming more visible in the faint light illuminating the canteen. When Jack saw his eyes, there was so much anguish in them that Jack panicked, "She's still okay, right?" he insisted, impatiently waiting for an answer.
"They say she'll be fine."
Jack swallowed finally. "Good. I'll see you."
He started to turn to leave when Shanahan asked him, "How can she expect me to do it?"
"Do what, exactly?"
"Face up to the fact that this could happen to her any time she goes out there," Shanahan continued.
Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing – not from a cop. "You would expect her to accept your going out on your job, which I might add can be just as harmful to your health."
"It's different."
The conflict of emotions was so palpable, Jack almost choked on them. No matter what vulnerable state Sam was in right now, if Shanahan made such a chauvinistic statement to her face or suggested she give up the SCG for his comfort level, he would find himself the "ex-boyfriend" in a heartbeat. However, if this son of a bitch was considering a breakup with her tonight after the day she'd had because he couldn't take a blow to his macho ego, Jack would kick his bleached blonde ass all the way up to the top level of Cheyenne Mountain and back down the mountain itself.
Shanahan's eyes were bright, "I'm not used to all this. I don't think I can get used to it."
So much for Sam's belief that he could take it if he knew the truth about her work. "That's immaterial right now," he retorted sharply. For his next line, Jack adapted his most colonel-like voice, "The aim is to get make her comfortable while she gets well. Then you can discuss this with her . . . when she's ready."
Shanahan was unfazed by the commanding tone. "She saw it in my face the moment I entered the room," he recounted. "I tried to deny it and for awhile, she let me get away with it. Then, just a few minutes ago, she told me she knew what I was thinking and she wouldn't give up this place . . . her job . . . for me. She's in there after having to run for her life, and wanting to go back for more!"
While the younger man saw that as astonishing, Jack saw it as endearing. That was his Sam, his Carter, his Major. He couldn't help a brief surge of sympathy for Shanahan though. The sight of Sam sitting against those rocks earlier today had alarmed him. If Sam had been able to look at him closely, she'd have been able to read every emotion he had on his face. He could hardly blame Shanahan for the same thing, even if those emotions were obviously very different.
The military man in Jack couldn't leave an uncleared, unescorted person free in the base. "Where's Daniel?"
Shanahan shrugged, "He said he'd would be back just as soon as he . . . there he is."
On queue, Daniel walked into the canteen. Jack considered raking him over the coals for this breach in security, but his arrival left the way clear for a quick exit to the infirmary. Clutching the bag with his sandwich and chips, Jack raised an eyebrow and with feigned magnanimity, wished Pete Shanahan a nice life and told Daniel he'd see him later.
***********************
Jack had completely forgotten his earlier thought to go comb his hair and make himself a bit more presentable before going to see Sam. He stormed into her room, having practically run through the corridors from the time he got on the other side of the canteen's doors.
She was still awake, they had increased the number of butterfly bandages to hold together the skin from the gash on her head since the last time he'd seen her. "Hello Sir," she greeted, her lips moving into the ghost of a smile, while her eyes did not respond in the way he was used to when she smiled in earnest.
Jack flung the bag of food on the nightstand and pulled the chair closer to the bed. "Sir isn't here, Sam. Neither is the Colonel. It's just Jack at the moment." All the usual mirth and merriment that he usually employed when around her in a non-professional atmosphere was gone.
She furrowed her brow in confusion until the effort became painful due to the gash. The pain forced an intake of breath that she let out slowly. "You know about the alliance?"
If it was easiest for her to talk shop right now, that's what they'd do. "Yes. I have complete faith that Jacob will win over the Tok'ra. Hopefully, Teal'c can work the same diplomacy on the Jaffa. In the confrontational state they were all the time, the alliance wasn't that strong."
"Do you think there was a traitor or that Anubis used a mind probe on a captive?"
"Part of me hopes for the latter, although if he did probe someone's mind, we have no idea what information he got," he said, making an effort to lower his normally resonant voice to avoid waking those asleep in nearby beds. "But if I were pressed, I'd bet on there being a traitor."
Sam's expression signaled she agreed. "In order for Anubis to have extracted the information that drone had, someone would have had to have been thinking quite a bit about that weapon in particular, including my relationship to it. I'm thinking we have a traitor."
He wanted to ask her how she felt and couldn't bring himself to do it. He imagined the pain of losing her father, although only temporarily, and splitting up with a new boyfriend equaled the pain in her body, if not surpassed it.
Clutching at straws, not sure where to go, Jack found himself picking up the a hairbrush from the nightstand and tapping it against his leg while he admitted something unplanned, "You had a visitor earlier I think you missed."
"Who?" she asked, genuinely interested.
"Orlin."
If Sam was surprised, she didn't show it. "Sometimes, I get a sense that he's around although he never shows himself. You saw him?"
"We had a brief talk," Jack admitted. "I'm sorry I didn't get to know him a bit better before he ascended, again . . . re- ascended . . . whatever." He neglected to say that he couldn't bring himself to be equally as sorry that Sam's acquaintance with him before that time was cut short.
"At least this time I didn't lose a boyfriend because he died," she reasoned, "Maybe the curse has lifted." Jack hadn't realized the connection when he moved the conversation in this direction and silently cursed himself for not thinking it through.
It wasn't lost on him that there was no bitterness in her voice. Jack decided to ease into the subject of *them* the only way he knew how, with a glib remark. "To begin with, is Orlin really dead? I mean, look at Daniel! Anyway, I've always resented that bit about the boyfriend curse. I'm here . . . I'm living."
Sam smiled, this time her eyes joining in, "You hardly qualify as a boyfriend."
"Careful! I'm sure we have one of Anise's little Zeta-beta-phi doohickeys here to test us both on that one," he teased." Since I'm comfortable and don't want to go to all that trouble, I'll merely bring up a few points. How many dinners did you have with Narim? And Mr. Ambassador, did he ever kiss you?"
Sam's face turned almost as red as the gash along the side of it, but she kept with the spirit of the flirtation he knew she believed to be his way of teasing her out of her pain. "While I can't remember it well, I believe that resembled an assault more than a romantic gesture."
"Oh," Jack nodded, looking upwards impishly. "You're talking about when you went all cave woman on me. By the way, you never did wear that tank top number again . . . pity."
Her mind was too entrenched on trying to remember another kiss to react to the tank-top comment. "You kissed Alternate Reality Samantha. That wasn't me."
Jack grinned, focusing on his knee where he fidgeted with the hairbrush by trying to flip it up, "Wasn't referring to that either. But have you noticed a strange coincidence in that keeps reoccurring in these other realities regarding us?"
"I would remember a kiss!" Sam's exclaimed, flinching when one of the other patients fidgeted at the sound of her voice. She lowered her voice to almost a whisper, "Do you remember something about our time as Jonah and Thera that I don't?"
Actually, Jack had often wondered how many and what type of shared moments they had worth remembering during the time their memories had been erased and they had only instinct to go on. "Nope, don't remember . . . wish I did."
Exasperated and tired, Sam exhaled. "Then enlighten me. When did we have this other . . . kiss?"
Jack sat forward in the chair, leaned closer to her in a conspiratorial way. "The time loop. I handed in my resignation to General Hammond, and had my not-quite-as-wicked-as-I-would-have- liked way with you."
Again, Sam's face colored a deep shade of red. "And did I . . . respond?"
"Every time."
"Well then, congratulations," Sam sighed, "That makes you a living, breathing, bonafied boyfriend."
Nurse Williams came in the infirmary door and coughed in an attention-getting manner. "I'm sorry Colonel, but the Major needs to get some rest. It's quite late."
"Sure," Jack said. "Just give me a minute to finish my story."
"Yes sir," the nurse replied, going about some work on the other side of the room.
"Goodnight Sir," Sam said with a wane smile.
Jack exchanged the hairbrush for the bag of food from the canteen and stood next to the bed. "Sir was here earlier; you were sleeping . . . this is Jack . . . Jack the boyfriend." He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead just above her wound and then lightly brushed his lips against her closed eyelid and nose before claiming her mouth in a short, but sweet kiss that she responded to as much as she was able in her condition. Jack didn't give one infinitesimal damn whether news of this was all over the base the next day. He'd have his retirement letter ready for tomorrow.
"Goodnight, Sam."
***********************
Jack was up early, his muscles smarting from the strain of the hunt the day before. No one in the shower room or in the canteen appeared to be looking at him in that, `we're whispering behind your back' mode. Perhaps Nurse Williams was the sole of discretion and the APs were asleep with their eyes open.
Still ready to face the music, if required, he had a question for General Hammond that gave him an excuse to go to his office. After a quick breakfast, he found Hammond sitting at his desk.
"Good morning, Colonel. What can I do for you?" General Hammond asked, looking up from a stack of papers.
"Morning, General. Do you remember that big, honkin' emerald the Ascended guy Orlin made for Major Carter?" Jack made a large `oh' by putting his two index fingers and thumbs together to give a visual aid to his description of big and honkin'.
The general's brow furrowed at the strangeness of the question. "It was sent to Nellis Air Force Base."
"Know what they did with it?"
Hammond wanted to question why Jack was so interested in this emerald after all these years, but thought better of it. "Best I knew, they were going to study part of it and cut the rest to sell – I believe they gave Major Carter enough to square her credit card bill."
"And not a penny more, " Jack muttered sarcastically, "They might still have some of it at Area 51 then?"
"Possibly," Hammond replied with a squint. "Are you going to tell me what this is about?"
Jack shrugged. "Soon, I hope to. Not yet though."
Hammond was thoughtful for a moment . . . the Colonel . . . the Major . . . a gemstone . . . the lights came on. "I hope you have a good plan, Jack."
"I'm workin' on it," Jack smiled, glancing back the general as he left his office. "I am *so* workin' on it!"
***********************
Knowing the infirmary staff didn't like visitors to arrive too early in the morning, Jack decided to visit Daniel and Teal'c in Daniel's lab. He was surprised the big guy wasn't there; usually, he spent most of their non-off-world working day helping Daniel with translations and answering questions about the Goa'uld.
"Seen Sam this morning?" Daniel inquired, putting the chalk he'd been using to write on the large blackboard back in the holder and absently wiping the residue on his fatigues.
"Not yet. It's not eight o'clock." Both men had enough history in the SGC infirmary to know what that meant.
"I thought you might try to get away with an earlier visit since Janet isn't here."
Jack grimaced. "I'd feel a lot better about Sam if Doc Fraiser were here."
"Okay," Daniel remarked, looking at his wrist-watch. "By my count you've been here for over ten seconds and you haven't chewed me out over leaving Pete in the canteen by himself last night."
Jack hadn't completely forgotten about it. "Why did you?" He took a seat in the chair next to Daniel's desk.
"He couldn't get out of there without the guard in the hall seeing him. I asked the guard to make sure he didn't leave there and I went to the bathroom."
"Good enough for me." By this time, Jack had found something on Daniel's desk innocuous-looking enough to risk picking up and feeding his need for his hands to be doing something while he sat.
"I could tell when I saw you talking to him that you knew what happened."
Jack tried to assume an unaffected air. "At least she knows now that he is another control freak like Jonas Hanson."
"With his attitude, it could never have worked, "Daniel agreed. "What about you two?"
He shrugged. "For most of last night, she thought I was flirting her into a better mood. In a way, I was. I was just seriously flirting. By the time I left, I think she caught on to it."
"I see," Daniel replied in the way he often did when he really didn't. "Maybe, due to her circumstances, you should let this wait."
"For cryin' out loud, Daniel! I'm not going to wheel her bed into the chapel and try for the vows today."
Daniel took off his glasses and polished them with a handkerchief. "I know that impatient look of yours. You would if you thought you could get away with it."
"True." Jack checked the time. "It's a quarter of. I'm going to try to bust in early."
"Tell her I'll be in later."
"Sure thing."
***********************
While not a hundred percent, Sam was looking much better. Her color was almost completely back and she was sitting up.
"Morning.campers," Jack said, making a sweeping nod of greeting to all the patients within his eyesight from yesterday's incident before approaching Sam's bed.
She waited while others returned the good morning. "So," she said somberly, "Who is here to visit today."
He gave her a sidelong glace with both eyebrows raised in his most innocent-little-boy look. "Jack's back."
There was sadness in her face. "Jack can come by to visit late at night; it was a welcomed visit. He can't visit in the light of day with others around."
"Why can't he?" he asked. He needed her to bring it out in the open.
"You know why," she hissed under her breath to avoid being heard by others. "The regs."
"By noon today, Colonel Hammond will have my resignation."
For a second, he thought she was hit by a spasm of pain from her wounds. It wasn't, it was a pain in her heart. "You can't," she said softly. "This program needs you too much."
Jack made sure he had eye contact and that she didn't miss a word. "They're getting ready to go public with the Stargate and McKinsey will be Vice President. You know that means it's time for me to retire from going through the gate. I can, however, be a consultant. I can also keep the homefires burning until the new commander of SG-1 comes back from her missions."
When there was no response from her, just a wide-eyed star back into his eyes, he continued, feeling that fear he had talked to Orlin about earlier. "I need you, Sam, more than I need the SGC. You may not need me, only you know that."
Tears welled up and spilled down onto her cheeks. Uncertain of what to do, Jack used his thumb to gently wipe a few of them away only to have her start gushing with sobs. Patients nearby all knew of the trauma she had suffered and unquestionably thought it was a stress reaction. Jack positioned himself on the edge of the bed and took her into his arms while everyone else in the room pretended not to notice. Sam cried for a few minutes before she pulled back. "I think I may have effectively ruined my chances of being the commander of SG-1 with that."
"Nah," Jack remarked sheepishly. "I've been known to cry like a girl on several occasions in Hammond's office.
Purely for effect, she punched him in the shoulder with what little strength she had. "Ow!" he mocked.
"Do you really, truly want to retire?"
"Yes."
"You wouldn't give up the SGC entirely? You'd work as a consultant when they need you, as much as you're needed?"
"As long as I'm not given some civilian designation that puts me in command over you in some way so those damned regs are no longer a problem, then yes."
Sam smiled a brilliant smile. "And you really want to be my boyfriend?"
"Hell no!" Jack barked. "Been there, done that. I'm going for the whole shootin' match. I want a wedding . . . with cake."
Sam let the tears start up again. "You bet there will be cake."
He pulled her back into his arms and then kissed Major Samantha Carter in front of God and everyone in the infirmary.
***********************
The SGC rumor mill didn't miss this latest. General Hammond went so far as to have a bottle of champagne stowed away for special occasions put on ice in his office and waiting when Jack arrived with his letter of resignation and resume for a consultant position.
"Son," Hammond confided, taking a drink of the bubbly liquid in a ceremoniously conspicuous styrofoam cup, "I was beginning to despair of you ever getting this right."
The rest of the bottle was saved until Daniel and Teal'c could be gathered and the General could toast the couple in the infirmary.
Sam lost a little of her glee when she realized she would not be able to get the news to her father. Jack reassured her as long as other things didn't have to wait, the wedding and his cake could wait until Jacob could be present to give her away. It seemed incredible that, after the events of the previous day, this group could find something to celebrate.
Sam also showed one of those endearing moments when she proved she wasn't one of the boys by agonizing over whether there would be a scar on her forehead. Jack was in Heaven, and it was a peaceful place.
"So," Jack motioned toward Daniel and Teal'c as he sat on the edge of Sam's bed, "which one of you wants to be my Best Man and which one gets to be Sam's Matron of Honor?"
***********************
"I have two presents for you," Jack offered the day she was officially checked out of the infirmary and they were back in her lab, "Close your eyes – I'll tell you when to open them."
Sam did as she was told, a bit left over from obeying her commander's orders that he doubted would last long. Jack moved behind her and draped the necklace over her head, fastening it behind her neck.
"Okay," he said. "You can open your eyes to see this one."
Looking down, Sam took in the exquisite piece of jewelry. The necklace's centerpiece was a solid gold ring about a half-inch in diameter that she knew represented the Stargate, and mounted inside it was a stunningly beautiful emerald. "Oh Jack, it's lovely!"
"Wish I could take full credit for it, Ma'am, but I can only take half credit." he mused. "The emerald is a cut from the one Orlin made you." Jack felt he owed it to Orlin to give Sam some sort of remembrance of him.
"There is one other present, or sort of present . . . so close your eyes again."
She closed her eyes, but protested, "Really, this necklace is far in away enough!"
Picking her left hand up from her side, he held it about the wrist with one hand, enjoying the fact that her pulse had started racing. Jack slipped a ring on her finger and raised her arm, elbow bent, until her hand was in front of her face. "Okay, check it out."
Daniel had helped him describe a type of scrollwork to the jeweler that would not exactly resemble, but obviously remind her of the Stargate for the band, which was topped with a half-carat diamond. He had wanted to go for a one-carat or even bigger when Daniel reminded him that it was better for jewelry to be simple in and unobtrusive while off-world. Jack didn't want her to have to take it off every time she went through the gate.
Sam gave the ring a good, long look before throwing her arms around him. "It's perfect, Jack. Absolutely perfect."
Jack held her, deciding he knew what perfect was, but he wouldn't debate it with her. Kissing the top of her head, he looked up, unsure whether a certain Ascended being knew when Sam felt happiness as well as when she felt fear. Jack hoped he did, for in no small measure, he owed some of this happiness to this Ascended being who just couldn't quite leave the status quo alone.
***********************
THE END
Story Notes: CATEGORY: Sequel to Alien Intervention. Angst with definite romantic overtones
WARNINGS: Some use of not-so-elegant language.
SPOILERS: Chimera, Grace, Death Knell, rumors I've read about Heroes (and am certain are valid), The Broca Divide, The First Comandment, Brief Candle, Point of View, Beneath the Surface, Window of Opportunity, and Ascension
SEASON: Occurs during Season 7
A/N: To all those who kindly provided feedback on Alien Intervention and asked for a Sequel. And most of all to my wonderful husband – an avid Stargate SG-1 fan and a shipper.
Copyright (c) 2004 Tami Neff
WARNINGS: Some use of not-so-elegant language.
SPOILERS: Chimera, Grace, Death Knell, rumors I've read about Heroes (and am certain are valid), The Broca Divide, The First Comandment, Brief Candle, Point of View, Beneath the Surface, Window of Opportunity, and Ascension
SEASON: Occurs during Season 7
A/N: To all those who kindly provided feedback on Alien Intervention and asked for a Sequel. And most of all to my wonderful husband – an avid Stargate SG-1 fan and a shipper.
Copyright (c) 2004 Tami Neff
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 ]