It was all getting too much. Jack looked down at the face he'd drawn on his plate and wondered exactly how much longer he could keep himself sane. Every time he closed his eyes he was scared he'd wake up back in the commissary, eating Froot Loops. Consequently, he was sleeping little and rarely ... and he was cranky. Daniel's Latin lessons were bad enough, but Carter was getting to him too. She was just so darn perky. He'd never noticed before. And she wouldn't stop asking questions ... the same questions. Each time he answered she'd look at him as if he were not all there. Jack knew he wasn't the brightest guy here, not by a long way, but even he was likely to remember something he'd been told twenty times.
He was sure that if Carter or Daniel were stuck in a time loop, they'd be believed immediately. The fact it was him and Teal'c meant they had to spend at least half their allotted time undergoing pointless medical exams. And if Fraiser put on that rubber glove one more time ... Jack dragged his finger through the ketchup. There had to be another way out of this. Something that didn't involve him learning a dead language. Or should that be re-learning it ... without the benefit of Asgard interference.
Usually Daniel was pretty good company, but Jack was getting heartily sick of the sight of his face. Okay, so most of the women on the base seemed to think the archaeologist was cute, but he reminded Jack of a distressed hamster. It was something about the shape of his glasses.
Jack glanced at his watch. Only another eight hours to go. Maybe he should go and find Daniel and Teal'c and get a few more hours study in before his next date with the Froot Loops.
"Sir?"
He looked up to see Carter standing in front of him.
"If you want to go and simulate subspace fields, just go ahead," he told her, "It's a great idea ... swell."
"No, sir, I was thinking about something else.”
"Really?"
Now there was a surprise, maybe there was something new here?
"Yes. I was wondering if there isn't any way to stop Maliki starting the machine."
Or maybe not?
"We tried that," Jack explained.
"Okay than ... maybe I could alter it in some way?" she countered/
"You can't. You already told me."
"With all due respect, sir, I'd like to try."
She was looking at him all wide eyed and innocent... and he just couldn't say no to her. It was pathetic, it really was. Jack sighed to himself and got out of his chair.
"Find the others; I'll go talk to Hammond."
Carter flashed him the smile that turned his insides into mush before hurrying away. It was all so damn unfair. No one should have that much control over him. The Zatarc thing had only made it worse. Now he was so scared of doing or saying something inappropriate, he was either picking a fight or agreeing with everything she said.
There was no problem getting the clearance to leave, but Jack had the suspicion Carter had spoken to the General first. Still, the trip off world would make a change, and maybe this time his major would be able to do something constructive.
P4X-639, unsurprisingly, was exactly the same as he remembered, as was Carter's comment,
"The geomagnetic storm is building up, we shouldn't stay long."
"Tell me something I don't know," Jack muttered, before adding, "The machine is this way."
They walked through the colonnade to the dais where the machine rested. Maliki was there, and this time, he didn't feign ignorance.
"You won't be able to stop it," he announced.
"We'll see about that," Jack muttered. "Carter."
Sam stepped up to the machine, just as it sprang into life.
"Sir, it's building up some kind of charge," she said.
"I know!"
He also knew that Daniel wouldn't be able to read the text, and that Maliki wouldn't switch it off even if he knew how. Which meant they were almost out of options. Maybe this time he could steal some of Daniel's pancakes...
"Just do something, Carter!" Jack shouted above the noise of electrical discharge.
She didn't hear him, so he reached out to grab her hand.
"Carter!" he repeated.
"Right."
Carter started pressing blocks at random, and...
***********************************************************************************
It was dark.
Jack shifted slightly, trying to work out exactly where he was. Not in the commissary, that much was for certain ... and he was still holding Carter's hand.
"Carter?" he hissed.
"Sir?" her voice replied, sounding a little scared.
"Where are we?"
"I don't know."
His butt was resting on carpet, and he was leaning against something, it felt like a bed. For the way Carter was gripping his hand, Jack could tell she was actually lying on the bed. He let go of her hand.
"There must be a light switch around here somewhere," he muttered, pushing himself to his feet.
Now his eyes were becoming accustomed to the dark, he could just about make out the dimensions of the room. In front of him was a door, he could see a feint strip of light underneath so he headed towards it, figuring the switch would be close by.
"Aw shit!!"
Jack found himself on his knees again, clutching his head.
"Are you okay?" Carter asked.
He felt her move past him, and suddenly the room was flooded with light. It was an attic and Jack realised he'd hit his head on the sloping roof. Painted blue, there were stuffed animals on the single bed, a poster of Mars on the wall. A girl’s room, he decided.
"Have you any idea where we are?" he asked.
"Yeah ... yeah I do. This is my room," she whispered.
"What?"
"The last place we lived while Mom was still alive."
"Oh."
Before he could say anything else, he heard footsteps, and a knock on the door.
"Sam?" it was Jacob Carter's voice. "Are you okay in there?"
"I'm fine, Dad. Just a bad dream," she shouted back.
She was gesturing wildly at Jack, and he dived behind the door. The last thing he wanted was a confrontation with 'Dad'. Especially as he'd have to explain exactly what he was doing in Carter's bedroom. The door swung open and Jacob's head poked into the room,
"Get some sleep, your Mom will be back tomorrow and I don't want her to think I was letting you stay up late," he said.
"I won't Dad," she assured him.
"Goodnight."
"'night."
Carter was silent as the footsteps moved away. Jack moved towards her, unsure of what to say or do. The expression on her face was enough to tell him something was badly wrong. She looked like she was about to cry.
"Carter?" he questioned.
"I remember this," she whispered.
"What?"
"Tomorrow ... Dad was supposed to pick up Mom, he was late and she took a cab. There was an accident and ..."
Her voice broke. Jack had never heard Carter talk about her mom. Sure he knew she was no longer alive, but he hadn't known the exact circumstances. Carter was as closed mouthed about her family life as he was ... which was saying something.
"Somewhere out there my Mom is alive and happy and tomorrow she won't be," she whispered.
As much as Jack hated to do it, he knew he had to snap Carter back to reality. Or make that whatever form of reality this happened to be.
"Carter, what are we doing here?" he pushed.
"It has to be something to do with the machine. It must have sent us back further ..." she sniffed.
"You mean we have to relive the next, however many years over and over again?"
"I don't know, sir."
He sat down on the bed next to her; wanting to ask her more questions, but sensing this wasn't the time.
"Look, why don't we get some sleep? Maybe we can figure something out tomorrow?" he suggested.
"We?"
"Okay, you."
She gave him a small smile.
"If we have gone back in time, sir, we need to be careful."
"The grandfather paradox stuff?"
"Whatever happens tomorrow, we have to let it. However hard it might be."
Jack was glad she had been the one to say it, especially when she had so much at stake. Wary of his instructions, she lay down on the bed, although Jack was pretty certain she wouldn't sleep. He stretched out on the floor, his long body taking up most of the space.
Despite himself, Jack slept. He put it down to exhaustion caused by all those time loops ... that and the fact Jacob Carter was nearby. Whatever time they might be in, Jack still trusted the man to keep them both safe.
When he woke, the sun was shining brightly through the windows. Jack looked for Carter, but her bed was empty. He was momentarily surprised that she had managed to leave without waking him.
Wary that Jacob might still be in the house, Jack moved quietly through the hallways, finding his way downstairs. It was a nice house, although he suspected it was being paid for by the USAF. The place had that kind of feel about it, as if the inhabitants weren't planning to stay long.
"Carter!" he called out.
"In here," her voice greeted him.
For some reason he couldn't exactly fathom, she was baking. He looked into the mixing bowl trying to work out what it was. She offered him the spoon and he tasted a lump of the dough.
"Cake?" he asked.
"No, cookies," Carter corrected.
"I thought you couldn't cook?"
"I don't cook, sir."
"There's a difference?"
She smiled, but her thoughts were somewhere else.
"You okay?" Jack asked.
"No. Dad came home just as I was taking the cookies out of the oven. I keep on wondering if ... if I don't finish making them, will that mean mom is going to be okay?"
It wasn't a question Jack could answer, not in the terms Carter would want. She'd be thinking along the lines of a butterfly flapping its wings ... She turned away from him and continued mixing the cookies.
They only took twenty minutes to bake and as Carter scooped them of the baking sheet and placed them on a plate, there was a the sound of a key turning in the front door.
"Sam?" Jacob Carter called.
"In here!" she replied.
Jacob came in, his face distraught.
"Dad ... why are you crying?" Carter asked....
And...
*************************************************************************************
Pain was the next thing Jack registered. Extreme pain in his right hand. Someone was crushing his fingers. At first he thought it was some new form of Goa'uld torture when suddenly the pressure was released. He immediately snatched his hand away and started to massage the bruised knuckles. Only then was he able to take in his surroundings.
He was in some kind of medical facility.
"Very good," someone, Jack guessed it was a doctor, was saying. "You can start to push anytime now."
Jack felt the hand clasp his again and this time, he looked to see who it belonged to. Carter was lying on the bed, her blonde hair darkened with sweat, her face contorted with pain. He looked down the bed, taking in her spread legs and swollen stomach.
"Godammit!!" Jack swore as his bones crunched again.
This was all so different from what it had been with Sara. Back then a man hadn't been expected do the whole father in the delivery room thing. Jack had been able to stay outside smoking cigarettes, where any sensible man would be. Not here, having his fingers broken.
"It had to be now," Carter hissed as she tried to breathe her way through another contraction.
She uttered a scream and Jack found himself wanting to do anything he could to take the pain away.
"Can't you give her something?" he demanded.
"Sir, your wife stated a preference for natural childbirth," one of the nurses said.
"How dumb was that? Give me the damn drugs!" Carter yelled.
"Wife?" Jack grinned.
He looked down at his hand; the one Carter wasn't crushing, noting the gold band which rested there.
"Okay, just one more," the midwife said.
"That's what you said last time," Carter snapped.
"One more honey," Jack encouraged her, only to feel his hand put under more pressure ... deliberately this time.
"You try and squeeze a baby through your vagina and see how you cope," she hissed.
At that point Jack decided it would be better if he just shut up. Never mind pointing out that he didn't have a vagina, and was never likely to have. He wouldn't put it past Carter to have some kind of weapon stashed somewhere.
"That's it," the midwife said ... there were a few flustered moments before a baby's cry sounded. "It's a girl!" she announced.
The next thing Jack knew, he was told to take his shirt off and he had baby pressed against his naked skin She was the most beautiful thing Jack had ever seen, albeit very wet and slimy. He felt something pricking in his eyes. Damn, but he was going to cry. He didn't care what had sent him here or why, Jack was glad he had seen this moment. He felt a strange kind of peace wash over him as he stared at her perfect face.
"Hey!" Sam called from the bed.
"Oh right," Jack said and handed the baby to its mother.
"Have you decided on a name yet?" the midwife asked.
"Uh..."
"No we haven't," Sam interrupted.
Jack stared at her for a second,
"Just in case they'd already decided," she hissed.
He wasn't quite sure how she'd figured that one, but decided it was better to agree. Besides she was holding his child ... their child, and in his eyes she could do no wrong.
"You're beautiful," he told her.
"What?"
"You."
Leaning close, he placed a hesitant kiss on her forehead and watched Sam's flushed cheeks burn more brightly.
He knew his admiration of her would have its repercussions, but Sam was too tired to reprimand him. By the time they were settled into a private room, she was fast asleep. Leaving Jack plenty of time to adore their daughter.
When Sam woke up, they had visitors. Teal'c, Daniel, George Hammond ... although Janet was absent from the party. Something Jack wondered about.
Jack found himself slipping easily into the role of husband and father, eagerly displaying his daughter for all to see. Sam watched him with a kind of bemused tolerance. He couldn't believe all of this was making him so happy. Sure he'd thought about being a father again, even been fairly enthusiastic about the idea when Laira had propositioned him. However, he'd been forced to admit to himself that it was unlikely to happen. In his darkest moments he had wondered if he'd actually been that good a father the first time around.
Baby O'Neill seemed to have inherited her father's lack of patience and was quickly bored by being constantly passed from person to person. She made her displeasure known in the only manner she could.
"I think she may be hungry," Jack said.
"What? No!" Sam said.
"Sam ..."
"Sir!"
"A little privacy guys."
Jack saw his friends to the door before turning back to Sam.
"Sir, I have no idea what to do!" she exclaimed. "I haven't read a book; I haven't been to any classes ..."
"I'm sure she'll have a pretty good idea," he grinned and handed their daughter over.
"You can't watch either," she glared at him.
"C'mon."
"No way."
Knowing there was no arguing with her; Jack did the gentlemanly thing and turned his back. But he couldn't help peeking over his shoulder. The sight of Sam nursing their daughter brought a lump to his throat.
And...
He was falling, falling, falling... and his face made contact with solid rock.
"Sir you have to get up!" Carter's voice pleaded with him.
But he didn't want to. Everything he touched seemed to hurt.
"Stop moving your arm sir, I think it's broken."
Ahh ... that explained it.
Her hands were under his shoulders as she tried to pull him upright.
"We can't stay here," she was telling him.
He knew Carter was right, even though he had no idea where 'here' actually was. It was dark, it was cold, there were rocks all around them. Some other planet, he guessed. He didn't know how he knew, but there was something about the gravity...
"I think there's a cave up ahead," Sam said. "We can rest there."
Jack followed her as best he could, but he knew he was fighting a losing battle. Sam was scrambling up the slope like some kind of demented mountain goat while he was huffing and puffing behind her. When the hell had he gotten so unfit? Of course the fact he had a broken arm probably had something to do with it. Come to think about it, his pants felt wet. He put his good hand down to touch his leg and felt the sticky sensation of drying blood.
Carter was offering him her hand to help him up the last section. He grabbed hold of it gratefully, letting her haul him into the cave.
"Where are we?" he asked when he had recovered his breath.
"I have no idea," she admitted, "not Earth."
"Which only leaves ... how many planets?"
She didn't answer that question, choosing to start fussing over his injuries. He slapped her hands away, not wanting her to find out how badly he was hurt. Sam, being Sam, wasn't that easily daunted.
"You are not splinting anything," he warned her. Sam ignored him and did it anyway.
"That looks nasty," she said, examining the cut on his leg.
His pants were badly torn and, now Sam had turned the torch on, he could see how far the blood had spread. She started to pull bandages out of her vest.
"No worse than childbirth," he tried to joke, but actually he felt light headed.
"Sir, we don't know what'll happen if we die out here," she said quietly.
"What?"
"It would probably be permanent."
"As opposed to...?"
"You know what I mean."
"Have you any idea what's happening to us?"
"It has to be an extension of what you and Teal'c experienced. So far we seem to have been flipping at approximately ten hour intervals, which fits in with the loops. I just wish I could get back to the machine and work it out."
"Maybe you could, I mean if we end up somewhere with a Stargate close by."
"I just don't know if ten hours would be enough. It's not like there's any pattern either."
"I don't know. It seems pretty traumatic."
That was putting it mildly. Jack eased himself into a more comfortable position. Now his arm was splinted his leg had taken over as most painful appendage.
"Perhaps that's the key," Sam said.
"What do you mean?"
"It's directing us to the more painful events in our lives. My mother's death ..."
"Giving birth to our child wasn't."
"Speak for yourself, sir."
Jack was silent, trying to absorb the information. If only he didn't hurt so much then maybe he could think.
"Charlie," he whispered.
"Yeah."
"May 12th 1993...If we get sent back then you'd better tie me up, knock me out or something because there's no way I'd ever let him die again."
"I know."
"Good."
He paused, thinking back...
"I locked the gun away... I was so sure..."
"Sir?" Sam sounded worried.
"I'm okay."
"Maybe I'd better take a closer look at you."
He didn't argue as she gently rolled him onto his back. Her hands moved over his body in a way that, at any other time, would have sent his senses into overdrive, but nothing was responding... nothing at all. There was a strange kind of numbness in his toes ... which was kind of odd.
"I don't think your bleeding internally," Sam said, "I've cleaned the wound on your leg as much as I can."
"That's nice to know ... er ... Carter ... I think I'm going to ...."
Sam's reactions were fast, but she didn't move back quite far enough to stop herself getting splashed by the projectile vomit. Jack tried to stop himself throwing up again, but he couldn't. God knows what he'd eaten, but there seemed to be a large amount of diced carrot.
When he finally slumped back, too weak to move away, he managed to groan,
"I don't feel so good."
"No kidding?" was Sam's reply.
"I might try to get some sleep."
"Hang on a second."
She dragged him to a slightly more salubrious part of the cavern, for which he was grateful, but nothing would have stopped him sleeping at that moment.
When he woke, there was light in the cave. Not natural light, but Sam had found the time to build a fire. She was lying opposite him, her eyes closed although Jack couldn't tell if she was actually asleep or not. He lifted his upper body, wanting to get closer to her, but for some reason his legs weren't responding. Giving up, he settled for a long drawn out groan. Sam was immediately alert,
"Sir ... thank God," she breathed. "How are you feeling?"
"Like crap," he admitted. "What's wrong with me?"
"I have no idea. You don't seem to have any other injuries. It may be something you've eaten or maybe you've been bitten ... I just don't know, sir."
"It's okay. How much longer have we got here?"
"If my calculations are correct ..."
"And they usually are."
"...about three hours."
That wasn't too bad. Then maybe the 'real' Carter would turn up and save his ass. Assuming his ass was still here to save. Sam came to his side and helped him drink some water. His stomach roiled and he promptly spewed all over her.
"How bad is it?" he asked.
"Sir, you have a fever, you're badly dehydrated and I think there's a problem with your legs."
"I can't feel them too well."
"The bottom line is I don't know if you'll last three hours."
"Yes, I will."
"Sir ..."
"Sam, I have a new baby to look forward to, trust me, I'm not going to die."
He fumbled for her hand, holding it tightly. She wiped her free hand over her eyes and gave a sniff.
"Jack ...," she began.
"Ahhh ... no Jack's, not yet. If we start that whole confession crap, I'll definitely be keeping Apophis company ... wherever he ended up."
Sam managed a smile and replied, "I won't tell you how much I care about you then."
"Or that I don't know what I'd do if you weren't in my life?"
"Nor that I want to be with you, and it's getting harder and harder to uphold those regulations."
"Sam?"
"What?"
"Want to go fishing?"
Jack didn't like to admit it, but he was scared. His body was failing and he didn't know why. It could be that their very presence in this time could stop the other time from happening ... or something... anyway ... Carter was definitely rubbing off on him. He must have listened to her way more than he thought.
"So what do you think we should name our daughter?" he asked, in an attempt to keep himself awake.
"I hadn't given it much thought," she replied.
"Oh come on! Every woman I've ever known has had a stack of names lined up."
"Well, I'm not every woman."
"True ... how about Crystal?"
"No way! You might as well go out and buy her a trailer!"
"Sophie?"
"Not bad. I was thinking something a little more, unusual ..."
His voice broke off suddenly.
"Sir?"
"I'm okay."
"Maybe, you should just rest."
He nodded. The effort of maintaining the conversation was too much for him. Sam took his hand again and it was good to feel her so close. He heard her trying to contact Daniel and Teal'c, but they had no idea if their friends were even on the same planet, never mind within radio distance.
What he wouldn't give to be in the infirmary right now. Nice bed, clean sheets, crappy food, needles ... but at least he'd have a fighting chance. Of course Carter probably wouldn't be holding his hand, which was the downside of the whole fantasy.
As his consciousness slipped away he had to wonder....
And...
*************************************************************************************
"Jack, could you come down here, the car won't start!"
Sara's voice.
Jack was sitting on a bed, a gun in his hand. Wary of the impatient tone of his wife's voice, he unloaded the weapon and locked it in the drawer of the bedside table, before heading downstairs. Then he stopped, for a second he could have sworn there was someone else in the room with him. He had a sudden vision of a young woman, blonde hair; blue eyes a killer smile ... but not Sara. Jack shook his head and the illusion vanished. He knew this house, had lived here for years. It was just him, his wife and son.
There was no one else ... no one at all.
Sam was alone. Sam was in hell. From the cave on an alien world she had suddenly found herself in Colorado Springs, but it wasn't the place she knew.
The silent city was in chaos.
She could easily guess what had happened here. The Goa'uld had come.
Metal tearing.
Buildings burning.
Men screaming.
Children dying.
But Sam didn't know how it had happened, or why. She had to wonder if she'd failed in some way? If something she had done had allowed the Goa'uld to come here? Where the hell was Jack? Sam knew she had to calm down. All she needed to do was find a place to hide out for ten hours, and then she'd be somewhere else.
Sam took shelter in one of the nearby shops. It was a hardware store and as such, it hadn't been much of a target for looters. Not much in the way of food or water supplies either, but Sam figured she could cope. There was an office behind the counter and she barricaded herself in to wait out the day. She tried to sleep, but couldn't. Her mind was too alert.
And Jack?
She didn't want to think the worst, but he'd been with her on every other jump and the last time she'd seen him he'd been dying.
As the day wore on Sam became more and more anxious. It was only when she tried to ascertain the date that she realised how screwed up this really was. There was a digital clock in a desk drawer and the batteries must have still been good, because the date was displayed...
June 11th, 2000, the day they had left for P4X-939.
She hoped against hope that the time flip was still working and that she'd be taken somewhere, anywhere but here. However, she wasn't really surprised when, after ten hours, she was still sitting in the grubby office. Something had changed, somehow, some way; they must have had an effect on their personal history. She didn't know how. Even if Jack ... in that cave...
Sam took a grip on herself. Jack wasn't here, but what she had said previously still held true. She had to get back to 939, somehow. This, unfortunately, meant getting inside Cheyenne Mountain and accessing the Stargate. Or stealing a Goa'uld mother ship... neither option was particularly appealing.
As darkness fell outside, the people of Colorado Springs appeared. Moving between buildings, hiding in the shadows. Then the Goa'uld came. Sam heard the distinctive sound of the armoured footsteps, the screams as the enemy routed humans from their hiding places. Fear made people run, and she could hear the shouts and cheers of the jaffa as they hunted their quarry. Sam knew enough to stay hidden. In the early hours of the morning the captives were taken back through the streets, towards the mountain.
Despite herself, Sam did manage to snatch a little sleep, but the sound of someone moving about in the front of the store disturbed her and she crept out of the office to see what was happening. There were two men moving perusing the racks of goods. Their movements weren't random; they were here for a purpose. As Sam watched, they took what they wanted ... and nothing more. These people were organised, she realised, and as such they could probably help her.
"Hey," she said, stepping into their view.
She found herself staring down the barrel of a gun. Very slowly, Sam raised her hands in the air.
"Take me to your leader," she grinned.
They had transport, even though gasoline was in short supply. The two men were very wary of her. It seemed, in this world, that no one was sure who was Goa'uld and who wasn't. Sam was pretty certain she could escape if she needed to. Neither Bob nor Joe were what she would describe as professionals. Bob had been a security guard and Joe had been some kind of ambassador. She wasn't exactly sure what he had been doing in Colorado Springs, but she hoped it had been something to do with the Stargate.
The truck stopped outside a large house, out of town. Sam spotted several people walking between the outbuildings and she realised there was a relatively large community living here.
"Don't the Goa'uld know?" she asked.
"Probably," Joe replied, "They'll come for us eventually, when they've finished bleeding the city dry."
"By that time we'll be gone," Bob said.
Sam had to wonder where exactly they thought they could run to.
Joe escorted her inside and she was taken to a small room which must have been once been someone's home office. It was stripped bare, apart from two small chairs and a table ... Sam had the feeling she was about to be interrogated. And they weren't above making her wait, a psychological trick which she recognised but didn't really appreciate. After the wait in the hardware store and the long car journey, she really, really needed to go to the bathroom.
When someone finally came to see her she was almost disappointed to see it was a man she recognised. No doubt he had also been stuck in Colorado Springs when the Goa'uld had attacked, and she hope to God Harry Maybourne wasn't in charge of this operation. He took the chair opposite, and just stared. Despite herself, Sam found it unnerving.
"Do you want my name, rank and serial number?" she finally broke the silence.
"I know who you are," he replied. "What I want to know is what the hell you're doing here?"
"You know me?"
"Major Carter, the Pentagon's sweetheart?"
The term was not an endearing one.
"I'd assumed you died when the Pentagon was hit," Maybourne went on.
"I decided to go into work late that day."
"And I'm sure whatever the reason, he was very grateful. Now I want an answer, major. What are you doing here?"
For some bizarre reason, Sam decided on the truth,
"The Stargate," she said.
Maybourne laughed.
"So you think that, not only can you break into the most secure facility on the planet, but you can also deal with whatever Goa'uld are hanging around? You're even more conceited than they gave you credit for."
"I don't expect to do it by myself. I'll need the help of the people you have here."
"Right."
He stood and moved towards the door,
"Are you going to help me?" Sam demanded.
"Look, you can flash those baby blues all you want, but I'm not one of your gullible flyboys. You'll stay here until we decide what to do with you."
"We decide? So you're not in charge here?"
There was a flash of anger in Maybourne's eyes and Sam realised she had hit a nerve.
"You might at least let me talk to your boss," she pushed, but he didn't rise to the bait and she was left alone again.
Just as she thought she was going to have to pee out of the window, the door opened and Joe came in. Sam noted he was armed, but he did take her to the bathroom, and then down to the room they were using as a commissary. It was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch, but he managed to get her a sandwich.
"So how many people do you have here?" she asked, chewing on the dry beef.
"Right now, thirty five," Joe said. "It goes up and down."
"How about food and water?"
"This place has its own water supply and a septic tank. We have some livestock and enough preserved food to last a while ..."
"But not forever?"
"No, not forever. There aren't enough of us to mount a full scale attack on the Goa'uld, but we've been trying... for while anyway. We lost ten people three months ago. The general is still beating himself up over it and we've been kind of lying low ever since."
"Really?"
"One of them was his son."
"Oh."
Sam turned back to her sandwich. She had to figure out what had made the world this way, and change it. The usual excuse of Daniel Jackson not being involved in the Stargate program, or her not being in the military didn't seem to apply. For a start she knew it had to have something to do with Jack O'Neill ... and his son.
Having finished her meal. Joe took her back to the interview room, where Sam found Colonel Maybourne waiting for her, which wasn't a surprise. The tall man with him was.
"Sir?" Sam breathed.
But a blank gaze met hers. This man did not know her.
"Well?" he asked.
"Not with him here," Sam replied, gesturing towards Maybourne.
"Why?"
"Because he's an idiot."
"And she doesn't have anything to tell us," Maybourne sneered.
"Shut up Harry, she's right, you are an idiot. Get out of here," O'Neill said.
Maybourne left with bad grace, taking Joe with him. Now she had found Jack, and was alone with him, Sam had no idea what she should say.
"General O'Neill?" she asked.
"Uh ... yeah?"
Of course, if he still had a son, then he never would have retired that first time. Chances were he would never have become part of the Stargate Program. They would never have met and...
"Maybourne doesn't like you," O'Neill went on. "Then again he doesn't like a lot of people."
"Then why do you keep him around?"
"He has his uses. Do you really think you can access this Stargate?"
"Yes, but I'll need help getting into the mountain."
O'Neill sat down heavily on one of the chairs, running his hands through his hair. For a second he looked very, very old.
"It's suicide," he muttered.
"I don't think so, but your son is in there. Wouldn't you like the chance to get him back?"
"Dammit, you're good!"
If Sam felt a little guilty about exploiting O'Neill's weakness, she didn't show it. She knew he'd do anything for Charlie. Sam found herself wondering what had happened to Sara. Maybe she was here somewhere?
"So what other reason might I possibly have for ordering my people into that Mountain?" O'Neill demanded.
"If we can get through the Stargate, we can go for help," Sam explained.
"From whom?"
"The Tok'ra, the Asgard, the Nox..."
"What?"
From the expression on his face Sam could tell he had no idea what she was talking about.
"You weren't part of the program?"
"No, and according to Maybourne all you did was design the computer program. You never stepped inside the SGC."
He stood up and walked out without another word. Now what the hell was she supposed to do? Was she a prisoner here?
Sam went to the door and tried the handle, figuring she could pick the lock if necessary. To her surprise it opened easily. Joe was standing outside.
"Hey," he smiled.
At least there was one person here who was prepared to be nice to her.
"Hi," Sam replied, "Am I supposed to stay in here or ...?"
"No, the general said you could go anywhere, as long as I'm with you."
"So, are you going to give me the ten cent tour?"
"It'd be my pleasure."
*************************************************************************************
When darkness fell, Sam was escorted to a small room on the upper level of the house. She realised she was getting special treatment because she was, essentially, a prisoner, but she appreciated the privacy. Joe had spent the whole day with her. He was a nice enough guy, but she'd gotten a little sick of him trailing her around. He'd left her here, but made her promise that she wouldn't go anywhere else. Since Sam had been awake for a very long time, she didn't have any problem keeping that promise. What she didn't expect, was to be woken by someone sitting on her bed.
She sat up, ready to seriously disable whoever it was. Luckily she recognised the profile of her visitor, before beating him to a pulp.
"Sir?" she asked.
"You really are a piece of work, Carter, you know that?" he grunted.
His words were slightly slurred, and Sam wondered if he'd been drinking. He surprised her even further by lighting a cigarette. She guessed, in this universe, he hadn't had her and Daniel nagging him until her gave up.
"You know I can't leave him there," he continued.
"I know."
"But I can't ask these people to risk their lives. They're not soldiers."
"Not even Maybourne?"
He laughed.
"Maybourne will stay as far away from trouble as he can."
Sam crawled closer to O'Neill, holding the sheet in front of her. She'd slipped out of her clothes when she'd gone to bed and was only wearing her underwear.
"What happened to your wife?" she asked.
"She was killed in the first wave of attacks."
"I'm sorry."
"Why should you be? You never knew her."
Which wasn't exactly true. Sam had met Sara once ... and she knew that Jack had loved her for a long, long time.
"When did they come?"
"Eight months ago. Sara and I were celebrating our anniversary..."
His voice broke and Sam laid her hand on his arm. Her instinct was to comfort this man, even though he wasn't 'her' Jack O'Neill.
"You really think there are people out there who will help us?" he asked, changing the subject.
"I'm sure of it, sir," Sam replied.
"Then you've got yourself an accomplice."
"Thank you."
"One more thing."
"Yes, sir?"
"It's Jack ... just Jack. Forget all that sir crap. It's not like there's an air force anymore."
"And I'm Sam."
"I'll see you tomorrow Sam."
Jack left her in a haze of cigarette smoke ... which Sam had to clear by opening the window. She should have been reassured by his visit, but she felt uneasy.
Despite his promise, Sam didn't see Jack the next day or the next. In fact no one seemed to know where he was ... either that or they didn't want to tell her. She found it difficult to talk to anyone here. These people were tired. Tired of fighting a war they couldn't win. It had been the power of Jack's personality which kept them together, and his inaction was destroying them.
On the third night, Sam decided to try and get a straight answer out of Jack. If she was running out of time, then so was Charlie.
It was only after leaving the room she had been assigned, that she realised she had no idea where he'd be. Since he was more or less in charge here, Sam assumed he'd have his own room. In which case he'd probably be somewhere on the same level as she was. She peaked into the first room, only to find it was empty. The second housed Maybourne. Ugh... he slept naked. Her psyche scarred, Sam moved on.
She only managed a few more steps before she sensed someone behind her. Sam started to turn, only to find her arm pushed up her back and her body forced against the wall. It wasn't difficult to guess who her attacker was. The body odour was very distinctive.
"Let me go," Sam hissed.
He laughed at her. Maybourne was strong. However much she squirmed, his grip didn't loosen.
"I mean it," she snapped, even though the threat was meaningless.
"You are going back to your bed, lady," Maybourne whispered. "Then tomorrow you're going to leave this place. We don't want you here."
"Isn't that for Jack to decide?"
"He'll do what I tell him to do. He always does."
"You expect me to believe that? Jack's a better man than you'll ever be."
"I don't give a damn what you believe. I just want you out of here ... now."
"Go to hell."
He pulled her away from one wall and slammed her into the opposite one.
"You want to see Jack?" he sneered.
"Yes."
Maybourne led the way to a room at the end of the corridor. Sam followed nursing her twisted arm and her bruised ego.
"Behold your hero," he announced, stepping back to let her enter.
The blinds were still up and there was enough light for Sam to make out the figure sprawled on the bed. He was fully dressed and there was a whiskey bottle clasped in his fingers ... and a gun on the pillow beside him.
"What the hell happened?" Sam demanded.
"I just reminded him that his son is dead and no General's daughter is going to bring him back."
"You bastard."
"Always."
Sam crossed to the bed, peering at Jack to make sure he was still breathing.
"I can't believe you'd leave him like this!"
"You think this is the first time? He'll sleep it off, he always does. Now it's time for you to go."
She felt Maybourne's hand on her arm and he started to pull her towards the door, but Sam fought him every step of the way. She wasn't going to leave Jack ... not like this.
"Hey! What the hell is going on here?"
Sam looked up to see Joe standing in the doorway, and Sam hated the fact she needed his help. It worked, Maybourne let go. He slunk away without another word, which was a surprise.
"Are you okay?" Joe asked, as he helped her up.
"Yeah ... yeah I'm fine. Help me."
Shaking off his comforting hand, she returned to Jack's side. Between them, they managed to get him undressed and under the covers. Jack didn't even open an eye. Usually if you so much as breathed on him when he was asleep, he would wake up reaching for his P90.
"Maybourne's right about one thing," Joe began.
"Maybourne is an asshole."
"This isn't unusual. We're lucky he passed out on the bed."
Sam was silent, not wanting to acknowledge that the man she was relying on so much had a problem.
"He'll sleep it off," Joe finished, "Are you coming?"
"No, I'll stay for a while."
Once Joe had left, Sam stretched out on the other side of the bed. She was slowly coming to realise that there was nothing for her here. As much as she hated to admit it, Maybourne had been right; Jack wasn't going to be able to help. He was broken by the loss of his son. Sam shouldn't have been surprised but she was. This man seemed to have given up. Yet, this wasn't what she had sensed from him earlier. He'd had a reason for coming to see her in the middle of the night. Even though he'd already been drunk, he'd seemed to know what he was saying.
And Maybourne? What the hell was his problem?
She shifted onto her side, looking at the man beside her. Something wasn't right. She knew Jack had been suicidal when Charlie had died, but he had found new purpose in the Stargate program. It had given him something to fight for. She would have thought the battle here would have instilled him with the same reason for living. Dammit he should have been tearing Cheyenne Mountain apart, trying to get to his son!
At some point during her musings she fell asleep. It was sunlight on her face which eventually woke her ... that and the feeling someone was staring at her. The person turned out to be Jack, which was no surprise. The fact he was conscious and fairly coherent was.
"I expected you to sleep out the day," she said.
"It's 1745," he replied.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
He stretched his upper body, giving Sam a nice view of his stomach as his T-short rode up. She cursed herself for looking. But then realised she had just woken so was allowed to slip up.
"Normally I wouldn't complain, but what are you doing in my bed?" he asked.
"I came to see if you were okay," she said.
"Why?"
"Because I was worried after you came to see me."
"Excuse me?"
"You came to see me...?"
"No I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"Jeeze...”
Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he reached for his cigarettes. He had barely gotten one lit before Sam took it away from him and stubbed it out.
"What!" he demanded.
"Sir, we spoke about accessing the Stargate, and trying to find someone out there who can help us?"
"I must have been outta my skull! It'd be suicide!"
"You seemed to agree with me."
"Like hell I did!"
He got up and headed out of the room. Sam wasted no time in following,
"We can do this sir!" she shouted after him.
Jack just kept on walking.
"Told you," Maybourne's voice whispered.
He was standing beside her ... dressed thank God! Sam ignored him and walked away.
*************************************************************************************
It took Sam some time to find Joe. She wanted some answers and he seemed to be the only person who as willing to give them to her. She eventually tracked him down in one of the outbuildings ... doing something to a cow.
"Busy?" she asked him.
"Year ago I didn't even know what a cow was," he grinned at her.
"Don't they teach basic farming at Ambassador School?"
He laughed and picked up his pail of milk, ready to carry back into the house.
"What can I do for you?"
"More questions."
"About the general?"
"No, Colonel Maybourne."
"What about him?"
"I don't exactly know. What happened during that last mission? When the General's son was taken."
Joe sighed and sat down on a pile of hay. He let his head drop into his hands for a few seconds. This was difficult for him, Sam realised. Jack probably hadn't been the only person to lose someone on that mission. She felt bad about pushing him, but for some reason she knew it was important.
"Tell me," she ordered.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," he began, "trigger the base quarantine protocol and they'd be trapped down there. No way out."
"The dialling computer would go off line so the Stargate would be non-operational."
"Whatever you say ... anyway, Maybourne had been part of the project and he got us in. Charlie went along because the kid was a computer geek and was the only one who could break into the base mainframe. Fifteen of us went in and five came out again."
"Maybourne?"
"He was with us the whole time. Dammit, he was the one who found us a way out!"
She'd definitely managed to piss off Joe with her line of questioning. Sure he might be grateful to the guy, but as far as Sam was concerned, Harry was still a snake.
"And he was with you the whole time?" she repeated.
"How many times do I have to ... wait ...?”
"What?"
"There was about thirty minutes, while he was checking out our route."
"That would be long enough."
"For what?"
"For him to make a deal with someone."
"Sam..."
"Look the Goa'uld have ways to control people and it would explain a lot."
"Like?"
"Like the reason why Jack O'Neill is acting the way he is."
"Colonel Maybourne wouldn't betray us."
"Colonel Maybourne would sell his mother to save his own wrinkly hide."
It certainly made sense to Sam, even if Joe was looking at her like she'd grown an extra head. But he hadn't ever experienced Nish'ta. If Jack was fighting it, which she was pretty damn certain he was, it would explain the bouts of drinking and the memory lapses. There was one way to find out.
"Do you have any Zats?"
"What?"
"Goa'uld hand guns... one shot stuns, two kills ...?"
"Uh ...?"
"Never mind."
Leaving a very bemused man behind her, Sam headed back into the house. If her suspicions were correct, then Maybourne would have a Zat. She made her way to the room she had found him sleeping in ... although it was a sorry day when the only way to save the world was by going through Maybourne's underwear drawer. Luckily, Sam didn't have to go that far. The Zat was under the mattress.
When she found Jack he was in conference with Maybourne, and neither man looked pleased to see her.
"I thought you'd gone," Maybourne sneered.
"No," Sam grinned.
"We can change that."
"Bring it on," she challenged both men.
The last thing she expected was a shout of laughter. Okay, so maybe she didn't look as if she could threaten either of them, but more than one man had made that mistake. She turned her gaze on Jack,
"If you like, we could arm wrestle," she offered, as she had so many years ago.
His answering grin had a certain feral quality to it and Sam felt her heart start to beat that little bit faster. He just needed to come a couple of steps closer.
"You want me to 'escort' our guest?" Maybourne asked.
The change in Jack's expression was palpable. It was enough to convince Sam that her earlier suspicions had been correct.
"Yeah," he said, "get her out of here."
She waited until Maybourne was close, real close ... jeeze didn't the guy know what deodorant was? As he grabbed her arm, Sam thrust her elbow into his face. Jack hesitated for maybe a hundredth of a second ... she stepped forward ... which was all she needed. She shot him point blank. He dropped like a stone, his body twitching.
"You stupid bitch!" Maybourne yelled.
There was blood streaming down his face and Sam really hoped she'd broken his nose.
"What the hell have you done?"
"How much did they give you, Harry?" she hissed.
"I don't know what ..."
"Yes, you do."
Sick of his pathetic games, she shot him and went to take care of Jack. For some reason a Zat blast never rendered him unconscious. He just lay on the ground and twitched for a while.
"Sir? Sir?" she called gently.
"You shot me," he mumbled.
"Sorry about that."
He managed to haul himself onto his hands and knees.
"You hit Maybourne."
"Yes."
"Nice."
"Are you okay?"
"I think so."
Jack managed to stand, although his limbs were still spasming, and stagger over to Maybourne. He planted a solid kick in the other man's ribs, before collapsing again.
"So you remember what happened?" Sam said, with a grin.
"Bastard gave me something."
Even though he was lying down, Jack managed another kick.
"Nish’ta, the Goa'uld use it to control their slaves," Sam told him.
"You know a lot about it?"
"Er ... we had a sample in for analysis, while I was at the Pentagon."
He seemed satisfied with her explanation, besides Maybourne regaining consciousness was enough distraction. Jack immediately hauled the man to his feet and slammed him into the wall.
"Why'd you do it?" he hissed. "Why?"
"Because they promised to leave us alone," Maybourne gasped. "But you didn't want that. You wanted to try again."
"They have my son; I want to blow them all to hell!"
"And you'd have killed us all."
"I would have given people a choice Harry."
Suddenly, Jack let go of Maybourne, allowing the other man to slide to the floor.
"Get him out of here," he ordered.
Sam knew better than to argue and she went to find Joe.
*************************************************************************************
Jack had been angry enough to kill Maybourne and it was a testament to his character that he'd ordered the man removed from his presence. Still, it didn't stop Sam worrying. Jack locked himself away for the next twenty-four hours. Sam figured, he'd want to be by himself for a while and she was willing to let him alone.
In the end he came and found her.
Sam was outside, sitting on a fence, idly watching the cows in the field. It was a beautiful day, a little chilly but the sun was shining and the sky blue. She could almost forget that the Goa'uld had come and the world lay in ruins.
"Hey," Jack's voice surprised her.
He looked calm, almost relaxed and Sam found herself wondering exactly what he had been drinking, or smoking.
"I guess I should thank you," he went on.
"You're welcome," Sam replied. "How are you feeling?"
"A little stiff."
"A side effect of the Nish’ta, it penetrates all your tissues..."
"Is that a fact?"
The expression on his face told her he wasn't actually listening. His mind was elsewhere.
"You said you could help me find my son."
"Sir..."
"I know the chances are pretty slim, but I have to try."
"Yes, sir."
This was the Jack O'Neill she remembered. Sam couldn't help herself; she smiled at him, causing him to look at her a little strangely.
"What?" he demanded.
"I ... nothing."
"No. It's like every time you look at me, you know exactly what I'm going to say. I feel like you know me already."
Sam just shrugged and shook her head, smiling again. She couldn't help herself. This was dangerous, she realised. Jack reached out his hand and touched her cheek.
"I've seen you somewhere before," he murmured.
"We're both air force maybe ..."
"No. It wasn't air force."
He dropped his hand and shook his head.
"So what's your plan?" he asked.
Trying to ignore the burning in her cheeks, Sam started to outline her ideas. Jack listened, commenting and improving on her plan. They both knew there wasn't really a chance in hell of bringing Charlie back. He could be anywhere by now and if he wasn't ... then maybe he was better off dead.
They left the next morning, choosing to hike to the mountain. It'd take them all day, so they left early, before anyone else was awake. Sam felt a little guilty about sneaking off without saying goodbye ... to Joe at any rate. He was a nice guy; she realised, and silently wished him luck. Maybe they should have brought a few people along as back up, but Jack had been pretty adamant about not risking more people than necessary.
It was dark by the time they reached the mountain. They crossed the perimeter with no apparent problems. Security was lax, even though there had been signs of activity at the main entrance. Sam and Jack made their way through the woods to one of the bases emergency exits. The lock was coded and Sam found herself hoping the key combination was the same here as it had been. If not, their little adventure wouldn't last much longer. She held her breath as she typed in the combination ... there was a dull thunk as the bolts drew back and Jack pulled up the cover of the shaft.
Sam shoved her gun down first before peeking over the edge.
"Clear," she told Jack.
"I must be nuts," he muttered as he swung himself over the edge and started down the ladder.
It wasn't the easiest of climbs. One slip and it was a long way to fall... and she'd take Jack down with her. It didn't help that her palms were sweating and her feet kept slipping on the rungs of the ladder. She hadn't realised how much the events of the past few days had taken their toll on her body.
"Here?" he asked as they paused by level nineteen.
"Yeah," Sam replied.
She could access the base mainframe using a terminal in one of the labs; assuming the set-up was the same.
This far up, the corridors showed signs of disuse. Earth technology was of little consequence to the Goa'uld. The only computer system they'd be interested in would be the one that kept the Stargate operational.
Acting on instinct, Sam chose the lab. which had been hers. Jack watched the door, while she fired up the PC. It hadn't been used in a while and the hard drive groaned in protest, but it did boot.
"I'm in," she told Jack.
He grunted in reply, his attention focused outside. Sam turned back to the monitor. She brought up the surveillance system, quickly flicking through the data from the security cameras.
"Here," she said.
There were a group of jaffa on the screen, herding a group of prisoners in to the quarantine facilities.
"Where?"
"Two levels down, let's go."
Quarantine was on the same level as the infirmary, so it was natural there would be more signs of life... or death, Sam corrected herself. There were bodies everywhere, on gurneys, on the floor. Most had come here for help. Judging by the staff weapon burns, the jaffa had murdered them all. Unable to help herself, Sam walked into the infirmary. In a crumpled heap on the floor rested a body whose dog tags read 'Janet Fraiser'. Fighting back the tears, Sam ripped them away and placed them in her pocket. She took one more item, Janet's security pass.
"This way," she told Jack.
They soon reached the row of locked doors,
"Nice," Jack hissed as they approached.
Sam opened the hatch in the first one, recoiling as the stench of death assaulted her senses.
"You okay?" Jack asked.
"Yeah," she assured him.
For a moment the contents of her stomach threatened to escape, but she swallowed a couple of times, ignoring the burning sensation in her throat. If Charlie was here, it wasn't going to be pretty. Jack must have realised this, because his face was set as they systematically worked their way down the corridor.
"Oh God!" Sam exclaimed suddenly, clapping her hand over her mouth.
"What?" Jack hissed.
But Sam ignored him, fumbling with the security pass as she attempted to open the door. The man in the room was barely recognisable. Stripped naked, his once portly frame was emaciated. At the sound of the door opening, he cowered in a corner, whimpering.
"Sir ... sir?" Sam said, gently, "General Hammond?"
His face turned towards her, although it was doubtful to see anything out of his bruised, bloodied eyes.
"Who is it? Who's there?" he demanded.
"Major ... Sammie Carter," she replied.
"Sammie?"
"Yes. We're going to get you out of here?"
"No."
"Sir?"
"Can't walk. Go. You have to. They'll be back soon."
How long had he been here? Eight months? Had they tortured him for that long?
"They put you in a sarcophagus?" she asked him.
"Can't go back. Won't go back."
His hand shot out to grasp hers.
"End it!" he gasped.
Just one look into his eyes, told Sam what he wanted. He was pleading with her, in the same way Martouf had done. Releasing herself from his grasp, Sam took a step back, drawing her Zat gun.
"I'm sorry," she whispered as she fired three times.
As she stared at the space where Hammond had been, Sam felt a hand on her shoulder.
"You did the right thing," Jack told her.
All she could do was nod. Then, without a backwards glance, she led the way out of the room. It didn't matter, she kept on telling herself. When they got to the Stargate and returned to P4X639 all this would be gone and Hammond would still be alive. Her preoccupation was such that she almost missed Jack's low cry. He snatched the pass from her and opened the door opposite. Sam was slow to follow him into the room. There was the vaguest sensation of something...
The young man looked ridiculously like Jack. So much so that Sam had no doubt as to his identity. That and the fact he was being soundly hugged by his father. It was only as they came towards her that Sam realised what was wrong.
"Jack," she warned.
"What? What is it?" he demanded.
"He's a Goa'uld."
"Dad?" Charlie questioned.
"Ignore her," Jack reassured the boy, "she doesn't know what she's talking about."
"Get away from him," Sam ordered, raising her Zat.
Naturally, Jack moved to stand in front of Charlie, shielding the boy with his body.
"Jack please," Sam begged.
He shook his head, and Sam had no recourse but to fire. Jack bore the brunt of the blast, and collapsed, leaving Charlie vulnerable. But before she was able to fire again, Sam found herself flung several feet through the air, her body impacting with the wall opposite. She raised her head to see the tell tale glow in the boy's eyes ... before she blacked out.
It was the smell that woke her; faeces, urine, unwashed bodies. She lay for a few seconds, trying to quell her nausea. There were bodies pressed close to her, and Sam opened her eyes in the hope one of them was Jack. He was sitting on her right, back to the wall, staring straight ahead.
"Hey," she said.
Jack didn't respond immediately. There was no 'are you okay'. No hands touching her face in concern.
"How did you know?" he demanded.
"About what?" Sam feigned innocence, but Jack wasn't to be distracted.
"Charlie."
"It's complicated."
"We're not going anywhere. Why don't you explain it?"
But Sam didn't know where to begin. Telling him she'd once been possessed by a Tok'ra wasn't likely to do her any favours.
"Please, Jack, you have to trust me," she begged.
"Why? You know a little too much about all this."
"If I was working for the Goa'uld, do you really think I'd be stuck in here?"
He didn't reply, closing his eyes and ignoring her. Realising she was fighting a losing battle; Sam struggled to her feet and looked around the room. It had once been the commissary, she realised. There had to be a hundred people here, all in various stages of depredation. Sam wanted to avert her eyes, but she couldn't. Whatever Goa'uld was in charge here, he was a sick bastard.
Since there was nowhere to go, and nothing to do, Sam sat down again ... having to shove Jack out of the way to reclaim her space. He moved over reluctantly, like some kid in the playground. Sam resisted the urge to slap him, settling for a sharp dig into his ribs.
"Ow!" he protested.
"Stop being an ass, Jack," she muttered as she closed her eyes.
Her anticipated rest was interrupted by the double doors slamming open. A troop of jaffa shoved their way into the room, led by their First Prime. It was a man Sam recognised and she felt her heart sink.
Makepeace.
She'd been hoping for Teal'c. Even in this twisted reality, she could have expected Teal'c to listen, even if he shot them afterwards. Makepeace was a jarhead, pure and simple. He didn't have an original thought in his head.
Sam shrank back as he started to make a tour of the room. It soon became pretty obvious that he was inspecting the female prisoners. She gripped Jack's arm, silently begging for him not to draw attention. Sam recalled her first mission, where Skaara had been taken for implantation. This situation was earily similar.
One of the women started screaming as she was dragged from the room. Beside her, Sam felt Jack twitch; she made a grab for him, but to no avail.
"Hey!" Jack shouted, bouncing to his feet.
Sam was pulled up with him. Makepeace turned towards them, studying for a moment before snapping his fingers.
"Bring her!" he ordered.
Two jaffa appeared at her side. Sam tensed herself, ready to fight, even though she knew she didn't really have a chance. Credit where credit was due, Jack tried to help her, but was quickly subdued. Sam didn't really see what happened to him as she was forcefully removed from the room. She was still fighting when she felt the needle in her arm. The drug acted quickly, and Sam's body was no longer her own. She had no choice but to submit.
Whatever she expected, it hadn't been a shower and a change of clothes. Although when she was taken to another room populated entirely by women she kind of got the idea. Why? Why did these things happen to her? Wasn't there some female Goa'uld out there who'd collect men? Sam realised the drug they had given her was probably responsible for her strange thoughts ... and the vision she had of Major Davies dancing with Heru'ur. Naked.
Sam felt lethargic, as if she was sleepwalking. She sat in a daze, unaware of the women surrounding her. They all seemed to be in a similar condition; not speaking, barely moving. Sam didn't know how long she sat there, staring at the wall. Part of her was worried about Jack, but she couldn't actually bring herself to do anything about it.
Food was brought for them, but Sam realised it would probably be a very bad idea to actually eat it. She managed to knock it into a handy plant pot while the guard wasn't looking. A couple of hours later and her head was definitely feeling clearer. Even so, when Makepeace returned, she wasn't able to put up much of a fight as she was taken from the room.
On the upside, she finally got to see the Stargate.
The Gate room had been turned into some kind of throne room. They hadn't gone quite as far as painting the walls gold but it was still an exercise in over the top decor. The throne stood before the ramp, just outside the range of the kawoosh. With the Stargate active, it was impossible for Sam to make out the face of the man on the throne, but there was no mistaking the figure chained at his side. Sam felt her eyes fill with tears.
Teal'c had always been a big man, but now his dark skin hung on his emaciated body. His posture was subservient, and Sam could see very little of the proud warrior she had once known. On the other side of the throne stood Charlie.
"My Lord!" Makepeace announced, kneeling.
"Bring her closer," the false god hissed.
Sam was dragged forward.
"Remove the garments," he ordered.
Makepeace drew his knife, and used it to cut the dress from her back. Sam stood naked, unable to cover herself. The man on the throne rose and stepped into the light.
Daniel.
Sam flinched as he walked towards her. She had never seen such raw hatred in his eyes. He walked around her, appraising her body as if she was a lump of meat.
"Perfection," he breathed, "she will make an admirable host for my mate."
Makepeace scooped Sam up in his arms and carried her up to the briefing room. Sam found herself lying on the table, unable to move. The cool air caressed her naked body, raising goose bumps on her skin. She could only listen as other people came into the room.
"Behold the power of your God!" Daniel intoned.
"You sick bastard!" it was Jack.
Sam had no idea what he was doing here but it was good to hear his voice. If anyone could get her out of this....
"I took your son, now I will take your woman."
"I'll kill you first!"
There was the sound of a scuffle and Sam realised Jack had temporarily escaped from his guard.
"Come, my queen, enter your new vessel," Daniel's words coaxed the Goa'uld from its jaffa.
Sam tensed as the slime hit her stomach. Then she felt the unmistakable sensation of something crawling over her skin. She wanted to scream, but all she could manage was a pathetic whimper.
"Turn her," Daniel ordered and Sam was shifted onto her stomach in preparation for the implantation.
"Charlie! Charlie," Jack was talking, desperately trying to get through to his son. "Listen to me! You have to help her!"
In this new position, Sam could see the boy. He was standing directly in front of her, his eyes full of malice.
"Dammit Charlie!"
Was it her imagination or did he take a step forward ... and then another. His hand flicked out and knocked the creature from Sam's body.
"Kree!" Daniel yelled and there was another muffled exclamation from Jack.
While the jaffa were distracted, Sam managed to roll her body to one side, falling off the table and landing on the floor. The infant Goa'uld was killed as she landed on top of it.
Daniel screamed.
The confusion was enough for Jack to break free of his guards. At first Sam thought he was coming towards her, but she quickly realised his target was Charlie. He'd managed to grab a Zat from somewhere. She dragged herself to her feet, hoping she had enough strength to get out of here. Her legs were barely able to hold her upright. She desperately started searching the room, looking for a friendly face... and then she saw Teal'c.
"Help me ... please...” she begged.
His eyes may not have known her, but his heart remained true. With a snarl he tore himself free of his chains, knocking men out of his way as he came to Sam's side.
"Thank you," she gasped as he swung her into his arms.
She was carried down the stairs into the control room. Jack followed, dragging Charlie along with him.
"The 'gate," she gasped and Teal'c deposited her in front of a computer terminal. Jack took off his T-shirt and handed it to her, for which Sam was grateful.
According to Maybourne, Major Carter had designed the computer systems here. In which case she would have left herself a backdoor into the program. She had a few anxious seconds but it worked. The first thing she did was initiate the required lockdown procedure, isolating them from the rest of the base. All Jack and Teal'c had to do was defend the stairs from the briefing room. Jack had already zatted Charlie and the kid looked like he'd be out for a while.
Sam quickly turned her attention to the dialling program. It didn't matter where they went, she realised ... as long as it was somewhere the Goa'uld had no access to. From memory, she dialled up the address for the Tollan Home world. With any luck they could help Charlie.
To her relief the Stargate activated.
"Come on!" she ordered.
The last thing she did was set the base self destruct.
Sam had enough mobility to stagger down the stairs, leaving Jack free to carry Charlie and Teal'c to cover their retreat. They passed through the wormhole without incident, finding themselves in the centre of the capital city.
"So this is another planet?" Jack commented.
"Yeah," Sam said.
"It looks like Canada."
She managed a weak laugh.
There were people coming towards them, the Tollans, no doubt surprised by this unexpected invasion.
"Hi!" Jack waved. "They look boring," he hissed in addition.
This side of Jack O'Neill was very familiar. The escape had left him high on adrenaline ... which he tended to express in inappropriate comments. Teal'c was silent, dropping behind them.
"My name is Samantha Carter," Sam said. "We seek sanctuary."
It took a little fast talking, but they were eventually taken to well appointed guest quarters ... apart from Charlie. Naturally Jack protested at his son's imprisonment and insisted on accompanying him. Sam wasn't nearly as worried. The worst Charlie would have to experience was Triad, and he'd have a pretty good chance of winning. However, Jack's disappearance meant she was left with Teal'c, who immediately immersed himself in kelnoreem.
She had never realised how quiet the Tollans actually were. As darkness fell, the world became silent and Sam was struck by a sense of deep isolation. Where could she go from here? P4X639? Even if she got back there was no guarantee she could reverse the damage they had done. She knew the Tollans wouldn't interfere and help the people of Earth. So maybe her only hope lay with the Asgard?
Sam was still pondering the problem when Jack came back. He had a huge grin on his face and she knew he'd been talking to Charlie.
"They stuck this device on him ... I don't know how, but he's still in there!" he babbled.
"That's great, Jack."
To her surprise he flung his arms about her, holding her tight.
"Thank you," he whispered into her hair.
"You're welcome," Sam returned.
"Is there anything to eat?"
The moment ended and Sam had to content herself with sitting and watching while Jack demolished everything that was left over from her earlier meal.
"I could sleep for a week," he announced before falling onto the bed.
Teal'c had taken the couch in the other room and Sam stood a little awkwardly wondering where she should sleep.
"There's plenty of room," Jack grinned at her.
What the hell? Sam decided as she lay down beside him. They'd had a really long day. It was unlikely either of them was going to do anything other than sleep. A prediction which proved to be unerringly accurate. Within ten minutes, Jack was snoring. Pulling a pillow over her head, Sam attempted to block out the noise as she too succumbed to oblivion.
They slept late. Both waking when the sun was high in the sky.
"Wonder if they do room service?" Jack muttered as he stretched.
"You could ask?" Sam grinned.
"Wait here."
"Jack..."
But he had already disappeared. Sam lay back in bed wondering what the hell he was doing. Ten minutes later, he returned with a tray of food.
"Best I could do," he told her, setting the meal before her.
Sam was hungry and had no objection to the selection of fruit, bread and cheese ... or to the fact that Jack crawled back into bed. He grinned at her, making no apology.
"We'll save the world tomorrow," Jack said.
If only it were that easy. But Sam really didn't want to move. She was closer to Jack than she'd ever been, and she liked it ... a little too much, if she were honest with herself.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah."
Sam didn't trust herself to say anymore.
After eating, Jack went to see Charlie and Sam found herself alone again. This was hard, she realised. It wasn't like one Jack was replaceable by another... or was it? Unwillingly, she recalled the 'other' Samantha, Jack certainly hadn't had any qualms about planting one on her. But Sam remembered the tenderness of the kiss, and wondered...
Sam talked to Councillor Travail later that morning. As expected, the Tollan wouldn't violate their position of neutrality. However, the councillor mentioned that the Tok'ra were expected to make contact soon. They would be responsible for removing the Goa'uld from Charlie. His age had been taken into consideration and, as such, he wasn't expected to undergo Triad. Sam was charged with telling him the good news and went directly to find them.
They were sitting outside by one of the cities many water features. Sam was loathed to disturb them, so she approached quietly. They seemed to be discussing something of great importance. It was only as she got closer that Sam realised they were talking about her.
"Sam seems pretty nice," Charlie was saying.
"She is," Jack replied.
"You like her, don't you?"
"Sure."
"More than Mom?"
Jack paused for a long time before replying and Sam didn't know if she wanted to hear the answer or not.
"It's different, Charlie."
"Why?"
"Your mom's been gone a while, but we were together a long time. Even if, say, I did like Sam, it wouldn't be the same. I'm just getting to know her."
"You think she's hot."
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
Sam couldn't stop herself grinning as she coughed and made them aware of her presence. Jack immediately jumped to his feet, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Do not!" he hissed at his son by way of period.
"I've got some good news," Sam said, ignoring him for the moment. "The Tollan have contacted the Tok'ra and they're willing to remove Charlie's symbiote."
"Cool. When."
"They'll be here later today."
"Will it hurt?" Charlie asks.
"I don't know," she admitted.
Charlie looks a little scared, but Sam could see the determination in the set of his jaw.
"Is it safe?" Jack demanded.
"I don't know," Sam had to repeat.
The operation had been successful for Skaara, but unsuccessful for Kowalski, so maybe there was a 50:50 chance. But Jack didn't need to know that and neither did Charlie.
"You'll be fine," Jack reassured his son.
He must have sensed some of Sam's unease because he followed when she left the room,
"This is going to be okay?" he asked.
"I really hope so," Sam replied, "I know the Tok'ra. They’ll do everything they can to help him."
"All right."
Sam had the feeling that, if something happened to Charlie, she would be to blame. It was ironic really; the boy shouldn't even be alive.
They had to wait several hours for the Tok'ra to appear. No doubt they had important things to do in other parts of the galaxy but Jack didn't see things that way. Sam tried her best to keep him calm, bit she had to wonder why the Tollan couldn't have carried out the procedure.
It was late evening when the Stargate finally activated. Sam should have expected it, she should have known. Yet her legs still threatened to give way when she caught sight of Martouf. Catching her round the waist, Jack asked,
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Sam answered.
She tried to ignore the fact a man she had killed was walking around in front of her ... a man she had cared about and part of her had certainly loved. All the pain and guilt she had felt over those terrible days came flooding back. Sam didn't know if she want to cry, throw up or both. Luckily, she managed a polite, "Pleased to meet you," when they were introduced. His eyes met hers for a brief second, and Sam found herself aching for some kind of recognition.
"Where is the child?" was all he said, before disappearing with the rest of the Tok'ra.
Jack wasted no time in hurrying after them and Sam was left alone. She didn't follow, choosing instead to walk through the dusk, trying to get her emotions under control. This was so hard. She hadn't actually expected Martouf to recognise her, but she had wondered if he might have sensed some part of Jolinar. The important thing was he was alive and she had to wonder if this reality was, in fact less twisted than her own. Earth may have been in the hands of the Goa'uld but how many people had actually profited by the changes? Questions no one here would be able to answer.
Her resolve to change the past was faltering. The truth was she didn't even know if she could. She would not, could not hurt Charlie, which meant her only hope was to stop them going to P4X-639 in the first place. Rather half-heartedly, she headed back towards the Stargate. If she didn't leave now the chances were she never would. She regretted leaving Jack and Charlie, not taking the time to speak to Martouf, but she couldn't wait any longer.
The Tollan were so secure in their isolation, they hadn't even bothered to put a guard on the Stargate. Sam was briefly confused by the alien DHD, but she managed to set the co-ordinates for P4X-639.
Fundamentally, the planet was exactly the same as she remembered. This time, though, there was no sign of Maliki. If there had been maybe Sam would have been able to persuade him to tell her more about the device. She would have given anything for Daniel to be there... as things stood, she was on her own with an alien machine and a whole bunch of text she had no idea how to translate.
She tried to recall exactly what she had done last time. Which blocks had she pressed? Sam tried again and again to make it work, but it lay silent beneath her fingers. And she was very well aware that this planet held more than one problem. The levels of radiation here were harmful. She had been monitoring them closely last time. Now without the aid of her detectors, she had no idea how much her body was absorbing.
As time went by, she realised she was going to be forced to leave. She found herself pounding on the blocks on despair, cursing her impotence. Her hands bruised, her body and spirit broken, she started to head back towards the Stargate.
It was dark.
Sam knew her eyes were open, but she couldn't make out anything around her.
"Hello?" she called out, her voice sounding weak.
What the hell had happened?
"Anyone?"
A light appeared above her and she recognised the lines of an Asgard vessel. Sam breathed a sigh of relief. If anyone could help her with that damn machine it would be Thor. Sure enough, it wasn't long before a spindly figure appeared.
"Thor?" Sam questioned, not entirely sure which Asgard she was speaking to.
"I am Freyr; Commander Thor was killed in battle."
"The Replicators?"
"Indeed, we had not realised that they had reached this far into the galaxy."
"They haven't. Freyr, there's something you have to know."
Sam told her story. It was kind of unnerving. Freyr just stood there and listen, asking no questions ... barely blinking. How stupid did she feel? Especially when the alien said,
"There is a flaw in your reasoning."
"There is?" Sam asked.
"You can not prevent yourselves from your initial visit to the planet, because that time is lost."
"D'Oh," she said quietly to herself. It was a mistake worthy of Jack.
"Your first instinct was correct," Freyr continued, "The boy is the key."
"No way!"
"It is the only way to save both our races."
"He's just a kid."
"All we require is a time and date reference."
"You can't..."
"The Asgard have the ability to control a wormhole and utilise the time travel capability. Although the actual use was forbidden many years ago, our war with the Replicators has changed many things."
Sam resolutely shook her head.
"No matter," Freyr said. "We have other means."
Her head exploded. Not literally as that would have been rather messy, but Sam heard herself scream as pain threaded through her neurones. She tried not to think about it, but Jack's words came back to her...
"May 12th 1993..."
She was left in the darkness, in a whimpering, quivering heap. Despite all their dealings with the Asgard, Sam had never thought of them as a cruel or violent people. Yet she knew they were highly advanced when compared to humans. This obviously extended to their mental powers.
"No ... please ... no..." she heard herself whisper again and again ... even though Freyr had gone.
For a time Sam thought she was alone on the ship, but Freyr came back, his soft feet making little sound on the hard floor.
"We are ready," he told her.
"I am not going to let you do this."
"You will show us the way."
"Like hell I will."
Sam woke up in another painful heap. This time there was bright light shining in her eyes and she quickly realised she was back on Earth. She was lying on a perfectly manicured lawn; there was a house close by. Sam didn't need a calendar to know what the date was. Hoping she could warn him, she scrambled to her feet and headed towards the back door.
It was open.
There didn't seem to be anyone around, so Sam started upstairs. Jack must have left his gun lying around somewhere and his bedroom seemed a good place to start.
The master bedroom was at the front of the house. It was a large airy room, filled with light. Through the open window she could hear the sound of a child playing, his mother calling to him. It ripped at her heart. She started systematically searching the room, pausing when she found one of the drawers in the nightstand was locked. If the gun was anywhere ... The she remembered what Jack had said. He was certain he had locked the drawer.
There were footsteps on the stairs, light, childish. Outside, she could hear a car drawing up. Sam started towards the door, but before she could open it, she was temporarily blinded by a flash of light.
"Thank you, Major Carter," Freyr's voice said. "You're compassion has served us well."
The gun was now lying on the nightstand. Sam wanted to reach for it, but she couldn't move. She was lying on the floor on the other side of the bed, forced to watch as the door opened and a pair of sneakers appeared.
Sam tried to scream, but her vocal cords were as paralysed as the rest of her body.
The mattress shifted as the boy sat on the bed.
"How was your day?" Jack's voice floated up through the open window.
There was a click and Sam prayed the chamber was empty.
"Charlie about ready?"
"He was running about here just a minute ago."
A sound of thunder.
A woman screamed.
The boyish figure slumped across the bed. Blood dripped from his hand and onto Sam's face. Even from her current position, she knew there was no hope. There was too...too much blood.
"I'll call 911," Sara shouted.
"No time, get the car," Jack's voice ordered.
The boy's hand disappeared from view as he was scooped into his father's arms. Sam heard footsteps on the stairs, a car door slam, the car pull away... then silence. And she was able to move.
Climbing to her feet, Sam realised her face and upper body were covered in blood. Retching, she staggered into the en suite to clean up. There was little she could do with her stained top, so she borrowed one of Jack's T-shirts. Sara's clothes would have come closer to fitting, but she couldn't bring herself to do that. She wandered through the empty house, unsure she should stay, but unable to leave. Jack must have been so happy here, she realised.
It was dark by the time Sam heard someone come through the front door. She was about to make swift exit, when she heard a soft voice call...
*************************************************************************************
"Carter?" Jack called as he opened the front door.
She had to be here somewhere. A figure appeared at the end of the hallway and threw herself into his arms.
"I'm sorry," she gasped, "I am so sorry."
Jack just held her, unable to answer. By his calculations they had another five hours here. Five hours in the house where his son had died.
"Where's Sara?" Sam asked.
"At her Dad's. She didn't want to come back here. Hell, I didn't want to come back here."
"Are you okay?"
"No."
He buried his face in her hair. If there was a hell, this was it. The first time had been bad but this was so much worse. Seeing Charlie there, he'd known there was nothing anyone could have done. Yet again he was awash with feelings of guilt and remorse ... and that terrible nagging feeling that he had unloaded the gun and locked it away.
"Sir, we should do something about your room. You wouldn't want Sara to come back and find..."
"Blood."
"Yeah."
"I'll arrange for contract cleaners. It's what I did last time."
"Okay."
He moved away from her and picked up the phone. Sam stood beside him while he spoke to the cleaning company.
"Just take it away and burn it," he told them.
"Jack you can't stay here," she told him when he had finished.
"I..."
"Let's find a hotel," she said.
There was something slightly off about the way she said it. Jack tried to look into her eyes, but she turned her face away.
"Carter, what is it?" he asked.
"Not here," she replied.
Jack was too tired to argue. They left the house in his truck, driving to a downtown hotel where, hopefully, no one would know him. Once safely checked in, he went straight to the shower. Not even bothering to take off his clothes, he stood under the powerful spray, his head resting against the tiles. It was some time before he stripped off and started to wash his son's blood from his body. Carter banged on the door more than once, but Jack didn't answer her.
When his body was finally clean, he wrapped himself in a robe and walked into the bedroom. To his surprise it was dark. There was the remains of a meal on the table and Sam was asleep on one of the beds. Jack sat down beside her, heavily enough to wake her up.
"Sir?" she mumbled.
"I locked it away, Carter," he said.
"I know."
"What?"
"That's what I was trying to tell you. All this time hopping, we've been caught in a predestination paradox."
"A what?"
"Sir, you locked that gun away and the future changed. I was there, I saw it. Daniel was a Goa'uld, Teal'c was his slave, Hammond was dead... humanity had practically been wiped out."
"So you decided to come back here and murder my son!"
"No, dammit! It wasn't me!"
"Then who?"
"The Asgard. Without our intervention the Replicators had decimated their civilisation. Thor was dead ... I met Freyr ... He found out what had happened ... I tried to stop him, sir. I tried..."
Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. Angry didn't cover the way he was feeling. He was way past anger. All this time, all these years he had blamed himself and now...
There was a crash as he overturned the table, sending crockery flying. Carter let out a yelp and dived out of bed to stop him trashing the room. He threw a chair through the TV before she grabbed his arms. He strained against her, but Jack knew damn well that he would never physically hurt her.
"It wasn't your fault, sir. Freyr wasn't even one of ‘our’ Asgard."
"He still killed my son and if you think I'm just going to..."
"No. You can't. If we get back home, you can not let this jeopardise out position with the Asgard. If Earth doesn't have their protection then we are finished!"
"That's easy enough for you to say."
"Is it?"
"And who exactly did you lose?"
"Martouf ... and you."
Jack felt his muscles suddenly relax. He stared at her.
"There was no chain of command, no regulations, and we got close," Carter said.
"Then why are you here?"
"Because I wanted you. I tried to go back to before we ever went to P4X639, but I couldn't ... and that's when Freyr found me. He ripped the information from my mind. We always thought it was Daniel who was essential to the Stargate program, but we were wrong. It's you Jack."
Her use of his first name shook him. Carter's hands slipped from his wrists and she backed away. Jack could tell she was embarrassed by the passion of her outburst.
"Sir, please..." was all she said.
He could see the tears. But why should she care? Jack buried his face in his hands wanting to hide from her eyes. She took his hands again. Jack was surprised to find himself sitting on the bed, his arms wrapped around Sam's waist and his face pressed against her. For a long while all he could feel was her fingers in his hair, all he could hear was her voice whispering words that made little sense. But Jack took comfort in her presence, as he never had been able to do with Sara. It was as if he had been stripped naked before her, bereft of everything but raw emotion.
"It's going to be okay, Jack," Sam whispered. "It wasn't your fault."
Finally, Jack raised his head.
"I know, I'm just going to need a little time," he told her.
A little time. How ironic was that? Right now, he supposed, they had all the time in the world.
"You should try to get some sleep, sir."
Too tired to argue Jack lay down and....
His butt was freezing to the ground.
"Antarctica, why did it have to be Antarctica," he mumbled.
He moved his head slightly, listening to the sound of someone snoring into his left ear. It was Sam. Jack tried to move, but then he remembered the broken leg, internal bleeding, etc. etc. Not to mention she was lying on his ribs again. He had to settle for hissing,
"Carter?"
"Sorry," she mumbled, shifting slightly. Then her eyes opened and she realised where they were. Sam scrambled to her feet,
"The Stargate!" she exclaimed.
"This is good?"
"Sir, I can use the Gate to get back to P4X-639."
"You told me that didn't work last time."
"No, but we're back in our original timeline..."
...Now Charlie was dead. Jack felt the grief well up, closing his throat.
"Okay, whatever," he muttered
"Sir, If I'm successful you'll end up back in the time loops."
"Oh joy."
He lay there for a second, trying to recall all the Latin Daniel attempted to teach him. Then another idea occurred to him,
"You won't remember," he said.
"No I won't."
"In that other world, was Charlie still alive?"
"Yes."
"Tell me about him."
"I should..."
"Tell me."
Sam crawled back under the thermal blanket, pressing her body against his.
"Watch the ribs," he warned.
"And the sidearm?"
He would have laughed but it hurt too much.
"What was he like?" Jack asked.
"You. I mean he had your eyes and your smile, but it was more than that. He had your instinctive knowledge of what's right. You'd have been proud of him."
"I wish..."
"I know.”
Sam didn't really seem that keen on talking about her experience, while Jack wanted to know every single detail. She had known Charlie when he had been almost grown up, and he didn't want that knowledge lost when they got back to their own time. He was jealous of any time she might have spent with his son.
"I should go," she said eventually.
"Yeah."
"Will you be okay?"
"What do you think?"
"Right. Jack, I know we can never replace Charlie, but one day we're going to have a baby."
"We don't know that for sure. The future could change..."
"You have to sure it happens, because I won't remember. Promise me, Jack."
"Okay."
She started to move, but Jack pulled her into a rough hug, wanting to feel her body warming his for a little while longer.
"Good luck," was all he managed to say.
It was only after she left, he realised something... he hadn't even kissed her.
*************************************************************************************
"How do you feel?" Daniel demanded.
Jack dropped his spoon.
He was back. Sam must have succeeded, he realised. She was certainly looking at him as if he had lost part of his mind.
"Ask me tomorrow," he said.
Jack didn't go to the briefing. There was really no point. He'd heard it all before. He spent the next six loops locked in his quarters, trying to come to terms with the fact his son had, for all intents and purposes, been murdered.
On the seventh day, he left the base and drove home. Not to his house, but to the one where Sara still lived. She wasn't home, but he still had a key. Jack let himself in, feeling a little out of place as he wandered through the familiar rooms. Sara had redecorated and it was a very different place from the house he had called home for so many years.
One thing was the same; Charlie's room. Jack sat on the bed, as he had done so many times before, staring out of the window.
"It wasn't your fault," he whispered to himself over and over.
He found himself wondering how bad that other world could have been. Jack lay back on the bed, closing his eyes for a moment, trying to imagine if anything could have been worth his son's life.
"Dad?"
Jack's eyes snapped open, wondering where the voices were coming from. He went to the window, to find the vista outside transformed. The world he'd known so well had been devastated. He spun around, the room was different. Cold, unlived in and there was a boy standing behind him. Jack gave a gulp. What the hell was happening? Was he going mad?
"Where did she go?" Charlie asked.
"I don't know. She just left," Jack heard himself reply.
"Why didn't she say goodbye?"
"I don't know."
"I thought she liked you?"
"Me too."
"Did you kiss her?"
"What? No!"
"Did you want to?"
"I...yeah...I did, it would have been nice."
Nice, it would have been more than nice. But, this place, this present wasn't where he was supposed to be. Jack knew he had to leave, however hard that might be. Without another word, Jack pulled Charlie into a rough hug.
"I'm sorry," he gasped again and again.
"It's okay, it wasn't your fault," Charlie replied, although he sounded confused by his father's display of emotion.
"I have to go now."
"Where?"
"I'll be back soon."
"Promise."
"Promise."
Jack let Charlie go and walked out of the room. He did not look back.
He drove back to the mountain with a new sense of purpose, determined to break out of these damn loops and get his life back.
Of course, ten hours later when he was deep in his Latin studies again, he was just as bored as he'd always been, but he stuck with it...and it was kind of fun to correct Daniel. Not to mention playing golf through the Stargate, cycling through the SGC and the pottery. It took him three or four loops to actually work up the courage to do the thing he most wanted to do. Despite the fact she wouldn't remember, Jack knew he'd never be able to look her in the face again if she hit him, or laughed.
He wrote out his resignation at least ten times before finally taking it to Hammond.
"Colonel what are you doing out of uniform?" the general demanded.
"Handing you my resignation," Jack replied.
"You're resigning, what for?" Carter asked, coming to his side.
"So I can do this."
The line wasn't one of his best, but Jack didn't give her time to register the cliché. Taking her face in his hands, he pressed his lips against hers. For a second she seemed surprised, before her body melted against his. But it didn't last anywhere near long enough. Just as her arm snaked itself around his neck, the loop reset itself...
And Jack had a grin on his face for the rest of the day.
He could understand why Maliki had done it. There had been a time when Jack would have given anything to be with Charlie again. Now he knew different. Losing Charlie a second time had been almost as bad as the first, if it hadn't been for Carter...
Jack watched her as he ate his oatmeal.
One day, he told himself. The image of Sam nursing their first child was fixed in his mind. Other guys would come and go, but Jack was going to make sure he was the one she ended up with.
Sam caught up with him as he left the refectory, prompted no doubt by the conversation Daniel had started.
"So, what did you do?" she demanded.
"When?" Jack fell back on the old standby of pretending not to know what she was talking about.
"Sir?"
Okay so that wasn't going to work.
"Nothing you need to worry about, Carter," he told her.
"Judging by the expression on your face I sincerely doubt that."
"Why? What would you have wanted me to do?"
She blushed bright red and Jack grinned.
"It was just a kiss," he admitted.
"Just a kiss?"
"Scouts honour."
He hadn't realised how close they were standing. On any other occasion it would have been great, but Jack was too tired right now.
"There's something else, isn't there?" she said.
"It's been a really, really long day; can I tell you some other time?"
"Yeah, but don't keep me in the dark forever, sir."
Realising they were still standing close, Jack took a chance and gently brushed his lips against her cheek.
"I won't, that's a promise," he whispered.
Jack left a very bemused Samantha Carter behind him as he headed to the locker room to get changed.
*************************************************************************************
Keeping his promise to Sam was hard. Years passed and, if anything, they seemed to grow further apart. That was until Sam got herself a steady boyfriend. Just about every person on the base knew she was seeing someone, and Jack quickly got tired of the sympathetic looks which were sent his way. However, there was an up side. With attention focused elsewhere, he was free to show her a little affection now and then. Sam also seemed to relax around him, knowing no one was waiting for them to slip up. The relationship lasted several months. Just about every other week someone would come up to Jack and tell him that Sam's engagement was on the point of being announced. It never happened.
One fine Sunday afternoon, whilst Jack was wrestling with his rose bushes, Sam turned up. One look at her face told him it was all over. She was angry, and most of it seemed to be focused at him. As if it was his fault the guy had dumped her.
"It always comes back to you, sir!" she snapped at him.
"Why? I thought I'd been nice!" he protested.
And he had been. Not one sarcastic comment.
"That's not the point," she went on.
"Then what is?"
"He asked me to marry him, and I had to say no."
"And that's my fault?"
"Dammed sir...Don't you get it?"
"You're the smart one, remember."
"I can't do this, not while you're still part of my life."
"Unless you're planning to leave the SGC that could be a long time."
"What if I did?"
"Carter?"
"Leave. Would you follow?"
"Yes."
Sam gave him a sad smile and Jack felt his heart lurch. He had a feeling she was about to tell him something he wasn't going to like.
"I've asked General Hammond for a secondment to the Alpha Site. I'll be gone about six months."
"Sam?"
"It'll give me time to think."
"When are you leaving?"
"Now. Goodbye Jack."
She turned away from him, and started walking across the lawn. Jack knew the moment had come. If he let her go now, he'd lose her forever. In two strides he was at her side. Not to stop her, but to give her a reason to come home again.
"I'll visit," he told her, holding her tight.
"You'd better," she whispered back.
********************************************************************************
Naked by Ruth M King
Story Notes: Spoilers: Window of Opportunity
Season/Sequel info: Series 4
Notes: Sam and Jack get caught in a different type of timeloop. This story can also be found here,
http://www.snowqueen.demon.co.uk/Naked.html
For Jo and Ruthie... this is it...the torture is over!!!
Season/Sequel info: Series 4
Notes: Sam and Jack get caught in a different type of timeloop. This story can also be found here,
http://www.snowqueen.demon.co.uk/Naked.html
For Jo and Ruthie... this is it...the torture is over!!!
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 ]