Carter was hot and dirty. She didn't know how long she had been in this hellhole of a prison. The inmates in Hadante's prison were treated better and feed better too. Why hadn't her team got her out by now? Why was she even here? What type of woman's prison was this place anyway?
All she knew is that she had to survive until they rescued her, and she knew they would. Colonel Jack O'Neill would never leave her behind, and neither, would Teal'c or Daniel. Life had just started to get back to normal, now that Daniel had returned from his stint ascended with the Ancients. Jonas had returned home a hero, and SG-1 was settling back into a normal routine. That was until they gated here to P4R-702.
Within seconds of coming through the Stargate, Carter had felt herself trapped in a forcefield, and then she found herself in prison. Whatever forcefield they had her locked into, wouldn't allow her to move her arms, or any part of her body, as her clothes and weapons were forcefully removed from her. Then a dress, if you wanted to call it that, was placed on her. An ugly gray drab, garment Carter won't be caught dead in on Earth. But then this place wasn't Earth, was it?
Afterwards, she was led here, to this cell, with all the other women. No one would talk to her. No one spoke her language. She couldn't seem to break the communication gap, no matter how hard she tried. She had no idea why she was here, or even, where here was. The Colonel wouldn't leave her here that much she knew; she'd just have to hang on a while longer until they could rescue her. She wondered what they did, as she was taken from her team's side, his side, Jack…no, no, no, the Colonel. Can't think of him as Jack, get a grip Carter, the Colonel will rescue you. Not having anyone to talk to, is starting to make you stir crazy, Sam, you just have to hang on, she admonished herself.
Every woman in this place was dressed the same, and no one had seen the inside of a shower or bath for quite some time. This place smelled, and all the other women's spirits had been broken, except hers. Often she had wondered why the other women had been sentenced to this living hell. Sam had no idea what her crime had been; all she had done was walk through the Stargate. Could it have been the same for the others as well? She hoped not.
Sam had not seen much technology in this place, but the high-electrified walls were plenty to keep the inmate population, in line. Twice a day, a door was opened, and something that was supposed to pass as food, was presented by the wardens.
Breakfast had been served two hours ago, so why was the door opening now, she wondered, as she made her way towards the opening. Could her team be springing her from this place? Carter tried to keep her heart from falling, as she watched another young blond woman, tumble down the entranceway, as she had so many days ago.
The woman was dressed in the same drab garment Carter was forced to wear. She was yelling something at her captors; from the tone and inflection in her voice, she was cursing at them. Then suddenly a word or two seemed familiar. Did she really say ‘cruvas' and ‘eetium'? Carter drew closer observing the new prisoner, listening with fascination, to the words spewing out from the young woman's mouth. Very few she understood, but she knew she was speaking in Ancient.
The woman was in her early twenties, blond with brown eyes. Gosh, those eyes looked familiar, Sam thought. Yeah, right, Samantha, get your mind out of the gutter. Remember, he's your CO! At least this woman has spunk, and maybe you can communicate with her, she told herself. Cautiously, she walked over to the woman.
"I'll say this place is cruvas." Sam stated as she watched the woman brush the dirt from her dress. The woman's eyes grew wide when she heard Sam's statement.
"Eetium" she replied, then proceeded to speak in her native tongue. Carter held up her hands.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Egoo no." She shook her head adding hand gestures, trying to tell the woman she didn't understand all her words, just a few. Apparently, the woman understood, she smiled at Sam. Sam thought her smile could light up the room; it had been so long since she had seen anyone smile.
"Tau'ri?" the woman questioned Sam.
"Yes, Tau'ri! I'm, Egoo, Major Samantha Carter." Sam exclaimed. The look on the woman's face went blank; Carter was afraid she had said something wrong and had offended her.
"Tau'ri Carter?" The woman said, with a slight smile and wide eyes.
"Yes, eetium." Carter responded, thankful to have someone to try and communicate with, in this prison.
"Well, it's about damn time, Major. Do you know how many of these hellhole prisons, I've had to crawl through, looking for you?" Carter was shocked as the woman pulled her into a hug. The person standing before her was Jack O'Neill personified, as a woman; Sam couldn't be sure she wasn't dreaming.
"Y…yo…you speak English?" Carter stuttered, as the woman let go of her.
"Well, of course I do. I was born and raised in Colorado Springs." The woman smiled mischievously at her. "I just didn't think it would be to wise, if they knew, before I had a chance to check this place out." She responded pointing towards the ever present guards on the other side of the doorway. "You didn't think the SGC or SG-1 would let you rot in here, did you?"
Her team had found a way to reach her. Holy Hannah! This woman was from the SGC.
"But you were speaking Ancient, when you arrived." Sam said confused.
"Oh, that, it's just something my dad taught me when I was little. Look, Major, we don't have a lot of time. Are you ready to blow this joint?" She asked Sam, grinning.
"Oh, yeah, how do we get out? Where's the rest of the SG-teams?" Sam asked, trying to place the woman from home. There was something so familiar about her, but she just couldn't put her finger on it, besides the fact, she reminded Sam of her CO.
"We'll be meeting up with SG-1 shortly, first we get out of here." She stated, and then spoke into a tiny radio implanted in her wrist. "Thor, buddy, you hear me? I've got her, and we're ready to go."
The Asgard transportation device engulfed them, and suddenly Carter found herself standing on Thor's ship.
"Major Carter, welcome aboard." Thor greeted Sam, and nodded in the young woman's direction.
"Thor, thank you so much for rescuing me."
"You are quite welcome Major Cater. I'm sure after your ordeal you would like to freshen up. We have facilities awaiting you, and a change of clothing. You have about an hour, before we meet up with the rest of SG-1." Thor simply stated.
"Thank you, I would like that very much." Sam replied gratefully.
"Here, let me show you the way." The young woman stated with a bounce in her step. After showing Carter where to shower and change, the woman said she and Thor would wait in the adjoining room.
Sam thought that a shower had never felt so good. She just let the hot water soak into her, while taking the longest shower of her life. Stepping out of the shower, she saw the clothes that had been provided for her. A set of green BDU's, exactly like those she always wore off world. Nothing ever felt so good to put on. As far as she cared, Thor could toss that rag she'd been wearing out the hatch! After dressing and making herself presentable, she joined her traveling companions.
The young woman now wore similar BDU pants and a tank top. She was speaking in Ancient to Thor as Sam entered the room. Sam didn't understand any of it, but did notice the hug the woman gave Thor. Thor responded by patting the woman on her back, in a tender way. When she looked up at Sam, Sam thought she had seen mist in the woman's eyes.
"Thor, how can I ever thank you, both of you?" Sam started.
"There is no need, Major Carter. We are arriving at the coordinates to meet with SG-1. Please give Colonel O'Neill my greetings." Thor requested.
"I will and thank you again." Sam said as she followed the woman to the transporter. "So, when we get back to the SGC, I want to take you out for a drink and to talk."
"I think that can be arranged." The woman grinned at Sam.
-------------
Arriving at the Tok'ra base, SG-1 headed for the rings. Before they reached them, a female voice called out as a young woman emerged from behind a small hill. She was wearing BDU pants and a tank top.
"Colonel O'Neill!" The young woman shouted. "Look who I found!"
"Carter…" O'Neill stood dumbstruck, as she walked out over the ridgeline behind the young woman.
"Sam!" Daniel yelled smiling.
"Major Carter." Teal'c raised an eyebrow looking from his lost teammate to their CO.
"Hi guys! Miss me?" Sam asked as she rejoined SG-1, getting hugs from Daniel and Teal'c.
"Where did you come from?" O'Neill asked.
"Thor sprung me!" Sam stated smiling. Then turning to the young woman she added, "Of course, he had a little help."
Jack looked at the young woman standing next to his 2IC; she was the striking image of Carter, only with brown eyes. She even had the same smile. A million questions were flooding into his brain as he blurted out to Carter.
"What the hell happened to you? One minute you're standing there, the next, you're gone. We searched for three weeks, and never found a trace of where you went. We came here to see if Jacob had any clues."
"What?" Carter said looking from her CO to the young woman. She thought the SGC had enlisted Thor's help to rescue her, and they had sent the woman in as an undercover operative.
"General Samantha Carter, I'll leave you in the very capable hands of Colonel Jack O'Neill. I've got to be going. Thor's waiting." The young woman said with a salute as she turned and quickly headed back up the hill. SG-1 stood shocked.
"Wait," Sam called out. "I never got your name."
At the top of the hill the young woman stopped, looking affectionately back down at SG-1, pride obvious in her eyes, while she appeared to relish the moment.
"My name is Grace." She said smiling. Before anyone could say anything, Thor transported her back to the ship.
"Sam, what's going on here?" Daniel asked. Jack's mind was still reeling from the young woman and ‘General Samantha Carter'.
"Indeed Major Carter." Teal'c chimed with raised eyebrows.
"I think she's from our future." Sam said smiling turning towards her teammates. It was good to be back with them. The events of the last couple of hours were beginning to make sense to her.
"Earth's future?" Jack asked ushering his team back to the Stargate. They could talk to the Tok'ra another time, right now, all he wanted was to get Sam home, and then a full explanation.
"Maybe, but definitely, our future." Sam smiled at him. Jack's eyebrows raised and he grinned, as he caught her meaning.
Grace was their daughter.
Epilogue:
Grace stepped off the transporter and into the waiting arms of the man below. He had stayed hidden, but observing Carter, while she was talking to Thor and Grace.
"You did good kiddo." Jack said as he hugged his daughter; he was so proud of her.
"Thanks dad." Grace replied. "Is everything alright now?"
"Thor said the time line will continue just like it's supposed too."
"I'm glad I could do it. Mom looked so young; I was shocked when I first saw her. She looked just like she does in your wedding photos."
"She wasn't much older than you are now. You two really do look a lot a like. I remember the first time I saw you on that Tok'ra base, when your mom reappeared, I was wondering if you were a younger sister or a clone. Except that you had my eyes." Jack said as his daughter blushed.
"You have always said that I look like mom, but I never saw it until today. I may have worried her a little, when she started talking to me. I was just so surprised. You know, mom's Ancient wasn't that good…" Grace said and Jack laughed.
"You're right, at that time she didn't know much of it. But because of her imprisonment and meeting you, I started teaching her Ancient. Then you came along." Jack remembered with great pride. He actually got to teach Sam something she didn't know. "Thor, are we okay to leave? Is there anyone else back there that needs to be rescued?"
"No, Ambassador O'Neill, the prison only houses repeat female offenders. Major Carter was thought to be one, because she came through the Stargate. We have observed each new inmate, since you told us about this incident 25 years ago."
"Then let's go home. Mom owes me a drink." Grace stated as Thor set the coordinates for their time.
Jack shook his head. Lt. Grace O'Neill was so much like him, with the brains of her mother, and bits of her Uncles Daniel, Teal'c, and Thor tossed in. Tonight they would finally have the answers to that mysterious incident, all those years ago. Daniel and Teal'c would be waiting with Sam, Jack's wife of 24 years, when they got home.
--------------------
The briefing was just winding down. Carter had already been cleared medically, and the team sat with General Hammond in the briefing room.
"So, Major, you have no idea why you were taken to this prison?" Hammond asked.
"No, Sir. I don't. If Thor and Grace hadn't rescued me, I'm afraid I'd still be there. You really didn't send them after me?" Carter asked.
"We had no idea where you were. It didn't mean we were going to quit looking. SG-1 was on their way to meet with the Tok'ra, when you reappeared. We have a message out to the Asgard, and as soon as we hear from them, I'll let you know." Hammond replied.
"Sam, tell us more about this Grace. You said she spoke Ancient?" Daniel inquired.
"Fluently, Daniel." Carter started and then glanced at O'Neill as she continued. "She said her father taught it to her as a child."
O'Neill beamed. Grace, he thought, he liked that name. His daughter - Grace. Their daughter, his and Sam's, mmm….even better. He would gladly teach her Ancient; after all, he did have to learn it during those damn time loops. He wasn't the dummy everyone thought he was.
"Sam, you said she was from the future. Could she have been from an alternate reality?" Daniel asked. O'Neill's face went blank as his heart skipped a beat.
"I don't think so, Daniel." Carter replied.
"What do you mean, Major Carter?" Teal'c questioned.
"I can't explain it. I just get the feeling she's from our future." She explained. Jack started beaming again.
"Very well, maybe the Asgard can shed some light on this situation. I've already had the coordinates to that world, locked out of the dialing computer. Colonel, you've been quiet, do you have anything to add?" Hammond asked catching Jack off guard.
"Uhm…no, Sir. I'm just glad Major Carter is home safely. Oh, we might want to send a message to the Tok'ra, letting Jacob know she's safe. We didn't stick around there, after we found her. Sir." Jack responded.
"I've already done that Colonel. If there's nothing else, you're all dismissed." Hammond said. He hadn't missed the glow on O'Neill's face, or the looks between O'Neill and Carter. There was something they weren't saying, he was sure of it. But he had his ways of finding out, he had a call out to Jacob.
---------------
Later that evening O'Neill walked into Carter's lab.
"Whatcha doing?" Jack asked picking up one of her doohickeys then starting to play with it.
"I'm trying to get my lab in order. So much work has piled up since I've been gone. I think I'm going to be here all night." Sam replied taking the delicate instrument away from him.
"No, you're not! You've been locked up in a prison for three long weeks. You're not staying here tonight, and that's an order. In fact, I think you should do something fun tonight." Jack stated smiling.
"Fun tonight, Sir?" Sam said looking almost like she had been banned from the SGC, forever.
"Fun, Carter. How about having dinner at my place?" Jack grinned at her. "After all, I do have to start teaching you Ancient, don't I? I think it could be used with strategic importance in the field."
Sam laughed at him. His grin and mischievous eyes were so much like Grace's had been; she accepted his offer for dinner.
-----------------
Jack and Sam sat in his living room, finishing off the pizza, as Jack opened another beer.
"So Sir, you were going to teach me Ancient." Sam said with suspicion.
"Aaahh yes, Ancient 101." Jack started but Sam interrupted him.
"Where exactly did you learn Ancient, Sir?"
"Time loops, Carter. I had to do something to get us out of them, or I'd gone nuts."
"I thought it was mostly Teal'c who helped Daniel with the translation."
"No, that's just what Daniel thinks. During the last time loop, I had already filled in most of the black boards, when Daniel arrived in his lab. Teal'c just happened to be writing out the last bit." Sam smiled at him.
"And you've never told him?"
"Why should I?" He shrugged and smiled back at her.
"So how much do you remember?" She asked.
"Most of it, plus what I've picked up since."
"What you've picked up since? What do you mean Colonel?" Sam questioned him. He had been hiding something.
"Oh, I can walk up and read most of what's on the rocks, Daniel finds." He said innocently.
"Artifacts, Sir."
"Yeah, whatever." Jack grinned at her.
"Why haven't you ever told him?" Sam demanded.
"Why should I? He's got his job, and I've got mine. Besides he's never asked." Jack grinned mischievously at her. "And you won't tell him about our little lessons, will you, Carter?"
"No, Sir. Not unless, he asks me. But I do have a question for you."
"Sure, Carter, what is it?" Jack said finishing off his beer.
"How many times did you kiss me in the time loops?"
Jack smiled at her, and replied in Ancient. They continued talking late into the night, with Jack interspersing Ancient.
Their after work sessions continued for many months privately at Jack's house. Daniel didn't find out, they both could speak Ancient, until after Grace was born. Jack and Sam had been married two years when Grace, their first child, was born.
~fin~
Story Notes: Episode Related: Grace, The Fifth Race, Window of Opportunity, Prisoners, Homecoming
Warnings: Minor Jack language
Feedback welcome, wanted, please!!
Author's Notes Written for Anneka, my friend and beta. Thanks to Kat for all her help. For R.A. who MADE me write the epilogue sigh :) Dedicated to M, you will live in my heart forever, my love
Warnings: Minor Jack language
Feedback welcome, wanted, please!!
Author's Notes Written for Anneka, my friend and beta. Thanks to Kat for all her help. For R.A. who MADE me write the epilogue sigh :) Dedicated to M, you will live in my heart forever, my love
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 ]