"So....," Lara smiled up at him.
"So," Jack repeated.
She traced patterns on his naked chest, drawing her fingers through the hair.
"Was there someone?" she asked,
"Someone what?"
"Back home, I mean."
Jack shook his head. No one. Not Sam......For some reason he still couldn't get her face out of his mind. He'd mourned for a hundred days and yet....
"Who was she?" Lara pressed.
"A very special woman, but......we couldn't be together. It was against regulations."
"Your laws?"
"Yes."
Closing his eyes, he could see Sam.....in her lab., busting a gut trying to get him back. He wondered how long she had kept trying. Was she still working on the problem? After three months....he doubted it. Even Sam would have given up....right? A small smile drifted across his face as he thought of her. His major.
"You must have loved her very much," Lara observed.
"It doesn't matter now," he said.
He tightened his arms about her, holding onto the world that was now his reality.
*************
They walked back towards the Stargate. SG1 together again. Jack kept looking back...as if he regretted his decision to leave. Sam, as always, walked beside him. When she passed out, it was into his arms she fell.
"Sam?"
He cradled her body close to his chest.
"What's wrong with her?" he demanded.
"At a guess," Daniel commented, "Exhaustion."
Jack obviously didn't understand. He was holding the unconscious woman, but he had no idea as to why she was in this condition.
"We need to get her back to base," he decided and hefted her into his arms.
She wasn't heavy, he realised. In fact, now that he held her close, he realised that she had lost weight. She felt very insubstantial in his arms. He wondered why she had chosen to go on a diet. In his eyes, Sam had always looked great.
There was little time for welcome home. Jack carried Sam straight to the infirmary.
"What happened?" Janet snapped.
"Don't know. She just kinda collapsed on me."
"I'm not surprised."
"Why?"
"You really don't know, do you?"
Jack couldn't answer the doctor's question. After all he had been away for three months. How was he supposed to know? Was she sick? If so, she shouldn't have been allowed through the Stargate. He bent over her, brushing the blonde hair from her forehead. Now that he looked at her closely, she didn't look all that well. Her features were drawn and there were dark circles beneath her eyes. He was certain that she hadn't looked like that before.
"She looks tired," he commented.
"Exhausted, is more like it," Janet replied.
Daniel had used the same words. What had Sam been doing?
"What's she been doing?" he asked.
"Trying to bring you home."
He found himself backing away from the doctor. Home now seemed to be an alien concept. For the last three months his home had been with Lara.
"She's hardly eaten or slept...I don't think she's left the base at all. She's been reinventing the laws of physics building that particle beam."
"For me?"
"The Tollan could have sent a ship, but as far as Sam was concerned that would have taken too long."
"I don't understand."
"Colonel O'Neill, haven't you ever considered the fact that Sam may be in love with you?"
"Me....why?"
Janet just shrugged.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"She more or less admitted it to me while you were gone."
"Sam?"
"Yes.....now get out of here, Colonel. I'll look after her."
"Yeah."
"And welcome back."
"Yeah."
The End.
Story Notes: ruth@snowqueen.demon.co.uk
ARCHIVE: Not unless I come up with a sequel.
SPOILERS: 100 Days!!
NOTES: OK This is going to be slightly naff....but It's all I could come up with tonight.
ARCHIVE: Not unless I come up with a sequel.
SPOILERS: 100 Days!!
NOTES: OK This is going to be slightly naff....but It's all I could come up with tonight.
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 ]