"Are you sure that you can't fix this thing?" O'Neill asked for the tenth time that day. For the first few times, Sam had thought it was funny in the adorable way that he enjoyed annoying people, or had some level of faith in her that exceeded everyone else's and assumed that she would at some point create a solution. Unfortunately, this time, there was not going to be any magic solution.
"I'm pretty sure, sir."
"Pretty sure, so there is a possibility?"
"No. Colonel, I have explained this." Granted, she could now see the problem with not having any back up or spare parts for the reactor's buffer and wished that there was some other system they could hack apart just to fix the buffer. "For the tenth time, we are stuck here, there is no way of fixing the buffer."
"Keeping count, Carter?" His eyes were narrowed at her and she was glad that they were alone in a sub-section of the engine room. Due to the noise level of the engines, they were also in a sound-proof section. O'Neill had worn down her final nerve and Sam was on the verge of ignoring their chain of command.
"Yes, Colonel, I am. Seeing as it's the only thing I can do other than sit here and twiddle my thumbs."
"Twiddle away."
Something inside of her snapped. "Bite me." If she were asked then if she saw the infuriating man in front of her as Jack or Colonel O'Neill, Sam would not have an answer.
"You'll get bored of that quicker than twiddling your thumbs. And I might have to bite back." There was an amusement on his face and it confused Sam.
"Colonel, are you okay?" Her frustration was lost as she had to question why he was allowing her insubordination. General Hammond was still trying to use various different reasons as justification to allow Sam and O'Neill both on a mission of SG-1. The reason for their both being on-board the Prometheus was because of Sam's skills and the fact that she had helped build the ship. Not that any of her knowledge or expertise could help with their current problem.
"I don't know, are you?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. You're the one who has no problem with your second being as insubordinate as I just was."
"I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt."
"For what?" Some of the anger and frustration dissipated from her tone, replaced with a quieter, innocent look in her eyes.
"None of this is your fault, you know that, right?" She ignored him, knowing that whilst it may not be her fault, she was still incapable of solving the problems and getting them home. Normally, that kind of thing was like her middle name. "Carter?" he almost yelled.
"What?" she demanded in response. Her usual response would have been to answer 'yes, sir', but she was not in the mood today.
"Snap out of it."
"That an order?" Why was he not bringing her up on her comments? All that his calmness did was infuriate her more.
"No, I'm trying to be your friend right now." She bit her tongue, holding back the immediate comment that she wanted to make. Ever since their Christmas trip to Mark's, and their kiss, things had been a little strained between them at home although nothing at work had suffered. It was nothing like other tensions they had had since moving in together. This time it was simply an uncomfortable quiet that fell over a room whenever they were alone in it, with an immediate jumping apart if they found themselves standing too close or accidentally touching. In the few weeks since their awkward vacation, many cups of coffee had been spilt in the kitchen. The comment she wanted to make, in her awful mood, was highly inappropriate to say to her commanding officer and was connected to their Christmas kiss. "Before you say something that gets you into an awful lot of trouble, which is normally not a problem for you."
Instantly, Sam felt awful and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Colonel. I feel so helpless. It's normally me that saves the day, that can fix anything, even alien tech. I built the god-damn buffer, but I can't fix it."
"We'll find a way out of this, we always do."
"This isn't that simple, sir, and you know that. And it doesn't change the fact that I'm helpless here."
"You're keeping me sane, aren't you?"
"Only because with me losing it, you can't, too." They both smiled and Sam had to admit to herself that she was starting to feel better, despite the grey looming clouds.
"I have no defence if I lose it. You do." She looked at him curiously, questioning what her defence was. "If you lose it, it's because you blame yourself. If I lose it, it's because I want to get home to my kid and people question my ability to command, to lead off-world missions. Although considering my normal irreverence and blatant disregard for superiors… "
"I have that reason, too." Sam had been pushing thoughts of her daughter to the back of her mind, hoping to ignore the screaming protests that yelled out how it was all her fault. She could not fix the buffer. Sam could not fix the ship to return home. She was never going to see her daughter again. It was part of why she was so frustrated and angry, willing to take it out completely on O'Neill, but she was trying desperately to focus solely on her own inadequacies and not the repercussions.
"But you're not letting it show."
"No, I'm berating myself and hoping for a miracle."
"Guys, I might have an idea!" Daniel yelled as he burst into the room. Sam and O'Neill looked at each other before turning to their enthusiastic team-mate.
"Spit it out," O'Neill ordered.
"There's a planet nearby, who's co-ordinates are on the cartouche. We've tried to make contact before, but with no luck. They should have a Stargate."
"What are you waiting for, Danny?" As Daniel turned, Sam and O'Neill moved to follow him, O'Neill leaning towards Sam and saying, "Told you something would happen."
She hoped he was right. Sam did not like feeling helpless.
SG – SG – SG
Sitting back comfortably, Jack sighed in contentment as he waited for The Simpsons to start. He had been home for two days, resting alongside Sam and enjoying being home with their daughter again. There was no denying the fact that he had been worried about their predicament, being stranded in deep space with no way of fixing the buffer problem. Despite his attempts to reassure Sam during the mission, he too had felt helpless during the mission, which was made especially worse as he could not sit back and wait for Sam to come up with one of her miracle solutions. Glancing up as he heard Sam enter the room, she threw him a packet of chips and he grinned in response. Whenever something went wrong and a mission meant either of them spent longer than planned away from home, the few days of recuperation was always filled with junk food and not doing anything of great importance. Jack loved the fact that Sam indulged him on those days, joining in with his slobbery.
"Simpsons?" she asked, indicating with a wave of her arm for him to move his feet.
"About to start," he replied, raising his feet into the air and then settling them back down onto her lap when she had sat down. She looked at him, as if to ask what he thought he was doing. Shrugging, Jack turned back to the television as he responded, "I got old knees." Sometimes his excuse held no weight with her and Sam would push them off of her regardless. This was one of the other times when she either had no energy to fight or she believed him.
For the next twenty minutes, both of them sat near silence, watching the little yellow family play out their lives on the screen, with only the occasional chuckle from Jack or groan from Sam. No matter how she tried to accept his love of the Simpsons, she still did not love it quite as Jack did. Ever since Christmas and their kiss, which Jack was still putting down to their joint inebriation, there had been an increased level of un-comfortableness between them. Everything at work was fine, but whenever they were alone, one of them would try and race from the room without making it look too obvious. That was until their recent mission on the Prometheus. Since then, on their two days sitting around at home, their existing level of comfort had returned. It did sometimes confuse him, but Jack was not about to let it change or try to think about it too much. He loved moments like the ones he was in.
As the episode ended, Jack opened his mouth to speak, but the house phone's shrill ring interrupted him as Sam reached for it. "Speaking," she said and sat up straighter. Immediately, Jack moved his feet off of her and sat up straighter, too. "Okay." It sounded bad. "Yes, I will. Thank you, Daniel." Putting the phone down, Sam turned to Jack and if he had not recognised her tone, the look in her eyes clearly said that not all was okay.
"What's happened?"
"Daniel said that a short while ago, someone turned up at work." Even though Sasha was away for the weekend and Daniella was fast asleep in her bedroom, Sam still needed to speak in code away from the base. "There's been an accident."
"Who is it? Pearce?" It was the only team he knew to be off world.
Shaking her head, Sam finally met his eyes. "It's Laira and your son."
Author's Notes: On its maiden voyage, the Prometheus' engines fail and this time Major Carter cannot save the day.
End Notes: Jack's comment about Sam getting herself into trouble was referring to how, it's okay for her to speak out against him in that moment, but not any of the other military or colonel of the ship. It may not be normal for Sam to speak as she did, but not only was she at risk of not seeing her daughter again, but also at the fact that there is no way for her to solve the problem. Next up is the return of Laira. Again!
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 ]