This had been a bad idea.
He had known, deep down, that he shouldn't take the risk to be alone with her, he had known he'd do something stupid. And he had.
He understood why Carter could feel the need to clear up things, she must be confused as hell, but he also knew that her normal self hadn't wanted to clear things up when they'd had the chance. And that had hurt. It had hurt a hell of a lot.
And now, what would she think of him? After all, she didn't know how important their work at the SGC was and how the war with the Goaulds was so much more…urgent than…this. He took a long sip of his beer and put it back down on his thigh.
The sound of a car stopping in his driveway and footsteps coming his way drove him away from his bitter thoughts. He didn't need to look to know it was Daniel.
"Hey," he said as he dropped himself on a chair beside Jack's. It was a nice evening and Jack had thought he'd spend it brooding, sitting on his patio. Just him and a couple of beers. But of course Daniel had to choose that moment to make an apparition.
"Hey." He finally replied before taking another sip. He didn't need to offer one to Daniel so he just waited.
"Sam told me you had to leave earlier." Jack was well aware of Daniel's attempt at making him talk, but he really didn't feel like it. In fact, he felt he'd done way too much of that for one day. "What did you have to do?" Daniel went on when he realized Jack wouldn't take him up on his invitation to talk.
Jack turned and looked at Daniel for the first time. "I don't see how that concerns you in any way." He replied flatly, hoping it would make Daniel go away. But he didn't move an inch.
"She seemed pretty upset…" He went on, ignoring Jack's last comment. "Of course she told me she was fine, but I know her better than that. *We* know her better than that."
"I guess." What was his point? Daniel gave a frustrated sigh and leaned his elbows on his thighs.
"Did you tell her about the Stargate?"
Jack threw him his best 'don't take me for an idiot' look but Daniel didn't budge, so he said, "Of course not! I have my orders. I follow them." He shrugged. "Most of the time anyway."
"Don't you think it's time we tell her? I mean clearly she's smart enough to understand. Just because she doesn't remember it doesn't mean that she's not the same person as before."
"I'm not the one to decide Daniel."
"No, I know that. And I'm not asking you to disobey your orders, I guess I'm just asking you to consider Sam."
That caught Jack's attention. "What do you mean?"
"I think you know what I mean. If you don't, you'll figure it out soon enough." He replied cryptically as he stood and started walking back to where he came from.
"What the hell are you saying Daniel?" Jack called after him. The archeologist stopped and turned around but didn't say anything. He shook his head and left.
He just left.
*****
The next morning, Jack was back at work and happy to finally have something to do. Anything to make him stop wallowing about Carter and wishing things weren't so complicated. So for once, believe it or not, he was happy to have a ton of paperwork on his desk. It would be boring but at least he'd be thinking about…something else. Anything else.
As he dropped some additional files and folders on top of the pile already covering his desk, the sound of his office phone startled him. "O'Neill." He answered flatly. "Yeah, I'll be right there." With a sigh he hung up and walked out of his office. Apparently General Hammond wanted to see him about something, and Jack had a bad feeling about this. He really was hoping the General didn't want to know anything about Carter's "condition" because he really didn't feel like talking about her right now.
He shouldn't have been the one to tell her about the regs, Jack thought angrily as he walked. He was way too close personally to the subject to be objective about it, and he knew he'd hurt her. Guilt once again clasped his stomach, and he swallowed with difficulty. But then he shook his head. No, he wouldn't spend the day feeling guilty, he'd done that long enough the night before, today was the time to think about something else, to clear his head.
"Come in." The strong voice of the General replied to his sharp knock. Jack went in and stood. He really wasn't in a good mood and he didn't want to beat around he bush. The General didn't either, apparently. "Colonel, since SG-1 is on leave until we have more conclusive results about Major Carter's condition," what the hell did that mean, Jack wondered, but let the General talk. "SG-13 needs your help. They've run into some trouble on P5J 6V7 and both Colonel Lodge and Lieutenant Williams were trapped. They still are." He finished with a sigh.
"What kind of trouble are we talking about sir?" Jack asked, happy to get some action. It was just what he needed and it was way more fun than paperwork.
"The rest of the team claimed that they were attacked by creatures that could be described as werewolves."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Werewolves?" Whoa! This was a little more challenging than the usual couple of Jaffas! And a hell of a lot more dangerous.
"I won't lie to you Colonel, this won't be a walk on the beach. If you'd rather stay here and do something else I can send SG-3." The General's face was flat but Jack understood: if you'd rather stay here and spend some time with Carter…
"No sir I don't." Jack replied sharply, and the General nodded.
"Good." He said, as if the cause was solved. "Get SG-13 ready to leave in one hour."
"Yes sir. And I'd like permission to include Teal'c on the mission sir. He could be a good asset to this mission."
"Granted. I have great confidence in your expertise Colonel. Bring them home."
"Yes sir."
*****
Sam was feeling better than she had in days. Her memory notebook was filling up with quotes and events and descriptions of faces and it gave her hope. If her memory was coming back, then she could get back to work and do something. She was bored as hell and just plain tired to just wander around and not do anything, and she couldn't wait to go back to…whatever was her work.
That part hadn't come back to her yet, but something was weird. She remembered some things, but they were things she could only have seen on a sci-fi movie with good special effects; space ships, alien-looking guns and alien-looking people, ancient civilizations and half buried cities. Was she a trekie? Was it possible that she traveled a lot? Was she helping Daniel in his digs? But what the hell would an astrophysicist do on an archeological survey? It didn't make any sense. And it didn't make sense either that Jack would participate to that. She had the feeling he wasn't really big on those kinds of things.
When Daniel had come to see her the day before, Sam had subtlety asked him about Jack, after all she hadn't heard of him since the time he'd come to her house, two days ago. Daniel had told her that he was on a rescue mission with Teal'c and another team, but that he should be back in a couple of days. Sam had shrugged at the time, but deep down she couldn't wait to see him again and apologize for her accusatory behavior. She was now convinced that he had his reasons not to let himself get involved with her, and she also understood that her "true self" probably shared his reasons. Because with feelings as strong as those she felt for him, she knew they had to do something really important to keep her from acting on them.
But what could it be?
The Stargate.
She sharply stood from her chair on the veranda and just waited there, her breaths coming shallower. Her mind was reeling with flashes of things she didn't recognize. The Stargate… It had such a familiar ring to the word that her legs finally decided to take her inside the house and she threw herself at her notebook, scanning the pages for some reference that would trigger her memory. Her eyes fell on a bribe of conversation she had remembered with Jack. The memory was vague, but…could it be true?
"But these wormholes we go through, they're not always there, right?"
"No, they can only form between two open gates."
"What's with the worm part? The worm thing, I don't get that."
"That's a metaphor… We bury our way through the apple like a worm, crossing from one side to the other instead of going around the outside."
Sam looked up from the book, and bit her lips, her mind reeling. She had talked about gates, could it be the Stargate? She knew what a wormhole was, but wasn't it only theoretical? Apparently not… She got back to the book and looked for other entries that could seem significant. Unfortunately there weren't any that she could relate to the word stargate.
She absentmindedly walked to the kitchen and bit into an apple. Maybe if she called Daniel he could tell her more? Deciding it was a good idea, she picked up the receiver and dialed the phone. It was only when she brought it to her ear that she realized she had remembered Daniel's number. With an anxious smile, she waited for him to pick up.
However after seven times, she gave up and hung up, wondering what she could do, or whom she could call. She knew Janet was at work, and she really didn't think she had other important frie…
The sharp knock on the door startled her out of her contemplations, and it took her a moment to realize the person was still knocking. Sharply and urgently. What the hell was going on?
She half walked half ran to the door and opened it, torn between curiosity and dread. It was Daniel, and he looked as if he'd just run six miles.
"Daniel! What's going on?" She asked, an uneasy feeling clenching her gut. Something was wrong, she could feel it. And she could see it on Daniel's face too, he was tensed, his eyes were wide and his face was pale.
"Sam we really need your help." Was all he said, and she decided not to ask any questions right now, so she picked up her keys and followed Daniel to his car, throwing her half-eaten apple on her yard. Once they were in, Sam couldn't help herself anymore so she asked the question again.
"What's going on Daniel?"
He took in a deep breath and, never leaving the road from his sight, he replied. "Teal'c just came back from P5…" He frowned. "From the mission with the rest of the team. They've succeeded in saving Colonel Lodge and Lieutenant Williams but…" He said and he didn't make Sam feel any better. Far from that.
"Colonel O'Neill?" She asked, dreading the answer.
"He's alive, fortunately, but not feeling so good. He's more often unconscious than conscious. That's what we need your help for."
"My help? What the hell can I do? I don't remember being that kind of doctor!" Sam was panicking. She was an astrophysicist! She didn't know how to cure someone gravely hurt! Daniel shook his head and, unconsciously, probably, accelerated.
"You're not," he replied, "but you…have a certain ability." Ability? What the hell was he talking about? Sam was about to ask him just that when he went on hurriedly. "I guess you haven't recalled that part now, but you will. You have to. It'll probably come back when General Hammond tells you everything."
Sam kept silent for a moment, taking this in. She was going to see Jack lying injured and unconscious, and Daniel was telling her she had the ability to help him? Janet was the doctor, not her, how could she help him?
"Does it have anything to do with the Stargate?" She asked abruptly, surprising even herself with the sudden outburst. Daniel looked at her surprisingly, his eyes wide and his eyebrows raised.
"You know about that?" He asked after a while of just gawking at her.
"Not really. I just think I have all the pieces and all I need to do is put them all together." Daniel nodded and concentrated on the road again.
"Well I think the puzzle will be complete way sooner than you may think." He said, and Sam frowned.
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 ]