"Stranded" by Karen

Title: Stranded

Author: Karen

Rating: NC-17 (language and sexual situations)

Spoilers: all seasons

Summary: Sam and Jack are stranded on a planet with no DHD

Archive: Sam and Jack, yes; Heliopolis, yes; anyone else, please ask.

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 is owned by Showtime Networks, MGM/UA, Double Secret, Gekko, et.al.

******************************************************************

Daniel Jackson

"Chevron 7 encoded . . .chevron 7 locked."

I adjusted my pack slightly on my back. Another mission, another unexplored planet. Another chance to discover some lost civilization.

"Wormhole established."

"Open the iris," General Hammond ordered. "SG-1, you have a go."

Jack turned and saluted the General, then he stepped through the event horizon, Sam two steps behind him. Suddenly, the mountain began to shake. Then the wormhole disengaged. Teal'c and I were thrown down at the base of the ramp.

"Oh, my God," I shouted. "Did they make it?"

"Redial the planet," the General ordered the lieutenant who had already started doing so before the General gave his order.

Teal'c and I stepped through the Stargate on P4T347. There was the MALP. But there was no Jack or Sam.

********

Jack O'Neill

I was thrown through the gate. About 5 seconds later Carter was thrown through the gate and landed on top of me.

She lay there for a minute, winded, gasping for breath, then she rolled off of me.

"Carter, you okay?" She seemed to be, but you never know.

"Yes, sir, just had the breath knocked out of me. I'll be fine. Nothing's broken." She sat there for a minute until her breathing became more normal. "Are you all right, Sir?"

I lay there for a minute, taking stock, then I sat up, too. "Yeah, Major, I seem to be. Nothing's broken as far as I can tell. Just a little skin scraped off my arm, but nothing serious." I looked around. "Well, there's trees here. Fancy that!"

Carter looked around, alarm growing on her face. "But Sir, P4T347 is a desert planet." The alarm became more pronounced. "Where's the DHD?"

Oh, boy, were we in trouble.

********

Samantha Carter

I almost laughed at the look on the Colonel's face when I told him there was no DHD. He looked like a goldfish I had when I was ten. His mouth just opened and closed. If things hadn't been so desperate, I WOULD have laughed. No DHD.

"For crying out loud, there's got to be one around here someplace, Major. There has to be." He looked around anxiously. The area in front of the Stargate, where the DHD usually was, was empty. "Maybe it's further on into the woods."

"We'll look, Sir," I said calmly, even though I felt like crying. We just couldn't be marooned here. We just couldn't. This was not part of the plan I had for my life. Stranded on a planet halfway across the galaxy from my home. No way!

"All right, Carter. Though we could cover more ground separately, since there are only two of us we're gonna have to stick together." He shifted into command mode, which was probably for the best. He coped best that way.

"Yes, Sir," I said and we set out to comb the forest for the missing DHD.

*********

Teal'c

We returned from the planet after a fruitless search for Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. Obviously, when the ground shifted, the wormhole was redirected to another planet, one whose coordinates we did not know.

Daniel Jackson was taking this badly. He had great regard and affection for O'Neill and Major Carter, as did I. General Hammond had contacted the President and was now waiting for his answer regarding a search for Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter.

I was afraid that he would not allow us to search for them. It would be, as the Tau'ri are fond of saying, "like looking for a needle in a haystack." There were too many planets to search. It could take a lifetime, and still they might never be found. I feared that we had seen them for the last time. I hoped they were on a world that was free from the Goa'uld and hospitable for their kind. They would most likely be there for a long time to come.

********

Jack O'Neill

There was no DHD on this fucking planet. We searched a five square mile area over a three day period, and never found one. There did appear to be plenty of edible vegetation. Carter said that some of them appeared to be earth species that had mutated over time. I guess that told me that nobody'd been there for a long time. And that meant that nobody was likely to show up either.

We'd rigged up a shelter of sorts with branches from the trees. I wished we at least had the tent. Danny was carrying that. Damn, why did this always happen to me? At least I wasn't alone.

Carter had been really chipper about the whole situation. At least on the surface that is. She's a good soldier, one of the best officers I've ever served with. I wondered if I'd ever told her that? Probably not. She'd been carrying on, testing samples of vegetation, figuring out what's edible and what's not, testing the water, all in all trying to figure out what we could use to survive there. Because we would survive. We had to.

"Carter," I called.

"Yes, Sir," she answered. She'd been looking at a plant she said resembled flax. She thought she might be able to spin the flax into yarn and set up a loom. When I asked her why, she said that our clothes wouldn't last forever. Just like a woman to think about something like that.

"It's getting dark, time to call it a night." I had tried my hand at fishing in the stream nearby in hopes that I might catch something that would be edible. Lo and behold, there were actual fish like those on earth in the stream. Carter said they were probably brought there when the trees and the other wildlife were.

As we sat down to our dinner, I brought the subject up.

"Major, why would someone go to all the trouble to bring plants and animals to this planet only to abandon it. It doesn't make any sense."

"No, it doesn't, Sir. It's possible that the intention was that the planet would be used for a colony of some sort from earth, but something happened causing the plan to be scrubbed." She got that look she gets when she thinks real hard, kind of an earnest look. "There must have been some kind of catastrophe to cause them to abandon their plans." She looked at me seriously. "Don't you think so, Sir?"

"Uh, sure, yeah, Carter." I get this way when she asks me what I think. "Something big happened."

She nodded, just as though I had confirmed what she thought, though I had no idea in hell why someone would prepare a whole planet and abandon it. WITHOUT A DHD!

"The fish is very good, Sir." She seemed to make a point of complimenting my cooking when it was my turn to cook. She probably thought the flattery would make me want to do it more. She could think again.

"Thanks, Major." I gestured. "Tomorrow it's your turn."

She grimaced. She hated to cook. Well, it wasn't exactly my fave thing either, but it had to be done. We had to eat. At least we were taking turns. I could have been an asshole and ordered her to do all the cooking.

"Yes, sir." She finished her meal and stood up. "I'll clean up, sir." She gathered up the mess gear and walked to the stream to rinse everything out. Then she washed it, scrubbing it good with sand to remove food particles, and rinsing it in boiled water. There was no point in taking any chances that we'd get infected by some alien bacteria and die. I wasn't ready to die yet, and she wasn't either.

*******

Samantha Carter

Colonel O'Neill was a much better cook than I was. I hate to cook. So did he, I think. At least he wasn't an asshole, ordering me to do all the cooking. So I guess taking turns wasn't too bad a deal. So, when he cooked I cleaned up, and when I cooked, he cleaned up. It was equitable.

I thought I was going to be able to spin the flax into thread and construct a hand loom. We didn't have a lot of tools, mainly the ones that I was going to use to take rock samples, but we could make do. It was all I could do not to laugh when Colonel O'Neill asked me why we needed to be able to make cloth. When I told him our clothes wouldn't last forever, the look on his face was priceless.

I hated to think that we probably would never go home again. And yet, how could we? There was no DHD, and I was pretty sure that no one on earth knew where we were, or if we were even alive. If by some miracle, they did find us, we could conceivably dial out manually as long as we had a power source, like a naquadah reactor. The odds were astronomical that we'd ever be found. By anyone.

At least I wasn't alone. I had my Colonel with me. But he didn't know how I felt about him. I hoped I could hide it. It was getting harder and harder. But I had to do it. He didn't feel the same about me, and he probably never would. He only saw me as "Major Carter", United States Air Force officer and scientist. Sometimes I thought he forgot I was female. It was going to be hell, but I would survive. I survived when he was stranded on Edora, and when he was found and reluctantly returned home. I was strong. I just loved him too much.

I looked at him sitting over by the fire. I wondered what he was thinking about. He'd never tell me, and I'd never ask. Never.

After I finished cleaning the dishes and put them away, I returned to the fireside.

"Sir, I'm going over to the pool and take a bath."

"Okay, Carter, just be careful," he cautioned.

"I will, sir." I grabbed my overnight kit which I always brought on missions (you never know what's going to happen) and headed on over to the pool. A refreshing bath was just what I needed.

*******

Jack O'Neill

Carter found a little shallow pool that was fed by the stream. The water was continuously recirculated by the current, making it perfect for bathing. She'd been taking a bath in it every night. When she finished and went to bed, I took my turn. I thought about her sometimes. There was a time when I thought that someday we might get together, after all the alternate universe stuff, but then I was stranded on another planet for three months, met another woman, etc. Although, I'd probably never see her again. I was stranded here with my Major. Well, not my Major, THE Major. Let's get that straight, not mine. Period. Subject closed. End of discussion.

All in all, it could have been worse. The climate seemed to be pretty good. Carter said we'd just have to wait and see how the winters were. Winter. How were we gonna survive that? If the winters were severe, we were gonna have to stock up on food. Geez, there I was, sitting there worrying about how we were gonna survive a winter on some deserted planet on the edge of the galaxy. Not what I had in mind three days before when I'd stepped through the 'gate back on earth. I wondered if they'd given up on us and pronounced us MIA yet. Probably had. There was no telling how many planets there were with 'gates, and I doubted if this one was listed anywhere. We were stuck, well and truly stuck. So we'd have to make the best of it. We had to.

I rose from where I was sitting and walked over toward the pool where Carter was bathing. Not close enough to see anything, God forbid, she'd have killed me, just close enough to hear her and make sure she was all right. If anything happened to her, I don't think I could have made it there alone. Like that guy on the deserted island, Robinson Crusoe and that Friday guy, only the cannibals showed up on the island. Hopefully, no cannibals on this island. No goa'uld either. Please.

I heard a sound coming from direction of Carter's pool. A slithery sound. Oh, shit, I thought. Are there snakes here? Quietly, I moved toward the sound. The sun was starting to set now, the last rays of light beginning to die away. Carter should've almost been finished by now. If there were snakes there, I hoped none were poisonous.

I approached the clearing where the pool was located, keeping my eyes on the ground. Whatever kind of wildlife I'd heard, it must have high-tailed it out of there, because I didn't hear it again. I had turned to go when I saw her stepping out of the pool. My breath caught in my throat. My, God, she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, her blonde hair glowing in the dying rays of the sun, the light gently bathing her body. Her legs were long, her hips rounded, her waist narrow, her breasts high and firm. I groaned to myself and turned away. I shouldn't have seen her like that. It was hard enough remembering that she was my subordinate officer, that she was off limits, that even if she weren't, she'd never be interested in someone like me. And now, every time I looked at her, I'd remember seeing her like that. I took off toward camp, determined to be back before she got there.

I'd been back at the camp for about five minutes when she came back, fully dressed, her hair damp, and carrying her kit and towel.

"Took you long enough, Carter," I snapped. Inside I groaned. Geez, she hadn't done anything for me to snap at her for, but I couldn't help it.

"Sorry, sir, I'll be faster next time." She looked a little hurt. Damn, I didn't want to hurt her, but it was either snap at her or jump her bones. I picked snapping.

She went into the shelter. I grabbed up my own kit and towel and headed for the pool. Hopefully the water was cold. VERY cold.

********

Samantha Carter

I finished my bath and went back to our camp. The Colonel looked rather unhappy when I walked up.

"Took you long enough, Carter," he snapped.

"Sorry, sir, I'll be faster next time." I felt a little hurt. I hadn't done anything to be snapped at about. I went into the shelter to put away my things, and when I came out he had gone. Probably to the pool to bathe. While he was gone I fiddled around with my flax project, but it was getting too dark to see. I needed to see about doing something about making candles. It's too bad they didn't teach us candlemaking at MIT. I really could have used skills like that there. I did read a book about it once. I remembered most of the process, so I guessed that some amount of experimentation was in order.

While I was ruminating about making candles, the Colonel returned from his bath. He walked up carrying his kit, towel, and shirt. He tended to do that, go around without his shirt. He had a nice chest. Hell, his whole body was nice, at least what I'd seen of it. It was the parts that I hadn't seen that were starting to intrigue me. Shaking my head to try and dislodge some of those thoughts, I walked back toward our little fire where he had returned to his seat on a dead log.

"Sir, I've been speculating on how we can make some candles." I gave him a list of the things we needed, all the while wishing he would put his shirt back on. It really was distracting. I clenched my fists to keep myself from reaching out and touching him. We were going to be here for a long time, probably for the rest of our lives. How could we live together and not touch each other? How could either of us live without some kind of physical contact? What would this do to us? It was the answer to these questions that I feared the most.

**********

Two months later . . .

Jack O'Neill

Carter and I were going to end up killing each other. We couldn't be around each other without an argument starting. It didn't make any sense. When I was away from her, I got anxious, wanting to see her, to make sure she was okay. Then when we were together we'd start sniping at each other. It got worse everyday. When we first got stranded there, we kept a strictly professional relationship between us. Then it changed. I know when it changed for me. It was after I had seen her after her bath. That vision stayed in my head, and everytime I looked at her I remembered it. Vividly and in great detail. The only way I could keep my hands off of her was by blowing up at her, so that was what I'd do. And she reacted by blowing up right back at me. But today . . .

She walked into our camp carrying a bag of honeycomb. Wonder of wonders, she'd found bees here, and with the bees came honey, which supplemented our diet. And she used the wax from the combs to make candles.

"Carter, damn it, where the hell have you been?" For some reason just seeing her made me livid with rage. "Why the hell didn't you check in, where's your radio?"

"The battery died, so I couldn't check in," she yelled back at me. Then she burst into tears. I almost went into shock. In all the time we'd been stuck here, she'd never cried, not once. Then she turned and ran off toward the stream.

"Carter!" I called, then I took off after her. I found her a few minutes later, lying on the grass by the stream, sobbing her heart out. I had made her cry. She just couldn't take my shit anymore.

I went to her and sat down on the ground beside her. "Sam, I'm sorry." All that did was make her cry harder. I reached out and stroked her hair, leaning down over her. She turned and looked up at me, those beautiful eyes of hers drenched with tears. "Please, don't cry, Sam. I'm sorry that I hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you."

She reached up and touched the side of my face. It felt like heaven, just that simple little touch. Something inside me released. I leaned forward and lightly touched my lips to hers. It WAS heaven, and Sam was my angel. My arms went around her and pulled her close to me. Her arms went around me and she ran her hands through my hair. Ah, Sam, is this what's been wrong between us? This tension that caused us to try to hurt each other could have been resolved by us loving each other instead.

I shifted my body over hers, our kiss deepening, tongue stroking tongue. I ended the kiss, drawing back to look at her face. Her tears were gone, and she was smiling at me, a tender loving smile. I knew that I was smiling back at her. I could feel it on my face.

"I want you, Sam." It was the only thing I could say. I felt her hands slide up and down my back.

"I want you, too, Jack." She reached up and pulled my head back down toward hers, kissing me again.

Our hands were busy, removing each others' clothes, touching and stroking the parts that we uncovered. When we finally removed those last pieces, we came together with a sigh. She felt like heaven around me, wrapping me in her body, her arms and legs encircling me, her body encasing me. We strained together, our mouths ravaging the other's, our hands clutching and grasping.

"Sam, sweetheart, you feel so good."

"You - too - Jack," she gasped, raking her nails down my back, causing me to arch against her. When she came, she screamed out my name, then she wrapped her arms even tighter around me and pushed me toward my own pleasure.

We collapsed into each other's arms. I didn't want to move. Ever. I could die here in her arms and never regret it. I rolled over onto my back, carrying her with me, holding her close. Then we both drifted off to sleep.

*******

Samantha Carter

Little did I know that my bursting into tears when he yelled at me would lead to the most wonderful time of my life. I had more or less resigned myself to a life that didn't include touching or intimacy. The tension between us just kept building, reaching a point where we couldn't be near each other with biting each other's head off. When he yelled at me about something that I had no control over, I snapped. I just burst into tears. I was embarrassed by the display of weakness, and I ran off.

He followed me. He told me he was sorry, and he kissed me. We made love, and it was the most wonderful, satisfying experience I'd ever had. His touch and the feeling of him inside me was better than I had ever imagined it could be. Afterward, he cuddled me in his arms and I fell asleep.

When I woke, I was lying there on the grass by the stream cuddled close to the man I loved. He had his arms around me, holding me closely. I sneaked a look at his face. He looked so peaceful, the tension and worry of the last two months gone. Mine probably looked much the same. I snuggled closer to him and he opened his eyes.

"Are you cold?" he asked, stroking the hair from my forehead.

"Maybe, a little," I admitted. I hated to move, though. It felt heavenly to be held so close to him.

He sat up and pulled me with him. He picked up my tee shirt and put it over my head, indicating that I should put my arms through. Then he picked up my panties and helped me get them on, and then my fatigues. He was so tender with me, I almost cried again. After he had dressed me, he dressed himself. Then he put his arm around me and we went back to our shelter. Once there, he proceeded to remove the clothes that he'd just help me back into, then he made me get into my makeshift bed. He removed his own clothes and joined me. We stayed there for the rest of that day, and the next. It was the real start of our life here on our Eden.

**********

Daniel Jackson

Well, at least they waited a week before declaring Jack and Sam MIA. There was to be no search. Two months later, I had to make a decision as to whether to stay with the SGC or to move on. It was just not the same without them.

SG-1 had a new commanding officer now. It was Feretti. I'm kind of glad they chose him. He was the one guy I really thought I could work with. He was with us on the original Abydos mission, he knew Jack. But it still wasn't the same. I think even he felt strange taking Jack's place. They hadn't replaced Sam yet. I didn't think they could. She was the foremost expert on the Stargate. No one else had her knowledge.

I think telling her dad that she was lost was one of the hardest things that General Hammond had ever had to do. Jacob was so overcome that Selmac had to take over. That and the fact that she was possibly still alive was what kept him going.

I believed they were still alive, I just knew it. I vowed to never give up on them. I decided to stay with the SGC. I wanted to be here when they were found. And I knew they would be found.

Lieutenant Simmons came up with a new program to dial random combinations. It was similar to the cold address program that Sam wrote, but it dialed random addresses, checking them against the database to make sure there was no duplication. It took some persuading, but we managed to convince General Hammond to allow us to do this. We knew it might take years, but we knew that we'd find them someday.

*********

Four months later . . .

Jack O'Neill

She told me that she loved me. She told me that she'd loved me for years, almost from the beginning, even though she didn't realize it until Edora. I knew I didn't deserve her. She was too good for me. I mean, she's smart and beautiful, she could have had anyone she wanted. But she wanted me. It's still hard for me to take in. Even after all the shit I put her through, her feelings didn't change.

Sam called the planet Eden. It looked like it really was an Eden. Sam said that there was almost no tilt to the axis of the planet. No tilt means no change of seasons. It was always spring there. Well, if you have to be stranded on the other side of the galaxy, that was the perfect place for it.

Her "flax project" as she called it was starting to progress. We came up with some crude tools and used them to fashion a hand loom of sorts. Why she was worried about clothing was beyond me, it was just the two of us, and we'd gotten so that half the time we didn't even put on clothes. Why bother, when we tended to shed them every chance we could to make love. But, as Sam said, we are civilized people, and civilized people wear clothing. Well, most of the time we're civilized.

When I looked up from my contemplation of our situation, she was coming back from the pool where she'd taken her bath. I'd have liked it if we could've bathed together, but Sam, sensible Sam, said that we should keep a lookout for each other during those times. I could see her point, but one day I was determined that we would both be in that pool together.

"Hi," she said as she walked up to where I was sitting. I reached out an arm and pulled her down to where I was sitting.

"How's the weaving turning out?" I asked. She'd really been working hard on that clothing project.

She smiled. God, I loved that smile. "It's coming along better than I'd hoped, considering it's a one woman operation." I'd tried to help her, but my big clumsy hands had almost destroyed the loom. After that, I kept my hands to myself.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her close. I didn't know what I would do if she weren't with me. I was sorry that she was stranded so far away from home, but I was glad for my sake that she was there. If she hadn't stepped into the wormhole when she did, I'd have been stranded there all alone, never to see her again. And that didn't even bear thinking about.

*******

Samantha Carter

After we made love the first time, I told Jack that I loved him, that I'd loved him for long time, almost since I'd known him. He was so surprised. It was almost as if it had never occurred to him that someone could love him like that. He hadn't told me that he loved me, but I didn't expect him to. With all that had happened to him in the past, I was sure it was pretty hard for him to expose his feelings like that. And I didn't want him to profess feelings that just weren't there. I knew that he needed me and wanted me, but I didn't think he loved me. It hurt sometimes, but at least I had his undivided attention. I just wished I had his love, too.

He liked to touch me. It was strange, we went for years barely touching at all, but suddenly, anytime we were near each other, he was touching me, like he was reassuring himself that I was still there. So there we were, sitting on a dead log, arms around each other, talking about making cloth, for crying out loud.

"I'll go take a bath, while you get our dinner," he said, grinning.

"Oh, thanks," I said sarcastically. "You are a glutton for punishment."

"Oh, I don't know, your cookin's gettin' better." He kissed me on the nose, then he he let go to grab his kit and towel. "I'll be back in a few, don't go anywhere."

"Like there's anywhere to go," I shot back. Grinning back at me, he headed off toward our little pool.

I set about preparing our dinner. We had a fairly varied diet, fruit, nuts, fish. Jack had tried to use his HK to shoot birds, but they ended up riddled with bullets and totally unedible. Then he had managed to fashion a snare and we even had some pheasant and quail (which he cleaned and dressed). By the time he came back from the pool, I had a nice dinner ready.

We ate, then he cleaned up. I sat back and watched him moving around, cleaning the mess kits. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of cut off fatigues. 'He needs a haircut,' I thought idly. He managed to keep himself clean shaven, though if he'd decided to grow a beard it wouldn't have mattered. He said that beards itched. I think that it just reminded him of being in prison in Iraq.

"Do you want me to cut your hair?" I asked when he came back to sit down beside me. He ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, I guess so, it's gettin' kinda long," he answered. He ran his fingers through my own hair which had gotten rather long. "You're hair's growing, too."

I put my hand self-consciously to my head. "Yes, it is." I quipped, "Gotta see my hairdresser about an appointment." He chuckled at that. "Does it bother you?" I asked seriously.

"No, Sam," he said, stroking my hair again. "You have beautiful hair." His hand settled on my cheek. "You have beautiful everything." Then he kissed me. Oh, and could he kiss. Everytime he did, my toes curled up and my stomach felt like it did a flip. And the feel of his hands on my body was pure bliss. Rising, he pulled me up and into our shelter. We undressed quickly and he led me to our bed where we lay down. His hands and mouth were everywhere, my lips, my neck, my breasts, touching, kissing, caressing. By the time he was inside me, I was almost delirious with wanting him, and when I climaxed, I told him how much I loved him. Afterward, we lay there in each other's arms, taking comfort from the fact, that, no matter what, we had each other.

****************

Daniel Jackson

Jack and Sam had been missing for six months. Not a day went by that I didn't think about them. Teal'c and I really missed them, and I don't think we ever really gave up on them. Even Feretti, who'd been promoted to colonel and was in command of SG-1, hadn't given up hope that we'd find them.

Simmons' random dialing program had been going full steam for four months. We'd found seven planets that we didn't have in the computer, and there was the possibility of finding more. But we didn't find Sam and Jack.

Teal'c and I took turns staying in Jack's house. We cleared out Sam's apartment and put her things in Jack's garage. Some others asked why we didn't just get rid of it all, but we knew that when Sam came back, she'd be really pissed off if all her stuff was gone.

*********

Teal'c

Daniel Jackson and I were taking care of O'Neill's home. He had refused to give up hope that he and Major Carter would be found. The planets which Lieutenant Simmons' dialing program had found were valuable additions to the number we had explored, but O'Neill and Major Carter were not on any of them. Still, Daniel Jackson hoped. I felt honor bound to support him in his beliefs, even though I was afraid that they would never be found.

Dr. Frasier was very worried about Daniel Jackson. She believed he had become obsessed with finding them. I tended to agree with her, but they did need an advocate in order to keep the search alive. And that advocate was Daniel Jackson.

*******************

Three months later . . .

Jack O'Neill

I'd been worried about Sam. She hadn't been acting like herself for a while. I think that for a long time she sorta hoped that we'd be found. It was starting to sink in that that wasn't going to happen. I wished it would, for her sake. As for me, I was pretty happy there. It'd been difficult, sure, but I had worrying about our survival to keep me busy, and I had the woman I loved with me. The nine months we'd been there taught me that I shouldn't take anything for granted, not food, or survival, or love. I wanted to tell her how I felt, but something was still holding me back. Maybe it was the fear of being hurt, I didn't know.

I'd decided that it might be a good idea if we explored more of the planet. Sam agreed with me, and we were starting out the next morning. We both felt pretty sure that we were alone on this planet, but we were taking our weapons along just in case.

I hoped that Sam would snap out of this depression she was in. It killed me to see her like that, knowing there was nothing I could do to help her.

"Sam," I said, "I'll make dinner tonight. You just relax."

"No," she said. "I don't mind doing dinner tonight. It's our last night here for a while."

"Then, why don't we both do it," I offered, and we worked together to finish it and eat, both of us cleaning up afterward.

"Why don't you go get a bath, it'll be the last one for a while," I suggested.

She smiled. "Why don't you come with me?" She wrapped her arms around me. "Like you said, it'll be a while before we're back here."

"That sounds like a winning plan to me." And hand in hand we headed for our own little private pool party.

********************

Samantha Carter

When Jack suggested we go exploring the planet, I readily agreed. I think I just needed a change of scene. I knew he'd been very worried about me. He didn't know what was wrong, and I honestly couldn't begin to tell him what was bothering me. How do you tell the man you love that you want him to love you back? Sometimes I'd think he did love me, in a way, the times after we'd make love and he'd hold me so tightly, stroking my hair and kissing me. Or when I'd wake up and he would be holding me tenderly in his arms, watching me sleep. But he'd never told me, and that more than anything told me that he had doubts about his feelings about me. He's not a man who can verbalize his feelings easily.

What would happen if we were rescued? If Daniel and Teal'c came through the stargate to take us home? Would whatever feelings he had for me survive a return to the real world, our real lives?

So, we were going exploring, to see what this planet had to offer. I didn't know how long we'd be gone, and it didn't really matter, I suppose. We'd be Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter again, for a while, exploring another planet.

********************

Daniel Jackson

We found two more planets with our random address program. One of them was a moon-like world. When we first sent the MALP through, we were afraid that's where they ended up, but there was no sign of anyone having been on the planet for millennia. The second planet was a desert world, also with no signs of anyone having been there for a very long time. General Hammond had given us two more months to attempt to find them through the random address program. After that, it would be discontinued.

So, we were under the gun. We had to find them soon. We had to.

********************

Samantha Carter

We spent a month exploring the planet. All we found was more of the same, trees and wildlife, so in the end we returned to our camp. We found everything pretty much the same way we left it.

It was good to be back. It had become our home in the time that we'd been stranded here, and it would be our home for the rest of our lives, the life we would spend together.

On our trip, we'd found that we still worked well together, maybe even more so now, anticipating each other's thoughts and actions with even more synchronicity than before. I guess that was one positive aspect of being lovers.

Jack came very close to telling me that he loved me. One night, about two weeks after we had set out, we accidentally became separated while exploring a cave we'd found. By the time we'd found each other again, Jack was almost in a panic. He held me so tightly, and he told me that if he lost me he couldn't make it. I knew that if anything had happened to him I couldn't have made it.

So, now we were back, resuming our lives there in our little spot. I felt better after we had returned..

***********

Jack O'Neill

Sam was almost back to her old self again. I guess our little excursion did both of us some good. When I almost lost her in that cave, I was so frightened. The last time I felt that kind of fear was when Charlie - well, I never wanted to feel that kind of fear again.

We celebrated being back by having a special dinner and then we spent some time in our pool. The water was cool and refreshing, just what we needed after spending a month tramping about the planet. We made love, then we got out, dried each other off, and then we went back to our camp and made love again. I loved her so much.

Sometimes, I wondered what would happen to us if we did happen to be rescued, would she still feel the same. Would whatever we have survive being back in the real world? I hoped so, the feeling I had for her was so much deeper than anything else I'd ever felt before.

*********

Daniel Jackson

We were down to days now, literally. Our time limit was almost up, only ten more days left to find Sam and Jack, and bring them home, one way or another. Simmons said he thought the next address could be it. He'd said that for the last four addresses that we'd found. I hoped he was right this time.

We were running out of time.

********

Jack O'Neill

It was the sound that woke me up, that familiar sound of the stargate activating. Sam was still sleeping, something she'd been doing a lot of lately. I hated to wake her, but I had no choice.

"Sam," I called quietly, as I slipped out of the bed and pulled on my clothes. "Carter," I called a little more sharply. That woke her up. I hadn't called her Carter in almost a year.

"What, Jack?" she asked sleepily.

I threw her her clothes. "Get dressed and get your weapon, the 'gate's activating." She scrambled up and threw on her clothes, her shirt one of the new ones she'd made with the cloth she'd woven.

Grabbing up our weapons, which we always kept ready, we set out toward the stargate, stealthily finding our way there. When we arrived, we were shocked at the sight that met our eyes. It was a MALP.

**********

Teal'c

The planet that Lieutenant Simmons' program found was the last one which we would be able to explore in our search for O'Neill and Major Carter. We sent the MALP through at 0900 hours, and Daniel Jackson anxiously examined the images it sent back.

"Damn, there's no DHD," he said in frustration. "If they are on this planet, that would explain why they were unable to dial out. General Hammond, I request that SG-1 be allowed to take a naquadah reactor to the planet in order to search for Jack and Sam."

"The lack of a DHD could explain why they weren't able to return." General Hammond considered for a moment. "All right, Dr. Jackson, Colonel Feretti, I'll allow SG-1 to take a look on the planet." Just as those words emerged from his mouth, Lieutenant Simmons cried out.

"It's Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. They're there."

********

Daniel Jackson

There on the video feed were Jack and Sam walking cautiously toward the MALP, carrying their weapons. They looked so different, Sam's hair was really long, but it was them.

"Daniel, General Hammond," came Jack's voice over the speaker, "is that you?"

"Yes, Jack, it's us." The sense of relief was unbelievable. "Just hang on a little longer, we're on our way. Are you guys okay? Sam, are you all right?"

"We're fine, Daniel, fine." Her voice was a little shaky. "I can't believe it." She looked at Jack who had walked over and put his arm around her, quite protectively it seemed.

"Believe it, Sam," I said. "Go ahead and get anything you want to bring back with you, we'll be there soon to bring you back."

"Uh, Daniel, there's no DHD," Jack said.

"Yeah, Jack, we noticed that. We're bringing a naquadah reactor to power the stargate so that we can dial out manually." I know that my voice broke. "We're bringing you home."

***********

Samantha Carter

We were home. They'd found us and we were home. We brought a few things back with us, my loom, the Colonel's fishing gear. There, I called him the Colonel. After almost a year of it being Jack and Sam, literally overnight it had gone back to being Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter.

I can't believe how quickly things changed. It was almost as if our time on that planet, Eden, was a dream. His attitude had totally changed toward me. He'd gone from being the man who told me just a few days before that he couldn't live without me, to being my commanding officer, cold and formal. It was killing me, slowly and painfully, to be around him, but not with him. How did he do that, change so quickly and completely? I couldn't bear it. Especially now, with what Janet had to tell me.

When we came back, the first thing that General Hammond insisted on was that we have a complete physical. I could understand that, we'd been on an alien planet for almost a year, so there was no way of knowing what bugs we brought back with us. So, Dr. Warner examined Jack, and Janet examined me.

"Well, Sam, you're in very good health, considering all things. Your weight is a little low, as is your blood pressure, but I expect that will correct itself when you've been back awhile. The results of the last test I took should be back in a few minutes." She looked at me shrewdly. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Like what?" I asked, trying to pretend I didn't know what she was talking about.

"Like, what happened between you and Colonel O'Neill while you were gone?" Janet took my hands in hers. "Sam, you and he were marooned there for almost a year, and I know that your relationship did cross the line. How long were you there before you became intimate?"

I looked her in the eyes. She was my friend as well as my physician, and I knew anything I said would go no further. "We were there two months before anything happened."

"Well, it's longer than I would have thought, considering the attraction between the two of you," she said. "I'll be right back." She stepped out of the room for a minute. When she stepped back in, she was a little pale. "Sam, I got the results of that last test I took."

Her expression frightened me a little. "What is it Janet? What's wrong with me?" I couldn't think of anything that could cause this seriousness. I felt fine, if a little tired.

"You're pregnant, Sam," she said. "From what I can tell, about two months along. Don't tell me you didn't have any idea?"

"No," I was dumbfounded. "I had no idea at all. I thought- since the Jolinar thing- I thought I couldn't get pregnant, that my body chemistry was all screwed up."

"Well, obviously, not," Janet gently laid her hand on my shoulder. "Sam, you've got to tell him, and soon. He deserves to know."

"I know, I will, it's just-" I was at a loss for words.

"Things have changed?" She asked.

"Oh, I hope not, but-" I paused.

"But what, Sam?" She pressed me.

"He never told me in words that he loved me. He made love to me, and was so loving and attentive, that I thought-" I couldn't go on.

"You thought he had to love you, too," she finished for me.

"Yeah." I felt sick inside. "I'll tell him tonight, Janet."

But things turned out differently, and, in the end, I didn't tell him.

***********

Jack O'Neill

I had to end it with Sam, for her sake. When we were stranded, things were different, we were all we had, but now Sam had more than that. She still had a promising career in the Air Force. So, that night I told her that it was over. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life.

I went to her quarters to tell her. She was there, almost as if she were waiting for me.

"Major Carter, we need to talk." I tried to be as formal a possible.

"Yes, sir, we do."

"I think we can chalk up what happened on the planet to both of us being lonely." Yeah, right, I told myself. What about all the other times before that when I wanted you? "It was a matter of the two of us thinking we weren't going to be rescued. So now that we're back, things can go back to the way they were before."

"Is that what you think we should do, sir?" she asked, almost coldly.

"Yes, Major Carter, I do." Even if it kills me.

"Then, that's the way it will be. Goodnight, sir." She walked to the door and opened it, indicating that I should leave.

"Goodnight, Major," I said. Then I left.

If I could have rolled over and died right then, I would have.

*****************

Samantha Carter

I had never felt more alone or lonely in my entire life. I couldn't stay here, seeing him everyday, working with him, acting as if nothing had ever happened between us, especially now that I was going to have his baby. There was only one thing I could think of to do.

The next morning I went to see General Hammond.

"Well, Major Carter, it's good to have you and Colonel O'Neill back with us. The place wasn't the same without you," the general said. "We've sent a message to your father that you've been rescued, so we may have a visit from him in the near future."

"Thank you, General. I would like to see my father, but that may not be possible, at least not any time soon. Sir, I'm tendering my resignation from the SGC,and I'm requesting a transfer back to the Pentagon." I handed him the letter that I had in my hand.

"Major, please don't make a hasty decision. You know how much we value your work here at the SGC, please reconsider this." The general was surprised by my decision.

"Sir, I've thought about this. It's for the best that I leave." I was firm.

"Major, may I ask why you want to leave the SGC?"

"I'm sorry, sir, it's a personal reason. Just believe me when I say, it's for the best." Please, general, just accept my decision and let me go before I burst into tears.

"Very well, then, Major Carter, I suppose I have no choice but to accept your request." He looked down at the letter in his hands. "I'm meeting with SG-1 in thirty minutes. I'd like for you to be there."

"Sir, I'd really rather not be there-" he cut me off.

"That's an order, Major Carter," he said.

"Yes, Sir." I had no choice, I had to be there.

I was the first person in the briefing room. Daniel came in, then Colonel Feretti, Teal'c, then Colonel O'Neill. General Hammond was the last to come in.

"I've asked all of you to come in today because of the situation which we have now. Jack, Sam, I just want to say that all of us here at the SGC are glad that you are back with us, safe and sound. By Colonel Feretti's request, he is being reassigned to SG-2 as commanding officer. The current C.O. of SG-2 has asked to be transferred to Andrews, so we are going to accommodate that request. Now, that leaves the matter of SG-1 at hand. Colonel O'Neill, after you have taken a month of leave, you will be reassigned as the commanding officer of SG-1. Major Carter, who will also receive a month of leave, is also being reassigned. She has requested a transfer to the Pentagon, and after talking with her, I have agreed with her request." At General Hammond's words, the Colonel's eyes turned straight to me.

"Major Carter," he said, "this is what you want?" His eyes bored into me.

"Yes, sir, Colonel O'Neill, it is." I looked straight back at him.

His eyes wavered first. He looked away, then nodded his head. "Very well, then. General Hammond, I'm putting in a request for a replacement as soon as possible for Major Carter."

"All right, Colonel O'Neill, we'll begin looking for a replacement ASAP. Once again, I welcome both of you back. Major Carter, we are all going to miss you. You're dismissed." The general stood, and with a look from the Colonel to me, he left the room, followed by Feretti. Daniel, Teal'c, and the Colonel stayed behind.

Daniel was by my side in a flash. "Sam, you just got back. Why are you asking to be transferred?"

"Daniel, I really don't want to talk about it right now. I just want to go home." I needed to be by myself.

"Uh, Sam, that's going to be kind of hard, you see, we let your apartment go, and we took all your stuff to Jack's. It's in his garage." Daniel explained.

Oh, God, no. "That's all right, Daniel," I assured him. "I would've had to give up the apartment when I move to Washington anyway. I'll just stay here on base." Turning to the Colonel I asked, "Colonel, is it all right if I go to your house later to pick up a few of my things?"

"It's perfectly all right, Major. I'll be there by 1400." He nodded and then left the briefing room.

"Sam, I thought you and Jack-" Daniel started to say, but I cut him off.

"You thought wrong, Daniel. The Colonel and I have a purely professional relationship, nothing more."

"Okay, Sam." He backed off. "I'll see you later." Then he left. The only people in the room now were Teal'c and myself.

"Major Carter, you are sure this is what you wish to do?" he asked in his quiet, emotionless way.

"Yes, Teal'c, I'm sure." I smiled reassuringly at him, but I could see that he wasn't buying it. It didn't matter, my decision was made. "This is what I wish to do."

*********************

Jack O'Neill

She was leaving. I couldn't believe it, she requested a transfer back to the Pentagon. Why did she do that? Was it because of me, and what happened on Eden? Was she too embarrassed to face me every day after everything we said and did? Why? This could effectively put her career in a holding pattern. As long as she was a member of the SGC, and SG-1 in particular, she stood a chance of someday eventually becoming a general and possibly commanding the whole shebang. By transferring back to the Pentagon, that possibility could be a wash. I mean, that's why I ended it with her in the first place, so that her career wouldn't be hurt.

I was standing in the middle of my living room. It was 1430 and I knew that Sam would be here any minute. When she got here, I was determined to find out why she had asked for a transfer. When I saw her car drive up, I went out on the porch to wait for her. I noticed as she came up the walkway that she'd cut her hair.

"Hello, sir," she said.

"Major." I stepped back and opened the door. "Please come in."

"Thank you, sir, I'll get what I need and be out of your way in a few minutes." She stepped through the open door.

"Major Carter, why did you request a transfer to the Pentagon." There it was, cut right to the chase.

"I need a change, Colonel. That's all." She squared her shoulders. "Could you tell me where Daniel put my things?"

"They're in the garage. This way." I led her to the garage.

"Wow, they packed everything up." Looking around, she spied two suitcases and two large garment bags. "There they are." She hoisted one suitcase up, and started carrying it out. "I'll get them and be out of your way, sir."

I moved in front of her and took the suitcase from her. "I'll carry it for you. Just open the car for me."

She started to say something, a protest I'm sure. Then her mouth snapped shut and she led the way to her car. When she opened the trunk, I put the suitcase inside. Then I went back and brought the rest of her things. Once it was all loaded, she slammed the trunk closed.

"Thank you, sir. I'm leaving for Washington tomorrow, and as soon as I find an apartment, I'll have the rest of my things out of your way." She opened the driver's door and got into the car.

I grabbed the door before she could shut it. "Sam, don't leave like this, we need to talk."

"Sir, I think we've said all that needs to be said." She gripped the steering wheel tightly and stared straight ahead. "Please, let me go, sir."

Angrily I slammed the door. "Go ahead, then, Major. Good luck on your new assignment," I said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Thank you, sir," she whispered. "Goodbye." She started the car, backed out of the driveway, and left.

I went into my empty house and spent most of the next month drunk.

*****************

Samantha Carter

I found an apartment in Georgetown, and had my things shipped from Colorado. My new apartment had two bedrooms, one for me, and one which I planned to decorate as a nursery for my baby.

I settled into my new position at the Pentagon. With my experience working with the SGC, I was made head of the research and development division of the Pentagon. It was challenging work, but nothing compared to what I'd been doing with SG-1. Still, it was work and it kept me busy enough that I only thought of Jack a few hundred times a day instead of a few thousand. As the baby grew inside me and started moving around, it made me think of him even more. The nights were especially hard. Many nights I woke, thinking he was there with me, only to be disappointed to find myself alone. In the year we'd spent alone together on Eden, I'd become accustomed to him sleeping as close as possible to me, almost as if he was trying to absorb me into his body.

How could I have been so wrong about a person? I thought he loved me. I told him I loved him. I was just thankful I hadn't told him about the baby. He would have felt honor bound to stick by me. Well, I could take care of myself and my baby just fine, thank you.

Just fine.

**********************

Jack O'Neill

The big brass in Washington requested that General Hammond and his second-in-command at the SGC attend some ceremony there. So, there I was, in Washington. And she was here, too. It was strange, I wanted to see her so badly, it was almost a physical ache, but I was afraid to see her, too. I was afraid that when I saw her I'd put my arms around her and never want to let her go. I missed her so much.

Her replacement, Major Frank Bennett, was a good officer, but he was no Carter. She and I had had a connection even before we were stranded together on that planet. It was like we could read each other's minds, and anticipate each other's actions. And, she was the smartest person I'd ever met in my life. Any problem that was thrown at her, she took the bit and never let it go until she'd solved it. The look she got on her face when she came up with an idea, the smile when she was successful, God, I missed that so much.

Daniel gave me her address. She'd kept in touch with him. When I found out, I was pretty pissed off, but then I remembered how we'd parted, and I could understand why she hadn't written or called me. Still, it had been four months since she'd left the SGC and me. So, there I was, standing outside her door, ringing the bell.

She called out, "I'm coming." Then she opened the door. She stood there in the door just as beautiful as I remembered, wearing the shirt she'd made on the planet. And pregnant. At least six months. And it was mine.

******************

Samantha Carter

When the doorbell rang, I was in the nursery, putting together the baby's crib. I called out, "I'm coming." Reaching the door, I opened it.

It was Jack.

We just stood there for a minute, staring at each other. He was shocked. Well, I guess so, it had probably never occurred to him that I could possibly have gotten pregnant during one of those many times we'd made love while stranded on the planet. Especially after he'd let me know that he wanted to forget that it had ever happened.

"You're pregnant." They were the first words out of his mouth, the first words I'd had from him in four months. "You didn't tell me."

"Come in," I said, resignedly, stepping back and holding the door open. He walked into the apartment. He was wearing his dress uniform. He looked so handsome and distinguished in it. In that instant, I knew that I still loved him just as much as ever. I shut the door.

"Why didn't you tell me, Sam? You shouldn't have kept this from me." I could tell he was angry and upset.

"Jack, you let me know in no uncertain terms that things between us were over. What was I supposed to do, beg you not to dump me because I was pregnant with your baby?" I was hurting and upset, too.

"Sam, I didn't 'dump' you, as you call it. I let you go. It was for your own good, for the good of your career." He shook his head in confusion. "Why didn't you tell me? Why?"

"I was going to, but you beat me to it. You 'let me go' as you put it before I could say anything. Once you told me that it was over between us, I took you at your word. I resigned the next morning and left." There, he had it now, the whole sad story.

"Does Daniel know that you're pregnant?" He looked tortured.

"No, the only people at the SGC who know are Janet and my dad." Dad had come to Washington to see me about a month after my transfer. He'd guessed when he saw how sick with morning sickness I was. He told me that I should tell Jack, no matter what he had said about it being over between us, but I refused. "Dad may have told General Hammond."

"That's why Hammond was so insistent that I come to Washington," Jack said. "He knew."

******************

Jack O'Neill

Hammond had known that Sam was pregnant. That was why he'd been so insistent that I go to Washington with him. He knew that I'd look her up, and he knew what I'd find.

"Sam, I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted what was best for you." I'd never been good at expressing myself, and I wasn't improving any. "I wanted you to have your career. You've worked so hard for it. I knew how important it was to you. I love you, and I wanted you to be happy."

"What did you say?" she asked.

*********************

Samantha Carter

Had I heard what he'd just said? Could it have been wishful thinking on my part?

"I said that I want you to be happy," he answered.

"No, before that." I had to hear it again just to make sure.

"I said that I love you, Sam, I have for a long time." He stood there, his hands in his pockets, looking so unhappy.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" I asked.

"I thought I did," he answered.

"You never said the words, Jack."

He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "I showed you." He moved closer and put his arms around me. "Everytime I touched you or kissed you, I showed you. I thought it was enough." He held me to him, stroking my hair. "You know that I'm not good with words."

I put my arms around him. It felt so good to hold him, to be held by him. It had been so long. The baby shifted inside me, pressing against him. He slipped his hand down and held it on my belly.

"She's strong," he said. "Like her mother."

"How do you know it's a she?" I asked. I felt him smile against my hair.

"I just know." He pulled away slightly, and looked down into my face. "You can come back to Colorado if you want to, or I can re-retire and come here. Whatever you want to do is all right with me." He stroked my cheek. "I just want to be there for you."

"I'll hold you to that." I drew him close again, resting my head on his shoulder. "I love Colorado, it's a good place to raise a child."

"Yes, it is," he said.

********************

Daniel Jackson

SG-1 is back! We're all back together, anyway. Sam came back with Jack when he returned from Washington. They had gotten married before they came back. Jack insisted because he wanted his baby's parents to be married when it was born.

Sam and Jack had their baby, a little girl that they named Eden. So much for that "purely professional relationship" bull she tried to pull on me. They've had feelings for each other for a long time, being stranded together just forced it out into the open. It's too bad that they had to suffer for a while, but I think they've finally gotten themselves straightened out now.

Sam resigned from the Air Force right after Eden was born, and the SGC immediately rehired her. After all, she was the foremost authority on alien technology in the world. Jack remained as the CO of SG-1 and kept leading missions to alien planets. Life was sweet for them, and, in the end, they had what they most wanted in the world. Each other.

The End.