"Echoes" by Shane Vansen

TITLE: Echoes

AUTHOR: Shane Vansen

STATUS: Complete

CATEGORY: S&J UST, a little drama, some angst

SPOILERS: A Hundred Days and Shades of Grey, teeny tiny one for New Ground (almost not even a spoiler at all), and the "whole Jolinar/Goa'uld in the head deal", as our favourite colonel puts it.

SEASON: Third (soon after New Ground)

RATING: PG

CONTENT WARNINGS: a few swear words, (nothing you don't hear on the show), a little violence

FEEDBACK: Anything from "Hey, it didn't completely suck" onwards will leave me with a grin on my face for a week. Flames will depress me. Help save an author: send happy feedback.

SUMMARY: After being captured on an alien planet, Sam and Jack discover that they have some unusual abilities.

DISCLAIMER: I'm really tempted to write complete nonsense here, 'cuz I'm pretty sure no one reads it anyway, but just in case.... Stargate SG-1 and all related characters, names, backstories, episode ideas mentioned, etc, etc are the property of MGM, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp, to the best of my knowledge. I don't take any credit whatsoever for anything belonging to these wonderful people/corporations. I don't get any money from this. Thanks also to ONtv and WICU-12 for airing it in my area. :)

ARCHIVE: Be my guest. But could you drop me a line, so I can be proud of myself?

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, this is a first post for me. I realize that A Hundred Days and Shades of Grey have been done to death, but they just left so much to be worked out! And that's not the biggest part of the story anyway. Also, I'm Canadian, so I see it as my right to pick and choose spellings that I like best (British or American). In other words, there's a strange combination of spellings in here. Bear with me. :)

* * *

Jack O'Neill leaned against the door frame and watched the two occupants of the otherwise empty room.

"Okay, Daniel, grab me from behind," Samantha Carter instructed her partner. Daniel Jackson did as told and moved behind the blonde major, placing one arm along her collarbone and the other around her waist, trapping her left arm against her body.

"There are a few things I can do to get free. I can slam the heel of my foot into the top of yours." She stepped lightly on his foot to demonstrate her point. "If I drop my weight straight down, it makes it difficult for you to keep hold of me. My right arm is free, so I can drive it into your side or stomach, whichever I can reach. When you do that, picture moving right *through* your target, not just hitting it; you'll get more force behind you this way. Also, I can hit your nose with the back of my head. Believe me, that hurts. And if your opponent's in pain, he'll be paying a little less attention to you; that distraction might just be enough for you to get away." She moved free of his relaxed hold and turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. "Got that?"

Daniel nodded. "I think so."

"Good. Then let's switch."

Sam moved behind the anthropologist and held him in much the same manner as he'd held her, and Daniel practiced what he'd just been shown.

"Morning, kids," Jack called out when they seemed about to take a break. Sam merely glanced up, while Daniel whirled around in surprise.

"Sir," she acknowledged.

"Jack! Wow, I didn't realize it was so late. Um, Sam was just teaching me some self-defence."

Jack eyed his major for a moment before turning back to Daniel. "It's about time someone did, Danny. Should've done this years ago."

"Were you looking for us, sir?"

"We're sending the MALP through in 45 minutes. I was surprised you weren't there."

Sam glanced at her watch. "I've been here a few hours; the MALP's all ready to go. Daniel and I had some spare time, so..." she shrugged. "We're ready now, sir."

He waved his hand through the air. "There's no rush, Major. Just wondering where you were. You're usually not far from your lab when you're on base; I was curious where you were."

She quirked a half-smile in the colonel's direction, but Sam was surprised that he'd searched for them for no particular reason. He was probably bored, she surmised; their last two missions had been scientific recons, and they hadn't even been off-world in a few days.

Jack watched his major exit the room ahead of the two men. Not so long ago she would have hung back to talk with him on the way to the control room, but in the past few weeks they'd returned to the awkward formality of their first couple of missions together.

Ever since his return from Edora.

He wasn't precisely sure what had happened or why things had changed, but he knew that his deception and apparent betrayal of the SGC so soon after his return hadn't helped. He hadn't even had time to fully readjust to being back on Earth before he'd had to lie to his friends, three people who had worked non-stop for more than three months to bring him home -- particularly Sam.

By this time, he and Daniel had reached the control room, with Sam making a final check on the MALP a floor below them in the embarkation room. She was back upstairs in a few minutes, Teal'c just steps behind.

"Hey Teal'c," Daniel welcomed him as Sam smiled a hello at Graham Simmons, taking a seat at the computer to perform a quick check.

"Good morning, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c returned. "Are we not to send the probe to P7X 894 at this time?"

"As soon as General Hammond arrives; we're all a little early this morning."

Hammond himself arrived just moments later, and at his order Lieutenant Simmons began dialing the 'gate address to the newest planet slated for exploration by SG-1. He called out that chevron seven was locked, and they all watched as the center of the ring 'whooshed' out before moving back in on itself, forming the familiar water-like surface. The MALP moved up the ramp and through the Stargate, and the team turned its attention to the computer monitors before them.

The blurred image of blue and green resolved into a familiar picture of sky and trees, with one noticable difference.

"What the hell?" Jack muttered, staring at the screen.

Sam took in the information and did some quick calculations in her head. "Sir, I estimate that the platform that the Stargate is on is about two and a half to three storeys above the ground."

"Why?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, sir."

The image being sent back to them showed the Stargate to be sitting on a large platform of what appeared to be dark stone. The DHD was clearly visible, and about two meters beyond that lay a staircase leading to the ground below.

"There's no way the MALP will be able to make it down the steps, sir. If we want to investigate further, we'll have to go there."

Daniel chimed in with, "I'd really like to go, Jack. Their culture must be incredibly advanced if they built this. And I'd like to know why this particular Stargate is so high off the ground. What's so special about this place that they'd expend the time and resources to build it?"

"I have never seen such a thing myself, O'Neill. It may prove interesting."

The colonel looked to Hammond. "Sir?"

"If you feel confident that it's safe, I see no reason why not."

Jack turned to his team. "Let's check it out."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later found the team gathered at the base of the ramp.

"Chevron 6 is engaged," Simmons called out as Jack adjusted his sunglasses. "Chevron 7 is locked."

"SG-1, you have a go."

Daniel watched Jack nod to the general before moving up the ramp and through the event horizon, Sam close behind him as usual. He went through next, Teal'c typically bringing up the rear.

A few seconds later, Daniel found himself on the other side of the galaxy. The view before him was that of the MALP, the colours clearer and richer. Sam was ahead to his right, gathering samples of the rock, and Jack was already standing at the top of the staircase, scanning the area below them for potential threats. If they decided to descend, they would be clear targets for anyone hiding in the forest.

Two small cities were visible from their vantage point, one to the left, the other to the right, both roughly the same size. Judging from the construction of some of the buildings, they appeared to be fairly advanced.

"I'm not reading any lifesigns in the immediate vicinity." Sam appeared at Jack's side and surveyed the landscape before them. "Wow. Pretty impressive."

"That it is, Major." He raised his voice to be heard by the rest of the team. "Are we ready to move out, kids?" At their nods, he started down the narrow flight of stone stairs. He'd only made it down a few steps before he stopped. "Oh, Major?"

"Sir?"

"Could you join me here a moment?" Sam came down the steps, wondering at the falsely conversational tone of his voice. "Now, is it my imagination, or are these stairs not attached to anything?"

Sam looked down and blinked. Jack was right; the "steps" were slabs of stone floating in mid air. She bounced lightly on her feet, but the stone remained stable.

"This is incredible! There has to be some sort of antigravity device; maybe something in the stone. If it contains a highly magnetic mineral, then it's possible that...." She bounced harder.

"Carter! If you don't mind?"

Sam looked at him for a moment, confused, before realizing that he wanted her to stop trying to move the step they were standing on. She grinned at him. "Sorry, sir."

"No harm done, but if you're finished, I, for one, would prefer to be on solid, *supported* ground." With that, he turned and continued on his way. Sam looked up at Daniel and Teal'c, who were still standing on the main platform. She gave them a small smile and followed her CO.

Daniel took a deep breath. He wasn't fond of heights at the best of times, and a narrow staircase without a railing and that defied gravity was not encouraging. "Oh boy," he muttered, and started down carefully, focusing on the back of Sam's head rather than the free-floating blocks of stone beneath his feet. By the time Teal'c reached the grassy patch at the base of the stairs, Sam had disappeared beneath it, searching for whatever was holding up the heavy rock.

"Major Carter, I do not believe that is wise."

"Look how tall the grass is, Teal'c. And there's a small tree right over there. If these stones made a habit of collapsing, there would be little to no vegetation growing here."

"Carter, can this wait until we get back? I'd like to reach one of the cities before dark."

She looked disappointed, but nodded anyway. "Of course, Colonel." She moved out to join the rest of her team. "I don't have all the necessary equipment anyway." SG-1 moved to the edge of the field.

"So, Dorothy, which way to the Emerald City?"

Sam knew he was asking her opinion as to which direction to choose. "The city on the right looked a little closer, Colonel."

"Left it is." Jack headed in that direction.

"Um, Jack?" Daniel called about half an hour later. "Could we stop for a sec so I can tie my shoe?"

"Sure, Danny." Truth was, Jack was glad to take a moment to study their surroundings; for the past several minutes, he'd had the feeling of being watched. As he scanned the forest around him, he could see Carter and Teal'c out of the corner of his eye, doing the same. He made a decision and moved to Daniel's side.

For the past ten minutes Sam had been unknowingly tightening her grip on her weapon as she sensed a hostile gaze watching them. Now, stopped, she consciously readusted her grip as she searched for the source of her unease.

Feeling a sharp pain in her upper arm, Sam quickly glanced down to see something embedded in her bicep. Just as she realized what was happening, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion hit her and she dropped to her knees soundlessly before toppling over on her side.

"Sam!" she dimly heard Daniel cry, and then her CO's face appeared through the haze of her rapidly darkening vision.

"Carter? Dammit," he swore, yanking the projectile out of her arm. "Teal'c! You and Daniel get back to the 'gate *now*! We'll be right behind you." Daniel looked ready to argue. "Danny, move!" With a final concerned look at his fallen friend, the archaeologist took off back down the path to the Stargate, Teal'c covering him.

Through the fuzziness of her thoughts, Sam vaguely realized that the colonel would have to remove her backpack before he could move her anywhere, and every second he wasted trying to free her put him at risk. "Go," she managed to whisper weakly, pushing ineffectively at his arm. He ignored her, and she wasn't sure that he'd heard her.

A few seconds later, she felt Jack's weight across her legs as he collapsed over her, victim to whatever had felled her, less than thirty seconds ago.

Then she passed out.

* * *

"Carter? C'mon, wake up." Jack smacked her cheeks lightly. "Carter!"

Sam woke abruptly and instinctively grabbed her assailant's wrist in a tight hold before his voice registered. "Colonel?" She squinted, trying to make out his features as her eyes adjusted to the sudden light.

"Do you always wake up so violently, Major?" he asked only half-jokingly, rubbing his wrist.

"Only when I"m not expecting a man's hand on my face, sir." She sat up and looked around.

As she'd already guessed, they were in a cell -- concrete floor, high ceiling, and three windowless concrete walls, the fourth consisting of floor-to-ceiling iron bars. Not the best of accomodations, but certainly better than those tiny cages they'd been in not so long ago. At least this time she had room to move around.

"Daniel and Teal'c?" she questioned.

"Hopefully back on Earth by now. The last I saw of them, they were on their way back to the Stargate."

"You should have gone with them. Then there wouldn't be two of us here." Despite what she said, she was glad to have him with her. The only thing worse than waking up in an alien prison was waking up in an alien prison alone.

"There's no way in hell I'm going to look your father in the eye and tell him that I left you behind," he asserted.

Sam rubbed her hands over her face and then around to the back of her neck. He saw her body stiffen and her eyes widen before she even had a chance to say anything. "What is it?"

"There's something here, attached to my neck."

He knelt beside her on the cold concrete and she turned so that he could look. Just below her hairline sat a silver disk a little larger than a quarter and the thickness of his baby finger. Running along the inner edge was a circle of dark indentations, and in the center sat a strange design which he could not decipher. He moved a hand to his own neck. "I have one too."

Before she had to time to ask any of the questions racing through her mind, they heard voices. Sam jumped to her feet with Jack's assitance. A moment later three guards appeared, two of them obviously armed, the third apparently in charge. He pointed at Sam and ordered, "You will come with me."

Jack took a step forward. "Who's asking?" Ignoring him, one of the armed guards grabbed Sam roughly by the arm and pulled her out of the cell. "Hey! Where're you taking her?" They merely relocked the door and moved out of sight, leaving Jack to shout after them in vain.

* * *

Sam was unceremoniously dragged down several halls before she was thrown into a room. The door slammed shut behind her. Picking herself up off the floor and brushing herself off, she was startled when a loud voice echoed through the empty space. She scanned the small space for its source as the voice repeated the question.

"Who are you?"

Sam stood in the center of the room and turned in a slow circle, addressing herself to the walls. "My name is Major Samantha Carter of the SGC, from the planet Earth."

"What is your purpose here?"

"We're peaceful explorers. We've come to make contact with you, perhaps establish trade relations, an exchange of knowledge or technology--"

"Why do you supply weapons to the Elairans?"

Sam shook her head. "We weren't supplying weapons to anyone. I have no idea who the Elairans are."

"You were heading towards Elaira. You were carrying weapons."

"Elaira? Is that the name of that city? We were just looking for the inhabitants. And we carry weapons for self-defense."

"Why do you supply weapons to the Elairans?"

Sam's voice rose in frusteration. "I *told* you, I don't know who the Elairans are. We weren't giving weapons to anyone!" This time, the disembodied voice remained silent. "Who are you?" There was no answer. "What are these things in our necks? What do they do?"

"You will be executed for your crimes."

"Wait a minute! What crimes? We haven't done anything!"

"You will be executed for your crimes." The door opened behind her. Two new guards appeared and dragged her out, protesting all the way.

As she was led back to her cell, Sam decided to take a chance. Pretending to trip, she fell heavily into the guard walking ahead of her. As she caught her balance, the man turned and viciously backhanded her across the face, sending the major reeling into the wall. He roughly grabbed her wrists and held them tightly behind her back as the other guard took the lead, taking her back to her cell.

* * *

In the damp, grey room, Jack paced back and forth in an attempt to work the last of the drug out of his system. Sam had been gone a while, and he was starting to worry.

He absently raised a hand to rub at his cheek as a sharp pain registered briefly, searching the room yet again for a means of escape. As before, he found nothing. A few moments later the door was unlocked and Sam was thrown in, to land hard on her hands and knees on the rough floor. The door was relocked and the guards walked away without a word to the prisoners.

Sam stood, and Jack got a look at her face, already beginning to bruise. "What happened?"

"I tripped, fell into the guard. He didn't appreciate it." She grinned and held up something that glinted in the light. "I got his keys."

"Nice work, Major!" He was genuinely impressed.

"I'm surprised it worked," she admitted.

"No prison escape movies on this world, I guess." He suddenly lifted a hand to lay against the side of her face, his thumb gently brushing across her lower lip. Except for an initial flinch at the unexpectedness of his action, she didn't move. "You're bleeding," he said by way of explanation, showing her the red on his thumb before wiping in on his jacket.

She brought her own hand up to carefully finger the sensitive area. It tingled inexplicably now. "I cut my lip when that guard hit me."

Something occurred to him. "Carter, when did that happen?"

"I don't know, maybe a minute or so before they brought me back here. Why?"

"I felt it."

"Sir?"

He didn't blame her for being confused. "Right around the same time, I felt a sudden pain in my cheek." Jack shook his head. "But that doesn't make any sense."

Sam's eyes lit in sudden understanding. "The devices in our necks!" She moved a hand to touch the technology embedded at the base of her skull. "Somehow, they must be transmitting acute physical sensation. But why?" After a moment of silence, their eyes met, both having come to the same conclusion.

"Torture," Jack stated grimly. "Twice the sensation, twice the pain." He moved to the door to check for guards. "We need to get out of here *now*."

Sam tossed the keys to the colonel, who began fitting them one by one into the lock. Three keys later, they were out of their cell. Jack took the lead and headed down the hall, in the opposite direction from which the guards had taken.

They eventually found a window and, finding themselves only two storeys off the ground, decided to jump rather than risk running into any of their captors. Jack wrapped his SGC jacket around his arm and smashed the glass, Sam standing a safe distance away. The colonel carefully cleared the remaining shards away from the frame and motioned Sam over. Helping her through the window, they clasped each other's wrists and Jack leaned out as far as he could reach, to minimize the distance between Sam and the ground. On the count of three, they released each other and the major dropped into a controlled roll, springing to her feet to immediately scan the area for signs that they had been noticed. Seeing no one, she signalled an all-clear to Jack, who dropped beside her seconds later. They ran for a nearby grove of trees; dropping low to the ground, they took a moment to regroup.

Sam took notice of the positions of the setting sun and two moons, and calculated the direction of the Stargate relative to where they now hid. "Sir, we need to go that way." She pointed. Luckily, they appeared to be on the outskirts of what would have been the city on the Stargate's right. If they managed to avoid their captors, they would make it to the 'gate by morning.

They decided to move deeper into the woods, but hold off their trek back until full darkness had descended. During the half hour or so that they crouched among the flora, they saw no sign that they were being hunted. Either their escape had yet to be detected, or they weren't considered important enough to waste the time and resources on.

Once the sun was well below the horizon, the two officers struck out for the Stargate. They found the path easily but followed it from the cover the trees provided; the last thing they wanted was to stroll right into a group of soldiers.

"Colonel," Sam whispered a few hours later, stopping abruptly. Jack nodded to her and dropped into a crouch by her side.

"I heard it," he mouthed back. Somewhere ahead of them a branch had snapped; they had no way of knowing if it was a person or an animal. A minute later a dark shape moved into view.

"Teal'c?" Jack stood. "Danny?"

"Jack! Sam!"

Jack scowled at them. "You two were supposed to go back through the 'gate."

"That was our intention, O'Neill. However, when we returned there were a number of people standing at its base. Alerting them to our presence did not seem wise."

"So what are you doing *here*?"

"Teal'c managed to track you. As soon as we figured out they took you to that city, we waited until dark and... well, here we are." Daniel shrugged. "What about you two?"

"Ah, you know -- we were drugged, woke up in a cell, going to be executed, escaped... the usual." Jack's voice held all the expression of someone reciting a grocery list. "Carter and I are about ready for a break." He looked to Sam, who nodded in confirmation. "I think we still have some of that drug in our systems."

"We passed a small cave about half an hour back," Teal'c offerred. "I believe it will provide adequate protection." They moved in the direction of the Stargate, still avoiding the path.

"Uh, Jack?" Daniel, who was directly behind the colonel, spoke up.

"Danny?"

"What's that thing in your neck?"

Jack's hand automatically moved to finger the device. "This, Daniel, is a lovely little souvenir that the locals provided for us, free of charge." He motioned to Sam to explain its function.

"As near as we can tell, it transmits emotions and physical sensations. It was probably designed for torture -- cause pain in one person, the other feels it. Subject both people to pain, twice the sensation."

"Double your pleasure, double your fun," Jack muttered.

"Does it transmit thoughts, too?" Daniel asked curiously.

"No. But the feelings *behind* the thoughts are there. For instance, I could probably tell if the colonel were lying." Sam felt her CO's discomfort at the intimacy of their situation -- or maybe it was her own unease. It was getting hard to tell.

"What's it like? I mean, can you tell whose feelings are whose?"

"At first it was really faint, kind of like hearing an echo or overhearing a conversation in another room, but the more time that passes...." Sam trailed off as the group came to the rocky shelter Teal'c had described earlier.

The large rocks formed a small cave that was barely big enough for the four of them. They decided to risk building a fire -- neither Jack nor Sam had eaten in nearly twenty-four hours, and their bodies' need for sustenance combined with the remnants of the native drug, their escape, and several hours of walking had left them both woozy. They collapsed against the back wall of the cave to rifle through the packs for the rations while Daniel and Teal'c searched for enough wood to build a small fire.

"One of us is hungry," Jack said jokingly, finally locating the MREs and pulling them out triumphantly.

"That would be me, sir." Sam wrinkled her nose. "Though I'm not sure I'm hungry enough to eat *that*."

"It's all we've got. Take it or leave it, Major." Jack tossed the foil-wrapped package next to the canteen; there was nothing more they could do until the other half of their team returned.

Leaning against Teal'c's pack, Jack watched his major out of the corner of his eye. She sat braced against the cave wall, hugging her legs, chin resting on knees, eyes staring at nothing. Here was this woman, whom he'd known for three years, whose feelings he could read in her clear blue eyes, whose emotions *he* could now feel, and yet...

And yet, there was still a part of her that was locked away, a little piece of Samantha Carter that she refused to let him near. And somehow, he knew it had to do with him.

"So what's bothering you?" he asked suddenly, in his usual awkward way. He didn't do the meaningful conversation bit, especially with military officers under his command.

"Sir?"

"Something's been bothering you lately. What is it?" He felt her surprise, likely due to the fact that he'd even noticed, let alone asked about it.

"It's nothing, Colonel."

"It's not 'nothing'," he disagreed. "I know when you're lying, remember?"

She was silent for so long that he figured he wasn't going to get an answer. He was debating whether to push the issue when Sam suddenly burst out with, "You didn't want to come home." It was said so softly that he would have missed it had he not been sitting so close.

He'd already narrowed the problem down to either his extended stay on Edora or his subsequent undercover mission, but this particular statement still came as a surprise.

"You heard that?" he asked quietly. She gave a tiny nod in response, still not looking at him.

"Carter," he began, then reconsidered. This conversation was too personal, too intimate for that. "Sam, I said that I wasn't *happy* to be coming home, not that I didn't *want* to. There's a difference. If I didn't want to come back, I wouldn't be here right now." He could practically feel her mind racing as she processed what he'd said. He hesitated a moment, then reached over and took her hand in his.

<Wow. Double your pleasure is right.>

Jack had never seriously considered that not just pain was transmitted through the devices they wore; apparently, it was equal-opportunity when it came to emotions.

The sensation of holding Sam's hand was intensified several times over; thanks to the alien technology, he felt not only his own reaction, but hers as well. Sam's head shot up to look at him, the electricity crackling around them indescribably intimate. He never would have guessed that a simple touch could generate feelings so intense.

They continued staring, hands gripping each other tightly. Neither knew what to do next, but neither was willing -- or perhaps able -- to look away.

Until a sound alerted them to their teammates' return.

Sam yanked her hand away and dropped her forehead to her knees, hugging her legs even more tightly than before. Jack continued to stare at her, nearly overcome by the feelings churning through both of them, until Daniel dropped an armful of logs and twigs to the rocky cave floor. Jack jumped and quickly looked away.

Daniel opened his mouth to ask a question, but faltered as he became aware that he'd interrupted something big. The tension radiating in the small room was nearly palpable. He looked from Jack to Sam to Jack again, then decided to stay out of it. He dropped next to the wood and began arranging the kindling as Teal'c arrived at the cave entrance.

Fifteen minutes later they had a small fire and heated rations. Daniel nudged Sam and she lifted her head for the first time since he'd returned. It was also the first time he'd been able to get a good look at her face since they'd met up that night.

"God, Sam, what happened to you?" Her left cheek was a deep purple, her bottom lip split and slightly swollen.

Sam absentmindedly moved a hand to her cheek, and both she and Jack involuntarily winced at the sharp stab of pain. "I had a little encounter with one of our guards." She shrugged self-consciously.

"She managed to get the keys away from the guy. That's how we escaped." Jack sounded more than a little proud.

They lapsed into silence as Sam and Jack concentrated on eating their rations. Soon enough they were cleaning up and dousing the fire, and barely forty-five minutes after stopping they were on their way again. SG-1 moved as quietly as possible when, shortly after daybreak, they reached the clearing in which the Stargate stood. There were still no signs of pursuit. The people that Teal'c and Daniel had seen the previous evening were nowhere in sight, though the smoking remnants of a bonfire indicated that they'd left not long ago.

After confirming that they were in fact alone, they cautiously started up the floating steps that had so intrigued them when they'd arrived just the day before. Jack caught Sam's longing glance and felt her desire to further examine the amazing alien technology, but she knew that their first priority was to report back to the SGC and try to remove the devices in their necks.

"Maybe you'll be able to come back later, with more equipment," he offerred.

She gave a last, wistful glance downwards as they reached the Stargate's platform, where Daniel was hitting the last two chevrons. The 'gate *whooshed* out, Sam sent the GDO code, and they stepped through to the safety of home.

* * *

General Hammond was there to meet them upon their return, and Daniel wondered briefly if the man ever went home. "SG-1, you are eleven hours early. Explain yourselves."

"Just one of those missions, sir. Carter and I were drugged, held captive, and escaped. We met up with Daniel and Teal'c last night, made our way back to the Stargate, and here we are. Oh, and Carter and I can read each others' minds, thanks to some alien technology planted in our brains." Jack took in Hammond's look of disbelief and without missing a beat, added, "I know, sir. Infirmary." He tossed a wave in the general's direction and stepped into the hall. Sam couldn't keep a small grin from forming at the look on Hammond's face and Jack, sensing her amusement, turned and waggled his eyebrows at her. She gave him a full-fledged, genuine smile, the first in too long as far as he was concerned.

Janet Fraiser was waiting for them by the time they arrived, having been already alerted by General Hammond. "I understand that you two were involved in a little incident," she said, looking from Sam to Jack. She nodded a hello to Daniel and Teal'c, the former looking remarkably unscathed.

"Hi, Janet. We were drugged, and while we were unconscious these devices were attached to our brains." Sam turned so that Janet could get a look at the round, silver object that was partially covered by her hair. "They seem to transmit physical sensation and emotion."

"Okay. Well, first I want to do an ultrasound. Then we'll do blood tests, x-rays, and an MRI, to see if we can't get a better idea of what we're dealing with. Until then..." she shook her head. "You aren't experiencing any pain, are you?"

"Only when Carter forgets about that nasty bruise on her face." Jack raised his eyebrows and looked to his major.

"That, I can do something about." Janet handed Sam an aspirin and a glass of water. "I'll get you an ice pack to use while you're waiting for your tests."

"Thanks, Janet."

"Thanks Doc." Sam looked at him. "Hey, it hurst me too, y'know."

Her back to her patients, Janet grinned. The interaction between these two particular officers intrigued and fascinated her, more so because of her friendship with Sam. She was glad to see that they were regaining their easy camaraderie; Sam seemed to be regaining her trust in the colonel again after his months away and apparent betrayal of the SGC. Sam had never said anything directly, but Janet had the impression that Jack might have said some hurtful things to her friend. She also knew that Sam was pained by the distance between herself and her CO. If nothing else, these alien transmitters may have been just the thing to heal their rift.

"Here you go," Janet said, handing the ice pack over to her friend. Sam put it to her face, and the doctor watched with interest as they both flinched in unison.

"That's cold," Jack muttered.

"You really do feel each other's pain, don't you?" Janet was amazed. "Wow."

"Not only pain," Jack said under his breath. Janet overheard, but decided not to question him when she caught the look Sam shot the colonel, her face flushed red. She made a mental note to ask Sam later, when the two of them were alone.

All of SG-1 was put through their usual post-mission check-up, and then Daniel and Teal'c left to be debriefed by Hammond; Sam and Jack remained behind so that Janet and her staff could run the tests needed. Nearly three hours later, she had little to report.

* * *

"I don't know how these devices work," Janet admitted to SG-1 and Hammond, who were gathered in the briefing room. "They're emitting EM pulses, but they're extremely weak -- the EMPs barely even registered on any of our equipment. The devices themselves are attached directly to the brain stem." Upon hearing this, Sam dropped her head. "That's all we really know, General."

"Can you remove those things, Doctor Fraiser?"

Sam shook her head, but it was Janet who answered. "I'm afraid not, sir. We just don't know enough about how the brain works, or how the technology is interacting with the colonel's and major's cerebral functions. I can't guarantee that removing the devices won't cause permanent brain damage, or even death."

Somber silence reigned for a moment. Sam lifted her head. "What about Dad and the Tok'ra?"

"It certainly couldn't hurt to ask, Major. Do we know where they are?"

"As far as I know, sir, they're still on P6R 637."

"Very well. Prepare a MALP to send through to the Tok'ra planet. Dismissed."

"Yes sir."

* * *

The images relayed back by the MALP showed no signs of the Tok'ra, but neither did it show any indication of Goa'uld presence or evacuation by the Tok'ra. General Hammond authorized Lt. Simmons to send through SGC's signal; then, they shut down the wormhole and sat back to wait: Janet returned to the infirmary, Sam disappeared into her lab, Teal'c went to his quarters to meditate, Daniel went to catch up on his backlog of artifact translatiions, and Jack wandered the halls of the SGC, too restless to stay in any one place.

Barely an hour had passed before SG-1 was paged to the control room.; they managed to make it there just as the seventh chevron locked in place.

"It's the Tok'ra signal, sir," Simmons confirmed a few seconds later.

"Open the iris, son." He motioned to Jack and Sam and the three officers moved to the embarkation room to greet their visitors.

Sam grinned widely as she recognized the first figure through the 'gate, unsurprised but still pleased. "Dad." She stepped forward to greet him.

Jacob Carter enveloped his daughter in a hug. "Sam. I've missed you, kid. How you doin'?"

"That's kinda why you're here, Dad. We'll explain in a minute." She glanced at the second figure, standing quietly on the ramp. "Martouf." She smiled.

"Samantha. It is a pleasure to see you."

"You too."

Jack was busy trying to sort out whose feelings were whose, and how he should be feeling about the emotions that *didn't* belong to him. He'd more or less expected Sam's joy at seeing her father; it was obvious every time he arrived on the base how happy she was. It was her reaction to Martouf that was throwing him off.

Sam was, of course, happy to see the Tok'ra. But overshadowing this was an astonishing and bewildering wave of love and devotion, several times more powerful than anything he had ever felt for Sarah. It was incomprehensible to him that she could feel so strongly for a man she'd only really met a few times.

But as he focused on the emotions of his major, he began to understand -- they weren't exactly *her* feelings. They were coming from Sam, yet they seemed to be just a bit off, not *quite* Sam. They were the remnants of Jolinar, he realized.

Jack then noticed that the subject of his contemplations was staring at him; she'd doubtlessly picked up on his confusion. Even if they hadn't been empathically linked, the fact that he was just standing there as the others were heading to the briefing room would have given him away.

Sam opened her mouth to ask a question, but he cut her off with, "It's good to see Dad again," before following the others out of the room. He knew she was going to ask him about what was going through his mind, and he didn't want to get into it right now.

Once gathered in the briefing room, Jack and Sam explained what had happened and why the Tok'ra's help was needed.

Jacob bowed his head, and Selmak made an appearance. "I believe we can help you. You must accompany us back to our planet."

General Hammond nodded his consent, and Sam and Jack prepared to return with their two visitors.

* * *

The two SGC members were escorted to a room in the underground crystal tunnels the Tok'ra called home, then left alone. Jack hopped up on the lone table; Sam leaned her hip against it, not too far from her CO.

"Martouf makes you uncomfortable," she offered quietly after a few minutes of silence. "Or is it Jolinar?"

"Neither," he said honestly. "It's...." He tried to pinpoint exactly what it was that bothered him. "It's what you *know* about him, I guess." Sam nodded but didn't say anything. "You've told me before what it's like, having Jolinar's memories mixed in with your own, but I never realized.... How do you work through it all?"

She paused to think. "I just do," she said matter-of-factly. "I try to sort out what's me and what's Jolinar, and I do my best to focus on the parts that are me."

She was even stronger than he'd thought. "You can just ignore what you felt back in the 'gate room, everything Jolinar felt for Martouf? It was..." he trailed off, not having the words to explain it.

"You don't know the half of it," Sam muttered. She was suddenly very glad that they hadn't had a chance to sleep in the past day and a half; the last thing she wanted was the embarrassment of having her commanding officer "listening in" on some of the more carnal memories that occassionally came to her while she was sleeping. Fortunately, Jolinar's more intimate knowledge of Martouf rarely made an appearance during her waking hours; that was a distraction she definitely didn't need while covering her friends' backs on a strange planet.

Jacob and Martouf returned to their room with two other Tok'ra in tow. Sam's father explained to them how they would remove the devices.

"Essentially, we'll have to put both of you into near-death comas; your brain wave activity has to remain minimal in order to reduce the interaction between the technology and your neural cortexes. You'll each be given an injection that will induce the comas. So long as we bring you back in under 53 minutes, you shouldn't experience any side effects. After that, you run the risk of neurological damage." Jacob looked from his daughter to her CO and friend. "It's up to you, of course, but the longer we wait, the more intertwined the two systems become, making it more difficult to remove the devices."

Sam and Jack looked at each other, and Sam nodded. Jack turned back to Jacob. "Let's do it."

The two unnamed Tok'ra moved forward. "You must lay face down on that table." One of them indicated the table Jack was sitting on. Sam moved to the other side and they both lay down, facing each other, arms pillowing heads on the hard surface. Sam shifted her arm so that their elbows were touching. The officers were injected with a clear solution, and they knew no more.

* * *

In the blackness, Sam gradually became aware of muted voices nearby. She recognized two of them, and concentrated on the familiar tones as she fought to open her eyes. After a bit, she managed to slit open her eyes against the brightness. "Dad? Colonel?"

Someone took her hand. "Hey, kid. Welcome back."

"Hey Dad."

"How you feeling, Sam?"

"Fine sir," she answered automatically, and then the significance of the question sank in. She looked at him with wide eyes and moved a hand to the back of her neck. "*I* feel fine."

And she did. Except for a little residual grogginess, she felt like herself -- and just herself. Whatever the Tok'ra had done, it appeared to have worked.

"Everything seems to be okay," Jacob told her, helping his daughter to sit up. "We feel it would be best if you stuck around for a few hours, just to be sure there aren't any adverse effects. Jack was just waiting for you to wake up before reporting back to George, to let him know what's going on."

"So, Carter, if you're feeling okay, I'll be back in a while." She nodded and smiled at him, and Jack left for the Stargate, Martouf accompanying him.

"How long was I out, Dad?" Sam swung her legs over the side of the table and slid to the floor, using the crystal slab for balance. She hated that she was usually the last to awaken after being unconscious, but knew that it had to do with having the lowest body weight.

"You and Jack were both brought out of your comas after 47 minutes. He awoke a little over an hour later; that was nearly half an hour ago. From what we can tell, you suffered no neurological damage." He smiled at his daughter fondly. "So what have you been up to lately, kid?"

* * *

Jack strode quickly towards the Stargate, Martouf easily keeping pace. The Air Force officer would have preferred a different escort, but even after all this time they knew very few Tok'ra, and Jacob wanted some time with Sam.

The colonel reached the DHD and punched in the symbols for Earth; once the wormhole had formed he contacted the SGC via the MALP that had been sent through earlier that day. After reassuring his teammates and General Hammond that everything was fine and that they'd return in a few hours, the 'gate shut down and Jack headed back the way they'd come.

"My relationship with Samantha makes you uncomfortable." Martouf's even voice broke the silence.

Jack barely glanced at him. "What Carter does on her own time is her business."

"She was offered a chance to live with the Tok'ra for a while. She could explore the galaxy with equipment far more advanced than that of the Tauri, and be with her father. She declined." He eyed the man walking next to him. "Something keeps her on Earth."

Jack walked in silence, looking thoughtful. "She never mentioned any of this."

"Samantha is a very... loyal person. There is something -- or someone -- she feels is worth staying for. Her decision should not be taken lightly."

Jack didn't bother to respond. He was too busy thinking.

* * *

Sam and Jack returned to Earth a few hours later, having exhibited no side effects. They reported to the infirmary, where Janet took some blood and x-rays and suggested 24 hours downtime, just to be safe, and then they reported to Hammond for a final debriefing. Halfway through, Sam realized that she was exhausted. The only sleep she'd had in the past two days had been drug-induced; it had hardly been a restful sleep. As soon as the general dismissed them, she headed straight for a hot shower, and then to her quarters.

Despite her exhaustion, however, Sam found herself wide awake after a half hour of tossing and turning. Something was bothering her. She felt...

.... lonely.

That was it, she realized. After more than a day of being continually exposed to the colonel's feelings in addition to her own, his missing presence left her feeling bereft. Knowing that she wouldn't be resting any time soon, she decided to seek out Janet for company.

Turning a corner on her way to the elevator, Sam almost literally ran into Jack.

"Carter. I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted. "I was just on my way to see if Janet's still up."

"You just missed her; she left the base a few minutes ago." Jack recalled what Martouf had told him: Sam's loyalty wasn't something to be taken lightly. He'd been doing that a lot lately, he realized. The way he'd been treating her, he was almost surprised she *hadn't* packed her bags and taken up the Tok'ra on their offer. "Sam?"

"Sir?"

"I just want you to know... that I appreciate everything that you do around here."

Sam flushed and ducked her head in embarrassment, but Jack caught the small smile on her face. "Thank you, Colonel."

He broke the awkward silence. "Look, I'm going to get something to eat. You wanna come with?"

This time, Sam didn't try to hide her smile. "That sounds great, sir."

They moved down the hall side by side in companionable silence. They may no longer be empathic, Sam reflected, but she no longer felt lonely.

* * *

(Lieutenant Colonel Wildcard, SG-9: Caffeine Charged Outreach)