Title: 28 Days

Rating: R

Spoilers: None

Archive: SJD yes

Details: Sam angst, 3rd Person POV, Long fic

Summary: Jack has just 28 days to find out why Sam is resigning.

Disclaimer: None of the characters or places in this story belong to me, they are the property of MGM Worldwide, Sci Fi channel, Gekko Film Corporation and Brad Wright. No copyright infringement intended - please don't sue me! I'm skint anyhow.

~ 28 Days ~

Copyright (C) 2003 Ruth

**********

28 Days left...

Charlotte and James Carter laughed and ran together to the place where their father normally parked his car to pick them up from school. It was a bright and sunny day, not a cloud was in the sky, and blackbirds were humming a cheery tune as the two children walked along a small pathway lined with daisies.

As they came to the edge of the road, they saw a sleek, black car parked in the space where their father normally was. Charlotte froze for a moment, but edged her little brother on past the car to see if their daddy was somewhere else.

Once she had realised that her daddy was definitely not there, she tried to stay calm for the sake of her little brother. James was very distressed and squeezed his sister's hand to stop him from crying.

"Where's daddy?" he asked, "Daddy's always here."

"He might be late, Jamie, stop worrying!"

She shook him gently, but could feel tears of fear building inside of her too.

The two children were so intent on looking into the horizon for their father that they didn't see a tall, black-clad figure get out of the car and move steadily towards them. Charlotte only noticed when the tall man put his foot on a dry leaf and it crunched into the pavement.

Charlotte jumped with shock and James squealed, starting to cry.

"Hello, children," he said softly, "What's wrong?"

Charlotte glared at him, moving her brother slowly away. As she watched with mounting terror, another tall man got out of the car and moved to stand beside the other one.

"We only want to help you," the other said, trying to get closer to them.

Charlotte's lower lip trembled. "Go away," she said, her arms protectively around James.

"We can take you home, get you all sorted out," said the first man, trying to reach out for her arm.

"Our daddy said to never get into a car with strangers!" she shouted, backing away from them and wishing that somebody would see them.

"We're not strangers - we work at the orphanage down the road - we love children like you!"

Charlotte screamed as loud as she possibly could. The first man reached out and grabbed James from her, holding the small boy in his arms like a doll.

"Come with us, quietly," he spat, "Or your little brother will get hurt."

Charlotte began to cry, biting down on her lower lip so hard that it began to bleed. "You'll be in trouble," she trembled, "My auntie will hurt you!"

"Oh yeah?" asked the other man, grabbing Charlotte quickly and making a run for the car, as the other man did so with James.

"Who might this auntie be, eh?"

James clung to his sister in the back of the car as it sped away.

"Is her name......Sam, by any chance?"

Charlotte refused to say anything, but James nodded fearfully.

"Your auntie doesn't scare us, Jamie. She doesn't know that you're gone - how will she find you?"

"She'll find us," said Charlotte, blinking away her tears, "She never leaves anybody behind."

The two men laughed, and Charlotte began to cry again, wondering where they were headed.

**********

Sam sat in the briefing room, watching Jack play boredly with a pencil while Daniel droned happily on about a new rock he'd found. Suddenly, a young airman entered the room.

"General Hammond, sir, there's an urgent phonecall for Major Carter on line 3."

"Thank you," said Sam, getting up and going over to the phone.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Sam? It's me, Mark." Sam instantly panicked as she heard the distraught sound of her brother's voice.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I...Charlotte and James...they've gone missing, and no-one can find them."

Sam's hand flew to her mouth and her face instantly drained of colour.

"But...when?" she asked.

"Somebody else picked them up on the way home from school - they weren't there when I got there."

General Hammond, Jack, Teal'c and Daniel decided that it would be more polite to leave Sam on her own for this call, so they got up and left the room, closing the door behind them.

"Mark, they would never do that, they know better!"

Mark's voice was strained. "The...police, uh...they found some blood on the ground."

Sam had to sit down at this point. "Oh, my god - Mark, I'm so sorry..."

"It's my fault!" he sobbed down the line, "I was late picking them up, I..."

"No," she said, "Mark, it's not your fault - how's Linda?"

"She's beside herself!" he said.

"Mark, I'm coming down there right now."

"No, don't Sam, there's no point. Whoever took them - they're long gone."

"I'm sorry - I'll do some checking here, see what I can come up with."

"Thanks, Sam. God, what if they..."

"Don't," Sam warned, "Just stay hopeful - they've only been gone a couple of hours."

**********

Sam replaced the receiver and sighed deeply, putting her head in her hands. Then, she took the long way back to her lab to avoid being interrogated by Hammond and Jack. As she sat down, her cellphone rang.

"Carter."

"We have them."

Her blood ran cold.

"What?" she asked.

"The lab results you asked for the other day - Major Carter, are you okay?"

"Yes - Jill, do you have a sore throat or something?"

"Yeah, sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."

"No problem - thanks."

Sam put the phone down and realised that her hand was shaking. Calm down! She thought, it was only the lab, for goodness' sake!

Her cellphone rang again.

"Carter."

"Major Carter?"

"Who is this?"

"That is not of your concern. This, however, is..."

She suddenly heard two children sobbing on the other end of the line - Charlotte and James.

"What have you done with them?"

"You have until noon tomorrow to hand Hammond your notice of resignation. You'll have to give him a month's notice before you can actually leave, but that's fine with us. We've plenty of time."

"What if I don't?" she asked.

"Then I put a bullet through the little boy's head," the silky voice replied.

"Noon, tomorrow - or bang!"

The line went dead. Sam immediately switched on her computer and began to type.

**********

The next morning, General Hammond was shifting through the papers in his in tray when his eyes fell on a white envelope. Curiously, he opened it and read the piece of paper inside. His eyes widened as he realised what it was, and got on the phone.

"Hello?"

"Tania, it's me. Do you have any idea how large the SGC phone bill is this month?"

"I do sir - it's not good, is it?"

"You're damned right it's not good!"

**********

Sam crossed over to her phone and opened her phonebook, looking under B. Then; she dialled the number and waited for a few seconds.

"Agent Barrett, its Major Carter. I need to speak with you - it's very urgent. Can I meet you in the park in about half an hour? Thanks."

She would just have to hope that he got her message - going to his office was just too dangerous. She pulled on her coat and grabbed her car keys, locking the door behind her.

**********

Hammond picked up another white envelope. He opened it with dread, expecting another large bill, but what he saw instead shocked him even more. It was Major Carter's 28-day notice for her resignation from the SGC.

**********

27 days left...

She saw Barrett waiting for her on a light-blue coloured bench, reading a newspaper. She sat down beside him, clutching a folder in her left hand.

"Why am I here?" he asked, lowering the paper to look at her.

"I need you to help me."

"Go on."

"Yesterday, two children were abducted from just a little way down from their school, in a black car."

Barrett looked at her, confused.

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Yesterday evening, I got a phonecall. It was from the abductor - he told me that I had until noon today to hand in my resignation or he'd put a bullet in the boy's head."

"Jeez," said Barrett, "But I still don't understand the importance of this."

Sam sighed. "They're my niece and nephew."

"Oh, God. I'm sorry, major."

"Yeah. Anyway, I have reason to suspect that somebody from the NID may be behind this."

"What gave you that idea?" Barrett asked, folding up his newspaper and looking at her.

"Oh, don't tell me that this isn't the sort of thing that the NID would try and do!"

"I didn't say that, but I hope you're not insinuating that I had something to do with this!"

"No!" she said, "I just wondered if you'd heard anything about it? Dodgy dealings, you know, normal NID business?"

"I'm sorry," he said hotly, "But I can't help you."

He got up from the bench and walked quickly away, leaving his paper on the bench.

Sam swallowed and bit back tears. She angrily pushed his newspaper off of the bench and slammed the folder down on it instead. Her eye then fell on a small piece of paper that fell out of the newspaper.

22:30, Marybourne Bridge

She sighed in annoyance, but picked up the paper anyway and walked back to her car.

**********

Hammond went in to Jack's office without knocking and caught the colonel leaning back on his chair, playing with a yo-yo.

"Sir...I..."

"Son, did you know anything about this?"

Jack took the paper from Hammond's hand and read it. It took him a while, but he was just as shocked by the end of it as Hammond had been.

"I had no idea - d'ya think I would have let her do it if I'd known? We have to stop her - you won't let her, will you?"

"I'm afraid that she had it processed herself, son. You have 27 days to find out why she's trying to leave."

Jack jumped out of his chair and left his office, fear and worry filling him.

Why would she do this? More importantly, why would she do this and not tell him anything?

**********

At ten-thirty exactly, Sam's car pulled up on the Marybourne Bridge beside another one. She waited for a moment, but then got out of her car and into the other one. As she shut the door, it began to rain very hard.

"You wanna tell me what the hell is going on?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"They had me bugged again - I'm sorry. We're gonna have to be more careful about our meetings."

"You're making it sound like we're having an affair."

"We are...in an information sense."

Sam decided to ignore that comment and turned back to him. "Why am I here?" she asked.

"I did hear something about a couple of men abducting two children to try and piss off Hammond, but - I thought it was just a pipe dream!"

"When did you hear about this?"

"A couple of weeks ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What, now I have to tell you every rumour about the SGC?" he asked angrily, wishing that he hadn't.

"Look - I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner but I didn't think anything of it. What have you done?"

"What do you think I did? I resigned."

"You what? But..."

"There's two men out there who are going to kill my nephew if I don't - not much of a competition there, is there?"

"How long do you have?"

"27 days. Well, 26 in two hours."

"I'll help you as much as I can."

"Thanks, Agent Barrett. I know you're sticking your neck out to do this for me."

"No problem. Look, if you need anything, just call me, yeah?"

Sam smiled, and was about to get out of the car when her cellphone rang. She reluctantly pulled it out of her pocket and answered it.

"Carter."

"Good girl. The boy is safe for now. Now, listen very carefully to what I am going to tell you. Oh, by the way, Major, if you attempt to trace this call, the children won't do well."

Sam shook her head violently at Barrett, who was pulling out his own phone to trace the number.

"I want you to meet us at the warehouse on Canary Ridge tomorrow, 9:00am. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Oh, and don't bring any of your little friends with you - or it'll be bang bang! Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good."

She let the phone go limp in her hand.

"Who was that? The abductor again?"

Sam nodded. "Don't try and trace it. I...he asked me to meet him tomorrow."

"Where?"

"I...I have to go alone."

"I won't let you do that."

Sam looked at him, part of her flattered at his chivalry, but part of her knowing that she had to do this alone.

"Please - if they see anyone else with me they'll kill the children."

Barrett swallowed. "Promise that you won't do anything stupid - and that you'll call me the minute you get back!"

Sam smiled weakly. "Now you sound like my father."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

He took her hands in his and smiled. "Be careful."

Sam leant over and put her arms around him (as best she could in a car.) He returned the embrace, holding her close to him.

"I'm always on the other end of a phone," he said.

"Yeah - a tapped one," she sniffed from his shoulder.

Barrett smiled. "Comes with the job."

She slowly, reluctantly, pulled away from him. He wiped a tear out of her eye.

"Take care."

"Thank you. I'll call you tomorrow."

He smiled at her as she got out of the car, watching her go over to her own and then slowly pull away. He watched her until she was out of sight, the muscles of his stomach clenching in fear. He hoped to God that he would be able to meet her tomorrow night.

**********

26 days left...

At 9:00 am sharp, Sam pulled into the car park of Canary Ridge's goods warehouse. She saw that another one was already there, sleek and black in colour. She swallowed, and got out of the car, shutting the door quietly behind her. She left her weapon in the car - she dreaded to think of what would happen if they found it on her person.

Slowly, she walked over the gravel to the door of the warehouse. Carefully, she pulled it open, wincing as a loud squeaky creak gave her away.

As she entered the dark warehouse, she was choked on the damp, musty smell. It took her a second to regain control of her breathing, but once she did so she could hear the sound of children crying.

"Charlotte? James?" she asked, walking towards the sound of their crying. She saw them, huddled up in the corner of the warehouse together, crying and bleeding.

"Oh, babies! It'll be okay, I'm gonna get you out of here."

Just as she said this, she felt a strong arm grab her about the waist, and another place a blade at her throat.

"Not while we're here. Jay - search her."

Whilst one of the men held her, the other made sure that she wasn't armed. Sam had never been gladder that she'd left her handgun behind.

When Jay had concluded that she wasn't armed, the blade at her throat relaxed and she turned around to face her captor.

"Why am I here?" she asked.

He quickly punched her in the face, sending her spinning to the floor.

"We're asking the questions, here, bitch!" he said, giving her a spiteful kick in the ribs.

Charlotte whimpered and James hid his head in his sister's arms.

Sam gasped for breath, desperately drawing oxygen into her bruised lungs. "Have you told anybody where you are?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" He aimed another kick at her.

"Aagh! I haven't told anybody," she said, trying to keep a hold of herself for the sake of the children.

"Good. Now - in a week's time, I want you to go to the NID headquarters and tell them that you're interested in becoming an agent."

"What?" Sam asked, earning herself a kick in the stomach.

"You heard me! Once there, you will do everything that they tell you, and you will speak to the director. From then on, you will do exactly what he asks of you until you've resigned from the air force."

"Then what?"

"Shut up!" said the other man, cruelly stamping on her wrist.

"Go. Remember, a week at the NID headquarters!"

"But..."

"NOW!"

The larger man swiftly drew the blade across her cheek, making a long, thin incision.

The two men then forcibly removed her from the warehouse. Tears rolled down Sam's cheeks, but not at the pain from the men - from the screams of the children not to leave them behind.

**********

Meanwhile, back at the SGC, Jack had informed Daniel, Teal'c and Janet of Sam's plan to resign, and they were all just as appalled as he was.

"Why would she do a thing like this without telling us?" Janet asked.

"I get the feeling that she's not telling us something," said Daniel.

"Yeah - what was that urgent phonecall about the other day?" Jack questioned.

Daniel shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Something just feels off about all of this," said Janet, "Sam loves her job here."

Jack sighed deeply and put his head in his hands.

**********

At 22:30pm, Sam once again pulled up beside Agent Barrett's car. She carefully got out, trying not to jar her bruised ribs as she did so. The cut on her cheek was going to take a bit of explaining, however, as it was hardly a paper cut.

"My god - Sam, what did they do to you?" he asked, looking at the slit on her cheek.

"I'm fine, really," she said, as if trying to convince herself. It was then that she leant forwards a little too much and hissed at the pain in her chest.

"No, you're not. What happened?"

Sam leant back carefully in the seat, trying not to make any more pain for herself.

"They had the children there. They knocked me around for a couple of minutes, and then they told me to go to the NID headquarters in one week and sign myself up."

"What? What the hell is going on here, Sam?"

"You tell me."

"I already told you, Sam, I don't know anything - jeez, what happened to your wrist?"

Sam looked down at her wrist to see a band of purple-blue bruises forming around it.

"I think I got a bit mouthy."

"Let me see."

Barrett gently took her hand in his and looked at it.

"How'd you manage to drive with that?"

Sam sighed deeply. "I've had the same, and worse, before."

"Come back to my place - that needs some ice on it!"

She looked at him suspiciously.

"No funny business, I swear!" he said, holding up his hands.

"Okay - I'll get in my car and follow on behind you."

"You sure you can drive?"

"Positive, thanks."

"Okay, then. Just follow me."

**********

Jack swirled around in Sam's chair, looking at all of the scientific instruments go whizzing past him. Doohickeys, he liked to call them. Sam always had some long and highly complicated name that he couldn't pronounce, spell or even read half of the time, so he stuck with doohickeys - it was much easier.

His eyes fell on some papers on her desk. Curiously, he sheafed through them, but found nothing of interest. What he didn't see was the brown folder beneath them that would have answered half of his questions.

**********

Sam sat down on the couch and looked around her. In terms of the decoration and furnishings, Barrett's house was very much like her own. Nothing special - just a few personal touches. The room was warm and had a comforting feel to it. She resisted the urge to stretch out fully on the couch and go to sleep when she heard his footsteps approaching.

"There you go," he said, handing her the ice pack and sitting on the couch beside her.

"Thanks. Nice place you've got here," she commented, gingerly applying the pack to her swollen wrist.

"Thanks," he replied.

**********

25 days to go...

Barrett got up early that morning to do some investigating of his own. Sam had gone home quite late the night before - she wouldn't let him drive her, so instead he'd sat quietly on his couch at home, thinking.

He pulled up into his parking space and got out of the car, heading over to the front entrance. He pulled his security ID out of his pocket and gave it to the security guard, who looked at it, looked at Barrett and allowed him inside.

Once he was inside, Barrett made his way up to his supervisor's office on level 10. He was unfortunately unaware that someone was watching him in the shadows.

As he walked along the long and dark corridor, he heard a small sound from behind him. With a start of fright, he whirled around, but saw nothing. He allowed himself a brief shudder to release his fear, but then carried on to the director's office.

Once there, he checked that the director wasn't in his office - that would have well and truly fucked things up. Then, also making sure that there was no one in the corridor behind him, he entered the office and locked the door quietly behind him.

In the corridor, however, a lone figure lurked in the shadows. It slowly pulled a gun from it's pocket and snapped off the safety catch. Then, the figure remained completely still and laid in wait for his prey.

**********

Inside the office, Barrett pulled on a pair of gloves and went over to his supervisor's desk. Gingerly, he opened the drawer and rummaged around in the files. When he found what he wanted, Barrett went over to the photocopier and placed the sheets inside. He then cast a fearful and nervous look over his shoulder, but no one was there. All of his senses still on high alert, he removed the sheets from the photocopier and went over to the fax machine.

Slowly, he pressed a number in turn, until the papers disappeared into the machine. Then, fear flooding him, he went over to the door and listened for any sounds from outside of it. Then, he pulled his cellphone from his pocket and dialled Sam's number.

"Major Carter?"

"Sam, it's me. I've just faxed some files over to your office. They're important."

"Malcolm, where are you?"

"Level 10, NID headquarters. Don't try and follow me - they'll kill you."

"Quit the cloak and dagger crap, Malcolm. Where can I meet you?"

"I'll call you. I have to go."

Then, adrenaline coursing through his veins, he opened the door. The rush of adrenaline stopped when he realised that nobody was there. He turned on his heel and began to walk down the corridor when he heard a small squeak. He turned around just too late - he saw his supervisor holding a gun!

Before he could speak, his finger closed on the trigger. Barrett tried to swerve away from the bullet but it hit him in the top of his left shoulder. With a cry of pain, he fell to the floor and rolled onto his side, choking in pain.

The gunman stepped over his body, being sure to deliberately put his foot down on Barrett's hand, smiling evilly as the bones crunched.

"Agent Barrett. So nice to see you. Tell me, what were you doing in my office?"

Barrett could only cough up a mouthful of blood onto his shoe.

"Motherfucker!" the man spat, wiping it on Barrett's face, almost breaking his nose in the process.

"You'd better be careful with that lady friend of yours - Major Carter - she'll land you in trouble. Oh - looks like it's too late - what a shame."

He pulled Barrett's cellphone from his pocket and pressed redial.

"Hello?"

"Major Carter."

"Who is this?"

"Oh, nobody. I just know a friend of yours."

"A fr- what have you done?"

"Malcolm's dying to see you," the voice snarled, severing the connection.

***********

Sam's car squealed into the NID car park, but she could already see the fallen agent. They had rudely dumped his body on the steps, so that she could see him.

"Malcolm!" she cried, running over to him.

When she got there, he did not look good. All of the colour was drained from his face, and a large shoulder wound was bleeding profusely onto the stone steps.

Sam pulled his body into her arms, wincing as her bruised ribs protested, and gently laid him in the back of her car. She would have called an ambulance then and there, but as it was the NID headquarters she thought better of it.

**********

Jack pulled out his cellphone and pressed 1 (he had Sam's number on speed-dial).

She didn't pick it up, but it was ringing all right. Suddenly, it switched to answerphone.

"Dammit, Sam! Where the hell are ya? Hammond told us about your little plan and frankly it's a load of crap! Look, Sam, wherever the hell you are - please come back. I need to talk to you. Bye."

**********

Sam stood motionlessly by Barrett's side, looking down at him, deeply distressed. She didn't even hear the doctor's footsteps behind her as he entered the room.

"Miss, I'm afraid his condition isn't too good."

Sam closed her eyes briefly, preparing herself for bad news.

"He's still breathing, which is good, but the bullet did a lot more damage than we'd thought."

Suddenly, Sam's cellphone rang.

"You really shouldn't have that on in here, miss," the doctor said sternly.

Sam nodded and walked out of the room.

"Hello?"

"Major Carter. How's he doing?"

She abruptly turned the phone off and went back into Barrett's room.

"I'm sorry, miss, we're just going to have to wait." The doctor said, walking out of the room and leaving Sam feeling very guilty.

**********

24 days to go...

On the fourth day, Sam had no choice but to return to the SGC. The minute she walked in she was pounced upon by Jack, who had obviously been lying in wait for her.

"Sam, we need to talk."

"Not now, Jack, please."

"What's wrong? I can help, whatever it is."

"No," Sam said sadly, "You can't."

"For crying out loud, Sam! Why can't I? Why can't you just talk to me for once?"

Sam went into her office and Jack shut the door behind him.

"Trust me, Jack, there is nothing I would like more than to talk to you, but I can't."

Her last two words came out choked with tears. She turned away from him hurriedly so that he would not see.

"Sam..."

"Please - you'll only end up getting hurt."

With that, a very confused and upset Jack left her lab.

**********

Sam went over to her fax machine and gently lifted the papers out of it. On the first was a picture of James and Charlotte that almost broke her heart. On the following pages were directions to their house, even the way they walked home from school. She felt very sick as she turned over to the final page, where she found a picture of herself and all of her personal information. Her sickness turned to anger as she clenched her fists. She would play their game - but only to get the children back.

Suddenly, her phone rang. It was Mark's wife, Linda.

"Linda, how are you?"

"Sam, Mark and I need to talk to you. It's urgent."

"I'll drive over to your place," Sam said, fear flooding her again.

**********

Half an hour later, she arrived at her brother's house. Both Mark and Linda were very pale and had obviously not been getting any sleep - the same as Sam, really, just without the injuries.

"Sam, what happened to your face?" Mark asked, referring to the long, thin cut on her cheek.

"It's nothing, Mark, really."

She hugged Linda, but found the woman strangely stiff in her arms.

"Come inside," Mark offered, noticing his sister wince slightly as she pulled away from his wife.

They all sat down in the living room. Linda was still looking at Sam in a way she'd never seen before - it wasn't quite hatred, but she definitely wasn't happy.

"Sam, one of your friends just rang us and asked what was going on with you."

Sam put her head in her hands. "Who?" she asked.

"He didn't say his name."

Jack, she thought, thank you very much.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"I told him," Mark replied, "I told him that we were having a few family problems."

Linda interrupted her husband. "Do you know something that we don't, Sam?"

Sam swallowed nervously, trying not to let it show in her face.

"Why do you ask?"

"You work for the government! For all we know, your friends could have orchestrated it!" Linda spat angrily.

"Look, Linda, I don't work for the government, and it's not my friends who are a threat."

Damn, she thought, just dig yourself a deeper hole, Sam!

"Well then, who?" Mark asked, "Who's the threat? Same people who made that mark on your face?"

Her brother was too smart.

"Listen to me. This is far too dangerous for either of you to be getting into," Sam lowered her voice, but Linda looked as if she was about to explode.

"You bitch! Where the hell are my children? What have you done with them?"

"Linda, please - you know that I wouldn't hurt them!"

"Then why won't you tell me where they are? If they're even still alive?"

Sam bit down on her lip. "They're alive, okay? Both of them."

"How do you know, Sam?" Mark asked, trying to calm his wife, who was beside herself.

Sam had no choice but to tell them about the events of the previous week. "They were both curled up in the corner - they weren't injured, as far as I could see, and they won't be as long as I do what they tell me to."

"But how far will you go, Sam?" Mark asked.

Tears began to fall from Sam's eyes as she spoke.

"The last time I heard them, they were screaming for me not to leave them. I never want to hear that again, Mark, so I'll go as far as I damned well have to!"

**********

23 days to go...

Linda wasn't speaking to her any more. Mark was still in a state of shock, and Jack was on the warpath.

Sam had rung the hospital that morning to find out that Barrett was still unconscious, no change in his status. He was lying there, near death, and it was all her fault.

At that point, there was a soft knock on her door and Janet walked in.

"Sam, please, you have to tell someone what's going on."

"I can't, Janet. It's..."

"Look - whatever is going on, it's obviously upsetting you. You need to talk to someone."

"No."

"Sam, you have 23 days until you are no longer a part of the SGC! You need to get talking, fast!"

"Janet, I wish I could tell you, really I do! But I can't, it's too dangerous!"

"What have you gotten yourself into?" Janet asked softly.

"There's an NID agent, a good one, lying in hospital right now because of me. That's what I've gotten myself into."

"Is that all?" Janet asked, "Just one agent?"

"He was shot while he was trying to get some information for me, Jan."

"What kind of information?"

"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that it's my fault, and if I'm not careful, more people are gonna end up like him."

Janet was now highly confused.

"Sam, honey, what are you talking about?"

"I can't tell you. Christ, Jack rang up my brother to find out what was going on!"

"And?"

"And he lied. I'm sorry, Janet, this is not about you, believe me. I need to get out of this one myself - and that's what I'm doing."

With that, Sam got up and left her lab. Janet got on the phone immediately.

"Hello? I need to refer one of my officers to see Dr McKenzie, please..."

**********

22 days to go...

Sam looked at the slip in front of her in disgust. It said the following:

Major Carter, you have been scheduled for a 1500 hours appointment with Dr McKenzie. Please arrive promptly as the doctor has other patients to see afterwards.

Janet. It had to be. She sighed deeply and put her head in her hands. Now her friends thought that she was going nuts. Well, Dr McKenzie could blow his appointment right out of his ass, as far as she was concerned. She would rather talk to a brain-sucking amoeba - though she supposed that it was about the same thing.

Angrily, she screwed up the piece of paper and threw it in the bin. Janet must have pulled some strings to get her in for a next-day appointment. She tried to calm herself down when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in," she called.

To her horror and disgust, Dr McKenzie walked in.

"Doctor, what a nice surprise," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Major."

He looked into the bin and saw the scrunched-up bit of paper.

"That's what I thought you'd do with it, which is why I've come here myself."

"Psychic now, as well, are we?" Sam replied.

"May I sit down?" McKenzie asked.

"No."

He sighed. This was going to be a very, very long hour.

"I've had a lot of concerned officers coming to me in the past few days - they're worried about your state of mind."

Sam folded her arms and swung her chair around to face McKenzie, trying not to smirk or glare.

"Hit me with it, then," she said.

"You're the one that's supposed to hit me with it, Major."

"Oh. Fine. Well, I've just been having a bad week, so my friends go off and tell a psychiatrist that I'm losing my mind."

"They didn't say that you were losing your mind, Major, they said that they were concerned."

"Adds up to the same thing in your book, doesn't it?" she asked.

"Major, there really is no need to behave with such hostility towards me."

"I do not need to be put in a straightjacket and pumped full of your drugs, McKenzie."

"I never said that I was going to do that, Major."

McKenzie was rapidly running out of patience.

"I am going to recommend that you are given some sleeping pills. You look exhausted, Major."

"I have an exhausting job."

"Which you haven't actually been doing for a week, to my knowledge."

"What'll it be next? Prozac?"

"I'll be seeing you again, major. Please try to relax a bit more."

"I'd be more relaxed if you left the room."

"Goodbye, Major. I'll have the tablets for you later today. I'm asking you to take them."

**********

Sam groaned and leant back in her chair after McKenzie had left. That man would be the death of her. Major this, major that, I'm going to pump you so full of drugs that you can't move, etc.

She clenched her fists and groaned deeply. Was she losing her mind? Was this all just a paranoid delusion caused by a strange alien plant? She desperately hoped that she would wake up soon - in three days she was supposed to be at the NID headquarters.

**********

21 days to go...

"Hey, Sam." It was Daniel.

"Daniel," she smiled weakly, "You come to refer me to McKenzie again?"

"Janet was only trying to help."

Sam sighed. "I know - McKenzie is just the worst possible person."

"You think I don't know that?" Daniel asked with a smile. "The man's had me in a straightjacket."

Sam smiled back. "I know. I'm not losing my mind, Daniel."

"I know that - we're all just worried about you. First, you resign without telling us, then you start acting all weird and conspiracy- like when we try to talk to you. We're just concerned, that's all."

"I'm not doing this because I want to."

"There you go again - why can't you just tell us, Sam?

"I'm sorry, Daniel, but I've got to go."

With that, she got up out of her chair and left her lab, leaving a very confused and hurt archaeologist behind her.

**********

Later that night, while she was trying to sleep, Sam's thoughts turned again to Charlotte and James. She prayed that they would be okay. Every night she prayed that they would be returned to Mark and Linda safely, but with every day that passed without any news, hope began to fade.

**********

20 days to go...

One day to go. One day before she tried to join the NID. For all she knew, they would kill her on the spot.

Well, she thought brightly, that'd get McKenzie off my back.

**********

Jack was doing some investigating of his own. Maybourne had informed him of a young agent who'd been shot - by the name of Malcolm Barrett. He told Jack that he'd been trying to find some information for her when he'd been hit. Jack was now on his way to see the man.

He gingerly opened the hospital door and went into the room. He saw a young man with dark hair, propped up in a bed with a decidedly annoyed look on his face.

"Hello?" he asked.

"I'm from the air force - I work with someone you might know."

"Oh?"

"Major Carter."

"Ah."

"What's going on with her?"

"She hasn't told you?"

"Nope."

"Then she obviously doesn't want you to know."

"Would you cut the NID crap, Barrett?"

He watched in confusion as Malcolm pulled a sheet of paper towards him and wrote on it.

This room is bugged

Jack nodded.

Barrett got slowly up out of the bed, wincing at the pain in his wound. Then he gestured for Jack to follow him outside.

**********

The two of them started walking around the hospital grounds.

"You do know that she'll be royally pissed that I've told you this."

"Yep. She's pissed at me already - I rang her brother to find out what's going on."

"Terrible, isn't it?"

"What? He wouldn't tell me."

"Ah. Well, her niece and nephew have been...abducted by some rogue NID members."

"Charlotte and James?"

Malcolm nodded.

"Oh God! But what does this have to do with..."

"On the day that they were abducted, she had a phone call from one of the guys who did it. He told her that she had 28 days to resign from the SGC and join them."

"Shit! She's joining the NID?"

"They told her to go there and join. They will probably make her jump through their hoops, and then apparently they'll let the kids go."

He looked at Jack seriously. "I very much doubt that they will."

Jack ran a hand through his hair. "How can I stop her?"

"When I got shot, I was getting some files for her out of my superior's office - needless to say, without permission. They'll get her to do what they need and then they'll kill her. You have to stop her, Jack."

"Can you help me?"

"I'll do my damnedest, but I'm not very mobile at the moment, as you're aware. I can give you codes and stuff to get into the HQ, but after that, you'll be on your own. Unless you take a phone with you."

"When's she going?"

"Tomorrow."

"I need to talk to her."

"You won't get her to change her mind now - her heart's set on it. I already tried to stop her."

"Thanks for your help, Agent Barrett," said Jack, handing him his cellphone number.

"No problem - I'll send you my number. Haven't got it at the moment."

**********

19 days to go...

Sam looked at herself in the mirror. She was dressed from head to foot in black. Just to be safe, she had her handgun in a holster about her waist, hidden by her long coat.

"Now or never," she said to her reflection, stepping out of the room and closing the door.

**********

Jack looked at the piece of paper in front of him. He had the codes to get into the HQ, but now he needed weapons. Lots of weapons. He'd been to General Hammond and informed him of everything that Agent Barrett had told him, as with SG-1 and Janet. They were all highly distressed and wanted to help her out, but by then it was too late.

**********

Sam walked slowly up the stone steps where she'd found Barrett lying a few days previous, noting that all of the blood had been cleaned off. When she reached the security guard, he just looked her up and down and let her through. Sam was a little concerned at this - she'd been expecting a fight.

Once inside, she was greeted by a tall man in black clothes who ushered her to follow him down a seemingly endless corridor. She followed him to a small room with a frosted-glass door. The man knocked on it, and a deep voice from within called:

"Come in."

Sam reluctantly entered the room and stood in front of a large man, who was sitting at his desk smoking.

"Sit down," he smiled.

Sam remained standing.

The tall man behind her gave her a forceful shove that sent her down into the chair. She bit back a hiss of pain as her ribs protested violently at this.

"At least you have spirit," said the man from behind a large cloud of smoke. He then took great delight in blowing it in Sam's face. She hid the fact that the foul smoke made her eyes sting.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked.

Just then, another man entered the room and whispered to the one who'd pushed Sam. He set his mouth in a grim line and went over to the director, who then looked equally displeased.

"Bring him in."

Sam turned around in horror to face the door, where a terribly familiar figure was marched inside the office.

"I thought that we made our terms quite clear to you, Major."

The other man pulled Sam off of the chair and pushed her to her knees on the floor.

Sam swallowed as Jack was thrown down on the floor beside her.

"Now you'll both have to die," said the director, standing up and pulling a gun from his drawer.

"Which one of you will go first?" he asked, with an evil smile.

**********

Sam looked in desperation at Jack, her eyes telling him to try and get out.

"I won't leave you," he said under his breath.

**********

Outside, Daniel was waiting. He was dressed in black combat gear, and was nervously holding a zat gun. He heard footsteps coming down the corridor and, without thinking about what he was going to do, he zatted the man approaching him.

"Ow!"

"Oh...uh...Teal'c.... I, I didn't mean.."

"Never mind, Daniel Jackson. Please just help me up."

**********

"I'm getting tired of this," said the director, who began to swing the gun around on his finger.

"That's real dangerous, ya know," said Jack, earning himself a kick in the back.

He tried to hide his pain from Sam but failed miserably.

"It seems that you have chosen for me," the director smiled, pointing his gun down towards Jack's head.

"NO!" Sam screamed.

**********

Another figure, dressed in black but limping slightly, made his way down the corridor towards the director's office. He carried his weapon in his hand, preparing for a fight. When he heard the scream, he quickened his pace to go to the aid of his fellow agent.

**********

Teal'c leant against the wall as he recovered from Daniel's zat blast.

"Teal'c, I...I didn't mean to, I mean...I didn't see you coming."

"Do not let it bother you, Daniel Jackson. I have had worse."

"Oh, well, if you're sure that y..."

"NO!"

Teal'c and Daniel heard Sam's scream and began to run for the director's office. As they were running, they heard two gunshots ring out. Daniel's heart fell to his feet, but Teal'c only quickened his pace, hoping that he would be in time to save his friends.

**********

Janet was sitting in what Daniel had called the 'getaway car.' After going out for a drive with Janet a few days previously (and vowing never to do so again) he had decided that Janet would be the best person to haul their asses out of there. The second choice was Jack, but their asses preferably needed to be hauled out alive.

She heard the muffled gunshots from outside and her blood ran cold. She could do nothing but wait.

**********

Jack instinctively fell forwards over Sam, trying to protect her from the onslaught of bullets. Once the noise had died down, they were both very surprised to find that they were alive.

"Jack," said Sam, sitting up and looking at him, "You're bleeding."

He touched a hand to his face, and it came away smeared with blood. He started to panic, but he could feel no pain. He looked at Sam, touching her cheek with his hand.

"So are you."

"But, I.."

The two of them turned around to see the director's body sliding slowly down the back wall of his office, leaving a large smear of red blood behind him. His right-hand-man was also slumped against a wall, a bullet between his eyes.

"But how?" Jack asked.

"May be a cripple but I can still shoot," said a pleased voice from the doorway.

Sam looked up joyfully to see Agent Barrett standing there, and was amused to see that his hospital gown was still on underneath his black coat.

"I sort of...had to take unofficial leave from the hospital," he smiled, helping Sam and Jack to their feet.

"You get yourself back down there," Jack said, "And thanks. We'd be dead without ya."

"No problem," Barrett said, slipping a piece of paper into Sam's hand as he left.

"Hopefully I'll be seeing you," he smiled.

Sam looked at the bit of paper in her hand.

Level 20, Room 10

"Let's go," said Jack, but they were both interrupted by the sudden arrival of Teal'c and Daniel.

"Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. You?"

"Daniel Jackson shot me with his zat nik'tel, but I am fine."

"Never had ya down as a grass, Teal'c!" Jack joked.

Teal'c frowned. "O'Neill, I am not a plant."

"Never mind."

**********

They managed to reach level 20 without being spotted, which was somewhat unnerving. When they reached room 10, Sam looked in through the keyhole and gasped - Charlotte was inside!"

"Open the door!" Sam cried desperately, "Charlotte, it's me!"

"Aunt Sammie?" the little girl asked, running up to the door and pounding on it.

"Aunt Sammie, get me out of here!"

"I'm trying, honey, I'm trying," said Sam, trying to pick the lock with her shaking fingers and failing.

"Allow me, Major Carter," said Teal'c, taking the stuff from Sam and unlocking the door within a matter of seconds.

Sam rushed in and pulled the little girl into her arms, holding her tightly. "I've got you, sweetie."

She looked around the room and a sudden panic filled her. "Where's James?" she asked.

"A man came and took him away. Said that they were going on a little trip," Charlotte sniffed.

Jack suddenly remembered something. "Ah, crap! There was three men in the room, not two!"

"The scheming b...man must have slipped out while we were being t...uh.... anyway, ya know what I'm talking about," said Jack, who'd been attempting to moderate the story for Charlotte's ears.

"That's right," came a silky voice from the doorway.

They all spun around to see a black-clothed man standing in the doorway with a handgun pointed at Sam.

With a small shriek, Daniel quickly zatted him.

"Well done, Danny boy. Less of the shriek next time, though?"

"Teal'c, Daniel, Jack - go! Take Charlotte back home," said Sam, carefully handing the little girl over to Teal'c.

"No," said Jack, "If you go, I'm coming with you."

Sam looked at him, realised that he wasn't going to change his mind, and agreed.

"Please," she said to Teal'c and Daniel, "Take her back home."

"You will need this," Teal'c said, handing Sam his spare handgun.

"Thanks."

**********

Janet saw Teal'c and Daniel running towards the car with a small girl. She started the engine and leant over to open the door for them.

"Haul ass, Janet!" Daniel cried happily, as they made their escape from the headquarters. His happiness quickly changed to nausea, as he and Teal'c discovered that Janet wasn't too keen on using the brake in life-and-death situations.

Charlotte, on the other hand, was enjoying herself. She was going back home, and she was sure that her Aunt Sammie and Jack would bring James back in one piece.

Her nightmare was over.

**********

Jack pulled the unconscious man over to a chair and sat him in it.

"What can I use to tie him up?" Jack asked.

"You could use your belt," Sam smirked.

Jack turned around in amusement. "Didn't think I'd ever hear that from you, Major!"

Before they could argue any more, the man began to come round.

"Aagh!" he shouted, seeing Sam and Jack standing there with guns pointed at him.

"Hi. We'll be your hosts for this afternoon."

"What do you want?" the man asked, squirming in his seat.

"Tell us where your bum chum has taken the little boy," said Jack, holding his weapon in a more aggressive position.

"No!" the man shouted, trying to get up out of the chair.

Sam angrily shoved him back down into it and pointed her weapon at him.

"Where have they taken the boy?" she asked.

"If you're gonna shoot me, then shoot me!" the man cried, covering his face with his arms.

"I'm not going to shoot you," Sam smiled, "I'll just make sure that no woman will be able to call you a man again!"

Jack raised his eyebrows, and made a mental note not to piss Sam off again if he could help it.

The man whimpered. "C...Colorado Springs.." he said, "P..please don't tell the d..d..director."

"He's got a bullet in his head," said Jack, "Thanks for the help, buddy!" The two of them ran out of the room and headed for the parking lot.

"I'll drive," said Sam.

"No way," Jack argued, "I'm driving."

"Jack..."

"Your hands are shaking too much. Go round the other side - I'll drive."

She looked down at her hands and saw that yes, they were shaking quite madly.

She went around the other side of the car and jumped in, just as the truck's engine roared into life and they squealed out of the parking lot.

**********

Mark heard a knock on his front door and opened it slowly.

"Daddy!"

"Charlotte? LINDA! LINDA, COME HERE!" he shouted over his shoulder, pulling his daughter into his arms.

Linda ran down the stairs and dissolved into tears as she held her daughter close to her.

"W...where's James?" Mark asked.

"Sam and Jack have gone after him," said Daniel.

"Oh, god...come in, please!" said Mark, opening the door wider to let them all in.

"My baby," Linda whispered softly, still hugging her daughter, "My baby, I love you."

"I love you too, momma," she cried.

Janet was very moved by what was going on in front of her.

Mark sat down in an armchair, his entire body trembling.

"Mark?" Janet asked, "Are you okay? You look like you're in shock...I'm a doctor, try to relax."

Mark nodded and waited for the trembling to go away.

"Don't worry, momma. Aunt Sammie will bring Jamie back! She never leaves anybody behind."

Linda finally managed to regain control of herself and looked at her visitors.

"Thank you all, so much. I don't know how we can ever repay you!"

"Don't worry," said Daniel, "Like Charlotte said, we never leave anybody behind."

**********

Jack sped down the interstate. It seemed like it was going to take them years to get to Colorado Springs. He cast a look over at Sam, who was staring out of the window. She looked like she was about to be sick.

"Hey," he whispered, taking one hand off of the wheel and taking hers in it, "We'll bring him back. I promise."

She turned to look at him and managed a weak smile. "Thanks, Jack."

"I mean it. We're gonna kick some serious NID butt!"

Sam smiled again.

"Oh yeah - you know that 'no woman will ever call you a man again?' thing?"

Sam nodded, and Jack gave her a small grin.

"Ya have to do that to me, sometime. I hate to admit it, but it did something for me."

Sam smiled an even bigger smile. "All in due time, Colonel."

Ooh, I could do naughty things to that woman, Jack thought happily, before increasing his speed to try and get to Colorado Springs faster.

**********

General Hammond leant back in his chair and tried to relax. They'd found the girl, at least, but the boy was still missing. Still, he knew that if anybody was going to find him, it would be Sam and Jack.

He was glad that everything was out in the open, that he no longer had to worry about Carter's state of mind. He remembered McKenzie's comment to him about getting his head bitten off before he'd even sat down and smiled.

Just as he was thinking this, there was a knock at the door and McKenzie entered, sporting a black eye.

"General! Your officers are completely non-appreciative and downright dangerous! I am disgusted at their behaviour, I mean, none of them even pretend to like me..."

"That's because you're a miserable, sarcastic bastard, doctor," Hammond smiled as he walked out behind the shocked man, "Goodnight."

**********

As darkness began to fall, Jack looked over at Sam again. She looked exhausted.

He slowly pulled over into a lay-by and looked at her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"You need to sleep, and I need to pee."

"Jack.."

He leant over and stroked a strand of hair away from her face, placing a light kiss on her cheek.

"Sleep," he ordered.

Sam reluctantly obliged. Once he was certain that she was asleep, he got out of the truck to do his business.

A moment later, he got back in and started the engine, driving at a slower pace so as not to wake Sam.

**********

James felt himself being pulled out of the car and he heard the heavy door shut behind him.

"Move, you little bastard!" the man spat, pushing him spitefully in the back.

"Ow!" James cried.

"Shut yer fucking mouth!" said the man, grabbing James by the collar and practically throwing him into a dark room.

James whimpered quietly as the man lit a cigarette.

"Now, we wait for your auntie and her fuckbuddy to turn up and save you," he said mockingly.

James buried his head in his arms to hide the tears that were now flowing freely down his cheeks.

**********

Linda gently tucked her daughter in for the night and kissed her forehead. Mark came in behind her and did the same, before putting his arms around his wife.

"God bless your sister," Linda said softly.

"And her friends," Mark added.

"She will bring Jamie home, won't she?" Linda asked.

"Of course she will," Mark smiled, holding his wife in the quiet darkness of his daughter's room. "Of course she will."

**********

18 days to go...

Sam woke up to find herself still in the truck, but in a totally different place. She looked over at the driver's seat and saw Jack sleeping, with an occasional snore.

She almost cried with relief - the wonderful man had driven by night to get her to Colorado Springs for the morning! With that problem out of her mind, she faced the second - she was bursting for the toilet.

She leant over Jack and smiled as he snored again, giving him a light kiss on his lips to wake him up.

He grunted and tried to turn over, hitting the horn with his hand. It went off with a loud blare, startling Sam and definitely waking him up.

"Shi - what? Oh, hi!" he smiled awkwardly as Sam giggled.

"Oh...stop...it! I...have to pee!" she laughed, leaning against the window.

"Sorry - you go now, I promise I won't look."

She gave him a warning glare.

"Promise!"

As Sam stepped out of the vehicle into the morning sun, she smiled at the beauty around her. When she saw a pervy colonel adjusting his wing mirror, she took off her jacket and threw it at him, getting a muffled curse for a reply.

**********

Jack got out of the truck to join Sam and gave her back her coat. Then, the two of them walked over to the only building that could be seen for miles.

They both waited outside for a tense second, but then Jack went in first.

"Clear!" he said softly, walking over to the only inhabitant of the room - a small boy, curled up into a ball.

"James," Sam whispered softly, "James, wake up."

The little boy opened his eyes and squealed with relief as he saw his auntie, leaping into her arms and clutching hold of her shirt.

"It's okay, Jamie. We're going to take you home now," Sam said.

Jack watched as she soothed the child. Although Sam said that she wouldn't make a good mother, children loved her. First Cassie, and now Charlotte and James.

Every time they'd met a child on a mission, he or she had instantly warmed to her. Except for the Harsesis child, but he was just weird, Jack thought with a small smile.

"I don't think so," said a voice from the doorway.

Sam and Jack turned around in time to see a single man standing there, again dressed in black, brandishing a gun. Before she could do anything, the man aimed low with his gun and shot Jack in the knee.

Sam moved quickly. James had automatically buried his head in her shoulder so she took aim and fired at the man, hitting him between his eyes. The man fell dead to the ground.

Sam gently unwrapped James from her and scrambled over to Jack, who was cursing at the pain.

"Jack!" she said, "Oh, god, I...I'm sorry..."

"Calm down," he said with a grimace, "Just a little scratch."

"Can you walk?" Sam asked.

"Probably," Jack grunted, as Sam hauled him up off of the floor and supported his weight in her arms.

"It's always amazed me how you can haul my fat ass off of the ground," Jack smiled.

James clung hold of Sam's leg and hung off of her hip as she began to walk Jack back to the car.

"You mind riding in the back with me, buddy?" Jack asked James.

He looked up at him nervously.

"He won't hurt you," Sam smiled, "He knows lots of jokes that he could tell you. Rude ones."

James brightened a little, and Jack smirked.

"Men. We're all the same."

"Tell me about it," Sam smiled, as she gently put him in the back seat. She pulled James into her arms and sat him beside Jack, putting the belt securely around him.

"Nearly home, darling," she smiled, giving him a kiss on his forehead.

"Aww...don't I get one?" Jack asked.

Sam gave him a playful smack on the protruding bit of his butt.

"Later," she smiled, putting her hand into her pocket and pulling out a couple of handkerchiefs.

"James?" she asked, "Could you hold this on Jack's leg for me? Don't let go, honey."

James took the handkerchiefs from her and gently applied pressure to Jack's wound.

"Ah!"

"You gonna make it?" Sam asked.

"Get drivin', woman!" Jack smiled.

**********

So she drove.

They'd been going for a few hours when James fell asleep, his little head resting on Jack's shoulder.

"He's a cute kid," Jack said suddenly, breaking Sam from the silence.

"He is," she agreed.

"Are we there yet?" Jack asked.

"No," she said, another smile playing at her lips, "We've got about another hour to go."

A minute later, Jack asked:

"Are we there yet?"

**********

17 days to go...

Sam eventually pulled up outside of Mark's house at 6:00am. It was no surprise to her that the door opened almost immediately and Mark came rushing out.

"Oh my god! Oh, Sam, do you have him?"

She carefully leant across Jack in the back seat and pulled the sleeping James out. Then, she put him in his father's arms.

"I'll be back, Mark - I've gotta get Jack to the hospital."

"Please come back - oh, thank you, sis!"

"No problem," she smiled weakly, and drove Jack to the hospital.

**********

After Jack had woken up, grouched at ten nurses, had a pee and had his leg fixed up, it was eleven o'clock in the morning. Sam hadn't slept in over 24 hours, but she didn't care. She was so happy - her nightmare was over, the children were back with Mark and Linda and Jack was fixed up.

"Mark told us to go back," she said, as she helped Jack into the front seat.

"Will there be food?" Jack asked, trying to be serious.

Sam smiled. "I'm sure it's the least they could do."

**********

Sam was right. When they got back, they found the two children bathed and clothed, eating their way through what looked like the contents of an entire fridge.

"Please," said Linda happily, "Help yourself!"

Jack was more than happy to oblige. He sat down with James, who grinned up at him, offering him a half-chewed chicken nugget.

"Thanks!" Jack replied, taking the nugget and eating it. Linda smiled as she watched him - the man was really good with children.

Sam, meanwhile, made her way over to the comfiest chair and collapsed into it, falling asleep almost instantly.

"Your sister is an amazing woman," Jack told Mark.

"I know," he smiled, gently covering her with a blanket.

"If there's ever anything you need," said Mark, "It would be our pleasure to help you."

"Well, now you mention it..." Jack smiled, looking over at his sleeping angel, "There is something you could help me with."

"Yes?" Linda asked.

The two children looked at him intently.

**********

"You can't tell your Aunt Sammie - it's gonna be a surprise."

James and Charlotte nodded.

Jack reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened it, revealing its contents to Mark and Linda.

"Will she like it?" he asked.

Linda smiled, and Mark nodded. "She'll love it."

He gently lowered the ring to show the children.

"It's really pretty," Charlotte breathed.

"Now, I'm sure that we'll be needing a bridesmaid somewhere..." Jack began.

Charlotte's eyes widened in delight.

"And, I'll need another guy there to even up the numbers," Jack finished, looking at James.

The two children whooped happily.

**********

16 days to go...

They drove up to Jack's cabin the minute they left Mark and Linda's. (That was, after they went back to their places and packed, which took a little while.)

Jack walked outside to where she was standing by the water. It was a perfect night. A perfect night for a proposal.

"Sam?" he asked, standing opposite her.

"Hm?" she asked, turning around to face him.

Jack got down on one knee - unfortunately, it was the wrong knee, and it hurt like a bitch.

"Aaagh! Ah, well, now I'm down here.... Samantha Carter, will you make me the happiest man in the world, and marry me?" he asked, pulling the ring from his pocket (with considerable difficulty) and showing it to her.

She started to cry. "Yes," she smiled, "Yes, I'll marry you."

"Great," Jack smiled, "Now, could ya help haul my old, crippled ass back up off of the floor?"

Sam giggled and pulled him up to his feet again. Then, they kissed together by the sunset, as he slid the ring onto her finger.

"Oh - Charlotte and James have agreed to come," Jack smiled.

"You told them before me?" Sam asked.

"I thought it would cheer them up - Linda nearly stole the ring off of me!"

"I love you, Jack O'Neill," Sam smiled.

"I love you too, Samantha Carter," he replied.

THE END

Author's Note: Hope the last bit wasn't too smutty! Did you enjoy? Please send feedback to samcarterusaf@yahoo.co.uk