TITLE: Crossing Bridges

AUTHOR: Barbs Sears

EMAIL: barbssg1@yahoo.com

RATING: R

SEASON: 7, post Chimera, but before anything else

SPOILERS: Chimera

ARCHIVE: SamandJack yes, Jackfic yes, others yes but please let me know.

DISCLAIMER: Everything that makes money belongs to MGM, GEKKO and lots of other folk much more important than me. Only the love is mine, and that is free.

NOTES: Can't think of anything profound, so, no notes! Enjoy! (Please! –she added desperately!) Feedback would be accepted with fawning, rather pathetic gratitude.

The landscape of P6C-421, known to its olive-skinned inhabitants as Gandara, was swampy, sweaty and scarred with drainage ditches, the only way to make it remotely inhabitable. Their small township was of crude huts raised on wooden stilts, which, Daniel Jackson had informed the rest of the team, resembled the long houses of Borneo. That was why the building that Jack O'Neill was now scanning through his monocular stood out like a skunk in a perfumery. It was a concrete blockhouse, not large but extremely well fortified, with its two windows heavily barred and its only visible door seemingly made of metal.

Tucking himself carefully back down into the scant cover the ditch offered, Jack turned to the young Gandaraan who had led them this far. "So, Vesh, you don't know when the Goa'uld were last here, you don't know how often they visit, and you don't know what they do over there when they do come, right?" If he was more than usually sceptical, he was doing his best not to let it show. Vesh was hardly more than a boy.

"That's right, my lord, but you did ask what we knew of them!" The youth was almost squirming in his eagerness to please his new hero.

" Vesh, for the squillionth time, I'm not your lord, and what you've given us is more like what you don't know, but thanks anyway. You should get back to the township now; we'll handle things from here."

The youth's face fell in disappointment. "Then do I not get to see you fight, and fire your weapons, and slaughter many Goa'uld?"

"Actually," said O'Neill, "We try to avoid all that if we can. The noise offends my sensitive ears. Now, go!" His final words were spoken very firmly, and accompanied by a hefty shove, leaving the youngster in no doubt as to what he should do.

"So, what do we think?" O'Neill turned to the rest of his team for their views on the situation. "We need to know what goes on down there, sir." Sam Carter had an enquiring mind, and always needed to know the whys, whats and hows.

"I agree with Sam, Jack. If this place is important to the Goa'uld, for whatever reason, then we need to know. We may be able to learn something from whatever goes on in there." Daniel Jackson also had an enquiring mind, and his thirst for knowledge was seemingly unquenchable.

SG1's three human members looked at Teal'c, waiting for his informed opinion. As a Jaffa, and former First Prime to a System Lord, his knowledge and experience of the Goa'uld far outstripped their own, and they always gave his views a great deal of respect.

"I have an uneasy feeling about investigating this building, O'Neill. The structure is not typical of any I have seen being used by the Goa'uld and I am unsure as to its purpose. I feel that in this instance we may be well advised to allow slumbering canines to remain dormant."

There was a brief moments puzzlement before Jack said "Oh! Yeah, that's sleeping dogs, Teal'c, thanks." He took another careful look at the seemingly deserted building. "I think I've got to overrule you on this one, buddy. I don't think we can afford to let the opportunity pass."

"The approach to the structure is awkward, O'Neill, and the many small bridges will make a swift retreat difficult."

"Then let's hope we don't have to make one!" Briskly, O'Neill laid out an assault plan. "And if it does go belly up, head straight for the Gate, not the township. We don't want to draw fire on the Gandaraans; they don't have the know-how or the weapons to defend themselves. One last thing; remember what Vesh said earlier about enchanted lights! We don't want to walk through laser alarms or defence shields."

Twenty minutes later, their softly-softly approach to the building had become an all-out flight away from it. Something had alerted the unseen occupants to their presence, and the metal door had clanged open, spewing out more Jaffa than the place looked capable of holding. The wooden plank bridges spanning the drainage ditches had proved the problem that Teal'c had predicted as they were forced to detour from one to the next, and as they flung themselves into one of the deep dykes for a brief moment to catch their breath, Jack shot the Jaffa an apologetic glance, which was matched by one from Sam coming his way.

"I'm sorry, sir, I think that was down to me. I saw the beam, I just got careless." Sam's face was saying a lot more than her words had done, and somehow Jack knew that for a split second she had let her attention wander. He would trust her with his life, indeed had done on more than one occasion, but her involvement with Pete Whatsisname was weighing very heavily on her mind, and it was something Jack just couldn't help her with. His own feelings for her, buried so deep for so long, were too powerful for him to be able to offer her objective advice.

"I don't think we'll start a blame culture debate here and now, Carter. Let's just do the simple thing, and fight our way back to the Gate through the hundreds of Jaffa waiting out there for us. Father O'Neill will hear your confession later!"

Reaching the DHD pedestal first, Daniel dialled home with the speed that only fear of death can impart. Luck had got them through this far, and as Sam slammed their Iris code into her GDO, it seemed it would hold.

"Go!Go! I've got your six!" As usual, Jack held back, making sure all his team were safe home before diving off another God-forsaken, snake- infested planet himself. It was only as his limp body hit the ramp and failed to roll and rise, that SG1 realised that their luck had run out. Janet Fraiser was first to his side.

"His pack has diverted some of the weapon blast, but it's still a nasty injury. Let's get him to the infirmary stat!"

She cut away the remains of the pack, still smouldering from the Goa'uld hit, to reveal the burnt and bloody mess that was Jack's left shoulder." Fortunately there are no critical organs or structures just there. It's going to be very painful, but not life threatening." Her crumbs of comfort meant little to Sam Carter, who watched her unconscious CO with a face as pale as a cathedral candle, tears very close to her misty blue eyes.

Janet shooed the team from under her feet. "Go and see Doc.Warner for your clearances, then we'll have a better idea how the Colonel is doing. If he's awake, you can see him then."

General Hammond looked at SG1, all three still shocked and breathless. "I think we'll hold your debriefing over until Colonel O'Neill is able to take an active part. Go get your medical checks and then you can stand down until tomorrow."

In the infirmary, there was no sign of O'Neill or Doctor Fraiser. As Dr.Warner began their standard post-mission checks, he updated them on their CO's condition. "Dr.Fraiser has the Colonel in the O.R. She has to debride quite a considerable amount of damaged tissue, and he'll probably need grafts. He's in shock because of the blood loss, but he's in no danger. It won't be a very comfortable time for him, though."

Once cleared, showered and changed into comfortable fatigues, SG1 followed their usual pattern and prepared to camp out around the casualty's bed. Jack was always given a secluded side ward, to give other sufferers in the infirmary some peace from his incessant demands to be allowed to leave, and the nursing staff were quite used to playing host to the rest of the team until the injured party recovered. It came as a great surprise, then, to Janet Fraiser making her evening rounds, to find only Teal'c and Daniel on sentry duty at the bedside of the still-sleeping Colonel.

"Sam gone for coffee?" she asked.

"Erm, no, she had a date. Pete's in town." said Daniel, squirming with embarrassment.

"This seemed more important to MajorCarter than our vigil over our wounded comrade." Teal'c added, with no embarrassment at all, but with a great deal of puzzlement and a small hint of disapproval.

Janet's well-trained reactions caught the quick flicker of Jack's eyelids, and realised that he was now conscious and had heard what had been said. "Well, I'm here now, and I've got one or two things I need to do for the Colonel. Why don't you go and eat, and then you can come back for an hour before we settle down for the night."

Checking the machines monitoring Jack's vital signs with steady beeps, Janet sat on the edge of the bed and addressed the apparently still unconscious Colonel. "There's probably a very good reason for her going, Jack."

O'Neill resignedly gave up the pretence, and wincing a little, rolled over to look at the CMO. "How do you always do that? Anyhow, she doesn't have to sit here all night to know that I'm in good hands."

"Careful, Colonel, that was nearly a compliment!" Janet laughed, but saw how deep the hurt was in those melted-chocolate eyes.

"Only because I'm in a weakened state! You always take advantage when I can't defend myself!"

Janet smiled again, tidied the bed and gave Jack a welcome sip of water. "Your other two guardian angels will be back in a while. Do you need anything else?"

"No, thanks, Doc, I'm fine."

Janet heard the words, but had known the man long enough also to hear the unspoken misery, and for a moment found herself almost disliking her best friend. Leaving the ward, she caught Daniel and Teal'c in the corridor and almost dragged them into her office. "What is Sam playing at? If this………thing with Pete is serious, why doesn't she level with the Colonel? She can't expect to keep him hanging around as a standby in case no better offer comes along --- it's not fair!"

Daniel had rarely seen Janet so het-up, and began to wonder whether her concern for Jack's welfare went past the purely professional. "I honestly don't think Sam sees it like that, Jan. I don't think she realises how deep Jack's feelings go, and of course, he's not about to tell her."

"Oh, that's bullshit!" snapped the fiery little doctor. "She must know how he feels! Everybody else on the base seems to, even General Hammond! What does she want, skywriting?"

"I believe that Colonel O'Neill and MajorCarter are both attempting to protect the other from hurt, Dr.Fraiser." Teal'c rumbled.

"Then neither of them is doing a very good job, are they! She's breaking his heart, and he's refusing them the both the chance of a lasting relationship with the only person meant for them! Are they both stupid, or what?"

"It would appear so!" was Teal'c's only answer, as he and Daniel went back to Jack's bedside. His pretence of sleep fooled them better than it had Janet, and as the aides moved quietly around the wards settling their charges, the two men left for their own quarters, leaving Jack to stare at the ceiling and wait for the long night hours to crawl past.

"Can't sleep?" Janet asked gently a few hours later. "Nope! Too much going on!"

Janet looked out at the still and silent infirmary. "Really?"

"On the inside!" said Jack briefly, never one to give much away.

"Would you like something for the pain?"

"I don't think you've got anything that'll reach where I'm hurting, Jan, but thanks anyway." Jack turned away, not wanting anyone to see tears in his eyes; even though Janet understood better than anyone the physical pain and weakness he was suffering, the tears that were stinging his eyes and choking his throat had little to do with his injured shoulder and much more to do with his wounded heart.

"Jack, I'm going to give you a mild sedative. You need to sleep."

Administering the injection, Janet once again sat on the bed and wiped the pain-induced sweat from Jack's forehead, running her hand back over his hair in a soothing gesture. Eyes closed, he smiled gratefully up at her, and she kept up the gentle, repetitive movement until his breathing levelled out and she was sure he slept. Only then did she still her hand, and leant forward to kiss his forehead very tenderly, murmuring, "If only she wasn't my best friend……. I really wouldn't mind trying to offer some consolation!" Leaving a soft light over the bed illuminating his so-tormented face, she sighed heavily and left.

Hours later, Jack's numbed mind crawled up from the murky pit of sedation and registered that the cool hand was still stroking his too- warm face. Eyes still closed, he whispered "If you're gonna do that all night, I'm gonna have to ask you to marry me!"

Waiting for Fraiser's no-doubt sarcastic reply, he was stunned to hear another's voice. "And if you did, I'd have to accept!"

Forcing both eyes open, Jack looked up into Sam's face, and saw all the love he felt in his heart reflected in her lovely eyes. He moistened very dry lips and risked a question "Pete?"

"Pete who? That's why I had to go tonight, Jack. I needed to tell him that I wasn't being fair on him, that he could never have anymore of me than I'd already given, because every important piece of me already belonged to someone else! I knew that when I saw you go down in the Gateroom. I couldn't explain to Daniel and Teal'c, I just had to go, and get it done. I don't want anyone else, Jack, I don't need anyone else, and however long it takes for us to sort it all out, I'll wait!"

Jack grinned his acceptance and understanding "What time is it?"

"Just after 03.00, why?"

"Time all good Majors were tucked up asleep!" Shuffling across the bed, guarding his injury carefully, he made room for her and patted the mattress invitingly. "Thanks to Doc. Napoleon's sedative, I'll have trouble raising an eyebrow, never mind anything else, but I could offer a real good snuggle!"

Stripping quickly to her t-shirt and briefs, Sam slipped into the bed, held close to Jack's chest by his undamaged right arm. Sliding her leg over his, she tangled her fingers in his dog tags and pulled his face close for a kiss that said everything that needed saying.

"What'll we do in the morning, when they find us here like this, Jack?"

"Well, as Master Bratac always says, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!"

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