Unintended Consequences

Genre: Gen
Characters: Sam, Jack, Teal'c, Daniel, Janet

Unintended Consequences

Sam was spinning, spinning, arms wide, head thrown back. When she finally stumbled to a halt, she could see three concerned faces looking up at her as she stood on her wonderful tree stump. But why were they worried when the night was so beautiful and perfect? She laughed as she knelt down on the and placed gentle kisses on Teal'c's gold tattoo, and Daniel's furrowed brow, and then the colonel's hands grasped her arms tightly, holding her still, as he spoke to the others.

Colonel Jack O'Neill, USAF. Strong and competent and that wonderful silver hair. But so so sad, sometimes, only when he thought no one was looking. But they were all looking at him now, because he was using his command voice and that meant Pay. Attention.

She came to a bizarre parody of parade rest, still on her knees, and shouted, "Orders, Sir?"

His voice sounded as if it were coming from the bottom of a well and she giggled as the words overlapped and waved to each other. "For you to settle down and come with us, Carter. You've won an all expenses paid trip to see good ol' Doc Fraiser."

"Nuh uh. Feel good!" She drew the last word out as she tilted her head back again to examine the crisscrossing trails of the stars.

Somehow the colonel had manhandled her into Teal'c's arms and he was carrying her as they made their way to the stargate. She could fight it, absolutely, she was well-trained and very capable and never Just A Girl, but Teal'c was surprisingly snuggly when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and cradled her head against his neck and she thought maybe she'd stay here for just a little bit.

Daniel's waterlogged voice was talking at her now and she tried to tune in. It was a pretty voice, very expressive. Sometimes she thought that she could listen to him for hours. The colonel always thought she was paying attention in the briefings, but really, sometimes, she was just listening the rise and fall of that voice.

"Shhh," she whispered loudly. "Don't tell anyone!"

"Okay, Sam. But you can tell me, right?" Daniel touched her arm lightly and she turned her head to follow the voice.

"Tell you what?" The starlight hurt her eyes and she quickly turned her face back into Teal'c's neck.

"Forget it, Daniel. We'll just have to trust that Fraiser can figure out what the hell she ate or drank."

"Or touched, or breathed," Daniel added irritably.

Her headache started traveling through her skin and muscles and blood and she moaned softly. Teal'c held her tighter.

"Major Carter's fever is rising rapidly, O'Neill."

"Hang on, we're almost there. Daniel, go, start dialing, radio ahead for a medical team."

They were all so loud. She really just wanted to be quiet and still now. And something Daniel had said, or asked, was nagging at her, finally unfolding itself in her brain. She dug into her pocket and closed her hand around the small cloth, fighting the heaviness in her muscles to drag it out.

"Teal'c," she whispered, dropping her hand between them, holding the bundle tightly; snuggly Teal'c was now bouncing and jostling and she was afraid they would drop it. Daniel had said it was important.

They stopped moving and Teal'c's hand closed over hers, carefully removing the object from her grasp. She shrank from the sharp urgency in his voice when he spoke.

"O'Neill, I believe this may be of some importance."

"What the hell is this? Carter, did you eat this?" More sharp words, intense waves of sound, and she wanted to answer, really really wanted to do that, absolutely couldn't.

He must have taken her groan as confirmation. The click and hiss of the radio preceded his voice as he told Daniel that they had a sample of what might be causing this.

Teal'c was humming softly as they started moving again. She wondered if he always did that - she wouldn't have heard it if she wasn't right next to him - or if he was doing it for her. It was soothing, restful; then everything was cold. She lifted her head long enough to see the dull gray walls of the gateroom before everything faded.

"Colonel! Please put that down." Janet's voice, about equal parts irritation and amusement, cut through the hazy cloud inside Sam's head and she slowly blinked in the dim light on the infirmary. Next to her, the colonel was poking at an instrument tray.

He looked over as she started to stretch her aching muscles. "Hey, you're awake." He grinned down at her.

"Colonel? What happened?" she asked.

Then Janet was muscling the colonel aside so that she could get at her patient. Her hands were light and cool as she got physical confirmation of the data appearing on the monitors. "There was something in that food they gave you during the festival. A type of fungus in the grain. I believe the locals have probably developed an immunity to it, but it's impact on your system..."

"You took the equivalent of alien LSD, Major." Sam groaned at the smirk on the colonel's face as he interrupted the doctor. She was never going to live this down.

Janet smiled at her. "You'll be fine, Sam. We were able to flush your system; there was no permanent damage done. I want to keep you here for a few more hours, but you'll be home by tonight."

"She awake yet?" Daniel's voice preceded his entrance to the infirmary, Teal'c following immediately after.

"If she wasn't already, I'm sure that would have done it." Janet sent a stern glare toward Daniel, who looked sheepish for about ten seconds before shooting her a saucy grin. "Oops."

The doctor shook her head. "Just a few minutes, guys. I really do want her to rest."

"We understand, Doctor Fraiser," Teal'c responded for the all of them and issued his own stern look that he would be enforcing the doctor's orders.

Sam looked around at her team, wavering between embarrassment at the flashes of memory that were coming back and gratitude for their steady, solid support.

"I feel like I should apologize or something," she started.

"Oh, you weren't that bad, Major. A little goofy, maybe."

"Yeah," Daniel broke in. "I think Jack still holds the record for most embarrassing food-related behavior on a mission."

"Oh, like you're always such a paragon of virtue! I seem to recall..."

Teal'c's raised eyebrow spoke louder than any words and the two of them stopped bickering. "Guess what we're trying to say, Carter, is it's no big deal."

She smiled. "Whatever you say, Sir."

"Get some rest and whenever Fraiser springs you from this place, you will have an official SG-1 escort home and you get to pick the movie."

She looked at them as she relaxed back into her pillow. Despite their jocularity, it must have been a long night for them. The colonel was rumpled and hadn't shaved yet, Daniel had the wired look that she had seen during some of his more spectacular caffeine-fueled all-nighters, and even Teal'c had an air of tense fatigue about him.

She doubted any of them would last through an entire movie. But then again, that wasn't really the point. She smiled as she closed her eyes.

"Thanks guys," she murmured.

~ends~