DEADLINE SUPERNOVA

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DISCLAIMER: Don't own SG-1 or any of its characters.

SUMMARY: For 7 years, SG-1 has faced unimaginable odds. To Sam, the rules of her command are the words of God, even after they forbid her feelings for her commanding officer. For these 7 years, Jack and Sam have tried to keep their emotions hidden, to little avail. And though both know every time they step through that gate is a taunt on death, they do so valiantly. But when the world melts away and they are left alone in a galaxy, bleeding, wounded, dying… there is no reason to hide. And feelings erupt.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This story is divided in two sections, before and after the incident, meaning it jumps around in the timeline. The events after are in italics. The events before it are in regular text and are more crucial to the plot.

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The room slowly lit as the power of the sun surrounded her. Sam's wounds had formed a small circular puddle of blood around her by the time Jack came running in, the door melting shut behind him. He slid down by her side, gasping to catch his breath.

If it had been any other person dying on the floor, he would have thought something sarcastic or witty to ease the moment like he was getting to old for this or that someone should really fix the air conditioning. But it was Sam. He had one marquee of consciousness flashing in front of his eyes, overwhelming his convictions: to save her, to comfort her, be it the last time. Despite the blood, he tried to sit her up, knowing it was a foolish move in her condition but wanting desperately to hold her.

"Carter!" he called out. "Carter, wake up. Come on, baby. Open your eyes."

The walls began to break and crackle under the heat of the sun's revenge outside. Even as it died, it took them with it as a final mock.

Sam tried to respond but it was as if she was drowning. She gasped out, her deep blue eyes begging him to help her but it was useless. She clawed at his chest. "Jack," she managed, swallowing the taste of coagulating defeat. "Jack, it's over."

He knew it was serious if she was disregarding protocol and rank. Sam had never given up, even when presented with worse odds. He knew she had lost hope of escaping and now he would go with her.

He looked around at the room, at the enclosing walls. They were trapped in an orb, an Ancient dome, and yet he felt no heat other than that he felt when she was close. She was so cold herself.

"Sam, don't worry. They're coming for us."

"You can't… lie… to me now," she said between gasps. "No one is coming. We're the last people in the entire galaxy, Jack. The only thing keeping us from burning with them is this place. Look around. It's dying too."

"No, no," he said with a false smile. "It'll be fine. The sun will stop exploding and we'll just repaint. Maybe add a little furniture, a little kitchen nook."

She choked as she went to laugh. What was most disconcerting was that she knew she was minutes from death and yet no matter her wounds, she could feel no pain so long as he held her as he did, resting her against his knee, hovering over her so closely she could kiss him. At the thought of him, of them, she began to cry. Death did not frighten her. Losing him did, as it always had.

"Jack, there's something I want to tell you…"

"No! We're going to be fine."

She grew angry. "NO! Give me my goodbye! This is the end, Jack! It stops here! We're alone. We can't run. There's nothing outside this room! It's just you and me. It's always been you and me."

"Sam, I can't--"

She tightened her grip on his arm and shed another stream of tears. The blood kept spreading even as her heart slowed. The heat began to enter through the miniscule cracks in the metal dome.

"I just want you to know… I can think of no better way to die than in your company…" she said and gasped, feeling the pain of her injuries surge through as if God had suddenly taken to magnifying glasses and her chest was the ant. The pressure started and she thought her ribs were cracking. Every sensation became heightened, even the feel of his fingers, wrapping themselves around her hand. She hadn't noticed it before, the gentleness of his touch despite all the pain around her.

"Sam, I--"

She interrupted, breathing ever more a task. "And I want… to say… I only regret… waiting until… until now… to tell you…"

"I love you too, Sam," he said softly, leaning in closer so she could feel his breath on her lips as he spoke. "And there's no regret. You're what's kept me alive this long. Sam, knowing your smile waited for me on the other side of that gate… it's the only reason I kept going."

He drew closer and his bottom lip brushed hers. The walls of the dome finally gave and a stream of light blinded him. He closed his eyes tight and brought her to his chest, holding on for dear life.

But nothing happened.

The light did not burn.

He opened his eyes to the sight of Sam's hair, her head against his chest. Her hand had gone limp atop the puddle of blood beside her.

He didn't care to see they were in the middle of the control room of the Prometheus. He didn't care the entire staff had gathered around them, watching this moment of intimacy. He didn't care the light that struck him had been an Asgard beam and they were safe in the company of friends… He didn't care he was crying.

The rest became a blur. Medical personnel came running in and pushed him aside on the floor. There were voices. Daniel was yelling something, his hand on Jack's shoulder. Neither would remember what was said. Others came to help him but he just watched Sam's body be taken away to the infirmary.

He felt adrenaline spike his blood and went to get up to run after her. He refused to leave her. But Daniel and Teal'c pulled him back.

He wiped the sweat from his brow only to spread her blood over his face. He turned to Daniel, who seemed to feel his pain as Daniel always did. Even Teal'c seemed to mourn.

Daniel hugged him but Jack was hysterical. "It was my fault!" he screamed. "I killed her! They're all dead. It was my fault!"

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PART ONE: The Exodus

It had begun a week before, the death of the sun of Riles. It was a simple, uninhabited solar system with a single gas giant. The Tok'ra had sent word that it was about to collapse and Sam was the first to stress the importance of the event.

Jack didn't see why they had to drag themselves to the middle of nowhere just to jot down some numbers. They had seen suns blow up before, but there was something special about this solar system.

On the barren planet, there sat an orb about half the size of the SGC. It was metallic, obviously man-made, and hollow as if it held something precious inside. Jack loved how Sam had described it in the briefing. It was a "jewelry box full of treasure" and she was dying to open it. Maybe that should have been a warning but Jack did not like to overanalyze.

"How are we going to get inside?" Daniel asked.

"We'll use rings. The only problem is the sun is decaying fast. We got news of it too late. I've begun calculating the expansion rate of the explosion. We have to get in, see what's up, and get back out before the deadline I've set or the cargo ship's engines won't be able to escape the blast," Sam explained, holding onto the clicker to the projector.

"Where's Prometheus? Why can't we take it instead if it's faster?" Jack asked.

"It's somewhere in the Halcyon Galaxy. It'll be back in a few days but I need as much time as possible to check my readings, explore the orb, do my fun stuff with the vibrating gizmos…"

Jack looked up from doodling on his notepad, suddenly enthused. "I don't think you've ever said anything sexier or more grammatically incorrect all the time I've known you," he joked.

They all looked at him like he had suddenly said something inappropriate but Sam just blushed and smiled and nudged it off. She was getting fantastic at denying him. Even when the meeting resumed, Daniel still raised an eyebrow in Jack's direction, shooting him disapproving looks and nods. Teal'c raised an eyebrow as well but it was hard to tell at whom, or what, and it quickly dashed.

Hammond stood up at the end of the briefing as if it was just another routine search party. "So it's set. Major, get your equipment ready. You leave at 0700."

And it was done.

They set out promptly at 0740 because Jack couldn't find his gun. It was silly to lose a gun, especially one a quarter his size, but it was bound to happen from time to time. And of course it had to be his gun. No other would do. Sam wondered if he did it just to bother her, knowing they were on deadline.

She was waiting at the base of the ramp when he came into the 'Gate room. Daniel and Teal'c were already on the planet where the cargo ship waited to take them to Riles. She had her arms crossed and looked like he'd just stolen her patents to the atom bomb.

He lifted up the gun in triumph and made a small apologetic smirk before lowering his head in shame and walking up the ramp.

"Where was it?" she asked.

"Armory. It was under the Kevlar vests for Anubis' guys, right next to that photo of you last Christmas. Remember that?" She opened her eyes wide in fear. It was one of those moments he'd never let her live down. Alcohol was involved. "Let's drop the issue with the gun before we start getting nostalgic," he warned.

They walked to the grassy hill where Daniel, Teal'c, and SG-14 waited. Why they'd been stuck with SG-14, she didn't know. It was made up of lazy new personnel who preferred to be home watching the football game than a sun explode, and were led by Major Barry who was in his 50s and had no time for "shenanigans," as he loved to say. It made Sam giggle, which entertained Jack immensely. He loved to mock it when the Major wasn't in the room.

He noticed they had grown closer as a team in the last months or so. After the destruction of the beta site, he and Sam had developed a sort of mutual gratuity. Now more than ever, she felt indebted to him. He wanted more than anything to make her feel what he felt, that they had grown beyond this awkwardness. Even as the team began to behave ever so informal, she kept up her defenses. It was horrible on him. Years later, he had become numb to it, accustomed, and he hated it.

"We ready?" Daniel asked. Sam and Jack snapped out of their wandering minds. Sam suddenly scurried to check on the equipment. If she delved too long in thoughts of Jack, who knows what she might do.

Inside the cargo ship, Jack took his usual seat which he lovingly called The Supreme Throne of the Supreme Overlord. Sam rolled her eyes but she knew it was intended to mock the Goa'uld. She didn't understand how he could still mock them after all they'd seen. It helped her sleep at night knowing she was doing something about it.

But lately, she wasn't even sleeping anymore. The guys could tell but hadn't mentioned anything to her just yet. Once it got serious, they'd hold a sort of intervention the way they did after Teal'c got addicted to jelly-filled donuts and Daniel wouldn't stop screaming at the History Channel. Her problem they knew was serious. It had started just after the incident at the alpha site.

"So how long before we reach the Sun of Riles?" Teal'c asked, setting down a large load of equipment from the ring bay.

Sam helped some of the SG-14 newbies with their load and answered, "Two days."

Jack jumped off his Supreme Throne and clapped his hands together. "Beeeeautiful. Who's up for some Monopoly? Poker? Checkers? Anyone?"

Nobody took any notice and kept on moving equipment and opening boxes of provisions. Daniel walked past Jack with a stack of books and gave him a dismissive look and a subtle shake of the head.

He groaned and said, "It's going to be a long night."

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"We didn't have enough time," Jack said. His hand was shaking. He stared at it on his lap as he spoke. It made Daniel sick. He had never seen him this broken, even when confronted with torture and death.

They had taken Sam to surgery. There was still hope. But every bit of Jack's soul could feel her loss.

They made him wait, taking him to a bed in the infirmary. He sat on the edge like a small child waiting for his lollipop, if he behaved. They'd had to sedate him. Daniel sat in the bed next to him, watching him with watery eyes. Teal'c stood at the door to make sure he didn't leave. It was hard to get past a man of Teal'c size, with all bones intact.

"Jack… why?" Daniel asked.

Jack stopped shaking and looked up at him slowly. The question had hurt. "I warned her. I knew he was coming. But she had to make sure you could leave, and I couldn't leave without her."

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The night was not long at all. They gathered around in a circle on the floor around the rings, lazily telling old war stories. Or, in Daniel's case, not. Major Barry was extremely fond of his war record. Most of his stories were filled with gore and always reinforced his belief in a proper chain of command.

In fact, he slammed his right fist into his left palm at every word for emphasis. "Proper. Chain. Of. Command!"

Jack, Sam, and Daniel snuck glances at each other and found they were all stifling giggles. SG-14 looked up at Barry like star-struck students. They didn't have enough cynicism yet. It was a trait that grew with experience.

There was a small moment of comfortable silence. SG-1 hadn't been paying attention so they didn't notice that Barry had stopped talking. He grew very pensive, as if he was contemplating an old mission. Jack didn't like the major very much. He was getting that Spidey-sense he got around people sometimes.

He looked at him over the rim of his beer bottle. He'd managed to sneak them aboard, 10 six-packs. Daniel was waiting till he accused him of being a nerd. Now he could always respond by calling him a mean drunk. But then Sam might get involved, especially after last Christmas. She was a disoriented sort of drunk that could hardly walk to the car by herself without singing Nick-at-Nite showtunes. Daniel was the type to pee in public places without noticing, and Teal'c usually drove them all home, or the nearest hospital. Sam looked around with a smile. She knew they were all thinking of those moments. It seemed like they were all, in their hearts, already saying goodbye as if they knew this was one of the last good moments they'd ever have.

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Frasier walked in some hours later, still in scrubs. Jack was already asleep. They'd cured and bathed him. He was covered in dust from burning debris. Daniel jumped up off the edge of the bed. Jack had been lucky enough to get sedated. He wished he couldn't feel anything right now. It was hurting too much. It had never been like this.

"Well?" he asked.

Janet looked at him with teary eyes and shook her head. She started crying hysterically, suddenly, catching him by surprise. Teal'c helped hold her up but she too had seen too much and the image of Sam on that table was never going to wash away.

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To be continued…

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