Leap of Faith

By

Denise

"Do you trust me sir?" She asks. Stupid question Carter. If I didn't trust you I sure as hell wouldn't be seriously contemplating doing what you're telling me to do. Sure the air's getting a little thin...and a lot rank...damn Teal'c, what did you have for lunch yesterday buddy...or was that me?...but you do realize the next lung full of breathable air is a few planets away right?

This whole 'pop the canopy' thing ... it is a viable plan isn't it? This isn't a 'you never did thank me for rescuing you, you were an asshole in the hall, you made fun of my hair, you keep pestering me to go fishing, ordering me to get a life, turn my reactor into a bomb' payback...is it?

I mean yeah I trust you when you tell me it's Jolinar's memories leading the way. I trusted you that a bomb would jump the wormhole and save earth. Or when you said the Tok'ra weren't going to stick snakes in us. I trusted you when it was your idea that got you, Teal'c and me offa Thor's ship in one piece but...hell this isn't just a leap of faith...it's THE leap of faith. One little bump in the calculations and there's gonna be freeze dried O'Neill floating around the solar system. I mean...I like astronomy but I'm not too keen on becoming part of the landscape for cryin out loud.

I wonder if I push off hard enough if I'll make it back to earth...in a century or two. With the way my luck's been going I'll make it back only to knock a satellite out of orbit or wind up splashed on the space station's windshield. Surely they'll have it finished by then.

Maybe I'll burn up in the atmosphere? Go out in a true blaze of glory. Nah. Knowing my luck I'll just hang here for a while. Eventually get pulled down to Jupiter. Yeah. Men are from Mars, Women from Venus and O'Neill's hanging around somewhere between Jupiter and Uranus.

Well Hammond's called me a pain in his ass a few times so I guess it's sorta appropriate.

Ahh what the hell? Let's see, what are my choices? Yeah right. Stay in here and asphyxiate with Teal'c and Junior or bet it all on Carter's little leap of faith. What have I got to lose? No matter how you look at it I'm a dead man walking...floating.

The canopy pops...silently. Yeah I know there's no noise in a vacuum but...I've never heard silence before. Every time I can remember thinking it was quiet, like in my quarters at 0300 or in my bedroom at 0400 when I can hear my heart beat...Or at the lake just before dawn when you can hear the loons paddling on the other side...it was just quiet. This is silence.

I swear I feel my ears trying to telescope out of my head. It's like when you're at the movies and it's a little out of focus but your eyes don't know that and keep trying to make the picture right. My ears need to hear.

They can't even hear me screaming. I know I am. I can feel my throat vibrate but...nothing.

Nothing but cold. Intense, bone-numbing, bitter, biting, penetrating, piercing cold. Did I mention it's cold? Hell Antarctica was a freaking sauna compared to this.

Damnit Carter, are you sure this is going to work? Or are you just planning to put me out of my misery?

I know I don't believe in ghosts but if you've just killed me...I'm gonna haunt you for the rest of your life.

The rushing overwhelming roaring noise of the rings swamp my senses. That and an intense wave of heat. I'd swear I just got dumped in a volcano.

Too cold and too shocked to process it...I don't. One second I'm dying and the next I'm lying on the floor. Huh? What'd I miss? Is this heaven? Hope so, cause I've already been to hell.

A touch on my shoulder convinces me it's real. None of my hallucinations have ever touched me before. I feel the touch again and I open my eyes. Gaudy gold has never looked so good.

Hot Damn. I'm alive.

I let Danny help me off with the useless mask, largely because my fingers are too numb to do anything. His hands feel like fire on my shocked flesh. But I don't mind. I'm...we're alive to feel it.

I take  a look at Carter standing by Jacob. Oh yeah...dad involved. I remember now. Bout time the Tok'ra helped US out.  At least it isn't Tok'ra spice. That little... Freya woulda have me flat on my...Man they look tired. I get a funny feeling their last 24 hours have been as eventful as Teal'c's and mine have been boring.

What ever those two were up to...it worked. They got themselves another SG-1 miracle. Yet another example of brains over brawn. Scientists may drive me batty but...that's it. They're the miracle workers so we'll change their names to Scotty 1 and Scotty 2. Daniel can teach Carter Gaelic. Or Faith 1 and Faith 2. Cause that's what I got in them...faith.

Because, other than Teal'c, Hammond and Janet, they're the only other people in the universe I trust implicitly.

"You need a lift home?" Jacob asks in that indulgent father voice of his. OK. So he's amused by the whole thing. My ego can live with that.

"Yes sir. Thank you," I tell him sincerely. This works. We break him outta hell and he rescues us from heaven. Works for me.

I stay on the floor. The way I feel, if I try to stand I'm gonna end up right back down here anyway.

I look at Teal'c. Thanks to Junior he's in better shape than I am. Then again, if it wasn't for Junior, we'd both be dead.

"You guys just relax. I don't see any need to hurry back so it'll take a couple of hours," he says with a knowing smile. Yeah I can play hooky for an hour or two. Hell, could stay up here for a day or two. Just what would Hammond do about it anyway? If we had a ship we wouldn't have needed to call the Tok'ra right? Oh yeah...we did have a ship. Teal'c and I lost it...Wonder what the penalty for THAT is? Can't be as bad as losing a gate.

And anyway...it wasn't out fault.

Daniel and Carter join us on the floor. Do the Tok'ra have something against chairs? I can recognize the signs of ebbing adrenaline from here. I wonder what in the hell they did to get to us. From the looks of things it wasn't easy.

"So kids. I trust you were good while we were away?" Carter gives me that 'I'm biting my tongue' look of hers. It gives me the creeps sometimes. One of these days she's gonna cut loose on me and I have a feeling I'm gonna regret it. Daniel rolls his eyes at me. For a man who's never had a kid, he sure as hell has that patronizing  look down. "Come on...spill. What were you two up to while T-Man and I were lost in space? How'd Jacob get involved? And how pissed is Davis at losing his new toy?" I ask them.

They start to talk. And I listen. Don't fall out of your chair. I really do listen to them. Sure this isn't the first time they've saved my six. But it is the first time I just knew they would. Once Teal'c went to sleep that was my lonely mantra...they're coming...they're coming...

If I hadn't have trusted in them I woulda taken my pocket knife and...nah. Didn't happen, doesn't matter now.

I really do learn from my mistakes. This wasn't like Edora. I kept my faith in Carter this time. I knew if there was a way to get to us she'd find it.  And I kept my trust in Daniel. If he could change Lotan's mind, he sure as hell could save my sorry ass.

Two way too smart kids that keep finding ways to rescue an old grump like me. They go on about all they went through. Danny told off Anise...Sweet. Hope there's a tape of it somewhere. And they went where? Alone? And Hammond let them? Are they nuts? Jake was going to blow up what?

OK...I am listening, it's just not all sinking in. I'll get more of the story back at home. But for now it's enough. I'm ... it sounds corny but I'm touched that I have two such good friends. Two years I woulda wrote them off as geeks. But...they're the best folks I've ever served with...trustworthy, loyal...wait. Whoa...Daniel back up...what's this about oz?

fin