This is for all those who wanted a more angsty Jack and Sam story.
Fated Circle. By Arami Heartilly
The briefing room was quiet, which at that particular time in the morning wasn't unusual. Things didn't normally get started until about nine o'clock. What was unusual however was the mood in the room. Jack had been there for 20 minutes with some reports he had to get out of the way and a cup of coffee that by now had turned cold but that didn't seem to be the problem, not that he really knew how to describe it – it was just a feeling that something wasn't quite how it should have been or was about to be changed.
For a start he was alone. Teal'c was in the gym; Daniel was in his lab investigating some artefact and Sam? Sam was in her lab checking on her latest experiment – reluctantly he might add as the thought stirred memories that made him smile and his eyes mist over. Even General Hammond wasn't around like he normally was and Jack could see from where he sat that the generals office was empty, not to mention that he'd managed to get through the paper work.
Jack was a man that lived by his instincts and they told him that something was a-miss. He just wanted people to arrive and for the feeling to go away and soon because the last thing he needed was nagging doubt about the mission they were due to go on in 2 hours.
General Hammond couldn't believe what he'd just been told because it wasn't something he'd ever expected to hear about but that now he had he would be forced to take action, before the briefing started Because there was no way he was taking the risk of sending them to the planet only to have them risk compromising the team. Only trouble was he really didn't want to do this.
As he reached the briefing room he took a deep breath and put himself firmly into military mode and walked into the room. As usual they all stood up and he motioned for them to sit down, Jack was eyeing him suspiciously but the general let nothing show on his face and major Carter at his side looked a little confused. Teal'c, Daniel and Janet who would be needed for this briefing and possibly the mission also looked a little un-nerved and he didn't think it was down to his military persona.
"Good morning. I'm afraid that your mission to P7X 482 has been cancelled due to some problems that I have just become aware of and will be rescheduled when the situation has been solved."
"General?" Jack asked looking around at the rest of the table and then back to him . "I've only just been informed myself Colonel and I'm afraid that a complete review of the situation will be needed before you and your team are given a go." Jack looked like he was going to say something else but the general started to talk again before had the chance. "Your on down time until further notice. Dismissed."
Not knowing what any of them were supposed to do they all stood up and when it became clear that general Hammond wasn't going to elaborate or move from where he was stood they started to file out until only Jack and Sam were still in the briefing room. Sam was ahead of Jack and fully intended on returning to her lab until the general called them back.
"Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter I need to see you in my office." He sounded serious and as Sam turned around she knew exactly what this was going to be about – it was all over his face. She daren't look at Jack because she knew he understood what was going to happen.
Once in the office and with the door firmly shut behind them general Hammond motioned for them to take a seat. They did and sat there in silence until the General spoke. "It has come to my attention that there has been a breech of regulations and although I have not been provided with all the details what has become apparent is that this breech can no longer continue."
Sam closed her eyes for a few seconds before dropping her gaze to the desktop not wanting him to continue and more than that not wanting this to happen. They were so close to the end of the war, so close to not having to hide it any more so close to leaving that this almost seemed impossible. "How?" Sam managed, not even aware she'd spoken really.
"Well that's what I want to talk to you about." He was surprised by their complete and utter lack of denial.
"No sir, how did you find out?" she asked knowing that they had been so careful – so dam careful to keep this firmly in their small circle of friends and those that knew had know for over a year and would never utter a word but then who had told him?
"This morning I received an anonymous phone call from a source we have been unable to trace that informed me of a development between the pair of you, I would have dismissed the phone call if the content hadn't been so accurate with regards to certain aspects of the SGC therefore I have been forced to take action." The General informed them, Jack glanced at Sam who met his gaze with concern, Sam didn't want to loose her job but there was no way she was going to give up her relationship with Jack because it hadn't compromised the team so far and she knew there was no way that it was likely to happen now after a year of them being together.
"And what action are you planning on taking General?" Jack asked in a voice somewhere between casual and concern.
"I was hoping that it would lie with the pair of you. I am and have been aware of an attraction between both you and Major Carter for three years now but until this morning I assumed that you'd had the good sense not to act on it. However with that not being the case you have two options either you brake it off-"
"Now way!" Sam retorted the same time as Jack shouted . "Not going to happen!" because there was simply no way either of them were going to go through that, not when they knew how it could be and how it was.
"Or one of you will be re-assigned which I am very reluctant to do because you are part of my best team." He carried on completely ignoring their objections because in his mind as hard as this was it had to be done.
"Sir even if we did break this off, which with all due respect we're not going to do then we'd still have the same feelings towards each other that we have done for the past few years – it won't change anything." Sam told him trying to make her case. Sam wasn't stupid and she was fully aware of the regulations and that General Hammond had to do something and she also knew that to ask for special treatment would be wrong but she wanted it to go back to him not knowing – to him just thinking there was an attraction between them.
"In that case I'm ordering you to take the day off and to think about your decision because I'm not prepared to risk the safety of the team on an alien world until this issue is resolved. Dismissed."
"General you can't be serious." Jack said but there wasn't really any conviction behind it, the general wasn't the sort of man to make threats that he couldn't keep.
"Dismissed." He said once more and they stood up leaving without another word knowing that their decision would effect not just the their relationship but the team and possibly the SGC.
Sam had gone straight to her lab after the meeting with Hammond and Jack had headed to his own office to pick something up, he hadn't said what just that the base wasn't the safest place to leave whatever it was he kept in there. When he found her in her lab she was pacing up and down the floor.
"He meant it Jack – really meant it, what are we supposed to do just go home and hope that it all sorts itself out?" staying on the base for a while had also given them both enough time to calm down and they'd also hoped to see one of the others to get them to do some digging into who exactly had called the general. Unfortunately no one seemed to be around . "Hey, come here." He said to her walking towards her and wrapping her in his arms, her head came to rest on his shoulder as she held him tight.
"I can't loose this job and I won't loose you." She whispered into his ear. "And if they're going to make me choose then I choose you – us I'll quit the air force and come back as a scientist." He held her tighter and kissed her hair softly.
"You don't have to do that Sam."
"Yes I do."
"No, I'll just do what I've been almost doing for the past couple of years." She shifted in his arms as he spoke, looking up at him.
"Your not retiring are you?" Sam asked.
"If that what's it takes then sure, I mean we were planning on leaving anyway and you can stay on until this is all over." He sounded like he'd been thinking this through but she still wasn't sure that he should have to give up the end of the fight just to be with her, although having just offered to do the same she was more confused that anything else.
"Jack?" she asked looking into those warm passionate eyes of his.
"No arguments Sam, I love you and given the choice the only way for me to be happy is to be with you and if that isn't at the SGC then so be it." She smiled at him and before she could argue with him again he leaned down and kissed her.
By the time they'd broken apart she knew that arguing was pointless, he was actually happy to do it and she could understand his reasons, they'd spoken about it before and he was tired and even though he loved his job, given their present circumstances didn't make him as happy as it once did because there was more to his life now and for her who brought him that happiness he'd give anything to never have to be apart from her.
"We still need to talk about it though I mean this will effect the team – everything." Sam said and Jack nodded, if he knew the general and that he'd have them escorted from the base whether the decision had been made or not.
"And I've got to get that letter of resignation from my home office." He said and this made her give him a look.
"You call that an office?" she asked smiling mischievously and kissing him again.
Janet was nearly at her front door when it flung open and Cassie, her adopted daughter ran out almost knocking it over, tears were streaming down her white face. "Cassie honey what's wrong?" she asked putting her hands on her shoulders to steady her before she ran out into the street.
"There's been – a – a – c – c- c---" but she couldn't get the words out, too choked with tears and frustration to speak properly. This worried Janet so she pulled her into a tight hug and held her there until she calmed down enough. What's going on? She thought suddenly very afraid that something had happened at the SGC. Maybe the Anubis had discovered their i.d.c code and the mountain had been shut down or even worse blown up. Either way the only way she was going to find out would be to calm Cassie down enough to speak.
Eventually her daughter was able to speak but she couldn't look at Janet, not quite sure how to put it. "There's been a car crash mom, they were stopped at a red light but some other car came across the junction and straight into the front of his truck." She blurted before the tears came back.
"Cassandra, what crash? Who?" she asked still not sure what was going on. It would take more than a car crash to upset Cassandra, since she'd come to this planet she'd gotten used to the news and the terrors that mankind inflicted on each other.
"Jack and Sam." Janet froze to the spot but her military training took over.
"Cassandra what happened to them?" she asked determinedly and forcing her daughter to look at her and she knew before she even spoke.
"They're dead mom." Cassie said quietly before holding onto her mother again as if she'd never let go.
"Cassie, I need you to get in the house with me now I'm going to call the base and get someone to look after you. Do you know where it happened?" Janet felt like screaming but her voice stayed steady, on a single track to find out what had happened to her friends.
Cassie shook her head, "But the police left a number for you to call."
"Right then come on honey in you go." Janet couldn't help it – if she even stopped for a minute she'd loose it and right now she couldn't accept that her friends were dead.
After having informed General Hammond and called the police Janet set off to the scene of the accident, it was clear out side and dusk had just fallen. The entire crossroads had been closed off with police tape and 4 cars as well as a recovery van were positioned near the rementants of a truck.
Janet got out of the car barely aware of anything and she was still in her military dress uniform she didn't bother with her hat – she was still on auto pilot and couldn't really managed anything apart from basic functions. A uniformed policeman approached and nodded to acknowledge Janet "I.D please." He sounded casual enough and Janet showed him her I.D badge.
"DR. Fraiser this way please." He instructed walking slightly ahead in the direction of the car. Janet was a little afraid of what they would see but it became clear that the bodies had been removed and were Janet guessed in the ambulance to their side, which she hadn't noticed until then. "I've been told to tell you everything that we know so I won't question that but do you know of any relatives that we should contact before we start?" he asked turning around to her.
Janet nodded "there's a dad and brother on Major Carter's side but I'm not sure about Colonel O'Neill and either way the air force will deal with that" She told him.
"Right, well as you can see the trucks in pretty bad shape, they were stopped at the red light just here when according to eye witnesses another un marked jeep ran into the front before reversing and driving away. Even with the air bags I'm afraid your friends wouldn't have stood a chance. They were dead on impact." He sounded truly sorry about the harsh truth of the situation
"Can I see them?" Janet asked and the officer simply nodded.
"This way, I'll need you to identify them if that's alright." He said as he led Janet off towards the ambulance.
She stood staring at the truck, being careful to avoid Janet or any of the police dotted about, it's mangled front so squashed it was unrecognisable and even the license plate was smashed beyond recognition, there was blood on the deflated airbags and she felt a chill so strong when she looked at the scene before her that even wrapping her long coat around her did nothing to warm her.
Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter had been in there – although to her they were more than that – they had died in there and all she could think of was that this wouldn't have happened if General Hammond hadn't sent them home. And although some would argue it wouldn't have happened if they'd obeyed the Frat-regs in the first place she knew that a lot more people would be dead or hadn't existed in the first place if they had. More than this the blame lay with the anonymous caller.
She had to do something – had to find out who'd done this, were they the same people that had driven the jeep into them? And what would she do when she found out? Well then she'd just have to put everything back the way it should have been because this whole thing was so wrong – and not just wrong in the sense that they didn't deserve to die, wrong in the sense that they shouldn't be dead at all in the universal timeline sense.
Inside were two medics sat towards the front of the interior with a body bag on either side. "Now they're in pretty good condition but it still might alarm you but as your military..." the female medic with mauve hair said trailing off and moving to unzip the first bag, the man at her side unzipped the second Janet took a deep breath before looking at them.
"That's them." She muttered feeling tears prick her eyes. Their faces were ashen and eyelids closed and despite their peaceful features something about it caused a profoundly disturbing feeling to take over.
She knew that she shouldn't have been there at all and that being seen was an even bigger risk but she had to know if what she'd been told was true – if what she'd been sent here to do was right and the sight of their bodies was enough to convince her that this was unavoidable. But it was also something that made her shudder to the core and as she felt the feeling take her over she turned and ran, she ran down the road leading towards the forests before collapsing on her knees and throwing up.
It wasn't something she'd ever done before; her life had never been about this sort of pain until now. This felt like a twisted version of reality that she knew in her heart wasn't supposed to be happening – not like this, these people were supposed to have a future together as in really destined to and maybe because she was from another time leading from this one she was the only one that realised but she had to fix this whole mess.
She rested against a large rough tree trunk holding her knees to her chest in an attempt to calm herself down but images of the truck and their lifeless features intertwined in her head making her feel nauseous all over again.
I know, I know they got killed but it won't end up that way I promise!!!!