After the Stand
By JolinarCarter
Major Carter knocked on the Infirmary door and entered, to find General Hammond talking with her father, who was in over night for observation, just to be safe. "I can come back," she began.
"Major," The General smiled, "Join us."
"Thank you sir but I can't, I'll stop by later. I just wanted to show my face," Sam explained. "Has anyone told Lieutenant Hailey about Elliott?" She asked sadly. 'What a waste of such a fine young man.'
"He's officially Missing in the Line of Duty," Hammond replied, "That's what I have to tell his parents."
"MIA. That gives them such false hopes. When I lost Kayty, when she was MIA, I kept thinking she would walk through the door. And I was a soldier for god's sake, I knew better than anyone she wasn't coming back. I couldn't accept it when she was just Missing," She sighed, shaking her head. "For years, his parents will expect him to walk through the door one day, just show up. And he never will. I always wished she was dead. Officially dead. There was no doubt those bastards killed her, eventually. But God knows what else happened there."
"I know, and I appreciate that this brings back memories for you, Sam, so you feel bad for Mr and Mrs Elliott, and his sister, but I can't change the rules. We don't have his body, therefore we can't prove he is dead. He might be very much alive right now, we don't know for sure," Hammond reminded her softly, his anger at the situation was obvious too. He had liked Elliott ever since he'd risked his life to save Hailey back in their training. "I will notify Hailey."
"No," Sam snapped, and then blushed, "Sorry sir, but I think this news should be delivered in person."
"Very well," Hammond nodded, overlooking her outburst. He knew she was emotional, she had obviously been quite fond of the lad herself. Especially from what Jacob was telling him about Lantesh.
Sam stood infront of the mirror in the Women's Bathroom for a moment, taking a deep breath and preparing herself for what she had to do.
How was she going to do this? Tell a nineteen year old girl that her best friend was dead?
'I'll just take another minute,' she thought. But the door opened and Jennifer Hailey walked in. She took a deep breath as she looked at the girl.
"Major Carter," she smiled, "I didn't know you were back yet. Steve hasn't found me yet, I'm sure he will do when he's chilled out for a while," she added, standing beside Carter, in front of the mirror, smoothing back her lovely blonde hair.
"Jennifer," Sam paused, trying to find the right words. But the truth was, there were no right words, just wrong ones. Nothing about this was right. A twenty year old soldier dying on his first mission is certainly not right.
Hailey was taken aback by Sam's use of her first name, but not in a bad way, she seemed quite happy infact.
She had changed, a lot, recently. She was finally happy, and was allowing people to get through that armor. And now, it was all going to change again. Sam Carter was about to drop a huge bomb shell.
"Jennifer," she began again, "I am so, so, so sorry." She took the young woman's hand and looked down, right in to her eyes.
"W...what? What! No!" Hailey frowned, shaking her head, her eyes filling up. She saw that Sam was struggling not to cry. "No!"
"Steven was dying, Jen, and a Tok'ra symbiote went in to him," she tried to explain.
"A Tok'ra? That's not so bad, right? I mean, you had a Tok'ra...you would know..." Jen said, hoping, longing for it to be that.
"The symbiote couldn't cure him, they were dying. The Jaffa were gaining on us, we had to get out, and Steven, he stayed behind, sacrificed himself. He saved five lives and probably killed a great deal of the enemy. He died a hero, Jennie, he is a hero," Sam continued, trying not to break down as well.
Jennifer just stared blankly for a moment, and then without warning, she just suddenly cried out, tears streaming down her face, and fell to her knees. She hit the base of the sink as she cried.
Carter allowed herself to cry as well, and sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. She gently pulled Jennifer closer, so that her head was resting on her shoulder. She stroked her hair, wondering how good friends they had been. They had obviously been close. "He said goodbye, Jen. He wanted me to say goodbye to you. He cared for you a lot."
And then they just sat there.