We've Got to Stop Meeting Like This
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
As Jack awoke he heard pounding in his head, which was odd because he didn't remember drinking before he went to sleep. The next thing he realized was that someone who sounded a lot like Daniel was yelling his name. When he opened his eyes and rolled over he realized he was in his quarters on base and that someone was in fact pounding on his door.
As he got out of bed he remembered why he was there instead of at home. There was no Way in hell he was going home until they had found Carter and gotten her home safely. They had lost contact with the Prometheus and the crew a few days ago and had spent every waking moment looking for any sign of them along their assigned route but with no success.
"Jack open up!" Daniel shouted at the top of his lungs.
He was about to ask why he had woken him up when he'd only been asleep for two hours when he heard Daniel shout again.
"Jack we found the Prometheus! We found Sam! Exclaimed Daniel excitedly.
All of a sudden Jack was wide awake and he bolted to the door and yanked it open. He grabbed Daniel by his BDU jacket and asked " Where are they? Are they alright?". Jacks heart skipped a beat when he saw the hesitation in his answer and froze. "Daniel what is it? Is Carter okay?". Daniel looked back at Jack and said " Sam is alive but shes in pretty bad shape. She is suffering form exhaustion and she also has a massive concussion".
"Where is she Daniel?" Jack whispered.
" They are beaming down the crew in about five minutes when they are in range. General Hammond has med teams waiting in the gate room." Daniel stated as calmly as he could manage. He was worried about Sam as well but he knew that Jacks feelings for his friend were far different than his own.
"Well what are we waiting for? lets go" Jack said as he nudged Daniel out of the doorway and closed the door as they headed for the elevator. While they were in the elevator Daniel glanced over at his friend and watched him as he nervously shifted from one foot to the other. He knew that Jack had been going crazy these last few days and he also knew that he wouldn't get any better until he had seen Sam for himself and knew that she would be okay. When the doors opened Jack took off like a shot down the hall and headed for the gate room. Luckily it was three a.m. and the corridors were nearly deserted or he would have knocked over more than a few people.
When they arrived in the gate room the med teams were already there to sort out the crew and decide who needed to go where and were preparing for crew members in various states of illness. As they waited they heard a call come through to the control room stating that they were about to begin sending the crew down. As soon as the crew started to arrive the medical personnel began taking them to various areas of the medical level to be checked over.
Jack grabbed one of the young Airman by the sleeve and asked him, " Where is Major Carter?"
Airman Stevens looked up and realized that it was Colonel O'Neill who had grabbed him and almost fainted. "Colonel, I ... uh... the Major is in the next group" he stammered. " Thank you Airman" Jack said as he let the young man go. Airmen Stevens released a breath he hadn't realized that he had been holding and started to leave but turned around at the door and addressed the Colonel. " Colonel O'Neill, Sir?" he asked hesitantly. Jack turned around with an impatient look on his face and replied " What is it Airman?" Stevens stood up a little straighter and looked the man in front of him in the eye.
" Sir, Major Carter saved us all. I'm glad she was there or we never would have made it home. I hope she gets better soon." he stated as sincerely as he could. Jack gave the young man a look and his eyes softened a little.
"Thank you Stevens" stated Jack simply. " Now go on and get yourself looked at."
Daniel watched this entire situation play out in front of him with a smile on his face and a sense of pride in his heart. He had always had a hard time understanding why people in the military acted the way they did, but then he met his friends Sam and Jack. After so many years of working so closely with them he understood. People like Sam and Jack didn't do the things they did because they wanted recognition but because they knew they could help and they owed it to the men and women that they worked with and their country to sacrifice anything, including themselves if necessary, to protect the country they loved so much. Daniel was proud of his friends and knew that he had made the right choice to work with the people he did.
A minute later after the first group had emptied from the room then it lit up again with the light from the Asgard beam. As soon as the light faded away the two men began looking for their friend and teammate.
"Carter!" Jack hollered.
"Sam" Daniel shouted.
As soon as they saw her they knew that she wasn't feeling very good. Her face was tired and she had bags under her eyes. She had a bleary eyed look and could'nt focus on what was going on around her. She struggled to clear her head as she looked around. As things started to spin she tried to focus as she looked up and saw Daniel and Jack racing towards her. "Hey guys" she mumbled as she started to lose consciousness and fall over.
Jack reached her just as she started to collapse and grabbed her around the shoulders and eased her to the floor. As he looked around he realized that there weren't enough corpsman to handle all the crew so he made a quick decision. He reached down and slid one arm under her knees and the other behind her neck so he could cradle her head. Daniel grabbed Sam's arms and put them on her chest as Jack stood up with her in his arms. Jack immediately noticed how light she was in his arms. Apparently she had lost some weight during her ordeal.
Daniel cleared the way for Jack as they rushed out of the room with their wounded friend. When they neared the elevator they saw it had a crowd of people waiting for the next ride to arrive. Jack knew that they didn't have time to wait around. Sam needed medical attention right now.
Daniel turned to Jack " What do we do now?" Jack considered the mass of people blocking the way to the elevator and decided that desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Hey! Everybody get out of the damn way!" Jack bellowed in his best angry colonel voice.
The crowd rushed to get out of the way as soon as they realized who was doing the shouting. Almost as soon as they got out of the way the elevator arrived. Daniel was the first in so he could hold the doors open for Jack. As soon as Jack entered the elevator, Daniel stabbed his finger at the door close button and then punched the button for the infirmary. The doors slid shut almost in slow motion and it seemed like an eternity to the two men inside.
Daniel looked over and saw the frightened look on Jacks face and instantly became more worried. If Jack had that look on his face then Sam was worse than he had thought. Jack looked down at face of the woman that he held in his arms and fought back the tears that threatened to spill over. As he stared at her he realized that he loved her more than he had admitted even too himself.
"Jack what is it? Whats wrong?" Daniel asked.
"Daniel, she didn't even flinch when I yelled back there and she hasn't moved since I picked her up. She has a huge bump on her head and I'm not even sure she knew where she was back there." By the end of his little tirade Jack was almost hysterical. " Jack I'm sure she will be fine" Daniel said as he tried to calm Jack down. "Janet will take care of her and everything will be okay. It has to be." The last part was more for himself but Jack heard it anyways. Jack closed his eyes for just a second before he felt the elevator stop and the doors begin to slide open.
As Jack left the elevator he rounded the corner and headed for the infirmary. As they got closer they realized how many more injured there were. Apparently these casualties had been sent directly to the infirmary because they were critical. Jack looked around for Janet until he spotted her running between beds shouting orders to the nurses and aids.
" Hey doc!" Jack hollered. " I could use some help here!"
" Colonel i don't have time..." Janet stopped when she turned and saw who he was holding in his arms. "Sam! Colonel what happened?" she exclaimed. " Put her down over here."
Jack silently obeyed and laid Sam on the bed as gently as he could. He stepped back and let Janet get closer so she could examine Sam. As he watched the scene in front of him unfold he realized that he was totally helpless here and he didn't like it at all.
" Colonel what happened? Colonel?" she tried unsuccessfully to get his attention. " Daniel I need to know what happened!" Daniel looked at Jack worriedly then turned to Janet. " I'm not sure Janet. All i know is that she has a big lump on her head and that she passed out almost the second she appeared in the gate room. She hasn't said a thing or moved at all since she collapsed."
"Okay thank you Daniel now you two need to wait outside while we work in here" Janet said with a firm voice.
At this statement Jack seemed to snap out of his reverie. He looked at the small doctor standing in front of him with his most intimidating glare. " I'm not going anywhere till I know how Carter is doing! Ill go stand in the corner if I have to but I'm not leaving this room." He growled. Janet looked up at Jack and was surprised to see the amount of concern and determination mixed in his eyes. Jack knew he was pushing his luck but at the moment he really didn't care about himself. He only cared what happened to Sam now.
"All right Colonel but you both need to stay out of the way. Is that understood?" Janet stated. Jack and Daniel could only nod and move to stand by the wall. As the two men stood against the wall they watched the infirmary around them as the medical personnel rushed to help the various wounded that had been brought in. While Jack watched Doctor Frasier examine Sam he stood up a little straighter when he thought he saw her hand twitch. Daniel realized that Jack had gone completely still and looked over to see if he could figure out what he had seen.
"Jack what..." Daniel started to ask as he realized what it was that his friend had noticed, Sam was going into convulsions and the machines started to go crazy. Daniel grabbed Jacks shoulder to keep himself upright. He felt Jack tense up and start to take a step towards their injured friend. "Jack, no, let them work. Theres nothing we can do!"