DISCLAIMER: Stargate is not and never will be mine...but until the writers start doing thing my way I will just have to rewrite everything they do...
TIMELINE:
Season 8. For the past month Colonel Jack O'Neill has been held in stasis in Antarctica. With political views reaching new highs every day, Doctor Weir, the civilian now in charge of the SGC, has her hands tied as far as a rescue operation is concerned.
The SGC has been nothing more than a administrative office lately, as they have been suspended from gate travel until further notice from the president—and in turn have not been able to reach the Asguard in regards to Col. O'Neill's present condition.
Just as Daniel, Teal'c and Major Carter come to their wits end, they receive a message from the Thor: He has taken Colonel O'Neill from Antarctica and is presently removing the ancient knowledge from his brain pattern. All is well and in a matter of days the Colonel will be returned to the SGC.
It has now been two weeks since Thor's message and there has been no further communication about O'Neill's condition…
"Two Fries Short"
As Major Carter walked through the halls of the SGC she wondered why she even bothered to come here anymore.
This place had never seemed like a job to her. Not in eight years had it felt like a job where she had to be here for a certain amount of time.
This had been her home, it's where her friends were on a daily basis and it's where her father would come to see her.
It's where she would spend endless hours pouring over some new technology she had brought back from another world.
But now—now it seemed like a job.
Everyday she came in and sat in her office, filled out paper work, drank endless cups of coffee, sat Through endless meetings with Doctor Weir as she tried to explain once again why her hands were tied—she really hated that woman, if not for the sole reason that everyday she dished out the same line, "I know how much Colonel O'Neill belongs to you—to all of you, but there's nothing I can do." That line alone made her want to just punch her right in the head. How could she possibly make an assumption like that? How the hell could she know anything about them? She'd been here—what—a month?
It was simple things like this that made her miss Janet even more.
And today wasn't any different.
Her morning started off with Daniel poking his head into her lab, coffee in hand, as he announced that there was a meeting in a half hour.
"I'll be there." She said, with the wave of her hand. She had even taken to dismissing Daniel these days—even though she didn't mean to.
Daniel took it all in stride though, he knew that this was tearing her apart—and if he could annoy her to a point where some of that frustration could be taken out on him, well then he did his good deed for the day.
Now she was on her way to the briefing room. Her feet wanted to drag the entire length of the hallway, but she forced them along. Walking into the briefing room she sat down with her fourth cup of coffee and set a file down on the table—just so it looked like she had been working on something.
Daniel and Teal'c had already sat in their seats, and she nodded across the table at them as Weir walked in the room.
"Good morning everyone."
There was that annoying chipper voice of hers. What was she expecting them to say in reply? "GOODMORNING DOCTOR WEIR!" Like they were in some episode of Mr. Roger's neighborhood?
"I've got some new…"
That was the last thing Carter paid attention to—after that she took to staring at the star chart behind Weir's head.
She was well into daydreaming about the days of off world missions when the alarms rang out through the entire base.
IN COMING WORM HOLE
She was out of her seat in a second and darting down the staircase to the command room before the other could get out of their seats.
"Sergeant?" She called out to Walter as she took the seat next to him.
Looking at the screen before him, Walter looked over to Major Carter and smiled.
"It's the Asguard."
"Open the Iris." It was the first thing she had said all morning the she actually meant.
The iris slid open and a moment later Thor walked Through with Colonel O'Neill.
Carter was speechless as they walked down the ramp.
She was standing behind Daniel and Teal'c as Weir moved to the front.
"Thor—I'm Doctor Weir, it's a pleasure to meet you." She said, holding out her hand to Thor.
"Doctor Weir—we have much to discuss."
"So, Jack—how ya feeling?" Daniel asked as he looked over to Jack.
Jack only stared blankly at Daniel and looked back to Thor.
"Uh…Thor…" O'Neill asked, standing back from the group of eager strangers that stood before him.
"It is alright O'Neill, they are friends."
"Uhmm, Thor—what's going on?" Daniel asked.
"A side effect of the removal process was O'Neill's memory loss."
"He lost his memory? Is it going to come back?" Weir asked before Carter could open her mouth.
"It's will return in time—I would suggest not rushing it." Thor said.
"I would like to get a full check up on you Colonel—just to be safe." Weir said, stepping in front of carter as she motioned for him to walk down the ramp.
O'Neill, still reminiscent of a child, looked to Thor for approval.
"It is safe O'Neill, this is your home." Thor said.
"Alright…I guess this will all make sense later." O'Neill said, walking off the ramp and to Daniel's side. As Weir motioned for him to follow her out into the hall, O'Neill looked to Daniel and then caught sight of Carter behind him. As he stared at her from around Daniel, O'Neill all but tripped over his feet as he tried to get a better look at her.
"It's alright Jack." Daniel said, holding his shoulder as they walked out into the hall.
Carter followed behind Daniel and Weir. She had imagined this going differently. She had imagined that there would be that awkward moment where Jack said, "Hi, I'm back…Miss me?" And she would reply with a, "Of course we did, Sir—it's good to have you back." But this, this was throwing her completely off balance. And why did he stare at her like that?
"He's perfectly healthy." The doctor announced as Weir, Daniel, Teal'c, Carter and O'Neill sat around the conference table. "The Asguard did a great job in the removal process. As for your memory loss, colonel, I think we should let you remember on your own—I don't want anything forced."
"I agree, and Colonel," Weir said, turning to see a very off balanced Colonel O'Neill. "I'm going to request that you remain on the base until your memory returns."
With an uncertain nod, O'Neill looked to the other faces in the room.
"I'm tired—I need to lay down." O'Neill said abruptly, he needed to get away from these people. They were just plain freaking him out. Standing from his seat, O'Neill headed for the door.
Weir stood to call him back but Daniel held his hand out to her and followed him out into the hall where O'Neill stood looking down either end of the hall.
"Jack?" Daniel said, walking up behind him.
"Where the hell am I?" Jack asked looking back to Daniel.
"This place is a little confusing-but it'll come back. Don't rush it." He said, walking down the hall with Jack at his side.
Daniel opened the door to Jack's room that he kept there and Jack walked in hesitantly.
"And this is all my stuff?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, the stuff you keep here."
"I look boring." Jack said, picking up a picture and setting it back down.
"I'll come back and get you for dinner." Daniel said as he closed the door.
"Oh Hey wait…uh…Dan…"
"Yes?"
"That woman…with the blonde hair…"
"Sam?"
"That's her name?"
"Well—Samantha, we call her Sam."
"Oh—and I know her?"
"Yeah, you do. Do you remember her?"
"I don't know…I'm tired though."
"Alright, get some rest…watch some TV." Daniel said, closing the door.
Alone at last, Jack sat on the edge of the bed and laid back. Covering his eyes with his hands he exhaled and tried to think—about anything.
This had to be the irritating feeling in the world. When he first woke up on the Asguard ship—Thor had to tell him his name.
He couldn't even remember the names of the people he had just met—except her.
Samantha—Sam. There was something in her eyes that had caught him when he first saw her. Something that made him just want to look at her, study her and find out how the hell he knew her.
Daniel came back and took Jack to the commissary for dinner.
Jack had looked all around the room—but the blonde he was looking for was nowhere in sight. Daniel had looked at him awkwardly when he asked about her before so he thought that it might be better not to ask about her a second time—maybe they weren't friends.
He returned to his room and the rather tall gentleman with the gold emblem on his forehead bid him goodnight. Daniel asked if he wanted company for a while—but Jack just wanted to sleep.
As he laid back into the bed once again, Jack looked around the room.
There were a few pictures on the desk.
Nothing looked familiar, even though he was in one of the pictures with a young boy—his son?
Unable to settle his thoughts, Jack lay across the bed and flipped on the TV.
He hadn't expected to find anything to watch, but it made for good background noise as he fell a sleep…and dreamed of a life he couldn't remember…
Daniel walked back to his own room and thought about this new Jack that had come back to them.
He remembered how it felt when he first came back. How he had to remember everything and how everyone had acted as though they knew him—it freaked him out. But at the same time it was nice to know that there were people that cared. Somehow he knew that all his experience in the world wasn't going to help Jack…no one was going to be able to help Jack—except Jack.
Lost in his thoughts, Daniel ran right into Sam a she came around the corner with a box in her arms.
"Woah! Sorry." Daniel said, catching the box in his hands as Sam almost fell to the floor.
"Oh, hey Daniel." She said, taking the box back from him.
"Where have you been all day?"
"Oh-I uh, went o Colonel O'Neill's house to get some of his things." She said motioning to the box.
"Oh…"
"I just figured it would be better have some of his own things around him…"
"Yeah—I guess…we uh, missed you at dinner."
"Oh—sorry."
Daniel studied her for a moment and reached for her arm as she tried to walk away.
"Are you alright, Sam?"
"Yeah—why?"
"Just checking."
"I'm fine—I'm just going to take this to Colonel O'Neill and head off to bed."
"Okay."
Daniel watched as she headed off to Jack's room—this wasn't going to be easy for any of them…
Lost in his dreams where voices and images passed through him before he could focus on them, Jack lay across the bed as he began to too and turn in his sleep.
The two knocks on the door brought him out of his dreams and sliding onto the floor with a thud.
"Sir? Are you alright?" Carter asked through the door.
"Yeah? Come in." He said, rubbing his head as he sat on the floor.
The door opened and all jack saw was a large box attached to a pair of legs…a nice pair of lady legs…
"Hello…" Jack said, watching the pair of legs as they walked to the other side of the room and set the box down. The blonde beauty that turned around and smiled at him brought a tightening feeling in his chest that brought a smile to his face. Standing to his feet, Jack held out his hand to shake hers and when she clasped his hand with her own he held it until he was holding her hand between them. "You're—"
"Samantha." Jack said, still holding her hand as he stared at her.
The honesty in his eyes set her back a moment, then she pulled her hand from his and turned back to the box. "I brought some things from your house, Sir. Some clothes, razor, video tapes…" Turning back around to Jack, Sam leaned back against the table as she realized that he was still looking at her. "And your tooth brush—you don't keep one here." She said, moving around him to the door. "I'll uh…leave you alone, I didn't mean to disturb you."
"Hey Sam?"
"Yes Sir?"
"Do me a favor?"
"Yes?"
"Call me Jack."
The situation suddenly became too awkward to her—was Jack O'Neill FLIRTING with her? "Okay, Jack."
A quick smile was her last goodbye before closing the door.
Jack walked over to the box and looked back to the door. There was defiantly something familiar about that woman…
The next morning Daniel was working in his office when Jack walked in the door.
"Hey, Daniel right?" Jack asked as he walked in, somewhat unsure if he was even welcome in this mans office.
"Yeah, uh—"Daniel stuttered as Jack walked over to him. "How did you get here?"
"Oh, there's a guard following me around—he's a pretty good tour guide." Jack said, pointing to the door where the armed guard stood and nodded at Daniel.
Daniel waived him off and the guard walked away. "So. How was your first night?"
"Just don't ask me if I remember anything." Jack said, sitting in a chair across from him. "I've saw seven people on my way here and everyone of them asked me if I remembered anything—it's really annoying."
"I know." Daniel couldn't help but smile at Jack- this was almost funny.
"So…what is it that you do around here—Daniel?" Jack asked as he took a long look around the room.
"I'm a linguist."
"As in…you speak multiple languages?"
"24."
"Oh wow—impressive." Jack said as he raised his eyebrow. "And how long have I known you?"
"Ah—well, we aren't supposed to tell you stuff."
"I'm just trying to see if…if we uh—are we friends?" Jack asked, somewhat embarrassed that he had to ask at all.
Easing up a bit, Daniel moved his chair over to sit in front of Jack. "Yeah, we're friends."
"So I can talk to you about stuff?"
"Of course—something in particular you wanted to talk about?"
"Well—uh…no not really…just stuff…"
As Jack drifted off, a familiar voice came from the hall.
"Hey Daniel! If you aren't busy I'd love your help on—"When Carter entered the room she stopped talking and walking altogether—Jack was staring at her again.
"Hey Sam."
"Hey, sorry—I didn't mean to interrupt." She said backing out into the hall.
"Oh no—you aren't interrupting, please…stay." Jack stood from his seat and waived Sam to come back in.
He was doing it again, what ever it was that he was doing Sam couldn't put a finger on it—but it was making her nervous.
"No, I was just going to get breakfast…"
"What a coincidence—we haven't eaten either." Jack said, waling to the door and looking back to Daniel.
"I could go for a coffee."
Soon the three of them were sitting in the commissary eating breakfast.
Daniel and Sam spoke of an artifact they were studying and Jack listened intently.
As they spoke he couldn't help but watch Sam. She moved with a grace about her that had him hypnotized. They weren't even paying attention to him when he sat back in his chair and gaped at Sam…
"You're Thera."
Sam was out of her seat and all but running down the hall before Daniel realized what was going on.
Jack chased her, after mumbling under his breath that he knew what was going on now.
"Hey!" He yelled after Sam as he ran down the hall.
As Sam tried to ceremoniously run away from Jack O'Neill she couldn't help but feel like an idiot. But before she could stop, Jack grabbed her by the arm.
Without a word, she pulled him into the nearest room that happened to be empty.
Pulling tighter on her arm, Jack tried to hold her still—but Sam pulled free and moved to the other side of the room—she was scared of him.
"Oh God-" Jack said, realizing what he had just done. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" he reached for her again but Sam moved behind a table. Jack stopped trying to reach for her and stood on the other side of the table. "I'm sorry—I didn't mean to, did I hurt you?"
"No…I'm fine." Sam said trying to keep her voice from cracking. In all the years she knew Jack O'Neill—he had never hurt her.
"Look—I remember this clearly, you're Thera—I know this."
"No, I'm not." She said clearly.
"How can you not be? I remember you—laying on my shoulder…the smell of your hair…the feel of your hand in mine—I remember it."
"No—you don't."
Before Jack could speak again, Daniel burst into the room and stopped in the door way as Teal'c came up behind him and walked right over to Sam.
"MajorCarter, are you alright?" Teal'c asked, ushering her to the door.
"I'm fine Teal'c—it's okay."
Daniel stared at Jack in shock—what the hell was going on?
Daniel waited until Teal'c had walked out with Sam before he walked in and closed the door behind him. "Wana talk Jack?"
"I didn't mean to—oh god…what the hell was I thinking!" Jack grunted as he mentally kicked himself.
"I think I better take you back to your room."
"Just—tell her I'm sorry." Jack said, walking out into the hall as walked beside Daniel. "Oh she is never going to talk to me again, is she?"
"Well—I know you don't remember, but this actually isn't the worst thing you've ever done to her."
"I'm that much of a jerk?"
"Well—no…it just seems to happen…"
In the infirmary, Teal'c stood by as the doctor checked out Carter.
"Really, I'm fine—it doesn't even hurt." Carter protested as the doctor turned her wrist over in his hand.
"Alright Major, the x-ray came back clear and I don't see any bruising yet. If it does give you any trouble—come back."
"Really, he wasn't trying to hurt me—he just got confused."
"Colonel O'Neill is not acting himself." Teal'c said, as always stating the obvious.
"Teal'c, he wasn't trying to hurt me—really. He's just getting his memories confused, at least they are coming back."
"Still, I want you to stay away form him until I get a look at him. I'll release you if you promise to go LAY DOWN. Teal'c, do me a favor and escort Colonel O'Neill here after you drop the Major off at her room?"
The silent warrior nodded his compliance and held out his hand to held Carter off the bed.
A few hours of contemplating just what had happened when Jack grabbed her and Carter was ready to get some answers. So, long after the SGC day shift had headed home—she headed for Jack's room.
Wallowing in regret, Jack sat in the far corner watching the TV. He had put in the tapes that Samantha brought him—something called The Simpsons, it was without a doubt the funniest show he'd ever seen but he wasn't in a laughing mood.
All he wanted was—something called a beer, but he couldn't remember what the hell that was and that just made him even madder.
The soft knock at his door brought Jack out of his wallowing and to the door.
But as he pulled it opened, he found himself staring into the bright blue eyes that belonged to non-other than Samantha Carter…
"Hi." She said quickly—before her voice gave out on her.
"Hi." Jack said just as quick. Moving out of the doorway, he let her walk in—she closed the door behind her.
"I'm not disturbing you am I?" Carter asked, as she walked over to the desk and sat in the chair.
"Oh, no…uh—Samantha, I am so sorry about earlier—"
"We need to talk."
"Okay…" Jack sat down slowly on the edge of the bed and leaned forward on his knees.
"You're starting to remember things…and that's good—but you're remembering them wrong."
"I don't know how I can be wrong—I know you."
"Yes…you do—but not like you think you do." Standing from the chair, Sam took a deep breath before trying to continue. "I'm a Major in the Air Force, and you are a Colonel—my commanding officer to be exact. We've been working together for about eight years and we're friends—but that's it."
Squinting his eyes, Jack looked up at her as though he knew she was handing him a line of bull. "I don't believe you." In an instant he was up from the bed and walking towards her again. "Look—I get it, you aren't supposed to be telling me anything…" He said walking up behind her as she turned into him. Before she could back away from him, Jack had his arm around her…and his right index finger was tracing the curve of her neck. "I haven't been able to remember anything since I came back—nothing, but somehow…I remember you. It's perfectly clear in my mind…your eyes, your smile…" As he spoke, Jack's fingers traced over her eyes and lips. She wasn't fighting him. "I remember how your hands feel when I hold them, how you lay your chin on my shoulder when I hold you…" He pulled her into his embrace and let her chin rest on his shoulder. His arms pulled her closer into his chest and he enveloped her, her own arms found their way around his waist. "I know that even though you don't wear perfume—you still have this intoxicating scent that drives me insane. And I love how you get excited about something and go on a rant—even if I can't understand a damn word you're saying…" As his words trailed off, Jack's lips began a slow trail down her neck…