Title: Graceful Changes
Author: Sarae
Status: Complete
Category: Romance
Pairings: Sam/Jack
Spoilers: Grace, Inauguration, Lost City (1 & 2), also speculation based on spoilers for season 8.
Season: After Season 7
Rating: K+
Summary: A visit from Grace prompts some changes.
Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, SciFi Channel, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.
Author Note: Special thanks to Rosemary, Audrey and Lisa. You know why. You are all awesome! :-)

Graceful Changes
© 2004 Sarae

Chapter 1

Pain. Darkness. Silence.

Sam's senses registered each in that order as she drifted back into consciousness. Slowly, she opened her eyes. There was still darkness…she was disoriented. "Where am I?" she thought as she fought to suppress the panic she felt rising in her.

She began wiggling her toes, then her fingers as her mind registered that she was lying in a supine position. All ten digits seemed to be working. She swallowed but her mouth was dry and her throat sore. The swallow triggered a cough, which caused an agonizing pain in her head. Her right hand instinctively moved to the origin of the pain and as she realized her arm was working properly, she became alarmed at the sensation she experienced near the back of her head.

Slimy, viscous liquid was making her hair stiff and soaking the fibers of the padded surface on which she was lying. "Blood?" she wondered as she probed gently near the source of her pain. "Ah, crap!" she gasped as her fingers found an open wound and the pain was joined by a burning. "Swell!" she thought as her eyes began to adjust to what little light there was.

The searing pain in her head was exacerbated by moving her head or her eyes, but she had to see where she was. She needed to know. No amount of trying would make her eyes focus, though she was able to make out the rectangular form of a fluorescent light on the ceiling above her. She closed her lids and then moved her eyes to the right, but that intensified the pain so she stopped trying to use her eyes.

Then she noticed that her chest was aching too. She moved her left hand and gingerly explored her abdomen and chest. Her brain registered that she was clothed and she could find no wounds in that area. That thought comforted her, slightly.

Lying still for a moment or two, she tried to gather her strength. She knew she needed to move, needed to call for help. Then she heard a voice…'his' voice.

"Carter? Are you there?" There was a pause. "Hey, pick up, will ya?"

"Jack…" It was a whisper. It was all she could manage, as her eyelids grew heavier and she fought to keep her eyes open.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are." The little girl's voice echoed in her mind.

"It's Grace, isn't it?" Sam asked as she tried to look in the direction from which the singing child's voice came.

"Yes," she replied. "After my grandmother," she added and then she giggled. "Do you wanna play?" Grace asked.

"You always ask me that," Sam said, closing her eyes and slowly, painfully, turning onto her side. With some effort, she opened her eyes to look at the curly-haired apparition.

"You should play more," Grace replied and smiled.

Sam sighed and closed her eyes again. Images of Cassie and Jack throwing a football in his back yard sprang into her head. "When was that?" she thought. It was one of Cassie's birthdays, but the details escaped her. She remembered a game of touch football that followed. Jack, Sam and Cassie against Daniel, Janet and Teal'c. It had been a fun afternoon. It was the last time Sam remembered playing.

"You're right," Sam said as she opened her eyes, expecting to see Grace standing where she had been. However, Grace was no longer there. Sam tried to look around, but found it too difficult. Her eyes just refused to stay open.

"Samantha," Teal'c said as he gently touched her shoulder. "You should not go to sleep right now. You need to move."

"You're not really here, are you, Teal'c?" Sam said and smiled. "You're in my head again, aren't you?"

"Indeed."

"You're always watching out for me," she said as she tried to sit up again.

"Yet you have injured yourself again," Teal'c replied. "You must try to call for help. He will come if he knows you need him."

"Who?" Sam asked, though she knew whom he meant.

"Come on, Sam," Daniel chimed in.

"Daniel?" Sam asked, opening her eyes just a bit.

"You know, if you keep denying this, it's just going to get worse," he responded.

"Denying what?" Sam asked as she closed her eyes again and moaned.

"Do you think we're blind?" he asked. "Do you think we didn't notice your reaction when he came back? You're conflicted. You've been distracted, as you try to work through the conflict. The Atlantis team and your friend's death just added to the problem."

"Addi?" Sam whispered, memories beginning to tickle her mind.

"Yes," Daniel continued. "That must be what happened here. You were distracted. Why else would you stand on a rolling swivel chair to reach a box?"

"A box?" she thought as she struggled to remember.

"Carter?"

"Jack?" she whispered, no longer able to open her eyes. She was cold, so very cold. She could hear his voice, but it sounded so far away.

Jack hesitantly poked his head inside the open doorway. Just as it appeared from the outside, there were no lights on in the house. Daniel was impatient behind him; Teal'c, his usual stoic, wait-and-see self, was behind Daniel. Jack was beginning to wish he hadn't brought them along, but he felt it was smarter than coming to check on Sam himself.

Ordinarily, not being able to reach Sam on the phone would not cause him to bring the team over to check on her, but he'd had a bad feeling about her all day. She had not been pleased when he insisted SG-1 take some down time. He still felt it was in their best interest and the right thing to do. The loss of the Atlantis team had been hard on all of them, but particularly hard on Sam. She had worked closely with both Dr. Weir and Dr. McKay as they prepared for their mission. When they did not return, it cast a pall on the entire base, but she had been distracted, unable to focus, very un-Sam-like.

This was the first time he'd used the spare key she had given him all those years ago. He had keys for Daniel's place too, just as they had keys for his. Until now, he'd never needed to use Sam's key.

"Carter?" he called, holding Daniel back. Running his hand along the wall to the left of the entrance, he searched for the light switch he knew was there. Finally, he found it, switched on the hall light and motioned for Daniel and Teal'c to veer to the left and reconnoiter the bedroom wing. All he needed was to find her in that part of the house. He had a hard enough time keeping his mind where it belonged in regards to her as it was.

Walking slowly forward, he peered into the kitchen/living room area. Then he peeked to his left into the den and his heart leapt up into his throat.

"Shit!"

Daniel and Teal'c were beside him in seconds as he knelt next to her unconscious form. The door to the closet was open. Her computer chair was nearby as was a box full of photos and mementos, turned on its side. Just behind Sam's head was a wooden side table. Jack knew instantly that the chair she'd been standing on had rolled out from under her and she'd hit her head on the table.

"Carter?" He touched her cheek and found it frighteningly chilly. A large blood stain was seeping out from under her head. "Get an ambulance," he snapped to whoever wanted to respond.