Chapter One
Jack tried to clear his head but his thoughts kept returning to Captain Carter. She wasn't exactly what he expected, she was beautiful, short blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and she had no problem, standing up for herself. He chuckled as he remembered their first conversation.
"I'm an Air Force officer just like you are, Colonel. And just because my reproductive organs are on the inside instead of the outside doesn't mean I can't handle whatever you can handle." She informed him indignantly
"Oh, this has nothing to do with you being a woman. I like women. I've just got a little problem with scientists." He told her amused and slightly defensive
"Oh, Colonel, I logged over 100 hours in enemy airspace during the Gulf War. Is that tough enough for you... or are we gonna have to arm wrestle?" She challenged refusing to back down
He briefly considered arm wrestling her certain he would win, but quickly dismissed the thought. Alright, he nodded Captain Sam Carter was on the team.
Later as they prepared to go to Abydos she gazed into the Stargate amazed and overcome. Finally breaking the silence.
"Captain?" Jack asked as she stood there
"Don't worry, Colonel. I won't let you down." She told him sincerely
"Good. I was gonna say, "Ladies first." Jack told her
You know, you really will like me when you get to know me." She informed him
"Oh, I adore you already, Captain," Jack said
It had only been a slight overstatement, even then she had completely captivated him. Over the past year, the attraction had only grown stronger and deeper. Colonel O'Neill wanted her when she came onto him when she was "touched" the alien retrovirus brought back from the Land of Light but something had stopped him. A deep respect for her and a feeling that it wasn't "right" stopped him. However, it wasn't long before he was infected too and a deep sense of jealousy and possessiveness took over. He wanted to kill Daniel when he has so much as mentioned Sam's name.
Later when they were stuck on what they had thought was an ice planet his only regret was that he was going to die without her ever knowing his feelings for her. Jack had considered telling her then as he lay dying but ultimately decided not to burden her with that knowledge. He tried to shelve his feelings, put them in a "LATER" box. It worked except for late at night when he found himself thinking about her long sexy legs, her perfect breasts, and eyes he could lose himself in. Jack had longed to put his arms around her and to kiss her lips, wondering if they were as soft as they looked. The Air Force had always been the 800 lb gorilla in the room. Forbidden by the possibility of court martial at worst and the breakup of the team at best.
But now as they had recently found out they were no longer Military, SG1 or even human for that matter. What had been a routine mission to P3X-898 had been the end of life as he or the team knew it.
If anything they were "better" than they had ever been, impossibly so. As they had eventually found out it was impossible. The alien they found on the planet Harlin had made exact copies of them and put them into perfect androids. The team retained all of their thoughts, memories, and experiences their emotions wants and desires Immortality had been granted them Harlin himself was over 11,000 years old.
Perfectly human except for the computer processing much faster than, humanly possible, super strength and endurance, and never having to eat, sleep or drink again. However, it came at a cost, the cost of never going home again. The power required to sustain them was enormous and while they could survive a couple of hours on reserves there was no way they could survive off this planet. Jack was going to be stuck with his team for the rest of his life and even worse the rest of eternity. In his head, he couldn't blame the funny little alien host for copying them into their android bodies. For him, it was a matter of survival, and while they were exact copies in every way their human originals were sent home. But in his heart, he wanted nothing more than to kill the robot responsible.
Jack wondered if his Second in Command was leaving anyone behind. If she had someone special but he dismissed that thought, as she literally didn't have time, She was world at least 2 or 3 times a week and the remaining days and nights she was in her lab analyzing the data gathered, most of the time not leaving until 9 or 10 pm only to be back at SGC by 7 am the next morning.
He knew Daniel and Teal'c were still faithful to their wives. If you could call what either of them had a marriage. Daniel's wife Shar'a had been kidnapped by a goa'uld forced to serve as host to the nasty little alien. As for Teal'c he had his wife and son safe off world and hidden from the Goa'uld masters. Jack knew he saw her as often as he could but it was usually months between visits.
Jack certainly didn't have the time or desire to meet anyone special. He spent his off time at his cabin in Minnesota fishing and drinking beer. Only occasionally did loneliness set in, at times he missed Sara and he always missed Charlie. He knew he would always miss them. Nothing could bring back his dead son, and with the death of his son, he and Sara lost their marriage. Truthfully they had lost their marriage to the Air Force long before that but after they buried their son they didn't have enough to keep them together and divorced.
Lately, he had been missing Carter during his limited down time. It was only natural he told himself. If a man didn't look twice he could hardly be considered a man or at least not a heterosexual one. She was one of the only women he was in contact with on a consistent basis, besides Dr. Frasier of course. But Sam was the only one who understood. She went on every mission he did and was perhaps the only woman who was as committed to the mission as he was. It didn't hurt that she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on. Women like her just didn't join the Air Force, they were on beaches in photo shoots or on movie screens. Not the number one expert in wormhole physics in the world, top rated fighter pilots, and fine officers.