Author's Note -

From Heroes Part Two. One of my favourite episodes that I've seen so far. It was the episode that got me watching Stargate like, consistently. Before I used to watch it on/off so I've missed some stuff.

Except I saw that Zay'tarc testing one for the first timethe othernight! So now I know what everyones talking about when they refer to the Zay'tarc testing in S/J stories! I was that close to crying when I saw it! And then rofled my way through Window's! tehehe P

By the way, I don't know much about battle tactics and the commands that would be given, so I sort of used common sense. I also used my basic medical terminology which is extremely basic, so I apologize if any of you nurse or doctors or 'in-training' or science people are reading this and are shaking their heads at my limited knowledge. I should probably research this stuff...one day.

I don't know if General Hammond can say the stuff that he's gonna say, but he's gonna say them anyway

Anyway, here it is, isn't Sam and Jack just stupid! DUH! And some of this may be a little corny, but actually, it is real sometimes.

Well enjoy reading (and reviewing).

JamSack

'Siiiiiiiiir.' Everything went in slow motion for Sam, as she saw her commanding officer, Colonel Jack O'Neill, fall to the ground, blasted by the staff. She started to race to him, shooting some Jaffa on the way.

In the back of her mind she could hear Teal'c speaking on his two-way radio as he followed her. 'Doctor Frasier! O'Neill has been shot. We need aid immediately.' Doctor Frasier spoke back to him hurriedly. 'I'm busy at the moment but I can try and get someone else. Hang on.' He waited for her while she spoke to Daniel. 'I've got someone coming. You're in the north region right? Just near the gate?'

'That is correct.'

'Okay, he should be there in two minutes.'

'Thank you, Doctor.'

Teal'c turned around to find that Major Carter had left his side and was now kneeling over Jack's body. 'Sir', she spoke to him. 'Please wake up. We're in trouble. We need you here.' She spoke so softly that only Jack, if he were awake, would be able to hear her. 'I need you here.' Sam fought back the tears that she could feel welling up in her eyes. Gosh she was so sensitive sometimes! Every time this happened and Jack got seriously hurt, she felt like this. But even after all this, she still had not built up immunity to it.

Teal'c came up to her and gently pulled her away. 'Major Carter,' he said. 'A medic will be here in a minute with Daniel Jackson. We need to get him to the gate.'

'Teal'c, is he going to...' she trailed off, not wanting to say it.

'I have no doubt that he will live, Major. Colonel O'Neill is a strong man.'

Suddenly a medic showed up. He quickly worked his stuff on the Colonel, and then, when there was a break in the fighting, they hurried to the gate, and went through to their world.

Alarm bells were ringing in Sam's ears as the other SG-1 members came through the gate. She saw the Colonel being wheeled away on the hospital bed like a sick invalid. It didn't suit him at all. Tears filled her eyes and she quickly hurried away to her quarters before she completely broke down in front of General Hammond and the other team members. General Hammond understood and gave her a nod as she walked quickly out of the Stargate room.

She was grateful for it. She was grateful that he understood what she felt at the moment. But seeing him lying there... she realised something. Something that she hadn't fully understood before, something that was only an inkling before, she now understood. She understood that if he died, she would not be able to live properly. That a part of her would die with him. Because she loved him. She had always loved him, from the moment she walked into the door to join the SG-1 team, she had known that there was something different about him, different from some of the boyfriends she had, had in the past. Maybe that's why it had never worked out with them. There was only one Jack.

And now he might die. (Like all the rest). He might die before she ever got a chance to tell him, just to let him know. Not that she ever could tell him.

More tears rolled down her cheeks and she started jogging to her room, so she could properly cry as soon as she got there, with her face in her pillow, so that no one else could hear her. She rushed through the hallway, nearly running into the shifty reporter that always seemed to be lurking around.

He tried to speak to her. 'Major ... what happened?'

'Please.' She held up her hands, covering her tear-stained face.

'Now I know that at least one person was injured back there.' He continued. 'And all I want to say is-'

She cut him off, angry at his intrusiveness. 'Look! Leave me alone!'

Didn't he understand what she was feeling at the moment, what any of them would be feeling? It was amazing how he could be so totally oblivious to people's emotions. All he cared about was his precious story.

'And shut that damn thing off!' She yelled angrily, striding through the open door and slamming it behind her, upset, fighting to hold back the tears that she had left. She turned right to go to her quarters and then stopped. Instead she walked towards the infirmary to visit Colonel O'Neill. She had to visit him, she could bear not knowing if he was all right.

She stood outside the door, wiping her eyes and composing herself. She braced herself, preparing for the worst, and walked in.

She was immediately shocked, as she saw her commanding officer. He was lying on the hospital bed, hooked up to a heart machine. It was beeping inconsistently, which worried Sam profusely, but the doctor in charge assured her that it would soon become steady and then he left them alone.

Colonel O'Neill's face was a pasty white colour and every now and then, he would turn to the side, groaning in pain. It took all her will power not to cry out in sorrow and she knelt down beside his bed with tears streaming down her cheeks, apprehensively brushing her hand against his. His eyes were open and held no life. There was not a trace of the sarcastic humour, which they usually carried. This scared her. This was not the Colonel O'Neill she knew, and she cried, she cried at the thought that she might lose the only man she had ever loved. It had happened many times before, but this was different for some reason.

She heard a knock at the door and she dropped Jack's hand like wild fire. It was General Hammond. 'Is it all right if I come in, Major?' He asked politely, noticing wetness on her face and her uncharacteristic, obtrusive show of emotions. Sam nodded cautiously, not really feeling up to talking. She wiped her face on her sleeve as General Hammond sat down on the floor next to her.

'Samantha', he spoke in all seriousness. 'I know that you must feel terrible. We're all very fond of Jack. He's an excellent man, and I'm proud to have him on our team.' Sam managed to give a wobbly smile as he continued.

'You two have been through a lot together, and came out of it, closer than ever. Especially when the two of you almost drowned side-by-side. I think that was the turning point of your non-professional-but-not-acting-on-it relationship.' Sam turned to the General, her face showing her enormous surprise at what he had just said.

'C'mon, Major, it's not like the entire SG-1 team hasn't noticed something. You're both very surreptitious with your feelings and skilled in keeping your guard up, but somehow, everyone has noticed.

Today has been a hard day; it's not easy, losing someone you love, but I know Colonel O'Neill will pull through like he has done many, many times. He's very stubborn sometimes...especially when it comes to following orders. If he believes it's the best thing for the team, and in some cases, the world, he will go with what he believes, whether I give the okay or not.' General Hammond paused, waiting for Sam to say something.

'Sir, I... I mean...nothings happened. It's not like anything's going to happen anyway.' She mumbled. 'I understand the regulations expected of us, and I'm not going risk anything where the SG-C is involved, or otherwise.'

'That's good to hear, Major. Just don't be too hard on yourself.' General Hammond stood up and began to walk out of the room.

'Sir?' He stopped and turned to look back at her. 'Please don't tell Colonel O'Neill, what we discussed.'

'Of course', he answered, and left the room, leaving Sam alone to wait for Jack to wake up.

Colonel O'Neill woke up in the early hours of the morning feeling a shoot of pain go through his abdomen. He sat up slowly, surprised to find Carter sitting on the ground and leaning on the soft covers of the side of his bed. He noticed that she had circles under her eyes. She had obviously been waiting for him to wake up, as he had done countless times, usually after he had just saved her neck. He watched her sleeping for a moment, listening to her snore softly. She looked so peaceful...and beautiful.

But he couldn't go back to sleep with her lying there now; that would drive him crazy. Careful not to wake her, Jack lifted her up and placed her gently on a spare bed, pulling the blankets over her cold body. He resisted the urge to drop a light kiss on her forehead, and climbed into his own bed.

But he couldn't sleep anymore. He lay there in the dark, letting his thoughts rush through his head.

Samantha Carter fell asleep, waiting for him to wake up.

He had always waited for her, worried for her well being, even though he didn't always display his concern outwardly.

She had always waited for him too, in some way or another. She had waited for him on Edora, working tirelessly to get him back. And then he had ignored her, pushing her away, seeing her distress and relief at the thought of losing him, and then getting him back. He was afraid of his feelings for her. They were so powerful, that sometimes it took all his willpower not to scream out that he cared... He sighed.

It was easier to hold aloof from her.

But he couldn't help feeling annoyed at all the years that had been wasted. Finally after an hour, he fell into a troubled sleep.

After waking up in the infirmary when she wasn't sick, Sam Carter quietly snuck out, being careful not to wake any of the patients, and gave a small sad smile in Jack's direction. When she left the door, she was immediately faced with Daniel in the hallway. He had come to visit a man whose wife was pregnant. Daniel explained to her what had missed yesterday when she left to see Jack. He hated giving her worse news, but he wasn't going to keep her in ignorance of what had happened to her friend.

Sam, upon hearing that Dr. Janet Frasier had died, sank down to the floor crying for the woman that had saved her life many times, crying for the woman that had been with them for so long, crying for her dear friend. Daniel sat down on the floor with her and put his arms around her comfortingly.

'First Jack, and Janet as well. I don't want to lose anyone else.

Daniel tactfully ignored the fact that she had said "Jack."

'We go on these missions, wondering if it's turn for one of us to not come back, we take the risk knowing our lives are in danger and we always manage to wing it. But now Janet... It's just so hard... and Jack, Colonel O'Neill is seriously wounded, and his life has been saved by Janet heaps of times, the trouble he gets himself into. Which one of us is going to be next? I remember when you died... at least you're still with us... but Janet...' She trailed off, unable to speak intelligibly with a teary voice.

Daniel listened to her, sharing the pain she felt, just as acutely. He should probably have stuck with being a checkout boy in some supermarket and work his way up to the top from there. It was certainly much safer than being tortured by the Jaffa and he would never have become an Ascended.

It had been hard for him from the very start when he had lost his wife to the Jaffa. But they chose to join SG-1 willingly and therefore chose the consequences that might occur as a result of doing their job. And if they didn't do more than their best, particularly in life or death situations, it could be fatal.

Not that Janet or Jack were slacking off in their work or not skilled in their job. Janet was the best doctor he had ever had and Jack, the best CO he could ever hope for. But accidents happen, and sometimes they could be prevented, and sometimes they couldn't...

That's probably what that reporter guy was talking about. Any accident that could be avoided should not happen.

They had all been through a lot together; Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c. They were all very close. Daniel didn't know what to say to make it less hard for Sam. She was at the point where nothing he could say would make a difference to the pain that Sam felt. But he wanted to make her feel better so he just sat in the hallway with her, just for company, just to let her know that he, as a friend, would always be there for her, as the rest of SG-1 would, yes, including Jack O'Neill.

Sam had found her lab after sitting an hour with Daniel. She was grateful to have his shoulder to cry on. She had really needed it, but now she had to type her mission report. She sat at her computer, absentmindedly typing random words on her computer, whatever flowed from her fingertips

"Sam, Jack, Danny, Teal'c, Janet, General Hammond...Pete,

Cassie, SG-1, Thor, Anubis, Ra, Jaffa, Stargate, camera. Sir. Jack, Sam. Jam, Sack." She laughed hysterically when she saw what she had written, which was understandable as she was delirious from lack of sleep and she was emotionally tired having expressed all- nearly all of her feelings to Daniel.

She turned back to the computer and started typing: "Mission Report. (Date) (Planet)

Led by Colonel O'Neill with Major Carter, Dr Jackson, Teal'c..."