Some snippets of Carolyn during The Fourth Horseman parts 1 and 2. I find writing in tandem to an episode really hard, so I dont know how well this works... Feedback welcome :)
Carolyn had a feeling that it wasn't going to be her day when she woke up to a broken coffee machine. That really did not bode well. Growling under breath, and still half asleep she fumbled with the instant powder before giving in and making a cup of tea instead. Not that there was anything wrong with tea – it just didn't pack the punch required first thing in the morning.
Her morning consisted of routine exams of SG teams returning from off-world (although she wasn't sure when using the words "routine" and "off-world" in the same sentence had become normal). She was tidying up the paperwork from her last case when Colonel Barnes of SG-6 returned to the infirmary with unusual symptoms. Carolyn was now used to the attitude of the military towards doctors – if he had come back then something really must be wrong. She buried a stab of concern under a professional exterior and carried out every test she could think of, hoping for clues to something simple. Food poisoning would be ok, or maybe 'flu. However, she wasn't entirely surprised at the results. Prior plague. For a moment she just sat, overwhelmed. The enormity of the situation floored her. Prior plague. On Earth. This was a whole new level of screwed. With a sigh she contacted the general, asking him to come down to the isolation rooms. This was something he ought to see for himself. A chill suddenly ran through her – Fisher. He had left the base...
"We have to find Lieutenant Fisher" she looked seriously at her father, "and fast". She was impressed at how outwardly calm he had appeared when she told him about the plague, but suspected that the explosions would come later. For now, he was absorbing all that she could tell him, weighing the options and prioritising his next moves. He nodded, grasping the implications immediately.
"I'll get Mitchell on it".
From there the day went from bad to worse, people from General Hammond's speech that Fisher had been removed from showing symptoms, the red dots showing the plagues spread moving across the US. Despite his best efforts Mitchell was unable to trace every contact and the situation quickly got out of control. Not to mention the possibility that the virus was airborne. Containment no longer an option Carolyn moved all her attention to cure. Which didn't seem to be in her control either. Labs were filled with all the experts the SGC had to offer, which amounted to an impressive display of brainpower. Biologists, chemists, medics and even physicists were pooling their knowledge and skill sets. Carolyn hadn't seen anything like it before, but was getting the impression that this happened fairly regularly here. Nothing like threatening human existence on earth to get people working together. Although she was pretty sure most of these scientists would get together to debate a tree stump if nothing more exciting was happening. Magnus, talking to a group of microbiologists in one corner and gesturing with both hands, looked up and met her eye. She gave a brief smile and a nod, then turned back to her explanations. Carolyn couldn't help the flicker of a smile that crossed her face in response, before she left and made her way back to the infirmary.
...
When Colonel Carter came to her explaining that an ascended ancient named Orlin had descended and was now in her lab, Carolyn had to laugh to herself. Not that long ago she had been working in a normal hospital in a normal department and now? Well, now she was quite seriously considering whether an adolescent brain could retain forbidden knowledge from a higher plane of existence longer than an adult one. And managing to tease an airforce colonel. Under a mountain. Not your usual day at the office.
Adding Orlin to the team working on a cure was the first good thing to happen since... she couldn't remember when. After checking on progress in the lab she headed back to the infirmary to check on her patients. Dr Jackson was in the upper viewing room, a slight frown on his face. After removing her isolation suit Carolyn joined him, standing silently at the window.
"Where's Orlin?" he asked after a few minutes.
"In the lab. Apparently he has some ideas for a cure. Sam's with him"
"So Dr Lee's working on the anti-prior device alone?"
"I think so. Sam seemed like the best person to Orlin-sit, and I think the cure has to take priority."
Daniel turned to her with a small smile, "I'm not going to argue with that" he said, reassuringly. He cocked his head slightly to one side "When did you last eat?"
Carolyn shot him a 'you must be kidding' look.
"Seriously, if you go collapsing on us things are gonna look a whole lot worse. Go have some lunch. I'll go find out what Bill's up too."
Carolyn sighed, giving in to common sense. And her rumbling stomach. "Yes, doctor" she said, with sarcastic emphasis, leaving the room.
...
Tegan approached Dr Lam and Sam where they were frowning unhappily at a computer screen.
"Um... I have an idea."
They both looked up at her, Carolyn reserved, Sam interested.
"What is it?"
"Ok, the main problem we are having creating a cure is the speed at which the virus is mutating, right?"
The other two nodded, Carolyn folding her arms.
"So why don't we take that out of the equation? Find a way to inhibit the mutations, and use it as a pre-treatment or incorporate it into the cure somehow."
Sam blinked, considering it. "What do you think?" she asked Carolyn.
"As far as I can see for it to work we would need to treat everyone infected with the inhibitor before then designing the specifics of the cure" Carolyn paused, head on one side, thinking hard, "but if an inhibitor can be created then that shouldn't be a problem. I mean, it's not ideal but then what is?" She gave a sharp nod "go for it. See if it's possible. We are running out of options at this point." She moved on to another group.
"Nice thinking" Sam said with a smile.
"Let's see if we get anywhere first" Tegan replied. Sam gave her arm an encouraging squeeze as she moved off.
It had been almost an hour without anything going horribly wrong (so long as she didn't look at the screen charting the virus's progression across the country) so Carolyn wasn't entirely surprised when Sam hunted her down to her office, a worried expression on her face.
"It's Orlin. Something's not right"
"How 'not right'?"
"I think you should take a look. If you've got the time to spare."
Carolyn allowed a wry smile to cross her face "Sure, why not. Bring him in."
Sam gave her a grateful nod and hurried out. Carolyn scrubbed her face with her hands. If this was what she suspected, there was nothing she would be able to do except provide proof of the memory deterioration. Although it was possible that she was wrong. She just wished that for once she could be wrong and something would turn out better than she feared rather than worse with side helpings of weird. She rose and started setting up the scanners that she would need.
...
Muttering under her breath at her father's stubborn stupidity at insisting on visiting the sick SGC staff, Carolyn walked over to where Magnus and two microbiologists were working.
"Any luck?"
Tegan looked up at her, squinting from tired eyes. "This shouldn't be possible. This speed of mutation... it either requires a whole new RNA replication process that allows more errors and mutations through, or a far shorter reproduction time meaning that more mutations can occur in the same time-frame. We can find no evidence of the first, and while these viruses are reproducing very fast, it's not nearly fast enough to explain the changes we are seeing. I can't see how this can be a natural characteristic of this virus."
"So the priors must have affected it in some way"
Tegan nodded "And as we don't know how, we can't find a way to slow the mutations without guesswork. We can try guesswork, but it's going to be like finding a yellow needle in a hay barn. And the needle may not even exist – we don't know what the priors are capable of doing"
Carolyn rubbed her face "Ok. So slowing viral mutation is not a viable option. Our only real hope is Orlin's theory over the prior's blood."
Tegan shrugged helplessly "Sorry this didn't work" she said.
"Hardly your fault. Go and get some food, then we could use you all back working on the cure" she nodded at the microbiologists and left them to pack up their work stations.
...
Carolyn allowed herself a moment to sit, and rested her head in her hands. Her father had the virus. Really, it shouldn't be a surprise. He had been over-extending himself since this crisis had begun, and had insisted on visiting his infected people. It was just he seemed so indestructible, so... reliable. And now... who knew. She sighed tiredly. What she really wanted was for someone to say everything would be ok. That things would work out, and that she wasn't going to fail the entire population of earth. And her father. Smoothing her hair back into a new ponytail she rose. Time to talk to her mom.
"I don't know whats going on... and I know you would tell me if you could" her mothers voice was tinny over the phone, but still managed to make Carolyn feel like she was twelve, coming home after a bad day at school and ranting in the kitchen while her mom cooked dinner. "Talk to your father love" and she heard a sigh, "you are so much like him at times."
"Mom" she said in protest, feeling herself tense at the comparison.
Her mother chuckled "don't deny it Lynny, just go and do it. Love you."
"Love you too." After her mom hung up Carolyn sat staring at the phone for a minute, before rising and making her way to the isolation room. Her mom was right – if this was one of the last times she could talk to her dad, there were a few things she had to say.
...
Carolyn slumped in her chair, allowing herself to relax in the quiet of the near empty commissary. Despite her exhaustion she wasn't ready to go home and sleep yet, her mind still roiling with nervous tension. The rush of activity that had followed Gerak's help had just ended, the vaccine they had managed to develop was being distributed at this very moment. Seeing movement in the corner of her eye she looked up and saw Tegan coming in. The xenobiologist glanced over and grinned, then waved her hands at the hot drink carafes and raised one eyebrow questioningly. Carolyn gave a small smile in return, nodding her head.
A minute or so later the tall woman wove her way through the maze of tables carrying two mugs.
"I went for decaff. I think we all need some sleep tonight" she said "hope that's ok."
She wasn't asking, Carolyn noted with amusement. But then, she wasn't going to argue either, and accepted her mug with a grateful smile "Thank you. Normally I would say decaff was the drink of the devil, but I suppose I can let you off this once."
Magnus sat opposite her, eyes twinkling despite the tiredness evident on her face.
"As days go, I don't think the past few count as normal."
"I hope not" Carolyn said, half under her breath.
Tegan looked at her seriously. "We won though. In the end."
"This time"
"I'll drink to that" Tegan said, tipping her mug to Carolyn who had to smile back, bumping her own mug with Tegan's. "Cheers."