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Two (Post ep: solitudes)

Jack settled into his bed, feeling the pull of painkillers and sedatives coursing through his blood, threatening to ease him into sleep. Still, he fought the urge to close his eyes and took one last assessment of his surroundings before he rested completely.

The private plane was nearly empty; it was designed to transport medical patients, and both Jack and Carter were strapped into beds at the rear of the plane. A nurse and doctor were seated in a row of seats ahead of them, coming back to check on the two soldiers periodically. If they thought it was strange that a colonel and a captain were found in Antarctica, dressed in full combat gear and sporting dangerous injuries, they hadn't commented on it.

The rest of the SGC team, General Hammond included, that had come to retrieve their missing comrades, were either seated in the far front of the plane, on another transport; or left behind to coordinate the transferral of the second gate.

Jack still couldn't quite get his head around that one. Two gates. They had been on Earth the entire time, struggling to get back to a planet they were already on. They'd spent three days at McMurdo before being cleared to fly. Carter had been given the all clear on the second day, but Jack needed to recover from the surgery to fix his chest and for the swelling on his leg to go down enough to cast.

Jack's eyes closed as his mind thought about the existence of two gates, he doubted even his broken leg and busted chest would get him out of what was sure to be a long and scientifically-worded briefing with Carter when they got back to base. He drifted off to sleep thinking of the last time Carter had gotten excited about science: she'd used ten syllable words and spoken for a good ten minutes straight in complicated techno babble he hadn't understood…

Jack jerked awake when he felt a hand slap against his face, "Wha…?"

He pushed the arm off his nose and turned to the offending owner of the limb. He was surprised when he saw that it was Carter. Their beds barely had enough space to walk between them and Carter could easily reach her arm across.

"Carter, get off," he whispered, trying not to alert the medicos resting ahead. The last thing he needed was the Doc to pump another dose of sedatives through his system.

"Can't… nothing there… I'm sorry sir…" Carter shifted restlessly, her eyes closed, and Jack realized that she was still asleep, dreaming; or rather, having a nightmare by the way her face was twisted into a grimace.

He squeezed her arm, "Carter, wake up!"

She shifted again, still mumbling, "Honour… should have saved you… I'm sorry sir."

Jack felt his gut twist uncomfortably; she blamed herself for not getting them out of there. He hadn't been present when she had been told about the second gate, and how they had been on Earth the whole time; knowing Carter, she had berated herself for not thinking of the possibility. There was no way Jack blamed her for that; she had no equipment, an injured C.O. and freezing conditions in which to work, she had done her best. He'd have to make it clear to her once they got back to the SGC that she was not to dwell on any misplaced guilt, he suspected she wouldn't listen, but he would at least try. Even her genius, super-sized brain couldn't have figured out that they had been on Earth.

Sam twisted again on the bed; she was half strapped down, but Jack was still worried that she might hurt herself if he didn't wake her up.

"I'm sorry sir." Her voice was pained, her closed eyes scrunched as she mumbled the apology.

Jack tried a different tactic than waking her up, "It's okay Carter, we're okay."

"Sir? You're okay?" Sam seemed to respond to him in her sleep.

"We're safe Carter," Jack held her arm tightly, "You can rest now."

Sam's eyes opened a fraction, she looked at him for a second and whispered, "Safe." then her eyes closed and she relaxed, finally stilling on the bed.

Jack let go of her arm slowly, not feeling tired anymore, wanting instead to stay awake and watch over his teammate. He turned into a more comfortable position so that he could watch her without his heavy cast being in the way. He kept his eyes open for the rest of the plane trip home, soothing her back into a peaceful sleep whenever she became restless.

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End Part Two