Chapter Two

SG-1, led by Sam, emerged from the wormhole and limped down the gate ramp at the SGC. Or at least Sam limped. Daniel and Teal'c were unscathed, except for their pride.

"Colonel, what happened out there?" General Landry asked her, a concerned frown on his face.

"My strategy to win their trust failed, Sir."

"They are much more primitive than I'd hoped," Daniel admitted reluctantly. He wasn't sure where he'd gone wrong, but he blamed himself for this.

"They are indeed an uncivilized race," Teal'c intoned.

"I expect a full report just as soon as the doctor checks you out. Now get to the infirmary, Colonel, before you drip blood on the newly-scrubbed floor. I have a couple of guests coming for a tour of the base this afternoon…two senators. I wouldn't want them to think I don't run a tight ship around here," Hank Landry said, as he looked down at the bloody wound in Sam's left thigh.

"Yes, Sir," she said, and then she allowed the infirmary staff to put her on a gurney.

Later in the briefing room….

"I have taken P3X-909 off the list of safe planets. I see no reason to risk anyone's life on that place again," Landry remarked.

"I'm afraid I have to disagree, Sir. If I could just find a way to communicate with their leader, I think…" Daniel hated to give up, but he was interrupted by Landry.

"I appreciate your dedication, Doctor Jackson, but I can't afford to waste time on Neanderthals, when the President and the Joint Chiefs are pressing me for new technologies…and new allies. Now that the Asgard are gone, we really need someone out there to watch our backs."

"I know that, Sir, but there could be something on the planet that could be of benefit to mankind, like medicines and minerals, things not that easily detected." It wasn't in Daniel to give up. So even though he knew he could be a pest, he never quit without a fight.

Landry let out a tired-sounding sigh. "Colonel, what do you think?"

"Daniel could be right, Sir. We could send a drone to check out the interior. Also…I've been working on a robot that could take plant and soil samples," Sam revealed.

"That's a great idea! How far from ready is it? Colonel?"

Sam suddenly felt dizzy. "I'm not sure…. I don't…"

The next thing Sam knew, she was waking up in the infirmary.

"How do you feel, Colonel?" Doctor Carolyn Lam asked her.

The pretty young doctor was General Landry's daughter, but she had gotten this far without his help, and Sam respected her for it. "Better. What happened?" she asked, shaking her head to try and clear it.

"You passed out in the briefing room. Do you remember now?"

"Oh, yes, I do now. Why did I pass out? What's wrong with me?"

"You have an infection. I got your blood tests back, and they showed a dramatic increase in your white blood cell count. I've given you another dose of antibiotics, and I'm going to keep you here for at least another forty-eight hours, just to make sure it's working."

"Thank you." The doctor patted Sam's hand and started to leave, but then she turned back around.

"Oh, you've gotten several phone calls from a certain general. I think you should call him right away."

"I will. Thanks!"

The phone rang several times before Jack's male secretary answered. "General O'Neill's office.

"Sergeant Barnes, this is Colonel Carter. Is he in?"

"Yes, Ma'am! Just a minute, please." Sam waited for only a few seconds before hearing Jack's voice.

"Sam! What happened? All the doctor would tell me was that you weren't in any danger," he complained irritably.

"I'm fine now, or at least I will be. I just have an infection."

"An infection? How'd you get it?"

"I got it on a mission. The natives were quite primitive." She didn't want to tell him everything, but she knew he'd find out eventually. "I was shot with an arrow," she finally admitted.

"An arrow?! Why the hell does Landry have you messing with folks like that?"

"We didn't know they were that primitive, Jack. In fact, the hieroglyphs we saw from the MALP seemed to be those of a very advanced civilization. But apparently they either left the planet or they died for some reason. We don't know, and we probably won't ever know now, because General Landry won't let us go back there."

"Well, at least he's got that right," Jack said critically. "So when can you come home?" he asked.

Sam knew he meant home as in Washington, DC. "Not for at least a couple of days. Doctor Lam wants to keep me under observation till then. I'll get a plane out as soon as I'm released," she promised.

"Good! I miss you."

"I miss you too." She missed him something awful! Sometimes, like now, when he wasn't sitting beside her bed in the infirmary, she wished she could go back in time to when he was her CO. At least back then she'd been able to see him every day. But that was in the past, and a lot of things had changed.

Two days later Sam was back in DC for a month-long medical leave. She spent three weeks of it with Jack, just enjoying his company. He was able to take some time off too, so they finally got up to Boston and Plymouth like they'd wanted to do for months. They stayed in a quaint old inn, where they spent their afternoons and nights making love. And in between their love making sessions, they took long walks on the beach, and they tried a new restaurant every night, dining on all sorts of delicious seafood.

But then, at the end of the third week, Sam told Jack that she had to get back to the SGC. "I really need to go, Jack," she said as he fondled her breast. She had promised General Landry that she would finish her work on the sample-collecting robot before the end of the fiscal year, so he'd have at least some small success to report to his superiors.

Jack wasn't going to make this easy on her. He wanted her to quit that blasted job, before she got herself killed! Her leg injury had healed alright, but what would it be the next time, an arrow through her heart? That would be like an arrow through HIS heart.

"Stay. You still have another week. You can work on the robot when you get back. Why do you always work so hard? The program will go on without you, you know? Why don't you put in for a transfer here or to Langley?"

"What would I do at Langley? Besides, I've only been back at the SGC for five months. I can't ask for a transfer now."

"So they've got you again, while I have nothing!" he spat, rising from their bed. Then he marched into the bathroom and slammed the door.

"Jaack! Jack, don't be like this," she said, rushing to the door. When she opened it, he was standing at the toilet, peeing. He flushed and turned on the shower. And before even waiting for the water to get hot, he stepped in. He always did that, and it amazed her that he had such a tolerance for cold water.

Sam used the toilet. Then she got into the shower with him, moving in behind him, her arms around his waist. And with her head against his back, she hugged him tightly. "Please, don't be mad at me, Jack. I love you more than I can say, but I have an obligation to the people I work with. I can't just leave whenever I feel like it." She was a bit startled when he pried her arms free.

"You're mine, damn it! I'm tired of that damned place always coming between us!" he complained, and then he quickly changed places with her, getting behind her and pushing her against the shower wall. Roughly he kneed her legs apart, and shoved his cock in between the cheeks of her ass. But he wasn't hard enough yet, so instead of shoving inside her, he bit the muscle on top of her shoulder, the one that made her squirm. And as he did so, his big hands squeezed her breasts, his fingers pinching and pulling her nipples, until she was moving her hips against his growing cock, while whining like a bitch in heat.

The sounds she made turned him on even more, and soon he was as hard as a rock. She wanted it, and he intended to give her what she wanted, so he swiveled his hips around until the tip of his cock was inside her folds, and then he pushed in hard, spearing her on his firm length. She was his, at least for now, and Jack enjoyed every second of their coupling. If she was going to leave him again, at least she would carry this moment with her to remember him by.

They didn't see each other again that month or the next.

SG-1 had just come back from a mission. It was after their de-briefing when Carolyn Lam called Sam's lab and asked her to come back to the infirmary.

"I got the results of your blood test, Sam, and I must admit I got a surprise."

"A surprise? What do you mean?"

"You're pregnant."

"Pregnant?! But how? I'm on birth control." Sam felt like someone had just run over her with a truck! She couldn't be pregnant! Sitting down hard on the chair opposite Dr. Lam's desk, Sam's mind was reeling.

"I've been thinking about that. Sometimes an antibiotic can interfere with birth control, and you were on quite a heavy dosage there for a while. It's the only explanation I can think of. I hope you're happy about this?" Carolyn asked, giving Sam a curious look.

"Uh…yes! Yes, of course I am. I never thought I'd have a child, given my job and my age."

"Many women over forty have successful pregnancies, Sam, so there's no reason to worry."

"I know. I'm just surprised is all." But she was worried. What was Jack going to say? Would he change his mind about having children now that she was pregnant? She hoped he would, but what if he didn't? She might need to consider her options.

"How far along am I?"

"About seven weeks, so there's still time to terminate the pregnancy if we find anything wrong…or if you decide to do it for other reasons," Carolyn said guardedly.

"Thank you. Well, I guess I'd better go tell my husband," Sam said with a little laugh, and then she left the doctor's office

Figuring it would be better to get it over with, Sam flew to DC the following afternoon to tell Jack her news.

TBC