Title: Smoke on the Water
Part: 2/10
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Pairing: Sam/Jack
Genre: Adventure, romance
Season: Set between Ark of Truth and Continuum
Chapter Summary: Stuck in familiar surroundings, Sam struggles with having to remain Earth-bound.
PART TWO
Sitting opposite Jack in the mess hall, Sam was unable to decide whether or not she was reminded of old times. In years past, when Jack had still been the commanding officer of SG-1 and she his second-in-command, they had shared many meals and conversations in this room. Some of those conversations had been full of sly comments and surprised laughter; others had been characterised by stubborn looks and heated remarks.
And yet, since then, so much had changed. The tension of saying just a bit too much, staring just a little too long, had now been vanquished. Watching Jack eat, relaxed and open with her, Sam felt she was being offered a glimpse of a future that was already upon them.
She listened as he related his latest plans to go fishing at his Minnesota cabin.
"I was going to ask Daniel and Teal'c to come along," he said offhandedly, "but now that you're back... I mean, you could come with me. Just the two of us."
He trailed off, glancing at her over a forkful of cottage pie. Sam gave him a fond smile.
"I'd like that," she said. Looking pleased with himself, Jack continued eating, but Sam added: "Don't get excited just yet. I've still got my evaluation with the IOA, and for all I know that could take a couple of weeks. And then we have the extraction ceremony to attend."
"Ugh." Jack pulled a face. "Why do I have to go? Why?"
"Well, like the Tok'ra said in their message, we've all been instrumental in Ba'al's downfall. You can't deny your role in the events that have led up to this."
"But it's the Tok'ra," objected Jack. Slightly nettled as she always was by Jack's attitude towards their old allies, Sam was about to respond when a young airman interrupted them.
"Colonel Carter?" he asked, at once looking confused by Sam's uniform and frightened by O'Neill's. "General Landry asked me to remind you that you're expected in the infirmary."
"Thank you, airman," Sam sighed, and looked across the table at Jack. "I think I should tell Dr. Lam that Dr. Keller's team is more than capable of clearing me for duty."
Jack merely shrugged. "Standard procedure, Sam."
"Right." She stood up to leave, feeling rebuffed. Nobody here on Earth seemed to trust the people on Atlantis – her people – as much as they deserved. And she would be sure to tell the IOA that, as soon as she saw them.
*
Mercifully, Sam's physical didn't take long. The nurses seemed to know that she had already been cleared for Gate travel by the Atlantis medical staff, and were generous; they soon left her in peace. Grateful for the space and the silence, Sam lay back on the infirmary bed upon which she had been sitting, staring up at the colourless ceiling with its unnatural, yellow lights. Her body felt tired, but her mind felt worse. She closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, it was to the sound of someone entering the room. She sat up and saw it was Daniel.
"Hey, Sam." He gave her a boyish smile, though he was watching her shrewdly. "Jack said you'd be in here. Am I disturbing you?"
She shook her head and returned his smile. "I was just resting my eyes. How have you been?"
"Oh, same as ever," Daniel answered, crossing the ward so that he could sit facing her on the adjacent bed. "Life's a little calmer in the Milky Way now that the Ori are gone. That's not to say we haven't continued to run into our fair share of trouble; now that both the Goa'uld and the Ori have been defeated, there's no longer a single dominant force in the galaxy."
"Power vacuum," Sam said with a nod of comprehension.
"Right," Daniel agreed. "It's like the Jaffa all over again, only on a much bigger scale. Different factions are rising to the fore, fighting amongst themselves – but for all that, the galaxy really is a better place."
Sam nodded again, thinking of the full-scale war still raging in the Pegasus Galaxy. "That's great, Daniel. That's really great."
"Yeah. So, how are you, Sam? How are you taking things?"
Sam raised her eyes momentarily to the ceiling to give herself time to think. Eventually she replied, "I'm trying to be rational about it, but it's hard. Over the last year, Atlantis really became my home. I feel like I've betrayed the expedition because I won't be going back."
"That's not your fault, Sam."
"I know. Still," she continued briskly, "I'm sorry we never got chance to arrange that extended visit you wanted."
Daniel dropped his head momentarily, but when he raised it again he was still smiling.
"That's Jack for you. One of these days he's gonna have to let me go." They lapsed into a brief pause. To end it, Daniel asked, "So – what happened to your Atlantis uniform?"
Sam glanced down at her clothing, which she had changed during her physical. In place of her usual fitted, light-grey uniform, she had put on the clothes she had always worn around the SGC as a member of SG-1 – though of course today she wore it without a patch on her arm.
"I guess it felt a little too conspicuous around here," she replied. "Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, that's not who I am now. The sooner I get used to it, the better." She offered a pained smile. Daniel nodded sympathetically.
"Hey," he began, "if you're up to it, the four of us are planning to–"
He was interrupted by a voice over the intercom.
"SG-1 to the Control Room. Repeat: Colonel Mitchell's team to the Control Room."
Sam and Daniel exchanged glances, leapt to their feet and hurried from the infirmary.
*
By the time they reached the Control Room, the rest of SG-1 were already there. Mitchell, Vala and Teal'c stood looking at the computer monitors above them, which occasionally flickered with distorted images. The Stargate was active, casting a bluish glow around the Gate Room.
"What is it?" Daniel asked, glancing around for clues.
"Good question," Mitchell replied. "Anyone care for a guess? Teal'c?"
Teal'c turned his head towards him slowly. "For what purpose, Colonel Mitchell?"
"I think it's the people from the Fortuna Corporation," Vala interrupted excitedly, waving something small and golden in front of Daniel's nose. "This is my winning ticket!"
"Vala!" Daniel exclaimed, snatching the object out of her hand. "You got this from my lab, didn't you?"
"Hey, give that back! I asked you about it and you didn't know what it was. You were just going to catalogue it along with some dusty old pots..."
Behind them, Sam was still watching the screens. "There's something wrong with the transmission," she remarked.
"Yes, ma'am," the Gate technician, Walter, replied. "The computers are having trouble decoding the signal."
Without thinking, Sam slid into the vacant seat next to him and immediately began typing instructions into the computer. Behind them, they heard footsteps on the spiral staircase as General Landry, Woolsey and O'Neill descended from the briefing room.
"Colonel Mitchell?" Landry called.
"Unscheduled offworld activation, sir," Mitchell explained.
"I can see that, Colonel. Who is it?"
"Well, sir, we're not entirely sure."
"Colonel Carter," Woolsey suddenly said. "What are you doing at that computer? You haven't been cleared for duty."
"Oh, give it a rest, Woolsey," Jack told him. "Can't you see she's just helping out? Let her work."
Sam, giving no indication that she had heard their exchange, answered only when she had finished the decoding. "The signal should be coming through now," she said; and, sure enough, the image on the screen flickered one final time and began to clear.
A face came into focus: an earnest expression on dignified features, clearly frustrated that nobody seemed to be responding.
"That's Peddan," Daniel said, "one of the Rondans we resettled on P2X-584 two months ago."
"What's he saying?" Woolsey asked.
At that moment, the crackling sound settled into intelligible speech as Walter succeeded in decoding the audio signal. Peddan's voice sounded out from the speakers: "...fear an impending attack. If you can hear me, please answer!"
"Can we respond?" Landry asked Walter.
"They're using alien technology to communicate with us," Walter replied. "I could try to isolate the frequencies they're using, but it'll take time."
"Sir," interjected Sam, glancing over her shoulder at Landry, "if I may?"
He nodded his permission and she set to work. Behind her, the others waited in silence until Sam turned once again to Landry and said: "He should be able to hear us now, sir."
"Peddan," Landry called, watching the Rondan man's expression transform to one of relief on the screens in front of them. "This is General Landry of Stargate Command."
"General! I was beginning to think there was no-one there to hear me!"
"Sorry about that. We had some trouble receiving your transmission. What can we do for you?"
"General, we have received word from our trading partners on other worlds that the Sowda Confederacy have learnt of our new settlement and are preparing an attack. As you know, we have superior technology to many of their associate worlds, but since fleeing our home planet from the Ori there are few of us left. The villagers who first took us in on this planet have no means of defending themselves and are beginning to panic. Please, General, send some of your people to help us."
Mitchell immediately turned to Landry. "Sir, SG-1 would like to take this one."
The general nodded. "Take SG-9 with you."
Without hesitation, Mitchell hurried from the Control Room with Daniel, Teal'c and Vala in close pursuit. To Peddan, Landry said: "Help is on the way." Peddan thanked him and the transmission ended. The Stargate shut down.
Sam rose from her seat. "General Landry, sir," she said. "Request permission to join Colonel Mitchell's team to assist the Rondans."
Woolsey stepped forward. "Now hold on a minute, Colonel. You haven't been cleared by the infirmary. You haven't even been formally reassigned to the SGC yet. I'm sorry, but until you've submitted to a full review by the IOA following your excursion to the Pegasus Galaxy, you are not permitted to go through that Stargate."
"Sirs," Sam protested, looking between Landry and O'Neill, "surely the IOA can't..."
"Sorry, Sam." Jack was looking at her gravely; she felt a sudden flash of anger and frustration that he wasn't leaping to her defence.
"The truth of it is, Colonel," Woolsey continued, "you shouldn't have been in the Control Room to hear about this mission in the first place."
This time, Jack threw Woolsey a poisonous look and said, "Alright, now you're pushin' it."
"I'm not sure this is the right time for this conversation," Landry broke in. "Although for the record, Mr. Woolsey, Colonel Carter is welcome anywhere on my base. Now, gentlemen, I think it's time we resume our meeting."
*
Back in the briefing room, Jack knew that his lack of co-operation was causing problems for their discussion, but he was having difficulty caring. The look of hurt and frustration on Sam's face had injected a large dose of guilt into his veins, and now he felt awkward and restless. As soon as Landry drew the discussion to a close, Jack stood up and strode out of the room, slowing only to deliver Woolsey a passing glare.
He had been fully intending to find Sam and apologise, but it seemed she did not wish to be found. Eventually he ordered a security officer to locate her; if she evaded him much longer they would miss their chartered flight to Washington.
When the security officer returned, Sam was with him, wearing her own formal dress blues. On her shoulder she carried the two bags with which she had arrived.
"I was told I have a flight to catch," she told Jack, and he could tell from her tone that she was still angry with him. His heart sank and he wanted to apologise; but they both knew that the middle of an SGC hallway was not the place to resolve their differences.
So he simply replied: "In that case I guess we better get going," and the two of them made their way in silence up through the base. They reached the surface and climbed into the back of the chauffeur-driven car that was waiting for them. They left the dark confines of the mountain and emerged into the clear light of a fresh Colorado Springs day.
Finally, as they drove the winding mountain roads, Jack mustered up the courage to break the silence.
"For what it's worth," he said, looking at the screen between them and the driver and hoping they wouldn't be overheard, "I'm sorry I couldn't get you offworld."
Sam stared out of the window for a few more moments before answering.
"I thought you might at least put up a fight."
"Sam, I did put up a fight – in Washington. I've been fighting the IOA on your behalf for a month."
Sam finally turned her head away from the rolling view of the mountainside, clearly surprised. She had been sitting as close as possible to the window, but now she adjusted the angle of her body to face him. "I just thought..."
"What?" he asked gently.
"I don't know. I guess I'm still not sure where I stand, or how much I should be asking of you. I've thought about... about being with you, about us finally being together, every single day since you left Atlantis three months ago. But everything seems more complicated now I'm here. I just didn't expect things to happen like this."
She was gazing at him with pleading eyes, and he reached across the seat to touch her hand. Without hesitation, she entwined her fingers with his, and he felt a warm sensation running up his arm all the way to his shoulder and down to his chest.
"Just think about how I must feel," he answered with a coy smile. "I've been beating myself up for the past four weeks because I couldn't help hoping you'd have to stay."
"No second thoughts?" she asked him. "About us, I mean?"
"Are you kidding?" he replied, and was pleased to see her smile. Her hand relaxed in his. Beyond the windows, Colorado Springs rolled by, and the day seemed that much brighter to them both.
*
Meanwhile – ten miles off the coast of Delaware – two gulls that had been resting on the surface of the ocean suddenly took flight. There was a whistling sound from somewhere above, underpinned by a mechanical whir that grew steadily louder; ten seconds later there was a crash as something impacted the water, and a mighty torrent of foam gushed vertically into the air. It rained back down to reveal a shape, seven feet long, floating on the surface of the water, surging with the newly-formed waves; but then the droplets reached the sea and the outline vanished, leaving nothing but smoke on the water.
End of Part 2.