Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate or any of the characters you recognize. I'm just borrowing them for entertainment. There is no monetary gain and no copyright infringement intended. The lines of dialog you recognize are from the show, the rest you don't recognize are from me.

AN: Thank you Gategirl7 for your beta skills and patience. Thank you to everyone reading. I hope you enjoy!

**** NOTE: I know nothing about fighting or technique. I did the best I could do with the little bit I wrote. Hopefully it came across well enough for you to get the idea. ****

Previously:

With a sigh, Sam forced her thoughts back to the here and now. She better get to the lunch before Jack began to wonder at her sudden propensity for ignoring direct orders, even ones implied rather than stated. Reading the data one more time, she committed it to memory before carefully erasing the files and every avenue that could be used to retrieve them.

Chapter 4 - Distractions

Lunch hadn't gone badly, Jack reflected. Carter had been more herself. She'd listened intently to everything going on around her and joined in, but she still seemed a little distracted. She and Daniel had discussed plans to meet on their next day off and help each other out with a few things. Everything sounded oh so normal. He wished he could dismiss his Captain's behavior on the mothership. A part of him wanted to let it go and chalk the whole thing up as bad shock therapy, but his gut told him there was way more going on.

Jack winced as he sat down at his desk and began sorting through uncompleted reports. With a sigh he picked up the oldest and started flipping through to see what he needed to do to complete the dreaded task. Maybe he should try to get Daniel or Carter to do his report for him he thought, dismissing the idea after a pleasant interlude of imaging what it would be like to simply sign his name to a ghost written report.

"O'Neill," Teal'c's voice rumbled from the doorway. "I believe it is time for our rematch you requested in the battle with the small wooden table warriors." Jack couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. Did the big guy realize what an awesome straight man he made? They were the perfect comic team, the colonel reasoned.

"Foosball, Teal'c," he corrected, closing the folder he was working on and coming to his feet. "We were playing foosball." The reports could wait. "I think now is an excellent time for a rematch, but you have the rules down now, so there won't be any reason for me to be so easy on you."

"Indeed," Teal'c responded, bowing slightly as he stepped back to allow Jack out of the door. O'Neill just raised an eyebrow at him as he passed. That man could get more mileage out of one word then anyone he'd ever met. That had been a challenge if he'd ever heard one and the Jaffa had beaten him by a large margin last time.

Slightly more than an hour later Jack was once again losing badly to the big warrior, the man was scary good at whatever sport Jack introduced him to. "Another game?" Jack asked, not sure why he wanted to subject himself to another foosball smack down.

"I cannot O'Neill," Teal'c informed him. Jack tried not to allow the relief he felt to show on his face. "I have invited Captain Carter to spar with me." Jack's eyebrows made a leap for his hairline. Cater was still having some trouble warming up to Teal'c. The team was still adjusting to each other. They all had complete trust in Teal'c, but he was still a bit of an unknown for all of them. Daniel knew no strangers, O'Neill recognized the spirit of a fellow warrior, but Carter was still finding her footing with the big man. She worked well with him, but Jack couldn't imagine that a sparring match was something she'd have agreed to. Besides, she'd been awful hard to get out of her lab these days.

"She didn't make some excuse about simulations and doohickeys?"

"She did not." Teal'c stepped around the table. "She appeared to welcome the invitation." Ok, Jack found her being enthusiastic hard to believe.

"And what made you suddenly decide to spar with our Captain?" He had to admit, sometimes he couldn't figure out the big guy's motives any better than the rest of the SGC. Being hard to read would have been a prerequisite of keeping alive while serving a god you didn't believe, Jack figured.

"Did you not wish that Daniel Jackson and I help you determine the extent of changes in Captain Carter since she was struck unconscious?" Oh yeah, but he hadn't thought the former First Prime would take to the investigation so readily. Teal'c paused for a second before adding in as serious a voice as Jack had ever heard when not in battle, "I have watched you worked with Captain Carter to improve her skills. I, too, am curious." Jack didn't say anything. He didn't like the feeling in the pit of his stomach. So the older warrior had questions too. He had noticed the changes as well, not a good sign, but trust his Jaffa buddy to find a good test. They'd both done enough instructing over the years to be able to tell how much training a particular student had very quickly. Making a mental note to come by and watch some of the sparring, Jack just nodded as Teal'c bowed slightly and turned for the door.

.

.

.

.

She was going to have to find a way to tell them and make them believe her, Sam acknowledged to herself as she changed quickly into workout clothes. There was just one thing she was going to have to do first. She was going to have to go through the gate in two days and allow herself to be taken by Jolinar. Sam shuddered at the thought. She remembered feeling a prisoner in her own body, the fear, the helplessness. That had been the worse experience of her professional life and now she was going to have to repeat it. Tying her shoes and grabbing a towel, Sam tried to calm her thoughts. She needed the Naqahdah in her system. She needed the connection that the Tok'ra would feel in her to be there.

"And if she taps into your brain and sees the future?" she asked herself out loud. With a sigh, Sam dropped down onto the bench and allowed her head to fall into her hands. Jolinar had been so arrogant and so tied up with trying to convince the humans around her to let her go that she had pushed Sam to the back of her own mind and only taken basic knowledge she needed to survive. The symbiote had never tried to probe into her unwilling host's mind. Sam was banking that she wouldn't do so now. She had to trust that after all the years having her mind probed by things like Fifth, she could keep her thoughts of the future from Jolinar.

Shaking herself and standing up from the bench, Sam picked up her water bottle and forced herself out of the door. Jack had taught her a long time ago that getting caught up in your own mind before a mission was never a good idea. "Don't dwell," she told herself, hearing his voice in the words as she spoke them quietly. Blinking away the sudden moisture threatening to turn to tears, Sam reached for the door. She didn't want to be late for practice with Teal'c. Even if she managed to keep Jolinar from sensing the knowledge of the future and she managed to survive the forced blending like she'd done before, Sam was seriously worried about how to inform them of her situation. Was there any chance in hell of remaining free after she did tell? The stress relief working out with her friend would provide was just what the doctor ordered.

Maybe it was dangerous to spar with this version of her friend. After all they weren't close now like they'd be in a few years, but she desperately needed to find something familiar and unchanged and he was as close as she got. He had been the one constant in her life since joining SG1. Daniel died on them periodically, Jack had accepted promotion and slowly pulled away from their team even as they'd been trying to find their own footing, but Teal'c was always there. Now as she was faced with the prospect of living her life over again and trying to make the right call on what to say to her teammates and how to say it, she needed this downtime. She would just have to be careful and not use any of his own moves on him.

Sam smiled at the thought as she headed for the gym. It was always so hard to surprise Teal'c that she wished her situation wasn't so dire. She could just imagine the big man's reaction if she used one of the Jaffa fighting techniques he'd begun teaching his human teammates a few years into the program on him! That would be priceless. With his sense of humor, he'd appreciate the joke. She smiled sadly. In a few years he'd appreciate the joke. Right now he was trying to figure out Earth and fit in. She'd never realized how at a loss he'd felt until years later when he'd admitted to her and Daniel how hard it had been to fit into their team in the beginning. The fighting and going through the gate had been no problem, but learning to live among his human teammates and establish ties had been considerably harder for him.

"Captain Carter," Teal'c called, bowing slightly when she smiled in acknowledgment.

"Hi, Teal'c," she answered, unable to keep the grin on her face from spreading. "Thanks for inviting me. This is just what I need." She laid her water bottle and towel down on the bench next to the area they were going to work out.

He acknowledged her statement with a slight bow and watched her warm up and stretch before they both stepped into place on the workout mat. Sam really couldn't remember how many times she'd sparred with him in the early years. Mostly it had been Jack working with her to show her new moves and enhance her skill set, but as she'd become familiar and comfortable with Teal'c she'd worked with both of them. She made a mental note to keep her moves basic.

Five minutes into the match, Sam began to relax. Teal'c was taking it easy on her. He treated her as he should when training a young officer with level 3 advanced training. Since she was way beyond that these days that made it fairly simple to respond in a manner he was expecting her to. The physical activity as well as Teal'c's steady presence was quieting her brain and keeping her mind occupied. Sam forced her attention back to the match. Even when Teal'c was taking it easy, it didn't pay to let her mind wonder.

Just as that thought crystallized, Teal'c unexpectedly intensified his attack. Without thinking, Sam blocked his move and counter attacked as she'd been taught to do by both of SG1's warriors. It was a basic move one of them had taught her long ago and she'd long since mastered. Muscle memory took over and before she could catch herself she'd slipped under his defenses and barely stopped herself from scoring a hit on him.

Damn, she swore silently as she backed off and allowed his next hit to take her to the mat. Her skill level as Captain Carter should not be anywhere near the level she was at now, after years of training by both Teal'c and Jack and years of combat. Muscle memory by itself was going to give her away. Teal'c was too good at not only teaching, but at reading people as well. No way he missed that one. She had been stupid to think she could spar with such an experienced teacher and not give herself away.

"Are you injured Captain Carter?" She hadn't immediately gotten off of the floor. She wasn't hurt, but she wasn't in a hurry to get up. With a sigh, Sam accepted Teal'c's hand and climbed to her feet.

"I'm fine Teal'c," she assured him. "Want to try that again slowly and show me what I did?" she tried, hoping to salvage her pretense. She watched her friend's face. Even closed off like he was now, the man was fairly expressive if you knew what you were looking for. Her stomach twisted a little at his look. He was skeptical. Had he been testing her skill level? The thought brought her up short. He could easily beat her in hand to hand combat, beating her hadn't been why he intensified his moves. He'd been testing her. Not only had she fallen for it, she'd actually managed to surprise him. Great Sam, she told herself. She needed this mission over and to find a way to tell them the truth before her team decided something more sinister than the truth was going on with her.

"Oh come now, Captain," Jack's voice behind her made her jerk her head around in surprise. "That was a pretty impressive move. I didn't see you do much of anything wrong." Sam froze. When had he come in? If she remembered correctly, she'd trained much more with Colonel O'Neill in the beginning than with Teal'c. Of course he'd know what she should be capable of at that point and she'd just shown him enough for his suspicions to kick into overdrive. "You're getting a little lazy with your stance. Remember to keep your weight centered on your left leg when you pivot. It will make it easier to stop your momentum when you need to." Oh god, he'd noticed that she'd stopped moving forward and allowed herself to get taken down by a basic move. Could she have screwed up any more? Two of the most expert hand to hand fighters she had ever known and she'd just messed up big time.

The colonel approached the mat. "Mind if I step in, Teal'c?" Teal'c merely bowed and stepped back. Jack was too casual. Sam tried not to react, not to give away the panic she felt inside. She wasn't ready for this. It was too soon to be asked to be this close to him, too soon to be touched by him, even just in practice. She wasn't sure if she could hold her composure, let alone try to convince someone of Jack's caliber that she had only the skills a fairly advanced Captain should have.

Sam moved mechanically as O'Neill directed her through the stance he wanted her to correct. As he stood behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her while he corrected her left hip, Sam's vision swam. She heard O'Neill instructing her, but in her mind's eye he had gray hair, not brown and he was squeezing her shoulder as he held her in the control chair of the bug infested SGC. She could hear his voice telling her this couldn't go down any other way and making her promise to get to the mirror since she couldn't get to the gate. In a few years the man standing behind her would order her to live right before he sacrificed himself.

Sam tried to push the memories away. They caused too much pain and she didn't have the luxury of time to deal with them right now. Her mind was so preoccupied she wasn't ready when O'Neill moved to test his correction of her stance. He easily took her to the mat. She tried to correct her mistake on the way down, but ended up tangling them up as badly as a first year cadet.

Jack's skill kept her from being hurt as he controlled their fall. His weight came down across her. One of his legs was between hers. He had her arm behind her back and would have been crushing her chest, making it hard to breathe if he hadn't caught part of his weight on his other forearm. His face was only inches from hers. "What happened there, Carter?" he asked, genuinely concerned. "What's going on with you? Is there something you'd like to discuss with me?"

"I'm fine Sir, I'm sorry," she offered, trying to keep her body still and her eyes locked with his. It was hard. The last time he'd been this close, he'd kissed her and told her that he wished he'd done that sooner. That was the last time she'd seen him. Things had been moving so fast that she hadn't had time to grieve her loss, didn't even know if grieving was the right word. The man she'd lost was right here. She closed her eyes for a moment, surrounded by the scent that was uniquely Jack O'Neill, taking comfort in him. In a few short years this man would be in love with her, but the trouble was that she was there now and he was just starting the journey. She desperately wanted to give in to the overwhelming need to confess everything that was happening and share some of the burden with Jack, with the whole team. She needed them all, but most especially she needed him.