It was a normal day at Stargate Command; well, about as normal as it could be. The four teammates were being sent on a mission to extract information from a rather primitive culture. Jack wasn't sure what made it so important to him, but Daniel was the first one to be in the Gateroom, and the young man was nearly bouncing with joy. The Colonel's main concern, however, was that Teal'c was already on the planet waiting for them.
"The M.A.L.P. showed a few images of the pillars on PH7-129. It looks like there may be some ancient dialect written on them," he explained, talking too fast for Jack to keep up.
Jack showed hardly any emotion on the outside, but on the inside, he was laughing at Daniel's eagerness to leave. "You'd better not get too excited," Jack reminded, "Carter said that there seems to be some sort of-problem-in the atmosphere on PX3-whatever, and she's gotta check it out before we leave."
Then, it hit him. Sam was normally the first one in the Gateroom, and it was already twenty minutes after they were supposed to have left. Where could she be?
"Jack, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
The older man nodded. "Carter should've been here by now-"
General Hammond's questioning voice cut Jack off. "Colonel, what's the hold-up?" He asked impatiently.
Jack turned himself around to where he could see the General properly. "Sir, we seem to have a bit of a problem. Carter was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago." General Hammond looked worried.
"We'll find her, Colonel." He promised.
As soon as the mission was cancelled and the Stargate was shut down, Jack and Daniel were out of the Gateroom, and into the lab, looking for the lost Major Carter. They had hoped that maybe she had just fallen asleep while working on some new device, but when they got there, the lab was empty.
The two men stood there, contemplating their next move, when an airman passed by, asking if they had seen Carter. "No, she's not here," Daniel replied, and the young man disappeared with no explaination.
"If Sam's not here, where would she go?" Daniel wondered aloud as he and Jack walked down one of the many corridors of the SGC.
"I don't know, let's check the commissary and make sure she's not catching a bite to eat," the Colonel replied, although he doubted that Sam would miss a mission for food. "Maybe we'll find her there."
The two men found, on various occasions, that they were not the only one's looking for the Major. Janet had joined the search as well, and had come up with nothing. "Have either of you heard from Major Carter recently?"
"She was here just yesterday, after the run-in with the Goa'uld on PJ6-948. She showered in the locker room, then left."
"Did anything- happen -yesterday?" Janet asked.
Daniel shook his head. "She seemed fine."
"She has to be here somewhere, I just don't know where else to check."
"Have you checked her quarters?" Daniel asked. Janet had a slight moment of realization, then darted away to look for her friend. When she got there, however, she found an empty bed, and no Major to be found. When she stepped out, Jack and Daniel were waiting for her, inquiring about Sam.
"She's not there."
Daniel remained silent for a moment, then concluded, "If she was on the base, someone would've had to have found her by now."
"Maybe...she's still at home?" Janet glanced at Jack, who had remained silent for some time.
"You stay here," he ordered, "Daniel and I will go check on her. If we don't find her there, we can assume it's an emergency."
Sam's house was still a good ways away from the based, but Jack knew that if he drove fast enough, they could get there in a small amount of time. Daniel tried climbing into the driver's side of the vehicle, but Jack wouldn't let him. Daniel understood the Colonel's worry, and climbed in the passenger's seat, buckling his seat belt as Jack sped out of the lot. "Do you have to go so fast? I'm sure she's fine." Daniel tried to reassure him.
"Daniel, if Carter didn't come to work, something's wrong." He reasoned, pushing his foot down harder and harder on the gas pedal.
"I know that, but we're not going to help her by getting a speeding ticket," He said, smiling a little.
Jack slammed on the breaks, slowing the vehicle down and giving the two men a sudden jolt. "You're right." He admitted.
Daniel laid back, and didn't say a word. Jack kept driving, all the while hoping that Carter had just slept in. "I know that you care about her," Daniel finally replied in a low mumble.
"So?"
"So...she needs to know that. I've seen how you've been today. You're worried sick."
"And?"
"She needs to know that you- love- her." Daniel said, not quite choosing his words careful enough.
"She knows that," He replied, becoming quite tense.
"Does she?" Daniel countered.
Jack never responded. They pulled into Carter's driveway, finding that her car was still there and her house remained untouched. When Jack knocked on the door, nobody answered, so Daniel just let them in. At first the Colonel thought it was weird that they invited themselves, but Daniel seemed to be okay with it. Besides, the two were like brother and sister. If anything happened to Sam, Daniel would surely know about it.
They found that the house was rather untidy, which was unusual for Carter. The woman was a little bit of a neat freak, (at least, to Jack she was) and always kept the house tidy and clean. Instead, they found that the television had been left on, and Looney Toons was playing at a low volume. There was a slice of pizza left on a plate on the coffee table, and a few cups sat at various locations around the house. A robe and a pair of slippers lay near the couch, but the two men still didn't see Carter.
It was then that Jack cracked open the Major's bedroom door. The light was turned off, and there was a lump in the bed. Daniel stepped behind him, whispering as low as he could, "So that's where she's been all day."
As the two stepped closer, Jack noticed that her breathing was steady, but sounded rough. He just barely touched her forehead, checking to make sure she wasn't dangerously sick. "Probably just a cold," He muttered thankfully.
"We should leave her, she'll probably call when she wakes up." Daniel stepped out of the room, but Jack stayed for a moment, watching her. She was curled up in a little ball under the covers, only the top half of her face visible as she slept. He touched her forehead again, one more time, just to be sure before he walked from the room, leaving the tired Major to rest.
