Sorry about the update hold up. These past weeks haven't been the greatest. I have a plan for the next chapter so it should be out within the next two weeks.
ShyofLife: That would be cool... only I don't know it that can work out.
Anyways… congrats to Sam for getting all the flashback episodes! They are (in order):
1. Children of the Gods
2. In the Line of Duty
3. Point of View
4. Divide and Conquer
5. Ascension
6. Unnatural Selection
Also to Meghan who named all but the second one. Many of you got most of them. The only two missed were (I think) In the Line of Duty and Ascension.
Hope you enjoy the chapter!
"Um… what?"
Though rather inadequately stated, it expressed the thoughts of everyone surrounding the Major.
Jack stared at his second-in-command. "What the hell did Thor do to her?" he demanded, turning to face Brightman. The doctor was shaking her head.
"I don't know, sir," she said quietly, "her memory appears to be back-"
"She thinks she's pregnant!" Could Replicator's-? No…
"What do you mean 'thinks'," Sam demanded, stiffening. "I-"
"What's the last thing you remember, Sam?" Daniel interrupted. Sam frowned at him but answered,
"Jack and I were at his cabin. We went inside to eat breakfast and…" she trailed off, trying to think.
"So that's the last thing you remember?"
She slowly nodded. "Yeah." Confusion appeared in her blue eyes. "Did I blackout once we got inside?"
Jack was about to point out that she had never stepped foot inside his cabin when Dr. Brightman suddenly turned to Jack and asked for a word in private. Curious, he followed her into the small office; once inside, the doctor turned to face him.
"Colonel," she began quickly, "I'm not sure what has happened, but something is obviously wrong-"
"Ya think?" Jack demanded. "Doc, she thinks she's pregnant! The last thing she remembers is being at my cabin. The only person on my team whose been there is Teal'c!"
"I need you to play along, sir."
"Trust me, if Carter -" He stopped as the words registered. "What?"
"I need you to play along," she repeated.
"You want me… to pretend- to play along with whatever the hell Carter is thinking?"
"Yes, sir."
"Brightman, I don't even know what the hell she is thinking!"
The doctor saw the raw fear in the man's eyes. The helplessness that he felt could be seen on his face. "I know," she said softly, "Right now, I just need you to go in there and just calm her."
He looked at her and then glanced at the floor. "What do I tell her about the kid?" He didn't wait for an answer but marched out of the room. Making his way to the somber group surrounding Carter's bed, he began in a forced cheerful voice, "Doc here thinks you need to rest a bit. She's going to sedate you- so you can sleep easier."
She looked like she was about to protest so he laid a finger against her lips. "Doc's orders."
To his complete surprise, she merely gave a small nod. Jack gestured to Brightman who promptly administered the sedative. A minute later, Sam's eyes drifted closed; her even breathing could be heard after a few more moments.
"Jack?"
Looking at the archeologist, Jack could see the same helplessness mirrored on his face. "Daniel?"
"Sam said something while you were gone." Daniel stopped; after a minute, Jack impatiently prodded him and he continued, "She said… she said…"
"Said what?" Jack asked humorlessly, "We're married?"
"That is precisely what Major Carter said," Teal'c said evenly.
Jack was silent for several long moments; Dr. Weir was about to ask if he was all right when he roared, "THOR!"
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"I am still going through the data collected, O'Neill. I will inform you the minute I am complete."
Jack looked incredulously at the hologram. "Thor, she thinks we're married. Married. M-a-r-r-i-e-d-"
"You have said so several times, O'Neill," Thor interrupted, his patience stretched. "It will not make my work go any faster." The hologram disappeared.
Jack heard a slight snort and turned, frowning. The unfortunate Airman mumbled a quick apology and backed out of the room.
Daniel didn't turn from his position at the bottom of Sam's bed. "So what are we going to do?" he asked quietly.
The Air Force Colonel sighed. "We wait."
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2200… Thor hadn't made contact in the past five hours. What the hell was taking him so long?
The Colonel rubbed his eyes and sat back in his chair. Carter was still sleeping- Brightman had administered more sedatives to keep her asleep until this was figured out.
He sighed and watched as Carter shifted in her sleep.
This whole Carter thing was getting old. Not that he minded watching over her. He didn't mind the wait. It was the whole 'What the hell is going on thing' that seemed to happen every time the Major opened her eyes that was getting to him.
He wanted Carter back. The one that knew who she was. Who could save their asses from the Goa'uld and the Replicators.
The one who knew that they weren't married.
He rested his chin on his hands and prepared to wait (impatiently) for Thor's arrival.
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Aboard the Daniel Jackson, a small figure stood in front of a console. Manipulating the stones, the Asgard smiled as video appeared on the screen; seconds later, sound appeared: "You don't have to worry, Major. I played with dolls when I was a kid."
Thor carefully watched the few memories that flashed on the screen; to his surprise, it blacked out right after a memory of the Replicator Fifth. He was to contact O'Neill when images appeared again. Thor watched as Carter pleaded for the Replicator to stop the torture. He slowed it down as the Replicator knelt down and cradled the Colonel.
Ten minutes later, Thor removed the stone from the console and looked around, an unusually grave look on his face.
O'Neill would not like what he found.
Å
For the second time that day, Jack O'Neill found himself on the bridge of the Daniel Jackson. Seconds later, he was joined Daniel, who was holding two cups of coffee, and then Teal'c, who had obviously been in the process of mediating. The Jaffa got to his feet and Daniel handed Jack one of the cups.
"I have grave news, O'Neill," Thor started, making his way to SG-1.
"What do you mean- grave news?" Jack and Daniel demanded simultaneously.
"I have finished going through the data recorded during our attempt to help Major Carter regain her memory-"
"Get to the point!" Jack cried.
"It is partly my fault, O'Neill, that this has happened." The Asgard hung his head. "I am truly sorry."
"How is it your fault?" Daniel questioned. "You didn't-"
"I triggered the illusion that Fifth implanted in Major Carter's memories."
The three men were silent.
"Of what do you speak, Thor?"
Thor focused his big eyes on Teal'c. "While going through the data, I noticed a few anomalies. Investigating further, I found memories that must have been fabricated by the Replicator Fifth."
"What kind of memories?" SG-1 asked as one.
"Memories of Fifth's life with Major Carter," came Thor's hesitant response. "I believe that Major Carter, while prisoner aboard the Replicator ship, was tortured and then had this fantasy offered to her. She chose to accept it."
"Why would Carter play along?" Jack demanded. He knew that she still felt guilty over what they had done to the bug guy, but accepting a fantasy? Carter? When she knew that her friends would do whatever was necessary to rescue her?
"O'Neill." Thor made his way to one of the console and twisted one of the stones. "This is one of the mental images Major Carter last experienced before she lost consciousness aboard this vessel. I believe it to be part of the illusion."
Jack stared with mixed emotions as he watched the screen. Carter exited a house- his cabin, he recognized- and started down the path that lead to his dock. At the end of it, stood… he? On the screen, he turned and began talking to her. Jack couldn't hear what they were saying but at the end of the conversation, they walked off, hand-in-hand. At the door, he stopped and placed a hand on her belly, covering her own; he said something that made her laugh. With a grin, he pushed the door open… and the screen turned black.
"What happened?"
"That is all I was able to extract before Major Carter collapsed." Thor hesitated and then said slowly, "Before destroying the Replicator structure and the Replicator Fifth, we detected a sub-space transmission leave the ship. Fifth managed to link their minds for a few brief moments. I'm not sure of his intent, but it appears that he either removed the memories that he had made with Major Carter, or suppressed them."
"Why would he do that?" Daniel asked softly. "Why would he remove the illusion he planted in her mind?"
No one answered the archeologist's question.
"Fifth was unable to suppress the last memory because the Asgard destroyed him before he was able to. But why was he even removing them in the first place?"
"Upon closer examination of the data, Daniel Jackson, I believe that Fifth was merely suppressing the illusion-"
"But why even do that?" Daniel looked at each of them in turn and continued earnestly, "I mean, he knew the Asgard were bound to find him… and he spends his last minutes, when he could've been escaping, to suppress these memories. Why would he do that?"
"Who cares?" Jack burst out. "Who really cares? All I want to know is, is that if Fifth really did suppress all this stuff, how come she still think that we are… together…?"
"I'm guessing it's because she still has this memory"- he gestured to the screen- "in her mind. She thinks that that is reality." The archeologist's face softened as he studied the image of Sam Carter, frozen on the doorstep of Jack O'Neill's cabin, one hand protecting her unborn child. "It also explains why she still thinks she's pregnant."
"So how do we fix that?"
SG-1 looked at Thor. The little gray guy shook his head slightly. "I am afraid we can not do anything."
"What?" Jack cried.
"There has to be something!" Daniel insisted.
Thor let out what Jack supposed was the Asgard equivalent of a sigh. "There is one thing."
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"Thor says the only reason she still believes in Fifth's fantasy is because she wants it to be real." Daniel stopped and looked Dr. Weir in the eye. "Since you're the leader of this base, I'm sure you've read some files that have made you suspect that something might be going on between Jack and Sam. And you'd be right. Though they've never acted on it," he added hastily, "but that's not the point. The point is, is that Sam is unwilling to relinquish this particular memory."
Dr. Weir stood up, feeling a little overwhelmed. To say that the past few days had been stressful would've been an understatement. "So what we have to do is… get Major Carter to…?"
"Sam needs to admit the memory is false. Once she admits it, Thor thinks her memory will return."
"Just like that?"
He thought a second and nodded his head in agreement. "Just like that."
"I don't see the problem," Elizabeth admitted.
Daniel massaged his forehead. "Figuring out the answer was the easy part. The hard part is going to be to get Sam to let go of that 'memory'."
Again, sorry for the long wait and...
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