Chapter Six

Before Sam could decide what to do next, the alarms went off, redirecting everyone's attention from her antics. Forgetting that she wasn't real, she fell in step with Hammond and Teal'c as they ran for the control room. Jack was a bit behind them, having to contend with being half asleep and drunk. Sergeant Harriman was wearing his panic face, which Carter had long since realized was the same as his calm face except that he turned his head a lot more.

"What's wrong, sergeant?" The words left her mouth before she remembered that whole disembodied business.

"What's the problem, sergeant?" The general's words were a beat behind hers.

Walter, however, didn't reply. He simply sat in his chair, his panic face gone. It had been replaced by his immobilized with fear face as evidenced by the wide-eyed slack-jawed stare.

"Sergeant, I asked you a question!" Hammond was never a mean guy, but he was in charge and he liked to be respected. Any time he felt he was being ignored, as was the case with Walter and his silence, the general got angry quickly.

Sam waited for Walter to answer, wondering if Walter was about to get shipped off for a drug test too. Teal'c stepped forward, placing his hand on Walter's shoulder. "It is best if you respond to the general as though you saw nothing."

"Ha! So you admit you can see me!" Sam wanted to jump up and down.

Walter just kept staring. "Wha-"

Sam's glee over Teal'c's admission was short lived. She looked at Walter, noticing he was staring right at her. "You can see me, can't you, sergeant?"

Walter nodded once.

Teal'c stepped in front of her. "Sergeant Harriman, I strongly advise that you go about your business in a normal manner."

The general's voice rose above all the noise in the room. "What the hell is going on here?"

A frightened, unsure Walter began detailing the problem to them in a shaky voice. Sam knew immediately how to fix it, but everyone else waited for Hammond, who issued the order to bring as many of the scientists to the control room as could be found because surely someone on earth could fix it.

Sam walked around to the other side of Walter's chair and squatted down. "Do you want everyone to think you're really smart and can fix things?"

Walter's wide eyes darted between Sam and Teal'c. Teal'c shook his head to indicate that Walter should ignore her. But Walter's head bobbed once.

"Ok, here's what you need to do-" She started issuing instructions, talking slow enough that Walter could follow her, but fast enough that everyone in the room would take note that he wasn't simply trying random things. Within two minutes, the alarms had stopped, the gate was restored to working order, and the room had fallen deathly silent. "Ok, Walter, now listen to me. Tell the general that Daniel is not on drugs." Sam watched as Walter's expression grew weary, but he stood up and did as she said.

The general looked a little surprised that Walter had known about the drug test, but he was too busy being shocked over the fact that Walter had fixed the gate to really understand.

"Now, Walter, I need you to tell him how you fixed the gate."

"Major Carter, I thought you were going to let everyone think I was really smart!" He looked crushed, but it didn't matter to Sam. He'd just addressed her, out loud, in a room full of witnesses.

She expected Teal'c to admit that he too could see her because Walter had just embarrassed himself and she'd always thought Teal'c was a stand-up guy. She expected the general to come to the obvious conclusion that her ghost had told Walter how to fix the computer. She expected that Jack would spontaneously sober up and realize she was there.

Instead, she saw the general order up security once again to transport a very unhappy Sergeant Harriman to the infirmary for a drug test.

Teal'c shook his head at Walter as he was dragged away. "I advised you to be silent."

Having made a complete mess of her attempts to reach out, Sam closed her eyes and sighed. General Hammond was out of patience and Sam didn't want to make things any worse than she already had. She took a deep breath and decided to try aiming for a different time. She'd been skipping time without trying, but she figured there was some way to control it. Just in case, she aimed for a very small window of time.

She opened her eyes to find the hub-bub had died down. The control room was quiet, except for the regular noise of people going about their normal work. Walter was at the desk again, typing away on his keyboard. Sam quietly took the seat beside him.

"Sergeant, don't get upset."

Walter's frightened eyes darted toward her, but immediately returned to his computer screen.

"Look, Walter, I was always nice to you, wasn't I?"

Walter looked around, checking to be sure no one was looking at him and then he nodded once.

"Teal'c is refusing to admit I'm here, I think because he's afraid he'll look nuts and Daniel seems to think he's being haunted by a demon or something, but I just want to talk to someone."

Walter continued to work, but Sam noticed he'd brought up the word processing program on the computer. He glanced at her, inclining his head toward the screen, and typed. What do you want?

Sam smiled, amazed that someone was finally going to talk. "I'm trying to get through to Daniel and Teal'c because Colonel O'Neill trusts them. So I'm going to need you to help me get through to them."

Is it really you?

"If it wasn't, would I admit it?"

Walter grinned. I'd love to help you, but I don't think Colonel O'Neill will trust me. He winced and then continued to type. He's taking this very badly. Rumor has it he claims he killed you.

"Walter, you know the plane I was in crashed, right?"

Walter shrugged. Rumor has it that's a cover story to hide your grisly murder that Colonel O'Neill confessed to.

Sam's eyes widened as she stared at the words. Well, if Jack was telling people he'd killed her, it certainly explained the odd looks the group had gotten in the mess. "No, Walter, he didn't kill me. It was all a big mistake."

He's still taking this very badly, ma'am.

"Which is why I need to get someone to help me."

Why don't you just talk to him yourself?

"Apparently the deal is that you have to believe in ghosts to be able to see ghosts, and although I'm quite frankly annoyed that there are such things as ghosts, the colonel is actually less likely to believe I'm here than I would have been."

I had to get a drug test this morning. And a CT scan. And an MRI.

Sam patted him on the shoulder. "Believe me, I'd rather be alive and well and able to convey my own messages."

My psych consult is tomorrow.

Sam winced. "Been there, passed that. Just tell them what they want to hear."

They probably don't want to hear that I'm having a conversation with a dead woman, ma'am.

"Walter, how long has is been since I died?"

You don't know?

"Time doesn't seem to be quite the same to me. As far as I can tell, it should only have been a day or two, but I know it has to be more than that."

Three weeks.

"Wow." She hadn't expected that. She hated that three weeks had already gone by without being able to reach Jack. And she suspected that with Jack, every minute that passed made him feel a little more hopeless. "How bad, Walter?"

Ma'am?

Sam chuckled. "I'm dead, you hardly have to worry about ranks, Walter."

Yes, ma'am.

"You said Jack was taking this badly. How bad?"

The corners of Walters mouth turned up in a smile. Jack, ma'am?

"Well, if you don't have to worry about rank, I shouldn't either." Even as she said the words, she could feel herself blushing.

Don't worry. Who am I going to tell? Walter switched the font to a tiny size that Sam could hardly read. He wouldn't talk to anyone at all for a couple weeks. He decreased the font even more so that Sam had to lean in to see the words. He's been drinking. Walter gave her a second to read it and then deleted the whole section. The general put him on leave, but he doesn't have the heart to send him home.

"Walter, can you talk to Daniel for me? Tell him that I'm really here, that it's me, that I'm trying to get through to Jack."

When we were in the infirmary this morning, Daniel told me not to worry about it because he could see you too. He doesn't want to say anything because he's afraid he'll look like an ass.

"Why didn't you just tell me that?" Sam jumped to her feet, annoyed that she was wasting precious time when she could have simply gone directly to Daniel, probably with better results once there was a witness to the fact that he could see her.

Because I like talking to you.

Sam stared at the screen, blinking stupidly at the words and the meaning she feared lay behind them.

I always thought you were pretty, ma'am.

Sam rolled her eyes. "You are so not Jack, Walter."

Walter closed the program and stared resolutely forward. Sam realized a moment late that she probably shouldn't have burned that bridge, since Walter was the only one who was willing to interact with her. But the last thing she needed was a silly living man with a crush on her dead self getting in the way of her reaching out to the love of her life. She patted him on the shoulder.

"Is Daniel still here?"

Walter nodded once.

"Is he in his office?"

Walter sighed heavily, letting Sam know he wanted her to believe that he was very busy, but she leaned down and smiled at him, and he nodded once.

"Thanks, Walter." Sam let herself think of Daniel, hoping her mental note that she not miss any time would be enough to control it.