Summary: Post 'Tin Man'. Synthetic Jack is having issues dealing with being a copy. Sam's duplicate must convince him that they've still got a life to live.

Character/Pairing: SamJack

Genre: Episode Tag, Drama, Angst

Rating: PG.

Worth Living For

They'd been living new lives for nearly a week now, since the original SG-1 had gone home. A home they could never return to. One which was never really theirs to begin with.

Sam knew that Jack - as he insisted he be called, since he wasn't really a Colonel - was having the hardest time dealing with all this, and that he needed space. She gave him his space for a few days, but then she had begun to worry.

He was avoiding everyone, and they were the only family he had. The new synthetic of Teal'c had been finished, and their family had been whole again. But for Jack, that wasn't enough. He stopped talking. He stopped helping with the repairs.

Then, one day, he was gone.

Just… Gone.

Harlan had told her that the gate had been activated. He was frantic, telling her that if that was where O'Neill had gone, he wouldn't last long, as they were all aware.

The coordinates used had been logged into the system. He hadn't gone to Earth. The coordinates didn't look familiar to her. It was like he just tried an address at random and left.

Was he that desperate to leave?

Did he not care what happened to him anymore?

With her natural intelligence increased, Sam was able to come up with an emergency battery pack in six hours. It wouldn't last too long, but if she found Jack and his energy had been spent, it should be able to get him back. Assuming he was still in the same place he gated to, and didn't somehow wind up in enemy hands or get severely damaged.

How could he do something so foolish? She thought angrily. There was no telling what type of atmosphere was on the planet he'd gated to. If he'd even gated to a planet at all. It could have been a moon for cryin' out loud!

-

It was time for her to go find Jack. Harlan was anxious as ever, not wanting to lose her as well. He was so like an overbearing father, that she had to smile a little at him and give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"We'll both be back," she told him quietly, glancing to Daniel and Teal'c who stood at the bottom of the steps to the gate, waiting to see her off.

They'd wanted to go with her. They were worried too. But she had to go alone.

-

She prepared herself as well as she could for this mission. The real SG-1 had taken their MP5's back, but they'd been kind enough to leave them with zats, since Harlan didn't have any weapons. Sam was confident she'd be able to produce more zats anyways. She wasn't worried.

Emerging from the gate on the other side, Sam was greeted by a rush of stifling, hot air. Her eyes immediately felt dry and she had to squint to take in the terrain ahead of her. It wasn't a desert, as she'd suspected before being able to see properly.

There was a long, winding dirt path ahead of her, surrounded by fields of tall, golden grass that was so dry it looked as though a simple spark would set the whole planet ablaze.

Raising a hand to shield her eyes from the sun, Sam peered as far as she could down the path and could just make out the shape of some kind of building structures far in the distance.

Weapon half-raised tentatively, Sam swept the immediate area carefully and then began to track down the dry dirt path, hoping to find her wayward Colonel. She tested her internal radio, but all she received was static. Sam was just going to have to do this the old fashion way.

-

Half way to the buildings, movement in the dry grass up ahead caught her attention. She tensed, raised her weapon and prepared to fire, carefully stepping closer. She wanted it to be him.

Closing in, further movement had her jumping backwards the same time a large, bird-like creature flew out of the tall grass, startling her. Sam gasped and put a hand to her chest, shaking her head.

She turned to get back on the path when there was a rustling deeper into the grass. Turning, with furrowed brows, she trudged further into the growth when she noticed something. It was a boot. Air Force issue.

"Colonel!" she gasped, pushing the tall grass out of the way as she knelt down beside him.

There was a gaping hole in his lower left side, oozing the thick, grayish android life-blood. Sam winced and gently touched the side of his dirt-covered face. They may have been robots, but Harlan had made them so life-like that wounds such as this did indeed hurt. It may not have been as debilitating to them as it would be to their fleshy counterparts, but coupled with a low battery, it really took its toll.

She could see that his energy levels were extremely low. He'd been away from the planet far too long. She only hoped she could get him back in time for Harlan to repair the damage.

"Jack?"

His eyes dragged open slowly and he blinked with confusion, jaw working up and down a few times as he pulled at the last of his energy reserves to speak. "Sam? Iss'at you?" he managed weakly.

"Yeah, it's me," she sent him a wan smile and slowly lifted his t-shirt, then took off the pack she wore. "I brought along an emergency battery. If I don't hook you up you're going to shut down,"

Jack swallowed slowly and blinked a few times. "Why did…you come.. for me?"

Sam gently ran her hand through his gritty hair. He must have been lying there for quite awhile. "Why did you leave?" she countered softly with a tight smile.

His eyes closed again. He didn't have the energy to speak anymore.

She gazed down, worried, and pressed at the center of his chest, the power core inside him rising. Taking out the palm-sized emergency battery in her hand, she slid it in place within the main power core, then pushed it back down into his chest.

Frowning as she stared down at the hole in his side, Sam took the thick bandages from her pack and wrapped the wound tightly. He was losing too much fluid that was necessary for the mechanics within him to work properly. Even with the emergency battery, if she didn't return him to Harlan soon for repairs, he would shut down anyway, possibly forever.

She couldn't take the chance. Losing him was not an option.

The battery she'd used immediately restored a small amount of his energy, and he sat up slowly.

"Why?" she asked again, softly, staring intently into his dark eyes. The rest of the question wasn't needed. He knew what she meant.

He pressed a hand to his bandaged side, momentarily lowering his eyes. "I was...angry," he whispered lowly.

Sam shook her head vigorously. She touched his knee. "There's more to it than that,"

Swallowing, he raised his eyes to hers, their expressions sharing more than words ever could. He nodded, took a slow, deep breath. "I... I wasn't sure if I wanted to live like this..." he gestured toward himself. "Always knowing I'm a copy, that I can never go home. That the home and memories aren't really mine to begin with,"

Nodding in understanding, Sam gently squeezed his knee and got up. She looked at where he'd been lying in the grass, then turned toward the gate a mile or so behind them. Realization dawned. "You were trying to get back to the gate,"

He smiled crookedly, not yet trying to get to his feet. "Yeah. After a friendly little spat with this planet's wildlife," he lightly patted his damaged side, "I had some time to think things through,"

"And?" she tilted her head, hands on her hips. Her eyes were soft and searching. "What made you change your mind, decide that maybe this kind of life would be worth living after all?"

Jack reached out his arm for her to help him up. When they stood nose to nose, he reached out and gently cradled the side of her face, smiling tenderly. "You,"

Sam smiled, her bright eyes glistening. She reached a hand behind his head and pulled him into a kiss. He responded in kind after a seconds hesitation, but Sam reluctantly pulled away when he wavered on his feet a moment later. She drew one of Jack's arms across her shoulders, then held onto his waist to support him. "I really need to get you back to Harlan," she said softly, bending down to retrieve his fallen weapon, then standing back up quickly so he didn't fall over.

"Kay," was Jack's breathless response as he grinned lazily, trying not to drag his feet as they stepped from the tall grass and onto the dirt path. He couldn't help but feel grateful and loved, seeing that Sam had risked her own life, existence, to go through the gate and find him. Their insides may not have been real, but what they felt for each other definitely was.

And that was surely worth living for.

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