Chapter 8: Seen This Before
Disclaimer: Sigh. Still not mine.
A/N: Sorry about the wait guys! A shippy chapter to make up for it!
Enjoy!
Sam breathed a sigh of relief as the bell rang for the end of the day. She'd been simultaneously disappointed and thankful that the colonel—Jim—hadn't been in sixth period today. She had heard from a couple of people that the newest football player had almost been suspended for hitting another player. She had heard from a few others why he had been hit. Sam didn't know if she would have been able to keep her control with the colonel; her hormones were all over the place.
She was furious at Jack for putting himself and his cover in harm's way and furious that it appeared he felt he had to defend her. Teenager or not, Sam could handle herself. But some stupid part of her brain liked the idea that he had stood up for her. She liked that he had taken offense and morphed into a knight in shining armor.
But she was still mad.
Sam stepped out into the cool early autumn air and breathed deeply, the faint wood-burning scent calming her down—exactly like it always did. The thought took Sam by surprise. She hadn't taken comfort in that smell in decades…but she had forgotten. She had forgotten that there had been decades that separated this teenage self from her actual self.
Someone bumped into her, but instead of saying something Sam shrunk into herself. What was happening? A wave of dizziness swept over her and she reached out, steadying herself on the wall. It was that moment that Marcy chose to run up to Sam.
"Emily!" Marcy smiled brightly, sounding slightly out of breath. "Hey, so about that mall trip."
"I'm really sorry, Marcy. I don't think I can go." Sam started to back away. Everything seemed so bright and loud, what the hell was happening to her?
Marcy's face swam in front of her as she sighed dramatically. "I know, I know. Family thing." Then she grinned. "So how was study hall?" She nudged Sam gently, but the major still went stumbling backwards. "Oops, sorry."
"It's okay." Sam squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her palms into her eyes. "Listen, Marcy, I'm not feeling-,"
But she was cut off when Marcy saw Jen. "Jen! Jen, come here! Em was just about to regale her romantic tale of study hall!"
Marcy's face seemed huge as she turned back to Sam, the grin she wore widening into a fanged snarl. Sam took one step backwards, her heel teetering on the edge of the school's steps. She saw Marcy take a step towards her and desperation filled Sam. She could no longer remember being an adult, she didn't remember why she was at this school, and she had no explanation for the panic rising inside her.
"Sam?" Marcy reached out a hand, but Sam was too far over the edge. Sam felt herself take one more step backwards then blackness engulfed her.
….
Jack was leaving the school, looking for Daniel, when he spotted Carter standing on the edge of the school steps. She looked pale and she kept shaking her head. Jack looked at the girl she was standing with- the redhead didn't seem to be saying anything to Carter-but his major was nonetheless upset. As Jack made his way over to the two girls something else caught his eye. A boy was standing just inside the school's doors, his bright green eyes shining as he watched the girls.
But Jack didn't get a chance to dwell on the strange guy. As he turned back to Carter he saw her knees buckle and before he knew what he was doing he was running the last few feet and catching her just before she hit the ground. Jack lifted her and turned to the redhead who was looking at him wide-eyed. "If you see a guy with glasses, kinda floppy brown hair, answers to the name Peter—tell him I had to go and he knows where I'll be."
Then he was jogging, trying not to bounce Carter too much, to the student parking lot.
…
Sound and feeling rushed back to Sam all at once. She shot up, gasping for breath, eyes wide and searching. Where was she? In her bedroom at the fake apartment. Where was the last place she remembered being? At the school. How did she get here? She drew a blank.
As the room came into focus and her breathing slowed, she heard a man's faint voice outside her door. She listened closer, but could only make out an agitated tone—no words. But at least now she knew who the owner of the voice was.
Jack came striding back into the room and though his teenage veneer was still in place, he looked haggard. "Hi." Her voice seemed to startle him and he glanced up, his expression shadowed.
"Carter." He glanced away for a moment, his jaw working, then he sat down next to her on the bed. He didn't know how he was supposed to tell her what he'd just found out. "How're you feeling?"
"I feel…really strange, Jack." She wasn't looking at him, so Jack couldn't read her expression, but the nonchalant use of his name took him by surprise. There was also a quality to her voice that he hadn't heard before. She didn't just sound like she had a young voice…she sounded actually young. Like years of fighting and bloodshed hadn't jaded her.
"How so?" Jack's brow was furrowed, only half of his attention on her answer. The other half was sorting through his own feelings over the last few days. He hadn't felt too different; his hormones were certainly more active, but other than that not much had changed. He knew that Daniel was feeling an increase in adolescent insecurity, but not to the extent that Carter had been. He wondered if she even remembered being in the Air Force.
"Dizzy and, I don't know. Just kind of blah." She turned her big, liquid eyes on him. "My brain feels like someone has taken a blender to it."
Not good. "Carter, do you remember who I am?"
Sam giggled slightly. "Of course. You're Jack, but everyone at school calls you Jim. Just like they call me Emily."
"Right. Do you remember how you know me?" Jack felt his fingers gripping the blanket, fearing her answer.
She rolled her eyes. "Duh. You're in sixth period with me." She frowned fleetingly. "But I think we were friends before that."
Jack squeezed his eyes closed. This was just what he needed. "Carter…Sam. How old are you?"
"Sixteen." The word hung between them as Jack just stared at her. She was serious; he could tell by the utterly unguarded look in her eyes. What the hell had happened to her? As Jack dropped his gaze away from hers, a faint blue light caught his eye. Her tank top must have twisted when she fell—the light of the mimic device was now visible through her shirt.
He took a deep breath. "Sam, can you take that off?" He nodded his chin towards the device.
Sam looked at him for a long moment, her breathing slow and deep. Then, very slowly, she pulled her legs under her so she was kneeling, her face only half a foot from his own. Then she pulled off the gauzy overshirt she was wearing.
Jack swallowed hard as he realized what she was doing. Her fingers curled around the edge of her tank top, her blue eyes dark and her lips parted. Jack glanced down—just once—before wrenching his eyes away and wrapping his long fingers around her wrists. "Sam." It came out huskier than he'd intended. "Sam, that's not what I meant."
Her eyes searched his face for another long moment, the tension in her body vibrating. "I know."
Jack blinked. "You know?"
"I also know I've wanted this for a long time." Her eyes moved down his torso slowly.
"But you don't know why." Jack hated himself a little bit for even saying it.
Her eyes snapped back to his. "Does that matter? I think I-," She broke off, her cheeks reddening. "No, I don't know why."
Jack held her gaze as he released one of her wrists and slowly reached up. His fingers wrapped around the edge of the mimic device and in his mind he pulled it off of her and said, "This is why," as her memory came rushing back to her. But nothing happened. Jack tugged again as Sam looked down in confusion.
"It's not coming off." His voice was disbelieving.
"What?" Sam pushed his hand away and tried to remove it herself. She may not remember what it was or even who she actually was, but she knew that the glowing thing on her chest should not be stuck. "It's not coming off."
"That's what I just said." They stared at each other for another moment. Jack watched his major chew on her lower lip, then gesture to him.
"What about yours?"
Jack felt his blood run cold. It was bad enough that the only person who could fix this problem was currently experiencing severe memory regression, if not loss, but if he and Daniel were stuck like this too…especially now that he knew Teal'c hadn't returned after school.
Trying his best to keep his hands from shaking, he reached up and tugged at his device. It didn't budge.
"For cryin' out loud!" Sam threw her hands up in exasperation, but Jack barely had time to feel even the slightest bit of surprise before she stiffened, all the color draining from her face. "The Trust." Jack stared at her, hardly daring to believe that her memory was actually coming back. Sam swiveled to face him, her eyes wide and haunted. "She said my name."
"What?" Jack was having trouble keeping up.
"Marcy. She called me Sam. She knew my name." Her voice was dull even to her own ears. She was kicking herself for not seeing it sooner, but how could she have? The girl had acted like a normal teenager. She had given Sam no reason to suspect her.
"The redhead?" Sam just nodded. "Sam, are you remembering anything? Why we're here…who you are?"
Sam pressed her palms into her eyes and shook her head in frustration. "I'm trying. I keep seeing faces—yours mostly." She looked up at him, something flashing through her eyes. "But I know there are people we need to stop and I know this isn't me."
"That's better than nothing, Carter." He smiled for what felt like the first time in ages. "We need to find Daniel. If these things really are stuck, we need to consider the extremely likely possibility our mission's been compromised."
Sam nodded even though she couldn't really remember what the mission was. Her head was pounding and she still felt lightheaded, like a part of her brain had been ripped out. She knew her heart was beating too fast, but she was no longer sure if that was because she was scared or because of the intensity on Jack's face when he looked at her.
Before she could say anything, Jack's phone rang. "General." He said as he flipped the phone open. "Yes, sir, I did hear about Teal'c." He paused. "Sir? They haven't reached out to-," Another pause. "I'm not so sure that's wise, sir." Jack waited, his eyes boring into Sam's. "No, sir. I didn't mean to question a direct order. Yes, sir. I understand, sir." When he hung up, Sam had the distinct feeling he hadn't been the first one to do so.
"The Trust have demanded a ransom. We're meeting with them in half an hour."
Sam worried her teeth against her bottom lip as she watched Jack. Something was off and they both knew it. "Why do I get the feeling we're walking into the lion's den?"
"Because we are." Jack rubbed the back of his neck. He had a major who couldn't remember the last several years of her life, including her training, an archaeologist who was MIA at the moment, and an undercover Jaffa who had been neutralized. "Come on. We have to find Daniel."
Jack pulled her to her feet and led her through the "secret" doors in their apartments. Neither of them noticed they were still holding hands.
A/N: Sorry again for the delay!
