Spoiler for Season 9, Episode 20 "Camelot" & Season 10, Episode 1 "Flesh and Blood"
Sam stared at the picture in her hands. It had been a beautiful day – her wedding day. Jack wore his dress blues, pinned up with all his medals, more decorated than anyone she knew. His Air Force Cover adorned his bald head. His right arm held on tightly to her waist in the picture. She was so glad she decided to wear a white dress after all, its knee-length skirt flowed from her waist, and the bodice hugged her figure, thin lace covering her upper chest, while leaving her arms bare. Cassie had spotted the ivory cocktail dress on a widow display during their shopping trip, and Sam had loved it from the start. Jack had all but drooled when he saw her. He was leaning into her cheek in the picture, and she was smiling uncontrollably, covering his arm with her own. Daniel had snapped the photo while they weren't looking.
That had been 6 weeks ago. After the wedding, Sam had taken Jack to his cabin, which was his favorite place on earth. They spent five days there on their pseudo-honeymoon, as Jack called it. He promised to take her somewhere warm and tropical once he was better, and she promised to let him. They made love for the first time since his chemo had gotten bad, since the fatigue had overtaken him; the act unifying them, sealing their promises to each other made at the altar. As they lay in each other's arms, Sam felt entirely complete and utterly blissful. As if the cancer was only a minute detail; as if their future wasn't questionable in the least.
Jack was finally given full medical leave, and Sam negotiated a few weeks leave from the President himself. Jack was unaware that she had threatened to resign her commission when the brass denied her initial request for extended leave. After hearing Sam's firm, yet passionate speech about needing to support Jack during his illness, the President finally agreed, but made sure Sam knew she would be recalled if her expertise was needed in the event of any emergencies. Being the foremost expert in alien technology, Sam knew her exclusive time with Jack was short, the Ori threat grew daily.
She had been right. She placed the photo back onto the small cubby by her sleeping quarters and remembered the events since their honeymoon. They had adjusted fairly well to being together constantly. For people who only saw each other a few days out of the month, they overcame the small and mundane irritations that come with finally daily sharing a life. Jack's last 2 chemo treatments went without a hitch, and Sam kept him pretty isolated from other people and the elements, making sure he would not contract any viruses his body was unable to fight at the time. They had also spent long hours talking. It had never been Jack's forte, but Sam found the act of dreaming with him about their future to improve their morale and surprisingly, Jack had plenty to say about what he wanted for their future.
Shaking her head to clear the memories, she shifted her eyes to the laptop in front of her. She was aboard the Odyssey, having been recalled several days ago for a mission with SG-1. Certain intel had revealed that Merlin was working on a weapon capable of destroying ascended beings. Vala had sent word that the Ori had a working supergate, able to transport an entire fleet of ships from the Ori galaxy to their own. Once again, Sam was needed to save Earth from egotistical aliens posing as gods. She had left Cam and Daniel in Camelot, searching for the weapon, and had been working with Kvasir on understanding how to use the weapon, once it was found. The little gray alien was probably the most humorous of them all, and sported a surprisingly upbeat personality. Together they determined that dialing the supergate and sending the weapon through to the Ori galaxy was their best bet. Sam sighed. She remembered the conversation she had with the Asgard alien, once they had a moment away from the vast array of crew.
Sam had cleared her throat awkwardly. "So... Kvasir, can I ask you a question?"
The gray alien looked at her and blinked his huge eyes, "Are you not asking me a question even now, Colonel Carter?"
"Yes, ok." Sam rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. "Do you know what cancer is?" Sam knew Kvasir was a scientist among the Asgard, and she was lucky he was the one dispatched.
Kvasir blinked again, "Yes of course, it is a common ailment among humans, where abnormal cells grow and multiply—"
Sam interrupted him, "Exactly!" Sam smiled, "Okay…um…In your past, has the Asgard suffered from a similar ailment?"
"Colonel Carter, you must remember that the Asgard, as a race, have continued down an evolutionary path for millennia. Ailments at the cellular level were obliterated hundreds of thousands of years ago. It has not been necessary for us to continue our study of similar diseases. In addition, the Asgard have learned to consume only what is necessary for the daily function of our bodies, and our methods of obtaining and using energy are clean and reusable. Therefore, we do not ingest certain toxins and chemicals, such as is present in your food and breathable atmosphere."
Sam eyes were huge, her hope for Jack in them. Kvasir noticed. "Do you suffer from this cancer, Colonel Carter?"
Sam swallowed the lump in her throat. Just thinking about Jack these days did that to her. "Hum, no. My husba... I mean, General O'Neill was diagnosed with cancer a little over 2 months ago."
The alien blinked and turned his head slightly to the side, "Jack O'Neill is famous amongst the Asgard. He is the most honored human in our galaxy. This is most grievous news, Colonel Carter." He turned back to look Sam in the eyes, "I was not aware that you were mated to him. This news is agreeable to the Asgard."
Sam gave the Asgard a small smile. "What has been done for O'Neill's disease thus far, Colonel Carter?"
"Hum… We call it chemotherapy. At its most basic level, it's the administration of certain chemical substances into the body that aim to kill cells that divide rapidly, like the cancer cells." Sam wondered if she was making any sense to Kvasir, who was obviously millions of years ahead of her.
"Does this not also kill cells in the body that divide rapidly under normal circumstances?" Kvasir asked plainly.
Sam nodded her head, "Yes it does; it kills the good cells in the bone marrow, digestive tract, hair follicles, among others…" Sam couldn't go on.
"Then why is this method used? Has O'Neill been affected by the sudden immunosuppression to his system?" Kvasir looked worried, if ever an Asgard could look worried.
Sam sighed and shifted in her seat. "Yes, he contracted pneumonia shortly after he began treatment, but thankfully he made it out of it ok. I was on a mission when it happened…" Sam head rolled around her neck, trying to work out the tension. "Cancer research is among the top priorities of our scientists on Earth, but chemotherapy is still one of the most effective methods we have found."
"I see. Has this chemotherapy effectively eliminated the cancerous cells from O'Neill's body?"
Sam righted her head and looked straight at him. "We don't know. He finished his last chemo treatment last week. I was recalled for this mission and had to leave him. He was supposed to undergo extensive testing this week to determine that very thing," She paused, "He's probably there now." And I'm not with him, she thought.
The Asgard got up from his seat and came to stand directly in from of Sam. She figured it was the closest act of compassion she had ever seen from an Asgard. "Colonel Carter, I assure you, if this chemotherapy was not effective, the Asgard will do anything possible to try and save the life of O'Neill. Although I am currently unaware of a method to help, I will return to Orilla to find past records of Asgard cellular disease. In the meantime, as soon as an Asgard ship is able to travel to Earth, we can attempt placing O'Neill into one of our stasis pods. They are usually effective in determining precise locations for abnormalities within our own bodies. This may help your scientists determine if O'Neill requires further treatment."
Sam cleared her throat and swiped at a lone tear that had fallen without her knowledge. "That would be wonderful Kvasir, thank you."
"Of course, Colonel Carter."
Sam moved through the ship now, the memory of the short conversation clear in her head. Finally, they received word that the weapon had not been found, but decided to attempt to dial the supergate anyway, in order to prevent the Ori from dialing in. Sam volunteered for the impromptu moonwalk, where she was beamed outside of the ship in order to install the necessary control crystals to an outside panel on the Odyssey. As if her life were stained by bad luck, the supergate activated from the Ori galaxy, and Sam was detached from her magnetic lock on the ship.
Floating aimlessly in space, Sam witnessed the Ori warships come through the supergate; watched as the battle ensued between them and the combined Tok'ra, Asgard, Jaffa, Earthen and Lucian Alliance ships. She watches as several Ha'taks are taken down easily, stares wide eyed as the Korolev is destroyed. She remembers all the hours she put into helping with the schematics for the Earthen ship, and she remembers also, that Daniel Jackson was aboard.
As the vast nothingness of space returns to its dull black, Sam continues to call out to someone, anyone who can hear her. She is alone now, the light show is over, and an intense and unfamiliar unease is creeping into her bones. She concentrates, closing her eyes and fighting against the panic that is coursing through her blood. Surely she did not just witness the death of Daniel. She tries to reason that Daniel is never really dead, and that thought keeps her going for another few minutes. She imagines that even if she does get rescued, that the Ori ships are now in her galaxy, and the likelihood of Earth making it out unfazed is probably slim. She studies the supergate and thinks that her proximity to it is probably a good thing; that someone might eventually notice her, or notice her body, but she tries to stay away from the thought of death.
She thinks about Jack. About his face, his features, his body. She thinks about the way he makes her feel when she comes home and he's had a few beers and his breath is hot on her face. She thinks of him in his dress blues, standing at the altar waiting for her, a smile on his face. She thinks of the future they will never have, because in all likelihood, she will die out here, in this nothingness. And she thinks that maybe they waited a little too long for their happiness. That the universe is messing with them, playing dirty, just because they are latecomers to love, and joy, and happiness. She thinks she wants to make it out alive for Jack. She thinks she wants to tell him she really believes his cancer is all gone.
Author's Note: I had basically decided against involving the Tok'ra or the Asgard in Jack's care. However, since the Asgard were in this episode, I found it just too tempting…let me know what you think.
