A/N- Sorry it's taken so long for the update. My muse fell asleep…actually more like a coma. Thanks for all the reviews, they make me smile.

Chapter 9

O'Neill was jolted awake by two Jaffa guards. "Get up. Your future queen would like to see you."

Jack rolled over and squinted at them through blurry eyes. "My who?" He rose up off the ground, his knees protesting loudly. He wondered when Sam had been bestowed that so called honor.

"Get moving." The guards shoved him towards the door. "She should not be kept waiting."

They led Jack to the throne room, where he saw Sam sitting upon the bejeweled chair. He was slammed down to the floor. "On your knees."

"Hi Jack…sir." Sam got up and walked down the steps towards him.

"Well, look at you. The woman who would be queen." Jack remarked sarcastically.

"I have good news. We're going home. I have some things to get in order before the wedding." Sam sounded so unlike herself. Looking at her colonel, she smiled slightly. "He wants me to marry him."

Jack wondered if that remark was supposed to cut into him. "What? Are you kidding me?"

"No. I can make a difference here. I can be the leader I always should have been." The words came harshly, and Jack knew the hidden meaning behind them.

"How the hell did this happen Sam? I trusted you! You are a soldier in the United States Air Force! What the hell happened to loyalty?" Jack was angry. It wasn't the first time he had been betrayed by a fellow officer. This situation reminded him of a time in Iraq he'd rather forget.

Sam didn't respond right away, deep inside her soul she knew he had a point. Fighting that nagging feeling was getting easier though. With each trip to the sarcophagus, her determination to rule and make her own choices became stronger. She finally answered him, her demeanor less harsh. "You can still trust me. I'm letting you go home. I told you I'd work it out. Patience has never been your strong point, though."

"Not when one of my soldiers turns all Jekyll and Hyde on me!" Jack tried to get up and approach her, but was knocked back by a guard. He let out a long ragged sigh. "So when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." Sam replied. She motioned for the guards to take him back to the cell. "Just one more night, and then you'll be home."

Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. How did a trained soldier like Sam become so…so addicted to the sarcophagus? Military officers were trained for situations like this so they did not fall under mind control.

Back in the cell, Daniel and Teal'c had woken up, and by Daniel's pacing Jack could tell he was worried about what had happened to him. Daniel noticed his return first. "Jack, what's going on?"

Jack was released from the shackles and pushed back in their cage. He waited until Shaylon's cronies left before he spoke. "The woman we once knew as Carter seems to be getting married. According to her we are going home tomorrow and she is coming back. But that will be over my dead body."

Teal'c interjected. "Samantha Carter is not herself, Colonel O'Neill. When we arrive back on Earth we must try to reverse the effects of the sarcophagus, or she will be a threat to herself, and to the planet."

Jack was irritated. "You think I don't know that? He only problem is, she may be the only who can help Fraiser figure out how to do that. Right now, all she is worried about is her kingdom." He made a little loop with his hand. "She seems to think this is her place now…that she can be a leader here."

"Jack, once we get her home, maybe the effects will wear off. It's Sam, Jack. She will realize what's going on once we get her away from here." Daniel said. He was always the optimistic one, always believing the best, even to a fault most of the time.

"Yeah, I hope the hell so, Daniel." Jack sighed. There wasn't much to do now, except wait. If they wanted to get Sam back, they would have to do it on her terms, otherwise she might send them home without her. Waiting wasn't something Jack was fond of doing. He'd rather play caveman right now. Clocking her on the head, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her through the gate had crossed his mind, but he thought that might raise a few eyebrows once he did step through the wormhole back on Earth. He resigned to the waiting, instead.

The next morning…

Six people stood in front of the gate. Four of them stood idly by as they watched their friend and comrade whisper to her crooked fiancé. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise." Sam smiled a giddy, little school girl smile.

Jack though he was going to throw up. He again considered knocking her out, but with so many guards, he wanted everyone to make it home in one piece. "Carter, they are waiting." Sam looked at him annoyed before she turned back and Shaylon gave her a long, intense kiss. The sensation in Jack's stomach worsened, and it made him uncomfortable. Was there a part of him that was actually jealous? She was beautiful, and just for a moment he though about kissing her like that. Shaking his head, and ridding himself of the thought, he chalked it up to being exhausted and hungry.

Carter turned to her team. "Let's go." She quickly went up the steps and disappeared through the gate. Jack, Daniel and Teal'c looked at each other and then followed her home.