Bodyswaping!
AN: The idea of body swapping came from Eternal Density and this story was born. If anyone else has a prompt, scenario, or suggestion feel free to share and I'll try to write it!
"Remind me again why we agreed to this?" Jack O'Neill asked from the body of his 2IC Samantha Carter.
"Because someone had to trade with me sir," Sam responded in a voice that belonged to Jack O'Neill, "And Teal'c was out because he's a Jaffa and I didn't trust one of the natives or Jonas…"
"Which left me," Jack grumbled.
"It's only for 24 hours sir," Sam reminded him.
"That's 24 hours too long Major," Jack complained.
Sam chose to ignore her CO's complaints, after all her position wasn't much better than his! So she returned to gathering more samples of the naquadah.
/Flashback/
"Well Colonel, the Igratins require that the people they trade with undergo a test before they'll negotiate," Jonas explained.
"Okay…" Jack said slowly, "What kind of test?" he asked suspiciously
Jonas swallowed nervously and took a step backwards, away from the Colonel and his 2IC. "Two members of our team have to swap bodies; at least that's the correct translation from what Elmhair is saying."
"Can't you just tell Elmer that we've been there and done that already, test passed," Jack suggested.
Jonas shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Colonel. Elmhair was very clear that we had to use their machine and be kept under constant observation to see how the 'pair' deals with the change."
"Anything else we should know?" Jack asked sarcastically.
"Um… yes… Major Carter has to be one of those people, something about their rules of equality between genders here," Jonas added tentatively, taking another step away from the two military officers.
Jack turned to Sam. "See what happens when we go somewhere where the natives don't think you're property!" he exclaimed.
/End Flashback/
So Sam was once more put in a position where she had to show that she could tough it out just as well as her CO. She was just thankful that the 'exchange of bodies' only took 24 hours and that the Igratins had assured them that they could and would be returned right on schedule, along with a pair of their own people who were undergoing the same 'exchange'.
According to Jonas the 'exchange of bodies' was a tradition that proceeded the formation of a trading agreement with the people of this planet. Each village that came to trade with the Igratins sent a 'pair' who would be the official 'ambassadors' for the duration of their lives. If one of the 'pair' died, then a new pair would be selected and sent to the village. The Igratins would also select a new pair and trade relations would be renewed for another generation.
It sounded rather complicated to Sam, but she was glad to hear that someone would not be forced to switch bodies every time a team from Earth came to trade, and given the large amount of naquadah they had discovered, there would be quite a bit of trading going on.
While trading bodies had been strange, even more so for Sam than Jack, given that he already had experienced that with Teal'c, some of the other requirements were even more difficult on him.
/Flashback/
Elmhair, the leader of the Igratins began speaking, and Jonas translated.
"You will share a traditional hut and wear traditional clothes. You may eat only traditional foods," he explained.
Jack shrugged. "No worse then some of the other places we've been."
Sam nodded in agreement. The Igratins brought out the clothing, showing each of them exactly what they would be wearing.
"Nice dress Carter. Almost as good as that blue one," Jack said with a twinkle in his eyes.
Sam smiled as Teal'c spoke.
"O'Neill, I believe it is you that will look good in this dress, will he not Major Carter?"
Jack's smile disappeared and Sam giggled.
"Just be glad there isn't a headdress Colonel," Sam reminded him and watched as his frown grew, causing her to giggle more.
The frown only grew more as they saw the hut they were supposed to share, which of course had only one rather small bed. The food wasn't actually that bad, and the bed was surprisingly comfortable. But everything about the experience had been weird.
But it had been weird in a good way.
Like when they each woke up next to someone for the first time in a while and were initially shocked. But they each pretended to still be asleep so they could enjoy the feeling for a few more minutes.
Or when they discovered that the food and drink they had been given kept them from needing to use the bathroom for the entire 24 hour period, hence negating some of the possibly embarrassing moments that could occur.
/End Flashback/
In fact, on the Jack O'Neill Scale of Weirdness, switching bodies for a day with your 2IC ranked somewhere around a 5, with aliens with glowing eyes being a one and trees that talked a 10.
So the mission really wasn't that weird.
Or difficult.
But the return from the planet was.
"But Doc," Jack protested, "We're perfectly fine. See," he said jumping up and down to emphasize his point, "All here. My knees don't even hurt that bad."
"You have had your consciousness transferred to another body and then back again- without any medical oversight during that time. You will permit me to run as many tests as I want and you will spend the night in the infirmary Colonel," Doctor Janet Fraiser declared.
"But Doc-"
"Do you want to try for two?" Janet asked.
Sam tried hard to muffle her chuckle at the pouting look that had appeared on her CO's face, but was unable to do so.
"The same goes for you Sam," Janet said as she pulled the curtain around Jack's bed so she could begin the first of the many tests Sam was sure her friend had planned for them.
Jack was seeming sucked dry by Count Fraiser, lost his favorite yo-yo to Sam in a poker game, and ate two really, really bad meals in the infirmary before Janet happily threw Jack out of the infirmary.
"You're fine Colonel, better then fine actually. Bodyswapping, in this instance, seems to have had the same effects as a sarcophagus, just without any negative side effects. That being said, you start feeling weird, different, wrong, anything- you call me immediately," Janet ordered.
"Yes ma'am," Jack said giving her a lazy salute as he hoped off the bed and quickly headed for the door before the doctor changed her mind. "Meet me for cake when you're done Carter?" he asked.
"Sure Colonel," Sam said with a smile.
Janet waited until he was out the door before motioning Sam to her office.
"So…"
"There's nothing but good news for you Sam. As you heard me tell the Colonel, it seems like whatever machine they used acted like a sarcophagus. You can't even see the Colonel's latest knee injury in his MRI," Janet explained.
"So what's the good news?" Sam asked curiously.
"Actually, I don't have good news for you, but I would like to run some more tests specifically to see what effect this machine has had on your ability to have children," Janet stated.
"Janet," Sam said, "We've run those tests more times than I care to count, and every time they come back the same. A big fat no. Each time we think that things might have changed, and each time it hasn't. I can't keep doing this."
Janet nodded her head in understanding. "I know Sam, it's just… call me a romantic, but I just don't want you to give up if there's even the slightest chance of you having children."
/Flashback/
"So if you both feel that way, why haven't either of you pursued a relationship?" Janet asked.
"I can see giving up a dream for a fantasy," Sam stated.
"What?"
Sam was silent for a few seconds as she searched for the right words to explain her logic. "It's like this; I gave up my dream of being an astronaut for the Stargate Program, so being part of the SGC became my dream. I'm literally living my dream right now, being on SG-1 and everything. Having a family and someone to come home to? That's a fantasy, and in order for me to get that, I would have to give up my dream come true."
"You wouldn't have to give it up," Janet objected. "There's a lot of people that go through the gate who have families."
"And how many of them are women?" Sam asked rhetorically. "None of them, besides, I'm not sure I'd want to keep going through the gate, at least as part of SG-1 after I had a child. I lost my mom as a teenager and I wouldn't want to put my child through the same thing."
"I'm sorry Sam, I forgot all about that," Janet apologized.
Sam waved off her apology. "It doesn't matter, right now the Colonel and I are both fighting a war and until one of us leaves the military, we're stuck with being just friends."
"One of you could transfer," Janet pointed out.
Sam shook her head. "We'd have to leave the SGC. Think about it, he's the 2IC of the base Janet. There is no way for me to get out of his chain of command even if I transferred to the labs or another team."
"True."
"Maybe if there was the possibility of having children, I'd consider leaving the military but when the only benefit of a relationship is having someone to come home to, I can't see taking that leap," Sam explained.
Janet just patted Sam's arm in understanding. No words could convey the appropriate sentiment to make Sam feel better.
/End Flashback/
"Okay, but this is the last time," Sam relented. "I can't keep going through this, and I don't mind waiting for the Colonel to retire. I've already waited six years for our first date, what's a few more years?"
Janet smiled at Sam's attempted joke, silently hoping that the tests would come back with much better news than the previous times.
ooooooooooooooooooooo
When the results came back, just like the other times, Janet took Sam into her office.
"So what's the news this time?" Sam asked.
Janet smiled. "You know that letter of resignation you've had sitting in your desk for three plus years now? You might want to pull it out and use it this time," she suggested.
Sam's eyes opened wide in shock. "You're sure?"
"Take a look for yourself," Janet offered, flipping on the backlight behind the MRI images. "You can see the difference."
Sam gaped at the difference in the scans. Janet was right, there was an obvious difference. Suddenly it dawned on her just what this meant. "I can have kids," she whispered.
"I see no reason why you couldn't, provided of course that you went off birth control. Just getting pregnant could take some time," Janet cautioned. "You've been on birth control for a while… and these kinds of things take time in general, not just in your case."
Sam was quiet as she took everything in. "Now that we know I can do it, I guess the question is should I?"
"Samantha Carter!" Janet exclaimed. "If there is anyone I know deserves to have, what did you call it, your 'fantasy' come true, it's you. And Colonel O'Neill is a close second."
Sam got up and started to pace the length of the room. "And what am I supposed to do? Just resign my commission and hope that the Colonel still wants everything we talked about a year ago?"
"Well you could do that," Janet began, "Or you could talk to him before you did anything. At least that way you'd know if he was still interested."
The sounds of klaxons and the announcement of "Unscheduled off world activation" ended their discussion and sent both women running for the gateroom.
ooooooooooooooooooooo
When Colonel Jack O'Neill stopped by his 2IC's lab to kick her out, he found it dark and locked, which was strange considering she never ever left before him, at least not that he could remember.
What was even more surprising was finding her sitting on his front porch when he got home.
He looked at her, wondering what was going on that required an unannounced and unscheduled visit to his house.
"We need to talk," Sam blurted out.
"You know, those are a guy's least favorite words," Jack joked.
Sam smiled slightly and followed him into the house, sitting down in the living room while Jack got the two of them beers.
"So what's on your mind Carter?" Jack wondered aloud.
"I've been thinking-"
"Big surprise there!"
Sam huffed.
"Sorry, continue please Major."
"I've been thinking," Sam began again, "About resigning my commission and taking a position at the SGC as a civilian."
"Ok-ay. Any specific reason why?" Jack asked.
"It's a bunch of things, most importantly something that happened on our last mission-"
"What happened on our last mission?" Jack demanded, sitting up straighter and looking at his 2IC.
"It wasn't anything bad," Sam quickly assured him. "It was actually really, really good, at least in my opinion," she said nervously.
"What happened?" Jack asked again.
"You know how Janet said she couldn't see any evidence of your latest knee injury?"
Jack nodded, just barely able to contain the urge to grab Sam's shoulders and shake her until she told him exactly what was going on.
"The machine healed me," Sam stated and quickly continued after seeing Jack's confused expression. "Janet started studying what effect Stargate travel had on women, specifically reproduction not long after she joined the SGC. That was when she discovered there was something wrong with me and I couldn't have kids. Since then, she's continued to run tests checking to see if by some chance one thing or another had fixed things. This time, the results showed that the damage was gone."
"That's great news Carter," Jack said, still confused as to why she was sharing this with him. He was happy for her, but he didn't see where this played into resigning her commission. "How does this figure into resigning your commission?"
Sam took a deep breath. "After my mom died, Dad wasn't home a lot. I promised myself that if I ever had kids, I would do better. I want to be there for my children. I don't want to miss seeing them grow up."
Jack nodded in understanding. "I can understand," he agreed quietly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't-"
Jack waved her off. "It's okay," he assured her. "I know I was away for a lot of Charlie's early years and that's something I wish I could do over. Definitely something I would change if I ever had kids again."
"Do you want kids again?"
Jack ran a hand through his hair. "That's a loaded question Carter. Would I like kids? Yeah, maybe someday I'd love to be a Dad again. I could fix the things I did wrong the first time around, you know? Is there a chance of me having kids right now? Not a chance in Netu."
"Why not?"
"I'm an old, grumpy, sarcastic, gray haired Air Force Colonel one bad mission away from retirement. Take your pick Carter!"
"Any other arguments then those?" Sam pressed.
"Yeah, I'm kind of single right now," Jack added. "Oh and let's not forget the lack of interested women because of said qualities!"
"Anything else?" Sam paused for a few seconds and then stood up. "Thanks for your help!" She called as she walked out of the room.
A few minutes later Jack heard her car start up and pull away. He was even more confused than when Sam had shown up an hour before. After spending a few minutes trying to puzzle it out, he shrugged his shoulders and flipped on the TV to watch a hockey game.
But no matter how hard he tried to focus on the game, he kept replaying the conversation he had just had in his mind until he couldn't take it any more and picked up the phone to call Daniel.
Only to remember as he got half way through dialing that Daniel wasn't around for him to talk to any more.
So he hung up and hit number two on his speed dial.
And got her voicemail.
Feeling like an idiot, he left a message.
"Hey Carter… Sam, look about what we talked about today, I guess… I just want to say that I hope you're resigning- if you resign- you're doing it for the right reasons. I'm not a complicated guy and you're not a complicated woman, but together… well lets just say there could be difficulties and I just don't want you to regret it."
He took a deep breath and quickly spit out. "If you do decide to resign, let me know first Sam, cause…um… I'd really like to ask you out on a date before anyone else."
Jack quickly hung up the phone before he could sound even more stupid than he already had.
ooooooooooooooooooooo
Sam replayed Jack's message several times, each time smiling and laughing at how every part of the message was him in some way or another.
And how cute he sounded, considering he was way past the age at which he should sound cute.
Sam sat down with two sheets of paper. On one, she began drafting her letter of resignation. On the other, she jotted down notes to herself, already planning her response to Jack's arguments from the day before.
It took almost a month for Sam to make the move from Major and 2IC of SG-1 to Doctor and Head of the Science Department at the SGC. She had also managed to complete the letter she had been composing to Jack and the day that she officially became just Doctor Samantha Carter, she gave it to Jonas with instructions to give it directly to Jack.
Then she waited for him to come find her.
ooooooooooooooooooooo
Jack snatched the letter from Jonas's hands and retreated to his office to read it in private.
Dear Jack, he read.
You recently told me that you were old, grumpy, sarcastic, gray haired Air Force Colonel one bad mission away from retirement. While all of these might be true for you, let me show you what I see when I look at you.
I don't see an old man, I see someone who is wise beyond his years.
I don't see a grumpy Colonel, but a man who hides his caring, childish nature behind that Air Force mask that he has too many years of practice in using.
You are sarcastic, but only because you know that I'll smile because of it.
I don't see a man with gray hair, but someone for whom age has only improved his looks. I like your gray hair.
I don't see you being just one bad mission away from retirement, but one good mission away from getting a star.
But most importantly, I see a man that I want to spend the rest of my life with.
Yes Jack, you read right, I said the rest of my life.
You can go ahead and read it again Jack, but know that I meant every word of it. I'll be waiting for you at your house.
Love,
Sam
Oh and Jack, I've known about the ring that's in your desk drawer for years. Whenever you decide to use it would be fine with me.
Jack read the letter several time, each time making it closer to the end than the time before, until he reached the part where she admitted knowing about the ring in his desk drawer.
He shoved the letter in his desk drawer, called in an order to his favorite pizza place, and drove home. He had to see a woman about her plans for the next few months, and maybe for the rest of her life.
ooooooooooooooooooooo
Jack paced in their bedroom.
It had been over six months since they had started dating and he was finally convinced that it was time to make use of the ring that he had been holding on to all this time.
But even though they both knew they loved each other, Jack had been hesitant about asking her to marry him.
/Flashback/
"You've moved in together, sleeping together, pretty much doing everything that a married couple does except without the marriage part, right?" Louis Ferretti asked.
"Yeah."
"Then what are you so worried about?" Ferretti asked. "If she didn't run screaming in the other direction the first time she saw you naked, and she actually wants to have your children, why don't you just marry Sam?"
Jack was silent.
"My gosh Jack, it's the kids thing isn't it?" Ferretti shook his head in halfhearted laughter. "Samantha Carter gave up her career in the military, one in which she probably would have made General, to have a family with you, and you don't even want kids."
"No," Jack quickly corrected. "I want kids, heck I want them with Sam… I just don't want them right now. I don't want to be running around the universe killing false gods while she's at home with the kids. I did that with Sara and Charlie and I won't do it again."
"Is she pregnant?" Ferretti asked suddenly.
Jack's eyes grew big at the mere thought. "Not that I know of."
"Then marry the woman before she smarts up to the fact that she could do much better then you. Talk to Hammond and tell him that once she's pregnant, you're going to be ready to leave the field so he's prepared and then you've got at least six months to set things up for your retirement, transfer, or whatever else you guys figure out," Ferretti suggested. "Besides, it could be a year from now before Sam gets pregnant, especially with your mission schedule."
Jack huffed. The joke around the base was often about SG-1's lack of a mission schedule rather than the fact they had one.
"Presuming that you're actually trying for a baby that is," Ferretti added quietly, "And that you do really want to be a dad."
"I do and we're not, at least not really."
Ferretti shook his head, tossed some money on the table to cover his drink, and patted Jack on the shoulder. "You've got a good thing Jack and if I were you, I'd grab onto it and hang on for dear life."
/End Flashback/
Jack had taken Ferretti's words to heart and had realized that his old friend was right. He did have a good thing with Sam and he really wasn't worried about being a dad again, at least no more then he had been when Sara and he had worked on starting their family.
So now he was left waiting, a ring in his hand, for Sam to come out of the bathroom. He had come home from a four day mission, expecting to find a smiling, happy Sam greeting him.
He had found something else entirely. Sam had been withdrawn, almost scared, from the moment he had walked through the door. It had taken him all through dinner to drag it out of her.
/Flashback/
"I'm late," Sam finally admitted.
Jack took a deep breath as he let that piece of news sink in. Any man who had a girlfriend knew what those words meant. "How? I mean, I thought-"
"We both know that those only work so well Jack. I have a pregnancy test…"
Jack ran a hand through his hair. "Go," he said. "I'd rather know for sure then worry about it all weekend."
/End Flashback/
The door to the bathroom opened, and Sam emerged carrying a stick.
"We have to wait a few minutes," Sam explained, setting the stick on the nightstand.
Silence surrounded them.
"I'm sorry," Sam said quietly. "I know that this isn't what you wanted, that you aren't ready for this, and this totally screws up everything."
Jack laughed. "Sam this doesn't mess anything up, other than my plans but that's okay. Sure we weren't exactly trying-"
Sam snorted, interrupting him.
"Well okay, we weren't trying too hard. But I want you to know that I don't care what that test says, I'm not going anywhere for a long, long time," Jack claimed as he opened the ring box with a snap, picking up the ring, and sliding it on her finger.
"Jaaaack-"
Jack silenced her with a finger to her lips. "Samantha Carter, I love you and I'm really, really hoping that you haven't changed your mind about wanting to spend the rest of your life with me because my plans for this weekend are totally trashed if you have."
Sam giggled. This was the Jack O'Neill she had fallen in love with. "What if I'm pregnant?"
"Then we'll have either a really short engagement or a really long one. And if you're not," Jack quickly added, "We'll have to work on making sure you are so that your dad doesn't kill me."
Once more, Sam giggled. "Yes I'll marry you," she said with a nod of her head and a smile.
Jack gave her a quick kiss. "You want to look at that," he asked gesturing towards the test which was still on the nightstand.
Sam picked it up, starred at it for a few seconds and then asked, "What does a positive look like?"
Jack looked at her in disbelief. Here was his fiancé, one of the smartest humans in the universe, if not the smartest, and she couldn't figure out what a positive looked like on a pregnancy test. Jack stood up and walked over to stand behind her. He put his head on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her stomach.
"Huh."
"What?" Sam asked.
"Oh nothing," Jack said shrugging his shoulders. "Just wondered what you thought about the name Grace if it's a girl."
Jack could tell the instant that Sam connected the dots by the way she relaxed into him.
"Are you sure?"
"Well unless these tests have changed over the years, yep I'm pretty sure that I'll be safe from Dad for at least the next eight months or so."
Sam giggled as she shoved him on the bed. "What are you going to do after the eight months is up?" she asked.
"Guess we'll have to give this little one a sibling. I've found that father-in-laws are much more accepting of their son-in-laws when there's grandchildren involved."
Sam huffed. "Let's see how the first one goes before you start making plans for baby O'Neill number two," she suggested.
"Whatever you say ma'am," Jack agreed as he leaned in to kiss her. "Whatever you say."