Disclaimer: Stargate not owned by me. Simple eh?
Rating: K
Spoiler: Message in a Bottle.
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I hate writing Sam POV, and I always get...flummoxed over what to write for her. So yeah, reviews always nice.
The only thing on that planet was an orb. An orb that had been emitting an EM pulse since the end of the civilization that created it…100,000 or more years ago. Now that was interesting and something we would definitely have to investigate back at the SGC, it had a power source with immense capabilities, it would have to, for it to continue to function long after the people that created it had died.
For nearly a day the orb was just that, an orb. We did test after test and it did nothing. Daniel was coming up empty on the translation as well, he had never seen the language, or nothing similar to it. And then it actually did something. Radiation levels started increasing at an alarming rate, the temperature shot up and spikes shot out of the sides when we began removing it from the canister we were holding it in. Jack and Teal'c managed to get it to the gate but were unable to take it back to it's home planet. Spikes shot out, one into the ground, one into the wall above the control room, one into the side wall, only just missing Teal'c. And the last one went straight through Jack's shoulder, pinning him to the wall.
It was my worst nightmare in real life. Jack was in trouble. He knew it too. Everyone did. There was no blood around the wound, though everyone knew there should be, and when Teal'c fired his staff weapon, it was like a thousand knives stabbing into my heart, knowing that it was hurting…killing…Jack. And I had no idea how to fix it. For the first time in my life, I was at a complete loss as to what to do, I was powerless to stop it from killing the man I love.
And to make matters worse? We discovered it was bacteria/virus, it had elements of both types of organism in it. And when we lit it up with Ultraviolet light, it stunned us when it showed that it could eat through flesh, material…and concrete any substance it came into contact with it could penetrate. Oh, and the real clincher? It initiated the auto destruct, and since it fed on energy, an explosion of that size would feed it enough energy to allow it to destroy our world.
It took Daniel to finally figure it out, it was trying to communicate with us. Through Jack. We had to feed it energy for it to reach critical mass, a point where it could actually talk to us. Standing in the Gate room, Jack's hand in my own, I had to ask him to risk his life for a hunch, it was nothing but an idea and Daniel and I had no idea what was going to happen when I took the IV out and…fed the organism. I could have been aiding and abetting in the death of him…Jack…my soul mate. A quiver in my voice as I asked him the very question that could end his life…he squeezed my hand in response, a gentle, reassuring squeeze. I had my answer. Feed the organism.
Ordering Teal'c to shoot that weapon, not once, not twice, but three times into that orb…it was like telling him to fire at me. I could feel it jolt through me, could feel the pain. And when I went to check his pulse. There was none. No response. Not even a flicker. I'd killed him. My heart shattered into a million pieces as I stared at the motionless face of Jack, my jaw clenching as I tried not to cry.
And then…he was talking…but it wasn't him. The organism. It was controlling Jack. Talking through him. Communicating with us. He…she…it…they wanted nothing more than to survive. To live. The same thing that we wished to do. We came to an agreement. An understanding between our two races. We would send them to another world, one with lots of sunlight and oxygen, but devoid of human life, or rather devoid of intelligent species so that they could multiple without harming others, and they would leave Jack and Earth forever. Allowing us both to survive.
"Hey, sir." I said as he finally awoke from his 18 hour sleep, Janet was still fussing around his bed, otherwise I would have thrown myself on him, but I continued sitting sedately on the bed next to him. Daniel having gone in search of coffee…and sleep. And Teal'c had to kel-nor-re'm.
"Hey…Carter." He replied, after a pause as his eyes adjusted to the bright light, "How long was I out?"
"About 18 hours, sir."
"Can I go home?" he mumbled as Janet gave a wry smile.
"All traces of the organism have left your system, you might feel tired for a few more days, as it stressed your immune system out, as well as the prolonged high temperature I'm going to have to ask you to take it easy for a few days, but yes you can go home," Janet said as smile flitted over his features as he began throwing off the covers, eager to get out of the infirmary and way from Janet and her needles, "after I give you a shot." Both of us grinned as Jack groaned loudly.
"Daniel, really I'm fine." Jack whined 2 hours later, clearly fed up with being mothered over by Daniel and Teal'c, who had insisted that Jack drink a warm glass of milk in order to help him sleep, as it was 'considered to be a normal Tau'ri sleeping ritual'. Jack drunk the milk, if only to humour him. Daniel was lovingly tucking Jack in as I made myself comfortable on the bed, dealing out cards as I wiggled a teeny bit closer to him. It was a fine line we were treading tonight, he had held my hand briefly in the car, and now this, but if Daniel and Teal'c had noticed anything they made no indication that they had. Jack and I had felt that they knew for quite some time. Perhaps not the full story, but maybe they knew our feelings for each other ran a little deeper than was actually allowed by the Air Force.
"I do not understand this game, O'Neill." Teal'c said as Jack sighed for the fifteenth time before he gave up trying to explain the rules of 'Snap' to Teal'c as I gave a quiet giggle, my hand lingering over his as we packed the cards up.
"Don't worry about it Teal'c, anyway isn't it time we went back to the base?" Daniel asked as he stood, his eyes ever so slightly sliding over both Jack and I as I felt a crimson flush on the back of my neck.
"Indeed it is, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c replied as they both bade us farewell.
"They know don't they?" I asked as I turned to face Jack.
"Pretty sure they do." He replied as he held his arms open, "C'mere."
I practically flew into his arms, his quiet 'oompf' was the only indicator that I had knocked the wind out of him, snuggling deep into those warm arms, who knew how to give comfort hugs better than anyone else's.
"I nearly lost you." I mumbled as he started to rub my back gently, the way only he knew how.
"But you didn't."
"But…"
"Samantha, you were dealing with an alien organism, you did what you thought was right." He interrupted as I began to relax into his touch.
"But…"
"No buts Sam. You can't go back and re-hash every decision you make in your life. You made the call, based on the information you had at hand. No-one can expect anything more." Jack said, his voice full of emotion. I knew he was thinking over some of his own mistakes. His own decisions that had gone wrong, "You simply make the call. Then move on." His voice steeled again as I sighed against his chest, knowing he was right.
"I still nearly lost you." I mumble as a hand comes up to gently wipe away the tears that I didn't even realise were falling.
"But you didn't. I'm here now, and you will never lose me Sam. I'll always be here." He said as he placed a hand over where my heart was.
As sleep finally came, all I could keep thinking about was how many bad decisions I had made. How many bad decisions had nearly resulted in losing Jack, how many bad decisions had nearly resulted in the destruction of Earth. That's when I knew what was on my shoulders. The future of this world. The continued existence of humans on Earth. That's what we were fighting for, and I could single handedly destroy it with one bad choice. Like I nearly had today.
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Next chapter will be "The Tokra" lots of Jack/Jacob stuff to deal with...as well as Sam/Jacob stuff...but we'll see as to what muse says.