hi all sorry for taking so long in updating, it has been a very difficult time latelt. ive had some family situations, that i had to focus on first. thank you all for your sticking with this story. i promice that i am going to finish this story and have a sequal possibly.
hope you all have a happy holidays and a new year, the next chapter will be posted before the new year hopefully christmas.
Waking up with Jack's arm still around her waist, the sun is rising, the light hitting Sam's face and began immediately to warm her. There was a groan behind her ear that startled her, they have shared a tent before and a sleeping bag before, yet never hearing a grunt escape his lips. Jack was beginning to wake, he tightened his grip around Carter's waist, whispering good morning in her ear, nestling his face in her hair.
"Er Sir!" Carter hushed.
"Yes Sam," Jack replied groggily, moving his body closer to hers.
"Sir" Carter shouted again.
Jack moved his hand of her waist as is she was on fire, sitting up, pulling the covers with him. "Im sorry Carter, i was, er..."
"Remembering old times?"
"Er, sorry Carter, ahem, how are you feeling today?"
"I think i have a little feeling in my leg, i felt something pushed against my leg."
"Oh, er, that's good you are having some feeling back, Carter can you move your legs at all?"
"No, still can't move!"
"Alright, that's get you up and make some breakfast."
Seeing the nod from Carter he got up, stretched and yawned rubbing his back slightly. He bent over and picked her up, walking over to the same bush he helped her again with the things she needed. Then walked back down to camp helping her to sit, making sure that Carter is comfortable, he got over and started the fire.
It seemed to have gone out overnight, putting on some water to boil he got out a couple of MRE's to heat up. Waking back over to Carter, taking some clean wipes and bandages, bending down beside her, slowly taking her pants down, again not daring to even look at Carter after this morning's antics.
Pulling back the old bandages her wound was loads better, there wasn't any puss or bleeding nothing, it looked as though there wasn't a wound in place. There was some dried up blood, which he cleaned away, he pressed down on her wound, looking at Carter there wasn't any sort of reaction at all. He lifted his finger away, but he couldn't it was as if it was stuck to her like glue! he tried to remove his finger again, pulling harder it was like something was pulling at him, he felt a sharp pain in his finger that made him gasp it was almost like a burn, he managed to pull his finger away but pulled Carter's leg too.
"What was that everything ok, it's not infected is it?"
Quickly unravelling the new bandage he covered over the wound before Carter couldn't see. "No, it looks fine Carter don't worry, I think you will be up and about in no time." Jack said trying to sound as convincing as possible. He knew that Carter didn't believe him one bit, but she didn't say anything further.
"Want some breakfast?" O'Neill asked, hoping it would at least change the topic.
"Sure, what are we having?"
Breathing a sigh of relieve that she let the subject drop "Glupe"
Her face said it all, tasteless, sticky unappealing glupe. MRE porridge was the worst going unless it was Teal'c he loved the stuff.
"What do you plan on doing today Sir?"
"Carter less of the Sir, i was actually thinking of heading down to the beach, see if i can find anything good. Maybe make you something that you can move around in, so if you wanted to move you could."
"Thanks Jack, that's nice but i don't need anything. We will get rescued soon and we can go home."
"I don't think we are going to get rescued Carter. We don't know what happened to the odyssey, we don't even know if they're alive, if earth is still intact. The Wraith was packing some serious weapons."
"Yes Sir, but i have to get back, the weapons they used are similar to the Ori's technology. And we know from Atlantis's files they were there briefly."
"You think that's possible?" O'Neill knew asking that question would give him some techno-babble answer.
"Theoretically Sir, yes the Ori was in our galaxy, and we have found reference to their technology here, we have found a few of them in past years. So it's more than possible that the wraith have come across something in theirs. There hasn't been any reference of any more advanced civilisations. Wraith is mainly an organic compound, in order to merge such an advance piece of technology that out-weighs the Asgard. To their own the organic matter, well i never though it possible! Well unless..."
"Carter, Carter simplify it, will ya."
"Come on Jack, your still pretending you haven't got a clue what im talking about."
"Just humour me Carter!"
"It's like turning a potato into an atomic bomb!" Carter gave that look of, 'are you happy now.'
"That's not good."
"No Sir it isn't, don't think i didn't notice you changed the subject. Tell me what's really going on!"
"Its fine Carter, just drop it, its healing nicely."
Looking fiercely into each other's eyes a common silent conversation bouncing back and forth. Neither of them willing to back down, a train of thought leads back to a similar situation, when the Antarans were on the verge of losing a second home, a second planet.
The order to bomb a advanced civilisation to save a few. The time when he ordered the iris to be closed upon a racist radicalized few, who poisoned there own planet to make it pure, while genetically cloning a select few to re-populate. When he asked her to leave on the Hammond, the time when she asked him to leave on Apophis's ship. The list is endless, countless situations that encounted there silent conversations.
Each moment, each memory shared only brought them closer together, but yet further apart. Sam knew it was something, what, she wasn't sure, she knew one thing and that was she was relieved to start having some feeling back.
Building up some courage she thought that maybe a different approach was called for. She placed her arms beside her slouched body, bum shuffling closer to where Jack sat. Deciding she was in just the right position she leant forward placing her arm on his, opening her mouth she softly spoke.
"Sir, please tell me i know that something is going on" looking up to him, pleading with her eyes.
Not turning to look at her, knowing full well that she turned her big blue eyes into that sparkly glaze he loves so much, that same glaze that made him accept a snake into his life.
"Carter look, you need to get off this planet, im worried about your wound it's not healing as it should. Okay please just relax eat your food, okay"
Standing up to clear the food away, an excuse to remove him-self from those eyes and her touch, he hadn't felt that gentle squeeze in so long. Placing items into the pack he could sense that Carter still had those eyes of hers fixed on him, knowing full well she wasn't one to let a subject drop, Jack knew that he would have to face that conversation soon.
"Please Carter not today, ok."
Seeing the exhaustion, the worry, the stress he was clearly under, she decided to leave the conversation, for now anyways.
Lifting her up positioning her up making her a bit more comfortable, he emptied a bag left a gun within arm's length to Carter's and a radio. He walked the few steps away onto the beach, there had been some scraps washed ashore nothing really of any use, just a few broken debris and that was about it.
Jack muttered too himself casually kicking a piece of debris in-front of him, he kept walking for a long time his mind totally blank not really knowing what to do about this whole situation. They had limited supplies, no news of earth or if the deadalus survived that wraith encounter, or not. No idea if Daniel and Mitchell were alive.
Something awoke him from his daze, looking over the water front there was a lot of splashing, water being thrown up into the air about 40 feet. Dropping his pack on the floor taking out his binoculars to get a better look, bringing them up to his eyes focusing on the area he wanted to see, squinting just slightly it was hard to see anything with all that thrashing about. A quick intake of breath he saw it that creature it was attacking a large piece of debris, his large teeth breaking chunks off so easily it could have been paper.
Jack fell to the ground just watching it, learning about it, it uses his tentacles to search and dig into the pray, every time it did there was yellow stuff pouring down the ravaged chunks of metal. Pulling it towards his mouth, swallowing the debris whole. For what Jack could see it was similar to a kraken, one of Earths mythological creatures.
Stunned he continued to watch, thinking back to that time it had caught hold of Carter's leg, he didn't see the creature's size completely, or fine details at all. He was busy concentrating on pulling Carter to safety. Looking back at the events how Carter was pulled, how she was being dragged under, and the claw still lodged in her flesh even after emptying a whole clip.
Carter was lucky to be alive, they both were, and if they hadn't got to the shore as quick as they did they probably wouldn't have made it. Watching the creature it didn't really come close to shore its tentacles did but not his body. It was like this thing was stationary in one position unable to swim close to shore, Jack wasn't sure at all, he knew one thing they were definitely lucky to be alive.
Putting the binoculars back inside the pack, slinging his pack back over his shoulder, looking down at his watch it had been a long time since he checked in on Carter. Pushing a finger on his radio he spoke.
"Carter are you ok just checking in?" realising the button all he heard was static, he spoke again "Carter do you read, Carter!"... Still nothing, panic started to sink in, is she ok, was it her leg, and is she alive. He started to run back as fast as his legs could take him grunting at the patches of pebbles, hitting hard against his knees. Checking on his radio again and nothing still static, not far away now, lunging though the branches and bushes he got to the camp.
Carter was nowhere to be seen she wasn't slumped up behind the tree as he left her she wasn't sleeping under the covers, she wasn't next to the fire she was just gone.
"CARTER" Jack screamed, he went over to that tree to see if the radio was still there, it was. Looking up he screamed again "CARTER, WHERE ARE YOU, CARRRRTERRR!"
Where Jack stood still unable to move, his head began to spin, the trees, bushes, sand the camp, all seemed to collapse around him he felt his heart jump out of his chest, he couldn't breathe. Trying to shout out her name, yet no words escaped passed his lips.
The spinning suddenly stopped, years of training began to take over, and he heard something it was coming from right in front of him the thick branches started to rustle. Instinct came over raising his pistol, pointing straight ahead ready to shoot.
"Sir, Im..." she trailed off her sentence when she saw that the General looked white as a sheep, with a gun barrel staring at her. Standing still holding the gun at her, colour started to come back to his face now.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU PLAYING AT" Jack shouted.
Shocked at what to say to that Carter didn't say anything at all, she hoppled over to the make shift camp and got under the covers. Looking up at him she shouted back.
"WHAT AM I DOING, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU LIED TO ME JACK"
Seeing the hurt in her eyes the gleam returned, it was obvious that Carter was hurt. Calming down a bit, snapping to the realization that he was still pointing the gun at her, he holstered his weapon back, took a deep breath and sat down beside Sam.
"Look im sorry i lied to you, im sorry for pointing my gun at you and im sorry for shouting at..."
"YOU LIED TO ME JACK, why didn't you tell me, what happened to me?"
"What do you mean Carter?"
"I have seen the wound, ive seen it ok. I got feeling back, you were no-where to be seen i couldn't get you over the radio, i needed to move Sir, so i did! Tell me the truth, what happened to me?"
Sighing looking at her square in the eyes he told her exactly what happened start to finish from when she first hit her head, from getting them above sea level, the creature. How the creature almost took her away from him, how it almost took her life, how he has taken her life from her by not forcing her to be beamed aboard like he originally intend.
"Im sorry Carter, i didn't want you to worry, i failed to keep you safe that on my hands, i have to live with that."
"No Sir, it's not on your hands, it was my choice to not use the escape pod, It was my choice not to leave. If anything it was you that got us out, it were you that saved us."
"Im sorry, i didn't save you i really wanted you to leave, i-i needed you to be safe, i-i needed you to live."
"I wasn't going to leave you, like-like you left me Jack!"
"I never wanted to leave you then either i was forced to, i dint want to ruin your career. I was asked to run home-world security. I wanted to retire after Hank took over, the air force didn't allow it, i knew that you wanted to continue to work on SG-1, and that you were offered to run Atlantis. I couldn't be the reason your career snowballed!" Jack placed his hand over hers and squeezed it tight.
"But you made that choice for me, Jack i should have made that choice with my own life not you."
"Im sorry Sam i really am, i didn't have much choice in the matter either. You know that i tried to retire; i tried to not be in your commanding officer. The president ordered me himself, to re-pull me out of retirement again. I couldn't refuse if i wanted to, i have been trying to find away. But after what happened i wasn't sure you would want me too!"
Finally all those words he was trying to get out, trying to say he did, sometimes it's best not to think and just say what means the most to you.