This may seem a little out of order, but it's a crossover with SGA, and I think there's some latitude that can be taken in where specific episodes fit into the other series' lineup.
-
Familiar footsteps caused Sam to look up from where she worked in her lab. "Sir!" She cried, surprised to see Jack there.
"Carter." He greeted with a small smile.
"What are you doing here?"
"Here for the first Carter-McKay Gate Bridge voyage."
Sam blushed as she looked to the side. "I think we should just call it the Gate bridge…"
"With an attitude like that, it will become the McKay Gate Bridge in no time."
She laughed. "I'm sure you'll find a way to keep it from doing that."
"Yes, well…I've never liked McKay." He teased.
She bit her lip as she looked over. "You're not flying the mission yourself, sir?"
"Nah. Figured that I should let the younger pilots have a stab at the…"
"The President said no, didn't he?" Sam interrupted.
"Yes." He said, sheepishly.
She chuckled before she sobered. "Can't say I mind," she admitted. "Keeps you safe."
"There's that."
"Who is flying the mission?"
"Sheppard. From Atlantis back to Earth."
"Oh."
"I'm gonna go watch. You wanna come with?"
"Can't. I have a mission." She said, shrugging.
"It's your bridge!"
"It's property of the United States Air Force, sir." She laughed. "And they're the ones paying me to go on this mission." She paused for a moment before she looked over. "Take some pictures for me."
He grinned. "Will do."
-
"Off-world activation," Harriman announced a few days later.
"IDC?" Sam asked, back from her three-day recon mission.
"None. It looks like it's coming from your Gate Bridge."
"It's not my…" She began before she shook her head. "General O'Neill and the last members of the Atlantis expedition?"
"Most likely."
Sam leaned over to the microphone. "Defense teams, stand by."
A jumper appeared a few moments later and Jack waved from where he sat beside Sheppard in the front seat.
She grinned as she returned to the microphone. "Good to see you, sir."
"Yes, well…if it's so good to see me, do you think you can call these guns off us?"
"Yes, sir." She smiled. "Defense teams, stand down." She looked up at John Sheppard who flew the jumper. "I believe you know where the jumper goes. I'll go tell General Landry that you've returned."
"Thank you, Colonel." John said as he flew the jumper to its designated coordinates.
-
"Remind me never to take the city of the Ancients from Dr. Weir ever again." Jack said, shaking his head as he walked into Sam's lab.
She chuckled softly. "That bad, huh?"
"Worse." He murmured. "Like taking candy from a baby."
"Poor Elizabeth." Sam said with a small, sympathetic smile.
"Yes, well…she'd get too attached, and let's admit it…right now, in our fragile relations with the Ancients…"
"Looking like we're willing struggle for control of the city would be bad." Sam finished from where she stood upright.
"Exactly." He said, nodding. "Which is a shame because, besides Daniel, Weir would be the best negotiator for this."
"It was partly because of the IOA, wasn't it?" Sam said, knowingly.
He sighed. "When isn't it?"
She bit the inside of her cheek as Jack looked out the door. "I'm gonna have some cake. You wanna come with?"
She smiled softly. "Sure."
They walked down to the commissary in companionable silence. He retrieved his cake, and she got her blue jello, each in a rhythmic cadence. Sam smiled softly as she looked over at her companion. "Do you remember the first time I came with you to get cake when I was working on a big problem?"
"As I recall, Rodney McKay was there that time too." He said, dryly.
Sam chuckled softly. "Which was one of the reasons I needed cake instead of jello. I needed the hard stuff."
He snickered, and Sam studied him. "You okay?"
"Tired." He admitted. "Been a long day."
"Just gonna get longer, I'm afraid."
"General O'Neill to the Gate Room. General O'Neill to the Gate Room." Came the page over the intercom.
He let the fork slip from his fingers as he closed his eyes. "And…it starts again."
"You want me to come with?" Sam asked, trying to be supportive.
He shook his head. "Nah. Finish my cake. Someone should enjoy it."
Sam smiled. "Yes, sir," she winked, discreetly.
-
It wasn't long before she returned to her lab to find Jack there, sitting in one of the chairs by her workbench. His face looked somewhat lined and tired.
"What is it?" She asked, noticing the look on his face.
"I'm, uh, going to Atlantis."
She raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"The Alterans are getting a little peeved with Woolsey."
"Ah." She said, nodding. "So, you're going to help out?"
"Yeah." He said, nodding. "It'll probably take a few weeks…"
"I know." She said, inhaling. "I'll be okay."
"I know you will be," he murmured uncomfortably.
"I'm going to miss you." She assured. "But this time, you get to be the one offworld for an extended amount of time."
"I'll make it up to you."
"No need." Sam assured. "Just stay safe."
He nodded, absently.
"What's wrong?"
"I should warn you, Sam…I've told Landry that in case of a foothold situation on Atlantis, that he needs to destroy the city at all costs."
Her eyes widened. "Why?"
"The Gate Bridge," he said, seriously. "We can't lead the Wraith back to Earth that easily."
She inhaled slowly, trying to process the thought that he might not come back. "Then, don't let there be a foothold situation."
"It's not that ea…"
"Jack." She interrupted with determination in her eyes. "Don't let there be a foothold situation."
He managed a faint half-smile, leaning in to hug her and kiss her cheek. "I'll do my best."
She held him tightly for a few moments before he pulled away. "Come to see me off?"
She nodded slowly. "Sure."
He brushed a soft tendril from her face. "I have a picture in my bag…of you and me fishing."
She smiled softly. "Come back safely, and I'll take you back."
"You're on, Carter." He said, nodding slowly.
-
Sam bit her lip as she tried to concentrate on her work. It had been three weeks since Jack had left, and she hadn't heard a word from him. She occasionally heard through General Landry what was happening on Atlantis, but even he wasn't telling her much. He saved the Atlantis stuff for the old Atlantis team.
"Am I interrupting?" McKay asked, stepping into the room.
Sam managed an uncomfortable smile as she looked over at the scientist. "Uh…no…hi, Rodney."
"Something wrong?" He asked, noticing the look on her face.
She shook her head. "Just trying to keep up with my experiments between missions."
"I remember that," he said, wistfully.
"Is there a reason you're not joining one of the teams?"
"Besides the fact that Landry said "hell no"?" Rodney asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sam managed an amused half-smile.
"You and I would just be in each other's way." He said with a shrug.
She nodded, acknowledging the truthfulness of his words. "What'd you need, McKay?"
"Just wanted to come and say "hi" before I leave for Area 51."
"Well, thanks. I appreciate it."
"What are you working on?"
She looked over at him, curiously. "Why?"
"Well, I have a couple of hours, and thought that I might be able to help…"
She threw him a look.
"I won't take over. I promise!"
She sighed as she sat back and looked back at her computer screen. "I'm trying to find a way to give us iris control for the Gate Bridge."
He shook his head. "We already went through this, Sam. In order for the macro to work…"
"And I'm trying to determine if we missed something." She snapped.
He studied her for a moment. "This is personal, isn't it?"
"Rodney, I've worked with you off-and-on for the last five years. It's not personal when I yell at you."
"That's not what I was talking about." He said, seriously. "Rewriting the macro to include iris protection is personal for you."
She looked away.
"Why?"
"I'm getting some lunch." She said, closing the laptop and walking out the door.
"Why won't you just tell me…"
"Good-bye, McKay." She said, coldly motioning for him to leave.
"Okay…" He said, walking out to the corridor. "I guess this is me leaving."
"Thank you."
"Maybe when you've cooled down, we could have lunch?"
She closed the lab doors as he spoke.
She sighed as she looked back at her workbench. Was she back to the desperation of the Major who had worked night and day for three months to find a way to melt the natural iris of the Edoran Gate?
She inhaled softly. And nothing had even happened.
Yet.
Something needed to change. She couldn't do this anymore. She couldn't hide this relationship from anyone anymore.
And truth be told, she was less and less willing to do so.
-
Three weeks later:
"So…mission to P4X-894?" Mitchell asked with a grin as he looked at the rest of SG-1.
Sam managed an insincere smile as she nodded. She wanted to stay here and fix the iris problem from the Gate Bridge.
"Didn't Landry want us here at 1330?" Daniel asked, looking at his watch. "It's already 1400."
"He's on the phone." Sam said, pointing to the window.
"Unscheduled offworld activation."
Sam's heart started beating anxiously as she jumped up from the table and hurried down the stairs.
"What's going on, Chief?" She demanded.
"We're receiving a databurst from Atlantis. It's General O'Neill's IDC."
Sam's heart leapt into her throat as she played the message.
Jack stood in front of the camera with a worried expression on his face. "Atlantis is under attack from replicators! Somehow, they've figured out how to override their programming. The Ancients were taken off-guard and have lost most of the city already. Request immediate evacuation!"
Woolsey fired a gun. "They're coming!" He called.
"Gah!" Jack cried.
Sam inhaled sharply as the transmission terminated instantly.
Landry made it down just then. "What's going on?"
"W-we just rec-received a message from G-general O'Neill." Sam stammered. "Replicators in Atlantis."
"We received the General's IDC, but no one's come through the Gate."
Sam turned to look at the open wormhole. Come on, Jack, she thought as she bit her lip so hard that she drew blood.
"Defense teams, stand by." He ordered into the microphone as they waited for Jack and Woolsey to appear on their side of the wormhole.
The minutes passed slowly, and Sam felt her heart pound in her ears as she dreaded what would happen if Jack didn't appear or if the Replicators came through.
Finally, the wormhole disengaged despite the fact that neither Jack nor Woolsey could be found in the Gate Room.
Sam tensed as she looked up at General Landry's face. He was going to send the nuclear ordnance.
She felt bile rise in her throat. She was going to be sick.
-
"Sir, I've just heard about General O'Neill's position. I'd like to volunteer SG-1 for the rescue." Mitchell announced, walking into the briefing room where Landry awaited the Atlantis team.
"There's not going to be a rescue." Landry said, soberly.
Daniel, who had been on Mitchell's heels, opened his mouth. "But, sir…"
"Dr. Jackson, I have standing orders. From General O'Neill himself. And those are to send nuclear ordnance to Atlantis in the case of a foothold situation." He turned a sober eye to the team. "I think this qualifies."
Sam nodded, hollowly. "Yes, sir."
Daniel threw her a look before he looked back at the General. "Look, this is Jack we're talking about…we can't just let him…"
"I'm not changing my mind," Landry reiterated. "Your orders are to return to your quarters and not to leave until I let you know that you can go on your mission."
"But sir," Mitchell began again.
"Now, Colonel!" Landry barked. "Dismissed."
Sam was the first out the door. She was nearly at the elevator before Daniel caught up to her. "What the hell was that?"
"What the hell was what?" She shot back, bitterly.
"Of all the times to pretend that you're not in a relationship with…"
"Stop right there," she hissed as she spun around to face him. "I have never left him behind, and I'm not going to start now."
He was instantly stopped.
"No, I'm going to come up with a plan, and until I do, I want you to follow Landry's orders. Understand?"
He opened his mouth to speak, and she raised her hand before he could actually say a word. "Don't." She warned. "Now, why don't you go define your relationship with Vala while I go and try to save my fiancé, okay?"
She spun on her heels, returning to her route to the elevator as she regretted the harshness of her words instantly. No matter what his implication, Daniel had never deserved that kind of tone from her. She turned to speak to him before she shook her head. She'd find a way to rescue Jack before she apologized. She didn't have time to do it the other way around.
-
"You can stop planning your secret rescue mission," Landry announced as he walked into Sam's quarters where she was racking her mind, trying to come up with a successful rescue plan which would get Landry's approval.
"Sir?" She asked, pretending to be innocent as she stood.
"The Atlantis team beat you to it."
"Oh." She said with a small sigh. "How?"
"They stole one of the jumpers, hacked into the mainframe computer, and disregarded all of our attempts to bring them home."
"I see. And what about the nuclear ordnance?"
"McKay was charged with finding a way to send the Mark IX through."
Sam tensed. She had a feeling that the General would ask her to send the bomb.
"I just wanted to keep you informed."
She inhaled before she nodded. "Yes, sir."
He turned to leave before he paused. "Colonel?"
"Yes, sir?" She asked, looking back at him.
"Jack's gotten out of worse situations than this."
Sam bit her lip. "Yes, sir."
The General walked out of the room as Sam sighed. She looked at the door, and walked out to the corridor. She made her way to Daniel's lab, somewhat nervously.
"Can I come in?" She asked, timidly.
Daniel looked over at her. "I guess…"
She sighed softly as she walked in. "I guess I owe you an apology."
"You don't have to do that," he said, standing. "I was pretty terrible too."
She bit her lip. "Jack, uh," she paused, trying to keep a grip on her emotions. "Jack told me about his standing orders before he left. That's why I was pretty much glued to the Gate or my desk for the last few weeks."
"You were trying to figure out how to fix the whole iris thing?"
She nodded. "That way, Landry wouldn't feel like he had to send a nuke."
"What about a rescue?"
"Apparently Weir, Sheppard, McKay, and Beckett beat us to it."
He raised an eyebrow.
"I was trying to think of a plan that would save Jack and still have Landry's approval." She explained. "They skipped the approval part."
"Ah."
He noticed the tears brimming in her eyes, and he finally walked over and gave her a hug. "Hey, he's come back from worse situations. I mean, Ba'al…"
She inhaled as she tried to keep the tears from falling. "I know."
"And I don't care what he says, I didn't help him with that one." Daniel teased as he pulled away and looked at her.
Sam chuckled as she wiped at the tears which had leaked down her cheeks.
"We're going to get him home, Sam." He said, more soberly.
"I sure hope so." She admitted after a moment.
-
"Colonel Carter?" Lee asked, walking into her lab.
"Yes, Bill?" She asked without looking up from her computer as she worked on her theories for changing the macro so that they could facilitate iris access.
"I wanted to make sure you knew…"
"Knew what?" She asked, looking over at him somewhat urgently.
"Uh, they want me to blow up the Bridge."
"We just finished it." She murmured as her lips parted in surprise.
"I know, but Landry…"
Sam sighed as she nodded. "Thanks, Bill."
"Are you going to…"
"Thank you, Bill." She reiterated, more strongly.
-
"They're overdue." Woolsey said, worriedly.
"Not yet." Jack assured.
"It's been well over eleven seconds." He reminded him.
"Yes." Jack sighed. "But you've been ignoring the dramatic element of…suspense."
"General O'Neill, are you there, sir?" Sheppard called over the radio.
"See?"
"Oh, thank God!"
"Yes, we're here." Jack announced. "You're late."
"Sorry, sir. Had to go into space and pick up some…frozen goods."
Jack exchanged a look with Woolsey. "Whatever. Where are you now?"
"We're not exactly inside the city yet. We're headed toward an underwater Jumper Bay."
"Well, what we think may be an underwater Jumper Bay." Elizabeth murmured.
"Is that Doctor Weir I hear?" Jack asked, seriously.
"Yes, General. It's good to hear your voice too." Elizabeth said over the radio.
"I didn't say it was good, Elizabeth. Please, don't be offended as I express my "surprise" that Landry would send you on a mission like this." Jack said, seriously. Truth be told, he'd been expecting SG-1. Not the Atlantis team.
"Well, sir, General Landry didn't sanction this mission."
"So, am I to assume you are not surrounded by heavily-armed SG teams and young strapping marines?" He asked with a small sigh.
"You've got Colonel Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla, McKay, myself, and Doctor Beckett."
Visions of the Ancient drone that had landed at his feet in Antarctica three years earlier made him cringe at the sound of the Scottish doctor's name. "Woo! Doctor Beckett, is it? Well, I'm comforted."
"We've got a plan, sir, a…good one." Sheppard said, seriously.
"Yes, Colonel, I'm sure you do. But in the unlikely event you don't fail miserably, you're fired."
"Yes, sir. Look…forward to that."
Jack looked at Woolsey. "They have a plan."
"I heard."
"General O'Neill?" Sheppard asked a few moments later. "We're gonna need a favor."
Jack followed the directions, followed by Richard Woolsey.
"Okay, there should be a hatch leading down to the next level. Do you see it?" McKay asked into the radio.
"Yep. Sure do. We see it."
"The Control Room should be almost directly below."
O'Neill looked into the hatch in dismay. "Okay, slight problem here."
"What's that?"
"Well, the level below is completely flooded, too."
"Ah. I, uh, couldn't convince you to take a swim today, could I?"
Jack sighed before he started stripping down to his lighter clothes. "All right. If you hear something, don't call out to it. Shoot it."
"Understood."
"Anything that's not me is a Replicator, so don't hesitate."
"You won't be gone long, will you?"
Jack groaned. Why couldn't he have Carter, Daniel or Teal'c with him instead of this woefully inept IOA delegate? "Uh, kinda depends on the temperature of the water. Let's see." He dipped his bare toe into the water to test the temperature before he pulled it out quickly. "Not long."
He reached for the radio. "McKay? What do I do once I get down there?"
"It's a manual override. It should be in the center of the console. It'll be obvious once you get in there."
"All right." He sighed.
"Good luck." Woolsey managed.
"Thank you." Jack said, setting the radio down as he began climbing the ladder and took a few deep breaths. "All right, here we go." He said, diving under the waterline. He got through to the second room after the hatch where he could see jumpers in the bay. There were buttons everywhere. So NOT obvious.
Where was Sam when you needed her? He asked himself as he swam back to the surface.
"Did you do it?" Woolsey demanded.
"Radio." O'Neill coughed, reaching for the device.
"McKay." He cried.
"Did you do it?"
"You and I have very different ideas of what "obvious" is." He snapped.
"Well, I've never seen it before!" McKay defended.
"There are dozens of controls down there I wouldn't even know how to describe!"
"Well, it's an emergency control. It should be among the most prominent."
"God." He groaned.
He inhaled before he dove once more down to the control chamber. He found a lever and tried it. The door he used was instantly closed.
Wrong one! He thought. Come on, if there was ever a time to have a hallucination where Carter showed up…
He pushed the lever back up before he moved to another. The door began to open slightly, but it wasn't enough.
"Jack…"
He blinked once. He could have sworn Sam had stood in front of him, but she'd disappeared almost instantly. Still, he'd heard her voice. It was too good to be true that she would appear only seconds after he'd hoped for her help. It was impossible. She was in another galaxy doing her job - probably assuming he'd been killed in the line of duty.
He shook the thoughts from his mind and slipped around to the other side of the pillar.
His lungs were on fire as he tried to pull another lever. He pulled it before he pulled away. It's time to get air, he thought, swimming away.
He turned in dismay to find that the lever had returned to its original position.
He was already at the door, and had to physically pry it open before he pushed himself to the surface and gasped for breath.
"God, you can hold your breath a long time! You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Me too." He said, coughing.
"General. It sounded like you had the right control. Why did you stop?"
"It's a dead man's switch. I have to hold it in place."
"I had no idea." McKay cried.
"Really?" Jack asked, sarcastically, into the radio.
"Oh, God." He said, diving again before he headed directly to the lever, holding it down.
"Woo! Yeah!" He cried several minutes later as he reemerged from the water.
He looked up to find weapons pointed at him by two replicators as others held Woolsey captive.
He sighed.
"Don't…move!"
-
A week later:
"Sam!" Daniel cried, running into her lab.
"Hm?" She asked, looking over at him.
"They've got him!"
"Who's got whom?" She asked, confused.
"The Daedelus got him!"
"Jack?" She asked, her heart lightening cautiously.
He nodded. "He's fine."
She grinned. "How long until he's home?"
"Another two weeks, it seems."
She offered a sigh of relief. "He's coming home," she breathed, gratefully.
"I told you," Daniel grinned as he hugged her tightly.
-
Two weeks later:
Sam sat at her computer, typing up her notes from the latest mission. Another world in the Ori's hands.
"Hey," a tenor voice murmured, pulling her from her thoughts.
She looked up with an instant grin as she saw her fiance. "Jack!" She cried, hurrying over. She hugged him tightly, not caring who saw as she turned and kissed him fiercely.
"With a welcome like that, I should leave for a couple months more often," he teased.
She hit his arm. "Don't even joke."
"Ow!" He grimaced, pulling away and rubbing his arm.
"You could have died, Jack! What were you thinking telling Landry to send a Mark IX?" She ranted. "And thanks to you, I had a big fight with Daniel, and Landry knows about us now, not because I said anything, but because I was acting like I had when you were on Edora, and..."
His lips were suddenly pressed against hers again, and she melted in the strength of his embrace. Her arms which had been flailing around in nervous agitation slowly wrapped themselves around his neck as he kissed her.
"I missed you too." Jack murmured as he finally pulled away.
"Promise you won't leave like that again?" She asked with wide and vulnerable eyes.
"I can't promise that," he sighed.
She bit her lip as she looked down. "I know."
"At least...not until I retire. Which I'm willing to do right now, if you want me to."
She looked up at him before she shook her head. "No. We need you."
"Catch 22, huh?"
She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I guess."
"Got some leave coming up?"
"Dunno. I can look into it."
"If you can get some time off, I want to take you up on your offer to take me fishing."
She smiled softly as she touched his cheek gently. "I could have lost you again," she murmured.
"Again?"
"Argos, Edora," she began. "That rogue NID operation, the '301 incident, the Ancient virus, Ba'al's capture..."
He pressed a finger to her lips. "I get the picture."
Tears welled up in her eyes. "I can't handle this, Jack. I go a little crazy every time you get stranded off world or anything like that."
He wrapped his arms around her, tightly. "Hey, I'm okay."
It was a few moments before another set of footsteps could be heard outside the door, and Sam pulled away from Jack somewhat reluctantly.
Daniel and Vala walked in. "Hey, Jack."
"Danny."
"Glad you're back."
"Glad to be back."
"You look good. For being held by Replicators."
"Oh, you didn't even hear the half of it. McKay had me go underwater three times before they actually got INTO the city." He looked over at Sam. "Thanks, by the way."
Her brow furrowed, and he shook his head. "Tell you later."
"Okay..." She said, shrugging.
"Needless to say, it was cold, and I had to hold my breath for a long time. Three different times."
Sam inhaled, and he ran a hand over her back, comfortingly. "Still, I'm okay. Would have liked my favorite team to rescue me, but these guys were okay, I guess."
Sam smiled softly as she caught Jack's eyes with her own for a moment.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have cake to celebrate my return."
"Me too." Sam said with a grin as she looked over at him.
"I like cake," Vala piped up eagerly.
Just then, Teal'c and Mitchell appeared. "General O'Neill. Glad to hear you're home safe."
"As am I, O'Neill." Teal'c added.
"Thanks, Mitchell. Thanks, T." Jack said, nodding with a sober smile.
"We're getting cake," Daniel said, looking over at the other two members of SG-1.
"Sounds great!" Mitchell grinned, enthusiastically.
"I will join you." Teal'c said, nodding.
"Well, last one to the commissary is a rotten egg," Jack said, motioning to the corridor.
The team filed out of Sam's lab one-by-one. Sam took her turn to walk out the door, but she was caught and pulled back in by her hand. She looked over at Jack, curiously. "Give them a headstart." He shrugged.
She smiled softly. "Private celebration? My apartment after cake?"
"I'm telling you. This absence thing makes the heart grow fonder." Jack teased.
Sam smiled softly as she leaned in and kissed him again. "I'm glad you're back," she murmured.
"Me too." He admitted. "I thought about you a lot while I was there. I mean, when I was cursing McKay's incompetence."
Sam chuckled appreciatively.
"I don't know if it was a hallucination or what, but I saw you there, Sam."
She raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"It was probably a hallucination. I was a little oxygen deprived at the time."
"What did I do?"
"You told me which lever to pull."
"Go me."
"You're remarkable, Sam." He murmured. "And I love you more with every single day."
"Me too." She admitted. "I never realized how hard it was on you to wait around, knowing some of what was going on, but never able to do anything about it."
"Sucks, doesn't it?" He asked, soberly.
"Which is why I'm thinking I might be...done here..."
He raised an eyebrow. "Going civilian?"
She nodded. "I'm thinking about it."
"In the middle of the war with the Ori?"
"I would have to take terminal leave, but then I could consult with the SGC if they needed it."
"They need leaders like you, Sam. They can't afford to give you up. Not yet, anyway." She inhaled, and he continued. "Sam, they kept recalling me to active duty or denying my request for retirement, and I was a royal pain! You actually FOLLOW the regulations. Imagine how long you'll be here."
"There has to be something we can do..."
"Give me a couple of years." He said, softly. "I'll retire, and we'll actually live in the same city, okay? Then, we'll talk about everything else."
"You've got a deal," she said with a small smile.
"Hey, guys!" Mitchell cried, returning to the lab. "Are you coming or not?"
Sam looked over at Jack with a small smile before she looked back at Mitchell. "We're coming."