Chapter 21

Jack and Sam did go find Nate and Lindsay, and they did make plans for a great Christmas dinner, complete with all the trimmings. Jack even took an afternoon off to take Nate out and cut down a tree with him.

"You know that your aunt and I have really important jobs," Jack began as they walked around, trying to find the perfect tree, "And if we could be home more, we would be."

"I guess," Nate said.

"No Nate, we would be," Jack promised as he turned to look at the thirteen year old. "If I had things my way, I would have retired not long after marrying Sam but the President wouldn't let me. Sam and I both have something called a stop hold on our files which pretty much means that unless we die; we'll be in the Air Force."

"You're not going to die are you?" Nate asked, suddenly turning to his uncle with concern evident on his face.

Jack sighed and closed his eyes before looking the young man in front of him in the eye. "Sam and I have dangerous jobs, her more than me, but we do everything that we can to stay safe. I have the best people in the world under my command."

"But you work under a mountain for cryin' out loud! How dangerous can it be?"

"You know I can't tell you Nate, maybe someday we'll be able to and I hope then that you'll understand the reason that we made the choices that we did," Jack offered. "In the meantime, how about we get this tree home?"

"Okay."

----

The whole time they were making plans for Christmas Day, Sam felt like she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Two days before Christmas, Sam felt that shoe drop. Jack and Sam were sitting in Jack's office, waiting for the President to call. The whole base knew something was up. Rarely, did Jack and Sam meet behind closed doors on base, and even rarer when they asked not to be interrupted. Yet when the phone call came through, it was Jack that had to inform the base personnel that many of them would have to alter their plans for Christmas.

He stood before them in the gateroom, for an impromptu speech, something that he had never done before. He knew what had to deliver was not good news. His only comfort was having Sam at his side, along with his 2IC Colonel John Reynolds.

"As many of you know, we have received some intelligence from a rather unique source. While we cannot confirm this information, we have not been able to deny it either. As it stands now, we believe that the Ori have somehow dialed into our galaxy from their own galaxy," Jack stated.

Murmurs went through the crowd, but quickly silenced when Jack raised his hand.

"Colonel Carter will be leading the mission to try and take out a force field that we believe has been constructed around the gate. Joining her on this mission will be SG-1, 13, and 15. The President has authorized the use of the naquadria enhanced warhead. For the rest of the teams, I'm being forced to cancel all leave until further notice. You'll be assigned to one of two groups; each will be working a 12 hour shift. Those of you not on duty, need to know that if anything happens, you will be recalled immediately. I know this is the holiday season folks, and I'm going to do my best to work it so that as many of you as possible can be with your families. Team leaders can get that information from Reynolds in one hour and need to relay that to the rest of their team. Briefing for those teams going on a mission in 30 minutes in the briefing room, be sure that you are geared to go before that. Dismissed," Jack finished.

Quickly Jack left the gate room, Sam following behind him. "Do you want me to call Lindsay and Nate or are you going to do it?" Jack asked.

"I'll do it," Sam offered as she entered SG-1's locker room and began changing clothes. Jack, knowing exactly what she needed, began pulling items out and handing them to her. It didn't take her more than a few minutes to be fully outfitted, minus the requisite P-90.

They opened the door to the locker room to admit Daniel, Teal'c, Cameron, and Vala. By the fact that they still weren't sure about separating her from Daniel, Vala would be going on this mission.

Jack led the way to his office where he picked up the phone and dialed their home number, handing the phone to Sam. Sam handed him her vest while she sat down in his chair.

The phone call didn't take long, and went much as Sam had expected. Nate and Lindsay were disappointed that all their plans would be for not, and didn't seemed very receptive to Sam's promise that they would have Christmas when she got back. Sam knew she couldn't dwell on her family problems right now; her people needed her full attention right now.

Jack glanced at the people gathering in the briefing room and then at his wife who was putting her vest back on. He put a hand under her chin and forced her to look at him. "I'll call Hammond and see if he would mind a few extras for Christmas dinner this year," Jack offered. "You just worry about coming back to us," Jack ordered.

"Yes sir," Sam said and leaned in to kiss Jack, "Just don't kill Nerus while I'm gone. There would be way too much paperwork to fill out."

Meanwhile, Sam and Jack's actions were being observed by everyone in the briefing room. Lieutenant Colonel Joe Huey stood next to Colonel Dave Dixon and asked, "Why is Colonel Carter leading a military mission when she's a scientist?"

Dixon gave him a glance, "She designed the bomb that we're using."

Huey's mouth formed an 'O' as Sam and Jack emerged, the officers that were sitting down, coming to stand out of respect for the General. Jack nodded to Sam indicating for her to begin what would be one of the most informal mission briefings ever conducted at the SGC. Less the 40 minutes after Jack's speech in the gate room, Sam was leading her strike force through the gate.

Reynolds stood beside Jack and watched. "They'll be fine sir," he reassured Jack. "There's no one better to do this."

Jack nodded his head and headed for his office, intent on calling Hammond and then the President.

Reynolds followed him, and shut the door. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking, why did you send Huey and Dixon with SG-1 instead of my team. I would think that my team was more qualified for a purely military assignment than SG-13 or 15."

Jack looked at him. "If things go to hell out there, the only person I trust other than me to lead the recovery mission is you."

Those words were high praise from Jack O'Neill, and Reynolds knew that. "What do you think of Huey?" Reynolds asked, trying to distract Jack from the mission that was currently going on.

"Huey? Why do ask?" Jack counter questioned.

"He's said some things, and done some things that have made me a little wary of him," Reynolds said hesitantly.

Now Jack raised an eyebrow. "I know he had a little problem with Carter when he first got here, but I hadn't heard anything else until now. What do you know?" he asked slightly concerned about having sent a man that Reynolds didn't like on a mission with his wife.

"Not much more than that," John Reynolds admitted, "But I've overheard comments from some of the younger officers and SFs that he's disrespectful, treats them like dirt, more so than the normal officer does and way worse than they deserve."

"He came recommended by Landry who received the recommendation from someone else. At that time, we needed a new team leader and I was desperate. And now with the Ori, I'd need a good reason to transfer an experienced team leader out unless I had a good one to transfer in and replace him," Jack explained.

"What about Mitchell?" Reynolds suggested. "With Sam moving back to SG-1…"

"She's not moving back," Jack stated with an air of finality.

"Then I guess we're stuck with him unless we come up with someone better for the job," Reynolds summarized.

"Pretty much," Jack agreed as he picked up the phone to call Hammond.

----

The battle had gone rather well and even with the loss of Vala, Sam considered it to have been a decisive victory. But seeing the lengths that Ori were willing to go to get into their galaxy, Sam knew she hadn't seen the last of them.

"You know this isn't the last time that the Ori will try this," Cam stated as they walked towards the infirmary.

"Probably," Sam agreed.

"You could come back to SG-1," Cam offered. "Lead the team again."

Sam stopped and looked at him. Suddenly she was seeing two of Cam and then nothing.

----

Jack got a message from the Prometheus that the mission had been a success, with little to no damage to the ship, and no serious injuries, he had been a very happy General. Yet when the SG teams came through the gate, they were calling for a medical unit and his wife was the one on the stretcher.

"What happened?" he demanded watching as the medical team rushed to her aid.

"I was talking to her, and then all of a sudden she passed out," Cam explained. "She hit her head before I could catch her."

"She'll be fine Jack," Dixon assured him, "You and me both know that head wounds bleed a lot."

Jack looked the men around him in the eye, looking for any sign that they might be misleading him, but saw no reason not to trust them. "All right. Briefing at 1000, and barring any unfortunate incident, the base will resume normal operations at 1100 hours. Infirmary and showers guys, I need to call the President," he declared and led the way from the room.

He needed to contact the President but first he was going to call Hammond and see about getting Lindsay and Nate here. It was time they found out just what their guardians did for a living. And if Sam woke up in time, they might get to spend Christmas Day together after all.

----

Dr. Carolyn Lam was the Chief Medical Officer at Stargate Command. She had seen and done many things in her life, but this was the first time that she had to deal with Colonel Samantha Carter's unique physiology. Carolyn had read her medical file and noted the many comments that the deceased Doctor Fraiser had left. The most important thing to note was Sam's reaction to many kinds of medication. Through trial and error, Sam and Fraiser had found medications that worked for her.

Those notes had also given Carolyn clues as to what to watch for, and if she was a betting woman, Carolyn would lay money on the medical officer of the Prometheus having given Sam the wrong medication. She drew some blood, and sent it off to be analyzed, asking for the full work up rather than the standard post-mission check-up that personnel usually received.

Then she turned her attention to Doctor Daniel Jackson. Everyone had told her that he would be her primary patient, and so far, he had lived up to that claim.

"You know Doctor Jackson, if you like the beds here so much, all you have to do is tell General O'Neill and I'm sure he would get you one for your quarters," she joked.

"Trust me, I'm not here for the beds or the food. How's Sam?" he asked.

"I think she'll be okay," Carolyn stated. "You don't by chance know which drugs they gave her do you?"

"Bad reaction to the medication again?" Daniel guessed and Carolyn nodded. "I don't know," he admitted, "But Cam or Teal'c might. They were the ones that brought her in."

"All right I'll check with them. If your test results come back clear, I may release you today," Carolyn ordered.

Carolyn continued away from the back of the infirmary towards the waiting area, checking with her various staff members as she went. Each of them had nothing to report, after all the only ones who had done any real work were SG-1, and even they had come through this mission without any permanent injuries.

She found a large group waiting, and she quickly picked Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Teal'c out of the crowd.

"How are they doc?" Cam asked the doctor.

"Doctor Jackson will be fine, Colonel Carter has me concerned. Do either of you by chance know what medication they gave her?" she asked.

Cam shook his head in the negative while Teal'c answered, "I do not."

Carolyn sighed. "I'll just have to wait and see what the lab results say," she accepted before returning to the infirmary so that she could call General O'Neill and give him her report.

----