That night was busy, as the Mitchells, Jacksons, Teal'c, and Cassie and Andrew all came to say goodbye to the Quinns. Jonas wanted to leave as early as possible the next morning, and as soon as everyone had left, he started packing. Sam and Jack helped, gathering up the clothing and other things the Quinns had accumulated in their stay, and finding boxes and old suitcases for Jonas to pack them in. At one point they lost track of Kaden, only to find him dozing off in one of the suitcases fifteen minutes later.
Sam decided to call it a night at that point, gathering up all the sleepy kids and taking them upstairs to the guest room. She let everyone pick out a few books except Kaden, who was still mostly asleep against her shoulder, and cuddled up with them all on the big bed Elsie and her little brothers had been sleeping in. Nick and Kaden were both in her lap, Joseph was on one side, and Elsie on the other. The only light in the room was the soft bedside lamp, and they were all asleep by the time Sam made it through the third book, but she didn't want to get up. She hugged all four of the little bodies tightly, dropping a kiss on each head, and wished for the hundredth time that day that the Quinns could stay on Earth.
"Sam?"
She looked up to see Jack in the doorway, a slight smile on his face. She smiled back. "Hey."
He came and sat on the edge of the bed, ruffling the closest kid's – Joseph's – hair. "You gonna stay in here all night?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I'm tempted," she said, resting her cheek on Nick's head.
He looked at her. "Jonas wants to get going as early as possible tomorrow, so we should probably get some rest."
She nodded but didn't move. "Where is he, by the way?"
Jack shook his head. "Still packing."
Sam sighed. "Can you get Nick?"
Jack leaned forward and lifted the slumbering little boy off her lap so she could get up. It still took some maneuvering as the Quinns were all still leaning on her, but she managed to get off the bed without waking anyone. She tucked them in, giving all their heads another kiss before following Jack out into the hallway. He wrapped the arm that wasn't carrying Nick around her shoulders and tugged her close.
"You've done a lot for those kids, Sam. They won't forget," he said quietly.
She leaned into him, wrapping both arms around his waist. "I just hope they'll be okay."
He kissed her hair. "I'm sure they'll be fine," he said, but his stomach fluttered with doubt.
The next morning, Jack, Sam, and Jonas got the kids up as soon as it was light, even though Jonas had been up past 2 AM packing, and loaded the Quinns' stuff into Jack's truck. They were taking both the truck and the car to fit all the people and boxes and bags. Jack took a sleepy Nick with him in the truck while Sam drove Jonas and his kids in the car. Sam found herself driving slower than usual, as if she could prevent the Quinns' departure, and she kept looking in the rearview mirror at the three kids who were sleepy and subdued, but adorable as ever.
They met Jack and Nick in the parking lot, and found four SGC personnel ready to help transport the boxes and suitcases. They all made their way into the mountain quietly, thankful to be out of the chill morning air. Finally down in the gateroom, they loaded the Quinns' things onto a dolly, and the gate began dialing up.
Elsie looked up at Sam, her lip trembling. "I don't want to go," she whispered.
Sam crouched down and hugged her tightly, tears starting in her own eyes. "Elsie," she began, but couldn't manage anything else. After a moment, she felt Kaden and Joseph bump up against her, and she opened her arms to include them all. She tried desperately to keep her emotions in control, but it was difficult after seeing the kids' tear-stained faces and trembling lips. "I love you guys," she whispered. She released them and stood up, wiping at her eyes.
Nick ran forward and hugged Elsie, and then the twins in turn, his own lip trembling. Her son's display of affection for his cousins nearly sent Sam over the edge, and when Nick gave Jonas a tight hug around the knees, and Jack crouched down to give the kids a hug, she had to bite her lip hard to keep in control. She stepped forward and hugged Jonas tightly, smiling even as another tear escaped.
"We'll see you soon, Jonas."
He nodded, his own eyes a little wet. "Thank you again," he said, glancing at Jack, too. "We'll stay in touch."
"You better," Jack said, grasping Jonas' hand tightly. "Oh, and you'd better take this." He handed Jonas a GDO.
The gate activated with its customary swoosh, and Jonas gave them one last smile before heading up the ramp, pushing the dolly and the kids following behind. They stopped just before entering the event horizon, and turned to wave. Jack, Sam, and Nick waved back, and then the Quinns were gone.
Nick let out a tiny, hiccuping sob, and Sam gathered the little boy into her arms, hugging him tightly. "It's okay, sweetheart," she murmured, her voice catching. "We'll go visit them soon, okay?"
Jack wrapped an arm around Sam and they stared at the empty gate for a moment, before turning and heading out of the mountain.
Two days later, the Daedalus returned home, and there was a party at the Mitchell house. The Quinns were invited, of course, but weren't able to make it. Not much of a surprise to Sam and Jack, but certainly a disappointment. It was nice to have Cam back though, and Cassie and Andrew announced that they had received their foster care license just that morning. Since they worked with kids that were often homeless or abused, they had decided they wanted to help them even more. Sam was excited for them – they'd been waiting for a long time – but a large part of her was still missing the Quinns fiercely. The house was ridiculously quiet it seemed, and Nick was almost constantly bored.
The Quinns were eventually able to visit for a couple of days, just after Halloween, but couldn't stay long. Sam and Jack promised to go visit them, too, but they were a little paranoid about taking Nick off-world, and the holidays were keeping them busy and they only got one visit in, the first week in December. Sam was amazed at how much the kids had seemed to grow in just a month. The twins talked almost nonstop now, and almost always at the same time, so they weren't very understandable, but Sam was relieved to see them progressing so fast, despite their turbulent life. Elsie seemed to be adjusting, though she told Sam she still wanted to live on Earth. Jack convinced Jonas that he had to bring his family to Earth for Christmas or New Years, and Jonas promised to see them again soon.
The O'Neills left Kelowna with heavy hearts, the feeling that something wasn't quite right returning to Jack with full force, but Christmas preparations soon distracted them, and it was two weeks before Jack realized his misgivings were valid.
Gate technician Trevor Keane was bored out of his mind. It was just a week-and-a-half until Christmas, and there were no teams off-world at the moment. He didn't even see why anyone needed to be here at 3 AM to watch a gate that was not even going to do anything. Guess that's what I get for being the new guy, he thought to himself, looking around for the other guy, Lieutenant Dalton, that was supposed to be here. He'd said he was just going to get coffee, but he'd been gone for a while now.
A sudden loud noise broke into his thoughts, and his eyes snapped toward the Stargate. It was dialing up. He felt a flutter of panic. Where the heck was Dalton? Trevor had never done this before. He hesitated for a moment, then typed in the controls to close the iris. His eyes fluttered back and forth from the gate to his computer screen, looking for an IDC, though he knew it was unlikely since all the teams were home.
"What's going on?"
Dalton's voice nearly made him jump out of his chair. "You scared the crap out of me!"
Dalton raised an eyebrow. "Someone's dialing in?"
Trevor nodded. "No IDC, yet."
They both waited in silence, Dalton standing right behind Trevor's chair. The wormhole engaged behind the iris, and Trevor looked back down at his computer screen. "Hey, receiving IDC!" he exclaimed.
"What? Who's?" Dalton leaned forward.
"Looks like the one General O'Neill gave to Jonas Quinn."
"Open the iris, hurry," Dalton said.
Trevor typed in the code. Didn't that Jonas guy know it was 3AM Earth time? The iris slid open, and someone stumbled through. It was not Jonas Quinn, however. It was a little girl.
"What the . . ." Dalton muttered.
The little girl looked up at them. "I need to talk to Sam," she said, and promptly collapsed onto the ramp.
"Call the infirmary!" Dalton shouted, already heading down to the gateroom. Trevor slammed his hand down on the emergency call button, shut down the gate, and followed Dalton. And he had thought nothing was going to happen tonight.
Sam came awake suddenly, feeling disoriented and wondering what had woken her up. She realized her phone was ringing, and trying to get her sluggish body to cooperate, grabbed for it, seeing that the clock on the night table read 3:12. She wasn't surprised to see the SGC on her caller ID, but a sick dread filled her stomach as she flipped it open.
"Colonel O'Neill," she said, sitting up and not caring at the moment if she woke Jack up.
"Colonel, this is Lieutenant Dalton, we have a bit of a situation here."
"What's going on, Lieutenant?" she asked, trying to control the shake in her voice.
"A little girl just came through the Stargate with the GDO that was given to Jonas Quinn. She said she wanted to talk to you."
"Elsie?" Sam gasped, more to herself than the Lieutenant.
"I don't know her name, I'm sorry ma'am. She's in the infirmary right now, and we've called Dr. Lam and General Landry, but we thought you should know too."
Sam swallowed hard. "Is she okay?"
He hesitated and Sam was sure her heart was going to beat out of her chest. "I'm not sure. I haven't spoken with the nurses yet."
Sam took a deep breath, trying to steady her voice. "Thank you, Lieutenant, I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Sam?"
Sam shut her phone and turned toward Jack. "I think Elsie's at the SGC."
He slapped a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes. "What?"
"Jack, I need to get to the base," she said, changing into jeans and a sweater.
"Why would Elsie be at the base?" he asked, sitting up.
"I don't know, just . . . stay here with Nick okay? I'll call you as soon as I know something."
"Sam, wait -" he called, but she was already out the door.
I know, I know, short chapter and a cliffhanger. I promise to get the next one up soon. :)