Season 10 Episode 15 – Bounty

Episode summary: SG-1 blow up a Lucian alliance ship and its train of cargo, and have a bounty placed on their heads in retribution. They have some downtime, and Sam heads to an applied technology conference with Dr Lee, Daniel goes to a museum to do some research, Teal'c goes off-world to work with the jaffa, and Mitchell takes Vala to his high school reunion. They are all pursued by bounty hunters. Daniel, Teal'c and Sam manage to dispatch with theirs, and they converge on the high school reunion to render assistance to Mitchell and Vala, and to prevent collateral damage to the other reunion guests. They succeed.

Author's note: Remember that episode tag I did for the season 7 episode 'Fragile Balance' … the tag where Sam had Thor create a teenage clone of herself to keep mini-Jack company? Well … this one is a sequel of sorts for that. Enjoy!

[DURING EPISODE – at the end of the first scene of Sam's conference]

"On the positive side these events have a dynamite singles scene." Dr Bill Lee said with a gleeful smile back at the two twenty-something girls acting like groupies behind him. "It's a huge window of opportunity, I think I'll mingle – you should too!"

He gave Sam a little wave of farewell and approached the two girls with the confidence of a Lothario, leaving Sam gawking after him.

She turned away rapidly, before she saw something she couldn't un-see, and decided to check out the information stands set up by other scientists, to show off their projects.

She was just checking out a particularly intriguing take on the development of force-field technology, when she heard a muffled curse to her right, and looked up to find herself meeting a very familiar pair of blue eyes. Above a very familiar nose … and a very familiar chin … and a … baby bump? Holy frickin' Hannah!

"Come with me." The teenager grabbed Sam's arm and towed her forcefully through the crowd and out into the empty stairwell.

"What the hell?" Sam demanded, staring.

An eighteen-year-old version of herself stared back. "Long time no see?" The clone tried nervously.

"You're pregnant!" Sam exclaimed.

"Gee, thanks, I hadn't noticed." The younger Sam said wryly. "Look, I'm sorry about this, I didn't know you were going to be here. I always check before turning up at places like this to make sure I don't accidentally run into you."

"What are you even doing here?" Sam asked.

"The force-field project." Mini-Sam said as if it was obvious. "I – that is to say, you – always wanted to do some more research on force-fields, but you never had the time. Now I do."

"Please tell me you're not using my name." Sam said.

Mini-Sam rolled her eyes. "Seriously, what do you take me for? I'm going by Cara Fields."

Fields was Sam's mother's maiden name. And she supposed Cara wasn't too much of a leap from 'Carter'.

"I assume that's Jack's?" Sam said, indicating Cara's distended belly.

"Obviously." Cara's hand moved to rest on the baby bump protectively. "Have you had Beth yet?"

"No." Sam shook her head. "We're working on it."

"Having trouble?" Cara asked, frowning.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Not all of us are teenagers." She replied scathingly.

"Hey, being this young isn't all fun and games, you know." Cara said scornfully. "At least you get taken seriously at these things. The best I can do is pose as someone's lab assistant."

Sam winced. "I'm sorry, I'm sure it must be difficult."

"Yes, well … it's been an adjustment."

Sam looked at the teenager, feeling a stab of almost parental concern. "Are you doing alright for money, I mean, with the baby coming …?"

"We're fine." Cara said firmly. "Jon – Jack – has a pretty decent job and I get paid a hefty sum under the table to help Dr Reiman with the force-field project."

At Sam's frown, Cara held up a hand to forestall further questions. "I know, he's going to take all the credit, but as I'm going around wearing your face, I can hardly afford to make a name for myself, can I?"

Sam shifted guiltily. "There's enough of an age difference that people probably wouldn't make the connection. You could dye your hair, wear glasses …"

Cara shook her head. "It doesn't matter, I'm going to try being a stay-at-home mom for a while. I'll still help out Dr Reiman, but I'm not looking to get too involved in anything scientific in the foreseeable future. Maybe I'll think about it again in a few years."

Sam stared at her in surprise. She couldn't imagine ever wanting to be a stay-at-home mom herself. She'd go nuts with boredom.

"It's like Jon says. We're different people now." Cara said, correctly interpreting Sam's confusion. "I've lived the last three years of my life as a care-free teenager with the man – I mean … fellow teenager – that I love. It's changed me. You've undoubtedly spent the last three years working your ass off at the SGC saving the planet over and over again, with no time for a personal life."

"Hey! For your information, Jack and I got married nearly two years ago!"

"Really?" Cara looked shocked. "Wow, I wasn't expecting it to be that fast. You won the war?"

Sam looked away uncomfortably.

"Right, it's classified." Cara said, sighing. "For what it's worth, I wouldn't be able to enjoy this life nearly as much if I didn't know they still had you."

"You realise how egotistical that sounded, right?" Sam said with a wince.

"I just meant there's not really much that I could do to help that you're not already doing." Cara said, exasperated.

Sam canted her head in acknowledgement. She found her gaze drifting to Cara's belly again.

"Do you know if it's …"

"… a boy or a girl? No, Jon wants it to be a surprise." Cara said with a fond smile, stroking a hand over the baby bump.

"I can't imagine getting used to calling him by a different name." Sam said, remarking at Cara's casual and natural use of the name 'Jon'.

"It didn't take as long as you'd think." Cara chuckled. "My name was his idea … he was sure he'd bark out 'Carter' at some inopportune moment and blow our cover."

"I figured that was probably the reason." Sam agreed with a smile. She sighed and looked back at the hall. "I should really get back, I have a presentation …"

"Yeah, no, of course, go." Cara waved her way. "I'll … see you around, I guess. Or not."

"Right." Sam rocked on her heels a bit. Her gaze kept being drawn to Cara's baby bump. "Would you let me know … when …?" She gestured vaguely at the baby.

"I'll send you an email." Cara agreed softly.

Sam smiled, and turned away.

"Say hi to Cassie for me." Cara called suddenly. "Or … you know, just … give her an extra big hug." Cara finished, gesturing in frustration at the knowledge that Cassie didn't know she even existed.

Sam paused at the door she'd just opened, looking at Cara in sympathetic understanding, and nodded.

"Good luck." She said softly, with a last envious glance at Cara's hand on her pregnant belly.

[AFTER THE EPISODE]

"Damn it!" Sam's exclamation sounded more than a little upset.

Jack, sitting up in bed with a laptop, looked up from the email he was typing and frowned at the closed bathroom door. "Carter?" He called.

There was no answer, and so he pushed the laptop off his legs and stood stiffly, shaking out his knees as he padded over to the bathroom door. He knocked softly. "Sam? Can I come in?"

The door handle clicked as she pulled the door open a little in invitation, and he pushed it open further to see her slamming the lid of the trash can rather harder than strictly necessary.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"It's nothing, I'm being ridiculous." She told him, facing away from him, her voice thick with emotion.

He pulled her round to face him with a gentle hand on her shoulder, and cupped her face in his hands, kissing her forehead softly. "What's going on?" He repeated.

"I just did a pregnancy test. It was negative." She admitted. She rolled her eyes, trying for nonchalance, but it just caused some unshed tears to escape and roll down her cheeks.

"C'mere." He said, and tugged her into him. She took some deep breaths as she composed herself, and he stroked her hair soothingly. "It'll happen when it happens." He said.

That was apparently the wrong thing to say.

"When?" She exploded angrily, pulling away. "I know we're not together as much as we'd like, but we're trying every God damn chance we get. I've got ovulation kits, and I'm marking calendars, and I'm re-arranging my leave schedule so I can be here at the right time of the month, and still … nothing."

Jack held his tongue this time, completely at a loss for what to say.

Sam sighed and relaxed back into his arms. "I saw my clone a couple of days ago." She admitted quietly.

Jack frowned. "Clone?" It took a moment to hit him. "Oh, you mean the teenage clones of you and me?"

"Yeah, although legally they're adults now, they're over eighteen. I ran into the clone of me at that applied technology conference." She paused. "She's seven months pregnant."

Jack froze in shock. "Woah."

"Yeah." She sighed. "If she can do it, why can't I? I just keep thinking I'm doing something wrong, or I've left it too long …"

"Sam." He cut her off. "You had Dr Lam check you out. You're fine. We just need to keep trying."

"I know. It's just so … infuriating, and exhausting …"

"I could choose to take offense at that." He quipped lightly.

"You know what I mean." She scolded.

"Yeah, I do." He agreed. "So … the other you and the other me …?"

"Are having a baby. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah." Jack said, speculatively. "Weird."

"I wonder what happened to that kid – and our clones, I guess – in the future?"

"No way of knowing for sure." Jack said distractedly.

"No … I suppose not."

She sighed again, sadly, and Jack's heartstrings gave a tug at the sound. He pulled back enough to tilt her head and kiss her.

"Come to bed." He said softly, and she smiled a little, letting him pull her by the hand back to the bedroom.