Just imagine if The Broca Divide didn't happen when it did. Just imagine if it happened just after Tangent.
You haven't?
Well, I have.
Hope you like it. I've tried not to repeat too much of the episode – we all know how it goes.
As always, I don't own any of this. Let's be honest, if I owned Jack O'Neill, I wouldn't be wasting my time writing stories, you know what I'm saying?
"Major Carter's cold calling programme has thrown out a match to an active Stargate." General Hammond gestured at the briefing files in front of SG-1.
Jack leaned back in his chair, raising his hand, "Let me guess. That's where we're going."
Trying to hide her amused smirk, Sam pretended to be concentrating on the file in front of her.
"Very good, Colonel", Hammond's tone was sarcastic, but he was long used to Jack's sense of humour and was smiling slightly.
Jack folded his arms, throwing a satisfied look at Daniel, "Thank you, sir. I pride myself on my deductive reasoning skills."
"In one hour, you will go through the Gate to the planet – it has been designated P3X-797. The MALP shows that atmosphere is breathable, no detectable radiation and the temperature is approximately forty degrees." The General turned and activated the viewscreen. "This is the video playback we received earlier. The MALP lights appear to have been damaged during transport, so we switched to night vision."
The screen showed the typical greens, greys and blacks of night vision with the vague shapes of a dense wood visible in grainy and jerky pictures. The MALP was obviously tracking over uneven ground.
"Ooh, trees," Jack muttered.
"What was that?" Sam pointed at the top corner of the screen, reaching out to rewind the playback with her other hand. She took it back a couple of seconds, then replayed and hit pause quickly. Rising, she moved over to the screen, pointing again. "Right there. I saw movement."
Teal'c nodded, "As did I."
"As far as we can make out, it's likely to be one of the natives." Hammond closed his briefing file and stood. "As always, I want you to be careful out there, Colonel."
"You know me, sir. Caution is my middle name."
Sighing and throwing Jack an amused glance, General Hammond left the room. Daniel shook his head slightly and followed the older man.
Settling his pack on his shoulders, Daniel moved to Jack's side, his eyes on the Gate.
"Caution is your middle name?"
Jack sighed and nudged his second in command. "Carter, please remind Daniel of my many middle names."
Her face a picture of mock concentration, Sam starting counting off on her fingers. "Caution, diplomacy, prudence and restraint."
"Ah?" Jack raised a finger.
"Sorry, sir. And manliness." She grinned at Daniel as the Gate burst into life.
"OK, kids, let's go!" Jack threw over his shoulder as he started up the ramp, pulling his night vision goggles down over his eyes. Once again, Daniel shook his head and followed.
They emerged from the bright pool of light into the darkness beyond, taking up their accustomed position in front of the Gate.
"Fan out."
Sam was halfway down the stone steps when the first stone hit her hard on the shoulder, knocking her off balance. She stumbled, crying wordlessly as she hit the ground. Before the rest of the team could react, stones and sticks were pelting them from every direction. Sam scrambled to her feet as the others joined her, forming a circle and scanning the dark for targets. Teal'c's staff weapon fired as a figure emerged from the gloom at speed, hitting the Jaffa at waist height and knocking him heavily into Daniel and Jack. They sprawled to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Sam glanced at them before taking aim and firing her zat at another dark figure charging them. Jack dragged himself upright and joined her, firing at anything that moved.
Knowing desperate measures were needed; Daniel extracted himself from the fist fight taking place between Teal'c and his attacker, dragged out his P90 and fired it high into the air. The noises around them changed from grunts of anger to squeals of fear. Soon they were alone.
Pulling the night vision goggles off her head, Sam approached one of the unconscious forms.
"What were those things?" Daniel stowed his gun and moved to her side.
"I haven't the faintest idea." Jack replied, pulling Teal'c to his feet and joining the other two. Sam was brushing the hair out of the attacker's face. They stared at the not quite human face. Daniel reached out and traced the line of its forehead.
"Not completely homo sapiens. The larger brow ridge implies homo erectus, but he doesn't appear to have canine teeth. Could be Australopithecus but the brow ridge would be less prominent."
"You don't know, do you?"
"No."
Jack grinned at his friend. Then his head snapped up as a scream broke through the darkness. Teal'c led the way, moving swiftly and quietly through the undergrowth.
SG-1 watched as a dark-haired girl scrambled away from a group of primitives. One broke away and brought her down at the edge of the clearing, pawing her violently. She screamed again and he hit her hard, pulling her towards him and ripping her dress.
Sam readied her zat, "We have to stop them."
Daniel put a hand on her arm, "That's probably how prehistoric males always had sex. Forcibly…" He trailed off when he saw the look on Sam' face. "No, you're right, that's rape."
Jack was already on his feet when the missiles started flying. He dropped down again. "Great, more rocks," he muttered.
The primitives started panicking, scattering into the dark forest, crashing through the bushes and screaming their fear to each other.
"Where are they coming from?"
Jack gestured to their left, "There."
Standing out starkly against the shadows, the figures in white moved forwards into the clearing, one kneeling to check on the sobbing girl. Jack approached slowly.
"Hey there, folks!"
Daniel pushed past Jack, "Um, we are explorers – we came through the Stargate. Can you tell us…"
The apparent leader of the group stepped forward and bowed his head reverentially. "My Lord, I am High Councillor Tuplo. We are honoured that the gods have deemed us worthy of a return visit."
Jack rolled his eyes, "Oh for crying out loud, we're not gods," He turned on the rest of the group, who had sunk to their knees, "Get up!"
"Jack, we came through the Stargate. They may have been isolated here for a long time. To them, only gods come through the Stargate."
"I thought we were past this, Daniel."
Tuplo was watching them in confusion. One of the figures got to her feet and moved to his side, "Perhaps they wish us to treat them as mortals. A test?"
Tuplo nodded, "Please. Let us take you to the Land of Light."
Jack turned to Sam, his expression questioning. She shrugged and made to follow the High Councillor. Jack turned to Teal'c and Daniel, shrugged and trailed after her.
It hadn't taken long to reach the Land of Light. Sam spent most of the walk trying to explain to the rest of the team, and herself, how the planet could possibly have one side permanently dark – it was driving her crazy that she couldn't calculate the physics. Her muttering had finally been silenced when they reached the impressive temple-style hall that seemed to serve as a religious centre and meeting place. Daniel had almost gone into spasms over the artwork. The young woman they had seen in the forest – Melosha - was brought in and deposited at the far end of the hall on a dais.
Jack sat through the locals' explanation for what they had seen, taking in the important information and discarding the rest – he wasn't interested in their superstitions.
"Will you excuse us for a moment?" He got to his feet, making a frustrated gesture as their hosts rose along with his team, "Ah, no. Please, no. Wait."
SG-1 moved away a short distance.
"Sounds like the Goa'ulds aren't here and haven't been for some time."
Teal'c nodded his head almost imperceptibly "That is my assessment as well."
Sam and Daniel nodded their agreement.
"OK, Daniel, you talk to these guys and see if you can get us somewhere to stay for a while. Carter and I'll go back to the Gate, request a scientific and sociological team."
"Would it not be best for me to return with you, O'Neill? The Touched may be waiting for us."
Jack smiled at his friend's concern, "Nah, if they are, we'll be ready for them this time. Besides, Carter here can explain to the General what's going on."
Sam nodded, "Sir, I think it's best if we request full quarantine procedures to be put in place until we're sure what might cause this 'curse'."
"Great. Alien infections – gotta love 'em. The General's gonna be really pleased to hear that. Let's go, Carter."
They took their leave quickly and headed out into the sun.
"You think the Touched are infected with something, Carter?"
"Well, it's the only explanation, sir. Although I can't imagine what sort of infection would cause that sort of physical change." She grinned at her commanding officer, "Dammit, I'm a physicist, not a doctor."
Jack returned the grin, trying not to meet Sam's gaze, but he couldn't resist the playful twinkling he saw there. Sam was the one to break the moment, as she usually was, turning away to follow the path back to the Gate. Jack dropped his eyes and strode after her.
"…Pierre Paul Broca was a nineteenth century anthropologist. He founded modern craniometry, to study craniums and brains to compare the divide in intelligence between early species of mankind."
Jack's eyes were starting to glaze over. For all her claims to know nothing beyond physics, Sam's scientific knowledge was impressive, if occasionally boring.
"However, I recommend full hazmat suits and quarantine procedures in place until we figure out what might be causing these changes in the population."
General Hammond's voice filtered through, slightly distorted, "Agreed, Major. Expect the additional teams within the hour. SGC out."
Jack and Sam settled themselves a few yards from the Gate to wait, weapons at the ready, in case the Touched paid them another visit.
By the time they returned to the hall with nine scientists in hazmat gear in tow, Jack was ready to punch someone – the technobabble hadn't stopped since they stepped through the Gate. Sam, unfortunately, was in her element.
Daniel was watching for them when they arrived. Jack strode past him, wrenching off his hat and sunglasses. The archaeologist trotted after him.
"Jack? Jack! Wait up!" The Colonel grudgingly slowed a little, "We've been given quarters in this building. Well, they're more like two big rooms, but they're dry and…" Daniel trailed off, catching the warning look.
Jack took a deep breath. "According to one of the scientists – Davies or Davidson, whatever – we're stuck here until they figure out what the infection might be." He dragged a hand through his hair. "Go show them where they can set up; they're gonna need blood samples from all of us."
Jack turned on his heel and walked back out into the sunshine, ignoring the group unloading their gear by the door. Sam watched him go, turning back to exchange shrugs with Daniel.
His watch told him that it was 2300 hours, but the Land of the Light was living up to its name. They had been on the planet for almost a day. Absentmindedly, Jack rubbed at the spot on his arm where Davies – Davidson, whatever – had taken a sample of his blood. Teal'c hadn't returned from sending the samples through the Stargate yet and Daniel was off somewhere talking to Tuplo. Jack lowered himself onto his bedroll, leaning his head back against the wall. He couldn't remember how many times SG-1 had been stuck on a planet for one reason or another, but this one really sucked – waiting for the results of tests that would tell them if they were going to turn into not-very-attractive cavemen.
The drape that served as a door moved aside to reveal Sam. It took Jack a couple of seconds to realise that she wasn't wearing her usual BDUs. Instead, she had stripped down to a tank top and shorts.
Jack looked away. "Ready for bed, huh, Carter? I'll take the first watch – I wanna wait up for T."
When he looked up again, Sam was closer. A lot closer. Jack sat up, still trying to avoid looking at this 2IC.
"I thought you were sharing the other room with Doctor Casey?"
He watched incredulously as Sam dropped onto the bedroll and swung her leg over to straddle him. He got no further than "Wha..?" before her mouth crashed onto his. For a few seconds, Jack's mind went blank. His hands automatically came up to hold her, caressing the bare skin between her top and shorts. Sam moaned softly at his touch. The sound cleared Jack's mind briefly; he took her by the shoulders and pushed her away.
"Carter! What the hell?"
She looked at him with glazed eyes. "Want you," she murmured and then she was kissing him again, her lithe fingers unbuttoning his shirt. Jack struggled to focus – the smell and taste of her was intoxicating.
Sam pulled away slightly. "Want me?" she asked, writhing against him. In that moment, there was nothing in Jack's world but his body's reaction to hers.
"God, yes." He pulled her to him, hands in her hair, desperate to taste her again. Sam wrenched his shirt open, pushing it off his shoulders and dragging him down to lie on the bedroll. She straddled him again, wriggling against him.
Vaguely, Jack could hear voices in the other room. Head swimming, he tried again to focus, to make some sense of what was happening – and the part that really sucked – he was going to have to put a stop to it. Sweet Lord, now Sam had managed to unbuckle his belt and was working on the button of his pants. With a supreme effort of will, he grabbed her wrists and pushed away from her.
"I don't know what's gotten into you, Sam, and this is gonna kill me to say, but this stops now." Jack dragged himself from under her and got to his feet, somehow managing to keep hold of her wrists. Keeping her at arm's length, he pulled her across the room towards the doorway – Sam was struggling against the grip he had on her.
"Teal'c! Daniel! Get Doctor Casey!"
In the couple of seconds it had taken him to turn away from her and call out, Sam wrenched herself free.
When Daniel arrived at speed with Teal'c on his heels, they were greeted by the sight of the colonel pinned against the wall by his 2IC, her mouth locked on his. Teal'c reacted first, enveloping Sam in his arms and pulling her away. She started screaming and fighting the big Jaffa, who increased his grip and lifted her off the ground.
"Get the doctor – she needs a sedative."
Daniel glanced at Jack as he threw the drape to one side. "Hadn't you better smarten up before Doctor Casey gets here?"
"Crap." Jack hurriedly buckled his belt and re-buttoned his shirt, moving across to help Teal'c restrain Sam. He managed to grab her flailing legs, holding them tight against him as she bucked and screamed in the two men's arms. Jack prayed that the doctor would arrive soon; he was very aware of the effect the soft, shapely legs were having on him, even if Sam was trying to kick him in the face.
Jack's prayers were answered – Doctor Casey appeared in a few seconds and swiftly injected Sam. Her struggles subsided a little, but she was still bucking quite hard against Teal'c and Jack and screaming incoherently. After a few minutes, the doctor made the decision to administer a second injection. They watched as Sam started to feel the effects, slowly becoming limp and quiet. Teal'c swung her into his arms and swept out of the room, followed closely by Doctor Casey. Jack sank back down onto his bedroll.
"What the hell happened, Jack?" Daniel sat down next to his friend.
Jack rubbed his neck absently, "She tried to, er…, you know."
"Oh, you poor man," observed the archaeologist dryly. "I guess she's been affected by whatever changes the people of this planet."
"Yeah. So much for blood tests."
Daniel got to his feet. "I should go and check on her."
"Why?"
Teal'c and Doctor Casey had just finished securing Sam when they heard the shouting. Exchanging a look, they once again ran to the sleeping quarters. The sight that greeted them this time brought them both to a stunned halt.
Daniel was on the floor, desperately trying to defend himself against Jack, who was kneeling over him, punching him viciously. Once again, Teal'c was the first to react, dragging the Colonel away from the younger man. Completely unaware of Doctor Casey approaching him with a hypodermic, Jack wrenched an arm free of Teal'c's grip and pointed at the archaeologist still on the ground.
"You stay away from Sam! She's not yours! You stay away!" Jack broke off suddenly, turning on the doctor as the needle punctured his arm. She stepped swiftly away from him, her eyes wide behind the plastic hood.
"I, er, think it's best if we go back to the SGC. I just don't have the equipment or the expertise to handle this." The young woman couldn't take her eyes off Jack struggling against Teal'c's grip – the sight of the colonel so obviously out of control had disturbed her.
Clutching a handkerchief to his bloodied nose, Daniel nodded.
"Agreed," Teal'c intoned, shifting his hold on Jack, who was starting to lose consciousness. The Jaffa turned and strode to the door, the doctor and Daniel trailing in his wake.
It didn't take long to restrain the Colonel and pack up the equipment. Teal'c led the way, pushing the gurney carrying Sam with one hand, his staff weapon ready in the other. The others followed, two of the scientists pushing Jack's gurney. Tuplo wished them well, veiled sorrow for their companions in his eyes.
The walk back to the Gate took longer, hampered as they were by the gurneys. Doctor Casey checked on her patients regularly, having to administer more sedatives when they both started to come round and struggle against their restraints.
On the other side, the Gateroom had been kitted out as an isolation room - plastic draped over the doors and temporary decontamination measures at each entrance.
"Welcome back, SG-1." General Hammond greeted them in a hazmat suit, an anxious expression on his face. Janet was already supervising the isolation procedures to take the team to the infirmary – plastic hoods were being lowered over the gurneys and Daniel and Teal'c were handed hazmat suits.
"Under the circumstances, your de-brief will be carried out in the infirmary." The General rested his gloved hand on Daniel's shoulder for a moment before leaving through the plastic sheeting.
Daniel sat and listened to Janet's explanation of the virus while a suited nurse assessed the cuts and bruises Jack had inflicted on him. Inwardly sighing, he glanced over at his two friends strapped to their hospital beds – both were stirring again. Another anonymous hazmat suit pulled a curtain across and blocked his view.
"So, the question is: why haven't you and Teal'c come down with the symptoms?"
Daniel shook his head, "Teal'c's symbiote probably protects him." Janet and the Jaffa both nodded their agreement, "As for me, maybe I have a natural immunity."
"I'm checking both of your blood for the presence of this organism. I'll know more when I get the results."
General Hammond moved to stand next to his chief medical officer, "I've ordered the mountain sealed off until we have more of an idea of how contagious this thing is. And if there's a cure."
Janet opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a scream from the other end of the infirmary – it was a strange, animalistic sound to hear in the high-tech surroundings.
The doctor grabbed a hypodermic and started filling it quickly, "It's the Colonel; I've been pumping him and Sam with sedatives to control them, but they wear off fast."
Daniel pulled the curtain back to see Jack straining against the restraints, screaming and flailing his head. There was already evidence of changes to his face.
Teal'c strode forward and took hold of Jack's shoulders, leaning his weight down to prevent his struggles as Janet pushed past and injected more sedative into the Colonel's drip. Daniel glanced at Teal'c and a moment of fear for their friends passing between them.
It was only an hour later when General Hammond re-joined Teal'c and Daniel in the infirmary. Still looking uncomfortable in his hazmat suit, the General gestured for Janet to begin.
"The good news is; Daniel and Teal'c don't have the organism in their system. The bad news is; we've been unable to isolate why they've been able to resist it." She closed up the file she had been reading from. "I could use a blood sample from one of the infected on the planet; maybe they have something in their systems to protect them."
"All right. I'm authorising SG-3 and Doctor Casey to accompany you back to the planet. You go through in half an hour."
The team had been gone for half an hour when Janet heard Jack calling her. His voice was low and cracked and it sounded more like a grunt, but she could just distinguish the word.
"Doc. Doc?"
He was straining slightly against the restraints again, but only trying to see her – he didn't seem to be in any distress.
"Colonel?" Automatically, Janet checked his vitals.
"Give more…" Jack tried to reach his arm out to her, indicating with his head. "More."
"You want more sedative?" Janet shook her head. Checking his charts, she confirmed her fears, "You've already had more than the maximum safe dosage."
More agitated now, Jack pulled harder against the restraints, "Give, give!"
"Why are you so insistent?"
He gazed back at her, eyes pleading under the prominent brow ridges. There was something there; something that was unmistakably Jack.
Janet sighed, reaching for another hypodermic and injecting the sedative into the Colonel's drip. Shaking her head, she wondered how much pain he was in. As she watched, Jack's eyes closed his body relaxing and a sigh escaping his lips. Frustrated that she couldn't do more to help, Janet reached out and laid a hand on his forehead, studying the now passive face.
"Doc?"
Startled, Janet pulled her hand away.
"Colonel O'Neill?" He was staring at her, completely calm. She smiled, "So you are in there somewhere."
"Sam?"
"She's OK. I've got her sedated." Janet leaned closer, "Interesting; enough sedative must knock back the primitive mind. I'm not going to be able to keep you at this level for very long; it's just too dangerous."
"Cure?"
She smiled at his faith in her, "As soon as Daniel and Teal'c return from the planet, we'll be able to start working on synthesising something. You just need to hang in there."
"Ex..experiment on…me."
"No, I can't do that."
Pulling against the restraints again, Jack tried to reach out his hand, to touch her arm. "Use me."
Janet took his hand and nodded. Jack relaxed against the pillows, closing his eyes.
"Sam…"
Daniel crouched over Melosha's unconscious form as the Touched charged them. Behind him, SG-3 brought their weapons up and fired high above the attackers' heads – the noise was deafening and the effect instantaneous. Teal'c watched the figures running howling into the trees with a satisfied expression on his face.
Daniel pulled a blanket out of his pack and started to wrap it around Melosha, "We have to help her."
"Peterson – take the girl back to the SGC. Report to General Hammond that the mission is otherwise proceeding as planned." Colonel Makepeace stepped forward, gesturing to Daniel to lead the way.
General Hammond strode into the infirmary, adjusting the set of the suit on his shoulders. He silently cursed the need to continue with the quarantine procedures, hoping that Doctor Frasier had managed to find something.
"General! I think I might have something." Janet led her commanding officer over to a desk. "I was examining the blood sample from P3X-797 when it hit me. There is very little histamine in it."
Daniel and Teal'c made their way over to join the General.
"The people on that planet are human, so they have to have histamine in their blood."
The three men looked at her, Teal'c raising an enquiring eyebrow.
Janet took a deep breath. "This microbe is a histaminolytic – it feeds on histamine. If the Untouched have no histamine in their bodies, the organism can't survive in them. For the same reason, Daniel hasn't contracted the virus; He takes antihistamines to combat the effects of severe allergies."
"I do not understand. It is the Untouched that become the touched. If they have no…histamine, why then do some of them change?" Teal'c asked.
"I don't know. Perhaps there's a naturally occurring antihistamine in their diets. The ones who don't eat it eventually contract the organism."
General Hammond dismissed the medical discussion with a wave of his hand. "Does this mean you have a cure?"
"We have to try mega doses of chlopheniramine maleate and see if it works." Janet sighed, "Colonel O'Neill volunteered as a test subject earlier, but he's unconscious now. The dose required to completely clear the body of histamine for a long enough time could be harmful and I'm just not comfortable trying this out on a patient who is unaware of the danger."
"I understand, Doctor," the General nodded, "Is it possible to wake him?"
"I'm afraid not, sir. He's had a massive dose of sedative."
Sam's screams broke the silence that had fallen. Janet, Daniel and Teal'c immediately raced to the major's bed. Two nurses were already there, trying to calm Sam as she thrashed around. Daniel skidded to a halt and approached the bed slowly, his hands held out in front of him in a placating gesture.
"Sam, it's me. It's Daniel."
Janet inclined her head to the General as he came to stand beside her. "She seems to respond to Daniel and Teal'c. I don't know if it's that she recognises them or just that they aren't in hazmat suits."
Sam was still struggling, but was obviously calming down. The nurses stepped back and allowed Teal'c to take over. Gently but firmly, he pushed Sam's shoulders onto the bed, holding her there as Daniel spoke to her.
"Sam, you're OK; we're not going to hurt you. We want you to help us." He glanced up at Janet, who nodded and turned to talk quietly and rapidly to a nurse.
"Janet thinks she can make you better, Sam. But it might be dangerous."
Sam stopped struggling and turned her head to stare at Daniel. She seemed confused, trying to focus.
"J…Jack?" It seemed to take all her self-control to form the name.
"He's sick too, Sam. We need to make you better so we can help Jack."
Sam frowned. She cocked her head towards Teal'c, who nodded slightly, his dark eyes calm and reassuring. Still frowning, Sam lifted her arm as far as she could in the restraints and reached for Daniel. He took her hand.
"Thank you, Sam."
The major watched Janet suspiciously as she approached with the hypodermic. Daniel kept hold of her hand, resting the other gently on her shoulder. They watched in tense silence as the antihistamine was injected into the drip. As Sam started to feel the effects, she pushed at Daniel and Teal'c weakly, baring her teeth at them. Then her eyes slipped closed and she fell back against the pillows.
Clearing his throat, General Hammond moved over to Daniel and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, son. We should leave the doctor to look after things here."
Janet found Daniel and Teal'c in the briefing room. They were surprised to see that she wasn't wearing her hazmat suit.
"I take antihistamine every morning for allergies as well," she said in answer to their questioning looks.
"You mean…"
"Yes, Daniel; the treatment worked. Sam's asking for you two," Janet grinned as the two men shot to their feet and raced out of the door. She followed at a more sedate pace.
A nurse was checking Sam's blood pressure when they arrived. She looked up and smiled at them. There were grey circles under her eyes and she was a little pale, but otherwise, she looked healthy and normal. Daniel made his way to her beside and took her hand. He was about to speak when a crash of metal reverberated through the infirmary. Jack's screams joined the cacophony.
"Colonel O'Neill! Calm down!" Janet's voice pleaded.
Sam struggled out of bed, pushing past Daniel. Teal'c pulled the curtain across to reveal a figure in a hazmat suit fighting to remove themselves from the battered remains of the medical trolley that had been thrown to the floor. Jack had one arms free of his restraints and was pulling hard on the other in an attempt to get it loose.
Janet glanced at Sam, seeing the pained look on her friend's face as she gazed at Jack. "Alright; everybody in a hazmat suit, clear the room. You're obviously disturbing my patient." She turned and looked pointedly at the General as the other members of her staff left.
"Yes, of course, doctor."
Janet pulled the privacy curtains around the bed. Jack was still struggling, a strange keening noise coming from him.
Sam sent the doctor a grateful look, then stepped towards the bed. "Colonel? Sir? It's Carter."
Jack's free arm flailed, almost hitting her. "Jack? It's Sam." Stepping closer, she managed to catch his arm, pulling it to her and folding her hand around his. Jack tried to pull away, twisting to see who was restraining him. It took a few moments for him to recognise her, but when he did, the colonel stopped struggling and settled back on the pillows, staring at Sam intently.
"It's going to be OK. Janet's going to make you better."
Jack's eyes darted to the doctor, who was preparing a hypodermic. He tried to pull away again. Sam reached out and put a hand on his cheek.
"Look at me, Jack. Just look at me."
Jack's eyes turned back to her face, his hand gripping hers reflexively. Sam saw something in his eyes she had very rarely seen; fear. Trying to smile reassuringly, she stepped to his side and slipped an arm around his shoulders.
Janet stepped past Teal'c and injected the antihistamine into the drip.
Sam held Jack close, gently stroking his hair to calm him as the effects took hold. She felt his body relax and watched his eyes close. As he slipped into unconsciousness, he squeezed her hand one more time.
So many times in the past few years, she had wanted to hold him like this, to lend what comfort she could, to be close enough to give him strength. It wasn't desire or physical need – once more she had to admit to herself that she was in love with her commanding officer. Sam smiled wryly to herself – it had taken an alien virus to break down their walls. What a cliché – Jack would hate that.
Aching to remain where she was, every inch of her wanting to hold him until he woke, Sam raised her eyes from Jack's face, turning a pleading gaze on Daniel. Silent understanding passed between them. He moved to her side and helped Sam to settle Jack back onto the bed, then took her gently by the arm and led her back to her own.
Later, watching the reunion on the border between the light and dark, Jack and Sam unconsciously stood close together; as close as they could without touching. When the group returned to the Land of the Light, they both held back to allow some space between them and the others.
"Sir, about my earlier behaviour."
Jack tried to wave away her explanation, "Carter, I was infected too, remember? I don't remember your earlier behaviour."
"Yes, sir. I also remember that I was infected and I remember everything."
"Crap."
Sam smiled. "It's a bit hazy, but…"
"OK, Carter. You got me. I remember your earlier behaviour." Jack cleared his throat and looked away across the landscape. "An alien virus, huh?
"Yes, sir."
"What a cliché."
Sam grinned. "I thought you'd hate that." She looked down at her feet. "Sir, what I wanted to say was…"
"Carter, I know."
Sam glanced up to see Jack's eyes on her. She met the gaze and saw the understanding, the acceptance. For now, that was enough.
They followed the others home.
Sorry if some of this seemed OOC – the characters just wouldn't behave themselves in my head. You know what it's like; you come up with an idea, then it just runs away from you.
Anyway, please review.