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Expected to wake up, Carter was taken out of the medical dome, but kept strapped to the infirmary bed, so her fall wouldn't repeat. Teal'c was going through his usual routine, eating in the kitchen, exercising in the gym, visiting the infirmary and then repeating it all over again. O'Neill was often settled in the infirmary until someone pointed out he should eat. When that happened, he would leave, mainly to avoid the argument that would follow if he didn't.

Laura was running around more, spending some time in the core room, then checking on Sam in the infirmary and playing with Gracie when time permitted. Sometimes she even visited infirmary with the kitten in her arms. Although she was so much bigger now, her behavior didn't change from when she was younger. The animal was hanging on whoever would hug it, not wanting to be alone or exploring, just cared for. Laura speculated it was because she was so hurt before so now it would take extra time for her to do the normal things grown-up cats do.

For the most part, they were all preparing for Sam waking up and for the arrival to Earth. Laura had prepared more tapes detailing SG-1 missions, hopeful they might help Sam consolidate her memories in the right order and in the right way. Still, even if she remembered, some confusion was to be expected.

Honestly Laura didn't look forward to visiting Earth. Not right now. For years she yearned to see the planet one of her parents came from, but now she just worried about all the other things she had to do before they got there and how it would affect Sam. She wasn't sure Sam was ready to go somewhere new, to people she might or might not remember. And any added pressure could hinder her recovery and Sam had been through enough. The health of human bodies was a delicate dance of balance, nothing could be off by too much or it was dangerous to the whole system.

A beep of her bracelet brought her out of deep thoughts. She winked a couple of times, to get the tiredness out of her eyes and investigated. Pressing a few buttons on the bracelet, so she could get the whole picture her eyes quickly darted over the large amount of data. She turned in the direction of the infirmary, and with Gracie in her arms she hurried to get there.

Throughout her recent ordeal, Sam's scans showed she was dreaming, but until now she didn't have any nightmares and didn't try to move. Laura heard the general's voice calling her on the radio. "On my way already."

"Do something!" O'Neill screamed at her when she entered the infirmary. He quickly grabbed the kitten out of her arms and let Laura deal with the situation.

"It's just a nightmare. She's not in any danger." Laura grabbed a needle and injected something into Sam's IV.

Sam's body stopped thrashing around almost immediately, her limbs went limp and her sobs became quieter.

Laura glanced at the general, and seeing how the scene affected him, she wished Teal'c was here instead. She didn't know how to deal with people and emotions, and he didn't seem to do any better. Teal'c always stayed calm, almost stoic and that she could handle. But the colonel was clearly invested in Carter's wellbeing and it was increasingly difficult for him to deny it. Even though he was sitting there, playing with his yo-yo, you could tell he was not at ease. Not to mention how they both tried to tiptoe around the topic of them being related.

O'Neill handed Gracie back to Laura and took his place next to Carter's bed. "How does it look?"

"She'll be waking up soon, general." Laura took a few steps toward the table in the middle and laid Gracie upon it. She extracted a little fluffy mouse on a string from her pocket and put it near the kitten, who after initially just kept staring at it. Looking at the grey toy and then back at Laura, Gracie narrowed her eyes in thought and then slowly began to close in on the mouse. Laura griped the string tighter and jerked the mouse further away, making the kitten's eyes grew large in surprise.

A loud meow sounded in the room, making the general turn around. Laura moved the mouse again, snatching it from between Gracie's paws, so when the kitten closed her paws, she just grabbed air. She raised her little head and shot an accusatory look Laura's way. "You need to learn these things, little one. Don't worry, we'll take it slow." After another few tries, she let Gracie catch the mouse and sink her teeth into the soft material. The kitten began purring, glad she finally succeeded.

O'Neill watched the scene for a bit, before turning his attention back to Carter. She stirred, as if she felt his gaze, and let out a long moan. He hoped her rest was peaceful, without any nightmares. She deserved that and so much more. Suddenly he noticed Laura standing in front of him, holding the fussing kitten in tight embrace. Wondering if that meant Carter might wake up now, he studied his subordinate's face.

Her nose puckered a little and her lips that were now light pink, not pale white, were slightly parted. It reminded him a little of when she laid on her back and he helped her out of the blue dress. He could hear her even breathing falter as she gulped for more air.

"We don't use the sarcophagus!" Carter turned her head to face them and started to fight them restraints.

"Woah, stop Carter. You're safe." O'Neill put his hand over her shoulders and held her down, and the restraints did the rest. He recognized those words. She said them when they were underground, being forced to work until they couldn't move anymore. Without any real drinkable water and very little food, he saw he loose so much weight in only few days.

He couldn't stand it. Watching her struggle with those damn hard rocks and not being able to tell her to take a break, to protect her from the pain, exhaustion and harassment. Of course they tried to stay together, but not always was it possible, especially during the night. Every time she couldn't see her, he became nervous, and after Daniel went all insane, their situation seemed hopeless. He wasn't the type to ponder things like that during an op. But when it came to her, this time he did.

Not that it was much better when he did see her. Her blonde hair, usually able to brighten the whole room, was grey from all the dust, her face was sweaty and red during the long working hours, but when they rested, she turned pale very quickly. And he didn't even want to think about how much of the dust they were breathing in. They all started to cough shortly after they were thrown into the mine. Teal'c wasn't in such a bad state, but he sometimes had horrific coughing fits and hours later she started to have them too. Although they would probably starved to death before the lungs became more of a problem.

He could tell they were getting weaker. The Jaffa could deal with it longer then they could, but it was only a matter of time before they wouldn't be able to work and he was pretty sure he knew what would happen then. And he wasn't going to watch her die without putting up a fight. Occasionally he tried to give her some of his food when he noticed her almost fainting from either fatigue or lack of sustenance, but she always categorically refused. Insisting he was bigger and therefore needed higher energy intake and that she wasn't feeling so bad anyway, she soldiered on, ignoring the constant explicit offers from the guards to earn some extra food. It was clear that they weren't used to women around here, and not only in the mines. Damn it, even the ruler himself grabbed Carter when he had the chance. Remembering how hard it was not to spring to his feet and try to beat that guy into a pulp, he balled his hands into fists. He knew then it was too dangerous to reveal that he cared. It would only be used against him. Back then he just didn't understand how much he care.

"S-sir?"

Her words took him back to the present and he was infinitely grateful.

Sam stirred, trying to move her hands to shade her eyes. "It's too bright. Where are we?" She was shaking and tears were flowing down her cheeks.

"She'll be very sensitive to light for some time, but her eyes should adjust." Laura said, quickly turning off the light above Sam's bed.

"How you're feeling?" O'Neill asked, quickly untying her from the bed.

"Not so bad actually. What happened?" Sam's eyes were still closed and except for her breathing and talking, she didn't move.

"Remember the general's birthday party?" Laura asked and waited until Sam nodded. "Your body reacted to the presence of alcohol in your bloodstream. The poison bonded with the ethyl alcohol, so it was flushed out of your system quicker. My best guess is that the rush of memories overwhelmed you. I found you holding your head, screaming 'make it stop, it's too much'. I administered a sedative and kept you sedated for a day or so until the alcohol levels dropped and your brain scans returned to normal."

"Did they indicate any brain damage?" Sam asked, gripping the edge of the hospital bed and trying to sit up.

"Everything's back to normal now." Laura helped Sam sit up while O'Neill dealt with the restraints around Sam's legs. Taking her hand and squeezing it lightly, she continued. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Samantha Carter."

"And rank?"

"Oh, yeah. Captain, no… Major, I think?" Sam said, still squinting hesitantly.

"Our names?"

"Laura, General Jack O'Neill… And is Teal'c here?"

"No, he's not. Wait, I'll get you sunglasses." Laura took a couple steps aside, but was back quickly. "Here." Carefully she put them on Sam.

"Thank you." Sam exhaled, looking around. For now everything looked greyish, but in her case that was a big improvement.

"How's that, Carter? Are you glad to see me?" O'Neill said with a smile.

"Of course, sir. It's nice seeing you again." She gave him a beaming smile, one he hadn't seen for so long.

Laura looked at her and then back at the general and couldn't resist rolling her eyes. She felt invisible just about now.