I awakened with Sam in my arms and a crick in my neck; I'd been in this same situation many times before so it was not hard for me to surmise that she was still asleep and that oddly enough we were not in her bed. They say the truth hurts, I don't think 'they' were there when this situation came into existence, our child was out there and we were on an Asgard vessel headed for who knows where, this truth didn't just hurt, it threatened to rip my heart out. I looked around for Daniel and Teal'c- neither of which seemed to be around any longer, I promised myself a few more minutes with Carter before I woke her, and took in her face. Even in sleep she looked stressed and I knew she'd been just as stressed by all of this as I had, we'd both lost our kid and we were both going to go crazy if we didn't get her back.
"God I love you Sam," I whispered kissing the crown of her head. "We'll get her back, don't worry." I must have squeezed her a little too tightly because she did her cute little corkscrew imitation.
"Jack," She said questioningly. "How long have I been asleep?"
"I dunno, I just woke up myself, Daniel and Teal'c are no where to be seen." I checked my watch. "We've been asleep for six hours."
"Wow."
"Guess we made the floor comfortable."
"About that, I'm sorry, I know we're on a mission."
"Don't apologise Sam, I don't think this classifies as a regular mission anyway. I'm the commander here, and I say it's all right for you to cuddle up with me." I gave her a sly grin before standing and helping her up too. I pulled her into a tight hug. "I think we could both use the comfort." We stood like that, in each other's arms, for quite a while before she pulled away and stood back.
"I guess we'd better find out what Teal'c and Daniel are up to."
"Yeah." She lead us back towards the bridge, which conveniently enough was where we found our errant friends and Cher with Thor.
"Why didn't you wake us Danny?"
"You looked tired."
"Uh yeah, sleeping people have a tendency to do that." I looked around at how interested both Asgard seemed to be in what they were doing. "So Thor, where're we headed?"
"We have received a distress signal from a small group of Furlings, we are going to assist them."
"Never met them before." I stated, sure Daniel had already informed them of that.
"You may meet them now O'Neill."
"So... are we there yet?"
"No, it will be some time before we arrive."
"Oh." I said once again, getting suddenly bored. "You guys got anything to eat around here?"
"Uh Jack, I wouldn't if I were you." Sam warned, as Thor nodded to some little coloured squares, I ignored her and picked up a yellow one. I don't think I've ever tasted anything so nasty. I looked around to find both Daniel and Sam laughing at me, Teal'c was smirking like he didn't think I could see him. "I warned you."
"Thor do you have any *human* food."
"I do not believe so O'Neill... but perhaps you would like to inspect our human relics."
"Human relics?" Daniel questioned.
"Items I have collected on my journeys to your planet." Daniel was already excited... I could tell by the look in his eyes. "Would you like to see these items?"
"Yes, we would." And we did... we soon found our selves surrounded by thousands of everyday items that you'd use on Earth- including a box of candy bars with the plastic wrap still on it.
"Hey Thor- how long ya had these?"
"Not long O'Neill, we retrieved those on our last visit to your world."
"And you didn't eat them?" I asked, opening the box and handing one to each of the members of my team.
"We have no interest in your human cuisine."
"Ah well hope ya don't mind, but we do, and we're gonna keep these... I'll buy you some new ones later."
"Thank you O'Neill, you and your team may stay here- but I must return to the bridge." So he left us in his very weird museum.
It was a strange thing to be looking at baby stuff while on an Asgard ship. We never did get around to buying anything for our daughter while Terrika was with us, but we sure did look at a lot of things and from what I'd seen that stuff was all pretty new. Not that it really mattered- it just told us that Thor and his people went 'shopping' on Earth a bit more frequently than we thought.
"I'm sorry." Jack said, coming to stand next to me as I dug through the items.
"It's not your fault." I said, as he put an arm around my waist and I did the same.
"Just sayin'. Are you all right?" I looked around trying to find the rest of SG-1 before answering, I couldn't see them so I hoped they were out of hearing range.
"I don't know yet, I was expecting things to be hard, but I never expected to lose her before we even had her."
"Yeah... but come on, we'll get her back." He tightened his arm. "But that's not all that's bothering you."
"No, I didn't even know how much being pregnant had meant to me. But when Sharcon told me that there would be no more evidence that I had ever even been pregnant it really bothered me that I didn't have a child, and now I don't have any proof that she was ever there."
"I'm sorry all of this has happened... it seemed so easy... but now things are so... complicated." I knew how much this was hurting him, after Charlie I know he didn't think he'd ever be a father again- and then to have that taken away from him, well it was just too cruel to think of. There was a big jerk and we both seemed to recognise it at the same time. "We must have just dropped out of hyperspace." I voiced as we heard Daniel and Teal'c heading our way.
"Guess we'd better go meet the Furlings. What do you think they look like?" I gave him a quick smile as we took off walking in the direction of our team mates. "I always thought of them as Asgard... only with fur, ya know, cute little fuzzy guys. Danny, we there yet?"
"I think so, we could probably go ask Thor though."
"Yeah." The four of us walked together through the halls of the Asgard ship. It was hard to imagine that only a couple of days ago we were all fighting- well I guess it was just Teal'c and Daniel fighting with Jack because no one really cared to get into it with me, but I was just happy we were all at least speaking civilly to one another again.
Thor and Sharcon seemed to be waiting for us when we arrived on the bridge.
"O'Neill, you should prepare yourself to meet the Furlings."
"Prepared." Jack said as the ship was rattled.
"What was that?"
"The Goa'uld who were attacking the Furlings have now begun firing on us."
"Taking on the Asgard? Woah."
"They will regret this decision."
"If they get the chance to live through it."
"We do not kill the Goa'uld unless it is absolutely necessary."
"Absolutely necessary? You're just going to come across them again, they always come up *again*."
"By killing them we would only make new enemies."
"That may be true... but at least they wouldn't go around *attacking* you." Thor didn't seem fazed by the conversation with Jack, but Sharcon looked like he was finding it very interesting.
"We were forced to destroy Taweret's vessel in order to save you O'Neill, she was not the first nor the last Goa'uld that we will be forced to deal with in such a manner, but it is not our custom."
Sharcon started rapidly turning crystals, I couldn't tell what he was doing, and I still don't have a very good working knowledge of Asgard technology. Soon there was another big jerk, like we had dropped out of hyperspace again, but we obviously hadn't.
"What was that?" I asked.
"That," Thor turned to glare, if an Asgard can glare, at Sharcon. "was the shockwave from the destruction of the three pursuing Goa'uld vessels."
"Way to go Cher." I heard Jack say under his breath from beside me. "So, can we go meet the Furlings now?" He sounded like a child and I couldn't help but grin... Daniel did too.
"We will bring them to our ship, you may meet them once Sharcon has checked the health of each individual." If Asgard could groan, I'm sure Sharcon would have... he just left the room as slowly as possible down the hall that led to their infirmary, and I'm sure countless other places.
"How many people were there down there?"
Thor looked down. "208,486... it would probably be wise if you were to rest, I'm afraid it will be many hours before Sharcon has inspected all the Furlings." Asgard punishment I guess, Jack and Sharcon may not have gotten along initially but I was getting the feeling he was growing on Jack, they seemed to be a lot alike. I'll admit I've only met a few Asgard, but from what I've seen they're all very big on following orders- Cher was going to be in a lot of trouble when they got home.
"Uh Thor, do you have any human-sized beds?"
"You may utilise any items you wish from our 'Human Relics Deck'."
"Thanks Buddy." Jack led the way, followed by Daniel and Teal'c, while I just walked slowly behind them. I find everything about Asgard technology fascinating, but I just couldn't bring myself to get lost in yet another up close encounter.
I understand now, part of how hard losing Charlie was on Jack, I never even got to know our daughter and I felt like I was going to lose it. I knew we wouldn't get through this if we didn't get her back- our secret would have defeated us, we'd hid the existence of our child only to have her taken from us because we were too cowardly to face up to the truth.
I didn't recall seeing any beds when we were there only a few hours before- other than baby and children's beds that were Asgard sized, which didn't help us much. I thought not finding a bed would be a good thing, because for the first time since I'd known him, I didn't want to be alone with Jack. I didn't know why I'd developed a sudden aversion to the man I loved sometime in the previous hour and a half, I just had a big fear about what would happen when the two of us were alone together.
"Any luck yet Danny?" Jack was getting impatient; I'd heard that tone of voice too many times to not know what it meant.
"I'm working on it Jack, this isn't classical Norse, and as you can see I don't have any books to reference from here." It had taken us only a half an hour to realise that the 'Human Relics Deck' was set up much like a museum, with everything organised into exhibits, that was when Daniel stumbled across the guide- literally, after three hours he still hadn't made much headway in deciphering the language, although he was still complaining about how bad his knee, which he had rammed into the guide, was hurting.
"Why don't we just go *looking* for beds?"
"Look around you Jack, this place is huge, we'd most likely get lost and never get out again." Daniel was right about that, the place took up an entire deck of Thor's massive ship, about the length of 6 football fields.
"So why don't we use our *radios* and split up while we leave you to this." Jack said, waving his arms in the direction of Daniel and his guide.
"Okay, you guys go, I'll be fine here." Daniel answered absentmindedly, as the three of us walked away.
We stood around staring at one another before Teal'c decided to take charge and assign us where to look.
"O'Neill, I believe it would be wise for you to investigate in that direction, Major Carter you should attempt to locate a sleeping platform in that direction, and I will continue our search in the remaining direction." He left out the direction we had already been in, where the entrance and the newer stuff was located, not to mention Daniel's precious guide.
"Hey guys," Jack cackled over my radio. "If you find anything important along the way, pick it up."
"Yes O'Neill." Teal'c answered before me... he must have had the radio in his hand.
"Okay, anyone have any requests?"
"I wouldn't mind a new ink pen or some pencils- anything to write with would be fine really, there is a lot of really fascinating stuff here I'd like to be able to keep." I think that was the longest speech Daniel had ever made over our radios; I guess his guide really was as important, to him at least, as he was making it out to be.
I walked for what felt like hours, but in reality it must have been only about 30 minutes. The place was so surreal I felt like Alice in Wonderland... It was almost as if someone had taken everything a human could possibly ever use in his or her entire lifetime and put it in one giant space. I saw things off and on that I wondered if we'd need, we were doing pretty good on our remaining rations, the majority of which were confiscated by Taweret, food is what we were running short on, Taweret's Jaffa didn't seem too interested in our water, just our MREs, which I guess is okay considering Thor seems to have more than enough of his nasty colour coded food items around for us to eat.
"O'Neill, 'tis I, Teal'c." Crackled over my radio. I waited for Jack's sarcastic reply to Teal'c identifying himself, but I guess the stress of our situation was getting to him too because the expected reply never came.
"Yeah Teal'c, what 'ave you got?" I could imagine that response on the tail end of a yawn.
"I have located the beds you requested."
"Thanks man, where are you?" Teal'c gave us all directions, even Daniel radioed that he'd join us.
When I arrived in the area Teal'c's described, I felt like I'd stepped into a furniture store. Teal'c probably hadn't been in one yet and so most likely didn't realise the significance of the perfectly set up, wall-less rooms.
"Major Carter, are these satisfactory?"
"Yes Teal'c, thank you." I picked a made up, yet dustless, bed and lay down under the covers. Both Jack and Daniel were some ways away still and it would be quite awhile before they joined us. Thankful for that small favour of a bit more time without Jack, I fell into a disturbed sleep.
Being avoided feels like shit. I knew Sam was attempting to stay as far away from me as she possibly could, I just didn't know why. I really needed her right then, but I wasn't going to force her to talk to me if she didn't want to.
I found her in 'Teal'c's Furniture Gallery' sleeping restlessly on one of the smaller beds. Now to me this seemed like a clear voicing of 'leave me alone' on Sam's part, so I did, especially considering that while there was a cease fire with Daniel there wasn't quite peace yet, I didn't think Sam and I fighting would go over very well in front of him.
So under Danny Boy's watchful eye, I took my own bed and settled down attempting to hide my discomfort at having to sleep alone, a couple of hours later, just about the time I was getting to sleep, I was tapped on the shoulder by Thor.
"O'Neill, we must depart, quickly." Just about the time I made it to my feet we were beamed to what I immediately recognised as their infirmary. The place was a wreck, I guess all those 208 thousand people had come and gone. "O'Neill, perhaps you should go over there." Thor suggested, pointing his long, grey finger towards a corner of the infirmary I hadn't looked over yet (give me a break, I'd only been awake for a couple of minutes). Carter was there, but the entire infirmary was conspicuously absent of the other half of SG-1.
I walked with Thor towards the woman I loved, she had her back to us and we were a few feet away before I realised whose bedside it was she was standing next to- I immediately got confused.
"I am sorry we can not heal her. She feels no pain, but not even our extensive knowledge of human physiology can save her."
"But she's not human is she? None of them were, they were all Furlings all along and we just never asked any questions."
"Correct, physiologically the Furlings and the humans are very familiar. The true differences lie in the cranium only, and it is there that early Furling geneticists created an insurmountable obstacle against tampering within." My eyes glazed over; all I really cared about was how Sam was handling all of this. The woman in question turned around and, noticing for the first time my presence, gave me a brave smile.
"Hey Terrika." I said, going to the other side of the dying woman's bed.
"Hello Jack." Mirroring Sam, I took her hand. About this time I put two and three together and realised Terrika was most definitely not pregnant any longer.
"Where's Treevin?" I questioned, guessing that speaking selfishly about my child at a time like this might not be wise, not matter how much I wanted to know.
"He gave up his life in the fight against the Goa'uld." Okay bad question Jack. Terrika sighed, and I knew from witnessing the last moments of life far too many times that they were upon her.
"I'm sorry."
"Your child was born, Jack." Damn, forgot there for a minute that she was telepathic. "The Asgard Sharcon is caring for her. I am sorry, she was not ready to come." I took Sam's hand above Terrika's head.
"Terrika." Sam attempted to clear the emotion from her voice. "We wanted you to name her."
Terrika smiled painfully. "Then you may call her Sunheko, to the Furling people it means 'bearer of peace'."
"Thank you, it's a beautiful name." Sam managed to choke out, as Terrika passed away right between us.
Letting go of the hand of the woman who carried my child, I took the woman I conceived that child with into my arms.
"Oh god Jack, this is all our fault. The Goa'uld would never have attacked the Balteri if we hadn't signed a treaty with them; and Terrika and Treevin and who knows who else might still be alive if we hadn't been out there doing this."
"That may be true, but think of the countless lives we've saved. Think of your Dad. Think of us, we wouldn't even be together if it hadn't been for the Balteri and their treaty." I pulled back and kissed her forehead. "I love you too much to ever go back."
She pulled away, and for one gut wrenching moment I thought she was going to give it up, give *me* up. Thankfully she didn't, not in that moment at least, instead she went to Thor.
"Is our daughter alive?" She asked, her voice full of false courage again.
"Yes, when she was born there were many problems from the wounds the Furling Terrika sustained and the under-development from the pre-term labour we were forced to initiate."
"But you were able to heal her?" She asked hopefully, I knew it was going to kill her (and me for that matter) if he answered in the negative.
"We were forced to take some drastic measures, but she is alive and, given time, I'm sure you will become accustomed to her."
"May we see her please?" Thor nodded, and we followed him through the doorway and down the hall.
Sam and I both walked timidly, our hands still joined, towards our child, a child Thor had made out to sound like Frankenstein's Monster.
The room looked like most of the other Asgard rooms, only it looked like someone had been 'shopping' on the Human Relics Deck because it was all decked out for a baby.
"Sharcon will explain further, I must return to the Furlings." Thor announced to the two of us, before making a quick exit.
"Well," I said, looking for Cher. "Where is he?" With the wonderful timing I'd come to expect from the Asgard, Cher came in with a surprisingly large child over one bony shoulder.
"She is sleeping." He stated quietly, before putting her down in the crib. Her straight blonde hair and long body looked somewhat out of place in the babyish crib, despite her footie pyjamas.
"Cher, is this *our* child?"
"Yes, Thor did inform you that we had to take some drastic measures to insure her survival, did he not?"
"Well yeah, but she's huge... I mean, she's only a couple of hours old."
"In order to save her life we had to prematurely age her to that of approximately 18 of your months, we have adjusted her mental capacities as well."
"Isn't this something the Goa'uld do?" Sam asked, I dimly realised that we were still hanging on to one another, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the angelic sleeping form of our daughter.
"The Goa'uld have stolen this technique, along with many others, to prematurely age future hosts for themselves. But do not worry, once the process has been completed, as it has in the case of your child, it cannot be started again. She will grow and mature as a normal human child from this point. Her knowledge has been passed to her through the method the Ancients taught us." He looked to me. "Do not worry, she has only received what is necessary for a child of her age and genesis. The only side effects of this procedure will be extreme fatigue for a short while and perhaps heightened intelligence when she reaches adolescence, we have attempted to reduce these, but they are persistent, I apologise."
"So you're telling us, that other than the fact that she's now a year and a half old and *might* be as smart as her mom later on, Sunny's perfect?" I asked, happy that something had gone right for a change.
"Yes, I believe I am." He looked at the two of us and I had to remind myself not to hug the Asgard. "I must go assist Commander Thor." Cher's parting words as he left the three of us alone.
Sam walked over to the crib, dragging me with her. I wasn't prepared for this, only a couple hours before I'd thought we might never see her, and then she was right in front of us.
"Look at her Jack, she's beautiful." She reached out to, I assume, brush the hair off of Sunheko's face. Her eyes opened to reveal big bright eyes that were a shade of brown lighter than mine, but I thought with time they'd be more hazel than anything.
"Mommy?" She whispered faintly. Before I realised what had happened I had not only Sam in my arms, but Sunny as well, considering Sam had somehow managed to reach in and pick up the awakening child.
"She's really here Jack, our baby, our perfect little girl." I took the weight from Sam before giving both of the women I loved kisses.
"Hey Angel, how're you feeling?" I didn't know how much knowledge Thor and Cher given her exactly, she did seem to know who we were, which to me was a positive sign.
"Daddy." She sighed, before laying her head down on my shoulder and, like Charlie used to do, falling asleep.
"What are we supposed to do now?" I asked, before kissing Sam once more.
"I guess we should go back to bed, I don't think Sunheko's going to feel like getting up any time soon, she's been through a lot."
With my arm around Sam, and Sunny on my shoulder, we headed for the Human Relics Deck. I had no idea where the heck we were, but thankfully one of us was paying attention and Sam soon had us in territory I recognised. When we made it into the furniture store area, Daniel and Teal'c were still sleeping (or Kel-no-reeming, whichever the case may have been), completely oblivious to all we'd been through.
Sam chose a large bed and, after removing her boots and jacket, took Sunny from me so I could do the same. Our whole family, finally together, fell asleep in one contented heap, our arms around not only each other but the miracle we had created together as well.
A smiling face- always a good thing to wake up to. Sunny was sitting on my chest looking down at me with a big Carter smile, she was definitely our daughter.
"Hey Princess, feeling better?" My baby just sat there, so I took the initiative and pulled her down flat on the bed, tickling her. She giggled and I swear that if it weren't for the fact that she'd inherited her Grandfather Jacob's eyes she could have been Sam's clone. Oh my god, I thought, Jacob was going to kill me, Selmak would probably want to get in on the action too, but it was still not going to be a pretty sight when we did meet up again. Jacob was going to love this little beauty, I knew that much, I sure did, so much so that I was having some trouble believing the giggling one and a half year old was really the one day old baby I conceived with Sam seven months ago.
"Daddy," She breathed between laughs. "hungry."
"Okay," I got up and, cradling Sunheko, gave her blonde hair a quick kiss for good measure. "Any idea where your Mommy went?" The head shaking showed her comprehension of the question, as well as her lack of knowledge on Sam's whereabouts.
I looked around for anyone else that just might happen to still be around, both Daniel and Teal'c were still in the exact same positions they were in when we went to bed earlier, must have been nice to be able to sleep through *anything*.
"Teal'c." I said, coming to the Jaffa's side, his eyes popped open.
"Yes O'Neill."
"You seen Carter?"
"No O'Neill, I have not, I have been occupied with the process of Kel-no-reem."
"Oh... sorry."
"From whence did you acquire a child O'Neill?"
"Teal'c, this is Sam and my daughter Sunheko." I grinned broadly. "The Asgard made her healthy."
"Hello Sunheko O'Neill, I am Teal'c."
"O'Neill? Carter and I haven't really talked about last names yet, or middle names for that matter. Hum... for now I guess she's just Sunheko, like Cher." Teal'c's look was blank, as was Sunny's. "The singer, not the Asgard." I added, still getting blank looks I moved on to more pressing matters. "You'd better get Daniel up, I'll find Sam. We've got some story to tell you guys." Sunny and I left Teal'c to his task of awakening Sleeping Beauty, and headed off in search of Sam. We got as far as my vest, before I realised it was alone, which to me meant Sam probably had hers on, which also seemed to mean that she must have her radio with her. Woohoo! Score loads of points for Jack.
"Carter, come in Sam."
"Yes Colonel?"
"Where are you?"
"With Lauprezin, she has said that they're willing to re-instate the treaty with Earth." Her voice changed to the familiar tone I had come to recognise as her talking to me, 'Jack' instead of her talking to me, her CO. "How's Sunheko?"
"She's great, says she's hungry, but she is awake and pretty much happy, what more could we ask for?"
"The Balteri have invited us to eat with them to finalise the re-instatement with the rest of our negotiating team, why don't you get her dressed and wake Teal'c and Daniel?" She was as good at giving orders as I was, probably better considering hers were most likely going to be followed.
"Yeah, okay, see ya in a few. Out."
"Oh, and Jack?" She waited for my response, which I gave. "Remember where the baby stuff was? That'd probably be a good place to go for supplies."
"Thanks." I love her, I really really love her.
"Hungry." Sunny said insistently, and yet again the fact that I had a child again, let alone that she was a year and a half old, astounded me.
"Sorry Honey, we're gonna go eat with some friends of ours. But first we've gotta find you something to wear." I sniffed at her, making her giggle. "And maybe a new diaper."
We hiked through the HRD, not bothering to inform Daniel or Teal'c where we were headed. I was just getting turned around... again and had no idea which direction their Baby Superstore or my team could be in when I was tapped on the shoulder.
"O'Neill."
"Ahhhh!" I turned around, and Thor was right behind me.
"I apologise O'Neill, but the Furlings have prepared a repulsive feast and are awaiting your arrival before they consume it."
"Tor!" Sunny exclaimed happily, I guess we'd been made aware of at least one more piece of knowledge they'd given our daughter.
"Hello." I swear that was a smile. "I trust you are well?"
"Yeah, she's great. Thank you." I was being honest there, and Thor knew it.
"May I assist you O'Neill?"
"Yes... please... we seem to have gotten turned around."
"This way." He didn't ask what we were looking for, but soon we were standing right in the middle of baby supply central.
"Thanks Buddy." I said as I managed to locate a package of Huggies in the myriad of items I was sure we'd be needing sooner or later. In record time, I had Sunny changed and out of her pink and green footie Pjs then, after locating a large wardrobe, I selected a pair of overalls and a t-shirt which she went into considerably easier than I expected from my memories of Charlie. Fully clothed, with shoes and all, I brushed through her short hair and made a surprisingly successful attempt at getting back to my team.
Leaving Sunheko and Jack our first morning after really becoming a 'family' wasn't something I was happy to do. But it was necessary for me to speak with Lauprezin and the fact that we were invited to dine with the Council was very important and welcome news.
I just hoped the four of us (well five if you count the one and a half year old that had unknowingly been the fifth to our negotiating team the entire time) could keep our thoughts happy enough, long enough to deal with the grief stricken telepaths. Out of their entire colony the 'Balteri' lost almost one fourth of their population.
Thor joined me while I waited for SG-1. We didn't speak... we just stared at one another, things had changed in my relationship with him too, it was almost as if I'd disappointed him as I surely had done Daniel, Teal'c, and General Hammond. Maybe that was our real crime, maybe we'd hurt more people without realising it, maybe they were all surprised Jack and I could do something like this... then again, maybe not. We never meant for things to end that way, for an entire civilisation to be nearly wiped out because of our own selfishness, but maybe that wasn't the end, maybe the meal with the Balteri and SG-1 would revive relations with not only the newly discovered Furlings but with our two friends on SG-1 as well.
When all things seemed dampened by one miserable day the man you love invariably comes around the corner with your beautiful daughter- it's cliché, but it was also my life. Sunheko was giggling at something Jack had said and even Teal'c and Daniel who flanked them on either side, had warm smiles on their faces.
The four jubilant (okay, Teal'c could just have been classified as 'happy') people reached me and immediately I found Sunheko had lunged into my arms; how she managed to do it from Jack's shoulders was beyond me. I hugged her small body tightly.
"How are you honey? Mommy missed you." Jack noticed my awkwardness at the self-appointed title, and pulled his arms around the two of us.
"You mentioned something about food?" He asked, the cue for me to lead them in to the freshly prepared Balteri... or was it Furling, food.
"Yes." I gave Sunheko a kiss and a smile before handing her back to Jack. "You're her father and I've got to play chief diplomat." I answered, before he could even comment.
Despite the fact that Sunheko represented everything the Bal... Furlings had lost, she was still the hit of the meal. I guess a smiling, innocent baby was just what everyone needed. Feeling a bit left out, but extremely happy things were going so well for us again, I just let myself eat and enjoy my friends' company.
"So... Sam, Jack, what are we going to do now?" Daniel asked as he suddenly got Sunny taken from him... again. "I never get her for very long." He pouted before turning his attention back to the two of us.
"I dunno Danny, we're taking the Balteri/Furlings, whatever, home right now and after that it's up to Thor."
"Are we planning on going home?"
"I hope so, after the Balteri are gone we'll be stuck with nothing but Asgard food."
"We're just worried they may not welcome us back with open arms." I added, remembering our somewhat desperate food situation.
"We preformed the necessary duties; we retrieved your child, destroyed yet another false god and were able to rectify the Balteri/Earth treaty, as O'Neill is so fond of saying- they owe it to us to allow us to return."
"We've done this too often, how many more times to you think they'll welcome us back with no consequences?"
"Where shall we reside then? We have nowhere to go." Teal'c brought up a valid point.
"I don't know." Jack answered honestly before Lauprezin joined us and we moved on to much more uplifting subjects (most of which pertained, to some degree, to our daughter).
"Sam," Jack called to me, from where he was playing with our daughter. "can we talk?"
"Sure."
Daniel quickly agreed to keep an eye on Sunheko and soon I found myself walking hand in hand with Jack towards the other side of the HRD.
"So..."
"So..."
"How are you handling all of this?"
"Things are just a little confusing right now. I mean, our daughter is a year and a half old, some of our best friends died last night, *and* we may never get to go home again."
"We'll work things out." He assured as we continued walking. "Are we okay?" He asked timidly, he had noticed my trepidation in getting close to him.
"Hum?" I played dumb.
"Come on, you've been avoiding me since we got here. What'd I do?"
"Nothing, you didn't do anything wrong. I just can't handle *you* right now."
"What's that supposed to mean?" We'd stopped walking in favour of facing one another and gesticulating emphatically.
"You scare me Jack, you're so 'intense' that I never know which rule we're going to break together next. It's not you're fault, and I think you're a great father for Sunheko, but I don't know if I want to be *us* anymore." His face looked like I'd just killed him. "I'm sorry." Fighting tears had never been that tough.
"What did I do to you? I love you Sam, you know that. You're all that matters to me anymore, you and Sunny."
"I've come to realise that the regulations are there for a reason; I mean, look at all the danger we've put our friends in and think about the entire society that was almost wiped out yesterday because of our actions. I can't be with you knowing that we might make the same mistakes all over again. I don't want to ruin anyone else's life because of my own selfish actions."
"Woah, I thought we settled this last night." I started walking again, needing an excuse not to look at the man I loved getting his heart broken... by me.
"Nothing was settled last night, only pushed back. If... When we get back to Earth we're going to be court marshalled and I can't go through that *with* you, once we get back there I don't want to see you anymore."
"You don't mean that."
"Yes I do." I kept walking and he kept following me all the way across the HRD.
"We can't do this to Sunny. She needs a family, parents who love each other."
"What if we don't love each other?"
"But we do!"
"We could change that, we could *not* love each other, we've done it before."
"What we used to do was not not love each other, that was just ignoring our feelings and as I recall that didn't last too long."
"Jack." I finally turned to him, hoping he could see the desperation on my face. "We can't let Sunheko see us go through all of this, especially now that she's so old."
"So what? We can't be together because our daughter *might* see us unhappy? Don't you think that maybe we'd be even more unhappy apart?"
"I don't know!" I looked into his eyes, my brave, uncaring front gone. "All I do know is that we can't go on like this. Think about it Jack, the Balteri entered our lives nine months ago and we subsequently began *this*, seven months ago I got pregnant... and since then our lives have been nothing but subterfuge, I can't go back to that."
"And you won't have to, with Sunny around I would never even ask you to, but that doesn't matter anyway, we told... well Daniel told Hammond before we left- even if we wanted to we couldn't go back to hiding it."
"I love you." It was out of my mouth before I could stop it. "You're impossible to fight with, ya know that? Even Maybourne's completely taken with you."
"Oh come on, why'd you have to go there?" He asked, taking me tightly into his arms as we both laughed, all the tension of the last few minutes and days seeming to evaporate in our mirth.
"You know it's the truth, why else would he be coming around so often to see you?"
"Carter, we're colleagues, in a very broad sense of the word, I'm an Air Force Colonel, he was an Air Force Colonel... of course now we've got even more in common considering we're both AWOL Air Force Colonels. Ya know, now I'm going to have to dwell on this whole Harry issue." He finished, kissing me quickly before sliding his arm around my waist and steering me back in the direction we were originally headed in. "So, we okay now?"
"Yeah, hopefully this is all from the stress of the last couple days. I can't believe I'm a 'Mommy' now, it's scary."
"Uh huh, but she's beautiful, looks just like you said she would."
"No she doesn't, I said she would have your eyes- her eyes are the exact same colour as my father's."
"Oh so you noticed that too did ya?"
"Other than that it's all how I expected, and yet completely different. I just didn't expect to miss her first words and steps and tooth... we're never going to be able to get her first year and a half of life back."
"No, but she's still got a lot of growing up to do yet, and believe me, teenage boys are not to be trusted, I was one once." I smiled, a whole future of imagined happenings flashing before my eyes as I though of Sunheko's future firsts, including the dreaded development of an interest in boys. "Besides, we'll be able to do everything right with the next one."
"Next one?"
"Yes next one, I fully intend on asking you to marry me once we get back to Earth, but at least try and act surprised when it comes." Dumbfounded, I went back to my daydream of our future perfect life... 'next one' included.
"God I love you Sam," I whispered kissing the crown of her head. "We'll get her back, don't worry." I must have squeezed her a little too tightly because she did her cute little corkscrew imitation.
"Jack," She said questioningly. "How long have I been asleep?"
"I dunno, I just woke up myself, Daniel and Teal'c are no where to be seen." I checked my watch. "We've been asleep for six hours."
"Wow."
"Guess we made the floor comfortable."
"About that, I'm sorry, I know we're on a mission."
"Don't apologise Sam, I don't think this classifies as a regular mission anyway. I'm the commander here, and I say it's all right for you to cuddle up with me." I gave her a sly grin before standing and helping her up too. I pulled her into a tight hug. "I think we could both use the comfort." We stood like that, in each other's arms, for quite a while before she pulled away and stood back.
"I guess we'd better find out what Teal'c and Daniel are up to."
"Yeah." She lead us back towards the bridge, which conveniently enough was where we found our errant friends and Cher with Thor.
"Why didn't you wake us Danny?"
"You looked tired."
"Uh yeah, sleeping people have a tendency to do that." I looked around at how interested both Asgard seemed to be in what they were doing. "So Thor, where're we headed?"
"We have received a distress signal from a small group of Furlings, we are going to assist them."
"Never met them before." I stated, sure Daniel had already informed them of that.
"You may meet them now O'Neill."
"So... are we there yet?"
"No, it will be some time before we arrive."
"Oh." I said once again, getting suddenly bored. "You guys got anything to eat around here?"
"Uh Jack, I wouldn't if I were you." Sam warned, as Thor nodded to some little coloured squares, I ignored her and picked up a yellow one. I don't think I've ever tasted anything so nasty. I looked around to find both Daniel and Sam laughing at me, Teal'c was smirking like he didn't think I could see him. "I warned you."
"Thor do you have any *human* food."
"I do not believe so O'Neill... but perhaps you would like to inspect our human relics."
"Human relics?" Daniel questioned.
"Items I have collected on my journeys to your planet." Daniel was already excited... I could tell by the look in his eyes. "Would you like to see these items?"
"Yes, we would." And we did... we soon found our selves surrounded by thousands of everyday items that you'd use on Earth- including a box of candy bars with the plastic wrap still on it.
"Hey Thor- how long ya had these?"
"Not long O'Neill, we retrieved those on our last visit to your world."
"And you didn't eat them?" I asked, opening the box and handing one to each of the members of my team.
"We have no interest in your human cuisine."
"Ah well hope ya don't mind, but we do, and we're gonna keep these... I'll buy you some new ones later."
"Thank you O'Neill, you and your team may stay here- but I must return to the bridge." So he left us in his very weird museum.
It was a strange thing to be looking at baby stuff while on an Asgard ship. We never did get around to buying anything for our daughter while Terrika was with us, but we sure did look at a lot of things and from what I'd seen that stuff was all pretty new. Not that it really mattered- it just told us that Thor and his people went 'shopping' on Earth a bit more frequently than we thought.
"I'm sorry." Jack said, coming to stand next to me as I dug through the items.
"It's not your fault." I said, as he put an arm around my waist and I did the same.
"Just sayin'. Are you all right?" I looked around trying to find the rest of SG-1 before answering, I couldn't see them so I hoped they were out of hearing range.
"I don't know yet, I was expecting things to be hard, but I never expected to lose her before we even had her."
"Yeah... but come on, we'll get her back." He tightened his arm. "But that's not all that's bothering you."
"No, I didn't even know how much being pregnant had meant to me. But when Sharcon told me that there would be no more evidence that I had ever even been pregnant it really bothered me that I didn't have a child, and now I don't have any proof that she was ever there."
"I'm sorry all of this has happened... it seemed so easy... but now things are so... complicated." I knew how much this was hurting him, after Charlie I know he didn't think he'd ever be a father again- and then to have that taken away from him, well it was just too cruel to think of. There was a big jerk and we both seemed to recognise it at the same time. "We must have just dropped out of hyperspace." I voiced as we heard Daniel and Teal'c heading our way.
"Guess we'd better go meet the Furlings. What do you think they look like?" I gave him a quick smile as we took off walking in the direction of our team mates. "I always thought of them as Asgard... only with fur, ya know, cute little fuzzy guys. Danny, we there yet?"
"I think so, we could probably go ask Thor though."
"Yeah." The four of us walked together through the halls of the Asgard ship. It was hard to imagine that only a couple of days ago we were all fighting- well I guess it was just Teal'c and Daniel fighting with Jack because no one really cared to get into it with me, but I was just happy we were all at least speaking civilly to one another again.
Thor and Sharcon seemed to be waiting for us when we arrived on the bridge.
"O'Neill, you should prepare yourself to meet the Furlings."
"Prepared." Jack said as the ship was rattled.
"What was that?"
"The Goa'uld who were attacking the Furlings have now begun firing on us."
"Taking on the Asgard? Woah."
"They will regret this decision."
"If they get the chance to live through it."
"We do not kill the Goa'uld unless it is absolutely necessary."
"Absolutely necessary? You're just going to come across them again, they always come up *again*."
"By killing them we would only make new enemies."
"That may be true... but at least they wouldn't go around *attacking* you." Thor didn't seem fazed by the conversation with Jack, but Sharcon looked like he was finding it very interesting.
"We were forced to destroy Taweret's vessel in order to save you O'Neill, she was not the first nor the last Goa'uld that we will be forced to deal with in such a manner, but it is not our custom."
Sharcon started rapidly turning crystals, I couldn't tell what he was doing, and I still don't have a very good working knowledge of Asgard technology. Soon there was another big jerk, like we had dropped out of hyperspace again, but we obviously hadn't.
"What was that?" I asked.
"That," Thor turned to glare, if an Asgard can glare, at Sharcon. "was the shockwave from the destruction of the three pursuing Goa'uld vessels."
"Way to go Cher." I heard Jack say under his breath from beside me. "So, can we go meet the Furlings now?" He sounded like a child and I couldn't help but grin... Daniel did too.
"We will bring them to our ship, you may meet them once Sharcon has checked the health of each individual." If Asgard could groan, I'm sure Sharcon would have... he just left the room as slowly as possible down the hall that led to their infirmary, and I'm sure countless other places.
"How many people were there down there?"
Thor looked down. "208,486... it would probably be wise if you were to rest, I'm afraid it will be many hours before Sharcon has inspected all the Furlings." Asgard punishment I guess, Jack and Sharcon may not have gotten along initially but I was getting the feeling he was growing on Jack, they seemed to be a lot alike. I'll admit I've only met a few Asgard, but from what I've seen they're all very big on following orders- Cher was going to be in a lot of trouble when they got home.
"Uh Thor, do you have any human-sized beds?"
"You may utilise any items you wish from our 'Human Relics Deck'."
"Thanks Buddy." Jack led the way, followed by Daniel and Teal'c, while I just walked slowly behind them. I find everything about Asgard technology fascinating, but I just couldn't bring myself to get lost in yet another up close encounter.
I understand now, part of how hard losing Charlie was on Jack, I never even got to know our daughter and I felt like I was going to lose it. I knew we wouldn't get through this if we didn't get her back- our secret would have defeated us, we'd hid the existence of our child only to have her taken from us because we were too cowardly to face up to the truth.
I didn't recall seeing any beds when we were there only a few hours before- other than baby and children's beds that were Asgard sized, which didn't help us much. I thought not finding a bed would be a good thing, because for the first time since I'd known him, I didn't want to be alone with Jack. I didn't know why I'd developed a sudden aversion to the man I loved sometime in the previous hour and a half, I just had a big fear about what would happen when the two of us were alone together.
"Any luck yet Danny?" Jack was getting impatient; I'd heard that tone of voice too many times to not know what it meant.
"I'm working on it Jack, this isn't classical Norse, and as you can see I don't have any books to reference from here." It had taken us only a half an hour to realise that the 'Human Relics Deck' was set up much like a museum, with everything organised into exhibits, that was when Daniel stumbled across the guide- literally, after three hours he still hadn't made much headway in deciphering the language, although he was still complaining about how bad his knee, which he had rammed into the guide, was hurting.
"Why don't we just go *looking* for beds?"
"Look around you Jack, this place is huge, we'd most likely get lost and never get out again." Daniel was right about that, the place took up an entire deck of Thor's massive ship, about the length of 6 football fields.
"So why don't we use our *radios* and split up while we leave you to this." Jack said, waving his arms in the direction of Daniel and his guide.
"Okay, you guys go, I'll be fine here." Daniel answered absentmindedly, as the three of us walked away.
We stood around staring at one another before Teal'c decided to take charge and assign us where to look.
"O'Neill, I believe it would be wise for you to investigate in that direction, Major Carter you should attempt to locate a sleeping platform in that direction, and I will continue our search in the remaining direction." He left out the direction we had already been in, where the entrance and the newer stuff was located, not to mention Daniel's precious guide.
"Hey guys," Jack cackled over my radio. "If you find anything important along the way, pick it up."
"Yes O'Neill." Teal'c answered before me... he must have had the radio in his hand.
"Okay, anyone have any requests?"
"I wouldn't mind a new ink pen or some pencils- anything to write with would be fine really, there is a lot of really fascinating stuff here I'd like to be able to keep." I think that was the longest speech Daniel had ever made over our radios; I guess his guide really was as important, to him at least, as he was making it out to be.
I walked for what felt like hours, but in reality it must have been only about 30 minutes. The place was so surreal I felt like Alice in Wonderland... It was almost as if someone had taken everything a human could possibly ever use in his or her entire lifetime and put it in one giant space. I saw things off and on that I wondered if we'd need, we were doing pretty good on our remaining rations, the majority of which were confiscated by Taweret, food is what we were running short on, Taweret's Jaffa didn't seem too interested in our water, just our MREs, which I guess is okay considering Thor seems to have more than enough of his nasty colour coded food items around for us to eat.
"O'Neill, 'tis I, Teal'c." Crackled over my radio. I waited for Jack's sarcastic reply to Teal'c identifying himself, but I guess the stress of our situation was getting to him too because the expected reply never came.
"Yeah Teal'c, what 'ave you got?" I could imagine that response on the tail end of a yawn.
"I have located the beds you requested."
"Thanks man, where are you?" Teal'c gave us all directions, even Daniel radioed that he'd join us.
When I arrived in the area Teal'c's described, I felt like I'd stepped into a furniture store. Teal'c probably hadn't been in one yet and so most likely didn't realise the significance of the perfectly set up, wall-less rooms.
"Major Carter, are these satisfactory?"
"Yes Teal'c, thank you." I picked a made up, yet dustless, bed and lay down under the covers. Both Jack and Daniel were some ways away still and it would be quite awhile before they joined us. Thankful for that small favour of a bit more time without Jack, I fell into a disturbed sleep.
Being avoided feels like shit. I knew Sam was attempting to stay as far away from me as she possibly could, I just didn't know why. I really needed her right then, but I wasn't going to force her to talk to me if she didn't want to.
I found her in 'Teal'c's Furniture Gallery' sleeping restlessly on one of the smaller beds. Now to me this seemed like a clear voicing of 'leave me alone' on Sam's part, so I did, especially considering that while there was a cease fire with Daniel there wasn't quite peace yet, I didn't think Sam and I fighting would go over very well in front of him.
So under Danny Boy's watchful eye, I took my own bed and settled down attempting to hide my discomfort at having to sleep alone, a couple of hours later, just about the time I was getting to sleep, I was tapped on the shoulder by Thor.
"O'Neill, we must depart, quickly." Just about the time I made it to my feet we were beamed to what I immediately recognised as their infirmary. The place was a wreck, I guess all those 208 thousand people had come and gone. "O'Neill, perhaps you should go over there." Thor suggested, pointing his long, grey finger towards a corner of the infirmary I hadn't looked over yet (give me a break, I'd only been awake for a couple of minutes). Carter was there, but the entire infirmary was conspicuously absent of the other half of SG-1.
I walked with Thor towards the woman I loved, she had her back to us and we were a few feet away before I realised whose bedside it was she was standing next to- I immediately got confused.
"I am sorry we can not heal her. She feels no pain, but not even our extensive knowledge of human physiology can save her."
"But she's not human is she? None of them were, they were all Furlings all along and we just never asked any questions."
"Correct, physiologically the Furlings and the humans are very familiar. The true differences lie in the cranium only, and it is there that early Furling geneticists created an insurmountable obstacle against tampering within." My eyes glazed over; all I really cared about was how Sam was handling all of this. The woman in question turned around and, noticing for the first time my presence, gave me a brave smile.
"Hey Terrika." I said, going to the other side of the dying woman's bed.
"Hello Jack." Mirroring Sam, I took her hand. About this time I put two and three together and realised Terrika was most definitely not pregnant any longer.
"Where's Treevin?" I questioned, guessing that speaking selfishly about my child at a time like this might not be wise, not matter how much I wanted to know.
"He gave up his life in the fight against the Goa'uld." Okay bad question Jack. Terrika sighed, and I knew from witnessing the last moments of life far too many times that they were upon her.
"I'm sorry."
"Your child was born, Jack." Damn, forgot there for a minute that she was telepathic. "The Asgard Sharcon is caring for her. I am sorry, she was not ready to come." I took Sam's hand above Terrika's head.
"Terrika." Sam attempted to clear the emotion from her voice. "We wanted you to name her."
Terrika smiled painfully. "Then you may call her Sunheko, to the Furling people it means 'bearer of peace'."
"Thank you, it's a beautiful name." Sam managed to choke out, as Terrika passed away right between us.
Letting go of the hand of the woman who carried my child, I took the woman I conceived that child with into my arms.
"Oh god Jack, this is all our fault. The Goa'uld would never have attacked the Balteri if we hadn't signed a treaty with them; and Terrika and Treevin and who knows who else might still be alive if we hadn't been out there doing this."
"That may be true, but think of the countless lives we've saved. Think of your Dad. Think of us, we wouldn't even be together if it hadn't been for the Balteri and their treaty." I pulled back and kissed her forehead. "I love you too much to ever go back."
She pulled away, and for one gut wrenching moment I thought she was going to give it up, give *me* up. Thankfully she didn't, not in that moment at least, instead she went to Thor.
"Is our daughter alive?" She asked, her voice full of false courage again.
"Yes, when she was born there were many problems from the wounds the Furling Terrika sustained and the under-development from the pre-term labour we were forced to initiate."
"But you were able to heal her?" She asked hopefully, I knew it was going to kill her (and me for that matter) if he answered in the negative.
"We were forced to take some drastic measures, but she is alive and, given time, I'm sure you will become accustomed to her."
"May we see her please?" Thor nodded, and we followed him through the doorway and down the hall.
Sam and I both walked timidly, our hands still joined, towards our child, a child Thor had made out to sound like Frankenstein's Monster.
The room looked like most of the other Asgard rooms, only it looked like someone had been 'shopping' on the Human Relics Deck because it was all decked out for a baby.
"Sharcon will explain further, I must return to the Furlings." Thor announced to the two of us, before making a quick exit.
"Well," I said, looking for Cher. "Where is he?" With the wonderful timing I'd come to expect from the Asgard, Cher came in with a surprisingly large child over one bony shoulder.
"She is sleeping." He stated quietly, before putting her down in the crib. Her straight blonde hair and long body looked somewhat out of place in the babyish crib, despite her footie pyjamas.
"Cher, is this *our* child?"
"Yes, Thor did inform you that we had to take some drastic measures to insure her survival, did he not?"
"Well yeah, but she's huge... I mean, she's only a couple of hours old."
"In order to save her life we had to prematurely age her to that of approximately 18 of your months, we have adjusted her mental capacities as well."
"Isn't this something the Goa'uld do?" Sam asked, I dimly realised that we were still hanging on to one another, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the angelic sleeping form of our daughter.
"The Goa'uld have stolen this technique, along with many others, to prematurely age future hosts for themselves. But do not worry, once the process has been completed, as it has in the case of your child, it cannot be started again. She will grow and mature as a normal human child from this point. Her knowledge has been passed to her through the method the Ancients taught us." He looked to me. "Do not worry, she has only received what is necessary for a child of her age and genesis. The only side effects of this procedure will be extreme fatigue for a short while and perhaps heightened intelligence when she reaches adolescence, we have attempted to reduce these, but they are persistent, I apologise."
"So you're telling us, that other than the fact that she's now a year and a half old and *might* be as smart as her mom later on, Sunny's perfect?" I asked, happy that something had gone right for a change.
"Yes, I believe I am." He looked at the two of us and I had to remind myself not to hug the Asgard. "I must go assist Commander Thor." Cher's parting words as he left the three of us alone.
Sam walked over to the crib, dragging me with her. I wasn't prepared for this, only a couple hours before I'd thought we might never see her, and then she was right in front of us.
"Look at her Jack, she's beautiful." She reached out to, I assume, brush the hair off of Sunheko's face. Her eyes opened to reveal big bright eyes that were a shade of brown lighter than mine, but I thought with time they'd be more hazel than anything.
"Mommy?" She whispered faintly. Before I realised what had happened I had not only Sam in my arms, but Sunny as well, considering Sam had somehow managed to reach in and pick up the awakening child.
"She's really here Jack, our baby, our perfect little girl." I took the weight from Sam before giving both of the women I loved kisses.
"Hey Angel, how're you feeling?" I didn't know how much knowledge Thor and Cher given her exactly, she did seem to know who we were, which to me was a positive sign.
"Daddy." She sighed, before laying her head down on my shoulder and, like Charlie used to do, falling asleep.
"What are we supposed to do now?" I asked, before kissing Sam once more.
"I guess we should go back to bed, I don't think Sunheko's going to feel like getting up any time soon, she's been through a lot."
With my arm around Sam, and Sunny on my shoulder, we headed for the Human Relics Deck. I had no idea where the heck we were, but thankfully one of us was paying attention and Sam soon had us in territory I recognised. When we made it into the furniture store area, Daniel and Teal'c were still sleeping (or Kel-no-reeming, whichever the case may have been), completely oblivious to all we'd been through.
Sam chose a large bed and, after removing her boots and jacket, took Sunny from me so I could do the same. Our whole family, finally together, fell asleep in one contented heap, our arms around not only each other but the miracle we had created together as well.
A smiling face- always a good thing to wake up to. Sunny was sitting on my chest looking down at me with a big Carter smile, she was definitely our daughter.
"Hey Princess, feeling better?" My baby just sat there, so I took the initiative and pulled her down flat on the bed, tickling her. She giggled and I swear that if it weren't for the fact that she'd inherited her Grandfather Jacob's eyes she could have been Sam's clone. Oh my god, I thought, Jacob was going to kill me, Selmak would probably want to get in on the action too, but it was still not going to be a pretty sight when we did meet up again. Jacob was going to love this little beauty, I knew that much, I sure did, so much so that I was having some trouble believing the giggling one and a half year old was really the one day old baby I conceived with Sam seven months ago.
"Daddy," She breathed between laughs. "hungry."
"Okay," I got up and, cradling Sunheko, gave her blonde hair a quick kiss for good measure. "Any idea where your Mommy went?" The head shaking showed her comprehension of the question, as well as her lack of knowledge on Sam's whereabouts.
I looked around for anyone else that just might happen to still be around, both Daniel and Teal'c were still in the exact same positions they were in when we went to bed earlier, must have been nice to be able to sleep through *anything*.
"Teal'c." I said, coming to the Jaffa's side, his eyes popped open.
"Yes O'Neill."
"You seen Carter?"
"No O'Neill, I have not, I have been occupied with the process of Kel-no-reem."
"Oh... sorry."
"From whence did you acquire a child O'Neill?"
"Teal'c, this is Sam and my daughter Sunheko." I grinned broadly. "The Asgard made her healthy."
"Hello Sunheko O'Neill, I am Teal'c."
"O'Neill? Carter and I haven't really talked about last names yet, or middle names for that matter. Hum... for now I guess she's just Sunheko, like Cher." Teal'c's look was blank, as was Sunny's. "The singer, not the Asgard." I added, still getting blank looks I moved on to more pressing matters. "You'd better get Daniel up, I'll find Sam. We've got some story to tell you guys." Sunny and I left Teal'c to his task of awakening Sleeping Beauty, and headed off in search of Sam. We got as far as my vest, before I realised it was alone, which to me meant Sam probably had hers on, which also seemed to mean that she must have her radio with her. Woohoo! Score loads of points for Jack.
"Carter, come in Sam."
"Yes Colonel?"
"Where are you?"
"With Lauprezin, she has said that they're willing to re-instate the treaty with Earth." Her voice changed to the familiar tone I had come to recognise as her talking to me, 'Jack' instead of her talking to me, her CO. "How's Sunheko?"
"She's great, says she's hungry, but she is awake and pretty much happy, what more could we ask for?"
"The Balteri have invited us to eat with them to finalise the re-instatement with the rest of our negotiating team, why don't you get her dressed and wake Teal'c and Daniel?" She was as good at giving orders as I was, probably better considering hers were most likely going to be followed.
"Yeah, okay, see ya in a few. Out."
"Oh, and Jack?" She waited for my response, which I gave. "Remember where the baby stuff was? That'd probably be a good place to go for supplies."
"Thanks." I love her, I really really love her.
"Hungry." Sunny said insistently, and yet again the fact that I had a child again, let alone that she was a year and a half old, astounded me.
"Sorry Honey, we're gonna go eat with some friends of ours. But first we've gotta find you something to wear." I sniffed at her, making her giggle. "And maybe a new diaper."
We hiked through the HRD, not bothering to inform Daniel or Teal'c where we were headed. I was just getting turned around... again and had no idea which direction their Baby Superstore or my team could be in when I was tapped on the shoulder.
"O'Neill."
"Ahhhh!" I turned around, and Thor was right behind me.
"I apologise O'Neill, but the Furlings have prepared a repulsive feast and are awaiting your arrival before they consume it."
"Tor!" Sunny exclaimed happily, I guess we'd been made aware of at least one more piece of knowledge they'd given our daughter.
"Hello." I swear that was a smile. "I trust you are well?"
"Yeah, she's great. Thank you." I was being honest there, and Thor knew it.
"May I assist you O'Neill?"
"Yes... please... we seem to have gotten turned around."
"This way." He didn't ask what we were looking for, but soon we were standing right in the middle of baby supply central.
"Thanks Buddy." I said as I managed to locate a package of Huggies in the myriad of items I was sure we'd be needing sooner or later. In record time, I had Sunny changed and out of her pink and green footie Pjs then, after locating a large wardrobe, I selected a pair of overalls and a t-shirt which she went into considerably easier than I expected from my memories of Charlie. Fully clothed, with shoes and all, I brushed through her short hair and made a surprisingly successful attempt at getting back to my team.
Leaving Sunheko and Jack our first morning after really becoming a 'family' wasn't something I was happy to do. But it was necessary for me to speak with Lauprezin and the fact that we were invited to dine with the Council was very important and welcome news.
I just hoped the four of us (well five if you count the one and a half year old that had unknowingly been the fifth to our negotiating team the entire time) could keep our thoughts happy enough, long enough to deal with the grief stricken telepaths. Out of their entire colony the 'Balteri' lost almost one fourth of their population.
Thor joined me while I waited for SG-1. We didn't speak... we just stared at one another, things had changed in my relationship with him too, it was almost as if I'd disappointed him as I surely had done Daniel, Teal'c, and General Hammond. Maybe that was our real crime, maybe we'd hurt more people without realising it, maybe they were all surprised Jack and I could do something like this... then again, maybe not. We never meant for things to end that way, for an entire civilisation to be nearly wiped out because of our own selfishness, but maybe that wasn't the end, maybe the meal with the Balteri and SG-1 would revive relations with not only the newly discovered Furlings but with our two friends on SG-1 as well.
When all things seemed dampened by one miserable day the man you love invariably comes around the corner with your beautiful daughter- it's cliché, but it was also my life. Sunheko was giggling at something Jack had said and even Teal'c and Daniel who flanked them on either side, had warm smiles on their faces.
The four jubilant (okay, Teal'c could just have been classified as 'happy') people reached me and immediately I found Sunheko had lunged into my arms; how she managed to do it from Jack's shoulders was beyond me. I hugged her small body tightly.
"How are you honey? Mommy missed you." Jack noticed my awkwardness at the self-appointed title, and pulled his arms around the two of us.
"You mentioned something about food?" He asked, the cue for me to lead them in to the freshly prepared Balteri... or was it Furling, food.
"Yes." I gave Sunheko a kiss and a smile before handing her back to Jack. "You're her father and I've got to play chief diplomat." I answered, before he could even comment.
Despite the fact that Sunheko represented everything the Bal... Furlings had lost, she was still the hit of the meal. I guess a smiling, innocent baby was just what everyone needed. Feeling a bit left out, but extremely happy things were going so well for us again, I just let myself eat and enjoy my friends' company.
"So... Sam, Jack, what are we going to do now?" Daniel asked as he suddenly got Sunny taken from him... again. "I never get her for very long." He pouted before turning his attention back to the two of us.
"I dunno Danny, we're taking the Balteri/Furlings, whatever, home right now and after that it's up to Thor."
"Are we planning on going home?"
"I hope so, after the Balteri are gone we'll be stuck with nothing but Asgard food."
"We're just worried they may not welcome us back with open arms." I added, remembering our somewhat desperate food situation.
"We preformed the necessary duties; we retrieved your child, destroyed yet another false god and were able to rectify the Balteri/Earth treaty, as O'Neill is so fond of saying- they owe it to us to allow us to return."
"We've done this too often, how many more times to you think they'll welcome us back with no consequences?"
"Where shall we reside then? We have nowhere to go." Teal'c brought up a valid point.
"I don't know." Jack answered honestly before Lauprezin joined us and we moved on to much more uplifting subjects (most of which pertained, to some degree, to our daughter).
"Sam," Jack called to me, from where he was playing with our daughter. "can we talk?"
"Sure."
Daniel quickly agreed to keep an eye on Sunheko and soon I found myself walking hand in hand with Jack towards the other side of the HRD.
"So..."
"So..."
"How are you handling all of this?"
"Things are just a little confusing right now. I mean, our daughter is a year and a half old, some of our best friends died last night, *and* we may never get to go home again."
"We'll work things out." He assured as we continued walking. "Are we okay?" He asked timidly, he had noticed my trepidation in getting close to him.
"Hum?" I played dumb.
"Come on, you've been avoiding me since we got here. What'd I do?"
"Nothing, you didn't do anything wrong. I just can't handle *you* right now."
"What's that supposed to mean?" We'd stopped walking in favour of facing one another and gesticulating emphatically.
"You scare me Jack, you're so 'intense' that I never know which rule we're going to break together next. It's not you're fault, and I think you're a great father for Sunheko, but I don't know if I want to be *us* anymore." His face looked like I'd just killed him. "I'm sorry." Fighting tears had never been that tough.
"What did I do to you? I love you Sam, you know that. You're all that matters to me anymore, you and Sunny."
"I've come to realise that the regulations are there for a reason; I mean, look at all the danger we've put our friends in and think about the entire society that was almost wiped out yesterday because of our actions. I can't be with you knowing that we might make the same mistakes all over again. I don't want to ruin anyone else's life because of my own selfish actions."
"Woah, I thought we settled this last night." I started walking again, needing an excuse not to look at the man I loved getting his heart broken... by me.
"Nothing was settled last night, only pushed back. If... When we get back to Earth we're going to be court marshalled and I can't go through that *with* you, once we get back there I don't want to see you anymore."
"You don't mean that."
"Yes I do." I kept walking and he kept following me all the way across the HRD.
"We can't do this to Sunny. She needs a family, parents who love each other."
"What if we don't love each other?"
"But we do!"
"We could change that, we could *not* love each other, we've done it before."
"What we used to do was not not love each other, that was just ignoring our feelings and as I recall that didn't last too long."
"Jack." I finally turned to him, hoping he could see the desperation on my face. "We can't let Sunheko see us go through all of this, especially now that she's so old."
"So what? We can't be together because our daughter *might* see us unhappy? Don't you think that maybe we'd be even more unhappy apart?"
"I don't know!" I looked into his eyes, my brave, uncaring front gone. "All I do know is that we can't go on like this. Think about it Jack, the Balteri entered our lives nine months ago and we subsequently began *this*, seven months ago I got pregnant... and since then our lives have been nothing but subterfuge, I can't go back to that."
"And you won't have to, with Sunny around I would never even ask you to, but that doesn't matter anyway, we told... well Daniel told Hammond before we left- even if we wanted to we couldn't go back to hiding it."
"I love you." It was out of my mouth before I could stop it. "You're impossible to fight with, ya know that? Even Maybourne's completely taken with you."
"Oh come on, why'd you have to go there?" He asked, taking me tightly into his arms as we both laughed, all the tension of the last few minutes and days seeming to evaporate in our mirth.
"You know it's the truth, why else would he be coming around so often to see you?"
"Carter, we're colleagues, in a very broad sense of the word, I'm an Air Force Colonel, he was an Air Force Colonel... of course now we've got even more in common considering we're both AWOL Air Force Colonels. Ya know, now I'm going to have to dwell on this whole Harry issue." He finished, kissing me quickly before sliding his arm around my waist and steering me back in the direction we were originally headed in. "So, we okay now?"
"Yeah, hopefully this is all from the stress of the last couple days. I can't believe I'm a 'Mommy' now, it's scary."
"Uh huh, but she's beautiful, looks just like you said she would."
"No she doesn't, I said she would have your eyes- her eyes are the exact same colour as my father's."
"Oh so you noticed that too did ya?"
"Other than that it's all how I expected, and yet completely different. I just didn't expect to miss her first words and steps and tooth... we're never going to be able to get her first year and a half of life back."
"No, but she's still got a lot of growing up to do yet, and believe me, teenage boys are not to be trusted, I was one once." I smiled, a whole future of imagined happenings flashing before my eyes as I though of Sunheko's future firsts, including the dreaded development of an interest in boys. "Besides, we'll be able to do everything right with the next one."
"Next one?"
"Yes next one, I fully intend on asking you to marry me once we get back to Earth, but at least try and act surprised when it comes." Dumbfounded, I went back to my daydream of our future perfect life... 'next one' included.