Part 5: Love That Can Not Exist

"Unauthorized off-world activation."

Sgt. Davis announced through the intercom.

"Do we have a team due back, Sgt.?" General Hammond had just walked inside the gateroom.

"No, Sir." Davids replied.

"Receiving an IDC ... it's the Abydosian Sir."

"Open the iris."

Dozens of SF were ready to greet whoever came through the gate down the ramp when two familiar figures walked out from the blue shimmering puddle.

"Stand down." The General ordered, he then quickly ran down to the gateroom.

"Dr. Jackson, Teal'c, what happened? Where's Major Carter?"

Daniel looked pale, it was Teal'c who answered, "General Hammond, the Cayans have taken Major Carter as a prisoner. We have to go back to P9Y T81 and liberate her."

Hammond didn't like the sound of that, he barked some orders, "I need to hear the whole story. We'll debrief immediately. Someone get a MALP and SG-3 ready for a rescue operation."

*******************************************

There are 3 people in the room. Well ... it's 4 if you count me. Servit is one of them, I guess they are the Grands.

"Major Carter, we are sorry for this inconvenience." Servit breaks the silence between us.

Inconvenience? They call this an inconvenience?

"Please don't be angry." One of the other Grands says.

I look at them, "Who are you? And what do you want with me?"

"My name is Hunsa, I am the leader of the Grands. And this is Ba'ek, one of the Grands and of course you already know Servit."

Oh great, a bunch of mind readers.

"What do you want?" My diplomatic mood is definitely on a switch-off mode.

Servit walks towards me, "We need your help."

"You have a funny way to show it."

"Please." She pleades, "listen to what we have to say first."

I sigh, I guess I don't really have much of a choice, do I? I just hope that Daniel and Teal'c are alright.

"Don't worry, your friends are unharmed. We let them go through the Great Ring."

I really have to get used to the fact that they can read my mind.

"Okay, what do you want?"

Hunsa, the leader, approaches me. He raises his hand, I can see that he has something that suspiciously looks like the ribbon device. Instinctively, I step back, "That is a Goa'uld ribbon device, isn't it?" I ask warily.

"No, this is Abel's stone. Please relax and look at the stone." He answers.

"Why would I do that?"

Servit is the one who answers, "Please just do as he says. After that, we will tell you everything."

These people are weird, but they did say that they need my help, I guess the stone won't be dangerous.

I take a step forward and stare at the stone ...

And I wait ... it's supposed to do something.

I wait ...

Nothing.

And wait ...

Still staring at the stupid stone ...

It's quite a beautiful stone actually, it has a color like I've never seen before. Mixture between green and blue, wonder what it's made of, maybe a cross between sapphire and ...

"Carter."

That voice, I know that voice anywhere. I turn my head and gasp at the figure in front of me.

"Sir ..."

I am totally shocked, why is he here? He's wearing jeans, white T-shirt and the black leather jacket that he loves so much. What's going on here?

"How ..."

Before I could say anything else, he launches himself towards me and holds me close, one of his hands is on my back while the other runs through my hair. Sensation rushes through my system, shutting down my senses, all I can feel is him.

"I'm tired, Carter." He whispers in my ear.

I'm confused, "Of what, Sir?"

"Of dreaming."

"Dreaming?"

"Yes ... dreaming about the love that can not exist."

Did he just say that? I don't believe this, I pull out from his embrace, "It DOES exist Sir, we just can't act upon it."

His eyes look straight into mine, "Don't kid yourself Carter, our love is only a dream ... and when you dream you will miss what's in front of you."

Okaaay, this is strange. He looks like the Colonel, smells likes the Colonel, sounds likes the Colonel, warm like the Colonel, Hell, even his eyes are the Colonel's eyes, but he doesn't speak like him.

"Who are you?" I distance myself from him.

There's pain in his eyes when I ask the question.

"It's me, Carter."

I shake my head, "I don't believe you. The Colonel would never say something like that."

"I might never of said something like that, but it doesn't mean that I don't think about it."

That's true and it hurts. It really does hurt.

"What do you want then?" I ask him the question that I don't want to know the answer to. I can feel moisture in my eyes.

He reaches towards me and once again pulls me into his embrace, "I want you to give us a chance."

"I do give us a chance Sir."

He puts a hand on my chin and lifts up my head so that our gazes meet.

"I want you to give us a chance ... now."

He's asking the impossible, "We both agreed that now is not a good time."

"Now is perfect, Carter. Trust me."

I can feel teardrops fall from my eyes, "I can't."

He is wounded by my words, and he is choked when he asks me, "Why?"

"Because no matter how much I want to say yes ... "

I knew it from the moment I saw him in this room ... I knew it, but it still hurts.

"... you're just a figment of my imagination."

*******************************************

"She is strong."

"She resists her own desire."

"Maybe we should try again tomorrow."

"Yes."

"We should perform the 'Havus' immediately."

"I do not want to do that."

"This is our continuity we're talking about."

"We cannot do it without you."

"When is the next attack schedule?"

"In about 56 planet cycles."

"We have to act quickly."

*******************************************

"... we were escorted to the gate while they took Major Carter elsewhere. They had confiscated our weapons and IDC, that was why we gate to Abydos instead of Earth." Teal'c explained the situation to the General.

"There were just too many of them General, we were taken by surprise." Daniel added.

"Do you have any idea why they took Major Carter?"

"I don't know Sir."

"I also do not know the reason why, General Hammond. But I do know this for certain, we must return.."

The General sighed, "I know this too Teal'c. But we cannot form a wormhole to P9Y T81, it seems like the Cayans have buried their gate. Right now, we're trying to contact the Tok'ra and the Asgard for their help."

The two SG-1 members looked at each other. It was Daniel who spoke, "General, you might want to inform someone else ..."

"Who?"

"Jack."

*******************************************

Harry Maybourne had been waiting for almost an hour now when Larry finally decided to show up.

"Gin and tonic, please." Larry said to the bartender. The man behind the bar just nodded at his request.

"You're Larry?" Maybourne greeted him.

"I take it that you are Harry Maybourne?" he offers his hand and Maybourne took it.

"The one and only." Maybourne grinned.

The bartender came by and gave Larry his drink.

"So ... how did you manage to contact me?" Larry asked after the bartender had gone.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that I know where you can find O'Neill."

Larry's eyes widened, "You do?"

"Yes."

"Oh wow. I've been looking for him for more than a week now. He's a hard man to find."

"I know. That's why this information comes with a heavy price."

Larry considered this for a while, "So ... what do you want in exchange for this information?"

"I want whatever you got on Kinsey."

Larry let out a whistle, "That is quite an expensive price you're asking for."

"This is not cheap information by any means."

"I need to think about it first."

"Don't think too long, this is a one-time offer. After I walk out of this bar, it will expire."

Maybourne ordered another drink and told Larry, "This is my last glass for tonight."

Larry thought about this, "What are you going to do with the payment?"

"Nothing much, I'm just going to use it as my insurance. Kinsey and I go way back, I know what he's capable of doing. You can look at it as a security blanket."

Larry laughed, "You're right. Okay, we have a deal."

Maybourne looked at him and gulped his drink in one go, "Good, you have 24 hours, bring the payment here." He slid up a napkin under his now empty glass. With that, Maybourne stood and left the bar.

Larry took the napkin and looked at the address there. This was his reward, for being patient. And all he had to pay was just a small price, Kinsey meant nothing to him. Finally he could finish what he had started.

to be continued

AN: Sorry, it took me long to post this one, but the good news is that Part 6 is done and being beta-read.

blue-topaz@lycos.com