Camp Go'auld

Part twelve

Jonas and Kerry were together in the control room watching the teams return. They had been there when Sam came through with the injured Lieutenant Lewis, speaking briefly to General Hammond before returning to the planet with another two teams. Hammond had told them what had happened and the two of them had returned to the control room as soon as the gate activation alarm sounded.

Jonas, one hand on Kerry's shoulder, grimaced as two men came through on stretchers and were whisked off to the infirmary, followed by another three men, barely standing and supported by fellow officers before they too were spirited away by the medics. Then there was a pause before Colonel O'Neill walked through and signalled for the 'gate to be shut down.

Kerry turned to Jonas, her face as white as a sheet. 'Where are the others?' There was a note of panic in her voice.

'I guess they didn't make it,' Jonas said gently, his hand rubbing her shoulder soothingly.

Kerry shrugged his hand off before saying quietly, 'Five men.'

'Sorry?' Jonas didn't understand.

'Five men didn't come back, five men died,' Kerry explained as she backed further away from him, her voice shaking. 'And it's all my fault. If I hadn't told you about…about that place they would never have sent anyone and they'd still be alive. I…I have to get out of here…' With that, she turned and bolted for the exit, running straight into Jack on his way up.

'What's going on?' Jack asked, as he held on to Kerry, looking down at her as she struggled to free herself.

'I have to get out of here,' Kerry repeated herself, an overwhelming feeling of panic taking hold of her.

'Jonas?' Jack turned to Jonas for more information.

'Kerry is blaming herself for the men who died on the mission,' Jonas advised Jack. As Jonas moved towards him, Jack could feel Kerry cringing away and he tilted her face up, her eyes darting everywhere to avoid looking directly at him.

'Kerry, this is not your fault,' Jack told her firmly. 'Yes, some good men died, men who would not have died if you hadn't given us the information about the planet.' Jack's bluntness caught her attention and her eyes at last focussed on him as he continued speaking. 'If they hadn't died today, they would most likely have died next week, or next month or whenever Anubis had his weapon ready to use, and along with them we would have lost a lot more good men from the SGC, and if Anubis had succeeded in breaching our defences, a lot more innocent people would have died.'

Kerry glanced away, a thoughtful expression on her face until she looked at Jack again. 'I guess I hadn't thought of it like that,' she said softly, her voice still shaking. 'I…it's still hard to think about them…dying like that…'

Jack squeezed her shoulder as he continued speaking. 'It never gets easy. But that's what keeps us human, stops us from becoming like the goa'uld who only want to conquer all they come across. You learn to deal with it, but it never gets easy.' He fell silent for a moment, then said, 'You going to be ok?' He looked at Kerry and saw her nod, a glimmer of hope coming back into her eyes. 'Good. In that case, I'm going to take a shower. Looks like the both of you could do with some sleep. Go. Now.' Jack watched them go, a smile on his face, before heading off to the shower.

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

Kerry dismissed the last class of the day and began cleaning the whiteboard she had been using to demonstrate the differences between symbols used by the Egyptians during various eras when she was startled by a hand on her shoulder. Whirling around, she came face to face with Jonas, Sam standing behind him.

'What is it this time?' She asked, her voice sounding resigned, belying the feeling of excitement that she felt. 'This is the third visit this month you know.'

'We've managed to get our hands on some tablets which used to belong to an acquaintance of ours,' Sam said cautiously, not wanting to give too much away. 'There's a lot going on at the moment and we're having trouble translating them.'

'What about Jonas? I thought he'd got all this translation stuff licked?'

'I can probably make something of it - eventually,' Jonas explained, 'But we need the information quickly and you're a natural with the language.'

'Daniel Jackson was the only other person I've met who had the ability to focus on a language and be able to interpret it almost instantly while accounting for the variations of time and distance,' Sam added. 'We need this information quickly and accurately.'

'That's all very well,' Kerry protested, 'But the head of languages here isn't too happy about all the time I've taken off recently. I don't think he's going to be too happy if I disappear again.'

'I'll go and have a word with him, I'm sure I can sort something out for you,' Sam said as she headed for the door.

As soon as they were alone, Jonas moved closer to Kerry and put his arms around Kerry's neck, touching her forehead with his own.

'You're up to something aren't you?' Jonas asked, his voice full of suspicion.

'Here,' Kerry turned away from him reluctantly and handed him a piece of paper which he quickly read.

'What...?'

'Professor Carling was getting fed up with me not being around,' Kerry explained, 'He's also always been really good to me, said something about being worth my weight in gold or something,' she mumbled that last bit, looking a little embarrassed. 'Anyway, he managed to pull a few strings for me and I start at the University of Colorado Springs next semester.' Kerry looked anxiously at Jonas, waiting for his response.

'Why did you tell Major Carter that he was giving you a hard time then?'

'I wanted to tell you first when we were alone,' Kerry smiled slyly, mirrored by a smile from Jonas who put his arms back around her neck, capturing her lips with his own. 'Besides, it means you don't have to keep finding excuses to come up here anymore.' She returned Jonas's kiss and time seemed to stand still until a cough returned them to the present.

'So this is why you always have to come on these little trips?' Sam asked, amusement in her eyes as she returned to impart the information she had just received, realising that Jonas was way ahead of her.

'Major Carter!' Jonas exclaimed as he pulled away slightly but kept an arm wrapped around Kerry's waist.

'Well, it looks like congratulations are in order - if you two can bear to drag yourselves away, how about we go find a drink?' Sam smiled, leading the way from the classroom, allowing Jonas and Kerry a brief moment of privacy before following her.

THE END

Hope you enjoyed it - feedback is always appreciated.

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-1 Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.