.
"OK, here's what we're going to do. I have to orchestrate the cleanup and debriefings for the events of the past week. How about if you and Teal'c go and figure out what happened to Carter? Drive over to her house and see if she's there," he directed. "And when you track her down, tell her to get her butt back here ASAP." He couched it all in gruff, sarcastic terms, but Daniel and Teal'c knew that he was very worried.
====o0o==== End Part 1 ====o0o====
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PART 2: SG-8 and SG-14
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Daniel and Teal'c drove out to her house and received no answer to their knocks. Daniel then pulled out the spare key that he had for her house and he and Teal'c went inside to see if they could figure out what was going on or where she was. Inside they found nothing to indicate that anyone had been home in many, many days. It seemed likely that Sam had not been home all week. Discouraged, they drove back to the SGC.
Back at the SGC, General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill were discovering that the events of the past week were not going to be easily deciphered. Too many things had overlapped and/or occurred simultaneously. The attacks on their allies of P9X-385, the influx of refugees from P5X-376, the Tokra and Tollan calling with their own emergencies and the impromptu allied missions against the Go'a'uld on 3 different worlds, combined with at least 5 rescue missions on different planets.
Hammond sighed…Carter could have gone to assist with any of them. So much had been going on simultaneously…Hammond knew that standard protocols had been lost for the sake of expediency – and in the hopes of saving lives.
Ultimately, the General realized that the standard approach of debriefings and waiting for the information to assemble itself was not going to work for this mess. Hammond assembled a team of technicians, gateroom personnel and SGC COs that were available.
"Folks, we need to reconstruct the past week. We ran at such a high speed, …at such a frantic pace, that we now have some major work to just figure out what we all did. I need you to construct a timeline of events on this board," and Hammond gestured to a large whiteboard that stood on one side of the room. Already drawn on the board was a long, horizontal line that ran the length of the board. Hour and day markers were measured along the length of the line.
"You need to assemble all of the events, comings and goings of SGC personnel through the gate, departure and arrivals of SGC missions and teams, arrivals and departures of the refugees, the Tokra, the Tollan – and anyone else who came or went through that gate over the past week." Hammond watched their faces as they realized the enormity of the task. During normal times, this was all recorded calmly and sequentially by clerks and technicians. The past week, however, had not been normal.
"Folks, right now, we don't even know who didn't make it back. We….we've lost a few people, and we don't know if they are truly lost, or if they died in the pursuit of their duty," he continued solemnly and then he saw Doctor Jackson and Teal'c enter the back of the room quietly. Jackson gave him a slight shake of his head to let him know that they had not found her at home.
"As you all know, Major Carter is a member of SG-1. What you may not know is that Major Carter is one of those who is missing right now. While Colonel O'Neill will be overseeing this overall project, Doctor Jackson and Teal'c," and the General gestured at the two men at the back of the room, "will be around to collect information from each of you to see if we can figure out where she is now."
Colonel O'Neill then broke them into smaller groups with specific tasks. One group was tasked to acquire all gateroom tapes for the past week and to start speed-scanning them for arrivals and departures – noting who came and went at what times. A group of computer technicians were tasked with going through the computer logs for gate addresses dialed and connected to over the past week. A third group was tasked with assembling equipment/armory logs of materials checked out and checked back in. A fourth group was tasked with going through and assembling the infirmary records and timeline. Another group was tasked with unraveling the timeline of events at the Beta Site – and to get the logs and any videos available at any of the Beta Site buildings. Several teams of personnel were assembled to interview SGC personnel – those who had gone on missions and those who had stayed behind and supported in the gateroom, the control room, etc. O'Neill got them all started and then went to find the group that was reviewing the gateroom tapes. He wanted to see where Carter went after talking to those 2 gate technicians….!
==================
Thirty minutes later, there it was.
The whole tableau laid out on the screen just as he and Danny and Teal'c had remembered it.
SG-1 exited through the gate. Carter and Teal'c lagged behind near the top of the ramp while he had gone directly to the waiting General and other officers at the bottom of the ramp. Daniel followed behind him at a slightly slower pace.
Jack watched as Teal'c helped Carter with her pack and then the 2 technicians came over and she stepped to the side to look at the clipboard that they were waving in front of her as they talked rapidly. Teal'c spoke with her briefly and Jack could see that she reassured the Jaffa of something and waved for him to go. He nodded respectfully and then Teal'c's attention was diverted as Daniel hailed him from the bottom of the ramp where there were personnel waiting to take them through the post-mission routine. Teal'c took one more look at her and then headed down the ramp to follow Daniel. Jack also saw himself, the General and other ranking officers were exiting the gateroom slightly ahead of Teal'c and Daniel.
Back at the top of the ramp, Carter finished consulting with the two technicians and they scurried down the ramp to do whatever techie-things delighted them. She then scanned the gateroom, noting that the rest of her team had left and then looked down at her pack and rifle. Looking at her face, Jack could now see what he didn't see earlier. Now she looked tired - and sick. Now that she didn't have to hold it in or hide it anymore, he could see some of what had happened.
She leaned against the railing and he could see her take a long slow breath and she took a moment to look back at the Stargate. As she turned to look at the gate, he couldn't help but look at the portion of her back that turned towards the camera. She was wearing her jacket, so the cuts and bruises would not be visible, but he couldn't help looking anyway. He could, however, see several dark stains on the back of her jacket. Blood that had soaked through, no doubt. Aaaaggghh! How had this happened? The infirmary -had- to have some kind of record of this. She must have had it treated.
Next, he saw her reach down, slowly, and pick up her pack and rifle. She actually looked like she'd rather just kick it down the ramp or leave it there… but she picked it up and slowly walked down the ramp.
When she reached the bottom of the ramp, SG-8 came flying in the door. He could see the Stargate spinning up as Carter spoke to Colonel O'Keefe, the CO of SG-8. Behind them, the young Captain of SG-8 vomited and then collapsed on the gateroom floor. Teammates of the stricken member knelt by his side. Meanwhile, the gate flushed sideways as the wormhole was established and the blue watery effect created a backdrop for the tableau of SGC personnel.
Carter and O'Keefe were watching the stricken member as he was tended to by his teammates. They pulled his pack and rifle off and straightened him out. Jack could see that the young man was still conscious, although obviously in great distress. O'Keefe began talking quickly to Carter and when she responded it was obvious that she was disagreeing with whatever he was saying.
Jack could see O'Keefe's frustration at Carter's responses and then he had no problem deciphering the man's demeanor. He turned on the 'I am your superior officer and I am giving you an order, Major!'
Carter tried another response that was met by another sharp reply, and then O'Keefe signaled for her and the rest of his team to follow him. O'Keefe turned and headed up the ramp with the other 2 able-bodied members of his team, while she stood there with a look of disbelief on her face as medics were tending to the stricken man at her feet.
As O'Keefe reached the top of the ramp, he sent one more command in the Major's direction and then headed into the wormhole with his teammates right behind him. Carter shook her head and then moved smartly up the ramp getting her pack into position as she went and then quickly stepped through the gate.
==========================
Jack froze the tape with Carter half-though and he leaned back in his chair and thought back to the moments right after he'd left the gateroom with the General and the other officers. He'd had to leave the group for a few minutes while he took his weapons and equipment to the armory. While turning his equipment in, O'Keefe and his men had been there checking theirs out.
"Hey there O'Neill, how did it go? Another SG-1 miracle survival? Oh, wait, there's no blood on you…you're walking upright…and all of your clothes are still intact….wow, did you actually forget to go offworld?" O'Keefe had ribbed him, and his teammates were smiling with the enjoyment of watching their Colonel rib the famous Colonel O'Neill.
Jack responded as he always would, "Just another mission… you know, we came, we met the natives, they ran us through some tests, we impressed them, we made lasting peace between our peoples. All in all a milk run… no stress, no muss, no fuss. At least until they send you over there to screw it up O'Keefe!" he finished with a smirk.
O'Keefe shook his head and gave Jack a look that he wasn't buying the 'saved the world again' line.
"Where are you headed off to O'Keefe?" he inquired as they checked in the armament that he had carried in his vest.
"Rescue mission – SG-14 got itself into a spot of trouble and we're headed out to bring them back. At least one of them is hurt apparently, so we'll be carrying at least one of them back out. We're double-timing it to see if we can get to them and get back while it's still light on that planet. So, O'Neill, as great as it is to chat with you, we're outta here. See you in a day or two. Don't strain yourself getting too much sleep while we are out humping the miles for your brethren." And with that, O'Keefe and his men had finished checking over their weapons and he watched them hotfoot it to the gateroom.
Jack had then made his way quickly to the briefing room where the General and other officers were quickly trying to come up with solutions for the sudden influx of refugees that might be coming through any minute, along with deciding if the SGC was going to try and take advantage of some sudden opportunities to put some major hurt on several Go'a'uld.
Looking back at the image of Carter frozen in mid-motion as she stepped through the gate, Jack spoke to the screen, "Well, now we know where you went next. What happened after you got there?"
.
There was no answer from the quiet, frozen image.
.
==========================
Daniel and Teal'c tracked Jack down in the main briefing room.
"Jack, there is no evidence that she ever made it to the infirmary," Daniel reported in a low tone.
"I know Daniel," he surprised them. "I got to see the gateroom tapes and it looks like O'Keefe drafted her on the spot to assist SG-8 with a hurry-up rescue mission. One of their men got sick right on the departure ramp… and Carter hadn't gotten out of the gateroom yet."
"But, Jack," Daniel returned, "She was injured, there's no way she should have gone back out!"
"Yeah, I agree, Daniel, but no one knew, remember? I watched the tape and it looks like it all happened so fast, that Carter wasn't given time to properly explain and they didn't have time to hunt down someone else for a replacement. She could have flatly refused, or just not followed them, but she's not built that way, you know? Her own sense of responsibility and duty wouldn't let her walk away, not from a direct order, nor from the possibility that she could help with a rescue that she'd been ordered to assist with." Jack explained it to Daniel, although he knew that Daniel would always have trouble accepting the military mindset.
"We need to track down O'Keefe and the rest of SG-8 and find out what happened on their mission and when they last saw Carter," Jack continued.
Daniel didn't say anything and Teal'c nodded his head in acknowledgement.
==========================
An hour later and O'Keefe was on his way to meet with O'Neill.
Daniel and Teal'c were speaking with the other members of SG-8.
"Jack, how's the administrative side working out for you?" O'Keefe started off.
"Peachy, Peter, just Peachy." he replied.
"So, I guess you want to talk about Major Carter, right?" O'Keefe ventured.
"You got that right. We know that she left with you on the rescue mission for SG-14. What happened?" he asked.
"Jack, I want to assure you that Carter was OK when I last saw her…oh, I guess it would be 5 or 6 days ago or so, now. She completed the mission with us, we gated to the Beta Site and that was the last time that I saw her," O'Keefe stated apologetically.
O'Neill turned to the Corporal who was taking notes, "Corporal, find the folks who are working on the Beta Site records. Have them check all gate transits, infirmary records, etc., for any indications of Major Carter's movements 5-6 days ago."
"Yes, sir," the Corporal replied and exited quickly.
"Allright, Peter, how about if you take me through how Carter ended up with you and SG-8 and then take me through the basics of the rescue mission," O'Neill directed.
"Sure, Jack," O'Keefe responded. "Right after speaking with you at the armory, we get to the gateroom and Captain Henderson collapses from some sort of acute intestinal distress. Vomited all over the floor and his face was flushed, clammy and red. Kid looked like he wanted to die right there. Turns out he had some kind of bowel obstruction – they actually had to operate later that day – but we didn't learn all of that until we got back from the mission."
"With Henderson down, and Carter standing on the ramp with a full kit… and you had just said that your mission had been a milk run, so I told her to join up with us to replace Henderson for the rescue mission. I have to say, Jack, I was pretty surprised when she didn't jump right in to help. She actually told me that she had been injured on your last mission and that she really should speak with you before joining us." O'Keefe was shaking his head in disappointment.
"I have to admit it, I was not expecting that reply. You know, Jack…I didn't think that you would tolerate that kind of attitude from one of your officers. I don't know how you've handled trying to lead two scientists and one alien Jaffa." O'Keefe waited for some feedback.
Jack was quiet for a moment and he nodded his head in acknowledgement of O'Keefe's perceptions. "First, Major Carter is one of the finest officers that I have ever served with – in fact, she is the best 2IC that I've ever had. Normally, I think you would have had trouble -keeping- her from going with you….but, she -was- injured…"
"But, you…," O'Keefe reacted quickly.
"Yeah, I know what I said. The problem was that I didn't know that Carter was injured. You know - 'stiff upper lip' and all that crap," he paused. "Here, I'll let you read Teal'c's account of what happened," and he passed the papers across the table and leaned back to wait a few minutes while O'Keefe digested the report.
A few minutes later and O'Keefe looked up apologetically. "Jesus, Jack, I had no idea. I…she said…., Jack, I screwed up – she told me something was wrong, and I didn't listen. Jack, I…I got a bit angry and dictatorial after that. I told her to come-with, period."
"Yeah, I figured, Pete, it's all on the video tape. And, we can see Carter following your team," he gestured to the screen with the frozen image of her going through the event horizon. "So, what happened next? How did the mission go?"
"We…,"and O'Keefe looked down at the pages of Teal'c's report and blanched, "we had to hike for several hours to reach SG-14's position. One of them was there to meet us at the gate and to lead us back to their injured teammates," and O'Keefe paused and took a breath and let it out. "It was a miserable hike, Jack… around 3 miles, uphill, cross-country, no trail, and it started raining and it came down in buckets. Because the clouds were cutting down on the light, we knew it was going to get dark earlier than we'd anticipated, so we double-timed up the mountain…" O'Keefe was looking pretty sick now as he realized that Carter had hiked all of that without any complaints, or without holding the group back.
Jack wanted to sympathize with him…hell, Jack hadn't known she was injured either….but he also wanted to reach across the table and put a fist in O'Keefe's face for making her go on the mission at all. Gruffly, he asked, "Ok, so what happened next?"
"SG-14 had been caught in a rockslide. One of them was hanging on a ledge partway down the cliff and the other was another 50 feet or further down. We had to rig up some belays and send people down to them to set up the rescue baskets and to get them into them. It took us about 3 hours in the driving rain, but we got them up," O'Keefe related. "Jack, Carter never complained – not once. She held belays just like everyone else – with the ropes feeding around… her back..."
Jack just nodded. "Pete, I know what kind of soldier she is," he said quietly and signaled for him to continue.
"Next, we had to get them all back to the gate. We didn't beat nightfall. The first half of the hike out was in dwindling light and the last half was in pitch black. The rain never let up. The two who had slid down the cliff with the rockfall were in bad shape. One of them had a broken leg and a concussion. The other had broken ribs, a broken ankle and a broken arm. They were also hypothermic and in the first stages of shock. The two ambulatory members of SG-14 were also injured, although they could walk. That left the four of us – SG-8 and Major Carter – to carry the rescue baskets for the 2 members of SG-14 who could not walk."
"When we got to the gate, we tried dialing Earth, but after several failed attempts at connection, Carter recommended that we try the Beta Site. We connected with them immediately and we took SG-14 to their infirmary. They brought us up to speed on what they knew of what was happening here on Earth and why we probably couldn't get through."
O'Keefe paused and took another slow breath and then looked at the image of Carter frozen on the screen. "I'm sorry, Jack. After we dropped the injured members of SG-14 in the Beta Site infirmary, it didn't occur to me to wonder where Carter went. I just figured that she was off getting some sleep, or off working on the gate, or some such. I don't remember seeing her again."
Just then, there was a knock on the door and Daniel popped his head in. "Hi, Jack, we're finished downstairs, want us to come back later?"
"No, it's allright, Daniel, Teal'c, come on in," he replied and waved them towards some empty chairs.
"What did you find out?" he asked them.
"Well, it looks like no one caught onto Sam's injuries. She didn't say anything to anyone once they arrived on the planet," Daniel related and Teal'c nodded in agreement.
And then there were a few more knocks on the door and the Corporal had returned. "Sir, here are some gate and infirmary records from the Beta Site from the time frame that you requested. And, sir, Major Carter is mentioned. The Beta Site task group then scanned the infirmary video records for the narrowed-down time frame. These 3 tapes are what they think you might want to see," he finished while handing O'Neill a stack of papers, folders and video tapes.
"Allright, let's take a look at the tapes first," Jack suggested, and he stopped the other tape and ejected it and then inserted the first of the 3 tapes that the Corporal had brought.
This tape showed the arrival of SG-8 and Carter as they helped carry the injured members of SG-14 into the Beta Site infirmary. As medical personnel swarmed over and around the injured SGC team, SG-8 and Carter moved out of the way.
Jack inspected her appearance. She was soaking wet and bedraggled…but so were the members of SG-8. The stains on her jacket no longer stood out on the wet, dark material.
After another few minutes, a couple of nurses were seen shooing SG-8 and Carter out of the infirmary. "At this point," O'Keefe narrated, "we were asked to leave so that they could get their work done. Same old, same old, from the nurses and docs. We headed off to get some sleep and some chow and some dry clothes. At least, SG-8 did…"
The Corporal fast forwarded the tape, "This is about 20 minutes later, sirs."
She could be seen re-entering the infirmary. She stood quietly to the side as the medical personnel continued to work on SG-14's injuries. After a few minutes, she silently moved around to the back of the infirmary and sat down on a free cot at the end of a row. Out of the way, she sat for a few minutes longer, watching the doctors and nurses as they moved from patient to patient. She then shook her head as if to clear it a bit and then she laid face down and appeared to go to sleep.
"She apparently slept undisturbed for an hour or so," the Corporal fast forwarded over the next hour of tape and then he stopped the tape and they could see a nurse approaching Carter's cot. "One of the nurses apparently noticed the Major after they had finished up dealing with most of the injuries from SG-14. At first, it looks like the nurse is just going to let the Major get some sleep, but then she seems to decide to speak to the Major." The nurse approached Carter's sleeping form and gently shook her shoulder. When she did not respond, the nurse shook her again, and the video showed that the nurse was also trying to speak to her. After getting no response, the nurse put her fingers on the Major's neck to check her pulse, and then she quickly departed and returned seconds later with a doctor and another nurse.
After quickly confirming the Major's non-responsiveness, they began assessing her condition and it was obvious when they discovered the injuries to her back because the flurry of movements and medical personnel entering and leaving the frame became difficult to follow. A privacy screen was pulled around her cot and the only visible movement was when someone entered or left the area.
"Sir, these folders include the doctor's charts and records of the Major's injuries and the treatment. And, sir…," the Corporal continued, "sir…there are photos….," he finished apologetically.
Photos. Jack knew he didn't really want to see them, but he knew that he had to read the report and he had to know the extent of her injuries. Pulling open the folder with Carter's name on it, the photos slid down and almost out onto the table. Holding his breath, he brought the pictures up and straightened them out.
At first, he couldn't even figure out quite what he was looking at – and, then he saw it. Her back was a morass of welts, bruises and bloody cuts with frayed black T-shirt fabric collaged over it all. If anything it was worse than he had thought. The cuts were red, inflamed and infected. He couldn't imagine how they would get all that T-shirt fabric out of the wounds.
As there were several photos, he flipped through the rest. The last 2 photos showed the wounds after they had been cleaned. Her back looked a lot better without the black mashed T-shirt smeared into the wounds, but now her back was a clear expanse of red, angry cuts and stitches - with purple, yellow and green mottling of overlapping bruises. His stomach turned over as he thought of the pain that she had gone through over that 24 hours or so.
"Jack….?" Daniel asked quietly.
He turned his eyes of pain to Daniel and Teal'c, "I don't think that you want to see this Daniel."
"Jack, we are a team. I know that you are sitting there blaming yourself for what happened, but we all feel responsible. And we have to know. I have to know," Daniel stated firmly.
Reluctantly, O'Neill handed the photos over to Daniel and watched as Daniel's face paled to a dangerous shade of white. Even Teal'c looked greatly disturbed – and he had seen her injuries while in the temple.
"Oh, Shit!" O'Keefe blurted out and the man looked devastated.
Daniel handed the photos back to Jack and shakily got up and left the room.
Probably to throw up, thought Jack.
"Yeah, shit is right, O'Keefe," he muttered. Jack made himself focus on the doctor's chart and written comments. "It says here that they put in 37 stitches and put her on morphine and antibiotics. They planned to keep her sedated for a day or two and then ship her back to the SGC where the doctor's prognosis was that she should stay in the infirmary for several days and then probably be able to outpatient the rest of her treatment and recovery."
"They changed the dressings and bandages on her back and re-inspected the wounds after approximately 24 hours," he muttered as he scanned through the patient chart. "They continued the antibiotics and some pain meds…," he recognized the names of the medications from many of his infirmary visits.
"However, there is another notation at the end here that states that 8 hours after they changed her bandages, Carter was gone and none of the medical personnel saw her leave, nor do they know where she went or why," his voice continued in disbelief.
"Sir, we have more on another tape…that may help explain what happened next." The Corporal ejected the tape that they were watching and put in the next one that he had brought. Fast-forwarding, he stopped and the video showed a Carter who appeared to be at least semi-awake. A young Captain was seen entering the infirmary. The Captain was obviously surprised and excited to see Major Carter. After talking briefly to her, the Captain hurried out and returned a few minutes later with what looked like a bundle of clothes and handed them to her. The Captain then left and she sat up slowly and then simply sat there for a few minutes in the dim lighting of the nighttime infirmary. She then pulled the privacy screen back around and a few minutes later reappeared in the fresh set of clothes.
She examined the small table near her cot and took a few bottles and dropped them into her shirt pocket. Next, she appeared to be looking around, and then she picked up a piece of paper and a pen. After writing something, she placed the note in the middle of her cot, took one last look around, and then exited the infirmary.
"Where is she going??!" Jack barked at the screen. "What the hell do they want with her now?"
"I hope that those were antibiotics and painkillers that she took with her," O'Keefe added, "She looked like the walking…," and then he trailed off as he realized that he should shut his mouth.
O'Neill turned back to the corporal, "So, what is the next tape for? She didn't come back, did she?" he said it half-hopefully, but he already knew the answer.
"No, sir, she didn't return to the infirmary – and the Beta Site gate logs show that she left with a group of SGC and Tokra personnel to a Tokra world," the Corporal responded. "The third tape shows what happened to the note that she wrote, sir."
"Son, how about you just tell me what it shows?" he didn't want to waste his time scanning tape that didn't help him figure out what had happened to Carter.
"Yes, sir. Shortly after Major Carter left the infirmary, SG-4 and SG-11 came in with some refugees and the infirmary was swamped. Several of the refugees sat on the Major's cot and no one noticed the note. We think that it was scooped up when the bedding was changed," the Corporal summarized.
"Thank you, Corporal. I'd like you to now scope out the various task forces that we have working and see if any of them have any information regarding this mission that left from the Beta Site to this Tokra world," O'Neill directed the young soldier.
"Yes, sir," the Corporal replied as he saluted again and left.
Silence descended on the room.
O'Neill's gaze traveled from the gruesome photographs to the video that was frozen as Carter exited the infirmary doors.
"O'Neill, I believe that MajorCarter was talking to herself as she left the medical bay," Teal'c's even tones broke the quiet.
"Yeah, and I can think of at least three things that she was muttering or cursing," Jack said in a very low, dispirited voice and he closed his eyes as it all sunk in.
They still didn't know where she was or what had happened to her.
How much more could there be?, he wondered.
He wanted to scream at someone.
He wanted to scream at her – she shouldn't have let this happen.
He shouldn't have let this happen.
And there was no one at whom he could vent his anger and frustration.
==========================
A few hours later and Jack was assessing the timeline that was being assembled on the whiteboard in the briefing room. Arrival of the offworld representatives while SG-1 was on their mission was the first event listed. Next, was the return of SG-1 and then the departure of SG-8's rescue mission with Major Carter along. The arrival of refugees and the arrival and departure of Tokra and SG teams over the next few days was carefully noted.
His eyes kept coming back to the additional, concurrent timeline that had been started along the bottom of the whiteboard.
The same length and scale as the timeline across the middle of the board, the one along the bottom solely noted the movements of one SGC Major.
O'Neill had not requested or even suggested this second graphic; however, everyone was involved in figuring this out now. Jack watched as all sorts of SGC personnel found reasons to wander through and keep tabs on any updates or notations. 'Doctor Major' Sam Carter worked with the physicists, the computer technicians and she was one of the fellow SGC soldiers. Everyone wanted to know what had happened to her… and the tales of her travels unraveled so far were spreading through the mountain.
The General stopped by every few hours for an update. O'Neill could not hide his frustration or pain at what they had discovered so far. The General had been shocked and outraged, but he had also reminded Jack that they couldn't fight her basic character.
"Jack, some people are heroes. Sam Carter was cut from the finest of those cloths."
And Jack knew that he was correct.
But that didn't make any of this any easier.
==========================
It was getting late into the evening and the hubbub of activity had not slowed down. The task forces all seemed to be driven to continue working without consideration for normal schedules. Around 22:30, he found himself walking the corridors to stretch his legs and to try and assimilate the data that was being assembled in the briefing room. So many simultaneous and overlapping missions and events.
Looking up, he realized that his feet had taken him to her lab.
He paused outside.
The door stood ajar and the interior was quiet and dark.
He could feel her presence.
It was as if…, he just knew that if he stepped inside, that she would be totally engrossed in some problem on her laptop, or she would be working with some alien technology that no one else could figure out.
She should be there, he thought.
Where the hell did the universe screw up so that she wasn't there?
Slowly, he stepped silently through the door. And, his eyes were not immediately drawn to the silent, still laptop… but, rather, his eyes were drawn to the small flames glowing in the corner. Surprised and startled, he realized that they were candle flames… from candles sitting on the floor in the corner of the lab.
Teal'c was seated next to the candles on a small mat.
"O'Neill," the Jaffa acknowledged as he nodded his head at the Colonel.
"Teal'c, I didn't expect to find you here," Jack replied, "I didn't actually expect to find anyone…. Are you Kel-nor-reeming? And, isn't that easier in your quarters where there are fewer distractions?"
"Yes, O'Neill, I am performing Kel-nor-reem," Teal'c replied quietly, "And, no, it is not more quiet in my quarters than it is in here."
Of course it wasn't. How could there be any noise here, without Carter working in here…and no one coming to bother her… Right now, her lab was probably one of the quietest places on the base. Still, the simple quiet did not explain the presence of the reserved Jaffa. He watched his large friend quietly. The alien was never verbose and did not share his feelings often. But, his presence in her lab spoke volumes.
"Teal'c, I don't want to bother you, but would you mind if I just sat over here for awhile? I'll be quiet, I promise," he asked the Jaffa.
"Of course, O'Neill. You do not need to ask. I will continue Kel-nor-reem," and with that short statement, the Jaffa refocused his meditation and allowed Jack his own space in her lab.
Nodding to himself, he settled into her desk chair and leaned back. Letting his eyes trail over the various pieces of equipment and tools. "I can just see...," he stated quietly, "…her working over there on some alien doohickey…completely focused on what she's thinking about…," and his voice trailed off as he lost himself in the images of his memories.
He sat quietly and thought back through the past several years. The missions of SG-1. How he'd quickly come to respect and count on Carter's solid soldiering and her amazing intellect. On his other teams and missions, he'd never had patience for anyone except those who had focused black ops special training. All focused on the mission. And then he'd met Daniel Jackson. Daniel had made Jack admit that not all scientists were horrible.
And then there'd been Carter. Captain Carter at the time. A military officer, but a scientist. He'd figured that she'd be another geek who'd whine in the field, be squeamish, not follow orders and just generally mess up his missions. And, he'd been wrong on all counts. She'd far surpassed anything that he could have hoped for. She followed orders (most of the time), rarely complained, and was surprisingly respectful of authority for someone as smart as she was. Waaaaaaay smarter as he remembered from their first meeting.
That was one of the things that made her so special. She was not full of herself. She was brilliant, yet she could follow another's lead. He hadn't expected that. His prior experience with smart geek scientists was that they tended to be haughty and arrogant in the knowledge that few others had their knowledge or expertise. Carter didn't do that. She didn't try to make him feel inadequate because he didn't know the physics that she understood. She didn't appear to look down on any of her teammates just because they weren't fellow specialists in her field.
And his thoughts drifted along as his eyes refocused on the objects in the room…and then, his reverie was interrupted as Daniel walked in and snapped the lights on.
"Oh, Hi Jack," Daniel said in surprise. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be in here."
"No problem, Daniel," he replied quietly while gesturing at Teal'c – who was looking at the two of them.
"Oh, Hi Teal'c," Daniel looked perplexed, "Am I interrupting something?"
"It is quite allright Daniel Jackson," Teal'c replied, "I am simply performing Kel-nor-reem."
"And I was just thinking," Jack shrugged. "What are you up to Daniel? Looking for something?"
"Well, actually, no, I'm not looking for anything in particular…I just thought I'd visit Sam's lab for a few minutes… I just wanted to….you know, think about her in her space…sort of feel a little closer to her…," Daniel floundered a little trying to put it into words.
He just nodded silently and gestured to the other empty chair in the room.
Daniel was holding one of the artifacts that they'd picked up on one of their previous missions. Turning it over absent-mindedly in his hands, he stepped over to the empty chair and sat down while looking into space.
"Jack, where is she? Why haven't we heard anything from her?" Daniel asked quietly.
He did not reply right away and the silence lengthened. And then, when Daniel thought that Jack was not going to reply, "I wish I knew, Daniel, I wish I knew." That was all he could manage.
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====o0o==== End Part 2 ====o0o====
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