Disclaimers, etc. in Part 1

Chapter 4

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Worry was etched into the face of Doctor Janet Fraiser as she looked at the two men in the office of Colonel O'Neill. Her look made both men uncomfortable and General Hammond looked over her shoulder to make brief eye contact with one of the armed guards outside.

"The DNA result was a positive match to Colonel O'Neill," announced Janet after what seemed like an eternity. Jack blew out a sigh and visibly relaxed, then realized that may make them think he had expected a different result. Knowing it was another 'damned if I do, damned if I don't' moment, he straightened his back and looked to the General.

"Good," nodded General Hammond. "What does this mean in relation to Major Carter?"

"We need to talk to her, get a full explanation of what she thinks happened on the planet."

"Why haven't you done that already?" demanded Jack.

"Colonel, I didn't want to push her when I didn't have any definitive answers as to whether she was right or wrong." Janet looked at him seriously, willing him to understand and he finally relented with a dip of his head. "I don't think we should tell her about the DNA result until we have her explanation, Sir," she told General Hammond. Jack started to protest, but she continued, "It will confuse and frustrate her even more and we don't know how that will affect the stability, or otherwise, of the poison."

"Has it progressed any further?"

"No, it still doesn't seem to be affecting her organs, which is what I don't understand. There doesn't seem to be any real point to the poison."

"Alright, we'll talk to her," agreed Hammond. "Colonel, you're free to move around the base as you wish, but don't leave the base and don't go anywhere near the infirmary."

Both General Hammond and Janet left the office before Jack could raise any objections, leaving him to stare after them in annoyance.

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Sam was sitting up in bed looking forlorn when the General and Janet arrived. She immediately asked about the impostor, but the General simply told her that matters were under control. Janet gently asked her to explain what happened on the planet.

"I know it's difficult, Sam," she said softly as tears welled up in Sam's eyes, "but we need to know. We have the mission reports from the others, but you were the one in the immediate vicinity of Colonel O'Neill."

With a slightly trembling voice that she valiantly fought to bring under control, Major Samantha Carter began relating her story.

"The Colonel and I were behind one set of dunes, while Daniel and Teal'c were behind another. The sniper was doing a good job of hiding and the shot trajectory didn't allow us to get an accurate fix on his position. A bullet grazed my arm," she paused and looked at her bandaged arm, as if to convince them that she was telling the truth, "but I didn't let Colonel O'Neill know, as I knew he'd order me to attend to it while he covered me. The bullets were coming too fast though, I knew I needed to help return fire. I have no idea how it happened, I didn't see the bullet until it was too late, it came from nowhere." She stopped as her voice cracked and a tear started its slow path down her face. Janet placed a reassuring hand on her arm, squeezing gently. "The Colonel took it square in the chest. He… he fell to the ground. I stopped firing and knelt down beside him, checking for a pulse. There wasn't one." Tears were now streaming down her face, but she didn't wipe them away. Despite the tears, her voice had grown stronger, as if she was now numb to the pain the memory was causing.

"What happened then, Sam?" asked Janet softly.

"I called to Daniel for help, but he didn't hear me because of the gunfire between the sniper and Teal'c. Bullets started coming over my head again, so I ran to another dune to take cover, leaving Colonel O'Neill's body where it lay." Her hands were clasped together and she was pushing so hard that her knuckles were turning white. "I managed to get Daniel's attention and Teal'c covered us while Daniel checked the Colonel's body and confirmed he was dead." The pain was visible in her face again and sobs were now racking her body, but her voice was still firm. "I remember my eyes feeling very heavy and I guess I must have passed out because the next thing I remember is waking up here."

"Thank you, Major Carter," said Hammond gently. "I need to talk to Doctor Fraiser, discuss what to do next."

Sam started to speak, but Janet stopped her with another hand on her arm. "Everything's okay, Sam. A nurse will need to take another blood sample in a minute, so you get ready for that."

The General and Janet walked outside and Janet puffed out a breath, her mind swimming with what Sam had just said.

"This doesn't make any sense, Doctor. How can she have seen Colonel O'Neill die when the DNA test confirms he's very much alive? You ran DNA tests on her as well and she is Major Carter, how can this be?"

"I don't know, General," she admitted. "It would be too co-incidental for it not to be related to the poisoned bullet, but I don't know how it can be the poison, as it doesn't appear to be having any significant impact on Sam's body."

"How long until you know what the poison consists of?"

"We're still working on it. There are two elements that we can't identify. From what Sam just said though, it's like everything that happened after she got hit by the bullet has been erased from her memory and replaced with something else."

"But she was conscious for quite a while after she got hit by the bullet, we know that from the accounts of the rest of SG1. How can all of that suddenly disappear? A memory stamp situation again?"

"I don't know, Sir."

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After Sam's story was relayed to the other members of SG1, Jack insisted on seeing her. General Hammond refused and informed them all that Doctor Fraiser wanted to run some more tests before they informed Sam of the Colonel's DNA results.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" asked Jack with bitter frustration.

"General, what about Jacob?" said Daniel. "Shouldn't we contact him and tell him what's happened? Maybe the healing device might be of use?"

"I agree, Doctor Jackson," replied General Hammond. "I will contact the Tok'ra and get a message to Jacob. With regard to the healing device, however, Doctor Fraiser isn't sure it will be of much use. Unless the Tok'ra are familiar with the poison in Major Carter's bloodstream, they may be reluctant to try."

"We still need to find out if they recognize the poison though," pointed out Jack.

"Yes, Colonel, we do. As soon as I have made contact with the Tok'ra, I'll inform you all.

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"Colonel, how did you get in here?" asked Janet sternly as she found Colonel O'Neill sitting at the end of Sam's bed, quietly watching her sleep.

"I outrank the guards," he shrugged. "Have you told her that I am who I say I am?"

"I told her the DNA results, yes."

"And?"

"She didn't believe them, demanded I re-test you and check the computers to make sure no-one hacked in and changed the DNA sample we have on file for you."

"Oh, for Cry—" Jack stopped himself from finishing his statement as his voice was loud. It was too late though and both he and Janet watched as Sam began to stir. "Hey, Carter," he said lightly before Janet could stop him.

"Janet?" said Sam in alarm, looking at the Colonel. "I thought General Hammond said that had been taken care of."

"Sam, I told you, the DNA results confirm that this is Colonel O'Neill."

"It's not, Janet!"

"Carter, that's enough," stated Jack. "I know you've been poisoned, but you can't argue with DNA, so stop it."

Sam cast her gaze over him, her eyes full of disgust, and Jack swallowed hard, feelings of hurt washing over him at her look.

"Janet, how many times do I have to tell you? Colonel O'Neill is dead!" she yelled. She started to get up from the bed, ripping monitor connections from her body, and Janet asked her what she was doing. "I'm going to sort this out, I'll check the computers myself, prove to you that the DNA sample in Colonel O'Neill's records must have been tampered with."

"Carter," warned Jack, but she ignored him and stood up. Suddenly, she brought a hand to her head and let out a scream of pain. "Carter!" called Jack.

"Sam? Sam, what's wrong?" asked Janet, helping Sam sit back on the bed and taking out her penlight to start examining her eyes. As soon as the light hit her eyes, Sam hissed in pain again.

"It's not him, it's not him!" moaned Sam over and over again. "It's not him. Colonel O'Neill is dead."

"Colonel, you need to leave," ordered Janet as nurses came rushing into the room to assist.

Jack nodded mutely and started walking backwards out of the room, keeping his eyes focused on Carter for as long as possible. Reaching the door, he stepped outside and leaned against the wall, letting himself slide down its hard surface until he was sitting on the floor. Feelings of guilt hit him full force and his head fell into his hands as he whispered hopelessly, "Carter, I'm right here."

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TBC…

A/N: Thank you again for the reviews. :-) I actually planned to reveal what was up with Sam in this chapter, but decided that this fit better - hope you don't mind. g