Title: "Out of the Darkness"
Author: Jackie W.
Email: jackiesfica...
Rating: PG-13
Classification: SJ UST/Romance
Season: Season 8
Spoilers: The Entity, Chimera, Affinity, and small ones up through season 8 mid-season
Summary: Sometimes it is only in the dark that we are able to finally see the light.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment, not monetary purposes, and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,
living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Author's Notes:
Wow! What a ride this had been. I started it in the spring, then summer came and Muse refused to work on anything with any angst. So it got put aside, and morphed into a longer piece when we weren't looking! Now only the opening couple of paragraphs look anything like the original. Hopefully it's worth the wait!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The cell Sam Carter was in was pitch black. At first it was just annoying, but after a bit it was confusing. She was occasionally brought food and water (she dreaded to think how much food was spilled down the front of her. Eating in the dark was hard) So why wasn't there any light at least visible through a doorway when the food was brought in? Did the inhabitants of this planet not need light? Perhaps their night vision had evolved to a point where they could see in the dark. And where the heck were her teammates? She'd seen them both get hit with some energy weapon before she herself had gone down. She had no injuries other than a headache that was finally receding, so she assumed that a zat-like weapon had just stunned them. If that was the case where were Teal'c and Daniel?
Her mind kept her busy for the first day. What did these people want? She hadn't been interrogated or abused in any way and based on the number of meals served she'd been here for almost two days. Finally, with no way to get any answers to her questions, (the language was not anything she'd been able to even understand a word of) she was getting bored and more than a bit concerned. Especially when she remembered how the Goa'uld percussion grenades had temporarily blinded them when they were on Apophis's ship. What if the room wasn't dark, what if she'd been blinded? Were Daniel and Teal'c sitting waiting in darkness somewhere too?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Daniel and Teal'c were not sitting in the dark, although for the amount of information they were getting from their hosts they might as well have been. After two days all Daniel had been able to determine was that the beams they had been hit with just after exiting the Stargate were part of a defense system; that Sam had been 'damaged'; and now that the Yetolans had discovered that they were not Goa'ulds they were most apologetic. They offered another servant to replace the one they had 'damaged'.
"Do you think that means that she is dead, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c had questioned once they had finally begun some sort of dialog with the village elder.
"I hope not, Teal'c. I think it means she's injured which could be bad. We need to get them to take us to her so we can get her back to the SGC," Daniel replied.
It took another day. Finally they determined that this was an Asgard protested planet, and like many others they worshiped Thor. They convinced the elder that Sam was a handmaiden to Thor and that they needed to return her to him. Soon they were being led to a building off of the square, one of the few made entirely of stone. There on a bed they found their teammate sitting with her back to the wall and her knees pulled up to her chest. For one of the first times since Daniel had met her Sam looked scared.
That changed the instant she heard his voice.
"Sam? Are you ok?" he asked as he and Teal'c were escorted into the room.
Her head, which had been resting forward against her arms with her eyes closes jerked up and she turned towards his voice.
"Daniel?" she replied in relief.
"Are you ok? They kept telling us you were hurt, but they wouldn't let us see you," Daniel exclaimed. There seemed to be something off about her but he couldn't put his finger on it. He didn't see any obvious injuries.
Her next words stunned him. "Are you Ok? And where is Teal'c?" she questioned.
Teal'c felt his heart sink. He too had sensed something wrong the instant he'd seen his friend. Now he knew what it was. He walked very quietly over to stand in front of her and spoke. "I am here Colonel Carter," he informed her as he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.
Her face turned towards his voice and she put a hand up to cover his where it lay. "Can you both see alright?" she queried.
"Indeed we can, Colonel Carter. Are we correct in assuming that you cannot?" he asked in concern.
"The lights are definitely out," she quipped, and Daniel couldn't help but think that she had learned a few too many lessons from Jack O'Neill.
"We'll get you back home and let the doctor's check you out, Sam," he told her. And with a few words to the people behind him, he and Teal'c retrieved their weapons and packs, and each took one of Sam's arms to make the journey home.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When the Klaxons sounded and Davis announced that it was SG1, Jack was relieved. They were several hours overdue and they had just been preparing to open the gate to try to contact them. When he saw all three of them walk through onto the ramp upright and not bleeding he let out a huge breath he had been holding, and headed down to meet them. As he skidded to a stop in front of the three he realized he had relaxed too soon. Daniel and Teal'c were looking at Sam in concern, and the Colonel was gazing off into the distance blankly.
"We need to get Sam to the infirmary," Daniel told him, and Jack heart sank. One look at Daniel's face told him something was seriously wrong.
He immediately began running down what could have happened. There didn't appear to be any bruises to indicate physical torture, but then there hadn't been any marks left behind by Fifth when he had done a number on her mentally. Rape was always a concern, and he felt nauseous as the possibility presented itself to his active imagination. As soon as the medics arrived he held his breath and tried to pay attention to what Teal'c was telling them.
"We all took a blast from some Asgard defense weapon. It stunned us, but for some reason, Colonel Carter's sight was affected," he told Dr. Brightman as the medics got Sam on a gurney.
"She's totally blind," Daniel clarified. "She has been since five minutes after we arrived on P4R-033."
At first the words didn't sink in. Of all the scenarios running through his head, this wasn't one of them. The next instant the enormity of it hit him square in the gut. And suddenly the concern and despair in his eyes matched that to be found in Daniel's and Teal'c's who had each already had time to think about the consequences.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The next several days were a confusing whirlwind of tests and specialists. There were discussions of possible surgeries, and a team was sent to Cimmeria to contact the Asgard since it was their technology that caused the injury. Teal'c sent a message to Bra'tac to have the rebel Jaffa try to pass a message to the Tok'ra. Another team was sent to try to study the weapon itself.
They pieced together that the defenses were designed to shoot out beams at about knee level to stun whoever came through the Gate. Somehow the first volley had missed Sam, and when she had bent down to check Daniel's pulse a second round had hit her square in the face damaging her corneas and retinas.
Sam tried to remain hopeful throughout. She was rarely left alone, which most of the time she appreciated. However twice over the course of the next three days she shipped her teammates out of the room so she could indulge in a crying jag. After the second one, Jack asked if she had contacted Pete yet, and offered to get him clearance to visit in the infirmary. Sam told him he was busy wrapping up his final case in Denver before he made the move to Colorado Springs, and she had missed him both times she had tried to call him. She'd left a message just saying she was back the first time. Just a few hours ago she had left him a more urgent message to call her. Somehow she couldn't just blurt out the words to an answering machine.
Pete called back several hours later and it was all Sam could do to stay composed enough to give him the basic details. He was at her side in the infirmary two hours later listening in confusion to the doctor's prognosis.
"Are you saying there is nothing you can do?" he asked in astonishment.
"There are currently no procedures to correct the damage incurred," Dr. Brightman confirmed. "Perhaps as medical science progresses, or if one of our allies come forward," she began only to be cut off by a signal from Daniel. Pete wasn't authorized to know about any of their 'allies'.
Daniel watched the couple accept the news. Sam had her best military face on. He knew she must be scared to death, but you would never know it by looking at her. Pete's fear was a little bit easier to detect, and Daniel was actually glad Sam couldn't see it. He hoped that the man was going to be able to deal with this. The detective's next actions didn't relieve his mind any. Pete sank wordlessly into the chair by Sam's bed leaving Sam looking lonely and confused.
Daniel moved in to take her hand and gave her a kiss on the top of her head and she leaned into him letting him know that the quiet show of love and support had been just what she needed at that point.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Pete stayed overnight in one of the VIP quarters, and the next day he took Sam home. Daniel promised to stop off at the grocery store and do some shopping for them, and Pete invited him to dinner along with Teal'c. By the time the two arrived, Sam was maneuvering around her house fairly well, although she didn't try to assist with getting dinner on the table. Her teammates certainly knew where everything was in her house by now and had no problems finding plates and silverware.
The evening set the tone for the next several weeks. SG1 was off the mission roster, although Daniel and Teal'c both were putting in time on various projects. They still had plenty of time to spend with Sam. Pete started his new job a week after he brought Sam home, and was glad for the help from her teammates. Jack stopped by when he could. The reality was that with no one to lead SG1and no Carter to work on the Gate and the technology that was brought back he was swamped. Siler was doing his best to keep the gate humming, and other teams were picking up extra missions, but the science geeks were driving him crazy. Sam had always buffered both he and Hammond from the day to day workings of the labs. Now every petty problem was brought to him.
On top of all that, he was busting his butt keeping the brass from serving up Sam's discharge paperwork. He lobbied hard to allow time for the Asgard or Tok'ra to get back to them. He didn't want to have her drummed out only to have a miraculous cure show up through the gate. While he couldn't be with her in person as much as he wanted (and he thought maybe that was a good thing since her fiancé would be hanging around) he talked to her on the phone every day. He, better than anyone, knew that she was antsy and depressed. In his spare time he did some research and planned a surprise for her. He personally paid for a new laptop loaded with screen readers, a raised letter keyboard that spoke as you typed, and other speech enabled software and told her the Airforce had authorized it. Teal'c reported that she was practically bouncing in glee when he delivered it. She had been in PC withdrawal.
None of them were surprised at how fast Sam learned braille. Teal'c, who was very familiar with the public library as he had used it extensively in his quest for knowledge of his adopted planet, was the one that pointed out that they had books and magazines both in braille and on tape. Soon Sam was stocked up her precious science journals, which cheered her up immensely.
Still, even as she progressed rapidly in adjusting to her new condition, her mood swings became harder to control. She tried not to take it out on Pete or Daniel who both tended to hover, but some days she just needed to order them both out of her house. She felt bad afterwards, especially since Pete really had nowhere else to go. Teal'c was better at spotting when she'd reached her breaking point than the other two men were, and often offered to take her out when she was about to explode. As a result she ended up shedding a lot of tears on his broad shoulders which he bore with silent compassion.
Finally the day came when Jack could no longer put off her discharge. He made a case to the President and the Joint Chiefs that even as a civilian Sam Carter was still the expert on the Stargate, and that she should retain her security clearance by being given a position as a consultant. While this was true, his ulterior motive was that she still was on base for medical check-ups and spent a lot of time with people at the SGC and he didn't want people to have to watch what they said around her. He was hoping that this would help keep her from feeling too cut off.
Still, he brought Daniel and Teal'c with him the day he had to give her the news. Their job was to get Pete out of the house so that he could talk to her alone. After a few pleasantries Daniel made some lame excuse and the three men left.
And Jack was left facing the woman he loved about to give her news that he knew would devastate her.
tbc
Author: Jackie W.
Email: jackiesfica...
Rating: PG-13
Classification: SJ UST/Romance
Season: Season 8
Spoilers: The Entity, Chimera, Affinity, and small ones up through season 8 mid-season
Summary: Sometimes it is only in the dark that we are able to finally see the light.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment, not monetary purposes, and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,
living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Author's Notes:
Wow! What a ride this had been. I started it in the spring, then summer came and Muse refused to work on anything with any angst. So it got put aside, and morphed into a longer piece when we weren't looking! Now only the opening couple of paragraphs look anything like the original. Hopefully it's worth the wait!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The cell Sam Carter was in was pitch black. At first it was just annoying, but after a bit it was confusing. She was occasionally brought food and water (she dreaded to think how much food was spilled down the front of her. Eating in the dark was hard) So why wasn't there any light at least visible through a doorway when the food was brought in? Did the inhabitants of this planet not need light? Perhaps their night vision had evolved to a point where they could see in the dark. And where the heck were her teammates? She'd seen them both get hit with some energy weapon before she herself had gone down. She had no injuries other than a headache that was finally receding, so she assumed that a zat-like weapon had just stunned them. If that was the case where were Teal'c and Daniel?
Her mind kept her busy for the first day. What did these people want? She hadn't been interrogated or abused in any way and based on the number of meals served she'd been here for almost two days. Finally, with no way to get any answers to her questions, (the language was not anything she'd been able to even understand a word of) she was getting bored and more than a bit concerned. Especially when she remembered how the Goa'uld percussion grenades had temporarily blinded them when they were on Apophis's ship. What if the room wasn't dark, what if she'd been blinded? Were Daniel and Teal'c sitting waiting in darkness somewhere too?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Daniel and Teal'c were not sitting in the dark, although for the amount of information they were getting from their hosts they might as well have been. After two days all Daniel had been able to determine was that the beams they had been hit with just after exiting the Stargate were part of a defense system; that Sam had been 'damaged'; and now that the Yetolans had discovered that they were not Goa'ulds they were most apologetic. They offered another servant to replace the one they had 'damaged'.
"Do you think that means that she is dead, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c had questioned once they had finally begun some sort of dialog with the village elder.
"I hope not, Teal'c. I think it means she's injured which could be bad. We need to get them to take us to her so we can get her back to the SGC," Daniel replied.
It took another day. Finally they determined that this was an Asgard protested planet, and like many others they worshiped Thor. They convinced the elder that Sam was a handmaiden to Thor and that they needed to return her to him. Soon they were being led to a building off of the square, one of the few made entirely of stone. There on a bed they found their teammate sitting with her back to the wall and her knees pulled up to her chest. For one of the first times since Daniel had met her Sam looked scared.
That changed the instant she heard his voice.
"Sam? Are you ok?" he asked as he and Teal'c were escorted into the room.
Her head, which had been resting forward against her arms with her eyes closes jerked up and she turned towards his voice.
"Daniel?" she replied in relief.
"Are you ok? They kept telling us you were hurt, but they wouldn't let us see you," Daniel exclaimed. There seemed to be something off about her but he couldn't put his finger on it. He didn't see any obvious injuries.
Her next words stunned him. "Are you Ok? And where is Teal'c?" she questioned.
Teal'c felt his heart sink. He too had sensed something wrong the instant he'd seen his friend. Now he knew what it was. He walked very quietly over to stand in front of her and spoke. "I am here Colonel Carter," he informed her as he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.
Her face turned towards his voice and she put a hand up to cover his where it lay. "Can you both see alright?" she queried.
"Indeed we can, Colonel Carter. Are we correct in assuming that you cannot?" he asked in concern.
"The lights are definitely out," she quipped, and Daniel couldn't help but think that she had learned a few too many lessons from Jack O'Neill.
"We'll get you back home and let the doctor's check you out, Sam," he told her. And with a few words to the people behind him, he and Teal'c retrieved their weapons and packs, and each took one of Sam's arms to make the journey home.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When the Klaxons sounded and Davis announced that it was SG1, Jack was relieved. They were several hours overdue and they had just been preparing to open the gate to try to contact them. When he saw all three of them walk through onto the ramp upright and not bleeding he let out a huge breath he had been holding, and headed down to meet them. As he skidded to a stop in front of the three he realized he had relaxed too soon. Daniel and Teal'c were looking at Sam in concern, and the Colonel was gazing off into the distance blankly.
"We need to get Sam to the infirmary," Daniel told him, and Jack heart sank. One look at Daniel's face told him something was seriously wrong.
He immediately began running down what could have happened. There didn't appear to be any bruises to indicate physical torture, but then there hadn't been any marks left behind by Fifth when he had done a number on her mentally. Rape was always a concern, and he felt nauseous as the possibility presented itself to his active imagination. As soon as the medics arrived he held his breath and tried to pay attention to what Teal'c was telling them.
"We all took a blast from some Asgard defense weapon. It stunned us, but for some reason, Colonel Carter's sight was affected," he told Dr. Brightman as the medics got Sam on a gurney.
"She's totally blind," Daniel clarified. "She has been since five minutes after we arrived on P4R-033."
At first the words didn't sink in. Of all the scenarios running through his head, this wasn't one of them. The next instant the enormity of it hit him square in the gut. And suddenly the concern and despair in his eyes matched that to be found in Daniel's and Teal'c's who had each already had time to think about the consequences.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The next several days were a confusing whirlwind of tests and specialists. There were discussions of possible surgeries, and a team was sent to Cimmeria to contact the Asgard since it was their technology that caused the injury. Teal'c sent a message to Bra'tac to have the rebel Jaffa try to pass a message to the Tok'ra. Another team was sent to try to study the weapon itself.
They pieced together that the defenses were designed to shoot out beams at about knee level to stun whoever came through the Gate. Somehow the first volley had missed Sam, and when she had bent down to check Daniel's pulse a second round had hit her square in the face damaging her corneas and retinas.
Sam tried to remain hopeful throughout. She was rarely left alone, which most of the time she appreciated. However twice over the course of the next three days she shipped her teammates out of the room so she could indulge in a crying jag. After the second one, Jack asked if she had contacted Pete yet, and offered to get him clearance to visit in the infirmary. Sam told him he was busy wrapping up his final case in Denver before he made the move to Colorado Springs, and she had missed him both times she had tried to call him. She'd left a message just saying she was back the first time. Just a few hours ago she had left him a more urgent message to call her. Somehow she couldn't just blurt out the words to an answering machine.
Pete called back several hours later and it was all Sam could do to stay composed enough to give him the basic details. He was at her side in the infirmary two hours later listening in confusion to the doctor's prognosis.
"Are you saying there is nothing you can do?" he asked in astonishment.
"There are currently no procedures to correct the damage incurred," Dr. Brightman confirmed. "Perhaps as medical science progresses, or if one of our allies come forward," she began only to be cut off by a signal from Daniel. Pete wasn't authorized to know about any of their 'allies'.
Daniel watched the couple accept the news. Sam had her best military face on. He knew she must be scared to death, but you would never know it by looking at her. Pete's fear was a little bit easier to detect, and Daniel was actually glad Sam couldn't see it. He hoped that the man was going to be able to deal with this. The detective's next actions didn't relieve his mind any. Pete sank wordlessly into the chair by Sam's bed leaving Sam looking lonely and confused.
Daniel moved in to take her hand and gave her a kiss on the top of her head and she leaned into him letting him know that the quiet show of love and support had been just what she needed at that point.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Pete stayed overnight in one of the VIP quarters, and the next day he took Sam home. Daniel promised to stop off at the grocery store and do some shopping for them, and Pete invited him to dinner along with Teal'c. By the time the two arrived, Sam was maneuvering around her house fairly well, although she didn't try to assist with getting dinner on the table. Her teammates certainly knew where everything was in her house by now and had no problems finding plates and silverware.
The evening set the tone for the next several weeks. SG1 was off the mission roster, although Daniel and Teal'c both were putting in time on various projects. They still had plenty of time to spend with Sam. Pete started his new job a week after he brought Sam home, and was glad for the help from her teammates. Jack stopped by when he could. The reality was that with no one to lead SG1and no Carter to work on the Gate and the technology that was brought back he was swamped. Siler was doing his best to keep the gate humming, and other teams were picking up extra missions, but the science geeks were driving him crazy. Sam had always buffered both he and Hammond from the day to day workings of the labs. Now every petty problem was brought to him.
On top of all that, he was busting his butt keeping the brass from serving up Sam's discharge paperwork. He lobbied hard to allow time for the Asgard or Tok'ra to get back to them. He didn't want to have her drummed out only to have a miraculous cure show up through the gate. While he couldn't be with her in person as much as he wanted (and he thought maybe that was a good thing since her fiancé would be hanging around) he talked to her on the phone every day. He, better than anyone, knew that she was antsy and depressed. In his spare time he did some research and planned a surprise for her. He personally paid for a new laptop loaded with screen readers, a raised letter keyboard that spoke as you typed, and other speech enabled software and told her the Airforce had authorized it. Teal'c reported that she was practically bouncing in glee when he delivered it. She had been in PC withdrawal.
None of them were surprised at how fast Sam learned braille. Teal'c, who was very familiar with the public library as he had used it extensively in his quest for knowledge of his adopted planet, was the one that pointed out that they had books and magazines both in braille and on tape. Soon Sam was stocked up her precious science journals, which cheered her up immensely.
Still, even as she progressed rapidly in adjusting to her new condition, her mood swings became harder to control. She tried not to take it out on Pete or Daniel who both tended to hover, but some days she just needed to order them both out of her house. She felt bad afterwards, especially since Pete really had nowhere else to go. Teal'c was better at spotting when she'd reached her breaking point than the other two men were, and often offered to take her out when she was about to explode. As a result she ended up shedding a lot of tears on his broad shoulders which he bore with silent compassion.
Finally the day came when Jack could no longer put off her discharge. He made a case to the President and the Joint Chiefs that even as a civilian Sam Carter was still the expert on the Stargate, and that she should retain her security clearance by being given a position as a consultant. While this was true, his ulterior motive was that she still was on base for medical check-ups and spent a lot of time with people at the SGC and he didn't want people to have to watch what they said around her. He was hoping that this would help keep her from feeling too cut off.
Still, he brought Daniel and Teal'c with him the day he had to give her the news. Their job was to get Pete out of the house so that he could talk to her alone. After a few pleasantries Daniel made some lame excuse and the three men left.
And Jack was left facing the woman he loved about to give her news that he knew would devastate her.
tbc