Carter had managed to fight the concusion that was testing the last of her resolve. She retreated to her haven as a last resort.
There in the darkness, she sat on the edge of a stool hunched over her microscope-- once again battling the forces of evil with the forces of science.
She was reaching for answers, stretching beyond reason to find a hint of hope that she would be able to save him...to save them. In the back of her mind, away from the random thoughts that kept her synapses in over drive...beyond the consistent fear that she would fail...she prayed-for the first time since she was a child, she prayed.
Yet she couldn't get General O'Neill's face out of her mind. It was just like when he was stranded on Edora...those three months were torture. Everyday she had walked the halls of the SGC knowing he was millions of light years away and she was the only one who could get him home. And now, even though she knew he was only two floors below...it felt as though he were stranded on that planet once again.
The answer would come to her; she knew it would, it was just a matter of waiting for that moment of genius to hit her. But she was growing impatient... she wouldn't be able to live with her self if this killed him. Already, she felt a apart of herself dying within...
Daniel had taken to looking over the scientists as they tried to lay out their options for a rescue... but there were complications...as always...
The team figured out that Sam had lost consciousness due to a gas leak, which had been sparked by the instruments when they fell and that's what caused the explosion.
The explosion had damaged the automated systems in the room that would have cleared the virus before it had a chance to settle in the room. But now...that was out of the question. And the race to save the two Jack O'Neill's was quickly coming to the dead line...there was only fours hours left before the effects of the virus were irreversible...
Carter walked down the hall with a clipboard in her hands. She was walking as fast as her feet would let her move without bringing on another dizzy spell. Looking down at the paper, she suddenly stopped in mid-step and flipped from the first page to the next and then back again. A crack of laughter spilled out of her as she realized...she found it...
Daniel had also retreated his office...taking a moment where he could at least think in silence. As he toiled over the information in front of him Carter burst in the doorway making him jump back and nearly fly out of his seat.
"Daniel!" She said stopping in front of his desk.
"Yeah?" He asked grabbing the counter.
"I got it." She said suddenly beaming as she held up the paper work in front of her.
It wasn't long before Carter was explaining the process to the group of scientists who were left scratching their heads as she bolted from the briefing room and headed for General O'Neill.
She hadn't looked at the clock and didn't realize that it was only 2 a.m. So when she knocked on the glass door the sleeping O'Neill on the other side jumped as though he'd been shot before he realized it was Carter.
"Christ Carter..." O'Neill said looking across the room to Jack who had fallen asleep against the wall.
"Sir, I've got it." She said sitting by the bottom of the door. They were sitting across from one another now, only the door between them.
"Got what?" he asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"I know how to get you out of there. It'll take about an hour to get everything is motion but...you're going to be alright, Sir." the smile on her face lit up her eyes and he found himself drowning in them.
"That's good news..." he said smiling softly back at her. "I knew you'd do it." He said letting himself be pulled in even more.
She was going to say something, but she forgot as soon as she let herself look into his eyes...
"You haven't slept have you?" he said after a moment.
"I've been trying to figure out a way to get you-both of you out of there."
"You're taking a few days off after this...and you're secured to your house until those dark circles under your eyes go away." He said pointing to the circles that plainly showed her lack of sleep.
She just smiled and offered her usual "Yes, Sir."
An hour and a half later the procedure worked and General O'Neill and Jack were resting in the infirmary.
"Doctor Smith said I'll be good to go back through the mirror this afternoon." Jack said sitting up as Carter sat in the chair next to him.
"That's good, tell Sam I said hi."
"You bet..." He said giving his classic O'Neill smirk.
General O'Neill on the other hand had spent all of about thirty minutes in the infirmary before he headed for his office, despite orders from the Doctor to stay in bed.
Now that things had settled down, Carter returned to her lab trying to remember what she was working on before all of this started.
Lingering near the doorway Daniel was hesitant to enter...he hated playing the middleman.
"Hey Sam..." He said walking over to her.
"Hey Daniel." She said as she continued to organize the papers on her desk, through the last few days her lab had become uncharacteristically...messy.
"Uhmm," Daniel said trying to stall. "Jack's getting ready to head back through the mirror, he asked if you'd come to say goodbye..." He said in a slightly muffled voice as he fingered through a stack of papers on the edge of the desk. "He's waiting for you in the infirmary..."
"Oh-well at least things will get back to normal around here." She said heading for the door.
In the infirmary, Jack stood by the exam table with his shirt off trying to see if the bruise on his shoulder was fading.
"Hey." Carter said walking up behind him. "Oh sorry." She said turning around until he put his shirt on.
"Hey, uh...already to head to the mirror?" He said pulling his shirt back on.
"Yeah," She said looking back to him. "I'm glad I got a chance to talk to you alone actually...there's something I wanted you to know." She said taking a few steps to him.
"Really? Like what?" He asked shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Well, what you said about not understanding why things here were different between me and General O'Neill..." She said trying to speak through the lump I her throat. "I just wanted to tell you that despite what you see... what you feel for your Samantha, the way she feels about you...those feelings do exist.... here... we just never...I mean--he has no idea..." She was trying her best to keep her wits about her. His eyes were penetrating what was left of her ability to say what needed to be said.
"...About your feelings for him?" He asked knowing she wasn't about to come right out and say those three little words. "General O'Neill must be really stupid if he doesn't realize..."
"I wouldn't say stupid." She said with the roll of her eyes imagining for a moment the look on his face if she were in fact saying these words to him.
"Do you think he feels the same way?" He asked knowing he was treading on dangerous ground.
"I don't know...but..." She said taking a deep breath and closing the distance between them. She gently touched his shoulders for balance and rose up on her tiptoes as she kissed him lightly on his lips. It' was only a moment, the softest, sweetest moment. As she pulled back from him and smiled Jack was still reeling from the feel of her lips on his own. How he wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let go... "Sorry," Carter whispered. "I had to do that...if only once." She said turning and walking to the door. "Goodbye Jack..." She said over her shoulder before disappearing into the hallway.
Jack was speechless. He became dizzy and he could feel his heart about to beat right out of his chest. All he wanted to do was chase after her, to say...something...
He leaned against the bed behind him and ran his fingers through his hair as 'Jack' walked in the infirmary.
"Hey...General. Where's Sammie? I wanted to say bye before I left..."
Please don't hate me too much for this...I got to this point in the story and just knew this was the best way to end it.
There in the darkness, she sat on the edge of a stool hunched over her microscope-- once again battling the forces of evil with the forces of science.
She was reaching for answers, stretching beyond reason to find a hint of hope that she would be able to save him...to save them. In the back of her mind, away from the random thoughts that kept her synapses in over drive...beyond the consistent fear that she would fail...she prayed-for the first time since she was a child, she prayed.
Yet she couldn't get General O'Neill's face out of her mind. It was just like when he was stranded on Edora...those three months were torture. Everyday she had walked the halls of the SGC knowing he was millions of light years away and she was the only one who could get him home. And now, even though she knew he was only two floors below...it felt as though he were stranded on that planet once again.
The answer would come to her; she knew it would, it was just a matter of waiting for that moment of genius to hit her. But she was growing impatient... she wouldn't be able to live with her self if this killed him. Already, she felt a apart of herself dying within...
Daniel had taken to looking over the scientists as they tried to lay out their options for a rescue... but there were complications...as always...
The team figured out that Sam had lost consciousness due to a gas leak, which had been sparked by the instruments when they fell and that's what caused the explosion.
The explosion had damaged the automated systems in the room that would have cleared the virus before it had a chance to settle in the room. But now...that was out of the question. And the race to save the two Jack O'Neill's was quickly coming to the dead line...there was only fours hours left before the effects of the virus were irreversible...
Carter walked down the hall with a clipboard in her hands. She was walking as fast as her feet would let her move without bringing on another dizzy spell. Looking down at the paper, she suddenly stopped in mid-step and flipped from the first page to the next and then back again. A crack of laughter spilled out of her as she realized...she found it...
Daniel had also retreated his office...taking a moment where he could at least think in silence. As he toiled over the information in front of him Carter burst in the doorway making him jump back and nearly fly out of his seat.
"Daniel!" She said stopping in front of his desk.
"Yeah?" He asked grabbing the counter.
"I got it." She said suddenly beaming as she held up the paper work in front of her.
It wasn't long before Carter was explaining the process to the group of scientists who were left scratching their heads as she bolted from the briefing room and headed for General O'Neill.
She hadn't looked at the clock and didn't realize that it was only 2 a.m. So when she knocked on the glass door the sleeping O'Neill on the other side jumped as though he'd been shot before he realized it was Carter.
"Christ Carter..." O'Neill said looking across the room to Jack who had fallen asleep against the wall.
"Sir, I've got it." She said sitting by the bottom of the door. They were sitting across from one another now, only the door between them.
"Got what?" he asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"I know how to get you out of there. It'll take about an hour to get everything is motion but...you're going to be alright, Sir." the smile on her face lit up her eyes and he found himself drowning in them.
"That's good news..." he said smiling softly back at her. "I knew you'd do it." He said letting himself be pulled in even more.
She was going to say something, but she forgot as soon as she let herself look into his eyes...
"You haven't slept have you?" he said after a moment.
"I've been trying to figure out a way to get you-both of you out of there."
"You're taking a few days off after this...and you're secured to your house until those dark circles under your eyes go away." He said pointing to the circles that plainly showed her lack of sleep.
She just smiled and offered her usual "Yes, Sir."
An hour and a half later the procedure worked and General O'Neill and Jack were resting in the infirmary.
"Doctor Smith said I'll be good to go back through the mirror this afternoon." Jack said sitting up as Carter sat in the chair next to him.
"That's good, tell Sam I said hi."
"You bet..." He said giving his classic O'Neill smirk.
General O'Neill on the other hand had spent all of about thirty minutes in the infirmary before he headed for his office, despite orders from the Doctor to stay in bed.
Now that things had settled down, Carter returned to her lab trying to remember what she was working on before all of this started.
Lingering near the doorway Daniel was hesitant to enter...he hated playing the middleman.
"Hey Sam..." He said walking over to her.
"Hey Daniel." She said as she continued to organize the papers on her desk, through the last few days her lab had become uncharacteristically...messy.
"Uhmm," Daniel said trying to stall. "Jack's getting ready to head back through the mirror, he asked if you'd come to say goodbye..." He said in a slightly muffled voice as he fingered through a stack of papers on the edge of the desk. "He's waiting for you in the infirmary..."
"Oh-well at least things will get back to normal around here." She said heading for the door.
In the infirmary, Jack stood by the exam table with his shirt off trying to see if the bruise on his shoulder was fading.
"Hey." Carter said walking up behind him. "Oh sorry." She said turning around until he put his shirt on.
"Hey, uh...already to head to the mirror?" He said pulling his shirt back on.
"Yeah," She said looking back to him. "I'm glad I got a chance to talk to you alone actually...there's something I wanted you to know." She said taking a few steps to him.
"Really? Like what?" He asked shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Well, what you said about not understanding why things here were different between me and General O'Neill..." She said trying to speak through the lump I her throat. "I just wanted to tell you that despite what you see... what you feel for your Samantha, the way she feels about you...those feelings do exist.... here... we just never...I mean--he has no idea..." She was trying her best to keep her wits about her. His eyes were penetrating what was left of her ability to say what needed to be said.
"...About your feelings for him?" He asked knowing she wasn't about to come right out and say those three little words. "General O'Neill must be really stupid if he doesn't realize..."
"I wouldn't say stupid." She said with the roll of her eyes imagining for a moment the look on his face if she were in fact saying these words to him.
"Do you think he feels the same way?" He asked knowing he was treading on dangerous ground.
"I don't know...but..." She said taking a deep breath and closing the distance between them. She gently touched his shoulders for balance and rose up on her tiptoes as she kissed him lightly on his lips. It' was only a moment, the softest, sweetest moment. As she pulled back from him and smiled Jack was still reeling from the feel of her lips on his own. How he wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let go... "Sorry," Carter whispered. "I had to do that...if only once." She said turning and walking to the door. "Goodbye Jack..." She said over her shoulder before disappearing into the hallway.
Jack was speechless. He became dizzy and he could feel his heart about to beat right out of his chest. All he wanted to do was chase after her, to say...something...
He leaned against the bed behind him and ran his fingers through his hair as 'Jack' walked in the infirmary.
"Hey...General. Where's Sammie? I wanted to say bye before I left..."
Please don't hate me too much for this...I got to this point in the story and just knew this was the best way to end it.