A/N: So by popular request, lets see what's up with the boys? (laughs evilly)
The woman smiled at Sam's invitation, and scratched the little cat's head behind the ears, her smile widening as the cat leaned into the caress. Before long the little cat had drifted off, soft rhythmic purring emanating from its chest. What Sam didn't realize, was that she had just given the woman ample thanks indeed.
Chapter 44
Jack silently fumed at whatever fates and gods had conspired against them, as he strode angrily down the corridors of the SGC. Airmen dodged out of his way, or made themselves unnoticeable in his path. Quarantine! Why had SG-14 decided to bring back a flu like bug that had spread to a large number of SGC members before being contained, now of all times? If they had just waited two more hours, SG-1 would have been safely aboard a jet headed back to Pennsylvania, to search for their missing teammate.
Jack mentally kicked himself again, he'd left her behind, allowing himself to believe, even a little bit, that they'd been too late. And now she was out there somewhere, all alone, in an unfamiliar body. Some commander he was. Jack growled and slammed a fist into the wall. As he'd started to list all his self-failings for the umpteenth time, a deep rumbling voice interrupted.
"O'Neill, injuring yourself will not bring Major Carter back sooner, nor will it lift the quarantine." Teal'c stood quietly behind him, his features unmoved.
Forcing himself to relax, Jack made a conscious decision to open his fists, flexing his bruised knuckles. He blew out a deep breath, and sighed.
"You're right Teal'c, we just have to wait. I just feel so useless. I left her behind." Jack closed his eyes momentarily, and was startled as Teal'c spoke again.
"No, O'Neill, WE left Major Carter behind. I too believed we had lost Major Carter. We lacked faith in Major Carter's abilities to protect her self. We will not make the same mistake again." Teal'c regarded his friend quietly.
Colonel O'Neill stared at his friend in amazement. Teal'c never ceased to astound him. They said there were only two things in life that could be counted on, death and taxes, but now Jack was reminded, there was one more constant, and that was Teal'c.
Smiling slightly, Jack clapped his friend on the arm. "You are right Teal'c. We won't make the same mistake twice. We will bring Carter home if I have anything to say about it."
Teal'c returned O'Neill's look with an incline of his head and a soft smile. "Perhaps our time could best be put to use in planning where we will search for Major Carter."
"Teal'c, you're a genius! We need maps, I bet Daniel can pull some up for us..." Jack trailed off as he headed down the hall, a new purpose evident in his stride. Teal'c merely nodded and smiled softly to him self, mission accomplished. He followed his friend to Daniel Jackson's office, where they found the archeologist hard at work on his computer.
"Whatcha doin' Danny boy?" Jack asked, his hands stuffed in his pockets and all but bouncing on his toes, his new mission giving him new energy.
Daniel jumped, so engrossed in whatever was on the screen he hadn't noticed he had visitors. Blinking, Daniel turned around. "Uh, well I was just checking some of the local papers and news..." Daniel blushed.
Jack looked at his younger friend appraisingly. He'd been so busy wallowing in his own self-pity that he'd never considered that his teammates might just be feeling the same way. Casting a quick look in appreciation at Teal'c, Jack dropped a hand on Daniel's shoulder.
"Find anything?" He asked, but he knew the answer already as Daniel shook his head negatively.
"It looks like they've rounded up anything dangerous that escaped from Arden's place, and a number of other things, but nothing matching Sam's description. I was going to post copies of our classified ad as well." Daniel pushed his glasses into place as he looked to see what Jack's reaction would be, and was relieved to see the man smiling.
"Good idea Daniel. Actually, we came to see you about Sam." At Daniel's look of confusion, Jack continued. "Teal'c and I thought we should use this downtime to scope out the area, and decide where the best places to look would be. We thought you could find us some topographical maps of the area. That way we don't waste any time in our searching."
Daniel's eyes lit up as he typed out several commands on his computer. Before long he had several maps printed out, and the three gathered around Daniel's workbench, leaning to get a good view of the maps. Jack used a marking pen to circle to location of the kennel where Sam had presumably escaped from, and Teal'c pointed out where Sam's trail had ended. Using satellite photos, they traced the pathway of the stream. Unfortunately, they quickly discovered that the stream, little more than drainage at first, branched off in several places. Rather than limiting their search area like they'd hoped, they now had an even larger area to look into, since they had no idea which way Sam would have gone, or how far she would have traveled in the stream.
After spending several hours pouring over maps and charts, they had highlighted several possible routes. Some looked better than others, leading into rural and farm areas, while others looked less promising, heading into wilderness, forests, or even one pathway towards a heavy industrial area. They would have to check them all for signs that Carter had been there, and Jack suspected it would be a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Once they had agreed on the most likely places to start their search, Jack gathered up the maps, and headed off to see the General. Now that they had a good plan, perhaps the General could pull a few strings and send out some preliminary search teams. Still, Jack would feel much better when the quarantine lifted and he was able to get out there himself, his teammates at his side. Waiting was never one of Jack O'Neill's strong points. Looking over the maps and making plans had given him something to do, but now he was back to square one. Maybe Teal'c was up for some sparring?