A/N: Every good story deserves a nice long epilogue. I've been working on this epilogue since before I even posted the last chapter, but have had to fight with schedules and writer's block. There were just too many loose ends created in the story along the way to reasonably tie them up and still have a nice ending for the story. The epilogue grew to be much longer than I had ever anticipated it being, and the focus turned more to Sam and the team healing than a revisit to all the places Sam had been, which I discovered would be a bit unrealistic to do. I did have Sam revisit a few things, but there's just no way I could get all the loose ends tied up so I just concentrated on the biggest ones. I hope you'll enjoy this epilogue, and that you'll feel it compliments the story, rather than detracting from it.
EpilogueMajor Samantha Carter entered her lab, and frowned at the small package sitting on her workbench, next to a mug that hadn't been there before. It had been two weeks since she'd successfully been changed back into human form, and a week since coming back to the SGC on light duty only.
She'd been told she could have more time, but Sam would really rather be at the SGC, surrounded by her friends, her family. It felt like she'd been away for much longer than two months. And even after two weeks of being human again, Sam was still getting used to her normal body. Things seemed a lot smaller all of a sudden, and many of the things she'd previously taken for granted, like being able to open a door or hold a fork seemed like marvels to her still.
There was also her left over injuries, like the broken arm and cracked ribs. She'd had a niggling cough the first few days back, and had finally finished the course of antibiotics that Janet had made her take. She also had to tighten her belt a good bit more than she was used to, and her clothes seemed to hang on her now, but she was slowly filling back out, thanks to regular meals and plenty of rest. After being subjected to a battery of tests like nothing she'd ever been subjected to before, Janet thought she could be back on the active duty roster in a couple weeks, despite the fact that Sam had flat out refused to have her temperature taken since coming back. Janet had eventually stopped trying.
Slowly though, things were settling back into normal, but it seemed that she was not immune to quite a lot of ribbing, particularly from one certain Colonel.
So it was with wary trepidation that Sam approached the package on the desk, picking up the mug with her good hand. She couldn't help but smile at the words printed on the mug. "Cats Are People Too."
Next, she turned to the small box. It was wrapped with blue paper, printed with fish and paw prints. She shook her head, rolling her eyes. Unwrapping the package was a bit awkward, since her right arm was still in a cast, but eventually she won and the paper lost. Lifting the box lid off cautiously (lest something leap out) Sam peered inside the small box.
Inside, rested a box of tea. Sam lifted it out, a grin tugging at one side of her mouth. Catmint tea. She was about to set the box aside, when something in the bottom caught her attention. Reaching in, Sam pulled out a note, folded over a small collar. Sam immediately recognized the collar and groaned. He knew. With a sinking heart, she read the letter.
"Carter, or should I say Princess Snookums? I never knew you were royalty. The only royalty I know are British, and they like their tea, so I thought you might like some too. Ta Ta. O'Neill."
Sam sighed, setting the letter down. As much fun as the teasing was, it was getting old. Two days ago she'd pulled her boots on only to find a fur mouse toy stuffed in them. The day before that, the Colonel had served her a bowl of kibble, complete with milk and a spoon! In the infirmary, he'd brought her a stuffed toy cat, dressed in dolls clothes, although how he had found out about that one, he refused to tell. There were more "incidents," and that wasn't even counting the number of jibes and jokes at her expense.
Teal'c and Daniel were no help; they just rolled their eyes or smiled sympathetically at her. It was time that Sam started to take matters into her own hands, and got a little of her own back. And she had an idea that just might work.
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"Sir?"
Colonel Jack O'Neill looked up at the hesitant sounding query at his office door, and grinned at the woman standing in the doorway. "Carter! Come in! I trust you are settling back in without problem?"
"No problem sir. Actually sir, I came to ask you a favor. If that's ok." Sam was starting to have doubts about her plan, and she hadn't even put it into motion yet.
Jack set his papers down, pushing them aside, giving his 2IC his full attention. "What is it Carter?"
Sam shifted uncomfortably. It was now or never. "Well sir, its just that, well, this may sound silly but..." Sam struggled to find the words. Suddenly, her idea didn't seem like such a good one anymore.
"C'mon Carter, spit it out, it can't be all that bad." Jack leaned back in his chair, slightly amused at the normally confident woman that was suddenly at a loss for words.
Sam took in a deep breath and tried again. "Well, its just that Janet doesn't want me driving yet, especially not long distance, until my arm heals, and, well, I have all this leave, and the General said I could use as much as I wanted..." Sam wasn't sure why she was having such a hard time asking for this favor. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.
The Colonel leaned forward. "Carter, do you want me to drive you somewhere, like on a road trip?" Jack still didn't quite understand why a race that was so advanced it was able to change a person into an animal, yet it couldn't heal something like a broken arm in the process. Daniel had tried to explain it off as some sort of religious right, trial by fire and ritual scarring and all that, and Carter had filled his head with a bunch of techno babble about DNA re-sequencing and pattern buffers and blah blah blah. Jack had privately decided that the aliens were just stupid. Especially if they left machines lying around, turned on, where just anyone could walk in and accidentally activate them. But then again, an awful lot of aliens seemed to do that.
At Carter's blush in response to his question, Jack knew he was onto something.
"Yessir." She mumbled, suddenly finding her boots fascinating.
"Sure." Jack leaned back crossing his arms, a small smile tugging at his lips as he waited for her response.
"You see sir, there were a few people that I met along the way home, and I know it sounds silly, but.... You will?" Sam's head shot up, as she realized what her CO had just said. "But... you don't even know where!" She frowned at him, and added a belated, "Sir."
"Whatever it is Carter, its important to you, or you wouldn't be asking. So sure." She was gaping like a fish now. It could be so easy to push her buttons, and Jack really couldn't help himself sometimes.
"Um, yes sir. I mean, thank you sir." She seemed to be having a severe case of "cat got your tongue."
"So, you wanna tell me what this is about Carter? And how much time do we need to ask General Hammond for?" The Colonel watched her squirm a bit, and decided to take pity on her before she gave up and chickened out. He had a pretty good idea of what she wanted anyway.
"Listen, Carter, its me that should be asking you for a favor." He waited until he had her full attention. "It seems they found some more classified materials at that Arden guy's place in Pennsylvania. General Hammond was going to arrange to have someone from the Pentagon go retrieve it, but given the top secret nature of the materials, it might be better if we sent our own people."
At the mention of Arden, Carter had visibly paled. Jack hastened to reassure her, mentally kicking himself. He should have expected that reaction, the man had pretty much tortured her, more mentally than physically, but torture was torture in his mind. "Look, Sam, it will only take one of us to go and get the stuff. After that, we'll have some time to do whatever else it is you wanted to do."
She'd regained her composure again, her careful mask back in place. "Yes sir. I'd like that. Thank you sir." Jack cursed silently, for a moment she'd let down her guard. They still didn't know very much of what had happened to her while she was gone, her reports had been very clinical, lacking in details. He could only guess at what she had gone through. He had to restrain himself from pushing her though, she would tell them in due time, he just had to be available when it happened.
"So, we're all set then? When can you be ready to go?" Jack carefully steered clear of dangerous ground.
Sam thought for a moment, and replied. "Tomorrow sir. If that's ok with you?"
"That should be fine Carter, I'll go talk to the General." Jack turned back to his desk, shuffling the papers into some semblance of order.
"Yes sir." Sam stood in the doorway, hesitating. "Sir?"
He looked up again. "Yeah Carter?"
"Thank you." She ducked her head, staring at her boots again.
"Anytime Carter. Anytime." He watched her let herself out, and leaned back in his chair. Yes, she'd tell them what had happened, in her own time.
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Jack pulled the rental off the road onto the long drive in front of Arden's mansion, parking in front of the entrance. He looked over at the woman sitting next to him. She'd been getting quieter and quieter the closer they'd gotten. She still hadn't talked much to him even at that. During the long flight from Colorado, she'd talked about work, and asked about things that had happened while she'd been absent, but had avoided any attempts he'd made to draw her out on anything about her long time away. He'd stopped trying rather than risk having her shut him out.
Once they'd settled into their hotel rooms, Jack had offered to go get the files and items found at the mansion himself and let Carter stay behind, but she'd surprised him by refusing, and insisting on accompanying him. He hadn't tried to talk her out of it at the time, sensing her need to go.
As he watched her now though, her face pale, hands clenched into fists until her knuckles were white, he started to doubt the wisdom of letting her come along.
"You know you can wait out here while I go in and meet up with the agent, and get the stuff. It shouldn't take very long." Sam looked up at his words, and blinked, she'd clearly been a million miles away in her thoughts.
Somehow Jack wasn't surprised when she shook her head. "No sir. I should come along."
Jack just nodded, and opened his car door, Sam doing the same. She did hesitate a moment, before following him up the drive, Jack resisting the urge to keep looking over his shoulder at her.
Inside, they met up with the guy who'd been keeping an eye out for things classified, and he led them to a lavishly decorated office. Jack was looking about him in undisguised interest, he hadn't really looked at the place the first time, but now he could see that the guy spared no expense on anything.
On the desk, sat two cardboard boxes. Inside was an assortment of file folders, all stamped with the words top secret. Jack picked up a file out of the first box, while Sam lifted out another. The man that had shown them in had left them alone.
Jack flipped the folder he was holding open and winced at the contents. He was holding her personnel file in his hands. He randomly selected several more files and winced again to see details about her work at the pentagon, medical records, evaluations and reports. Seemed their worm had been able to gather quite a lot of information, most of it on Carter. It made his skin crawl to learn that this guy had gotten all this information on his 2IC.
Glancing over at her, Jack frowned when he noticed her still holding the same folder she'd first picked up, and staring off into space. Moving over to her, he gently removed the folder from her hands and placed it back in the box. He watched while she looked up startled, and took a deep breath, running her good hand through her hair, making it ruffled.
Narrowing his eyes at her, Jack decided that it was time to get out of here. "C'mon Carter, lets say we take this stuff and go find something for lunch, ok?"
He was expecting her to say something, so he was pretty surprised when she just frowned and nodded. Without a word, she picked up one of the boxes, and headed for the door not even waiting to see if he would follow.
Brow creased in concern over Carter's unusual behavior, he picked up the other box and went after her, calling for her to wait up, but she either didn't hear him or was choosing to ignore him for some reason.
So intent was he on gaining on her lead that he didn't notice that she wasn't heading for the door until they turned into a large room.
"Uh, Carter, this isn't the front door." Jack stood in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot, holding onto the box.
Sam wasn't paying him any attention however. Instead, she had placed the box she was carrying down on one of the tables stacked along the wall and was walking slowly towards a large, ornate cage at the opposite end of the room.
Jack sighed, and put his box down on the floor by the doorway, and approached her quietly. When he got to her side, she was looking at the wrought iron cage, hesitantly tracing her finger over one of the leaves.
"Carter?" At his voice, she looked up at him, eyes glistening and brow furrowed. Without saying anything, she pushed past him, and grabbed up her box, heading out of the room.
Muttering a curse, Jack hurried after her, grabbing up his own box on the way out, growing more and more worried about his 2IC, remembering how she had reacted after Jolinar, withdrawing into herself. Ahead, Carter had turned a corner and Jack picked up the pace, realizing she still wasn't heading out.
Wondering where she was going, Jack rounded the corner just in time to see her enter a room through a heavy metal door after setting the box she carried down on the floor outside the door. Hurriedly, Jack crossed the remaining space, adding his own box to hers, and pulling the door open.
The room looked like some kind of lab, sterile looking with white walls, stainless steel countertops, a gray floor. Sam stood in the center of the room, staring transfixed at a metal cage under the single high window in the room. Jack recognized the room from the videotapes, and knew immediately what the cage had been used for.
Turning back to his second, he could see that she was standing now, her cast tucked tightly against her body with her other arm wrapped securely around it. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her breathing shallow and rapid. Jack frowned, stepping closer. "Carter... Sam..." he said softly, reaching out a hesitant hand towards her.
Her eyes flew open; wet and glistening with unshed tears. Wildly, she locked eyes with him for a moment before letting out a strangled noise and turned, running from the room.
Cursing again, he followed her, relaxing slightly when he saw she hadn't gone far, just out to the hallway, where she was now pacing back and forth, arms still wrapped tightly around her. Before he could reach her side however, she had whirled around and let out a cry of fury, balling up her good hand into a fist and slamming it into a wall with enough force to make him worry about broken bones, following the punch with a swift kick of her boot.
Jack winced, and crossed quickly to her side grabbing her fist as she pulled back for another blow. "Carter!" he cried.
Briefly, she struggled against his hold, trying to pull her arm from his grasp, but he just came up behind her and wrapped both of his arms around her, effectively pinning her arms to her side. She twisted at first, but suddenly all the fight drained out of her. Without warning, she went weak against him, her knees giving out.
Surprised, Jack gently lowered her to the ground. She was shaking, he realized, sobbing uncontrollably. Somewhat uncomfortable, he shifted, and then wordlessly pulled her tightly to him, tucking her head against his chest and rubbing her back with a gentle circular motion.
"Shhhh.... Shhhhh... I've got you, you're safe now." He whispered assurances and words of comfort into her ear while gently rocking her until her sobs quieted into occasional hiccups. Searching his pockets, he pulled out a pack of Kleenex and handed her one, pulling away to give her some space while she collected herself, but remaining close by.
She wiped her eyes and blew her nose before she looked at him, refusing to meet his eyes. She took a deep breath before looking down at her lap and muttering, "Sorry sir."
Not wanting to let her off too easily, and knowing she needed to start talking about what had happened, he tried to draw her out. "Wanna talk about it?"
She was silent for a long moment, before finally looking up from her lap. She still didn't meet his eyes, instead staring off over his shoulder at the closed metal door. "He knew."
Puzzled, he looked at her, waiting for her to clarify.
"He knew I was human, but he still treated me like an animal." She turned her attention back to her lap and absently flexed her fingers, Jack could see her knuckles were bruised, and at least one cracked and bleeding slowly from the impact with the wall.
Wordlessly, Jack dug out another clean Kleenex, and gently took her hand, wrapping the tissue around her knuckles. When she looked up, startled, he caught her eyes, refusing to let her look away again. "He's gone now Carter, he can't do anything else to harm you. With what he's found out about the program, they'll make sure he never sees the light of day again." Jack spoke softly. When she pulled her hand away and turned her gaze, he let her, but continued to watch her.
"Thank you sir." Her words were barely above a whisper, and Jack had to strain to catch them.
For a moment, she looked like she would say something else, but quickly her features changed, her neutral mask slipping back into place, and Jack had to hold in a growl of frustration when she announced that they should go, rising to her feet without a backwards glance.
"Carter..." He started, but she interrupted him.
"Sir..." She shook her head, hesitating briefly before continuing. "Not here sir. Not now. Please."
She looked so vulnerable, so small; he wanted to protect her, to make it all better. Instead, he sighed, and let it drop, silently picking up his box and heading for the front entrance, Carter's step falling in behind him telling him that she was done at least for now with running off.
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The rental truck bounced over the ruts in the old country road, Jack trying with some success to avoid the worst of them. He glanced over at Carter, who was staring out the passenger window. Whether she was lost in thought, or looking for something he wasn't sure. A map lay partially open in her lap, and she had said nothing further about what had happened at Arden's. In fact, she'd said very little at all, except for an occasional direction, or response to his attempts at small talk. Jack didn't even know where they were going or why, he just hoped there wouldn't be any more outbursts, although he might take another fit of anger over her pensive silence.
"Turn up here sir, and find somewhere to pull off to the side of the road and park." Her sudden request broke the strained silence. Jack complied silently, he debated briefly asking again where they would going, but he'd asked before several times, each time getting vague unhelpful responses about wanting to stop by somewhere she'd been. So he just sighed quietly, and followed her request, hoping she would clue him in soon. It didn't take long before he found a wide shoulder on the side of the country road, and pulled off, shutting off the engine, and looked expectantly over at his passenger, who was completely ignoring him in favor of unbuckling her seatbelt and climbing out her already open door.
Jack sighed, and started to follow when Carter surprised him with another request.
"Sir, could you pop the hood please?" She either didn't notice his blank stare or was ignoring it in favor of getting something out of the backseat.
Burying another sigh, and some uncharitable thoughts in his second's direction, Jack complied. He really didn't want to push her, but it was starting to get ridiculous.
By the time he exited the vehicle, and came around the front, she already had the hood propped open and was busy underneath it with the tools she'd pulled out from the case she'd stowed in the back. He hadn't even known she'd brought tools along. Jack frowned at what she was doing under the hood though.
"Uh, Carter, don't we need that?" He frowned as she popped a wire off a spark plug, loosening it and setting it back on to make it look like it was still connected at first glance.
His only reply was a noncommittal grunt, as she closed the hood and replaced the tools in the back.
"This way sir." She said, before starting off on foot down the road.
"Carter?" He frowned at her back as she walked away, standing in place.
"Car won't start sir, there's a farmhouse up a ways here we can call the rental place from. We should hurry, it looks like it may rain" She didn't slow her step as she continued to walk away from him.
"Ooookaaaay." Jack drawled, shaking his head, before starting after her. He decided it wasn't worth mentioning that they both had cell phones. Making up his mind, he decided he'd do it her way for a little while, but so help him, she better damn well talk when this trip was over, even if he had to tie her to a chair and make her watch The Simpson's until she caved in.
They hadn't walked for a long time, maybe only about a half a mile or so, when they came to the promised farmhouse, Jack knowing better than to wonder how she knew the farmhouse would be there. He was starting to suspect she'd planned the whole thing out. He followed her up the driveway, and onto the porch, watching while she hesitated, suddenly not so confident in herself anymore.
At this moment, Sam Carter was busy debating the wisdom of this side trip, and poking holes in her flimsy story. She was halfway tempted to turn right back around, no matter what her CO might thing. The Colonel probably already thought she'd lost all her marbles.
Just as she was about to announce her change of heart a voice interrupted.
"Can I help ye folks?" The voice was familiar, and Sam turned slowly to see Charles Roberts walking towards them, having just come in from the fields judging by his dress. He looked smaller than she remembered.
A discreet elbow in her ribs drew Sam from her musings and she remembered that Charles had spoken. Recovering, Sam pasted a smile on her face. "We broke down bout a half a mile that way," she said vaguely, pointing the way they had come. "We were wondering if we might use your phone?"
Charles fixed the two of them with a penetrating glare. It wasn't often that strangers showed up on his doorstep, asking for things. Still, they seemed like honest folk, and he always liked to be hospitable. Besides, judging by the clouds, they were in for a storm and he'd hate to leave people stranded outside in the rain if he could help it.
"Sure, don't mind if you do. Phone's in the kitchen, let me just take of my boots, or my wife will have my hide for tracking in dirt." While he spoke, he removed his mud caked boots before opening the front door and showing them both in, calling for his wife.
Sam knew exactly where the kitchen was, but knew she couldn't go running off, after all she wasn't supposed to know. Her thoughts were interrupted as Mary came from the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel.
"What is it Charles... Oh! We have guests!" Sam couldn't help but return Mary's large smile.
"These folks car broke down, they wanted to use our phone." Charles explained the strangers' presence.
"Well of course you can use the phone, its right in there, Mr., uh..." Mary faltered, not knowing the man's name.
"O'Neill, you can call me Jack please. And this is Sam. Sam Carter." Jack squeezed Carter's good arm, pulling her forward, she seemed to be at a loss for words as she nodded, and returning Mary's smile while Charles introduced himself and his wife. Handshakes all around, and Jack left to make the phone call, while Sam wandered over to the fireplace. A large fire was blazing cheerfully, and a small familiar basket set on the hearth.
Looking up Sam saw an array of pictures over the mantle, photos of children, animals, and places. Her hand gravitated to one in particular. Suddenly she remembered she wasn't alone and stopped, turning as Mary approached. But Mary didn't seem to mind at all, as she reached up taking the picture down, and handing it to Sam.
"That's Bella, we only had her about a week, but the poor little thing was so sick we weren't sure she'd make it through that first night. There was something special about her." Mary had a faraway look on her face as she spoke.
"Well they can be here in a hour. What's that Carter?" Jack had entered the room and went to Sam's side, looking at the picture she held. "Say, that looks just like...ow." Sam had just stepped on his foot.
Jack watched Carter closely while she replaced the picture of the small yellow cat curled up by the fireplace back on the mantle and seemed to shake herself. "Well, we really don't mean to impose on you, we should go wait by the car..."
Mary was quick to interrupt, Charles coming to stand behind her. "Nonsense, it's starting to rain, and you, young lady shouldn't be out in the rain with that cast on! You'll simply have to stay for dinner, its ready and there's more than enough for two more."
"Please, join us, and after dinner I can drive you back to your car. Maybe we can even get it running before the mechanic gets here." Charles added his own invitation when he saw their hesitation. There was something about them, something familiar, especially in the woman.
Rather than be rude, Sam and Jack acquiesced to the couple's invitation and soon found themselves seated at the kitchen table, bowls of hearty stew and warm homemade biscuits in front of them.
They talked about the weather, and other pleasantries. Somehow, Jack managed to turn the topic to fishing and it turned out that Charles quite enjoyed fishing himself. Several times during the meal, Sam caught Mary staring intently at her. Finally, Sam looked up meeting her gaze, and Mary blushed, caught.
"I'm sorry dear, I just feel like I know you from somewhere. I know its silly isn't it." Mary tried to explain the odd feeling, and fiddled with her napkin.
Sam smiled and shook her head. If only Mary knew. But there was just no way to explain it. "No, I don't think so." She looked away uncomfortable.
Discreetly, Jack slipped in, changing the topic to talk about some of the animals that Mary had rescued, even drawing out a bit of information about 'Bella' much to Sam's dismay. Before long they had finished dinner, and Sam helped Mary clean up.
Charles announced that the rain had slowed significantly, and Jack and Sam took their leave of the Roberts, thanking them for their hospitality and delicious cooking, and gratefully accepting a ride from Charles back to their vehicle. They arrived at the same time as the mechanic, and the problem was sorted in no time since Sam had been careful in her sabotage not to make the problem too difficult to fix.
They spent the night in their hotel, catching an early morning flight back home. Sam had slipped back into passive mode again, remaining quiet and introspective, despite Jack's attempts to draw her out with comments on how nice the Roberts seemed, even going as far as some light teasing about Bella. Eventually he left her to her silence, renewing his silent vow that somehow, he would get her to talk, no matter how much time it took. Reviewing the previous day's events, he was glad she'd at least met some nice people on the way, as he was starting to worry that all her experiences on the road were bad.
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Jack juggled three beer bottles and a glass of orange juice as he made his way from the kitchen to the living room, grinning at the direction the conversation had taken in his absence.
"I do not understand why you felt it was necessary to show me immediately after your rescue, what a 'group hug' was. Would there not have been a more appropriate time to engage in such an activity? Perhaps later, after we had all returned to the SGC and showered?" Teal'c's deep bass rumble was unmistakable, even if he couldn't see who was talking yet.
"Oh no Teal'c, that was a perfect time!" Jack said as he entered the room and set the orange juice down next to Teal'c, who inclined his head in thanks, but turned to regard his friend.
"Perhaps you can explain then, O'Neill, after all I believe the 'group hug', as you called it, was your suggestion." Teal'c pinned Jack with an upraised eyebrow.
A muffled giggle came from Carter, as she gratefully took the proffered beer and hid her mouth behind her hand to conceal her smile. She wanted to hear this explanation.
Jack shared a quick grin with Daniel, who had also noticed Sam's uplifted mood. She'd been quiet recently, too quiet, in the past several weeks as she'd recovered, refusing to talk about the events that had transpired, despite their best efforts to draw her out on it. She'd finally been cleared for active duty, and SG-1 had gone on its first mission earlier today, a routine milk run type to get them all back in the groove of things. And boy, had they ever gotten back into the groove.
Jack turned his attention back to Teal'c after passing another beer over to Daniel, and caught the slight glint in Teal'c's eyes, and realized that Teal'c knew exactly what he was doing. The skillful Jaffa was succeeding in his cunning plan it seemed, judging by the snickers into the open beer coming from Carter's direction.
Rising to the bait, Jack hid an evil smile. "Oh, I don't know Teal'c, a group hug is all about sharing. Besides, did you see the look on Danny-boy's face here when the ground around that mud pit gave way?"
Daniel frowned at the sudden turn of conversation, and Sam was still trying to muffle her giggles as Teal'c responded.
"Indeed, it was most unfortunate that I did not have a camera at the time. I believe it was what you would call a 'Kodak moment' was it not?"
At that, Daniel let out an offended "Hey!" and Sam gave into a fit of giggles nearly snorting on her beer. Jack grinned and thumped Daniel on the back, deciding it was time Carter got a bit of teasing too.
"It sure was Teal'c, and so was Carter's reaction when she went in after Daniel." Jack smirked as the smile disappeared from her face, hoping that she'd take the bait.
He wasn't disappointed when she rose to the challenge.
"It must have looked nearly as impressive as your face sir, when your feet slipped and you came sliding down in with us still holding the rope!" She had just a touch of superiority in her voice, and Jack couldn't help but grin.
"Well thank goodness Teal'c thought to secure the line on that boulder after that or we all might have ended up down there! I'd hate to have been rescued by another SG team!" There were nods all around at Jack's statement, and Daniel raised his beer.
"Here's to Teal'c," he said. Everyone else raised their bottles echoing the sentiment; "To Teal'c" while the man in question inclined his head solemnly.
"I don't think I've ever had so much mud on me before." Daniel proclaimed, settling back with his beer. Jack agreed, and started to make jokes about Daniel becoming a mud wrestler when he noticed that Carter had gone quiet again, looking off into the flames of the fire he'd started earlier in the fireplace, her beer forgotten in her hand.
Daniel also noticed her sudden silence. "Sam?" He called, bringing her back to the conversation.
She looked up startled, apologizing. "Sorry, just thinking," was all she would say.
Jack knew what she was probably thinking about, and decided that it was time she stopped thinking and started talking. "About?" his tone brokered no argument.
Looking down at her lap, she played idly with her beer bottle, tracing her finger in the condensation. The three men respected her silence, but waited expectantly for her to speak. None of the spoke or pressured her, but they all hoped she would talk as they held their breath, waiting.
Finally, she took a deep breath and looked up, gazing at each of her teammates in turn. Setting the bottle down, Sam Carter started to talk.
Over the next few hours, she told them all about waking up alone in a cage, and how it had only gotten worse from there. She told them about things they'd only guessed at, and had only seen parts of on tapes. She talked about how she'd been treated and how she'd felt and how she'd escaped.
The three men stayed silent for the most part, letting their teammate and friend talk. It was as if a dam had burst and all the words she'd been holding in were now coming out. Occasionally, one of them would ask a question, or make a comment. They grew angry for her at the appropriate moments, and sad during others, moving to hold her or touch her when it became too much, filling in details she didn't know about when the opportunity presented itself.
Slowly, she told them about her escape, and recuperation at the Roberts', and how she'd left, and stolen a map. They told her how they'd just missed her, and about the scene of the overly large woman getting led to an ambulance. Sam told them about the diner, and meeting the trucker and Jack had growled in frustration about missing her so closely yet again. They all shared a chuckle over the unfortunate waitress. She'd told them about some of the rides she'd gone on along the way and they'd frowned in concern about the accident that had taken her so far off course and laughed with her about the ride with the chickens. Sam even complained that despite the number of rides she'd taken, she had never once found a ride on a truck carrying blankets or pillows or mattresses or something soft, and that the closest she'd gotten was the chickens, which Jack had been quick to point out that they had feathers, and feathers were soft. Sam just glared, and continued her tale.
They'd surprised her with their knowledge about her theft of the fallen ribs at the buffet place and had chuckled with her about the old ladies fighting on the tour bus. All of them smiled at the antics of the children in the family she'd traveled with, and even Jack relived his anger at how they had planned to have her spayed, all of them happy she'd escaped in time. They all agreed that Brian seemed like a good kid, and Sam learned that they had actually met him, arriving later in the day after she'd made her escape. Sam shook her head; she'd had no idea that the guys had been following her so closely. She forced herself not to go down the path of what ifs though. What was done was done and no way to change the past, so she just took a deep breath and kept talking, doubting she could stop now if she wanted to.
They'd smiled at her rescue from the stray dogs by Heisenberg; chuckling over the name she'd called the dog, sharing her fond memories of how the dog had become more than just a traveling companion. And then they shared her sadness, Daniel quietly wrapping his arm around her shoulders while she tearfully told them about the dog's death, Jack moving to her other side, laying a hand on her arm while Teal'c leaned across the coffee table, placing a large hand on her knee.
She didn't remember much about the rest of the way back, and Jack had hesitantly filled her in on some of the missing details of how he'd found her literally laying on his front step the next morning, nearly stepping on her.
Finally, she ran out of words, and her gaze returned to her lap.
Silence descended on the four companions, the three men thinking about all the things that Sam had gone through to get home again, and Carter lost in her own thoughts, revisiting all that had transpired. It was all so overwhelming, and none of them could believe that one person so close to them all had gone through it so alone.
A cough broke the silence, as Jack cleared his throat, and all eyes turned towards him.
"So, I guess this proves that cats really do have nine lives," he said, with an air of sureness.
Sam blinked at her CO, and then, a small smile appeared, just before she ducked her head to hide it, but she couldn't hide how her sides shook from suppressed laughter.
"O'Neill, I disagree. I believe from Major Carter's tale, that cats have more than nine lives." Sam looked up in surprise at Teal'c, just before Daniel jumped in with some detail about nine being a lucky number in many old cultures. Teal'c responded with some similar belief among his own people, and a debate ensued, each man trying to outdo the other in myths and legends about cats.
Jack stood as the debate warmed up, excusing himself and leaving the room again to get more drinks for everyone. He smiled at the long missed sound of Carter's giggling in response to the good-natured banter that continued in his absence. Thoughtfully, he collected another round of drinks from the kitchen.
On the way back to his team, Jack paused, listening to the relaxed and cheerful sounds coming from the room, and realized that while SG-1 still had a long road to travel until they could come to a resolution on the events of the past few months, they were already well on their way to healing. They were a team again, complete.