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Passing easily though the shimmering surface, Daniel and Teal'c found themselves standing on the shore of a lake nestled amongst the trees.
In tandem, their eyes fell upon two motionless forms lying on the sandy beach.
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Ch 68: TEAMWORK
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Their two missing comrades were lying side by side, apparently asleep, with Jack spooned up behind Sam and one arm wrapped around her waist.
Daniel glanced at Teal'c and the Jaffa simply tilted his head marginally to the side.
And then Jack stirred and opened his eyes. Immediately taking in the new presences, he sat up, careful not to disturb Sam.
'Welcome to Jack's Lake,' he greeted the two men with a proud grin. Before either Daniel or Teal'c could reply, Sam stirred and Jack placed a hand on her arm reassuringly as she woke up.
They felt her immediate puzzlement at feeling their presences, and then they felt Jack's warm assurances overlapping her realization of who they were. A smile bloomed on her face and they both felt her pleasure and excitement at their presences.
Sam hugged them both in turn and they felt her concern and affection wash over them. She then felt the depth of the concern and worry that had maintained their perseverance in the search for their missing friends over the past four and a half months.
With Jack, they exchanged more manly hugs, accompanied with affectionate backslapping.
Eventually, the four comrades sat in a loose arc facing the water. Sam and Jack sat together, with Jack's right arm curled around her waist, holding her close. Daniel and Teal'c felt the shared feelings emanating from their comrades and acknowledged the deepening connection between their two friends.
'So… this is a beautiful place,' Daniel complimented.
'This is Jack's Lake – Sam gave it to me,' and they felt Jack's pride and Sam's amusement.
'Ah,' Daniel returned with bemusement and felt the same coming from Teal'c.
'We need to get you back,' Daniel broached what he felt they didn't want to hear… and then wasn't surprised at the feelings of disappointment that came from the two officers.
'Unfortunately, we do not have a choice,' Teal'c informed them and they felt their friends' reluctance morph to sadness.
'If we don't get back soon, we'll lose the links to our physical bodies back in our normal space,' Daniel explained apologetically.
'This is dangerous for you?' Sam asked and they could feel her quickly becoming alert and focusing on their statements and feelings.
'For all of us,' Teal'c replied calmly, but even the Jaffa could not stop the series of images and feelings that swiftly told Sam and Jack of how their friends came to be here with them.
'You shouldn't have risked your lives for ours,' Jack admonished. They also felt Sam's agreement, but then she turned it to include him as well and they felt his mental eye rolling.
Next they felt Sam's realization that all of this, and all of these people, were at risk because of her. Ultimately, this interdimensional search had all started to find her. Quickly, however, the three men countered her every feeling of guilt and self-recrimination.
They were a team.
They came for each other.
As they always would.
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Jack and Sam took one last look at the peaceful lake and its surroundings.
Daniel and Teal'c moved a little ways away and averted their eyes, even if they couldn't avoid the feelings that were spilling over from the pair they'd come to rescue.
Jack turned and looked into her eyes. She gave him one of those small, shy smiles and his heart melted. She felt it and then he felt her wonder and surprise. His smile grew and she answered with feelings of love and affection that he couldn't help but reciprocate.
His love was intense, quirky, edgy, passionate and laced with a sharp wit.
Her love was softer, but no less deep or passionate, while rich with thoughtfulness and an undercurrent of humor.
'Time to head back,' and they felt their mutual reluctance. Smiling softly at each other, they took one last look at Jack's Lake and then turned to Daniel and Teal'c, 'Which way?'
Daniel and Teal'c each searched for those feelings that were so definitively Dragon and Jennifer. But… they could not feel them. They could easily feel the strong presences of the others here, but they could not feel that of either the zoologist or the young lieutenant.
Daniel eventually admitted defeat. 'I can't sense them anymore. I don't know which way we are supposed to go,' he admitted.
'I too can no longer sense Dr. Rider or Lt. Hailey,' the Jaffa's measured tones were unmistakable. 'I would like to attempt Kel'nor'reem,' he proposed and then added, 'And I believe that you should all join me.'
Varying levels of surprise and then curiosity washed through the group. Teal'c easily correlated each feeling and emotion with the person generating the sentiment.
Moments later, however, the Jaffa had them all seated on the sand and facing each other in a circle… or a square, he mentally modified. Clockwise they were Jack, Sam, Daniel and himself… just as Thor had arrayed them on his diagram.
'Interesting,' came from Sam as she absorbed the image and then flashes of the explanations and dialogues from the three men's memories. To the Nox's metaphysical explanations, she felt Daniel's curiosity and open-mindedness, she felt Teal'c's innate understanding, and she felt Jack's skepticism.
'OK, OK, so it's really Jack's Metaphysical Lake,' he sent lightheartedly and was rewarded by a warm ripple that he knew was her amusement.
'Name's a bit unwieldy,' she commented dryly.
Before he could reply to that however, Teal'c moved them back on task. 'We must prepare for Kel'nor'reem,' and then they each felt the stoic man's calm descend slowly as he concentrated on only the most basic sensations.
Each of them had experience with some level of meditation. Daniel had actually spent time with Teal'c attempting to learn the basics of Kel'nor'reem and the techniques that were similar for basic meditation. Sam had experience with basic yoga and the accompanying meditation techniques. The surprise, however, was Jack's admission that he too, had once taken a yoga class... Both Daniel and Sam started to give him a little mental ribbing about that and he had to admit that he'd taken the class because he'd thought the instructor was 'hot'…. or at least he had until he tried to contort into some of the basic yoga positions…
Teal'c assisted his comrades as they attempted to clear their minds of worry and anxiety… and to refrain from focusing on each passing thread or idea. They each felt the large man's calm and steady presence and the four minds quieted and relaxed. Thoughts passed through their minds, but did not dominate their attention.
Teal'c slowly assessed their new realm. The thoughts and presences of his three comrades were not as overwhelming as before… and he began to slowly search outwards. Sensing… feeling… reaching…
At first, the other three waited and watched quietly.
Mentally hearing and feeling through the mind of the Jaffa.
Sensing and probing outwards.
As the moments passed, Daniel began to actively join Teal'c's search. Adding his strength to the Jaffa's… extending their reach.
Jack watched and waited, his natural tendencies for action beginning to assert themselves. 'Should we…?' he asked softly, careful not to disturb the explorations of the other two.
And then he felt her apology, 'You can,' she urged him, and then he felt the accompanying fatigue and weakness that she couldn't hide when she made that suggestion. Next he felt her soft disgruntlement at the fact that she couldn't hide how she was feeling from him.
'Right, we're staying here,' he ended that train of dialogue and she felt a gentle wave of love and concern wash around her.
Knowing that now was neither the time nor the place for protests about her condition, she simply sent him a soft wave of appreciation in return.
'I think I've got something!' and that was definitely from Daniel. Jack and Sam focused on the sensations rippling from their friend. Anticipation, enthusiasm, optimism. And in the background, Teal'c maintained the stability and strength that the archeologist relied upon.
Daniel stretched his mind outwards. Behind him he could feel the gentle warm fizzing of the combined presences that he easily identified as Jack and Sam. Beside and slightly behind him he felt the strength and serenity that was Teal'c. Identifying those feelings and sensations, he searched outwards for anything else. For someone else.
And then he felt it again and he smiled.
A warm, yet sharp mind.
With a biting sense of humor.
Worried, at the moment.
'Dragon?' he tried, but received no reply.
And then he felt Teal'c, Sam and Jack quietly join him.
Agreeing to follow his direction.
Trusting his senses implicitly.
Slowly he led them forward.
Into what… he couldn't describe.
Jack's Lake had long since disappeared.
They moved through an all-encompassing, thick mist.
A mist that wasn't wet or cloying.
But a mist where they could not focus on any features.
There were no solid objects.
No up, no down.
Just the featureless, monotonous mist.
And Daniel's connection with Dragon.
He could feel it more and more definitively.
'Dragon?' he tried again and then waited.
But there was no response.
Again, time lost meaning as they allowed their minds to follow Daniel's lead.
Traveling endlessly through an interdimensional fog.
Jack felt it first.
And he asked them all to stop.
'Sam?' he asked with concern.
'I'm fine,' came the typical answer,
….but this time, they could all feel that she wasn't.
She was tiring rapidly now.
Sam had been here the longest. She had been disconnected from her physical body in their normal time-space for far longer than the rest of them. And she'd also had to deal with the effects of the 'Gate connection.
'Allright, I'm as fine as I can be?' she tried and they all felt her attempt to insert a little humor into the moment.
Without words, she felt Teal'c flanking her on one side and Jack on the other. Daniel sent her warm encouragement and then refocused on his sense of direction back to Dragon.
How much time passed on this portion of their journey, they would never know, but suddenly the rippling surface appeared in front of them… appearing to float ethereally in the mist.
'Sam?' Jack queried and the other two men shared his concern. Each of the men could feel each other strongly, but their feelings of Sam were becoming muted.
'Mmm?' came the fuzzy response, and they knew that they didn't have much more time.
'Sam!' Jack sent more forcefully and then felt her struggling to focus on him. 'Sam, we have to go through,' and all three men helped her focus on the image of the shimmering surface.
They could tell, however, that she couldn't focus on it… that she was losing the connection with them. She was trying to focus on the image before them, but she was too exhausted.
'Sam,' Jack pulled her attention away from the blurriness that she was struggling with.
'Mmm?' she sent back again, her thoughts foggy and unclear.
She was acting on sheer instinct and momentum.
'Follow me,' he sent clearly … and then felt her simple assent.
She trusted him implicitly and without question.
She didn't need to think about trusting him.
'Together,' he sent to Daniel and Teal'c and felt their immediate understanding, and then the four of them slipped through the shimmering surface.
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Dragon felt them coming closer and alerted Jennifer who passed the message on to the waiting Nox. The zoologist recognized the bright curiosity and enthusiasm that was Daniel and the unruffled solid presence that was Teal'c… and then she identified other..s? It was difficult to separate and identify the remaining feelings…
And then they were there. With her.
'Good to have you back,' she greeted them warmly and felt Daniel's immediate pleasure at her presence. Teal'c's strong serene presence was easy to identify. A gentle fizzing…
'That's Jack,' Daniel helped her interpret that sensation.
'Colonel Carter?' she asked, but before anyone could reply, she felt Jennifer speak urgently.
'Dragon, Colonel Carter's heart is failing again. Thor can not apply the resuscitation techniques while we are all connected to her.'
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TBC
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