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'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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Ch 69: FADING
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Jack reached for her.
She was there, but she was fading.
He was losing her.
She couldn't quite string her thoughts together, but she could feel… him.
The others were becoming part of the muted background.
But she held onto what she could feel of him.
That gentle fizzing became the music of her existence.
His sarcastic humor, his irreverence and his trueness of character.
All interwoven into his love for her.
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Jennifer quickly related to them what was going to happen next.
Teal'c centered himself and focused along the link stretching back to Jennifer and then to the two waiting Nox. The Jaffa focused on Anteaus while still retaining awareness of the other four near him.
'And… now,' Jennifer's voice reached them one last time and then she faded from their senses. Daniel was next and Dragon felt his absence strongly.
Dragon and Jack waited and then Teal'c's words came to each of them clearly, 'This way,' and they followed the Jaffa's link back to Anteaus. Jack holding onto Sam.
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Minutes earlier
Thor worked the controls on his console and the stone in Lt. Hailey's hands quickly lost its glow and the young officer's image quickly regained normal solidity. She swayed as she dropped out of the connection. Gripping the edge of Sam's biopod, Jennifer shook her head slightly as her eyes refocused on the physical world.
"Please step clear," the Asgard instructed calmly but quickly and Jennifer quickly stepped away from Daniel and Dragon.
Thor again tapped some commands into his console and the stone in Daniel's hands quickly lost its glow and the wavering image of the archeologist quickly regained solidity. He wobbled just as she had as his mind attempted to assimilate the new reality.
"Steady there," Jennifer reached out, but did not touch him.
"Please step clear," Thor repeated his earlier instruction and Daniel obediently staggered away from Lya, Teal'c and Dragon. Once he was clear of the others, Jennifer reached out and assisted him to the other side of Sam's biopod, where the two of them would be out of the way.
Finally, Lya's image regained solidity and she stepped quietly away from Anteaus and then joined Jennifer and Daniel.
Once she was clear, Thor worked a few more controls and Sam's body convulsed and spasmed.
"C'mon, Sam," Daniel urged her heart to start beating properly again.
Thor slid a few of the stones on the control panel around again and Sam's body jerked and shuddered.
Moments of silence…and then just as Daniel was turning to ask a question, her body arched upwards with another large convulsion.
And then she lay there motionlessly.
No one moved.
Daniel turned again to look back at Thor and his eyes swept over the sad look on Lya's face and the tears streaming down Jennifer's face. Finally looking back at Thor, he met the large eyes of the diminutive alien. Neither of them said a word. Thor's hands moved.
And Sam's body arched upwards violently.
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Teal'c shepherded his charges back towards Anteaus, their homing beacon for the last leg of their interdimensional expedition. Time was again meaningless as they steadily grew closer.
'You journey is almost complete,' Anteaus' words were clear in each of their minds.
Dragon sent her thanks to Anteaus and Teal'c, but did not disturb the General as she faded from their realm.
Moments later, Daniel reappeared and joined Teal'c as they leant Jack their strength to hold onto the fading essence of Sam Carter.
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Her mind was thick and fuzzy.
Thoughts were isolated and solitary.
She could still feel him.
That background of soothing electrical fizzing.
Fizz, fizz, fizz, fizz… her mind spun slowly on that one word.
That one simple feeling.
And then there was love.
Simple. Warm. Free.
She would die happy, embraced by his love.
The last things she would feel.
The last things in her mind.
The final sensations.
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He could feel her fading… slowly, but inexorably.
But she wasn't bitter, or angry, or resentful.
She was dying knowing his love.
She was dying knowing that he was there.
He held on with everything he had.
Drawing on the strength and love from Daniel and Teal'c.
Drawing on his love for her.
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Her body landed heavily on the biopod and Lya immediately swung her arms up and over Sam's chest. Within moments, the Nox shimmered and became translucent… and then so did Sam.
Jennifer and Dragon watched as the soundless drama unfolded before them.
Dragon moved over and pulled the younger woman into a silent hug.
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And then the images of Lya and Sam resolidified. Lya wavered unsteadily on her feet and Thor began working busily with his console again.
"Her heartbeat is slow and weak at 59, her blood pressure is also below normal readings, as is her respiration," the Asgard reported.
"But her heart's beating and she's breathing, right?" Dragon pointed out and gave Jennifer another hug.
"For the moment," the Asgard warned carefully.
"This was all I could accomplish towards healing her physical body without the integrated assistance of her mind," Lya explained and then moved back into position between the biopods and with her back to Anteaus. Quickly raising her arms again, she reestablished the link with Anteaus, and she and Sam once more shimmered into translucence.
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'Lya,' Teal'c acknowledged the arrival of the second Nox.
'Teal'c,' she replied softly.
'Colonel Carter must return to the physical realm now, her body is failing without her mind and soul,' Lya informed them.
'As her mind is fading here,' Anteaus replied and Teal'c needed no further instructions.
Quickly pulling DanielJackson with him, the Jaffa reached out mentally for that which was JackO'Neill.
'O'Neill!' the Jaffa spoke sharply, but Jack did not respond - his entire focus was on the fading remnants that he held so strongly.
'O'Neill! Follow Us!" the Jaffa directed powerfully and DanielJackson added his strength.
They didn't quite break-through, so much as achieve a reaction from Jack that was similar to that which Sam had given him earlier. That is, Jack blindly followed their directions. Implicitly trusting.
Jack pulled her with him.
He pulled the two of them and let Teal'c and Daniel help.
And then they were there.
At the end.
With only one more step.
One more step, to return to their realm, to their space-time.
He felt Daniel and then Teal'c fade from this realm.
'You must go quickly now,' Anteaus warned and Jack knew he couldn't argue.
There simply was no more time.
No more moments to be snatched from death or any interdimensional realm.
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He faded from her senses.
That background fizzing went silent.
Her soul ached and a hollowness overtook her.
…Adrift…
She was so tired.
She reached out, feeling for his presence.
But it was gone.
Empty.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
Vaguely, she thought she should sense something.
But there was nothing.
Just a memory, just an echo.
She was so tired.
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Dragon and Jennifer watched as first Daniel and then Teal'c solidified and rejoined them in the 'normal' space-time realm on board Thor's ship. Just as the men were clearing the area between the biopods, Anteaus and Jack solidified.
Anteaus quickly turned around to stand beside Lya. Raising his arms he quickly became translucent again.
A low moan came from Jack's biopod. With one eye on the shimmering Nox, Daniel stepped over next to Jack.
"Welcome Back," Daniel gave his friend a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes yet as his attention was divided with the drama over the other biopod.
"Ugchk…," Jack managed another groan and swiped a hand over his face.
"Lie still," Daniel directed empathetically.
But then Jack bolted upwards with, "Sam!" and then almost immediately collapsed into Daniel's arms.
"I told you to stay lying down – and I know that we've had this conversation before!" the archeologist muttered as Jack sagged against him.
"Shut up and help me get up," Jack returned shortly, but his words were tempered with affection.
"Teal'c, help?" Daniel appealed as Jack attempted an uncoordinated attempt at climbing out of the biopod.
The Jaffa stepped over, slid an arm around Jack and neatly slipped him out of the biopod and into a generally upright position… Only roughly vertical, however, as Jack was supporting very little of his own weight. Teal'c held the man upright with no apparent effort and quickly moved them around to a position where they could see both Sam and the two Nox. Daniel followed behind and the three men joined the two women as they waited and watched the shimmering tableau.
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'Samantha,' Anteaus and Lya were calling her.
But she couldn't hear them.
All she could feel was an aching exhaustion.
Her thoughts gradually faded into fuzziness.
Adrift.
Quiet.
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"They're losing her," Jack said with certainty and Daniel looked back at Thor and the Asgard nodded minutely in confirmation.
Jennifer Hailey looked at the ground in disbelief.
To have come this far!
To have gone through this much!
After dragging them back from another freaking dimension!
After watching her body convulse violently and repeatedly…
After all that… to watch her die???
Dragon felt the heaviness of defeat settle over her as she wrapped a comforting arm around the younger woman again.
Jack pulled out of Teal'c's grip and lurched forward, bracing himself heavily against the side of her biopod.
"Jack-?" Daniel started to protest and Jack glared at him, challenging him to explain what Jack's presence was going to prevent. But Daniel couldn't and the archeologist's words died in his throat and his breath exhaled silently in defeat.
Turning back to her transclucent image, Jack leaned over and placed his hand over her shimmering chest.
He closed his eyes and simply focused on her.
Shutting out all else.
Simply focusing on her.
His hand began tingling and itching and prickling.
He did not open his eyes to look for any results.
He just focused on her.
Daniel sucked in a breath as the palm of Jack's hand began to glow with a soft green light. All four remaining humans watched silently, transfixed by the ethereal tableau before them.
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'Sam?' he called.
'Sam?' he tried again and again.
'SAM!' he was shouting.
He felt the serene presence of the Nox as they guided him gently.
'SAM!' he shouted again.
And then he felt her.
He didn't hear her.
He felt her.
She was barely there.
Almost phantasmal.
'Sam?' he reached for her. 'Follow me,' and he tugged her with him. And, just as before, she didn't argue or question… she simply trusted. Her trust in him transcended interdimensional realms… her love for him one of the few remaining pieces of what she was.
He pulled her gently with him.
Gently back to their physical time and space.
And then his senses shut down and nothingness descended.
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TBC
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