Glancing at Thor, the archeologist looked back down and then quickly stepped back, just as Teal'c, Dragon and Jennifer hurried into the room, questioning looks on their faces. Sam's body jerked and convulsed, quickly answering their unvoiced questions. Daniel sucked in a breath as he watched his friend's body wracked with spasms again.
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Ch 71: INTEGRATION
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Dimly Daniel became aware of Lya and Anteaus' quiet presences beside him. Gently, they moved him aside and quickly crossed their arms over Sam's chest. Both of the Nox and Sam quickly shimmered into translucence.
Daniel glanced back at his three friends and comrades. Teal'c looked stoic, yet anyone who knew that large Jaffa would know that he was worried. Dragon looked sympathetic and Jennifer was obviously holding back tears.
Dragon's eyes broke away from his and shot up in surprise. Daniel turned back to see that Jack was waking up. Quickly stepping around to Jack's side of the biopod, he gently lay a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Easy," he warned affectionately.
Jack's gaze slowly focused on the archeologist and he gave the younger man a wan smile, "Hey," he managed, although it was almost more of a sigh than a word.
"Hey," Daniel returned and then couldn't help but check on the shimmering threesome on the other side of the pod.
Jack's gaze followed and he tried to reach out to Sam, only to be stopped by the forcefield. "Sam?" he called weakly.
"Lya and Anteaus are helping her," Daniel supplied while keeping a restraining hand on his friend's arm.
Jack considered the shimmering images and then turned back to Daniel, "I need to help. She needs… me," and he tried to push himself upright. "Give me a hand," he directed.
"I think we've had this conversation before," Daniel replied with an arched eyebrow and Jack scowled at him. "Right…," Daniel muttered and then reluctantly helped the older man into a sitting position.
Thor, watching closely, quietly deactivated the forcefield between the two halves of the biopod. Daniel gave the Asgard a silent nod of gratitude.
Jack pulled himself over so that lay up against her side.
Gently, he lay his hand over her shimmering chest again.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated on searching for that feeling of warmth that he knew of as her. He was almost unaware of the tingling, prickling and itching sensations.
The others watched as the palm of his hand glowed softly green again.
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Jack felt the warmth that he knew was her presence.
He felt her exhaustion and her pain.
He reached out… and let his presence wash over her.
Felt her recognition… her joy… her love washed over him… and he answered in kind…
And then he felt her fading as she relaxed in the comfort of his presence.
'No!' he shouted to her and he felt Lya and Anteaus beside him. The Nox leant their strength to the two Tauri…healing them…allowing both mind and body to repair and regenerate.
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The minutes passed slowly and in silence as those watching waited apprehensively.
And then Lya, Anteaus and Sam resolidified and the green glow between Jack's palm and Sam's chest died away. Lya and Anteaus stepped away with gentle smiles on their faces.
Jack opened his eyes sleepily from where his head lay cushioned on her shoulder. "Sam?" his voice was barely above a whisper.
"Mm..," and it was scarcely more than a breath in response, but everyone in the room heard it.
"Sam?" and his voice was a little stronger as his hand traveled to lay gently on her cheek.
Her eyelids fluttered gently and she blinked blearily at him. "Wha-?" she almost managed a word, but it ended in a weary exhalation of breath.
"It's ok, just sleep," and his words were slurred with his own sleep as he moved his arm down to curl around her waist.
Her reply was not audible as she slipped back asleep by his side.
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Quiet descended in the room as the three Tauri, one Jaffa, two Nox and one Asgard watched the now-motionless pair on the biopod.
"Thor? Anteaus, Lya?" Daniel finally broke the silence apprehensively.
But the soft smiles on the faces of both Nox reassured them all. "Now that Samantha's mind is present in this realm, we were able to conduct the healing session properly," Anteaus supplied.
"Jack…?" Daniel asked.
"General O'Neill participated in the healing session and he too should be recovered after a sufficient rest," Anteaus replied.
"General O'Neill's presence greatly facilitated Samantha's healing," Lya informed them with an acknowledging nod.
"They will both sleep for some time," Anteaus continued, "But they should recover completely over the next few days."
"They're going to be OK?" Jennifer asked for confirmation.
Both Nox nodded empathetically and Anteaus answered, "Yes, with the integrated help of their minds, they are now healed."
The four humans studied their sleeping comrades in silence. So much… had taken so long… and now, they were OK? It was hard to believe that it wasn't going to just be taken from their grasp again.
"Wow," Jennifer muttered and then gave the others a shrug and a small smile.
"Yeah. Wow," Dragon agreed, and gave the young officer a commiserating grin.
"I get to tell them about the Planet of Mud," Teal'c stated solemnly and they all stared at the Jaffa, totally unprepared for his sudden humor.
Always quick, however, Jennifer claimed hers, "I get to tell them about the Bug Planet and the one with the phosphorescent minerals."
"Two?" Dragon returned with arched eyebrows.
The young officer shrugged, "No one hated Planet Bug the way that I did, and I will make sure that they appreciate what we went through while searching for them," and she looked at the others challengingly, but no one dared argue that she wouldn't give the most excruciating details of that excursion. "And… I figure that Colonel Carter and I are probably the only two who really care much about the phosphorescent minerals…?" And again, no one wanted to argue with that…
"I'm going to ask the General why he chose P8X-539 instead of something like the tropical paradise of PX3-071…," Dragon stated.
Daniel smiled at her evaluation, "There certainly were more trees on P8X-539 than I would have expected for a planet that Jack would pick," he allowed.
Their light banter continued as they headed off for a meal and some rest. Thor assured them that the two officers were now resting peacefully and that the automatic systems would warn them of any changes.
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TBC
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