Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG-1 or any of its characters (unfortunately sigh). I'm just a person who likes to write so the owners have no reason to sue me.
A/N: Hey, what do you know?! I got chapter six out before the end of the weekend as predicted Maybe at this rate, I can get a few more chapters out. This is what, three in one week?! I have one more day off before I go back to work but since the boss is gone, maybe I can get some writing done there too. Anywho, thank you soooooo much for all of the support so far, new and regular readers alike (you know who you are ) It makes it easier to go and sit down and write instead of reading other fanfics. Anywho, on to the story!
"Colonel?! What are you doing?!"
"Let go of me!"
"This isn't real! This is a trick!"
"Get your vile hands off me!"
"You're not Jack!"
He couldn't get her words out of his mind. As soon as she had asked who Katy was, Jack knew that something was wrong. He just didn't know that she wouldn't remember a damn thing about their marriage. But the last thing that she had said...that was the one that had hurt him the most. Not for the slap, but for the way that she looked.
She was scared, right out of her mind. She was terrified...of him. Just the thought of her being afraid of him scared him. He let out a tired sigh and ran a hand through his hair. He knew that it was going to be tough to help her remember, let alone accept things about her pass, but he had promised Sam that he wasn't going to give up on her. And I will keep that promise.
A knock on the door snapped Jack out of his thoughts. He let out a groan. Yay, pep talks from the guys. This should get interesting, he thought to himself sarcastically.
He got up slowly and made his way to the door. The knocking began again. "I'm coming. I'm coming," he muttered to himself. He reached the door and took in a deep breath. If I'm going to convince them that I'm fine, I'm going to have to put on my best 'I'm fine' faces. He opened the door, and not much to his surprise, was Daniel and Teal'c.
"Hey kids. Did you come on over to visit old Jack? Well, come on in and perhaps I can scrounge up some cookies and milk."
"Enough with the sarcasm, Jack," Daniel stated as he and Teal'c made their way past their friend into his temporary quarters. He didn't look too impressed with Jack's plastered on smile.
"O'Neill, we are very much worried about you after Major Carter awakening."
Leave it to Teal'c to get straight to the point. Jack made his way over to his bed and plopped down. "I'm fine guys. Really."
"Are you really fine or are you just say that so we'll leave?"
"You pick." He rolled away from Daniel. He really didn't care what he had to say.
"Jack..."
"Yes Daniel?"
"You should go back down and talk to her."
"Why? So I can get slapped again." He found a rather interesting spot on the wall to stare at. It was white, unlike his still red cheek.
"You can't keep hiding from her."
"I'm not. She said she wanted me to leave so I did. End of story."
The younger man let out an agitated sigh. "We know this is hard for you. Hell, it's hard for all of us. But, we thought that...well maybe if you knew we were here to support you, that it would help you feel better. You're not alone, Jack."
Jack grabbed a pillow and pulled it over his face. He didn't want to talk right now. All he wanted to do was go to Minnesota and fish with his daughter. "Thanks for the support. I appreciate it. But right now I just want to be alone."
Daniel nodded and started to head back to the door. "Fine, just remember that we're here for you and that you should be there for her, okay?"
Jack listened carefully for their footsteps out into the hallway and the closing of the door. He heard Daniel's reach the door but Teal'c stayed where he was. "You have something to say, T?"
The Jaffa stood in the middle of the room, staring at the man before him. "You had no right to raise your voice to Major Carter. She was confused, disoriented, and in shock. It is not her fault that she doesn't remember."
"What?! Now listen here--" Jack sat up quickly to defend himself.
"No! You shall listen, O'Neill!" Teal'c boomed.
The sudden display of anger from the Jaffa quickly quieted Jack. Daniel closed the door quickly, hiding the display from passer byers. "Teal'c?" It was unusual for him to get so angry.
"It is unfortunate that Major Carter does not remember things about her past, O'Neill," Teal'c started. "But the way that you handled yourself earlier may have only driven her deeper within herself."
Jack plopped back onto the bed. "You're right," he whispered. "I was just scared. I guess...well, I just wanted her to be the same, okay? Even though I know that she'll never be the same, because of whatever the hell they did to her."
"And shaking her and screaming is a way of showing one how much you care?"
Since when did Teal'c become such an expert on human emotions, Jack thought bitterly to himself. "Yeah, well..." He was at a loss of words. Now he was beginning to get angry. He sat up again. "You know what? I don't need this! What do you know anyways?!"
"I know that both you and Major Carter have a strong bond between you, even before the two of you decided to pursue a relationship. I have seen this bond time and time again in the past withstand trials of friendship, separation, and even death." Jack's anger seemed to dissipate more and more with each word that Teal'c spoke. "I know for a fact, that this is just another trial. A trial for the both of you to face together."
"He's right, you know," Daniel pitched in. "She can't do this without you."
Jack let out a frustrated sigh. He hated it when they were right. "So what you're trying to tell me is to get my tail out from between my legs and be a man and go see her?"
Teal'c nodded solemnly. "Indeed."
He hung his head low and let out another deep sigh and started to get up slowly. It was times like this that he really felt old. "Thanks guys, I needed that. Guess I should go check in with the doc and see how she's doing."
Jack made his way past his ex-team and walked slowly down the hallway. "Hey Jack?"
He turned around to see Daniel coming up behind him. "Yeah?"
"Um, when we brought her back, she still had this on her..." The archeologist dug into his pocket to retrieve a simple, gold wedding band. It was a little scuffed up but otherwise not in too bad a shape.
He smiled. "Thanks, Danny."
"No problem. Now quit stalling and go and see Sam before I make Teal'c drag you there."
He laughed. "I'd get there quicker if I didn't have to make all of these pit stops."
Janet let out a yawn. She had been sitting next to Sam for the last couple of hours while she slept. She didn't want to have a replay of earlier on her hands. She figured if Sam woke up to a familiar face, she wouldn't be as hysterical.
"Hey, Doc."
She turned around to see a very broken-hearted looking Jack O'Neill. He was standing outside the door, leaning up against the frame, his eyes fixed on the blonde laying in the bed.
"Hello, Jack. What can I do for you?"
He stepped in slowly, almost as if he was afraid of being reprimanded. "Just wanted to come down and check on her. How is she?"
"Well, I got her to calm down quite a bit and was able to talk to her. She knows that she's home now, but she has absolutely no memory of the last eight years."
"Eight years? She was only gone five?!"
Janet nodded. "I know. I've never heard of a case where a person can remember everything in her life until up to a certain point. I don't think her memory loss is accredited to any head trauma."
Jack let out a sigh. "So, she doesn't remember Katy at all or her marriage to me?"
The doctor shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid not. The last thing she remembers is a recon mission from about eight years ago. The one where she fell through the floor of some ancient ruins Daniel was checking out. She remembers most of it, actually. All the way down to the way Teal'c tried not to jar her leg while carrying her back to the gate."
Jack came closer and stood next to Janet by his wife's bedside. His eyes came to stop on the bruises forming on her upper arms. "Were those..."
Janet nodded. "Yes, that's from you."
"Oh." He stood a silence a little longer. He hadn't meant to hurt her. He was just trying to get her to see that she was home. Maybe Teal'c was right... "I think I should go."
"No, by all means stay. I'm going to need a break soon anyways. You can take over watch for me."
Jack scratched the back of his head. "Are you sure that's such a good idea, Doc? I mean, I did that to her." He pointed to the marks on her arms.
"She's not afraid of you anymore, Jack. She was asking questions about you. About Katy..." She let the sentence hang as she stood up slowly.
"She asked about Katy?" Hope returned to his eyes.
"Yes, she asked about her. I even showed her this photograph of her." She handed it over to Jack.
"Hey, this is when I took you all up to the cabin last summer!"
"Yeah, I thought that might perk you up," she laughed. "Sam is absolutely in love with her already. When she gets a little stronger, perhaps a visit up to the cabin will be what she needs."
A small smile played across his Jack's face. "Yeah, I think you may be right."
The two of the stared at Sam for a while longer before Janet decided that it was time for her to go get some sleep. "I better get going before Daniel comes down here looking for me again. He's already sent me to get rest twice before."
"Okay, Jan. I'll watch over her and page you when she wakes up."
"Thanks. I gave her some sedatives after she fell asleep so she should sleep through the rest of the night."
He nodded. "Anything else?"
"Just talk to her. Make things a little more comfortable between the two of you."
"But she's asleep."
"You'll be surprised what can help patients sometimes."
With that last comment, Janet left the infirmary, leaving Jack alone with Sam. He looked around the room for awhile until he finally decided to take Janet's advice. He grabbed hold of Sam's left hand and placed the ring around her ring finger. There, that's back where that belongs.
He stroked her hand gently and looked back at her face. "Well, Sam, looks like we have a lot of catching up to do."
A/N: Yay! Another chapter down! Anywho, sorry if Teal'c seemed a little out of character. I just thought he would be the one to scold Jack, seeing that he is the almighty noble Jaffa Okay, next chapter may be out tomorrow or again, a weeks or two from now (no promises guys, sorry). But I am trying to chapters uploaded as quickly as possible. Until next time!