-Epilogue-

Major Samantha Carter nearly collided with Lieutenant Sanchez as he exited the room after his turn on the nanobot removal device. He grabbed her arms to keep her from falling and stuttered out an apology. "I'm so sorry, Ma'am. For everything."

At her slightly-confused nod of acceptance, he brushed passed her and hurried on. After going several feet, he paused and turned around. "I really thought he already knew, Ma'am."

Her breath caught in her throat as she realized what he meant. She nodded dumbly and he continued on his way, obviously wanting to get as far away as possible as fast as he could.

She took a deep breath and entered the room for her turn on the device, no longer eager to face her commanding officer. His back was to her, but she knew that he had heard her come in. He said nothing, didn't make any effort to acknowledge her presence--which had her sense of unease rocketing off the scale.

The uncomfortable silence stretched on, with no sign that he ever intended to break it. Finally, she could stand it no longer. "Sir?"

He whirled around so fast that she physically jumped back in surprise. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat as she met his eyes. Normally, he looked at her with a warmth that made her want to melt inside, but right now those eyes were anything but warm. She shivered involuntarily at the cold rage that glittered there, a look she'd not seen in a very long time--and never before directed solely at her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

She couldn't continue to look him in the eyes and dropped her gaze to study the stone floor. "I intended to tell you," she began, surprised her voice remained so steady. "But you were injured, and then you were so out of it after the explosion. Then we were running away from the brethren, and you were relapsing. Then Janet and the medical team got here, and there was so much to do, I-I just. . .forgot."

"Forgot? You forgot! " He flung the cup he'd been drinking from across the room, causing her to flinch. "I attacked you and turned you into a vampire, Carter! How the hell is that something you can just forget?"

"Sir. . ."

"DON'T, Carter! Just. . .don't." He was literally shaking by now, so intense was his anger. "Get on the table," he commanded.

She dumbly obeyed, not wanting to upset him any further. Neither said a word as he moved next to the device and touched the controls to activate it.

The humming was every bit as loud as she remembered from his first unexpected triggering of the unit. She found herself feeling very grateful for the noise, as it made conversation impossible and eliminated what would have otherwise been an awkward silence.

Sam sadly watched him retreat across the room as a tingling sensation washed over her entire body. Under other circumstances, the feeling might have been pleasant. The humming seemed to go on and on, though the tingling ceased shortly after it had begun. Her eyes never left O'Neill, who stared blankly at one of the computer screens on the wall.

Finally, right about the time she thought she could stand it no more, the machine fell quiet. She was on her feet in a flash, wanting to say something to make things right again, but not knowing what that something was.

She'd finally worked up the nerve to approach him when he spoke, though he didn't turn to face her. "You're the last one," he told her wearily. "Tell Doc I'll be out in a minute."

"Sir. . ."

Again, he cut her off. "I'll talk to Hammond when we get back. I'm sure there won't be any problem with you transferring to another team," he informed her.

"NO!" She was now the one shaking with rage--and disregarding all military protocols in her ire. "Don't you dare do this to me! You are not going to ease your guilt by kicking me off the team! I won't let you get away with it!" she threatened.

"I'm sorry, Carter. You're right. SG-1 needs you, and it wouldn't be right for you to transfer. I'll leave. Should have retired again a long time ago anyway," he announced flatly.

Further enraged by his little speech, she was across the room in a flash. She grabbed his sleeve and spun him around to face her. "How dare you! You're not going to quit on us out of some stupid misplaced sense of guilt, do you hear me? We need you out there!"

The intense anger in her eyes shocked him, though not as much as her words. He'd been expecting her to be upset, even fearful of him. How could she possibly trust him again, be able to work closely with him after what he'd done? Dumbstruck, he looked down at his arm, to where her hand still clutched a fistful of his sleeve.

Her eyes followed his, and she abruptly released him when she realized what she'd done. "I'm sorry, sir. That was completely out of line. I won't contest whatever charges you see fit to bring."

He stepped back and slowly slid down the wall to sit on the bare floor, drawing his knees up to his chest. "I'm not bringing any charges against you, Carter." He tilted his head back, resting it against the wall as he stared at the ceiling. "God, what a mess," he lamented.

She slid down the wall to sit next to him, all the fight suddenly gone out of her. "Yeah," she agreed.

He lifted an arm from his knees to run a hand over his face and up into his hair, stopping finally at the back of his neck. Several moments of uneasy silence passed before he spoke again. "I don't know how to fix this, Carter." He turned his pain filled eyes to her, pleading for help. "I don't know what to do here."

She closed her eyes briefly in relief before answering him. "That's easy, sir. We go back to being SG-1, just like always. All four of us," she stressed.

He searched her eyes long and hard for any sign of fear or reluctance, but found none. "You can do that--just forget that all of this ever happened?"

She nodded. "Yep. In fact, I already have. I wasn't exaggerating when I told you I couldn't remember," she admonished.

"But. . ."

This time it was Sam's turn to interrupt. "Colonel, did you have any trouble trusting me again after I attacked you in the locker room after the Land of Light?"

"No." There was no hesitation in his answer, much to her relief.

"Well, there you are. It's that simple."

"Oh. Okay," he agreed softly. He turned to study her one more time. "Are you sure about this, Carter?"

"Yep, I am," she answered, not showing even the slightest hesitation.

She looked down, suddenly remembering her own uncertain future at the SCG. Daniel had said the general was still deciding how to proceed regarding her behavior and failure to report the attack on her. "It may not be up to either of us, though."

He shot her a questioning look. "Explain," he ordered.

When she finished relating the story, everything from her actions to Daniel's account of his talk with the general, Jack jumped to his feet and began to pace. "What do you mean, he doesn't know what he's going to do? You were under the influence of the nanites-thingies just like I was!"

"I purposely didn't report the attack to avoid quarantine," she explained. "I can't blame that on the nanites."

He rounded on her, eyes again blazing with anger. "Bull!"

She was taken aback by his vehemence. "Sir?"

"You heard me! I said BULL! Your transformation happened twice as fast as mine, yes?"

She nodded, unsure as to what he was getting at.

"Well then, how could you possibly have not been affected from the time you woke up that morning--at least to some degree?" he demanded.

She sprang to her feet, her eyes wide open. "I-I never thought of it that way."

"Well, don't worry about a thing, Carter. I'll be having a talk with Hammond about this right away. It won't take long to set him straight, don't you worry. There is no way in hell you are going to be facing any charges or disciplinary action over this mess!" He shook his head. "Nope, so not gonna happen!"

She smiled, a warm feeling settling over her. Jack O'Neill was going to go to bat for her--and there was no doubt in her mind that General Hammond would never know what had hit him by the time the colonel was finished.

O'Neill had stopped his tirade and was staring at her, unsure as to exactly why she was smiling so broadly. "We okay here, Carter?"

Though he hadn't thought it possible, her smile grew even wider and seemed to light up the entire room. "Yes, sir. We're very much okay," she agreed.

"Good. I was concerned."

"You were?" She shook her head at the fact that they seemed to be having this conversation for a third time.

"Sure." He smirked in that extremely sexy way of his--the one that sent her heart racing a million miles an hour. "Carter?"

"Sir?"

The smirk stayed firmly in place. "You still got that sweet little tank top number in your locker?"

She grinned mischievously back at him. "Well, that depends, sir."

"On?" he demanded.

"On which shirt you have in your locker," she retorted.

She brushed passed him to go assist the team in packing up, leaving a confused O'Neill in her wake. Daniel had finally persuaded the Sruthangiolla to release the colonel, and they were bugging out ASAP now that everyone from the SGC who'd been bitten had taken a turn on the deactivation unit.

He called out to her as she reached the door. "Carter? Which shirt do you want me to have in my locker?"

She winked as she turned back to answer. "None, sir. Shirtless, remember?"

His mouth fell open as she raced out the door.

Damn! She had gotten him again!

The End

The Assignment:

Time frame: None specified.
Pairings: Sam/Jack; Jack/other
Nice juicy vampire fic. Jack gets infected, gets home, no-one realizes....Sam gets bitten .... I want her struggling, then giving up to ecstasy then forgets it .... Jack gets lots of nibbles! Good Jack whump.
Restrictions: Jack and SG1 must not die permanently. No slash.

Author's Note: I did some research--I knew nothing about vampires!--and found three alternate theories on causes of vampirism that just screamed Stargate at me. One involved nanobots, one involved Atlantis, and the third involved aliens. Since I couldn't decide on just one, I decided to use them all! Then I found a myth involving an Irish vampire faery, and well, that pretty much cinched the storyline. g> This wasn't exactly your typical vampire story, but I hope the plot bunny's originator enjoys it anyway. I'd also like to thank said originator for coming up with the idea--I had a total blast playing with and writing it! Not only was this my first vampire story, it was my first attempt to write a S/J pairing--so I really have to extend my apologies to any shippers who find it lacking. I really did try! Much thanks also to Dee and MUM for all their hard work on this first Jackfic-a-thon, and for letting me play along. And last, but oh-so-definitely not least, thanks to Anny, who pitched in to beta and kept me from having a total mental meltdown at the beginning!!

Well, there she is--the end at last! :) My deepest and most heartfelt thanks to all who so generously commented, especially Amaunetx and fizziks whose multiple reviews helped totally make my day--you guys rock!! Thank you to each and every one of you who stayed with me on this and read until the end. I hope you all enjoyed the ride!