Sam let her hand fall to her side; a mixture of relief and incredible fatigue coursing through her veins. It had taken the last vestiges of her strength and adrenaline to focus her energy into the hand device and toward taking out the Asrak. She took a few stuttering steps toward the closet, intent on reaching JJ and releasing him from his dark enclosure. She could still hear his screams from behind the closet door as the room blackened before her. Sam fell to the floor in a heap of exhaustion and pain; her last thoughts those of the little boy she had grown to love so much.
Chapter 34 – Safe at Last
To say that Jack O'Neill was shocked when he entered Sam's lab would have been a gross understatement. He and Teal'c had come storming in, weapons drawn, followed closely by 4 SF's. What they saw stopped them in their tracks. Sergeant Davis, wearing what appeared to be two different Goa'uld weapons, one on each hand, lay slumped against the back wall of the lab, apparently dead.
Jack roused himself from the scene before him when he heard the pitiful cries of JJ emanating from the same corner of the lab. Sharing a look with Teal'c, he rushed back toward the area the cries were coming from. As he came to the end of the long table, Jack saw a flash of blond hair on the ground. Coming to a complete stop, he looked down and uttered a curse. "Shit! Carter?" When he got no response, he tried again, shaking her shoulder in the process. "Come on, Sam. Wake up!" he pleaded, his heart pounding in his chest. Jack bent down and placed a slightly trembling hand on her neck, desperate to feel a pulse. He released the breath he had been holding when he felt the steady beat beneath his fingers. He waved two of the guards over. "Stay with her. You," he told one of the others, "call the infirmary. We need a medical team down here immediately!" Struck by a moment of indecision whether to stay with Sam or retrieve JJ, he realized that JJ needed him much more at this particular moment and left Sam on the floor, carefully tended to by the two SF's.
Teal'c had continued on back to make sure that whatever threat had been present was now eliminated. He nudged the body of Davis with his weapon, and then pulled back with a somber expression. The man was definitely dead. And he definitely was no longer human. Teal'c could sense the Goa'uld from within the dead body of Sergeant Davis. Thankfully, the Goa'uld was also lifeless.
Now that any threat to JJ was eliminated, Teal'c turned to where the cries were growing weaker. He began to pull the metal file cabinet away from what he could see was a closet door, marveling inwardly that Major Carter had been able to move the somewhat heavy cabinet so quickly by herself.
Teal'c felt another pair of hands join him to pull the cabinet back. He looked over at the grim expression on O'Neill's face and gave him a nod of understanding. He could see the emotions playing across his friend's face and was ready to give him whatever support or assistance was necessary.
Once the obstacle was out of the way, Jack wrenched the small door open and peered into the darkness within. Sitting on the floor, his voice hoarse with crying and tears still streaming down his face, sat JJ. When he recognized the face of his daddy in the doorway, he cried out a weak, "Dada," and lifted his arms to Jack. Bending down, Jack picked JJ up off the floor and gathered him close, his own eyes becoming moist as the little boy clung desperately to his neck and buried his head under Jack's chin. Jack cradled the small head in his large hand as he talked quietly to JJ and walked back over to where Sam was still lying on the floor.
More guards burst into the room, quickly followed by a medical team led by Janet Frasier. When she saw Sam lying on the floor, Janet rushed over and gently pushed everyone else aside. She gave Jack and JJ a cursory glance before she dropped to her knees in front of Sam. Feeling the pulse beating strong in her friend, Janet quickly lifted one eye lid and peered into her eye. "Pupils are reactive, pulse is strong," she said to her assistants. "Let's get her onto a gurney and into the infirmary." Janet stood up as Sam was lifted onto the gurney and this time looked at Jack with the practiced eye of a physician. "Colonel O'Neill? How is JJ?"
Jack eyes, filled with concern, followed the medics as they loaded Sam onto the gurney before he turned to answer Janet. JJ still had his head tucked firmly beneath Jack's chin and hadn't seen Sam unconscious. Which was probably for the best, Jack thought. "He seems more scared than anything, Doc. I just wish I knew what the hell happened down here," he replied, a slight edge of anger evident in his tone. "What about Daniel? Is someone seeing to him?"
"Yes, Colonel. I had another team bring Daniel to the infirmary. He seemed to be coming out of whatever he was under," Janet reassured him.
"Perhaps Daniel Jackson will be able to offer more information on what has transpired here, O'Neill," Teal'c stated, glancing back at the dead man who was now surrounded by guards.
"Exactly what I was thinking, T," He turned to his friend. "Teal'c, I want you to stay down here with…him," Jack indicated Davis. "Give Hammond a call. He really needs to get down here for this. I can't for the life of me figure out how Davis could have become a Goa'uld without our knowledge!" Jack stated in frustration.
"All will be revealed, O'Neill," Teal'c stated with his usual calm demeanor.
"I hope so buddy. Come on, little man," he brushed a soft kiss on JJ's head, whose cries had now subsided into the inevitable hiccups that seemed to accompany his crying jags. "Let's get you and Mommy checked out." He turned to follow Janet and the medical team out the door. At the last minute, he turned back to Teal'c. "Let me know what's happening on your end, OK Teal'c?"
"Indeed," Teal'c nodded his head in agreement.
General Hammond picked up the phone on his desk and uttered a quick "Hammond." Moments later, his eyes widened at what he was hearing from the other end of the phone. "There has to be some mistake, Teal'c. Sergeant Davis is in the control room as we speak. I just talked to him not 10 minutes ago. All right, son. I'll be right there. And I'll bring Sergeant Davis along as well."
George Hammond got up from his desk and stalked purposefully into the control room. His gaze rested on Sergeant Davis at the computer. Feeling eyes on him, the Sergeant turned around.
"Was there something you needed, Sir?"
"Yes, there is, Sergeant. I need you to come down to Major Carter's lab with me. There's been an incident that requires our immediate attention," the General stated cryptically.
"Yes, Sir," Davis responded with some confusion. It wasn't often that he was asked to accompany the General when something involved a member of SG-1; especially in Major Carter's lab. He dearly hoped that she hadn't managed to blow something up again!
As they left the control room, Walter Davis was surprised to hear the General mumble under his breath, "So help me, if this is another one of O'Neill's tricks…"
The first thing that Sam was aware of was the sharp pain that was burning into her right shoulder. The second was the soft bed she was lying on. And the third thing was the unmistakable sound of a baby crying. Baby crying? She tried to wrap her fuzzy mind around that idea, for it was important, she just knew it. Suddenly, as if shocked from an electrical charge, it came to her and Sam bolted up in bed, eyes wide, calling for JJ.
She felt gentle hands push her back down, mumbling something to her, but she wasn't paying attention. She had to find JJ!. Sam tried to push the hands away and sit back up, but felt another pair of hands on her other side. Neither set of hands deterred her from her objective; to find JJ. She finally stopped struggling when she heard a familiar voice say, "Take it easy, Carter. That's an order!"
Lying back down, Sam looked to where the voice had come from and spotted Jack sitting on the next bed, holding onto a very unhappy little boy. For JJ, once he saw his mother lying unresponsive in the next bed, had begun once again to cry in earnest. Yes, she had put him in a dark place all alone, but he still wanted to be with his mommy, desperately.
Sam's eyes filled with tears as she saw JJ. "Is he all right?" she whispered, unable to speak any louder around the lump in her throat.
"He's fine, Carter," Jack assured her with a gentle voice. "You kept him safe and got rid of…well, Sergeant Davis I guess. Although, how that all came about, is the million dollar question at this point." He arched an eyebrow at her in question.
Janet interrupted him. "That will have to wait a while, Colonel. I need to finish bandaging Sam's shoulder and get her some fluids. And before you try and talk to Daniel, I would suggest you wait a bit longer. He still seems pretty out of it," she admitted. "He keeps mentioning something about the Asrak and multiple realities."
Jack sighed and returned his energies into quieting the baby. As soon as Sam was done, he was going to put JJ on her bed, whether Frasier liked it or not. JJ needed to be with his mommy and Jack was going to see to it that he was. Then he was going to talk to Daniel. He needed some answers, and he needed them fast.
Less than 10 minutes later, Janet had finished with Sam but wouldn't allow her to sit up just yet. She did agree to raise the head of the bed, however and gave Jack the go ahead to place JJ on her left side. As soon as the baby was next to her, Sam put her arms around him and lowered her head to his. Jack couldn't tell where her tears began and JJ's ended.
Janet gave Sam a sad smile before she walked away to go and check on Daniel, the nurse following behind. Physically, her friend would heal. Emotionally might be another matter altogether.
Left alone for the first time since he had found her lying on the floor, Jack sat on the edge of Sam's bed, one leg bent under him, the other firmly on the ground. He rubbed JJ's back soothingly with one hand while resting his other on Sam's right arm. Sam took in deep, shuddering breaths as she tried to calm herself down. JJ was safe, that was all that mattered. She turned haunted eyes on Jack and whispered, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know what to do. I…"
He stopped her with a squeeze to the arm he continued to hold and rub absently. "Hey, you have nothing to be sorry about," he assured her quietly. "Whatever happened down there, you did everything within your power to keep JJ safe. And you succeeded, Sam."
"Yes, but, he's so frightened!" she ran her hand gently over the downy head nestled against her chest. He had stopped crying but was still shuddering with fear and hiccups. "Oh my God, what if the Asrak had found him before I could do anything to stop him? I couldn't live with myself, Jack," she cried softly.
"Stop it, Sam," Jack told her firmly. "You can't play what if's. It'll just drive you crazy. You kept JJ safe, you're safe; that's all that matters." Jack gently brushed her hair away from her face, his relief that they were both safe starting to overwhelm him.
Sam nodded her head in agreement and bent to kiss JJ's cheek. JJ popped his thumb into his mouth and regarded her solemnly; almost as if in silent communion with her on what an awful experience they had just lived through.
Just then, what she had said dawned on him. "Asrak? How do you know that?"
Sam was prevented from responding by the curtain being forcefully pulled away from around her bed. Both she and Jack turned to see who it was. They were met with Daniel's bewildered gaze. "Sam? Oh my God, Sam! You're OK! What about JJ?"
"We're both fine, Daniel. Pretty shaken up, but fine. How about you?" Sam responded quietly. She didn't want to upset JJ again, especially since he was now quiet and lying contentedly in her arms.
Daniel slumped into the chair next to her bed. "I feel like someone took a vacuum to my head and sucked everything out my ears." He lowered his head in his hands to rest for a moment.
Jack grinned at that visual picture before he sobered once again. "Daniel, can you tell me what the hell happened? Teal'c and I ran to Carter's lab after we saw you and found Sergeant Davis blown into the wall. And wearing Goa'uld weapons, by the way!"
"It wasn't Sergeant Davis, Jack. Not anymore. It was a Goa'uld. Well, to be more precise, an Asrak. I think he was sent here from the other reality."
"What?" they replied in unison.
But before Daniel could answer, General Hammond stepped around the curtain to join them. He was closely followed by Teal'c and none other than Sergeant Walter Davis.
As soon as she saw Davis, Sam stiffened, clutched JJ tighter to her and sucked in a breath. Jack and Daniel rose and stood at the end of her bed, protectively blocking her and JJ from view. Jack pointed an accusatory finger at Davis and said, "What the hell is he doing in here? He's supposed to be dead!"
A/N: Just wanted to thank you for the awesome reviews to the previous chapter! Sorry I left you hanging but I had to regroup after that one! More to come soon!
