All info is in chapter one.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. It really means a lot to know you're enjoying this. Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.

Chapter Three

She was listening. She really was.

General Hammond was explaining why they were going to the planet; what the results of the MALP probe had been and ... what was that other thing?

Maybe she wasn't listening.

But she couldn't help it. Her eyes kept slipping closed.


Her work on level sixteen was complete, and Sam was waiting for the elevator to return to her lab. The doors opened and she briefly looked up from the clipboard she held in her arms. She stopped between the elevator doors, shocked, when she saw who was inside.

"Jack?... What are you doing here?" She stepped inside once she realised where she had been standing and the doors closed behind her.

"I wanted to surprise you," he replied, stepping forward to kiss her.


She shook her head trying to wake herself up and tried to focus on what the General was saying. Naquadah. He said something about Naquadah...


"How did you get in?" she asked, frowning.

"Oh, I know people," he smirked.

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out.

Almost instantly, a message rang out over the speaker. "Major Carter to the 'gate room. Major Carter to the 'gate room."

Sam turned to Jack. "I'm sorry. We've been inspecting the 'gate. They must have found something."

"It's fine," he smiled. "I'll go with you."


It distinctly sounded like a snore. General Hammond turned away from the images he had been referring to and looked at his assembled team. All of them were looking at Major Carter – who appeared to be asleep.

Colonel O'Neill shook her arm gently. "Carter?"

She stirred a little but she didn't wake up.


They stopped outside the 'gate room and Jack waved for her to go ahead of him. "Ladies first," he grinned.

Sam looked at him, unimpressed. "Because you need me to swipe you in?" she smirked.

Jack shrugged. "Only partly."

She opened the door and he followed her inside. There was no one else there.

Sam frowned, looking around. "That's odd..." she said, her suspicious side beginning to kick in.

"Yes," Jack said emphatically, also scanning the room. "I wonder where everyone went."

Sam didn't miss the tone of his voice – the tone that told her he was up to something. Despite herself she smiled in anticipation of what it could be, then straightened her face and turned to him.

"What's going on, Jack?" she asked.

He looked at her, innocence plastered all over his face. "I have no idea."

"Right," she nodded, sarcastically, and he couldn't contain his excitement any longer. A smile spread across his face.

"Jack...?" she said curiously.

"Do you remember the first time you went though the 'gate?" he asked, a wistful gaze falling over his eyes as he looked, not at her, but at the Stargate towering above them.

Sam smiled. Of course she did. "Yeah...?"

"You were so cute... Standing there in front of it talking about 'fluctuations in the event horizon'. Your eyes wide and lit up." He smiled fondly at the memory.

Her smile was growing as she too recalled the occasion he was talking about, but she still wondered what was going on. "Jack, why are you – "

He turned and his eyes caught hers. "I believe that is when I fell in love with you," he stated, his voice filled with emotion.

She was still intrigued, but her happiness overwhelmed that and her smile covered her face.

"Right there in front of that 'gate," Jack continued as he walked towards her. "The gateway that brought us a whole universe of possibilities; the gateway that brought you to me." He stopped, standing directly in front of her, looking deep into her eyes. "Sam, for over seven years I let regulations stop me from telling you how I feel; now that's gone, I can't wait any longer to be with you; to share my life with you..."

Sam's heart fluttered and her eyes widened as she realised where this was leading.

He reached one hand into his jacket and withdrew a small velvet box. She laughed once with nervous excitement and the back of her eyes began to tingle with tears.

He smiled at the look of anticipation on her face and opened the box.

"Sam, will you marry me?"

She looked up from the ring and grinned wider than he'd ever seen before. "Yes... Of course I will."

He almost lost his balance when she kissed him. A kiss filled with all the love and happiness she felt at that moment.

When she stepped back for air, he took her left hand in his and – somewhat awkwardly with one hand – removed the ring from its box. Sam watched as he slid it smoothly along the appropriate finger, taking in its beauty. One perfect diamond set on a ring of gold. Then she noticed there was something engraved either side of it. It looked like 'gate symbols. She briefly glanced at Jack, her brow creased in the pleasantly curious frown that he loved almost as much as her smile, then examined the ring more closely. There were three symbols on each side and she recognised that together they made up the first six symbols of Earth's 'gate address. She smiled and looked up at him, waiting for the explanation she knew he would offer.

He took her hand and kissed her palm just below where her ring sat. "Just to remind you that whichever planet you're on, I'm only a step away."


"She just fell asleep?" Janet asked disbelievingly as she examined Sam.

The Major was still sleeping, and had slept through Jack carrying her from the briefing room to the infirmary.

"Yes," Daniel replied. "In the middle of the briefing."

"But what concerns us," Jack cut in, abruptly, "Is that she won't wake up!"

Janet shot a minor glare his way, knowing he was worried about Sam, but not wanting to let him completely get away with using that tone. "I realise that, Colonel."

She finished her initial examination and stepped back. "She does appear to just be asleep... I'll have to run some tests to find out why she won't wake up."

"They did something to her on that damn planet!" Jack exclaimed, beginning to pace in restless frustration.

Daniel frowned. "She said they didn't touch her."

"And her medical exam was clear," Janet added.

"How else would you explain this?" Jack glared at both Janet and Daniel before looking, concerned, at Sam's sleeping form.

"I believe O'Neill may be correct," Teal'c contributed suddenly. "Major Carter has seemed uncharacteristically tired and uneasy since our return... Did you not have a conversation with her about just that, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel glanced, almost fearfully, at Janet. "Well yes... I did ... but – "

"You two know something," Jack said stepping closer to them. "Did she tell you she wasn't feeling well? Did she tell you what they really did to her?"

Janet glanced at Daniel again and they, silently, agreed that they would tell him the basics, but definitely not the details. Turning back to an ever more impatient Jack, she took a deep breath and began. "She'd been having unusual dreams, that's all."

Jack frowned. "What kind of dreams?"

Once again Janet's eyes darted to Daniel's and back, then she shook her head. "Colonel, I'm sorry. I can't."

"Right... Doctor-patient confidentiality and all that," he muttered, then he looked at Daniel expectantly.

The archaeologist shifted uncomfortably under his friend's intense stare. "Jack... I can't... Daniel-Sam confidentiality."

His last word was drowned out by Jack. "Like hell it is! If you know what's wrong with her – "

Sam moved and all their eyes shot to her. Janet moved quickly to one side of her, while Jack was at the other. He took hold of her hand and gently shook her shoulder. "Carter?"

Nothing.

He tried again. And Janet tried. But there was no response. All their shoulders visibly slumped.

Still holding Sam's hand protectively in his, Jack closed his eyes, then calmly said:

"If the two of you know what could be causing this..." he trailed off, leaving them to fill in the rest for themselves.

"Sir, if I'd thought that what she was telling me implied that there was something wrong, I would have done something about it there and then..." Janet said gently. "Her dreams were unusual, for her, but not unnatural... But now that this has happened, it might be connected. The dreams did start when you returned from your last mission, so, while I run my tests, maybe you could go back there and find out exactly what those machines they scanned her with do."

Jack opened his eyes and looked at Janet. He was about to agree when Sam squeezed his hand and mumbled: "Jack."

"I'm here," he said softly, stroking her hand with his thumb, and watching her with hope. "Time to wake up," he smiled. She didn't respond. She remained asleep, and she didn't make another movement or sound. Jack's smile fell, but he turned back to Janet still with hope in his eyes. "Well, she knows I'm here. That's a good sign, right?"

Janet smiled. "Yes it is."

He squeezed her hand once then placed it gently on the bed. "Okay, Daniel, Teal'c, we're going to talk to General Hammond."

Jack and Teal'c left and Daniel paused to look at Janet before he followed. The look they exchanged showed that both were aware that it might not have been awareness of her current surroundings that Sam was showing. It may have been something from a dream that slipped through.

TBC...