Title: Emotional Motives of a Bug – Part Three

Author: IcedHeat

Email: S/J
Spoilers: Anything involving Replicators. Including Unnatural Selection, New Order 1 & 2, Gemini.
Season: Up to Season Eight's Gemini, then AU.
Content Warnings: Mild sex, nothing too… stimulating.
Summary: Jack and Sam are returned to their friends, but is all well?
Rating: Older Teens.
Disclaimer: I do not own SG-1. Stamps foot and tosses hair childishly.
Archive: SJFic - Yes. Anywhere else - Yes.

Author's Note: Please feedback me, I'm greedy.

Author's Other Note: To get a basic grip on this story you should first read Emotional Motives of a Bug Parts 1 & 2.

Sam awoke on the cold hard deck of the Samantha Carter. Her hand still tightly clutching Jack's.

"Sam? You okay?" The voice was Daniel's. Sam forced herself to look up at him, squinting against the bright lights.

"Yeah. How long have we been here?" Sam asked.

"Only a few moments, ColonelCarter." Teal'c informed her, smiling broadly, apparently pleased at his friends' safe return.

"How long were we gone?" Sam asked.

This time Teal'c frowned.

"Coupla hours." Daniel answered.

"Oy!" The familiar growled expression brought a smile to Sam's face.

"You okay?" She asked, turning to Jack.

"My head hurts." He griped. "You?"

"I'm fine, sir. Not even a headache." Sam told him, smilingly.

He threw her a mock-glare. "They must like you more than me." He looked up at Teal'c. "Help me up, T."

Teal'c took Jack's arm and pulled him to his feet, while Daniel helped Sam up.

Both officers swayed slightly on their feet.

Jack walked over to where Tyr sat facing the ship's main console. "Where'd the bugs go?" He asked.

"After they transported you aboard they jumped to hyperspace, O'Neill. From what I was able to calculate they have left this galaxy."

"What happened?" Daniel asked Sam.

"She made a copy of the General." Sam told him.

Daniel looked amused.

"What?" Jack asked.

"That's how many now? Three?" His friend said, sniggering.

"Funny, Daniel." Jack said.

"It was spooky." Sam said, barely concealing a shudder.

"Yeah, he was just like RepliCarter," Jack added, "Me, but… not."

Sam nodded, mutely. She looked at Jack, but he was staring out the front window at the empty space in front of them.

"Can you be sure they left the galaxy?" He asked Tyr.

"I cannot." The Asgaard admitted. "But judging by their last known trajectory and their velocity, I believe it is probable."

"What should we do?" Daniel asked, looking from Sam to Jack.

"Leave 'em." O'Neill answered.

Daniel was taken aback at his friend's answer. "Jack? You sure that's wise?"

"Yeah. If they wanted to kill us they woulda done it. They only destroyed those civilisations to 'get our attention'." He said bitterly, his fingers making air quotes. "Anyway, we can't exactly catch them now, can we?"

"He's right, Daniel." Sam agreed.

"We in agreement?" Jack asked, looking from Daniel to Teal'c. Both nodded. "Cool. Tyr, take us home."

The Asgaard inclined his large head and set the co-ordinates for Earth.

"Now, if no one minds, I'm gonna go get some sleep." Jack said, stretching.

"You should all sleep. Humans need many hours of rest." Tyr said, gaining himself odd looks from his human passengers.

"Uh… okay." Daniel said.

The four of them exited the bridge, bound for their sleeping quarters.

The three day ride back to Earth passed uneventfully.

In fact, all of them, including Teal'c, were bored out of their minds, and were grateful to be home.

So grateful, in fact, that Daniel decided they should go out to celebrate that night.

He gathered up Sam and Teal'c and headed for Jack's office, where the General had been ensconced since their arrival.

Daniel's knock on Jack's door was met with a barely civil, "What?"

The three of them entered Jack's office.

"We're going topside for something to eat, something other than Asgaard silly putty food," Daniel said, "wanna come with?"

"Sorry, can't." Jack said, not looking up from the blue file he was reading. "Way too much paperwork."

Daniel coughed in surprise.

Sam said, "Excuse me?" Jack looked up at her, making her add, "Sir?"

"What?" He asked.

"Since when do you blow off food for paperwork?" Daniel asked, disbelieving.

"Since it started breeding every time I leave this office." Jack said, miserably.

"You sure?" Daniel asked.

"You guys go." Jack said, smiling slightly. "I might meet you later." He gave a sidelong glance at a teetering tower of mission reports. "Or not." He said, frowning.

"Okay, see you tomorrow, Jack." Daniel said, exiting the office. Jack waved in his general direction, his eyes once more on the paperwork.

Teal'c nodded to his friend in parting.

Sam hung back slightly.

When Jack realised he wasn't alone in the office he looked up. "Carter? Something I can do for you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and closed the door. Jack raised his eyebrows at her actions.

"People will talk."

"Have you been in here all day?" She asked.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Have you eaten?" She asked.

"You're asking me this? Lieutenant Colonel 'I'll eat later'?" Jack said, incredulous.

"Yes."

"I ate some lunch earlier." He told her. "Walter brought it to me."

Sam nodded, appeased. "I'll see you at your place?" She asked.

"Uh… don't actually think I'm gonna make it off-base tonight."

"Jack!"

He held up a handful of sheets. "Paperwork!"

Sam pretended to sulk. "At least promise me you'll go to sleep." She said.

"Sam, this is me you're talkin' to. Of course I'll sleep. Now go. Have fun." He made a shooing motion with his hands.

Sam wanted to kiss him goodbye, but couldn't. He was still on duty. She settled for smiling brilliantly at him.

"Don't work too hard, General." She teased on her way out the door.

"When do I ever?" Jack called after her.

It was zero-four-hundred when Sam was awoken by a loud knocking on her front door.

She dragged a bathrobe on over her pyjamas and made her way to the door, cursing whoever was on the other side.

She looked through the peephole then yanked the door open. "Jack! It's four in the morning!" She hissed, her tone indicating that this better be good.

Jack grinned lazily at her. 'Damn he looks good.'

She stepped back to let him in. As he moved past her she instinctively took a deep breath to catch his scent. But all she could smell was the SGC. She frowned, disappointed; he'd obviously been there too long.

He had wandered into her den and sunk down on her couch, sighing. She watched as he ran his hands over his face and through his hair tiredly.

Sam walked over behind him and began to massage his shoulders. "Did you get your paperwork done?"

"Most of it. I hid some of it where Walter will never find it."

"You didn't shred it, did you?" Sam asked.

"That's classified, ma'am."

Sam smiled. "You want something to eat?" She asked.

Jack turned to look up at her, "What's with the 'little woman' routine, Carter?" He asked.

"You're telling me you're not hungry?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Actually… no." Jack answered her, sounding slightly puzzled himself.

Sam leant around and felt his head. "You're not running a fever…" She said.

Jack swatted her hand away and stood. He moved around the sofa and took her hand, drawing her to him.

He kissed her slowly, gently, as though he were afraid she would break.

"Wanna go to bed?" He drawled.

Sam nodded.

Afterwards, Sam lay awake watching Jack sleep.

She had been… strangely unaffected by their lovemaking. He had been different. Uninvolved.

'We're just tired.' She told herself, thinking back on the trauma of the past few days.

But a part of her couldn't help but wonder if the replicators had done something to their minds. If they had found some subtle way of getting their revenge.

She tossed and turned, but found she couldn't get to sleep, and if her restlessness continued she was going to wake Jack up.

She was actually surprised he hadn't woken up already; he was usually a very light sleeper, even when off-duty, something that had surprised her.

Taking care not to disturb Jack, who, unusually, had decided to spread out over the whole bed, Sam slipped out from under the coverlet.

She pulled on Jack's t-shirt and wandered into her kitchen.

She poured herself a glass of water and leant on the counter, sipping it.

It had never been like that before. Not that this time was… bad. Technically it had been good.

But that was the snag. Technically. All the right moves, but none of the usual… passion.

Anyone that had seen Jack O'Neill angry (that was just about everyone, then) knew that he was a passionate man. It was one of the things that attracted Sam to him in the first place. That and that dark intensity that she found so delicious.

The first time had been here. Jack had come to pick her up to go to the cabin. She had been halfway through packing when they realised just what the new rules meant.

No more waiting.

So they hadn't. They had both come over all Broca. Jack had thrown her down on the bed, on top of her clothes.

She had writhed beneath him, trying desperately to get his shirt undone.

His hands had been doing such good things to her. She'd always known he'd be devastating with those hands.

Her own hands were not idle.

She yanked his t-shirt out of his jeans, dragging it up his body, exposing his flesh to her eyes.

She leant upwards and licked his flat nipple, making him shiver.

His hands went immediately to the hem of her skirt, pulling it upwards. She had to lean up even more to allow him to pull it over her head.

He unsnapped her bra, revealing her breasts to him. Then he stood back, dark eyes traversing her flesh as he undid the button-fly of his jeans and slid them off long legs.

Sam revelled in his gaze, her body feeling heated by it.

When he returned to her body, she was ready for him.

They didn't leave the house for several hours.

After that they had been less desperate, but just as passionate, just as intense.

Tonight had been… different.

Sam shook her head to clear it of her musings.

Realising she still wasn't sleepy, (that was another thing: somehow Jack always tired her out), she picked up a report she hadn't finished reading and took it into the den.

When Sam awoke the next morning she found herself stretched out on her couch. The report lay still-unread on the floor.

She glanced at the wall clock. Six AM. She stood, stretching and walked back to her bedroom. Jack would wake up soon and wonder why she had spent the night on the couch.

Truth be told, she didn't know why herself.

She tiptoed into her bedroom, expecting to see Jack still sprawled on the bed.

He wasn't.

Looking around, Sam saw that he had dressed and gone without waking her.

She realised that he would have woken up alone and been hurt by the fact that she'd apparently slept on the couch.

She showered and dressed hurriedly, then she called him.

There was no answer at his house, or on his cell. 'The base?' she wondered, dialling the number for the SGC, then his extension.

"O'Neill." He answered, after just two rings.

"Jack? It's Sam." She told him, rather uselessly, since he would have realised that the moment she spoke.

"Hi!" He sounded pleased to hear from her.

Sam was puzzled by his reaction, and couldn't think of anything to say.

Not that it mattered, Jack was being uncharacteristically vociferous. "Sorry I left you this morning, but I had some stuff to do here." He told her, sounding extremely happy for someone who was supposedly bogged down in paperwork.

"I'm just coming in now." Sam told him.

"Nah, take the day off."

"Are Daniel and Teal'c there?" She asked.

"No. Daniel's hiding in his on-base quarters, says he's sick, probably hung over. Teal'c just requested permission to go off-world and visit with Ishta for a coupla days."

Now she was worried, he never passed up the chance of a distraction from his office.

"I need to come in, I've got a few projects in my lab that I should work on." Sam insisted.

"Sam, I am ordering you to stay off the base. Its just one day. I'm sure the 'projects' can wait. I'll see you when I get home."

Before Sam could reply, Jack hung up.

She stared at the receiver in her hand as though it were an alien entity.

Something was wrong.

He was wrong.

'Screw this.' Sam thought, and headed out the door for the base.

When she reached the base she found it strangely quiet. It was a Thursday, even if the majority of the SG teams were out, the place should be swarming with support staff, SF's, scientists, archaeologists…

Sam wandered the corridors feeling strangely off-kilter. The few members of SGC staff she met seemed to be uneasy.

When she reached the control room Walter was seated at his console, as usual.

When she greeted him, he jumped.

This unsettled Sam. Walter, usually very calm and collected, was rattled for some reason.

"Are you okay, sergeant?" She asked.

"Fine, ma'am. Just… on edge for some reason."

"The whole base seems that way." She replied.

Walter nodded in response and opened his mouth to speak again, only to be interrupted by the Stargate dialling in.

"Offworld activation!" Walter said into the PA system.

"Who's due back?" Sam asked.

Walter had been doing this so long he didn't have to check. "Only Sg-12 are offworld, and they're not due back for three days." Walter replied, reaching for the iris control.

It didn't engage.

"Sergeant?" Sam asked.

"It won't work!" He said, trying again.

Jack entered the control room. "What's goin' on? Walter, close the iris."

"I'm trying, sir," the gate technician sounded mildly panicked. "It won't close!"

"Crap." Sam muttered under her breath.

Jack turned, seeming to notice her for the first time. He didn't look happy about it. "What the hell are you doing here, Colonel? I told you to take the day off."

Sam was hurt by his tone and the look in his eyes. Taken aback, she didn't reply immediately. Jack turned away, a look of disgust on his face.

Her attention was snatched from Jack by the control room computers. They started going haywire, causing Walter to hurriedly back away from them.

The machines were sparking, flickering on and off. Suddenly the huge blast doors came down, blocking their view of the gateroom.

The control room phone began to ring.

Jack strode towards it and picked it up. "Control room." He barked into the receiver. "Yes… Really… Right, this is General O'Neill. I want an immediate lock down of the mountain. No one gets in or out until I give the order. O'Neill out."

He hung up and turned back towards Sam and Walter. "Security say all the cameras just went out."

"All of them?" Sam asked.

Jack nodded. Below them they heard the wormhole disengage. A moment later the blast doors opened, revealing an empty gateroom.

The computers stopped sparking and flickering. It looked as though nothing had happened.

"Carter, check the computer, see if anything came through." Jack ordered, picking up the phone and dialling security.

Sam did as she was told, checking through the logs while Walter watched over her shoulder.

Jack joined them after a brief conversation with the security personnel.

"What've we got?" He asked.

"Several travellers came through the gate, sir." Sam said, keeping her eyes on the readouts.

Jack scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Any idea exactly how many?" He asked.

"No, sir." Sam replied.

"We're blind on every level up to NORAD." Jack told them, sounding tired. "Walter, do the honours."

Walter nodded at his CO and moved to the PA mic. "Attention all personnel. Threat Level: Foxtrot Alpha Six. This is not a drill. Repeat: Threat Level: Foxtrot Alpha Six. This is not a drill."

Jack turned to the stairs that led down to the corridor below. "Airman!" He yelled.

A young man came jogging up the stairs. "Sir?"

"Stay here and guard Sergeant Harriman. We're going to the armoury. Walter, I want to know the minute something happens with that gate. Clear?"

"Yessir."

"Carter, with me." Jack headed for the stairs, Sam just behind him.

When they reached the armoury they found a bleary-eyed Daniel already there.

"You should be in your quarters." Jack said, grabbing P-90s and passing them out amongst the SGC personnel.

"The announcement said we've got a foothold situation." Daniel said, checking his weapon.

"You could've locked the door." Jack argued, loading his own weapon.

Before Daniel could reply Jack turned to the assembled personnel. "I want a sweep of the base." He divided them up into five groups of four. "Groups one and two, start at the top of the mountain and work down, groups three and four, start from level twenty-eight and work your way up. Group five, search this level, then work your way down to meet four and five. Got that?"

There were nods from the heavily armed people surrounding Jack.

"Sir?" Colonel Reynolds asked. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"No idea. But something knocked out our security systems when it came through the gate." Jack replied.

Sam and Daniel were part of group five, but Daniel realised that Jack hadn't put himself into a group. "Jack, what about you?" He asked.

"I'm gonna go back down to the control room." Jack replied.

"Sir?" Sam asked.

Jack sighed. "Carter, for once just do what I say." He told her, turning away from her to face the crowd. "Maintain radio contact. Move out." He ordered, before starting down the corridor with groups three and four.

Sam and Daniel exchanged looks. Daniel saw the hurt on Sam's face: Jack had never spoken to her like that, it had shocked everyone.

Daniel put a comforting hand on Sam's arm. She smiled appreciatively. "Group five, move out."

Sam's sweep turned up nothing. Not even a file out of place. She keyed her radio. "This is group five. We got nothing. Anyone else?"

Her radio crackled then: "Group One: Nothing."

"Group Two: Nothing."

Sam nodded to herself. "Groups three and four?"

"Groups three and four here: We didn't find anything either."

"Is the General with you?" Sam asked.

"No. He went to his office to check something." The answer came back, and it didn't make sense.

Since when would Jack O'Neill rather be in his office than out doing something?

Sam looked at Daniel, who shared her surprise. She turned to the other two members of her group. "We're going to meet three and four. Then you stay with them and make sure the lower levels stay clear."

"Ma'am?" One of the Airman asked.

"We're going to see if the General requires any assistance." Sam told him.

The four of them headed down to level twenty-eight.