A huge THANK YOU to all those of you who reviewed the last chapter. Hugs!

Arrant Schemata - Keep reading and it will all fall into place in time.

Natters - It gets better - I promise!

debcole - your wish will come true - eventually.

LanaJoy - Me too!

Froggy0319 - Oh you know me sooo well! Definite shipper here!

Airam4u - It hots up later.

Birchy - Patience! It's coming! LOL!

Revvie-S - It has to get worse first...sorry!

ichargrl - It's an AU so no Asgard Protection & Sam can't see the forest for the trees...she is sooo naive when it comes to matters of the heart.

Harbinger of Sorrow...Herald of Joy.

By Lingren.

Previously:

They could sort it out later, after the mission. Sam was good at working things out by herself, why should this be any different? Because...the answer came back in a flash...she's carrying your child. Still, he thought, give her some time and space to think things through. It was a momentous change for her.

Chapter 5

He headed back to his office, and although it was late, he couldn't help thinking that if anything should go wrong tomorrow, he'd better clear up his paperwork tonight. Switching the computer back on, and pulling the keyboard closer, he opened the word processor application, and began to compose a letter to her. He had a lot to say, but if she was unwilling to listen to him, and he did die, then perhaps she would read this note and understand how he really felt.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Sam avoided Jack's eyes as they waited, geared up and ready to go, at the bottom of the ramp. He, on the other hand, was chatting to Jackie who was clinging onto his arm and talking non-stop. Every now and again he would look in Sam's direction and try to catch her eye, but she was having none of it. She'd spent the best part of the night crying over his duplicity, and was full of suppressed anger right now. It was this that kept her flagging spirits up, giving her the necessary energy to face the mission, otherwise she just wanted to curl up and die.

She'd thrown up once or twice during the night, and again this morning, and now she felt like a wet rag. She knew she could pull out of the mission if necessary, but that would be the easy way out, and she wanted to show him just how angry she was with him. The planet was supposed to be uninhabited, and it would prove as good a place as any for a private argument, away from listening ears and prying eyes, if only she could push her emotions away long enough to actually talk about it with him. More tears stung behind her eyes and she resolutely blinked them away, furious with herself for her own weakness.

The chevrons lit up one by one and the event horizon burst outwards, before settling back to form the wormhole within the Naquadah circle. Jackie reached over and kissed Jack on the cheek, and he grinned back broadly, causing a few odd looks to pass between Jonas and Teal'c and they in turn looked at Sam, who had to look away from their scrutiny. Jackie's gesture bringing a few curious looks from the security detail around them too.

"I'll be fine. See ya later," Jack reassured his daughter, as she removed her hands from his arm.

"You just do that," she chided.

Sam turned her head away not wanting to see the warmth already evident between the two. The very idea of Jack and Janet, almost undoing her resolve, evoking another feeling of bile rising in her throat, and she fought against it. His voice in close proximity brought her back to reality again.

"Carter? You okay...you look a little green this morning. Are you sure you want to go through with this? You could sit this one out if you're...ya know, 'sick'." His voice, was soft, full of concern, and it was making her feel worse if anything.

She looked up to find him standing next to her, his face wearing a worried frown.

"I'm fine Sir." she snapped, heading up the ramp away from him.

He stood there sighing, frustrated with her attitude towards him; obviously he was the villain of the piece. There it was again...that coldness carried over from yesterday. He had totally blown it. She was really angry with him, and he realised that she was obviously worrying about her future now she was carrying his child. Maybe they could talk about it on the planet after they'd collected the device. It would be a long walk. He took a deep breath and marched up the ramp, after his team, only turning round to give a quick wave to Jackie, before disappearing into the shimmering surface.

OoOoOoOoOoO

The first thing he saw as he stepped from the wormhole, was Sam hunched over a huge rock, having evidently lost the battle of her queasy stomach and thrown up. He hurried across to her, barking out the usual questions to the others as he went.

"What have we got Teal'c? Jonas?"

"Nothing O'Neill. The area is secure."

"No signs of any hostiles Colonel."

"Fine. Keep your eyes open kids." He reached her side, and laid a hand on her arm. "You're not all right are you? Sam please..." he begged.

She yanked her arm free of his touch, and stepped away, putting a little distance between them, vowing to put in for a transfer to another team as soon as they returned home.

"I'm fine Sir. It was a rough ride that's all."

In alltheir travels through the gate, rough or smooth, he had never known her to lose her last meal because of Gate travel. Even on their first mission together, she'd been nauseous, but had never actually lost her lunch.

"Sam we've got to talk. There's...something we need to discuss."

"There's nothing to talk about Sir! Whatever there was between us is all over now."

"What? Sam...you can't mean that?" he whispered fiercely, shocked; trying to keep his voice down.

She turned on him then, her eyes full of hate.

"Oh but I do," she snapped. "Sir!"

"Sam?...I..." He was trying to fathom out what she was thinking and why she wanted to end it.

"I don't want to discuss it right now," she interrupted.

He sighed. This was going to be harder than he'd imagined.

"Okay. If that's what you want. But we have to talk it over sooner or later."

"Fine. Whatever," she snapped.

He turned away from her abruptly, feeling the pain of disappointment at her words. Squashing them into that little corner of his heart where all his hurt lay deeply buried. He reverted back into the hard military commander mode to hide his true feelings.

"Okay kids let's get this over and done with. Teal'c watch our sixes. I'll take point. Jonas...you're with Carter." Without another word he strode forward setting a blistering pace. It was some three hours later that Teal'c's voice penetrated his churning thoughts.

"O'Neill. It is time for a rest period."

He turned back to see Teal'c supporting Sam by her elbow.

"Major Carter is unwell," the Jaffa stated simply.

Jack wanted to run back to her, to throw his arms around her and find out what was wrong, but her words now stood between them like an invisible barrier. He was hating himself for behaving like an complete ass, but he couldn't stop himself from throwing the harsh words back to her.

"Why the hell didn't you say something earlier Carter?"

"I'm fine Sir. Teal'c is being a little over protective Sir," she ground out through gritted teeth, gamely ignoring the nausea which threatened to overwhelm her again.

"The hell you are Carter. Why didn't you stay behind? I could have gotten someone else to take your place."

"I said, I'm okay Sir. It'll pass." The normal feelings of nausea that bothered her every month, usually passed off after a few hours, but this time it seemed to want to hang around, making her feel much worse than she'd ever felt, perhaps it was something she'd eaten last night. Mainly the guys would never notice her cycle, but today...well, Teal'c had noticed, and so had Jonas. Only Jack seemed oblivious to her distress, but that could be because he was probably pissed off with her now, she deliberated.

He looked at her pale face, and knew she must have been feeling terrible,really worn out from his enforced pace, especially in her condition, and after having been sick too. He felt guilty at making her keep up with him, just because he was miffed with her. Why didn't he think about her condition?

It dawned on him then that if he continued to push her like this, then she might well lose the baby and change the future altogether. Hadn't it changed already? How was she supposed to feel that much love for him when right now they were falling apart from each other with the gap between them widening with every word spoken in anger?

TBC