Mysterious Distance

Part 8

Jack walked back into his office after sending SG-1 on their merry way across the galaxy. It had been two months since Daniel and Carter had gotten married and the team dynamic had not changed. In fact, Jack could almost forget that they were married most of the time. They behaved no differently than they had before, even off base. Of that Jack was thankful. He was trying his best to cone to terms with the situation, but if he had been constantly bombarded by make out sessions someone would have died. Who he couldn't say. Possibly all three of them.

The really odd thing was that since becoming Mrs. Daniel Jackson, Carter was more relaxed and openly friendly with Jack. It confused him at first. After living so long with the tension between them and the fear that someone might misinterpret a gesture or a word, he didn't know what to do when it was gone. The tension was still kind of there which was the painful part, but the fear of being caught acting 'inappropriately' was gone. It seemed since Carter was officially spoken for by his supposed best friend it wasn't unseemly if they were a little more casual with each other and act as if they really were friends. Which was disconcerting as hell for Jack. He had been waiting for rumors of an affair between them to start but they hadn't so far. Quite the contrary, rumors had been running rampant that Carter and Daniel had been in love from the first moment they met and had finally stopped avoiding the inevitable. Jack's part was as the tragic sap who was desperately in love with the woman who was desperately in love with his best friend. It might have been easier for him to take if they were desperately in love with each other. They behaved if they were nothing more than roommates. No little endearments. No hand holding or playing footsie under the conference room table. But all that normalcy made it that much more painful when he happened to see the ring on one of their fingers.

"Unscheduled off world activation!"

Jack left his office and went back into the control room. "IDC?"

"It's SG-1, sir."

"Crap," Jack ran down the stair to the gate room and yelled over his shoulder. "Call for a med team!"

When Jack arrived in the gate room, SG-1 was just stepping through the gate. Carter, looking decidedly green, was being supported by Daniel. He gently lowered her down to sit on the ramp.

"What the hell happened to Carter? You weren't there five minutes."

"Colonel Carter became violently ill when we exited the gate," Teal'c responded.

Jack knelt down beside Cater who was now laying on the ramp. "Hey, Carter. You okay?" She had her hand clasped over her mouth and shook her head. "What did I tell you about eating those big meals before going through the gate?"

Carter closed her eyes trying to fight off a wave of nausea. "Please don't make me laugh, sir."

"Sorry." Jack stood as the medics came rushing in and settled Carter onto a gurney before quickly exiting. He turned to Daniel still sitting on the ramp. He looked a little green himself. "What happened?"

"I have never seen anyone throw up that much in such a short period of time in my life," he said a little dazed.

Jack looked to Teal'c for clarification. "It was not an unusually turbulent trip. Colonel Carter became ill the moment she arrived on the planet. I do not believe anything on the planet was responsible."

Jack nodded and then looked down at Daniel. "C'mon, Danny boy, better head to the infirmary." Daniel nodded and allowed Jack to help him to his feet. "You're not looking so hot yourself."

Several hours later, Daniel was sitting next to Sam's bed when Doctor Brightman came in with the test results. They looked at her expectantly.

"Well, Colonel Carter, you aren't sick."

"I beg to differ. I don't think I've ever felt this bad."

The doctor smiled, "You're pregnant. Congradulations."

"Uh, would you mind repeating that, Doctor?" Daniel asked. "I think I may have misunderstood you."

"You're going to have a baby."

"Wow."

"You can say that again," Sam muttered weakly. "I guess no more off world for a while."

"No. Not for a least eight months. I estimate you're around 6 weeks along, but we'll know more with further tests."

"Wow," Daniel repeated.

"You said that already," Sam smiled wryly.

Daniel reached up to grasp her hand, "I'm scared."

She squeezed his hand in return, "Me, too."

TBC

Author's note: I figure shorter updates at shorter intervals will be better than longer updates at longer intervals.