A/N: I'm sitting in front of the TV with my laptop watching the rugby – NOT my choice. What else to do but write my fic? So this makes for quite a speedy update, but unfortunately the last one, as I've finally reached the end of my story (sniffles).

Thanks for the reviews… especially from my new readers! Thanks for the kind references to my characterisations! Glad people aren't daunted when they see the tens of thousands of words and many, many chapters! But then I guess this fic is peanuts compared to some of the novels out there!

Here you go... for what may be the last time for a while... (cue the Von Trapp family singing Eidelweiss...):

Janet looked over the vast corpus of images that were now spread not only on her desk, but on every inch of available space in her tiny office. The walls, windows, door and floor had relinquished their usual character to be covered by the magnified images of SG1's brain scans. Looking over them carefully for the smallest grain of inconsistency that could indicate the presence of a microprocessor in any of the images, she tried to ignore the glaring evidence of damage that had been inflicted on them in their short time off-world. Her eyes glossed over an image as again she saw the evidence of intracranial swelling. Looking to the top right corner of the image she saw it was Teal'c scan. The most frightening aspect of these injuries was that they were also present in the Jaffa – even he hadn't proved impervious to whatever they were subjected to. She flitted her eyes to the computer monitor beside her again to recheck their test results. Sighing and shaking her head while massaging her temples, she fought to imagine what could have caused their brain chemistry to have been so depleted, and how this could have contributed to the intense swelling around the base of each of their skulls.

"Dr Fraser," a deep baritone voice filled the room and caused Janet to jump in fright. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." General Hammond smiled apologetically at the woman who was perched on a swivel-chair in the middle of the room – the only part of the room that didn't seem covered with scan images. "I was told you had some preliminary findings?"

Janet let out a heavy sigh and stood up carefully before picking her way through the chaos of her office to talk more easily with the General. She leant against the doorframe for support, not knowing how he was going to take the news.

"None of them have regained consciousness, sir." She began, her eyes redirecting their attention momentarily to the four unconscious people in the infirmary. "They're all suffering severe intracranial trauma that seems to be linked to a general depletion in their neurotransmitter levels, but it's really beyond me. I have no idea how one could cause the other… or what could have even started it."

"Will they recover?" General Hammond tried to conceal the shock in his voice. It had already been 4 hours and none of them had woken up. Although it wasn't uncommon for his teams to arrive back from off-world in a pitiful state, for all four of them to appear so close to being in a coma-like state was incredibly foreboding.

"To be honest, sir, I really don't know." Janet hoped they would, but was wary of giving anyone false hopes at this point. "It looks like Sam and the Colonel's damage isn't as extensive as the other two – but then there is evidence of increased neurotransmitter production." Seeing the blank expression on the General's face, she tried to reformulate so he could understand. "It's possible that their conditions were as bad as Teal'c's and Daniel's, but that they've begun to heal. If that's the case, then I don't see why they shouldn't continue to improve, or why the same won't happen for the other two."

"So it may just be a matter of time?" there was a glimmer of hope in the General's expression.

"Sir, I hope so." Said Janet, moving fully into the infirmary to check all their vitals. "You say they had no memory of their time on Urgo's planet – again?" She had paused, standing between Sam and Jack who looked to be peacefully asleep on their respective gurneys.

"It appears so, Doctor." Hammond replied gravely, also moving from his position, although this time towards the door. "From what we gathered during our communication with the hostile alien, they may have been tortured. Perhaps it's just as well that they don't remember."

"Yes sir." Janet watched the man exit the room, looking older than he had done a couple of days ago. Turning to face the motionless bodies on the beds before her, she too felt years older than she had been just the week before. Seeing her friends constantly in such a pitiful state made her wonder… "Why do you all do it to yourselves?" she murmured to herself. "One of these days I'm not going to be able to fix you – hell, I can't even fix you now!"

"Aw, C'mon Doc," a familiar voice wheezed at her, "you know we just like spending time here… the needles…" he coughed hoarsely, "…the relentless badgering… it's what we live for!"

Spinning around so fast she thought she was going to topple off her heels and onto the ground, Janet turned to face the Jack, who was looking deathly pale, but had his eyes open and was attempting what she imagined should have been a laconic smile. Instead his mouth formed a lop-sided grimace, but from his tone of voice, she knew what the sentiment was.

"Colonel!" she exclaimed, rushing to the intercom in the corner of the room. "Tell General Hammond the Colonel is awake!" She screeched into it before summoning a nurse who had been sorting supplies in the corner of the room to come help her.

In between checking various aspects of Jack's health, Janet spoke excitedly but quietly, conscious that he would probably have an acute headache from the swelling in his skull.

"God I really thought we'd lost you this time…" she checked his pulse for the fourth time, reassuring herself that all was fine. "When you all just collapsed like that on the gate ramp…" the pen-light that travelled everywhere with her flashed into his eyes, causing him to jerk his head away from her. "And not knowing what had happened to you…" She stopped all her checks, satisfied that he would survive, and stepped back to look at him in triumph. "At least it appears the microprocessors have gone – and they haven't implanted any new ones I don't think… well I couldn't find them and if you looked at my office you'd know I've been trying!"

Jack fought to focus his eyes on the petite woman standing in front of him. His head felt clouded with pain as the dull ache in the base of his head lingered, causing his ears to ring slightly. The flashes of light Janet had insisted on inflicting him with had caused him to lose focus and he was having trouble re-training his eyes on her.

"Sweet. It worked." He said quietly, before flopping his head back on the pillow, a warm contented feeling growing over him as he realised that their nightmare was finally over.

Janet caught relieved tone in Jack's voice and began to wonder. Taking a step towards him, she caught his attention before asking the direct question. "Sir, do you remember what has happened to you in the last couple of days?" Perhaps with their brain-tissue regenerating they would regain their memories, she thought to herself.

"Unfortunately we have not retained our memories, Dr Fraser." A deep voice filled the room from the far left of where Janet was standing to indicate Teal'c had regained consciousness. "I am aware only of leaving Stargate Command through the Gate and returning immediately before collapsing with an intense pain in my head."

Thrilled as Janet was that Teal'c was apparently on his way to recovery – and much faster than any of the others, given the severity of his case of brain damage – she couldn't ignore the tone of voice she had Jack use in his statement.

"Colonel?" she persisted, "Do you remember anything?"

Jack froze, his mouth half open, looking over in Teal'c's direction and back to Janet. Thinking of the past couple of days, he could barely contain the pain and elation that filled him simultaneously. Reliving the most horrible memories of the past two years, which in turn brought back older wounds from his time at the SGC and before… he didn't want to drag all that up in some mission report. And then there was Sam. The magnificent sensation of finally realising how he felt about her – how she felt about him. He could hardly put that in his report either. Faced with the questioning look on Janet's face, he made the split-second decision to lie.

"Nnnooo," he said cautiously, wondering if she was going to buy it. "But whatever happened, our plan worked – no more chip things in our heads, right?"

A suspicious look flashed across Janet's face but she must have either dismissed or suppressed it for her mouth formed straight line of resignation. "Well, I guess that's something." She threw the comment over her shoulder while heading over to Teal'c to check his recovery.

Jack was becoming increasingly worried, he had been awake for what seemed like an eternity – even if the nurse said it had only been three hours – and Sam was still lying motionless next to him. Daniel was still unconscious as well, but then he had been subjected to more than just psychological torture – there was the question of that drug Sam had been talking about.

He craned his neck again to look past the annoying curtain next to him and laid his eyes on Sam's seemingly-peaceful face. Looking furtively around him to make sure that he was alone in the room with his team – apparently the evil nurse had gone on a minion's errand somewhere – he struggled to shift onto his side and reach his arm out to touch Sam's hand. His heart nearly broke when there was no reaction. Her hand was too cold, and there was a clammy aspect to her skin. It wasn't healthy. He felt the fear rise up within him as horrible possibilities flashed across his mind.

"C'mon, Sam" he whispered carefully, aware that Teal'c was only metres away. Even if he was in kel'nor'eem, Jack was never sure if he really disconnected from the world as if asleep. "Wake up!" his whisper was all the more urgent as he heard footsteps approaching the room. With a colossal effort, he hoisted himself back up onto the gurney properly – leaning over to reach Sam's hand had entailed hanging precariously over the empty space that was between them, trying in vain not to fall into the abyss. Looking towards the doorway he saw Dr Fraser come marching purposefully back into the infirmary, followed closely by General Hammond.

"Sir," Jack nodded to the General, his tone of voice was flippant. "Two visits in one afternoon… to what do I owe the honour?"

General Hammond contained his amusement at seeing Jack obviously exasperated at being immobilised. "Just checking in on my best team, Colonel." His eyes surveyed the room quickly. "Still nothing from either Major Carter or Dr Jackson?" He knew the answer to the question before Jack even responded – if there had been any change he'd have known about it.

Janet, in the meantime, had been moving closer to Sam's side, spying something strange on her readouts. Motioning for the nurse who had appeared to come closer, she reached for the penlight in her breastpocket and leant in closer.

"Sam?" she lifted her eyelids and shone the light on her pupils, which reacted. "Can you hear me?" She felt her pulse and looked quickly to Jack. "Did anything happen while we were away? Did she move at all? Was there any change?"

Jack looked at Janet with horror, not knowing what was wrong with Sam. "N… no…" he spluttered, "I just talked to her, told her to wake up." He looked nervously to General Hammond, "That's ok, right? I mean, people say to talk to coma patients and all that."

"It's fine Colonel," Janet had finished checking whatever it was she was checking and perched on the end of Sam's bed expectantly. "Whatever you did," she paused and looked at him, "it's brought her closer to us. Her brain activity is now akin to being in asleep, she should wake up when she's ready."

"Jeez. Give a man a heart attack!" Jack flopped his head back onto the pillow behind him in relief. "You had me thinking…" he looked meaningfully to Sam's face and was astonished to see that although her eyes were closed, her lips had curled upwards into a smile.

"Nah, I can't go anywhere until I've finished with the interstitial conversion helix SG12 found last week."

Although her voice was hoarse, Jack could understand every word she said and found himself almost laughing at her comment. "I won't pretend I know what that means Carter, but it's good to hear your voice." He had kept his tone of voice as neutral as possible, but his eyes were now boring into hers and he was struggling to control the tears that were forming and threatening to fall down his cheeks.

"Sam," Janet began gently, trying not to startle her patient. "Do you remember anything that has happened?"

Sam was still looking at Jack and was surprised to see the sudden change in his expression. His eyes widened sharply and he quickly mouthed a silent 'No' while shaking his head almost imperceptibly. She could have sworn Janet's eyes flitted over to look at him, but couldn't be sure.

"I… uh… well…" Sam was completely confused, and to make matters worse her eyes didn't seem to be working properly – she was finding it impossible to focus. "…no… I don't think so." She saw Jack's face relax in relief, and frowned at him, completely confused. "What happened?" she asked the question in a general sense but was still looking intently at Jack.

"Oh y'know," he smiled at her, hoping she could accept lying to the others about their memories until he had a chance to talk to her. "To us it seems like we came back from Urgo's planet just as we left here… but apparently we'd been gone a couple of days, had the microprocessors removed and sustained some serious trauma – hence the waking up in the infirmary."

"Daniel? Teal'c?" she swivelled her head to look at Janet, who was still sitting on the end of her bed.

"Teal'c's fine," her voice was soothing, "and although Daniel's not quite out of the woods yet, he should recover just like you."

"Good to see you back with us Major," General Hammond was still standing in the doorway, but began turning to leave the room. "Dr Fraser, let me know if there is any change."

Jack walked into his house and precipitated immediately to the heating control systems. Over a week absent in the middle of winter… he was surprised there weren't small icicles forming on the ceiling – or large ones for that matter. Walking towards the fridge he realised there would in all probability be nothing in there. He turned to the cupboard instead and fished out a couple of large cans of Guinness and placed them carefully on the bench.

"Preparing a healthy meal, sir?" A familiar voice teased, "And to think Janet doesn't trust you to take care of yourself – where on Earth would she have got that idea?"

Sam was standing in the archway that separated his kitchen from the hallway, looking tired and pale, but generally ok. Jack grinned at her sheepishly and held a can up, offering it to her. He was stunned to see her reach her hand out to accept it and move towards the living room to sit down, waiting for him to follow.

"So… to what do I owe this visit?" Jack sat down uncomfortably on the couch next to Sam, struck by the strangeness of his voice.

"Wanna tell me why we're lying to the whole SGC?" Sam was straight to the point with the question she had been dying to ask him since the minute she had woken up in the infirmary nearly a week beforehand.

"To lure you to my house, obviously." Jack quipped, hazarding a grin before composing himself to answer honestly. "Ummm… I really don't know. When I woke up Teal'c already told them we had no memories and well, I just supported his story." He shrugged, not really knowing what else to say, unsure of how Sam was feeling after their ordeal.

"So… you remember everything that happened?" Sam's voice had grown incredibly quiet and her breath was shaking. Janet had given her and Jack the all-clear from the infirmary that afternoon. Teal'c had been free from the drab room since the day she had woken up, but Daniel was still confined there, having only woken up that morning. Instead of heading home, or even stopping in her lab, she had found herself on the road, heading towards Jack's house, only a couple of hundred yards behind his truck on the road.

She had seen him enter the house just as she rounded the corner into his drive, but amazingly he didn't see her. Sitting there looking at him now, she felt her heart in her throat as she tried to make sense of everything that had happened. The torture at Togar's hands, the wonderful feel of his warm embrace around her and the touch of his soft lips on hers, the anguish of having to leave Urgo behind… and then the incomprehensibility of ignoring it all and pretending she knew nothing of their injuries. She had watched Janet try to determine exactly what was wrong with them, without being able to help her. Sam knew Jack. She trusted him implicitly and so didn't consider 'letting the cat out of the bag', but she was starting to wonder. Her greatest fear, irrational as she knew it was, was that he actually didn't remember, that she had imagined the urgency in his silent language in those first few moments of her consciousness – everything had been rather hazy after all. Maybe she was the only one who knew of what there could be between them.

"You and I… Urgo made sure we'd still have our memories." She was almost pleading with Jack. "He didn't have time to do the same with Daniel and Teal'c – those Overseers were closing in on us – but we have our memories, right?"

Jack realised that Sam had spoken again and shook himself out of the bubble he was in. "Of course I remember." He leaned over and pulled her into his embrace, resting in turn in the comfortable corner of the couch. He waited until she turned her head to look into his eyes before lowering his lips onto hers and kissed her passionately, letting the relief and joy of being alive, well, and home safely transmit into their embrace. "I just don't think telling the SGC about (a) the time-loop and (b) our current behaviour, is the best idea – so it's probably better just to avoid questions by sticking with T and Danny's story."

Sam had turned fully around and was now resting her head comfortably on his chest. She didn't know how, but somehow it felt as if everything was going to be alright. She felt safe in his house, on his couch, in his arms, and yet she knew that the minute they had stepped back through the gate everything had changed. They were no longer prisoners, removed from all the rules and regulations of their positions at the SGC. She looked up to see Jack staring at her with a strange expression on his face, as if he were in some sort of mild discomfort.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She looked at him fondly, now resting her chin on his chest so she could look at him comfortably. "So where does that leave us?"

Jack cocked his head slightly and looked at Sam with consternation. He knew what they should do – stop, seek a transfer, anything – but couldn't bring himself to even consider changing what they had together. "Well, Carter…" he began playfully. "At the moment you're lying on top of me on my couch, with no distractions and orders from General Hammond not to return to the base for at least three days." He had slid his hand under her blue sweater and was now tracing his finger up and down her side, causing her breath to hitch in her throat. "So I say we just play it by ear."

Almost before he had uttered the words Jack had grasped Sam's shoulders and pushed her onto her side so they were both lying, face to face on the couch. He closed the distance between them and began kissing her passionately, this time not allowing her to interrupt. Without parting his lips from hers, he lifted her up, ignoring the pain in his back and knees, and moved awkwardly towards the bedroom. He only knocked her head and feet against the walls very lightly as he reached the room and practically dropped her onto the bed, following her down instantly.

The momentary lapse in their contact allowed Sam the opportunity to respond. "And then what?" She wanted him so much she couldn't have put it into words if she had tried. She wanted him so much she didn't want to fathom living without him always by her side – in the way they'd denied themselves for the previous five years. "What happens next?" She insisted, lifting her hand up to fend him off until he gave a satisfactory answer.

"I don't know," Jack began, his eyes locked in hers, "But I love you... and that's enough for me." He wanted to swoop down on her and kiss her again. He wanted to tug at the fine wool of her sweater to reveal the soft skin underneath, but he held his breath, waiting for her reaction.

"Me too… oh God me too… I love you too…" Sam snapped out of the trance she had been in looking into Jack's eyes and grabbed his head to pull him closer. She let all the uncertainties wash away as she finally let herself succumb to the temptation that had been plaguing her for years.

FIN

A/N: Ok I know there'll be some people wishing I'd gone on with the fluff – but I felt the cheese factor had already exceeded recommended levels (and possibly even dangerous ones)…

I know I said there may be two chapters... but it would have been too anti-climactic in terms of action to go on for much longer... I know I didn't really analyse their return to the SGC much – but then considering "none" of them remember what happened on Urgo's planet (points go to Stoko for guessing that one correctly!), there wouldn't have been. Still, there is a window for a sequel (save Urgo maybe, or at least a bit with Janet confronting Jack and Sam about her suspicions)… but I'd need to think about it long and hard. I don't think it would be a cohesive as this fic and so I'm really hesitant.

On a final note, before I bid you all farewell, thank you for reading, thank you for your comments, and thank you for ignoring the plot holes and anomalies that have appeared! Please let me know what I could do to improve my fics in the future! I'm still pretty new at this and willing to learn (just be nice... my ego is apt to be flattened)

Ciao

Albi

P.S. The "interstitial conversion helix" is a reference to a British sketch comedy 'Dead Ringers' where they do a GREAT impression of Dr Who (the term refers to the London Eye. If you have a spare minute and want to see how someone has wasted a lot of time, type 'interstitial library' into a google search – it's completely random.

P.P.S. I'm not in the business of writing songfic's, but if anyone likes doing them, then you should check out an Aussie song called "All for Believing" by Missy Higgins (you may have to download it from the net if you're not downunder)... apart from the fact that she sings with an Aussie accent, it's a pretty good basis for an S/J fic.