Health Warnings
Spoilers- S3 Legacy
Disclaimer- Not mine
Note- I couldn't resist.
Note2- Many thanks go to GrayMatter for the all-important beta-ing. It flows all the better thanks to her.
xxx
Major Samantha Carter hurried through the halls of the SGC, making her way down to the gate room. She and Sergeant Siler were to run tests on the chevrons and she was running late. SG-4 had returned from their mission yesterday with a gift from the local natives and she still hadn't figured out what it did. She was becoming so frustrated, she was considering just handing the thing over to Daniel.
It was a strange device. The casing was metallic and she was getting faint EM readings from it but there was no sign of a power source. It was really starting to get on her nerves-
"Major."
Sam's head snapped up. "Colonel! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."
Jack smirked. "So I noticed." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "So, whatcha doin'?"
"I'm helping Sergeant Siler run some tests on the Stargate."
"Ah," Jack rocked back on his heels. "Anything drastically wrong I should know about?"
Sam smiled. "No, sir. It's just some general tests and maintenance."
Jack nodded, clearly preoccupied. "Good, good."
There was an awkward silence.
Sam cleared her throat. "Sir? Was there anything else?"
"Huh? No, no, no. Just- uh, no."
"Right, I should probably go then."
Jack nodded. "Me too. I'm gonna go see Daniel. Make sure he's not seeing wormholes in his closet again."
Sam smiled. "Good idea, sir."
"Uh huh."
There was another awkward pause. Both avoid the other's eyes.
Sam was the first to break the silence. "Sir, I really should-"
"Go," Jack finished for her, nodding manically. "Don't want to keep Siler waiting."
Sam smiled at him. "No, sir."
"Right, well I'll see ya later, Carter. Don't have too much fun." A small smirk crossed his lips and without another word he hurried towards the elevator.
Sam watched him walk away with a disturbing bounce to his step. For a moment there she thought he had been a bit nervous and surprised to see her, but he was just radiating smugness as he walked away, albeit very quickly.
It was almost like he was up to something.
Sam glanced down at her watch. Whatever it was the Colonel was plotting would have to wait. Now she was really late.
xxxxx
Sam slowed her hurried steps as she entered the gate room.
"Sergeant, sorry I'm late."
The grim expression on Siler's face was enough to bring Sam up short.
"I think you should see this, Major."
Sam felt the familiar racing of her heart. What could be wrong with the 'gate this time? "What is it, Sergeant? We just completed a full systems scan. This was just meant to be maintenance."
Siler frowned. "You have to see this to understand it, Major."
Siler turned and nodded towards the Stargate. He led her up the ramp. "We just now found it. I don't know how it got there or how long it's been there. We were setting up the equipment for the tests when we found it."
Siler crouched down and pointed to the left. "It's right there." He moved for Sam to take his place.
Sam crouched down and searched the area where Siler had indicated.
Behind her General Hammond entered the room, a grim expression on his face. One pasty faced SF hurried over to him and rapped off a smart salute. The words 'couldn't stop him, sir' were being framed between quivering lips.
A flash of white caught Sam's eye. There on the outer casing of the gate was one of those 'Hello, my name is…' stickers. The header had been crossed out and in its place, written in thick black marker, was 'Caution: Gate travel may be hazardous to your health.'
A huge grin tugged at her lips and it was only through pursing her lips tightly together did she manage to suppress the silvery giggles that threatened to burst forth. So that was what he was up to.
General Hammond, on the other hand, wasn't so amused.
"COLONEL O'NEILL!"