Author's note: Sorry this took so long! And thanks to everyone for your reviews – I'm glad you like it!

Cheeky.

Chapter Six:

I groaned in pain as consciousness returned. My head felt as if it had been run over by a truck at least. Or maybe like a stargate fell on it. I couldn't decide. My head hurt too much.

"Welcome to the land of the living." Said a warm and familiar voice.

I opened my eyes, before blinking and narrowing them as the light sent stabs of pain through my head. I groaned again. "Oh, kill me now." I rasped in a dry voice.

Janet Fraiser chuckled at my words. "I guess it's pointless to ask how you feel, then?" she said.

I glanced at her familiar sight, her hazel eyes looking at my in compassion even as an amused smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. I tried to smile, but I doubt it looked anything like it was supposed to. "No." I moaned. "'Cause I really feel you should shoot me now."

Janet chuckled again. "I'm afraid I can't do that." She said. "But I can give you something to help you sleep."

"No, it's okay…" I began.

"…but you want to find out what's going on." Janet finished for me.

"Yeah." I agreed.

"Well, I'll help as much as I can." Janet said. "But, first, I think there's a few people who want to see you."

She left for a moment and I shut my eyes. I must have dozed off for a moment, because when I opened my eyes again, the General, Major Mackenzie, mom and Janet were all standing around my bed. I blinked a few times. "Hi." I greeted.

As I stared at the familiar faces around me, I noticed the pain in my head didn't feel so bad and my throat was less dry. I wasn't sure if this was due to the nap or new drugs, but I damn well wasn't going to complain.

"Hello, sweetheart." My mother told me.

"It's nice to see you awake." The General added.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"About two days." Janet answered.

Two days. What the hell had happened to me to make me pass out for two days?

"What's the last thing you remember?" the General asked.

I frowned a little as I tried to drag the fuzzy memories out of my dully throbbing head. "I…I remember a large dark room." I said, my frown deepening in confusion. "And then it was light…"

I trailed off as the memories began to clear. "No," I said, shaking my head. "I turned on the lights. I triggered the alien device on the wall. It was just like the doors."

"Do you have any idea how you did that?" my mother asked. "Opened the doors and turned on the lights, I mean?"

"I'm not sure." I said, frowning again. "I barely touched it before some sort of instinct made me lay my palm flat against it. It just…well, seemed right somehow."

"Then what happened? After you turned on the lights?" The General prompted.

I turned my head slightly to look at him, before trying to sit up. Something told me that I shouldn't be lying down for this conversation. Instead of trying to stop me, as I had expected, Janet helped prop me up on my pillows so I was relatively close to sitting upright.

"I'm not entirely sure." I replied. "I remember it well enough. But, I don't know…it didn't quite feel like me."

"What do you mean?" mom asked.

"Well, I felt compelled to go to the altar and I couldn't stop myself." I said. "It was like some other part of my brain was controlling me. I was me, but I wasn't me at the same time."

I wasn't sure I could explain what I had felt in the alien temple. And for some reason I was absolutely sure it was a temple. I had felt the reverence in the air. And as for the confusion I had felt as I walked to the altar…some part of me hadn't wanted to stop. I had needed to do that.

"Goa'uld?" my mother asked, turning to Janet.

"There's no sign of any sign of any Goa'uld or their technology." Janet replied to my great relief. "As far as I can tell, she's perfectly healthy aside from a little exhaustion."

"Then what made me collapse?" I asked and couldn't help the tremor of fear that ran through me.

"I don't know." Janet said frankly. "You don't seem to be suffering any ill-effects from alien technology."

"So she'll be fine?" Major Mackenzie asked, speaking for the first time.

"In a week, yes." Janet said. "But she'll need a lot of rest between now and then."

"Our cue to leave." The General said with a smile. "I'd appreciate a report as soon as you can manage it." He added as he got up to leave.

"Yes, sir." I said.

My mother got up to follow him. "Get some sleep, sweetheart." She said and kissed my forehead.

I nodded tiredly. "I will." I told her.

As she left, I turned my gaze to Mac, who was still hovering by the bed. "Is everything okay?" I asked.

He cleared his throat as I heard Janet quietly retreat. "How do you feel?" he asked, nervously.

"Sore." I said. "But alive."

He nodded slowly, before sitting down beside my bed with a sigh. I saw the guilty look that passed over his face and reached out to squeeze his hand reassuringly. I knew where this was going. "It wasn't your fault, Mac." I said softly.

"Of course it was." He said, raising tortured eyes to mine. "I should have seen it and stopped you. Then this wouldn't have happened."

"You couldn't have known." I countered. "I wasn't really acting any different to normal."

I caught his look and sighed in exasperation. "Mac, I didn't even know what I was going to do." I said, slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry, all the same." Mac said.

Before I could say anything else, Beth burst into the infirmary. "Shannon, you're awake!" she cried.

I may have been bed-ridden, but I didn't miss the awkward glance between her and Mac, or the way he hurriedly excused himself. I raised an eyebrow as Beth slipped into th chair Mac had recently vacated.

"So that's the cute one." I said to her.

"What?" she asked, puzzled.

"Before the mission," I said. "You asked me what I thought of the cute one."

"Oh, that."

"Well, what happened?"

"What do you mean?" Beth asked, feigning confusion.

I gave her a hard look. "I saw the whole awkward glance thing." I told her.

She winced. "That obvious, huh?"

I nodded. Beth sighed. "There's not much to tell, I'm afraid." She said. "He kind of overheard me telling Conner that I thought he was cute. He hasn't really met my eyes since then."

"I see." I replied. "But at least it proves he's interested in you, too."

"What?"

I rolled my eyes at her and ignored the pain it caused. "He wouldn't be making such a fuss if he didn't like you." I said.

Beth and I talked for a while longer, until I couldn't hide my yawns anymore. "Oh, you must be tired!" she said. "I'll come back and see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Thanks Beth."

"No problem." She said. "Now get some sleep."

I nodded, half-asleep already. And before long I had slipped off to sleep, memories rushing unbidden through my head.

I knew I would be in serious trouble if mom caught me. But I couldn't sleep. It was Christmas! So I snuck halfway down the stairs to watch the grown ups. It wasn't as fun as being down there with them, but it was better than sleeping.

As I watched, I saw my mom and Uncle Jack walk towards the kitchen. They seemed kind of tense. Aunt Janet, Uncle Danny and Uncle Murray didn't notice that they left, since they all seemed to be arguing about something.

I moved slightly so I could see the kitchen better. I watched in fascination as my mother bustled around the kitchen, trying not to look at Uncle Jack. Except her eyes kept sliding back to him. It reminded me of Josh, a boy in my class. He used to watch me like that when he thought no one was watching. But I think that's only because he wanted to put frogs in my hair. Somehow, I didn't think mommy wanted to put frogs in Uncle Jack's hair.

"Hey Carter." Uncle Jack said.

I've always wondered why Uncle Jack called mom 'Carter'. Everybody else called her Sam. Maybe it was a special name. Like something only Uncle Jack could call mom. I like that idea.

"Yes, sir?" my mom answered.

The more I thought about it, the more the idea made sense. 'Carter' and 'Sir' must be special names that only mom and Uncle Jack could call each other. Kind of like the way Joanna says her mom likes to call her dad 'Mr. Sexypants' sometimes.

"Dance with me." Uncle Jack said.

"Sir…" she began.

"Come on," Uncle Jack coaxed. "It's Christmas."

Mom looked around for a second. I hunched back into the shadows, my heart hammering in my chest. She hadn't seen me, had she?

I didn't think so when she stepped into Uncle Jack's waiting arms. He pulled her close and her arms went around him. She rested her head against his shoulder and they slowly waltzed around the kitchen.

As I watched them dance, I wondered if I would be getting a new daddy soon, just like Michael Robinson had gotten a new mommy. I wouldn't mind if Uncle Jack became my new daddy. He obviously liked mom a lot and he told the coolest bedtime stories.

I watched mom and Uncle Jack dance for a bit longer, before looking back at the lounge room. I froze in horror when I saw Uncle Danny watching quietly from the doorway. Fear coursed through me as he glanced at me. But instead of telling mom or yelling at me for not being in bed, he put his finger to his lips and turned back to watch mom and Uncle Jack.

Almost trembling with relief, I too turned back to watch mom and Uncle Jack again. Mom leaned back as I watched and I was amazed to see her crying. What had Uncle Jack done to make her cry?

Uncle Jack looked at mom with a sad and longing expression on his face. Tenderly he reached out and brushed the tears from mom's cheeks. "Merry Christmas Carter." He said softly.

"Merry Christmas, sir." Mom whispered back.

I glanced back at the lounge room, but Uncle Danny had gone. I stood and slipped away back to my room, not wanting to get caught and strangely sad at having seen mom and Uncle Jack dancing in the kitchen.

I woke up with tears still wet on my cheeks. What had made me remember the half-forgotten scene in the kitchen? Looking back on it now, I began to realise I had barely understood what my mother had been through over the years. I couldn't even imagine the pain she must have felt, loving him from afar and only catching stolen moments together when her heart could bear it…and knowing he was the father of her only child.

I was beginning to realise my mother had a lot more strength than I had ever given her credit for.

I wondered how many other stolen moments I had unknowingly witnessed. I cast my mind back as I lay in the dark and quiet infirmary, dredging up memories from my early childhood. I smiled sadly. Most of it had been a look here, a touch there. And I had seen it all without knowing the depth of feeling behind it.

The next day my mother came to visit me again. "Hello, sweetheart." She greeted.

"Hi, mom." I replied.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she sat down in the chair next to my bed.

"Better." I said. "I actually sat up be myself this morning."

"You'll be back on your feet before you know it." She smiled.

We sat in companionable silence for a moment. Taking a deep breath, I asked the question that had been echoing around my head since last night. "Mom," I said. "My…conception. How did it happen?"

Then I blushed as I listened to my words. "Well, I know how it happened happened." I explained quickly. "But, I mean, what made you give in to it?"

My mother gave me a half-sad, half-amused smile. "Give in?" she mused.

"Yeah." I said. "Give in the your feeling, the attraction…the love you felt for each other."

She sighed sadly. "It was about a month after we knew he was dying." She began. "And by then we knew that only a miracle was going to cure him."

She paused for a second. "One evening, Teal'c, Daniel, Janet and I all went over to the Colonel's house to try and cheer him up." She continued. "Along with a couple of bottles of vodka for backup."

She looked at me and gave me a small shrug. "We ended up drinking them all." She said, wincing slightly. "About midnight, Teal'c left to escort Daniel and Janet home, leaving me to put the Colonel to bed."

Mom broke off at that, and I knew she was deciding just how much to tell me. Finally, she continued. "I helped him stagger upstairs and take off his boots." She said, her voice growing soft. "As I turned to leave and go home myself, he stopped me by grabbing my hand and…and asking me to stay, to please just stay."

She turned to look at me with tears in her eyes. "I couldn't say no." she wept, the tears slipping silently down her face. "I couldn't stop him dying. I couldn't do anything! We had no future. I just wanted one moment in time. One night to sleep in his arms."

"And that's all I planned to do." She continued in a whisper, wiping away the tears. "I can't even claim I was all that drunk. I could have gotten up and left. But I didn't want to. I wanted to stay. And leaving would have destroyed a bigger part of me than staying."

I reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing gently in support. Then my mother pierced me with a direct stare. "No matter what, Shannon, I wouldn't change that night for the entire world. Not only because it gave me you, but because I spent the night in the arms of the man I loved and will love forever." She said firmly. "It was worth every punishment. Every insult."

"And mom…why did you never get together after you found out about me? So we could try and be a family?" I asked, my voice breaking.

My mother looked at me and when she spoke there was an edge of bitterness to her voice. "Because I was ordered not to." She said angrily.

"By who?"

"The President himself."

I stared at the woman in front of me in silence for a moment, tears pouring down my face. I felt my heart finally break through all the barriers around it as I leaned forward and embraced her in a fierce hug. I felt heartbroken for everything my parents had been forced to endure and so proud that this strong and courageous woman was my mother.

"I'm so sorry, mom." I sobbed softly. "For everything. You're so amazing and I'm sorry I never saw that. I love you so much!"

"I'm sorry too, Shannon." My mother whispered back, hugging me just as tightly. "I love you, too. Forever."

We held each other for a while, our healing tears bridging the gap between us as we both grieved for the man had both lost.