Chapter 20
Harm and Mac sat at the table in the interrogation room reading over the file they had just been given. "Well it looks like your suspicions panned out Mac."
"Yea, I just wished for once I was wrong." Mac said staring at the report and shaking her head.
"I guess we're going to have to go tell General Hammond." Harm said not liking the idea of how this meeting was going to go.
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"I don't like this Jack, not one bit." Daniel said walking to the living room and sitting down in the chair.
"I agree with you Daniel, but Hammond agrees with Carter. So all we can do is back her up." Jack was feeling edgy not knowing how this was going to play out but grateful he had Daniel and Teal'c to help back him up. He looked out the window noticing the sun was shinning directly in the house, glancing at his watch he noticed it was getting close to 5 O'clock.
A loud scream was heard coming from Sam's room. All three men jumped into action pulling their guns at the ready. Jack was the first at the door holding his gun up; he slowly turned the knob, while Daniel and Teal'c waited on either side of him. He threw the door open and entered quickly pointing his gun at the bed. Daniel and Teal'c also entered the room scouring the area but finding nothing. Teal'c went to the bathroom and also found it empty. Jack put his gun away and saw that Sam was still asleep and thrashing around; but what surprised him was that she was talking in her sleep; in Goa'uld.
Jack went and sat next to her, he didn't want to hurt her but he didn't see any other way; he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up into his arms holding her tightly. "Carter, it's okay." He looked over to Daniel and Teal'c, "Why don't you give me a few minutes here." He told them, and then watched as they left the room with Daniel closing the door.
Jack continued to hold her tightly and speak to her in a calming voice; he could feel and hear her crying. It didn't matter that he didn't understand what she was saying, he could figure out that she was having a nightmare, a drug induced nightmare. What made it worse; it was one of Jolinar's nightmares. Only this time it was his fault, he insisted she take those drugs. Then he heard her say the name that brought bad memories to himself, Binar.
"Come on Sam, wake up; its okay." Now he was stroking the back of her head and rubbing her back. He could feel her breathing even out, then he felt her tense up.
"Sir? Uh what's going on?" Sam said sniffing, not realizing at first she was crying.
Jack held on to her for an extra moment longer, then released her already feeling the emptiness. He leaned back so he could look into her eyes, "I'm sorry Carter; I should never have made you take those pills. If I'd known they'd have this affect on you."
Sam wiped her eyes and sniffled again, "its okay Sir, I kind of needed them."
"So do you want to talk about it?"
"Talk about it?" Sam was still feeling confused from the drugs and wasn't sure what O'Neill was asking.
"You're ah dream." Jack said, noticing Sam was drenched from sweat, her tank clinging to her body.
"Ah not really Sir, it wasn't actually my dream." Sam said with a shiver; it may be summer but the AC was working well and the dampness making her cold.
"Yea, I kinda figured that out when you were speaking Goa'uld; remind me to ask Daniel for a translation."
"You mean Daniel saw me like this?"
"Ah yea, and Teal'c too." Jack didn't want to make her feel worse, but he didn't want to lie to her either. He saw her bury her head in her hands as if in shame. Jack took her hands gently away form her face and held on to her wrists. "Carter, what's wrong?"
Sam tried to look away; she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes. Jack released her wrists reached out and put his hand against her cheek, turning her to face him. "It's alright, you can talk to me."
"It's just…I hate you seeing me like this."
"What? Injured?" Jack really didn't know what she meant. "We've all been injured before; you never held it against us."
"No not injured….weak." Sam said so quietly Jack almost didn't hear her.
"Come on Carter, you're the strongest person I know. I don't mean just physically but mentally also."
Sam wiped the tears from her eyes, "You're just saying that, I couldn't even protect myself in my own home."
"Ah Carter if I recall correctly didn't you protect the whole base not long ago from aliens taking over the SCG? Didn't you figure out how to get us out of 'Hell'…literally, and didn't you save our whole planet from being invaded by the Goa'uld by healing that no good snake head Cronus, not to mention figuring out the impossible to get me back from Edora. And that's just this year, I could go on you know but I have this thing about my 2IC getting a swelled head." Jack said smiling
"You really don't think that I'm the weak link?" Sam said with disbelief looking into Jack's eyes.
"Never Carter, never." Jack could see a look of relief on Sam's face. He couldn't believe she thought so little of herself, when everyone else thought so highly of her, and respected her. "Come on Carter I think we need to get you cleaned up. You strong enough to take a shower?" Jack hoped she would say yes, he didn't know what he'd do if she needed help.
"I think it would be better if I just cleaned up by the sink Sir, don't want any accidents do we Sir?" Sam would liked to have used the shower but wasn't sure if she'd be able to stand up long enough.
There was a light knock at the door, "Jack, is everything okay?" Daniel asked nervously through the door.
"Yes Daniel." Before Jack could say anything else, Daniel was in the room looking at Sam with concerned eyes.
"You okay Sam?"
"Yes Daniel, thanks I'm fine."
"So Danny why don't you get some food cooking while Carter gets cleaned up."
"Ah, you want Daniel to cook Sir?" Sam said trying to get the attention off herself.
"Yea, why not?"
"You remember last Thanksgiving don't you Sir?"
"Oh yea when he tried out that Abidonian recipe on us." Jack said shuddering.
"Hey I'll have you know I worked hard on that meal, considering we don't have the same ingredients here."
"Not as hard as I worked getting rid of it afterwards." Jack said shuddering once more.
"Well you don't have to worry; I'll keep my selection to Earth recipes." Daniel said hoping this little 'attack' would cheer Sam up.
Once Daniel left, Jack once again helped Sam to the bathroom, "I'll be close by just shout if you need anything." O'Neill said as he left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. He went back into the bedroom and decided to change the sheets; this allowed him to stay close enough to Carter to hear her if she needed him.
"Ah dinner's almost ready." Daniel said from the doorway.
"Okay, I'll check to see if she's ready." Jack said making the last adjustments to the bed covers. He walked towards the door and inadvertently got a glimpse from her reflection in the mirror. He stopped suddenly and was transfixed to the spot, unable to move or look away, he watched as she dried herself off; the towel covering her chest was moving lower. Jack took a gulp and felt a shiver down his spine, feeling he should move but just not being able to. 'Just a few more seconds he thought, then I'll move away.' Those were the longest seconds he ever felt, then the towel dropped. Jack saw the two most perfectly shaped beautiful creamy white breasts; he shivered and took a deep breath then closed his eyes and took a few steps back. Now he felt guilty for taking advantage of the situation and when he closed his eyes all he could see were Sam's breasts. He cleared his throat loudly, "Ah Carter, you almost done? Daniel says dinner's almost ready."
"Yea I'll be out in a minute Sir."
'Yea call me Sir, make feel like a heel' Jack thought, how was he going to face her without her seeing the guilt.
"Okay Sir, I'm ready." Sam said leaning against the doorframe. She was now dressed in a grey tank top and sweat pants.
Jack's attention was brought back to Sam; he looked at her, but not into her eyes as he positioned himself next to her. "So would you like dinner in bed?"
"Ah, actually I'd prefer to eat at the table with everyone else Sir."
"Sure Carter no problem, let's go see what Daniel's concocted." Jack said as he helped Sam to the kitchen.
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The room was small with grey walls filled with security monitors; he sat in front of them watching over the SGC. He tuned to the camera in Hammond's office and watched as the two lawyers had a heated discussion with the general. What he wouldn't give for audio at the moment. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a device then dialled the phone.
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"Ah hell who's calling me now?" Jack huffed as he put his fork down to answer the phone. "O'Neill."
Daniel, Teal'c and Sam watched Jack's expression change as he talked on the phone.
"Yes Sir I understand, but now is not a good time." Jack got up and walked into the other room pacing as he talked. Then he shut his cell phone and put it away, turning to face the others.
"That was Hammond; he needs me back at the base right away." Jack said sounding rather annoyed. Hammond knew what was going on here, he should know better than to call him away.
"Look Teal'c, Daniel I have to go but I want you two to be on your guard. Don't let anything happen to Carter."
"We will protect Major Carter O'Neill, this you can be assured of." Teal'c said nodding his head.
"Yea Jack, don't worry Teal'c and I know what we're doing." Daniel said wiping the pasta sauce from his mouth.
"It's okay Sir, I'll be fine, after all what can go wrong with these two here?" Sam said trying to eat her spaghetti without showing any pain. Leave it to Daniel to fix something that takes both hands to eat.
"Okay leave me some dessert for when I get back; hopefully it won't take too long." Jack said digging his keys from his pocket. He didn't want to leave but Carter should be safe with Daniel and Teal'c.
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He listened to conversation going on between Walter Harriman and another sergeant as they walked down t he corridor. "Yea General Hammond was angry. He couldn't believe those lawyers wanted to have Teal'c and Dr. Jackson arrested right away."
"You're kidding! Right?"
"No, he said it would have to wait, that they were doing something important right now."
"Aren't they on downtime?"
"Yea, that's what I thought; but you know SG1; they don't know the meaning of downtime. Well maybe except for Col. O'Neill." Walter said with a grin.
"It's a shame what happened to Major Carter."
"Yea I tell you if I had a chance I would have beat the crap out of that SOB myself." Walter said as he and his friend entered the elevator.
'Well here comes another chance.' He thought as he reached in his pocket for the device, then went to one of the base phones.
"Sgt. Parker." The young security officer said answering the phone.
"Yes Parker, this is Sgt. Harriman; I have orders from those lawyers. They want Dr. Jackson and Teal'c arrested right away."
"Ah we don't take orders from them; we take orders from Gen. Hammond." Parker said.
"They're under orders from Hammond to get the people responsible for that attack on your prisoner."
"Oh, well I guess we have our orders then. You don't happen to know where they are, do you?" Parker asked.
"Yea they're both at Major Carter's house; it should be easy to pick both of them up there."
"This is one job I hate to do; not to mention the size of Teal'c. I hope he doesn't put up a fight."
"Yea I know what you mean. Good luck." He said putting down the phone. 'Well that takes care of SG1, now for the next part.' He thought to himself.
He went into an empty room and pulled out his cell phone, only to be irked when he found he wasn't able to receive a signal. He put his phone away and went to the phone on the wall. "Yea it's me…it's done, Carter should be alone within the next hour."
"I'm so glad to hear that." Kennedy said smiling as he hung up the phone. Then he opened the desk drawer and looked at the two guns, one held bullets the other darts.
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Daniel and Teal'c were cleaning up the kitchen; Daniel had already helped Sam back to bed and was hoping she was resting comfortably. He had given her the prescribed medication and changed her bandages just like Janet's list instructed. Only this time he gave her the less potent pain meds.
"I shall check the perimeter Daniel Jackson." Teal'c said after drying the last dish.
"Okay Teal'c, I'll stay close to Sam." Since it was only the two of them Daniel left the door to Sam's room open so he could hear her.
Daniel was surprised when he heard Teal'c outside arguing very loudly. He wanted to go outside and check it out, but decided to stay by Sam instead. "Hey Sam, you awake?"
"Yea Daniel what's going on?" Sam said looking around the room with confusion.
"I'm not sure, but Teal'c's having a loud discussion outside with someone." Daniel reached behind his back and handed Sam an extra gun he had been carrying.
Sam took the gun and hid it under the covers keeping her hand on it. Then they heard the sound of her front door being swung open and hitting the wall. Both Daniel and Sam jerked at the sound. Then three SF's came rushing into Sam's bedroom with guns drawn on both Daniel and Sam.
Daniel and Sam also had their guns drawn. "Put the gun's down!" Sgt. Parker ordered the occupants of the room.
Sam recognized the man from the base. "You had better have one hell of a good excuse for breaking into my home and drawing your weapon Sgt.," Sam said in her most intimidating Major's voice.
"I have orders to take Dr. Jackson and Teal'c into custody Ma'am; so please drop your weapons." He said still having his men keeping their guns on them.
"Okay, Daniel do what he says." Sam said, still not believing what was going on. 'Boy this is the most action my bedrooms' seen in a while.'
The SF's took Daniel and Sam's guns before pushing Daniel up against a wall and putting handcuffs on him.
"Tell me what's going on Sgt." Sam said angrily.
"Sorry Ma'am, but I'm under orders to take both Dr. Jackson and Teal'c into custody"
"For what, and by who's orders?" Sam asked.
"The orders came from the JAG lawyers, who are under Gen. Hammond's orders. They are being arrested for the attack on the prisoner."
"What!" Both Sam and Daniel yelled at the same time.
"You can't do this! Major Carter can't be left alone; her life is in danger!" Daniel yelled struggling in the handcuffs.
"I'm sorry Sir, but I have my orders." Parker said.
"Does taking orders mean you leave your brain at home?" Daniel said angrily. "I'm sure Gen. Hammond didn't want you leaving Maj. Carter unprotected."
"I don't know anything about that Sir."
"Well maybe you can find out. As you can see the Major's in no condition to be left alone."
Parker took a look at Carter, and realized that Dr. Jackson could be right, but he had his orders to follow.
"Where's Teal'c?" Sam asked her voice losing the strength it previously had.
"He's already in custody Ma'am; we have him outside in the car."
"So you're planning on leaving a superior officer in danger?" Daniel said trying to reason with the man.
"I'll tell you what Sir, I'll stay here and protect Maj. Carter while you and Teal'c go back to the base. "
"Fine." Daniel said. "We'll probably have this cleared up when we get to the base. Just make sure you keep her safe; or you'll have Col. O'Neill to deal with."
Parker took a gulp and looked very nervous at the thought of dealing with O'Neill. He gave orders to his men to take the two prisoners in while he stayed with Major Carter.
"Ah Sgt.?"
"Yes Ma'am?"
"Could I have my gun back?" Sam asked not liking the situation one bit.
"Ah yes Ma'am." Parker said as he handed Sam her weapon.
"Don't worry Sam, Jack should be back soon." Daniel said, as he was lead out of the bedroom.
"Well Sgt. I hope this doesn't come back and bite you in the butt." Sam said.
"Me too Ma'am." Parker said feeling nervous, now realizing he was alone with Maj. Samantha Carter in her bedroom.
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A/N: Okay I debated with myself a long time (that's what happens when you don't have a beta.) on how far the scene in the bathroom should go. Please don't hate me, but I couldn't help myself. And we all know Jack has a mischievous streak.