There's a little spoiler for Threads in my author's notes at the bottom.
Chapter 22
Jack was glad they finally made it to the SGC; he had gotten Carter to the infirmary; although she was quite reluctant to use the wheel chair and be wheeled through the base. He even contemplated putting her over his shoulder and carrying her there. He grinned at the thought as he made his way to General Hammond's office.
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"So Sam do want to tell me what happened?" Janet asked sympathetically, more as a friend than a doctor.
"No, not really. I'm fine by the way; the colonel was just over reacting by insisting I come here." Sam said showing some anger at being stuck in the infirmary when there were more important things to do; like catch a mole.
Janet and Sam's attention was brought to the gurney being wheeled in, carrying a still unconscious Sgt. Parker.
"Put him over there." Janet ordered as she gave her friend a concerned look before going to check on the new patient. "What do we have?"
"He's apparently been shot with a dart Ma'am, and has been unconscious for quite some time." A medic informed her.
"Okay, I want blood work done and vitals every 15 minutes until he wakes up." Janet ordered one of her nurses before performing an initial examination.
"So how is he?" Sam asked concerned for the young man.
After a few moments, Janet answered Sam. "Looks like he'll just have to sleep off the sedative. I'd sure like to know what Kennedy's been using on everyone."
"I'm just glad he's alright, I wasn't sure what happened to him when…Kennedy broke in."
"Don't worry Sam, he'll be fine. All he'll get is probably the best sleep he's had in a long time." Janet said trying to comfort Sam so she wouldn't feel guilty about what happened to the sergeant.
"So now what about you?" Janet asked not giving Sam a chance to escape her questioning.
"Like I told you Janet I'm fine." Sam said abruptly.
"By the look on your face, I don't think you are. Now tell me what happened so I can help you." Janet said firmly.
"Okay, okay, my arms are a little sore that's all." Sam said, trying not to give too much information. The last thing she wanted to do was relive that experience with everyone to hear.
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"General" Jack acknowledged as he entered Hammond's office, seeing Rabb and Mackenzie were already there.
"Colonel, care to tell me what happened at Major Carter's house." Hammond asked as Jack entered and then closed the door.
"Oh I thought they would have already filled you in Sir." Jack said as he leaned against a cabinet. It was a little crowded in the office, but Jack knew that due to security leaks it was the most secure place on the base to be having this meeting.
"They only filled me in on the death of Colonel Kennedy; ah how is Major Carter taking it?"
"Well she seemed to be okay when we brought her in, but with Carter she could just be putting up a brave front. It's not easy having someone killed in your bedroom." Jack said in a quiet voice.
"How did Kennedy gain access to the Major's home?" Hammond asked, hoping someone in the room had the answer.
"Well Sir, you know that I received a call from someone I thought was you; and when Carter called me on my cell she said that Daniel and Teal'c had been taken into custody. Then it sounded like she dropped the phone Sir." Jack said shivering as he recalled the moment.
"What! I distinctly didn't order their arrests and made that clear." Hammond said looking at the two lawyers he had the discussion with.
"Ah we didn't order their arrests Sir, we don't know who did." Harm said looking a little nervous at the look; he was getting from the general.
"So then what happened with Dr. Jackson and Teal'c?" Hammond asked.
"Well Sir the person who was in charge of the arrests is currently in the infirmary. He was unconscious when I found him at Carter's." Jack informed Hammond.
Hammond picked up his phone and made a quick call. Everyone remained silent as he finished his inquiry. "Well it seems Sgt. Parker woke up a few minutes ago, I suggest you people go find out what happened before we continue this briefing." Hammond ordered.
The three officers got up and quickly left the room heading for the infirmary. "Well that's one place I know my way to." Mac said, but not jokingly.
A few minutes later, they entered the infirmary, Jack leading the way. He stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't believe the size of the needle the nurse was carrying. He took a gulp as he saw her disappear behind a curtain.
"Okay Sam this is going to hurt a little bit, but the freezing I gave you should help a bit." Janet said behind the curtain.
'A little bit. More like a hell of a lot.' Jack thought to himself.
"Almost done." Janet said.
"Not soon enough." Sam said the pain evident in her voice.
"Okay all done. You should be feeling better soon." Janet said as she came out from behind the curtain.
"Hey watch where you point that thing Doc." Jack said as he saw Fraiser carrying the needle towards him.
"Don't worry Colonel it's not for you." She said handing it to the nurse. "I'll need the second one in a few minutes; same dose."
"What two, hasn't Carter been through enough, without the needle torture?" Jack said clearly showing his disgust at the size of the needles.
"Well Colonel if you must know it's for a cortisone injection, and since its going into the shoulder joint this size of syringe is required. Now what brings the three of you into my infirmary?" Janet asked.
"Ah we're here to question the sergeant." Harm said, not liking the sight of the needle himself.
"Okay, he's in the last bed; he may still be drowsy though." Janet informed them.
"So how is Carter doing?" Jack asked.
"Ah I'm right here; you know I can hear you." Sam's voice came from behind the curtain.
Jack gave Janet his puppy dog look; "Okay Colonel you can visit, I'll hold off the treatment until you're finished in here." Janet told him.
Jack gave Janet one of his most endearing grins as he went over to the curtain. "Knock knock."
"Ah who's there?" Sam said, she just couldn't help herself.
"Come on Carter, stop joking around." Jack said a little annoyed, but then he found himself unable to stay mad or annoyed at Sam lately.
"Sorry Sir, you can open the curtain if you like."
Jack pulled the curtain open and found Sam lying on her side on top of t he covers she was wearing a hospital gown but still had her sweat pants on.. "So how are you doing?"
"Fine Sir. Janet's giving me some cortisone treatments for my shoulders."
Jack could only grimace, knowing how painful his shots had been to his knees.
"It's okay Sir, it should help for a few hours; then I'll be able to work better on the computer." Sam told Jack looking up at him.
"Geez Carter leave it to you to be thinking of work after all you've been through." Jack said exasperated.
"It's because of what I went through which is why I'm thinking of work Sir." Sam said not meaning for it to come out as harshly as it did.
"Hey Sam, come here often?" Harm said trying to break the tension.
"Yea, unfortunately."
"So Colonel, shouldn't we get down to questioning Parker?" Harm said to O'Neill.
"Yes, yes we should. Ah Carter feel free to join in the conversation if you think of anything." He said heading over to the other patient at the end of the room.
"Will do Sir."
"Sgt. Parker, I'm Colonel Mackenzie and this is Commander Rabb we're looking into what happened at Major's Carter's house tonight." Mac said to the groggy looking young man.
"Ah hem." Jack cleared his throat loudly.
"Along with Colonel O'Neill of course." Mac added.
"Yes Ma'am, Sirs I'll do what ever I can to help."
"So why did you show up at Carter's house to arrest Daniel and Teal'c?" Jack asked sounding a little irate.
"I was given orders Sir." Parker answered starting to become more awake.
"By whom?" Harm asked.
"By General Hammond…indirectly Sir."
"What do you mean indirectly?" Jack asked, thankful Daniel wasn't in the room to give a precise definition of the word.
"Well Sir, Sgt. Harriman told me the orders came from the two JAG lawyers who were under orders from Gen. Hammond."
"So you spoke directly with Sgt. Harriman?" Mac asked, she only remembered him as being the general's aid.
"Yes Ma'am." Parker said feeling a little nervous.
"At what time did you receive the call?" Harm asked this time.
"It was at 19:20 hundred hours Sir. I remember because I was getting ready to make the rounds to check on the prisoners when the call came."
"What? Then you took it upon yourself to pull off the two men who were guarding Major Carter." Jack said angrily.
"I…was under orders Sir and I offered to stay behind to guard Major Carter myself." He said feeling even more nervous.
"And a fine job you did sergeant." Jack said dripping with sarcasm.
"It's not his fault Sir." Sam interjected feeling sorry for the young man.
"Well Carter, when I left; you had two rather motivated guards and when I came back this one was unconscious on the floor. He should have had more than himself guarding you."
Sam couldn't argue, O'Neill did have a good point and she did almost get killed.
"I suggest we question Sgt. Harriman and find out why he gave those orders." Harm said.
"Well I think it will be another dead end, I can't see Harriman doing anything that would put me in danger." Sam said adamantly. "Actually I think I should be getting to my lab to work on finding the mole." Sam said trying to sit up to get out of bed.
Jack was by her side in an instant helping her to sit up. "Don't you have a date with a rather large needle Carter?"
"Thought I'd try to make a break for it Sir, want to assist?" Sam said with a slight grin.
"As much as I'd love to assist in a 'prison' break Carter, do you really want to go through the halls of the SGC in that outfit?" Jack said pointing out the hospital gown Sam was wearing.
Sam looked down forgetting she was wearing the gown and shook her head. "We could always say its part of the new uniforms Sir."
"Don't look now but I think the wardens coming." Harm said as he saw Janet approach.
"Well I hope everyone's finished in here, I have patients to attend to." Janet said as she pulled the cloth off the tray she was carrying.
Jack saw the needle and backed away from Sam slightly. "Well that's my cue, see you later Carter."
"Actually Sir, would you mind hanging around a minute?" Janet asked.
"Ah sure thing Doc." Jack said confused.
"Okay then, we'll go ahead and set up an interview with Harriman." Mac said giving Sam a sympathetic smile as she left. Harm following behind her.
"So Doc what did you need me for?"
"Well Colonel, my nurses are busy looking after another patient and I was hoping you could help me out with Sam.?"
"What?" Both Sam and Jack said at the same time.
"Sam you need to stay still for the injection and I don't have anyone available to keep you still."
"I'm quite able to keep still myself Janet."
"Last time you had Peggy making sure you were still, and you were flinching. Look Sam I know its one of the most painful places to get a cortisone injection and you can't be moving while I'm adjusting the position of the syringe."
"Look Carter, I'd be happy to help; as long as the Doc remembers which person's getting the injection." Jack said trying to offer his support and lighten the mood at the same time.
"Okay Janet, just give me a minute to lie back down."
"Uh you can stay seated if you like Sam, might be easier than moving around so much."
"Sure sounds good."
"Okay Sam I need you to lean forward, and Colonel if you'd let Sam rest her head on your shoulder and just hold her tightly so she can't move." Janet said, amazed at herself for being able to keep a straight face.
"Ah…what ever you say Doc." Jack said, knowing this wasn't going to be the first time he held on to Sam tightly, and this time it was doctor's orders; so what else could he do but obey orders.
Sam leaned forward feeling awkward at having Jack being told to hug her. She was a little nervous as Jack came forward and put his arms around her. She started to feel a little more comfortable as his warmth engulfed her.
Jack was feeling quite good at the moment feeling Sam in his arms. There was a problem though; in this position, he was going see the procedure.
"You ready Sam?" Janet asked.
"Whenever you are." Sam replied, then felt a shiver as Janet undid the back of her gown.
"I don't know if I am." Jack said as he watched Janet pick up the big honkin needle.
"Okay just relax… both of you." Janet said as she saw O'Neill's face.
Jack watched as Janet slowly injected the needle, then moved it around a little under the skin as she guided it to the right place. He felt Sam bury her head in his shoulder and hold her breath. "Breath with it Carter." He said holding her tighter to keep her from moving
"We're almost done Sam." Janet said, not liking what she was doing, but knew it had to be done.
Jack could feel Sam's muscles tighten through out the procedure, and for once wished he were getting the needle instead of Sam. Then he saw Janet slowly pulling the needle out and put a cotton swab over the site. "Could you keep pressure on this Sir?" Janet asked as she moved his hand into position, then mysteriously disappeared.
"Ah Carter, I think you can breath now." Jack said as he could still feel that she was holding her breath again.
"Oh, yea right." Sam said, as she let out the deep breath she was holding. "Where did Janet go?"
"I don't know, she just kinda walked away." Jack said looking around.
"Uh, don't you think you should let go of me now?"
"Well…Janet did give me instructions to keep pressure on this, wouldn't want you to…leak."
Sam couldn't help but giggle at the colonel's choice of words. "I don't think we have to worry about that Sir."
"Well until Dr. Fraiser tells me to take the pressure off, I'm keeping it on." Jack said, but thinking he didn't want to let her go just yet.
Janet came back into the room and had to grin at the sight, it looked so natural for them to be in an embrace. 'Oh yea Sam you owe me one.' "Okay, let me take a look." Janet took the cotton off and put on a band-aid, to match the other one.
"Ah, I think you can let me go now Sir." Sam was keeping up her soldier façade, even though she would prefer to stay in his arms.
"Oh, yea right." Jack said as he released Sam and took a step back. "I hope I didn't hurt you Carter."
"No Sir you didn't and thank you for your assistance. So Janet can I get out of here now?"
"Alright, but I still want you to stay off that leg for another four days at least."
"What? Four days, you've got to be kidding."
"Look Sam, your body needs time to heal, and from what you've gone through tonight, your not getting what I'd call rest."
"So then give me a pair of crutches so I can get around." Sam said adamantly.
"Afraid not Sam, those injections won't last very long and if you put more strain on your shoulders it will be even less time. You're going to have to keep using the wheel chair." Janet said being her naturally stubborn self.
"I'll make sure she uses the chair Doc, why I'll even assign her, her own chauffeur." Jack said grinning. 'Oh I know just the chauffeur.'
"What are you talking about Sir; you can't assign someone to push me around base."
"We'll see about that Carter. So Doc, just keep Carter here until I get back."
"Will do Sir." Janet said, she liked having the Colonel on her side for once.
"I don't think I'm going to like this." Sam said as she watched the Colonel leave.
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Jack knocked on the General's door before entering. "Sir we need to talk."
"What is it Colonel?"
"Since Teal'c and Daniel weren't supposed to be arrested in the first place, I'd like to get them out of the holding cells and put to good use."
"And what would that be?"
"Personal body guards/ nurses aids to Carter while on base Sir."
Hammond grinned at the thought of Teal'c being a nurses aid. "Well as long as they remain on base, I think I can accommodate you." He said as he picked up his phone to make arrangements.
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"So Sgt, we've been told that you gave the order to Sgt. Parker to have Dr. Jackson and Teal'c arrested." Mac asked Harriman who was seated at the table in the interrogation room.
"It was not me Ma'am; I neither received nor gave any orders."
"Did you know what Dr. Jackson and Teal'c were doing?" Harm asked, not giving him a chance to rest between questions.
"Ah, no Sir, I thought they were just on downtime and for your information Sir, Ma'am I would never do anything that would cause any harm to come to Major Carter. We work closely together in the control room and I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Major. Not to mention how many times she and SG1 have saved the ea…" He said cutting himself off not knowing if they were allowed to know about how many times they had saved the world.
"You were saying." Harm questioned.
"I'm sorry Sir, but I can't finish that sentence; I don't know how much you can be told."
"Okay then, what were doing at 19:20 hours sergeant?" Mac said taking her turn.
"Well Ma'am, at 19 hundred hours some of the shifts were changing; I'd estimate that about five or ten minutes after that Sgt. Walters reported to me and we went over the days events as well as performing some tasks that the general had ordered. That took about 30 to 40 minutes to finish Ma'am, then we went back to the control room and took over from our relief."
"And you were with this Sgt. Walters the whole time?"
"Yes Sir I was."
"No little breaks to lets say make a phone call?" Mac asked.
"No Ma'am. You can ask Sgt. Walters, or you could check the surveillance cameras. I have nothing to hide."
"Okay Sergeant your dismissed you can return to your duties but don't leave the base." Harm ordered. Both officers watched the man leave before speaking.
"You know Harm, I think I believe him."
"Yea I know what you mean. So we're getting no closer to finding the mole or proving Jackson and Teal'c innocent."
"NO, I'm afraid we're not." Mac said feeling disappointed at how little progress they were making.
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O'Neill walked along the corridor of the security level heading for Teal'c and Daniel's cell. 'Well at least they were together.' Jack thought.
"Airman, I'm here for Teal'c and Jackson; you should have gotten word from Hammond to release them into my custody."
"Yes Sir we did; I was just waiting for you before releasing them."
"Okay open the door and give me a few minutes alone with them."
"Yes Sir." The young guard said then opened the door and disappeared.
"Daniel, Daniel, Daniel getting into trouble again; and this time bring Teal'c with you."
"Jack what the hell is going on! No one will tell us anything!" Daniel said angrily pacing behind the bars.
"Is Major Carter alright O'Neill?" Teal'c asked sounding concerned while getting up from the cot.
"Carter's fine Teal'c, well as fine as she can be after almost being smothered to death." Jack said shaking his head.
"What!" Daniel yelled his frustration and worry showing.
"It's okay Daniel, I got there just in time; and by the way Kennedy's dead."
"What transpired O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.
"I'll tell you on the way."
"On the way to where Jack?"
"Well I got you two released on the condition that you would be Carter's personal body guards on base, by which you're not allowed to leave the base until we get this thing cleared up." Jack said, thinking this may be harder to clear up than he expected.
"I will guard Major Carter with my life O'Neill, this you can be assured of." Teal'c said nodding to O'Neill as he stepped out of the cell, which O'Neill had just opened.
"Yea Jack, you don't have to ask, we'd do this no matter what."
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Sam was getting anxious waiting for the colonel and her 'chauffeur', she had been waiting a while after Janet had brought her one of the blue OR tops to wear and her button up BDU jacket. Now all she wanted to do was to get to her lab so she could start looking for the mole. Then she heard the Colonel's voice in the hall.
"So you understand, under no circumstances is Carter to put any weight on that leg."
Sam had to laugh to herself, who did O'Neill think he was kidding, there's no Airman on this base that would be able to keep her in that chair.
"Hey Carter." Jack said entering the room. "Your chauffeur…ah chauffeurs await." He said with a grin as he held arm out as Daniel and Teal'c entered.
"Daniel, Teal'c am I glad to see the two of you, are you guys okay?"
"Us? We're fine its you we're worried about." Daniel said as went up and gave Sam a gentle hug. He was still in shock from what Jack had told them happened to Sam. He knew that if Kennedy wasn't dead either he or Teal'c would have killed him.
"Easy there Space Monkey." Jack warned, he didn't want Daniel to accidentally hurt Sam.
"It's okay Sir, I'm fine." Sam said moving to hop off the bed ready to leave.
"Stay where you are Major Carter." Teal'c said as he approached her. "Colonel O'Neill gave specific orders that you are not to put any weight on your leg." Then Teal'c surprised Sam by picking her up and carrying her to the chair and gently putting her down in it.
"Teal'c you didn't have to that, I could have made it into the chair myself." Sam said a little annoyed.
"Ah ah Carter, no arguing with your new nurses." Jack said grinning.
"My what? I don't need any nurses, especially from Daniel and Teal'c…Sir."
"Now now Carter, you're just going to have to deal with it. They are under no circumstances to leave you alone."
"But Sir…" Sam said a little more than annoyed now.
"So where to Sam?" Daniel asked as he took hold of the handles of the chair.
"To my lab." Sam said shaking her head.
"Now to work on getting Teal'c and Daniel out of this mess." Jack said to an empty room.
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A/N: I just recently watched Threads again, and was wondering if the ending where Daniel comes back from the dead (AGAIN) and naked (again) when he's wearing the flag, is that an homage to the photo shoot AT did wearing the American Flag?