THROUGH THE YEARS
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a/n: Just a reminder: this is an AU story, not a prequel to the show. I'm trying to stay as close to the show as possible, but not completely. If I wanted to, I could make Sara miscarry and Sam be the one to give birth to Charlie. Not that I'm going to, I actually stole that idea from Lara Kingsley. I thought it was pretty good. But, not what I'm planning. So, with that said, I'm sorry for all of you who want this story to go back to fluff. Fluff will come, just not quite yet. Hang in there!
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Chapter 17 Operation: Save Grace
May 1989 Colorado
Jack rocked his baby boy in the rocking chair in his room while humming softly. Charlie was two months old now and Jack was in love with the little boy. Sara was a different matter. Once Charlie was born, she went into a depression the air force doctors told Jack was post-partum depression. She refused to have anything to do with Charlie at all. Jack had to hire a nanny to take care of Charlie just so he could go to work.
Sara just laid in bed all day, only getting up to use the bathroom or get something to eat. She never held Charlie, bathed him, fed him or even looked at him for longer than a second. Jack was at his wit's end on what to do about it. He was worried he would come home one day and find her dead from suicide. Even though he wasn't in love with her, she was his wife and he did care about her, he didn't want her to die.
Placing the sleeping baby in his crib, Jack crept out of the room and headed down stairs. Rosa, the nanny was sipping a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. "Rosa, I'm more than likely being sent on a mission today, so I hope you're okay staying here for a few days," Jack told the older woman.
"No problem, sir. I packed my bags, they are in the hallway," she told him.
"Great," Jack replied, taking a sip from his coffee thermos before heading for the door. "See you in a few days."
"Good-bye, Mr. O'Neill," Rosa responded, smiling and waving as the man left the house. She took one more sip and then stood up to start the laundry.
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Jack entered the briefing room and took a seat. He was informed about the mission the other day so he kind of knew what to expect. They were being sent on a rescue mission. Apparently some special forces officers had been taken hostage during a failed mission in Iraq. Because of the unstable government, black ops was being sent in to extricate them.
Jack reached for the mission report in front of him when Col. Cromwell entered the room and stood at the front of the table, obviously the one in charge of this mission.
"Alright, boys, I know you've all heard a little about this mission, let me fill in the holes," he started, taking a seat and opening his folder. "Seven months ago, a team of special forces went on a mission referred to as 'Operation Grace'. The mission was a total failure. Most men were killed or captured with only a handful returning. Until a month ago, we were unaware if any men had survived. The Iraqi's were denying any knowledge of the attack. It was only photos taken by one of our black ops officers under cover in the area that proved that some were taken as hostages.
Our biggest obstacle is our lack of information. Because of the diplomatic issues with 'Operation Grace' all information on it has been forwarded to Washington and the bureaucrats see no reason for us to have it. We have the original roster of officers who were to be on the mission. However, our sources indicate that two officers failed the initial pre-mission physical. One officer was able to take care of his or her medical problem and rejoin the mission at the last second, the other one was replaced by someone else. The problem is we have no way of knowing who the two officers were who failed the physicals or which one rejoined the mission. Washington has all that information.
If everyone will pull out the roster from their file, I have the list of men who did return from the mission. A Major Jones, Captains, Bennett, Carson, Hanson and Smith. Lieutenants, Arntz, Davidson, Groulx, Jackson and Rogers. Sergeants, Malkovich and Stockholm. The rest of the officers on the roster are either dead or prisoners."
Jack's eyes were scanning the list of men when they settled on one name in particular. His heart rate doubled as he read and reread the name over and over again. 'Lieutenant Samantha Carter, pilot.'
Jack's head was spinning. This could not be happening. NO! She was fine, it wasn't her, it had to be someone with the same name. Sam wasn't in Special ops! She already told him she wasn't going to accept the colonel's invitation.
Cromwell noticed Jack's face pale and wondered what affected him so much. "Jack, you alright?" he asked.
Jack looked up and Cromwell knew the Major was far from alright. "What is it?" he asked, at the same time pulling out his own copy of the roster Jack was looking at. He looked over the roster and soon realized what was affecting Jack. "Shit!" he cursed. "All right men, clear the room, take a ten minute break."
"Yes, sir!" rang around the room and the rest of the men stood up and vacated the room.
Jack stayed in his seat, his elbows on the table and his hands resting in his disheveled hair.
"Jack, I'm sorry. If I would have seen her name, I never would have called you in for this mission."
Jack sat there, feeling as though his body split open and his heart fell out. "It's not her, it can't be her. Sam wouldn't join special ops, she wouldn't," Jack mumbled.
"I'm sorry, Jack. The special ops were out of Homestead and Sam is a pilot. Are you sure she wouldn't have joined? She's brilliant, Jack, she knows that special ops can give her the flying experience she needs to help get her into NASA."
"NO!" Jack yelled, slamming his fists on the table and standing up. "Damn it, Frank, she can't be dead!"
Frank sifted through the papers in front of him, reading the information again, this time looking for information on the pilots. "Jack, Sam and another pilot were sent in as back-up for the ground troops. When the mayday was sent out that the mission was a bust, the two back-up pilots flew in to provide air support. They were both shot down with missiles. Jack, I'm sorry. Both pilots are presumed dead."
"NO!" Jack refused to believe it was Sam.
"Maybe she was the officer out with the medical problem, Jack," Frank offered.
"No, Sam was in perfect health. She was just on a mission right before that one, she wouldn't have failed."
"I can find someone to take your place, Jack."
"No, I have to go, Frank. I have to." Jack looked up at the colonel with a determined look on his face.
Frank stepped up and patted the man on the shoulder. "Okay, Jack."
A few minutes later, the rest of the men filed back in the room and the briefing was continued. Jack listened to the details intently, wanting every possible bit of information in order to help him find Sam.
As soon as they were dismissed, Jack darted out of the room and headed to his office. Once inside, he picked up the phone on his desk and called Homestead, Florida. After a few rings a lady answered.
"Hello, this is Major Jack O'Neill, I'm calling to find out information about a lieutenant there by the name of Samantha Carter," Jack told the lady.
"Okay, sir, let me just pull up that information for you," the lady said back into the phone.
Jack waited a few minutes, his heart beating rapidly in his throat.
"I'm sorry, Major, but Lt. Carter is no longer here."
"What? What do you mean, where is she?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not allowed to give out that kind of information."
"Just, just tell me this, did she join special forces?"
"I'm sorry, sir…"
"Please!" Jack pleaded into the phone.
Jack heard the lady sigh on the other end. "Sir, I'm sorry…"
"Ma'am, please, she was my fiance. I just want to know what happened to her, please," Jack pleaded with so much emotion in his voice, no warm-hearted person could deny him.
"Okay, Major, look, I don't have any information on her. The only thing I can tell you is that her last commanding officer here was Col. Richardson of Special Forces. I'm sorry, that's all I have. I hope you find what you're looking for."
"Thank you, ma'am, you helped me a lot," Jack told the woman and hung up the phone. "NO!" he yelled to his empty room. "No," he whimpered, fighting the tears that were threatening to fall. He picked the phone back up and called the number he knew he could get answers from.
"Yes," he said, when the phone on the other end was answered. "I'm calling for General Carter, this is Maj. Jack O'Neill."
"I'm sorry, Major, General Carter is out for the next two weeks," the voice replied.
"Well, where is he?" Jack asked, frustrated.
"I'm sorry, Major, he is dealing with a family issue right now. Would you like to leave a message?"
"No, I won't be here, I'll call him when I get back."
"Okay, sir, goodbye."
Jack hung the phone up and then threw it across the room. "Damn!" he screamed. This can't be happening!
Forty-Eight hours later, Jack was in Iraq. Since leaving the States, the team had gathered more information about 'Operation Grace'. Eye witnesses said that one parachute did open up after the missiles struck the jets. Whether the pilot was alive or dead was still yet to be confirmed.
Intelligence filled them in on the hostages. When the photographs were taken a month ago, there were eighteen hostages in the room. One week ago, only twelve remained. It was obvious time was running out.
Cromwell spent two days overseeing the area and coming up with a gameplan. When the time was right, the black ops forces stealthily entered the compound and made their way to the building previously tagged.
As Jack, Cromwell and two other men approached one side of the building, they saw the small window where the other officer had taken the photos. Peeking in the window, the men watched as two Iraqi guards dragged a female officer out of the room.
Jack couldn't help but worry that the officer being dragged out was Sam. Cromwell noticed the look on Jack's face and told him to go after the woman while the rest of them secured the room and rescued the others.
Jack crept along the side of the building, peaking in each window he came to. Finally, he found the woman and the two guards. They had her hands tied to chains hanging from the ceiling. She was so exhausted, her body just hung there. Jack grimaced as he watched the men hit her over and over.
After a few hits, one guard smacked her across the face and her head flew back. Jack almost screamed when he saw the blonde hair on the woman's head. It was her! Damn it, no!
Out of nowhere, the other guard pulled out a gun and shot the woman in the head. Jack crumbled to the ground. This could not be happening! This could not be happening! Needing to see her, to touch her, Jack snuck around and entered the building. He hid behind an opened door as the guards left the room, laughing and talking amongst themselves in their own language.
Carefully, he crept along the corridor and entered the room the guards had just left. The woman was still hanging there, dead with a gunshot hole right through her forehead. Jack released the breath he had been holding. It wasn't her! Pulling the dogtags off the woman, Jack crept back out of the room to join the rest of his men.
He caught back up to Cromwell at the same spot where they had separated. "O'Neill, what happened?" Cromwell asked, coming up beside him.
"The guards killed her. It wasn't Sam," Jack told him, showing him the dogtags.
"We got out the rest of the hostages, there was only ten left. Let's get out of here," Cromwell told him, smacking him on the back.
"Did you see Sam?" Jack asked as they made their way back out of the compound.
"No, she wasn't here, Jack. I'm sorry."
Jack tried to breathe. The thought of Sam being dead was not an option he could live with. He silently followed Cromwell out of the compound.
Just as they came along the fence, a siren wailed and Iraqi forces appeared everywhere. "Damn it," Cromwell yelled, taking cover and firing on the enemy.
Jack followed Cromwell and shot as many of the men as he could. "Okay, Jack, I'll cover you, run like hell," Cromwell ordered.
Jack unloaded his gun a few more times and then sprinted for the opening they had previously made in the fence. Once on the other side, he opened up fire on the enemy so Cromwell could make his escape. A few seconds later, the two men were running like hell to their awaiting chopper. Two of their men came running up next to them, helping to keep the enemy back.
The chopper was in sight and all four men headed to it. Just as Jack was about to drop for cover and return fire again, he was shot in both legs and his shoulder. He fell to the ground and watched as Cromwell jumped in the chopper and it lifted off the ground. 'Shit!' They were leaving him behind.
He heard the footsteps approach and something hard hit his head before he lost consciousness.
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Florida
General Jacob Carter stomped through the corridors of the hospital in search of the room his daughter was in. As he reached room 132, he knocked once and opened the door. "Samantha, you in here?"
"Yes, dad, come in," Sam replied.
Jacob Carter walked in the room to find a small baby swathed in a pink blanket laying against his daughter's chest. "A girl?"
"Yes, a girl. She was born eight hours ago. What took you so long to get here?" she asked.
"I got word about 'Operation Grace'," he told her, taking a seat and gesturing for his new granddaughter.
Sam sat up and settled the baby in her father's arms. "So, what happened?"
"They sent in a rescue team. By the time they got there, only ten of them were still alive. I'm so sorry, Sam."
"Captain Michaels? Did she make it?" Sam asked. Captain Michaels was the woman who replaced her on the mission. Sam couldn't help but feel as if her death was somehow her fault.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. According to the ten who returned, she was the pilot who ejected, but the Iraqi soldiers captured her along with the rest of them. She was killed right before the rescue," Jacob told his daughter.
Sam hung her head in shame. "It would have been me, dad."
"Sammie, I thank God everyday that it wasn't. Do you know how grateful I am that you ended up pregnant and unable to go on that mission? I was so pissed when you first told me you were pregnant. I was so upset that you were willing to give up your career and keep this baby. I was dead-set on having absolutely nothing to do with this little angel. But, after finding out about the disaster of a mission you would have been on if it wasn't for her, I fell in love with her right then, even if you were only a few months pregnant at the time."
Sam reached out and grabbed her dad's hand. "Good, I'm glad you didn't disown us. With the way Mark has been acting lately, you're all we have."
"So, as cute as Baby Girl Carter is, I really think you need to think of a name," Jacob said, squeezing Sam's hand.
"Susanne."
"Susanne?" Jacob questioned.
"Grace Susanne. Grace was the name of the mission and Susanne was the first name of Captain Michaels. If it wasn't for this little baby, I would have gone on 'Operation Grace' and died in place of Susanne. I think it's appropriate."
Jacob smiled. "Me, too."
Three days later, Sam and Grace checked out of the hospital and flew to Virginia to stay with Jacob for the duration of her maternity leave.
Neither of them had any idea the role Jack played in freeing the survivors of 'Operation Grace' or that he was now a prisoner of Iraq.
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