A/N: Okay, it's not quite as long as the past few have been, but i kinda had to stop it where i did b/c i couldn't blend it together. You're only getting this this quick b/c i kinda had a wedding related mental breakdown last night and wrote to try and get over it. it's unbeta'd right now and as soon as i can i'm gonna put a few previous, fixed, chapters up as one so it might get screwy for a sec later on.
"Sir, it's pretty much just as we suspected," Daniel said, standing in the briefing room in front of General Hammond, SG-1 and Seamus. Janet didn't want to let Sarah out of the infirmary just yet, and the General hadn't wanted to overwhelm the woman with so many new faces, especially after such a harrowing ordeal, so Daniel and Seamus had run her debriefing and were now filling in everyone else.
"She was studying the Osiris jar and accidentally dropped the jar-"
"Wait," Jack cut in, voicing exactly what Hailey was thinking. "She's an archeologist that dropped her rock?"
"A jar, Jack." Daniel rolled his eyes at the older man. "And she won't tell me what startled her in the first place. Anyway… When the jar broke open, the Goa'uld immediately found the closest host available."
"How did it know about that ship?" Jack asked.
"It was Osiris' ship, left there before he and Isis were put into the canopic jars. It was easy for him to get there, and once he was gone, he let us do his dirty work until he'd worked up enough troops to start attacking the System Lords outright.
"He tortured Sarah constantly. If she made any noise from the corner of her mind he'd locked her away in, he would administer not only physical pain, but he would torture her psychologically; excruciatingly vivid dreams. They were so real she thought she was home.
"Osiris projected back on our relationship, using it against her, and just as she'd start to get comfortable, and used to the idea that she was going to be okay, he'd twist it around on her, make her kill me somehow, or torture somebody she loves."
The briefing room fell silent; no one sure exactly what to say. Jack knew torture, had experienced it just a little too closely in Iraq, but nothing could compare to what Sarah Gardner had been through. She'd need a lot of people rallying around her just to keep her sane, though no one was even sure that was possible.
"We can't send her to Dr. MacKenzie," Daniel said lowly, staring down at the folder in front of him.
"Dr. Jackson," Hammond started. "I know you have issues with Dr. MacKenzie-"
"It's not just him," two other voices spoke up at once. Jack and Janet stared at each other, both thinking the same thing.
Jack looked up at General Hammond, an idea suddenly forming in his mind. He hadn't thought about him, at least in that capacity, for a while now, but it would probably work.
"Sir, could I see you in your office for a moment please?" he asked, too calmly for the situation.
Hammond stood and motioned for Jack to follow him, closing the office door behind them.
"Colonel?"
"Sir, I recommend Dr. Benjamin Lindley be given proper clearance and brought into the mountain."
"Air Force?"
"Civilian."
"Colonel, what exactly is going on?"
Jack shuffled on his feet uncomfortably for a moment, his mind straying to a very unpleasant time in his life. "Sir, you've read my file, my psych evaluation. You know after I came back from Iraq I went through twelve quacks before they found one I would talk to enough to return to duty. Ben's good at what he does, and he doesn't play head games until he's required to. Dr. Gardner doesn't need someone screwing with her, Osiris did that enough. What she needs is someone to talk to who is also able to evaluate her state of mind. She can talk to Daniel, but he won't be able to determine when she's well enough to be reintegrated into society."
Had the situation not been so serious General Hammond would have smiled at his 2IC. Right there was proof enough that Colonel Jack O'Neill was no where near as dumb as he tried to pull off.
"General, Ben had the clearance for me to talk freely in our sessions."
Hammond nodded. "I'll work on locating him and getting him the proper clearance, Colonel. For the time being I suggest Dr. Jackson spend as much time as possible in the infirmary with Dr. Gardner."
"Sir, Ben lives in Englewood. He started a practice there about two years ago."
"Very well, you will contact him while I get him the clearance. Dismissed, as are the rest of your team."
"Thank you, General."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
She surfaced from the darkness slowly, her vision clouded as she struggled to open her sleep laden eyelids. She was exhausted. It'd been a long day, telling Daniel and all his friends what had happened to her after studying the Osiris jar. She felt like an idiot for dropping the damn thing. She'd thought she'd heard a noise and she'd jumped, the jar smashing to the ground.
She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, groaning, and raised her hand to her forehead, the slight throbbing making itself known.
"Hey, how're you feeling?" she heard from the side of her bed.
She looked up slowly to see a familiar face staring down at her. "Colonel O'Neill?"
The man smiled warmly at her. "Close, but sorry. I'm Major Seamus O'Neill," he said, pointing to the golden colored oak leaves on his shoulders. "Jack's my brother."
"What are you guys? Twins or something?" Sarah asked, waking up just a little bit more.
"Actually," Sea laughed. "Yes, we are."
Sarah's eyes widened momentarily before she quickly regained her composure. "Where's Daniel?"
Sea sat back in his chair a bit, pulling back from his close proximity he'd had to her and folded his hand over his lap, crossing his right ankle over his left knee. "Dr. Fraiser ordered him to his quarters to get some rest."
Sarah hung her head. "She's upset with him."
"Janet?" He smiled. "Nah. It's just been a tense year."
"I've given 'Dr. Jackson' enough angry girlfriend looks over the two years we dated."
Sea leaned forward, his feet flat on the floor, and gently took Sarah's hand in his. "Don't worry about it. You've had enough stuff happen to you. Daniel doesn't blame you for anything Osiris did and he still wants to be your friend. Let him. Us?"
Sarah sat in silence, wanting to fall asleep again, but not feeling tired at all. She found this man charming, in ways she couldn't have imagined not that long ago, and for some reason found herself not wanting him to leave. He was older than her, probably by about ten years, but the silver hair lining his temples and the brown patches sticking up on the top of his head made him look so much like a kid. The childish look to his eyes didn't help his age at all, though she could see past pain shining in them.
She blushed slightly under his gaze, not quite sure how to take the look she caught from him. She was a little perplexed by this man. She'd never met him before, yet he was sitting by her bedside, waiting to comfort her when she awoke. Normally, she'd be a little creeped out, by now, but something about him reassured her he was nothing she should worry about. Besides, his brother had been out there fighting the Goa'uld for years, and that definitely made them the good guys.
"Why are you here?" she asked cautiously.
"I work here," he answered sarcastically with a smile. "Seriously? I thought you'd like some company, and since Daniel's been ordered to bed, why not?"
"You don't even know me."
"So? Daniel's my brother's best friend." He shrugged like that explained everything, and she supposed, in some weird way, it did.
Her eyes started drooping and Sea smiled softly, cradling her hand gently in his own larger ones. She was beautiful in his eyes and he enjoyed her company more than he had any other woman in a long time. He reached up his hand and brushed her bangs out of her face as she relaxed into the pillow.
"Shhh. You can rest now," he whispered.
She nodded and smiled up at him. "Tell me about yourself?"
Sea's eyes lit up at the thought of talking about his children and he started telling her of his family as she drifted into the Land of Nod.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Jack walked into his house and sighed, walking into the kitchen to get a quick drink of water. Had he not been planning on leaving again so soon, it definitely wouldn't be water he was going after. He heard little slap – draggy sounds and looked down at his feet to see Neal smiling up at him, having crawled into the kitchen when he heard his Daddy come home.
Neal pulled on Jack's pant leg so he could stand and held his arms out, wanting to be picked up. "Da-ee!"
Jack put his glass down on the counter and bent down to pick up his son. He loved having a family again. He'd had to get used to it pretty quickly, but it was something he'd always been certain he'd been made for. That, and taking out the bad guys.
"Where's Mommy, Big Guy?"
Neal gave him a big sloppy grin, his four little bottom teeth protruding brightly, and clasped his hands over his chest, leaning his head onto Jack's shoulder. He picked his head up quickly and pointed out the door.
Jack took his little son and headed down the hall towards his and Sam's room. He figured she'd probably be in there if one of the other boys had to be changed or fed. He briefly wondered where Mark had gone, but dismissed it as being unimportant.
Mark came rushing out of Neal's room and almost smacked square into Jack and Neal. "Oh, thank God," he sighed in relief at seeing the baby in Jack's arms. "I turned around and he was gone."
Jack felt the anger bubble up, but a quick glance at the stairway diffused it almost immediately. The baby gate had been put up and there was no danger of him falling down the stairs.
"Hey, they're quick," Jack said, smiling.
"Yeah, I kinda forgot. Been a while since I've had to deal with that." Mark grinned at his nephew and rubbed his head, making the little boy giggle. "Sam was in your guys' room last I saw. The other two have been up and down all day."
Jack carried Neal into the bedroom to see Sam standing at the changing table with… Baby in dark blue – Liam.
"Hey," he whispered from the door way where he leaned with Neal.
Sam's tired eyes brightened at the sound of her husband's voice. "Hey," she smiled back. She finished changing Liam's diaper and picked him up. Checking on Jake quickly, she pocketed the baby monitor and ushered Jack quietly out of the room.
Jack followed her to the kitchen and watched as she made herself some peanut butter and banana toast one handed. Oh, he knew she was great at multitasking, all those years in the lab had honed those skills, but this was beyond great. He was amazed at how great she was with their kids. Everybody saw her as "Major Carter – super soldier", but he got to see the side of her she'd always kept hidden. The "girly" Carter – Samantha. He loved Samantha, and he loved his kick ass Sam, too.
She looked exhausted and he felt bad he'd had to go into work on their first real day home as parents. Having three kids all so close in age was going to be difficult, no doubt, but Sam caught on quick when it came to anything she did and he felt just a little bit cocky having been through it once before.
The couple moved into the living room so Sam could relax while she ate her toast. Liam wriggled around in her arms and Jack was amazed at her balance.
"Sam," he started softly. "I have to go out of town for a little bit."
Sam tried to swallow her food quicker than was possible, and Jack stood to get her a glass of milk. Once she'd drunk half the glass, she swallowed deeply and asked, "How long?"
"Only a couple of hours."
She smiled. "So we shouldn't hold up on dinner?"
He shook his head. "Actually, set one more place. I'm not leaving the state and I need to bring someone in on our 'project.' I'll bring Neal with me to give you guys a little break."
Sam smiled over at her husband and gave him a soft, lingering kiss. "Go ahead, have fun."
Jack kissed her again, as well as Liam's forehead, and headed to the garage to get the car seat he'd removed earlier when taking Nate and Jacob with him to the base. It was only about a 45 minute drive to Englewood, so he didn't figure on being gone too long.
A/N: so, i hope you liked how i did this and maybe you can guess where i'm going on certain aspects. i'm trying to wrap this up so if there's anything you wanna see, put in your requests now so i can work it in. there's maybe five chapters left, i think. i've had a little more time to write seeing as i don't think i got the job as cashier at a sporting goods store, how pathetic is that lol.
tell me what y'all think here, i hope you like it! and PLEASE REVIEW, they've been kinda dwindling, and it makes me sad. lol.