Part Three
SGC Briefing Room
Jack was gone. The Tok'ra said he just disappeared – just walked out of their base without anyone noticing. Sam stared blankly out of the briefing room window, looking intently at the Stargate as if it held the secret to where he had been taken by Kanan. All the while hoping that if she stared at it long enough, it would activate and he would come waltzing through, safe and sound.
Not realizing anyone else was in the room, she was startled out of her reverie by a deep voice coming from behind her.
"We will find him, Major. I meant what I said to Councilor Thoran. We don't leave our people behind."
"Thank you, sir," Sam acknowledged wearily.
General Hammond placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and stood beside her, both he and Sam now gazing out at the Stargate. "You need to get some rest, Major. The Tok'ra say they will have Kanan's mission reports sent to us in the morning. There's nothing more to be done until then."
Sam shook her head, "I couldn't sleep, sir. I just feel like I need to do something... anything."
The general's tone softened in understanding, "I know how much the Colonel means to you, Sam. You just have to have faith that we will find him and bring him home."
At his words Sam visibly tensed, suddenly afraid her emotions had betrayed her most guarded secret. "He means a lot to all of us, sir. He is the leader of our team and a valuable member of the SGC."
Hammond smiled at Sam's attempt to conceal her obvious feelings, remembering a similar conversation he had once had with Jack concerning Sam after she had been taken over by an alien entity.
"Yes, he is," he offered Sam the same response he had made to Jack so long ago. "Why don't you try and get some sleep. I don't want to have to make it an order."
"Yes sir. Can I have just a few more minutes? I promise I'll go to my quarters soon. I just need a little more time to think."
"All right, Major. See you in the morning." Hammond exited the briefing room, leaving Sam still standing before the window, looking out into the Gate room.
As she stood there, her thoughts turned to Jack. 'Where are you Jack? Where did he take you? Why did he take you from us?'
Sam's Quarters, SGC
Sam awoke the next morning after a restless night, her thoughts in sleep racing erratically. Her troubled sleep had only served to bolster her determination to read Kanan's previous mission reports. They alone might yield the answer to where Jack was.
There had to be some reason Kanan took off from the Tok'ra base in the middle of the night like that. There had to be some reason why he had taken Jack against his will and put him in the path of danger. And as Jonas had noted earlier, Kanan's motives had to be both personal and profound enough for him to resort to such a despicable act.
Sam spent the morning and afternoon combing through the reports with Jonas and Teal'c in her lab. After hours of reading through every detail and finding no obvious answers or clues, she finally stumbled upon an idea.
Kanan had gone back to rescue a woman that he cared for and who had helped him... a woman he had left behind. After the blending, Jack's conscience would never have let Kanan get away with that. And so Sam, Teal'c, and Jonas deduced that the Tok'ra must have gone back for the woman, Ba'al's most loyal lo'tar.
All three were now in complete agreement on this, which meant that Jack was most likely a prisoner of the System Lord Ba'al. Of all of the places Kanan could have returned to, this was the worst possibility. Ba'al's fortress was well defended – it was practically impenetrable. There would be no rescue mission mounted by either the SGC or the Tok'ra this time. Neither group would be willing to risk people on a suicide mission to rescue just one man, no matter how important he might be.
Sam returned to her quarters in the late afternoon to contemplate this knowledge in solitude. Sitting on her cot with her head resting on her raised knees, she shuddered at the thought of what might be happening to Jack. She knew the standard torture tactics the Goa'uld used. After all, she still had nightmares about Jolinar's many experiences as a prisoner of the Goa'uld.
Without doubt, Jack was probably being exposed to the most horrendous forms of torture imaginable. Even worse, he was completely alone with no hope of rescue. He had no idea that the ones who cared for him knew where he was and would not give up until he was free.
Although she would never give up, Sam was beginning to lose hope. She needed to find a way to get him out of there, and yet for once she had no ideas. Without the resources of the Tok'ra or the SGC, it was practically a lost cause.
Finally breaking down, she softly cried into her folded arms. She wondered if she were cursed – if this was her punishment...to spend her life losing all of the people she loved one by one until she was left alone. So many of the men she had come to care for over the years were gone…Jonas Hanson, Martouf, Orlin, Narim, even Daniel. And now it seemed that she was losing Jack, the man she loved above all others, as well.
Sam was not a particularly religious person. She didn't even know if she actually believed in a God. And yet, she knew from her experiences that science could not explain everything. Over the years, SG-1 had experienced too many miraculous escapes and lucky chances to deny that there was something more out there guiding their journey. Sam had reached the end of her own capabilities, and so she prayed for the first time since her mother had died.
'Please, if there is truly a God...let him live. Look after him, protect him, and bring him home to me. I know it's wrong for me to love him...that it's against the rules...so I promise I'll give him up. No more breaking the rules. I would do anything...sacrifice anything...just let him be alive and help me find a way to bring him home safely.'
Her silent prayer was interrupted by a knock on her door. Getting up, she opened it only to find Teal'c waiting outside her quarters.
"Major Carter...I believe I have a found a way to save O'Neill."
And her prayer was answered.
TBC
