AN: Wow! Thanks to everyone who gave feedback! It was so encouraging! So, for your reward, another chapter! I'm trying to take it in a little more shippier turn, let me know what you think. Thanks again!
"Hey Sam, are you ready to go?" Daniel asked as he walked back into Jolinar's room, only to find her sitting on the bed looking down at her hands. They had already collected everything the needed to make the weapon, and Jack wanted to head back home. Slowly, he sat down next to her.
"It's all so fresh now," she told him, still not looking up.
"Jolinar's life?"
"Well that. And Martouf," she whispered. He nodded to her.
"It's tough, isn't it?"
"I mean, I know he's dead. I mourned him. But she never had the chance. He is still very much alive to her. I can just look around this room and see him. Smiling at her from the desk, putting the papers back in order over where they were ransacked. Oh, and, um, you might want to watch where you're sitting," she explained. At the last one she finally looked up at him with apologetic eyes. He just smiled and patted her shoulder.
"It's been a while. So, is it like she's back in there?" he inquired. She took a deep breath, and he knew he was in for an explanation.
"I'm guessing that what I'm experiencing now is more like what a true Tok'Ra relationship is like. When Jolinar was in me, she never gave me the chance to talk, well, not much. But now, I have her memories and I think a certain way, almost like she's telling me new information that I'd never known before."
"Hey, do you know why the left side of the room was ransacked?"
"Honestly, I think she was in a hurry to leave here with something and possibly knew she wasn't coming back." They sat for a moment in comfortable silence before she spoke again. "Come on. We've got a war to win."
"So if we move the red and the blue crystals around, that should set off a new charge of energy," Sam said to whoever was in the lab. Currently, that was her dad, Freya, Daniel, Teal'c and Jack. They all knew that one of the best ways that she could figure something out is if she could talk about it, and try theories out on people. She was trying them out on Jacob and Freya. The latter were there for support and to keep Freya in line.
"I believe that is incorrect, Major Carter," Freya started in again.
"Of course it is! The last three attempts were 'incorrect' for your standards! If we had just finished them who knows! We could be done by now. But no, let's so what YOU say!" she snapped at Freya. Her breaking point had been last week.
"Major Carter you do not fully understand our technology-" she started only to be cut off.
"Oh of course I don't! That's why you don't come running to me whenever you have a problem. Test your own damn armbands next time!" Sam was yelling as loud as Freya was.
"Hey! Just calm down!" Jacob tried. The male counterparts of SG-1 just looked at the scene before them. They knew Freya had it coming. Hell, they had wanted to be the one yelling at her before.
"This isn't even about the weapon, is it? You are just jealous," Sam accused, her eyes narrowing and finger pointing.
"Of what?"
"Martouf! I remember the way you used to look at him. I wasn't stupid! You were glad when I was gone so you could have him for yourself! Then he moved on to someone else so what do you do? Try to get everyone killed with armbands! And when that failed you just had to kill him yourself!"
"I never had intentions for him!" Freya yelled back defending herself.
"Oh yes you did! Don't you remember when you first came to the Tok'Ra? 'My people aren't afraid to hide our feelings,'" Sam mimicked with a high voice.
"ENOUGH!" Selmak bellowed. Both women snapped their heads towards Jacob with wide eyes, their pupils dilated. Sam's fists were clenched.
"Sammy," he dad said, almost in shock. That's when it sank in. She was Samantha Carter, not a Tok'Ra.
"Excuseme," she mumbled as she rushed out of the room. In a blind haze, she walked down the corridor until she found a bathroom. Pushing the door open, she walked over to a sink and put her hands on both sides of it and held her head down, catching her breath. She looked into the mirror and saw the bags under her eyes. Turning the water to cold, she rinsed her face off. When she looked back up, she almost jumped back. It wasn't her reflection in the mirror, it was Jolinar's. She moved her hand to touch the mirror to see if it was a trick, and looked back in shock when she saw the hand on the mirror mimic her own. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to regain her mental balance.
"When I open my eyes, I will be in the mirror." Slowly, she re-opened her eyes. Only there were different ones looking back at her. Letting out a scream, she hit the mirror with the outside of her fist, over and over until the looking glass was shattered, lying in a million pieces on the ground. It would never trick her again.
"Picking fights again Carter, are we?" Jack joked as he walked into the infirmary. Usually, even when she was in a bad mood, she attempted a smile at his jokes. It didn't even look like it registered with her. He took a moment to look at her; she was bent over, her back hunched. Her right hand was bandaged and being cradled in her left. "Uh-oh,' he thought.
"Sam," he called softly. Still not responding, he decided to take action. He sat down next to her, not caring who could see them. Even though he sat on her left side, he took her right hand in his and touched the bandage.
"What happened?" he asked again, still soft.
"She kept looking at me. In the mirror. She wouldn't leave," she muttered. He had to admit- he didn't know what she was going through. He never had multiple personalities that he had to deal with. But he knew that he would help her with anything.
"It's going to be ok." It was the same thing Cassie said to her the first time around, and Sam believed her then. Why shouldn't she the second time? Sam leaned on to Jack for support; she was going to need every type she could get. He absently ran his right hand up and down her right arm, and allowed her to lean on him.
"Anything you need Sam just let me know. Just don't hide from me."
"Oh my god," Sam exclaimed.
"What? What is it?" Jacob asked, panicked. He had been very worried about her ever since she lost her senses two weeks ago. After a lot of sleep and a day off in town to remind her just exactly who she was, she came back to the project with a new devotion.
"Oh wow. I think, Dad, I think it works." She tore her sight away from the glowing modified gun to Jacob, who was still looking at it.
"It kind of works like a Zat. I mean, it's basically a larger version of one," she explained in the briefing room later that hour.
"The main difference is that, well, there are tons of them! It has its own personal shield, it still fires zats, but the user can switch it to this new form of energy. It's enough to take out a personal shield that any Gou'uld would typically use when protecting themselves against the zat blast." General Hammond was ecstatic. Not just about the new weapon, but about his Major. After the frightening afternoon, she realized what she needed to do to get the project done, be herself. The sparkle that she usually claimed while working on a new project was there again.
"What do you suggest then Major?" he asked. If possible, she sat even straighter in her seat. Putting the new weapon on the table, she freed her hands so she could use them for her explanation. She was a hand talker, it could be interesting sometimes.
"Well, sir, Ba'al moved to a new planet, P3X-272, without the majority of his armies. I think he's going to try and set up a new base camp there. The first rule of war is, to win, take out the general. Uh, no offense General," she offered. He smiled in return. "With this weapon, we could easily defeat Ba'al. Taking out the rest of his army should be easy after that. Who knows how many more rebel Jaffa are within his ranks? And Ba'al is basically the only major system lord left. We've taken them all out! This war could end soon." She took a breath- wow could she talk a lot. The General looked around for a moment.
"Colonel?" Hammond wanted his advice. Not that he would necessarily follow it, but it was always a positive input.
"I think it's a feasible plan sir," he stated. Hammond nodded, his decision made.
TBC!! Feedback loved!