AN: There's more written and it will be up soon. Life has been very hectic lately. Thanks for sticking with me!

Chapter Twelve

When Janet finally approached them, Carter 1 happily volunteered to go first. Jack tried not to resent the way she snatched her hand away from him. Then he remembered the way she'd kissed him and decided he didn't care one bit that she was concerned with keeping up appearances.

As Carter 1 was examined, Jack made his way over to the SFs who were gathered around Carter 2. She certainly wasn't discouraging their attention, but Jack scattered them with a glare. Then he sat down on the bed opposite her, pretending not to notice the way she turned her head so as not to look at him.

"Carter?"

Reluctantly she glanced at him. "What?"

He wanted to point out that she shouldn't be mad at him for holding Carter 1's hand, but it wasn't true. And he felt that telling her she had a different reason to be mad at him was just asking for trouble. "Will you relax?"

Fire burned in her eyes as she glared. "She just suggested killing me and you decide to hold her hand." She winced openly. "You deserve each other."

"We'll fix you, Carter."

She sighed as though she didn't believe him. "And if you can't?"

"We will, Carter. It's what we do. We go through the gate. We get in trouble. We get out of trouble. Then we do it all over again." His words fell on deaf ears. She turned away. Jack did the same, letting his eyes fall on Carter 1. She was back to glaring, which he guessed was better than her being frightened of him. Of course, she was glaring at him and Carter 2, which he suddenly found annoying. He didn't particularly care if Carter was jealous of herself anymore. He didn't want to be around her until everything was normal again.

He pushed himself off the bed. "Whatever." Then he relocated to where Teal'c and Daniel were waiting for their exams. Both of them were watching him carefully. "What?"

Daniel glanced at Teal'c before answering. "You look mad."

"I'm not mad." He realized he was snarling and tried to force himself to stop. "I'm annoyed."

Teal'c smirked, displaying more emotion than he usually did. "Are you no longer amused by the prospect of having two Major Carters?"

Jack's shoulders drooped. "It's not as much fun as I thought it would be."

Daniel laughed and patted Jack's shoulder. "I'm sure you've learned a valuable lesson here."

Thinking of the kisses he'd shared with both Carters, a wide smile spread across his face. "Not really."

Not one to sit still for long, Jack hovered behind Janet while she examined Carter 1. He noticed that Janet had labeled her files the way Jack had - there was a Carter 1 and a Carter 2. But as she was examining Carter 1, she was making notes in Carter 2's file. Ever helpful, he tapped on the open folder. "You're doing it wrong."

Janet looked up from her attempt to measure Carter 1's blood pressure. "What exactly am I doing wrong, sir?"

"This is Carter 1 and the folder says Carter 2. You have them backwards."

Janet smiled patiently. "I labeled the other one Carter 1 because I examined her first."

Jack lifted Carter 1's hand, demonstrating the black mark. "See, she's clearly identified as Carter 1." Carter 1 helpfully nodded, but out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Daniel shaking his head.

Janet smiled again. "Yes, sir, thank you." Then she turned back to Carter 1 and made no moves toward correcting the problem.

Jack was not one to be ignored. "Look, doc, I have a system here and you're messing it up."

Janet glanced at Carter 1, then checked with Carter 2. Unsure which one of the women was the friend at whom she could roll her eyes without getting in trouble, she looked back at Jack. "I too have a system, sir, and I'd prefer not to mess it up myself."

"But your system is wrong!" Jack's whine drew a snicker from Carter 2. Carter 1 was staring straight ahead, wary of getting involved anymore that she already was. Jack grinned at her. "Carter, tell her you're Carter 1."

She turned to Janet. "I'm Carter 1."

From across the room, Carter 2's mutter of "sucker" was quite clear.

Janet looked disconcerted. "Ok, I'm just going to draw some blood from you and then I'll be finished." Carter 1 nodded.

Jack smiled. "Carter, don't let Dr. Fraiser draw any blood from you until your file is labeled correctly."

Janet ignored the comment and reached for Carter's arm. Carter 1 dutifully glanced at Jack and pulled her arm out of reach. Janet was dumbfounded. "Sam! What's the matter with you?"

Carter 2 answered from across the room. "I'm Sam. She's too stupid to think independently."

Teal'c growled while Daniel buried his face in his hands.

Janet looked at Jack. "Sir, I'd like to finish this exam if I may."

Jack pointed at Carter 1, opting to ignore the fight that was threatening to break out. "She's Carter 1. You can tell because she follows orders as opposed to that one over there who's trying to collect phone numbers from the SFs."

By the time Janet turned to look, the SFs had scattered once again, but she still caught the red blush on Carter 2's face. Janet looked back at Carter 1 and grinned. "Well, then, I'm overruling the colonel. Give me your arm."

Carter 1 looked sheepishly at Jack while obeying Janet. Once again annoyed, Jack retreated to sit with the guys.

Daniel tried to fight his smirk. "Thrill wore off again?"

"Shouldn't you be translating, Danny?"

Daniel ignored Jack's irritation, knowing for once that it had nothing to do with him. "Once I get the clearance to leave here, Jack."

Jack closed his eyes and tried to forget how they'd been ordered into isolation quarters. He wouldn't last if he had to spend much more time with two Carters. He'd either hurt himself or one of them. "As soon as you get permission, Daniel, I want you to translate faster than you've ever translated before, got it?"

"And what if the machine doesn't go in reverse?" Considering that the question, the doubt, came from the ever chipper, ever hopeful Daniel, it almost made a dent in Jack's firm belief that everything would be fine.

But Jack just pretended it didn't bother him. "Then we glue them together."