AN: I'm so sorry for making you guys wait... My aunt was back in the hospital and I had a fic idea for another fandom that I just had to get out of my head. This should be wrapping up soon. And thank you to the people who nominated me for the Stargate FanFic Awards. I had several nominations, so that was really quite motivational for me!
Chapter Sixteen
Normally, the group would have dispersed quickly, but it was not normally and thus, none of them moved except for Hammond. The general retreated into his office slightly faster than one would have thought humanly possible. Teal'c refused to turn his back on the Carters, either one of them, because he was concerned about the way they were both playing Jack, who, Teal'c was fairly convinced, hadn't noticed. Daniel was hesitant because he knew he would be blamed in some form or another if anything went wrong. Jack was afraid to stand up for fear his reaction to Carter groping him would be too obvious for the others to miss. Carter 2 was waiting for Jack.
Carter 1, on the other hand, wasn't frozen in fear of anything. She was thinking and evidently, it was using up every ounce of her concentration. She didn't notice that the general had dismissed them. She didn't notice that the others were staring at her. She didn't notice that her face had twisted into her angriest scowl, which likely caught the attention of the others. When she finally looked up, her eyes sought out Daniel. "Would the device even work on the colonel?"
"Why wouldn't it?" Daniel never disliked discussing hypothetical situations with Sam, but he was starting to think Teal'c had the right idea in avoiding them both. He knew there was something wrong with the juxtaposition of her innocent voice and her angry glare, but he didn't know what she was getting at and he didn't know how to get out of it.
She glanced at Jack, uncertain at that moment whether she truly didn't know or if she was just trying to hurt him over whatever had been going on with the other her. "Does he have any feelings? I mean, if it splits out the mean, heartless, military part, wouldn't that just leave the colonel exactly the way he is?" When she saw Jack's eyes darken and narrow, she felt somewhat satisfied and knew the answer to her unspoken question. She had really only intended to piss him off.
For Jack's part, he didn't give in to the anger he felt. He recognized the hurt in Carter 2's eyes as she looked at him. Instead of getting mad and letting everyone see the emotions she was pretending she didn't believe he felt, he smiled at her politely. "I would have said the same thing about you yesterday."
Carter 1 had been expecting, wanting, an argument. Her words had been designed to raise an emotional reaction. Except for those few brief minutes in the access shaft, which he appeared to have forgotten about entirely and she had decided were simply lust, Carter 1 was back to thinking Jack liked the other one better. The way she saw it, Carter 2 was her - only better in Jack's eyes. Suddenly fury rose up in her face, staining her cheeks red. She'd been the one to gain the colonel's respect. She'd been the one to prove her value to Jack. She'd been the one he couldn't leave behind. She should have been the one he loved.
She stood up, the first of the team to move, and proved in one sentence that the machine had failed miserably in splintering military from emotional entirely. She was so mad she didn't care if she embarrassed herself or anyone else. "She's the one who liked Pete!" Without waiting for a response, she turned and ran out of the room.
The four others sat in silence. Jack and Daniel stared after Carter 1. Carter 2 stared at her hands, looking extremely guilty had anyone been looking at her. Teal'c stared at Jack as though he were thoroughly disappointed, but said nothing.
Jack stood up, glancing around the room at his friends. "This is the last time I will ever chase her out of the room." Teal'c ignored him, figuring Jack's statement wasn't meant for him. Carter 2 looked at her hands, giving all the impression she'd been sufficiently chastised.
Daniel glanced at Jack. "I'm not sure there would ever be another instance where Sam would feel compelled to run out of the room, Jack."
Jack knew he was right. He nodded as he headed out after Carter 1. Jack didn't even hesitate - he went straight to the gym. Carter was hurt, which made her angry. She didn't like being hurt; she didn't like being vulnerable. Therefore, she would be taking her anger at herself out on some gym equipment. He knew he could accurately predict Carter's destination even when she was too upset to consciously realize it herself.
He found her exactly where he expected, beating the holy living crap out of the punching bag. It swung violently as she pounded her fists into it. He leaned on the door jamb, letting her work out her anger. He figured it was better than encouraging her to take it out on him. His eyes followed her movements closely, noticing when her body weakened. She was still throwing punches, but they weren't having much of an effect.
Closing the door behind him, he approached her. "What did that poor bag ever do to you?"
She didn't answer, instead hitting the bag with a pathetic, girlie punch, which, unlike her normal style, probably hurt her more than it helped. She sniffled and bent forward, resting her forehead against the leather.
As many times as he'd seen it happen recently, he was never prepared to face Carter's tears. With his hands on her shoulders, he gently steered her to look at him. "Carter?"
When her eyes met his, he saw at she was even more afraid to cry in front of him than he was of seeing her cry. She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to keep the sobs from escaping while she spoke, but she wasn't able to and therefore didn't bother saying anything. Her chin trembled and her breath came in short gasps as she tried to regain control of herself. Jack couldn't resist the overwhelming urge to comfort her and pulled her into his arms. He could feel her tears hot against his neck as he soothed her, rubbing her back and promising her that it was all right.
Exactly too soon for his liking, she stiffened up and pulled away. "I'm sorry, sir. This is inappropriate."
He couldn't help it - he laughed. "More or less so than making out in the access shaft?"
Her face turned red, but she said nothing.
"So you feel like telling me what this is all about?"
She shook her head to indicate that she did not, in fact, feel like telling him about it.
"How about you tell me anyway so I have an explanation when I get asked about my inappropriate behavior?"
Carter 1 moved to sit down heavily on one of the benches along the wall. "You like her more than me. It's obvious."
"Carter." His voice was a growl, intending to remind her that he didn't feel like dealing with twin Carter antics.
She looked at him when he sat next to her, the heartbreak in her eyes having the same effect on him. "You might need me more, but you'd rater be with her." She looked away, her fidgeting hands revealing her nerves. "But this is the real me. I'm the woman you know."
"You're half the woman I know, Carter." Not having any better ideas, he reached over and stilled her hands by folding them in his. "I don't like her better, Carter. You may think she's different from you, but she's not to me. You're the same person. You're both Carter."
She flinched openly at her name, hurt by the fact that he was distancing himself even in the midst of such a personal discussion.
"My Carter."
She only peeked at him for a second before her eyes slid away nervously. "Yours, sir?"
He leaned over and kissed her cheek, confident the crisis was over. "Always."
She was silent for a long time after his vow. When she spoke, he knew her words were from the heart, not perfunctory. "I'm really sorry about all this. I don't know why I can't hold myself together."
He grinned and nudged her shoulder with his won. "Maybe because there's two of you to hold together?"
"I wish none of this had ever happened. Once I'm back to normal, this is going on the list." She was referring to the ever-growing list of thoroughly embarrassing incidents that they all had an unspoken agreement to never discuss.
"What list?" He winked at her. "If nothing else, now you know I won't think any less of you if you let yourself be human from time to time."
She shook her head, ignoring the very thing from him that she'd always wanted to hear. "We fix this, right?"
He nodded. "And everything will go back to normal."
"I'm not sure that's an improvement."
"Good night, Carter." He made it to the door before he dared to look back at her. "We can talk about making improvements tomorrow."
