AN: Ok, guys, looks like there's just one more part after this. That's for being patient. I was at the beach last weekend and before that I had to finish that blasted paper from last semester...
Chapter Seventeen
For once, Jack was the first person to arrive, dressed and ready, for the mission. He was chomping at the bit, pacing back and forth at the base of the ramp. He was nervous. There were so many things that could possibly go wrong that he didn't want to think about. Even if, contrary to his usual luck, they were able to use the computer, dial the coordinates, establish the wormhole, get back to the planet, and find the device still in working order, they still had to contend with Daniel's less than enthusiastic assessment of getting the damn thing to fix Carter. To keep his mind off the multitude of things that could blow up in their faces, Jack kept his mind blank. He watched the ground as he resolutely put one foot in front of the other. When he reached the end of the ramp, he spun around on his heel and started over.
Teal'c was the next to arrive, watching Jack's behavior curiously for several minutes. "You are apprehensive, O'Neill."
Jack froze, shocked still for a moment. He hadn't even noticed Teal'c's arrival. "Nah, I'm fine." He paced for another moment and then looked at Teal'c without hiding his fear. "What if it hurts her?"
"You would be well advised to worry that the device will not return Major Carter to her original state."
"Why?"
Teal'c met his friend's eyes to assure Jack that his words were not in jest, not that Jack ever found that to be the case. "If the device fails to repair Major Carter, I will be forced to destroy one of her entities."
Jack's eyes widened. "You're joking, right?"
"I am not. I dislike the presence of two where there should be but one."
Jack turned back to his pacing, adding the fear of Teal'c's threat to his list of worries that he was refusing to think about. Carter 1 appeared next, standing quietly against the wall and watching as Jack continued to wear a hole in the floor.
When Daniel came in, he was completely oblivious to Jack's state of mind. His face was buried in the sheaf of papers he carried with him. He glanced up at Jack, looked back at the papers, and then got confused when he looked up to find Jack had walked away. "Uh, Jack-"
Jack's pacing halted mid-step. "Daniel?" To anyone who knew him well, his voice held a warning tone. Although he continued to pace, he'd already decided he was going to steadfastly ignore any complications. The plan was going to work. It simply had to work because he wouldn't last with two Carters and he certainly couldn't deal with only having half of Carter when Teal'c made good on his threat and got rid of half of her. No, he just couldn't, wouldn't, have that. His denial brought a lovely sense of calm. He only kept pacing in an attempt to keep the Carters from trying to engage him. Daniel's words, however, threatened to bring the whole house of cards tumbling down.
Daniel winced and edged ever so slightly toward Teal'c. He was reasonably sure Teal'c would protect him if Jack tried to hurt him. "I've been reading more about why the natives stopped using the device."
Jack squeezed his eyes closed, took a deep breath and counted to twenty, because ten just wasn't going to cut it. "Daniel, spit it out." The sooner Daniel said it, the sooner Jack could pretend he hadn't.
Daniel sighed and realized he'd forgotten his decision from the day before - he wasn't supposed to tell the truth anymore. He sincerely wished he'd remembered a few minutes earlier. "Well, it appears as though the device never worked right. They used it for a wile, but it created so many problems that they eventually stopped trying."
Jack paused for only a second before he decided he rather liked the dizzying sensation of continually walking back and forth. He kind of hoped he could trip and knock himself out, thus sparing him of having to actually deal with the situation. "What sort of problems?"
Daniel looked at Carter 1, but seemed completely unaware of which half she was. "Apparently the device didn't exactly separate out all the emotions from the emotionless half."
Jack rolled his eyes at himself. "No kidding. I could have told you that, Danny."
"So apparently the emotions that were left over in the supposedly emotionless half-" Daniel glanced nervously at Carter before he bit the bullet and ducked completely behind Teal'c. "Appeared to be the strongest, truest emotions."
Jack stopped dead, unsure why that notion freaked him out, but certain that it was supposed to. "So?"
"The halves that were sent to war got really upset about having to leave and those that survived came back to find their spouses having not really missed them and they became a smidge homicidal toward their other halves." When nothing was immediately launched at him, Daniel looked around to make sure the others were still there.
"Well, this Carter already suggested killing the other half, so that's not really surprising."
Daniel's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
"Oh, yeah."
Daniel glanced at the Carter leaning against the wall. "You can tell them apart?"
The Carter leaning shot a terrifying glare in Daniel's direction, but her expression faded into a smile at Jack's response. "Oh, yeah."
Teal'c, doing his best to pretend they weren't waiting for the arrival of a second Carter, turned to Daniel. "Please define the measure of a smidge."
Daniel shrugged. "It's, you know, a smidge."
Jack grinned. "Kind of like a nudge."
Teal'c looked confused, but nodded.
Daniel glanced at Carter 1, who was still smiling at Jack. "So at least I guess you know she really loves you."
Jack turned back to Daniel and answered before his military training had a chance to stop him. "Daniel, please tell me you're not really that far behind the rest of us." For one, long, silent beat Jack's heart stopped beating. He wanted to look at Carter, to see how she was reacting, but he was pretty sure she was trying to bury her face in her hands. Daniel actually looked horrified that his comment had led to such an admission, which would have been amusing had they not been in full view and hearing range of the staff in the control room. Even Teal'c looked uncomfortable. Jack cleared his throat and decided to pretend it hadn't happened. "So, you were saying the device didn't work right."
Daniel took the hint. "Right, it didn't work the way it was intended to, so they stopped using it."
Jack's eyes moved to Teal'c. Teal'c nodded. It was oddly reminiscent of the time loop machine that Jack and Teal'c recalled much more vividly than the others. Jack turned back to Daniel and smiled, thoroughly freaking Daniel out. "The villagers didn't build it, did they? It was the Ancients."
"The device itself doesn't resemble any of the Ancient technology we've seen, but the panels are written in their language. I think it's safe to assume that the Ancients had a hand in building the device." He glanced at his papers. "How did you know?"
He cocked his head to the side. "Did anything they built ever work?"
Daniel winced again. "They all apparently worked, just not like they were supposed to."
The thought his Jack then, that whatever their shortcomings, Ancient devices that didn't quite work usually gave him a chance to kiss Carter. Suddenly, the Ancients and their lack of effective engineering skills made Jack smile. He caught Carter 1's eyes. She looked nervous. He kept grinning.
"What are you smiling at?"
He still kept grinning. "Nothing."
