The gate alarms went off, signaling an unscheduled off-world activation, and Jack left Danny and Teal'c playing a card game in the infirmary and hurried to the gate room, just in time to hear the call that the Tok'ra IDC had been received. He watched in relief as the figure of Jacob Carter emerged, carrying the smaller figure of Sam. She had her arms and legs wrapped around his body and was leaning her head against his shoulder. Jack followed General Hammond down to base of the ramp to meet them.
"Hi." Sam's tired voice greeted him, but she made no move to let go of her father. Jack wasn't the least bit jealous. He'd had her clinging to him all week, and judging by the grim look on Jacob's face, he had a feeling she'd be clinging to him again soon. Her face turned and he noted with a frown the telltale marks of the memory recall device left in her temple. General Hammond noted them too and also frowned.
Recognizing what the frowns were, Jacob shifted Sam. "Let's go upstairs, and I'll make this brief. Something came up while I was over there." His eyes communicated the rest, confirming Jack's suspicions, and telling them that he hadn't told Sam the bad news yet.
Jacob carried Sam up the stairs, Jack and Hammond following, and Jack heard Sam ask with a bit of a whine, "Can we go home yet Daddy?"
"Not yet sweetheart, soon. Daddy needs to tell Colonel Jack and Uncle George a few things first." Jacob's tone was soft and soothing.
"I wanna go home," Sam's voice hinted at tears to come soon.
"I know sweetie, just be patient for a little more," Jacob soothed, and she whimpered again. Jack frowned again as he entered the room, meeting Jacob's eye. Jacob shrugged helplessly, taking a seat and cuddling Sam close. Sam continued to whimper softly, despite his comforting. Jack decided to ignore it and get on with the briefing so they could put Sam to bed; perhaps she just needed a good night's rest.
"So I take it the mission was a bust?" Jack got straight to the point, sensing Sam's mood and Jacob's worry.
Jacob sighed, and nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. Anise still has to analyze all the data, so something might still prove useful, but we got nothing with the device, even when we tried several medications to try and break the memory blocks."
Jack blinked, and was about to say something, when Hammond fortunately spoke for him before he could say something stupid. "Medications? In what way?"
"I know what you're probably thinking. But this is my kid we're talking about here, and the last thing I would do is anything to harm her. Selmak thought the drugs might help, and apparently they've been in use by the Tok'ra for generations. They just didn't do any good in this case." Sam whimpered again in his arms and he whispered soothingly to her, rubbing her back. "Sorry, it's been a long day for both of us. I, ah, had to tell her about her mother. We thought a painful memory might be enough to break through the block, but even that didn't do it."
They were all silent as they absorbed the implications of Jacob's statement except for the occasional whimper from Sam as she fussed. Finally Hammond broke the silence. "How long before Anise completes her analysis and we know if she was able to discover anything of use?"
Jacob sighed. "Some of it will be done in a few days, but there's a few things that could take weeks, even months. I know Anise, she tends to worry at a problem until she finds a solution, and this one intrigued her. If I hadn't called a stop to the tests, she probably would have kept going, so likely she'll keep going with the data that she has on hand until she runs out of ideas."
Jack nodded. It was something at least, even if he didn't like the woman that much. Sam whined again, and Jack frowned in concern. "What's up with her? She's usually not so cranky."
Shrugging, Jacob rubbed her back absently. "Beats me, she's been like this since I stopped the recall test. I just thought she was tired, but I don't think I've ever seen her this tired and irritable before."
Hammond looked concerned. "Do you think it's a side effect of the medication?"
Jacob frowned down at his daughter, he hadn't thought about that. "Selmak doesn't think so, but she's not sure. It could be. If it is, she's sure it will wear off given several hours and a good night's sleep. She's probably exhausted and it's compounding things. It's really been a long day, and she's practically had her world turned upside down. That's bound to make anyone a little cranky."
Hammond nodded, but Jack wasn't so sure. Still, he stood up when Jacob did, dreading what was coming next.
"Well, I hate to cut this short, but like I said, something came up when I was back there, and I'm needed elsewhere. I really wish I could stay though, especially now. But I really don't have any other choice. I can't even say when or if I can come back in the near future." His eyes were sad as he regarded his small daughter. He'd missed large parts of her childhood the first time because he was away trying to save his country and his planet. It wasn't everyday that one was presented the gift of having the chance of revisiting their childhood again, and he had to walk away from it in favor of saving the galaxy. How ironic. He jostled her slightly to catch her attention. "Sammy?"
She buried her face in his chest, refusing to look at him. "You're going away again aren't you?"
He pressed his face into her hair; breathing in the scent he thought he'd never smell again, the smell that only small children possessed. "Yeah baby, I have to go, they need me."
Clinging tighter, she murmured, "Don't go Daddy, please, I need you more."
"I'm sorry Sammy, I have to go. I love you, remember that, forever and always." He started to unwind her fingers from his tunic, and she started to cry.
"No Daddy, don't go please, I love you too Daddy, please don't go, no, no, no, NO!" Jack moved to help as her cries increased and degenerated into wailing, and Jacob had tears of his own rolling down his face.
"Jeeze, Jack, she's never been like this," he said over Sam's sobbing, as Jack had to bodily restrain her from reaching out for him.
Hammond came over and gently pulled him towards the door. "C'mon Jacob, we should go." He led the man down the stairs and Sam continued to cry, Jack trying to console her in any way that he could. A moment later, the Stargate started up. Fighting him, she ran to the window, and watched as her father walked through the wormhole. Only when he was out of sight, did she crumple to the ground and let Jack hold and comfort her, clinging to him like her heart was broken.
He held her until Hammond came back. "How is she?"
Jack just shook his head and sighed. Hammond sighed too. "You should probably get her to the infirmary, let Doctor Fraiser check her out, make sure it's not those drugs Jacob mentioned that are causing this."
He closed his eyes and nodded, briefly burying his face in her hair. As much as he would rather avoid further traumatizing Sam tonight, her behavior was so far from ordinary for the normally tough, bounce back from anything little girl he'd come to know, that he wouldn't feel better until the Doctor had checked her out. And child or not, there was still post mission protocols to follow. She had just traveled through the gate after all, to an alien world. Gently, he gathered her in his arms, but she barely seemed to notice, lost in her own misery.
He carried her to the infirmary, and their entrance was met by the stares of Teal'c, Danny, and Doctor Fraiser, who were all playing cards together. Doctor Fraiser stood up immediately in concern. The boys moved to follow, but he shook his head at them. They stayed where they were reluctantly.
"Colonel O'Neill, what's wrong?" She crossed over to him, gently brushing back the hair from Sam's tear streaked face, immediately finding the marks from the memory device. She looked up at him as he carried Sam to a bed and tried to lay her on it, but she refused to let go of him, her cries increasing in pitch until he tightened his arms again and gave up the idea, climbing up on the bed instead and holding her in his lap. Janet raised her eyebrows, but didn't protest, working around the impromptu arrangement.
"Her father had to leave, but I think there's more going on." Jack tried to explain. "Jacob said they had to give her some drugs while they were over there, and that she's been cranky and irritable ever since they took the memory device off. He also had to tell her about her mother." He frowned, his face a mask of worry as he looked down at the little girl in his arms who was still whimpering, her face buried in his t-shirt.
Janet was concerned too. "We should probably start with a blood sample then, so I can start a chemical analysis. That could take a few hours before we find anything though, if anything even shows up. We can't detect everything."
Jack nodded; he'd been expecting something like that. Janet called over a tech, and got her supplies together. Sam was decidedly unhappy about the procedure, and let everyone know at the top of her lungs. Fortunately, Janet got everything she needed on the first stick. Then she surprised them both by refusing not only a Band-aid, but a sticker too, instead, continuing to cling to Jack and whimper. The two adults shared looks of concern. Sam never turned down a chance for a sticker, or a Band-aid.
Janet pressed on with her exam, but the rest of it was unremarkable, except for the tiny little punctures from the various Tok'ra devices. Finally she was done except for one last thing. "Colonel, I just have to give her the post mission inoculation."
Jack groaned. "Aw, Doc, do we have to? Can't we just skip it just this once? I won't tell anyone."
Janet sighed, and wished she could agree. "Afraid not. A child's immune system just isn't as good as yours or mine, so it's doubly important she get it."
He nodded, and Janet went to prepare the injection, and Jack would have prepared Sam, but he decided the sneak attack was the best approach. Obviously, Janet thought so too, because when she came back, there was no needle in sight, as she'd placed it in her pocket.
"Hey Sam?" Jack said.
"What?" She sniffled.
"Sorry about this kiddo." Before she had time to process what was going on he had her flipped over and her backside neatly presented to Janet. He had to give the Doctor credit, the woman was fast, and the shot was over in seconds. Sam's indignant wails on the other hand were another matter entirely, he thought ruefully as he put her pants back in order and tried to comfort her.
"Can I take her home now?" he asked, standing up when her cries had faded to a less deafening volume.
"I think so. I'll call when I know anything. Likely she's just tired." Janet tried to sound reassuring.
"Yeah, hopefully. Thanks Janet." He carried his still snuffling cargo out of the cubicle, finding the two boys not far away. They had obviously heard Sam's wails. The whole base had probably heard. "C'mon guys, let's take Sam home." The boys nodded, their faces showing their concern.
A/N: Aww. Ya'll liked Garshaw. That's… kinda scary actually. :P And reviews really do make me update faster, see, here's your next update already. And what an update huh? Emotional roller coaster wheeeeee!
Nighshae, I looked at the Discovery channel website and you're right, Animal Planet did go to New Orleans, and they were down there with rescue groups, both the animal rescue like shelters, and the search and rescue for people for several days. Here's a link to stories and photos, and you can also find links to several organizations with which you can make donations. It may not seem all that important, but looking at the photos of people who have lost everything being reunited with a pet they probably thought gone forever, I think it makes a difference. Replace the three dot 's with
animaldotdiscoverydotcom/features/katrina/katrinadothtml