A/N: So here we are again. I really don't know how long I can keep this pace up. At the moment I'm house/apartment hunting which means I'm looking at heaps of places but have quite a bit of spare time in between… hence the ability to write something like a chapter every day! I hope you're all appreciative…
Thanks for the reviews, and thanks to Trtlsoup when they see this for dropping me a line – looking forward to hearing (well, reading) what you think! And to those who review occasionally, I appreciate the feedback even if it's only once in a while... so thanks for making the effort.
Enjoy…
Chapter 5 – Proliferation
Jack sat silently next to Sam on one of the beds in the infirmary as the whole of SG1 plus Stacey waited for Janet to finish looking at the extensive test results. It was all he could do to remain composed let alone calm. Although his facial expression was one of tense resignation to the waiting game, inside he could feel himself spiralling into ever more frightening stages of despair. What if they couldn't get this thing outta Sam? What if she couldn't get rid of the non-snake snake inside her?
He grimaced slightly but managed to choke back the yelp of helplessness that had threatened to burst from his throat. He couldn't lose her now. He'd almost lost her so many other times; too many for him to count. He'd had to act against his feelings and do what was best for the country – or the planet – all his adult life.
He glanced over at Sam and remembered how he'd had to make tough decisions in the past. She'd pleaded with him when Jolinar was inside her mind. He'd just walked away. With all his might, he'd wanted to run back to her, to believe her, to let her out, to hold her… to kiss her even. But he'd walked away because he'd believed her compromised by a goa'uld. He knew that if she was infected with whatever this thing was, he'd have to do it again. But he didn't know if he'd be able to this time. Then, he'd been in love with her… but then, he hadn't known the complete bliss of reciprocation. The wonderful sensation of knowing she loved him too, of feeling her against him, of hearing her peaceful breathing when she slept next to him in the early hours of the morning. He scrunched the bedsheet into his hand as he thought of all this and more, waiting in the painful silence decorated by the heightened tension of the room.
Just as it was all about to get too much, he felt the warm touch of Sam's fingers lacing through his. Without a moment's thought for the other people present, he grasped at her hand before pulling her towards him and hugging her tightly. He knew she could feel his panicked heart beat. He knew she could hear his ragged breath. He knew that she knew how close he was to collapse, and he was more thankful than he would ever admit for just that. She knew and loved him as much as he did her.
"I love you." He felt her breathe the words into his neck, so soft that he doubted anyone else could here. "Whatever happens, I love you and always will."
He couldn't respond. He tears prickling at his eyes threatened to fall down his cheeks and he just held Sam even tighter until the delicate sound of Janet clearing her throat brought them both back into the room. Taking a deep breath, Jack loosened his grip on Sam and they both looked up, the fear evident in their eyes.
"I've gone over all the tests extremely carefully," Janet began, mindful of the weight of trepidation drenching the atmosphere. She cut right to the chase. "I don't understand it, you're both in perfect health!" She look at them with a mix of amazement, disbelief, and cautious joy. She waited for a response, but there was none. "Sam, Jonas, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you!" She tried again; it was amazing what shock could do to a person.
"Oh, well case closed then." Jack said contemptously. "Who's up for pizza?"
"H-hang on." Jonas said haltingly. "You mean you can't find evidence of anything in our bodies?"
"Nope." Janet grinned at them.
"But then why… how…?" Sam couldn't even formulate the words, her brain seemed to be clunky and malfunctioning.
"Sam, we know that you can't be infected by a goa'uld because of Jolinar." Janet took a step forward and grasped one of Sam's hands. "I think the bronchitis was a reaction to whatever may or may not have been in those walls… your body rejected it!"
"And me?" Jonas was skeptical; afraid of believing the seemingly good news.
"It has not been established that your kind is capable of housing a symbiote, Jonas Quinn." Teal'c seemed to be the only one apart from Janet capable of formulating a complete sentence.
"He's right," Janet nodded. "Physiologically you're quite different from the humans of Earth. It's possible that something there means you rejected the hypothetical infiltration."
"So we're both fine?" Jonas said slowly, his expression lightening as the words left his mouth.
"Hm-mmm." Janet nodded. "I'm not even convinced there was any kind of 'goa'uld rival' in those walls anyway… it's infinitely more probable that you both succumbed to a bacterial infection. That being said," she said hastily, before everyone went racing out of her infirmary, "just to be sure, I have to insist you both stay on base tonight."
Sam was about to protest, but the look on Janet's face and the penetrating gaze of Jack's eyes boring into her persuaded her not to. She looked into the deep brown eyes locked onto her and smiled shyly before glancing back at Janet.
"Ok." She and Jonas both said at the same time, before everyone got up to celebrate in the mess hall.
Stacey was sitting on the bed in her temporary on-base quarters, pillow propped up beside her and top secret mission reports strewn across the covers. The blinking clock-radio next to her read 11.30pm but she hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. Since dining with some of the other members of the SGC some four hours ago she had been enthralled by the tales of SG1s travels.
Where another person would be bitter about having to remain on base, Stacey was glad to have the chance to catch-up on everything that had happened since the beginning of the stargate programme. She'd only just moved into the apartment organised by the Air Force anyway and this dark room was just as much home as it was.
Every now and then she thought of Sam and Jonas, hoping to God that the doctor was right about their illness. But the knowledge that they were probably asleep by now – both were exhausted by the end of the day since they were still recovering – and safely on base meant she didn't worry too much.
A knock at the door suddenly snapped her out of the gripping report recounting the first meeting with the Tok'ra. She hurriedly put the report aside and secured all the random pieces of paper so that nothing would fall off before moving towards the other side of the room.
"Jonas!" She exclaimed with pleasant surprise at seeing the man who was waiting in the corridor. "Shouldn't you be resting?"
"I was asleep," Jonas said stiffly, "but I woke up about 20 minutes ago… One of the SFs told me you were still here so I thought I'd come and say hi."
"Oh, cool." Stacey hesitated for a moment, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the slightly chaotic state of her quarters. "Umm… d'you wanna come in?"
"Yeah," Jonas stepped into the room quickly and moved across to the bed, his eyes darting to and fro, taking in the surroundings. His eyes moved to the bed and eagerly approached the many reports. "Getting acquainted?"
"Uh, yeah." Stacey blushed, rushing to tidy the room a little bit. "There's a lotta history to learn. How did you do it?"
Jonas paused for a moment, as if slightly confused. He looked at her quizzically before the expression on his face cleared and he found a response. "Truth is, I still don't know everything." He perched on the end of the bed, clearing some of the reports so Stacey could sit next to him. "I'm just learning as I go… so much about humans on Earth is strange even to me."
"Oh yeah?" Stacey sat next to him gingerly, feeling the nerves rising up within her. "Are we really that weird?"
"Well… maybe just the people in this base." Jonas smiled slightly weirdly. "I've been trying to figure out some points of human interaction…"
"Such as?"
"Well," Jonas leaned in so he was looking very closely at the young Australian woman. "When, for instance, it's appropriate to kiss someone."
There was something in the way that Jonas said this last sentence that put Stacey on guard. She couldn't really qualify it, but the tone of his voice seemed somehow formal, slightly menacing even. The butterflies in her stomach reminded her how she'd wanted him to try to kiss her – probably ever since they met – but there was something really disconcerting about his expression.
She pulled away slightly to look at him more carefully and saw something strange in his eyes. They looked like they were watering slightly – not as if he were crying, but more like there was slightly too much fluid there. He reached his hand out to grasp her arm and she felt a strange tingling sensation where his fingertips gripped her flesh. It was as if they were buzzing.
"Jonas, I don't think-" Stacey tried to pull her arm back from his grasp but he merely tightened his hold, causing a strange burning sensation where they were touching. "Jonas STOP!" She said more forcefully, getting up and wrenching her arm away from him.
"What?" He asked coolly. "Don't you like me?" He stood up as well and moved towards her, trapping her in the corner of the room, his eyes now getting a creepy bluish tinge. "Isn't this what humans do when they like each other?" He moved his face in towards hers so there were only a couple of inches between them. His next words were spoken as a menacing order. "Show me."
Those final words shocked Stacey into action and with one swift kick she kneed Jonas in the groin, incapacitating him for the moment she required to scamper out of the corner and run towards the door. Jonas recovered remarkably quickly, however, and cut her off before she could get out of there. He grabbed her by the wrists and threw her down onto the ground, straddling her as she fought blindly against his surprising strength.
"I need to learn if I am to assimilate in this world!" He snarled, his watery eyes piercing into her. "I am aware of his attraction to you – you will cede to my demands!"
Stacey realised quickly what was going on and, incapable of overcoming his increased strength, resorted to her greatest weapon: she opened her mouth and let an enormous scream escape from her highly capable lungs.
Within moments, two SFs who had been walking in the corridor outside had burst through the room and, between them, wrenched Jonas off her. One of the men realised what had been happening and turned on Jonas, livid with rage. He started punching the Kelownan in his anger but Stacey yelped again for him to stop.
"It's not him!" She rasped, trying to pull the man away. "He's been infected by some stupid alien thing! He needs to go to the infirmary!"
The SFs both froze for a moment and looked to the frightened Australian in disbelief. One of them shook his head, sharing a look with his companion before they both hauled Jonas out of the room, in the wrong direction if they were heading towards the infirmary.
"Where are you going you morons!" Stacey hurried out after them, irate. "He's SICK! He needs HELP!"
"Captain," one of the guys threw over his shoulder, "that may be the case, but for the moment he needs to be detained – until the Doc tells us otherwise he's gotta be locked up."
"But-" Stacey watched helplessly as Jonas was hauled away, struggling as well as he could. She looked to and fro, frozen on the spot in the corridor for a moment, before running in the other direction to find someone who could help.
Sam tried to ignore the blurred vision that kept plaguing her attempts to focus on the screen of the laptop in front of her. She let her head drop into her hands and took a couple of deep breaths to try and steel her nerves. She was exhausted, but on no account did she plan on going to sleep. Jack had tried to coax her into getting some rest, but she'd refused. No matter what Janet said, she wasn't going to take the risk. She didn't for one moment believe the story of sleep-walking and fever. She knew that something was wrong, she just knew it in her heart.
"Sam, don't make me order you to sleep." Jack was sitting next to her on the couch. He had insisted she leave her lab, but had lost the battle regarding the laptop. They were currently sitting side-by-side in one of the larger guest quarters on the base. He had refused to leave her side and was currently playing with a yo-yo.
"You can't order me to sleep." Sam said without emotion, not moving. "You're no longer my CO."
Jack merely groaned in response, throwing the yo-yo clear across the room. He loved her so much but she could be so stubborn at times. "Could you at least try to relax a little bit?" he sounded irritated, but he was actually edging on despair. "Put the laptop away. If you don't wanna sleep we can… talk."
This comment managed to get Sam to turn and face him. For the first time that evening she cracked a smile. "You," She punched him lightly. "Want to talk? Jack, you'd almost prefer to be captured by Ba'al again than talk for hours on end."
"Only because I'd get to bark genius one-liners at him…some of my material is priceless - I've been thinking of sending some suggestions to the writers of The Simpsons." he ginned back at her before becoming serious again. He placed a gentle hand on Sam's shoulder, caressing it slightly with his thumb. "You know I can listen, though…"
"I…" Sam faltered, so tired she didn't object when Jack slid the laptop off her and onto the coffee-table in front of them before settling into the corner of the couch, her delicate frame now resting against his. "I'd prefer to work, take my mind off it all."
"Sam, you've been looking blankly at that screen for the past hour doing a very good impression of Teal'c being particularly stoic." Jack said, his eyebrows raised. "Tell me what you're thinking."
Sam let a long, slow breath escape through her lips. Looking at the clock, it shocked her to see that it wasn't that late – not even midnight yet. She didn't even know where she would start - and she certainly didn't want to get bogged down in her feelings - but, if it was going to keep her awake, she was going to give it a shot.
"Last night," she spoke finally after a long pause, looking straight ahead towards the door. "Last night had nothing to do with a fever – it wasn't me. It couldn't have been; to begin with, I'm not that strong."
"Hey, you heard Janet…"
"I know!" Sam cut Jack off before he could say anything else. "It's not that I don't trust Janet's diagnosis, but we're probably dealing with an advanced parasitic alien race just as conniving as the goa'uld." She glanced behind her into Jack's soft eyes. "Jack, I never get sick – and how else would you explain what Jonas was doing; how both he and I suddenly gained the strength to throw people across the room?"
"You don't know any of that." Jack said, keeping his voice only just above a whisper. "And you're stronger than you think you are."
"This is ridiculous!" Sam suddenly sat bolt upright and looked back at the still lounging Jack in disbelief. "We know from experience that immature goa'uld can only manifest while the host is asleep or unconscious – why wouldn't it be the same for whatever this species is?"
"Sam, you're talking about a puff of air!" Jack sat up to draw level with her. "A snake, ok – I'll admit those things have brains in them. But a freakin' puff of air?"
"Jack," she began again patiently. "Every living thing is, at the base of it, made up of elements, compounds and molecules. Whether we can see it or not, that doesn't tell us anything – a particular composite part might be so small that it's impossible to see."
"What, like nanites?"
"Well, those we can see under a microscope," Sam ran her fingers through her fair hair, wishing some useful answers would come to her. "But I don't think Janet found anything too worrying in our bloodwork."
"I'm guessing that's not a good thing." Jack had given up trying to convince her that everything was going to be ok.
"We need to know what we're fighting if we're going to have any chance of beating it." Sam drew her knees up to her chest, resting her chin.
The sound of someone running through the corridor, and then banging on the door to the room next to theirs caused both Jack and Sam to sit upright. The hysterical shrieking of Stacey filtered through the thick door and Jack leapt to his feet to see what was going on.
"Colonel!" Stacey cried out with relief as he appeared in the corridor. Sherushed over to him and grabbed at his arms. "It's Jonas! He… he… he wasn't himself! And they… they…" She couldn't complete her sentences, so distressed was she at what was going on.
"Where is he Captain?" Jack asked, pushing away from Stacey to look around in the corridor.
"They took him to the isolation cells!" Stacey screeched, her arms raised above her head in panic. "Colonel he needs help – not to be locked up!"
"We know Stacey." The urgency of the situation had reinvigorated Sam's resolve and she had moved directly in front of Stacey, her steady gaze calming the woman. "Come with me to the infirmary. Colonel O'Neill will meet us there – with Jonas." She glanced quickly at Jack. "I'll get someone over there to sedate him and call Janet in if she's not there."
"But shouldn't you-?"
"We can't take the chance!" Sam hissed. "The same thing could happen to me!" She held Jack's gaze for a few moments. "It could have been me being hauled into isolation." She murmured.
Jack nodded curtly before turning on his tail and jogging down the corridor towards the isolation cells.
Stacey and Sam had moved briskly towards the infirmary with the drama of the moment foremost in their minds. They had barely spoken a word to each other as everything depended on getting the help they needed. The sight that greeted them upon arriving, however, was nothing like what they expected.
Sam burst through the door ready to call Janet and find someone to help Jonas but she was instantly stopped in her tracks. Janet was already there and she was tending to at least three patients all presenting with the same tell-tale signs of bronchitis that she and Jonas had awoken to just the day before. More worrying still, however, was the state Janet was in. She seemed flushed and, not unlike the poor SFs on the gurneys, she was wheezing heavily while trying to go about her work. Both Sam and Stacey stood there, fixed on the spot, looking to each other in disbelief.
Janet looked up to see Sam and a brief shared look told them both what they needed to know.
"We need to call General Hammond." Sam said quietly, before turning again and racing out of the room.
To be continued…
A/N: Ok so I hope everyone appreciates the enormity of the problem they'r facing… I know how I want to resolve it, but I'd be really interested to hear what you think.
Also, I've been getting worried that my characterizations are a bit off – it's been over 6 WEEKS since I've seen an episode of SG1 and I have absolutely no prospect of seeing one until Channel 7 here in Aus decides to start the 9th season (I'll be waiting forever, I know). I tried, especially in the second half of this chap, to strike a good balance between the Sam and Jack we know from the show, and the people they've evolved to through my last fic. D'you think it's working? (Bookworm, I know your answer and I thank you for the support!)
So yeah, prier de me rendre vos opinions concernant ce chapitre (ie. Please review)