AN: I'm not quite 100% happy with this, still I hope you enjoy the update!
'Oy! What a headache!' Jack groaned from inside the medical pod.
'Take it easy. You've been through a lot.' Daniel said kindly, kneeling down by the his side.
Jack took his hand away from his head and looked around. He wasn't sure what he was expecting when he woke up, but Daniel and the inside of a space ship was not it.
'What now?!' he growled.
'Er, what's the last thing you remember?' Daniel said helping him to sit up.
'Getting my head sucked by one of those damned Ancient head-suckers.' he said with a sigh, wondering what crazy crap he'd gotten up to in the mean time. 'And something about twins.' His eyes fell on the alien contingent of the team. 'Teal'c, what's with the hair?''
How long had he been out?
'O'Neill.'
The deep baritone voice did nothing to alleviate his throbbing headache. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the unmistakeable form of an Asgard... somehow he knew it was Thor.
'Thor. You got aspirin?'
'You should feel better momentarily and your memory will slowly return.' the Asgard replied.
Jez why wouldn't this headache go away. And what was that on Teal'c's head?!
'Teal'c, what's with the hair?'
'Jack, you don't remember anything after the ancient repository?' inquired Daniel, his tone revealing more than a little worry.
Jack struggled to bring his gaze back to his friend and assess the question. He tried to remember anything after those bright lights flashed and his head filled up but it just made the pain in his brain increase tenfold. 'No.'
'Sam's not going to be happy about that.' the archaeologist mused, looking away from him.
'Why?' Jack replied, looking around the room, finding it devoid of blonde hair and bright blue eyes. 'Where is Carter?'
At the sound of Sam's second name Daniel glanced up at Teal'c sharing a concerned look before explaining the current situation to Jack. He'd leave it up to Sam to jog his memory about what had happened that fateful weekend.
'Who's your daddy?!' Jack yelled thoroughly enjoying beating the crap out of the Replicators rather than just holding them back. It was amazing to finally have a weapon that was capable stopping them completely, and it would only be a matter of time before it was fired across the whole planet, hopefully wiping out the little buggers for good!
'Stop!' Fifth yelled appearing in front of them, his little pets scampering towards him, seeking the protection of the more advanced Replicator. 'If you harm me or any more of my brethren, I assure you Major Carter will die instantly.'
Something in Jack clenched, tighter than it normally did in these situations. He lowered his weapon, but there was no chance of him letting it go.
There was a groaning from above, the unmistakable sound of a ship entering the atmosphere.
'O'Neill.' Thor's voice sounded over the comms. 'I have successfully modified my ship to emit a massive disruption wave.'
Looking around Jack found it incredibly disconcerting that Fifth had vanished into thin air.
'Excellent! I knew you could do it.' But he wasn't enthused, Carter's imminent death weighing heavily on his mind.
'It is fifty percent charged. If this works, you will have saved the Asgard once again.'
'I'm real happy for you. I'm extremely proud, but we got a little bit of a problem down here. Fifth detected our approach and he claims he can kill Carter instantly.'
'O'Neill...'
'Hey, I know what you're gonna say. Her life was already sacrificed, and you've got your whole planet to worry about. But I... I...' He frowned suddenly unsure how to finish the sentence. He'd cared about her for years, been in similar situations but this felt worse somehow, his insides were slowly crumbling to dust.
But as he heard the sound of Replicators approaching, he had to push aside whatever pain he was feeling and get down to business, chasing after the fleeing creepy crawly machines.
'O'Neill, the weapon worked. Reports from the colony say all the remaining Replicators have been neutralized. While the ship did escape, at least we have an effective means of fighting them now.'
'Yeah, well, at least there's that.' Jack responded with little enthusiasm. Forget his insides crumbling, he felt like a gaping hole had just opened up in his chest and threatened to swallow him whole. Carter was either still captive or, more likely, dead.
'O'Neill, I am detecting a fourth life sign in your immediate vicinity.'
Jack looked around his the male contingent of his team, hope sparking in him.
They spread out quickly to look for the fourth life sign.
'Sam! Sam!' He heard Daniel call.
'Carter!' He yelled. He slowed, frowning a little at the sound of the word; it didn't quite feel the same as it used to. But he couldn't really contemplate it before he heard Teal'c calling him.
It must be Sam!
Relief filled him seeing that bright shock of blonde standing out against the woodland background. He smiled glad that she was well enough to sit up, even if it was with Teal'c's help.
'You okay?' He asked softly.
She grinned, her eyes shinning. 'Jack, you're alive!'
'Excuse me?' his voice sounded somewhat incredulous.
She frowned, watching him carefully, suddenly feeling very much like she had done when waking after the incident on Prometheus.
'Sam,' Daniel said kneeling close to her, 'He doesn't remember. Thor said his memory will return. Slowly.'
Jack watched the exchange with a frown. Sam stared at Daniel in disbelief before screwing her eyes shut tight.
What the hell had he done?
'O'Neill, have you located Major Carter?' Thor's voice sounded.
'Yeah, beam us back up will you bud-' Light flashed. '-dy?' Jack looked directly at Thor. 'Thanks.'
'As the Stargate on this planet was disabled to prevent the Replicators from spreading through the galaxy, it would be faster if I returned you to Earth by ship.' He said as the planet disappeared and the fluctuating lights of hyperspace appeared outside the window. 'Major Carter, please lie down in the medical pod and I will ensure that you have not been harmed by the Replicators.'
'But...' she protested.
'Carter, get in the damned pod!' Jack snapped angrily.
He hated that everyone knew something he didn't. He hated that trying to remember was bringing back his headache. But most of all, he hated that Sam might be hurt, either by her ordeal with Fifth or the fact that his memory was failing to return.
She eyed him darkly before letting Teal'c help her to her feet and got in the pod.
As soon as it closed, Jack made his way over to Daniel.
'Daniel.' he said in an expectant tone.
'No.'
'But...'
'I can't tell you what happened Jack because I wasn't there. And neither was Teal'c.' he explained feeling sorry for his friend. 'This is between you and Sam.'
He frowned slightly at Daniel's words. This was either very, very good or very, very bad.
'But she told you what happened?'
'She had to. You didn't give her much of a choice.' Daniel responded but this only served to confuse Jack further.
'Am I going to want to remember this?' Jack asked tentatively.
Daniel smirked. 'Yeah.'
'You're sure?'
'Definitely.'
Jack waited anxiously for Thor to finish his scans.
'No physical harm has befallen, Major Carter.' Thor announced as the machine stopped humming and the pod opened. 'Though I would recommend that she rest as soon as possible, it is clear that she had experienced some measure of emotional distress.'
'Thank you, Thor.' Sam said with just a little sarcasm. She got herself out of the pod with just a little difficulty, it was clear that she was exhausted but steely determination drove her to stand in front of Thor and demand, 'When will Colonel O'Neill's memories return?'
'It is impossible to say.'
'Before we arrive on Earth?'
'That would be highly unlikely.'
'Is there nothing you can do to speed up the process?'
'To do so would incur the risk of damaging his memories permanently.'
Jack watched her shoulders slump at Thor's words. It was clear him remembering meant a lot to her.
'So nothing?'
'Perhaps you could discuss the events you wish him to remember. This may stimulate the memories allowing him to recall them.'
Sam sighed deeply, this wasn't really something she could simply discuss with him.
'What about physical stimulus?'
Jack's eyebrows raised as high as they could go hearing this. He looked to Daniel and Teal'c for some sort of clue but both of them deliberately avoided his gaze.
Thor nodded. 'If you were able to recreate circumstances similar to when the memories were created this should make them easier to recall.'
She nodded surely before turning. Jack felt pinned with her determined gaze.
'A word in private, Sir?' she said heading towards the door. Though the inflection of her voice suggested that it was a question, it was quite clear he did not have a choice.
Glancing at Daniel and Teal'c, he received no indication as to what might transpire on the other side of the doorway.
Jack followed her, intrigued and just a little bit nervous, though he hoped it didn't show.
'What's this about, Carter? Sure you can't wait for my brain to catch up by itself?'
Her beautiful hands manipulated the controls and the doors shut swiftly.
Beautiful? Since when did he think of her hands as being beautiful?
She sighed softly. So much of her just screamed exhaustion at him, like she'd gone 4 days without a decent sleep. He wanted to just take her in his arms and hold her until everything was okay. This wasn't a particularly uncommon feeling, but it was proving especially hard to resist today. He watched as she squared her shoulders and raised her gaze to him.
He was in awe of the strength and confidence he saw there.
'Do you trust me?' she murmured.
'Carter...'
'Do you trust me?' she asked again, somehow softer and yet with more authority. Her voice was low and enchanting. Jack was suddenly aware of how close she was to him. Why was she so god damned alluring? Why was he moving closer?
'Yes.' he breathed.
His breathing stopped when her her hands rested on his chest and began smoothing slowly upwards. The confidence with which she moved made it seem like she'd done this a thousand times before. It felt so familiar.
But they'd only kissed once, hadn't they?
'Sam, are you sure?' he murmured, when her fingers smoothed over his neck beckoning him down towards her.
He was so close he could practically feel her grin. 'I'm sure, Jack. I am very sure.'
She brought herself up the last half inch to put her lips on his.
He frowned, he was completely torn between kissing her back and maintaining some kind of professional relationship. His head ached terribly as he struggled to maintain control. His heart hammered against his chest.
Her fingers teased his hair in a way that would normally make him groan, her teeth caught his bottom lip as her tongue ran along the sensitive flesh.
It was as if she knew him like this, knew exactly how to stir him into a frenzy.
His barriers were crumbling. And strangely, his headache was alleviating.
He gave in.
He secured her against his body with a firm grip around her waist, leaned down letting her heals return to the floor and kissed her back thrusting his tongue into her mouth.
She hummed and arched against him.
Jack groaned loudly, his mind assaulted by a vision of her leading him to his bedroom then making sweet slow love into the small hours of the morning. He was surprised when the vision continued, waking up in the middle of the night, brushing teeth side by side followed by more love making.
Holy crap!
It was real!
A small alarm sounds on the panel in front of Thor.
'The life signs of Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill would indicate that they are in distress.' Thor announced.
'I'm sure they're fine.' Daniel replied.
'Should we not investigate?'
'I don't think so.'
Another alarm sounds, this one a little more insistent.
'I am going to open the door.'
'I really don't think...'
The door slides open to reveal Sam and Jack making out like horny teenagers. From the brief glimpse Daniel had been privy to before he was able to close his eyes, he could tell that Sam had her legs wrapped around Jack's waist with her hands fisting in his hair and Jack had her pinned up against the wall by the door, one hand on her ass and the other was not visible most likely under her shirt.
'DO YOU MIND?!' Jack yelled, then Daniel heard something that sounded suspiciously like Jack's foot connecting with the door controls before the door slammed shut, almost as if it picked up on Jack's mood.
'I should have heeded your warning, Daniel Jackson.' Thor stated in a voice that almost sounded shocked.
'Indeed.' Teal'c agreed.
'That was rather rude.' Sam murmured kissing up his neck.
'Don't care.' he growled.
'Do you remember?' her voice slightly shaky.
Concern coursed through him and he shifted his hold on her to something a little more platonic. He recalled with stark clarity how tired she looked before she kissed him. Sensing the change, Sam lowered her legs from around his hips but her hold on him was just at tight.
'I think so. Most of it anyway.' he said softly, shivering slightly at the film reel still playing out in his mind. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. 'I'm sorry.'
The muscles in her forehead shifted as she smiled softly, 'It's okay. It couldn't be helped.'
'It must have felt so lonely, hell the however long I was frozen must have been awful.'
She just nodded and held him tighter, burying her face in his neck.
'Hey, I'm here now.' he said softly, his hands smoothing across her back.
'It's not that, not that that wasn't difficult. It's Fifth... he did that thing where he put his hand in my head. He made me see things, tried to use you to get to me.'
'Jesus, Sam.' he said stroking her cheek. 'Are you okay?'
She shook her head in the negative. 'I need you.'
'I'm here, Samantha.' he breathed into her hair, suddenly understanding her need for him to remember them as soon as possible.
She didn't talk, she didn't cry. She just clung to him like she'd woken from a night terror.
'I love you.' she whispered.
'I love you too,' he replied.
'Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter. We have arrived.' Thor announced through the stone still attached to Jack's jacket.
'You going to be okay?' Jack asked softly.
She didn't move.
He sighed softly.
'I'm never going to leave you, Sam. Okay? Everything is going be all right.'
This time she nodded and they slowly disentangled from each other.
'We'll get checked out at the SGC then we can figure everything out later, okay?'
'Okay.' she replied, her voice surprisingly sure.
He smiled proudly, squeezing her hand one last time before opening the door back to the compartment that held the rest of SG-1 and Thor.
'I take it you jogged his memory?' Daniel asked.
'I remember enough.' Jack said with a smile. 'We good to go back to the SGC?'
Teal'c nodded.
'Yeah. I take it that fact that you two are you two is still need to know?' Daniel asked.
'Please.' Sam answered.
'Great, cause I really didn't need to know what you two look like making out.' he teased.
Jack punched him roughly in the shoulder.
'O'Neill.' Thor said, interrupting the exchange. 'Thank you, once again for your assistance in fighting the Replicators. Thank you all.'
'Don't sweat it, Thor.' Did Asgard sweat? 'Thanks for unfreezing me. Keep in touch in future, okay?'
'I shall endeavour to do so. Farewell.'
Light flashed and the group were transported to the briefing room at the SGC. Jack looked around glad to see the place hadn't changed. He was just a little shocked when a lady emerged from Hammond's office with a wide grin.
'SG-1, Colonel! You're back.'
'Yes, we are.' he responded proudly. 'And who exactly are you?'