"Jack, we really do need you. General Hammond insisted that I call you."
"Damn Hammond!"
"Jack..."
"I don't care what the hell happens to the universe, Danny. And you can quote me on that."
"I'm coming to pick you up, ready or not. We have some things you're going to have to help us with because Sam just died...again."
"Daniel, you must be more drunk than I am."
"Jack, I'm not drunk. Now, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
"Doesn't mean I have to open the door."
"Teal'c's coming with me."
"Cheater."
"My middle name."
"No, it isn't...your middle name is...Daniel, what IS your middle name?"
"I'm not telling you Jack, that's why you didn't know to begin with. Now, I'm leaving the base now. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Daniel, I don't need to be picked up!"
The line went dead in his hand. Jack shook his head. Sometimes, he wanted to kill that stubborn archaeologist.
--
Forty-five minutes later, a semi-sober Jack was accompanied by Daniel and Teal'c to Cheyenne Mountain. They walked straight into the briefing room where they were met by Samantha Carter, General Hammond, Janet Fraiser, and the director of the SGC morgue.
"What the hell is going on here?" Jack cried at the sight of Samantha Carter, seemingly resurrected. "Are you people sick or something? She's dead, for cryin' out loud, and you think you can just resurrect her because you FEEL like it?"
All of the professionals in the room looked at one another, refusing to acknowledge Jack's insubordination.
"Sir? It's me...Carter..."
"Walks and talks too, huh? Sweet little toy you got there, Hammond."
Sam looked at Jack, hurt and confusion on her face. "Begging your pardon, sir, but isn't it about time you started to return to decorum?"
"Decorum? Decorum? Decorum got us into this mess, Carter!" He said, clearly enunciating her surname. "So, begging YOUR pardon, I don't give a damn about decorum anymore."
Angry and frustrated at his irrational state, Sam walked over and slapped him before standing back, aghast at what she had just done. She had just hit her commanding officer.
"I'm sorry, sir." She stammered as he rubbed his cheek.
"You're real?" He asked, disbelieving.
"No, I'm a barbie doll that walks and talks." She said, sarcastically to hide her surprise at his shock.
Jack shook his head. "That's not what I meant. You're alive?" Jack asked, seriously as he walked toward her, hope in his gaze.
"Yes, I'm alive." Sam said, agitatedly. "What the hell is going on? Why does everyone think I'm dead?"
"Those are some of the questions we'd like to have answered, Major." General Hammond said, motioning to the briefing room table.
She looked from Jack to the General and nodded as she and Jack took seats next to one another and Daniel, the others taking the three seats across from them.
"Dr. Fraiser?"
"At 0143, Major Carter died. Colonel O'Neill left the Mountain at approximately 0150 according to the airmen at the surface."
"I saw her then." Jack interrupted.
"Why didn't you tell us, Colonel?"
"Because I thought I was crazy." He admitted. "I thought I was tired, and just wanted to see her again."
"I don't remember any of this." Sam interjected.
"You didn't last time, either." Daniel assured.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"No." Jack said, shooting a look at the archaeologist, telling him to knock it off.
"Okay, how many times has this happened?" She asked, trying to understand why all of the people she loved and trusted, with the exception of Jack, had a pretty good idea of what was going on, while she had no idea.
"This is the second time you've come back from the dead." Daniel informed. "And both times you died, your body has disappeared from the morgue in a glowing light, is that right, Dr. Stevenson?"
The doctor nodded. "It was almost engulfed in a bright white light, ascending through the ceiling."
"What?" Sam asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Asgard beaming?"
"No, I don't think so...because only a few moments later, you arrived without your memories."
"So, someone pushed the wrong buttons on the controls." Jack offered.
"I don't think so, Jack." Daniel continued at Jack's puzzled look. "If that were the case, don't you think someone would have fixed it by now? And...can the Asgard really bring someone back from the dead?"
"They brought Hammond back from the dead when we went to that other Carter's reality."
Sam winced at the mention of her alternate self, the one who had loved and lost her own Jack O'Neill. Quickly, she regained her composure. "Why would they do that to me? They're our..." She wrapped her arms around her middle, groaning in pain.
"Sam?" Janet asked, hurrying over.
"I'm fine." She said, straining to sit upright again. "They're our allies. Why would they kill and revive me over and over again?"
"Sam, I think you're dying again." Daniel said, his head snapping up at the realization.
"What? No...just...agh!" She screamed. Tears streaked down her face. "Stop it! STOP IT!"
"Sam, you have to tell me what hurts...and how it hurts." Janet said, about ready to cry.
"It's like someone's just stabbed...twist." She said, panting from the pain. "Make it stop!"
"General?" Janet asked, turning. "I need to get her..."
"Go."
"Thank you, sir."
Daniel and Janet helped her down to the infirmary while Jack watched her leave, horrified.
"O'Neill, how do you fare?"
"This sucks." He said, retaining his stony disposition as he followed the group.
Teal'c merely nodded in understanding as he followed his friends.