SG1 in Atlantis
Disclaimer: they don't belong to me, though I really wish they did. Neither does the whole concept of Atlantis or a city control mentally, I'm just playing with it.
AN: ok, this is a future fic, only three years but still in the future. As any of you who have read any of my fics know, I'm a shipper. So, here I'm making a couple of assumption that should really come as no surprise to anyone that has read my other fic: Sam and Jack are together and so are Tayla and John. Ok, that's it for author's note.
AN2: Sorry for the long delay, but I had a lot that I wanted to say in this chapter and I wasn't quite sure how to say it - I hope you like how it ended up. Plus, I also just recently moved to Florida, so I'd been very busy and tired and hadn't really had the time or the energy to write. hope you guys forgive me and that this chapter for worth the wait. I promise to try and not take so long next time. For those who like it, I'm about to write the next chapter of 'Encounters'. So, look for it, maybe it'd be out this weekend. And then'll come the next chapter of 'Te Amare.' Well, that's it for author's note. Please, please, please review and let me know what you think.
Chapter 8: More surprises!
Caught up in the moment, most of the group forgot that Melia was still standing to the side of the group until she too added her congratulations, "I am very happy for the two of you."
Jack looked back at her and said, "Thank you."
She could tell that he was thanking her more than just the congratulations. "You're welcome," she said with a smile. "Now, if I've answered all your questions, I'll be going."
"I got some questions," Sam said before Melia could finish her good-byes.
"Yes?"
"Both Jack and Charlie have the gene, does that mean that this new little one," and she put her hands on her stomach, "will also have it?"
"Yes, she'll have the same abilities as they, though hers will be more advanced." Milea answered with a smile.
"More advanced?" Asked Daniel.
"Yes. She represents the next step on your evolution."
"So Thor was right? Our kid might be able to help them with their problems?" Jack commented.
"Yes, Thor was right. This little one will be a very special little girl, as will be any other children you happen to have."
"Is that only because of Jack's gene or does Sam's intelligence also played a part?" Daniel asked, as always questioning everything.
"It is a combination of both factors, actually. And, of course, the fact that Sam blended with Jolinar."
"What does that have to do with it?" Sam asked, surprised.
"A lot, actually. You remembered how I said that there was something in the symbiote's genetic make up that allowed it to cure Jack when he came down with the plague?"
"Yes. You also said that if you'd have known about it you might have been able to do something with it." Sam answered as everyone else listened intently. The Atlantis crew members because they couldn't help their curiosity even though they knew they should really leave the room and give the O'Neills some privacy. Teal'c and Cameron stayed because anything that affected Sam (and in Teal'c's case, O'Neill) affected them. And Daniel and Vala stayed because Vala had also carried a symbiote and they wanted to know what effects that might have when they decide to have kids – yes, they were that serious.
"Yes, well it seems that it is the Naquadah in their genetic makeup that somehow strengthens our immune systems."
"Really? I guess that's not so surprising given how much you've relied on Naquadah yourselves for technology that it's interactive. So much close contact with it must have given you a natural affinity for it." Sam theorized.
"Exactly. The Naquadah in your system combined and strengthen Jack's Ancient gene; that plus your own enhanced abilities made the next step in human evolution possible. Not to mention that it made conception between you two possible." Melia explained.
"Hump," Jack said while exchanging a look with Sam. Neither one was sure how they felt about being responsible for the next evolution of mankind. It was flattering, but at the same time scary. Raising kids was hard enough without the added pressure of knowing they were the next step in the development of the whole darn race!
"You just said that the Naquadah in Sam's system made conception possible," Daniel said. "What exactly does that mean?"
Looking at Sam, Melia answered, "Just that you and Janet were right. The Naquadah in your system and the marker left by Jolinar would have made conception with anyone else extremely rare. It was the Ancient gene in Jack that allowed it to occur as easily as it did. Of course that's only fair since Jack would have had as much trouble having a child with anyone else."
"What? What do you mean?" Asked Jack with a confused expression that was echoed by most everyone else in the room. "I already had a child with someone else."
"Yes, but remembered how much trouble Sara had carrying Charlie?" Melia asked and Jack had to nod his head. Sara had had a very hard time with Charlie, almost loosing him twice before the doctors admitted her into the hospital. "And that was before you went through everything you've been through in the last twelve or so years."
"Everything he's been through?" Cameron asked. Now, like Daniel, he wanted to know what impact their adventures might have on his ability to some day have kids. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"A lot." And looking at Jack, she asked, "Haven't you wondered why you've connected to the city so strongly and so fast, when everyone else with the gene just heard a buzz? Or why you don't look as if you've aged a day in the last few years?"
"I thought that I connected to the city because I had the strongest gene and I was your heir. Isn't that what you said?" Jack answered.
"Yes, and that's true so far as it goes. But the gene you carry and all of its corresponding abilities are latent. They have lain dormant for more than a millennia. If you'd have come to Atlantis twelve, ten years ago you'd have heard the same buzz that John and Carson heard. You would have eventually awoken the city and discovered all its mysteries, but it would have taken you longer, much longer than the half hour it just took you."
"Aye," Carson said. The first thing he's said since they've all come into the hologram room. "I've been wondering about that. I known that a previously unused part of our brains is interacting with the city and that we probably have some sort of," he paused to search for the right words and with a grimace and a wave of his hand, he settled for, "code in our DNA that instinctively lets us know how to use it. And I know we must have been born with it, which means that it has been dormant all this time. So how and why has it awaken now?"
"Well," John answered the question that was for Melia. "I thought that it was the city or the General that awoke it."
"Aye, the city probably awoke our abilities," Carson said waving his hand between himself and John. "But did it also awake it in the General? I'm not so sure that it did. I mean, how could it when the General awoke the city?"
And then something Melia said occurred to Daniel. "The Ancient downloads," he practically screamed.
"What about them?" Asked Cameron, as Sam nodded and Jack's confused expression started to change to one of comprehension.
"Yes," Melia said, smiling at Daniel. "You always were fast, Daniel. The two Ancient downloads that Jack received prepared him to interact with the city."
"How? And would it have prepared anyone that came into contact with it?" Asked Rodney, thinking he maybe should go look for one of those things if it's allowed him to 'hear' the city like John could.
"No, Rodney. It wouldn't have. Only some one with the gene would have been able to activate the depository. And even then, only Jack or someone from our direct line would have received the whole sum of our knowledge."
"Why?" This time the question came from Sam, whose curiosity had her so caught up in the story that she'd almost forgot her original concerns.
"Because the repository was programmed to download only the amount it deemed the person could safely received. And that would all depend on how strong the gene was in the person receiving it and which family she/he descended from. So, either John or Carson would have only received a fraction of the amount Jack received. But the depository recognized the strength and family line of Jack's gene. And it did as it had been programmed and gave him everything."
"Oh, lucky me," Jack said with a grimaced as he remembered his mind being taken over by the download.
"Actually, we were lucky." Daniel corrected him. "If you hadn't received the depository in its entirety then you wouldn't have made contact with the Asgard homeworld – and that led to Earth being included in the Protected Planets Treaty; and you wouldn't have been able to defeat Anubis and defend Earth; and we might not even have made it to Atlantis." With each point, Daniel's voice went up and then he looked at Melia and said, "That's the point, isn't it? Jack had to be part of SG1 or none of that would have happened."
"Yes," Melia agreed nodding her head, pleased that they were starting to connect the dots by themselves. "And Jack, you were never in any really danger."
"No really danger!" Sam exclaimed. "By the time he left for the Asgard Homeworld, there was almost nothing left of the Jack we knew. And let's not even talk about the three months he spent locked in ice in Antarctica the second time. If we hadn't found the Asgard, he could still be locked up down there." Sam was getting all work up as she remembered those horrible days when she hadn't known if she was ever going to see Jack alive. Jack reached out and hugged Sam when he saw how upset she was getting; he knew how upset she got whenever she remembered those times.
Elizabeth bit her lip and looked away from the scene, remembering how it had only been because of Sam's blackmail that she had allowed the mission to go looking for the Asgard and feeling guilty about it. She couldn't even imagine what Sam's life; how her own life would be like if the Thor hadn't revived Jack.
"But the point is that both times the Asgards helped Jack. The download made sure of it." Once again seeing everyone's puzzled expressions, she went on without waiting for the inevitable question. "As the Asgard told Jack the first time they removed the knowledge, imbedded within it was the location of their homeworld and his genetic make up made sure that he knew how to access that information."
"But that wasn't the only thing he got from it, was it lass?" Carson asked, wanting to hear the explanation of how a gene dormant for so long had suddenly become active.
"No," Melia answered looking at Carson. "The download did more than just rewrite its brain. It actually jumpstarted the gene, beginning a slow change at the cellular level."
"Wow, wow." Cried Jack alarmed at the very idea. "Change at the cellular level? But all our doctors checked me up and down and every way they knew how and nothing ever showed."
"That's because the changes were subtle, small and as good as Janet is, the equipment she had to work with wasn't sensitive enough to pick them up."
"What about the equipment here? Is that sensitive enough?" Carson asked eagerly, visions of all the test he could take and the discoveries he could make flashing in his head.
"Yes, they are." Melia said while Jack grumbled "yippee" under his breath. He just knew that the docs would now be on his case until he submitted to every test they could think of.
"Is that why the second time he exhibited more symptoms?" Daniel asked, remembering how Jack healed Bratac as he was dying.
"Yes. While the Asgards were able to remove the knowledge and halt the process, they could not reverse the changes that had already occurred. Thus, the second time he received the download, the changes continued to their natural conclusion." Melia explained.
"Natural Conclusion?" Sam asked. "And what exactly was that? Like I said, he ended up frozen in ice!"
"Sam, calm down." Jack said.
"Yes, that was because his system was overwhelmed and needed to shut down, giving it time to stabilize and assimilate all the changes that it had gone through." Milea said patiently; she understood why Sam reacted as she did. "By the time Thor was able to get to him, the only thing he could do was compressed the knowledge Jack had acquired to allow him to be awake while his subconscious absorbed it."
"But Thor told O'Neill that the knowledge had been removed from his brain." Teal'c objected.
"Yes, if he knew what was going on, why didn't he say something?" Jack asked, feeling a bit disappointed that his buddy had kept the information from him.
"Because it was not his place to say anything. Nor were you ready to hear it. Besides, the knowledge was compressed and you were not able to consciously access it, so in a way it was as good as removed." Melia explained.
"And whether the knowledge was removed or not, almost didn't matter by that time, did it?" Daniel asked. "I mean, by that time Jack had already changed and all that was needed was a bit of time for it to become apparent."
"Yes, you're right. By that time, the location of the knowledge itself was irrelevant."
"So, my original question stands," Cameron said. "Is General O'Neill an Ancient?"
"No, not quite." Melia answered with a small smile, well aware of how little Jack liked that possibility. "But he's as close as any other human, not ascended, has ever gotten. And certainly a lot closer than he was before he started traveling through the 'Gate."
"But what does all that have to do with whether or not the General has aged much in the last few years?" Cameron asked, remembering the second part of Melia's question.
"Just that as a result of all the changes his physiology has been strengthen even more and that has resulted in a drastically slow down of his aging."
"Well," Daniel said to that little announcement, "That doesn't seem fair."
With a huge shit-eating grin, Jack said, "As nice as this enhanced, longer life sound, what does that have to do with me not being able to have kids with anyone but Sam?" And at Sam's look he hastily added, "Not that I want to have kids with anyone but Sam, you understand. I'm just curious."
With a grin of her own and sharing a knowing look with Sam, Melia answered, "Just as you passed on your gene to Charlie, you'll be passing these changes or enhancement on to your kids. And while you're still technically human, your DNA is different enough that any child you have would demand more than any normal human mohter could provide."
"But Sam . . .?" Jack started to ask, worried about Sam.
"But Sam is not a normal human mother." She said looking apologetically at Sam. "The changes triggered by her blending with Jolinar made her stronger, more resilient and flexible than a normal human woman."
"So, she'll be ok?" Jack asked, still anxious about Sam's health.
"Yes, she'll be just fine. Like I said, she's strong enough to accommodate the changes the baby will produce."
"Changes? You mean besides the usual ones?" At Melia's nod, she asked, "And when will they kick in?"
"They have already started," Melia answered.
"Really? Are you sure? Because I haven't felt anything. In fact, I've barely felt the normal pregnancy symptoms, now that I think about it." Sam mused.
"Yes, I'm sure. And the reason you've not noticed them is because Jack has been taking them into himself."
"What?" Daniel asked.
"I have?" Jack asked at the same time while Sam said, "What do you mean?"
"Exactly that. Jack has been helping you by relieving you of the symptoms and taking them himself. Why do you think that he collapse five weeks ago?"
"He what? He can do that? Well, he better stop that right now," Sam said glaring at Jack, while he just shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know what the heck Melia was talking about. But if he somehow was making the pregnancy easier on Sam, there was no way on heaven or netu that he was going to stop.
"Yes, he can do that, but he does it unconsciously. I don't think he'd know how to stop." Melia said, knowing, as Sam did, by the look in Jack's eye that even if he did know he wouldn't be stopping any time soon. "Besides, you'll have enough to deal with later on, let him do his part. You'll be glad for it, believe me."
"Maybe, but I don't want him to get sick." Sam protested.
"The only reason he collapsed that time was because he wasn't taking care of himself. The long work hours and his rotten eating habits, things he has no problem dealing with regularly, meant that he did not have the reserves needed for the added stress. But now that he's taking better care of himself, he won't have any problems. He's more than strong enough to absorb the additional strain without any difficulties."
"You hear that, Jack?" Sam asked with a glare in her husband's direction. "You have to take better care of yourself if you want to help me. Because if you don't and you get sick that'll just mean that I'll worry more and then you won't really be helping me, will you?"
"Yes, dear." Jack said with a sigh, to the great amusement of all the guys present. All of whom received a glare from Jack for their troubles.
After tampering his amusement, Daniel said, "Wait a minute. Jack collapsed about five weeks ago; if they just found out that Sam is pregnant two days ago, how did Jack know to do whatever it is that he's been doing?" The last was said with a suspicious glare in Jack and Sam's direction.
"Like I said, Jack was not conscious that he was doing it." Melia said and having seen the suspicious glare, she added, "If they said they found out two days ago, then I'm sure that they found out two days ago."
"Um, ok," Daniel said. "But my question still stands, how did he or his unconscious mind know to do it?"
"That's simple. His unconscious mind knew because of the bond he has with Sam and with the baby." Melia explained.
"Bond," Asked Sam and Daniel at the same time while Jack got a very thoughtful look on his face. "What bond?"
Melia looked at them and asked, "Which bond would you like me to clarify?" She said it with a straight face but there was something in her eyes that reminded both Daniel and Sam of when Jack acts like a smart ass.
"The bond with Sam," Daniel said first, just as Sam was about to say the bond with the baby. But since she was curious about this bond too, she stayed quiet.
"Surely you have noted how close Jack and Sam are? How close they've always been? How they almost seem to be able to read each other's minds and often don't even need to speak to communicate?" At Daniel and Teal'c's nods, Melia continued. "You must have also noted that there's nothing one wouldn't do for the other and how they are unable to leave each other behind."
"Well, yes. But that's because they love each other. And frankly, that could also be said of any of us. There's nothing we wouldn't do for each other and we would never leave anyone behind." Daniel explained.
"Yes, the bond between SG-1, present and past, is uncommonly strong. But that's just it: you wouldn't leave anyone behind. And while neither of them would leave you behind, they couldn't leave each other. The few times they've been forced to do it, they've moved heaven and earth to get the other back because they literally left a part of themselves behind and they weren't complete until it was back."
At that pronouncement, silence once again descended on the group. Most of them were in awe that two people could share such a deep bond, while the others privately reflected that somehow they've always known it existed. And the three couples just agreed with the sentiment Melia was expressing; each having had to live through such situations enough times to know the truth of it.
Uncharacteristically, it was Teal'c who spoke first. "I have always known that O'Neill and Col. O'Neill share a strong bond between them. Unlike Daniel Jackson, I always suspected it was more than just the bond of two people in love."
Daniel looked at Tea'c as if he wanted to say something, but there was really nothing to say. Despite Daniel's fondness for legends and all things Ancients and all of the weird things he'd seen over the past twelve plus years, Daniel was surprisingly resistant to believe anything 'mystic'. For Daniel everything had to have a rational, logical, scientific reason; legends were interesting but they invariably led him to the real truth behind a phenomenon. This was true even after he;d ascended; but then again, having ascended might have just reinforced his need for a scientific study. So, Teal'c was right. Daniel had ascribed the bond between Jack and Sam as their being in love and have never put any credit in Teal'c's theory that there was more to their union than just plain, old variety love.
"You're right, Teal'c. Jack and Sam are soul mates and share a bond that few beings are lucky enough to share. It is extremely powerful and transcends time and space." Seeing the look on everyone's faces, she went on to explain. "This bond is not what you normally refer to when you talk of soul mates. Theirs is the real thing, not the weaker version humans experienced."
"What do you mean?" Cameron asked. "That humans are incapable of having this bond? If so, why do they have it? Just because the General is your heir?"
"I mean that while humans are certainly capable of finding their soul mates they are not usually capable of forming the bond Sam and Jack have. The bond is a result of the strength of their love and their devotion for one another; however, it also requires a psychic connection that most humans are just not capable of. It is actually the type of bond that we, Lanteans, shared with our loved ones." Melia explained .
"So, their bond is the result of Jack being your heir?" Cameron asked to clarify.
"Yes. But like I said, weaker versions of it, while rare, have been known to occur." After she said that, she looked at Daniel and Vala. "And of course, while Jack is our direct descendant, he is not the only descendant of our race. And everyone of them is capable of forming the same bond, specially if their gene is jump-started." And while she didn't need to do it, she looked right at John and Teyla when she said it.
"So," Daniel said after a few seconds of silence while everyone digested that tiny bit of information. "Jack and Sam are soul mates and share a bond that allows them to do what exactly?"
"To be aware of each other." Melia answered. "It also allows them to sense what the other one needs, or if he/she is in pain. It also makes lying to each other extremely hard. In full Lanteans, it also created a deeper, more intimate telepathic connection. But that won't be the case here, at least not with Jack and Sam."
"UH," said Daniel.
"At least not between him and me? With whom else could Jack have a telepathic connection?" Sam asked a bit put off.
"With the baby," the answer came from Jack and Melia just smiled and nodded her head.
Sam turned to looked at him and for a few seconds the only thing she could do was close and open her mouth. Until finally, she was able to say, "With the baby? What do you mean? You've been communicating with the baby and you haven't told me?" By her tone of voice, everyone knew that the answer better be no.
"Yes," Jack answered and then amended it with, "I mean no. I mean . . ." He took a big breath and started from the beginning. "I think I might have felt the baby from the beginning. But, like Melia said, it was totally unconscious. I wasn't aware of it. No, that's not quite right, either." And he shook his head at his inability to explain himself. "Ok, see. Somehow, I've always been aware of the baby. It was the same with Charlie. In some part of me, I was aware of him. I knew I was aware of it, but at the same time I wasn't. Do you see what I mean?" At everyone's negative shake of heads, he sighed and said, "It's like I've always been aware of Sam. I know when she enters a room, whether I see her entered or not, I know the exact minute she comes in. And I know when she's hungry or sleepy or just plain tire. I've always known it.""And you've never thought that was a bit weird?" Daniel asked.
"No, because I've always felt it, just like I've felt or known other things. Like all those times I told you not to touch anything, I knew that something bad was going to happen but you never listen to me. Or like you know, when you just sometimes know the phone is going to ring. I've always just known things," he repeated with a shrug. "So, when I met Sam and started to feel her, no, I didn't think it weird."
"I know what you mean," Sam said. "I've always felt you too. And I guess I can also feel the baby, but she's inside me. I just thought it was normal."
"Yeah, like I said I also felt Charlie so I didn't really think anything of it. And like I said, it is unconscious. I just feel it, it's normal. I really never thought about it."
"So, you're not actually talking to the baby?" Daniel asked.
"No, I just feel her," Jack answered before going quiet for a while. He then smiled and said, "Now that I know about it, it's somehow stronger."
"Yes," Melia nodded. "Now that you consciously look for it, it'll become stronger. And once the baby develops a bit more, you'll be able to talk to her."
"I will?" Jack asked delighted with the idea.
"Yes, like I said she's more developed. Her telepathic abilities will be greater and since you're in contact with Atlantis your telepathic abilities will be developed enough to connect with her."
"Sweet!" Jack said with a huge smile, the thought that he'll be able to converse with his unborn child was fascinating.
"Oh, great." Sam groused. "Not only does he get to hear the city, but he'll also get to talk to our baby before I even get to see her. That is so not fair."
Melia laughed and said, "Don't worry Sam. You'll be able to talk to her, too. And soon you'll hear the city too. Not as clear or as completely as Jack, but good enough."
"I will?" Sam asked. "But how? I don't have the Ancient gene."
"You don't, but your child does. And one of those changes I mentioned is the partial re-writing of your DNA to allow for better communication between mother and child. And the side benefit will be that after you give birth you'll retain the change and the partial Ancient gene. It won't be near as strong as Jack's or even Carson's, but it will allow you to access Ancient technology, the city and will be enough to allow you to connect with both Jack and the baby telepathically."
Sam was wide eye as she heard Melia's explanation and then she grin one of the biggest grins Jack had ever seen and said, "Sweet!" Clearly the idea of communicating with her unborn child was as exiting to Sam as it was to Jack. Not to mention the fact that she'll be able to really study the Ancient's technology without having to call Jack.
Yeah, she couldn't wait for those changes! She just had to make sure that Jack was well rested and well fed so that he could keep taking on the symptoms, she thought with a smirk.