AN: Read the rest of this story right now at stargateforever (.com), and please check out Liquid Silver Books. My new e-book will be available there soon! Thanks!
Chapter eight
When Jack first saw Sam enter the hallway where the cells were located, he thought he was dreaming. Then he wanted to shout for joy, but seeing who she was with made him stop and reconsider.
When Jack had told the other men that his friend hadn't even recognized him, they had explained that she had no doubt been 'mind stamped'. Then more than a week had gone by, and now here she was again, but this time it appeared she was working for this so-called doctor. This Janet Frasier had a very twisted perception of men, just like all the other women he'd met here, and Jack didn't think he liked her very much. And he didn't know what to think about Sam. Had she been totally brain-washed? And if so, was there any cure? Jack shuddered to think that she might never be the same person he had known for ten years.
"I am taking one of the prisoners to the donation lab," Janet announced, and then she told the guards to unlock the cell door. Sam stood behind her and kept her eyes on the floor, while Janet looked at Jack, motioning for him to get up.
Jack figured that getting out of the cell, for whatever purpose they had in mind, was certainly better than staying locked up, even if they wanted to use that masturbation machine on him again. So he got up from his bunk and followed the two women out into the hallway. It was late at night and dark in the corridor, so dark that Jack could barely see their faces.
"Why are we stopping? What's going on?" Jack asked when they stopped half way down the hallway, and the two women stood facing him.
"Sir, I couldn't let on in there, but I'm okay now!" Sam hissed in a whispered voice, as she took hold of his left hand.
"Carter? You know who I am?!" he asked excitedly, almost bowled over with relief. He squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back.
"Yes! The mind stamp wore off."
"We don't have time for lengthy reunions right now, you two. You need to get on your way, and I need to get back to my boys," Janet told them.
Sam knew what boys she meant. Smiling through her tears, Sam hugged Janet. She wasn't her old friend, but Sam still felt a closeness to the woman.
"You'll make a wonderful mother," Sam said sincerely. Jack just stood there looking confused.
"I hope so," Janet said, and then she walked off down the corridor.
Sam grabbed Jack's hand again and told him to follow her. He did as she asked, and soon they were in the stairwell and climbing up to the level that housed the isolation labs. When they got there, Sam found the door to the floor locked this time, a contingency for which she was prepared.
"Are we doing what I hope we're doing?" Jack asked, watching in the dim red security light, as Sam picked the lock with a tool that Janet had given her.
"Yes, Sir, we're going home!"
"Thank God!" he cried, albeit softly. Just then the lock made a clicking noise, and Sam pulled the door open. Getting into the lab again was just as easy, and soon she was checking the connections between the device and the power source, to make sure the cables were routed correctly. They were, but she still didn't turn on the device.
"What? What are you waiting for?" Jack asked, realizing that she was hesitating.
"Sir, I need for you to be clear about something, before I do this. I can't be certain that the setting hasn't been changed," she admitted.
"Meaning?" He hardly ever understood what she said when it came to technical stuff, and now was no different.
"Meaning I can't be certain we'll shift back to our reality."
"We could end up someplace else?" he asked, and Sam nodded. "Well, it couldn't be much worse than here, Carter, so let's go for it," he said, nodding his head. Sam turned on the device, and almost instantly there was a short but bright burst of light. When the light disappeared, they were left standing in what appeared to be the same room.
Jack looked around the room and then down at himself, as if expecting to see himself wearing something less off-world looking. But no, he was still dressed in the same drab, gray draw-string pants and matching sleeveless shirt that he had been given in the genetics lab. And Sam was still dressed in what appeared to be hospital pajamas…gray ones. Which reminded Jack that he had meant to ask her why she was wearing those. The last time he'd seen her, which had been in Jennings' quarters, she'd been wearing a sleek-fitting, black jumpsuit made of a stretchy fabric like Spandex, with a white smock over it, and little black ankle boots. Even without much skin showing, he had thought the outfit looked really great on her, not that most things didn't.
But before he could ask about her clothing, or anything else for that matter, two marines came charging into the room, pointing their rifles at Jack and Sam.
"Stand down, men!" Jack shouted in his most commanding voice. The men immediately lowered their weapons.
"Call General Landry and tell him we're back!," he ordered. "And tell him I'll see him in an hour…once I've taken a long, hot shower and gotten into something a lot less scratchy," Jack barked, rolling his shoulders within the confines of the woolen outfit he wore. IThose women sure know how to hurt a guy!/I he complained to himself.
One of the marines ran out of the room, obviously to make the call, while the other one stood to one side at parade rest. Just then Cameron Mitchell ran into the room. Without warning he pulled Sam into his arms, hugging her soundly.
"Good golly, Miss Molly, you sure had us all worried!" he shouted with a Southern twang. Then, remembering who else was in the room, he let her go and gave Jack a cursory salute before pumping Jack's hand furiously.
"Good to see you alive and looking so fit, General! We thought for sure you two were toast," Cameron said excitedly.
Jack had to pry his hand free to keep his arm from being wrenched out of the socket.
"It's God damned good to be back, Mitchell! Now out of my way," Jack spat. Then he turned on his heel and headed out the door. Sam and Cameron walked along more slowly, not wanting to catch up with the obviously grumpy general. Instead, they chatted amicably about this and that as they strolled down the hallway. Sam kept asking Cameron to tell her what had been going on during the two weeks they'd been gone, while he kept asking Sam where she'd been and what she'd been doing.
Finally Sam rolled her eyes at him. There was no way she was going to tell him everything now, and then have to repeat the whole story at the debriefing! Besides, there were parts she didn't intend to tell anyone, not even Landry.
"You can hear all about it at the debriefing, Cam," she told him.
"Which won't be till tomorrow, Sam. Landry's gone home for the night. He was beat from worrying about the two of you. So come on, spill!"
"Not now, Cam," Sam whined. "I really just want to enjoy being home for a while. You'll hear the whole story tomorrow," she promised him, and then she followed Jack to the infirmary, where they were both given the usual tests by the doctor filling in for Dr. Lam. Afterward they were released and allowed to go home.
Jack got to the locker room first. He had stripped his clothes off, grabbed his shaving kit and disappeared into the shower room, before Sam even got to her locker. And by the time she stepped under the hot spray, he was humming to himself and shaving, looking at his reflection in a small mirror that he always hung over the wall of the shower cubicle.
Sam had showered in the same room with him many times over the years, but today it felt really weird to be here like this. And the main reason was that she knew she was carrying his child in her womb. It was strange, but she felt connected to him. Even though they'd never been intimate, she felt like she belonged to him. And she knew right then and there that no other man would ever share her bed. If she couldn't have Jack O'Neill's heart, then she didn't want any man.
Suddenly Jack's voice broke into her thoughts.
"So Carter, wanna go get some decent food tonight? We could all go to O'Malley's," he suggested, looking at his reflection in the anti-fog shaving mirror. He flattened his upper lip over his teeth and ran the razor over it with a few small downward swipes, while he waited for her answer.
At first she was totally shocked by his suggestion, but then she realized he had used the word ALL.
"All of us? You mean me, you and Cameron?" she asked, her heart doing a little stutter step, as she imagined just the two of them sitting in a dark booth together.
"Oh, yah, I forgot that Jackson and Vala aren't here. We'll make it the three of us, then. I have to go back to DC soon, you know," he reminded her.
He DID have to go back, but he didn't have to remain there for long. Should he tell her that he was retiring? And if he did tell her, should he also tell her she was the reason? What if she didn't want him in her life full time? What if she didn't want him in her life at all?!
Jack couldn't decide what to do, but he DID know one thing; he just had to spend some time with her! After all, seeing Sam had been his major reason for coming to the SGC, although he'd disguised that fact by arranging a meeting with Landry regarding the implementation and the cost of certain new security measures. But their meeting had been completed even before he and Sam had been whisked away by Merlyn's machine, and now he was hard-pressed to come up with an excuse for not returning to DC.
He thought he might be able to use the concussion he'd suffered as an excuse to stick around a while longer, but even so he doubted he could put off going home for more than a day or two. A phone call to his secretary had already confirmed his suspicions that he had a back log of files on his desk that would rival the size of the Hoover Dam! And they all had to be done something with before he could turn over the reigns to his successor.
"Okay, I'd like that, Sir." They hadn't done anything like that in ages, not since he'd become the CO of the SGC over two years ago, and she thought it would be nice to get something of the old days back again. Also, after the unnerving experiences of the past two weeks, she really didn't feel like going home to an empty house. In fact, she was thinking of staying on base for a while, if for no other reason than to have the friendly faces of other airmen around her. She knew it was silly, but she was feeling the need for support and companionship. She wondered if knowing she was pregnant had something to do with that.
Jack shut the water off. Then he wrapped the towel around his waist, grabbed his shaving stuff and strutted past Sam and out of the shower room, never turning his head even once to get a glimpse of her. Truth was he didn't look THIS time. But there had been many other times when he had sneaked a peek, and what he had seen had made his not-so-little colonel stand at attention. Today, because he didn't have time to jerk off afterwards, he decided he'd better not risk even one little look at Sam's perfect body.
It didn't take him long to dress in his civvies, so he decided to go and find Mitchell while Sam finished up.
"We'll meet you topside in fifteen. That enough time for you?" Jack ask, one hand holding open the outer door. Sam was just coming out of the shower room, covered only by a towel.
"Sure. See you there!" she replied, and then she watched as Jack left the locker room. Once she was certain he was gone, the weight of her situation seemed to fall on her like a ton of bricks, and she slumped down onto the nearest bench and wept.
"This is just not fair!" she cried aloud to the four walls.
For years she had dreamed that one day she and Jack might marry and have children…one day when they were no longer needed at the SGC. But that day had never come, and now Jack was posted in DC, and she was still a vital part of the program. So even though she was no longer under Jack's command, nothing much had changed. They were both still tied up by duty and obligation, and their personal lives were still on the back burner…with the heat turned off, if her life was any indication.
She hadn't even dated since the whole Pete snafu. And as far as she knew, Jack wasn't dating either. AS FAR AS SHE KNEW. What did she really know about his life in DC? Maybe he WAS seeing someone? And if so, would it be fair for her to spring this news on him? After all, it wasn't his fault.
INever the less, the child is just as much his as it is mine,/I she argued with herself. Should she tell him and risk being rejected, or should she keep the pregnancy to herself? Then there was the other problem; he might feel responsible and therefore obligated. IOh God, that's not something I'd ever want Jack to feel toward me or my baby!/I she cried inside.
Sam knew she didn't have long before she'd be forced into making a decision. Obviously she wouldn't be able to hide her pregnancy forever; in a few months she'd start to show, and then everyone would know. She rationalized that she could always say that the baby was conceived here on Earth after she returned from the other reality. She wouldn't be required to name the father, and except for having to take time off to have the baby, she could continue working at the SGC in some capacity. Gate travel would definitely be out until after she had the baby, but maybe they'd keep a place for her on SG-1?
Suddenly her name being announced over the loud speaker dragged her out of the mire of upsetting thoughts in which she found herself.
"Colonel Carter, meet your party at the surface!" a voice called out. Sam had dawdled far too long, and now they were waiting for her topside. She scrambled to get dressed, hoping she could pretend for just this one night that everything was as it should be, that her life was not in turmoil, and that her heart was not breaking.
TBC