Almost Kansas
Part Three
Another few days went by without rescue, but thankfully, Jack seemed to be getting better. His pain was dissipating day by day, and the amount of blood in his urine was quickly fading. Both Sam and Jacob were confident that the Colonel's kidney injury was only some severe bruising. He would be in pain a while yet, though at least it wouldn't be the heightened amount of agony he was in before. His collarbone was healing slowly, and the makeshift sling he'd been wearing was helping.
Once Jack was more lucid most of the time, and not unconscious, Sam began to distance herself from him again. Despite the great care she took helping him to get better, there were still undercurrents of dejection beneath the surface. She was still upset that she was willing to put everything on the line so they could have a relationship, and he was throwing up regulation flags. She couldn't be with him every day when he was lucid, knowing he didn't love her as much as she did him.
Sam made herself scarce more recently, spending time out in the barn at the far end of the village. The old building was still rather stable, and she found the place quiet and comforting. Even her father didn't know what she did with her time there all day, and when Jacob questioned her about it she always told him, "I'm just keeping myself busy."
Jacob was getting worried, about both Sam and Jack. They were quickly moving backwards, not really speaking to one another again. Avoidance tactics. He was getting frustrated, and so was Selmak. These two were so stubborn they'd probably keep this up forever if he didn't do something about it. Despite his concerns that Jack wasn't well enough to completely take care of himself, O'Neill had left their house and gone back to living next door all alone.
-
Rubbing at his right side gingerly, Jack swung his feet over the side of the bed and painfully levered himself upright. He groaned and swayed for a moment, automatically looking around for Sam. A sigh escaped his lips and he frowned, regretfully shaking his head. It was the first morning he'd woken up all alone, after his first night being back in his lonely house next door. Jack still wasn't really sure why he'd told Jacob he was moving out again so soon.
Oh wait. Yes he was. It was because of Sam. She was avoiding him again. Or rather, they were avoiding each other. Well, when he thought about it, Jack realized he was just letting her avoid him. Which was practically the same thing. It made his head hurt. He felt like an idiot. He loved her, but he didn't think he deserved her. Jack couldn't push the regulations aside because he was scared; scared of being happy again, scared of letting someone love him. He was starting to realize the true reasons behind his behavior towards Sam over this whole mess they'd gotten themselves into.
Growling in frustration, Jack stormed out of the house and marched down to the lake.
-
Sam found the Colonel half an hour later, without even meaning to. She was still trying to avoid him, but had been on her way to the lake to wash some of the slave clothes she'd found when she spied him sitting on a rock with his legs dangling in the cool water. The hot afternoon sun was beating against his bare back, and she could see the still-vivid bruising on his right side as well as the faded cuts on his upper body.
Swallowing her pride, because she still cared about him no matter what his feelings for her may be, Sam quietly headed down to where he sat, taking a jar of water out of the cloth bag she'd been carrying. He didn't turn as she approached, but she knew it was because the sharp movement would have caused him pain and not because he was trying to ignore her. She sat on the big rock beside him and held out the jar of water as a sort of peace offering.
Now that he wouldn't have to twist around painfully to look at her, Jack turned his head and slowly accepted her offering, eyeing her curiously. "Thanks."
Sam noticed his wet shirt hanging on a nearby tree branch to dry, and could see that the sling on his right arm was a little loose. She tilted her head when she saw that he only took a few sips of the water and frowned with concern. "Sir, you need to keep drinking a lot of water so we can make sure your kidneys are still working okay."
He glanced at her for a second then sighed, tipping back the jar in his hands and nearly finishing off the liquid. Jack handed it back to her with a somewhat raspy, "Happy now, Doc?"
Rolling her eyes and actually smiling for a moment, Sam took the jar back, capped it, and tucked it back in her bag before staring out across the lake somberly. Jack's teasing comment made her think about Janet and home. She missed home, and she missed Daniel and Teal'c and was still scared that they hadn't made it. Could that be why there'd still been no rescue? Or were they trapped somewhere too?
Seeing the mournful look on her face, Jack gently nudged her leg with his. "Carter?"
Sam abruptly got to her feet, forgetting about the clothes she'd been meaning to wash in her bag. Not wanting to talk about home, afraid that she might break down in front of the Colonel, Sam smiled tightly and shifted the bag's strap on her shoulder. "I've got something for you."
Jack blinked up at her with confusion. "What?"
"I've got something for you," she repeated with a small, reserved smile. "It's in the barn; come on." Sam went around him, carefully grabbing his left arm and helping him to his feet. No matter how rejected she felt, she couldn't be cold and distant toward him. Avoid him, she could do that, but not be cold and distant. She just had to bury her feelings, that's all. If they were stuck on this planet, Sam knew she wouldn't be able to stay away from him forever.
Sam pushed the barn door open and stepped inside, followed more slowly by Jack. She went over to the corner where some broken tools were leaning against the wall, grabbed something and met Jack in the doorway.
Curiously raising an eyebrow, Jack slowly took the tool Sam held out to him. "Carter?"
She lowered her head. "I fixed the hoe for you. I found a metal rod that looked like it would make a good handle and fixed it to the end of the blade."
"Thanks...Carter," Jack said slowly, a little confused. He wasn't entirely sure why she was being so nice to him. He'd thought she was still angry, and he didn't blame her if she was.
She sighed softly and shrugged. "I figured... Well, if we're stuck here, at least we can...be productive." Sam's gaze lingered on him briefly before she walked away without another word.
-
Sam jumped slightly in surprise when she returned to the small house to find her dad standing just inside the door with his arms crossed. "Dad."
A serious, stony look on his face, he lowly said, "How's he doing?"
She blinked suspiciously, wondering how he knew she'd been with Jack. "How did you-?"
Jacob quirked a smile briefly. "I was outside chopping wood for the fire when I saw you walking with him toward the barn."
"Oh." Sam suddenly found her dirty, scuffed boots extremely interesting.
"How's Jack doing?" Jacob repeated with genuine concern.
Her gaze shifting from her boots, Sam adjusted the strap on her shoulder as she realized with an inward curse that she'd forgotten all about the clothing she'd meant to wash. "The Colonel's still in pain, but typically trying to hide it." She shrugged a little. "He's alright I guess."
Jacob took a step toward his daughter and gently put his hands on either sides of her arms. "How about you?"
"Me?" Sam tilted her head questioningly.
"Yeah Sammy, you." Smiling at her warmly, he looked into his daughter's eyes, seeing her inward struggle. "I know this situation is hard on you. It's hard on all of us."
Her brows furrowed as she met his eyes, and her lower lip wobbled slightly. She sighed and shook her head, having been about to divulge her true thoughts but deciding against it. "I'm okay Dad."
Despite his unconvinced look, Jacob nodded and left it alone.
-
Jack was really starting to hate Almost Kansas. It was two days after Sam had given him the tool she'd fixed for him, and he was finding that it made his heart ache whenever he was around her. Not because he didn't want her around, but because he couldn't stand how professional she was being. He knew it was his fault. Sam had bared her soul to him, and he had turned her down. She was only trying to protect herself by distancing herself from him.
He was incredibly frustrated. His frustration mounted whenever he thought about Teal'c and Daniel. It was killing him not knowing what had become of them, and the feelings of helplessness were overwhelming. Jack was still in pain and his movements were hindered by his injuries, but he knew he had to get back to work. Today he was determined to get back into his cornfield and finish what he'd started. Or at least finish as much as he could. He needed something else to occupy his thoughts for a while.
Taking a jar of water and his hoe, Jack marched out into the hot midday sun and made his way toward the field.
-
Behind the house, Jacob engaged in a now-familiar routine of skinning and cleaning the rabbit-like animal that was destined to be their evening meal. He'd gotten quite adept at making snare traps and knowing just where to place them to better the odds of catching something. The Tok'ra was quite proud of that.
Hearing snapping twigs and rustling, Jacob looked up to see Sam emerging from the woods, dragging behind her a rickety old cart filled with decent-sized logs to be split for the fire. He smiled at his daughter as she stopped beside the table he was working at and swiped sweat from her brow. Admiring the amount of wood she'd collected, he smiled with pride. "That should keep us stocked for a while."
Sam nodded, slightly breathless from her efforts. She smiled back at him. "Good." Looking at the animal her father was cleaning and making a slight face at the gore, she tilted her head. "Rabbit stew for dinner?"
"You bet." Jacob paused in his work briefly. "I've even got a sack of flour to make some dumplings."
Laughing softly at his enthusiasm, Sam shook her head, leaving her wood pile for the moment and heading inside. She'd sort it out later.
Going out the front door to check if the clothes she'd washed earlier and left out in the sun were dry, something out of the corner of her eye caught Sam's attention. She squinted in the bright sunlight and peered across the village toward the fields, noticing a stiffly-moving figure toiling away in the dirt. "Damned stubborn sonofabitch!" she muttered under her breath, quickly abandoning the clothes she was about to bring in and hastily marching out to the field.
Jack paused and turned with the decency to look chastised when Sam planted her feet in the dirt in front of him, blocking his efforts at turning over the soil. He was sweaty, and the sling on his right arm was gone, probably discarded when he'd managed to take his shirt off at some point. He suddenly adapted a grievous, but determined look in his eyes, and his face was still, hard lines of masked pain on his guarded features. The handle of the hoe shook in his weak, left handed grip, and his right arm was held tight to his side in absence of the sling.
"Colonel, what are you doing?" Sam softened her tone after initially intending for her words to come out quite sharp and disapproving. She quickly guided him to sit down on the nearby hay bail before he fell down. He didn't protest her actions, just complied with deliberate movements.
He heaved out a breath. "I wanted...to do something...useful," he answered slowly between harsh, pained breaths.
Sam's brows twitched sympathetically. She picked up the jar of water laying on its side on the ground and uncapped it swiftly, urging O'Neill to drink. "Sir, you're not strong enough for this kind of work yet," she told him softly, aware that he already knew. "I need to get you back inside, out of the hot sun."
Jack hissed when she tried to get him up and sunk back against the hay again, breathless and wincing. "Just...gimme a minute Carter."
Nodding slowly, Sam was about to insist he drink more water when the rush of disturbed air above them jerked their attention upwards. Surprised to see a Tel'tak lowering from overhead, Sam felt a moment of panic as her eyes swept the area swiftly, dismayed to find no possible cover. When the Colonel tensed at her side, she prepared to place herself in front of him if necessary.
The two of them were overcome with shock and glee at the same time when the ship landed, and two very family figures emerged; Teal'c and Daniel. They were dressed in slave clothes similar to the ones Sam had found in the village, and both looked tired and a little rough around the edges, but otherwise in good shape.
"Oh, my God! Daniel! Teal'c!" Sam stood quickly as Daniel jogged over with a face-splitting smile, Teal'c following along more sedately.
Daniel hugged her briefly and stepped back as Teal'c did the same. "You have no idea how relieved we are to have found you guys!"
"Indeed." Teal'c bowed his head slightly, a faint smile on his face.
"You have no idea how relieved we are that you found us!" Sam released a nervous, grateful laugh, the anxiety she'd been feeling since they'd gotten stranded loosening its hold on her.
Jack pulled himself upright with effort, forced his breathing to slow down as he managed a grin. "Hey guys. It's been a while."
"Jack!" Daniel exclaimed the same time Teal'c said, "O'Neill." The younger man's eyes were bright with affection. "God, you look..." His brows furrowed with worry as Jack got closer and he got a better look at his friend. "Awful..." he finished, trailing off slowly. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," the older man replied quickly, though in obvious discomfort.
Sam hurriedly stepped to his side and wound a supportive arm around his waist carefully when Daniel gave her a suspicious look, not at all believing the Colonel was anywhere near fine. "I'll explain later," she said with a tight smile, studying her two previously-missing friends carefully while Jack seemed to be concentrating on getting his breathing under control at her side. "Where have you guys been?"
Daniel shared a look with Teal'c before heaving a sigh and smiling somewhat bashfully. "Believe it or not, on the other side of this same planet." He grimaced.
"We have spent many days struggling to get the Tel'tak in working order once more before we were able to perform a search," Teal'c explained in his calm, somehow-reassuring way.
"You have no idea," Daniel added emphatically. "Sam, without you, we didn't have a clue what we were doing. I mean, Teal'c can fly the Goa'uld ships, sure, but he only has very basic knowledge of how they work."
The Jaffa shot him a look, though he didn't appear to be seriously offended in any way.
As if noticing for the first time that someone was missing, Daniel shot both Sam and the Colonel a look of dismay. "Sam, where's Jacob? He didn't... I mean, did he-?"
"No, no! Dad's fine," Sam said quickly with a reassuring smile. She gestured behind them, toward the village. "He's at the house." Looking sideways at O'Neill, she could see the exhaustion and pain lining his face and knew he would need to sit down again very soon. "Come on, let's go into the village and we can talk."
-
Sam tried to usher Jack to the bedroom to lie down as soon as they got to the house, but he was having none of it. She knew he needed to hear what had been going on with Teal'c and Daniel as much as she and her father did. So instead of lying down, she got him to sit at the table, and they all took a chair and got to talking. They learned that for the near-month they'd been stranded, Daniel and Teal'c had been attempting to get the damaged Tel'tak in working order again. Just after the escape pods were gone, and the men realized their own pods weren't working, Teal'c managed to coax the ship into a rough landing on the other side of the planet. They hadn't been entirely sure where Sam, O'Neill, and Jacob had touched down in the pods, but once the Tel'tak was in the air again, the two did a search in approximately the location where they'd last seen their friends.
Sam was astonished to learn that the two men had found a slave village of their own to live off of during the last several days, and while searching for their friends, discovered many similarly abandoned slave settlements scattered all over the planet. They'd been doing a low sweep when they spotted two moving figures down in the field, which luckily happened to be Sam and O'Neill.
While her dad explained what they'd been up to for the past couple weeks, and began wondering if the repairs on the ship had been enough to get them to the planet with the gate where they'd started, Sam took a good look at her Colonel. He was very pale, and still sweaty despite the much cooler temperature inside the house. She got out of her chair with ease, then went around the table to his side and took his left arm gingerly. "Come on sir," she said softly. "You should lie down."
His eyes met hers briefly, and she thought he was going to protest, wanting to join in the discussion to make sure they all got home okay. It was his job to make sure they were all safe, she knew that. But she also knew that he wasn't feeling well, and would submit to her despite the urge to help plan their trip back to Earth.
The Colonel got up silently with her help, allowing her to guide him into the bedroom. He sat on the thin mattress with a groan, and was about to lie back when Sam stopped him. O'Neill blinked at her, breathing slowly.
Sam pulled a ratty piece of cloth from her pocket. It was the sling the Colonel had left behind in the field. She noticed the narrow-eyed look he was giving her and ignored it. "You need to support your arm to make sure your collarbone heals." Sam gave him a look. "You know what Janet's going to do to you when we get back, right? Might as well not give her a cause to bark at you."
A faint smirk ghosted across his face. He nodded slowly, allowing her to put his arm in the makeshift sling and tie it behind his neck. "Happy now?" he asked breathlessly.
"Yes sir. Very." Sam grinned back at him and gave him some water to drink before he laid down. "Rest for a bit and I'll come get you when we know what the plan is."
He nodded distantly and faded away into the realms of sleep.
When Sam returned to the main room, Daniel looked over at her, concern creating a furrow between his dark brows. "Is Jack okay?"
She smiled back at him and Teal'c reassuringly. "He's still recovering."
"Jacob Carter explained the incident when O'Neill was injured," Teal'c intoned in his deep drawl.
Sam nodded. "He got pretty banged up, and we believe his right kidney was bruised very badly. He's doing better now, though."
Daniel seemed to accept that, then asked if Sam and her dad would take a look at the repairs they'd made on the ship to see if anything more needed to be done before they could leave.
-
Jack slept for the entire four hours it took to fly from Almost Kansas to the planet with the stargate. The trip had been a little difficult because the navigation system on the Tel'tak was damaged, and Sam had to divert power two separate times before they'd arrived at their destination. Since Daniel and Teal'c had all their gear on the ship, she found some packets of Tylenol and gave some to O'Neill, worried about giving him any stronger pain medication. He would be able to see Janet as soon as they got home, and the doctor would be sure to give him all that he needed there.
The team and her dad waited patiently by the stargate. They'd just gated home and sent their GDO codes, and were now waiting for Hammond to send a MALP through to verify.
Sam sat with the Colonel at the bottom of the steps, way out of the way of the wave when the stargate would kawoosh to life. They were shoulder to shoulder, and he looked a little better since he'd gotten some rest on the ship. She gave him water from the canteen Daniel had handed her, and they remained sitting in silence until the gate finally activated and a MALP from the SGC came through, bumping its way down the stone steps. Sam smiled with relief as Daniel and her father got up close to the MALP's camera and began explaining things to the General.
They were going home.
-
As soon as they got down the ramp, Jack moving determinedly under his own power, the weary travelers were ushered off to the infirmary to confirm their identities after being gone for just over three weeks.
Jacob was done the quickest, since all he really had to do was let Selmak speak for a few minutes, confirming their identities, and then quickly made a call to the Tok'ra to let them know what had happened and where he was.
Half an hour later, Teal'c and Jacob were debriefing the General while Daniel, Sam, and Jack got stuck staying in the infirmary. None of the three were very happy about it. Sam was the only one brave enough to tell Janet that. Well, that wasn't true. The Colonel had initially protested, but gave up when Janet allowed him to take a shower on his own and then threatened him with big needles if he kept whining.
"Janet," Sam sighed from her bed between the Colonel and Daniel. When the doctor walked over patiently, Sam crossed her arms. "I understand why the Colonel has to stay, but Daniel and I are fine."
O'Neill shot his Major a look of mock-betrayal.
The doctor just smiled. "I'll be the judge of that." Janet then walked around the beds to check the IVs she'd given each of them. She'd thought they were all looking a little undernourished and was supplying them proper nutrients, but O'Neill was the only one getting antibiotics and painkillers as well. Tests had shown evidence of the bruised kidney and broken collarbone, but both of his more serious injuries were on their way to healing. Janet was very proud of Sam for being able to get the Colonel to wear a sling for as long as he did.
Janet finished checking all their intravenous lines and sat on the end of Sam's bed for a moment, looking over her three patients. "I'm just keeping you here for observation overnight. Just to be safe."
O'Neill rose a hopeful eyebrow. "So we're free to go in the morning?" he asked nonchalantly, as though he didn't really care whether he had to stay or not.
Not fooled in the slightest by his tactics, Janet smiled at him and sharply said, "Daniel and Sam are free to go. You, I'm keeping a bit longer."
The Colonel frowned, obviously unhappy with that. He glared at the doctor to his right briefly before his gaze drifted up the bed to Sam. "Carter, you're the one that fixed me up; tell Doc I'm fine."
Sam shrugged helplessly. "Sorry sir. She's the doctor."
"Hmph. Traitor," he grumbled under his breath.
Daniel smirked, watching the exchange between his two friends. Despite their easy manner, he had a feeling something was just not quite settled between them.
Janet smiled at them. She was glad to have the team back again. "Try and get some sleep, it's late."
Frowning, Jack kept glancing almost longingly over at Sam. Daniel was now very certain that something was up between those two. When Sam looked over at Jack briefly with a sad smile, Daniel closed his eyes and pretended to have fallen asleep, possibly allowing them some privacy to talk. He heard Janet's heels clicking as she left the room and he waited.
Though not convinced Daniel was really asleep so fast, Jack locked eyes with Carter, his dark eyes hopefully expressing his need to talk to her. When she sat up and swung her legs over the side of her bed, facing him, he was sure she got the message. He felt his heart clench when he saw the desperate need not to be hurt again in those blue orbs of hers, and his mouth flapped open and closed a few times as he tried to find the words he was searching for. "Carter, I-"
She cut him off for a moment, jerking her thumb behind her at Daniel, who was so obviously feigning sleep. Normally, his mouth hung open when he slept. At the moment his lips were pursed like he was trying too hard to fool them.
Jack didn't care. He just lowered his voice to a whisper, waving her over as he fiddled with the bed controls to sit himself up. "Please." He would have gone to her, but she wasn't hooked up to as many wires as he was and it was easier for her to drag her IV pole over.
Getting up unsurely, Carter carefully made her way over, perching herself on the edge of his bed. She smiled at him tightly, an uneasy expression on her face.
"I'm sorry," he whispered sincerely, reaching over with his left hand to take her hand in his.
Her brows furrowed as though she didn't know what he was talking about. "Sir?" she questioned, just as quietly.
Just outside the infirmary, Jacob had been on his way to check on his daughter and the rest of her team when he stopped just shy of the door, hearing the hushed voices inside. He leaned against the wall, just out of sight, and listened.
Jack took a slow, deep breath and tried not to wince. "I'm sorry for pushing you away, for acting like I didn't care and pretending rules and regulations were more important than the way I feel about you." As her eyes watered and her lower lip trembled like she was about to say something, Jack rose a single finger to her lips, silently asking for her to let him continue before he lost his nerve.
Carter gave a single nod of assent and allowed Jack to continue.
Daniel slowly turned on his side so that his back was to them, still pretending to be asleep. He didn't want his face to betray that he was listening. For effect, he made a short snoring noise and mumbled something unintelligible, breathing slowly and evenly.
Jack shot a glare at Daniel's back and his voice got even quieter. "I didn't think I deserved to be happy again. I was scared." He paused for a moment and was grateful that Carter still hadn't said anything. "I finally realize that I'm more scared of losing you in my life than anything else." Jack's hand squeezed hers. "I love you Carter, and I want us to be happy. Together."
Taking that as her cue to start talking now, Sam felt her eyes spill over with tears and sniffed. She held back a smile a looked him in the eyes seriously. "What about regulations? They're not just going to go away."
His eyes shifted and he sighed, still clinging to her hand. "We'll work somethin' out. I'll talk to the General. I'll retire if I have to. Maybe he could hire me back as a civilian consultant." The Colonel gave a one-shouldered shrug.
Sam frowned. "You'd be behind a desk. You'll hate that."
O'Neill's chin rose and he met her eyes again. "I'd hate being away from you even more."
She smiled. It was genuine and full of love and hope. "You're right. We'll figure something out. We just don't have to do that right away."
He nodded, slowly, and a grin spread across his face when she leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. There was a worried look in his eyes when he pulled his head back and frowned slightly. "What about Pete?"
Sam clenched her jaw and looked down with embarrassment. "It was over before it started," she admitted softly. She looked up again and gave him a loving smile. "He's not you."
Jack grinned, then said, "You still mad at me?"
She snorted and lightly swatted his leg. "Maybe. But you can make it up to me."
His dark eyes lit up like a little boy on Christmas. "You bet."
Over at Daniel's bed, the archaeologist closed his eyes and smiled, while in the hallway, Jacob leaned against the wall, grinning to himself as he quietly muttered, "Finally."
-The End-