The Tegan Chronicles

Intuition and Lies 7

"Kiser!" Jack put his hand into the closing doors of the elevator causing them to open.

She'd hoped to slip into the elevator and off base before he caught up with her. "Sir."

"What are you doing the rest of the weekend?"

"I'm sure I'll find something to keep me busy, sir."

"Mandatory leave," He reminded.

"Yes sir, I know." She smiled lightly.

"Come fishing with me."

It was always the same request when they were off. He always wanted to go to his cabin in Minnesota and go fishing in the lake there. The same lake in which Teal'c swore there were absolutely zero fish.

"If I go, will you stop bugging me to go?"

"Sure." He smiled. "But you'll love it so much you'll be begging to tag along next time."

"Some how I doubt that." Which was how she found herself sitting in the small rowboat. She looked at the Caiman sun bathing on the bank. "I thought we were going fishing in Minnesota?"

"Minnesota the Amazon, it's all the same. Besides I thought you liked adventure."

"I do."

A warm breeze blew from behind them and caught Jack's fishing hat blowing it off his head and landing in the water near the front of the boat. Tegan reached for it and screamed out "JACK!" as the razor sharp teeth of piranha attacked her left lower arm.

Jack had been sitting there replaying what had transpired on the planet for the tenth time since coming into the room. He could remember Tegan's expression, every microscopic detail was etched in his mind. And then he heard it, the same scream she'd screamed when Hek'tu pulled her arm into the vat of acid, except this time it was his name.

Janet turned to see Jack pulling his mask off and burying his head into the trash can. In that moment she realized just how horrific it must have been for him to whitness her losing her arm. She turned her attention to Tegan whose blood pressure had temporarily shot up, but was now back down in a normal range. "Colonel?"

"I'm fine." He stood up replacing the mask. "Is she? What just happened?"

"We're not sure; she did the same thing earlier with me. I'm just not sure right now."

Jack nodded and picked up the trash can. "I'm going to go take care of this."

"Take a break Colonel, you've been here for two hours."

He nodded before slipping quietly out the door.

Janet turned as she heard the door close to find Sam's blue eyes staring out from above a medical mask.

"I took precautions." Sam pointed out before Janet could complain.

Janet nodded as she checked Tegan's radial pulse, her eyes drifting back to the monitor.

"That could be anyone of us lying there." Sam blinked back the tears stinging her eyes.

"So she wasn't playing hero?"

"Yes and no." Sam sat on the unoccupied stool beside Tegan's bed. "Hek'tu chose her. Colonel O'Neill tried to get her to pick him instead but that didn't happen." Sam sighed. "There was nothing we could do, she wanted our GDO codes. She didn't give it to her, none of us did. Just before SG9 came busting in she managed to free her hand and splash acid in her face."

Janet smiled lightly behind her mask. "That sounds like my Tegan."

Sam agreed.

"I assume she'll be discharged?"

"Probably." Sam's voice fell.

"Damn it." Janet tilted her head back as if cursing the heavens, while she did her best to force back tears.

"She can always be hired back as civilian staff, work fulltime here in the lab and help out in the infirmary."

"She's got a long road to recovery." Janet looked at Sam suddenly feeling the urge to vomit herself. "I just hope she…"

"She'll be fine," Sam reassured. "She's a fighter."

Janet nodded.

Jack came in to return the trash can with a clean one. "Carter, any luck with…"

"No sir. I'm having a hard time coming up with an ally that has both the technology and the willingness to share."

"What about the Japanese? They make those robots and stuff." He moved his hands in the air approximating the size.

"I'm afraid not sir," Sam sighed. "They don't really have the biomechanical technology she needs."

"The Tolan?"

"Possibly, but they've made it clear that they won't share their technology with us under any circumstances."

"As many times as we've saved their asses." He shook his head.

"I know sir."

"I'm going to see if I can't get something rolling." Jack nodded a good-bye.

"Can she hear me?"

Janet shrugged with her eyebrows. "Probably."

"Hey Teg, it's Sam." She felt weird. "This is strange. I mean you're not answering or anything and I'm used to you keeping up your end of the conversation. But I do talk to my plants and they don't answer. Then again you don't want to hear about our last mission, or Mark and the kids. You already know how my dad's doing."

She sat there for a few minutes. "I just want you to get better, as far as your arm goes, we'll figure it out."