AU: Sam's time missing onboard the Prometheus drives Jack to distraction, setting them on a course they have denied themselves for years. Set in Season 7 after 7.13 Grace, but before 7.16 Death Knell.
Prequel to Lost and Found.
Chapter Summary: Sam tells Samantha. I loved how Jack bounded up the stairs and told the Langaran's 'the deal was off' because he liked the Madronan's.
Chapter 6: Quantum Confidante
The other side - Tuesday morning, 20th January 2004
I knew without a doubt that I would be late for this morning's briefing, and this time it wasn't Gracie's fault. It was mine. I had stopped at the mirror to find a video USB with a note. After so many years, I was able to translate the code without a second look. A simple one-line message saying 'the door is open' had my heart beating wildly. They had done it. After five years of me pushing and encouraging, Sam had finally taken the plunge with Jack. Rushing to my lab, I made sure to double check my translation in case I had made a mistake. There was no mistake.
"Oh, wow." I breathed and found myself smiling as I fumbled with the USB stick, first trying to insert it the wrong way, then the right way, but slightly crooked and again the wrong way before I finally looked at the stick, looked at the laptop and steadied my hand to insert the damn thing correctly. Why did USB stick always do that?
Half of me was blissfully happy for them, the other half – green with envy. For years after my jaunt through the mirror, the jealous unfeeling part of me wanted nothing more than to swap with Sam, to give her this place. A reality where she could focus of her beloved career while I could have the family I always wanted. Those were dark days for me. As time went on, I saw how she genuinely loved and cared for Jack. The realisation hit me around Gracie's first birthday that she would never be happy in this reality, because he was not here.
The video opened to Sam with the kind of smile I only remember wearing when I was with Jack, most notably on our wedding day.
"Samantha. We did it. We… he came over… Friday. My God Sam, you were right. It was like coming home. I can't believe I didn't do anything sooner. We have lost so much time. Thank you."
I smiled and clasped my hands over my mouth, an errant tear escaping. My friend, my identical twin sister if you will, was finally happy with the only man who truly knew her. Who could truly love and cherish her the way she – we deserved.
"Please know that I bear you no grudge over what happened when you were here. I understand, I finally get it, and I am so sorry that you lost him and so happy that my Jack gave you Gracie. I hope Jack and I get to meet our Gracie, one day."
I hoped so as well. Finding out I was pregnant with Jack's baby had brought me back from a dangerous edge of self-harm. He had given me so much more than he would ever know. So much more than anyone would ever know. Gracie was special. Not just because she was my daughter with Jack. She had a calmness about her. The word I would use is serenity. She had been a quiet baby, smiled early and often, rarely cried, and had never had a tantrum, not even through her terrible two's. If I was ever upset or angry, I simple hug from her would take whatever it was causing the problem away – as if it were never there. She could heal little things like sniffily noses, grazes, minor cuts, or burns. Of course, I had never told anybody about this. It wasn't until a conversation a few months ago about Jack's son Charlie and how she was special like her Daddy and Charlie that had me reviewing notes made about the Ancient gene that Sam claimed her Jack carried. I wondered if it was this gene that gave Gracie her abilities. Turning my attention back to her video, I realised I had missed most of what she said.
"Anyway, I have to go. The Langaran's are here, and I am sure that Jack is getting ready to murder them. I just wanted to tell you." She said with another huge smile before signing off.
Finally, after so many years of them denying each other, they had done it. I found myself thinking of my time on the other side. His kiss before he left had been bittersweet, but his heart was not in it. I knew he wanted her. His eyes always lingered on her a little longer, he even called out to her in that room. I didn't mind. Not really, though I admit feeling cheated back then because I wanted him, and she had him. She had him and didn't want him. Well, she did want him, she just wouldn't sacrifice her military career for him, and I found that sad. The sound of my name being paged over the intercom startled me out of my thoughts.
"Doctor Carter-O'Neill to the briefing room."
Getting up, I rushed through the corridors and down the elevators to level 27, walking into the room to find Charlie, Uncle George and Colonel Makepeace waiting for me. I was not even sure why I was here for this meeting considering it was about something found in the ice near where the other Stargate was located six years ago. Jack and I had made our first date, but he got stuck and I thought I had lost him before we had the chance to start anything. When he came home, he had been stuck in the infirmary for several weeks and then at home for another month. Our first date ended up being in his living room watching a movie with a pizza.
"Glad you could join us, Doctor."
"Sorry, General."
"Let's get started. Colonel." He motioned to Makepeace.
"Thank you General. As you know, the scientists based at McMurdo found something interesting. A human woman believed to be ten thousand years old."
"Yes, something about her waking up and infecting everyone on the base, then healing them?"
"Yes. It was not that she healed them, it was how she healed them." The Colonel was staring at me as he said that as if I had any knowledge about how she healed the others. He couldn't know about Gracie's ability. I went out of my way to ensure that no one else knew about it. No one was going to take my little girl away from me. I would send her through the mirror to Jack and Sam rather than see her in the hands of a man like Colonel Makepeace. There was something about him that just didn't sit right with me. I had not replied to Sam, but I would and when I did, I would let her know my intentions should anything happen on this side.
Wednesday afternoon, 21st January 2004
Pacing the length of the MALP room to cool my jets before returning to the briefing room to deal with these intergalactic pains in the arses, I found myself muttering and cursing under my breath. Something I generally only did when I was stressed or, dare I admit it, scared. I had not experienced that emotion in years, not since losing Charlie. I sighed, no that was not entirely true. In truth, I had experienced it for the first time after Charlie when Jolinar died nearly taking Sam with her. An image of Sam's pale lifeless skin, electrodes, Fraiser doing CPR, invaded my mind. I had already been working on a serious crush bordering on infatuation at that stage.
At least we managed to save almost an entire population during that mission. This time, Carter was putting her life on the line for a bunch of bureaucratic boneheads more interested in fighting each other than working together to save their planet. Would killing our allies be a bad thing? Yes, I suppose it would. The three of them could barely get through the initial pleasantries without resorting to name calling and accusations. How Daniel did this sort of work without losing his mind was beyond me. Give me a gun, ammunition, and a target any day over this diplomacy crap. Here we are almost a full day later and they are still arguing over who started it, who did what to whom and why.
To top it all off, their planet was about to go boom and with it, Carter, Teal'c and Jonas. The stealthy Goa'uld made it even worse. "Stop it, Jack." I muttered to myself. I couldn't think of Carter being so far below the surface of a volatile planet or I would never make it through this. The thought of losing her after finding everything I had hoped and dreamed of with her was too much. Carter was tough, smart, and resourceful. With Teal'c and Jonas at her side, there was nothing that they could not accomplish. Besides Carter was a pro at exploding planetary bodies. I just needed to keep my Colonel face on a little longer and weather this situation without killing anybody.
The tell-tale signs of the mirror connecting had me backing up to the wall. The door was closed, but there was no mistaking what that sound was, and here I was without a zat or my service weapon. Damn. Barely a minute later the mirror disconnected, but I didn't move. Without cameras in that room, I had no idea if someone was waiting on the other side, or if it was a note from Samantha. Considering she normally messaged on a Tuesday, and today was Wednesday, there was a good chance that it wasn't her. I would need a weapon before I opened that door. Looking at the shelf beside me, I saw one of Siler's colossal wrenches. That would do. Grabbing it, I moved to the opposite side of the door with my back to the wall and carded the lock. A quick flick of my eyes confirmed the room to be empty except for the shelves, sign boarded step ladder and an envelope.
Walking over, I stooped to pick up the envelope. It had a single Stargate symbol on the front and contained two notes and a USB stick. Both notes were a jumble of Stargate symbols that made no sense. Although my well-earned persona was that of a dumb as boots Colonel, my love of astronomy and ironclad understanding of the Stargate mechanics learned after years of paying attention to Carter fruit explanations told me that the jumble of letters on the pages were not addresses. Sam and Samantha were using a manual encryption code for their messages. Smart. I smiled at the ingenuity synonymous with Carter. Refolding the notes around the USB stick and popping them back into the envelope before shoving the package into my pocket. I would leave it on Carter's lab desk before returning to the tedium on level 27. It was a shame to inflict these people on the Madronan's.
Spinning the wrench in my hand, I left the mirror room ensuring the door was locked, running into none other than Siler. A very smelly and what I hoped was water drenched Siler on my way out.
"Sir!" He said, straightening his spine.
"Hey Sly." I replied with a crinkle of my nose. "What is that?"
"Oh, one of the scrubber pipes burst Sir. After it was fixed, I had to manually restart the scrubber. It made sense to clean it at the same time." He explained, pushing his glasses back onto his face.
"Oh, right."
"You need something fixed Sir?" He said motioning to the wrench in my hand.
"No. I thought I heard the mirror connecting, but there was nothing there. I didn't want to check it out empty handed." I replied placing it back on the shelf.
"Good choice Sir. Though, next time, try this one." He said pointing out a massive pipe wrench from another part of the shelf, a big sister to the one in his other hand. "If you loosen this part here, the top flies out when you swing." He explained by way of demonstration.
"Wow Siler, you're not just a pretty face."
"Thank you, Sir. Though it was Major Carter who suggested it to me."
I smiled, "Of course it was. Gotta respect a woman who can kick your arse, hey Sly." I replied, heading back to my diplomatic fate.
"Yes, Sir." He nodded with a huge smile. "We should get her back and pack those three clowns back to their doomed planet." He mumbled as I walked past him.
"Excuse me?"
He visibly straightened again, his face turning nervous. "Sorry Sir! I spoke out of turn, I apologise. It won't hap…"
"No, that's not it." I interrupted. "You have just given me an idea." I was about to pat his shoulder, but the green slimy blob made me change my mind. "As you were Sly. I gotta go!" I yelled while jogging to the door. If they couldn't get their act together, we'd remove their escape plan. After all, we really did like the people from Madrona a lot more than them.