Disclaimer in chapter 1

25

Jack looked around the storage area, mouth dropping open in awe. "Holy. . . ."

"Yeah," Sam smiled at him. "I had pretty much the same reaction. I've been to Area 51, before I took up universe hopping, and we don't have nearly this much stuff."

"Maybe it's stored in more places on your Earth," he said, coming up behind her. Sam was looking around the room and jumped when Jack slid his arms around her waist.

"Jack! What are you doing?"

"Taking advantage of a moment of privacy," he said, pulling her back against his chest. He kissed the outer shell of her ear, feeling her shiver and he smiled, dipping his head down to kiss the base of her neck.

"Jaaack," she moaned. "We're not alone. The cameras. . . ."

He nuzzled the hair at the back of her neck and she let out another contented sigh. "Do you have any idea how much I missed you?" he mumbled against her skin. "I was going crazy. It felt more like months instead of days."

"I know," she nodded. "I really missed you, too."

"Show me," he said, turning her around to kiss her. She kissed him back, but he could tell she wasn't as invested as he was. Gently, she pushed him away.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I just can't do this here. We're on a military base and I'm too much of a soldier to have a quickie among the stacks."

"Who said anything about it being quick?" he grinned at her. Sam smiled back at him, but he could see how seriously she took this. "Okay," he said, releasing her. "But just so you know, Samantha is a lot more fun than Major Carter."

"You'll get no argument from me."

"You could make it up to me," he teased. "Show me where they keep the alien bodies."

Sam placed her hands on her hips. "You know perfectly well there's no aliens here." She waited a moment, then totally serious added, "They're on Orilla." Taking his hand, she led him down an aisle. "Let me know if anything looks familiar."

"Like I would know what you're after? Sam, up until a few hours ago I was drilling the periodic table into brain dead teenagers. I wouldn't know Ancient technology if it bit me in the as. . .hello." He stopped dead in front of what looked to be a big arm chair. "Nice recliner."

"You recognize it?" she asked, the excitement in her voice was unmistakeable. Jack stared at the chair and the platform it rested on. Something about it was "speaking" to him, he realized. Not literally, but it was like he knew what it was. As if it was something he'd known as a child and hadn't seen in a very long time.

His voice was hushed. "I think I know this."

"You do? How do you. . .?"

"I don't know how. It's like it's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't quite reach it." He couldn't put the feeling into words any more than he could tell her what it did. Stepping forward, Jack put his hand on the arm of the chair. It seemed to be made of the same conforming material the interior of the weapon was, and without a second thought, he climbed up the platform it rested on, and he took a seat.

"Jack! What are you doing? What if. . ."

"It's okay. I know this. . . ." he repeated. Jack settled into the chair as the outer material took shape around his body. He found himself questioning how to make it work, when suddenly a light flashed on the platform.

Sam took a step back. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know. I was just thinking about how to turn it on, and that light flashed." As he spoke another section illuminated.

"I think it responds to thought commands!" Sam cried. "Try something else, like turning the chair to the right." Concentrating on moving the chair, Jack was surprised to see the entire chair start to glow the same nearly florescent green the disrupter had. He wondered if the chair would spin all the way around and suddenly found himself rotating in a circle, faster than he's anticipated.

"Stop!" he called out, and the chair came to an immediate halt. "This is so awesome!"

Sam was smiling indulgently, shaking her head. "Does it do anything besides act as a carnival ride for you?"

"It feels weak," he said.

"Weak?"

Again, he was hard pressed to put the feeling into words. "Yeah, weak. Like its batteries are low or something."

"That could be entirely possible. I mean who knows how long it's been since whatever 'this' is has been activated."

Jack continued to check out his ride. "A long time," he said. "That much I know for sure. I get the sense when it's fully charged it harnesses a huge amount of energy. I just don't know what for." He was lost in thought for a moment, then looked up at Sam. "Wanna try it?"

"Yeah, I do." He vacated his seat and Sam slid in. Nothing happened.

"Try pushing some of the buttons on the arm," he advised. "Or think about moving it one way or the other." The chair sat immobile, not a single light coming on. "Maybe I drained the batteries. Let me try again." Jack retook his position and immediately several lights came on.

"This must be one of the devices you have to have the gene to operate," Sam observed. "You're probably right about it being powerful. It seems it's only the most dangerous technologies the Ancients felt they needed to 'lock out'."

"So, do you think it's some kind of weapon?" he speculated.

Sam looked like she was still sifting through information. "I think it's a good possibility."

"Come over here," he commanded.

"What?"

"Just come over here, will you?" Sighing, Sam stepped closer.

"What?" she asked again, but she had a playful smirk on her face, reading him well enough to know he was up to something. He grabbed her around the waist and swung her up onto his lap, producing a squeal along the way.

"That is so not a noise a Major should be making," he grinned as he leaned down to kiss her. "Wanna go for a ride?" Before she could answer, Jack thought at the chair to turn left, then right then all the way around. Sam's hands gripped his shoulders in an effort to hang on, but Jack slowed down the rate of their rotation, kissing her again.

Sam's eyes were shining with mischief. "Did you miss the part about me not wanting to do this on a military base?"

"Technically, this is a storeroom. Isn't that what people do? Sneak off to the storeroom for a rendezvous?"

Sam craned her neck around. "I'm not seeing any janitorial supplies. I think that's a prerequisite."

"I'm sure there's Ancient toilet paper around here somewhere."

Sam couldn't stifle a laugh. "You're impossible, but it's why I love you." She wound her arms tighter around his neck and kissed him back, long, slow and sweet. It was an odd place to have an epiphany, but at that moment, in the middle of a vast storeroom, Jack realized nothing had ever felt so right as being with her.

Sam lay her head on his shoulder, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. "You haven't heard the whole story," she admitted quietly.

"There's more? Don't tell me I have super powers as well. Just so you know-I look really crappy in tights." She barely cracked a wan smile as she rubbed her palm over his chest. Sitting up, Sam looked him in the eyes, all business once more.

"The reason we need you to make the Ancient technology work is there's an alien force headed for Earth. We think they could arrive any day now. That's the reason the SGC wanted me. Apparently Daniel had been to an alternate reality of his own, and the Samantha Carter of that universe built some kind of weapon and saved the planet. Maybe it was based on Ancient technology she'd discovered there, I don't know. When Daniel recognized me on the security footage, he thought I could construct a similar device here. The only trouble is, I don't know how she did it. She obviously had encountered something or someone I haven't in order to build such a defense."

"Alien force, headed for Earth, you say?" She was starting to sound as irrational as she had when he'd met her.

"They're called Replicators," she continued, ignoring his sarcasm. "They're comprised of individual blocks that work together to make up whatever shape they need. Their purpose is to consume matter and to replicate, and they'll use any means necessary to accomplish that goal."

Jack wasn't sure what to say to that. Prove it? It sounded ridiculous, but was it any more outlandish than finding out he had something in his body that let him turn on fantastical devices? He had more than enough to wrap his head around with the whole gene thing. He wasn't sure he could add the Replicators to the list as well.

"Come on," she said, getting off his lap and offering him a hand up. "I've got some inert blocks in my lab and the video from when Reese, their creator, was here. It'll help explain things better."

A/N-Chapter 26 later today.