Atlantis Season 4 Episode 8 – The Seer
Episode summary: Woolsey arrives for Sam's 3 month review. He tells her he will observe only, but very quickly he starts sticking his oar in, arguing against practically every decision Sam makes. Things reach a head when, during a stand off when two Wraith ships arrive in orbit, Sam opts to use the cloak rather than the shield, and tells Sheppard to wait before firing the drones, knowing the weapons fire will give away their position. Woolsey tells Sheppard he is relieving Sam of command and orders him to fire, but Sheppard listens to Sam, and the Wraith ships destroy each other.
Author's note: I've amended the end of the episode a little. In my version, rather than Woolsey going back to Earth alone, Sam is going with him. I've therefore relocated most of their last conversation onto the Midway station, and have used some of the dialogue from that scene of the episode – I'm not claiming that as my own, obviously.
"Rodney!" John stuck his head into McKay's lab. "It's almost 1500, come and see Carter off with me."
"Yeah yeah yeah, just one second." Rodney said distractedly.
"Now Rodney."
"Coming." He shut the lid of his laptop and followed.
A few minutes later John knocked on the open doorframe of Sam's quarters.
"Knock knock." He said.
She looked up from the duffel she was packing with clothes. "Hey."
"You're packing pretty light, aren't you?" McKay said, frowning at Sam's little duffel bag.
Sam shrugged. "It's not like I don't already have clothes back on Earth. I only need stuff for the 24 hour quarantine on Midway." She winced. "Assuming the IOA don't fire me that is. Maybe I should have packed the lot."
"They're not going to fire you." John said. "It all turned out alright in the end, didn't it?"
"Woolsey had so little confidence in me that he actively tried to seize command of Atlantis in the middle of a crisis." Sam said. "Honestly, I think it's six to nine and picking whether I ever see this place again."
"Well, for what it's worth I hope they don't fire you. You're good at your job, and we'd be worse off without you." Rodney said.
Sam smiled warmly at him. "Thanks Rodney. That means a lot."
"Looking forward to seeing Beth?" John asked. Sam grinned the widest smile he'd ever seen on her, and practically bounced on the spot.
"Like you wouldn't believe." She said. "I feel like a kid at Christmas. Only better."
John chuckled. "Honestly, my biggest worry is that you'll get home and just refuse to come back because of your adorable baby girl."
"It's just a baby." Rodney scoffed. "Sam's a scientist, not one of those ridiculous women you see cooing at prams in malls. Atlantis beats babies, hands down."
John almost laughed at the expression on Sam's face. She was staring at McKay with a mixture of pity and amusement.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Rodney, but honestly, I may need to get Teal'c to physically push me through the gate when I come back."
"Why Teal'c?" John asked curiously.
"He's the only one I can't take in a fight." Sam said with a wicked smile.
She zipped up her bag and hung it over her shoulder.
"You're going to be bouncing off the walls with excitement for those 24 hours on Midway." John teased as they started the walk down to the gate-room.
"Maybe." Sam said sheepishly. "But then again, my travelling companion hates my guts, so that might temper my mood a little."
"Don't let him bother you." John said, waving a hand dismissively. "You've done a great job here over the last three months."
Sam smiled at him. "Are you going to be ok here dealing with Todd?"
"I'll keep him in line." John assured her. "And McKay, too."
"Hey!" Rodney protested. "A little respect would go a long way."
"I'm sure John just meant that you'll keep Todd in line too." Sam said soothingly, nudging Rodney's arm with her elbow companionably.
"Sure. That's what I meant." John said sarcastically.
They entered a transporter, and in moments they were walking into the gate-room.
"Colonel Carter." Woolsey greeted her, a little coldly.
"Mr Woolsey." Sam said back, in exactly the same tone. She looked up to Chuck in the control room. "Sergeant, please dial Midway."
John, Rodney, Sam and Woolsey waited in silence in the gate-room while the gate dialled.
"Well, this is awkward." Woolsey said.
"Yes." Sam agreed simply.
"Although I suppose it's a good thing we've got a whole day to talk everything over, on the way back to Earth." Woolsey commented.
John seriously doubted that would go well for the bespectacled man.
The wormhole bloomed to life, and Sam looked back at John and Rodney with a considerably warmer expression than the one she'd been giving Woolsey.
"Have a nice trip." John said, giving Sam an awkward hug around her duffel bag.
"Yeah, uh, see you soon." Rodney added.
"Thanks guys." Sam said. She glanced around the room, taking it in. "Keep the lights on for me."
She turned back to Woolsey.
"Shall we?"
"Ladies first." He said. John would swear blind he saw Sam actually roll her eyes at the IOA representative, before she stalked into the wormhole.
Woolsey gave John and Rodney a nervous look, and then followed.
The wormhole closed.
"Something tells me Woolsey's not going to enjoy the next 24 hours." John said with a smirk.
"No." Rodney agreed. "I don't think he will."
On Midway, Woolsey excused himself immediately to write a report, holing up with his laptop in a corner. Sam shrugged, and headed for the control centre. She was going to spend the time running diagnostics on the Midway station itself. It would save an engineer or two from having to make a special trip to do it later.
At dinner time, she headed to the small kitchenette and broke out some field rations, bringing a packet of it to Woolsey.
"Thank you." He said, looking at the field-ready packet dubiously. "Dare I ask what it is?"
"Macaroni and cheese." Sam said, with sarcastic enthusiasm. "But, like everything else, it'll taste like chicken."
She sat down in the chair opposite him – he'd monopolised the only table, after all – and tucked into her own meal.
"I don't know how you lived on this stuff for ten years." Woolsey said, after swallowing down his first mouthful with the demeanour of a man being forced to eat a live maggot.
"You get used to it." Sam said dismissively. "Plus, I was home on Earth more often than not."
"I suppose you're looking forward to going home now and seeing your daughter." Woolsey said.
"Very much so, yes." Sam said, although the smile she gave Woolsey was considerably more muted than the one she'd given Sheppard for the same question earlier. She was still on guard.
"I imagine it will be hard for you to leave her again when it's time to head back after your review." He continued.
Sam looked at him carefully. "Yes, it will. Assuming I'm going back, of course."
Woolsey looked up from his dinner and met her eye. "Colonel, for what it's worth … my report isn't going to be as unfavourable as you might believe."
"Really?"
He sighed. "In that moment, I really thought I was making the right call."
She presumed he meant when he'd attempted to remove her from command in the middle of a crisis, giving a member of her team an order that directly contradicted her own.
"It was a difficult situation, for everyone." She allowed, somewhat generously, she thought.
"I just have one question." He said.
Uh oh.
"How did you know that the two Wraith ships would fire on each other?"
Sam gave him a level look. "I didn't."
He looked disturbed.
"Are you gonna put that in your report?" She asked tightly.
"It probably would be better if I didn't." He said. "There may be such a thing as being too thorough."
Sam smiled and shook her head bemusedly. Maybe he had a soul after all.
Sam knew there was no point in her going to bed at 2200 when Woolsey did – she was way too wired to sleep that early.
She worked on the station diagnostics into the middle of the night, and then finally fell into the bunk above Woolsey, and drifted into an exhausted sleep.
In the morning, she woke first, and was up, dressed and working again before Woolsey had stirred.
"Did you even go to bed last night?" Woolsey asked incredulously when he got up and found her in exactly the same position she'd been in when he'd gone to bed the previous evening.
"Sure, I slept for a few hours." She said, not looking up from her work.
He just shook his head in disbelief and went back to his laptop.
At 1400 Atlantis time, Sam stopped her work in the control room. She couldn't focus anymore, her stomach was full of butterflies. She sat down against a wall and closed her eyes, trying to imagine that she was in Teal'c's quarters, surrounded by the soft glow of his dozens of candles.
"Not long now." Woolsey sighed, obviously to himself. She glared at him, but he didn't look up and notice.
Meditating wasn't working. She tried reciting gate addresses in her head instead. And then the periodic table of elements, and then prime numbers.
She looked at her watch. 1425. She stripped off her jacket and opted for a little light exercise instead, to work off some nervous energy. Sit ups, push ups – jogging a couple of laps around the station. Woolsey looked pretty irritated by that point.
At 1445, Sam blew out an exasperated breath.
"It couldn't hurt to be fifteen minutes early, could it?" Woolsey said, obviously as fed up with her antics, as she was with the wait.
Still, she couldn't really bring herself to care about his motivations. "Absolutely not." She agreed, and headed to the control room.
She set the gate to dialling, and sent both the forwarding macro and the IDC.
"Just to warn you, Mr Woolsey, if you say 'ladies first', it's not going to end well for you." She lightly as they walked towards the open stargate.
He spun his head to look at her, alarmed. "Duly noted." He said, and strode determinedly into the wormhole.
Sam allowed herself a chuckle of amusement, and then quickly followed.
The familiar feeling of her boot hitting the metal grating of the SGC's ramp, was delightful.
"Sam!" A female voice squealed, and she was nearly bowled over by Vala, who threw her arms around Sam's neck as she ploughed into her.
"Hi Vala." Sam said through the curtain of bushy black hair covering her face, holding her bag in one hand and patting Vala's back with the other.
"Ok, that's enough, my turn." Daniel said, and Sam found herself transferred into Daniel's arms instead.
"God I missed you." Sam breathed into his BDU jacket.
Daniel chuckled, the vibration echoing in his chest. "Missed you too."
He released her, and she barely had time to draw breath before Cameron was on her.
"Hey you." He said, giving her a quick squeeze before releasing her.
Teal'c didn't move straight in for the hug, but gripped her upper arms briefly, giving her a deep, emotion-laden look, and then hugged her, with enough force that she had to hold her breath.
Finally, she got down the ramp. Her husband was grinning at her. She wondered if she could get away with throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him right there in the gate-room. Probably not a good idea.
"Hey Carter." He said, with a twinkle in his eye. "Miss me?"
Stuff decorum. He was getting a hug.
It took far longer to get out of the mountain than Sam had hoped. It was, however, perhaps an inevitable by-product of the tumultuous events of the couple of days preceding Sam's return to Earth. It wasn't every day that they essentially captured a Wraith scientist who had a decent plan to fight the Replicators, after all. Not to mention the Replicators' massacre of over 150,000 humans across the galaxy, and that little tete-a-tete she'd had with Woolsey over the two Wraith ships and the city's cloak.
General Casey, the new Head of Homeworld Security, eventually took pity on her and let her go, and she practically ran to the locker room, where Vala was waiting with Sam's change of clothes.
"Woah, look at you." Sam exclaimed as she entered the women's locker room and got her first proper look at Vala's baby bump. It was only a little one, but she had such a tiny waist normally that it showed.
"I know, isn't it wonderful?" Vala said, stroking a hand over her belly.
Sam grinned fondly. "Everything going ok?" She asked as she started changing into the jeans and blouse Vala had brought for her.
"Mmm-hmm." Vala nodded. "Dr Lam says I'm the picture of health."
"Are you guys all coming back to the house?" Sam asked.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Vala said. "Assuming that's alright with you of course; I mean it would be understandable if you wanted Beth to yourself for a bit."
"It's fine, I'd love to have you all there. Not that I'm not planning on hogging Beth for a good long while, mind." She added.
"Cassandra's there already, playing babysitter." Vala told her as Sam buttoned up her blouse and shoved her uniform into the laundry.
"Wait!" Vala called as Sam headed for the door. She tossed Sam a leather jacket. "It's winter, you'll freeze." She scolded.
"Thanks." Sam grinned, and they headed up to the surface.
Jack, Daniel, Cameron and Teal'c were waiting in the parking lot.
Sam walked straight into Jack's arms and kissed him. Neither of them were in uniform anymore, and she figured the parking lot didn't count as 'on base'.
They got a little caught up in it. By the time they stopped for air, the other four had disappeared. "Oops." She said sheepishly.
"We'll catch them up." Jack said.
"Can I drive?"
Jack laughed. "Absolutely not. You break speed limits when you're not rushing home to see your daughter after a three month absence. If I let you drive now we'd probably end up in orbit."
Sam rolled her eyes and got in the passenger side of Jack's truck.
Sam had the passenger door open before Jack had even pulled the truck to a halt.
Cassie was waiting at the open front door, with a little blonde angel in her arms. She grinned as Sam ran up the path, and Cassie held Beth out like a trophy, making the little girl wriggle and squeal.
Sam caught Beth up in her arms and then sank to the ground. She just sat there, tears pouring down her cheeks as she held her baby tightly, Beth's little hands grabbing at Sam's jacket, gurgling at Sam happily.
She had absolutely no idea how long it was that she stayed there like that, but eventually Teal'c helped her to her feet, her arms still full of Beth, and Jack put his arm around her, guiding her into the house.
Jack led her over to the couch, and she settled at one end with Beth perched in her lap, utterly mesmerised.
Jack crouched beside them, and looked Beth in the eye.
"Give mommy a kiss." He instructed, and to Sam's amazement, Beth leaned into Sam and her little mouth connected wetly with Sam's chin.
She didn't know whether to laugh of cry. She did both.
If Sam had had her way, Beth would have stayed cuddled on her lap for the rest of the day, but the 9 month old wouldn't have it. She was crawling now, and grew restless in Sam's lap after a while, and so they moved to the floor to play.
"Do you think she remembers that I'm her Mom?" Sam asked Cassie, who was sitting on the floor beside her while Beth played with stacking blocks.
Cassie didn't answer immediately, which Sam took as a heartbreaking 'no'. "I don't think her worldview is that complex yet." Cassie answered. "She does seem to remember you – after all she's shy around strangers and she's been perfectly comfortable with you. But … for babies her age, 'Mom' is the female who's there all the time. I'm not sure she's differentiating right now between you, and me and Vala."
Sam nodded, and tried not to cry.
"Hey, it's ok." Cassie said, catching Sam's expression and putting an arm round her. "When you're back here for good there'll be plenty of time to catch up on some mother-daughter bonding."
"I just feel like I'm missing so much. By the time I get back she'll probably be walking and talking …"
Oh God. I can't leave. McKay's going to be so disappointed in me.
"Maybe she will, but who remembers being one year old? You'll be back long before she starts forming long-term memories."
Sam laid her head on Cassie's shoulder. "When did you learn so much about infant development?" She asked curiously.
"I did an undergrad course on it." Cassie answered simply. "Plus, I've been reading stuff about it since Beth arrived. It's interesting."
"How's school?" Sam asked, although she already knew the answer for the most part. She and Cassie exchanged letters in the Atlantis data burst every week.
"It's good. It's certainly keeping me busy."
"Are you sure you're still happy going to school here? It wouldn't be too hard to transfer to another medical school if the course was better for you."
Cassie gave her a quelling look. "I'm fine here, Sam. I did pre-med out of state, but now I just want to live close to everyone. Besides –" she leaned forward and seized Beth, who squealed, and held the baby in a standing up position between her outstretched legs, "if I moved away I wouldn't get to babysit for you, would I Lizzybit!"
Sam chuckled at the nickname.
Vala poked her head into the room. "The boys say dinner will be five minutes. Personally I think it's done right now, but Jack seems to think it's not edible until it's burned."
"Never get between Jack and his barbecue meat." Sam warned. "He takes it very seriously."
"Have they got out some dinner for this one yet?" Cassie asked, bouncing Beth a little.
"I don't think so."
Sam looked at Cassie with a bit of a lost expression – Beth had still been almost entirely on formula when she'd left for Atlantis. Cassie gave her an encouraging smile. "Come on, I'll show you what she eats these days."
They stood up and Cassie lifted Beth into the air easily, depositing her in Sam's arms. Sam's heart swelled when Beth snuggled in, burying her face in Sam's neck.
Sam fed Beth her dinner, with Jack's subtle guidance. It was technically winter, so they ate inside even though Jack had insisted on barbecuing. Afterwards, Jack and Sam disappeared with Beth to bathe her and put her to bed, while the others stayed in the living room chatting.
Jack tucked Sam under his arm as they stood together watching Beth doze off in her crib.
"I can't go back." Sam whispered.
Jack made a noise in his throat and put his face in Sam's hair. "Yes you can." He told her soothingly. "You're half-way there. It's only three months more, and then you'll be home for good."
Sam sighed, and a couple of tears rolled down her cheeks. "I've missed so much already."
"Not really." Jack argued. "Yeah, she's crawling, but she's still a baby."
"It's way more than that. She understands when people talk to her, and she has little babbling conversations with people. She's developing this whole personality and I'm missing it."
Jack turned and wrapped her in his arms properly. "She'll still have a lot of developing to do when you get back." He whispered. "I know it seems like a lot's happening without you, and believe me, I know how you feel."
She looked up at him. "Charlie?"
"I was gone for twelve of the first twenty-four months of his life." Jack told her. "I missed stuff, and yeah, it sucked, and it's time I'll never get back. But you've got the finishing line in sight. You just need to hang in there a few months more."
Sam put her forehead on his shoulder and took a deep breath.
"Come on." He said, pulling her towards the door. "The guys want some 'Sam' time now that Beth's not hogging your attention."
She chuckled, and followed him out of Beth's nursery.
"Have you and Daniel talked about marriage?" Sam asked Jack as she lay with her head on his chest in the middle of the night.
Jack's arm snaked around her back. "Sick of me already?" He joked. "Although I'm a little alarmed that you think Daniel is who I should marry instead …"
She swatted him. "You know what I mean. Vala's … what, five months pregnant now? I just wondered if you've talked to him about when or if they're planning on … you know …"
"Getting hitched?" He sighed. "I brought it up once, a couple of months ago. He didn't really want to talk about it."
"We know they get married eventually." Sam said.
"Yes we do." Jack agreed. "And …"
"And …?"
"The last thing that 'old' Daniel said to me in the future was that he'd need me to kick his ass and tell him to just marry her already at some point."
"Don't suppose he told you when that point would be?"
"Of course not. Since when has any of this future crap been that straightforward?"
Sam chuckled hollowly. "I guess there's not really any rush. They've got their whole lives left to live with Serena."
"Hmm."
He sounded pensive, so she lifted her head to look at him. He shrugged. "I think he's still carrying around some issues to do with Sha're. I think he's half convinced that if he marries Vala, something awful will happen and he'll lose her."
Sam frowned and tucked her head back down. "Let's not push him just yet." She said. "Give him some time to work things out."
Jack chuckled and kissed her hair. "Yes boss."
She smiled against his chest.
Sam had a full week of leave, and then had a meeting in Washington DC at the Department of Homeworld Security for the results of her three month review. Jack came with her, leaving Beth in the capable care of Vala and Daniel.
Having left Jack to occupy himself while he waited for her, she headed into the Pentagon in her immaculate dress uniform, and presented herself at General Casey's office. Richard Woolsey came to collect her, and led her to a meeting room.
It was a long day. They went over what felt like every decision she'd made in the last three months, up to and including the visit from Woolsey himself.
By the time they'd done that, Sam was convinced she was getting reassigned.
She was completely shocked, therefore, when Woolsey delivered the IOA's verdict.
"Overall, Colonel, we have no complaints." Woolsey said. "We feel your command decisions have been sound, and although I must admit to some personal alarm at the degree of risk-taking in this last situation, in retrospect I can see that every decision you made was carefully considered, and calculated to achieve the optimal outcome."
He smiled at her. "The IOA recommends that you continue in your post until the end of your allotted time."
She was a little bit stunned.
General Casey added his two cents. "Personally Colonel, I wish we could convince you to continue beyond the end of the six month period, but Jack has assured me that's a non-starter."
Sam smiled tightly. "Yes sir."
"You're scheduled to return to Midway at 0900 on the twelfth." Casey said, looking down at his notes. "That gives us four more whole days with you on Earth. I'll need you to stay in town for the next two, so we can take care of some housekeeping, and then you can take the last two as leave."
"Thank you sir."
"I think we're done for today." Casey said, glancing at Woolsey, who nodded. Casey gave her a warm smile. "You're dismissed, Colonel."
"Yes sir, thank you sir."
She stood at attention briefly, and then left the room.
She sent a quick text message to Jack, and he was waiting for her outside when she got out of the Pentagon grounds.
"Well?" He asked as she walked up to him.
"I passed." She said with a surprised shrug. "Apparently Woolsey doesn't hate my guts as much as I thought he did."
"Way to go, Carter." Jack said, nudging her arm as they walked back towards their hired car. "Hammond invited us over for dinner. We'll go back to the hotel so you can get changed and then head over."
She almost refused to go back.
If leaving Beth the first time had been hard, the second time was torture. They choreographed it similarly to the last time, except that this time Jack came with her to the SGC, and Vala stayed at the house with Cassie and Beth. Once Sam had finally torn herself away from Beth, Teal'c drove her to the SGC, while she sobbed in the back in Jack's arms.
As she had twenty-four hours on Midway to pull herself together, Sam didn't worry too much about the redness of her eyes when she changed into her Atlantis uniform in the locker room.
Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and Cameron all came to the gate-room to see her off. She had a big hug with each of her guys, Jack included, and then Cameron signalled Walter to dial Midway.
With the stargate active, she had a last look back at Jack from the top of the ramp, and then all but threw herself through the event horizon before she could lose her resolve entirely.
On Midway, she cried for the next four hours straight, and then pulled herself together sternly, and got back to work on the station maintenance.
"Welcome back!" Sheppard said cheerfully, when Sam stepped through the gate and into the beautiful Atlantis atrium gate-room. Sheppard, McKay and Dr Keller were all there to greet her.
"I take it you didn't get fired?" McKay asked, and Dr Keller swatted his arm.
"Rodney!" She scolded, but Sam laughed.
"It's ok doctor. No McKay, I didn't get fired. You're stuck with me for the next three months."
"Have you got a picture?" Sheppard asked, and Sam pulled one from her pocket ruefully.
It was a photo of Sam holding Beth, the two of them beaming at each other, taken a couple of days ago.
"Oh my God, that's adorable." Keller cooed, peering over John's shoulder.
Sam felt her eyes tearing up, and furiously ordered her tear ducts back under control.
"I'm gonna go dump my stuff." Sam said. If she was going to cry, she'd rather not do it in the gateroom.
Keller went back to work, but Sheppard and Rodney trailed her all the way to her quarters, while they exchanged news.
She dropped her bag on her bed, along with the small box of gifts her friends had sent her back with. Sheppard handed her back the photo he'd been holding, and she looked at it.
It was inevitable really. She burst into tears.
Sheppard pulled her into a hug, and McKay patted her shoulder awkwardly, mumbling inanities.
She pulled herself together as fast as humanly possible, and McKay shoved a box of tissues under her nose. She mopped her face dry, and took a few deep breaths.
"Sorry." She mumbled.
"Don't be silly." John drawled. "This was always going to be the hard part."
"I almost didn't come back." She admitted.
"Well, I'm glad you did." John said, and McKay nodded emphatically.
"We need you here." Rodney insisted. "And I'm sure, uh … Beth will be fine."
Sam sighed. "Yeah, she will." She dredged up a smile for the guys. "I'll be ok, really, it's just that saying goodbye was rough."
They both looked at her sympathetically, and she took a deep breath and shook her head to clear it. "Let's get back to work."