Authors Note: Well looks like I have an unexpected 4 day weekend! We had some serious flooding in our region on Thursday (it's now Friday) and I'm not back at work until Monday. Hoorah! Hopefully this means I can get plenty of chapters up for y'all. ;) We have no serious damage at our house but lots of the highways are still closed due to flooding & slips which makes travelling a pain in the rear to be honest!

..

The Virus

Chapter 16

..

Sam threw herself onto her new bed with a sigh of contentment. Thankfully after the initial chaos on Iso, everyone seemed to settle down and follow directions without complaint. On reaching the base they were met with military teams of two who led each group to their quarters. There must have been a ridiculous amount of organisation involved. The teams had clipboards with long lists that included all the refugee's names and their destinations within their new mountain home. Sam was incredibly relieved to not have that job and had just followed along with the rest of the Blue group until her 'team leaders' pointed out her room.

She knew she didn't have time to lay around on her bed all day… but it literally felt like heaven at the moment. The first thing she had noticed after closing the door to her new room was the lack of sound. When you have lived in a tent for over a month you find a whole new appreciation of privacy. She closed her eyes and focused on the quiet hum of electricity. It was so wonderfully quiet she could hear each breath she took, so when the door suddenly swung open with a bang as it hit the wall she nearly leapt out of her skin. Jack had arrived and was dragging his bags behind him and swearing under his breath.

"Oh, you made it here first." His face lit up at the sight of her and she suddenly felt shy. She was no longer in her little bubble on Palla. Here on Earth for as long as she had known him – he had been her superior. He flopped onto the bed next to her and turned to face her, propping himself up on one elbow. "You okay?" He asked worriedly. Obviously she wasn't hiding her feelings as well as she had thought.

"I'm fine." She gave him her best smile and leaned in giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Hey, is that all I get?" He pouted and she grinned. Okay, he was still her Jack. This time she gently nudged him until he lay on his back before moving herself over him and lowering her face to his. She kissed him with all she had and it wasn't until she ran out of breath that she finally pulled away, panting slightly.

"I guess we had better get down to the General's office." She had told General Hammond they would head down as soon as they had dropped their belongings off in their room.

"I would really like to christen this bed." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. She hit him lightly in the chest and rolled off him.

"I'm sure you would, but we have a job to do." She slid off the bed and went around to his side, holding out her hand to help him up. "Tonight Jack, tonight you can have your way with me." She giggled at the expression on his face and tugged him to his feet.

..

On their trip down to General Hammond's office Sam discovered that people were not as calm as they had been when they first arrived. Perhaps the initial shock of being back on Earth had worn off. Many of the doors they passed were open and parents were corralling their children and herding them back into their rooms with harried looks on their faces. There were many adults arguing and on entering the elevator she and Jack had the pleasure of breaking up a fist fight between two men. It was an uncomfortable ride down to the General's office as they stood between two red faced men shooting dirty looks at each other over their heads.

It was with great relief that she closed the General's office door behind them. She took a seat opposite his desk, Jack following suit.

"Well Major Carter you will be pleased to know we have finally managed to get in contact with the Tok'ra."

"Dad?" She asked immediately.

"Yes, Jacob is with them. Unfortunately it seems they had problems of their own when the virus hit. They were invaded by Goa'uld and had to organize their own evacuation to another planet." General Hammond leant backwards in his chair and eyed them both. "I think Jacob is planning on visiting as soon as he can get away."

"Thank you Sir," she told him gratefully turning to Jack and meeting his eyes, silently communicating how pleased she would be to see her dad. She knew he liked her dad a lot too, despite having some 'issues' with the Tok'ra in general. He had even taken to calling him 'dad' and she wondered how her dad would feel about this when he realized she and Jack were officially together. Her dad, like Jack – was a man of few words. He had never said outright that he knew she had feelings for the Colonel but he had given her some definite hints in the past.

"Alright, now down to business." The General told them, leaning back in his chair. It felt so familiar she could almost forget that things had changed. "I would like you to help Walter this afternoon Major Carter. We need the security cameras up and running again firstly. But he says there are many programmes that are malfunctioning that will need fixing. Unfortunately everyone else has been assigned elsewhere so it will just be the two of you."

"Yes, Sir." She was pleased to have something to keep her brain occupied. The past few weeks had been both physically exhausting and emotionally… but she really needed the mental stimulation.

"Jack, I'll need you to meet with Daniel and Teal'c. I want the three of you to organize the military personnel currently not assigned and have them guard the corridors in the living quarters. It seems that there is some tension between many of the refugees." General Hammond sighed and ran a hand over his bald head. "I currently have a team organizing jobs for all those who are not military who want to help. I'm hoping this will smooth things over."

"Yes Sir," Jack nodded.

..

By the time she and Walter had got the security cameras up and running her stomach was growling. Walter had given her some sideways looks that told her the noise was audible to him too.

"Maybe you should go have dinner, Major Carter." Walter suggested with a raised eyebrow. She glanced at her watch and groaned in disappointment. It was only 1700 hours so it was the Red teams turn in the mess hall, Blue was not due for dinner until 1800. She had another whole hour to wait.

"I'm in Blue, it's not our turn yet." She stood and stretched out her aching back, she was unused to sitting hunched over a computer for so many hours. "What colour are you?"

"Blue as well. I don't see why you couldn't go out of hours Major? You are clearly hungry."

"Unfortunately right now the most important thing for all of us living here is structure. If we stick to the routine things will be a lot less stressful all around." She smiled over at the man. "Thanks though, I'll be fine." Just as she finished speaking the door opened and Teal'c and Jack stepped through.

"Hello Geek one and Geek two, how goes it?" Jack dropped himself into an unoccupied chair. She rolled her eyes and looked over at Teal'c who stood uncomfortably in the doorway.

"Come sit, Teal'c." She gestured to the other empty chair.

"I do not wish to interrupt your work." Teal'c told her with a bow of his head.

"We could do with a break anyway, right Walter?" He agreed and spun his own chair around to face the newcomers.

"Got you something." She looked over at Jack a moment too late and nearly received a chocolate bar to the face. She caught it at the last second.

"Death by chocolate." She laughed lightly and unwrapped the treat. "Thanks."

"Finally! I've been listening to her stomach growling for the past half hour." Walter told them. It was unlike him to joke so all heads turned his way, shock clearly evident in their eyes. "What?" Walter asked, suddenly looking worried.

"Nothing," Jack shrugged and began spinning his chair using the equipment around him to push himself off.

"You probably shouldn't touch-" an alarm sounded before she could complete her warning. With an internal sigh she turned back to the computer to switch off the alarm. She shot an exasperated look over her shoulder at Jack.

"Sorry," he didn't look very sorry though, he was bouncing one of his legs up and down now. He was clearly restless and she wasn't sure she wanted him around the delicate equipment when he was in this kind of mood.

"Look Jack, as much as I appreciate you stopping by and the chocolate…" She held up the empty wrapper. "Maybe I'll just see you at dinner." Jack sighed and stood up.

"Fine, get rid of me then."

"Teal'c, keep him out of trouble would you?" She directed the question at her friend and he gave her an amused smile.

"Yes Major Carter." He stood and gestured to the door, allowing Jack to walk ahead of him. She shot a relieved look at Walter when the door shut behind them.

..

She finally got to see Cassie at dinner. Sam arrived a little late and after searching the crowds she finally caught sight of the girl sitting with Jack, Daniel and Teal'c in one of the corner tables. She waved at them before heading over to stand in the queue.

Once she had piled her plate up with steaming hot food, placed a coffee on her tray and to her excitement – a bowl of blue jello – she finally headed over to her friends. She was feeling surprisingly content all things considered. She was very lucky to still have SG-1, Cassie and her dad. She knew many of the people in this room had lost many friends and members of their family. Some had even lost all of those they cared about. She knew the General himself had lost the majority of his family, he only had his daughter-in-law and one granddaughter remaining. As she contemplated this she realized he was a truly resilient man. He had continued to take charge and if it weren't for him, things would not be running this smoothly. She had no idea how he was coping with it all, she would have lost her mind by now – she was sure.

"OK kids, I have to go see a bald man. Apparently it was too important to wait until tomorrow. I'll see you later." Jack stood up and ruffled both her and Cassie's hair as he passed behind their chairs. Sam raised her hand and smoothed down her hair and turned to Cassie who looked equally as irritated.

"One of his more annoying habits." Cassie muttered. "Did you have a busy day, Sam?"

"Yes, working on the computer systems. How about you?"

"It looks like I'm going to have to cut my training time down. I have a job." She told Sam mysteriously and began gathering her things together as if to leave.

"Hey, don't leave. What job?" Cassie pursed her lips as if considering her request.

"I'm going to be a teacher." Cassie sighed. "It wasn't my idea, I'm no good with kids."

"I've seen you with kids, you will be just fine." Sam hadn't even considered what would happen to the children's education. She had every confidence in Cassie who had always been clever and creative. "When do you start?"

"I have this week to train and prepare with the others." Cassie stood with her tray looking over her shoulder. "I uh, have to go. Sorry Sam." Sam snuck a glance over her shoulder and saw a young military man she didn't recognize standing by the door.

"Be safe." She teased. Cassie shot her a horrified look and Sam started laughing. She turned to find Teal'c and Daniel had been watching the whole interaction and they were laughing too. Oh, wait until Jack heard. Poor Cassie was never going to hear the end of it.

TBC.