AU: When an exploration mission goes way off the left field, Jack and Sam are left to patch up their lives. Will that door stay open?
Disclaimer: All recognisable characters are the property of MGM/Amazon. No copyright infringement intended. I am once again taking my favourite two Gaters for a walk in an Alternate Universe. Takes place after 5.05 Red Sky with some canon episodes skipped (overlooked) and others referenced.
Rating: Mature. No triggers this chapter. Unless playing Uno is a trigger... then beware!
Chapter 20: Revelations
The next day – Teal'c
Holding my cards up, I smiled and laid down the best option I had. "I Skip you, Daniel Jackson." I said smugly watching him flex his single card. Inclining my head to Major Carter.
"Thanks, Teal'c, reckon you can do that another fourteen times?" She asked, laying down a red two. I smiled and laid down a blue two which made Daniel groan and draw a card.
"Green two. I have lots of twos."
"You're not supposed to tell us that Sam." Daniel admonished with a smile.
"Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting that." She replied while biting her lower lip. "I do not have lots of two's." She corrected which made Daniel laugh heartily and brought a smile to my own face. This Samantha Carter had revealed a side of her personality that I had never experienced. She had always been like a little sister to me, though now that designation had been earned more so. Still, I had no doubt that she would once again be the brave warrior I remembered.
"It is OK, Samantha Carter." I said offering her support as I placed my card.
"Sorry Sam. Uno." Daniel apologised when she made a noise of disapproval as she collected her four cards. "The colour is yellow."
"Teal'c, I hope you can change this." I smiled at Samantha's yellow five.
"Indeed, I can Samantha. Red five."
"Ha ha! A yellow five on yours and I'm all out." Daniel crowed with what O'Neill referred to as 'spirit fingers'.
"I do not like this game, Daniel Jackson." I scowled when he beamed a smile over his third win of the afternoon. Samantha Carter merely chucked her handful of cards – picked up after said doctor consistently hit her with Draw 4's – on the table with a huff. She was improving. Last time we played, she had swept the table clear and slammed her fist on the back of Daniel's Jackson hand in retaliation.
"Same Daniel." She responded wearily. She had been unusually tired these last few days and paler than normal. No one seemed to have noticed, believing that her continued emotional outbursts were related to the injury and her nightmares, but I knew better. In fact, I had known for some days, sensing the gradual change in her temperament and body.
"C'mon guys, it's a great game. You're just miffed because I beat you three times." Daniel complained. Samantha picked up one of the dreaded Draw 4 cards chucked it at him.
"Three, Daniel. Three!"
"Yeah, sorry about that Sam. They were in my hand. I'd have done the same to Teal'c."
She scoffed and gave him an incredulous look, "No ya wood'n." She replied wearily. Her language had been getting better again over the last few days, though she was using a lot of O'Neill's turn of phrases. Despite the nightmare, I could sense that she missed O'Neill's presence. He had reacted the way we all expected him to after Sam screamed him out of the room. Avoidance, even after we all believed he had come around after whatever had happened between them on the planet before the Jaffa attack.
"Have you seen Jack?" Daniel asked. She frowned at the name and shook her head. Since the first, she had experienced several more dreams involving the incorporeal O'Neill and another one about the fight she had with O'Neill after we returned to the ruins. She hadn't told us about them, but we could tell. Sometimes, we found her staring at the bed next to her. Other times, we walked in to find her having a conversation seemingly with someone else, though no one was present.
"O'Neill has been spending a great deal of time in Hammond's office, Daniel Jackson. He has not been to visit in five days." I informed the archaeologist.
"He has." Samantha replied and pointed to the fridge which contained two blue jello's. "When I sleep." She frowned again. Samantha had been frequently napping in the afternoons after our visit. Although Doctor Fraiser had ordered him to visit, he still managed to see her without seeing her. Narrowing my eyes, I felt the heat of anger at my friend and commander bubble.
"Would you like some jello?" Daniel Jackson asked, this question bringing my attention back to the present. Breathing in and out through her nose, she eventually shook her head. "Wow. OK, Sam Carter saying no to blue jello. That must be a first." Daniel joked. Smiling internally at her expected rejection, I instead reached for a cup and her water jug.
"Perhaps some water, Samantha Carter." I offered, handing the cup to her.
She nodded and murmured a broken thank you as she took the water and tentatively sipped at it before putting it on the table and breathing again.
"You know it wasn't him that did those things to you?" Daniel asked, getting only a half shrug back, "Don't you?"
"No… and yes." She finally replied, reaching for her cup again.
"To what do refer to as 'yes', Samantha Carter?" She swallowed and shook her head, then squeezed her eyes together before breathing deep. "A disagreement maybe?" She looked at me and nodded slightly. I knew not what had been said but knew enough about O'Neill to know that he would likely have given her an out after what they did. A way for her to let him go. Once again, he had sacrificed his happiness and hers for two demanding careers and a set of rules which I did not understand.
"Do you remember what it was about?" I asked.
"No." She sipped her water and eyed me, "OK, some."
"Do you want to talk about it, Sam?" Giving Daniel Jackson a side look, she shook her head and looked at us both in turn. I was about to suggest we leave when she spoke again.
"He lied." She whispered into her cup; her eyes cast down. "He said he cared. Said he loved me. He lied."
"Oh, Sam. Jack does love you. It's so plainly obvious to everyone." Daniel explained, taking her hand and squeezing. "You had a fight. A bad one, I think. We weren't there, but we could tell."
"I was a notch in his belt." She murmured, her lip trembling and her fingers turning white as they gripped Daniel's hand. She had never been so forthright with her feelings about O'Neill, though notch in one's belt was not a term I was familiar with.
"No, never. Sam, you could never be something like that." Daniel's expression told me that whatever a 'notch' was, it was not a good thing. "He's just trying to protect you Sam. You could never be a conquest for him. Never. Do you hear me?" Daniel pushed his point across. The word conquest triggered something in me. A notch in one's belt was to conquer. The bubbling anger threatened to consume me at the thought that O'Neill would do such a thing, but Daniel's countenance and reassurances to Sam that she could never be something so base helped me keep it at bay. Tears streamed down her face openly along with some audible hiccupping sounds and sniffles.
"I love him, Daniel. Why doesn't he want me?" She asked, a few tears slipping from her eyes.
"He does Sam, but he is also your CO. You remember what CO stands for?" Daniel asked. She hiccupped again as more tears flowed before slowly nodding.
Her voice trembled. "C-c-c… he's my c-c-c… commanding officer." She stuttered out, the last word blubbering out in heavy sobs as her eyes closed. Daniel pulled her towards him and let her cling to him as she cried, so distraught he was by her break from the normal Samantha we knew and loved, that she had Daniel in silent tears along with her.
"Shhh, Sam. Shhh." He whispered, his hand running up and down her back to provide her with a measure of comfort, rather than brushing his own tears away. Seeing such a strong warrior as Samantha Carter in such distress had me fighting back my own sorrow.
"It's not fair." She cried, "It's not fair."
"I know. It sucks. But, it's OK, it'll be alright. You guys are always alright."
"Not this time." She responded, then pulled back after one last hug, her hands wiping her eyes. "I c-c-c… I c-c-can't…"
"Can't what, Sam?" Daniel asked, stroking some hair back from her face.
"Love my CO." She choked out. I saw the colour change in her skin the moment it happened. Next came the shallow breathing, and finally the panic when she realised she could not stop it. Grabbing a bag from the nearby trolley, I held it up to her mouth just in time to catch her sickness.
"Daniel Jackson." I said, motioning with my head to the small bathroom. He nodded and got up, returning a minute later with a damp washcloth. Passing me the cloth, he relieved me of the bag and disappeared again.
"Oh God, Teal'c." She murmured announcing another bout. Reaching for another bag, I assisted her with the evacuation as best I could.
"How long have you had the sickness, Samantha."
"Three days." She responded and looked at me as Daniel returned. "I have a bug."
"No, you don't Sam." Daniel replied with a small smile as he took the second bag, handing me back the first one, cleaned and dry, as if it hadn't been used.
"I don't?" She asked, looking at me with tired eyes. I shook my head in time with Daniel Jackson. "Then what? Why?" She asked, her lip trembling as she looked from Daniel to me and back to Daniel. "No. Please, I can't be. I can't, can I? No. Jolinar made it imp-imp-imp… broken, me. I'm broken."
"I don't think so, Sam. Janet's warning was exactly that. A warning. To prepare you because we did not understand the physiological differences." Daniel explained. I nodded with him.
"Daniel Jackson is correct, Samantha. The presence of a prim'ta or Naquadah in one's blood does not interfere with conception or carrying to term. Otherwise, female Jaffa could not produce offspring."
"But the symbiote helps, doesn't it?" Samantha questioned in reply.
"It does not, Samantha Carter. Most Jaffa females are given lesser symbiotes, weaker symbiotes. It would not be strong enough assist with conception or to prevent an involuntary termination. Just as it cannot provide pain relief during the birth." I informed her, "A female Jaffa must endure the bearing of children just as any mother would."
She sat quietly for a while, breathing her sickness under control, her fingers rhythmically squeezing and releasing my hand in time with her breathing.
"Does he know?" She asked. "Does anyone know?"
"I do not believe so Samantha Carter, but it will not be long. Doctor Fraiser will discover your condition soon enough."
"How long has it been since the rocket exploded?" She asked about the K'Tau mission, looking at Daniel. He scratched his head and puffed out a breath.
"Ah, four or so weeks, give or take a few days." He responded. She swallowed heavily and closed her eyes, muttering damn under her breath. Slowly, she regained her equilibrium and looked between us again.
"Please, I need you to help me. Just until I can work out what I'm going to do." She asked, looking between the both of us.
"What do you mean Sam?"
"We shall assist you, Samantha." I added in quickly, giving Daniel a look that said we would do whatever she required of us.
"Of course." He agreed quickly with a small smile. "What do you need, Sam?"
"Don't tell him."
"Sam…" Daniel started.
"We will not tell O'Neill." I interrupted Daniel, giving Samantha a firm smile. She reflected her own watery smile back to me.
"My sickness happens in the afternoon." She said, then snorted, "So much for morning sickness." She quipped, then closed her eyes to breathe through what was clearly another wave of nausea. "Ginger drops. Mark's wife used to suck them when she was pregnant. They helped. Can you get me some?" She asked.
"We can." I responded. "And we shall assist with the evidence of any sickness you cannot control." I added, noting that Daniel was nodding his head.
She looked between the both of us, clearly trying to formulate words for her next request. At length, she spoke. "Daniel, I need you to be my baby's father."
"Sam. Wow, that's… it'd be an honour, but Jack would kill me."
"Daniel, I can't have my CO's baby. I can't. I don't want to t-t-t…" she stuttered but could not finish her thought. We knew what she wanted to say. She did not wish to prematurely end the life of her child. "Please, my baby needs a daddy." She continued, pleading with her friend turned brother to be what the leader of our team could not be.
"In case Kinsey comes knocking?" He commented with a wry smile. "You know Jack will find out."
"Yeah. I know. I want to be ready when he does. I need to decide if I am staying."
"Staying? What… no, of course you are staying." Daniel said, taking her hand and threading their fingers together.
"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, you might need to brush up on your acting skills. For when the brass does find out." Sam explained with a funny little smile. "If they think you are the father, they won't punish Jack or me." She added.
"Anything for you, sister." Daniel replied, his hand reaching for that errant piece of hair once again, tucking it into the heavy bandage that still coiled around her head.
We had a plan it seemed. A plan to conceal her condition for as long as possible, and when it was revealed to make everyone think the child was Daniel's. Of course, we would know the truth, as would Janet, Hammond, and O'Neill. I knew O'Neill would not be happy with our interference, but right now, Samantha's comfort was of a higher concern. Casting my eyes over my fellow team members, I smiled at the thought that SG-1 would - in a few short months - be a team of five, and hoped that O'Neill and Samantha would come out the other side united as one, the way they were meant to be.