"Wake up, mom!"

Sam's eyes snapped open as pain radiated throughout her skull. She groaned, reaching a hand to her head, and feeling something wet and sticky. Blood.

She'd fallen. She'd been running from Jack.

"Jack," she croaked, the sound barely audible to her own ears. "Jack," she tried again, pushing herself into a sitting position.

It was so stupid. She hadn't understood. Hadn't fathomed. But she understood now. Thanks to—Had that been real? Had Charlie been real or just another figment of her imagination, like Grace had been aboard the Prometheus.

It didn't matter. None of it mattered. It had never mattered. It was just noise drowning out the truth.

"Jack," Sam called, her voice stronger this time.

Pushing herself onto her hands and knees, she used the trunk of a large tree to pull herself up. Wincing as pain sliced through her head, she tried to clear her vision, blurry from a likely concussion.

"Sam!" Jack's faint voice reached her ears. He hadn't found her yet. She wasn't dead. Wasn't gone.

"Jack!" Sam hollered back, her vocal cords burning from the effort. "Move," she ground out, audibly ordering her body to carry her forward. Forward toward him.

"Carter!" Jack fought down his panic as he called for her.

He'd been searching for the last half hour, covering as much ground as possible, but he still hadn't found her.

It was his fault. He knew it was. If he hadn't been so afraid, if he'd let her in, if he'd just trusted her. He'd seen the pain in her eyes when he'd lied.

And it's not like she wouldn't understand. Sam had always understood. She'd been there for him so many times over the years. After every mission that had gone sideways. After every questionable decision he'd been forced to make. After Ba'al.

Jack shuddered at the memory. He would have never been able to claw his way back from what that bastard had done if not for Sam. Sure, Daniel and Teal'c had been there for him, but it'd been Sam who'd picked up the pieces and put him back together.

And how had Jack repaid the literal years of kindness? He'd betrayed her by lying.

"Come on, Sam," Jack whispered into the breeze. "Where are you?"

Looking up at the sky, he watched as the first raindrop fell, splatting against the center of his forehead. It was followed by a second and third.

"Help me," he spoke up to the sky, feeling the rain peltering down but not caring. "Whoever you are up there. If you are up there," he squeezed his eyes shut and truly prayed. "Please help me."

"Jack."

Jack's eyes flew open as he heard Sam's voice faintly upon the breeze. Above the sound of rain hitting leaves, above the sound of his own harsh breath, he heard her.

"Sam!" He bellowed, his head swiveling, desperately searching.

"Jack!" He heard her at the same moment he spotted her on the muddy path, limping toward him.

"Sam!" Jack took off in a dead run, splashing through the mud and the muck forming from the sudden rainstorm.

He reached her, pulling her into his arms, holding her against him. "I'm sorry," he said into her hair, "I'm so sorry."

"I didn't know," she said, her voice trembling, cutting him off before he could speak more. "I didn't understand."

"Sam—" Jack shook as he pulled back to look at her, startled by the gash at her temple and the blood in her hair.

Sam grasped his face in her hands. "I understand now," she frantically searched his eyes. "I do. Please, believe me. Please."

"Hey," Jack reacted to the emotion in her voice, "it's alright. It is," he eased her hands away from his face and smoothed back her rain and blood-soaked hair, trying to comprehend what she was telling him.

"It's not," Sam shook her head, wincing as the motion caused pain. "I let you think—because I was afraid," she gripped the front of his t-shirt, her breathing shallow and rapid. "But I'm not afraid anymore. You have to know. Even if I'm too late. You have to know—I have to tell you—" her voice trembled as her body began to shake.

"You're going into shock," Jack told her, wrapping her in his arms. He could feel how fast her heart was beating as he held her. "We need to get you inside and warm," he adjusted his stance and swept her into his arms.

"I h-have t-to tell you," she said through chattering teeth.

"Tell me what?" Jack asked, trying to keep her talking as he strode quickly toward home. "Sam?" He glanced down, alarmed at how pale she looked. "Come on, Carter, stay with me," he jostled her a bit to keep her awake. When she opened her eyes, they were glassy with pain from her head injury. "Tell me what?"

"I h-have—" Sam's voice shook with emotion. "Oh—Jack."

He held her close, responding to the frantic need in her tone as he picked up the pace toward home.

"Jack — I —" She whispered, her lips against his skin. But whatever she was trying to say faded away as her eyes slipped closed and she passed out in his arms.