Summery: A routine trip off-world has long-lasting effects for SG-1. Meanwhile, Jack has terrestrial trouble too, when his half-sister is recruited to the SGC and his worlds threaten to collide and all his secrets are in danger of being exposed.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Stargate SG-1" the series. I believe it is owned by MGM. No copyright infringement is intended. No disrespect is intended. I am merely intrigued by the possibilities.
A Matter of Degrees
by: Visions2share a.k.a. Vi
Carter was still out cold. Probably a good thing since Jacob was camped out in one of the chairs next to her bed, holding her hand while Selmak recovered from the failed healing. Daniel and General Hammond were in the other chairs. Doc Fraiser was out rerunning all her tests. Susan was in the corner studying Carter's chart and trying to be invisible. Teal'C had returned to his post blocking the camera, and Jack was slouched against the wall next to the door. No one spoke. There was nothing to say.
Why hadn't it worked? Jack had seen hand devices fail to heal and symbiotes unable to heal a host before. But never when the person was as whole as Carter. When he'd seen it fail, there had always been battle wounds too severe to be overcome. Entire pieces of a person blown away. Symbiotes routinely cured every form of cancer. What was so hard about a little persistent hypothermia?
"Well, she isn't malnourished or dehydrated anymore," Doc Fraiser announced as she stepped through the door. When the door shut behind her she continued, "but she is still hypothermic, her brain chemistry is still altered, and her hormone levels are still all over the damn place."
"So, it didn't help?" Daniel asked.
"It helped," Fraiser disagreed, "with the secondary symptoms. The results of her running herself ragged have been completely reversed."
"But she isn't cured, is she, Dr. Fraiser?" Hammond asked.
"How is it possible that Selmak says she's healthy when she is obviously anything but," Jack heard himself asking, "could the hand device be broken?"
"I wish it was, Jack," Jacob spoke for the first time since Selmak took over after the healing failed. "But if you let Teal'C break your nose, we could fix it good as new in no time. Selmak says that Sam's basic biology has been altered."
"What does that mean?" Teal'C asked.
Selmak took over when Jacob failed to answer. "I am afraid it means that the condition is permanent. Samantha has been forever altered."
…
"Are you gonna keep Sam sedated?" Jack heard Daniel ask, just as he slipped back into the iso room.
"No. I was hoping-," Fraiser interrupted herself, "The sedation should take her into deep sleep. On her own, she's only been reaching REM sleep. The body needs both. But it isn't working like it should - she's still in the REM stage."
"Is it because of Jolinar? She's had trouble with medications ever since," Daniel said.
"No, this combination of medications has always worked in the past. This is because of what's happened now. Somehow, it isn't letting her get out of REM sleep."
"What is this REM sleep?" Teal'C asked.
"It's when humans dream," Jack answered because that was the meat of it. "Carter's stuck in her dreams."
"She said they wouldn't leave her alone," Daniel supplied, unhelpfully.
"So, now what do we do? I refuse to hide the fact I'm here - or leave while she's sick," Jacob declared.
"I went by the hall and spoke with Freyr. I explained what happened and Carter's current condition. He was surprised the maze had affected her. Said he didn't think it should have. But admitted to not being an expert on either human physiology or that particular piece of Ancient technology. Said he'd ask the counsel and be in touch. But who knows when that'll be." For a race that could travel so fast, Jack was always frustrated by how slowly they communicated.
"Who is Freyr?" Jacob asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar name.
"One of the high counsel members," Jack answered absently.
"High counsel of what?"
"The Asgard. Their form of government."
"What's an Asgard?" Susan spoke so quietly Jack almost didn't hear her, "Sorry, I shouldn't interrupt."
Jack started to reassure her, "You're fine -,"
"One of the oldest races in the galaxy," Daniel jumped in to explain. "They've been around since - well, we don't really know how long - our historic Nordic cultures were built on foundations laid by the Asgard. They first came to Earth approximately -,"
"You've seen pictures of the Roswell aliens?" Jack asked.
"Of course, but ...,"
"They are based on the Asgard."
"Actual little green men?"
"Gray. The Asgard are gray. People think the Roswells were green because of the poor quality of plastics used to mold the puppets for the early movies."
"And these little gray," she stressed the color, "men will know something Mr. Jacob doesn't?"
"Mr. Jacob? I like it! You should have business cards printed," Jack teased. "And, yes. Or at least there's a decent chance."
"Why?"
"Selmak's race," Jack indicated Jacob, "the Tok'ra, are very young compared to the Ancients and the Asgard. The Asgard were actually allies and friends of the Ancients, so have a much better shot of understanding their technology - and fixing whatever that crazy maze did to Carter."
"Oh," Susan likely had a great many more questions, and Jack was relieved she was holding them in. The waiting was already getting on his nerves.
How long before the Asgard responded? Jack wanted to think it would be soon - after all, the little guys all really liked Carter. Surely, they'd want to help her. But even if they showed up in the next five minutes, it was still much longer than Jack was willing to keep Carter waiting.
…
Why was it so bright?
Was she having a stroke?
Susan blinked furiously, trying to clear her vision. She'd been in a corner, trying to stay out of the way, leaning against the walls - hoping they didn't ask her to leave - when all of a sudden everything went white. Maybe she was having a seizure? Had all the business with aliens been the product of a mind in jeopardy?
Her vision started to clear. She could see gray walls around the periphery. She blinked again and she could see the patient, Major Carter, on the bed and the others gathered around. Her vision was still hazy - the details blurry - but it was improving with every blink.
"Thor! Buddy!" Susan looked at her brother to see what he was talking about. But her eyes landed on the alien standing beside him. Unlike the one she'd med earlier, this one could not be mistaken for anything but an alien. It was gray rather than green, as Jack had said, and little - only coming to about the top of Jack's thigh.
"Greetings, O'Neill," it sounded friendly enough.
"Thanks for coming! I assume Freyr told you what happened?"
"He did. I am as confused as Freyr, however. The Ancients' maze of souls should not have had any effect on Major Carter. It is possible with your genetic link to the Ancients that you, O'Neill, might have been slightly affected. But Carter does not have the necessary genetic component."
Jack thumped down on his butt, sitting cross-legged on the floor, before the alien making them much more similar in height. "Would my interacting with the maze, touching it, reading the stories, have woken it up to Carter. Helped, I don't know, tune it for humans?"
"No. The Maze isn't activated by the gene it is always on. A gene is only required to allow it to probe the minds of those using it. It should not have affected the others on your team at all."
"Do you think the effects can be reversed?" Jack questioned.
"I am unsure - since I do not understand why she was affected. I have sent for Heimdall. She should be capable of determining exactly how the maze interacted with Carter - which we must know if we are to attempt a reversal."
Jack nodded.
One of the patient monitors beeped.
"She's starting to come around," Dr. Fraiser announced after studying the monitors briefly. "I'll go fetch some fresh heated blankets. Excuse me, please." She slipped around the little alien and out the door.
"Why heated blankets?" the alien asked.
"She's persistently hypothermic," Jack answered.
"Hypothermic?" the alien carefully repeated the word, "What is this?"
"My daughter is very, very cold," came the answer from the only other person in the room who looked as in awe of the little gray man as Susan felt. "Life threateningly cold."
The little alien shifted his big eyes from Jack to the unfamiliar voice and asked, "Your daughter?"
…
"Thor, allow me to introduce Carter's father: Air Force Major General Jacob Carter and host to the Tok'ra Selmak. Jacob, this is my friend, our ally, Thor, the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet."
"Greetings."
"Thank you for coming to help Sam," Jacob nodded and Selmak took over.
Selmak stood and bowed in reverence. "It is an honor to meet you, Supreme Commander."
Thor nodded, then asked, "You tried to heal our friend, Carter?"
"I did," Selmak assured, "but I was unable to do more than correct the malnutrition, and raise her body temperature during treatment."
Carter moaned and in response Jacob took over from Selmak and went back to holding his daughter's hand.
Fraiser came back with a pile of blankets she could barely see over. "Hold these for a sec will you Teal'C," she murmured, already having shoved the pile at T.
The doc got to work removing the cooled blankets from Carter, who began to quake as her insulation was removed. Daniel jumped up and took the first blanket from Teal'C to cover Carter, then Fraiser came with the next. They took turns until Carter, and Jacob's arm, were buried in fresh warmed blankets.
Jack fought the urge to get up and help, conscious of the fact that his close proximity made Carter uncomfortable in her current state of mind.
They had just gotten her all tucked in when Carter started to stir. She sunk further under the covers, seeking their warmth. She pulled away from Jacob and curled into a ball, concentrating her body heat. Doc Fraiser tucked the warmed blankets in around her, with Daniel's help, effectively cocooning her away from the world. Only when she was surrounded by the warmth of the blankets, only her shock of spiky blond hair visible, did her eyes crack open, showing only the barest sliver of icy ocean blue.
"Janet?" Carter's whisper was barely audible through the blankets.
"Hey, Sweetie, how you feelin'?"
"Cold. Am I colder than before?"
Fraiser check the monitor, "No. Still eighty-eight degrees."
"I feel like I'm colder than before."
"I think it's just the shock of waking up. You were asleep several hours - the dreams make you warmer."
"How warm should a human usually be, Dr. Fraiser?"
Carter's eyes opened wider, looking for the source of the familiar voice. "Thor?"
"Greetings, Carter. Heimdall is on her way - her expertise in various biologies may allow us to help return you to health."
"Th ... thank you," Carter's eyes closed again.
"A healthy human," Janet answered, "has a body temperature between ninety-seven and ninety-nine degrees."
"That is a very narrow range," Thor said, "even in our current forms," he gestured at his own small chest, "Asgard can be considered healthy with a temperature anywhere between twenty-five and one hundred forty of your degrees."
Author's Note: I couldn't resist including Thor. I find the friendship between him and Jack so fun. Also, I know that Heimdall is a boy, at least in mythology, but I think since Teryl Rothery (Dr. Fraiser) provided the voice for the character she sounds like a girl so that is what I went with. Thanks for reading! ~ Vi