Summary:

"He takes a deep breath. 'You got hurt again,' he mumbles. 'Except, this time…'

'This time what?'

Jonas squeezes his eyes shut. 'This time I think you died.'"

OR

Present-Day AU. A malfunctioning time travel device and a harrowing mission force Sam and Jonas to finally confront what happened in Florida. But they're running out of time to clear the air before Jonas' latest vision comes true - a vision of Sam's impending death. Sequel to "band-aids don't fix bullet holes."

A/N: Hello again! I don't have much to preface this chapter with except to say thank you to everyone who has continued to follow along with this story 😊 This is a bit of a shorter one, but there's some important plot setup here and a bit more character fluff before things start to ramp up. Consider this the calm before the storm 😉 There are no content/trigger warnings for this chapter so I'll leave you all to read. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: we're bound to break (and our hands are tied)

Come Monday morning, neither Sam nor Jonas wants to leave the comfort of the other's embrace. But duty calls, so they reluctantly part, slipping out of bed to ready themselves for another long work day.

Sam is surprised by how easily she's gotten used to having him around. He's only spent three nights at her house and already they've fallen into some kind of routine. Like clockwork, Schrödinger wakes Jonas up in the morning, asking for food (and most likely hoping that Jonas will sneak him extra treats). Jonas rolls out of bed, gets dressed, feeds her insistent furball, and then prepares breakfast. She herself follows suit, washing up and changing her clothes before joining them in the kitchen. Schrödinger then whines for more food, tries and fails to manipulate Jonas into sharing his plate, and they laugh together at his antics.

It's comfortable, this routine. Maybe too comfortable. But Sam has to admit that she likes it, far more than she probably should. There's a certain sense of security in sharing her nights and mornings with Jonas rather than enduring them alone. She wonders if he feels the same.

But, even more than that, she wonders how they'll both react when they return to their normal lives. Living apart, occupying their own spaces, and pretending that this past weekend never happened. A part of her - a much larger part than expected - is dreading the adjustment. Jonas grounds her in a way that even Schrödinger can't, and she knows that she fulfills the same role for him. Can they even go back to normal? Or will the echo of whatever-this-is haunt them until it drives them mad? She doesn't know, and thinking about it makes her stomach twist into knots.

"Are you okay?" Jonas asks, noticing her distress. They're on the road now, making their way to the SGC.

Sam adjusts her hands on the steering wheel. "I don't know," she sighs. "I just get the feeling that this is going to be a long week."

Jonas lets out a halfhearted laugh. "Yeah," he says. "I know what you mean."

They pull up to a red light, and without thinking, she reaches over and grabs his hand.

"Sam?"

She threads her fingers through his and squeezes, hard. "We're going to be all right," she murmurs, more to herself than to him.

Jonas frowns. "Yeah, you said that last night," he says, shifting towards her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Sam blinks back the moisture pooling in her eyes. "Yeah," she lies. Why is she tearing up? Just because he won't be spending the night anymore doesn't mean she's losing him.

So why does it feel that way? Why does everything feel like a loss these days?

The light turns green, and she returns her hand to the steering wheel. She can, however, still feel the weight of Jonas' stare on her.

"I'm fine," she says, clearing her throat. "There's just a lot going on."

"Right," Jonas replies, although he doesn't sound convinced.

They spend the rest of the ride in silence.

"And you're certain this won't have any negative consequences?"

Sam takes a breath. The team is in a briefing with General Landry now, listening to her new suggestion about the device. Jonas is sitting next to her, twiddling his thumbs between his palms.

"Well, sir," Sam replies, "there's no guarantee of that. But given that Jonas would be using it to travel forward in time rather than backward, I think there's a lower risk of causing any temporal disturbances."

Landry frowns, considering her words. "I see."

Sam presses on. "Look, the future isn't set in stone. It's just a set of probabilities. If any significant changes were to be made to the timeline, that's more likely to happen by altering the past. If you change what happened before, that creates a whole new set of probabilities that may not have existed before that interference."

Landry nods and folds his hands in front of him. "What about the personal risk?"

Sam glances at Jonas. "Well, to be honest," she says quietly, "that I'm a little less sure about."

"Does it even matter, though?" Cam cuts in. "I mean, regardless of whether you use the device to travel to the past or to the future, wouldn't the risk just be the same?"

Sam shrugs. "It's possible. Theoretically, the only difference would be which direction you're traveling in."

The general leans forward, his gaze settling on Jonas. "What do you think, son?" he asks. "Do you think you're comfortable with taking that risk?"

Jonas meets Sam's eyes." I trust Colonel Carter with my life," he says, causing her heart to skip a beat. "I'm willing to take whatever risk necessary to save hers."

"Well, I suppose that's settled then," Landry declares, seemingly oblivious to the silent exchange happening before him. "After you retrieve a new crystal on your mission to Asterion Prime, we'll test the device and hope for the best."

"That is assuming we are able to locate a new crystal successfully," Teal'c chimes in. "On our last visit we were ambushed by a group of bandits."

"Well," Cam says, "at least we know they're there now."

"And you won't be going alone," Landry adds. "I'm authorizing SG-27 to accompany you."

Teal'c nods, although Sam can read him well enough by now to tell he still has his doubts. "A wise plan, general. They are formidable warriors."

Landry leans back in his chair. "So, are there any other pressing issues?"

Sam feels Jonas' arm brush hers, and she dips her chin to hide the flush in her cheeks. "No," she answers. "I think that covers it."

Lunch is a quiet affair. When Jonas proves to be less chatty than his usual self, Sam expects Cam to fill the silence in his stead. But, surprisingly, he doesn't, making the whole situation far too awkward for anyone's liking.

When they part ways, Sam follows Jonas to his office. The device is still sitting on his desk. Jonas reaches for it, toying with the metal rings surrounding its casing. "You know," he mumbles, "we still don't even know how to open it."

Sam comes up beside him. "I remember that from your notes," she says. "The rings could be a locking mechanism to keep the crystal in place in addition to being an activation switch." She nods at the strange symbols etched into the metal. "Find the right combination of symbols and you could either open it or trigger a time jump."

"Yeah," Jonas murmurs. He runs his fingers across the top ring. "But I've tried so many combinations at this point I'm starting to wonder if any of them are going to work."

Sam glances at him. His hair is a bit askew, and she has to resist the urge to straighten it. "We'll figure it out," she says softly.

"Yeah," he repeats, staring blankly at the crystal. "But what if we don't figure it out in time? I mean, even if we do find another crystal on the mission, we can't use it if we don't know how to take the old one out and plug the new one in." He sighs. "And we don't know how soon my vision is supposed to come true."

She lays a hand on Jonas' shoulder. "We'll have time," she reassures him, although she isn't certain of that herself. "With Daniel sending over his theories from Atlantis, that should still give us an advantage."

Jonas glances at her. "Have you told him?" he asks quietly. "Or Vala?"

Sam looks away, letting her hand fall back to her side. "I didn't want to worry them."

He inhales. "Sam, maybe you should - "

"No," she interrupts, a little too harshly. She feels a pang of guilt when she sees him flinch. "Look," she continues, her voice softening, "like I said earlier, the future isn't set in stone. I don't want to burden them with something that has no guarantee of happening."

"But what if it does?"

The fear in his eyes is so potent that she can't help but reach for his hand. "It won't," she whispers. "Our plan will work. I have to believe that."

Jonas holds her gaze for a moment before pulling her into a hug. She wraps her arms around him almost instinctively.

They hold each other like that for a long while. After some time, Jonas finally speaks. "I can't lose you," he whispers.

Sam tightens her grip on him. "You won't," she murmurs. "I promise."

The bed feels empty without him.

When Sam dropped Jonas off at his apartment after work, she worried that returning home to relative isolation would quickly overwhelm her. Thankfully, dinner, TV, and Schrödinger managed to distract her for awhile. But her uneasiness at being alone again hit the moment she crawled into bed, and now she wonders if she's ever going to get any sleep. She sighs, rolling onto her side. The clock on her nightstand reads 1:00 AM. She bites back a frustrated groan.

Her phone taunts her from its place on the nightstand. It would be so easy to send Jonas a text and ask if he's still awake. But if he is, she doesn't want to appear too desperate, and if he isn't, she doesn't want to wake him. She heaves another sigh. Why can't life ever be simple?

The phone, however, solves her dilemma for her. Sam jumps when it suddenly buzzes. Schrödinger's head pops up from where it was nestled atop her feet, and he lets out a soft, questioning trill. Sam reaches for the phone and taps the notification.

hey, u still up?

Relief floods through her body. Apparently she isn't the only one who isn't taking well to sleeping alone. Yeah, I'm up, she types.

J: u ok?

S: can't sleep

J: did u have another nightmare?

S: no. just restless

J: oh ok

S: what about you?

J: i just woke up

S: bad dream?

J: yeah

S: ️was it the vision again?

J: yeah

S: I'm sorry ️

J: it's ok. i just needed 2 know u were there

Sam swallows the lump in her throat before typing again.

S: I'm here. It's okay ❤️

J: thanks ❤️

S: ❤️

J: do u need anything?

S: Idk. I think I'm just stressed

J: *hugs*

S: *hugs* Schrödie misses you btw

J: 😆 haha tell him i miss him too

Sam bites her lip, the automatic reply running through her mind like a news ticker. I wish you were here, it says.

To her surprise, Jonas beats her to the chase.

i wish i was there with u

Sam hesitates, then finally answers.

I wish you were here too

The dots bounce across the screen while she waits for his next message.

J: it's kinda spooky here alone

S: I know what you mean

J: do u think u will be able 2 sleep?

S: I dunno

J: me neither

Sam takes a breath before her next text.

S: do you want to call?

J: i don't want 2 keep u up

S: It's okay

J: u sure?

I need to hear your voice, she thinks. But instead she sends:

Yeah it's fine

Within seconds, her phone is buzzing again. She answers it and holds it up to her ear. "Hi," she breathes.

"Hi," Jonas says.

She lies there for a moment, just drinking in his presence on the other end of the line. "It's been a weird night," she murmurs.

"Yeah," he agrees.

They fall silent until Sam decides to speak again.

"Do you want me to stay on until you fall asleep?"

Jonas inhales. "I don't want to keep bothering you."

"You're not. Really." She sighs. "To be honest, I think it would help me too."

He hesitates. Then, after another breath, "Okay."

Sam burrows into her pillows. "I'll call you back tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Okay." He pauses. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

She smiles in spite of herself. "You're welcome," she whispers. "And thank you too."

She swears she can hear him smiling back. "Goodnight, Sam," he says.

"Goodnight, Jonas," she replies.

She falls asleep to the sound of him breathing.

A/N: The title of this chapter is taken from the lyrics of "Rewrite the Stars" from The Greatest Showman. I wasn't sure if I was going to stick with it, but I ultimately decided to keep it because I thought it was a nice reverse? parallel to last chapter's title and the theme of an unbreakable tie/bond.

As far as I'm aware, the number of canonically named SG teams only goes up to SG-25, so SG-27 is a team of my own creation. We'll get to meet them soon.