Sam's Place - 1998

Dropping her school bag near the front door, Cassie dropped to her knees to pet Colonel, who joyfully welcomed her. "Hey, buddy," she smiled, accepting a slobbery lick from the dog.

"Grandpa?" she called out, getting up and starting to search for him in the house.

The new year had slowly settled into their daily routine. Jacob had postponed his return to the Pentagon—the conversation he overheard between Jack and Elizabeth had motivated him to stay a bit longer to help his daughter in various ways. As for Cassandra, she had stopped homeschooling and officially started attending regular school, even if mid-school year. The little girl had finally found a comforting routine, made many friends at school, and had also grown closer to Janet and Liz, with whom she regularly exchanged letters.

"Ah, there you are!" she exclaimed as she entered the kitchen, finally finding Jacob, who was just hanging up the phone. He looked up at her with a grave expression, and Cassie's heart stopped for a moment. "Where's Mom?" she asked immediately, sensing that something was wrong.

"Honey," Jacob began softly, "George just called me." He paused for a moment, knowing this type of situation was part of the job, but it didn't make things any easier, especially when a child was involved. The conversation with General Hammond had been brief—non-secure line and all—but he had gathered enough information to grasp the gravity of the situation for the coming days.

Cassie suddenly sat down on one of the stools, her legs unable to support her for another second. If General Hammond was calling, it could only be bad news. "Where's Mom?" she repeated in a small, innocent voice that squeezed Jacob's heart painfully.

"Sam and Jack," Jacob continued gravely, "are missing."

Somewhere Under the Ice - 1998

The cold was the first thing that pulled Sam out of her stupor. She regained consciousness with a groan, her whole body shivering. She'd rarely felt this cold in her life; even the time her heater died in the dead of winter, forcing her to go outside for the generator right after a shower, was nothing compared to the chill seeping under her clothes right now.

A quick self-assessment confirmed she didn't appear to be injured. Turning her head cautiously to search for the rest of SG-1, her eyes immediately fell on Jack's body.

Her heart froze as she crawled over to him. "Jack?" she called softly.

Gently running her fingers over his body after confirming a pulse, she mentally assessed his injuries. His leg was clearly in bad shape, and his breathing was labored. A wave of panic washed over her as she glanced around, hoping to spot Daniel or Teal'c.

Even if she'd been avoiding him ever since their failed conversation on his porch, it didn't mean she was ready to see him suffer like this. Especially since he was still unconscious. "Colonel?" she tried again, shaking him gently to wake him up. But silence was her only answer. For a brief second, she couldn't help but wonder what he had told Diane he did for a living and how he was going to explain coming back with a broken leg.

Pushing any thoughts of that other woman out of her mind, Sam refocused on the situation at hand. Getting no response from Jack, she carefully repositioned him against one of the glacial walls in a vain attempt to ease his breathing. She found her backpack and pulled out her sleeping bag, which she unfolded to cover him and preserve as much body heat as possible.

Still kneeling beside him, she raised her head and sat back on her heels, scanning their surroundings. Cassie's face flashed in her mind, and she refused to let that thought go any further: They were going to make it back.

"Daniel? Teal'c?" she called out, but only silence answered her.

Taking stock of their situation, she mentally organized her priorities:

1. Keep Jack alive.
2. Find Daniel and Teal'c.
3. Locate the DHD.
4. Get everyone home in one piece.

Standing up, she inspected the cave they seemed to be in. Jack and she had stepped through the Gate just seconds after Daniel and Teal'c, so they had to be somewhere nearby. Grabbing her radio, she pressed the button and spoke, "Daniel, Teal'c?" Again, only silence greeted her.

Sam examined her radio thoroughly, wondering if it had broken during the fall. Just in case, she leaned over Jack and tried using his, but the result was the same.

A deeper panic gripped her insides; she'd already had to bury the man she considered her little brother once, and she hadn't planned on doing it again anytime soon, let alone adding Teal'c to the list.

Trying to remain rational to control her worry, Sam diligently searched the area around the Gate. They would never have left without them, so they could only be somewhere close.
When she finally confirmed that the two men were nowhere to be found, she jumped straight to step 3 and started searching for the DHD. They could always send a rescue team once she alerted the SGC. But once again, the emptiness was her only answer.

Sitting down for a moment, Sam took a deep breath. She was stranded on a frozen planet with a wounded CO, no rest of her team, and no DHD to dial home.
What a wonderful day lay ahead for Samantha Carter.

Yet, she refused to give up and began scraping at the ice around the Gate, still hoping to find their ticket home buried somewhere.

A Few Hours Later Jack woke up with a groan. "Oh god," he whined. Every inch of his body ached, but the throbbing pain in his leg was perhaps the worst—or maybe it was the pulsating one in his ribs. He hadn't quite decided yet. He turned his head, trying to recall and understand how he ended up in a giant freezer.

Sam rushed over immediately and placed a gentle hand on his arm to make sure he was really awake and not a figment of her imagination. "Oh thank god," she murmured, relieved. She'd meticulously timed how long he had been unconscious, and every added minute had fed her growing anxiety.

If Jack was glad to see Sam was alright, he couldn't show it beyond another pained groan. "Carter," he breathed, clutching his ribs.

"Try to stay put, sir," she explained, moving around him to adjust the sleeping bag. "I think your leg's broken."

"No," Jack grumbled. "My leg's definitely broken." He lifted his head, looking around slowly. "What's the bad news? Unless they've redecorated the Gate room, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." He saw the worry etched on her face, and if using humor could help lighten the weight on her shoulders, he would do it for her. He also considered holding back his rib diagnosis for a few more moments.

"Daniel must have misdialed," Sam explained as she finished adjusting the sleeping bag.

"Misdialed?" Jack repeated with a pained sigh. "You mean this place is a wrong number?" Trying to shift his position slightly to relieve some of the pain, he turned. "Oh for crying out loud! Where is he?" he asked.

"He's not here, Sir," she explained. "Neither is Teal'c."

"He has to be," Jack insisted, grabbing his radio.

"I tried that," she stopped him, placing a hand on his arm. "You've been unconscious for nearly two hours."

"They came through the Gate before we did," Jack justified.

"I know that," Sam responded. "I also know that we're alone here, wherever *here* is." She seemed suddenly defeated as if carrying the weight of the world.

"Ice," Jack observed as if she needed him to confirm the most obvious aspect of their situation.

"Yeah," Sam stepped back slightly. "I think we're inside a deep crevasse of a glacier," she explained in a subdued voice. "If their Stargate's been overrun by ice, possibly on a planet during an ice age." She turned to show him a detail. "There is some light filtering through up there, and there are some fissures in the ice, but they're too narrow to follow far."

Sam paused. She had lived through enough missions in her military career to know what their current situation meant. "We're in trouble, Sir."

"Nonsense," Jack replied immediately, refusing to let her panic. "We'll just dial home and straighten all this out." He glanced around before asking, "Where's the DHD?"

"Can't find that either," she answered in a broken voice.

"Oh," Jack understood instantly. "So… We're in trouble."

"We're in trouble," Sam confirmed.