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One could accuse Jack of hovering, he supposed; in his mind, he was merely expressing an appropriate amount of concern. Either way, Sam was safe and sleeping off what happened on the Prometheus, and Jack wasn't going to be moved from her bedside.
And when she woke up and called him “Jack” instead of “sir”, he didn't correct her. No one was there to hear.
Sam was cleared to go back to work within a week, as long as she took it easy. Which, as everyone who knew Sam was well aware, was a hard ask. SG-1 took it in shifts to check on her, and even General Hammond found himself “happening by” her lab.
One of the times Daniel went to check on her, she was frantically running simulations on her computer.
“Sam? Whatcha doing?” Daniel asked carefully.
“I need to figure out why the hyperdrive isn't working.”
“Maybe it's not working because we're in the SGC?” Daniel said as he carefully stepped closer to her.
This was apparently the wrong thing to say, and Sam snapped her head back to look at him. “If you're not going to be helpful, then leave me alone!”
Daniel nodded, and went over to the intercom to summon Jack. Sam grew more agitated as they waited, refreshing the screen and adding new parameters to the simulation. When Jack reached the lab, Daniel pointed wordlessly at Sam.
“Hey, Carter.”
Sam glanced back, just for a second, then went back to work. “I really don't need the distraction, Jack. I don't have a lot of time, the hull is going to breach-”
“Carter, Carter!” Jack grabbed her by the shoulders and made her stop to look at him. “The hull isn't going to breach. We got you out. You're back, safe on Earth.”
Sam stared at him, seemingly seeing him for the first time. “Jack?”
“Let's get you over to Fraiser.”
Sam started to look more present as they walked to the infirmary, and kept apologizing for snapping at Daniel.
“Colonel?” Janet asked, looking at the three of them. “What's the matter?”
“Carter just had a minute, and we want to make sure that she's alright,” Jack said, guiding Sam into the infirmary.
“Yeah?” Janet asked, helping Sam onto the bed. “Can you tell me more about that?”
“It's stupid, really,” Sam said. “I just… I was convinced that I was back on the Prometheus. Colonel O'Neill was able to snap me out of it, but I snapped at Daniel for being an unhelpful hallucination.”
Janet frowned, and put her hand on Sam's forehead to check her temperature. “It could be leftover from your concussion, let's get you into the MRI.”
A couple hours later, the results came back inconclusive. Janet pulled Jack to the side, occasionally cutting her eyes to where Sam was sitting.
“I'm sorry, Colonel. I can't figure out what's wrong with her. The anomalous readings on the MRI could simply be leftover from her concussion, or they could be something more.”
“Doc, she was running hyperdrive simulations, convinced she was still on the Prometheus!”
“All I can say is keep her calm, get her to rest, and bring her back if anything else happens.”
“Carter, calm and rested,” Jack nodded. “Sure, that'll happen.”
“Sir-”
“I know, I'll try my best.” Jack walked back to the others, and placed a gentle hand on Sam's shoulder. “Come on, Carter.”
He brought Sam back to his house and sat her on the couch.
“Beer?” he asked from the kitchen.
“I don't think alcohol is a good idea right now,” she chuckled mirthlessly.
“Good point.” Jack sat down beside her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Do you wanna watch something, or…?”
“I'm just really tired, sir-” Sam started, but Jack cut her off.
“Samantha, what did we say about calling me ‘sir’ while we're off duty?”
“Sorry, Jack,” she smiled, and the fact that it didn't reach her eyes concerned him greatly. “I'm a little worried about going back to work tomorrow.”
“Well, the only ones who know about today are us, Daniel, and Doc Fraiser. No one will know to treat you differently, and hopefully you'll be up and about and making people feel dumb before you know it.”
That got a real chuckle out of her, and the television was simply background noise until they decided to go to bed.
There were several weeks without incident, and then a kull warrior attacked the alpha site.
“Carter, I need that power source!” Jack shouted, and she handed it to him without looking at him. That sent up red flags, but he didn't have time to acknowledge them before the warrior was shooting at him. The power source worked well, which came to no surprise to Jack, and he took the opportunity to look Sam over for injuries.
“Is it…?” she mumbled, swaying a little even as she was hunched down.
“It's dead,” Jack answered, then looked over at Teal'c. “It is dead, right?”
Teal'c kicked the fallen supersoldier, and when it didn't move he nodded to Jack.
“Yeah, it's dead.” Jack watched Sam nod, but she made no moves to stand. “Wanna get up?”
“I just need a minute.”
He nodded, and sat down beside her, pulling her into an embrace.
“I didn't tell him anything,” she mumbled after a while.
“Didn't tell who?”
“Apophis. He gave me something called the blood of Sokar, tried to get me to give him the iris codes. I didn't.”
Jack glanced down in concern. “Carter, that was four years ago. We saved Jacob, and Apophis is dead. Been dead awhile.”
“No, no,” Sam shook her head. “He'll try to use Jolinar against Martouf, gotta warn him-”
“Sam, look around. We're not on Netu.”
As Jack nudged the shoulder she was leaning on, she looked around the charred quarry where the alpha site used to be. She ran her hand over the side of the damaged UAV, and it killed Jack to see how lost she looked.
“But, my dad-”
“He's fine,” he assured. “A little banged up from the blast, but nothing his snake couldn't handle. Probably worried sick about you, so if you think you can stand-”
Sam winced, and Jack noticed the nasty gash on her leg. Without another word, he picked her up and carried her back to the gate. Her eyes drifted closed, and by the time they reached the stargate - which SG-13 had done a wonderful job standing up again - she was completely asleep.
Once Sam was settled in the infirmary, Jacob pulled Jack aside.
“You heard about the alliance?” Jacob asked, and Jack nodded. “Which means I'm not going to be as readily available.”
“You shouldn't go with them.”
“Jack-”
“Listen, I know that Selmak is this important leader-”
“Jack!”
“Jacob. Your daughter needs you.” Jack stared him down, which made Jacob shift in place. “I'm not coming to you as an Air Force colonel, I'm coming to you as a friend and future son-in-law. There's something seriously wrong with Samantha, and right now she needs you a whole heck of a lot more than the Tok'ra do.”
Jacob nodded. “I'll see what I can do.”
“And maybe go check on her, make sure she knows you're ok,” Jack added. “Back at the alpha site, she thought we were still on Netu.”
“Netu?” Jacob asked. “That was four years ago.”
“Like I said, there's something going on with her.”
When Sam opened her eyes, she saw Jacob sitting by her bed.
“Hey, Dad,” she smiled weakly.
“Hey, Sammy,” Jacob smiled back. “Heard you weren't feeling too good.”
Sam made a noncommittal face. “What about you?”
“Selmak fixed me up pretty good, but we're not talking about me. Jack said you thought you were on Netu.”
“He did, did he?”
“He also said this wasn't the first time you didn't know where you were.”
“I'm fine, Dad, really.”
Jacob reached over and gently grasped her hand. “No more strong soldier routine. I'm worried about you, and so are your friends.”
Sam looked away, tears building up in her eyes.
“Listen, while you were missing, the alliance fell apart. The Tok'ra aren't going to be dealing with Earth anymore. I've gone over it with Selmak, and we choose you. I'm not going anywhere.”
Looking back at him, Sam tried to sit up. “Dad, no, you're too important-”
“The council already doesn't trust me anymore, and you're more important to me. Besides, if Selmak didn't agree, I wouldn't be here.” Jacob patted her hand, and stood up. “Get some sleep, I'll still be here when you wake up.”
Jack was eating lunch with Daniel when the intercom told him to get to the phone.
“O'Neill,” Jack said as he picked up the phone.
“Sir, Teal'c has reported Major Carter missing,” Walter said. “He said he went to bring her to lunch, and she wasn't in her lab. She's also not answering pages.”
“Be right there.” Jack hung up the phone, and motioned for Daniel to follow him.
It took a while to find her, looking rather confused at the ceiling in one of the storage bays. She was favouring her left leg, and Jack was reminded that she was still healing from her encounter with the kull warrior. When they got her attention, she pointed the previously unseen zat at them.
“Whoa!” Jack exclaimed. “Carter, it's us.”
“That's what you say,” she said, both her voice and hands shaking.
“Put the zat down,” Jack asked gently, his hands raised to try and calm her.
“No, I won't let you take over the SGC!”
Daniel glanced at Jack, then back at Sam. “Sam, who do you think we are right now?”
“Don't come any closer!” She readjusted the zat in her hand, and Daniel flinched back. “I don't know what you did to the real Daniel, or the rest of our people, but I'm going to find them and I won't let you stop me.”
“The foothold,” Daniel muttered in Jack's direction. Jack nodded, and stepped towards Sam.
“Carter, we're not aliens, and I can prove it.” He pulled down his shirt collar to show the lack of a hologram device, and nodded for Daniel to do the same. Sam looked confused, and more than a little scared, but let Jack take the zat from her.
“I almost shot you,” she whispered.
“Zatted, actually, so it's fine,” Jack corrected as he handed the zat to Daniel.
“Wouldn't be the first or last time I was hit by one of those things,” Daniel said, and Jack shook his head to shut him up.
“I was so sure-” Sam started crying, and Jack pulled her into his embrace.
“I know, I know,” Jack murmured.
Another MRI and the discussion of a sedative later, and Janet still had no definitive answers.
“Can you tell me how these episodes feel?” Janet asked.
“It's strange, it just feels like I'm displaced in time,” Sam said, agitation and confusion crinkling her face.
“That's called a flashback, and acute trauma and PTSD will do that to you. I'm sorry, Sam. I think it's just gotten too much for you to handle.”
“What, you're saying I've had a mental break?” Sam scoffed. “I feel fine, Janet. I'm not crazy. There's been alien technology that's mimicked insanity before-”
“I've already checked,” Janet interrupted. “No signs of any Machello devices, nanites, probes, chemical weapons, nothing. Think about everything you've gone through - your brain has been tampered with more times than I can count. Hell, you've had your consciousness downloaded into a computer and back again. That leaves both physical and psychological damage, Sam.”
“I'm not crazy,” Sam repeated, quieter; almost like she was trying to convince herself.
“I'm going to suggest a medical discharge,” Janet said, matching Sam's tone. “And we're going to have to discuss a caregiver.”
Sam pulled her knees to her chest, tears burning at the corner of her eyes. Janet met Jack at the door to the infirmary, and pointed him in Sam's direction.
“Hey,” he said, but Sam refused to look at him. “Listen, there's something we need to talk about.”
“I'm not crazy,” she muttered.
“Never said you were. But you're worrying me, and that brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about.” He sighed, and sat down. “I don't trust anyone else to do what you need, and legally the easiest way for me to ensure people treat you right is to get married.”
“Jack, are you proposing to me again?” Sam smirked, turning to look at him.
“Ah, you remember the first time, huh?” Jack smiled, and barely dodged the playful smack sent his way. “Hey! I just didn't want you to think I was taking advantage of you or anything. I love you, and I want to marry you for all the normal reasons too, you know.”
“Did Janet talk to you about me needing a babysitter now?” Sam asked with a scoff.
“I believe the word the doc used was caregiver, and I don't think she's far wrong to suggest it.”
Sam scoffed again. “Who are you planning for that, then?”
“Well…” Jack leaned back in his chair, releasing a deep sigh. “If you were alright with it, I was thinking me.”
“You?”
“I've done pretty well so far, haven't I? Besides, I have Hammond and the president pretty much in my back pocket, and we've arranged for my retirement, plus a place for us at the alpha site.”
“Didn't the alpha site get blown up just last week?” Sam asked, that lingering doubt in her awareness creeping up on her.
“Not that one, the other one. Cheyenne Mountain Two. We've already got quarters on base in the meantime, and I'm requisitioning stuff to build a nice cabin.”
“With room enough for four, I'm assuming?” Daniel asked, walking up to them with Teal'c close behind.
“Four?” Jack repeated, looking at Daniel for explanation.
“Well, Sam's our family, too. We're not just going to abandon her, not when I can work my translations remotely. And Teal'c-”
“I cannot quit in my fight against the Goa'uld, Major Carter,” Teal'c interrupted. “I can, however, reassign my living quarters to the alpha site and join one of the SG teams there.”
“Yeah, see?” Daniel pointed at Teal'c with a smile. “All figured out.”
“You guys,” Sam said, near tears again. “You'd do all this for me?”
“Indeed,” Teal'c answered, bowing his head towards her with a warm smile.
Due to bad luck and terrible timing, the documentary crew were on base at the same time that Jack and Sam were trying to move to the alpha site. Colonel Rundell was trying to reign in the boisterous reporter, but short of physically pulling him away, there wasn't anything he could do.
“Colonel O'Neill! Major Carter!” the reporter shouted. “I'm Emmett Bregman, here to document everything this facility does for its country, and I was just wondering if I could get a statement from the infamous SG-1.”
“Mr. Bregman, this programme is classified top-secret,” Jack gritted through his teeth. “If we were infamous, we'd have to be really bad at our jobs.”
“Well, pedantics-” Bregman started, but Jack cut him off again.
“We're retired, and definitely not giving a statement. Good luck with everyone else.” Jack put a hand around Sam's shoulder and guided her away from the documentary crew. Mr. Bregman started chasing after them, ordering his cameramen to do the same.
“I find it hard to believe that you, of all people, would retire-”
“I've done it before. I can do it again.”
“Come on, you're telling me that you just got sick of going to other planets? Do you take me for a fool?”
“You don't want to know what I take you for, Bregman,” Jack turned to look at him, the glare in his eyes sending shivers down the reporter's back. “Now, back off before I have you thrown out.”
To his credit, Bregman walked away. Jack still had some paperwork to do before they could leave, and just needed to find somewhere Sam could be safe from prying eyes and jutting cameras.
Daniel looked up as Sam and Jack filed into his lab. Jack was constantly looking over his shoulder as if they were being followed.
“Hi?” Daniel said, looking between them for an explanation.
“There's a reporter here, and I need you to keep him as far away from Carter as possible,” Jack said, watching as she sat down.
“Oh. Well, SG-13 brought this back from their mission,” Daniel poked the remnants of some machine with his pen, “and I was wondering if you'd like to help me get into its computer.”
“Really?” Sam asked.
“I mean, unless you just want to sit in the corner and watch me work?” Daniel frowned at her, and she walked up to the probe. Jack waited to make sure they were settled, then went to find Hammond.
Jack didn't quite storm into the general's office, but it could be mistaken as such.
“General, you need to keep that slimey, intrusive, good-for-nothing reporter out of my wife's face, or so help me-”
Hammond cleared his throat and flicked his eyes towards the chair on the other side of his desk, where Bregman was sitting.
“Colonel, Mr. Bregman here was trying to get me to divulge the reasoning of yours and Major Carter's retirement.”
“I hope you told him where he could shove it,” Jack snapped, then added, “Sir.”
“As I was telling General Hammond,” Bregman interjected, “the public has a right to know why their heroes just left the job unfinished.”
“No! They don't! There's private, and then there's classified. This is both.”
“I did say I was going to follow the exact letter of these orders, Mr. Bregman,” Hammond said, tapping the file in front of him. “I checked, there is nothing in here that says I have to divulge my officers’ personal information. Now, please step out so I may have a word with the colonel.”
Bregman opened his mouth to argue, but Hammond just raised an eyebrow.
“I'm not asking. Get the hell out of my office.”
As the reporter headed for the door, he turned to Jack. “You said your wife. Does that mean you and Major Carter-”
“Out!” Hammond ordered, and Bregman jumped like he'd been hit. Once the door closed and they were alone, the general sighed and gestured for Jack to sit down.
“I'm going to shoot him,” Jack muttered.
“Please don't. I really don't want to hear about it from the president.”
“You remember what we went through with the last reporter?” Jack asked, hinting heavily.
“I do, and I was worried about that myself. Which is why I ordered Mr. Bregman that he was not to engage with Major Carter at any point.”
“Good. The last thing she needs right now is for some bozo with a camera to make a spectacle out of her.”
A knock at the door interrupted Hammond before he could reply. “Come in.”
A rather winded Daniel and Sam burst into the office, taking a minute to catch their breath.
“You have to… recall… SG-13,” Daniel panted.
“The probe sent out a subspace beacon right before it was disabled, the Goa'uld could be there right now!” Sam added.
“How do you know that, Major?” Hammond asked.
Daniel looked between her and the general. “Well, I needed help getting to the databank to have something to translate-”
“Carter's still the smartest person we have on base, sir,” Jack finished. “Nothing can take that away from her.”
“Alright. Call Colonel Dixon's team back, and have SGs 7 and 8 on standby in case they need backup.”
SG-13 were followed through the gate by a few staff blasts, but no one was hurt.
“We saw the alkesh right as we got the recall order,” Dixon said as he walked down the ramp. “Barely made it out, sir.”
“We'll debrief in an hour,” Hammond said. “Go get cleaned up.”
“Hey, careful with that, Siler!” Jack called out as the sergeant fumbled one of the boxes. “My box set of The Simpsons is in there!”
Sam chuckled and shook her head. “Of course it is.”
“You're bringing The Simpsons tapes when you're going to live on another planet?” Daniel asked.
“We won't have cable,” Jack defended.
“I'm also bringing some movies, Daniel,” Sam said. “We'll have a television, as well as phones and computers. Really, the only difference from retiring on Earth will be that we'll only have internet when the gate is open.”
“Oh,” Daniel said.
“I have packed my copies of Star Wars as well, Daniel Jackson,” Teal'c added, walking behind him.
As much as Jack wanted to boast that he built the cabin with his own two hands, a few attempts was all it took for him to call in a certified construction crew. To make matters easier, both for those building the cabin and those about to live in it, the Tok'ra were able to be convinced to put in a ring system connecting the base and the cabin site.
No one wanted to make that hike on a regular basis.
Jack awoke to Sam's tossing and turning, and it took him a minute to realise her frantic noises were words.
“No… you don't get it… we lied,” she muttered fretfully. “We didn't even know we were lying…”
Running a soothing hand through her hair, he gently kissed her forehead. “I know we lied, Sam. You got us out, it's ok now. I love you, too.”
Whether it was the kiss or the whispers that soothed her, Jack didn't know, but the tossing and turning stopped and she eased into a more restful sleep.
What would've possibly taken Jack years only took the crew a little over seven months, and finally they were move-in ready. The little cabin had all the comforts of Earth - electricity, technology, running water, furniture, spacey rooms for them all. Sam was impressed by the window seat, and claimed it as her new reading spot.
“Would you look at that,” Daniel muttered from the kitchen. “We even have a dishwasher. This is better than my old place.”
Teal'c raised an eyebrow in amusement, and kept looking around.
“Alright, before everyone starts calling dibs,” Jack called out. “Since Sam and I are sharing, we get the bigger room. You two can bicker all you want over the others but please, no fistfights.”
“As you say, O'Neill, no promises,” Teal'c joked before heading down the hallway.
“Should I be worried?” Daniel asked, staring after him.
“Probably.” Jack patted him on the back, then headed back towards the rings. “I'm gonna go get our stuff.”
“Sir,” one of the sergeants ran after him. “Is Dr. Jackson with you?”
Jack readjusted his grip on the box he was carrying. “He's checking out the new house, why?”
“Urgent assignment from Stargate Command.” The sergeant tried to hand the mission folder to Jack, then awkwardly stuffed it in the box. “In person job, we're dialing out as soon as he can get here.”
“I'll get him up here ASAP,” Jack nodded, heading for the ring room. As the rings settled, he knocked on the door with his foot and waited for someone to open it for him. “Ah, Daniel, just who I was looking for.”
“Is everything alright?” Daniel asked, concerned.
“Oh, yeah,” Jack nodded, setting down the box and handing him the folder. “You got an urgent assignment, though. Alpha site's waiting for you to dial out.”
Daniel took the folder and flipped through it, his brow furrowed in confusion. “It says here that some Captain got zapped by something off-world and now he's speaking some alien language they don't recognise. Don't they let these guys read our mission reports? You'd think he'd know how dangerous it was.”
“All they told me was that you needed to get up there, pronto,” Jack shrugged. “Ask all the questions you want back on Earth. I have unpacking to do.”
With that, he picked the box back up and headed to his room.
The first few days went smoothly. They stuck Daniel's things in his room and set up the rest of the house; lining the window seat with pillows upon pillows, placing the chess table on the sun deck, and hanging pictures on the wall.
Everything they could do to make the house seem normal, they did.
Of course, it couldn't last forever. Four days into Daniel's work trip, Jack followed the sound of sniffles to where Sam was perched on the window seat.
“Hey, what's up?” he asked, sitting down next to her. She wiped her tears with her sleeve, but more just fell to replace them.
“I just really miss Daniel.”
“He'll be back,” Jack assured her, rubbing her back.
“How can you be so sure? I mean, we don't really know what happened to him-”
That's when Jack realised what was going through her head. “No, Sam, no, he's not dead! Or Ascended or whatever, no, he's fine. Just on assignment, he'll be back in a few days, I promise.”
Sam blinked, that confused expression on her face when she was trying to recenter herself. “But, we watched him-”
“He came back. Over a year ago. Here, come with me, I'll prove it.”
He helped her stand up and took her to the rings. The sergeant in the gate room scrambled to hide his crossword and stand at attention.
“At ease, sergeant, I'm retired,” Jack reminded him. “And I know how slow it gets up here, don't worry. Can you dial Earth for me? We need to talk to Daniel.”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant said, dialing the gate. It took a few people paging other people, but eventually Daniel appeared on screen.
“What is it, Jack? I'm kinda in the middle of something, here.”
“Won't take but a minute of your time,” Jack answered. “I just need you to remind Samantha that you're not dead.”
As Daniel scrunched his face in confusion, Jack could see that Sam was still struggling to believe what she was seeing.
“Not dead? Why would I have to-” At that moment, Daniel saw her face, and everything clicked for him. “Oh. Oh! No, I'm fine, I promise. Just busy, very very busy. But don't worry, no matter how this turns out, I'll be home within a week.”
A crash happened off camera, which drew Daniel's attention.
“Uh… I should probably… check that out… Uhm, yeah, not dead, very much so on this plane of existence, will be home by next week. Talk later, bye!”
As Daniel ducked away from the camera, the wormhole fizzled out. Jack pulled Sam closer to him.
“See? What did I tell you?”
“Gah!” Carter cried out, watching the staff weapon blasts that shot at her bounce off the activated rings.
Just as the last ring rose, a highly-charged shock wave rippled over the dunes, knocking Carter to her knees. The transfer still went through, but it felt different this time. Every nerve in her body burned, her cells screaming that they were being ripped apart and put back together. She wasn't supposed to be able to feel that happening.
Down on her knees, the pain eased enough for her to notice that she was, indeed, somewhere else. The low, fluorescent hum and dark grey concrete told her she was somewhere Earth-made - which was impossible. The Prometheus wasn't anywhere near that planet, and no Tau'ri base was within range of the ring system. Realistically, she should be in the Ha'tak, surrounded by engraved gold walls, and possibly still being shot at.
In the split second Carter was caught up in her thoughts, a young soldier startled out of his chair and walked over to her.
“Ma'am, are you alright?” he asked. “Do I need to get O'Neill?”
“What?” Carter shook her head. “No, the Colonel is back on P53-962 - where am I?”
“Uh-oh,” the Lieutenant - she could see his stripes from here - muttered. An odd reaction, and it was even odder that he gently raised his hands and pitched his voice like he was talking to a scared animal. “It's ok, Major, you're safe. You must have activated the rings. This is the alpha site base.”
“Alpha site base,” Carter repeated with a scoff. “Sure, that explains so much.”
“I'm going to go call O'Neill and get you back home, does that sound good?”
“Wha- No! We need to go back for the rest of my team! They're getting shot to hell back there- Agh!” As she tried to stand, she was made aware that she had scraped her leg during her escape.
“Ooh, that looks bad,” the Lieutenant winced. “I'll get something to clean that out with.”
“It can wait, the others-”
“The others are fine, ma'am. Dr. Jackson is still on that Earth assignment, same as yesterday, and I'll get Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c up here as soon as I can get to the phone.”
“What?”
It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense, the more she thought about it. The Lieutenant's measured, cautious voice as if he thought she was unstable; the impossibility of the rings transporting her to the alpha site; and now, the insistence that her team is not, and perhaps never was, in imminent danger from the Goa'uld.
Her brain raced for answers as she watched him dial the phone.
“Knight to E4,” Sam smirked, knocking Jack's defeated rook off the board.
“I really need to stop playing chess with geniuses,” Jack grumbled.
Watching the other two play from the window, Teal'c picked up the ringing phone.
“This is Teal'c.”
“Uh, hey, Teal'c, is Colonel O'Neill there?” a nervous voice answered.
“One moment, please,” Teal'c said. He held the phone to his chest as he walked over to the chess table. “It is for you, O'Neill.”
Jack took the phone without taking his eyes off the board. “Yeah?”
“Hello, sir. Sorry, sir. This is Lieutenant Sanders, and, uh, I'm afraid Major Carter is up here. I think she's having an episode.”
“Yeah- what? Carter? No, she's right here, and she's lucid enough to be kicking my ass at chess.”
There was a pause, then the Lieutenant's voice was noticeably lower, as if trying not to be heard by someone else in the room. “Does she have a sister, or..?”
“Hold on, Sanders, we're on our way,” Jack said, and hung up the phone. “Grab your stuff, we're going up to the base.”
Sam nodded, pulling on her long cardigan and stepping into her shoes as Jack did the same.
As the rings settled, they could clearly see another Samantha Carter sitting, loosely restrained, in an office chair.
“Where did she come from?” Jack asked the Lieutenant.
“The rings, sir,” Sanders said. “That's why I thought it was Major Carter.”
Sam just stared at her doppelganger in discomfort, pulling her jacket close around herself. She had seen interdimensional versions of herself before, of course - multiple times. The only difference was that, back then, she had no reason to doubt her mind.
The other Carter was wearing desert fatigues, which had definitely seen better days. Her face and short, jagged hair were covered in sand, and a tear in her trouser leg showed a perfectly clean bandage.
“She, uh, cut her leg somewhere,” Sanders said, flustered. “I cleaned and dressed the wound, and restrained her. She didn't fight back that much, but I know our Carter well enough not to trust it.”
The doppelganger didn't do anything; she just stared at Sam in the same calculated, observing nature Sam was using.
“How did you get here?” Jack asked. “We destroyed that mirror.”
“It wasn't a mirror,” Carter said. “My team and I were doing a recon mission on P53-962, and we were ambushed.”
“P53-962? That's an abandoned Goa'uld base, isn't it?” Sam asked, looking at Jack for assurance.
“Yup, it is,” Jack agreed. “The Goa'uld haven't been seen there in decades, at least.”
“Well, it's not abandoned in my universe,” Carter snapped. “Colonel O'Neill ordered me to ring to the Ha'tak to sabotage what I could while the others fought off the Jaffa. I'm not really sure what happened, but there was a shockwave full of electricity that went right through the rings as I activated them, and next thing I knew, I ended up here.”
“A surge like that in the energy transfer could have ripped a hole in spacetime,” Sam theorized. “The rings use a weaker version of the stargate technology, so it's entirely possible.”
Carter flinched backwards. “That's exactly what I was thinking.”
Walking over to the rolling whiteboard, Sam uncapped a marker and took a deep breath.
This is happening. You know where you are. You can do this.
She kept her hand steady as she wrote out an equation, hesitating as the numbers blurred together, connected to jumbled memories.
“No pressure, Sam,” Jack whispered, putting a comforting hand on her back. “You have plenty of time.”
“Actually, I really need to get back to my team-” Carter started, but Jack glared at her and made a cutting motion with his hand.
“Lots and lots of time.”
Sam ignored them both and mumbled as she calculated.
“If beta is our universe, and gamma is theirs, and the shock wave collided with the rings at point-eight the speed of light…” She tapped the marker against her chin, and raised her voice without turning around. “It'd help if I knew what caused the explosion.”
“I don't know, we didn't detonate anything,” Carter answered. “The electricity in the debris cloud, it looked like-”
“Ionization,” Sam finished. She looked between the whiteboard and the ring platform, and worried her hand across the back of her neck. “We shouldn't have used the rings to get here. Our trip wiped the crystals. We could, in theory, recreate the accident, but without those coordinates, I can't promise you'll get to your universe.”
“Sam-” Jack walked up to her.
“God, we should've walked. Why didn't we just walk?”
“Sam, breathe-”
She pushed Jack's hands away and stormed to the door. “I need some air.”
“It must be weird, seeing another version of yourself,” Carter said, staring out into the forest.
She had followed Sam out onto the sundeck, taking note of the unkempt hair tied loosely with what looked like a hoodie string, of the oversized cardigan and worn-out jeans. Clearly, in this universe, Samantha Carter had been through hell.
“It's not the first time,” Sam scoffed. “Though, don't ask me an exact number. They all blur together.”
“Does that not-at-all-suspicious statement have anything to do with why Lieutenant Sanders in there treated me like a wild animal he was trying to rescue?”
Sam pulled her cardigan tighter around her. “He shouldn't have done that.”
“Well, he did, and I'm trying to understand why.”
“We should focus on getting you home.”
Sam pushed off the railing and walked back into the base, leaving Carter with more questions than answers.
The alpha site looked so much like the SGC; that was the point, she supposed. It was easier for those stationed there to feel at home, to forget they weren't on Earth. The whiteboard taunted her, large blank spaces left where answers laid out of reach.
She had to prevent the use of the rings. Or was it the stargate? Why couldn't anyone use it? The taste of plastic assaulted her mouth as the marker she was chewing refused to give her any answers. If only her mind could hold onto the details of this urgency…
The iris wasn't closed. Weren't they preventing incoming wormholes? The crystals would be wiped. They'd lose Teal'c. No, it wasn't Teal'c. Or was it? Sam couldn't think, too many problems from too many times were playing out in her head, and neither seemed like the one she was currently trying to solve.
She spun in a slow circle, taking in the details of where she was. The whiteboard. The stargate. The rings- the rings? Cheyenne Mountain didn't have rings. As she kept turning, she saw her own face.
That was it. That was the problem needing solving. But maybe, just this once, her flashbacks may have been the answer.
“We got Teal'c stuck in the ‘gate,” she said.
“What?” Carter asked, making Sam realise that almost none of what she had thought through was out loud.
“A few years ago, there was a malfunction and Teal'c got stuck mid-transfer in the stargate. He never rematerialized - well, he did, we eventually got him out - but the point is, the way I found out what happened to him is the same way we can get your coordinates out of the ring database.”
Carter quickly followed her train of thought. “The coordinates were the hard part. Once we have them, all we have to do is match the energy signature of the overload!”
“Exactly!” Sam ran over to the control console, while Carter hobbled after her. “Now, these rings only go two places - here, and the cabin. We find a code that doesn't match either of those, we have your coordinates… There!”
Being an error, the code was buried deep in the tertiary backup system.
“Now we just have to overload the transporter,” Carter said. “Easy as that, right?”
“We have to safely overload the transporter,” Sam corrected. “We're not exactly on the best of terms with the Tok'ra right now, so if it's not something I can fix, myself, it's quite a hike to get back to my house.”
Carter winced in sympathy, and the two of them worked on the programme.
Everything was in place. The coordinates, and necessary calculations, were put into the computer. Anything that could be damaged by a surge was powered off and tucked away. All that was left was to say goodbye.
“I bet your SG-1 is absolutely lost without you,” Jack quipped.
“Hopefully not literally,” Carter replied with an awkward expression. “I did, sort of, leave in the middle of a firefight.”
“Ah, well, there is that,” was Jack's equally awkward reply.
Taking one last look around the base, Carter jutted her chin towards where Sam was entering the last sequence. “Take care of her.”
“You know I do.”
“Alright, that's it!” Sam called over. “Activation in three… two… one!”
The rings went up with a brighter light than usual, sending sparks popping out of every seam. When they settled, Sam looked over the screen.
“Output… nominal. She should be back in her universe, and we don't even need a tune-up.” Sam scoffed in amazement. “Talk about a best case scenario.”
“Ready to go home?” Jack asked, holding out his hand. Sam took it with a smile.
As she reset the ring destination, the stargate burst out a vortex, and Daniel walked through with his suitcase in hand.
“Hey, guys! Did I miss anything?”
Over dinner that evening, Daniel's face was heavy with things he needed to say. He pushed around the slightly less charred than usual steak, and Jack finally put his fork down.
“Just spit it out, Daniel.”
“I want to go on the Atlantis expedition.”
Silence gripped the dinner table. Teal'c nodded that he had Sam, and Jack stood up.
“Outside. Now.”
As they stepped into the backyard and Jack closed the door, he glared at Daniel.
“Jack-” Daniel started.
“Daniel,” Jack cut him off. “Atlantis is in another galaxy, isn't it?”
“Well, yes, and I wouldn't want to leave you and Sam behind when you need me, but I'm the foremost expert on the Ancients-”
“What makes you think I'd let you go to another galaxy?”
“First of all, you're no longer my commanding officer,” Daniel argued. “In fact, one could argue that, because I'm a civilian, you never were.”
“I'm still your friend, and I love you like a son.” Jack sighed. “Just answer one question for me. How many times have you died?”
Daniel scoffed. “What, you won't let me go because I might die?”
“With your track record, it's inevitable, but that's not my point.”
“What is your point, Jack? Tell me, what's the big deal?”
“How am I going to convince her that you're alive and safe if you're unreachable in another galaxy?” Jack pointed at the house, his voice gone from raised and annoyed to soft and sad. “You don't have any memories from when you were Ascended, I do. I remember what a mess she was the first time. Neither of us can go through that again, and she's been getting worse.”
Daniel looked through the window at Sam, and sighed.
“Daniel, I can't stop you from going,” Jack said, “but I can ask you not to. Beg, if I have to. I don't think it's a good idea to go to another galaxy with no sure way back.”
“Alright,” Daniel conceded. “When they have secured a way back and forth, can I at least go visit?”
Jack chuckled. “You have a deal.”
“Good. Well, let's go back inside and eat while our dinner is still somewhat edible.”
“Fine, Danny boy, why don't you cook next time?” Jack tussled Daniel's hair and they walked back inside the house.
“What was all that about?” Sam asked.
“We reached a compromise,” Jack said, sitting down. “Daniel's not going to Atlantis on the first wave, but once they've secured a way back, he'll go check it out.”