TITLE: For Old Times' Sake.
AUTHOR:
CATEGORY: Sam and Jack
SUMMARY: 2010: With a twist.
CONTENT
LEVEL:
SPOILERS: 2010 – D'oh! Tiny *tiny* ones for Divide & Conquer and Window of Opportunity.
SEASON: AU "2010"
STATUS: Complete
ARCHIVE: SJA,
DISCLAIMER: Ok, don't own characters (wish I did) made this story up, didn't make any money out of it, yada yada, you know the rest.
NOTES: Wow, finally! I set myself a target when I wrote this, to leave as much original dialogue as I possibly could intact, while accommodating my twist. As such, there are bits missing, bits changed and bits added, but all in all, this is pretty much the episode 2010, but like that famous bloke says, I did it my way.
SPECIAL THANKS: You know who you are. I thank you with all my heart for your patience, help and encouragement.
She quickly checked her watch as she made her way to the seat that was waiting for her. Damn she was really late! He looked up to her as she sat down, a smile already showing on his handsome face.
"Hon, I am so sorry…" she began, but the apology was cut off quickly by the man sitting across from her.
"Hey it's ok, " His familiar touch as he took her hand in his had the same effect it had always had. She felt the instant jolt, which preceded the contrasting instant calm. Yet still she felt the need to prevaricate longer.
"No, if you were this late I'd…" She felt his grip tighten slightly as his eyes sought hers.
"Yeah but Sam, *I* am the very personification of patience, you on the other hand…" the smirk was a well-known one, and she couldn't stop herself responding in kind, but it didn't quite reach her eyes, and of course, he noticed. Of course he noticed. He knew what today was; she just really didn't want to have to say this to him again.
"I just found out," She was doing a great job of keeping the tears locked away, but she had seen the momentary grief in his eyes as she said the words. The one thing that they both really wanted was the one thing that seemed out of their reach somehow. It was the same every time, the same hope, the same disappointment and then the same words…
"They said it isn't either one of us, we just have to keep trying," God they sounded so hollow, they'd been said too many times to even hope to be reassuring.
"Well you know that I *really* don't mind the trying..." That brought a smile to her lips, she knew how hard he was trying and she loved him even more for that. "Wanna walk me to the car?" He stood and offered her his hand, as she rolled her eyes at him.
"The car? Why can't you just use the terminal like everyone else?" She felt him stiffen slightly at her side even though the arm around her waist didn't alter its hold.
"Sam, lets not get into this again. You know why I won't use anything *they* brought with them." His voice was soft, but she couldn't miss the acidity lacing his words. It had been so long, and yet he still wouldn't give an inch. But then again, that was one of the things she had fallen in love with, even though it had caused its own share of problems.
He let go of her briefly to take his keys out of his pocket; his old Ford still looking as good as it had ever looked.
Giving her a quick kiss and pulling her into his strong arms he spoke into her hair. "Thank you for understanding about the ceremony, if it had been anything else you know I'd be there…but I utterly refuse to stand around and get a medal for something I hate…"
She cut him off by placing a finger gently on his lips.
"I know Jack, I just wish you'd come see Daniel, Teal'c and Janet…"
"Sam, please. They all knew where I was, but not one of them came to see me. You did. Even if it was to argue, you still came. To me that says it all."
She knew better than to argue this point with him. It was a classic case of stalemate and pride. His eyes had clouded over, she understood why. He missed them, but he wouldn't admit it. If she hadn't gone to see him that night, she knew without a doubt that she would have never seen him again. Especially after General Hammond had died. For some reason, that had only consolidated his loathing of the Aschen, and to this day she didn't understand why.
Oh he had tried to tell her, on so many occasions before and since their marriage, but she couldn't, for once, believe him. To Sam it was simple logic: as a result of the treaty with the Aschen, Earth got everything it ever wanted… and so had she. She'd got Jack.
He'd mistrusted the Aschen from virtually the moment of first contact and had become more vocal as the time passed and the treaty was sanctioned. He'd even gone as far as getting himself thrown out of the Oval office in the process of arguing his case. But the final straw for him came when he had asked his team to trust him, to take the fact that he was *so* resolutely against this and just trust his instincts one more time, to believe in him.
In that briefing Sam had truly been at war with herself, part of her *knowing* that Jack wouldn't have ever resorted to emotional leverage if he wasn't out of options on something he was utterly convinced about. But the other part of her saw what the Aschen were offering, and she couldn't let her entire planet down, even for the man that she respected and loved. It seemed that Daniel and Teal'c agreed with her, it was too good an opportunity to miss.
He had resigned that morning and left without speaking to anyone. She knew him well enough, even then, to grasp that as far as he was concerned, that was the end of it all. If the people he trusted most in the world wouldn't put the same faith in him, then how the hell could he convince the entire planet that they were making the biggest mistake of their lives? So he had just walked away, given up the fight. Which was the most out of character thing that she had ever witnessed all because his team's negation of faith. Sam understood all of this. Yet she still couldn't bring herself to believe that the saviours of their entire world could possibly be anything other than wondrous.
So she had gone to see him that night, to try to convince him that he was wrong. That somehow his instincts were misplaced this time. To try to persuade him to come back to them, because she knew that without him, there would no longer be SG-1.
That had been the first time they had really argued. Sure, they had disagreed before, but always as the "Colonel" and the "Major". That night, they argued as Sam and Jack. But neither of them would give and inch on their argument. Which left emotions and tensions running very high between them.
It was a few days later, when he came to collect his stuff; that those emotions had spilled over. He'd knocked on her door, asking for his signed hockey puck that she'd demanded as punishment for breaking one of her experiments. As she reached around to hand it to him, their fingers touched. That accidental contact a catalyst for the feelings that both were struggling to come to terms with. With a groan that seemed to be a mixture between desire and self-recrimination, he took her hand in his and pulled her to his chest. As she felt his arms close tightly around her, she willingly angled her face upward to receive the kiss that they both knew was coming. That as they say was that.
He'd always said that she should be forever grateful for his predilection for playing with things. Because if he hadn't broken her do-hickey, she wouldn't have had his puck, and he wouldn't have had to go ask for it back. For once, she couldn't fault his logic.
She could remember it as if it was yesterday, long before they'd ever met the Aschen, he'd wandered into her lab looking for an explanation about sub-space fields and time inversions, a topic that he had become very interested in after he'd lived through one. Of course her definition had only served to confuse him more.
During the course of her "clarification" he'd picked up a laser converter and promptly snapped the focal alignment. Having spent several days calculating the exact calibration of the laser, she was more than a little annoyed, even his puppy-dog eyes did little to dissuade her external ire. He'd grovelled for the better part of an hour, until Sam finally settled on her revenge. He'd broken something of hers; she was going to demand restitution in the form of something *he* valued. His Wayne Gretsky, signed *in person*, hockey puck! The very hockey puck that he treated with almost religious reverence, to the point that she wouldn't be surprised if he kissed it every night before he went to sleep.
In fairness to her CO, he had handed it over with less protestation than she had expected, although that really wasn't saying much. He'd pouted and sulked for a while, called her mean, ruthless and harsh and then proceeded to give her a list of exact "How to care for" instructions… it was *only* a hockey puck, for cryin' out loud!
She smiled to herself at the memory. She had a lot to thank that puck for, having it in the first place, led him to come asking for it back and then later that night, asking her for a whole lot more – which she gave very willingly.
Their relationship wasn't easy even without the complication of the regulations. Sam worked with and for the people Jack detested. She had taken all the vaccines that they had made available, when Jack wouldn't even have anything remotely Aschen in their home. To say that tension was present would have been a massive understatement. Yet they worked through it, each too grateful for the chance to be with the other to let something as inconsequential as interplanetary politics come between them.
Jack lifted his head, smiling to himself at the sight of his wife, totally lost in her thoughts. He knew her well enough to know precisely what that small quirk of her lips meant she was thinking about. Even now it confused him as to how they could be so diametrically opposed to something so important and still be together.
His smile broadened and he brought her face up to his to steal a kiss before he murmured.
"Speaking of Janet, maybe we should get a second opinion."
She really fought the temptation to roll her eyes at him,
"Jack, the Aschen are hundreds of years more advanced in medicine than we are."
"Sam, the Aschen are slimy, arrogant frauds, with *no* sense of…" her look stopped him, mid flow. This was old territory and quite frankly one of those issues that they agreed to disagree on. Otherwise their relationship would never have lasted more than a few weeks.
"So how long will you be gone?" She changed the topic quickly and he seemed glad that she had.
"I dunno, a few days probably. The cabin needs air, and I need fishing. Just come up when you're done, ok?"
"Yeah…" she couldn't help the break in her voice.
"Sam, what's wrong?"
"I just wish…"
"I know, me too"
He pulled her tighter to him and kissed her long enough and hard enough to make them both really wish that it would be lot sooner before they saw each other again!
They were pulled out of their kiss by an insistent beep. Sam took the clip from her pocket, but stayed within the close confines of her husband's arms.
"I gotta go…"
"Yeah, go, run… do their bidding…" she flinched slightly at the bitterness that crept into his voice as he let her go and climbed behind the wheel.
"Jack…" now she was losing patience
"OK, I'm sorry,"
He leant out of the window and kissed her again. As he started the engine, he traced the outline of her jaw. "Have a good day Baby, I love you." Instantly her eyes softened and she smiled.
"I love you too Jack. Have fun finding fish," she giggled at his offended look.
"Sam, how many times do I have to tell you, you don't go fishing for the fish…" he began, "you fish for the fishing" she echoed the familiar line, unable to bite back the grin.
He smiled back at her and put the car in gear, winking at her as he mouthed "Bye". She watched until the taillights disappeared around the bend. God she loved that man, if it hadn't been for the very race he hated, she would never have been able to have him.
Surely that was reason enough for gratitude to the Aschen?
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sam stood, listening to the announcement and exchanging smiles with Daniel.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States." The disembodied voice announced to the crowd while the viewing screen was manoeuvred into position, before flickering to life with the real-time image of their President. Sam hid a smile; not even Apophis had been hated as much as her husband hated Kinsey. She quickly had to re-focus her attention as the ex-senator began to speak.
"My fellow Americans. Ten years ago this very day, a team, code named SG-1, then working in secret, came upon an alien race: The Aschen. With that introduction I was able to forge the greatest alliance this country, indeed, this world has ever known..."
Sam exchanged smiles with her friends as Kinsey allowed the applause to settle before continuing.
"I read now from Colonel Jack O'Neill's mission report of that first contact: 'These folks sound too good to be true. Willing to share their science and technology, friendly, smarter than we are. One thing's for sure: The goa'uld are coming... The Aschen could save our asses.' "
Sam smiled at what was essentially, typical Jack. Not even official mission reports escaped his 'less than military' approach to the military. Kinsey regained her wandering attention as he continued
"Well, guess what Jack? They did."
Sam was aware of the crowd laughing and applauding behind her. Kinsey was still clever. Using Jack's personality to win over the crowd was a masterstroke. She looked back up towards the figure on the screen, Ok, so not everything that happened through the Aschen was a good thing. Sam and SG-1 had had far too many dealings with the then senator to ever trust or like him. President or not.
"Jack O'Neill could not be here today, but those candid words hurriedly scratched down in a mission report ten years ago were prescient. Membership in the Aschen Confederation guarantees the security, the health, and the future of every human being on God's Earth. Dr. Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c... Would you please step forward?"
As Sam walked up to the foot of the gate with Daniel and Teal'c, her thoughts were with her husband. In that moment she wanted more than anything for him to be here, sharing their glory, but she knew that feeling the way he did, it was impossible. As the medal was placed around her neck, her pride in the moment was subdued slightly as she remembered Jack's words: 'who the hell wants a medal to remind them of the biggest mistake they've ever made?'
Kinsey's voice broke into her thoughts.
"Though the nations business has kept me from being with you in person, nonetheless I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you've done for me, and for our country. God bless you all."
As some of the very few remaining airmen fired a salute high above their heads, Sam smiled.
Sometimes Jack O'Neill was too stubborn for his own good.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sam raised her champagne glass and toasted the only other man missing from today's proceedings.
"To General Hammond."
Daniel, Teal'c and Janet all silenced and observed the toast solemnly.
"I miss him. Especially today," the feeling was mutual to them all. He had been so much more than a General to them.
"Yeah, how long has it been anyway?" asked Daniel
"It has been six years." Answered the ex-first prime, as stoically as ever. But Sam knew that Teal'c especially had missed Hammond. There had been an undeniable bond between the two men that had gained bilateral respect.
Daniel roused her from her remembrances with a thinly veiled accusation.
"Which reminds me, what was Jack's excuse? I expected to see him here." Sam had been waiting for this. She knew that Jack had hurt them all by refusing to see them, but she also knew how much they had hurt him by not trusting him, even a little. It was something that she hated, because the stand off always placed her firmly in the middle. It was Teal'c who saved her from the discomfort she suddenly felt.
"O’Neill has made his feelings very clear concerning the Aschen alliance DanielJackson."
"Well, he could have come to see us, Teal'c." He was right of course, but then again, if they expected Jack O'Neill to make the first move, they would be waiting an awfully long time.
"I almost didn't come myself."
Clearly, Janet's comment surprised Daniel enough for him to drop the issue of Jack. Sam mentally sent a million thanks to her friend.
"What?
"It's easier for you, Daniel. I mean your job wasn't made obsolete… and if I…"
Their collective shock at Janet's outburst was quelled immediately by the arrival of the Aschen ambassador, Mollem. Sam smiled to herself; Jack would have had a field day here…
"Forgive me for interrupting..." Mollem began, "Dr. Jackson, the Aschen delegation is eager to hear about your recent research gathered from the contingent world Europa."
Daniel looked at his friends and then back to Mollem, "Yeah, sure. Just let me say goodbye?"
Mollem nodded and left giving Sam the opportunity to discuss plans for the day.
"So, you guys. Where are we going?" She looked expectantly around the group.
"I had planned to return to Chulak." Teal'c answered first, but Sam wasn't going to accept that. They very rarely got the chance to get together; she wasn't about to let them get away so easily.
"Oh come on Teal’c, we haven't seen each other in ages. Please." She knew that she had used her eyes, Jack had always said no male alive could deny her anything when she used her 'doe-eyes'.
"Very well." Teal'c relented with a smile. Jack was right!
"Dinner?" Daniel suggested, knowing that he was expected by the Aschen delegation, and thus eager to sort out arrangements.
"Sounds great." Sam replied happily.
"Yes dinner," Agreed Janet
With the decision made, and goodbyes uttered, Sam wandered to the balcony with Janet, eager for a few more seconds with her friend, besides she was still curious about Janet's outburst earlier.
"So, what was that?"
"What was what?" Janet's feigned confusion didn't convince Sam for a second, so she prompted a little more.
"Going on again about being obsolete?"
She heard a small sigh escape her friend. "Think about it Sam. We've all taken the anti-ageing vaccine and the anti-cancer vaccine... and now the Aschen have these medical machines that can reverse tissue damage and mend broken bones... I mean where does that leave me?"
Sam duplicated her friend's sigh, understanding in her eyes. "I guess when you put it that way I know what you mean... I mean, half the time the science they're talking about is so far over my head, I feel like a lab assistant..."
It was refreshing to have someone to talk to about this. She couldn't ever mention anything to do with the Aschen to Jack for fear of it starting another argument. But hearing the loss in her friend's voice, she had to admit that not everyone had benefited from the Aschen intervention.
"Ah Sam, but at least you have something to do." Janet stated resolutely.
"Yeah… I suppose" Sam became aware that the mood was deteriorating and was extremely grateful when Janet changed the subject.
"Okay enough of that, tell me by any chance are you and Jack…?"
Sam shook her head sadly, knowing instinctively what her friend referred to . "Not yet. They say it isn't either one of us; we just have to keep trying..." she should have known by the look on Janet's face that she wasn't going to leave it at that.
"You know they still let me keep an office in Washington even though I have nothing to do. So I’d be more than happy to give you a check up."
"No, they said I was fine… " Why did this suddenly feel like a conversation with Jack? Was she so used to defending everything about the Aschen that she had become blind to the possibilities?
"Sam, the medicine that I practised may seem like the dark ages now, but I was your doctor for a long time. How long have you been trying?"
"Almost three years." Her disappointment was evident in her tone. She had wanted so much to make Jack a father again…
"Yes?"
Sam knew that she wasn't going to get left alone unless she agreed to Janet's exam, it would be easier all round for her if she just went willingly now.
"When can we do this?" she asked her friend.
But something in the back of her mind was worried, that maybe Janet would find something that the Aschen doctors hadn't told her. A niggling doubt that had been in the back of her mind for nearly three years thundered back to the surface.
Maybe it *was* her fault she couldn't give Jack children?
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sam sat alone, waiting for Janet to return, while wanting nothing more than for Jack to be here with her, holding her hand and making her laugh. All of a sudden, the side door opened and Janet reappeared.
"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting, but I just wanted to double-check my results..."
"And I'm fine. Right?" Oh how she wanted Janet to tell her that she was right, but the look on her friend's face didn't fill her with confidence.
"Sam, I don't know how your Aschen doctor could have missed it, and frankly I just don't think it's possible he could have…"
"What?" Sam closed her eyes, trying to block out for a second the reality that was crashing around her, she could tell that Janet was about to deliver some very unpleasant news.
"You can't have children." She felt her entire being still as she listened to those words. Oh God, it was her fault. There *was* something wrong with her. The tears she usually kept under rigid control, welled as she forced words past the lump in her throat "They said everything was normal,"
"In every other way it is," Janet continued in a softer voice
"Then this is a mistake." Her voice was shaking, belittling the apparent confidence of her words. 'Please God, let this be a mistake'
"Here let me show you the scan." As Janet turned the screen to face her, even Sam could see that there was no mistake. "There’s no room for interpretation. Clearly your ovaries are damaged." The finality of that statement hit her hard, more so when she thought of Jack.
"Why?" She demanded of her friend.
"I don't know Sam, I don’t know what may have caused it or when it may have happened but obviously it was some time…" but Janet had misunderstood.
"No!" Now she was angry, all this time she had refused to believe her husband, and now, he may well have been right all along. "I want to know why the Aschen doctors looked me in the eye and told me that I was okay. Why did they lie to me?" She knew that she was crying now, but she didn't care. She had let herself be blinded by their science, and they had lied to her…
"I don't know. But I'm willing to help you find out." Janet answered, obviously aware of the implications of their find.
Now more than ever Sam wanted Jack, but how on Earth was she going to tell him that they could never have children and the race he utterly loathed must have known all along?
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The second she walked through the door and saw his back, she had to fight hard to keep from just blurting it all out and then beating the living shit out of him. Something she knew that her husband would wholeheartedly approve of. Hell he'd be cheering her on! She could sense his impatience because she was late, but she *really* didn't care. What she did have to do however, was control herself as much as possible if she wanted to pull this off.
"I've been waiting." His voice surprised her, how come she had never really noticed just how annoying his diction actually was?
"Sorry." Her reply was curt to the point of almost rudeness, but it was the best she could do. Considering the circumstances she thought that was pretty impressive.
"Is there something wrong?" Uh-oh, careful Sam don't give it away, she scolded herself in vain.
"No." Suddenly she understood why Jack used single, abrupt answers. It was a great tactic when you had to school your emotions.
"All right." Mollem pressed a few keys and a stunning projection of Jupiter appeared before her eyes. Normally that sight captivated her, but not today.
"We're still not finding the necessary material to initiate the conversion," he commented, his arrogant inflection grating against her nerves.
"We’ll just have to find a way to collapse it faster; revise the calculations," She knew that she had to speed up this normally extensive discussion, and the only way to do that was to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear.
She knew that he liked what he heard, "Interesting."
"Am I wrong?" Half of her was just about willing him to tell her that she was, then at least she'd have a legitimate excuse to punch him. It was a sensation that she'd missed, her adrenaline flooding her system, preparing for the fight.
"Oh, no, you're absolutely correct, it's just that a year or so ago you never thought this project was possible and now you seem so... determined"
"You’ve convinced me." She made a mental note to add 'patronising' to her growing list of reasons to really hate this man.
"Did your people ever imagine converting a planet into a star?" Had she mentioned that he was condescending?
"No. I doubt it." That at least was the truth. That idea was *way* bigger than anyone on Earth would have thought of.
"I should think you would have at least considered the possibility, considering the rapid growth of your population and the viability of the planet."
She really did have to fight hard to control herself when he said that, it was too close to home for her. "Humans don't think quite as far ahead as the Aschen seem to," she finished, forcing a smile to her lips.
"All right, since you’re so determined, revise the calculations."
Ok, here was the kicker… "If I use our computers it will take weeks... on the other hand, if I can interface with the Aschen computer core…"
"You know that's strictly for Aschen personnel."
Funny, she'd never once thought there was something wrong with that before, even when Jack had pointed it out to her. In fact, she'd argued with him, saying that the system at the SGC was closed to non-SGC personal, what was the difference with the Aschen? Jack had shaken his head slightly and said, "Yeah Sam, it was off limits because we *did* have something to hide." All of a sudden, it all made so much sense.
"It's not like you haven't given me access before."
"Samantha... Why do I let you talk me into this?"
As he typed, the display changed and Sam metaphorically released a huge sigh of relief.
"There. You have core access."
She allowed him a smile before he left the room, a smile that vanished as soon as his skinny little body was out of sight. A few seconds later, Janet hurried into the room, as eager as Sam to find out more about what the Aschen had been upto since signing the treaty.
"Are you in?" asked Janet, but Sam was too busy trying to access the core memory to answer her friend. "Because the medical sub-core has its own code you're not going to be able to access..."
"I'm in, I'm in," Sam watched with anticipation as the screen displayed the core access menu that she has been seeking. "Now what? Its calling for search parameters" Sam watched as Janet thought for a moment.
"Right. Try 'medical records'." Sam frowned slightly.
"I don't think I'm going to find anything specific to me in here..."
"So maybe this has happened to some other people," Sam felt her stomach fall; this was what she was afraid of. It was bad enough that this had been done to her, but for others to be suffering the same way…
"Do a general search: - 'Human Reproductive Statistics'."
She entered her search and read everything that appeared on the screen in the Aschen language, "That’s it"
"You can read this?" Normally the shock in her friend's voice would have brought a smile to her lips, but not today. Yeah she could read it. After all, it had served the Aschen purpose to let her learn their language.
"Janet, this can't be right. If I'm reading this properly, the world-wide birth rate has dropped almost ninety one percent in the last two years!"
"What?" Janet's shock was eloquent.
"That's what it says right here. These are Aschen numbers." She continued to read as Janet took in the implications of her words.
"Yeah, but surely we would know…" the doctor's words echoed Sam's own disbelief.
"This is happening everywhere the anti-ageing vaccine has gone," abruptly the truth dawned on them both, the awful truth. This wasn't just Sam - this was the entire world.
"Turn it off." Janet's voice was measured as she assimilated the information
"Janet, they’re doing this systematically…" Sam tried to reason.
"Just turn it off, please!" It was the hint of desperation that Sam heard in her voice that made her do as she was asked. "Ok, we can't let them know we know."
Sam frowned slightly, if that was all she was worried about, then there wasn't a problem. "Mollem leaves me alone for hours at a time," she tried to placate.
"Sam, you're on the inside, you don't see them the same way I do." Oh, how many times had she heard that before? It was a variation of one of Jack's favourite arguments. It seemed that Jack really had been right all along. Right from the start when he asked them to act on faith and trust him… dammit why hadn't she listened to him?
"Janet, they have done this to us deliberately; we have to do something." Her own hurt began solidify to anger and bubbled to the surface, this was too much.
"I know Sam, but we can't talk about it here. We'll talk tonight at the restaurant, okay? I have to go."
With that the petite doctor left, leaving Sam alone with her thoughts. Right now the prevalent one being that at some point in the very near future, she had to tell her husband that the race he hated and had warned everyone about, had nearly sterilised the entire planet, herself included. That the child they had so sorely wished for would never be, because he had been right all along.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sam faced her friends, watching as the undeniable reality of her findings struck home with each of them, Daniel being the first to voice any reply.
"Guys, I think it would be public knowledge if something this catastrophic was happening to the entire population." As usual, the archaeologist tried to see another facet to the problem. It was a talent that had served them well as a field unit, even if it had annoyed the Hell out of her husband. But here and now, there was no other way for the data to be interpreted.
"Would it, Daniel?" she argued gently. "The Ashen can convert planets into stars, you don't think they could control the media if they wanted to?" Her mind flashed her back to all the times Jack had said the same thing to her. Now she knew just how frustrated he must have felt at her consistent denials.
"OK, Sam." Daniel continued, still working his mind around her accusations. "Assuming the Aschen could keep something that big secret... it's been ten years. Why now?" He did have a legitimate point, she understood that. But *now* she understood a whole lot more.
"We were completely taken in. This way they didn't have to fire a shot. It's slow, methodical, painless..."
"Okay then why provide a vaccine that almost doubles the human life span? That doesn’t make any sense." Daniel had made another valid point, but either he wasn't thinking the implications through, or he just didn't want to.
"Unless that's the mechanism they've used to sterilise the population." Sam let Janet fill in the blanks for Daniel's benefit, although she doubted that he really needed them filling.
"They’re certainly patient enough. All they have to do is wait." She commented, knowing full well that any race with the foresight to turn a planet into a sun would find waiting a few hundred years to gain an entire planet a worthwhile exchange.
"Then within two hundred years, very few humans, if any will remain. The Aschen will have this world to themselves." Teal'c's statement emphasised their predicament.
"Well, we have to do something... I don't know; tell somebody." Sam smiled at Daniel's words because even after all that the archaeologist had seen, there was still a naivete to him that could be endearing.
Suddenly, Janet began to speak. The catch in her voice placing her emotions clearly on display.
"The night before General Hammond died he called me and said he needed to speak with me about something very important. Something that he couldn't discuss over the phone," she paused to take in a breath, hoping to control the threat of tears. "The next day I told the Ashen doctors, I said this is impossible, he could not have died of a heart attack he was in perfect health, but they said their diagnostic machines were infallible."
The truth behind Janet's insinuation hit Sam hard. Not only did she know how 'truthful' the Aschen machines were, now she also understood why Jack's hatred of the Aschen had become so potent when Hammond had died.
"You believe he was murdered." It was once again Teal'c who stated rather than questioned.
"At the time, no. I believed the same as everyone else, that the Aschen were our saviours..." Janet's voice cracked and Sam saw Daniel covertly take her hand under the table.
"So we can't tell anyone, we have to keep this to ourselves." Daniel this time was almost spot on. But Sam had to tell someone...
"Well I have to tell Jack."
She sensed the group still at the mention of him, even now there was so much that had been left to fester between them all and it showed.
"Maybe you shouldn't." Sam snapped her head around to Daniel, knowing instinctively where he was heading with this.
"Daniel, if you're even suggesting he knows about this…" She couldn't even begin to comprehend a reality where that would be true… never.
"I’m just saying that he left everything pretty damn quickly, and he was so utterly convinced that the Aschen were bad, yet he never once showed us any proof. I mean, he was a Colonel, Sam… a well respected one at that… special forces trained… and if Hammond knew…"
"Daniel, I'm going to pretend I never heard you say that. Otherwise I would be leaving right now. I know you have issues with Jack, but they are your problem. To even attempt to say that he knew about this…"
He nodded slowly, "I'm sorry, Sam. Of course he didn't know, he wouldn't have ever put you through that on purpose. If he'd have had any proof there's nothing that would have kept him quiet."
She looked straight into his eyes, accepting his apology before she spoke again. "But we do need his help Daniel."
"How Sam, what can he do? All the contacts he did have denied all knowledge of him when he went to them with his whole "The Aschen are taking over the world" speech. How loyal do you think any of them are now? And you *know* how well he gets on with our president. Even if by some miracle, he could catalyse the mobilisation of what is left of all the worlds forces, what good would that do us?"
Sam hated the fact that Daniel was right. Jack had lost all credibility with "the powers that be" a long time ago. Yet she knew that he could help them, he always could. He may have let her and Daniel take the leaps in logic, let them defy laws that were supposed to be indefiable, but at the end of the day, he was the rock that had bound them. The force that tied them so closely, that held them when they needed tempering, but that let them free when they needed space. That, coupled with his tactical brilliance, had made them the success that they had been. That was evident the day he left, because had SG-1 left with him.
Sam was spared the need to answer by Teal'c, who, with his usual adherence to the cold truth commented, "They would be defeated. As were the Goa'uld."
The disturbing finality with which he spoke seemed to bring home exactly the depths of the mistake they had made and the danger that their planet was in. It was a sensation that they had long since forgotten, but now…
"We have to think of something else."
"Like what, Daniel?" Sam realised her patience was sparse, they had done too much talking already. They had to figure out how to act now.
"I don't know... contact the Tollan; find the survivors of the Tok'ra, there have to be some left out there." They all knew that he was grasping at straws, but right now, straws were all that they had. "Teal'c, what about the Jaffa?"
"Few remain loyal to the Tau'ri since the war's end. There are only a few healthy symbiotes available for implantation."
Again the sober reality struck home to Sam, on more than one level. "And we don't even control the stargate. Oh, God... what have we done? This morning we were celebrating..." She had to look away at that moment, the enormity of their short sightedness falling like a lead weight in the pit of her stomach.
Daniel was obviously grappling with the same emotions, as he commented. "Now I wish we could take it all back."
A spark of something lit up in Sam's eyes, but just as she was about to voice her thoughts the waitress arrived to clear their table, allowing her a few more seconds to solidify the veil of abstraction. As the waitress left, Sam let the idea free to her friends.
"Maybe we can." Her eyes shone with another long forgotten sensation, something that must have captured the attention of her friends. "Maybe we can take it back." The conviction in her words seemed to ease the negativity in the pit of her stomach. This felt right and refreshing at one in the same time. It had been too long since her energies and mind had been channelled in the face of such danger. When they were still SG-1 this was a weekly occurrence, having only a few moments to direct her ideas to a solid and functional plan to save the day. It had been too long, far too long.
"How?" Oh yeah, she had Daniel's attention. The other's too.
She fought hard with herself not to blurt it all out as quickly as the thoughts were flying inside her head. "General Hammond showed us." She looked expectantly at the table, unsure if they would remember, after all, it was another lifetime ago.
"He left us a note." Daniel answered and at that moment, she could have kissed him. Maybe it wasn't such a long time ago, maybe they hadn't changed all that much. How many times had Daniel immediately understood enough of her "techno-babble" to focus on the theory behind it? How many times had Jack and Teal'c watched on, waiting for their orders to be simplified? How many times had that dynamic saved lives? Too many to count.
"What? What are you talking about?" Janet questioned. Sam almost smiled, she'd forgotten that Janet needed a more detailed explanation. It felt like it had all those years ago, except that rather than simplifying a theory to her Colonel, she was explaining a whole mission to her friend. Subconsciously, she smiled as she used the same tone she always had with her husband all those years ago.
"A number of years ago a freak accident sent us back to 1969. We know that by dialling co-ordinates on the opposite sides of the sun at the exact moment of a solar flare it causes the wormhole to turn back towards Earth on itself and creates a time distortion." Sam even found herself pausing momentarily to make sure that her audience was up to speed. "Theoretically, we could send ourselves a message."
"Wait a second, I thought you said it was impossible to predict the exact moment of a solar flare." Daniel's familiar role of "nit-picker" was wholly applied once again.
"For us, yes, it was." Unless you had a very smart General, she thought to herself. "But with access to Aschen computers..." Sam finished, knowing that she didn't need to say anymore. Her mind had slowed a little from its "mile a minute" jumps; now she let the others have the time they needed to digest her proposition and its implications.
"Wait a second here..." Janet interrupted, sounding remarkably Jack like. "We're considering changing the lives of the entire human race on Earth; do we have the right?"
It was a valid point, but in the face of the other options…
"If we don't, then we will live to see the end of the entire human race on Earth."
It was as simple and as damning as that.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sam knew as she walked the familiar path, that he wouldn't be expecting her yet. After all she was a day early. Approaching the now well-known wooden building, she wondered just exactly where she would find her errant husband. On the pond, probably.
Just in case, Sam peered though the small window in the front door, if there was a hockey game on he'd be sunk in his favourite chair, beer in hand, shouting at the set just in case the players could actually hear him. It was one of his most endearing qualities. The fact that the hockey game was a recording years old, didn't diminish his comments or enthusiasm.
There were so many special memories that this place held for her, but this time, she knew that when she had revealed her intentions, things would irrevocably change for them both.
Sucking in a breath, she forced herself to head to the pond. It came as a shock when her thoughts jarred and her vision converged on the man walking in her direction. As always, her heart skipped at least one beat at the sight of him. Even now, without the anti-ageing vaccine, he was still the sexiest man she had ever known.
"Hi." The impartiality of her greeting spoke volumes about her state of mind. For the first time, standing face to face with him, and knowing everything she knew, she realised just how badly their refusal to trust him would have hurt. She suddenly understood why he shut himself off from all but her, but perhaps worst of all, she finally grasped how hard it was for him to watch her work for the people he loathed. How much he had sacrificed of himself, of his instincts and beliefs so that their marriage would work. Jack O'Neill was not usually the compromising type.
The fact that she didn't go into his arms for their customary kiss did not go unnoticed. The frown that crept onto his brows eloquent of his confusion, his guarded echoing of her greeting showing her that he knew straight away that something wasn't right.
"So… catch anything?" She was stalling and they both knew it, but for the life of her she just wanted to delay her revelation for as long as possible. She could tell he was under no illusions to her reticence, he may not know what exactly had stopped her greeting him as she normally would, but he knew enough to know that whatever it was, it was big.
"Sam, get on with it. I'm not getting any younger here." She almost smiled as he sat down. He had never been a patient man.
"Right," she mumbled to herself. Placing a hesitant kiss on his cheek as she sat beside him. Now he really must know that there was something wrong, they'd usually be in bed, or at least on their way there, by now!
"What are you doing here a day early?" His question cut straight to the crux of the matter. Had he always done that? Been able to see when she needed that push. Yes, she answered herself.
Always.
She took a deep breath, God she didn't want to do this. "It turns out we made a mistake. A big one."
"Which one? We made a few... " She winced at his tone, but continued on.
"Our alliance with the Aschen." There, she had said it. But rather than the half-expected deluge of "I told you so's", her only reaction was a very quiet and almost un-Jack-like,
"Oh that..." She would have thought that this was not her Jack O'Neill had it not been for the rest of the sentence. "Not working out, is it? Gee I wish I'd seen that coming… Oh, wait... I *did* see it coming." This was what she had expected. It was a part of him she knew well, a part that sometimes made her smile, but mostly made her want to hit him, hard. But this time, she had no defence. He had been right and he *had* seen it coming, and she, like everyone else hadn't believed him.
"It isn't what you thought Jack." The subtle pain in her voice caught his attention. She saw his head lean slightly to one side as his eyebrows rose, his cue for her to resume.
But this was hard.
"When I was in Washington, I went to see Janet." His eyes narrowed watching her intently, reading everything that her eyes betrayed. She was grateful that he knew not to reach for her right now, because if he did she'd crumble right on the spot. "She told me that I can't ever have children, no matter how hard we try, that we can *never* have children."
Now that she had finally voiced the words, the urge to throw herself into his arms and cry out her grief was almost too much to resist. She could tell by way his eyes shadowed in pain that he wasn't immune to her information. But he took her lead, remaining silent while she regained enough composure to continue.
"Jack, we got into the Aschen computer network; they keep statistics on everything. In the past couple of years, without our even knowing it, they have managed to sterilise over ninety percent of the population... The other ten percent are probably just a matter of time."
She knew that he would have heard her voice crack ever so slightly. But he moved so quickly, that before she had really registered his intent, she was swimming in the sensation of his arms clamped tightly around her. Simultaneously, his hand pulled her head to his chest, while their bodies rocked together gently. The familiar calmness she found whenever he held her gave her the capability to proceed.
"We don't know how they’ve done it, or even how they've managed to keep it a secret this long Jack... "
She felt the muscles in his arms flex subtly around her as he lifted her chin to look deep into her eyes. She already knew the question before he voiced it.
"So ... What've you already decided to do about it and how do I fit in?"
Again, his perception should have startled her. Perhaps a long time ago it would have done. But not now, it only confirmed everything she knew about him.
"Jack, we need you to help us." She was still in his arms, but there was a gap emerging between them, slight, but there non-the-less.
"To do what?" She flinched as his voice hardened slightly.
"We can undo this…" She never got to finish the sentence because he moved abruptly away from her.
"Oh here we go…" He started to walk away from her, but this time she followed him, determined that he hear her out. So many times they had left things alone, things that had been important to one or both of them. It was probably how their marriage had survived, the willingness to leave well alone, but this time she couldn't leave it. This time it wasn't just her marriage at stake, it was the fate of the human race.
Catching him up she caught his arm and made him face her while she continued almost desperately.
"Jack, we can send a message back through the stargate to ourselves, ten years ago. We stop this from ever happening."
She knew the second she had his attention, because she saw the conclusion he had reached. The one that she had known that he would, the one that was about to cripple them both.
"Stop *this* from happening?" His gesture told her that he'd completely understood the implications.
"Jack…" her voice virtually pleaded for his understanding.
"No Sam. Let me get this straight." She could see the pain and anger that lurked behind his eyes, his voice laced with the result of those two emotions. "Say we do this: What happens to everything that's happened the past ten years?"
And there it was – the real kicker. Her heart lurched at the prospect of confirming his deduction.
"It won't happen." She admitted, her voice so quiet that she hardly heard herself. If possible, his eyes darkened even more as he carried on.
"So we don't go to P4C 970; we don't meet the Aschen, then.... What?"
She had known all along that his questions would be difficult to answer, but she hadn't realised how the consequence of her plan would hurt her until this moment.
"I don't know, Jack… " Her admission was even quieter this time, something that seemed to add fuel to his restrained, but tangible anger.
"Let me tell you something Sam, if you want to erase your mistakes, that's fine. My conscience is clear. I warned everybody, I threw up the red flag and *everyone* including you, shut me down." The bitterness she heard laced in his words stabbed at her very being, but he wasn't done yet. "But dammit, the *one* good thing to come out of this was enough for me to shut up and go quietly, like a good boy. I put it behind me from the moment you handed me my puck because I knew without a doubt that having you was worth it. If that makes me selfish, then so be it."
She would have smiled at the memory had the situation not been so intense, but he interrupted her flashback bitterly.
"Now you stand there and tell me, 'oh by the way Jack, now that I actually believe you, we're going to stop it. So sorry and all, but it's already been decided and we're going to change the past so this future will never exist. Deal with it.'" His eyes were positively spitting fire now, his body a mass of barely held onto rage, but still he carried on. "You don't like the way it's turned out for the planet, and you are willing to sacrifice us for because of that. I applaud you honey, but I'm not that magnanimous anymore. I like not having to save the world, I like fishing and I like the fact that the single most pressing issue in our lives was whether or not we got a dog."
"Jack – I’m talking about the future of the human race. I wouldn't be the woman you know if I put myself before that."
"No you wouldn't be, but if you do this… you *won't* be the woman I know, because I won't be allowed to know you."
It was there in a nutshell, her choice.
Jack or the planet.
The painful part was that they both knew that she had already made her choice and as much as she loved her husband, she couldn't sacrifice her entire planet for that love.
"We’re doing this, Jack. We have to." A tear tracked slowly down one cheek as she made the pronouncement. A tear that he watched trail for a second or two before reaching for her face and wiping it away with his thumb. Pressing a light kiss to her lips, he whispered achingly, "Let me know how it turns out."
More tears fell as she held his hand in place over her cheek, allowing their foreheads to touch.
"Our chances are a lot better with you than without you, Jack. We know what we have to do. I am almost positive with the Aschen computers and solar observatory I can predict a flare a few hours of it happening, and we should be able to get our hands on a G.D.O. So it’ll come down to accessing the gate within that window, dialling the right address and sending the message.
Against her head, she could feel the negative shake of his own.
"I can't Sam. I won't willingly help you destroy the only good thing in my life this last ten years."
With a force of will she didn't know she possessed, she pulled away from his embrace and looked directly into the deep, dark, liquid brown that she knew so well and whispered.
"I'm sorry Jack,"
He smiled a cruel and bitter smile.
"Yeah, so am I."
With that she turned her back on him, leaving quickly, unable to stop the sobs racking her entire body.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Slowly, she moved herself from the platform and immediately caught sight of Daniel and Teal'c. Brutally removing all images of the cabin and her husband, Sam focussed on the task. She had a job to do and regardless of her pain; she had to do it.
Daniel only had to take one look at her face in order to understand.
"You’re kidding me, he said no?" Daniel's disbelief was almost comical. Teal'c on the other hand, was his usual pragmatic self. His, "that is unfortunate," indicative of how well he understood his former Commander.
"We can still do this." Her determination as much for her own benefit as for theirs. "Daniel, did you track down the G.D.Os?" From here on in, she promised herself, it would be strictly business.
If he was taken aback by her brusque manner, he said nothing, only answering her question. "Ah, yes and no. From what I could gather from the museum records, there's only one original remote left on display at the SGC."
"Okay then that’s our next stop." Efficiency was going to get her through this, not past remembrances. Especially when that past, that wonderfully loving past, wouldn't exist for very much longer. Hardened by that thought, she continued. "Teal’c, you'd better return to Chulak, we don't want to arouse any more suspicion than we already have. It'll take at least two days but we’ll contact you when it’s time."
"I will be prepared."
And she knew that he would be.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^^*^^*^*^
As the elevator doors opened to the well-known surroundings, the pang of nostalgia that jolted through Sam actually surprised her. It was so familiar and yet disturbingly different. There were no SF's wandering around, no alarms sounding and worst of all, no SG-1.
She sensed Daniel smile slightly with the same memories, but that really annoying tour guide chipped in again.
"All righty everyone, everyone please step all the way out, we've arrived at level 28. Can anyone guess at what special room is on this floor?"
No one could possibly be *that* happy… Sam could almost hear Jack in her head and she could predict his reaction exactly… "Tour Guide Barbie"… no, she clamped him away. That wouldn't help her get the job done.
"The Gate room?" The young boy who had raised his hand was right. Which made Sam realise that people really did know about this stuff now. That felt strange, to have lived this for so long, at the highest levels of national security, for it now to be public knowledge was weird. Even weirder however, were the guide's next words…
"That’s very, very close... Anyone else?"
Even before her frown had chance to settle on her face, she heard Daniel comment.
"He’s right. It’s the Gate room." She should have known that Daniel wouldn't be able to resist, but she could have happily shot him for risking blowing their cover! Now she knew how Jack had felt when they went on missions… she quickly halted her mind's route once more, just as the guide began again.
"What I'm sure many of you don't know is that officially it was known as the 'Embarkation' room because, that's where the SG teams 'embarked' from. Okay, now we're walking..."
Sam tried unsuccessfully to hide a smile. She didn't know which was the most funny, the finger quotes or Daniel's utter bemusement. She didn't have a lot of time to decide because the tour had all stopped in the corridor to look at a picture. A picture of them: of SG-1 as they once were. She stared at the faces staring back at her, the poignancy of the moment threatening to break her composure. It was only the timely interruption of the tour guide that brought her from her melancholy.
"And these people compromise the famous SG-1, arguably the most important, although not my personal favourite team of the entire command."
Fortunately, Daniel's reaction brightened her spirits, a cough hiding her laugh at his righteous indignation.
"And we're walking..."
So they walked, the sooner they could lose the guide the better.
As they entered the Gate Room, Sam's heart began to beat faster. It was just as she remembered it, everything was identical, save for the fact that it wasn't used and the gate wasn't real. A fact that the guide confirmed a few seconds later.
"While of course the real stargate is in Washington at the JR Reed Space Terminal, this one is a perfect replica of the original. Should you want photos, they're twenty-seven dollars each and please do not touch the stargate itself, as you'll leave fingerprints. See you on the other side."
With that she was finally gone, and as they walked up the ramp, Daniel voiced his frustrations.
"This is ridiculous."
"I know, but we couldn't break away until there were more people around. Once we're in the control room…" Sam's strategy to stay completely centred on their plan was obviously not being reciprocated by Daniel, who was still grumbling about the tour guide.
"Not her personal favourite SG team?"
She allowed herself another smile, grateful for Daniel's humour "Just don't ask for the photo," but her grin died abruptly on her lips as they continued up the ramp.
Slowly, coming towards them was a figure that was more than a little familiar, one that she knew intimately and would recognise in half a heartbeat. Oh God, he had come, he had actually come!
As he passed, he looked directly at her, telling her everything with one glance. To anyone else caring to notice, nothing of import had happened, but for Sam, it was immense. Yet, the only affirmation that he was actually there at all was in true Jack O'Neill style. Completely belying the importance and poignancy of his decision, his only words…
"And we're walking..."
She shook her head and smiled.
Typical Jack.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^^*^*
She managed to restrain herself from running up the stairs into the briefing room. She couldn't believe that he'd relented, but somehow she had known in her heart, that he wouldn't just stand back and watch. He may have sacrificed his instincts, his beliefs and his natural born attachment to butting in, but he'd never once sacrificed his integrity. Not in all the years she had known him.
The Aschen had taken his career, his friends, his chance of a family and to some extent his pride. It had been so hard for him, she knew that, but he had taken their ability to love each other freely as his assuagement. And now he was going to give that and the last ten years up so that they wouldn't be able to take his honour.
She couldn't stop herself touching his shoulder and squeezing tightly as she moved around him. Neither could she stop herself answering his small smile as he covered her hand very briefly with his own, for that special moment, Daniel had been utterly forgotten. Although she couldn't resist her question as she sat down.
"So what made you decide against getting the dog?"
As usual his comeback was immediate.
"I'm still thinking about it."
The look in his eyes told her everything that she needed to know. He still didn't like what he was about to do, but he was going to do it because she'd asked for his help.
He held her gaze for another heart-breaking second, then shifted his focus abruptly to the mass of hastily scrawled diagrams on the table in front of him, reminding her that she had no time to dwell on emotive subjects; she all had to act. They *all* had to act, and if she knew Jack O'Neill one bit, he was about to show them exactly how.
"While I was waiting for you two to show, I took the liberty of doing a little shopping for you." It was his first acknowledgement that Daniel was even present, but the slight glance at his one time friend seemed to erase the past, an unspoken understanding appearing between them; this was more important.
Jack continued detailing his previous actions, he may not have been a serving Colonel for a good few years, but to look at him now, you'd think he'd never been away.
"The Zats are completely operational. This, however, presents a problem."
Sam looked at the object his pen had just pushed into the centre of the table, for a second unsure of his meaning, until it suddenly dawned on her,
"It's a replica." Dammit, without their old GDO and hence the old GDO code…
"Daniel, was this the only one?"
Before he could answer her question, a familiar voice interrupted them, causing all three of their heads to snap around in unison.
"Excuse me, you people aren't supposed to be…"
As soon as Jack heard the voice, he was on his feet, standing a good few inches taller than the man they once knew as Sgt. Davis.
Davis was obviously shocked to see anyone 'briefing' themselves. Obviously taking the man a few seconds to recognise the intruders.
"Colonel O'Neill?"
"Sergeant... what're you doing here?" Sam bit back a smile as she heard Jack stumble over the name.
"I ... I work here now. I'm sort of the operations tech advisor." Davis looked around the long wooden table, taking in the long known faces. But it was Daniel who answered him.
"Oh. Well you're doing a great job." Even though Davis smiled at Daniel, it was clear that one, he wasn't happy at their presence and two, hadn't a clue that Daniel was taking a page out of the 'Jack O'Neill Handbook of Inappropriate Sarcasm.'
"Um, this section is closed off." Poor guy, he was only doing his job after-all, then suddenly, his face cleared and an idea seemed to take root in his mind.
"You're here for old times' sake." He was right, they were here precisely for the sake of 'Old Times'.
"That’s it exactly." Jack answered, as Davis looked once more to the table, well more accurately at the results of Jack's 'shopping' trip.
"Where did you get those?"
"The Zats?" Jack's voice radiated matter of fact innocence, "Armoury... We're taking them." Sam smiled at him, when in doubt, tell the truth.
"Oh, no, no, no." Oops, obviously not the best way to gain his confidence, Jack. She decided to help him out a little.
"Sergeant, please this is really important." She acknowledged that there was probably more than just a little use of 'doe-eyes' but hey… Davis looked at Jack, who nodded in affirmation. "D'you know where our real G.D.Os went?" It couldn't hurt to ask now, could it?
"I'm not a sergeant anymore and you're not Colonels," he glanced between the couple he had alluded to, "and you're not supposed to have that remote either..." Sam was trying to think of another way around this, when she heard Daniel say,
"Oh that’s good because actually we don’t want *that* one we want the real one."
"It’s in the White House… in the Oval Office… on the President's desk." The reply was nothing if not patronising, as if asking how the hell they didn’t already know that.
Jack turned to her, "Kinsey grab a souvenir on the way down?"
Obviously he had. This was not good.
"Look guys, I don't know what…" Davis began again, but this time Jack stopped him still, obviously having lost what little patience he had had.
"Ahh Wal…ter…" Wow, Sam thought, he did know his name after all! "Right now I need you to trust us. Turn around, walk away; pretend we weren’t even here. I’ll bring everything back I promise…" Davis looked at the table, with more than a hint of scepticism as Jack closed the deal. "…Thursday."
"Then you'll tell me what's going on?"
"Absolutely everything." All the scene needed was her husband to hold up three fingers and pledge 'scout's honour'. But it was enough to finally seal the deal.
"Okay."
Both she and Daniel thanked him. Jack smiled a self-satisfied half smile as Davis left them, reminding them all.
"Thursday!"
Immediately they returned to their plans, as Jack pointed out the flaw in their strategy.
"Ok, last time I was in the Oval office I got kicked out. Can we do it without a G.D.O?"
"Radio?" asked the archaeologist, but Sam knew that it wouldn't work.
"There’s an EM dampening field around the terminal, part of the automated defences."
Jack's face gave away nothing as he spoke. "So we're about as far back in time as we're going to get."
Sam had another idea, "I think we can still get it…"
"How?" Daniel asked.
"You." Came her reply. Jack looked at her, obviously needing further explanation.
"Daniel, you now have an obligation to tell our President how your research mission to Europa went. Especially since you have already reported to the Aschen delegation. Just divert his attention and pocket the GDO." She had made it sound so simple, but Daniel's dubious look told her that he wasn't very convinced.
"Oh yeah, divert his attention… no problem." It might have filled them all with more confidence, had he at least tried to sound assured.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sam, Jack and Janet were seated around a table in their favourite restaurant, a cup of coffee in front of each of them. While Daniel had gone to Washington to get the G.D.O, she and Jack had needed to bring Janet up to speed with their plan.
During their explanation to the doctor, the enormity of what they were about to do had really settled on them, leaving the mood tense and sombre. Sam knew she had to broach the subject that she had been working on.
"I think this is the note we should send." She unfolded the paper and angled it so that both Janet and Jack could see it.
"That’s it?" Janet voicing the opinion that she knew her husband shared.
"I thought about including more information, but I think in this case, the simpler the better." This made it real. It was actually going to happen and that was a difficult realisation.
"Why don’t we just stick one on a rock and throw it through?" He was half-serious and her half smile showed that she was grateful to him for trying to lighten the mood.
"It would never make it through the automated defences."
He caught her hand in his rubbing his thumb slowly over her knuckles, "Can we at least mention who won the Superbowl in 2004?"
She almost smiled, "No."
"World Series?" It was the look of "awww please Mom" that did it.
A small grin tugged at her lips. "No"
"Grey Cup?" Even Janet smiled at that, but time was moving on and they had to meet Daniel shortly.
"I put it in my own handwriting so I'll be able to recognise it when I read it..." The smile lingered on her lips as she spoke. Although both her companions nodded, she could tell from Jack's slightly bowed head that he was about to say something she wasn't going to like.
"I think we should all write a note of our own. Case I don't make it to the gate, you can keep trying." His voice was quiet and controlled, but the depth of his implication stunned her. The realisation was profound.
They either succeeded or be killed trying.
This was; in its simplest form, a suicide mission.
And each person now knew it.
^*^^**^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sam stood motionless; her concentration focussed on the hologram of the sun that was projected in front of her. However, she had remained fully aware of the room around her, of its occupants and the mood. She could sense that her husband was more than a little uncomfortable here, after all it was s the first time that he had ever set foot in this building and his eagerness to act, combined with his distrust of the race in this building, amplified his discomfort. She could see his tension, simmering away, tightly held in control until he could channel it into action.
She caught his movement in her peripheral vision, listening to his velvet voice as he motioned towards the display.
"Hot in here?"
Her smile didn't reach her eyes as she answered.
"This is a real time representation of the actual sun, recorded by Aschen satellites all over the solar system." He nodded slightly before going back to keeping watch. Janet's question came next.
"How do you use it to predict a flare?"
"I've been studying Aschen knowledge of solar dynamics for the Jupiter ignition project. There are significant changes just beneath the surface of the sun preceding a flare that are detectable by the satellite net..." She pointed to a spot on the hologram. "Look right here... If my calculations are right, there should be a flare in about five seconds."
They all quieted, waiting for whatever it was that the sun was about to show them. Sure enough the flare appeared right on time. It was a beautiful representation that on any other day would be amazing. But today, it just added another sense of absolute finality to their mission.
"That’s it." Janet stated with wide eyes.
"Now all we need to do is for the computer to predict another flare." Sam looked at her friend, he impatience and instinct to act coming to the surface. "Have you got your travel papers for Chulak?"
"Yeah, all set." Janet answered as Sam held out a small piece of paper.
"Give this to Teal'c. It's the co-ordinates he'll need." Both women held each other's gaze one last time, conveying so much in one look than could ever be verbalised.
"Daniel's here." Sam's head snapped around at the sound of her husband's announcement.
No sooner had the words died on his lips than Daniel walked through the doorway. He was carrying a small silver box, the type that he normally used to transport his archaeological evidence.
"Did you get it?" She heard Jack ask impatiently, eager to find out if the mission was a go or a bust.
"Yes." Daniel merely handed the box over to Jack, but Sam could sense the mutual respect in the old friend's eyes.
Both women straightened and walked over to the men. As soon as they were close enough Sam snaked her arm around her husbands waist, drawing him too her, seeking the comfort his arms always gave. She felt him lean into her, but that movement allowed her to feel the tension in every one of his muscles. It was her clue that she wasn't going to like his next words.
"Sam, I think you should leave this to us now."
She had known all along that he would try this and she had a pretty good idea of his motives, but she had to ask him anyway.
"Why?" Her words were calm and controlled, causing his eyes to soften as he looked at her, for once he didn't bother to hide his emotions and he let her see the fear in them. His fear for her.
"Sam, look. That's the last heavily defended place on Earth and you know what our chances are." He was trying so hard to convince her without patronising her, but he knew the only way to get through to her was to tell her the truth. "I just don’t want to risk your life anymore, not when I don't have to."
Part of her loved him more in that moment than ever before, he knew that if they got that note through the Gate, it wouldn't matter where she was, yet he still wanted to keep her as safe as he possibly could. Stepping back slightly from him, she looked straight into his deep eyes and said in a tone that brokered no argument.
"I'm going."
His only response to her was a small, resigned nod. Noting his reaction, she stepped back into his arms and held him tightly.
They would do this together, just like always.
Somewhere in the distance a bleep was heard, closely followed by Janet's voice.
"The sun is beeping."
Reluctantly Sam left her husband's arms and walked over to the console to put the last piece of their plan into place.
"We have a flare prediction. Fifty-seven minutes from now."
^*^*^*^*^^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
The walk trough the terminal building, even with Jack's arm wrapped securely around her waist, was nerve-wracking. She tried to look as inconspicuous as her husband, his confident swagger and a bag slung casually over his shoulder, caused no one to spare him a second glance. They both noticed Janet begin to descend the escalators, giving her once last brief smile without breaking stride. Sam marvelled at Jack, for someone who had never been in the building before today, Jack certainly knew his way around. It didn't surprise her though, he was always prepared.
As he guided her to a more secluded area, they passed Daniel, who was carrying another "rock box" as her husband had taken to calling them. It was only when they reached an isolated area that Jack let go of her in order to load the piton gun and place the Zat in a more useful position in the bag.
Just as he finished, they heard a disembodied voice announce, "Outgoing travellers to Chulak, please stand by in the departure area."
"That's one hell of a boarding call." Jack quipped with a grin. Sam knew that he was trying to lift her despondent mood. But as her eyes focussed on Janet walking through the Stargate, she didn't think that there was a force in the world able to lighten her spirits, not even a force as all-encompassing as her husband's.
Sensing the futility of his effort, Jack took her hand and led her to the balcony, his thumb all the while brushing over her knuckles. He smiled into her eyes; his own brown pools conveying everything he couldn't find the words to say.
"Not long now." He murmured to her after checking his watch.
She realised in that second that couldn't leave it like this, with things unsaid. So looking directly into his eyes she fought to control her tears.
"Jack, promise me one thing?" He looked down at her, his eyes so soft, urging her to speak.
"Promise me you'll come and ask me for the puck a lot sooner than it took us in this lifetime?"
His eyes clouded and closed for the tiniest moment before he lowered his head slightly, kissing her slowly and deeply, while his hands moved to cup her face as if she were the most precious thing in the world.